Can one Christian Man or Woman make a difference in the world?

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Our Christian Impact

We see horrific events unfold around the world; today we watch the Ukraine, the bombings, destruction, deaths of women holding their children, mass graves, and see church services being held in underground hiding places. As we watch with great empathy and sorrow we should remember that just as our Christian brothers and sisters in Ukraine, and elsewhere, are suffering in mass, there are many others who suffer alone, or in fewer numbers, every single day. God reminds us in the large hurricanes, and terrible wars, that somewhere in the world there are smaller, almost hidden storms which are destroying single houses and individual lives today… and that we are meant to suffer alongside them, and provide comfort to them as well, one heart comforting another.

A Tiny Bird, a Raging River, and finding God’s Joy in our Faith

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Faith and Joy

Christian’s, we are, by our faith, able to defy the trials of life, and find joy amidst the most terrible suffering that the world can throw at us. By focusing our attention and prayers on Jesus, who stands beside us in every storm, and beckons us to come with Him to higher ground, we are confident in our deliverance, peace, and joy. The unbeliever finds this incredulous, and beyond what any reasonable person might do given such circumstances. They ask themselves how a tortured soul could find even a smidgen of joy amidst such suffering… and yet in Christ we do; we rise up.

Knowing God, Knowing Jesus, and Understanding the Faith we profess

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Knowing Jesus

If we had two choices and each one would lead us to the same place, that being our resurrection from the dead, followed by joy, peace, love, and eternal life in the presence of God, which of these would we choose? Would we choose to live a life of happiness, and plenty, then to be lifted in song to Heaven, or would we choose to suffer through our days in pain interspersed with periods of happiness, and then gasp our last breath before ascending to Heaven? I dare say that we would all select the first option and want the life of happiness. However these are not our choices and we experience many trials as we are transformed into the image of Christ, learning what it means to be righteous, then holy, and finally perfected in His blood. Our choice is between eternal life or death… or in other words, between the hope of eternity in heavenly love and joy with God, or the present tangible earthly pleasures of the carnal. Knowing this, and the suffering that lies ahead if we choose to walk with Jesus… what will we choose, or what have we already chosen?

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.

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