12 Gifts From God GIFT NUMBER 4: FORGIVENESS

GIFT NUMBER 4: FORGIVENESS
By Deb Forbes
copyright 2008

Forgiveness is something we all seek at one time or another. Have you ever said or done something that has upset or hurt someone else and then have to ask them to forgive you? When my kids were little one would hit the other or call them a name or yell at them and I would finally have enough of the bickering and fighting and name calling so I would tell them to stop and say I’m sorry. Of course the I’m sorry yelled at each other wasn’t what I was looking for so then I would tell them to hold hands, smile, and say I am sorry like they meant it. This got a quick response because they didn’t want to do that so they would hurry and say it the way I wanted so they would be able to stop holding hands. They may not have meant it then any more than the first time they said it but at least they were talking nice and acting nice for the moment and I think they probably didn’t think anymore about it till the next time they were fighting. The lesson I was trying to teach them was that we shouldn’t do things to hurt each other, but if we do we should say I am sorry and seek their forgiveness. 

The same is true with God. We do things we shouldn’t and things that grieve God and if we ask him he will forgive us. So the 4th Gift from God I think is Forgiveness. In 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” and in 1 John 2:1-2 “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world”. KJV God doesn’t want us to sin but knows we will sin because we are human, so the key is if we ask to be forgiven He will forgive us. He provided this forgiveness through the sacrifice of His son Jesus Christ for us. All children do things that are wrong even though we, as parents, would like for them not to. We don’t stop loving them because of it but we forgive them because we love them. That is the same with God, it grieves him for us to sin and do wrong but, just like a parent, He still loves us and wants us to have forgiveness all we need to do is like I made my kids do say we are sorry and mean it and ask Him to forgive us and He will, done deal, He will forgive us and continue to love us. 

So the 4th gift is Forgiveness given to us from God for our wrong doing because He loves us. Thanks be to God for being a loving forgiving God. This is a wonderful gift that we get daily if we ask for it. Remember to pass this gift on to others also so that they know they are forgiven too.

12 Gifts From God Gift #3 Love

GIFT NUMBER 3: LOVE
By Deb Forbes copyright 2008

The third gift from God I want to talk about is the gift of Love. God loves and wants what is best for us. An example of God’s love is in John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”.KJV God loved us so much that He wanted to make a way for us to have abundant life here and life with him in heaven and to do that He sent his Son to save us. He sent Jesus even though we didn’t deserve this love as shown in Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”.KJV We hadn’t done anything to make God love us, but just the opposite. God loved us so much though that He loved us in spite of ourselves. What do I mean just this, we turn away from God and do things that are wrong and hurtful to God. We don’t live with God as the center of our lives, but even when we are sinful God still loves us and has given us a way to be forgiven and to live with him. He didn’t have to do this, but it was his love for us that brought about his gift of Jesus dying for our sins. What a great love that is. It’s an unconditional love one we didn’t deserve but was freely given to us anyway. God loves us period, we don't have to be good enough, or do anything to get this love it is freely given and is and will be there always. He loves us because we are his and nothing changes that. What a comfort, to know we have God's love no matter what!
God’s gift of love to us is an enduring, and unwavering love that we can have confidence in being there always. Rom 8:35-39 35“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”KJV Praise the Lord He tells us right here when we become one of his children by accepting Jesus as our Savior that his love is there for always, what a wonderful gift. So next time you are feeling all alone and maybe unloved remember God loves us always and we never have to be alone or feel unloved. Thank you Jesus. This gift alone is life changing when you think about it. If all those who think they need love and look in wrong places for love and acceptance could know God and understand about his love look at how much the world could be changed. This gift of God’s love is so important for all. We should all try to share this knowledge of God’s love with everyone we meet.     

12 Gifts From God Gift # 2 Jesus

As we look again this year at the devotion I wrote in 2008 about the 12 gifts of God the second gift is the Gift of Jesus. I love the song THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT THAT NAME by
(Bill Gaither / Gloria Gaither)

The lyrics are

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus There's just something about that name

This is so true just speaking the name Jesus brings so much peace and comfort

and that is because of God's gift He gave us in His Son Jesus. Next time you are stressed, afraid, sick

or troubled try just saying His name and call out to Him.

