Tag: Christianity

“I’m looking for aggressive warriors who are willing to win at My kind of warfare. I am at war against your flesh. You can win through submission to My will. When I show you your sin, repentance brings forgiveness. As I explain the truth of My Word, We overcome the lies of the enemy of your soul. Fear is removed as you see who I am. Spending time with Me is the most powerful kind of warfare. There is no way to counter these weapons and the many others that I have provided for you. Stop choosing the ways of the world. Choose My ways. I always win.”

 Psalm 127:1 AMP

Except the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; except the Lord keeps the city, the watchman wakes but in vain.

Isaiah 2:22 AMP

Cease to trust in [weak, frail, and dying] man, whose breath is in his nostrils [for so short a time]; in what sense can he be counted as having intrinsic worth?

Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV

8) “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.

9) “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

 

I have found no better explanation of true spiritual warfare than this example from my friend, Pastor Ron Auch, who is now home with the Lord.

“Many intercessors and leaders in spiritual warfare seem to think we have to some way, somehow, “deliver” a city from spiritual oppression or past evil curses in order to have the way paved for the presence of God to come into that city. However, the goal of spiritual conflict is not to usher in the presence of God by that means. Spiritual warfare is not the way to bring in the presence of God, but quite the opposite.

"It is not the battle that ushers in the presence; but rather, it’s the presence that originates the battle. The presence of God is the starting point. Because of the presence of God, there will be war since the inhabitants of darkness cannot stand His presence. All of our strategies, banners, chants, and shouting “per se” will do no harm to the devil. In fact, we can be sure that the devil will help us do our “spiritual warfare” as long as we are replacing the presence of God with our own battle turmoil. I believe along with some others that the devil has been teaching the church how to do spiritual warfare! The Israelites marched around, shouted, sang, worshipped, broke pots, suddenly pulled out torches in the middle of the night, and fought battles in usual and unusual manners; but it was not the strategy or the activity that gave them victory. It was the presence of God who went before them. Without the presence, they would have been the most foolish army in history.”

Wanting to win Your way, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Do not be lulled into a false sense of security. Erosions to your freedoms are taking place at this very moment and will continue until all things are fulfilled. You must not allow the peace and safety that is apparent to sway your zeal to draw close to Me. Work while there is light; the darkness must come so that prophecy is fulfilled. If that frightens you, you must understand that I will give you all that is needed for you to overcome any situation, when it is needed. You are in training. Your present situation is making you strong and wise to My ways.

"Abide in Me now. Receive this day’s manna. Learn the lessons that I present to you today. Become absolutely obedient. Renounce fear for the lie that it is. If you understand that I prepare you for the future by challenging you now, you will prosper when everyone else is hamstrung by what they see. Learn of Me and My keeping power while there is light. I am with you.”

Exodus 33:13-16 NIV 

13) “If I have found favor in your eyes, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”

14) The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

15) Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.

16) How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”

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.”

Acts 4:29-31 NIV 

29) “Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.

30) Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

31) After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

 

Most of us fluctuate with the times and seasons and react to their influence. When things are peaceful in our lives or our nation, we rest, forgetting that the plans of God are rolling to fulfillment at every moment of every day. In God’s economy, the accomplishment of His Word - in the world and in our lives - is always in progress. There may be intermittent times of quieted pressure, but we must not be fooled into thinking that His plans are being delayed because of them.

Every minute of every day, you and I are part of the unfolding plan of our Father. We are either in training or implementing that training. Our lives have a purpose - His purpose. Since our purchase at the cross and our submission to the Lordship of Jesus, every event in our daily walk is for the fulfillment of that single end. As we live and breathe and have our being in Jesus, His life in us is preparing us for whatever the Father planned long ago. We can be assured that we will have what is needed for whatever is in store if we embrace His heart and submit to Him as the priority of our days.

May I be steadfast, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“If you follow hard after Me, you will be perceived as a fool by those who cannot understand. At times, you will look as if you have no answers. Other times, you will look as if you have lost a war, or even lost everything. Many of My loving children have been laughed at, scorned, imprisoned, tortured, and even killed. They have willingly placed themselves in the league of fools as far as the world is concerned.

