LABOR PAINS

                                                      Revelation 22,20-21
He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Revelation 22:20
RECOMMENDED SCRIPTURE READING ROMANS 8:22-25  “22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. 23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. 24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.”
COMMENTS: We are living in an unprecedented time.  A time when global instant communication is accessible and affordable to people in every country and even with the very poor in all countries.  I communicate and share may devotional journal regularly with very poor pastors in some of the poorest countries all over the world.  Being able to write devotions and share them with people globally is still hard for me to grasp, even though I have been doing so for a number of years.  Reports of many being blessed and some receiving salvation from reading and meditating on some of my journal entries humbles and blessed and encouraged me so.  But I realize and often remind myself that it is not about me but all about Christ.  It is for His Honor alone and for His Word I write and share.  I do know that writing them has helped me greatly to commit to time with Him daily and to actively seek and draw closer in relationship and fellowship with Christ daily.

Today is also an unprecedented time when news and both world and local events and tragedies are made known instantly as well.  Also, travel great distances is also experienced in frequency and more commonly by the poorest today who would be bound to their birth home 2-3 generations ago.  Such marvels of  technology are becoming so much the norm that when they fail, the world declares a crisis and the world’s people judge them as much a necessity as air or food or water and shelter to sustain life.  BUT LIFE CAN AND CONTINUES TO BE SUSTAINED WITH ONLY THE 4 HISTORIC ESSENTIALS. 

But such marvels have not improved the quality of families or reduce violence and evil being acting out in the world.   In fact, the opposite is true and evil violence common in big cities and seldom seen in small communities now are almost as common in small communities as in big cities.  Shootings in schools were unheard of 2 generations ago but now are a fear in every school.  The deteriorating reverence and value of human life is becoming a crisis.  A few years ago even the most liberal pro-choice proponents would not consider aborting a fetus in 3rd trimester and certainly not consider killing a new born for reason of parents not wanting it.  But that restraint is no longer in place and congress has not been able to create law limited abortion to maintain these limits. 

So where society heading and what will change next?  Today’s scripture tells us the world is experiencing “birth pangs”.   But not labor pains to create life.  But not labor pains to create what the world is longing for.  Most will believe these pains are for purpose of creating a new world order there where moral standards used to judge good would no longer be used.  BUT SCRIPTURE, INSTEAD, WARNS US THAT THESE BIRTH PANGS ARE WARNING OF CHRIST’S RETURN TO ESTABLISH AN ETERNAL KINGDOM MUCH DIFFERENT THAN WHAT THE WORLD WANTS OR IS STRIVING FOR.
1 Corinthians 1:25 “For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.”

THE WORLD’S REMEDIES PROMISE A BRIGHT FUTURE AND LONG LIFE AND CURES FOR ALL DISEASES AND PROSPERITY WITHOUT COST AND FREEDOM TO FULFILL ALL OUR DESIRES WITHOUT CONSEQUENCE, BUT WHAT DOES GOD SAY?                                                                                                                                             God promised (Revelation 21:4) “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

But God still sees us as sinners in need of His Grace, Redemption, Forgiveness, and Transforming influence that comes with a daily walk and relationship with Him:

Romans 3:23  For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

 

Isaiah 64:6 We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.

We Need To Confess Our Sin

 

Proverbs 28:13 People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.

 

Hosea 5:15  Then I will return to my place until they admit their guilt and turn to me. For as soon as trouble comes, they will earnestly search for me.”

God Forgives Our Sin

 

1 John 1:7-9 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.  If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

Forgiving One Another’s Sins

 

Luke 17:3-4 So watch yourselves!    “If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive. Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.”

Examples of Sin

 

Colossians 3:5-6   So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.  Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming.

Galatians 5:19-21  When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,  envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

Victory Over Sin

 

1 Corinthians 6:9-10

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

 

1 Corinthians 15:57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Romans 8:1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

 

But Jesus did not tell us when He would return (Mark 13:32; Acts 1:6-7). What to do in the interim? Pray as the apostle John prayed: “Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20) And live in a manner that proves our longing for His appearing (1 Timothy 6:11-16).

CHRIST IS OUR ONLY HOPE AND WAY TO ETERNAL LIFE AND TO A HOME IN HEAVEN (JOHN 14:6).  CHRIST ‘S MESSAGE AND WORDS IS THE ONLY ROAD TO LIFE .   CHRIST GIVES US CLEAR WARNING NOT TO BELIEVE OR FOLLOW ANY WORLD VIEW THAT CONFLICTS WITH HIS MESSAGE.  IT DOESN’T GET ANY CLEARER THAN THAT.  SO WHO WILL YOU BELIEVE AND WHAT GOSPEL WILL YOU BELIEVE AND FOLLOW.  “AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE, WE WILL FOLLOW THE LORD” JESUS CHRIST!!  AMEN?  AMEN!

“God’s people may groan, but they may not grumble.”   Charles H. Spurgeon

If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 420 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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