The Spiritual Power of Silence

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Silence

The moments of our greatest strength are not those in which we lash out at our accusers, or argue against the injustice that faces us, but instead, our greatest strength is demonstrated in our silence, in the absolute confidence we have in God, and what is right in Him. The power of silence has never been more pronounced than during those telling minutes when Jesus faced the chief priests before Pilate… and said nothing. Is our faith this strong, and if not, do we pray for the day when it will be?

Discipline that brings Life to God’s Children

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Discipline

As the children of God we are loved, but with God’s love comes His responsibility to raise us up to be righteous, and good. Raising our own children requires us to show them our love, to have patience with them, and to teach them how to behave in faith as we have learned to do. We teach them goodness, humility, and many godly things, but in order to learn these behaviors they must be obedient, and for this lesson to be mastered it often requires that they be disciplined. It is the same with our Heavenly Father as He teaches us to obey Him, and to reflect His traits and attributes… to become like Jesus. The heart of discipline is not punishment, or subservience, but instruction, and correction.

Together we are encouraged to live out our faith

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Encouragement

As Christians we gather on the Sabbath to worship, praise the Lord, study scripture, and some of us meet again during the week to study the Bible, but how many of us come together during the week to simply encourage one another, and to comfort each other in Christ? How many of us gather to discuss how our lives are going, to share the spiritual challenges we face, or to cheer each other as we walk out our daily faith?

Our Hope and Transformation is made certain in Christ

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Transformed by Faith

The Lord takes each of us into His hand as a weak and fragile thing, and then begins To remake us. He takes the broken and deformed among us, then makes us whole… strong enough to do His will. This is our God who can take a lowly worm, and make it like iron, and can even giving it teeth strong enough to crush mountains. Our Father transforms us from lost sinners into righteous men and women… into His own children. Are we ready to feel the change that faith in Jesus, and prayer in His name, is promised to bring us? Are we trusting, and brave enough, to believe, and thus become what we never dreamed possible?

Tarry not in your Faith but flow like Living Water

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional

What is it that causes us to move, most of the time it is because where we are has become uncomfortable, and in this way the allure of the slightest good beckons us to come. Most of us like to remain where we feel comfortable, and once we have put down roots we are reluctant to change, but not changing also means not growing. The shepherd knows this bout his sheep, and God knows this about us, so the shepherd drives his sheep to new pastures, and the Lord urges us towards a stronger faith with every storm we encounter.

Victory, our Joyous Song, and the final Wrath of God

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Final Wrath of God

As I read Revelation today I came to the account of the seven angels who brought the final wrath of God on the world in the form of seven plagues, but this image was not all gloom and doom; with them came those who had conquered the beast along with its image and the number of its name. These conquerors were singing the song of Moses, and Jesus Christ, and I thought to myself that I wanted to be counted in that number. I want to be one of the victors who will sing with great joy, knowing that the final plagues are at hand. I want to be one who will lift his voice joyfully in the realization that the final victory is at hand. Mighty is our God, merciful and full of grace is He, yet perfect is His judgement upon the world. Do we long for this day?

Claim Joy in Jesus, and the Promise of Life Eternal

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Ressurection, Easter

Easter is approaching and we will remember the crucifixion of Jesus Christ as we walk into this season, but we don’t do so by rending our clothing, and mourning His death alone; we also celebrate His rebirth, the resurrection! Remaining in grief and sorrow is to deny the will of God, and to negate Christ’s great obedience and love that was manifest in His death. The blood, and body of Jesus means little to us without the power that His resurrection brings. It is the difference between hope, and lost hope, eternal sorrow, and eternal joy. Do we choose then to remain on Calvary, or at the grave? I pray we don’t, because our Lord has risen, and He has claimed victory for us against all sin and death! Our faith is not based on mourning His death, but celebrating His life. How do we approach Calvary, and the death of those we love?

What does the Wilderness hold for us?

