Daniel went to his house, and made the decision known to… his companions, that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven. Daniel 2:17-18
RECOMMENDED READING: Daniel 2:16-19 “16 Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation.17 Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions:18 That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.19 Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.”
COMMENTS: We typically have a good number of people in our lives we would call friends. Maybe some we work with or know from church or neighbors we cross paths with now and again. They know us by name and casually but not at a personal level. Truth is, we only have very few in our lives we would call personal friends. Those we trust and who we can depend on when in need and they us. Hopefully, our spouse is among them.
Friends make us stronger, friends draw us closer to Christ and strengthen us when temptations and distractions are weakening us. Friends give wise council and are not a drain on our finances or time. They add to our resources instead of drain them. Do you and I have such friends? Are you such a friend to someone? Truth is, we have a much better opportunity of having such a friend if we first become such a friend to someone else.
Daniel had 3 such friends. His visions, his visits, his dreams from God were attributed to his faithfulness to God and diligence to prayer, especially in the environment of a pagan culture and his position as a conquered slave in that culture. His 3 friends shared his faith and commitment to God, so they more naturally would strengthen and encourage and support each other. When they faced the fiery furnace, Daniel was supporting them in prayer. Why wasn’t Daniel there facing the furnace with them? We are not told in scripture, so answer is strictly speculation. However, likely he was doing the king’s business somewhere else. Otherwise, he certainly would have been standing with and enduring the fiery furnace with them.
But they did have another faithful friend with them in that furnace. Even though it was centuries before the human birth of Christ, Christ was with them in that furnace. Read Daniel 3. Verse 25 refers to the fourth person in the furnace with them.
Christ is our dearest and most faithful and best friend. He is also our creator and savior and source of greatest wisdom and knowledge and help. God has revealed Himself to us, over the centuries, as our heavenly father and creator. He has revealed Himself as a human personal perfect friend and savior sacrificing His life to take the punishment of our sins for us. His love and compassion were reflected in what He taught and lived and exampled for all who knew Him personally then, and who discovered Him through scripture and by personal relationship with today. He has also revealed Himself to us through the Holy Spirit who came at Pentecost to abide with and abide in all the time in each believer who would invite Him into his soul. Since God has no limits in power or abilities, He is able to reveal Himself in ways we can’t comprehend nor understand, but in ways we need to discover and enjoy.
Yes, we can have and enjoy friendships with a number of worthy people, but our best friend, who loves us like none other, who is more faithful to us than any other can, who has knowledge and wisdom and abilities to help and strengthen us like none other, and who understands and guides us to the best choices like none other, and who will remain our best friend for eternity beyond the grave like none other.
Yet, friendships require a two-way commitment. Friendships in one direction are not healthy nor sustainable. A friendship with Christ based only on what we gain and not also on what we give Him in response is not sustainable. What could we possibly give Christ that He desires? It is our love and praise and worship. It is our obedience and fellowship regularly with Him. It is by living as He exampled to us. It is by walking the path He desires hand in His. When we give to Him, we receive far more back than we imagine and far more than we give. WE CAN NOT OUTGIVE GOD!!
“They are rich who have true friends.” Thomas Fuller
If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 288 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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