Asking for Signs and Prophesy

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Signs and Prophesy

We believe, and have faith, but so often we are afraid to know the unfolding will of God. We fear prophesy, and signs, because, although we might outwardly want the world to change, quite often we find that inwardly we are satisfied with our lives as they are. Thus we fear the revelation of events that prophesy speaks to, or the changes that signs tell us are coming. We see the signs of autumn as the days begin to grow shorter, and the leaves start falling from the trees, but we dread the cold winter that follows. Signs can show us the way, but they always point to change… a new place, a new experience, a transformed life, but always the passing of something old. Change means that we will experience, or know, something new, but it also means we will leave something behind… a love, something comfortable, or some other thing we have grown accustomed to. Are we ready to ask God for prophesy, and signs today? Are we ready for change in our lives?

The Unseen Hand of God

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , God’s Secret Hand

For some reason we tend to think that Jesus only intercedes for us when we can see evidence that He is doing so, or that God’s help only occurs when, and where we can see His hand moving. It is wrong to think that we will always see some hint of His coming, or that we must feel the ground shaking, or see the waters tremble, as He approaches. Thanks be to God that this is not the case, and that even when we sleep, or are unaware, our Heavenly Father watches over us, He protects us, and He prepares a way for us. In those moments when He is working in secret, and we believe that we are alone, or that God isn’t hearing our prayers, He is at work, and He has surrounded us with angels. Do we have faith in this, or must our eyes be opened before we are able to believe?

Lessons of Faith on a Stormy Sea with Jesus

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Faith and Adversity

We are often called to do certain things of faith, and quite often we believe that we understand why we are doing them only to find that the Lord has an entirely different plan, and purpose. It is for this reason I like the story of Jesus calming the sea. In this story the disciples think they are simply crossing the sea to continue Christ’s ministry, but soon find that this voyage is much more than that. Haven’t we all found that what we felt was a trip towards salvation and eternity when we first accepted Jesus as our Lord, has become much much more than that?

Fear, Faith, and an Eternity without the Fear

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Lessons in Fear

Fear, or being afraid, is a frequent subject in the Bible, and we hear this word mentioned often, but in both scripture, and our lives, there is something special about experiencing fear. These times of fright, uncertainty, deep dread, and even terror, always seem to precede amazing moments, or acts of spiritual increase. In our own lives the times of fear that cause us to cringe, and quake, go hand in hand with our being humbled before God, the abandonment of self, an immersion in prayer, and profound lessons in how we are to trust God more completely. If we succeed in receiving the lessons that are taught through fear we will find that they culminate in significant increases in our faith, and spirituality. No one would ever wish for a life filled with fearful occurrences, but we certainly need them.

Fear not - Does the World make us Anxious and Afraid?

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Fear

Do the events that are occurring in the world today frighten us? Is our confidence in the Lord shaken, and is our faith in Jesus Christ fainting as the storm of man’s own making rages on? Well take heart because God is still sovereign, and His power is over all things. Jesus, even today, comes to us by walking on the raging sea, but do do not be afraid when we see Him coming because His hand stills the water; the wind remains God’s creation, and is His to rule. Let nothing in the world, on the world, or of the world, frighten us.

Spiritual Exercise - Training our Faith to increase, and Endure

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Spiritual Increase

What is the training program that we have chosen to increase our faith? How do we go about strengthening our spiritual selves so that our belief in God, and Jesus Christ, will grow stronger with each passing day? A lethargic faith is one that is susceptible to atrophy, a fading away of belief, or the diminishing of its vigor, but an active faith, can overcome many trials, and weather greater suffering. A trained athlete of faith is able to endure, excel, and bring the champion’s portion of glory home to God.

Do We Experience the Reality of God through Jesus?

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Our Real God

Is the life, death, and resurrection, of Jesus Christ real to us? Do we hear Him, see Him, and actually touch Him as we live out our lives, or must we forever have absolute faith in Him as an invisible mystery? God is with us, and Jesus abides in us, but although God is Spirit, He manifests Himself to us every day through His Son Jesus. The question that we should challenge ourselves with is this… do we listen for Him, look for Him, and reach out to touch Him in the world around us, or have we narrowed our belief in Him, as the Word of Life, to the unseen, and to faith alone? Have we relegated Jesus to the ether world and banished Him from the physical world in which we live, and walk today?

