Tag: Devotional

“As you become more aware of the times and seasons in which you live, you will understand that you have been raised up for such a time as this. I realize that those words have been used over and over until they have lost their real meaning. I realize also that you have not really taken them to heart. You must do so now, or you will miss the real impact that I intend for your life. Each generation that I design is fitted for specific tasks to accomplish My overall plan. Yours is to usher in the return of My Son. Do you realize the impact of that statement? You are the generation that will see the culmination of My Word to you. You will walk out what others have longed to see.

"Many honest hearts who have gone before you have attempted to fit My timetable into their understanding. They have caused misunderstandings. Few of you now take seriously the kind of life dedication that I require to usher in the culmination of My Word and apply it to your lives. Few of you will take My requests to your heart. Few of you will be waiting only for Him as you go about your given missions. What you see before you will attempt to sway you from what you know is really happening. Do not be taken in by the loose usage of interpretations of what I have written. Do not misread what you see before you. Drop all of your preconceived notions of what I require of you this day. I advise you to plan for a wedding rather than a war. I suggest that you become a study of Jesus, so that you will be functioning in His image when He comes.

"Drop every one of your attachments to the world. Take your eyes off the things that hold your heart. Remove the blemishes from your garments. Your heart of preparation will be a testimony of His love to those who observe your radiant expectation. Rejoice with Me as you prepare. Rejoice with others as they realize the reason they have been born. The world around you has a carnal focus, even in My church. Allow your preparations to open their eyes. As you allow Me to implement My Word in your heart, those who can hear will listen to what My Holy Spirit is saying and begin preparations themselves. Rejoice with Me as your light of love shines with a new brilliance in your world. Keep your heart in the direction of heavenly things. That’s where those who are aware of their promise are focusing. That’s where My focus is.”

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 their 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!’”

Colossians 3:1-4 AMP 

1) If then you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, thus sharing His resurrection from the dead], aim at and seek the [rich, eternal treasures] that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. [Ps. 110:1.]

2) And set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth.

3) For [as far as the world is concerned] you have died, and your [new, real] life is hidden with Christ in God.

4) When Christ, Who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in [the splendor of His] glory.

 

Those who saw Jesus raised from the dead and observed His return to heaven believed firmly that He would return to earth in their generation. They approached every task placed before them with one eye toward heaven and one ear listening for His call to them. Their lives were a brilliant light to those around them. Some were so blinded by it that they attempted to extinguish it. Others embraced it and carried it into their personal world.

There is a grave danger present today. We know too much. In fact, we know so much that we live our lives according to what we know, rather than what the Holy Spirit is saying to us.

This we know. Everything that needs to be accomplished for the coming of Jesus has been accomplished, or is very, very close to being accomplished. Most of us believe that He could come at any minute, basically because of what we hear from those who are a study of the Scriptures and also because of what we see happening around us.

This is what I believe the Holy Spirit is saying to those who have ears to hear. I believe that He is telling us to stop preparing for Jesus based on what we know. We are to begin preparing for Who we know.

In the Matthew account, I believe that there are two hearts represented. One heart was waiting because they knew that it was right to be there. They understood that because it was the appointed day for the wedding, the Groom would be coming soon. The other heart was there because they longed to be there with every fiber of their being. These were waiting with eager anticipation, longing to be with the One that they loved deeply.

There is also one heart that is represented by its absence. It is the heart that is oblivious to the wedding that is about to take place. These poor souls were more than likely out plowing their fields or conducting business somewhere. Their invitations were probably long forgotten under the other “things to prepare for” pile of papers on their desks.

Don’t want to miss this one,

Jim Corbett

“How many beats are left in your heart? How many moments are there before you see Me face to face with the unchangeable product of your life in your hands? How many crowns do you have to lay at the feet of Jesus? Let’s talk! What are you focused on today that has little eternal effect? What concerns your time that will mean nothing on that day? Why are you placing top priority on it if I haven’t asked you to do so? I consider that foolish!”

Hebrews 10:32-36 NIV

32) Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering.

33) Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated.

34) You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.

35) So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

36) You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

 

The Word says that only a fool says in his heart that there is no God. How foolish is it, then, for those of us who are convinced that God does exist - knowing that He has sent His Son so that we can spend eternity with Him if we accept the sacrifice given and having an awareness that we will stand face to face with Him with our life’s work in our hands - to waste our time on things that have no eternal value? What is important enough to get our eyes off Jesus and His desires for our lives?

Create proper priorities in me, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“How many beats are left in your heart? How many moments are there before you see Me face to face with the unchangeable product of your life in your hands? How many crowns do you have to lay at the feet of Jesus? Let’s talk! What are you focused on today that has little eternal effect? What concerns your time that will mean nothing on that day? Why are you placing top priority on it if I haven’t asked you to do so? I consider that foolish!”

