Tag: Christianity

“Foolish hearts and lying tongues cannot be part of your association or interaction one to another. Both must be far removed if you desire My presence. You must consider the horrible impact of these acts. A foolish heart minimizes the importance of those things that are important to Me. It denies biblical truths and sways others to live for themselves, not for the glory of Jesus. A lying tongue kills the truth. It murders the wealth of My Holy Spirit, separates My children, and destroys the trust, one to another, that is needed if you are to move with Me.

"Get rid of these elements in your fellowship. Get rid of them in your heart. Get rid of them in your association with Me, so that I may use you to touch others. I require you to walk in integrity with a steadfast heart. Come to Me in repentance as you see any sign of these attitudes in your life. I will gladly remove them from you. They must be out of your life before we go on.”

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].

Jeremiah 15:19 AMP

Therefore thus says the Lord [to Jeremiah]: If you return [and give up this mistaken tone of distrust and despair], then I will give you again a settled place of quiet and safety, and you will be My minister; and if you separate the precious from the vile [cleansing your own heart from unworthy and unwarranted suspicions concerning God’s faithfulness], you shall be My mouthpiece…

Col. 3:9-10 AMP

9) Do not lie to one another, for you have stripped off the old (unregenerate) self with its evil practices.

10) And have clothed yourselves with the new [spiritual self], which is [ever in the process of being] renewed and remolded into [fuller and more perfect knowledge upon] knowledge after the image (the likeness) of Him Who created it.

 

A fool says in his heart that there is no God. Any degree of foolishness that is within us decreases our ability to see our Father for who He really is. The more foolishness there is, the less we appreciate the magnificence of God.

A lie is as deadly as murder to any life in Christ. Satan is the father of lies.

So, let’s see…we lie to one another and harbor foolishness in our hearts by looking to the world for truth and comfort. Not a real good testimony.

Teach me truth, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Delight yourself in Me. Make Me part of those things that mean much to you. Cherish the values of Jesus. Pattern your life after His life. If you do these things, your heart will cherish the things of His heart.  It will hold them dear. With the same heart motives as His, your requests to Me will be in line with My Word and My heart. You can then rest assured that your every request will be fulfilled, for I know it will further My kingdom.”

Psalm 37:4 NIV 

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

I John 5:14-15 AMP 

14) And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears us.

15) And if (since) we [positively] know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted us as our present possessions] the requests made of Him.

 

Few of us remember that everything we do is supposed to be about God’s desires, His plans, and His will. Many times we attempt to make this Christian walk all about us and our desires and plans. God becomes this bottomless well from which we can draw. He is a gift giver, protector of our freedoms, and maker of our prosperity. Foolish teachers even make dead end doctrines - which are heralded by the selfish and accepted by the immature - out of our need to have our lusts fulfilled.

Once we understand and accept the Lord’s way, we become free. Our prayers come in line with God’s ideas. Our needs become focused on how they can further the Lord’s work. The desires of our hearts change. Our motives become pure.  We ask for ways to become more like Jesus. We crave tools to help others. The things of the world fall away, pale in comparison with the things of God. All of our hearts’ desires are fulfilled, sometimes without even asking. God fulfills them because they are in line with His heart. He is a Father who gives good gifts.

I want Your heart desires, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“If you are My child, We will be walking through many different seasons together. You can count on it. There will be overall seasons that orchestrate the coming of My Son. There will also be personal seasons to refine, change, and develop you into the very image of His character. You will become as the perfect, waiting bride because of the work that takes place in you during these seasons.

"The overall seasons began at the time of My creation of your world. Everything has been put in order to bring My creation to the completed salvation process. You are living in the very end of the time before I call all things to be fulfilled. It is then that the season of future eternities will be implemented. You are very much a part of that season also. You will be used as My instruments during that time.

"I need to have you embrace your personal seasons with zeal. Understand that you must go through each personally tailored season, so that you become exactly who I have designed you to be. If your season is particularly difficult, please know that I understand your pain and that I am with you through it. If you are in a season of rest, please know that I love you enough to refresh you before you embrace the next refiner’s fire. Fires bring forth the perfection. They will become increasingly intense because I am about to require much of you.  Anyone who is not going through seasons of refinement has long ago been put aside. I love them very much, but they have some time ago halted the deep refining work in their lives. It grieves Me, but I honor that.

"Those of you who feel as if I have lifted My hand from your life, that I am not answering your prayers, that I don’t seem to care - you are very, very wrong. The opposite is true. It is because you have given Me freedom to do what it takes to fulfill My desires in you that you are now in deep training. You have responded to Me as My Son did. I am very pleased with Him and I am very pleased with you. Keep submitting and trusting; I am with you.”

