Category: From Our Fathers Heart

“You are seeing all things that I have created in your world so far fall in their place. Through My Word, you have seen the creations of the heavens and the earth. You have seen the creation and rebellion of My angelic beings. You have also seen the creation of mankind. Each and every one of My creations has an order that is to be followed and is functioning in My plan. I have designed it to be that way. There is no guesswork in anything that I do.

“Both My angelic creation and your creation have an initial period that allows proper choices to be made, and then there is a conclusion that fits within My overall plan. You are now part of the initial period - the earthly portion of your life. Your world, as you know it, will no longer exist once all of My purposes for it have been fulfilled. Once they are accomplished, you will remain with Me to fulfill the plans that I have for the eternal future. That may seem relatively unimportant at this moment in your life, but do not limit its impact in regard to your future.

“You need to remove your focus from the immediate and begin to realize that I have much more for you to do once your creation has fulfilled its initial purpose. Just as the angelic creation had a time to be involved in the playing out of their initial purpose to then function in My plan because of their choices, your involvement today directly impacts your future with Me. Your choice to serve Me was only the beginning. Your actions and daily choices have far more impact than you know.

“What you do each day, the choices you make, the decisions you follow, really play a part in your eternal future. Make proper choices. See a larger picture than what is presented to you each day by your life. I am a very creative God. Do not limit Me because you cannot see beyond what is happening in your little world.”

Joshua 24:15b NIV

“…then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…”

Matthew 24:35 NIV

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”

 

I often wonder what the timeframe was that the angels had to make their decision to follow God. How much time did Lucifer have to influence that decision? How long did they function with God before the rebellion was exposed?  Did they spend all of their “days” in the rebellion plot, weeding out those who would remain faithful to the Lord and those who would rebel, or did “life” go on as usual, in service to God, while all things were playing out?

I know that those things are not necessary for us to know in order to function or they would have been revealed to us through the Word. It is fascinating, however, to understand that there was some sort of timeframe whereby the angels functioned; and then there was a conclusion to life as they knew it for some of them. Once the heavenly rebellion was concluded and the “players” of God’s plan had solidified their positions by their actions, God went on to His next work – us.

Now we, as a human race, are in the same sort of initial timeframe that the angels had. We have been created. Biblical history has shown us of a rebellion - this time with a means for redemption through Jesus Christ - and this very day we are on our way to the conclusion of this timeframe in our lives. What happens next, only God knows.

What does seem of paramount importance, however, is how we redeem each moment that the Lord has given us before He closes this portion of history. Our days are definitely numbered. What we do with each one seems to have a definite impact on our function in God’s economy, not only for today; but also for the futures to come.

Needing to function in God’s plans, not mine,

Jim Corbett

“Sometimes it is in times of pain and suffering that you find Me. Sometimes I need to bring you to the end of yourself, so that you will seek Me with all your heart. It is My love for you that turns your eyes toward Jesus. When you call out to Him in your desperation, He will come to you and bring you new life. Your religious heart will be softened. Your priorities will be put in line. Your motives for all that you do will become My motives as you grow in Me.

“Call out to Jesus in your need. Call to Him for the first time or for as many times as you need. He is waiting to ease your pain. His love is always for you, never against you. He is Lord, and He is waiting to be Lord over your every situation. Turn everything over to Him. Submit yourself to a love greater than you have ever known. You will find the answers you have been looking for as you find Him.”

2 Samuel 14:14 NIV

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

Matt. 11:28-30 AMP

28) Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]

29) Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls.

30) For My yoke is wholesome (useful, good – not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne.

Luke 22: 61-62 NIV

61) The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.”

62) And he went outside and wept bitterly.

 

Some of us think that we have the corner on this thing called Christianity. For a while, I sure did. Having met Him in a cemetery - stupid, full of dope, one day before I planned to kill myself - I found real life and real love for the very first time. I, of course, immediately turned everyone off with my zeal and freedom - being so full of newfound love, but so immature and insensitive.

What I didn’t realize at the time is that my Father in heaven brought me to the place of desperation, so that I would finally come to the end of myself and cry out to Him in my need. Because I was such a hardhead, I had to be stripped of everything before I would submit fully to Jesus and His Lordship over my life. I had to realize that I was helpless and needed a Savior.

Since then, His faithfulness has brought me to a point of need often, so that I would realize the necessity of resubmitting and recommitting my life to His Lordship. He would stop me dead in my tracks, making me realize that I was running off by myself somehow; and quietly bring me back to the place of total submission to Him, the only place of safety.

Here’s a thought. No matter how long you have known Jesus, no matter how much you are doing for Him, stop for a moment. Ask a few questions about your life. Is everything in order? Is everything at peace in your heart? If not, maybe the Lord is calling you to turn your life back to a place of total submission to Him. Maybe He wants all of you once again. Maybe the Father is saying that the answer to all your needs is Jesus, and He is asking you to get back to basics with Him before you can move on.

Going back often,

Jim Corbett

“Are you part of the crowd, or are you setting yourself apart unto Me? I never approve of mediocrity. I cannot abide the lukewarm heart. I do not accept cold petitions and insincere praise. I am calling for deep devotion, first love adoration, and zealous involvement from those who claim to be Mine.

“There is still time. Turn your hearts to Me. Repent of your divided interests. Throw away the things of the world that have your attention. I will meet you right where you are. I will have mercy on you for as long as you desire, as you remain sincere in your turning from those things that are shown to be hindrances in your life.

