Category: From Our Fathers Heart

        "You need to turn around often to see who is following you. You also need to check to your right and to your left to see with whom you are walking. Often, you need to remember Whom you are really following. Too often you forget how much you are worth to Me, not only the value that I place on you personally, but the value you have because of who you are and what you are becoming in Christ.

        "The only One to follow is Jesus; that you know deep in your heart. Once that is your only goal, I can place others to your right and to your left - people of maturity - so that your path will be straight and purposeful. They will not allow you to falter. You are safe with them. Hold them close; value their friendship. Work for their best interest. Mark carefully who they are and allow nothing to separate your hearts. Study the needs of those whom I have watching you. They will need to travel some of the roads that you have already traveled. Love them deeply. Forgive their immaturity. Serve them with an honest heart.

        "Soon they will have others following them because of the love that you have shown. If you have no one to your left or your right, if you have no one following you, even if the path ahead of you seems clear, more than likely you are on a path to destruction. Check your heart. Check your motives. Check your spirit and the direction it is taking you. No one on the right path walks completely alone. It is too dangerous. I would not allow it.

        "Stop now and see what you might have missed. Submit to someone who is producing mature, Christ-like followers, and surrounded by people of integrity. Repent of your pride. Become a listener and a follower first, so that one day you will be mature enough to lead."

I Cor. 11:1 NIV

Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

I Th 1:6-7 NIV

6) You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.

7) And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.

Hebrews 12:1-2 NIV

1) Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

2) Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who, for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, scorning the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:12-13 NLB

12) "So take a new grip with your tired hands and stand firm on your shaky legs.

13) Mark out a straight path for your feet. Then those who follow you, though they are weak and lame, will not stumble and fall but will become strong."

 

I have the desire to run hard after Jesus and have the honor of being surrounded by many people who are doing the same. Few of them live in the same community that I do. In fact, they are scattered all over the nation. My greatest joy is having the privilege of needing them desperately. It would be impossible to make it through a single day if my true friends were not available to counsel, encourage, caution, and convict.

They love me enough to never fear warning me of dangers and traps that I may encounter. They are so faithful that I can show them my vulnerable underbelly. I can be transparent in their presence, knowing that they will love me even when I fail miserably or appear foolish. They are eternal friends and holy alliances placed in my life by the Lord. I am absolutely free to follow after Him, in front of them, because of their honest hearts.

I also have the honor of having people need who I have become and what I have learned, so that they might grow strong. That is not a boast, but a proper flow of life established by Jesus. It is a responsibility that I do not take lightly. One day I will answer to my Lord about how well I carried His banner before them. One day, each of them will do the same.

Needing each other and helping each other is our Father's way. To function any other way is a formula for failure.

Needing others and being needed as led by my Lord,

Jim Corbett

        "Although you are cherished and I know all that you are, you are only a small part of a much, much bigger plan. You need to widen your horizon concerning Our relationship. You need to understand that My plans don't revolve around you. You are privileged to participate in what I am doing. Your self-focus limits your ability to grow in Me. You have brought Me down to your level, instead of seeing Who I really am. You have made Me small in your eyes. I am much larger than you have brought yourself to believe. Come to Me. Go to My Word. I will expand your vision, open your eyes, and enlarge your faith."

Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV

8) "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord.

9) "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Ephesians 1:17-19a NIV

17) I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.

18) I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

19) and his incomparably great power for us who believe...

Ephesians 3:10-12 AMP

10) [The purpose is] that through the church the complicated, many-sided wisdom of God in all its infinite variety and innumerable aspects might now be made known to the angelic rulers and authorities (principalities and powers) in the heavenly sphere.

11) This is in accordance with the terms of the eternal and timeless purpose which He has realized and carried into effect in [the person of] Christ Jesus our Lord.

12) In Whom, because of our faith in Him, we dare to have the boldness (courage and confidence) of free access (an unreserved approach to God with freedom and without fear).

 

Most of us have no power because we have created a weak God in our own minds. He has become our buddy or our servant or our request filler. We hold ourselves in higher esteem than we hold Him. This whole relationship has become about us and our needs, instead of about our Father's plans.

We forget that only the powerful blood of Jesus allows us to come near to Him. Before the cross, to be in His presence meant death. To even look upon the One Who spoke the worlds into existence was impossible.

Forgive me, Lord,

Jim Corbett

        "Today is a day of preparation. It is a day of new hope. It is a day of decision. I am calling My people to prepare for a time when things are not as they are in these days. It will be a time when only those who prepare in earnest now will prosper. I am also sending new hope to the fragile and broken, as they submit fully to Me. As you prepare your heart for My presence, I will heal you and build you up in My Son, Jesus.

        "Decide today Whom you choose to serve. Set aside every heart attachment to the world. Set aside those things that refocus your priorities. No longer entertain the notion that you are in need of nothing from Me. Seek Me with all your heart. I will be found. Seek Me for what you will need in the coming days. Seek Me and you will walk in My presence when others walk in fear."

2 Chr 16:9 NIV

"For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him..."

Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV

5) Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

6) in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

 

The only place of real safety is being tucked in the folds of the garments of our Lord. Any time we find ourselves separated from His presence, we are vulnerable, weak, and in danger.

Because of the work of the cross, you and I have been recreated to remain consistently in the presence of God Himself, now and for all eternity. In our pride, for some foolish reason, we choose to think that we can somehow prosper outside of that presence. We go about our days blissfully unaware of the real danger we are in and the grave consequences we will endure by remaining independent of His protecting power. Any decision that we make that sets us apart from the keeping power of our Lord is foolish and improper, denying the provision that Jesus made for us. It has no place in our lives. It is a dangerous way to live.

Help me to remain near You at all times, Lord,

Jim Corbett

        "Everything that you see happening is about lies and truth. It is the continuing battle that will bring forth the culmination of My plan, just as I promised it would. As the elements of the plan unfold and the players come and go, you will see blatant deceptions and half truths. You will see right-sounding agendas and seemingly pure motives-designed to move the battle lines one way or another-achieving small, temporary victories that will fade with the next encounter.

        "Little by little, every nation will be affected and involved as the battles escalate, until a cry for peace rings throughout your world. There will then be what looks like an answer, but there will still not be truth. I am the only Truth. I always was. I always will be. Your temporary battles are an infinitesimal portion of the absolute truth that governs the heavenlies and is, at present, overcoming the father of lies for all eternity. My truth will continue on for eternities upon eternities.

        "In the times ahead, when the battles rage, you will be asked to pick sides. You will be asked to choose between one agenda or another. You would be wise to see through the smoke and the fire and look to My Word. Choose My plan and overcome the battle lines. I am asking you to bring others to Truth. That is My plan for you. He is Jesus."

John 4:34 NIV

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

Joshua 5:13-14 NIV

13) Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?"

14) "Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come."

 

An overview of all of recorded history shows nations rising and falling, wars in diverse places, men coming to power, only to fall to the next person more powerful; and generations of people raised up only to cease to exist. From His heavenly post, Father God - although concerned about each and every hair on every head that ever existed - moves and directs, guides and leads every person and every nation, all for the eventual outcome of His completed plan. Our days are in His hands and for His use. The final generation will see a world leader emerge out of the revived, old Roman Empire. This leader will be the predicted antichrist, who is determined to establish himself as God. He will lose one final battle with the Lord.

History, however, is also about people - people just like you and me - with very real lives, who are living in our apportioned time in God's timeline to accomplish our portion of God's overall plan. Once we are born, all the mechanisms of God track and direct our lives, giving us every opportunity to make the choice of committing our way to God or rejecting Him for all eternity. In more recent generations, once we choose God through Jesus Christ, the only access provided, we have the privilege of seeking the heart of Father God and obtaining our individual part in His overall plan. We have the opportunity to become players, moving with God to implement His wishes; or non-players, going along for the ride and clueless to what is really happening.

As players, we have the honor of setting aside all that hinders His will to be accomplished in us, eagerly flowing with His unfolding plan. Our concerns are not earthly, our war is not with people, our hearts are not on the material. Our eyes focus on the spiritual and see God's truth unfolding above every earthly situation.

As non-players, everything we see is carnal. Our deepest concerns are for the immediate, our time is spent in providing protection for our little area in life; and our hearts are for safety and comfort for ourselves. When our small world is threatened, we have little wisdom to embrace the overall plan of God. Unable to see God's truth, we hope that we will win over any threat to our lives. Success is attained only if, after any conflict is resolved, we emerge unscathed, and continue our selfish little lives of pursuing personal safety and comfort. We cannot envision God's truth as harming our small perspective of life in any way. We are short-sighted fools, living fruitless lives.

Our generation of believers is at a crucial juncture. Each of us must set aside our own desires for protection and safety, and focus our attentions toward God's truth. What is He doing? Why are the things happening around us happening? What are the daily headlines all about?

If we don't focus all of our attentions toward finding God's perspective in every situation, our prayers will be selfish and self-serving, our actions will be carnal, and our witness will be nullified. We may even be fighting against the overall plans of God without knowing it. What a horrible prospect!

Show me Your truth, Lord,

Jim Corbett

        "Do you know that your job is simply to trust Me to do whatever is necessary in your life? When you have a need, turn to Me. When I show you who you are not, submit to Me and surrender to Jesus that He might live His life through you.

        Why do you try to live this life in your own strength? Turn to Me for your every need. Turn to Me for the changes that are needed in you. Trust Me to do what is necessary to make you who you are to be in Me. All this is My idea. Allowing Jesus to live through you is My plan. Trust Me to perform what I have promised. I am faithful."

Gal.3:3 NIV

Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?

Gal. 5:22-23a AMP

22) But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness,

23) Gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence)...

 

Most of us really love to play the Holy Spirit in our own lives. We love to participate in our own getting better before God, when God has always said that our place is to die. We are to die to our own strengths, our own abilities; and most of all, our own attempts to be like Jesus. This is all God's work, not ours. The sooner we believe this fact and choose to walk in it, the sooner we will have freedom to overcome our doubts and needs and rest in the Jesus Who loves us.

Teach me to rest in You, Lord,

Jim Corbett