There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man. Mark 7:15
RECOMMENDED READING JEREMIAH 17:9-10“The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure. Who can understand it?10 “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind,
to reward each person according to their conduct,according to what their deeds deserve.”
PSALM 139:23-24 “23 Search me, God, and know my heart;test me and know my anxious thoughts.24 See if there is any offensive way in me,and lead me in the way everlasting.”
COMMENTS: The Old Testament gives rules of what was acceptable to eat and what was not. “We are what we eat” is a famous statement that dates back to 1836 in France. Jesus took a softer approach to subject but hit harder on evil actions we let into our souls. Jesus responded to the Pharisee’s diligence in avoiding defiled foods by reminding them that a person is not defiled (made unclean) by what food he eats. Rather, it is what comes out of the heart that renders us clean or unclean. We defile ourselves when we eat greed, deceit, and other sins (Mark 7:20-23). Eating healthy wholesome foods is important to be well physically. But more importantly, feeding our heart on the Word of God and that which honors Him gives our soul healthy food for its health (Philippians 4:8-9).
Adam and Eve tried to hide from God after they ate the forbidden fruit but they could not. We cannot hide secret sins and thoughts from God either. He knows the most secret thoughts and sees in remote neglected corners of our soul too.
As I reflect on the above scripture in Jeremiah 17 and Psalm 139, I am reminded how foolish it is to ignore or hid from our remaining sinfulness or to try to hide it from God. Yet it is human nature to do so. To do so only makes consequences and hope of redemption worse, not better. Far better to do as David did when confronted by Nathan for his sin of adultery with Bathsheba and murder of her husband. When he realized his sin, he ran to the temple to face God seeking mercy and forgiveness. He received that forgiveness and healing. He still had some residual consequences to endure but his soul was healed and he was allowed to continue to rule as well as enjoy God’s forgiveness, in contrast to loss of life and throne Saul faced for refusing to repent of his sin when confronted by Samuel.
These verses are a source of great encouragement but carry a formidable warning not to be dishonest with God. We will not do well in that environment and don’t need to. We have so much to gain and so much to lose when we put ourselves in His merciful hands. Afterall, anything less may make us think we are still in control but we really aren’t!! So, the question is, “Do you trust Him enough to surrender to Him?” That is the real question. He is worthy of our trust but we need to discover that personally. There is no one else we can trust to that extent and past betrayals from others likely are why most are reluctant to trust Him. BUT HE KNOWS AND UNDERSTAND THAT. HE WANTS TO HELP US WORK THROUGH THOSE ISSUES OF TRUST BUT REQUIRES US TO TRUST HIM FIRST. By giving us examples from scripture and access to others before us transformed by His mercy and healing intervention and abiding presence, He helps us forgive those who hurt us and heal from those hurts. He helps us heal from scars and a withered damaged soul resulting from our own sins. He only has our best interest in mind because He loves us more deeply and purer than anyone else. It breaks His heart to see us sick and dying. It also breaks His heart to see us continuing to hide from Him too. Reflect how you would feel as a parent if you had such a child. So, if you are reading this and know you are that child, don’t wait any longer. RUN TO HIM!! HE IS WAITING JUST FOR YOU!! Truth is we all are still imperfect and still have residual decay from past sin and present sin no matter how long or how deep or healthy our relationship is with Him because we still are living in a human body living in a sinful world. So, we all need to take Jeremiah 17 and Psalm 139 to heart and respond in kind too. HE IS WAITING FOR US TOO! He desires a deeper walk – a deeper fellowship with us too… AMEN? AMEN!!
“The pure heart is God’s paradise where He delights to walk.” Thomas Watson
If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 302 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 69-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 4 years ago 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 and have just updated December 28, 2019 for republishing. Thus far I have published 530 posts automatically sent to all my Facebook friends, published on WordPress to be accessible to anyone curious or seeking a deeper walk with God.
I hope and pray my devotions will continue to be a blessing for you. God certainly has become closer and more real to me during past 7 years 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: dmcdaniel12@zoominternet.net
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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