All tagged trial

Our Journey to the Never Ending Day

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, Journey through Hardship

This morning let’s study another purpose for trouble in this world. The author of my morning devotional reading put it this way, "Trouble makes the earth undesirable and creates a desire for heaven within us... It is the path of tribulation that leads to that world." Our problems really do turn us towards God for help. They do this by taking our self-assuredness away and humbling us before Him. You see, we aren't meant to be satisfied with our current world, faith, and surroundings, we should see paradise and eternity before us, and a perfection of spirit and soul just beyond where we struggle. Our opening passage from Revelation encourages us with a description of heaven...

Do Not Grow Weary

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, Suffering on the Way

I have twin sisters and several years ago one of them was diagnosed with an ovarian tumor. The doctors were uncertain as to whether it was cancer or not, so we prayed, and the surgeon removed a benign growth. That happened quite a long time ago. But later they found another tumor and after testing it her OBGYN told her it too looked benign but would need to be removed and tested. However, after having sighed a sigh of relief she received a subsequent call from her Oncologist who believed it might be cancer. Of course we prayed he was wrong. In times such as these we need to renew our faith through scripture and prayer. If you are being pursued by the dark one today, you will love the encouraging verse we will be beginning with.

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?

Thanking God for the Storms that lead to Blessings

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Blessings and Storms

4/08/2022

We thank God often for our many blessings but do we thank Him sufficiently for the hardships and suffering that led us to them? It seems that we are more inclined to view our faith and interaction with the Lord through rose colored glasses, and quickly set aside the memories of suffering to make room for the wonderful blessings that came as a result. Could God have led the Israelites out of captivity if they hadn’t first been placed in bondage? Would the blessing of the manna have come if they hadn’t been starving in the wilderness? Today let’s look at the great moments of faith and blessing in our lives, and thank God, and Jesus for what led us to them in the first place… the storms.

Blessings, and the Restoration of Faith in Tribulation

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Restoring Faith

As Christian’s we believe in all of God’s Holy Word, and the gospel of Jesus Christ. We don’t do this because we have seen God, or touched Jesus, (although a few have claimed they have), but out of faith, and as a result of our faith we are blessed time and time again. Each morning when I rise my first words are “Thank you Father for this day, and your many blessings.” I pray this way because I know His blessings are coming. I may face any number of trials, or endure great hardship today, but I know that I am not alone, and that He will bless me in everything I encounter, not out of some foreknowledge of what the Lord has planned for my coming day, but out of my faith in His Word, and because I believe in Him, and His Son Jesus. So… How is our faith today? Are we trusting in God to bless us? Do we find Him in the midst of our storms, and do we walk to Him held afloat by our faith?

Receiving Blessings from Life’s Trials, and our Transformation

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Trials , Transformed, Blessing

When we fear the Lord and seek after Him, we receive His blessings throughout our journey, but even this doesn’t mean we will not be without pain and suffering. We can strive to obey the commandments of our Heavenly Father, but in doing so, we pay a price in sacrifice. Before iron can be reshaped into something useful, or beautiful it must enter the furnace, and before clay can become fixed in its new shape, it must be fired. So it is with us as Christians... our redemption comes with a price, and our rebirth into a new creature requires an often uncomfortable transformation. So we rejoice in our trials, and claim the blessings they make real in us.