All in Daily Devotion

The Voice of God, Tug of Faith, and the Courage to Answer

Richard Forbes
Chosen, Called, Daily Devotion, Believing, Christian

Do you feel the tug of the Holy Spirit against your heart? Perhaps you think of it as a subtle yearning, or even a curiosity that you can’t resist. However it is that you initially experience it, this is God reaching out to you, and Jesus softly saying “Follow me.” It is the same for each of us, whether we are wealthy or poor, tall or short, thin or plump, sick or well, but it always finds us the same... as sinners, and the promises are the same also... salvation, righteousness, glorification, and eternity...

Memorial Day, Faith, and how Suddenly “Significance” Becomes an Inadequate Word

Richard Forbes
Christian, Soldiers, Daily Devotion, Faith, Remembering, Memorial Day

Today is Memorial Day, and is a federal holiday in the United States; it is a day in which we remember those who have fallen in military service to our country. It is appropriate on this day for us to read or recite Psalms 91 which is known commonly as the soldier’s prayer. On this day my mind wanders to a different kind of soldier as well, the Christian soldier, and the hymn “Onward Christian Soldiers”. It is hard to separate soldiers from their faith in God... it is so deeply called upon in the heat of battle... both physical, and spiritual.

Physically, and Mentally, Collapsing under the Load of Life.

Richard Forbes
Hardship, Deliverance, Trouble, Christian, Daily Devotion

Do you carry around a heavy load of stress, and anxiety that comes from all the problems you have in your life? Do you keep repeating “The Lord won’t put any more on me than I can endure.” as if that were scripture? Yet, the problems keep mounting and you are about to break? Well that saying isn’t scripture, and the Lord never intended that we solve our own problems, but rather that we bring them to Him. We were not created self-sufficient; we were made to need God, to love Him, and be worshipful of Him.

Patient Faith; is it Jerry Lee Lewis, or Johann Sebastian Brahms?

Richard Forbes
Daily Devotion, Faith, Christian, Jesus, Patience

Are you a driven person? Do you run at everything you do whether it is work, play, friendships, relationships, or even your faith? Are you known by monickers such as hard working, industrious, unrelenting, or other such descriptions? Being driven is a personality trait that often gets in the way of our faith. It is valued by society because we are creatures bound by time, and it lends well to works, but to God the true value is in perfection, purity, righteousness, and holiness. How do we reconcile these two ways of approaching life, faith, and eternity?

Small Talk... Our Everyday Relationship in Prayer

Richard Forbes
Everyday, Common Time, Christian, Ordinary Time, Prayer, Daily Devotion

Did you awaken this morning and immediately thank God for this day? Perhaps you thought to yourself “I am not a morning person, I will pray once I get fully awake”, or then again, maybe everything was good in your life right now, so you didn’t think of praying at all. What if you knew someone that came to you only when they needed something from you, would you be glad to see them at your door? Probably not, and yet God welcomes each of our prayers as if it were our first. He wants to fill the time between disasters with relationship.

The Plans of Life; Are they Our Dreams or God’s Reality?

Richard Forbes
Christian, God’s Will, Daily Devotion, God’s Plan

Who plans your life? Are you busy laying out the future details regarding where you are going, what you will accomplish, or the places you will rest and take sustenance? If these plans are being made by anyone other than God then you will lead an unfulfilled life indeed. His plan, and His will are more than an aside... they are the sole road through life which will lead us to a joyous eternity with Him.

Laying Down our lives for Others... How Do We Die?

Richard Forbes
Giving our Life, Christian, Daily Devotion

We read scripture and it tells us that laying our life down for another is a singularly great act of love, but how do you go about doing this? Is it a life ending experience? I am going to surprise you by saying that there may be more to it. More often we give our life not in death, but in the unselfish and complete service of another, and if we are the recipients of this kind of love how are we to honor it?

