Tag: Christian

“It gives Me great pleasure to see you prosper. It delights My heart when you find the rhythm that I intend for your life. So many of My children miss what I have for them because they will not set aside their desires long enough to find My desires for them. They do not delight in Me and allow Me to place My ways in them.

"Look what I have completed in you because you have come to Me. I have modified your cares and needs. I have eliminated strongholds that have hindered you from seeing clearly and have replaced them with cravings for heavenly involvements. Even your understanding of what is real and what is not has changed over time. You are on your way to prosperity as I see prosperity. You are placing your life focuses where they need to be - on My desires. In fact, My desires are becoming your desires. That is the path to prosperity. Step by step, I am taking you there as We walk together. Come closer to Me. I will give you more of My heart so that you can prosper.”

Exodus 33:13 NIV 

‘If I have found favor in your eyes, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you….’

Psalm 37:4 NIV 

Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

 

Two things come to my mind when I ponder what has been said above. First, I think of how much work has been done in my heart to modify who I once was and move me to what the Lord desires for me. I know how impossible it was for me to think clearly for so many years. What astounding patience on His part! What incredible mercy and grace I have received, instead of the judgments and wrath that I deserve.

My second thought centers on the verse in Psalms. He gives us the desires of our hearts. I used to come with my wish list, attempting to hold Him to His Word. I expected every desire I gave Him to be fulfilled. In fact, there are many cars (pretty old and rusted cars now) that had my handprints on them because I prayed “in faith,” knowing that they one day would belong to me, simply because I desired them. When most of my dreams and wishes fell by the wayside, I began to seek the Lord in earnest to know what that verse really meant.

I found out that the key to its fulfillment is certainly delighting in the Lord, but I had missed how that played out in God’s economy. As I began to delight in Him and take pleasure in learning His ways, I found that He planted His desires in my heart. What wisdom! As I began to pray about His desires and ways that were now in my heart - low and behold! - things started to happen. What an incredible God! (By the way, I am so grateful that He doesn’t give us everything we ask for!)

Teach me Your ways, Lord, as I delight in You,

Jim Corbett

“I love to have you come to Me for many reasons, the main reason being the interaction and intimacy that We share. When you pray, you are learning to submit. You are learning to admit that you have no control over your situations. You are acknowledging that you need Me to intervene in your life. That is very wise on your part.

"When you pray for others, you have admitted that you can do nothing for them in your own power and so you turn their lives over to My power for what needs to be accomplished. That is good for you and good for them. It is good that you are learning to need Me, rather than continuing to rely on your limited resources. It is good for them, because My unlimited resources work on their need. Come to Me often. Jesus won that privilege for you. Let’s share everything. Come mostly just because I desire to be with you.”

Mark 15:37-38 AMP

37) Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed out His life.

38) And the curtain [of the Holy of Holies] of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

Luke 23:44-45 NIV

44) It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour,

45) for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.

John 5:19-20 NIV

19) Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.

20) For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.”

 

Think of what true prayer is, however. In prayer, as we approach the Lord, we are expressing an understanding of His office as God. We are saying that we understand and fully submit to His sovereignty, His power, and His position as the ruler of all that exists.

As we lower ourselves in our own eyes, making requests or offering heart petitions of love, we are stating that He is God, and we are not. To do so moves us from our normal position of rebellious independence to one of humble submission. It honors Him, whereas our fleshly offerings cannot do so.

It might be noted here that the Bible records Jesus as stealing away for prayer often. He taught those around Him to pray – they already knew how to sing to the Lord in psalms and hymns. He even stated clearly the importance of doing nothing in our own strength and showed us the importance of submitting to His Father’s strength at all times. I am convinced that He was showing us how best to honor His Father by looking to Him for all things. That is called worship!

Teach me to need only You, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Do you understand why there are seasons of desperation for My true children? Do you know why these times must be part of the lives of those who have covenanted to sell out to Me? It is part of My testing process. I am building a reliable community of believers; those who can be trusted to follow Me, no matter what other voices may say, no matter how difficult it gets. Understand this, in My church there are many kinds of participants. There are those who consider everything that I do to be only for their benefit. They only take from Me, never even considering My purposes for the salvation process. There are those who fluctuate back and forth from flesh to spirit, never seeking My direction for their lives and never willing to pay the price of serving Me with all of their hearts. Then there are those who really understand what My purposes are and what My plan is all about. They are the ones who are being formed into the true image of My Son, Jesus.

"This last group, of which you are a part, holds the attention of My heart. I love everyone, but I focus and monitor more closely those who want more of Me. If you have determined to follow Me closely, sell out to My will, and crave My anointing in all that you do, I will notice you and walk closely with you. I will place My hand of pressure on you to kill your flesh and bring your spirit alive.  Sometimes you will feel as though you can go no further. That is when you will learn to stand fast in My kind of liberty. I am setting you free from the part of your flesh that will not serve Me. You who hold My heart close, I hold you close. I tenderly violate every portion of you that will not bend to My will. It is an act of love. Press on. I am with you every step of the way. I am pleased with you. I have seen you when you have felt like you were dying inside. You were, and I was with you to bury the pieces.”

Isaiah 55:8 NIV

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.”

II Cor. 1:8-9 AMP 

8) For we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about the affliction and oppressing distress which befell us in [the province of] Asia, how we were so utterly and unbearably weighed down and crushed that we despaired even of life [itself].

9) Indeed, we felt within ourselves that we had received the [very] sentence of death, but that was to keep us from trusting in and depending on ourselves instead of on God Who raises the dead.

I Pe. 4:12-13 AMP

12) Beloved, do not be amazed and bewildered at the fiery ordeal which is taking place to test your quality, as though something strange (unusual and alien to you and your position) were befalling you.

13) But insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, rejoice, so that when His glory [full of radiance and splendor] is revealed, you may also rejoice with triumph [exultantly].

 

If your desire is to sell out to the Lord with all your heart, don’t let anything or anyone stop you. You must understand, however, that the price of God’s anointing and the cost of His presence is very high.  In fact, it will cost you everything.

Your life will consist of times of deep, almost continuous pressure. You will appear to most as a failure. When others have, you will most likely be one of the have-nots. Many will counsel you to not be so radical about your Christianity in one way or another. They will gladly tell you all the things that you are doing wrong and advise you to be more like everyone else and flow with the crowd.

You, however, will know better. Even if at times you feel as if you can go no further, you know that the Lord is directing your steps.  To give up would be a disappointment to Him and that thought alone is enough to press on.  Somewhere in the very depths of your spirit you have tasted the wonders of your precious Lord and nothing but pleasing Him will satisfy. No price is too high, no hardship too great.  You are willing to go to any measure to honor His desires for your life; to do less would be unthinkable.

You will stand on the sidelines when others are able to afford to play the success game. You will willingly go without, do with less; and bless others when you are laughed at, talked about, scorned, and not included in most events.

However, you, my friend, will be held in high esteem by your Lord and used because of your faithfulness. He will be able to place His presence in you, share His anointing with you, and give you His wisdom because He knows that you have gone the route of His Son.  The price may be high, but the thought of pleasing your Lord is the only reason for living. For you, there is no other way.

Needing to stop listening to the enemy when under pressure,

Jim Corbett