Without counsel, plans go awry, but in the multitude of counselors they are established.
Proverbs 15:22
Recommended Reading Proverbs 20:1-29: “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.2 The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion: whoso provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own soul.3 It is an honour for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling.4 The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.5 Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.6 Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?7 The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.8 A king that sitteth in the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his eyes.9 Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?10 Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the Lord.11 Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.12 The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made even both of them.13 Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.14 It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.15 There is gold, and a multitude of rubies: but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.16 Take his garment that is surety for a stranger: and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.17 Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.18 Every purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war.19 He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips.20 Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.21 An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning; but the end thereof shall not be blessed.22 Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the Lord, and he shall save thee.23 Divers weights are an abomination unto the Lord; and a false balance is not good.24 Man’s goings are of the Lord; how can a man then understand his own way?25 It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy, and after vows to make enquiry.26 A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over them.27 The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly.28 Mercy and truth preserve the king: and his throne is upholden by mercy.29 The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the grey head.”
COMMENTS: The above proverb is packed with powerful wisdom which seems to be foreign to or lacking in present day common sense. Bible prophecy even tells us in the latter days good will be judged as evil and evil good (2 Timothy 3 – note vs 13). We live in times of amazing technology available to most worldwide that were beyond even the dreams and imagination of kings and most wealthy and powerful even 100 years ago. But people have not changed over the many centuries since this proverb was written. As much as some would deny or ignore wisdom and morality dictated by God’s Laws, truth is the only way to a sustainable happy and prosperous life is by following God’s wisdom and council. Likewise, man left to his own devices, will inevitably decay to evil and lack of decent – moral behavior. Man would rather justify his own evil – prideful – selfish behavior than turn from it and towards repentance and obedience of God’s life giving laws and moral code. But history repeatedly shows us God’s Laws bring life and happiness and prosperity and man’s (satan’s) ways always brings misery and pain and death and desperate poverty. Every generation must learn and choose but each generation will naturally choose evil and death without God’s help and God’s Spirit’s continuing nudging and reminders.
2.5 million people work for the United State f federal government under the authority of the President’s cabinet. The President is surrounded by this cabinet and his Vice President and an army of military heads and other expert councelors ready to inform him and councel him on all matters demanding his leadership and decisions. One man is not able to consistently make wise decisions, so he must seek council but still must discern wise from foolish councel. If he seeks and exposes himself to wise councel in scripture and seeks input from the Holy Spirit frequently, he can do much better. But if he still allows himself to be exposed to councelors who keep giving him foolish council or refuse to also seek wise council from scripture and the Holy Spirit, then he makes himself more vulnerable to repeat the disasters of past history. Even Solomon succumbed to foolish councel of pagan wives and the pagan councelors they kept exposing Solomon too. The consequences of that folly are revealed in scripture suffered not only by him but by his family and the nation he ruled.
Think about foolish choices you and I have made and consequences they brought.
Well, there is nothing we can do about past but we can repent, seek God’s mercy and help, and change – go a new and better path. Who are your wise counselors? What kind of access do you allow them in your life? Purpose to make 2019 a year of wise counsel. Seek out godly friends and mentors who can help you make the wisest decisions and whose counsel you are prepared to take. “It is better to get wisdom than gold.” Matthew Henry
If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 338 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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