You ought to walk and to please God. 1 Thessalonians 4:1
Recommended Reading: I Thessalonians 4:1-8 “ Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.2 For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:4 That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;5 Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God:6 That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.8 He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.”
COMMENTS: When we are children, obeying parents is easier and expected. Children need and expect close supervision and a safety net. But as children become older and especially in teen years they feel more confident in making their own decisions and more resentful of parent’s close supervision. Parents fear their children are not ready to make important choices and are keenly aware of the temptations and evil and negative influence present day children and teens face. Children and teens desire independence and feel resentment thinking their parents don’t trust them.
Well, truth is we all, even at 100, are no match for satan’s snares and delusions. Temptations that 80-year old’s face are likely different than for 15 yr. old’s but both desperately need the Holy Spirit’s abiding presence and council to be prepared. Fears and over confidence pull us into vulnerable opportunities to draw closer and more obedience in our relationship with Christ or further away from Him.
There is a very good and wonderful reason why God enables parents and grandparents and even great grandparents to influence the younger generations. Benefits include long life experiences and wisdom of older generations to be passed on to younger generations. Likewise, the energy and enthusiasm and excitement and openness of younger generations can breathe new life and sense of worth and purpose into older generations.
But the need to be in relationship with Christ daily is a common need at all ages and older generations and young can be accountable and encouragers for each other. When love is strong in families, such can develop and draw both to Christ. When bitterness and anger is strong, so much is missed with huge barriers and regrets keeping families from loving and caring for each other. Time spent with our families become more precious to us and older members pass on and younger ones become the patriarchs and matriarchs.
Well, truth is the Holy Spirit not only has available to us the infinite wisdom of God, but wisdom that has proven true over the many centuries and generations from Adam and Eve til now. To deprive ourselves of the Holy Spirit’s council and abiding presence and influence in our lives is tragic for us and brings sadness to Him. He is so worthy of our attention and fellowship and obedience and we are so desperately in need of His council and help.
Granted, often His council is not what we want to hear or want to do, but that is when past experience can wake us up to realize “insanity is making the same wrong choices and expect different or better results”. Missionary Jim Elliott said “A wise man will give up what he cannot keep in order to acquire what he cannot loose”. Striving for money or possessions or power or pleasure will not last but seeking a deeper relationship with Christ and His abiding Holy Spirit will bless and sustain us and bring us deeper joy that will not only last a lifetime but eternity. A relationship that will guide us to best choices and deep lasting relationships with others. A relationship that will enable us to build a legacy we will not regret but be glad for. Maybe not a legacy quite as famous as Billy Graham’s, but a legacy just as important to Him as Billy’s, because we are just as important to Him and just as loved by Him as Billy is. There is enough room in God’s heart for everyone, even billions. AMEN! “We ought to remember that Christ has the power to help everyone who asks for His divine aid.” D. L. Moody If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 113 blog posts i have made plus a link to my devotional journal material archives from 2013 to present. You may also access my facebook page and request to be my friend and automatically receive my daily journal publications daily. My facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/Don1951 My hope and prayer is, they will become a source of encouragement and tools in ministry for you.
Published by donsdevotions
Don McDaniel - Who am I?
Hello everyone and welcome to my devotional journal blog. In order to get acquainted and help you get to know me a bit better before considering following my blog, let me give you some background. I am a 74-year-old male and a retired engineer. I worked for a major supplier of underground mining equipment for nearly 40 years before retiring in 2012. Arlene and I have been happily married since April 1978 and have two grown – married children, one granddaughter and 2 step grandsons. I joined the local United Methodist church at age 12 after accepting Christ as my Savior at age 10 during revival services in that same church in 1961, so I have been a “Born Again” Christian all my teen years and adult life. Christ has helped and guided me all that time. He guided me in choosing my wife and life’s career. My life journey has included regrets and failures, but God has picked me up and protected and spared me from life threatening consequences and dangers more times than I can recall or count. But many I do recall and encourage and motivate me to trust and follow Christ with more passion than ever.
