“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