GIFT NUMBER 2: JESUS

The second gift from God is his son Jesus. Luke 2:11 “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord”. He sent Jesus here to earth as a baby, made him human to live here on earth and he was born specifically to die for us. He was made human to know the pains and hurts suffered by humans and then he went to the cross to die for us. This is such an important gift from God to all of us. Jesus was sent here to save us and to be our Savior. John 3:17 “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved”.

Jesus lived among the people and knew what it was to be hurt, loved, hungry, thirsty, to lose someone and to be tempted by the devil. Jesus and God know exactly how we feel when we have these things happen to us too and that can be such a comfort. It should make us feel better when we are going through a loss or sickness or a time of trouble and tribulation or the next time we are tempted by the devil, to know that God has felt these things by sending Jesus to earth. So not only did God send his Son to be our Savior but He insured by this act that we can have confidence that God knows our feelings because He has felt them also. This is another way that Jesus was a gift from God to us.
In sending his Son Jesus it makes all the other gifts we are going to look at possible too. Jesus is the key to all in our lives here on earth and Eternal life. So Jesus is the most important gift from God first because He is our Savior and second because He came  as it says in John 10:10 “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” to give us abundant life. This makes the gift of Jesus the most important part of our lives and all we have to do is accept the gift of Jesus from God to have abundant life and all the other gifts too.We should continue to thank God daily for this gift of his Son and most importantly to accept this gift. So with the gift of Jesus we also get within this gift 1. A Savior 2. Abundant life and 3. Understanding. So thank you Lord for your wonderful gift of Jesus.

written by Deb Forbes
2008 copyright

Christmas Thoughts 12 Gifts From God

I wrote this devotion back in 2008 and each year I re-post it so that we can remember the gifts we have been given. God has given each of us so many things but I have chosen these 12 for this devotion.

12 GIFTS FROM GOD
written by Deb Forbes
Copyright 2008

At this time of year we all think about what we can get to give to others or what we would like to get for Christmas. The Christmas music is playing and decorations are everywhere. The other day I was thinking about the Christmas song the “12 Days of Christmas” and how on each day they get some different item or gift and that made me think that God has given us gifts and why not go through at least twelve of them each day till Christmas so these are the 12 gifts of God that I have decided to look at. The thing about these gifts is that they are life changing and they are for ever and not something you will only have for a short time or till the next Christmas.

1. Life
2. Jesus
3. Love
4. Forgiveness
5. Salvation
6. Hope
7. Peace
8. Joy
9. Grace
10. Mercy
11. Comfort and the Comforter
12. Eternal Life

GIFT NUMBER 1: LIFE

The first Gift of God is the ultimate gift and that is the gift of Life. Now you might think why would I choose this as a gift but it definitely is because if God hadn’t spoke us and everything else into existence we wouldn’t be here now. In Gen. 1 it tells us how God created the heavens and the earth, sun and moon, water, animals, vegetation, and man and woman. Gen 1: 27 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them”. So the first gift has to be the gift of life to all things including us humans. Then he also gave us our lives. You might ask what do I mean by this that God gave us our lives. The answer would be that I believe that God made each one of us unique and for a special purpose. It says that God knows each hair on our heads Matt. 10:30 “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered” and if He knows us intimately enough to count the hairs on our head then He took great care and time in making each and everyone of us. Therefore if He would take that much time when He was making each of us wouldn’t He then, don’t you think, have a specific purpose and plan for us and make us just right to fit into that plan? So literally God gave each of us our lives and not only our lives but a life with a purpose Praise God. Next time you think your life is going no where then remember that you have a gift given to you by God and that gift is Life and not only life but a life with a purpose straight from God himself. So Life is the first gift of God and we should remember to thank him for this wonderful gift each and everyday and strive to live fulfilling the purpose God has for us.

Veteran's Day 2016 Thank you to All Who Serve

WWI Museum trench warfare

 We on this day and everyday want to remember and thank the men and women who have served in the Armed Forces to keep us safe and free.   Our family has had someone who has  served in all the wars starting with the Rev. War.  It is a honor for me to pay tribute and thank them for their sacrifice.
Here are a few of the men from our family that has served. 

