Tag: Christianity

“I call you to be grateful for everything, but there are things much more important than the blessings that are yours through the world. As you grow, you will see that thankfulness for refiner’s fires that change you is extremely important. You will be grateful for those who use you wrongly when you understand that they have done you a service by allowing you to see how far you’ve come in Jesus. True thankfulness is a continuous state of heart, and it exhibits its fruits over time and in the proper season. I am thankful that you have embraced Jesus. I am anticipating the time when We will spend intimate moments together. I am delighted to call you My child.”

Genesis 1:31 NIV

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.

Psalm 111:2 NIV 

Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them.

Psalm 150:1-6 AMP 

1) Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in the heavens of His power!

2) Praise Him for His mighty acts; praise Him according to the abundance of His greatness!

3) Praise Him with trumpet sound; praise Him with lute and harp!

4) Praise Him with tambourine and [single or group] dance; praise Him with stringed and wind instruments or flutes!

5) Praise Him with resounding cymbals; praise Him with loud clashing cymbals!

6) Let everything that has breath and every breath of life praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)

John 3:16 NIV 

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

 

My Father, thank You for Your incredible love for me! Only You know how little I deserve the wondrous gift of Your Son. He died so that I might live. I am forever grateful. So many times I have given up on You. You, however, have never given up on me. You loved me when I was incapable of loving You back. Your kindness has allowed me to never fear coming to You to be healed and cleaned up.

Jesus, how can words express the value of what You have done?  “Thank You” seems so inadequate, but very necessary. Thank You!

Holy Spirit, thank You so much for Your comfort and guidance! Teach me to trust You more each day.

I am truly grateful, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Watch! Begin to see everything around you with My eyes. Much is happening that fulfills My end-time plan if you have eyes to see. Most of My church is either asleep or distracted by their lusts for the world and its ways. They are blind. You watch! You listen! You tell others of the coming peril, so that they can be prepared to act like Jesus would act when it comes. Open your eyes so that you can see with My eyes!”

Jeremiah 29:11-13 NIV  

11) “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

12) Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

13) You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Joshua 7:13 AMP

Up, sanctify (set apart for a holy purpose) the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: There are accursed things in the midst of you, O Israel. You can not stand before your enemies until you take away from among you the things devoted [to destruction].

Matt. 5:11-12 NIV

11) “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

12) Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

 

Ten years ago, if someone would have said that there would come a time in this nation when we could lose our freedoms overnight or be persecuted for our faith in the United States, we would’ve thought that they were some kind of false doom and gloom prophet. How different the world looks now!

There’s no denying that as we look around and open our eyes, things sure have changed. Anything is possible and could very well become probable as time goes on. How are you preparing to represent Jesus in a world that may be unrecognizable from even today’s world? Are you preparing for what is on the horizon or are you like the proverbial ostrich with your head in the sand, hoping that the bad things will go away?

There is incredible power and safety for those who are walking in the fullness of Jesus. It is the only true place of His incredible presence.

Make me aware and ready, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Will what you have planned for today matter in eternity? What about the plans you’ve made for the rest of the year? For that matter, how much of the resources of time, talent, and money do you use for yourself, compared to what you have dedicated to the work of the Lord? That’s not meant to be a guilt trip; it is an assessment challenge.

Your works will be judged. You will answer for your stewardship of whatever I’ve given you. Don’t fall for the ten percent trap. You said that Jesus was Lord over everything. Isn’t it time that you started to do what you have promised to Him? Do you think that He cares more about how many have come to the Lord or about your excuses? This issue is very much on His heart. It should be on yours.”

Prov. 19:21 AMP 

Many plans are in a man’s mind, but it is the Lord’s purpose for him that will stand.

Luke 12:19-21 NIV

19) “And I’ll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’

20) “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

21) “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”

Luke 12:48b AMP 

…For everyone to whom much is given, of him shall much be required; and of him to whom men entrust much, they will require and demand all the more.

Heb. 12:1 AMP 

THEREFORE THEN, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us.

 

It amazes me how easily the church gets offended when challenged about our stewardship of time, gifts, and especially our money. It seems that we would rather defend selfishness that offends God than face it, do something about it, and please Him. We forget that one day, we will be held accountable by the Lord Who accepted our songs and our promises that everything we have is His. That day is not the day to say oops!

Guide my steps, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“If you fall, I will pick you up. If you wander, I will come and find you. I will show you the way home. You must understand that My love for you is much stronger than anything in you that will not serve Me. I have created you to have fellowship with you. Jesus has made the way to do just that. Whatever stands in the way of that fellowship, I will overcome for you. You can count on it. I love you.”

