28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
COMMENTS: Science defines darkness as the absence of light. Darkness can be crippling and overwhelming. I can recall one time many years ago being in a coal mine when my cap light went out. I was a couple of “breaks” away, which is maybe 200-300 feet away from rest of the mine crew but the complete darkness was overwhelming. I actually could feel the darkness pressing on my body and try to penetrate my skin, or at least it felt that way. Fortunately, when I called out for help, it wasn’t long before I saw a light coming toward me as I was reunited with rest of the mine crew who became my light until I could get a good light to replace mine.
Darkness is powerful but is easily overcome and overpowered by light. When the light comes, danger and the wrong path become clear but the right path becomes clear too.
Have you ever taken the time to get up and enjoy a sunrise? The darkness seems to last forever and be too strong to overcome. Then the sky at the horizon starts to show small subtle changes and light seems to start to show life but has little effect on the darkness. But over the next few minutes the light becomes stronger and brighter and steadily overcomes the darkness next to it. Then the speed at which the light replaces the darkness increases and if look away or think about something else, the way the light completely replaces the darkness is suddenly missed if not careful.
Isn’t this a powerful way each morning God shows us that He is still in control and providing for us another day. Even on a cloudy day, light still overcomes darkness and illumines our surroundings sufficiently so we can see and find our way.
Is a miracle any less a miracle if it happens consistently every day? Well, we define miracles as those things unexplained except by God’s rare or infrequent intervention. So does that mean the miracle of birth or the miracle of a saved life changed for the good, or the miracle of healing or the miracle, or a beautiful sunrise or sunset, or a moon and star lit sky at night, or …. Isn’t a miracle because they happen each and every day? Is it any less a miracle that we have life and can see and feel and walk and communicate and worship and praise and commune with God Almighty or Lord and Creator and Savior?
Science would say all miracles can be explained without God, especially those that happen commonly, but you and I know better. Scientists should to and some do but all too many don’t want to admit what their bias blinds them from seeing.
How obvious is it that a world and life could not evolve without a Designer and Creator and Builder greater than what He has designed and created? Science tries to explain creation without a creator, but everything and every day SHOUTS HE IS ALIVE AND ON HIS THRONE! HE STILL RULES!!
So instead of refusing to read or believe the Bible, why not try reading with an open mind and let God speak to a listening ear and soul. Many atheists, like Lee Strobel, began a long exhaustive investigation believing he would successfully prove God doesn’t exist and the Bible is a “fairytale”. Lee began this research after his wife became a Christian thinking he would persuade his wife to give up her faith, but instead, the transformation in her and result of 21 months of research gave a different result. Lee finally realized all his research proved God does exist and the Bible is true. He then yielded and accepted Christ as his Savior too at age 29. He is now 69 and has become a well-known author of many works as an apologist effectively sharing his research with millions of others.
Satan’s lies and deceptions, like darkness, cannot survive God’s light. We do indeed serve an amazing God.
God has a wonderful way of reminding He is near and involved in our lives all the time without exception. He provides both physical light and spiritual guidance / light all the time when we take the time and give the attention to notice. The right path He always illuminates so we know the right path He has chosen for us. “For I am verily persuaded the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth from His holy word.”John Robinson
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
donsdevotions 