"As far as I am concerned, however, they have placed themselves near and dear to My heart. Jesus looked as if He had failed. His friends looked as if they had lost. Countless marvelous hearts since then have been placed in the league of fools with them by actual fools. You come near to My heart. Follow the ways of Jesus. Have no concern over what others think of you. What I think of you is what really matters.”

 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.”

Matthew 11:12 NIV

“From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.”

Matthew 16:24-25 AMP

24) Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interests] and take up his cross and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying, also].

25) For whoever is bent on saving his [temporal] life [his comfort and security here] shall lose it [eternal life]; and whoever loses his life [his comfort and security here] for My sake shall find it [life everlasting].”

2 Cor. 12:15 AMP 

But I will most gladly spend [myself] and be utterly spent for your souls...

Gal. 4:19 NIV   

My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you...

 

Sensitivity toward the heart of God is the inward desire of the compassionate heart. This heart cannot be satisfied until God’s heart is satisfied upon the completion of all things. It drives a person to whatever end will satisfy Father God’s heart and allow others to see Him. Those with a compassionate spirit unconditionally surrender all control of their lives to the Lordship of Jesus and joyfully embrace a life of self-denial.

I choose to be close to Your heart, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“You need to walk in the forgiveness that has been provided for you at the cross. If you have repented of your sins, turned from all that you once were, and surrendered fully to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, I have forgotten your offenses. They no longer exist as far as I am concerned. Now you must walk in freedom. Do not allow the enemy of your soul to rob you of the joy of what Jesus has done for you. Forgive others as you have been forgiven. Love as you are loved. Jesus has set you free. Tell others of the gift you have been given, so that they can also be free.”

Psalm 103:10-12 NIV 

10) He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.

11) For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;

12) as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

John 8:36 NIV

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

Gal. 5:1 NIV 

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

 

A while ago, I was tormented by the sins that I committed before I came to the Lord for His forgiveness. My life was dark for many years.  Even though I knew that it was an attack of the enemy to place me in bondage and fear, my thoughts could have become real enough to subject me once again to all the bondages from which I’ve been freed had I continued to dwell there. I believe that a spirit of fear was attempting to hinder me from remembering the mercy my Lord has given me.

I needed to go to His Word and remember what Jesus has done and why He did it. His Word allowed me to walk out from under the weight of sins that would condemn me - those sins committed before I knew of and surrendered to His saving grace and those sins I have confessed since then. The truth of God’s Word allowed me to remember that it is for freedom that Christ has set me free.

Help me remember Your Word and walk in Your freedom, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“I am your Buckler and Defender. I am your Strong Tower and your Hiding Place. I am your Safety in time of need and your Warrior in times of peril. I am your Counsel. I am your Advocate. I am always for you. I am your Friend. I am your Provider. I am your Wealth in your world. I am your Hope for your future. I call you Mine forever. I am much more than anything else in your life, for I Am your life. There is no one like Me.”

II Chron. 20:17a AMP 

You shall not need to fight in this battle; take your positions, stand still, and see the deliverance of the Lord [Who is] with you…

Psalm 62:5-6 AMP 

5) My soul, wait only upon God and silently submit to Him; for my hope and expectation are from Him.

6) He only is my Rock and my Salvation; He is my Defense and my Fortress, I shall not be moved.

Proverbs 18:10 NIV

The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.

Isa. 46:9-10 AMP 

9) [Earnestly] remember the former things, [which I did] of old; for I am God, and there is no one else; I am God, and there is none like Me.

10) Declaring the end and the result from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure and purpose.

 

Because we are His, He is ours. The truth and wonder that there is a God, and that He is mindful of us, is astounding. That belief and trust in God appears foolish to the skeptic, and yet, only a fool says in his heart that there is no God. The longer we study the wonders of Who He really is, the more wonderful He becomes. We are truly blessed.

Remind me over and over again, Lord,

Jim Corbett