“After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias.2 And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.3 And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.4 And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.5 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?6 And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.7 Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him,9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.12 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.13 Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.14 Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.” John 6:1-15
COMMENTS: Prayer is one of the top subjects of sermons and I’ve come back to this subject many times in my devotions too, as is true also this morning. Even Jesus felt the need to pray often. One of the many mysteries is how and why God separated Himself so Jesus would come to earth to be born and live as a human being without His divine power and attributes. He became vulnerable to temptation but chose not to sin. He became vulnerable to human weakness and discouragement and fatigue as well. So, He prayed often to maintain fellowship and tap into the strength and insight and direction God the Father had available for Him. Jesus prayed because He needed to and prayed because He desired to be close to the Father. Even in the above scripture, He prayed before beginning the miracle of the feeding of the 5000. He then knew what to do and how to do it. He also had discernment to know when to leave too. All because He prayed first. His life example and sacrifice are our perfect example and standard to strive to follow.
Many heroes in scripture failed because they failed to pray. They because lax in their daily prayer time. King David was faithful in prayer as a boy and young man but as king he fell into grave sin and nearly lost his throne because he forgot to pray, not just once but for over a year. His predecessor lost his kingdom and life because of his failure to sustain a viable prayer life. Daniel, by contrast, sustained a powerful witness and faithful life because He never failed to spent time with God in prayer often, even with a certain destination of a lion’s den.
They were all heroes but flawed heroes. But it is impossible for a hero, someone we admire and want to be like because of great achievements or good deeds, to sustain those achievements without accessing the source of those accomplishments. Humans are too easily distracted and fatigued. Our foe, satan, is too strong and determined for us to battle alone.
George Muller was such a hero who lived in 1800’s. He was not a man of exceptional intellect or physical strength nor of attractive appearance. He was not a man of wealth or famous lineage. Instead, he was a man of great faith and prayer. He started an orphanage in London as a young man that impacted England powerfully. He was a great preacher and evangelist and writer who lead countless thousands to Christ and still does through his writings. I have a “pdf” of his biography, a 133-page book well worth reading and would love to share it with you by email if request it at dmcdaniel12@zoominternet.net. By example, he had 5 friends he longed to accept Christ. He committed to pray for their salvation every day until they all accepted Christ. He died at age 75 in 1905. The last of the 5 he prayed for was converted at his funeral.
He lived and operated an orphanage by faith often with an empty food cupboard, but with provision coming when orphans were waiting at the table. His estate was worth only $230 but his impact was greater than mighty kings of his day. He sustained the demanding work and faith only by diligence in prayer.
He was one of the great Christian heroes we need to learn about and be encouraged by. By doing so, we also can be added to his legacy which continues to live on in his ancestors as well as the countless ancestors of those converted in his orphanage and preaching meetings and in his writings from years past but also today through his writings.
God gave him great wealth, but not wealth he had to leave behind when he died. Wealth he would take with him and enjoy in eternity. We strive to gain things we can’t keep and can only enjoy for a short time when God desires us to gain wealth far better. Wealth we will be able to enjoy forever and with Him to share it with. Where we often stumble is being willing to do somethings we really don’t want to nor feel able to for a time. Things we need help in order to do. The good news is, He really wants to do them with us hand in hand and side by side with us. We just need to remember to keep our hand in his and be in conversation with Him often and daily. AMEN!!
If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 290 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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