“The call is out. I want you to dedicate yourself completely to Me. Submit to Me and I will accomplish My desire in you.”

Romans 2:4 NIV

….not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?

I Th. 5:24 AMP

Faithful is He Who is calling you [to Himself] and utterly trustworthy, and He will also do it [fulfill His call by hallowing and keeping you].

James 4:8-10 AMP

8) Come close to God and He will come close to you. [Recognize that you are] sinners, get your soiled hands clean; [realize that you have been disloyal] wavering individuals with divided interests, and purify your hearts [of your spiritual adultery].

9) [As you draw near to God] be deeply penitent and grieve, even weep [over your disloyalty]. Let your laughter be turned to grief and your mirth to dejection and heartfelt shame [for your sins].

10) Humble yourselves [feeling very insignificant] in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you [He will lift you up and make your lives significant].

Rev. 3:15-20 NIV

15) “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!

16) So, because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

17) You say, ’I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

18)  I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

19) Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be in earnest, and repent.

20) Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”

 

What an incredible Lord God! How merciful He is to have so much patience with us. I love the open kindness and loving mercy that our Lord has for us. How many of us would endure people whom we call friends for as long as the Lord has endured our fickle hearts? Praise God for the blood of Jesus!

I am convinced that this generation is being pressed on all sides for the purposes of refinement. We are being called to really become who we have been saying we are for a long time. Now He is forming us for His purposes, for this time, for these people. How blessed we are to be part of the plans of God!

Teach me to respond properly when You call me, Lord,

 Jim Corbett

“Have patience! I am about to send you forth, but you must not run ahead of Me in your enthusiasm. There is no need to hurry. Nothing will work for you until My presence is with you, so why would you move before I am ready to go with you and anoint what you do?

“My timing is perfect. My appointments are easy. While you are waiting for My next provision or My next place for you to go, come and be with Me. I love Our time together. Being together is far more important than anything else that you do. It is why I have called you to Me. Be at peace, everything will get done, everything will work out for good. You come to Me. I am waiting!”

Exodus 33:13-16 NIV

13) “If I have found favor in your eyes, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”

14) The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

15) Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.

16) How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”

Deut. 1:6 NIV

The Lord our God said to us at Horeb, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain.”

John 7:6-8 NIV

6) Therefore Jesus told them, “The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right.

7) The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil.

8) You go to the Feast. I am not yet going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come.”

 

The completion of the galaxies was perfect.  The parting of the Red Sea was perfect. The arrival of Jesus, His crucifixion, and His resurrection were perfect. Everything that God does is perfect - perfect in timing and perfect in completion.

As we study the life of Jesus, it rings in perfect unison with His Father. He did what He had been told to do at the proper time, which resulted in a perfect conclusion.

Does it seem a little foolish to you to think that we could run ahead of God, function in our own timing, and then believe that we might accomplish something for Him? Does it make any sense for us to worry or be impatient while we wait for Him? Wouldn’t it make more sense to let Him be God and not do His planning for Him?

Teach me to wait patiently, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Few of you understand how much you harm yourself by reentering places and rejoining people from whom I have delivered you. Sometimes you even return for the sake of fleshly unity. Why would you decide on your own what is best for you, and then complain to Me when things become troublesome? I deliver you for reasons that you may not understand completely, but you must begin to trust that I know what I am doing.

“I place you in refiner’s fires and then I remove you when you begin to look to Me for all of your needs. I deliver you, change your circumstances; and set your feet on solid ground, so that you can be part of My plan. I desire to use you. When you allow your own refiner’s fires back into your life, they destroy you rather than teach you My ways. You become ineffective.

“You really need to take a good look at your life. Are you where I have placed you with those with whom I have placed you, or are you where you thought you should be without seeking My counsel? One is life; the other is death.”

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.

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.”

Jeremiah 29:11-14a NIV 

11) “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

12) Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

13) You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

14a) I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.”

Acts 15:36-40 AMP  

36)And after some time Paul said to Barnabas, Come, let us go back and again visit and help and minister to the brethren in every town where we made known the message of the Lord, and see how they are getting along.

37) Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark [his near relative].

38) But Paul did not think it best to have along with them the one who had quit and deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone on with them to the work.

39) And there followed a sharp disagreement between them, so that they separated from each other, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus.

40) But Paul selected Silas and set out, being commended by the brethren to the grace (the favor and mercy) of the Lord.

Because of these e-mail messages, I have come to know many, many people from all across the land, even in some remote parts of the world. Because of the strong, direct content of these messages, only those who choose to really go deeper with God, and have learned to wait on His counsel, continue to receive them for any length of time. Others ask to be removed from our mailings soon after their flesh is made uncomfortable by what is said.

What I have learned from many of those who are digging in with the Lord is how important it is to be exactly where He places us, exactly with whom He places us, for precisely as long as He desires us to be there, whether it is a wonderful experience or an intense challenge. On the other hand, I have learned that to remain there, wherever it is and with whomever it is, for one millisecond longer than the Lord desires for us is foolishness at a minimum and downright dangerous in most cases.

So many times I hear of people wondering where God is, when they are the ones who have moved far from where He wants them to be because of their own decisions and desires. He cannot bless them where they are, when they are out of His will. Only repentance and obedience will rectify an unhealthy, dangerous situation.

Take my hand and lead me on the right path, Lord,

Jim Corbett