Trusting completely in, and Leaning heavily on, our God

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Trust

When our enemies are marching against us, or problems appear ready to overcome us, we drop to our knees and pray, but quite often we hear only silence. However, God is not impressed with the strength of our adversaries like we are, nor does He fear the impending doom of problems that cause us to quake. He remains calm before calamity because it is He who has made the raging sea, and He who calms it. When facing the armies that assemble against us He remains still, even though our enemies might run at us like prides of lions. And, even if every pride in the land were gathered together as one, He is unimpressed, because they were made by His hand, and can be easily defeated with a single Word from His mouth. Do we doubt that God hears our prayers, or do we mistake His silence as a sign of fear or His inability to help us? Do we lean on Him as completely as we should… with all certainty?

Our Deliberate Travels of Faith

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Traveling

We travel the earth today in similar fashion to Jesus, and His disciples, but do we spread the gospel as we do so? A journey that took Jesus weeks and months to complete is now possible in minutes, and hours, but does that afford us the opportunity to interact with others as He was able to do? Is spreading the good news of Jesus Christ even something we consider a priority as we go, or is it something that maybe, just maybe, is an afterthought that we might stumble upon as we sit in an airplane high above the clouds? If we could travel by any means available to us, and it would not cost us a penny more, which method would we choose? In all honesty wouldn’t it be the fastest, and the one that provided us with the most comfort? Where is our Emmaus today? Where is the wind in our sails as we leave a crowd on one shore and teach a lesson of faith to our companions upon a stormy sea, as we sail to meet a waiting crowd on a distant shore?

Overcoming the World with Love

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Overcoming the World

Have we overcome the earth? There are men and women in this world that have so much wealth that they couldn’t possibly spend it in a dozen lifetimes, and yet they continue to be obsessed with it, protecting it, hoarding it, and focusing on making more. They feel like it gives them power, that they have overcome the world, and are its masters, but in truth their wealth has ensnared them, and owns them. Jesus came into this world born of meager parents, and walked across it with little more than the clothes on his back, yet He was free of poverty, because He had truly overcome the world. When we finally see as He saw, that what matters in this world is loving God, winning each soul’s deliverance from sin, and then returning it to our Heavenly Father, then we too will have overcome the world, and will have glorified God… Can we honestly say that we have overcome the world?

Worshipping God as we should

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Worshipping

Do we worship, honor, and obey God above all else as we should? When the laws of men ask us to disobey His commands and commandments, are we courageous enough in our faith to say no? Would we be willing to abandon our home and become aliens in a foreign land if that is what it takes to remain righteous? God abhors sin, and just because we are told to honor our leaders, we are still subject to God. Sometimes the penalty for disregarding man’s law can be great, and when this is the case then we face a decision that tests our faith to its very core. This is when we must determine who we serve… will it be God, or man?

Dreams, Prophesies, and Visions; in this the Age of Spirit and Truth

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Dreams

Do you dream and awaken in surprise to find that what you thought was real, was only a dream? Have you ever had a heart to heart conversations with the Lord, or received a Word from Him, that was incredibly wonderful, and so vividly real that you just knew it had to be prophetic, or biblical? Most of the time our dreams are transient, and fade from our memory once we are fully awake, but occasionally, especially if we tell someone what we have dreamed, they become lasting memories. When the Lord actually speaks to us in our dreams, they bridge the ether between the physical and spiritual world so completely that we wake up with the tastes and smells of heaven still fresh in our senses. Dreams are not of the past, and yes, we still dream divine dreams today…

Storms, Faith, and the Strengthening

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Strengthening Faith

Are we in the midst of a storm right now, and if so is it physical, spiritual, or a combination of the two? Sometimes we find ourselves physically challenged but our faith allows us to weather that challenge rather easily, sometimes we are tempted by the dark one in such a way that our spirit is directly under attack, but on occasion we face exceptionally violent storms when the physical things that we hold dear come under such horrific attack, that these storms shake us to our spiritual core, and loosen their roots. It is the latter two storms that Job faced which brought him such pain, and suffering, that he was nearly devastated, but once the wind had died, and the hail no longer pummeled him, he found that not only had his faith triumphed, but that it had grown, been purified, and was strengthened beyond belief. Are we being refined in our storms? In the end will our faith shine like gold?

Called into God’s Service, and maybe Called again, and again

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Receiving a Calling

My dear friend, and the Connection Minister at my church, Pastor Scott Hodgin, is moving to Ohio where he will teach Bible and Worship Ministry at a Christian Academy, and an English course at Cedarville University, which is a nearby Baptist university. He had been called into service as a pastor at my church to jump start its outreach into the community, and to fire up the men’s program. In less than two years he had done both, and now God is calling him to begin something new.

Proverbs, Baseball, and Swinging our Bat of Faith

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Sports and Faith

As we pick up our cross, and follow Jesus, are our eyes fixed on him alone? If so then we will walk a straight path, because our Heavenly Father has made that path straight for Jesus, and we are meant to walk it with Him. If we listen to the teaching, and follow every step that Jesus walks, placing our foot where His has been, then we will be as He is, and live in eternity before our Father as He does. Are our eyes fixed on Him? Are we learning every lesson we are being taught?

