A Sneak  Peek

romans-5-1-2

“Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; for Yahweh, the Lord, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.” Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
Isaiah 12:2-3

RECOMMENDED  READING ROMANS 5:1-21  “  Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.17 For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”

COMMENTS:  Have you ever been reading a novel or story and couldn’t wait to discover ending, or knew you didn’t have time to get to end, so skipped back to last few pages and read ending.   Well, you discover some people’s names missing and wonder then if they survived to that point.  The Revelation gives us the completion of God’s plan related to this world.   But much more is gained to read the Old Testament and New Testament in their entirety to discover God’s Plan and works and revelation along the time journey from Adam and Eve to His Return and Kingdom yet to come.

The Bible is more than a history book or even a prophecy book of things yet to come.  The Bible is more than a description of man’s strengths and weaknesses and God’s attributes.  The Bible is more than God’s interaction and relationship with people and they with Him.  The Bible is more than an explanation of what God requires of man and description of how He wants man to live.  The Bible is more than a book of hope and purpose and instruction for life.  The Bible is more than a book of wrong and right choices and consequences of both.    The Bible is more but certainly all these.  The Bible is also a love story showing us why God created us,  what God desires and has designed us to be and do, how God wants us to live and think and do and be, the journey and destination God wants to take us on and take with us.  The Bible is all this and even more.  The Bible is also a living book able to teach and provide life and instruction valid for today as much as ancient times long ago and will be as valid ’til the end of time.  The Bible, like none other, guides its reader to a relationship with the Living God and wise instruction on life and making good choices to provide and sustain the best quality of life and true path to life eternal in heaven.  The Bible is not fiction or a fantasy but truth.

No past generation has had access to the resources today’s generation has.  The Bible is available by the click of a computer key in hundreds of languages and translations.  Bible scholars and teachers from centuries past or present are available too.  We are able to write and share devotions and sermons, likewise, to most corners of the world by a key stroke also.  This devotional journal is being accessed and read and used by seekers and fellow Christian believers in Europe and Asia and Africa and America. 

The Bible also reveals how God most commonly starts with those least gifted and able to do His greatest work.  Why?  The most likely reason, which most if not all have in common is they all desired to please Him and were willing to trust and obey Him enough to do what He asks without knowing where He would lead them.  Those with great abilities and strength are tempted to rely on themselves and neglect God.  To venture ahead of God with confidence they can do so relying on themselves instead of waiting for God to give them His hand and instructing to follow Him.   How tragic because God desires to be with and partner with everyone in doing His Work but most refuse or wonder on their own instead of waiting and seeking and surrendering to  Him.  Taking that waiting time to study His Word and praying to Him and listening for His response is vital to being obedient and walking in His Will.   Doing so when waiting for important life changing answers but also each morning when getting ready for each day and each day’s often predictable path.

Truth is, each day normally takes us on a proven and repeated road or path, but each day will give us opportunity to also come to new crossroads and interact with a few different people, so each day is new and different from others.  Each day requires His help to properly prepare and fulfill His goals and plan.

We have a wonderful Savior and a Wonderful Message of Good News to share.  Will our lives and attitude and words and life accurately reflect that Message and Good News or will it reflect the desperation and hopelessness and fear the world and those without hope share and show?  Whose are we and who do we serve?  Let’s go out today and show what we know and believe.  Let’s introduce others to our Lord and Savior and Friend.  AMEN?  AMEN!

 

“It is not thy hold on Christ that saves thee; it is Christ. It is not the joy in Christ that saves thee; it is Christ. It is not even the faith in Christ, though it is thy instrument; it is Christ’s blood and merit.”

Charles Spurgeon

If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 350 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

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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.

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