Hear, O Beloved of God Hear, O Beloved of God

                colossians2,13-14

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called . . . endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.                               Ephesians 4:1, 3

RECOMMENDED READING: Colossians 3:12-14  “12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.”

COMMENTS:  A word used today to judge or accept groups or individuals is “tolerance”.  This word is used with the pretense of being accepting of those who believe or look different from us.  Accepting those of another race or  economic background or abilities or even stature or sexual orientation or beliefs or world view are all judged by the word “tolerant” or “intolerant”.  To be judged intolerant brings harsh and varying degrees of condemnation and punishment.  Punishment worthy or destroying family or business or even church, often without “due process” even in democratic or republic countries.  Increasingly accepted by news and government organizations is belief that tolerance means accepting those with no religious convictions and approval of any and all religious beliefs except one.  That one is Christianity.  To be Christian comes accepting a standard of right and wrong based on the 10 Commandments and Good based on life and teaching of the Bible and Christ’s teachings.  Evil is also judged by that same standard.  But to do so is identified as “intolerance” because of not accepting behaviors judged evil in scripture as good and acceptable. 

But what does Christ teach in scripture?  He teaching that He is the one and only way to forgiveness and eternal life.  He teaches that His sacrifice on the cross provides the only way to receive God’s forgiveness, which is freely available to any and all, without regard to race or beliefs or deed of past.  No individual is too sinful or too poor or too impoverished.  No individual, rich or poor, free or slave, tall or short, fat or skinny, attractive or ugly, is less loved or beyond Christ’s redemptive gift.  The only requirement is to believe Him and to accept that gift.  A gift that each of us must accept.  No one can accept for us.

So is believing behavior God calls sin to be good being tolerant or is it being intolerant?  Is Christianity a religion of intolerance or of ultimate tolerance?  Is the world view of society becoming more tolerant or intolerant?   Well, is it intolerance to put warning labels and child-proof caps on poison containers and not on containers of water or healthy foods?  Is it intolerance to put signs up on one road to New York City and not on other roads?  IS it intolerance to put warning signs and barriers on the edge of a cliff and not at the edge of an open field?  Is it intolerance to judge and imprison rapists and murderers and bank robbers and let those who obey established laws be free?  Is it intolerant to establish laws and degree of punishment to go with the crimes?  If the laws imposed enacted by governing bodies patterned after or agree with the 10 commandments, does that make them intolerant? Countries, like the USA, which used the Bible and 10 Commandments to guide establishing laws and standards of punishment for breaking those laws, have been thriving for centuries.  So should other laws and standards be embraced now because the Biblical standard is judged by some to be intolerant or obsolete?

I fear, as individuals and as a society, we have wondered so far from believing and even knowing or reading the Bible, that we no longer are able to good from evil and no longer able to render consistent judgment.  The standard for judgment is constantly changing and the definition of “intolerance” and “tolerance” is no longer commonly understood.  Those who are the most aggressive or outspoken dominate public teaching and growing beliefs. 

Has history not taught us anything?  Have the lessons learned from our past been forgotten and erase from history books so they will remain forgotten?

Well, both history from biblical  times, and contemporary history from then until now,   consistently teaches us that to believe and follow Jehovah’s Old Testament teachings and Christ’s New Testament teachings brings blessing and life and freedom, but to reject them and do opposite brings misery and death.  God’s help and protection follow those who love and obey Him while judgment and death await those who don’t.  

To teach and reveal history IS NOT BEING MEAN OR INTOLERANT BUT IS ACTUALLY BEING LOVING AND TOLERANT!  To provide warning of the danger on our path is being far more loving and compassionate than denying the danger and letting or encouraging others to stay on that path racing to that ultimate destructive destination.

Prophecy in scripture warns us to follow Christ will bring persecution and injustice but with confident hope and promise from Christ that He will   face and walk with us through that persecution to eternal life and to the eternal home He is already preparing for us. 

So does it really matter if we follow the current “tolerant” crowd or follow Christ?  Is the pleasure the world offers for now better than the eternal home Christ is preparing?  Well, no matter how good 20 or 30 or even 100 years of pleasure may seem, they will be long forgotten during the long eternity awaiting us at our death or His return.

“Hear, O Israel” are the first words of the Hebrew prayer called the”Shema” recorded in Deuteronomy 6:4-9:  “4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[a] 5 Lovethe Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”  These verses warns Israel to read and follow God’s Laws and teachings constantly to avoid forgetting and following another path, an evil path to destruction.  This warning also applies to you and me, because God’s Law applied to you and me too, as it did to people of all nations and races in the generations before us. 

The apostle Paul echoed the Shema in his call to Christian unity: “There is one body and one Spirit . . . one hope . . . one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all” (Ephesians 4:4-6).

Scripture tells us that creation shouts of God’s existence, God’s perfect order and goodness, and also God’s perfect caring love for each of us.  Creation also shows us God is still all powerful and in charge, whether we agree or not.  God is in charge whether we believe it or not.  God is in charge whether we follow Him or not.  We benefit if do and face God’s judgment if don’t, like it or not.  The evidence is overwhelming if we are open to see it.

 AMEN?  AMEN!

If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 428 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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