They were all with one accord. Acts 2:1 RECOMMENDED READING: Acts 4:23-31 “23 And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. 24 So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, 25 who by the mouth of Your servant David have said:‘Why did the nations rage,And the people plot vain things?26 The kings of the earth took their stand,And the rulers were gathered togetherAgainst the Lord and against His Christ.’27 “For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together 28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done. 29 Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, 30 by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.”31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.”
COMMENTS: Being of one accord or mind is a good thing for a marriage, for a family, and for a church. With one common goal and mission, all work together in agreement of goal and mission. Such agreement has resulted in building great church buildings and paying off debt sooner than planned. Building structures is typically easier for a healthy growing church than for same church to agree on ministry priorities and even doctrine and teaching priorities and subjects. Interpretation of scripture quickly becomes murky and confused when men and women insert their thoughts and interpretations, especially when sincere members of the body have opposed opinions to biblical teachings. Paul’s letters served to resolve and clarify such teachings of Jesus and conflicts that arose in the young churches Paul started. Those churched didn’t argue about where to meet but did argue about what Jesus taught. The very fact that Paul’s letters became books in the New Testament gives us assurance that His written interpretations were in harmony with Jesus’ teachings and God’s word even from Old Testament. There were many evangelists of Jesus’ teaching that misinterpreted and distorted Jesus’ teachings. Some deliberately for their own ambitions and selfish and sinful purpose. But some sincerely being deceived by other false teachers. The danger of following and believing false teachers is real and contagious. Many cults and false religions had their start at the hands of a false teacher misinterpreting biblical truths. It’s followers failed to identify or test teaching that failed to follow Jesus’ teachings and passed that false teaching on to their children, thereby strengthening and spreading that flawed faith. Making sure the source of truth is pure and staying at the source is essential for a church and for a family. By doing so, the faith and doctrine preached and shared remains true and pure.
The purpose of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was to empower and anoint and give discernment so that the Good News (Gospel) of Jesus would be spread and gain followers, but also so that Gospel would remain true and pure. The Holy Spirit would give discernment to identify false teaching from truth. Paul grew us and gained a biblical knowledge and understanding of the Old Testament and prophecies from the greatest teacher of his day, Gammaliel. That foundation gave me the ability to connect Jesus’ mission and teaching and life to those old testament prophecies and connect Jesus’ teaching with Old Testament teaching and instruction and wisdom. The wisdom of David and Solomon in Psalms and Proverbs was completed in Jesus’ teaching and life. Paul evangelized and wrote what his learning and revelations from Jesus showed him. That made him better equipped to write what would become a major part of our New Testament. But the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in him gave him the authority and ability to do so.
Today we have too many church leaders and congregations following their own interpretations and feelings instead of staying grounded in biblical teachings of Jesus and elaborated in Paul’s writings. Great evangelists and preachers like Moody and Spurgeon and Wesley have added volumes to Paul’s letters, but their writings do not replace scripture and should not be used in place of scripture. Scripture still serves to be the foundation holding each generation to Jesus’ truths. The Holy Spirit still serves to guide and keep us true to those unchanging truths, which do not become outdated or obsolete when new thinking and new ideas become popular.
On seven occasions, the writer of the book of Acts tells us the early Christians were of “one accord.” They were in one accord in the Upper Room awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit in an attitude of prayer and expectancy (Acts 1:14 and 2:1). They were in one accord after the events of the Day of Pentecost when three thousand new believers were added to their numbers (Acts 2:41, 46). They were in one accord during persecution (Acts 4:24) and in times of praise (Acts 5:12). They were in one accord listening to the preaching of the Gospel (Acts 8:6) and when sending out missionaries (Acts 15:25).
When the Philippians church encountered some difficulties, the apostle Paul told them to “fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind” (Philippians 2:2). The Early Church understood what we must recognize today—that Christians are encouraged and blessed when they come together with a common purpose. But even more important, a common purpose that reflects Jesus’ mission and teaching. That is as important today as it was in the early church. Conflict in churches or in families is divisive and needs resolved. Not by submitting to the loudest or most convincing voice or to the most influential or powerful or wealthy voice, but in seeking and listening to God’s voice. Perhaps the problem is a trace of bitterness or offended pride within. The Bible says, “Strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men” (Acts 24:16). Rejoice today with one accord…rejoice and praise our mighty Lord. Henry W. Baker, hymnist
If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. 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.
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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