Christian Devotional Journal – Ministry Resource Source
NO HUMDRUM IN HEAVEN
Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.Matthew 25:23
RECOMMENDED SCRIPTURE READING MATTHEW 25:14-30 –“When Israel was a child, I loved him, And out of Egypt I called My son.2 As they called them, So they went from them; They sacrificed to the Baals,And burned incense to carved images.3 “I taught Ephraim to walk, Taking them by their arms;But they did not know that I healed them.4 I drew them with gentle cords,With bands of love,And I was to them as those who take the yoke from their neck.I stooped and fed them.” 24 “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’26 “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. 27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. 28 Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.29 ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’” COMMENTS: Scripture and Jesus specifically tells us of heavens beauty and the preparations He is making for us there. He shares how we will be able to fellowship with family and friends from across the ages with new bodies without limits experienced on earth. Aging and sickness and death and sin and evil will all be removed and no longer in and with us. But most of all we will be in deeper and continual fellowship with Him.
He also gives us a clue that He is also planning the work He will have for us to do also. Yes, we will work, but work that won’t be drudgery or unpleasant or boring or without lasting importance.
Work in heaven will be what we are meant to do and have the personality and skills to do. Will we have to train and prepare for that work or will we be given the skills and abilities and preparation instantly in heaven?
I don’t know the answer and don’t think we need to know until He reveals that answer to us then. I can imagine and appreciate the value of preparing just like going to college or trade school and mentoring under supervision of a skilled craftsman has value here on earth. Sharing skills and building personal relationships are obviously important to God since He chose that those skills be passed on here on earth from older to younger over time.
I can see Him gathering people from across the ages to mentor and prepare for their specific tasks and then pairing them to do the work together. To instantly give each those skills and knowledge and then sending them out alone just doesn’t sound like what God would do especially in heaven. God is a relational God, so I can imagine He would keep building and using relationships with each other and with Him as center of doing and enjoying the work He wants us to do.
One thing I have noticed in retirement is how much more enjoyable work like volunteering is when do so with others without concern of earning a paycheck. The blessing of positive impact on those that work impacts and fellowship with co-workers is a rich bountiful payment. I can imagine the same will be true in heaven. How about you? What do you imagine our work in heaven to be like? Are you envisioning something different than I am?
Well, the real answer will likely be somewhat different since we don’t know no can comprehend God’s plan fully, so we will just simply have to wait. But wait knowing it will be wonderful. AMEN? AMEN!
The Bible gives us glimpses of the new heavens, the new earth, and the city of New Jerusalem. Throughout the Bible we have descriptions of our eternal home. It will be a place of enthusiasm, energy, and adventure. His servants will serve Him there, and our work will be meaningful. We’ll be able to accomplish it without frustration or fatigue, and everything will be done with harmony and holiness. The air of heaven will be fresh, full of praise, and bright as sunshine. You’ll never be bored.
So get ready! Be a good and faithful servant today at whatever God is calling you to do.
“There will be new planets to develop, new principles to discover, new joys to experience. Every moment of eternity will be an adventure of discovery.”Ray Stedman
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
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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