Category: From Our Fathers Heart

“You need to take some steps in the direction of your calling. It is time to set aside your fears, wounds, and excuses and begin to move with what you have in your hand. I will provide whatever else is needed along the way. Take a look around. Why would you think that you have time to sit on the sidelines when there is so much to do?

“Your days are cluttered with events that have little eternal consequence. Change that by responding to a need, lending a helpful hand, or assisting someone who is overburdened. If you have no direction, come alongside someone who does. They more than likely have need of what you have. Put aside the fear of rejection. Set the woundedness on the shelf for a while. If you have been unjustly used before, offer it up as a sacrifice.

“If you have little skill, use My skill. Start today. There are many people waiting for what you have to give. Look who I’ve placed in your path and move as I tell you to do so. You will be surprised how soon your life will have clear direction and purpose.”

Matthew 5:13 AMP

You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste (its strength, its quality), how can its saltness be restored? It is not good for anything any longer but to be thrown out and trodden underfoot by men.

John 4:34 NIV

My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”

 

Something needs to be put in perspective. Our lives have been bought with a price. We are not our own. We must have the same priority as Jesus - “to do the will of him who sent me.”

Most of us have our priorities backwards. We have a tendency to place the work of the Lord far behind the needs and desires of our everyday living, when the opposite is the desire of our Father in heaven. His work should be our priority. Whatever else that needs to be done should be fit into what we are doing for Him.

Most in today’s church rely on “those who have been called to ministry” to do the work of God, while lending fragments of time, energy, and resources to assist them. At the same time, most of the church is looking for some sort of revival that will somehow bring an outpouring from the Holy Spirit. We expect it to touch each of us as we sit on the sidelines of God’s plan and help ourselves to major portions of His bounty. Our perspectives are way out of line.

Revival of our hardened hearts begins by holding the hand of someone who has need of knowing our Lord, or by easing the burden of another, or by providing the tools to those who are working, or by coming alongside the fearful, or by helping the wounded, or by feeding the hungry every day, or by clothing the naked, or by praying for our enemies, or by…

Revive me, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“I brought forth life, Who overcame death, so that you could live. His Name is Jesus. He is the Lord of everything! You have the high honor of honoring Him for eternity.”

John 1:1-5 NIV

1) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2) He was with God in the beginning.

3) Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

4) In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

5) The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

John 1:10-14 NIV

10) He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.

11) He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.

12) Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God -

13) children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

14) The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

 

The wonder of the provision of salvation given to us by God is far beyond our comprehension. Jesus, Who lived in all of eternity past, was born visibly so that we could be born of the Spirit. He then gave His life to overcome death. We must die to this life, so that we can gain a life that is able to live with Him. He lived to die, so that we could die and really live. That’s some pretty astounding stuff!

We are amazed by You and Your Word, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Mark those who sit in judgment on you or challenge your authority in Me. Walk away from those who testify only of themselves and their testimonies of how close they are to My Spirit, when there is no fruit of being with Me in their lives. Beware of those who are self-proclaimed prophets, those who boast of their ability to hear My voice for others, when they hear nothing but their own folly, reeling back and forth in the foul stench of their own breath. They are fools who are listening to the leader of fools. I am soon to brand them for who they really are, blind guides heading for destruction. Have nothing to do with them.  Separate yourself from them, so that they might come to repentance and be restored.

“You ignore their vain attempts to destroy you; and bring forth life from the deep recesses of My heart, pouring it upon those who are in need of life. You spread love to those who hate you. You take the power of My Word and tear apart every stronghold of the enemy of souls so that the lost, lonely, and broken might be made whole. You lower yourself in your own eyes, so that I might be seen by those in need, those who have no vision of My glory. You stand using only My strength, walk using only My power; and speak using only My Words. You become a testimony of the work of the cross and My keeping power to those who carry it for Me to a dying world.

“The world is reeling in the weight of their sin and wallowing in their own vomit, totally out of answers. You reveal to them the only Answer, the only way to be set free. You show them Jesus. Bring forth His bright, beautiful life to their dark, useless world. Bring forth the wealth of your relationship with Me. Bring forth My immovable truth. Go forth in My love, in My Spirit. Reach into the darkness and represent My hand of deliverance, My road to freedom. Go now in the power of My might. I am with you.”

Ezekiel 13:3, 6-8  AMP

3) Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit [and things they have not seen] and have seen nothing! …

6) They have seen falsehood and lying divination, saying, The Lord says: but the Lord has not sent them. Yet they have hoped and made men to hope for the confirmation of their word.

7) Have you not seen a false vision and have you not spoken a lying divination when you say, The Lord says, although I have not spoken?

8) Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have spoken empty, false, and delusive words and have seen lies, therefore behold, I am against you, says the Lord God.

1 Chron. 29:5b AMP

…Now who will offer willingly to fill his hand [and consecrate it] today to the Lord [like one consecrating himself to the priesthood]?

2 Cor. 3:17-18  AMP

17) Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (emancipation from bondage, freedom).

18) And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit.

 

The enemy always attempts to divide, distract, and confuse. The Lord is always heading in the direction of saving souls and tending frail sheep. He constantly looks into the darkness, so that people living there will see the light. Once they are in the light, He nurtures, comforts, and changes people into the image of Jesus.

You and I have the astounding privilege of being brought into the light through Jesus. In that light, there is no room or reason to entertain darkness any longer. To do so brings discredit to the cross.

I believe that soon Father God is going to have His life break forth through His people in a powerful way; people who will be a credit to the cross once again. He is going to bring out into the open those who have been in training by His hand of testing.

Having been refined and brought to a death of their previous ways, they will shine in the brightness of our Lord. The dark world will notice them, not only because of their words, which will be endued with the power of God; but also by their lives, which will represent Jesus fully. There will be nothing false, nothing fleshly about them. Their humble submission to the Word of God will testify against the rebellion of those denying the cross.

Have you been in training? Have you lived under the refining hand of the Lord, scorned, laughed at, and misunderstood even by the church? Take courage; you are about to be brought forth. You are about to shine with the love of Jesus. You are about to be called forth to testify of His keeping power. You are about to praise Him with your life. You are about to rejoice in the wonder of your Lord.

Wanting to live only for Jesus,

Jim Corbett

“I am deeply involved in your life. Most of the time, you cannot see My hand at work or notice the orchestration of events that fulfill My overall plans. At times it may seem as if I have left you because of the degree of pain you are going through. It is vital that you seek My heart during these times, so that you can understand your situation from My perspective. Otherwise, you may misinterpret them. If you cannot see My heart, you will miss the whys and reasons for whatever I am doing. You will need answers, rather than trusting Me no matter what happens. You may even become discouraged to the point of cursing Me in your heart if your portion seems harsh or heartless.

“Everything I do is motivated by My great love for you and for others. Everything I do is for My plan to go forth, so that none should perish. Everything I do has an eternal impact. It is never designed to achieve carnal comfort.”

Matthew 26: 53-54 NIV

53) “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?

54) But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”

Luke 12:19-21 NIV

19) “‘And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

20) “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

21) “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”

Romans 5:3-5 AMP

3) Moreover [let us also be full of joy now!] let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance.

4) And endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of character (approved faith and tried integrity). And character [of this sort] produces [the habit of] joyful and confident hope of eternal salvation.

5) Such hope never disappoints or deludes or shames us, for God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us.

 

In my travels, I see so many people who say that they follow after the ways of Jesus but continually question what God is doing if their world becomes a wee bit uncomfortable. I have also been with people who are even afraid to go deeper with God because they know that the refiner’s fires that will be needed to get them there are too scary from their perspective. In turn, their lives are just a shadow of what they could be from an eternal perspective. They continually hover around the area of desiring to go deeper with God yet sit on the sidelines while watching others being used by God. Most of them moan about the fact that they are rarely involved with the real moves of God, not knowing that they have hindered Him from using them because of their focus on their own comfort and their fear of being refined.

Never allow my fear to hinder Your hand, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“You are valuable! I place great value on you, not for what you do; but simply for who you are. Because everything is right between you and Me, you are free to forgive those who come against you. You can love those who need love. You can bask in My love. Your life can become of great consequence once you understand how safe you are in My arms. Sit on My lap and receive the wealth I choose to give you. From that foundation, I want you to reach others. Tell them that they can have the same access to Me that you have. Tell them that I care for them. Tell them that Jesus has provided a way for them to be reconciled to Me. You come to Me to be filled. I love to be with you. I also love to send you to others.”

2 Cor. 3:18 AMP

And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit.

Eph. 3:17-19 AMP

17) May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love.

18) That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God’s devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it];

19) [That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!

1 Peter 2:9 NIV

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God…

 

In a world that spends most of its time seeking some kind of acceptance, almost any kind of acceptance, isn’t it wonderful that you and I have found total acceptance with Father God through Jesus? Isn’t it also wonderful that we have an answer for those who need to be loved? Not only can we love them because of Jesus, but Father God will love and care for them for eternity because of Jesus. We just need to introduce them to Him!

Help me to understand Your love and then tell others about it, Lord,

Jim Corbett