All in Death

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? 

Facing the thought of Death... does picking up our Cross terrify us?

Richard Forbes
Christian, Daily Devotion, Death, Resurrection, Peace

How do we envision our final days? Do we see ourselves resting peacefully in our home being tended to by our families, or are we tormented by what lies ahead, and everything those final hours will bring us? Are we afraid we will die destitute, and with nowhere to call home? Whatever we anticipate, either spiritually or physically, Jesus will be at our side, and He asks us, just as He asked Peter, “Do you love me?”, and then tells us to follow Him in those days... to face death on our own cross just as He did upon His... lovingly, brave, and certain in God’s will.

Oh Death where is your Victory, Oh Death where is your Sting?

Richard Forbes
Christian, Daily Devotion, Death

We are justified, and made righteous through Jesus Christ. He told us to pick up our cross and follow Him, so in this way we are crucified with Him, and in this way we also live anew in Him by His resurrection.  Where He goes we, as believers, go also. Are we ready to make the journey? Do we believe Him when He says He will come for us? If we believe, then death holds no victory, and no sting.

A Lesson in Fear: Do we Fear Our Death, or just the Dying?

Richard Forbes
Christian, Daily Devotion, Living, Death, Fear

Death, is it something we fear? As Christians we do not fear death because we know that our lives, which have been well spent in Christ, mean that we will find eternity following our final exhale on this earth. What most Christians fear is not death at all, but the dying; the sudden separation from earthly loved ones, the pain involved in dying, and leaving behind all that we have known. We fear that final step forward by faith into what we have not yet experienced.

Life and Death; how we Live, and Die, as a Christian

Richard Forbes
Death, Life, Christian, Christianity, Daily Devotion

Are you anxious to get to heaven? If you were on the verge of death would you just throw in the towel and give into it? Well, although heaven is our goal, our reward, and our wonderful anticipation, getting there prematurely isn’t what God desires for us to do. We have a purpose here just as Jesus did, so we are to serve that purpose until we take that last breath.

Struggling against Sin, and the one true path to Victory

Richard Forbes
Death, Victory, Sin, Daily Devotion, Christian

Do you worry about earning your salvation? Do you look at your life and try to find ways to defeat the sin you see there? If you are doing that I have to ask “How is that going for you?” If mankind, from the time of Adam, has not been able to perfect themselves then what makes you feel that you can do it now? If we were capable of doing this on our own do you think God would have sent His Son to die for us? No, it is only through Jesus, and God’s grace that we can be victorious over sin.

Holy Saturday, and its help in understanding our promise in Death

Richard Forbes
Jesus, Daily Devotion, Death, Promise, Christian

Today is Holy Saturday, and on this day Jesus’ body lay in the tomb, even as He was defeating death. What better time to confront our own bondage to death. Does the fear of death and dying cause you to quiver in fright, and to dread what lies ahead? Do you say you believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, and yet still harbor a terror of what awaits us in the grave? Friends, this is not a day of mourning, or fear, but one of rising celebration as the resurrection hovers near.

God’s Goodness and Love in the Midst of Our Suffering and Death

Richard Forbes
Death, Christian, Eternity, Daily Devotion, Suffering, Joy

When we suffer it is natural to want that pain to be gone. Some, in the midst of their travail, will ask the Lord to remove that burden from them, and even question His motive, or goodness. They say “Why would a God of mercy and love do such a thing to us? Why would Jesus tell us to take up our cross?”, and their experience with suffering and death shakes their faith. Yet we are meant to suffer alongside Jesus, and the cross we bear leaves a crimson stain across our backs... His. This is our mark of faith, and promise of eternal glory. 

Can we Restore Life to Dead Eyes?

Richard Forbes
Power, Daily Devotion, Life, Christian, Death

Have you been working hard to perfect yourself, and to make yourself righteous and even holy? Well, there is only one way to overcome sin, to stand before God a righteous person, and to live eternally with The Father in heaven... a belief and faith in Jesus Christ. Only by our yielding to Him, and His abiding in us, can we be changed, and made acceptable. Only in this way can we conquer Satan, and restore life to dead eyes.

Facing Cancer, Life, and Death, in our Relationship with God

Richard Forbes
Christian, Life, Cancer, Disease, Daily Devotion, Death

This morning’s message is unlike anything I have written previously. I had a dream last night about a woman with ovarian cancer who was fighting for her life. Then I awoke from this dream to find that I was late this morning, so I opened my devotional reading and the subject was “Waiting for God in Humble Fear and Hope.” Are you or a loved one facing death in some way this morning?

Sin, Skunks, and the Aroma of Life and Death

Richard Forbes
Death, Life, Christ, Daily Devotion, Sin, Christian, Aroma

How do you smell today? Are you fragrant like a flower, sweet like honey, have the smell of sweat and toil, or are you rancid like death? The Bible speaks about smell in many ways, but none more powerful than when it speaks of the fragrance of life, and death on us. When we think of scent we most often think of the smells that surround us, but we are one of those odors... how do you smell spiritually today?

Death, a Two Part Mystery that Baffles Us?

Richard Forbes
Jesus, Christian, Existence, Life, Daily Devotion, Death, Forgiveness, Faith

For a God who created the universe, breathed life into man, and on more than one occasion raised the dead... what is death? We are so small, and our experience so limited to this body, and this existence, that all of our judgements have become founded on this little slice of reality that we inhabit. As we look at life and death through a drinking straw we convince ourselves we know what it is; do we? Let’s take a high level look at death...

Jesus, the Essence of Real Faith

Richard Forbes
Seeking, Oswald Chambers, The Gospel, Salvation, Faith, Christian, Daily Devotion, Death

Do you understand that Jesus Christ had to die in order to secure your redemption, or do you think He was just a mythological character meant to describe morality to us in a how-to book called the Bible? Friends, the account is real, and not a story; it is the single greatest event to occur since creation... complete with all the miracles, wonders, suffering, awe, and yes, death.

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