"Some of you have become so focused on your relationship with Me that you have forgotten something. Your search for My heart for your self-interest and well-being has caused you to miss a big portion of My interests. Please don't misunderstand! I am delighted with your renewed vigor and your refreshing desire to seek Me with all of your hearts. I am delighted with your desire to eliminate every hint of the world from your lives. You bless Me as you embrace the character of My Son and become a study of His ways so that you might emulate them. You, My remnant seekers, delight My heart as you draw close and eagerly respond to My will. I am pleased with your progress.
"I, however, have this one area to mention to you. You have set aside your first-love desire to bring souls into My kingdom. In your quest for all of Me, you have not heard the portion of My heart that longs that none should perish. Please understand, I am urging most of My church to stop their flurry of activities and foolish programs so that they might come to a place where most of you dwell daily - with Me. Don't move from that place. In fact, keep pressing in; I have much more for you.
"As you come closer to My heart, however, remember why I have set My plan in motion. It is to bring everyone who will hear to embrace the work of the cross before the window of opportunity closes forever. You are My instruments to tell them about My message of reconciliation. You are the ones who can represent My Son most accurately as you set aside the traditions that bog down most of My people and flow in My love. You are beginning to proclaim My Word to the world by your lives, as well as your words.
"Do not change your focus of the pursuit of holiness. That pleases Me very much. It is My heartbeat for you. However, add a place in your heart for those who have not surrendered to the work of Jesus. They are very much on My heart; I also want them to be on yours. Time is short. Pursue My presence and then take it to others."
2 Corinthians 5:20-6:1 AMP
5:20) So we are Christ's ambassadors, God making His appeal as it were through us. We [as Christ's personal representatives] beg you for His sake to lay hold of the divine favor [now offered you] and be reconciled to God.
21) For our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in, and through Him, we might become [endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness].
6:1) Laboring together [as God's fellow workers] with Him then, we beg of you not to receive the grace of God in vain [that merciful kindness by which God exerts His holy influence on souls and turns them to Christ, keeping and strengthening them - do not receive it to no purpose].
It is easy to forget one of the reasons why each of us is being formed to display the character of Christ. The only Jesus people may ever see is us.
It's interesting, isn't it, how we change the longer we are saved? When I first came to Christ, I was a "no holds barred" evangelist. I would tell anyone and anything that moved about the wonderful gift I had received. My mom would even hide upstairs in her room when I drove in the driveway, I was that vocal.
After a while, I "matured" to the point that I saw how important it was for me to study the Word and learn more about Jesus. I would go to every church that had a door open long enough for me to squeeze through. My growth became most important to me and, although I didn't see it, my focus on myself dampened my zeal for souls.
We are to love being with our Lord. It should be our priority. We should grow to care little about the world, other than to observe it and understand how soon the coming of the Lord is. The danger, however, lies in the fact that being with the Lord is so fulfilling, we must guard our hearts continually so we don't make everything all about us again and lose sight of the fact that others need that relationship with Him, too. When our focus shifts in the wrong direction, the Lord will be gracious to help us straighten out our priorities to line up with His.
My prayer is to have a continuous first love zeal for souls, something that is paramount in the heart of God. It is selfish when I relish my relationship with the Lord and neglect His desire for me to bring others to Him in the process. I am still not to the point where my time with Him continually propels me to seek the lost or those who know Him who may need what I have to offer; but I've asked Him to take me there. How grateful we can be that He will complete the good work He started in us!
Needing to move from His lap long enough to bring others back with me,
Jim Corbett