Hebrews 10:32-36 NIV

32) Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering.

33) Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated.

34) You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.

35) So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

36) You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

 

The Word says that only a fool says in his heart that there is no God. How foolish is it, then, for those of us who are convinced that God does exist - knowing that He has sent His Son so that we can spend eternity with Him if we accept the sacrifice given and having an awareness that we will stand face to face with Him with our life’s work in our hands - to waste our time on things that have no eternal value? What is important enough to get our eyes off Jesus and His desires for our lives?

Create proper priorities in me, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“When this life is over for you, will it have counted for much? I don’t mean, are you a good mother or father or a good friend? I mean, will there be others with Me because of you? Some of you say, ‘That’s not my anointing,’ or ‘I don’t have time because of my world.’ I say, ‘I need your heart to care for souls.’ Let Me explain what is important to Me. I have given you a specific period of time to accomplish My tasks through you. Each of you has a specific calling. You must have peace in following through with that calling, whatever it is. All of you, however, have the calling to desire that souls do not perish. That is the heart of My Son; that is My heart.

"As you fulfill your present circumstances, I desire that you cultivate a heart for those around you. I call that love. You can love all the time, wherever you are, and during whatever else you are doing for Me. My kind of love comes from repenting of your ways and turning to My ways. If your days are busy, you can still love deeply enough to bring those who are lost to Me in prayer. You can care enough to seek Me on their behalf, and receive the wisdom needed to stand in the gap for them. You can decide to notice who I notice, just by determining to flow with Me. I will tell you who I am preparing to meet My Son, if only you would choose to listen. You may be surprised when I tell you who they are. Once you know My plans for them, We will move together under My anointing with My power for their benefit. Start now.

"Have you really cared about who will spend eternity with Me? If not, repent of your unloving heart, and come to Me to gain My heart for them. I will give it to you. Then you will really begin to have fun as you see My way of loving others!”

Eph. 2:6-10 NIV

6) And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

7) in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

8) For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–

9) not by works, so that no one can boast.

10) For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Col. 3:1-3 NIV

1) Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

2) Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

3) For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

 

Before I was saved, still living in filth, I pulled up to one of my construction sites where a crew of black mason contractors were doing their work. One of the men saw a daily planner in my hand and mistook it for a Bible. Commenting on it, he turned away graciously and went back to work when my response to his kind inquiry included a foul expletive and an insincere offer to pray for them. I thought I was being funny.

Several years after I met the Lord, a man came up to me and said he’d heard that I was now a Christian. When I told him that he was correct, he reminded me of the incident at the construction site. You see, he and the other workers were inner city pastors, who earned their living as mason contractors rather than taking money from their congregations.

He related that after I left the job site, those humble men dropped to their knees for me- a foul mouthed, pompous, dope-smoking, beer-guzzling fool. That moment, in the middle of a raw construction site, they covenanted with each other to pray for my soul. They did not stop praying for me until they knew that I had come to the Lord. It was the first time that I literally saw God’s kind of love in action.

They loved in the midst of their incredibly busy lives. They prayed in spite of me. They loved when I hated. They were in union with the Lord for my soul, and my rebellion didn’t stand a chance from that point on. God’s agents were at work on my behalf. It was over and above their “ministry,” but it was the heart of God in action.

Wanting to be continually flowing with God,

Jim Corbett

“Do you know that I can’t remember the last time that you failed Me? Do you know that you have an unlimited amount of times left that I will forgive you? Do you know that I knew how many times you would fail Me and I still asked you to spend eternity with Me? It’s true! No, I don’t have a bad memory. I am not easy on sin; it separates Us and I detest it. I also do not take lightly your representation of Jesus to your world, so I am sincere about you becoming like Him. I do, however, understand your nature. I have long understood how much you need second chances, so that you do not become discouraged. Our relationship changed from one of securing you before you gave your life to Jesus, to one of working with you to clean you up while blessing you. Your life is in My life because of Jesus. I do not take that lightly. Our fellowship was paid for. It was very expensive, but it was worth it. I love you.”

Rom. 7:21-23 NIV 

21) So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.

22) For in my inner being I delight in God’s law;

23) but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.

Rom. 8:1-2 NIV

1) Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

2) because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

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].

 

I’ve often wondered why the Lord has allowed me to spend eternity with Him. I have failed Him more since I’ve met Jesus, than I did before I knew what sin was. Several years ago, I stopped trying to figure it out. There is no reason for me to be so blessed other than God’s reasons. My only position can be one of overwhelming gratefulness.

I am truly grateful, Lord,

Jim Corbett