Jesus Loves Me - the poem, the hymn, and our promise

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Jesus Loves

We begin singing a simple hymn as children that contains a wonderful message for us, “Jesus Loves Me”. The lyrics were first written as a poem of encouragement for sick children, then they were included in the novel “Say and Seal” where they were read to a dying child, and later were set to music to become the encouraging hymn of love that is sung today. In whatever form these words have taken, the message never fades, and to this day we are encouraged by it, and comforted by the three simple words of its promise… “Jesus loves me”… and the affirmation of our belief… “this I know!”

By every word that comes from the mouth of God

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , God’s Word

Without the Word of God we are lost, and without His Son Jesus Christ we will remain so. God’s Holy Word teaches us of life, of Himself, and of His Son Jesus. It gives us His commandments, promises, and His assurance that we are not alone, but it also reveals our deep affliction in sin, and how precarious our life is relative to eternal death. Then, in our darkest hour, and deepest moment of hopelessness, comes Jesus, sent by God’s love, and prophesied of throughout God’s Word… our healer, savior, and redeemer who is the vessel of God’s amazing grace.

Battling Temptation, and our Escape through God’s Word

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Overcoming Temptation

As we live out our lives we find that we struggle day and night to reach, and then to maintain ourselves, in purity, and righteousness. Thankfully, we continue to grow in our maturity, and find ourselves strengthened all the more in our faith, and the maintenance of it, but let there be no doubt that even the spiritually aged, with all their knowledge and wisdom, still wrestle with the world for control of their souls. So how is it that the babies, and the young people in faith can dare hope to keep their way pure if their elders are struggling?

Consuming the Word of God, and Running the Eternal Race

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Consuming the Word

How often do we consume the Word of God? You will notice that I said consume, and not read, because merely reading it is not enough; God’s Holy Word is meant to nourish our soul, strengthen our spirit, and heal us of the wounds inflicted by the world. God’s Word is an inoculation against the pandemic of sin, and medicine that heals us body, mind, and soul from the spiritual wounds we might receive in life. Do we simply acknowledge the Bible, knowing of the Word, perhaps even rubbing a little of it on our skin, or do we take it internally as daily nourishment, medicine, and the knowledge that feeds God’s wisdom within us?

Do not fear, only believe!

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Fear and Belief

Some of us are just now beginning to know Jesus, while others have known Him for some time, and yet we can be challenged in believing, or some life event can cause us to struggle with our faith. Well this is not uncommon, and Jesus has an answer for what we are going through, He tells us to do two very straight forward things… don’t fear, and just believe. One of the dark one’s greatest weapons against our faith is fear, and another is to use our worldly reasoning to argue against a simple childlike trait that all believers possess… the innocent faith of a child.

Praying in Secret, and Working in Privacy

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Secret Prayers

Are our prayers private conversations with God, or are they like public meetings, and announcements, performed as if we were politicians who must hold every discussion in a public place? Praying in secret is more than just keeping our faith hidden from the world, it is maintaining it as a private relationship with God that is not lived in public so that we would receive accolades from others; no, we are meant to please God alone. If those about us say “look at this man who shows little faith!”, and they say this because they are not privy to our quiet prayers and personal relationship with God, then count this as a blessing.

Walking, and Praying, in both Spirit and Flesh

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Spirit and Flesh

Through our belief in, and fellowship with, Jesus Christ we are freed from our sins. He, like us, is both body and spirit, and relates to us in an amazing, and loving way. He is both our High Priest, and sacrificial lamb in a single embodiment; given to us in the fullness of time, and in an instant. His name Jesus means “God Saves”, and His name Emanuel means “God with us”, together they make known that God has come amongst us to save us. He doesn’t come as many, but as one magnificent being, Christ, and in Him we find that the spirit and body have become one in perfection… united in the supercharged reality of the image God intended for us at creation… the spirit, body, and image of Himself He would call man.

