For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12
RECOMMENDED READING: JEREMIAH 23:25-40 “25 I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.26 How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart;27 Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.28 The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord.29 Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.31 Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that use their tongues, and say, He saith.32 Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the Lord, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the Lord.33 And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the Lord? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the Lord.34 And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the Lord, I will even punish that man and his house.35 Thus shall ye say everyone to his neighbor, and every one to his brother, What hath the Lord answered? and, What hath the Lord spoken?36 And the burden of the Lord shall ye mention no more: for every man’s word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the Lord of hosts our God.37 Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the Lord answered thee? and, What hath the Lord spoken?38 But since ye say, The burden of the Lord; therefore thus saith the Lord; Because ye say this word, The burden of the Lord, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the Lord;39 Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence:40 And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.”
COMMENTS: We live in a world where more information can be accessed by more people with greater ease than anytime in history. Amazon alone has 3 million books for sale. Information on any subject can be accesses almost anywhere by computer. But what does is meant that the Bible is a living book? The above verse from Hebrews is one of many that even tells us our Bible is a living book. No other book or sacred book of any other religion claims to be living even though they all claim to be books of truth. I think we can answer that question in many ways and for many reasons but consider how the Bible has spoken to you and me. How it’s words seemed to come of the page and speak directly to a personal issue or point of conviction in our own souls, telling us what we must do.
Not always does scripture come alive so is dependent on how open and prepared we are to receive its message and instruction. Even though it is thousands of years old, it’s words seem to council and instruct and teach as though they were written today, do they not? So was scripture written by God or by man. The answer is yes to both. God inspired and directed words written to the men who wrote those words down and collected them into our Bible. Even the letters Paul wrote to the 7 churches of Asia Minor were so inspired and became a significant portion of scripture. But God’s inspiration didn’t end there. As the letters and scrolls were collected and reviewed, especially the New Testament, great effort and prayer and collaboration went into deciding which would be added to scripture and which would not. Then for Revelation to be the last book of scripture and none were to be added after that. All this was also the result of God’s input and inspiration.
How was this possible? The answer comes as we see the work and influence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit came after Christ ascended to heaven. The Holy Spirit came to be the comforter and counselor and guide and to empower faithful believers to do God’s Will. It was the power and influence of the Holy Spirit that enabled the New Testament to be written and collected and finalized. Many less inspired writings and scholars tried to add or delete or change what would become our Bible but the Holy Spirit prevailed and those who followed the Holy Spirit’s lead prevailed. The Bible was written by Holy Spirit inspired men at leading of the Holy Spirit. That was true even with the Old Testament even though the Holy Spirit hadn’t been given yet. But God’s influence and Will was evident in old testament times too through prophets and priests and faithful common people God called to write and preach redemption and God’s warning of judgment upon Israel. The old testament stories and teachings all too were written by men influenced and inspired by God too.
So, the Bible is living because it’s author, God, is still living but God’s wisdom and insights and influence continue today as it has from eternity past and will for eternity future too. Satan’s influence has been going on since Adam and Eve but soon will come to an end. God will finally put an end to his evil rampage and bind him and transform the earth and those who follow Christ and received His redemption into His perfect creation as He intended. As Peter wrote, we are “born again . . . through the living and enduring word of God” (1 Peter 1:23, NIV).
Reading the Bible is not like reading any other book. It has the power to change your life!
“There is a living God. He has spoken in the Bible.” J. Hudson Taylor
If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 152 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 