Category: From Our Fathers Heart

        "Because of the changes taking place all around you, most of you will soon be out of your comfort zone. You will need to rely upon what you have learned about Me up until that time. You will need to call upon your knowledge of who I am and what I consider to be valuable. That is why you have been in such rigorous training. I have placed you in continuously intensifying situations to train you and make you strong in preparation for the coming time.

        "Most of you have responded favorably. You have learned to turn to Me and Me alone in your need. You have understood My desire that none should perish, and work toward that end as your priority each day. Your own needs and desires have decreasing value as you take on the values of Jesus. You are continually submitting to the finished work of the cross as your only source for life. I am very proud of you. I can trust you with much. I will be able to send you into circumstances with special needs, knowing that you will represent Me properly.

        "Some of you have found it difficult to submit fully to the training in which I have placed you. You are still struggling with the idea that you need to be shaken from the former, foolish, self-serving beliefs that you have held all these years. You are beginning to see, however, that your positive confessions, prosperity demands, and fist clenching aggressions will not hold up under the extreme situations you may soon face. I am grateful for your teachable heart, your desire for truth, and your willingness to leave behind immature beliefs. As you submit to the truth of My Word, I will build the necessary faith in you to trust Me with everything. You will see prosperity as I see it. You will understand the overwhelming power behind a crucified life. Study the life that Jesus lived. Keep your heart open to My Word. You can still be useful to My work if you submit to My truth.

        "Others of you will need to turn your hearts toward Me and My desires before I can trust you to do My will when faced with open aggressions, critical dilemmas, and life-threatening challenges that will come your way. You will need to either submit to My hand of training upon you, or you will be passed by when I need to call upon someone I can trust. I am willing to work with you as long as you have a teachable heart. Do not harden your heart to My training. Come to Me now while there is still time for you to learn of My ways. I am waiting."

Ps. 86:11 AMP

Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk and live in Your truth; direct and unite my heart [solely, reverently] to fear and honor Your name.

John 4:34 NIV

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

II Cor. 5:18, 20a AMP

18) But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself [received us into favor, brought us into harmony with Himself] and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation [that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him].

20a) So we are Christ's ambassadors, God making His appeal as it were through us.

 

The true heroes of the Bible had a common characteristic that is little recognized as a warrior's heart and an unbeatable weapon in the face of danger. Their lives were not their own. Sometime before they were called upon to display this Christ-following character - whether they lived during Old or New Testament times - they had an understanding of the heart of God's ways and gave their lives fully to His use and service, no matter what the cost.

The true church of Jesus Christ fully recognizes the work that is being done in open, teachable hearts. It is a work of unquestionable submission to the cross and the kind of life it represents. It is the crucified heart that beats in unison with its Lord as a prepared bride, waiting for the wondrous moment of meeting her Groom.

As always, the enemy counterfeits a move of God to sidetrack its importance - in this case, the heart of full submission and sacrificial giving. He calls upon those who follow his plan to seek physical martyrdom for some sort of eternal gain, denying the eternal gain achieved at the cross. The suicide tactics displayed in today's world show that distorted and misdirected zeal. The enemy's followers lay their lives down sacrificially in order to do harm to others and for their own gain. Jesus laid His life down for the benefit of others.

God is calling His people to return to the heart that led Jesus to the cross. Obviously He in no way condones purposeful, planned, physical death; but He does require the setting aside of our own desires, replacing them with His desires - a death to our fleshly, carnal nature, which is accomplished in the spiritual realm. The degree to which we submit to God's will - at the expense of our own - is the degree to which God will be able to trust and use us.

Wanting to submit fully to the ways of Jesus,

Jim Corbett

        "Do you realize that every time you've failed Me is forgotten, if you have confessed it to Me? It is no longer on any register that I own. Why then do you hold on to it, as if Jesus never paid the price for that freedom? You see your failures and look past My desire to have you become all that you can be in Jesus. I am never against you. I will never give up on you. My promises have destroyed your stony heart and replaced it with a heart that is manageable, one that eventually will fully serve Me.

        "Look beyond what you are at present. I see who I have formed you to be and you are moving in that direction, each time you submit who you are not to the Lordship of Jesus. Bathe yourself in My mercy as I complete My work in you. Repent of who you are not. Accept My forgiveness. Let's walk in fellowship. I love you."

Psalm 55:22 AMP

Cast your burden on the Lord [releasing the weight of it] and He will sustain you; He will never allow the [consistently] righteous to be moved (made to slip, fall, or fail).

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.