Hebrews 13:5b AMP

…for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]”

Rom. 2:4b AMP 

Are you unmindful or actually ignorant [of the fact] that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repent (to change your mind and inner man to accept God’s will)?

 

Most of us forget that our heavenly Father is continuously at work bringing us to fullness in Him. Our life was His idea. He ordained the idea of mankind, and He initiated the salvation process, all motivated by love.

We need to settle in our hearts once and for all that God loves us. We also need to understand that His love is not a wimpy, tickly-feely kind of love that fluctuates with every whim. Godly love is a committed, full-of-promises kind of love that will never allow us to remain who we once were. It is the kind of love that sees prosperity as the total elimination of the hindrances to which the world and our old life restrict us. It is the kind of love that exists in the heavenlies with Him.

I receive it, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Those of you who are following hard after Me affect your world more than you know. Most people don’t know what to do with you, especially in My church. Your mere presence makes carnal followers of My Word very uncomfortable. People who are prideful in what they know become confused just being near you. Their little world is rocked by your immovable love for Me. Your faith makes them see how puny their faith is. I have told you this before; now I am telling you again, so that you can shake loose from the guilt that has been placed on you for so many years.

"Be prepared to see foolish, prideful hearts harden before your very eyes. Prepare yourselves to see what you have considered to be close friends separate themselves from you for no apparent reason. Watch as they do an about face, making flimsy excuses for their departure. It is not you. It is the exposure of their hearts. They cannot go where they would be expected to go if they stayed in your midst. Their boundaries are being stretched by My call on your life, and it is too far for them to go. All of their talk of service, all their religious games are too comfortable to leave. You don’t fit in their world. You are too much of a maverick in their eyes. They must revert to their comfort zones. They are too weak to face the scorn of their peers if they acknowledge your way of life fully.

"Rest assured; I will take care of you. You will never really fit with anyone but those of like mind and Spirit. Your life will always expose the values of others whether you know it is happening or not. Take comfort in the fact that I will lead you to those who are not playing games with Me. Others will go about their business, relieved that you are no longer in their midst. I will heal your wounds and remove the rejection. I will be Lord for you. I will be your friend. I appreciate you. Pray for the others as they increase their activities, so that the stain of rejecting you feels less painful to them.”

Ps. 31:20 AMP

In the secret place of Your presence You hide them from the plots of men; You keep them secretly in Your pavilion from the strife of tongues.

Matthew 5:13 AMP 

You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste (its strength, its quality) how can its saltness be restored? It is not good for anything any longer but to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men.

 

It is encouraging and refreshing to share “war” stories with fellow misunderstood, so-called maverick believers. Somehow, doing so makes the rough times a little easier and the very difficult times more bearable. It also helps to know that you have kindred spirits in your corner, when your faith seems small and all you have the strength to do is hang on desperately to the hem of Jesus’ garment.

To those of you who have embraced the call of a crucified, sacrificial life, you need to understand that you will not ever be understood. Every opportunity to discredit you will be taken. Every effort to show that your way of living is not the proper way will be made.

You will be forever on the sidelines, perpetually called to do without, and continually labeled as misfits. When your spiritual help is no longer needed, you will be discarded with as little concern as yesterday’s laundry, of no more use. After you have paved the way to the most current move of the Lord, others more powerful and more credible in the eyes of the church will take what you have given and make it more saleable, marketing it with professional expertise. You will then be called to start all over, paving the way for the heart of your Lord to be presented in another way, until that takes hold, and so on and so on.

Having said that, you will also have access to the heart of our Father in a way that few understand. You will be able to intimately hold the hand of your Lord during the roughest of times, and you will feel the refreshing breeze of the Holy Spirit more than those who do not have your calling could ever imagine. You are truly blessed.

In the times when you feel weakest, and long for even a morsel of the delicacies that most of the comfortable church enjoys daily, you need to remember the life of your Lord and Savior. You need to remember that you have been called to live as He did among others. Your reward is not in this present time. Your reward is in seeing the Lord’s pleasure as He directs your life, paving the way for His desires to be initiated in a cold church. He will be your reward.

You are groundbreakers. You are called to stir up the complacent. You are gaining the heart of God. You are the salt that has not lost its saltness.  He is very pleased with you.

I remember what it is all about once again, Lord,

Jim Corbett