All tagged understanding

Fear, Trembling, and the “Ah Ha!” Moments of Faith

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, Receiving God’s Word

Do we depend solely on our own intellect to search out the wisdom of God? Do we study and ponder His Word ourselves in search of truth there, or do we use our intelligence like a shovel to feed our spirit God’s Word, while it works hand in hand with His Holy Spirit to seek and sift through it for those things that are of great spiritual value? When we depend upon our intellect alone it brings us very few of those wonderful revelations that we recognize as being of Him, but when our spirit is engaged with the Holy Spirit, it mines the most fantastic treasure for us from the glorious depths of God, and we encounter those wonderful “Ah Ha” moments of faith.

Attempting to Explain our Supernatural God

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional, Defining God

If our faith is predicated on understanding God then we will fail at it. God is more than the natural things that we can quantify, classify, and catalog; He is supernatural and until we grasp that fact and immerse ourselves in that reality then we are doomed to never truly knowing Him. We study God’s Word and preach what the Spirit reveals to us, but we can only speak what He has given us, and not from any understanding beyond that.

Our Heart, and Understanding Scripture

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Understanding Scripture

Today let's contemplate one of the longer sentences in the Bible. It gives us instruction on how to conduct ourselves as Christians and ministers of the gospel, and if we ever have a question regarding good spiritual behavior then we can probably find it listed in this sentence. But, what would it take to live out these attributes to the pleasure of God, and Jesus Christ? How much guidance and understanding from every source available to us, and especially from the Holy Spirit, will be required before we can achieve this level of sanctity?

Hearing God’s Voice; do we know how?

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Hearing God

How is it that we hear God speaking to us, and do we obey him when He does? Sometimes it is in a gentle breeze that guides us when we are still enough to perceive it, and at other times a low whisper that requires us to be silent, but we occasionally hear him in a loud clear voice. However we hear Him, we first, and always, must be listening. Sometimes He might get our attention with a storm, by violently shaking the earth, or with a raging fire but even then His voice will usually be gentle and low. Like Jesus did to Saul we might be knocked down, or blinded, but His voice, even when it comes in a more normal volume, will be clear and calm as He speaks, and as He directs us into a new life, just as Saul was as he became Paul. However, the real question in all of this is this… what do we do with what God tells us? Do we obey, or just wonder if that was really Him?

Knowing God, Knowing Jesus, and Understanding the Faith we profess

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Knowing Jesus

If we had two choices and each one would lead us to the same place, that being our resurrection from the dead, followed by joy, peace, love, and eternal life in the presence of God, which of these would we choose? Would we choose to live a life of happiness, and plenty, then to be lifted in song to Heaven, or would we choose to suffer through our days in pain interspersed with periods of happiness, and then gasp our last breath before ascending to Heaven? I dare say that we would all select the first option and want the life of happiness. However these are not our choices and we experience many trials as we are transformed into the image of Christ, learning what it means to be righteous, then holy, and finally perfected in His blood. Our choice is between eternal life or death… or in other words, between the hope of eternity in heavenly love and joy with God, or the present tangible earthly pleasures of the carnal. Knowing this, and the suffering that lies ahead if we choose to walk with Jesus… what will we choose, or what have we already chosen?

The Holy Bible, more than simply the Words we Read

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Understanding God’s Word

We find the Word of God, and the words of Jesus to be perfect and truthful, but there is much more to them than our minds can understand through simple reasoning; there is something we must experience that cannot be seen with the eye, it is like a sweetness in our mouth, the touch of a baby’s soft flesh against our cheek, the groan of prayer, or a warm breeze in our hair, no words can reveal the fullness of these things. This is how the Holy Spirit helps us, revealing God to us as we search the scripture, and this is how we come to know Jesus as we read the words He spoke to us on the mount, and from the cross.

Do we love as we should?

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Understanding Love

Do we understand what it means to live fully in the love of Jesus Christ, and God Himself? Do we see it as the driving force behind every interaction they have with us, and that we have with them? Do we live out that selfsame love in our own lives… pouring it out upon all those who we come into contact with? Sometimes we find ourselves reserving that love for those people and circumstances that we feel are worthy, and dole it out as if we only had a tiny bit to give, and that each drop is precious, but God’s love is unlimited, and this is the same love He gives to Jesus, and Jesus to us. Our love is indeed precious but its value is in its effect… not in its quantity… give it freely!

Do we lean on God, and trust Him to make our decisions?

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Making Decisions

When decisions are to be made how do we make them? Do we use our own intellect, and reason within ourselves until at last we think we have the right answer? This is the way of a natural, or worldly, man, and as such the world places a great deal of value in those who are self-sufficient like this. We honor self-made men and women, those who are self-assured, self-reliant, and contain all the other “selfs” that we can think of, but is this really what God desires us to do?

Intellect, Spirit, Understanding God, and our Inheritance

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Understanding God

We are not meant to understand scripture with our intellect alone, but in a much deeper sense we are to engage God’s Word with our spirits. We can read that “God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son” (John 3:16), and understand that it was out of love that Jesus was sent to us, but until our spirit reveals to us the depth and breadth of that love, and who Jesus is, then we don’t truly grasp the deeper meaning of those Words. We can’t feel that love as it was given, and enter into it. We need the Holy Spirit’s help in gaining this level of wisdom, and receiving this revelation.

Do we say “God is great!” In full understanding?

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , God’s Greatness

We say these words all the time... “God is Great!”... but do we really understand what we are saying, or are we repeating them to relieve ourselves of the obligation required to grasp some mystery He has presented us? Or, maybe we use them as a way of dismissing a conversation someone wants to have regarding an amazing act of God in their life? Let’s explore the meaning of this phrase today, and why we shouldn’t use it lightly.

Knowing the Love of God

Richard Forbes
Christian , Daily Devotional , Love of God

We say that we love God, and Jesus Christ, but do we truly know what that love should be? We say that God’s love for us is boundless, but can we begin to understand what it means to do anything without limits? O my friends, we say we know these things but until we come face to face with God, and feel the wounds of Christ with our own hands, we are blind, and the mystery will not have been revealed to us.