Luke 2:18 “All they that heard it wondered at those things.”
RECOMMENDED SCRIPTURE READING: LUKE 2:8-20 “8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.”
COMMENTS: When is the last time you witnessed a miracle? Did you even notice? Well, the shepherds couldn’t help but notice a multitude of angels announcing Christ’s birth. But what about what they witnessed at the stable? All they saw was a new born infant with his parents. What was so special about that? Did anyone else notice or come? No, but then again the visit by angels prepared and opened their eyes to see what no one else could see.
They saw their Messiah and experience changed them completely.
- They didn’t question why He was in a stable or why no one else was there.
- They didn’t pass them by looking for someone more like the angels.
- They didn’t leave disappointed.
- They confidently met their Messiah with expectation and with faith.
- They believed what the angel told them.
- When they left, they left satisfied with hearts full of worship and praise. Their response then was to tell everyone they met and their faith was then contagious.
Consider how Christ transformed the lives of all who opened themselves and believed. The shepherds believed and then were able to convince others to believe.
Consider how an encounter with Christ on the way to Damascus to imprison Christians transformed Saul to become Paul.
Consider how explosively the number of believers grew under the persecution of Roman rule
If you and I don’t see God’s miracles, is it because God doesn’t provide miracles or is it because we walk past them unnoticed because we are too blind and deaf and hard hearted? I fear the latter. So whose fault is that? Well, not God’s!!
Which was the greater miracle that night when Christ was born? Was it the angelic visit or see the Messiah or was it a transformed life for the shepherds, the impact of their witness on Mary and Joseph and everyone impacted by their witness since, including today as we read the story and ponder like Mary did starting that night? Well, I think the miracle began when John the Baptist’s coming birth was foretold to his father. It continued when Mary and Joseph were visited by Gabriel. The miracle continued with Mary’s visit with Elizabeth then when circumstances brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem and with birth of Christ. The miracle continued with angelic announcement to the shepherds and with the events included in above scripture. All these events and more were God’s plan unfolding for the purpose of transforming the lives of any open to discover that miraculous plan and allow Christ’s redemption to do a miracle in each willing heart.
Why does God do miracles? And with what purpose? Romans 5:8 “God demonstrated His Own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”
So, if Christ’s sacrifice was God’s greatest miracle, then miracles are God’s way of expressing His Love for His creation, for us. The purpose of His miracles is to draw His creation, us, into a deep and transformation life giving relationship with Him for now and for eternity.
With that in mind, let’s begin looking for miracles He showers us with each and every day. Miracles that draw us closer to Him and further away from satan’s snares. Miracles that will cause us to radiate His love and be contagious. A beautiful sunrise or a beautiful sunset or a rainbow are all God’s handiwork showing us His love for us. How about a spouse or child giving us a hug and telling us how much they love us? How about a dangerous situation you were spared from. How about simply waking up in the morning with a strong healthy body or recovering from a sickness or disease or a limb healing from a wound. I am convinced common miracles are no less miracles than those that rarely happen. In fact, I believe God’s best miracles are those He loves doing the most and does the most often. Like creating life and sustaining life both physically and spiritually.
So now, how many miracles have you witnessed today? With a new awareness, let’s begin doing what the shepherds did. Let’s do God’s bidding and respond to miracles He does each day with Awe and Praise and Obedience. Let’s also not be bashful in sharing the joy and message He puts on our hearts.
It may be that from the quietness and solitariness of your life, you are scarcely able to imitate the shepherds of Bethlehem, who told what they had seen and heard
But consider they simply shared their joy with everyone they crossed paths with and it impacted many. If you notice the miracles God does, I dare say you will have something insightful and impactful today and God will honor your faithful obedience. Worshippers before the throne, by wondering at what God has done. AMEN? AMEN!!
If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 358 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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