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HAVE AND ARE SERVING IN THE MILITARY!

William Capp WWI

Noel L Forbes WWII

Raymond Leroy Wilder  Killed WWII

James M Forbes

Michael Forbes

J Ted Jester

Jack Jester

Jack Jester

Terril Bilyeu

Summer is Surely Here! Or It Sure Is Hot Hot Hot

Wow has it been hot!!  I chose this desert picture from our vacation a few years back because this heat we have been having reminds me of the desert. Summer is surely here and the heat with it. It has been a scorcher and heat indices are up in the 100's here. It makes you just want to stay in and enjoy the air conditioning and not do much, including heating the place up cooking. With my Myasthenia Gravis and other conditions I don't do well in the heat. It zaps my strength really fast and takes longer to recover so I stay in mostly unless it is to go out on a ride where I go from air conditioned home to air conditioned car and back again. We have become so soft compared to what we use to be. I can remember when there were no air conditioners in the homes and we opened windows and played outside under the trees. We seemed to handle the heat better then, but now after years of air conditioning our bodies don't seem to like the hot weather anymore. Can you imagine what our Grandparents and Great Grandparents did before there was air conditioning everywhere you went. What if we had to go back to living without? I just am thankful for what I have to keep me cool and comfortable so that I don't get sick or weak.

I have been trying to catch up on some reading and genealogy this week  but the three day weekend slowed me down. We did go on a road trip and went to some museums this weekend.  I will share pictures later. I just wanted to pop in and let you know I have not melted away, I am still kicking.

Last thought is that I have been trying to come up with recipes to use so that when my husband gets home from working in the heat all day he can have a light,refreshing meal since he doesn't feel much like eating after  8 hours in the heat. I don't want to bake and have been looking at easy desserts that he might like and that wouldn't require much cooking or baking.
 Here is one of my Grandmother's Hot Weather dessert recipes appropriately called:
                                 Hot Weather Strawberry Pie

This is in my Grandmother Gusta Jester's own hand writing so I hope you can read it from the pictures I took of the recipe cards. I think this would be just as good without the crust. Maybe try it with a different flavor of jello and fruit also. Hope you try it and enjoy. Please stay cool and safe in this heat.


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Our Journey To See History and Find Ancestors Little House on the Prairie

As promised here is our next installment of Our Journey To See History and Find Ancestors. This time we decided to go and see the Little House on the Prairie Museum Site outside Independence KS. As a young girl I loved the Little House Books by Laura Ingalls Wilder so it is only fitting to want to see the site that the book talked about. We had been out to see it many years ago and really at that time there wasn't much there so we weren't sure what to expect. We knew no matter what was there that we would enjoy the car ride. It turned out that it is a nice outing and we enjoyed the trip.

 The Little House on the Prairie site is outside of Independence KS on County Road 3000.   You drive right up to it and start you adventure back to the time of Charles and Caroline Ingalls. The Ingalls family lived here from 1869-1871 and in 1870 Carrie Ingalls was born here.   As I stood  and looked at the cabin and the land behind the cabin I could just picture it the way Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about it in her book. The cabin they say is built by the description in the book and is a good replica of the cabin the Ingalls lived in while here.                    
Here are some of the pictures we took while there.

This is the cabin, post office and one room school house on the site.

This is the hand dug well that Charles Ingalls dug 

The cabin from the front

Cabin from back with chimney

 door to enter the cabin

Inside the cabin look at that bed

The other side of the cabin

This is the Sunny Side School that was moved here 

Inside the one room school

The Wayside Post office that was moved to this sit

Step right up to the window or get your mail from the box

The mail slots in the post office



This is a real treat and a step back into time when the prairie was open and the Ingalls family lived here. This was worth the drive to see. It makes me want to read the books again and to go see the other Ingalls sites.

If you would like to learn more about this site check out their web page at
http://www.littlehouseontheprairiemuseum.com/
They are open Apr. - Oct
Mon. - Sun. 10am-5pm

UNTIL NEXT TIME:
JOURNEY ON!