Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do, I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:17
RECOMMENDED READING: JOHN 14:1-6 ““Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.”5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
COMMENTS: Christmas is a wonderful time of year, especially when can enjoy it with loved ones, especially with children. The looks of excitement when see the decorations and watch them unwrap their presents. I’m reflecting on past Christmas mornings as my children were growing up and even further back as I was growing up. Mary must have had much to ponder in her heart that first Christmas. Reflecting on the child announced to her by Gabriel, the mandated journey that brought her and Joseph to Bethlehem, the new son she helps and watched with wonder. The shepherds that came and shared their amazing experience and message they told them of who this child is and what His mission is. Mary pondered all this and more in her heart as she cared for her child.
When Christmas is over and decorations are taken down, daily routines and work overshadow Christmas. As winter really starts settling in, many will become depressed and wonder if things will ever get better, especially when all the bills come due for presents purchased for loved ones.
Mary must have wondered what her new family would face too. Then later when the wise men came with gifts that would provide needed resources to enable her family to escape Herod to Egypt. She had more to ponder, adding to the mystery the Wise men’s story and encounter with the star.
Mary had an awesome responsibility to care for and raise the child who would one day be a Messiah and King. Joseph would care for this child and raise Him as his own even thought he was not the father. But he had to wonder how to raise a king and the Messiah Israel had been waiting for.
When God revealed to Joseph to flee to Egypt, he also had to ponder all the changes and dangers he would confront. But he also knew God would help and protect him. Roman occupation was dangerous. Encountering Roman soldiers along the road could mean disaster depending on mood soldiers were in.
Today we are living in increasing dangerous times. Those living in Muslim or in Communist countries are dangerous for Christians and often are imprisoned or worse simply for admitting to being a Christian or attend a worship service. Prophecy warns us that persecution of Christians will get worse in frequency and intensity as world approached the time of Christ’s return. Only God knows when, but timing will be impacted by degree of sinfulness and persecution practiced.
So, peace is not promised nor possible until Christ returned. He will put an end to war and sin and fighting. He will come with power and authority and resolve to put an end to satan’s mischief and man’s evil ways and deeds.
Humanism teaching that man is improving physically. That humans are evolving into better beings, but God teaching man is deteriorating and becoming weaker and more evil. The only hope we have is Christ’s intervention, but will he come as our Savior or as our Judge? That choice is ours. He will come to Judge those who refused His offer of forgiveness. For them, He will judge their sins and require they take the full punishment for their sins. His judgment will be just but devastating for those facing it with no escape or negotiation. But for those who accept His offer of forgiveness before life’s end or His return will face His mercy and deliverance instead. For them, it will be a joyous time to look forward to and enjoy when it comes… Which will it be for you and me? Each must decide for himself / herself. To not decide is to decide no, because we are already lost until we choose to be found by accepting His redemption.
Jesus said “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.” John 11:25-26
Jesus also said “”I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.. ” John 14:6-7
For our judge to provide the one and only way of escape and freedom means what He says is important. No one will be able to stop or change His judgment. Those He judged will be permanently judged but those He forgives will be permanently forgiven. No news has greater significance or importance than that.
If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 529 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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