Tag: Devotional

“You need a vision. You need to either seek Me to gain My purpose for your life, or until you find out what that is, you should join with someone who is heading in My direction for his or her life. There is never a time for My children to be doing nothing to further My kingdom. Even if I call you to prayer, pray for someone on the cutting edge of My work. If you will not totally dedicate yourself to finding My purpose for your life, support those who are doing My work. So many of you are consumed with fulfilling your own needs that you forget about My needs. First and foremost, spend quality time with Me. Then do something that I care about or help those who are doing so.”

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.”

Matthew 5:13 AMP

You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste (its strength, its quality) how can its saltness be restored? It is not good for anything any longer but to be thrown out and trodden underfoot by men.

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].

Luke 6:45-46 AMP

45) The upright (honorable, intrinsically good) man out of the good treasure [stored] in his heart produces what is upright (honorable and intrinsically good), and the evil man out of the evil storehouse brings forth that which is depraved (wicked and intrinsically evil); for out of the abundance (overflow) of the heart his mouth speaks.

46) Why do you call Me, Lord, Lord, and do not [practice] what I tell you?

 

A while back, I realized that the only real purpose for any of us to be here is to gain, maintain, and function in and through a relationship with our Father in heaven; and then find His will for our lives. Anything else is fleeting and more than likely of no eternal consequence. I also understood how serious our accountability is for the days He has given us. We will answer for them.

Everybody can do something. A cup of cold water is simple to give. A kind word costs nothing. A sincere prayer never wastes time. The next time you are doing something for yourself, compare it to how much you are doing for the Lord. The next time you are spending His money on yourself - I don’t mean the necessities or survival money, but self-consuming money - compare it to how much you really are supporting His work. This is real stuff, this relationship with God stuff. How seriously are you taking it?

Make me really serious about fulfilling Your needs and Your desires, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Reflect on the things that I have been telling you over the past years. Become sensitive once again to the times and seasons in which you live. Do not allow your daily routine to desensitize you to what I am doing in the heavenlies. You must keep yourself available to Me. I may need you at an instant’s notice, so do not become spiritually sluggish. Your training will not be in vain. Many across the land have been trained over the years to be ready to move when I call them. You are one of them. Be alert.

“Do not sleep just because I seem to tarry. I am faithful to My promises. Others may not be able to hear My voice and move at My desire, but I have had you in training to do so. When I call, I am confident that you will answer. Be ready.”

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.”

Isaiah 66:9 AMP

Shall I bring to the [moment of] birth and not cause to bring forth? says the Lord. Shall I Who causes to bring forth shut the womb? says your God.

 

Upon observing the first century church, it seems that the Lord kept them in a constant state of preparedness. They believed that the Lord was returning for them momentarily. I picture them doing their daily tasks having one eye to the sky, looking for Jesus to come for them. Even though the Lord didn’t return in their generation, that continuous state of awareness made them available for use by the Lord. Their hearts were ready.

We Christians, in our humanness, have a tendency to doze off spiritually if the Lord doesn’t move in our time frames. We also have been known to interpret, or misinterpret, God’s reasons for doing things. Often, we receive a specific word, whether personally or over time as part of the body of Christ and place our own idea on the time and place of the fulfillment of that Word, which leaves much room for discouragement and heartbreak when the Lord doesn’t follow our plans.

For some time now, the Lord has been wooing His people to a closeness with Him. He has been asking us to truly separate ourselves from the trappings of the world and strive to become a true representative of Jesus. Many believe that this recent call is bridal preparation, awaiting the soon coming of Jesus.

Whether that is true or not (I believe that it is) has little to do with the importance of our being obedient to the call. Our portion as followers of Jesus is to obey whatever the Lord chooses to do, simply because it is right. We must never allow ourselves to be swayed from continually pressing in, or tire of the preparation for which He is asking, no matter what daily circumstances might bring or the length of time it takes between the call and the fulfillment. The reason for this move or any move of God and the time of its completion are rightfully in His hands, not ours.

