Tag: Devotional

“You must understand that it is necessary to covet My relationship with you as your priority in life. It must be the most important element in your life, or the enemy of your soul will chip away at it, until it no longer resembles the kind of relationship that I intended for you.

"Our communion is deteriorated by many small factors that, when combined, add up to your being cold, confused, and incapable of coming to Me as your source for everything. Starting as small as holding a grudge, adding the entertaining of a lust, mixed with a small amount of unforgiveness, stirred by a smidgeon of jealousy; and little by little, you have separated yourself from Me. Is it any wonder that you can’t hear My voice, or even desire to spend time with Me? Satan has you hamstrung. He has built a fence around your heart and separated it from hearing My call to holiness.

"You must resume your original zeal for Me and My Word. They must once again be your priority. Each moment that you hold anything between Us, or against anyone, the less you will want to change. Turn now. Shake off all the strongholds and pet sins that hinder you from being free. Time is too short for you to be ineffective in doing My work. I need you to be free and able to hear My voice. I am waiting.”

Galatians 5:1 AMP

In [this] freedom Christ has made us free [and completely liberated us]; stand fast then and do not be hampered and held ensnared and submit again to a yoke of slavery [which you have once put off].

Gal. 5:7-10 NIV 

7) You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?

8) That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you.

9) “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.”

10) I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be.

 

I heard once that an alligator - or maybe a crocodile, what do I know - eventually overcomes its prey one small bite at a time. I was told that it will grab a small bite with its vise-grip jaws and hold on, waiting for an opportunity to get a larger bite; and then larger still until it has gained complete control.

That premise is very much like sin destroying our relationship with the Lord. It isn’t very often that we see how a small stronghold or pet sin could be so dangerous. But it really is.

Each time we fall, it is a little easier to fall again if we don’t immediately repent. It then becomes easier to hold the next sin, until we develop patterns of cultivating little sins rather than patterns of pursuing holiness. That is deadly to true fellowship with the Lord. The subtlety of that kind of pattern is that if it becomes our lifestyle, we are already defeated without knowing it. We become desensitized to its horrors.

Never really getting intimate with God, we are constantly struggling through the mire of half-hearted service and surface praise and worship, wondering why we feel so cold. Satan loves to keep us there because we are of little danger to his plans. The Lord hates for us to be there because He knows the danger that lies around the next stronghold. He knows that we are very close to spiritual death and complete ineffectiveness with regard to souls should the pattern continue.

Needing to break all old patterns,

Jim Corbett

“Do you realize the power of your prayers? When you pray, make sure you are ready to deal with all of the results of your desires. I take your requests to Me very seriously. I’m the One Who allowed the cross and all of its physical consequences to Jesus, so that you might spend eternity with Me. I move on your behalf every time you present something or someone to Me. I will move heaven and earth on your behalf when your prayers are in line with My will.

"The results of your prayers, however, do not always look like you may have wanted them to look, especially if you want people to turn from their rebellion and embrace Me. In those cases, you need to totally release them to Me, trusting that I know what is best to bring their hearts home. I care far less about the comfort of the flesh than I do about the salvation of the spirit. Often, My destruction of a rebellious heart has the appearance of harm taking place in the life of the person for whom you pray. It may seem as though things are getting worse as you pray. It may sometimes appear that way, but the opposite is more often true.

"One of the biggest mistakes you make is when you start to become emotionally fearful while I am destroying the flesh in others, and change your prayers by praying for their safety or asking Me to protect them. Because you are Mine and We are in covenant, I honor your wishes. I need to then go to work on your heart, making you realize how damaging your prayers have become to their salvation. Again, it is vital that you release those in need totally to Me and trust that I know what I am doing. Let go, and allow Me to be God in their lives. It is My desire that they spend eternity with Me. I will do all that is necessary to make that happen.”

Proverbs 15:29 NIV

The Lord is far from the wicked but he hears the prayer of the righteous.

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.”

