Are our Prayers just empty Shells?

Richard Forbes
Christian, Daily Devotion, Confidence, Prayer

Where do we go for relief in our times of distress? Who comes to help us when we are in trouble? When we are in need of rescue, who is it that charges to our aid? Although most Christians say that it is Jesus Christ, or our Father God, do our actions betray our words? When we find ourselves in a challenging situation and we quickly say a prayer, that is good, but if we then turn straightway to our friends and family without waiting for God to respond then what have we really accomplished in faith?

We are the Children of God!

Richard Forbes
Christian, Daily Devotion, Child of God

Do we pray to God as if He were a benevolent stranger, an official, a judge, or maybe even a powerful acquaintance? Do we come before Him as though we were confessing our problems to a psychiatrist, visiting a banker for a loan, or sitting in a doctor’s office? Well, He is all of these and yet none of them; He acts in each of these capacities by simply being “Abba! Father!”. We should pray to Him as our Loving Father.

Faulty Memories, Lost Faith, and God’s Faithful Calling

Richard Forbes
Christian, Daily Devotion, God’s Calling

Have you been drawn, or called, to Jesus Christ? Perhaps you thought it was your Idea, and effort, that brought you to Him, or that it was the culmination of a happy set of circumstances that led you to know Him? Well friend, God is deliberate regarding our faith, and He calls to us for specific reasons, and to glorify Himself through us. For Him to have drawn you to Jesus He had a plan for you, and knew you fit perfectly into His will. How are you responding to His urging, or upholding your end of the promise you once made to Him?

Are we held fast in the fortress of God’s heart?

Richard Forbes
Christian, Daily Devotion, Relationship, Works

Are we busy pursuing religious things to the point where we are neglecting our worship, and relationship with God? Do we put the things that we do to impress Him, and to show Him our dedication to His cause, above truly loving Him with all our heart, and walking with Him In the cool of the evening? Sometimes we think more of our labors during the day than the quiet times of repose we have with God. When all is said and done, which of these will be our greatest treasure, the things we have built of stone, or the moment of a single hug and kiss given in love?

Claiming Possessions as we Pass through the Glass of Life

Richard Forbes
Christian, Daily Devotion, Posessions, Jealousy, Sin

What do we own? What do we count as ours as we make our way through life? It takes us a long time before we finally come to understand the fallacy behind living in a yours and mine world, or involving ourselves in a yours and mine relationship. Life becomes easier once we understand that we are merely light passing through a glass... when we reach the other side the glass remains unchanged, and we have left it behind without a mark. So why do we believe that we own the glass, or in our case, that we own earthly possessions  during that brief instant in which we pass through life here?

Is Our Faith Humble, and based on Serving?

Richard Forbes
Christian, Daily Devotion, Humility, Service

Are you a humble servant of God, and His children? Do you see your mission in life as being to rule over others, or is it to lead them humbly to our Father? If we are truly servants of God, and one another, then we need to go about doing the work of our Master... we need to know God’s will and do it, we need to see man’s shortcomings and mend them. Jesus washed the filth of our sin from us... do we wash the dust from one another’s feet?

Joy, and the Day I First Believed

Richard Forbes
Christian, Daily Devotion, Seeking Jesus

How was it for you on the day you first believed? Did you even think it was possible to feel such joy, or that the Son of God could love you in this way? Did you come to Jesus with your heart burdened by sin, hoping only for a glimpse of Him, and leave that place filled with the Holy Spirit, and dancing on air? People might have grumbled when they saw your sins washed away, or were made jealous by the joy you received, but Jesus came to save those who need Him most, like the rich tax collector Zacchaeus... like you!

Truth, and the Word of God

Richard Forbes
Christian, Daily Devotion, God’s Word, Truth

Are we inclined to believe what men say the truth of God is, and find ourselves unable to fully accept the glory that is Christ, and those things which are spoken by God Himself? Do we lean upon the understanding of others while using the Word of God only where it is convenient for us to do so, and where it justifies what men say, and what they do; not placing God’s Word in its rightful place as the rule by which all men are judged? If this is true about us then we have established ourselves to be gods, and in our minds have subjugated the one true God... we have sinned.

