Tag: Devotional

“As a whole, My church has been weighed and found wanting. You who hear need to come out from her. You must come back to My Word and its fullness, or you will experience the judgment that is about to be placed on those who will not hear. I have seen the falling away. I have tolerated the self-serving attitudes of those who have attempted to form Me into their image. They have misused My words, redefined My purposes, and turned their backs on the Spirit Who once was accepted as truth, defining truth to suit their own agendas. They have witnessed to others that My presence is with them, when I am nowhere near where they are. I don’t come to their ways; they must come to Mine. They sing songs of praise because of what I have done, instead of praising Me for Who I am. Deep down, they credit themselves for their prosperity and blame Me for their trials.

"I have allowed the cold, hard heart to run its course and have asked you, who have eyes to see and ears to hear, to make choices. Some of you have seen what has happened to My people and hate what you see, but have needed to know for sure what to do. I now call you to come out. Cold fellowships are religious activities that only make participants feel comfortable where they are. Cold preachers are no longer My messengers. They allow My children to be complacent.

"I am about to deal with them. I have never been, nor ever will be, part of religious folly. Time is too short to play religious games. If you do, you will miss what I am really doing. You come away with Me. You get back to My Word. You join with others who see, and live the life of Jesus before those who need to know Him. Ignore the sound of judgments that are bringing those who would not hear to their knees. In their independence, they would not come to Me. Soon they will submit. You do My work, endued with My power that comes from being in My presence. I am with you.”

Amos 5:21-23 NIV

21) I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies.

22) Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings I will have no regard for them.

23) Away with the noise of your songs. I will not listen to the noise of your harps.

 

There comes a time when the Lord says, “Enough.” Just before that time, He always calls out those who can hear His call and separate themselves from those with whom He is displeased. They miss His judgment because of their obedience.

For many years, I believe that the Lord has been calling His people to pursue holiness and intimacy with Him. In those years, most of us have seen many fellowships resist the call to holiness and replace it with programs and events. Those, who have closed their spiritual ears to the call of God, busy themselves with religious activity, rather than spend the time needed in prayer and fellowship with the Lord, so that they can hear His heart.

Merry and I are incredibly blessed in knowing honest lovers of our Lord all over the land. So often we hear aching hearts crying out for a fellowship near them that doesn’t compromise the call they are hearing, a call to holiness. The common lament is that a call to participate in activities and doing good things has replaced the message of spending time with God. Spending quality time in prayer is avoided. Hours in prayer is considered radical and sometimes unheard of, even by leadership. They say that they have no place to go, so they congregate with one or two like-minded believers in their own homes, continually searching for a strong Word and a call to intimacy, wherever they can find it.

The call to become a holy, separated people, who are dedicated to intimacy with devoted, bride-like qualities, is becoming louder and more urgent each moment.  At the same time, cold, dead religious activity vies for the hearts of the unaware. It feeds on those who have closed their ears and hardened their hearts to the Holy Spirit and are too busy doing good things to spend time with their Lord.

Wanting to hear clearly and respond properly,

Jim Corbett

“Do you know what a prostitute is? It is someone who is willing to sell his or her false affections for a price. Can you imagine the heartbreak of the father of the prostitute? In the world, the rationale would be that his actions must have been less than perfect to cause his child to become so calloused toward himself or herself and others, that he or she is able to function as a prostitute.

"What have I done to cause you to care so little, that you give yourselves away to any lover that is willing to satisfy your required price? I have purchased you for a great price. You have gladly received the benefits of My purchase and have consumed them upon yourself. While you say that you are Mine, I notice that your eyes are wandering to and fro, attempting to find the next lover that will satisfy you in some way. As a Father, I grieve. Nothing that I have done causes you to care so little. Nothing that you have been given would cause you to be unsatisfied. But you are. You constantly need more from Me to fulfill your wandering desires.

