Tag: Christianity

“Fellowship with Me should be your priority in life. It is where all your other comings and goings should originate. When they originate from circumstances, traditions, and emotions, you will find yourselves seeking Me for help to deliver you from wrong and harmful situations. You will need to seek Me then, so why do you not choose to seek Me first and avoid unwanted difficulties?

"There is great purpose in My desire to have you spend time with Me. Most of it has become obvious to you over the years, but some of it is only evident as I reveal it to you. The obvious is My desire to simply be with you.  You have been created, and then redeemed, so that can happen. It is the reason that Jesus gave His life. For you to not honor that act would be a travesty.

"Not so obvious - or at least not quite as evident - is the fact that by being with Me, I take you out of harm’s way. Our fellowship allows you to avoid not only the pitfalls that will not occur while We are together, but also those that you will avoid because of the wisdom I impart to you. You benefit from Our fellowship more than you know. You can’t see what didn’t happen—those instances that didn’t occur because We avoided them together. That may seem simplistic, but it is eternal wisdom.

"Before We came together because of Jesus, what was your life like? How did you fare? What controlled you, and where did it take you? You eventually saw the need to turn to Me, didn’t you? Now that you have the ability to let Me direct your steps, wouldn’t it be wise to make Our times together your priority? I would think so. I have planned it that way.”

Haggai 1:3-10 AMP 

3) Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying,

4) Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house [of the Lord] lies in ruins?

5) Now therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways and set your mind on what has come to you.

6) You have sown much, but you have reaped little; you eat, but you do not have enough; you drink, but you do not have your fill; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages has earned them to put them in a bag with holes in it.

7) Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways (your previous and present conduct) and how you have fared.

8) Go up to the hill country and bring lumber and rebuild [My] house, and I will take pleasure in it and I will be glorified, says the Lord [by accepting it as done for My glory and by displaying My glory in it].

9) You looked for much [harvest], and behold, it came to little; and even when you brought that home, I blew it away. Why? says the Lord of hosts. Because of My house, which lies waste while you yourselves run each man to his own house [eager to build and adorn it].

10) Therefore the heavens above you [for your sake] withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its produce.

 

I have often observed the youth who have met the Lord and follow Him closely and compared them to those who are in the world. There is a difference between darkness and light.

Those, who do not have the privilege of knowing the Lord, follow their flesh from folly to folly, as a bull being led to slaughter. There is no hope to reach them other than by the power of the Holy Spirit because of the immense clutter that life piles upon them day after day. Real direction and purpose elude them. Any counsel is sought through worldly sources and help is temporal at best.

On the other hand, people, who have made Jesus the Lord of their lives, have access to God’s wisdom, and it is incredibly evident. The path of their lives is much straighter. Their purpose is continually unfolding before them, and the normal destructive pitfalls of life are often avoided. They visibly exude the character of Jesus and the strength of the wisdom of God. Surrounded by those with valuable resources because of their relationship with Jesus, there is hope for proper guidance throughout their lives.

Not only do we have the supreme honor of our Lord’s presence, each of us has an open door to the Creator of the universe for encouragement, wisdom, and guidance for our daily lives— and then for eternal freedom. How foolish of us if we do not take every advantage of the incredible gift we have been given!

Needing to understand fully the gift I’ve been given,

Jim Corbett

“Stand now! Be still and know that I am God. Be still for a few moments more and allow Me to work the perfect work in you. I know that much seems out of order while you wait for Me to answer your requests; but from My perspective, nothing is as it seems to you. In a heartbeat, what I have accomplished in the heavenlies will be implemented in your midst.

"Most important, however, is what is being accomplished in you while you wait for Me. My concerns are not so much for your needs. My deepest concern is your need of Me that is being formed in you while you wait. Work with Me. Work to help others while they wait on Me. Focus your trust on Me. I will never fail you. You are Mine and I love you.”

Exodus 17:12 AMP 

But Moses’ hands were heavy and grew weary. So [the other men] took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Then Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side and one on the other side; so his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

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?”

Psalm 46:1 AMP 

God is our Refuge and Strength [mighty and impenetrable to temptation], a very present and well-proved help in trouble.

Psalm 46:10 NIV 

“Be still and know that I am God…”

Psalm 51:10 AMP 

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right, persevering, and steadfast spirit within me.

