Christian Devotional Journal – Ministry Resource Source
Overflow or Run-Off
For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water. Jeremiah 2:13
RECOMMENDED SCRIPTURE READING Jeremiah 2:9-13– “1“Therefore I will yet bring charges against you,” says the Lord,“And against your children’s children I will bring charges.10 For pass beyond the coasts of Cyprus and see,Send to Kedar and consider diligently,And see if there has been such a thing.11 Has a nation changed its gods,Which are not gods?But My people have changed their GloryFor what does not profit.12 Be astonished, O heavens, at this,And be horribly afraid;Be very desolate,” says the Lord.13 “For My people have committed two evils:They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters,And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water. 0
COMMENTS: What crossroads does the Lord bring you and me to? Crossroads where we may think the left road makes more sense and is a wider and straighter path. A path that seems and feels right but…
But God’s Word is telling us the Right Path is better while our hearts and minds are resisting that path or choice. Why? Well, because when our desires want one thing and struggles of the past ache for an easier choice that offers less conflict, then that is more appealing.
Even when those we love and are even responsible for make choices, we too are forced to make choices in response, so seeking and following God’s council doesn’t end but only begins with initial choices. Wise choices later will positively impact previous foolish choices and vice versa, but poor choices only make late wise choices harder to make and harder to implement. Stop and reflect on some examples you recall from personal experience. I bet there are a good number .
God’s judgment is slow and painful for us and certainly is for Him, but is necessary. Necessary for proper order for God’s Will to prevail. Necessary so satan’s schemes do not prevail. God is all powerful and all wise and all knowing, so there is no possibility satan could prevail, so the way and timing and result of God implementing His Will while allowing free will and ability to choose good or evil by humans, is both a mystery and a fact of history past and history yet to be written.
When Jeremiah warned of coming judgment, that did not need to be final because God was still giving an option of repentance while setting forces in motion to implement His judgment. We have no idea what powerful forces – good or bad – are gathering nearby preparing for battle. Who would have thought the impact of Covid 19 last Christmas but Covid 19 was spreading amist our neighbors even then. Who would have thought the violence and mobs would be doing such devestation to small businesses the Covid 19 had already devestated in the name of racial injustice. Businesses run by and supporting the rights and people those rights are being demonstrated for. Yet the evil influence satan and his pawns are planning and implementing is becoming more evident and widespread. If we are living in the prophecied times approaching Christ’s return, then we can expect things to get worse. But that does not mean they must because God is still offering redemption to the pentetant and healing to the community and country that does repent. But He is warning of coming judgment if they continue on the path of sin and destruction on today.
So what can we do? Will we add to and support those who hurt or will we add to and help those who teach and show mercy and forgieness and point others to the cross and Christ’s mercy and forgiveness? You and I may not think we can’t make a difference, but the difference we can make in our families and with co-workers and in our churches and schools and community may be much greater than we think. By doing God’s bidding and choosing the path to His forgiveness and healing, we help enable Him to forgive and heal us and those we influence and those He puts on our path.
Most choices we make during the day don’t seem significant nor would matter and many probably dont . But when we allow His involvement and input as we make all choices, we do two things. We sharpen our skills getting Him involved in our choices, and we invite Him to make even our minor choices major positive ones too. Who know how a trip to the store or post office at noon instead of 9am or 3pm may change opportunity for Him to enable us to positively touch someone else or they us?
AMEN? AMEN!
The world is filled with broken cisterns—we can easily name them—but only Jesus can give satisfying joy. He said: “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:13-14).
True happiness is only in Christ, the living water.
“I came to Jesus, and I drank of that life-giving stream; my thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now I live in Him.” Horatius Bonar
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.
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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