"Unlike someone who would give up on you because you care so little, I never will. Unlike a wounded father who is incapable of giving any more, I will continue to lavish My love on you until you can see clearly and turn from your ways. Each time you repent of your wandering, I will forgive you, knowing that as soon as other lovers come along, you will follow them again. I will forgive, and forgive, and forgive. I love you. Nothing you will ever do will stop Me from loving you.”

Romans 2:4b NIV

….not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?

I Cor. 13:4, 7-8 NIV

4) Love is patient, love is kind….it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

7) It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8) Love never fails.

 

I remember going to the Lord for what must have been the thousandth time with the same sin, grieving over my failure; and knowing that I would soon be back in the same position, confessing once again. In the beginning, I would go to the Lord so that I could feel good, so that I could be clean again. His forgiveness and the promise of complete restoration of our fellowship always drove me back to that place of cleansing. In my hurt, undoneness, and immaturity, however, I could never really come to true repentance - a complete turning from my sin. I came to Him for my good, so that I would feel better. In His great love, He was always there. He knew that I’d be back the next time I stepped on His love, but He never turned me away.

Eventually, however, something wonderful happened. My reason for coming to Him with my sin began to change. Because of the astounding love of my Lord, Who always accepted me and never gave up on me, I was free to come to Him until the Word that was working in me could change my heart from within.

I began to come to Him with my sin, not only to become cleansed; but because I began to see how much my sin grieved my Father. He hurt when our fellowship was broken. He grieved as He saw me fall back into my own vomit. He was more anxious to clean me off than I was to be clean.

Eventually, I no longer wanted to offend Him. His love became more powerful than my desire to commit that sin. He held me while I was too immature to see clearly. Then He changed me as He said He would. This happened to sin after sin after sin. It is still happening and will continue to happen until He calls me home. What an incredible promise. What an incredible God!

In Him,

Jim Corbett

“If you seek after anything but a deeper relationship with Me, you will travel down many trails that lead to dead ends, and experience only a portion of My Word. You will need to turn from them and eventually come to a place of making Me your priority. Remember this, miracles do happen; but if you only seek them, you will find only part of Who I am.

"It is the same with all the gifts that I provide. The immature run after spiritual experiences and supernatural power. The mature run hard after Jesus and a deeper relationship with Me. I want you to crave intimacy. Because of that intimacy, I will be able to send you to where I am performing miracles and allow you to flow in My power.”

Matt. 7:21-23 NIV

21) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

22) Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord,’ did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’

23) Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

Matt. 14:22-23 NIV 

22) Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd.

23) After he had dismissed them, he went up into the hills by himself to pray.

 

It amazes me to see how often Jesus went away to be with His Father. He was telling us that one can minister only from a place of communion and direction.

In contrast, most of us crave the spiritual power, the miracle-working glory, and the wisdom to accomplish work here on earth. We have no idea that such power without intimacy and maturity is like putting a revolver in the hands of a child. He can make it work but has little ability to understand - prior to it going off - the impact of what havoc it can reap.

Draw me close, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“These days you must be very careful to whom you are listening. There are many voices attempting to have their way with you. You need to remember that every one of them has one goal in mind. They all want to minimize Our time together, either personally or through the Word. When they do that, you begin to listen to what they have to say. You become weak and vulnerable to fear and susceptible to lies that minimize the importance of those things that are important to Me.

"Shake yourself loose from whatever is distracting you from Our time together, even good-sounding things. Fight to overcome the sirens that distract you from Me, your only safety in the coming times. You really serve the one to whom you listen. Who you listen to is very important.”

John 10:27 AMP

The sheep that are My own hear and are listening to My voice; and I know them, and they follow Me.

Ephesians 3:14-19 NLT

14) When I think of the wisdom and scope of God’s plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,

15) the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.

16) I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit.

17) And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him.  May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love.

18) And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is.

19) May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Eph. 6:10 AMP

In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]; draw your strength from Him [that strength which His boundless might provides].

