Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Romans 12:2
Recommended Reading: ROMANS 12:1-2 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
COMMENTS: Huge amounts of money are spent each year by an increasing number of people to try to transform their bodies to look like their ideal. They undergo evasive surgeries and work harder at exercise and diets than they do at their employment or even their hobbies. At the extremes early death comes because of abuse of such practices. Never happy with just taking proper care of their God given bodies, but determined to transform them into something God didn’t intend for them. One recent example is a young man in Argentina who underwent surgery to transform his body to look like an elf. He underwent “plastic surgery”. His ears were cut and extended, his jaw was broken and reassembled, his chin was reshaped. Even his eyes were changed and 4 ribs were removed to make his waist thinner. He was convinced he was more attractive and closer to having his ideal body after doing this and spent a fortune to reach his goal. But what did others think of his “transformation”? We can only imagine. What would you think if walked past him on a busy street? We can only wonder if he was happy and fulfilled then. Was it worth the cost in money and inflicted suffering in his body? I dare say, I serious doubt that. Truth is he most likely seeking something not to be found in himself or his dreams but in His creator, who put within him a hunger to find and have relationship with his Creator. I believe this because I too have that longing and hunger and dare say you do too.
What are you hungry for? Think about a time when you were really hungry and thirsty to the point of great weakness and difficulty thinking about anything else. So why don’t we have that same hunger and thirst for Christ? For His Holy Spirit? Why don’t we wake each morning with that same eagerness to spend time with Him? Why don’t we want to take Him with us throughout our day sharing each experience with Him? Why isn’t He the last person we say goodnight to before going to sleep? Would you consider someone obsessive and weird if they actually lived like that? Well, Christ lived like that and His relationship with the Father was exactly like that. His example is recorded for us to learn from and follow.
Can you think of anyone who lived closer to that than most? Do you feel uncomfortable around them or threatened by their passion and commitment to Christ?
Mother Teresa or Billy Graham or someone like them are likely who comes to mind, but what about a grandmother or aunt or elderly man or woman in your church who stands head and shoulders above other Christians in their conduct and devotions and in passion and joy for living. Well, guess what? In heaven that is how we will live, so why not start moving in that direction in meantime?
To be Christ-like is and will continue to be a life-long endeavor we can make great progress towards but never achieve this side of the grave. Why? Because Christ is God and so far above us in attributes and perfection. But He is not expecting or calling us to be like Him in perfection, but like Him in submission and obedience and in loving Him and others. That can’t come thru discipline or conduct pretending to be more than we are or have become. That can’t come thru good works because good works don’t transform us but our transformation results in good works. We so tend to put the “cart ahead of the horse” and expect it to work. Transformation can only come when we surrender and seek Christ’s forgiveness and invite Him to come into us and transform us. His Holy Spirit is available to do just that and sustain the work needed to honor that request. How can we have a hunger like discussed above? What does it look like? It looks like a sinner seeking Christ’s forgiveness and letting His Holy Spirit guide and council and strengthen him all day long. It looks like spending time in prayer and devotion and worship each morning and evening plus being in an attitude of prayer and reflection mindful of His presence in him while going about work and play and ministry all day long. It looks like someone in love thinking about His lover and friend and taking opportunity to have his beloved with him working beside him.
Have you known couples that were inseparable? They worked and played together and obviously enjoyed doing so. They even acted alike. I have to chuckle a bit, as I get older, when I see elderly couples holding hands as they walk. I used to think “how romantic” but have discovered another reason. They hold each other us and help each other’s balance.
Truth is we not only need God’s love and companionship but we need His help to live and gain victory over sin and over dangers and harm satan puts on our path each and every day.
Granted, this ideal for a married couple or for a Christian is rarely seen or realized. Why? Could it be most really don’t desire or want such a relationship? Or could it be few are willing to pay the price to achieve such a relationship. I dare say we are as close to Christ as we want. I dare say a relationship with Christ is as real and meaningful as we are willing to commit to. But He has so much more to give us if we only trust and follow Him a bit further.
So, let’s prayerfully reflect and seek a deeper relationship with Christ. What do we have to lose but our own selfish pride and wills. How well have they served us anyway? Not well. Pray for me and I’ll pray for you as we seek such a deeper relationship and fellowship with our Creator and Savior and Dearest Friend, but also the Almighty God and Ruler and Owner of the Universe. AMEN? AMEN!
“Holiness consists of three things—separation from sin, dedication to God, transformation into Christ’s image.” James H. Aughey
If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 254 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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