Tag: Bible

“My children, you need to check your allegiance. Make sure that you have not become hired hands rather than the bond servants you once were. I need to trust you. If I should remove your “wages,” would you lose faith in all of My promises? Would you call Me “unfaithful” and turn to your own resources for your provision, if I tarried in My responses to your petitions? A fickle heart will cause you, and those around you, to wander wide-eyed and drooling when times become extremely difficult.

"Instead of being a reliable guide for those who need to see My dependability when they have no answers of their own, you will also falter. Turn back to the simple trust of first love. Determine in your heart that you are with Me fully, no matter what the world around you turns to.

"I am waiting for true, steadfast bond servants. Hired hands will seek other sources for comfort if my “payment” does not suit them. Do not become that kind of fool.”

Isaiah 8:11-14  AMP

11) For the Lord spoke thus to me with His strong hand [upon me], and warned and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,

12) Do not call conspiracy [or hard, or holy] all that this people will call conspiracy [or hard, or holy]; neither be in fear of what they fear, nor [make others afraid and] in dread.

13) The Lord of hosts – regard Him as holy and honor His holy name [by regarding Him as your only hope of safety], and let Him be your fear and let Him be your dread [lest you offend Him by your fear of man and distrust of Him].

14) And He shall be a sanctuary [a sacred and indestructible asylum to those who reverently fear and trust in Him];…

John 10:11-13  AMP 

11) I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd risks and lays down His [own] life for the sheep.

12) But the hired servant (he who merely serves for wages) who is neither the shepherd nor the owner of the sheep, when he sees the wolf coming, deserts the flock and runs away.  And the wolf chases and snatches them and scatters [the flock].

13) Now the hireling flees because he merely serves for wages and is not himself concerned about the sheep [cares nothing for them].

 

A hired hand works for someone who pays the highest wage and serves with limited allegiance. He is reliable to the one who pays him as long as his wages are paid, and he is required to only work within the limits of his work contract. At any given opportunity, he accepts higher offers, more suitable work, or easier working conditions.

A bond servant, on the other hand, has chosen absolute servanthood to his master, no matter what is required of him. His motivation for service is love - not the amount of wage, working conditions, or difficulty of the task. There are no options to his commitment. There is no price too high to pay. His term of service is eternal, his commitment unwavering, his trustworthiness absolute.

Without knowing it, it is easy to slip into the “hired hand” mentality with God. The simple act of taking over when God’s answers are delayed or doing it ourselves when He seems to have waited too long to do something we need, all deny the bond servant’s heart of absolute faith and trust in our Lord.

Forgive me for acting like a hired hand so often, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Do you really understand the covenant that My Son and I have made with you and for you? My covenant with you has little to do with keeping you healthy, wealthy, and out of harm’s way, as some false prophets claim. My Son did go to the cross. Paul did spend most of his ministry years in prison. Countless missionaries of Mine did perish. You are no different.

"Here is My covenant with you in a nutshell. I have promised to give you all of Myself while you live. I will equip you and fill you with My presence so that you testify of My Son. I have promised to change you, to finish what I have started in you. I have promised to be with you wherever you go, to help you through whatever situation you find yourself in, if you call on Me! You will see miracles when I need miracles to be shown to others. I will then bring you home to spend eternity with Me when your work is completed. You have promised to need Me and submit to Me as best you can.

"You must realize that this life with Me is to fulfill My will. Unless you set your mind to be in line with My heart and My Word, you will find yourself confused, and eventually heartbroken. Do I love you? Oh, yes, more than you will ever know! But I also love those who hate both Me and you at present. I desire that they also be with us for eternity. You are My agent to show them My Son, so that they have a chance to embrace Him. If that means that they need to see how He reacts to difficult situations, I will lead you into difficult situations for their sake because I can trust you there. I have bought you with My Son’s blood.

"That is a high price to pay. I will show Him to the world in whatever way that I deem necessary, and I promise to use you to do it. There is much work to be done at present. When it is finished, I will bring you home and We will celebrate.”

John 14:10 AMP

Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in Me? What I am telling you I do not say on My own authority and of My own accord; but the Father Who lives continually in Me does the (His) works (His own miracles, deeds of power).

John 14:12-13 AMP

12) I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, if anyone steadfastly believes in Me, he will himself be able to do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these, because I go to the Father.

13) And I will do [I Myself will grant] whatever you ask in My Name [as presenting all that I AM], so that the Father may be glorified and extolled in (through) the Son.

Rom. 11:36 AMP

For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. [For all things originate with Him and come from Him; all things live through Him, and all things center in and tend to consummate and to end in Him.] To Him be glory forever! Amen (so be it).

I Cor. 6:19-20 NIV 

19) Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;

20) you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

Col. 2:6-7 AMP 

6) As you have therefore received Christ, [even] Jesus the Lord, [so] walk (regulate your lives and conduct yourselves) in union with and conformity to Him.

