Tag: Bible

“I know that this is not what you normally hear, but I want you to count the cost of serving Me when you are in the dark valley, not from the mountain top. Mountain top commitments fade when times get difficult. When you have nothing to offer, when there is no escape, when you have come to the end of yourself and still commit to serve Me, I know you mean it. That is when I change you. That is when your heart becomes more like the heart of Jesus. Never be afraid to go to the place of needing Me. Each time I drive you to the end of yourself, it is My love in action. When I am all that you have and I am needed for your next breath, I will be there for you. You can trust Me. That is when We can really talk.”

Psalm 3:1-6 AMP 

1) Lord, how they are increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me.

2) Many are saying of me, There is no help for him in God. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

3) But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.

4) With my voice I cry to the Lord, and He hears and answers me out of His holy hill. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

5) I lay down and slept; I wakened again, for the Lord sustains me.

6) I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me round about.

Isa. 38:17 NIV 

Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish. In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back.

 

Unless we really understand that everything God does is for our good, we will never be able to communicate with Him properly in times of anguish. Usually in those dark places, we begin to accuse God of being unfaithful and question His promises, instead of releasing our desperate need of Him and crying out for help.

We forget that He has taken us to those places, so that we finally come to the end of ourselves and He can get to our real need - more of Jesus. What we say and how we act toward Him in those desperate moments reveals our true heart. At that time, He either releases His compassion and changes us or allows us to remain there until our need of Him is more powerful than anything else.

We spend so much time trying to prove that we are getting better and becoming more Christ-like, when our Father is working to get us to acknowledge that we are bankrupt and in need of Jesus. When we do acknowledge our need, He can change us.

Do what it takes to make me whole, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“In a moment your life can change forever. Without warning, you could find yourself in a situation in which you need Me desperately. Your world is being postured to fulfill what I have called into being long ago. It is heaving from within. The enemy has loosed lying and deceiving spirits upon those who are not aware of the truth in Jesus. You should have responded to My heart wooing long ago. One day it will be too late. You will not have enough oil to respond properly. Are you focused on My truth? Are you ready for whatever comes your way? You need to be! Much is changing fast.”

Isaiah 28:9-10 TLB

9) “Who does Isaiah think he is,” the people say, “to speak to us like this! Are we little children, barely old enough to talk?

10) “He tells us everything over and over again, a line at a time and in such simple words!”

Isaiah 48:3 NIV 

“I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.”

II Peter 3:8-9 NIV 

8) But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

9) The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

 

The “Leave It to Beaver days” have long since passed in case you haven’t noticed. Vile intrusions on our senses invade us at every moment. Intolerance is systematically replacing patience in our world. What would have been unthinkable even ten years ago has become almost commonplace today. Mankind is blindly responding to its father, the father of lies.

But Jesus! Because we are His, we can see the changes all around us with clarity and respond accordingly, if we are wise. This very moment God is doing what is necessary in each of those who are responding to His call to intimacy and bridal heart preparation. Our circumstances often must be seen with spiritual eyes. Our training may seem imperceptible, and our growth may appear non-existent; but none-the-less, we are in His hands and being formed to respond and overcome in our times as Jesus responded and overcame in His. Those who are listening and moving in God’s direction are being made ready for whatever is ahead.

Equip me, Lord,

Jim Corbett