What it means to be Friends with Jesus

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Friends with Jesus

What does our relationship with Jesus look like? Are we His followers, servants, subjects, students, disciples, siblings, companions, or perhaps His joint heirs? Well, depending on where we are in our journey of faith, or the section of the road we find ourselves walking with Him, we can be any, or all, of these things at one time or another. But, there is one part of our relationship that best shows the depth and breadth of our relationship, and that is the friendship we have with Him. Jesus looks upon us as friends, but do we consider ourselves worthy to be friends with Him?

Do we wrestle with God in our Prayers?

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Wrestling God

Do we find ourselves to be like Jacob as we wrestle with God in our prayers? Do we confront a terrible situation in our lives and pray as if it were our demanding prayer that would force the hand of the Lord to act? In reality it was not the wrestling that won the blessing for Jacob, and it will not be our forceful petitions that will win a blessing for us either. It will be the humble act of faithfully holding onto God. Are we ready to be battered, bruised, and have our hip put out of place in forceful and demanding prayer, only to find God’s answer comes by yielding everything except our faith in Him?

Eternity’s Depth in Every Prayer

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Depth of Prayer

What problems or challenges are we facing right now in our lives? No matter their severity we are meant to bring them to God through Jesus. It is our nature to think that the trivial issues in life can be a bother to God, and that it would irritate Him if we can’t solve them, or we bring them to Him, but He is not human, and He does not think as we think. The Lord wants us to lean on Him always, and to bring even our most routine problems and needs to Him. Are we embarrassed to repeatedly take our trivial and daily needs before the throne?

Singing to the Wells in our Lives

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Singing to the Blessing

How many blessings are we given by our Heavenly Father that aren’t immediately obvious to us? How is it that we receive them without their showing themselves beforehand? So often we are thirsty in some way, and the Lord tells us to begin digging a well, and not only to dig with our hands, or by laboring over a hoe, or a shovel, but to dig with the instruments, and implements, of our faith. In such moments God goes even further by telling us to sing as we labor; not to Him, but to that thing He has told us to do, that will bring forth what will come from Him. We are told to sing to the wells we have been told to dig, and the gifts that God is preparing to give us in our lives?

Job, Jesus, and how we are Victorious

Richard Forbes
Trials and Faith

Do we endure hardship in our lives to bring the message of salvation, of Jesus, to the lost? Is our road to that place where we can have a gospel conversation, or deliver the good news of Christ, fraught with pain, suffering, and challenging trials? We endure such events in our lives because they polish us spiritually, and reveal the stark contrast of our faith as it is compared to the world. Our suffering, like Job’s, and the passion of Jesus, defines our belief, and without the battles we face, there could be no victory in our lives. Are we victorious through our hardships, and tribulation?

Filling our Worst Days with Joy

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Joy in Prayer

Do we only pray, I mean really pray, in times of trouble? In the other times of life, when things are good, and we are happy, or complacent in our lives, what is the nature of our prayers? We pray fervently, and without ceasing when confronted by danger, and reach out to the Lord with all our might in our troubles, but when all is well, or our circumstances are filled with happiness, we find that our prayers become light and airy, and we only pray them as we find a spare moment, or during our appointed times of prayer. Our prayers of thanksgiving seem to be eclipsed by those we pray in the midst of suffering, and anxiousness. Is this how we should pray? Should we only thank him once we get what we want? No, God should be lifted up and glorified in all things, and His joy is meant to be be found in us because of His presence there.

Living a Life of Plenty?

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional

Do we find ourselves financially wealthy, or having many possessions, but despite all of this we are unhappy, or feel empty inside? Do we run at life, and do many wonderful things, but despite all of our efforts remain chained to a longing, or need we can’t explain or fill? These are the symptoms of a hungry soul. We feel this way when we fill our stomachs with food, and our days with nourishing things for our minds, but starve our souls to death. we go about feeding our bodies and minds, but only God can satisfy the longings, and the overwhelming hunger of our soul.

Do we see ourselves through the eyes of the world?

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Eyes of the World

In today’s business world, and in modern life in general, it seems like the mean spirited, the devious, and the scheming people often prosper, and the righteous are relegated to a life of less, but that is only true when we look at the world through the eyes we have borrowed from it. When we see success as the world sees it, and value what the world values, then we find that we are ill-equipped for life within it. Our eyes should be the transformed eyes of Jesus, and our treasure should be eternal… is this how we are gauging our success in life, and view the blessings God gives us as we wait for Him?

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