Tag: Bible

“When will you give up? When will it become too hard for you to continue, so that you quit proclaiming My Word? If everyone stood against you, decided that you were a liar, and became determined to destroy you because of Me, would you stop serving Me? What if you were falsely accused, condemned, and run from their company? Would you hold unforgiveness in your heart and strike back at those who knowingly or unknowingly came against you? When will you take the posture of the world and hate like they do, attempt to defend yourself like they do, and strike back out of anger just like they do? The moment that you do, I have lost a representative of Jesus. In that moment in time, you will have destroyed everything that I have worked in you. You will be no different than the world.

“Jesus never defended Himself, never struck back, and readily forgave everyone who came against Him. He even forgave those who drove the nails in His hands. He died for you. He died so that you would no longer hate Me. He died so that you and I could fellowship once more. It cost Him His freedom, His reputation, and even His life. I require you to do the same if you want to be endued with My presence.

“My child, you need to become mature in Me. Stop functioning in the ways that are understood by those who hate Me. They are looking for you to fight their kind of fight so that they can win. You come to Me. I will be your defender. I will be your strong tower. I will be your reputation.

“I need to see this in you, however. If I should not vindicate you for My own reasons, if you come home to Me hated, despised, and alone, will you still praise Me, serve Me with all of your heart; and lay down your life for Me without hesitation? I need to see that I can truly trust you before I give you My presence for your end-time work. Otherwise, you will be vulnerable to the ways of the enemy.”

1 Cor. 4:9-16 NIV 

9) For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men.

10) We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored!

11) To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.

12) We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it;

13) when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.

14) I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children.

15) Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.

16) Therefore I urge you to imitate me.

 

The religious leaders of that day hated Jesus because they couldn’t touch Him. All of the normal ways in which they destroyed anyone who usurped their authority or challenged their pompous arrogance failed miserably time after time. He challenged the very core of their lives, and it exposed their true nature. They had such hatred in their hearts that they wanted to kill Him.

Goaded to their actions by Satan, the only thing they could do to stop the threat that Jesus had become was to kill the flesh. What is so fascinating is that by killing the flesh, they accomplished exactly what the Father had planned. The flesh of the first perfect man had to be put out of existence so that the new spirit man could rise in its place.

Standing before Pilate, Jesus had already willingly given His life. His surrender of His life, the only power that they held over Him, automatically caused them to lose the battle. In giving them His life rather than fighting for it, He did not participate in their kind of fight so they could not really be declared the winners - even if it looked as if they had won. Jesus won the spiritual battle in the heavenly realms, destroying the enemy’s tactics forever.

When you and I attempt to engage in fleshly battles, we are on the enemy’s turf. Whenever we go there, the enemy wins. We have no weapons to fight in that arena, no power to stand and glorify God, and no right to even be there. Our Father has already won the battleground of the flesh through Jesus.

Our battles are in the spiritual realm, where our Father engages in every one of them on our behalf. That is where we are to function. That is where we cannot be defeated. No wonder the enemy always wants us to engage him on his turf with his kind of war!

Your grace is sufficient!

 Jim Corbett

“Few people understand the significance of each moment of every day. The world uses the opportunities given them to further their private agenda, causing them to remove themselves further and further from reality as I see it. My church is supposed to redeem each moment for My purposes. Most of them have little understanding of that concept. They flounder from concept to doctrine to offense to false faith. In the coming days, few will be fully prepared to weather the storms. They will not have prepared themselves by spending the necessary kind of time with Me to understand My heart. When they do come to Me, it is to amplify and tailor their own agendas, rather than to learn what I desire to teach them.

“You, My seeking hearts, must function in the truth that I have been teaching you in Our quiet moments together. You must remain focused on My purposes and not be drawn into the trap of a survival mentality, losing the ability to hear Me clearly. Your days must be spent flowing with Me for My purposes to be accomplished, no matter what attempts to remove you from My presence. You need to remember this. Hold it close to your heart. I never move from the place where you have always found Me. Circumstances and loud voices, pressures and violent winds never draw Me from My place of absolute control. You will always find Me in the quiet place of rest and refreshing. Always remember how I have taught you to place all of your hope and trust in Me, not in your own ability.

