Invisible Wisdom
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Proverbs 9:10
Recommended Reading: Numbers 22:21-35 “22 Then God’s anger was aroused because he went, and the Angel of the Lord took His stand in the way as an adversary against him. And he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23 Now the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand, and the donkey turned aside out of the way and went into the field. So Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back onto the road. 24 Then the Angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on this side and a wall on that side. 25 And when the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord, she pushed herself against the wall and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall; so he struck her again. 26 Then the Angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. 27 And when the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam; so Balaam’s anger was aroused, and he struck the donkey with his staff.28 Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”29 And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have abused me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!”30 So the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?”And he said, “No.””
COMMENTS: Today’s scripture reminds me that God has my back whether I see or feel His presence or not. When I don’t, it isn’t due to His absence but my attention being on physical things or issues or duties. I am so prone to distraction and tend to only be able to effectively focus and accomplish one thing at a time. So how can I focus on and follow the Holy Spirit while working on daily duties and obligations? That takes some practice and discipline but is certainly doable.
It is so easy to put off morning devotions and prayer due to some distraction or phone call and then forget to go back and honor that time with God. I am reminded just how easily and how far King David wondered from His relationship with God and didn’t even miss it until Nathan confronted Him. Only then did David realize what he lost and the peril he was in for God’s judgment. Only then did David run back and repent. But only then did God forgive and grant him redemption. But God did love and miss David enough to send Nathan to him. God knew David’s heart. He knew what it would take to reach David and melt his hardened heart.
Likewise, in today’s scripture notice the unique way God reached out to Balaam, showing him the angel that even his donkey saw. For his donkey to talk to him is an amazing and even funny way but was effective.
God so wants to reach out and help us but requires open hearts and minds if we ever hope to hear His voice.
How often has our parents or pastor or dear friend tried to convince us but we were bent on having our own way and doing what we want. At those times, we simply didn’t want to hear so didn’t even listen. How arrogant to ignore God’s voice but consider how often we’ve done this.
We can’t change the past but we do have control over the present and the future by choices we make in the present. Each morning we have a choice. Will we give God His time first? Will put off day’s demands and duties to give Him our attention and worship and praise first? Will we wait to receive His council before facing our day? He wants to fellowship with us but we desperately need His fellowship and council and strength far more. More than we know or realize because only He knows what we will face – the dangers and challenges. The choices and consequences. The opportunities to touch lives and harm if we ignore or are unprepared for them.
Poor choices and their consequences often start out small and insignificant. That is likely why David didn’t notice the path to death he had started on. Balaam didn’t think his path was dangerous until his donkey warned him and he finally saw the angel his donkey saw. Balaam was blind because of his hard heart. God’s wisdom wasn’t something him considered valuable or essential to a successful day.
How often do we reject fellowship with Christ nor listen to the Holy Spirit because we think we can handle our day’s duties or think we don’t have time to spend with God so will do that later. But truth is, to put God off is so foolish, much like a lumberjack who didn’t sharpen his axe before going to work, thinking he could take the time. Chopping down a tree with a dull axe is as impossible as facing even an uneventful day without Christ. Folly of such thinking is real but all too common even among devout Christians. Why? Well, no good answer but consider how weak and easily distracted we tend to be and how hard it is to create good habits and how easy it is to create bad habits. Again, why is that? But consider the powerful negative influence satan has on us
Know your enemy but know your true friends and stay close to them. God puts many good friends in our lives to strengthen and draw us closer to our best friend, Christ. The job of the Holy Spirit is to abide with, council us, and strengthen us. But the Holy Spirit’s job is also to bring praise and honor to Christ and guide us to that goal too.
If you haven’t had your time with Him today yet, make it a priority and set aside time to pray and reflect on His Word as soon as possible. Even evening is not too late. But God in His mercy gives us a fresh and new morning every 24 hour. We get an opportunity to start over and go a different and better path each morning. If we failed today, instead of continuing that path tomorrow, go a different path, God’s path. AMEN? AMEN!
“Spread out your petition before God, and then say, “Thy will, not mine, be done.” The sweetest lesson I have learned in God’s school is to let the Lord choose for me.”
D. L. Moody
If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 248 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/ 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.
My hope and prayer is, my blog and devotional materials 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
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