Wisdom and Encouragement for Christ’s Warriors: A Thirty-One–Day Devotional for Men

By Milton Richards

We are in a cosmic spiritual battle between Jesus’s light and Satan’s darkness. This thirty-one–day devotional will draw you into a personal intimacy with God, encouraging you in your role as a “warrior for Jesus Christ” and in the authority he has given you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Oct 22, 2018
• ISBN: 9781973641018

Milton Richards

After graduating from the University of Richmond in Virginia, Milton Richards entered the US Coast Guard. Thus began a twenty-year career that took him all over the country, plus assignments in Vietnam, Guam, and Hawaii. Church, however, was not part of his life for about ten years. Later, with two small children, he and his wife decided to start attending a church in Jacksonville, Florida, where Milton was in command of a Coast Guard buoy tender. One Saturday morning, alone in their apartment, the Lord caught up with him. Down on his knees, Milton humbled himself and surrendered his heart to the Lord, and he has not been the same since. He developed a hunger and thirst for the Word of God that continues to drive him today. After retiring from the Coast Guard, Milton served on the pastoral staff and as a lay leader in several churches, also authoring a Bible study guide, Solid Foundations for the 21st-Century Christian. In 1987 he cofounded Prison Fellowship Guam and has been involved in prison ministry for twenty-five years. He has witnessed, first hand, how the power of Jesus’s love and truth has healed the wounded hearts of hurting men and women and restored their lives. In recent years, Milton’s heart’s desire has been to encourage Christian men in their walk with the Lord and help them see and understand the big picture of the unseen spiritual battle that’s actively taking place in our world and the leadership role they play in it, as warriors for Christ Jesus. Milton and his wife, Olivia, currently reside near Fort Myers, Florida. He can be contacted at [e-mail].

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Day 1

This is the day the Lord has made.

I will rejoice and be glad in it.

You are my God, and I will praise You;

You are my God, I will exalt You.

Oh, give thanks to the Lord,

for He is good!

For His mercy endures forever.

—Psalm 118:24, 28–29

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

—Hebrews 4:16

Consider

What a comfort it is to remember that the Creator of the universe, our God, who created the first day, is still creating days for us. Each and every day is special, just as you and I are special in His sight. From our perspective, we have good days and some bad days and all kinds of variations in between. But our Lord is always there with us, whatever our circumstances, on any given day—even this very day as you are reading this. He knows your thoughts and the intents of your heart.

And what a blessing it is to know, as the scriptures remind us, that we can come boldly before His throne and find mercy and grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16).

Take a few quiet minutes now and talk with your heavenly Father.

Prayer for Today

To You, Father, I give thanks for another day. Let me walk in Your kingdom today with Your strength. Guide me by Your Holy Spirit and fill my heart with the love of Jesus Christ.

You’ve blessed me with another day. Let me glorify You in all my activity and with the thoughts and intents of my heart.

In Jesus’s name, amen.

Day 2

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

—Proverbs 3:5–6

Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.

—Psalm 37:4–5

Consider

We know that our Lord God, our Father in heaven, Creator of the universe, is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, which may make us feel He is too awesome to have personal contact with us.

Of course, He is not, and He doesn’t want to be. His desire is a close, intimate relationship with us at all times. Remember He loves you. That means you can trust Him. So why not acknowledge Him in all you do, in every situation, just as a young man would come to his loving father. Even in the most severe of circumstances, ask yourself—as a person of God—this question: Do I have any other options?

There was a time in my life, actually the lowest point in my Christian walk, when I prayed every prayer that I knew how to pray, many times over, and cried on my knees before God—and nothing happened. I was at the end of myself. I had no other options but to trust Him. I did that, and in His perfect timing, He made all things beautiful once again. He is forever