Severing our Umbilical Cord to the World

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Maturing in Faith

There are those who profess a faith in Jesus Christ, and refer to themselves as Christians, and yet they live out their lives torn between heaven and earth by trying to be guided by the Spirit while allowing the world to influence them at the same moment. These infants in Christ have not come to grips with what a true life in Christ should look like. Perhaps, if we look at ourselves honestly, we too are like this in some way? We strive in the Spirit, and yet continue dragging our old life behind us like an anchor... an umbilical cord to the world.

Born of Water and Spirit we are anointed

Richard Forbes
Christian , Spirit Prayer, Holy Spirit

We pray, and as we do so we ask that the Holy Spirit guide us, but when we exit our prayer closet, or other place of prayer, do we leave him behind? Those who do so don’t understand him fully, and the impact he has on our daily lives. However, if we do know him better, and we feel him surrounding us all day long, do we think that he is just hovering about us as we do whatever it is that we do in the world? If so then we misunderstand our relationship with him; he is not meant to follow us about like a puppy, but we are to keep in step with him. Do we walk in the steps of the Spirit through our lives?

Doing Good, and becoming Perfect

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Good , Perfect

When God says something is good it is good, and when He says it is perfect that is true too. So it is that we strive to do good things because we seek to imitate the goodness of God, and we are confidant we can be good, but why is it that when we are told to be perfect we quake with fear, feeling that perfection is beyond our ability? We fear perfection even though scripture tells us there are others who have been perfect. So, if only God is good, but others have been perfect, then why do we feel that we can actually be called good, but never perfect?

The Hope that God’s Love Brings Us

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Hope

We are never disappointed by our hope in the glory of God, but if we do not revel in the love of God, as poured into us by the Holy Spirit, then where is our hope founded? We have faith, we have love, and we are meant to have hope... but where are we without the confidence in His glory that His love brings? Are we open vessels, ready to receive the free gift of God’s love as His Spirit pours it into us? If so then His glory will shine from within us, and our hope in Him will become certain.

Loving, Seeking, and Finding the Holy Spirit

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Seeking the Holy Spirit

We are commanded to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and as we learn to do this we long to know Him all the more. God’s desire is that in this way we commit ourselves to Him completely. We use our ever increasing love to seek Him out in every aspect of our lives. Our complete love becomes a means of not only worship, but knowing Him, and dedicating ourselves fully to Him, and His will for us. It is by seeking that we come to know the Holy Spirit.

The Power of Relationship, and Fellowship, within our Faith

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Relationship, Fellowship

There are individual aspects to our faith that are undeniable; we must personally decide to believe in, and worship, God, and individually we must be called to Jesus as the Son of God, to live our lives in faith, but these individual acts of belief guide us into something more, a relationship with God, and Jesus Christ. Even further than this, our singular actions of dedication, and faith, are meant to bring us into fellowship with one another. The Holy Spirit brings us together in this way through our love, and faith. Do we have this fellowship, or are we wandering alone in our faith?

God’s Temple, One Flesh, and our Morning Chores

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , God’s Temple

When you opened your eyes this morning, and you wiped the sleep from them, did it feel like you were pulling back the curtains in God’s home, and cleaning the windows of His temple? Did you feel like a child who was doing his morning chores before being called to the breakfast table where he would run into his Father’s arms? Well, our bodies are the dwelling place of God, and also His temple, so this is a good way to think of how we should approach the earliest moments of our day.

God’s Pursuing Love, and Presence

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Pursuing Love

We are told to study the Word of God, and increase ourselves in faith, but in this endeavor we are not alone. As we strive for righteousness through our faith we have the supporting love of God, the intercession of Jesus, and the constant prayers, and actions of the Holy Spirit. We repeat God’s promise that we are never alone, but do we realize how relentlessly active He is in pursuing that promise? He doesn’t just say that He is with us always, nor does He walk quietly behind us as we go about our lives, no, He pursues us... even reaching into our most egregious sin to extract us.

The Holy Spirit, and our Keys to the Power of Christ

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Power of Christ

What did Jesus say about the coming of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, that should thrill our souls? He told us that the Spirit would not only glorify Him, but declare Him to us. In the Spirit we will see and know Jesus clearly, and will also receive those things that God the Father has given to Jesus. Are we ready to glorify God, and through our belief and faith in Jesus to receive what God gave Him to be His? Can we even comprehend what this means?

Praying the Word of God

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Living God’s Word

Is the Word of God alive in us? Do we value it like fine gold, but seek to hold it close to us like a warm and breathing newborn infant? So often we look at the words on a page, or computer screen, and lose sight of their power, and the life in them. God’s Word is more that ink, or a Pixel on a screen... it breathes life into us, and as we study, and pray, it becomes the voice of God within us. When we incorporate it into our prayers it instills His will into our desires, and heals us with His touch... can we truly say that God’s Word is living in us?

Time, Eternity, and staying awake in the Garden

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Time and Eternity

We read the account of Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, and how His disciples kept falling asleep when they should have been keeping watch. As we read this we just can’t understand how they could have possibly been so negligent, but aren’t all of us falling asleep in similar fashion today? How well do we manage our time? Do we allot an hour to pray, keep our eyes open and fixed on the Lord as we offer our prayers, or watch vigilantly for His return?

The Missionary act of Praying for Others

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Praying for each Other

When we are not praying for one another it is a great loss. So much is gained through the prayers we aim at our own needs, and relationship with God, but when we pray for others it is an act of love that extends the power of our prayer life beyond ourselves, and into the world. Prayer for others is a spiritual missionary event that takes us abroad, beyond our borders, and into the heart, soul, and lives of others. Intercessory prayer is an act that fulfills a great commandment... loving our neighbor.

The Brilliance of Faith, or Sparks in a Night Sky

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , All for Jesus

We live in the world, and can become so wrapped up in the things that it has to offer that we begin to wear them around like badges of honor, and feel they give us all the worth we need; happy lives, and even the ability to control our own destiny, but nothing could be further from the truth. We have what the world offers us for a brief instant, and our bodies themselves are only here for the blink of an eye... then, all these things pass away, and there is only God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the spiritual things of Heaven. Our lives, like a spark rising from a night fire will twinkle, and then fade into darkness, but in Jesus we burn brightly as we come to know God for all eternity.

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