Are we walking in Fear through a Dark Valley?

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Valley of Death

I was speaking with a good friend yesterday about a place known to all who even casually read scripture, “The Valley of the Shadow of Death”, and he mentioned that as he toured Jerusalem that this was presented as a real place, The Kidron Valley. We quote this phrase when we are facing terrible situations in which we might truly die, and we have also affixed many figurative meanings to it as well, but when David was writing this psalm (23rd Psalm) he might, quite literally, have been writing about this very real valley; an evil place of deep darkness where children were sacrificed to Baal. Are we facing a place of evil in our lives today? Are we at the entrance to a very real valley of deep darkness in our lives, a place where death awaits, or are we walking through a more figurative place, such as a season of darkness and evil?

Our Burdens, and the Miracles within Them

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Burdens and Faith

Have we ever taken on a duty that is distasteful, or shouldered a hardship, or responsibility, that weighed us down, but, out of necessity, we had to bear? Were our labors meant to help someone in need? There are many things in life that we do simply because they must be done, not because we enjoy doing them. But, if we are doing them out of kindness to someone, and we do these things with a good Christian heart, something wonderful happens as we work at them… we develop a taste for the distasteful, and the burdens we bear for others become light to us, and often a pleasure. If we approach such situations with the caring, and the love of Christ, we find that our love and kindness will reward us. Can we remember such times in our lives?

Made pure in the heat of God’s furnace

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Perfection , Purification

As Christians we realize that we are being refined each and every day by trials and tribulations. This is our furnace, fired so that once purified we will shine like the sun, and just as pure gold we will become soft and malleable in the hand of our Heavenly Father. 100% pure gold is easily cast or molded into shape, but even though it can easily be made into intricate shapes, it is prone to damage, and can be bent out of shape. Once refined by God we too are precious, beautiful, and highly sought after, but we must also be guarded, protected, and treated with great care lest we be crushed, or bent. The more pure our faith, the more susceptible we are to being damaged by the slightest hint of sin, and the more attentive our Father must be to us. We are susceptible to damage, innocent, and childlike… we are His prized possession.

Prayers, eternity, and the miracle is now.

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Answered Prayers

We face trouble, and complex issues in our lives that we don’t know how to handle. Some of these are life threatening, and others frighten us with their enormity, but regardless of their severity, intensity, or size, we fear failure because our problems are beyond our ability, and we feel powerless against them. So, what do we do? We turn to the Lord our God for help; we lift our eyes unto the Lord. We read these words, and say we believe, but Is this how we behave, and if so do we trust, listen, believe, praise, and then expect him to act? Do we know in our hearts that our salvation is at hand… that the miracle is now?

Israel, the Prodigal Son, and Us

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Returning to God

Our Father doesn’t like to lose a single soul, not even those that turn their backs on Him to worship other gods. If we have turned away, and our god has become money He will take it from us. If our god has become our beauty He will strip us of our youthful looks and fine clothes, and if our possessions have become our gods, He will cause them to break, wither, and vanish. He doesn’t do these things because He hates us, no, He does them to bring us back to Him… because He loves us. Have we become like these who once loved Him, but who have now turned our backs on Him as a people, country, or a person? Have we made the gifts of the world our idols and gods? Are we pursuing earthly loves, and left our One True God behind, alone? Well He still desires to have us return to Him, and will lead us into a desert place where there is nothing left to worship, or love, but Him. There, in that desolate place, He will woo us, bless us, and love us, as if we had never spurned Him, or turned away.

Questions that lead to Questions that lead to Faith

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Questions

Do we stand a faithful watch as we wait for the Lord to reveal Himself to us, or to hear what He has to say once He does? When our waiting is rewarded, and God speaks, will He call us to task for something in our lives, or faith, and do we wonder what it will be, or how we will answer Him? As we look at our lives, and the practice of our faith, we would like to think that we are obeying Him in everything we do, and are righteous in all aspects of our lives, but are we serving the Lord as we should? Are we wise enough to even know? When He speaks, and we hear His voice, He will ask us a question that causes us to search for an answer, and as we do so, we will realize a fault, or shortcoming in ourselves that has gone unnoticed, or find wisdom that has previously been hidden from us. Are we watching, and listening as we should? Are we wanting to hear Him tell us a truth, or to ask us a question that will lead us to it?

Our Tongues, and the danger they hold on their tips

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Words, and Tongues

As Christians we struggle mightily to control our tongues, and keep our language not only wholesome, but focused on righteous revelations that will help us, and those around us who might not know our Father yet. What we say in a moment of anger, or by revealing some sinful thought as it races through our mind, can undo in a split second what the Lord has spent years preparing within a soul that He has been leading to receive His Son Jesus, and ultimately Himself. To avoid such evil outbursts and not to become a setback to another’s faith, we must continuously wrestle with that worldly voice within us that remains ever vigilant within us, and seeks any small opening, or chink in our armor, into which it can slip its vile sword. Our guard must always be up, and our minds focused on what is righteous, peaceful, and good. Are we doing this today, and every day? Is our armor perfectly fitted, and are we continuously manning the wall in defense of our righteousness?

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