 

God is teaching any of His children who will listen to fully understand that He is our only source. He is bringing us to the end of our own resources, so that we finally submit to Him as our only source for everything. So we wait as Jesus waited to be resurrected. Just as there was no physical movement while Jesus waited, we must be still and fully understand that God is really our God, working a perfect work in all things.

I can’t, so You must, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Hold on! Remain steadfast in all that I tell you to do. Gift yourself to others. Become the conduit of love to those who need to see Jesus. Be still and know that I am your source for all that you need. Look for and hope in My Word to complete its work. Spend time with Me. I am moving mountains on your behalf. I am completing you. I am for you. I am with you. I love you!”

Psalm 46:10a NIV

“Be still, and know that I am God...”

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.

I Th. 2:13 AMP

And we also [especially] thank God continually for this, that when you received the message of God [which you heard] from us, you welcomed it not as the word of [mere] men, but as it truly is, the Word of God, which is effectually at work in you who believe [exercising its superhuman power in those who adhere to and trust in and rely on it].

I Th. 5:24 AMP

Faithful is He Who is calling you [to Himself] and utterly trustworthy, and He will also do it [fulfill His call by hallowing and keeping you].

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.

 

Sometimes mountains seem immovable, obstacles appear to be strewn everywhere, and tasks become so close to your face that you find it impossible to see around them. But, there’s Jesus!

Focus for me when I can’t focus, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Look around! Look and see with My eyes. Count the ways that I have blessed you instead of counting your needs. Begin seeing clearly by looking back at the cross and how it has changed your life. You were helpless and now you are heading toward wholeness. Now we can talk. Now you can understand truth. Count your blessings from My eternal perspective. Remember where you were and look forward to where I am taking you. Rejoice with Me for I am with you as you run the race.”

Heb. 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.

Heb 12:1-3 AMP 

1) THEREFORE THEN, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us.

2) Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

3) Just think of Him Who endured from sinners such grievous opposition and bitter hostility against Himself [reckon up and consider it all in comparison with your trials], so that you may not grow weary or exhausted, losing heart and relaxing and fainting in your minds.

 

I remember worrying about something several years ago. I can’t remember what I was worrying about because the Lord has taken care of it. I am deeply concerned about many things at this very moment. I’m sure that they will eventually fall in the category of “taken care of by God.”

When will I learn to trust that my Father is in charge of this race in which I’m running? He will give me whatever it takes to finish, if only I would keep my eyes on my Lord Jesus.

Teach me to trust and look only to You, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Do not become weary because of the trials that I am taking you through. Do not harden your heart because I am showing you all that is out of order in you and around you.  Do not think that I have forgotten you because your prayers don’t seem to be answered. You are in school.  You are in My extreme training course because you have said that you wanted Me to be your everything. I am building the compassion of Jesus in you.  I am placing mercy for others in your heart, which before that held judgment.  I am placing the warrior spirit of Jesus in you and removing the warring spirit of the world.

"In this time of training, come to Me often. Apply My Word to your life. Commune with Jesus. Speak regularly to those of the same mind and heart. Remember that you had strength for all things when you functioned in the first-love qualities of Jesus. Get to know Him again. Lose sight of those things that seem urgent and regain the vision for the things that I consider important. Be strong in the power of My mighty power.”

Eph 4:12-13 AMP 

12) His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), [that they should do] the work of ministering toward building up Christ’s body (the church),

13 [That it might develop] until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the [full and accurate] knowledge of the Son of God, that [we might arrive] at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ’s own perfection), the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ and the completeness found in Him.

Phil 4:13 AMP 

I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency].

 

Inspired by the wonderful book, In His Steps, there was a trend a while back that flowed throughout the body of Christ, and even touched the secular market. It was the phrase, “WWJD - What would Jesus do?” As wonderful as that phrase is, and even though the thought gave much to those who chose to follow it, it lacked something very essential. It lacked intimacy.

We, as followers of Christ, have been given an astounding gift. We have the privilege of communicating and communing with the Savior of the World, the Master of All Things – Jesus!     As with every trend, someone came up with a modification of the original idea. In this case, the modification is more accurate than the original. Have you ever seen the bracelet, “WWYDJ - What Would You Do, Jesus?” The intimacy of asking our Lord how He would deal with any situation is far better than studying His actions from a distance. Our ability to communicate with Him has been won for us at the cross. Sharing time with Jesus gives us everything we need to overcome anything we face, as we are being trained to be like Him. We also get to know Him when we talk to Him, as well as through reading the Word and following hard after Him.

Thank You for walking with me, Lord,

Jim Corbett