Tag: Church

“I know how imperfect your love is. I understand that you can’t really keep most of your promises, even to Me. That’s why I tell you not to promise anything. That is also why the Holy Spirit keeps them for you. As imperfect as you are, and as futile as all of your attempts to change may be, I still love you. Walk with a heart that understands your need for Jesus. Give away what I have given you. Show others My love and the life that is theirs if they want it. Hold them for Me until they can stand themselves. I will do the rest. I will make you into who you really want to be without you even knowing it. I will make you like Jesus.”

John 21:15-17 AMP

15) When they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these [others do—with reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion, as one loves the Father]? He said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I love You [that I have deep, instinctive, personal affection for You, as for a close friend]. He said to him, Feed My lambs.

16) Again He said to him the second time, Simon, son of John, do you love Me [with reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion, as one loves the Father]? He said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I love You [that I have a deep, instinctive, personal affection for You, as for a close friend]. He said to him, Shepherd (tend) My sheep.

17) He said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love Me [with a deep, instinctive, personal affection for Me, as for a close friend]? Peter was grieved (took it ill and was hurt) that He should ask him the third time, Do you love Me? And he said to Him, Lord, You know everything; You know that I love You [that I have a deep, instinctive, personal affection for You, as for a close friend]. Jesus said to him, Feed My sheep.

James 5:12 AMP

But above all [things], my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath; but let your yes be [a simple] yes, and your no be [a simple] no, so that you may not sin and fall under condemnation.

 

Pompous, arrogant Peter, (Boy! Can I identify with him!) - the “I’ll never deny You” guy, humbled and now humble, responding in truth. “Will you love Me like I want you to love Me?” Jesus asks.

Peter responds in honesty, understanding his weakness. “I can only love You this much, Lord.” The third time the Lord asks if he would love Him as best he can, knowing full well how weak he was. Peter, ashamed at his own weakness, responds that he will. It was almost as if he was asking the Lord not to expect too much.

Here is the good part. Jesus is saying, “I know that you now know who you really are after what happened and how empty your promises are, but I love you and I know that you’ll make it. Take care of My friends, OK?”  What compassion and forgiveness! What kindness! That’s when Peter was given the love that is better than silver or gold deep within his inner being-  a place where it remains for eternity. He was given the stuff that would never deny the Lord again, plus the stuff that could make the lame walk.

If you’re in a refining fire, a humbling circumstance, or a wearisome trial, you need to understand that what is needed for you to represent Jesus - the Peter kind of stuff - is being formed in you. Don’t give up. Don’t sell out for some morsel of temporary relief. Don’t bail out. Your Father loves you and knows that you will make it. Just keep getting up every morning and do what you know to do that day, leaning on Jesus with all of your might. Pretty soon you will have the eternal stuff that’s more important than silver or gold, just like Peter. Just like Jesus!

I want Your stuff, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Soon, the world will awaken to the fact that I am Who I say that I am and that I mean what I have said. They will finally understand that they have based their lives and their eternal well-being on lies. They will attempt to justify their folly, but it will be too late. My Word will be the plumb line for truth. Whether they embraced Jesus as their Lord or not will be the only criteria for My accepting them into My kingdom. Reliance upon any other name will fall far short of My requirements. In that day, you will rejoice because of My grace.

“In that day, however, they will stagger under the weight of My decree for their eternity. You tell them now, so that they may come. You turn from being proud of who you are and empty yourselves for the good of those who need to know. On that day, I will embrace you. I will also rejoice for those who may come with you because of you. I will grieve for those who did not hear. Tell them! Tell them often. Spend your life for them.”

Isaiah 48:3  NIV

“I foretold the former things long ago, My mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.”

Zechariah 7:13 NIV

“When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen.”

1 Cor. 11:1 NIV

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

 

There are two purposes for every person who has ever been born to fulfill. The first is to accept the provision that God has set forth as the single eternal provision for salvation - the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ as absolute truth, submitting to His Lordship. The second is to exhaust our days telling others of God’s plan, so that they might also embrace Jesus as Lord. Everything else that garners our attention away from those realities in any way is a distraction.

Our world is so cluttered with the things that sidetrack us from the simple reality of God’s purpose, that each of us have missed its importance to Him and to others. It is, however, the central reason each of us has been born and the single reason for each of us to live out our days. All that God has shown in His Word leads to the conclusion that He wishes that none should perish. If He has spent our recorded centuries focusing on that heart motivation, wouldn’t you think that each of us might consider it to be important? Even more important than what we care about?

Turn my heart, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“If you are casual in your relationship with Me, you will not prosper enough to help others in the perilous times ahead. To be able to hear My voice when the loud voices associated with extreme challenges are all around you, you need to seek intimacy with Me now. You need to learn My heart. You need to learn to rest in Me. There is a place of safety for those who can hear My voice clearly, no matter what circumstances they may be facing. That gift only comes from a practiced intimacy, a loving practice of My presence. Casual prayers and flighty commitment to My ways will not do. Come to Me now. Learn of My heart. Become familiar with Who I really am. I will give you the power to overcome any challenge. I will allow others to see My presence in you.”

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?”

Prov. 28:14 AMP

Blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) is the man who reverently and worshipfully fears [the Lord] at all times [regardless of the circumstances], but he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.

Isaiah 48:3 NIV

“I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.”

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.”

Jeremiah 12:5 AMP

[But the Lord rebukes Jeremiah’s impatience, saying] If you have raced with men on foot and they have tired you out, then how can you compete with horses? And if [you take flight] in a land of peace where you feel secure, then what will you do [when you tread the tangled maze of jungle haunted by lions] in the swelling and flooding of the Jordan?

 

The Infant Heart

The infant heart beats only for itself. All of the things that God does center around their needs in some way. The salvation process was for them alone. It was put in effect by God specifically for them, to make them safe after they die.

The Bible is simply a book of promises that they can call upon to relieve their hurts in time of need. God is perceived as this wonderful benefactor, who is waiting for their next need to occur, so that He can help them through it; and prayer is solely a channel by which they can make their needs known.

In essence, everything that God has done, is doing, and will do hinges upon the perception that mankind is at the center of it all; and they have somehow tapped into this incredible opportunity. So, God is all about them and for them alone. There is no need to go any further; it is enough, and it is very good. Sadly, a lot of today’s church functions in this religious arena.

God has also been brought down to their size, perceived as functioning for them and in service to them. To be with most infant hearts is a roller-coaster of highs and lows, happy and sad, good days and bad days, all of which are determined by how they perceive their prayers are being answered, or how much of an “attack” they might be under.

Very much like infants in diapers who are not capable of understanding that the world around them is not about them, these spiritual infants cry when they have need, demand when these needs are not met; and are only truly satisfied when they are comfortable in all areas, without giving the slightest thought to the importance of anything going on around them. Everything that they can do to make themselves comfortable is done without question. What they own is all theirs. God has some rights to their money, but never more than 10%. The importance of anything else or the needs of anyone else mean nothing when there is personal need to be addressed…

Make my heart beat only for You, Lord,

Jim Corbett