Christmas 2011 our daughter gave Arlene and I each a devotional journal. Journals were books with devotion for each day and space to give personal impressions and thoughts related to each devotion. Her desire was to have a lasting legacy she could refer back to and share with her children and grandchildren especially after we are gone. I was touched by that gesture. My parents and Arlene’s were devout Christians, so we would have greatly treasured having that from them, so we felt a sense of urgency to honor her request. I finished my journal first and returned it to our daughter the following Christmas. I’m glad I did it then because Parkinson’s has caused my hand writing to deteriorate since then. The exercise was such a blessing for me. Discipline of keeping journal helped me gain a deeper walk with Christ and greater discipline in honoring my time of prayer and devotion with Him each day. So, I decided to continue the practice but since I could not find a paper journal I liked, I decided to create my own. I had already been receiving electronic devotions by email every day from several sources, my favorite being “Turning Point” from Dr. David Jeremiah. What I decided to do was to include devotional scripture but add my own thoughts and comments only so there would be no issue of copyright infringement. Creating and maintaining journal by computer also addressed my deteriorating handwriting ability. I started an electronic devotion journal January 1, 2013 and have been faithful to that practice every day since. I prayed about method and level of distribution. My initial intent was to only share it with my two children by email, but quickly discovered others in my family, my church, and friends from work (both retired and still working) who knew me and wanted to be included in distribution when they learned what I was doing. I now distribute by email my daily journal at the beginning of each month to over 150 friends and relatives. God has richly blessed and encouraged me.
I am concerned with the state of our church and nation, and world for that matter, believing we are living in the end times the prophets of old and Christ have talked about in scripture, so time is short. I desire to be true to my Savior and a witness to help others come to a saving knowledge of Him and equipped to share His Good News too. If my journal can encourage and help others, I believe God wants me to share it. I struggled, for a time at first, because I know many others keep similar journals but only for their own edification and do not want to share them because they are private.
However, Christ has stirred my heart to share it as a witness tool.
Our son and daughter have a long-time friend who grew up with them who we also befriended nearly 25 years ago. He had a lot of family problems, so would gravitate to our family as a refuge and eventually thought of us as his adopted parents and he as our adopted son. We lost contact with him for some time when he grew up and left home. He traveled around the U.S. and eventually ended up in Ukraine where he resided for next 10 years. He had to return to the US to renew his visa and took opportunity to recommend I begin a blog of my devotions and helped me set it up. He is also an active blogger and has been an email subscriber to my journal for several months, so he has been suggesting I expand my distribution by starting a blog to get broader exposure. After reflection and prayer, I concluded God was in this, so he is helping me set up my blog site. This brief autobiography is my first entry.
He returned to Ukraine, then resided there until circumstanced made him decide to move back to US with his young son. This biography was my first post February 29, 2016 .
I have published 600 posts from 2016-2023 automatically sent to all my Facebook friends, published on WordPress to be accessible to anyone curious or seeking a deeper walk with God. I decided to take a sebatical to prepare for a new chapter. In 2014 I was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease which affects patient ability to walk, drive, do physical work, and eventually talk. By mid 2023 it became evident our home for last 42 years (previously owned by my parents for previous 44 years and by my mother's grandparents for 39 years before that) would eventually not meet my needs so we decided to sell it and move into 1st floor of a duplex we also owned that was the town school from 1855-1913. Likewise, the property was requiring more maintenance that I was no longer able to keep up with. 2023 involved selling our home and moving into apartment next door and then in early 2025 an opportunity to move closer to our daughter and granddaughter in Kentucky which was completed in May 2025. For a number of months I have been seeking direction seeking God's direction and timing to return to blogging as my journey with Parkinson's continues to unfold with God's guiding hand in mine.
I hope and pray my devotions will continue to be a blessing for you. God certainly has become closer and more real to me since started this blog in 2016. I have spent time with Him studying scripture and praying and listening and writing this journal. I will continue seeking God’s help and will welcome your input to make this site as meaningful as I can and true to God, who is motivating me to create and maintain it. I will also welcome input in order to make format more meaningful going forward.
Don & Arlene McDaniel
In His Service,
Email: mcdanieldonald769@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Don1951
If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 600+ blog posts I have made plus a link to my devotional journal material archives from 2013 to present (https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com/2016/03/02/link-to-dons-devotional-journal-entries-2013/ )
You may also access my Facebook page and request to be my friend and automatically receive my daily journal publications daily. My Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/Dondevotionals/ Many thanks to a pastor and dear brother in Christ in Nepal who set up the above Facebook page to help and encourage and give opportunity for more to explore and use my devotional blog materials. View all posts by donsdevotions
donsdevotions 