Tag: Christianity

“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

“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

“Love each other as I have loved you! That is not a suggestion, but a necessity if you want to be in My perfect will. I love you so much that I have given you access to My heart without restriction. I have given you Myself through Jesus. I have also given you mercy, grace, and absolute forgiveness through Him. Love like that!  It is My way. It is required of you if you say that you follow Jesus.”

Exodus 33:13 NIV

“If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”

2 Chr 16:9a NIV

“For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him...”

If you say that you are a follower of Jesus, you have a life pattern to follow. He lived in a very visible way, so that we could live that way also. We have been given His very life within us, so that He can actually live His life through us, if we surrender fully to Him.

Why is it, then, that so few people recognize Jesus when they see us? Why don’t people want to live for Him and follow His ways, if His ways are so evident in our daily activities and relationships? God’s Word has never changed. Jesus certainly hasn’t changed. Maybe it’s us! Maybe we are saying that we are followers of Jesus, but we really follow our own desires for living.

Teach me to follow Your ways, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“You need to walk in truth. You need to speak truth in love. You must receive truth when it is presented to you, no matter how it offends your flesh. Repent and come back to My truth. Most in My church tolerate sin in their midst and are afraid to confront sin for the sake of false peace. They are afraid to offend the one who brings lies and a false representation of who Jesus is. They are afraid to approach the preacher or so-called prophet when error is proclaimed as truth. That offends Me! It leads My children astray. It must stop.

“I am about to expose.  I am about to raise up My heralds who have been trained at My hand.  I will bring forth those I have held close through refiner’s fires that were designed to make them Mine in every area of their lives. They now live truth because they desire to live as Jesus lived in His world, focusing on those things that matter to Me. They don’t simply talk about others or attempt to correct the world. The world does not understand truth. My church needs to do so.

“Confront sin in My church in love. Start with your life. Make sure that you know what is life and what is death. Know how to express truth when it is needed to those who claim to be Mine. Do not fight wars of the flesh with those who have eyes to see but will not see, or ears to hear but will not hear. Make sure that you love as Jesus loved, and then live His life of truth for His glory and for the sake of others.”

 II Chr. 7:14 NIV

“if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

Jeremiah 2:13 NIV

“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”

Hosea 4:6 AMP

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you [the priestly nation] have rejected knowledge…”

Expressing truth is not a license to condemn others. It does not give us the freedom to demand that others walk as we do. It is not accomplished by holding the sin of others before the world.  God-ordained correction and expression of truth is done in private, one-on-one with the offender, and only after much prayer. If that does not accomplish God’s purposes, only then is it taken further within the church, according to God’s Word. It is always for the sake of the healing and restoration of the one in error. It must follow the order established by God.

The Lord is correcting His church. He is using those who hold the reputation of Jesus in highest esteem and live out His compassion for others and their well-being before God.

Examine my heart, Lord,

Jim Corbett