Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. John 17:11
RECOMMENDED SCRIPTURE PHILIPPIANS 2:1-4 “If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.”
COMMENTS: God had a plan for our redemption He had thought through and in place long before beginning creation. Lucifer stood out being more beautiful and gifted than the other angels but the seed of choice was planted so His creation was able to choose Him instead of being forced to obey Him and His moral code of conduct. They could choose Him and begin a wonderful eternal life with Him or choose to rebel with warning of judgment and death. But when God’s judgment doesn’t come immediately, it is easy to think He has changed His mind or resolve. Afterall, all the angels, including Lucifer knew how much God loves them. Lucifer began seeing love as a weakness instead of a strength and convinced 1/3 of heaven’s angels his way was better. Lucifer has successfully been convincing humans of that lie since Adam. Pride was the fateful sin Lucifer harbored in his heard, alienating him from a relationship with God and causing God to cast him and his heavenly followers out of heaven.
Satan’s resolve is evident. His Pride blinds him against seeking the futility of his evil work. So why does God let him continue and so many suffer from his work? Well, God hasn’t backed off from His principle of free will. Everyone has a choice to make and ways satan uses to hide God’s presence and choice from theme seems effective with all the pagan religions that continue to deceive so many who follow those religions faithful. But even in Muslim dominated countries where Christianity is illegal and no-one available to share the Gospel, Jesus reveals Himself directly to sincere seekers in those countries. Christianity is growing the fastest in some of those countries.
No, God hasn’t changed His plan. There are still battles to be waged. Satan doesn’t read minds and can’t tell the future, but doesn’t believe what God has a revealed in Revelation and Daniel and Ezekiel and … God tells us so we can prepare but satan doesn’t believe the outcome revealed. BUT WE SHOULD AND CAN BELIEVE! The few thousand years satan has reigned destruction and death on the world is going to get worse because God is going to allow one final thrust by satan. The believers will be removed or rapture first along with the influence of the Holy Spirit. It will be a terrible time God so much wants us to avoid but terrible times giving us one final opportunity to repent before His says enough and reigns judgment on satan and His followers. This is what scripture reveals.
But considered from God’s perspective, the few thousand years of satan’s evil destruction compared with eternity past and eternity future is but a very brief moment. For God / Father – Son – Holy Spirit to be in personal fellowship with a creation that chose to obey Him and love Him as He loves them for eternity is His plan. The plan of redemption, implemented at Christmas and completed on Easter, is sufficient for any and all simply willing to repent of their sins and ask for forgiveness. What is required is easy for us but is essential.
Satan thought he had outsmarted God on Good Friday and didn’t believe Easter would come. God has it all figured out so loosing is not an option but some short-term persecution or suffering might. Being on the winning side is being on the Good Side – God’s side. The loosing side is being on satan’s side – the evil side that leads to death. Seems like a no-brainer but most continue to still resist and follow satan. How tragic and how needless. You have must choose one for Salvation but obedience is a necessary choice each day so we can grow in strength and wisdom and love and confidence in following and obeying Him. AMEN? AMEN!
Christ’s final prayer for His Followers was for the Father to protect them and bond t hem together and to Him. That prayer was answered but in an unexpected and somewhat delayed manner. Christ helped in answering that prayer after Easter and before His Assention. But the Holy Spirit then came at Pentecost to provide a sustainable – individual Help Mate and Comforter for every believer in every generation in every country. Yes, His Plan and Execution is perfect and Good! Why would we accept anything less? Well, we shouldn’t but still need reminded often so we don’t. He has provided for that too.
Do all you can to be part of God’s answer to Jesus’ prayer. Do all you can to strengthen the unity of the Body of Christ.
“Unity is the essence of the body of Christ.” R. B. Kuiper
If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 436 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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