In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other, so that man can find out nothing that will come after him. Ecclesiastes 7:14
RECOMMENDED READING: PROVERBS 16:1-9 “The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord.2 All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits.3 Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.4 The Lord hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.5 Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.6 By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil.7 When a man’s ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.8 Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.9 A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.”
COMMENTS: Differences in theology with sincere Christians has always been a source of division. In the American colonies in 1636 Roger Williams, a devout Baptist Christian was forced to leave the Massachusetts Bay Colony because of his views in contrast to the Puritans. His focus was on God’s merciful providence while the Puritans focused on man’s free will to accept or reject God. Williams was a Calvinist while the Puritans were Armenian in theology. Williams resettled in the Colony of Rhode Island and named the plantations built there as the Providence Plantations. Providence eventually became the capital of Rhode Island. Providence means “God foresees” and describes God’s knowledge of the future as He implements His Will ministering to the needs of His people in the present.
Well, we all have a little different understanding and interpretation of scripture. The Bible is a “Living Book” because it contains God’s Word revealed to over 40 men over a 1600-year period of time. Since it is God’s living Word, even the writer’s understanding was not full since they were writing what God revealed to them. The book more evident of that truth is Revelation written by John. He was told to write down the vision God revealed but without understanding it’s meaning or what He was seeing and experiencing. He was even told it’s understanding would be clearer as the world approached the time of it’s fulfillment, much as a mountain becomes clearer as a traveler gets closer to it.
God even used division between believers to do His Will but that division is not motivated by Him. Division is always satan’s handiwork. In this case both Williams and the Puritans were right in theology. Free Will and predestination are attributes of God’s nature. He knows what we will do and does all His Will permits to persuade and guide and encourage us to take right paths but still allows us to make wrong choice and face consequences of those choices. The Bible is full of stories confirming this to be true.
Well, does that mean if Williams hadn’t been exiled, Rhode Island wouldn’t have a capital called Providence or the rich history it has? Maybe, but God would still have been involved in that history and very well could have been even better if the Puritans and Williams would have bonded and united in outreach together.
Even devout faithful Christians are vulnerable to disobedience and sin. We all are only strong when we have our hand in His and our eyes on Him. When we are aware of and seeking His Holy Spirit’s guidance and help. That strength and guidance must also be in present. Past faithfulness is wonderful to build off of but neglect quickly results in weakness and vulnerability. The sooner we realize that and respond accordingly, the sooner we can sustain a faithful relationship with God like Daniel and Joseph did. Jesus’ example seems and is so far above ours that His life is hard to relate too. But Christ’s life is the ultimate example to follow and strive for. Our salvation depends on accepting His forgiveness, but our spiritual heal depends on how close we live and follow Christ’s example. He knew we were not capable of doing so but does know we can if He abide with us continuously. The Holy Spirit came so that option would be available and possible. His mercy and forgiveness is still available when we repeat past sins. When we take our eyes off Him and our hand out of His hand. Yes, He knows when we are going to do that too. But He has made provision and is waiting with open arms for our return. He is always eager for us to hear His warning and respond before we let go and wonder back into sin. That is part of the “growing in Christ” maturing process our journey with Him is intended to bring. Reflect on the words of Augustine below and take comfort God has always been and always be faithful to us. AMEN? AMEN!
“Trust the past to the mercy of God, the present to God’s love, and the future to God’s providence.” Augustine
If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 212 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 