“Remember when I told you that you can’t give away what you do not own? The opposite is true also. You cannot own what has not been given to you. Ownership is such an incredible concept in My kingdom. Jesus owned nothing because He chose to give away all that He had, so that you could have everything. You are now asked to give everything away, if you desire to possess all the treasures of heaven. When your heart is empty of any desire, other than to possess whatever cannot be yours unless it is given to you by Me, I will fill it with Myself. When that happens, all that I am and all that I possess become yours. It becomes yours to give away.

"This is not a game; it is a wonderful principle that is beyond carnal understanding. Enjoy it with Me. Ownership in your earthly world causes you nothing but bondage. First, you strive to gain whatever it is that you desire to own. Then you walk in bondage because you fear losing whatever holds your heart. Ownership in My kingdom is exactly the opposite. The single possession of My Spirit is everything that you will ever need. When it is yours, however, your only purpose is to make sure that others receive it.

"By your new nature, you must give it away. It is the nature that Jesus possesses. Seek to rid yourself of all desires that have value in your world. Receive My heart so that you have riches enough to share with everyone you meet. I will then give them the heart of Jesus. They will then have everything, so that they are free to own nothing.”

I John 4:16-18 AMP

16) And we know (understand, recognize, are conscious of, by observation and by experience) and believe (adhere to and put faith in and rely on) the love God cherishes for us. God is love, and he who dwells and continues in love dwells andcontinues in God, and God dwells and continues in him.

17) In this [union and communion with Him] love is brought to completeness and attains perfection with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment [with assurance and boldness to face Him], because as He is, so are we in this world.

18) There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete, perfect) love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and [so] he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love [is not yet grown into love’s complete perfection].

While I was writing the above message, I felt a joyous, almost playful spirit. It seemed that the Lord was having fun presenting what at first glance seemed like the “foolishness” (in the eyes of the world) of His ways in comparison to the foolish ways of the world. In reality, however, the wealth of the concept of godly ownership versus earthly ownership is astounding. It is the epitome of love. Someone who walks in God’s kind of perfect love owns nothing for himself. It is the heart of Jesus as He endured the cross, so that each of us could be separated from our sin, which separated us from God. Owning everything, He willingly gave everything away in heaven and then on earth in order for that to happen.

If we would examine our lives, we would discover that whenever we have a fear of any kind, it has to do with the prospect of losing something that we own; or more accurately, something that owns us. We fear losing our possessions, our health, our freedoms, and even our lives.

Jesus functioned in such perfect love that He willingly gave all of His life away. The leaders and the rulers of that time couldn’t take His life, because He had already given it away long before they even met Him. All of their power had no power over Him, because He functioned in a realm where true power was exhibited - not through ownership, but through love. No one can kill a person who is already dead.

In these times, the world understands fear, and people use it against each other to maintain control. What is not understood is true love - not the foolish interpretation of love that suggests weakness, but the overcoming power of God’s kind of love. We, as Christians, are not only free from the wrong kind of fear of God, but we can also be free from all the fears of the world if we choose to function in that love. Sometimes it will look like we have lost because of the way we love; but in reality we have won, just like Jesus did.

Needing to function in God’s kind of love,

Jim Corbett