All tagged Thanksgiving

Under Construction - Our Faith, Life, and the True Builder

Richard Forbes
Christian, Daily Devotion, God’s Provision

We go through our day working hard to secure those things that will sustain us, but as we complete today’s chores we often forget the one who has made this possible, and who actually provides for us. Over the course of time we tend to forget who gave us the skills we now employ, or even the breath we breathe, and we claim our efforts as our own. Our faith is like a cathedral that is still under construction after hundreds of years; the amazing foundation stones given by God when the ground was first broken are long forgotten, and only what has just been added is praised. The Lord provides for His children now as He gives us every good thing... building today on the blessings of yesterday.

Who is the Real “I” in our Life of Faith?

Richard Forbes
Christian, Daily Devotion, God’s Glory

Do we give God honor, worship, and glory for all that is our life? The opportunities that come to us, the food on our table, the children we beget, and the loves we experience in all of their splendor? It is so easy to say “I did this!”, or to accept the glory when someone says of us “Here is a man who has done amazing things!” We do this every day, and if you listen to yourself as you speak you will be led to acknowledge that “I” is your favorite word... it is the most used word of all mankind.

Giving Thanks to God, and a Thanksgiving Day Feast

Richard Forbes
Christian, Daily Devotion

Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States, and honors the initial Thanksgiving feast that was celebrated in 1621 after the first harvest was completed by the puritan settlers in the New World. Today this holiday is widely celebrated as a national holiday with heavy religious meaning, but no absolute requirement pertaining to faith, yet for the early pilgrims it was most certainly a time of thanking God. On this day every faithful person gathers to give thanks to God, and I have often wondered who one would thank if they were not of faith. Would you thank yourself, someone else in particular, or would it just be a happy day of being with family and friends while you eat, dance, and the go shopping?

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?

Was that a Blessing, or a Thank You I Heard?

Richard Forbes
Christian, Blessing, Daily Devotion

Someone does you a good deed, and if you are a believer you might say “thank you”, but some might respond by wrongly saying “you have blessed me”, or “that was such a blessing!” In fact, no man can bless... only God. When Isaac gave his blessing to his son Jacob he couldn’t take it back because he had conceded to Jacob his own favored status with God. Who do you bestow your blessing on, or do you understand how important that is?

In our Joy, our Sorrow, and our Loneliness, we Thank God always!

Richard Forbes
Christian, Daily Devotion, Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States; a day when we corporately give thanks to God for His goodness, and many blessings throughout the past year. Years of joy make this easy, but, some years are filled with tragedy, mourning, and heartbreak... are we expected to thank God equally in those, or in the midst of our suffering too? Satan attempts to cast a veil over God’s joy, and to spotlight our sorrows and pain as a means of drawing us into his darkness... so friends, lift up your voices in thanksgiving this day, and always!

A Child’s Obsession in Joy, Prayer, and Thanksgiving.

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

Do you rejoice in the Lord all day long? If so, you most certainly must be praying without ceasing. If this describes you then you should also be giving thanks for all that the Lord provides, and does, for you as your day proceeds. All three of these things, Rejoicing, Praying, and Giving Thanks, are all contained in a single sentence as Paul writes to the Thessalonians. They are joined for a reason, and are meant to lift us up in spirit... then join with the words Always, Without Ceasing, and All Circumstances, to show us the degree of their importance.

Little Gifts, and Heavenly Treasures

Richard Forbes
Gifts, Thanksgiving, Daily Devotion, Christian, Blessings

As you look about you today, what are your distractions from faith, and what are those things that bless you as you seek out the Lord? When you begin your prayers this morning what will you thank God for, and what will you ask Him to help you overcome? Sometimes we find that it is the little things in life that bless us most... and it is the little things that trip up our faith.