Tag: Bible

“Often I watch you as you go about your business and marvel. You delight Me. I am struck by the way that you get up when you fall. I cherish the times that I see you venture into the unknown, trusting Me to guide and protect you. It pleases My heart when you tell others of My love. I boast about you as you turn in My direction rather than the ways that you used to go. Most of all, I delight in Our times together. You are very precious to Me. I think that you are wonderfully made. When you share your life with Me, My heart bursts with a desire to give Myself to you fully, so that you would have everything you need to prosper. I love to listen to you. I love to fulfill your needs. I think that it is precious when you come and sit with Me. I wish that you would come more often and stay longer.

"Did you know that when you leave, some of Me goes with you? It’s true. I give some of Myself to you each time We are together. You take it with you so that you can function a little more like Jesus. Even though you have been wonderfully made, you are every day taking on a little more of who Jesus is. Thank you for praising Me. Bless you for representing Me. You are very valuable. I love you.”

2 Cor. 6:18 NIV

I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.

I John 3:1-2 NIV 

1) How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

2) Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

 

Most of us walk in fear of our loving Father in heaven. There is no question that He is the awesome, almighty God; but to not embrace Him as a loving Father, our Abba, would deny the work of the cross.

Originally, we were formed in His image, designed to have fellowship with our Lord. Sin separated us from that true fellowship; but the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus completely restored it.

Maybe it’s time for each of us to revisit what has been done for us by Jesus. Maybe we should go to our Father and ask Him to tell us what He really thinks of us. Maybe when we do, we might find the proper place that has been established for us; one of a very much-loved child. Too good to be true? No! So good because it is true.

Excited every time I get to jump on my Abba’s lap,

Jim Corbett

“Do you know what My anointing is? It is when I take your small offering and empower it through My Holy Spirit. My presence and My power do all of the work to make an optimum impact in all that I call you to do. Understand that you have little to offer Me other than your full surrender to My power. Your skills are limited. I know that. It’s how I planned it. Mine are boundless, eternal, and accompanied by sovereign insights. Allow Me to amplify your offering of love into the eternal realm. Allow Me to do everything My way through you. You will marvel at how free you will be to enjoy what I call you to do, as you see how much is accomplished when you wait for Me to do it My way.”

Esther 6:1-3 AMP  

1) On that night the king could not sleep; and he ordered that the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, be brought, and they were read before the king.

2) And it was found written there how Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s attendants who guarded the door, who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.

3) And the king said, What honor or distinction has been given Mordecai for this? Then the king’s servants who ministered to him said, Nothing has been done for him.

Psalm 106:12-15a AMP

12) Then [Israel] believed His words [trusting in, relying on them]; they sang His praise.

13) But they hastily forgot His works; they did not [earnestly] wait for His plans [to develop] regarding them,

14) But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness and tempted and tried to restrain God [with their insistent desires] in the desert.

15a) And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their souls…

 

The verses above minister mightily to me. The verses in Esther tell of a time when a king, unbeknownst to him, was awakened so that he could be used to further the mission of the Lord. God was working behind the scenes in His power. Mordecai was probably fretting and sleeplessly wondering how he was ever going to accomplish what was necessary, when all the while God was in the process of doing what Mordecai could never have done. God gave him favor in the heart of the king.

The verses in Psalm 106 smack of a people who insisted on their own way, not caring past their own needs. God answered their hard-hearted whining, giving them what they wanted; but also limited them to only what their carnal requests could produce. They missed the abundance God had for them, because they chose not to wait for God’s ways to unfold.

Let me not miss Your plans and Your ways, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“There is a very real reason for My allowing you to go through difficult times. There are also times that I discipline you. You are in My school of refinement and training. It is called bridal preparation. Those of you who are wise volunteer for My hand of discipline to be heavy upon you from the beginning of your walk with Me. Those who are foolish have little desire to pay the price of true fellowship and intimacy. They have chosen to consume what is not theirs and hold on to what they no longer own. They are so busy providing for themselves that they have missed one of the real purposes for Our relationship.

"Jesus is returning for those who have the same heart as His. I am developing that heart in those who press in and request it. I am allowing those who do not desire absolute submission to go their way. In the times ahead, those who have chosen the route of limited submission will be brought to full submission through very difficult times. You will be at peace. They will learn what you have known all along.”

I Sam. 16:7b AMP 

For the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.

Proverbs 29:21 AMP 

He who pampers his servant from childhood will have him expecting the rights of a son afterward.

Phil. 3:14-15 AMP

14) I press on toward the goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward.

15) So let those [of us] who are spiritually mature and full-grown have this mind and hold these convictions; and if in any respect you have a different attitude of mind, God will make that clear to you also.

Rev. 3:19 AMP 

Those whom I [dearly and tenderly] love, I tell their faults and convict and convince and reprove and chasten [I discipline and instruct them]. So be enthusiastic and in earnest and burning with zeal and repent [changing your mind and attitude].

 

I believe that there are going to be some very surprised people when the standard that is required by God is revealed. Just a simple perusal of the churches of Revelation indicates that He is exposing attitudes that don’t live up to His ideals. There is a price for spiritual complacency within the body of Christ.

Most of the popular church today examines the pages of the Bible to find the provisions for good health, the right to great wealth, and the guarantee of safety for eternity. That is a mindset that is diametrically opposed to the mind of Christ. It is the posture of a self-serving, self-oriented carnal mind, not the mind of Christ.

Jesus set a standard when He left unimaginable wealth, position, and power to walk on this earth as an impoverished servant to all, anxious to die for those who hated Him. His standard is the bench mark for all who come after Him as they press forward. It is the high calling of Jesus Christ, which we all talk about, but few really seek.

When the call to join Jesus in the marriage supper is heralded, it is hard to imagine that it would include those who have never wanted to be there except to feast and fill themselves.  I see the standard that Jesus set scoffed at and replaced so often by another kind of Gospel; and I am fearful for those who promote it. There are too many places in the Word that goad all of us to “be as He is.” I believe that He will come for those who are looking and preparing their hearts for His return as their only purpose in this life, functioning as He did while they wait.

Turn my heart, Lord,

Jim Corbett