“How much do you really trust Me? How far will you go to place everything that you are and all that you own, even your very life, in My hands? Would you purposely move in harm’s way if I asked you to do so, knowing that you are needed there? Would you forsake your livelihood and all of your possessions to be endued with My power to do My work? Would you embrace the thought of bringing My life to those who hate you, even if it meant your life? These are difficult questions, I know. They are, however, questions that require answers if you say that you serve Me.
"I look at My church and I see weak, shallow relationships that signify a weak, shallow relationship with Me. I see people who call themselves followers of Jesus who have no clue what that really means. They think that I am pleased with their commitment to Me if they give a teeny portion of their money to My workers, go to a cold fellowship regularly, and do little harm to others. That is a religious system that I detest. I have never required anything less than everything from those who follow Me. I have never said that your comfort and safety is My goal for you. I have never given you the freedom to take what is Mine and use it for your comfort areas.
"When will you hear My call to holiness? When will you truly observe the life of Jesus and understand that I expect you to live the way He did? When will My will become your will? I have shown you in My Word, I have warned you, I have sent messengers with exhortations to seek Me and live a Christ-like life. Soon, you will need what you can only find in My presence. Begin to practice My presence now. Begin to seek Me with all your heart. Call upon Me with all your heart, so that you can learn of My heart and My desires for the life that I have given you. Learn to live My kind of life before it is too late. I am waiting for you.”
Isaiah 48:3 NIV
“I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.”
Acts 4:29-31 NIV
29) “Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.
30) Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
31) After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
1 John 2:6 AMP
Whoever says he abides in Him ought [as a personal debt] to walk and conduct himself in the same way in which He walked and conducted Himself.
I love the prayer that the apostles prayed in that room together. Knowing that they were under scrutiny - Peter and John having just been chastised and warned to no longer do anything in the name of Jesus - their prayer was empty of any selfish motive. They prayed for boldness, not safety for themselves. They prayed for the will of the Lord to be done, not to find a way to avoid any trouble. Look what happened. The place was shaken, and then the world was shaken.
Immediately after that, the Word goes on to tell of a life that is unheard of in these days. In fact, the actions of sharing everything one with another, selling possessions so no one has need, is rarely talked about or preached. To do so would empty most churches.
What is noticeable, however, is the connection between walking in the power of the Lord and absolute unselfishness. Rarely are the qualities of total dedication, unconditional surrender of personal well-being, and full surrender of the ownership of everything equated with the ability to boldly speak the Word with true signs and wonders following. We do wonder, however, why the power of God to proclaim His Word with boldness, followed by authentic signs and wonders, is not readily available in our churches today. Hmmm!
Needing to lay it all down,
Jim Corbett
