All tagged grace

Fire, or the Living Water of Grace?

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, Grace and Fire

Are there things in our lives that the Lord must remove by fire? Do we hold on so tightly to them, or have they become so deeply rooted, that the only way to remove them is to burn them out? I think of a couple examples this morning of biblical purification by fire. The first involves Isaiah who spoke unclean Things among a people who commonly did the same. When he came into the presence of God he realized he was sinful and the smell of smoke caused him great fear... because he felt as though God might destroy him for his transgressions...

A Lament for the Invisible Sinners

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, Invisible Sinners

I was reading Lamentations 3 today, and there was one verse, Lamentations 3:22, that captured me; it reads: "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail." This verse made me take pause, and to think about God’s great love for each of us and how, despite our unworthiness, He found it worthwhile to send His Son Jesus to die for us. I thought of all the sinners I pass each day and how their worthiness of forgiveness, prayer, and salvation is no different than mine was when I too was lost in sin, and walked each day in their shoes.

Obedience, Righteousness, and Grace

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, Grace and Prayer

This morning I have been studying John 14 and reading a devotional that was based on John 14:14. I have always loved this verse and that Jesus says he will do anything for us... After all, who wouldn’t love a verse that promises us everything? And, all we have to do is keep his commandments… Whoops, wait a minute! How can we, with all our human frailty, be expected to do that? Is He asking the impossible of us? At first blush it appears that He is, but as Paul Harvey used to say… "Now for the rest of the story."

How God Rewards Prayer

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, Rewards and Prayer

As I read a devotional one morning, and I contemplated its theme... “God Rewards”. It caused me to take pause, and think about the ways that statement was true, and to compare it to the many ways that this broad statement was not. On this particular morning E.M. Bounds had written the words "Faith believes that God rewards.", and although that is true, it is not unconditionally true. Some tie this way of thinking to a religion of prosperity, but this is a deadly trap.

Imitating God, and Jesus

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, Seven Mercies

Godlike Sympathies; I was touched this morning by how incredibly merciful, loving, and sympathetic God truly is. I thought of Jesus nailed to the cross and my eyes filled with tears; not so much for the suffering He endured (which always brings me to tears) but for the love, mercy, and sympathy that He and His Father have for mankind, and the grace that they continue to pour out on us. We saw it on Calvary, and we continue to see it every day in our own lives. Does it make us want to be like them?

Praying for Today’s Needs

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, Pray For Today

Do we worry about what tomorrow brings? Do we fret over whether we will have enough to eat, or the other necessities of life we might require to survive? Well if we look closely at what Jesus taught us to pray for in the Lord’s Prayer, we will see that there is no mention of the physical things we will need for tomorrow; He only teaches us to pray for what we need right now. As a matter of fact Jesus tells us to pray specifically for today’s needs. Do we pray as He has taught us?

Eternal Life and the Covenant of Grace

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, Grace through Jesus

We don’t enter into heaven to live an eternal life because we deserve it. That kind of thinking is based upon our own vanity and arrogance. Our salvation and everlasting life is sealed by covenant, and that covenant comes by God’s acceptance of the death of Jesus Christ as our blood sacrifice. Only through Him can we be redeemed, perfected, and sanctified. Only through Him can we claim the covenant of grace.

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