Defeating Temptation, Sin, and Death through Transformation

Richard Forbes
Christian, Daily Devotion, Sin, Temptation, Transformed

Do we think that we can flirt with the coals of temptation and not be burnt, or draw Close to the flicker of sin and not erupt into flames ourselves? Are we on the verge of such occurrences today? Are we speaking about someone negatively, calling it a correction, or warning, when in fact it is bitterness and hatred? Surely our words, and actions, will rub against us like a rasp, and we will find ourselves bleeding, or worn away.

He has Risen, and even Behind our Locked Doors Jesus Comes to Us!

Richard Forbes
Christian, Daily Devotion, Easter, Gospel

It is Easter morning, and by government decree many of us are locked in our homes. We are much like the apostles who were sequestered in Jerusalem for fear of what might happen to them. First Jesus sent word to them to meet Him in Galilee, and then when they didn’t believe He appeared to them personally by miraculously entering the bolted room they were hiding in. Today we are locked in our homes, but not out of disbelief. This morning Jesus will come to us wherever we are at, and He will likewise send us into the world with His gospel.

Holy Saturday - We are never alone, even in our suffering.

Richard Forbes
Christian, Daily Devotion, Death, Resurrection, Not Alone

Are you quarantined, sequestered, and alone in your home due to the Coronavirus? Is this Easter season especially hard on you because you not only feel separated from family, friends, and others of faith, but God, and Jesus too? Today is Holy Saturday, and on this day we remember that Jesus was in the tomb, that it was the Jewish Sabbath, and that He was wrapped in a burial shroud.  He was not still AS death, but still IN death. We also remember the suffering of the disciples who thought that Jesus was gone, dead, and that they had been left alone. Has Satan sought to take our hope, and our joy this Easter season as well? 

Walking the Via Dolorosa with Jesus

Richard Forbes
Christian, Daily Devotion, Good Friday

Today is Good Friday... a day when Christians pray, fast, and mourn the crucifixion of Jesus in their reflection, and tears. This is the day in which we commemorate the passion of Christ in all of its horror, mercy, sadness, and grace. Today we see Him tried, mocked, beaten, forced to carry His cross through the streets of Jerusalem, and then nailed to it. Here, on Calvary, He asked forgiveness for His persecutors, even as He was dying, and drawing His final breaths. Here He suffered to fulfill prophesy, and the Will of God. Are these the focus of our thoughts, and prayers, today? Do you, like Pilot, find no guilt in Him?

Our Sinful Nature; our Innermost Struggle

Richard Forbes
Christian, Daily Devotion, Sin, Temptation

For most of us it is unsettling that God would search our hearts, and few, if any,  would honestly invite Him to do so without some trepidation. Our natures, and personalities, incline us towards certain temptations and sins, and we have become so comfortable in our weaknesses that we scarcely visit these places within our hearts intent on confronting them. Are we bold enough to invite God To know our hearts? Do we have the courage ourselves to visit these innermost places that we find uncomfortable to our faith? 

Suffering, and being made into the Image of Christ

Richard Forbes
Christian, Daily Devotion, Trusting God

When we accept God as our Father, and Jesus as His Son, and our Savior, we struggle and suffer immensely in our newly found life. During these early days we are tempted and challenged; in them we have to determine whether we will go forward in our faith... or not. Suffering for our faith is not a punishment for the believer, but hardens us like cold water tempers iron, and sets in us the image of Christ.

Praying for Faith in the face of Coronavirus

Richard Forbes
Christian, Daily Devotion, Faith, Belief, Prayer

Have we prayed for our faith today, and if so, how about the faith of another? Jesus prayed for the faith of Peter when Satan asked for permission to sift him Like wheat, then He went on to tell him that he would deny him three times before the cock crowed. What would have happened to Peter without the prayer of Jesus? What would happen to us, and those we know without our prayers for strengthened faith?

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