Phil. 4:8-9 NIV

8) Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.

9) Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

 

Sometimes it is so much easier to listen to those things that are in our faces, especially when we become weary. Few of us realize that there is a direct correlation between how much quality time we spend with our Lord, and how well we discern what is important in every area of our lives.

One of the major reasons for the cross is so that we can have access to Father God. Jesus spent His life so that we could go to Him and be with Him. How foolish we are if we don’t go there as often as we can.

Make coming to You my priority, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“It is time to find those whom you can really trust and covenant with them. It is important for you to love every brother and sister, but some who call themselves by My Name have not heeded My warnings and My call to intimacy and holiness. They will hinder you when My presence is needed to overcome. They will not know how to dwell in My presence; and, therefore, will be unable to move with Me for real wisdom. It will be dangerous to count on them. It will not be safe to rely upon them for anything, because they will be reacting in the flesh rather than in My Spirit. That is the road to certain calamity.

"True friends are those who have determined to heed the season and seek holiness as their only reason to live. When the time for “back-to-back” warfare is needed, they will serve as Jesus served. They can be trusted. Think on this. When you need life or death counsel, power for healing, or silent guardianship, who would you rather have in your corner - someone who is playing church games or someone who has sold out to Me? It is not wrong to make qualified, prayerful assessments, even on those in leadership roles - especially on those in leadership roles. They will do much harm to young believers if they have not chosen the crucified life of My Son.

"Love everyone but find like-minded remnant people to trust. You must also make sure that you are trustworthy. If you don’t, I will require an accountability for those I send you. You know better. Trust in Me. Trust those who are trustworthy. Become worthy of someone’s trust. Become worthy of My trust!”

Ps. 91:1 AMP

HE WHO dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty [Whose power no foe can withstand].

Prov. 17:17 AMP 

A friend loves at all times, and is born, as is a brother, for adversity.

Matt. 7:6 AMP

Do not give that which is holy (the sacred thing) to the dogs, and do not throw your pearls before hogs, lest they trample upon them with their feet and turn and tear you in pieces.

Eph. 4:29 NIV

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

 

Few Christians realize the harm that is caused by the violation of a trust. The Word places lies on the same level of sin as murder. They are both horrible sins because of the death that they cause. Trust violations come in many forms and destroy at many levels.

In the situation of a marriage, loose words about partners destroy more intimacy than any other violation. They indicate a heart that is not trustworthy. Since a Christian marriage is a closed institution, one where no one has the right to be privy to anything unless the other spouse agrees, revealing the partner’s sins and failures in any form - even in jest, even “in confidence” to friends, even “for prayer” - puts a death seal on true intimacy. It also eliminates any hope of spiritual healing that is part of the marriage privilege.

In the Christian walk, few understand that trusting one another is paramount to growth, safety, and spiritual warfare. Therefore, few Christians realize the importance of being trustworthy. Violations occur so often that it has become commonplace, almost expected, that unbreakable trust is no longer part of our mandate one to another. (It must be understood that there is a gigantic difference between forgiving someone and being able to trust him or her again. We must always forgive but trusting again only happens when the violator has grown to become trustworthy once more. That sometimes never happens. Forgive, and walk in the freedom of that forgiveness; but don’t be foolish enough to share your intimacies with someone who does not hold them in the highest esteem. That’s not godly wisdom.)

In the times ahead, trustworthy friends must be found. When you need prayer cover because of your stand for Christ, trustworthy friends are those who actually pray fervently when they say they will. They never betray your confidences. Although they may tell you hard truth from the heart of God for your growth, they never side against you, no matter how many failures you have displayed. They may not agree with you, but are always “for” you, rather than “against” you at the first sign of trouble, etc. They are those who fear the Lord and His Word, and put it into action, always. That only comes from being with Him.

Needing to grow up as a Christian,

Jim Corbett