Then they began to plead with [Jesus] to depart from their region. Mark 5:17
Recommended Reading: Mark 5:14-17 “.4 So those who fed the swine fled, and they told it in the city and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that had happened. 15 Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. 16 And those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed, and about the swine. 17 Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region.”
COMMENTS: This morning, as I write this, it is 5AM and is still very dark outside. I enjoy getting up early when it is quiet and pray and in the quiet reflect. As I read the above scripture and the story of Christ casting out the legion of demons from the man (yesterday’s devotion), I am pondering why darkness is appealing to many. In darkness lurks evil like hiding robbers or murderers or molesters. In the darkness lurks dangers like holes we can walk into or objects we can walk into unaware harming ourselves. Dangerous animals may lurk in the darkness waiting at attack.
In the light of day, it is easier to see such dangers and avoid them. We shouldn’t venture down a dark alley unless we had a good reason to and even then, not without proper lighting or a flashlight and maybe even some sort of weapon for protection. But in the light of day, the flashlight isn’t needed and light brings greater awareness of our surroundings so we can respond more wisely.
Likewise, we are surrounds by many dangers that thrive in the darkness of ignorance and absence of presence of God. With God’s presence comes light and knowledge and better life-giving options. Option to choose wisely and not foolishly. Options He provides and options satan wants to hide or deprive from us. Options He hates and chose not to consider a long time ago and not available to him, but are still available to us.
Options like redemptions through repentance at the Cross. Options like fellowship with Him instead of following our own way. Options of seeking His Will and choice to follow His Will. Options of obedience following His path of life. Options He designed us to follow instead of options that just feel good or satisfy short term needs only.
Well, this morning in the darkness of early morning, I am reflecting how foolish it would be to try to do yard work or do work I’m planning today in the darkness of night when in a few yours the light of day will enable work to be done safely and efficiently. Waiting for God’s timing, likewise, provides opportunity to prepare with fellowship and nourishment with and from Him. Likewise, avoiding the dangers and failures from darkness. By waiting, more work can be done without failures and damaged inevitable in darkness.
This seems obvious but so many times not so much in spiritual realm. Our battles with sin and temptation and even in timing of doing His Work require similar preparation and timing but without access to information we rely on our senses like sight and sound to provide. We must rely on information only He can provide and will if we take the time to quietly wait and seek. When we let the world’s noise and distractions, some of which are not evil or wrong but still distract us if we let them deprive us of needed quiet time with Him first.
Don’t forget your time with Him today. We don’t know what today will bring or obstacles or distractions we will encounter but HE DOES. When we miss our time with Him, which I am often still guilty of, we miss a lot without realizing it. We also miss out on His help and council and special blessings and opportunities often by doing so.
But the wonderful news is those opportunities are offered by Him again each morning. Each new day brings new opportunities. He is still available and still patiently waiting for us to invite Him into our quiet time and into our day.
Just now in the background Christian radio is playing softly and the hymn “Redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb” is playing inviting me to fellowship with Him. I am pausing writing to spend some time in worship and praise and some time at His feet.
I encourage and invite you to do the same. To discover and use the time and opportunity to fellowship with Him. If the best time for you is the same time best for me, that is ok. God is more than able and willing to fellowship with both of us, any millions more, at the same time. My time with Him is not diminished when shared with others. Isn’t that wonderful news? AMEN!!
Well, we also need to realize most people don’t embrace Christ’s light and prefer the darkness (John 1:4-5). But we are called to embrace the light and share His light (Acts 17:11-12) even if rejected in this dark world that seems to be getting darker and the moral compass respected even by none Christians seems to becoming less and less accepted or even recognized or followed. If these are indeed the last days we are living in, then we don’t have much time left and need to use it wisely. There are many that need to hear and see from and in us His redemption and presence.
“A glory gilds the sacred page, majestic like the sun; it gives a light to every age, it gives, but borrows none.” William Cowper
If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 280 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 are, 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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