All tagged lesson

Are We Blind in Capernaum?

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, Healing The Blind

Two days ago we spoke of cases where prayer wasn't answered immediately, and today we will speak further on that subject through the biblical story of Jesus healing the two blind men in Capernaum. This is indeed the first example we have of Jesus healing the blind... He had been busy through the course of the day, healing, teaching, calling Matthew to follow Him, and raising the dead, but as the people continued to follow after Him we read of two blind men calling out to Him from the crowd for healing. It appears that perhaps Jesus didn't hear them, and yet they continued to follow after Him until they finally entered into the house where He was, and there, because of their faith, He restored their sight.

Christian Virtues and Suffering

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, Lessons in Suffering

Today I encourage you to read through Romans 12; this is a wonderful chapter that tells us how to live each day as Christians. Among instructions such as feeding the hungry and blessing those who persecute us, there is a short little verse that instructs us to constantly pray during our times of trouble. Praying without ceasing is an important theme, and there is another short verse in 1st Thessalonians that tells us the same thing. This verse in Romans instructs us to “be constant in prayer”, and both are repeated biblical reminders of an important message regarding our prayer life… live in constant prayer.

Lessons in Our Prayers?

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, Prayer Lessons

We continue our study of persistent prayer this morning with some examples from the bible. There are stories like that of Moses praying forty days and nights to stop the wrath of God, Elijah repeating his prayer seven times to bring rain, and Jesus praying three times in the a Garden of Gethsemane. Moses and Elijah were powerful men of God, and Jesus was the Son of God, yet they prayed persistently in times of great strife and trouble. Going to God over and over again with a prayer regarding something we feel strongly about is like adding an exclamation point to its Amen. God hears each word of every prayer, but as we pray them in this manner we are increasing our own understanding, dedication to the effort, and our faith and trust in God as well.

Discipline, Hope, and Troubles

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, Lessons in Tribulation

My morning devotional reading dealt with trouble in our lives and didn't paint a very hopeful picture. It began by saying "trouble is a part of a person's everyday life on earth”, and then concluded with the statement that people who look for sunshine and roses in life "are the people who don't know God, who know nothing of His disciplinary dealings with His people and who are prayerless." Both of these quotes are from Pastor E.M. Bounds and he selected a scripture from Job to accompany them...

Abraham Taught by God’s Will, Knowledge, and Mercy.

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , God Teaches Abraham

When Abraham negotiated with God and asked Him to spare Sodom and Gomorrah even if there were only ten righteous people there, and God agreed, was He changing His mind, or revealing to Abraham that He already knew how debase these cities were from the very beginning? When God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac did He change His mind at the last moment, and realize the error of His ways? Did he have a change of heart, or was His mercy already decided before Abraham took Isaac to Mount Moriah… even before the foundation of the earth?