Zech. 13:9 AMP

And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined and will test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will hear and answer them. I will say, It is My people; and they will say, The Lord is my God.

Rom 8:29 AMP 

For those whom He foreknew [of whom He was aware and loved beforehand], He also destined from the beginning [foreordaining them] to be molded into the image of His Son [and share inwardly His likeness], that He might become the firstborn among many brethren.

Rev. 3:19 AMP

Those whom I [dearly and tenderly] love, I tell their faults and convict and convince and reprove and chasten [I discipline and instruct them]. So be enthusiastic and in earnest and burning with zeal and repent [changing your mind and attitude].

 

My thumb is wrinkled from sucking on it like a baby during particularly difficult refining times. In seasons of rest, I sometimes forget the object of my life and take my eyes off the goal. I then run back onto the lap of my Lord the minute things return to the “normalcy” of refinement. Sometimes I forget that the reason that I am living is for God’s reasons.

When I remember that I have been bought into a family that has a mandate to love deeper and care more about someone else’s desires than my own, everything becomes clear. My life is not my own. That’s for real.

Having said that, I realize that it’s going to take a lot to bring me to a place of consistently letting go of my own desires. There will have to be difficulties that I can’t overcome, challenges that are bigger than I am; and trials that make me cry out in agony. Why, I’ll have to be hemmed in on all sides at times, so that I can’t move. It will be important to go down some deadend roads, where perils await me. There must also be times when I feel so alone that it’s physically painful, just so that I cry out for help to the One who bought me.

Obviously, the picture is clear. We have only one purpose in this life. It is not our own. It is to submit to whatever influence that the Lord decides will change us and make us more like Jesus. We should even do it joyfully, knowing how much it means to our Lord. The more we squirm, procrastinate, and decide not to submit to His hand of purpose, the more we proclaim own rebellion. We lie and lie and lie, even to ourselves, making believe that our life is of importance in some other way.

Wanting to really admit where my values are placed,

Jim Corbett

“Don’t you think that I would love to give you everything that you would like from Me? Do you for one moment believe that I do not see your need and desire to meet those needs with all My heart? I would! You see, however, we have an agreement. You have agreed to allow Jesus to be Lord over everything that you are, all that you own, and every situation in your life. I have agreed to conform you into the image of Jesus. Those two commitments are working together to accomplish truth for your life.

"You have no ability to become anything other than what you have always been. You need Me to change you. To do that, I place you in situations, bring people into your life, and allow hardship to come your way to carve away at the person you used to be, in order to allow room for your new inner being to come to the forefront. I am never far from fulfilling all your desires. Before I do that, however, your desires need to be conformed to those of Jesus. When that is accomplished, it allows you to fulfill your commitment to Me and My promise to you. It is allowing everything to work together for good.

"Is it not time for you to stop asking Me only for things? Those will all come as you grow up and I am able to send them your way. Begin to work with Me and allow My promise to come to pass in you. You will be amazed at how delightful your life will be. Be assured that I will keep My promise to you. While I am doing that, I am helping you to keep your commitment to Me.”

Romans 8:28 NIV 

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Ephesians 3:16 AMP 

May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the [Holy] Spirit [Himself indwelling  your innermost being and personality].

 

Sometimes our “life” becomes so big in front of us, that we forget what our reason for breathing really is. We have been born into the kingdom of God to serve. Jesus has authored and is finishing our faith through what has been and is being done because of the work of the cross and the open grave. Father God is completing us to be a proper representation of that work.

During times when the process of “carving” becomes particularly intense, I have difficulty remembering that it is commitment, motivated by intense love on the part of our Father in heaven, that is at work. I forget what this life is really all about.

Thank You for always remembering, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Don’t limit Me because of your fears! Don’t hinder My life flowing through you, because you refuse to give up your hold on the life that once was yours. You are no longer that person. You have been born anew.

"The new life that was given to you when you surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus fully accepts My spiritual gifts. It desires the truth in Jesus. It desires My presence. It is in training to function for all of eternity with Me. Do not limit access to Me by your fears. Seek truth. Confirm truth with My Word; then flow in it. Receive the power and might of the Holy Spirit in your inner man. Become strong in Him!”

Ephesians 3:16-17 AMP 

16) May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the [Holy] Spirit [Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality].

17) May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love,

 

We miss so much of God when we walk in fear. Most of our fears are accepted by other Christians who live in fear themselves. If we took the Word of God at its face value, it would dispel any questions we have regarding how we should be living our lives. It would be very clear to us that we are to live as Jesus lived, being fully committed to the Father’s plans, placing no restrictions on how the Father desires to work in our lives. Any fear that stops us from living Christ’s life each day causes us to miss so much and limits us to standing on the sidelines of the wonder that has been provided for us.

Forgive me for my fears, Lord,

Jim Corbett