Galatians 4:19 NIV

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

 

So often, we forget that this whole life experience is about one thing—the plan of God. We also forget that the work of the cross and all that it accomplished is pivotal in that plan. This means, of course, that Father God is deeply concerned that everyone should have the opportunity to embrace its outcome and come to Him.

Those of us, who have been saved from our flesh, are the main instruments used to destroy the flesh of others who need Jesus. We are called to labor on their behalf and rely on the Holy Spirit to orchestrate their world, bringing them to their knees. Sometimes that is not a pretty sight. In my case, it cost me everything—my business, my family, and my reputation—before I surrendered.

After I did embrace my Lord, I found out that there were several people who loved me enough to pray for me through all of my idiocy and rebellion. If they had stopped praying for my salvation, and prayed for worldly comfort of any kind while I was being made very uncomfortable by God (even to the point of considering suicide,) it might have taken much longer for me to come to the Lord. If the weight of my sin was eased, even a little, I may not have felt the need for God to help me as soon as I did. Looking back, I am very grateful that my Lord cared little about my comfort and cared a lot about my salvation.

Needing to be thankful every day,

Jim Corbett

“Because you are My child, I run to you when you fall or fail Me. I marshal whatever forces are needed to bring you back into My presence. When you repent, I welcome you with open arms and love you with loyal love. You are Mine and I am with you as you grow. Never fear Me when you have done wrong. We will work things out together. As long as you are ready to repent and desire to turn from your sin, you are safe. It is when you harden your heart that you are in danger.”

Matthew 26:31 NIV 

Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’”

Acts 17:30 AMP 

Such [former] ages of ignorance God, it is true, ignored and allowed to pass unnoticed; but now He charges all people everywhere to repent (to change their minds for the better and heartily amend their ways, with abhorrence of their past sins),…

 

God calls us to a radical life change of repentance for the sin we see with our new eyes. Before we came to the Lord, our eyes were darkened to the fact that we were in sin. We simply didn’t care. Now that we live in our new nature, not only are we accepted by God as His children, we also have the freedom to continually walk in the freedom of forgiveness. Our job is to continually go to the Lord in repentance, something only those who know Him desire to do. Doing so demonstrates His Lordship and exemplifies our submission. Repentance and submission bring His presence and His power to change us and eventually allow us to deny the sins that so easily beset us.

Thank You for forgiving me often, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“This is a season in which I desire to deal with issues of your heart that, if left unaddressed, will cause you harm in your future walk with Me. It is time to move closer to the kind of life I desire for you. I desire that you truly walk in holiness. The perfection of My Son has been provided for you. His integrity with Me is a standard that you have access to if you so desire. His compassion for the lost, His loving obedience, and His dedication to My will are all yours should you choose them.

"You need to come to Me. Tell Me that you desire all that I have for you. Submit fully to His Lordship over your life. Renew your desire for first love. I will then bring forth My wealth in you. First you will see who you are not, so that we can eliminate those issues from your life. Then you will understand who you really can be; and, in time, you will walk as He walked. All that Jesus is can be yours. It’s time to go deeper with Me. Simply ask. I will accomplish it in you.”

Deut. 1:6 NIV

The Lord our God said to us at Horeb, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain.”

2 Chr. 16:9 NIV

“For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him...”

Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV  

5) Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

6) in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

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.”

John 3:30 AMP

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

1 John 2:6 AMP

Whoever says he abides in Him ought [as a personal debt] to walk and conduct himself in the same way in which He walked and conducted Himself.

 

When was the last time you became passionate about the Lord’s plans? For that matter, when was the last time the Lord’s plans for your life took priority over the other demands you face each day?

God is clearly requiring each of us to make Him our priority. Still, most of us agonize over the demands of simply living out each day - paying the rent, providing for food, etc. To stop, even for a day, and spend it entirely with the Lord should He ask us to do so would be beyond comprehension for some of us. We are convinced that the answer is heart commitment.

