All tagged God

Answers, and our Stifled Prayers

Richard Forbes
Christian, Daily Devotional, Answered Prayers

What is it about praying that we value the most? Is it the time spent with God? The comfort that it brings us? Knowing that we are being heard? Realizing that we are never alone? Or perhaps in the way we find joy in praying for others? The list goes on and on doesn’t it... but the one thing that will stifle our spiritual lives more than any other is making the answer to our prayers paramount as we gauge their success according to how they meet OUR expectations. What if I were to tell you that success in prayer is not just receiving the expected results we have dictated to God while praying OUR will as we direct Him in exactly how to answer us?

In the Kitchen with God, perfecting the Recipe of Relationship

Richard Forbes
Christian, Daily Devotional, Relationship with God

Before we come to the point in our faith at which we understand that our relationship with God and Jesus Christ is what is of paramount importance, we seek the ancillary things pertaining to the promises in God’s Word. We search for such mysterious ingredients as knowledge, wisdom, eternal life, power, joy, and peace, but in doing so we are like any child who prefers eating the icing over enjoying the cake. We see those things that are the fruits of an intimate relationship and mistake them for its purpose.

Our imperfect lives, and God’s perfect plan for us

Richard Forbes
Christian, Daily Devotional, God’s Plan

We get married, and if we are so blessed we have children. From the moment we decide to bring each of these new lives into the world we begin to make plans for them; we want the best for them. It is the same with God, and He has a plan for each of our lives; a plan made long before we were born... or even conceived. These plans, both ours and God’s, can only be accomplished if the child gives all their effort as they strive to know and do their parent’s will. Are you a fully engaged participant in God’s plan for you?

Who, or What, Have We Placed on the Throne of our Lives?

Richard Forbes
Christian, Daily Devotional, Our Throne

Is there something in your life that keeps getting in the way of your faith in God? Is there something that distracts you during your day when you are trying to pray without ceasing, or which keeps you from studying God’s Word? Does your love for money stop you from donating to a food pantry, or perhaps occupies all of your time and prohibits you from burying the dead, or visiting the sick? Jesus asks us to identify these distractions that are coming before God, and remove them, just as he did when He advised the wealthy young ruler.

Wresting the Church from the Hands of Man

Richard Forbes
Christian, Daily Devotional, God and His Word

What do we do when we recognize that we have been wrong in a biblical practice or belief? Perhaps we find that we have made a liturgical practice out of something we have considered to be the Word of God that was actually of man, and not of God after all. What should we do? How should we face this and admit our failure or address something we find to be a material heresy? Are we brave enough to face our mistake before God and man or are we doomed to a life of spiritual suffering in false worship? Friends, in such cases we must gather bravely in contrition as a church and pray for God’s forgiveness.

Jesus, Language, and a New Song

Richard Forbes
Christian, Daily Devotional, One in Christ

I am writing to you today in the English language, but what is your native tongue? From what country, race, or people do you hail? There are those of us from so many different nationalities who will read this devotional today, and long into the future; this is truly a missionary outreach to all the world. As Christians we know no borders, and there is no limiting language. The blood of Jesus Christ has made us one, and brought us together by that common calling of which Revelation speaks... we have been adopted into the people and priesthood of one Holy Kingdom!

Are You Lost? Are You Suffering? Come out of the Wilderness!

Richard Forbes
Christian, Daily Devotional, Child of God

Have you been prepared to become a son or daughter of God? By that I mean, has God brought you to the place where you can see that the world (although filled with great beauty) doesn’t hold a candle to what awaits you with Him in Heaven? Are you ready to become His child? God gave Israel into the hands of Egypt for 430 years so that they might become receptive to Him. Then following His rescue, He led them for another 40 years through the desert before they were truly prepared and redeemed. Have you been redeemed? Are you ready to come out of the wilderness you find yourself in?

Daily Reminders, and our Selective Memory of Jesus

Richard Forbes
Christian, Daily Devotional, Remembrances of Jesus

How is your memory these days; specifically, how is your memory regarding Jesus Christ? Do you need to be reminded to think of Him as you go about your day, or is He at the forefront of your thoughts always?  Well, before you answer my question think long and hard. Our memories may not totally fail us, but there are so many times when they momentarily lapse, or perhaps we put things out of our minds… even God, Jesus, and our faith.

Glorifying God in our Weakness

Richard Forbes
Christian, Daily Devotional, God’s Glory Alone

Are we strong enough to adhere to God’s commandments? Do we have sufficient strength to rise above the world and achieve holiness and great righteousness? Well, we might be strong in comparison to other men, but in God’s eyes we are most certainly weaklings, and in truth, we need the strength of Jesus in order to perfect ourselves, but even then we might find that we are a challenge for Him.

Small Jars, and Large Jars, all filled with the same Wine

Richard Forbes
Christian, Daily Devotional, Revelation

How is it that we can ever presume to know the mind of God? We think that by reading God’s Holy Word a single time that we understand Him, and yet each time we revisit scripture something new is revealed to us. It is amazing how scripture that we have read many times over will become new to us if we will only keep our hearts and minds open to His voice. So, let’s ask ourselves this simple question regarding our understanding of God… “how presumptuous am I?”

Sin, Skunks, and the Aroma of Life and Death

Richard Forbes
Christian, Daily Devotional, Smell of Life

How do we smell today? Are we fragrant like a flower, sweet like honey, have the smell of sweat and toil, or are we 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... so how do we smell spiritually today?

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