That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death. Philippians 3:10
Recommended Reading: Philippians 3:7-12 “7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.”
COMMENTS: To know Christ is to love Him. But to know Christ is also to know the Father and the Holy Spirit too. They are all one and identical in character, in thought, and in personality because they are all three part on One God. They are each revealed in different ways and for different purposes and each perform different work. Christ is our redeemer and advocate to the Father. The Holy Spirit is our constant companion and comforter and adviser and encourager. The Father is ruler and in complete control of all administering judgment as well and order to His entire creation.
If you had to leave your small children with someone to do some important tasks, would you rather leave you children with a stranger or with a trusted friend? The answer and reasons are obvious, especially in modern times when evil seems so rampant and so many seek opportunities to harm or abuse the defenseless, especially children.
The Bible is full of stories of those who trusted God and knew Him intimately along with those who did not and trusted in false gods and evil neighbors and friends. The results are consistent and obvious. Those who trusted in God had blessings and those who didn’t faced consequences, some of which were severe and permanent.
Scripture enables us to get to know God and not only promises He made in past and evidence of His faithfulness in keeping those promises, but promises that are yet unfulfilled and promises for us too.
God’s faithfulness is not only evident in scripture but in the lives of faithful followers in every generation and time. I also believe, if we take time to reflect, the evidence of His faithfulness to us is overwhelming too. Afterall, the sunrise and sunset and seasons and even gravity reveal His consistent faithfulness and redemption and provision. Rest at the end of a day of work or even at end of days of suffering and tragedy reveal God’s mercy to close those times and provide a fresh new day (morning) as a fresh start. His message of redemption and forgiveness through His sacrifice on the Cross, His miracles and own resurrection all prove His Love and Wonderful Plan but also His complete and permanent authority and ability to enforce and complete His Plan. The Bible is filled with references to knowing God and time is almost always part of the context. Knowledge, and then trust grow over time. Paul prayed that God would give the Ephesians “knowledge of Him” (Ephesians 1:17) and that they would grow into unity in the “knowledge of the Son of God” (Ephesians 4:13). Both verses suggest that time is a factor, relationship with God will develop and grow into love and trust when we take the time and open our hearts and minds to fellowship with Him. He assures us He want to have that intimate relationship with us and will run to us if we walk towards Him.
Christ is so worthy of our trust and our love and our obedience. Afterall, God is in complete control and authority so to resist or oppose Him is folly and futile. But since He loves us and has our best interest in mind, we have no reason or need to hide or resist Him. We do because of guilt and shame for our sins or even reluctance to give us sinful behavior that we still enjoy. But the cost of resisting God and following sinful paths is too high. History proves that over and over again. There is no middle ground. One path is to eternal life and blessing with Him and other path is to eternal judgment and torment. One path is to Christ while the other is to satan. By not deciding, we default to satan’s path. We are free to choose while living on this earth, but that choice is sealed and permanent once we die or when He returns to rule and judge the earth. That is why it is so important and urgent to choose wisely while we can. The day is coming when opportunity and time will run out and we can no longer choose another path.
Still struggling with doubts and lack of faith? Then devote more time in His Word and prayer and seek out and build relationships with other faithful followers. You will discover what gives them hope and joy and confidence in their faith and will get to know and discover a personal relationship with Christ too. Afterall, He wants a personal relationship with you even more than you need one with Him. AMEN? AMEN!
Don’t be discouraged if you feel you lack faith. Instead, seek to know God better. The more you know Him, the more you will trust Him. And that takes time with Him and in His Word.
“The time you spend alone with God will transform your character and increase your devotion.“ Charles Stanley
If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 320 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
donsdevotions 