Tag: Christianity

“You need a clear understanding of accountability. I am the only one Who can really call you to account. Because of My grace and My mercy, that prospect is good for you. Because I am a Righteous Judge, some of you will be very surprised. I will honor My Word. I will judge your stewardship according to It. I will expose your real motives, not your actions.

“Some of you feel secure in your stewardship of My money, time, and My Word because you have been deceived. You have fallen for the lies of the uninformed and have managed everything from a place that allows you to remain comfortable, when others are hungry, physically and spiritually. That never was My way. It is your responsibility if you call yourself by Jesus’ Name.

“One day you will be exposed to absolute truth. Some of your gifts will not be gifts at all, because you gave them with a wrong heart. Some of your usage of My Word will be exposed for the horror that it is. Many of you have not redeemed your time by placing value on My moments for the sake of others. Turn your hearts while there is still enough time to do so. Come to Me and receive My perspective of your actions. You are accountable for what you know. It is best for you to know My truth.”

Psalm 106:12-15a 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 into their souls…

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?

Hosea 4:6 AMP

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

Matthew 6:19-21 NIV 

19) “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

20) But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

21) For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Matthew 7:21-23 NIV 

21) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

22) Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’

23) Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

 

Just after Jesus left, being called a Christian or a follower of Jesus was something that truly set you apart. At first, there was an awe; people wanted to lift common followers up as gods. Others wanted to stone God’s messengers because of their uncompromising truth. Wherever they went, there was no mistaking that the presence of God had made an impact through those who bore the Name of the Crucified One, because they acted like the One they followed.

Today, we willingly deny God’s absolute truth in our actions if someone so much as threatens us from a distance. We compromise His ways and form them to our advantage, so that they fit into our puny worlds. We walk past the needs of others, even God’s workers; and side with other hypocrites to maintain our comfort. The Word has not changed! Jesus certainly has not changed. How can we really believe that our actions will not be judged by a Righteous Judge? Have we become so arrogant, so pompous, as to compromise His Word without so much as a check in our spirits?

Forgive me and change me, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“To My remnant believers: It is time for you to discern truth in your interactions with others. Spiritual wealth comes from spiritual people. Too many of you, My remnant, listen and desire to emulate those who are successful by the world’s standards, but have little or no wealth in Me. Because the pursuit of worldly comfort consumes so much time and has so many distractions, there is little time left to fellowship with Me in the way that I desire. Therefore, many have little of My wisdom to share. Usually, they can only mouth pre-digested spiritual words they have heard from others or surface wisdom because of their limited time with Me.

“You make sure that you listen with My ears to those in your path. Discern their lifestyles. If I am not their priority in life, they have nothing for you, and cannot hear what you have to say. They will not respect what I am doing in you. I have had you, My remnant, in training. You may fall short by the world’s standards, but you have learned to desperately need Me. In your need of Me, I have given you Myself, My wealth, and My wisdom for the coming times.

“Soon you, who have proven that I am your priority, will be the leaders of those who think they have a right to lead you now. Your wisdom will survive when theirs won’t be adequate in a world that changes drastically where I am needed for every breath.”

Matt. 25:1-6 NIV

1) “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

2) Five of them were foolish and five were wise.

3) The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them.

4) The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps.

5) The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

6) At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet Him!’”

Gal. 4:19 NIV 

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

 

When real wisdom is needed, when real power—power birthed in the heavenlies—is called for, the remnant bride will be discovered. She is in the midst of the church right now, but is not recognized by most of those around her. Dressed in less than the best clothes and mostly burdened down from learning to carry the weight of the sins of those around her, learning perfect obedience and finding how to love those who don’t know how to love, she looks nondescript to the undiscerning. The pattern of her life, however, is the same as that of her Master.

Jesus had one set of clothes, dusty sandals, no home, and no reputation. Some of those He encountered thought that they were powerful enough to kill Him. Others, those who could see, knew He was Lord even though He never told them, and outwardly He sure didn’t look the part of a king.

As a young man, He was hidden among those He would eventually call to account, disguised while He was in training, and sent forth in the fullness of time. He lived and died for the sake of others. That kind of life only comes from the heart of God through the fire of His kind of refinement, not from worldly wealth or wisdom and a moderate commitment to God.

 I want Your kind of life for me, Lord,

 Jim Corbett

“With the work that I am doing in your heart comes a corresponding responsibility. I expect you to function in the lessons that I am teaching you. I expect you to understand ownership. As I place ownership of My Word and My precepts in your heart, I am removing the ownership of the things that you have held as your own for so long. You are beginning to understand that you are not your own but have been bought with a price. Many of you have heard that often and have set it aside as yesterday’s news. Now I will aggressively teach you what that really means and the wonder that it really is. Establish obedience in your heart this day. Ask Me to establish My desires in you.

“To those who realize the importance of your relationship with Me through Jesus: Begin now to move in the wealth of the training I have taken you through. Move as My voice, My hands, and My heart to your world. Flow with Me as I flow through you to others. I have given you eyes to see; now open them so you will begin to walk where I show you to go. I am showing you truth; open your mouth and speak it without compromise to those who need to hear it.”