Merry and I believe that each and every one of us, who call ourselves Christians, must make a choice to live Christ’s life passionately throughout our very ordinary days. We are to approach the tasks and the people placed before us with His kind of zeal and unquestioning love, presenting every one of them as an offering to the Lord for His glory. We are convinced that this life is not so much about what we do as it is about the One for whom we are doing it.

If everything that we become involved in is truly offered to the Lord and placed under His Lordship, the fluff will fall away and the eternal purposes of God will become priorities to us. Living Christ’s passionate life unto the Lord will change us and those around us who are looking for answers.

 Take my stuff and replace it with Your stuff, Lord,

Jim Corbett

"Do you see how important it is for you to be exactly where I tell you to be? There is no safety outside of My will for you. There is no purpose for you to be anywhere other than where I tell you to be. All of heaven is being poised for the closing minutes of My plan. The beginnings of that plan are being played out in your midst. What that means to you is either the fulfillment of your life’s work, or some secondary task that I can use, although it will have much less impact in My overall plan to bring souls into My kingdom.

"Take the time, over the next few weeks, to set aside the pressures of your normal routine and listen to My heart for you. Don’t stop pressing in until you are confident that you have heard from Me. Do not set aside the questions that come to your heart. Do not be afraid to move from where you are to where I want you to be. Most of you will realize that you have created carnal gods that you serve—obligations that make you comfortable, yet they actually hinder you from doing all that I have planned in your life. These gods have quieted My voice over the years. You can’t hear Me because they need to be fed. Do you really need them? If they weren’t in your life, would you be free to serve Me with all your heart? Would I be able to move you wherever I desire?

"You must remove the word “impossible” from your thoughts as you seek My will for you. Do not entertain foolish, fleshly thoughts. Seek wise counsel; counsel you trust. Do not move ahead of My plans. All must be in order before you move. Do not attempt to rely on those with money as a means for you to accomplish any of your plans. I am your source.”

1 Peter 1:13-19 AMP

13) So brace up your minds; be sober (circumspect, morally alert); set your hope wholly and unchangeably on the grace (divine favor) that is coming to you when Jesus Christ (the Messiah) is revealed.

14) [Live] as children of obedience [to God]; do not conform yourselves to the evil desires [that governed you] in your former ignorance [when you did not know the requirements of the Gospel].

15) But as the One Who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all your conduct and manner of living.

16) For it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy.

17) And if you call upon Him as [your] Father Who judges each one impartially according to what he does, [then] you should conduct yourselves with true reverence throughout the time of your temporary residence [on the earth, whether long or short].

18) You must know (recognize) that you were redeemed (ransomed) from the useless (fruitless) way of living inherited by tradition from [your] forefathers, not with corruptible things [such as] silver or gold,

19) But [you were purchased] with the precious blood of Christ (the Messiah), like that of a [sacrificial] lamb without blemish or spot.

 

I look at my life and the lives of others in the body of Christ. I am amazed at the gods we serve. In the spiritual realm, there are the usual attachments such as fear, lust, anger, hopelessness, pride, and so on. In the physical realm, some of the most prominent gods we serve are security, comfort, ownership of our time, ownership of our resources; and just plain spiritual blindness to the importance of doing God’s perfect will. In reality, most of us bow down before our personal gods before we bend our knees to the Lord and serve Him totally. Because of our surface personal seeking and prayerless days, more often than not we find ourselves serving the bills that are due every month, incapable of moving in God’s direction even if we wanted to do so. He and His work play second fiddle to our encumbered lives.

I believe that the Lord is challenging each of us to take stock in our lives and hold them up to the scrutiny of the Word and the Holy Spirit. Over the course of time, moved and directed by the Holy Spirit, we must be willing to bring things in proper order - His order. What does God really own in us and what are the gods that we faithfully serve above Him? He requires all our devotion. When we eliminate the smothering covers of this world, we will be able to discern much more readily the direction and focus that the Lord desires for us.

Rip the covers off my eyes, Lord! I want to see clearly and move easily with You,

Jim Corbett