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , The Wilderness

How many times have we been led by the Spirit into a wilderness of some type, and to what end were we led there? Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan, but we really don’t know what went on there during those forty days prior to the three temptations except that he fasted, and became hungry. What we do know is that at the end of His time in the wilderness He successfully faced the temptations that we are so familiar with. So what is it that takes 40 days to accomplish that can prepare us to face such trials?

Ukraine, Russia, and the True Enemy we all face

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Our True Enemy

There are times in our lives when we come under attack. It might be on the schoolyard at the hands of a bully, in the workplace as someone tries to ruin our business, take our job, or destroy our good name, and it might be in the world when an enemy wants to subjugate us, or lay our country to waste. But the worst attack of all is a spiritual attack when the minions, or forces of evil, want to separate us from God, and silence the voice of Jesus within us. How do we pray when evil comes to destroy the love we have for God, or pluck Christ from us? How do we gather our strength, and awaken our faith for the battle that is coming? We pray a prayer that will muster our faith, and call on the promises that have been made to us. We pray for discernment, and for God to defend us… to protect us.

Remembrance, Assuredness, and Hope in our Prayers

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Hope

When God makes a promise to us it is His bond, and He needs no reminder of it, so why is it that we feel inclined to remind Him of His Word in our prayers? We do this, not for God’s benefit, but to remind ourselves of what He has said, insure ourselves that we are praying as we should, and to give ourselves renewed hope. Remembrance, assuredness, and hope, or in other words, His Word, His promise, and our faith, how can we possibly pray without any one of these being present… even if they manifest themselves in something as simple as a groan?

Ukraine… Strengthening our faith in the Presence of War

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Faith in our Suffering

We watch yet again as Christians face adversity and suffering. We see the Ukrainian believers set upon by evil men who seek to conquer their neighbors, and subjugate others. Even as the bombs fall and the rockets streak across the Ukrainian night sky, we watch our brothers and sisters in Christ praying for relief, and for deliverance from this horde. They are not alone, and we also see the Christians in Russia praying for peace, and the recall of their countrymen, the Russian troops. Evil… it knows no borders, nor language barriers, and the suffering that comes as a result of it cuts like a double edged sword. So where is God in the midst of such human travail sadness, and suffering? We find Him right there in the heart of it saying “Turn to me!”, “Return to me!”… “lean on me!” In our weaknesses and desperation, we find strength in Christ.

Our Hope in the Midst of Crisis

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Hope

What is the condition of our hope in Jesus Christ today? Are we dejected, walking disappointedly, and in possible disbelief, towards Emmaus, or are we facing life with hopeful prayer on our lips, and with our eyes fixed on the sky as we anticipate His imminent return? Sometimes the world deals us a terrible blow that knocks the wind out of us, and we find ourselves facing a crisis of faith, but the proper way to deal with those occurrences is to redouble the intensity of our prayers, and lean on the Holy Spirit for the remembrance of all we have been promised… “I am with you always”, and “I have overcome the world.” to mention just two.

Where does our Strength come from?

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Strength and Faith

We are believers, Christians, and yet we can still lose our grasp on the eternal promise that is offered us by God through Jesus Christ. We come to know Him, pick up our cross, and follow after Him, yet if not careful, somewhere along the way we can become fatigued, we can allow our heart to slip into sinfulness, or we might gaze too long into the evil eyes of the world, and in this way can become corrupt… lost.

God’s Word is our Feast, and the Spice of Life

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , God’s Word

There is an old saying that goes like this “Variety is the spice of life”, and we all adhere to it in one way or another. We don’t like to vacation in the same place all the time, we like to watch different shows on television, and we certainly like to eat a variety of foods. The same is true in our spiritual lives. Although we might have favorite verses of scripture that resonate with us, that we commit to memory, and which seem to apply especially well to our lives, all scripture is meant to be taught, learned, and made a part of who we are as men and women of faith.

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