Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men.
Colossians 3:23
Recommended Reading: COLOSSIANS 3:18-25 “18 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.19 Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.20 Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.21 Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.22 Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God;23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.”
COMMENTS: What motivates you to work? Who do you work for and are accountable to? Most people would say their boss or employer. Obviously, their employer pays them to work at the job they are assigned to do. Their immediate supervisor oversees their work and evaluates that work.
I had that perspective too but found just trying to please an immediate supervisor or please an employer above all else only left me unfulfilled and always coming short of the goal. There always was a higher goal set when reached the last goal, but the only incentive was a higher position or a larger paycheck. The incentive was as temporary as the goal I worked hard at achieving.
However, I eventually realized the work I was doing was needed to help many hard-working miners do their jobs more effectively and make their work easier. You see, I was responsible for designing equipment and improvements to that equipment used to mine and convey underground materials, mostly coal but also trona and gypsum and even salt.
I struggled sometimes coming short of being able to make that equipment meet the durability and performance expectations customers wanted and needed. There was more than one crossroads I came to considering leaving my career and job to pursue a new career as a pastor. Motivation was a desire to make more of a difference for Christ and to be free of work I felt was never good enough or would last long enough. That struggle would climax when problems and challenges were the strongest.
Then about half way trough my working career God showed me a new perspective. He asked me “Why do you think you could serve Me any better in a pulpit than right where you are? You are meeting and interacting with people you would not meet in another career or job! Remember, you are working for Me and I want you where you are.”
That realization gave me new energy and passion and fulfillment but also new insights on what to do. I began listening more and spending more time interacting with customers and with shop workers in our plant as well as end users. I asked more questions and involved them more in helping solve equipment problems. I even asked some of my Christian co-workers to join me praying together before work for a time.
Result in the years that followed was closer friendships and a higher level of respect and trust and cooperation but also new insights into problem solutions mostly coming from them instead of from me.
The real goal Christ was giving me was to build personal relationships with others so they would see Christ. His goal was for me to realize “it was all about Him and not about me”. What I discovered was the work became more enjoyable, I became more effective and fulfilled in doing it. Some work-related goals were met more easily than others, but the friendships created during those years are what I cherish far more than any of those work goals.
There was another lesson God wanted me to learn too. I recently read the story of Merg Fei, a gym cleaner in China who worked passionately on his knees cleaning up after races and even between races. Spectators and athletes both marveled as they would watch him work.
There was more than once I was disappointed with delayed promotions. In facts, most promotions came years late when I would compare my progress with many of my peers. But God was giving me more opportunities to build solid relationships with others that many of my piers were able or willing to. That realization gave me much peace and helped me become content with position God was using me in.
I am now retired from that phase of employment but God continues to give me work to do. Work of writing and sharing, work of serving at church and at food pantry and various other places in community. As I look back, I am glad I didn’t get some of those promotions. Especially two of them I actually applied for. Instead, God prepared me for work He is now calling me to do, which includes writing and sharing this devotional journal. I pray it, as well as my experiences, help and encourage you as you journey on the path of obedience God is guiding you to. It is not an easy path but the best one with a wonderful destination. AMEN? AMEN!
“If our identity is in our work, rather than Christ, success will go to our heads, and failure will go to our hearts.” Tim Keller
If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 195 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/Dondevotionals/
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 