7) Have the roots [of your being] firmly and deeply planted [in Him, fixed and founded in Him], being continually built up in Him, becoming increasingly more confirmed and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and abounding and overflowing in it with thanksgiving.

Col. 2:9-10 AMP 

9) For in Him the whole fullness of Deity (the Godhead) continues to dwell in bodily form [giving complete expression of the divine nature].

10) And you are in Him, made full and having come to fullness of life [in Christ you too are filled with the Godhead—Father, Son and Holy Spirit— and reach full spiritual stature]. And He is the Head of all rule and authority [of every angelic principality and power].

 

It would be laughable if it weren’t so sad, when I hear some well-known street-corner prophets proclaim a gospel of God serving us rather than one of us serving Him. I have seen so many young believers shipwrecked and discouraged because they came into the true Gospel under that teaching. When that teaching didn’t work - when they weren’t healed, when they couldn’t talk or pray or believe themselves out of a situation - there was no place to go. They felt God had left them.

I once asked the Lord to give me a key teaching that is always safe and in line with His Word. He said, “My true Gospel works everywhere, during any time in history, and in whatever situation you find yourself. It never changes.”

When I thought about it, those words made everything clear; and they’ve protected me numerous times. Prosperity doctrines will not work in impoverished nations or during God’s judgments. “Name it and claim it” doctrines did not work in the arena for the first century Christians, and so on. Any teaching that is limited to a generation, a locality, or a specific time in history has flaws in it and will cause unnecessary rabbit trails. One by one, I have found that any doctrine preached must work everywhere in any season or it shows the Lord to be partial, when His Word tells us He is no respecter of persons.

The single teaching that seems to stand the test in every situation, every nation, and every generation is the crucified life. The teaching that we are not our own sets us free to be the Lord’s. When we understand that we have been bought with a price and are the Lord’s to use as He pleases, no real harm will ever come to us. We might be broken, shamed, and even killed; but when we have “died” already, who can harm a dead man?  Having “crucified” our old nature, with its self-serving ways, we have the freedom to live with Him and for Him. Our lives can freely be a testimony of God’s love to others.

Basking in the joy of His love for us, remembering what lies ahead, we live for the well-being of others and for our Lord. We are free!

Teach me to remember what this life with You is really all about,

Jim Corbett

“It’s time to take cover in Me. There is a season soon ahead that will confuse the world and destroy the puny strength of many who trust in themselves and what they have. In the near future, true strength will only be found in your relationship with Me. It will be the only thing that you can rely upon completely. All other relationships will be shown for what they really are.

"Many who call you friend this day will turn their backs on you because of Whom you represent. They will hate Me; they will hate My Son for taking away their right to remain in their folly. My truth will cause them to make choices that they have no intention of making. They would rather perish in their false beliefs than embrace the One I require them to embrace to be safe for eternity. Because you represent that truth by serving My Son, you will be blamed for everything that inhibits their destructive agenda. Even though you represent love, you will be accused of hating.

"Remember to love deeper during those times. It will bring forth rage from those who really have hate as their motive. That hatred is not really against you; it is against Me. I will be strong for you. I will empower you to love through Me. When everything in your flesh demands satisfaction, I will show My strength of submission. The enemy has no tools to combat someone who freely gives away what others want to steal. Jesus gave away His life. It foiled the power of the enemy then; the same kind of submission to My ways will foil the intentions of your enemies now. Come under the protective power of My kind of love. It will be your place of safety.”

John 10:17-18 NIV

17) “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life – only to take it up again.

18) No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.”

1 John 2:6 AMP

Whoever says he abides in Him ought [as a personal debt] to walk and conduct himself in the same way in which He walked and conducted Himself.

1 John 4:18 NIV

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The man who fears is not made perfect in love.

 

Any fears that we have come from ownership of some kind. If we claim ownership of our possessions, we are always fearful that they might be taken from us. It is the same with our reputation, position, and even life itself. Whatever we hang on to can be forcefully taken from us. Whatever we willingly give away can never be taken from us. There is no fear of loss, so we are free to love as Jesus did.

Jesus owned nothing. He functioned in perfect love. He gave away His position in heaven to become a servant of those He created. While living with those whom He had created, He counted Himself less than they were, never fought for His reputation, never cared what anyone - other than His Father - thought of Him; and willingly gave His life for the good of others. His love was so perfect that no one could overcome Him. The enemy was soundly defeated because he did not even know how to fight that kind of war.

Satan loves contention, thrives on strife, and wins every battle when the participants demand their rights or claim ownership of anything fought for. The outcome of that kind of battle has no winners except him.

As Christians, we have lost our ability to overcome the moment we walk in any way other than the way that Jesus walked. Soon, battles for position will rage all around us. Wars for rights will be everywhere we go. The world will be full of strife and contentions, demanding control.

During those times, perfect love will be the only safe way to function, if we are to show others the life that Jesus lived. Words, strengths, position, and possessions will all fall away and fail. Perfect love will overcome. It will be God’s place of safety for us.

Needing to learn God’s kind of love,

Jim Corbett