Loving as we are able, to the limits of our being

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Love

We know that God loves us, and that the depth of His love is unfathomable. We know this because He sent His only begotten Son to die for us, even though we were lost in our sin. By this unbound love He redeemed us, and for this we love Him in return, and praise His name. But, can we possibly love Him as He loves us? We strive to do so, but can we truly grasp the fullness of being loved as He loves us? Our love falls far short of God’s, yet we offer Him all that we have, and give Him all we are capable of, pressing the very limits of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. This is His commandment; not that we love him as He is able to love us, but that we love Him to the limits of our ability, with all we are capable of. Is this how we find ourselves loving God today?

Are the Wrinkles of Age increasing our Faith?

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Daily Renewal of Faith

As we age, and our bodies begin to show signs of mortality, it is easy for the suffering believer to lose sight of the fact that this inevitable physical aging is not a total fading away, but one of the body only. Our daily pains, and other age related encumbrances can cause us to focus our attention on what ails us physically each day, and to lose sight of the spiritual growth, and renewal that we are experiencing at the very same moment. Today let’s redirect our attention away from what the world is reclaiming, and take heart in what Jesus, and the Spirit are renewing, and increasing further, as they prepare us for eternity with God.

Do we lean on God, and trust Him to make our decisions?

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Making Decisions

When decisions are to be made how do we make them? Do we use our own intellect, and reason within ourselves until at last we think we have the right answer? This is the way of a natural, or worldly, man, and as such the world places a great deal of value in those who are self-sufficient like this. We honor self-made men and women, those who are self-assured, self-reliant, and contain all the other “selfs” that we can think of, but is this really what God desires us to do?

For His Glory, and in the Name of Jesus

Richard Forbes
Praying as We Should

In the gospel of John, the Apostle describes to us a historical progression in the method of praying for miracles, and our other divine petitions. He begins with a quote from Jesus in which Christ tells us to ask of Him, in His name, for the things we desire, but as the New Covenant is realized, and the Holy Spirit is poured out on us, John reveals a new, and revised, method via another amazing quote of Jesus. Our Savior tells us that we are no longer to ask Him for these things, but to ask God, our Father, directly. Although we are still to ask the Lord in His name, the name of Jesus. Now, In this, the dispensation of the Holy Spirit, we truly are new creatures… having become much more like Christ.

Written on our hearts, and Spoken by our tongues… God’s Word

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

Oh, I pray that we would all be seen as letters from Christ. I pray that our hearts would contain the Word of God, written there by His mighty finger as it moves within us. I pray that we each make our hearts and spirits to be living tablets, spiritual scrolls, and that we open them to Him. When we turn our gaze inward I pray that we find His Word there. When those around us watch us living out our lives it is my deepest desire that they see the image of Jesus Christ, and hear God’s Word, alive, and powerful, as if read aloud, and echoing from the mountains, and through the valleys of our lives and beings. Do others see our faith thriving within us as their example, and edification as they walk the pilgrim’s path towards their own righteousness, and as they seek holiness, and perfection within themselves? Are these prayers rising from your heart today?

Jew or Gentile, this is our solution to Sin

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Believing

Peter preached the gospel of Jesus to the Jews, and told them how they had crucified the Son of God. When they came to understand this as truth they were distraught, and asked what they could do to save themselves. Today we hear the same gospel, and find that we are just as lost to sin as they were. When we come to understand this truth we are equally distraught, but brothers and sisters, fear not, because the solution that Peter preached to the Jews in his day is still sufficient to save us today.

The Many Circumcisions we Endure

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Circumcision of the Heart

Many people come to know Jesus during a time in their lives when they are suffering through some affliction, and are made to feel the slightest breeze across their soar bodies and spirits. We call this having our hearts circumcised, and in this moment of wincing pain we become receptive to Christ’s message of redemption, healing, joy, and peace. When we look back on our personal moment of salvation can we relate to this? If not, then perhaps we can identify another time in our walk of faith when we were made tender to the touch of God… and felt the ever so slight brush of the Holy Spirit as He wafted about, and through us.

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