Tag: Christianity

“Do not trust your thoughts! Your mind will play tricks on you, creating imaginations and lofty things that are against what I have established as truth. You need to discard them and throw them aside for the lies that they are. There is truth, if you make Me your priority. If you learn of My ways through the intimacy established for you by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, you will find it. I will write My truth on your heart.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV 

5) Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

6) in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 16:9 AMP

A man’s mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps and makes them sure.

Isaiah 55:8 NIV

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

Jeremiah 24:7 NIV

“I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.”

Jeremiah 31:33-34a NIV

33) “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

34a) No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord.

1 Cor. 13:11 AMP

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; now that I have become a man, I am done with childish ways and have put them aside.

II Cor. 10:5 AMP 

… [Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One),…

Phil. 4:8-9 NIV

8) Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.

9) Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Ephesians 1:17-19a NIV 

17) I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.

18) I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

19a) and his incomparably great power for us who believe…

 

People will be reached by our righteous living in their midst.  We are an extension of His plan to draw all people to Himself.  If we are not holy (righteous) in their midst, no one will see God.

Righteousness (a heart that desires holiness) means to be set apart. Any ungodly person can return evil for evil, or good for good. Only a godly person can return good for evil.

Righteousness is a spirit of God. It is a quality of God.  It can only develop as we submit to God. Righteousness is a heart desire, not just deeds done in the spirit of religion or only for external appearances.

Instill in me the desires of Your heart, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“The most beautiful view of life, love, and your world is from the cross of Jesus Christ. From the cross, everything falls in place. From the cross, the reasons for living and for dying make perfect sense. From the cross, there is no purpose but My purpose for your life. That makes everything else clear. Take up your cross and passionately follow Jesus. From the cross, you will see what Jesus saw. You will be above the world and its ways. From the cross, the view is beautiful.”

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].

Hebrews 12:1-3 NIV

1) Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

2) Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

3) Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

 

Jesus saw far beyond all the pain and suffering of the cross. He saw the love of His Father from the cross. He saw you and me being able to spend eternity with Him. From the cross, He saw the answer to all of life’s problems for anyone who embraced it.

As the world searches blindly for a reason to live, anyone who embraces the cross of Jesus Christ has a clear vision of what life is all about. The cross removes all carnal distractions, all worldly views, and all confusing priorities. The cross is the focal point of all eternity. It is that to which those living on this earth prior to Jesus looked forward. It is what those living after Him can all look back on with perfect eternal vision. Yes, the view from the cross is beautiful, because it is seen through the eyes of Jesus Who hung there for us and made everything right.

Teach me how to see clearly from the cross, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“I have placed you in a specific group of people, so that you could show them Who I really am through your life. I have empowered you with My Holy Spirit. I have given you the heart of Jesus. I have told you that I am with you wherever you go. I have told you what I love. I have assured you that I love you and will never leave you. Rejoice in who you are and who I am making you. People need you!”

 Hebrews 10:14 NIV 

because by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

 

As you grow in Christ, you must learn to joyfully embrace a life of repentance before Him. Delight in what He is doing in you as you are shown who you are not. Understand that you are still very welcome in His presence. You are a deeply loved work in progress. Submission to the changes the Lord is making in you develops your ability to present Jesus to the world, which is your heritage and God’s original plan for your life. He knows who you are and everything you are not. Real heart changes are needed in all of us and can only take place when spending quality time with Him to know His heart and looking to Him alone for all things.

Above all, remember that your relationship with Jesus Christ is the most astounding privilege that anyone could possibly have. You are cherished.

Thank You for including me in Your plans, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Don’t expect praise from others as you work for Me. Don’t wait for others to validate what I tell you to do. Success, as you see it, has little to do with why you are to continue functioning where you are until I give you another assignment. You are to obey. You are to stay the course I have given you. You are to listen only to My heart and wait for My plans to develop.”

Psalm 106:12-15 AMP

12) Then [Israel] believed His words [trusting in, relying on them]; they sang His praise.

13) But they hastily forgot His works; they did not [earnestly] wait for His plans [to develop] regarding them.

14) But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness and tempted and tried to restrain God [with their insistent desires] in the desert.

15) And He gave them their request, but sent leanness to their souls and [thinned their numbers by] disease and death.

 

We love to second-guess God. We love to use our own reasoning to further the kingdom of God. We also love to tell God when enough is enough, and that our trial should be over by now.

So often we move ahead of God and miss the best that He has for us by moments. If we had waited to make sure that it was God’s time to move instead of ours, we would have His best for us rather than mediocre success. We need to allow patience to have its perfect work.

Teach me to rest in You, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Have you noticed that My story continues? I continue it in every person to whom you show Jesus. People know My plan because of the joy that they see in you, your increasing dedication, the passion you are developing for the deeper things concerning My plan; or when you settle for a plan that is far less than I intend for them to see.

"They know it when you fail desperately, but have some place to go and get relief as you come to Me. They see it when I anoint what you do and you pass the credit back to Me. They may not understand. Some may hate who you are becoming. Others may be given taste buds for more of Me. Some delight in your failures to represent Me properly.

"Be assured, all notice. Each and every moment you breathe, My story goes on through you whether you live properly or you remain unmoved. I trust you to carry My story with the life that it deserves - the life of Jesus. I wait for you to understand the importance I place on how you show Him to others.”

 Mark 6:30 NIV

The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught.

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.

 

Most of our lives we walk around representing ourselves, our employer, our parents, etc. All of a sudden, one day we give our hearts to Jesus. Our reasons rarely even resemble the proper reasons of serving God and His plans. Most of the time, they are because of our need, or the comfort of relief from sin. Little do we know that from that very moment, we become representatives of God. Because we became His, we now are the example of either the incredible life-changing power won for us at the cross of Calvary or a dull, religious practice. Once we accept Jesus, there is no turning back. No matter how we act - good, bad, or indifferent - we are telling others who He is by what we do and who we become. What an incredibly sobering thought!

Forgive me for all the times I have not represented You properly, Lord,

Jim Corbett