Putting it all aside simply because You asked me to do so,

Jim Corbett

“Why do you not use what I have placed in your hand until I move in the direction for which you have been praying? You are waiting for Me to give you clear direction; that is good. That is what I have formed you to do. In the meantime, there is much you can do to proclaim My Word, minister to people; and simply love those who need to see the love of Jesus. I have called you to occupy. You miss so much by not imparting the life that I have given you. Tarry with Me for your specific instructions; but while you wait, walk through the smaller doors that I provide for you. Meet the needs of those around you. Others need to see who you are in Me.”

John 4:34 NIV

”My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”

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.

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.

 

So often we misunderstand the way the Lord wants us to occupy. We confuse waiting for specific directions on a certain matter with the commands we have been given that will never change. We have been commanded to love. We are told to proclaim the Gospel. Every day, we are to live to meet the needs of others with the means we have so far been given. These are part of our life in Christ.

Often, the Lord uses these general instructions to lead us to the specific task for which we have been created. While you are waiting for the Lord to unfold His plan or provide the resources needed to accomplish your specific ministry, you are called to do two things - spend time with Him and present Jesus to others with your actions. These are always the same.

Show me the difference between waiting for You and occupying, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“My mercy is always with you. Never think that I am against you. I have paid a great price to have you with Me for eternity. What Jesus gave will never go to waste just because you do not have the strength to overcome. In fact, it is because of your weakness and helplessness that He spent His life. At present, you have little ability to be what you need to become. Keep pressing in. Repent of your sin. Cry out for My mercy. It will always be there for you when you do.”

Hebrews 13:5b AMP

…for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]

Hebrews 12:12-13 NLB

12) So take a new grip with your tired hands and stand firm on your shaky legs.

13) Mark out a straight path for your feet. Then those who follow you, though they are weak and lame, will not stumble and fall but will become strong.

 

There are several forces always at work as we learn to follow Jesus. Although we are new creatures in Christ, our old sin nature continually raises its ugly head. We fall, get up, need to cry out for mercy, take strides forward; and then fall again. This cycle repeats itself with less frequency the longer we are with the Lord, but it is part of our growing up.

At the same time as this cycle is very present in our lives, we are often called upon to represent Jesus to a world needing to see His nature through us. Our command is to occupy until He comes for us. We are His only ambassadors, given the stewardship of His Word.

I am convinced that both are at play to form us into the nature of Jesus. As we fail, we need to cry out for mercy. As we cry out for mercy, we begin to understand the kindness of the Lord. We learn of His forgiveness. We also learn to submit to His Lordship and are taught obedience.

Eventually, as we allow the nature of Christ to flow through us more and more because of the work accomplished in us through our crying out to the Lord for our failures, we begin to understand the wonder of His plan. We understand that His abundant mercy teaches Who He is. Our need for His mercy teaches us of our need for Him and the wonder of what Jesus has done.

Thank You, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Are your prayers for others as important to you as the ones for yourself and your own needs? Do you even concern yourself about what others are going through? The heart of Jesus broke to the point of making Him willing to sacrifice His life, so that you could be rescued from an impossible situation. Now you are asked to take on the same heart that He has. As He lives His life through you, others become a priority. You will find yourself caring that others find Jesus. You will pray them through hard times. You will sacrifice your own needs so that the needs of many can be met. It is His way, so it is also your way if you belong to Him.”

Gal. 4:19 NIV

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

Eph. 1:17-19a NIV

17) I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better.

18) I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

19a) and his incomparably great power for us who believe…

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 the Christ and the completeness found in Him.

 

It is so much easier to separate ourselves from difficult relationships, judge the actions of others, or condemn those who are not as spiritual as we think we are than it is to labor in prayer for them once, twice, or a hundred times. It is simple to love those who love us back. It is a breeze to be gracious to someone who thinks the world of us and places our spiritual wisdom on a par with the great men and women of faith.

However, the way of Jesus is always the way of the cross. He is seen in the lives of individuals who have the interests of other people, not themselves, as a priority. That kind of life cannot be counterfeited, imitated, or faked for very long.  It can only be lived through the power of the life of Jesus flowing through us. It can only come from His heart pumping through His willing vessel, a heart that cannot serve itself but one that must move on behalf of others in order for it to be satisfied.

Make me a willing vessel, Lord,

Jim Corbett