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 26:53-54 NIV 

53) “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?

54) But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”

 

As a body of believers, we have been so ineffective by the Lord’s standards that we function with spiritual atrophy. Most of us have never entered into the spiritual power that has been provided for us at the cross. I’m not at all talking about the foolish displays of make-believe authority that allows one to consume the things of God upon himself. I’m talking about the power of the cross that effortlessly eliminates the things of the world and advances the authority of God.

True authority encompasses all the characteristics of Christ and none of the world. It is authority under full submission. Someone, who has learned to remain under the absolute authority of God, will function only as Jesus did. Someone who has been in deep communion with Him desires only to be like Him.

For years, possibly generations, many elements of the church of Jesus Christ have displayed a powerless mixture of worthless religion and make-believe, self-serving relationships to a world that needs to see the risen Christ. I believe that the Lord will soon call forth His own— those who have embraced the refining fires for the sake of their Lord.  Free of the dross of the world, they will move as their Master moves, speak only when He gives them authority to do so; and live only for His glory.

At present, this remnant is a laughingstock to the world and ignored by the cold church. They are as invisible as Jesus was to those who couldn’t see. When the Lord calls them forth, their lives will be so bright with His presence that no one will be able to ignore them any more than the work of the cross could be kept quiet.

Those of you who understand know who you really are. So does your Lord. Consider the “cross” training that you are experiencing as valuable as your Lord considers it. Embrace the fires of refinement for the sake of Jesus. Soon you will be called to move in what you have learned.

Become everything in me, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“The way to the throne is always by way of the cross. The resurrection life can only come from the grave. Most of My people short-circuit the plans that I have for them, because they attempt to bypass My way of doing things. They attempt to find a relationship with Me on their terms, rather than in the way that I have established through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Why would you believe that I would acknowledge any other pattern for your life than the life that He exhibited before the world? He came to show you the way.

“You want My favor, but you are unwilling to embrace the understanding that the cross is what I recognize—not your positive confessions and your faith in your faith. Give yourself completely to Me now. Humble yourself before the cross. I will lift you up and make your life significant.”

1 Cor. 11:1 NIV

Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

2 Cor. 1:8-10 NIV

8) We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.

9) Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.

10) He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us…

Jam. 4:7-10 NIV 

7) Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

8) Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

9) Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.

10) Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

 

Our significance is in God, not in whatever we place our significance. We live in a day of pride—pride as a nation, pride in our accomplishments, pride in the things we own, even pride in the sports teams for which we root.

The great things of the Lord spring from humbleness and personal insignificance. We will never have God’s kind of worth until we see things from God’s perspective. He is not looking for us to get better at anything, even serving Him. He is looking for us to understand and function in our need of Him in everything. That goes against everything that we hold dear. As soon as we understand and embrace His ways, we will be free.

Teach me Your ways, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“The extent to which you allow Me to eliminate your life will be the extent to which I will be able to replace it with My life. That is why there are so many different motivations within My church. It is because of the varying depths of surrender.

“First and foremost, everyone, who wants to be Mine and spend eternity with Me, must surrender their lives to the work that I have done through Jesus, and make Him the only Lord of their lives. Everything is simply religious games until that step is taken. Without surrender, there is no relationship. When you surrender to Jesus, you are made spiritually alive and able to spend time in My presence.

“After that, how much you desire to be like Jesus is up to you. The extent to which you choose to surrender will be the extent to which He will live through you. I will work with you to make proper choices and in-depth commitments. Your job is not to try to become more like Him; it is to become less like you through My power. I will change you when We are together. As you voluntarily decrease, He will increase. Spend time in My Word and with My Word. Allow My Holy Spirit to lead you into truth. It is why you have been created all over again.”

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].

John 3:30 AMP 

He must increase, but I must decrease. [He must grow more prominent; I must grow less so.]

John 6:57 AMP

Just as the living Father sent Me and I live by (through, because of) the Father, even so whoever continues to feed on Me [whoever takes Me for his food and is nourished by Me] shall [in his turn] live through and because of Me.

Galatians 2:20 AMP 

I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]: it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

 

God has a plan, and we have our own plans. The tragedy of wanting our own way started in the Garden of Eden. Once we, as mankind, decided to go with our own plans and add God to them when we needed Him, things really became messy. Nevertheless, God had a greater plan all along. Instead of creating a second creation that would also obey because it is the right thing to do, (the first being the angels,) He created us—a creation that would eventually follow Him out of love. Therein lies our free will and our ability to make right or wrong choices.

The most important right choice is to surrender our lives to the Lordship of Jesus. That must be a definitive time in our lives when we cross over from death to life in our spirits. After that, we are allowed to make right or wrong choices every day. I am not talking about the typical sin choices. I am talking about choices that determine whether or not we have more of Jesus living through us. Do we surrender to Him and His will, or do we remain in charge over and over again?

It is only through the power of God that we can make the proper choices. We need to seek Him to give us the heart to desire to surrender fully to Jesus. The increasing depth of surrender allows Jesus to live brighter and brighter through us.

Give me a hunger to surrender completely to You, Lord,

Jim Corbett