Prov. 28:14 AMP

Blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) is the man who reverently and worshipfully fears [the Lord] at all times [regardless of the circumstances], but he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.

Eph 4:12-13 AMP

12) His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), [that they should do] the work of ministering toward building up Christ's body (the church),

13 [That it might develop] until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the [full and accurate] knowledge of the Son of God, that [we might arrive] at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ's own perfection), the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him.

Hebrews 13:5b AMP

...for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]

 

Because of these messages, Merry and I receive communications from many parts of the U.S. and countries around the world. We hear from many dear children of God who are basking in the love of their Father God and walking in the freedom that has been provided at the cross for them.

At times, however, we receive disheartening correspondence from believers who feel that they have failed God once too often or are convinced that they have never and will never live up to the standards God has set for them. They vigorously point out their failures and the results of their lives that signify to them that God is angry at them or has forsaken them.

Nothing could be further from the truth of His Word. It is because of who we are not that Jesus died. It is because of our failures that God provided forgiveness through the cross of Jesus Christ. It is because of who we can never be in our own strength that we need a Savior and Lord. Jesus is His Name. Because of what He has done, we can walk in the forgiveness of God as often as we need to do so. What a glorious, wonderful Father God - Who loves us enough to have continual mercy on us each and every time we ask for it!

Thank You, Lord,

Jim Corbett

"As your true Father, I observe you with unfailing love. I watch your comings and your goings and monitor your life so that you do not wander too far.

"As I watch you, I am continually blessed to be your Father. You honor Me as you represent Jesus properly. You honor other members of your family, when you consider them with the same heart that He does. You bring joy to all of Us, as you are mindful of those who hurt and are in need.

"When your perspectives become clouded, I make sure that you regain your focus. I direct you to the proper path and bring you back to right thinking through many ways. I know that some of them are uncomfortable, but they are necessary.

"You see, I desire that you grow up bright and strong in the knowledge of Who I am, who you are, and who you represent. We are family, Father and children."

II Sam. 14:14b NIV

"But God does not take away life; instead, he devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him."

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 lived for a while among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

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]!"

 

When we really understand how important the concept of family is to God, it's no wonder Satan has worked so hard to destroy it. We have become so used to the modern family that the concepts of a loving, available father, and devoted, parent-honoring children; and the incredible power of a unified, selfless effort toward common goals elude us as part of the family unit. We have lost our purpose because we have missed the plan of God concerning His way of letting us know, first, that we belong to something bigger than ourselves; and then, second, why we belong.

Because we are in Christ, we are born into an eternal family under a gracious, loving Father. We belong to a God-ordained unit, flowing in love toward Him and each other. At least that is the way our Father desires it.

Help me, Lord,

Jim Corbett

        "I want you to think of the hardest heart that you personally know, someone who has harmed you. I want you to devote your day to pray for him or her. Present him or her to Me every time he or she comes to mind.

       "Two things will happen. You will find out where your heart is toward that person - whether you are able to care as Jesus cares - and you will be reminded of how much I really care for those who curse Me."

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."

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 under foot by men.

Luke 6:41-46 NIV

41) "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?

42) How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

43) "No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.

44) Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers.

45) The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

46) "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?"

What an incredible concept: to have the Lord take a whole day of my life to pray for someone who will never know, and probably never care, about what I have done for him/her.

Give me Your heart, Lord,

Jim Corbett

        "Be careful not to become complacent. If things seem to be quiet all around you, even for a moment, make sure you remain diligent. Continue in prayer. Continue in the mission to which I have called you. Pray for those involved with you.

        "The enemy never sleeps. His methods are insidious. You are in a battle. Do not allow yourself to be deemed ineffective because you fell asleep when everything seemed to indicate that the battle was over."

II Cor. 10:3-5 AMP

3) For though we walk (live) in the flesh, we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons.

4) For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds.

5) [Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

Eph 4:12-13 AMP

12) His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), [that they should do] the work of ministering toward building up Christ's body (the church),

13 [That it might develop] until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the [full and accurate] knowledge of the Son of God, that [we might arrive] at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ's own perfection), the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him.

 

The battle for souls will continue until the last soul that will come has surrendered to Jesus. There is never a time that we are called to sit on the sidelines and do nothing. We are continually in the front lines whether it feels like it or not.

If you do not have a desire for anyone and everyone that you meet to know Jesus, you are not aware of your continuous mission. Maybe it's time to rekindle the fire that is intended for you. Maybe the Lord needs to change your focus.

Never allow me to become complacent, Lord,

Jim Corbett