“Remember how you have learned to flee to Me in times of darkness. Remember to never become strong in the power of your own might, attempting to use your faith in faith, rather than in My presence. I remain in the calm waters of reality as I see it. All that happens is simply the implementation of My overall plan for your world coming to a close. Use each moment from now on to practice My presence from My place of rest and refreshing. In the turbulent times ahead, that will be the place where you will find Me. Others will be looking for Me to change their world and protect their possessions in places of turmoil and urgency. You come to Me where I have taught you to find Me. We will move together in the power of My might, implementing My desires each moment of every day.”

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.”

Phil. 4:6-7 AMP

6) Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests) with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.

7) And God’s peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

 

Few of us realize that our life with the Lord is not about winning or losing. It is not about our personal safety, the protection of our possessions, or the welfare of our little world. Everything is about the eternal plans of our God and Father.

So many of us have decided somewhere deep in the dark recesses of our selfish little hearts that, no matter what it says in the Word, God is there to serve us, rather than face the truth that we are created to serve Him. That may seem to be a very elementary statement; but the fact is, few of us have the solid understanding that none of this is really about us. It is all about God. We are simply players in His plan, deeply loved players, but players none the less.

Our pride causes us to want to be acknowledged and recognized. We all have a desire to feel needed and important. Often that translates into a self-centered kind of notion that we are somehow helping God. It is almost as if we have gone from our initial position of helpless insecurity, in which we realized our desperate need of a Savior, to a feeling of being indispensable to His plans.

As I look around at the many winds of doctrine that flourish in these times, few of them have centered on the absolute sovereignty of God. Few teach that all of this is not about us. We are never really told to grow up, take God’s Word in its entirety, and look at the overall picture. If we should ever do that, our whole perspective will change and any worries will fall pale in light of His glory. God will again be placed in the position of honor that is due Him, a place high above anything we can fathom from our lowly perspectives.

Wanting to always say “Abba,” never “Uncle,”

Jim Corbett

“You do not understand the war that you are in. If I were to show you the vast array of weapons that your adversary has, allow you to see in the spiritual realm the might of the forces that have been sent against you, and show you how incapably you have engaged in the war that is yours, you would cease to exist. Your presence on the earth would be a dim memory. You need to remember something. You are engaged in a war. It is not an option for you. You either join with Me to do battle My way, or you do battle your way and lose, just as you have been doing for so long.

“Your battle is spiritual, and it must be fought with spiritual weapons to have any effect. Most of you have never even done so much as examine closely My intended use for the weapons that I have provided for you. You have only observed the flailing gymnastics that have been purported to be My power at work. Those foolish gyrations have done little to stem the darkness. In fact, because of their ineffectiveness, many of My people have walked away from the battlefront in disgust. They have been nullified because of the false power portrayed by so-called leaders.

“You, My people, have become numb to the real focus of your lives and hamstrung by your perceptions of what that life is all about. Now, if I were to show you My power in comparison to that of the enemy, you would never be the same. If you will spend the kind of time with Me that I desire, I will show you the real war and the overwhelming power that I possess. I would also show you how to succeed My way.”

2 Kings 6:15-17 NIV

15) When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh, my lord, what shall we do?” the servant asked.

16) “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

17) And Elisha prayed, “Oh Lord, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

Hosea 4:6 AMP

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you [the priestly nation] have rejected knowledge…

 

The verses in 2 Kings are self-explanatory. They portray the provision for the people of God, if only they would open their eyes.

Hosea 4:6 is not so self-explanatory and has been misquoted and misused for centuries. Satan has blinded the church for many years with his interpretation of the intent of the verse.

The common use for the verse is the part, “My people perish for lack of knowledge.” It has been used for everything from gaining more wisdom, to seeking the Lord more, to making sure that you spend more time in the Word. All of these have their place.

However, God intended the verse to have a different impact. He was chastising His people for their rejection of knowledge, which caused helpless, unknowing people to perish. His heart was breaking for those who had no knowledge because His people - who were supposed to teach them - could share nothing with them because they had nothing to give. They had rejected real knowledge.

It is the same today.  You and I are being trained to reign as priests and kings. We are supposed to be utilizing our privilege of coming before our Lord’s throne of grace to receive the grace needed for everything. We are called to learn absolute truth from Him. Instead, we learn from those who spend little time with God, traditions, and mythical stories. People are perishing in the church and in the world because we, the priestly nation, have the real source of knowledge but never really go to the well to drink.

May Your thoughts and Your ways be ours, O God,

Jim Corbett