Coming Home to the Kitchen of our Faith

Richard Forbes
Salvation, Christian, Daily Devotion, Hungering, Seeking

The painful feeling of hunger insures that we will not neglect the nutritional needs of our body. The desire for intimacy with our spouse is a yearning that insures our love for one another will deepen, and that the species will be perpetuated, and just as certainly, the sweet taste of God’s love draws us to an abiding relationship... and our salvation. Have you tasted the sweetness of God’s love, felt the yearning for a deeper relationship with Jesus, and hungered for His Word? Day by day our spirit should long for that familiar longing... for an increase of faith.

Making Perfect Our Love for God

Richard Forbes
Christian, Passion, Love, Eternity, Daily Devotion

How sweetly, and with what love does our Lord beckon us to come to Him. Do you hear Him, and yet ignore His invitation? Does the call and allure of the world drown out His loving words, and appear more enticing to us? Friend, there is no earthly love or passion that can equal those of God. His love is forever, and His passion for our lives is full to the brim with goodness and mercy... He never disappoints.

Praying, and the Will of God it Calls Upon.

Richard Forbes
Prayer, Daily Devotion, God’s Will, Christian

Do you get what you pray for? Does God answer you word for word in all those things that you would have Him do in your prayers? Our prayers and God’s will do more than just go hand in hand; their fingers are interwoven so tightly that these two hands are inseparable. This determines the success of our prayer lives. So how we pray should be exactly as we should live... in the will of God.

Avoiding the Red Herring of Faith, while facing Personal Responsibility, and Judgement

Richard Forbes
Journey, Daily Devotion, Seeking Faith, Personal, Christian

Who is ultimately responsible for your salvation? Who do you look to to guide you through faith and into eternity with God? It is so easy to lean on our religion, look to our individual churches, or denominations, and even some trusted persons of faith, to provide us with the truth, but when it comes right down to our faith and salvation we alone have the responsibility for believing, and what we have faith in must be discerned, and determined by us. No other man except the risen Christ can bring us to God. No other spirit than the Holy Spirit can guide us.

Becoming Comfortable in the Likeness of Jesus

Richard Forbes
Image of Christ, Daily Devotion, Christian

It is one thing to say we are Christians, and that Jesus is our Lord, but until we take on His image, and walk as He walked, then we have missed the mark. We can dress ourselves up in all the religion we like, and not win a day in heaven without assuming the likeness of Christ. So if you tell me you go to church every Sabbath, and that you pray each day, or that you have been baptized and take communion... I might still look at you and ask “then why don’t you reflect Jesus?” When you look at your own reflection do you see Jesus looking back?

Why Should I give, and what does Giving really mean?

Richard Forbes
Blessing, Giving, Christian, Daily Devotion

Are you wealthy? Maybe you are rich in earthly land, goods, and gold, but then again maybe you have been given much spiritually and your treasure is being amassed in heaven. Whichever our fortune is, we should always remember that all we have comes from God, and that His intention is not for us to horde His gifts but to share them. We are not the owners, but just the managers, or stewards of God’s provision.

Is your Light of Faith and Salvation on, or off?

Richard Forbes
Daily Devotion, Christian, Grace, Salvation, Degree

As Christians we talk a great deal about our sanctification, holiness, works, and other spiritual endeavors; all of these are good subjects to discuss, but never lose sight of the fact that you were redeemed, justified, and made pure and acceptable to God by the grace which flows through His Son Jesus Christ. That grace is the forgiveness of our sins, and we have it’s full measure the instant we believed.

Are the Righteous meant to Suffer?

Richard Forbes
Suffering, Daily Devotion, Christian, Righteousness

Do you suffer in your life simply because you deserve to? Is every bad thing that befalls you the result of some sin, or wrongdoing in your life? Certainly we have enough sin and disobedience in our lives to make an argument for this, but there are many times when we face hardship in the midst of our goodness, righteousness, and obedience. How should we view this seemingly unjust sorrow? Do we question God?

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