All tagged jesus

Pinocchio, Geppetto, Communion, and Heavenly Things

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, True Communion

Have you been purified? Do you acknowledge in communion that the blood of Jesus Christ has not only cleansed you of sin, but that it also purified you in preparation for an eternal heavenly existence? How often do we take communion and casually remember Jesus? Even worse, how many times do we take communion without thinking of Him at all? This is the danger of repetition, but if our repeated communion is performed with the proper spiritual preparation, it strengthens our memory and makes an act of faith, like that of communion, a holy and powerful one that enables us to perform it and believe in it perfectly each time.

Are we Spiritual Rocks, or just Slurry and Mud?

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, Denying our Faith

We hear the story of Peter denying Jesus three times before the cock crowed, and we think to ourselves that this man was weak of character, but do we ever look at our own lives and count our own denials? Denying can be blatant like in the case of Peter, or it can be subtle. Do you speak out when the subject of faith comes up in a group, or do you deny Jesus with your silence? When you are at a social event and someone belittles Christ do you defend Him or walk away... thus denying who He is? How about the witness you didn’t give someone when the opportunity arose, and you were afraid? Denial comes in many forms… can we overcome it by humbling ourselves and becoming strong like Jesus?

Three Sabbaths, and their Holiness throughout Eternity

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, Sabbath Rest

What does the Sabbath mean to you, is it simply a day of rest, a day off from work, or is there much more to this day than sleeping a little longer than usual, and going to church for a couple of hours? The Sabbath is the only day of the week that is called holy. God blessed it, and set it apart from all the rest, but did you know that there were three Sabbaths celebrated during the first Holy Week of Passover?

God, and Jesus, My Best Friends through Prayer

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, Friends With God

Do you read the Bible each day, diligently adhere to the commandments, and perform acts of mercy as a matter of daily routine? Do you pray that God will forgive you of your sins as you prepare to walk out the door in the morning, and place a checkmark beside that on your list of righteous things to do? Well, all these things are good, even great, but God doesn’t want to be reduced to a checklist; he wants to be your closest friend, your most trusted confidant, the one you come to with everything that excites or upsets you in life... he wants a relationship that places Him at the true center of who you are... He wants to be your BFF (Best Friend Forever), and we can’t do this without constant prayer.

Pierced with Christ, pierced with Mary, Suffering in Love

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, Love and Suffering

We all love our children; Mary loved Jesus, but raising a child means more than just love... it is a challenge. Do your children bring you more than love and joy? Sometimes our children are foolish, and can cause us pain, suffering, or even disappointment during their lifetimes. If you are a new parent you should prepare yourself for this, and if you have older children, then you know this to be true; so, was Mary the mother of Jesus different, and immune from such pain?

Jesus, the Nom de Plume of our Prayers

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, In The Name Of Jesus

Our prayers are not powerless. When we enter into them we are not alone, but are joined there by the Holy Spirt, and Jesus Christ. When we don’t know how to pray the Holy Spirit will pray for us, and as we pray in the name of Jesus Christ it gives Him joint authorship with us in that prayer. Suddenly, what might have been a knee shaking event as we stood alone before the throne of God, has become less frightening and we are more certain that our prayers are being heard. So, I ask you this, are you alone before God in your prayers or coming before Him with the help of the Spirit and in the name of Jesus? 

The Blood of Christ, Fills the Cup of Grace

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, Precious Blood

Do we have the blood of Jesus on the casings above the doors of our lives? Are our lintels smeared with the blood of the lamb and the promise of eternal life? If we were to walk back in time, and down the streets of Egypt, we would see the very real blood of Passover lambs on the doorways of believers, and if we turned to the Holy Spirit he would reveal to us the spiritual reality of that act; then he would show us the power of the blood of Jesus Christ in our lives and would make tangible to us the promises of God... His grace, forgiveness, and everlasting life.

Perfected and Sealed in the Earthen Jar of Jesus

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, Sealed in Christ

As a Christian do we concentrate on who Jesus Christ is? When asked about Him do we tell of what He did, how He redeemed us, and that He taught us things like loving our neighbor as ourselves? These things are all true, but do we also tell them that He is the jar of clay that holds within it the essence of our lives, the container in which we are meant to eternally dwell? Do we reveal to them that He has so changed us that He has become engrained in the DNA of our lives; and that we are so completely interwoven that to extract Him from our being would certainly destroy us? If we can tell them this, then our faith will have become the fullness of Christ, and we will no longer find satisfaction in who Christ is, but in who we are in Him, and He in us.

The Great Intercessor

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, Jesus the Intercessor

How do we view those who don’t know God and who have no relationship with Jesus Christ? Do we walk past them and look for a tender spot in the heart of others, or do we begin to pray for their salvation? When a fellow believer falls on hard times, do we say a quick prayer to ourselves and then go about our lives, or do we sincerely pray for their relief every day? We say we want to be like Jesus and yet so many of us don’t follow Him in one of His most basic characteristics... we don’t lovingly intercede in prayer for others. Jesus is the Great Intercessor... but are we like Him in this regard?

No Throne can Seat Two Kings: Pride and Humility

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, Prideful

Do we let our pride get in the way of our faith? Do we take pleasure in the praise of others when the glory for all we do is truly God’s? Or perhaps we value the praise of men over that of the Lord Himself. The simplest lack of humility is a sure sign of a prideful nature, and it is the primary ingredient in every major lack of faithfulness. Our pride is a tool of Satan and with it he  seeks to place who we are and what we do before God. Is this who we are? Are we proud men and women, or humble before the Lord our God?

Our Conscience; Does it Serve God... or Satan?

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, Reclaiming Forgiven Sin

We are professed Christians, and yet are we still nervous about entering into the presence of God? Do all the sins in our lives come flooding back, and beads of sweat pop out on our foreheads at just the thought of meeting with the Creator of the Universe? This was the kind of concern the Jews who served in the temple had, and so much so that the priests who were tasked with going into the Holy of Holies would have a rope tied around them... just in case they were struck dead and their body had to be recovered. Yet we are told not to fear because we are cleansed in the blood of Christ; the perfect sacrifice... the Lamb of God. So why are we so nervous?

The Music in God’s Word

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, Holy Spirit Come, Holy Spirit Come

Is the Word of God alive in you? Is the gospel of Jesus Christ breathing within your being? If we really desire the Word to come alive and to fill us with the life that only God can provide, then we need the Holy Spirit moving within us. It is the difference between a grade school child reading “The Charge of the Light Brigade”, (the work of the poet Lord Alfred Tennyson), and sitting at Tennyson’s feet as he reads the verse he wrote aloud. Reading God’s Word is much like this, the Spirit brings life to the Word of God for us with the voice and understanding of God Himself.

Unforgivable Sins, and Walking the Way of Grief

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, Faith in Forgiveness

Are you a sinner of the worst kind? Do you think that there is no way that someone like you can ever be washed clean, and forgiven? Well, if so, you are not the first to have felt this way, and as a matter of fact, the Apostle Paul felt just as you do. To say that you are too far gone to be saved is to deny the saving grace of God in His Son Jesus Christ. So, listen to me today…

A Proud Voice and the Temptation of Satan

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, Being Humble

Are we servants to all those surrounding us? Have we humbled ourselves sufficiently in order to put our own desires behind us, so that we can be obedient to the example that Jesus has placed before us? If so then God will bless us, but if not then we need to take a long look at who we truly are. Do we see much difference in the person we once were and the one we are now that we have accepted Jesus as our Lord?

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