Tag: Devotional

“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

“Do you know that if you are Mine and you ask Me for anything, I would put all the infinite powers of heaven to work to accomplish what you ask? It’s true! You need to know, however, that this promise is not for the immature Christian. Many of you use the Name of Jesus as flippantly as you would use something you’ve basically discarded, when at one time it meant something to you. You ingest what is needed for your own pleasure and then set it aside until the next time it is needed. Because there is so much power in the use of His Name, and all of heaven must respond in covenant response when His Name is used, you have little idea how much harm you are doing when you invoke it unwisely.

"You need to grow up so that you can be trusted with your covenant authority. It would be wise of you to step back and remember what your relationship with Me is all about. You are redeemed so that I have friends to work with for eternity, accomplishing My plans. Are there other benefits to you while you are doing this? Of course. In fact, the benefits to you are greater than you can ever imagine. If you have the mistaken idea, however, that your best interests supersede My plan, you will be greatly disappointed; and your relationship with Me will be out of order. Study Me; study My Word. Learn My purposes and flow in them. As you do that, all will be in order and you will be at peace.“

John 15:15b-16 NIV

15b) “…I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

16) You did not choose me, but I chose you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.”

James 4:2b-3 NLB

2b) “And yet the reason you don’t have what you want is that you don’t ask God for it.

3) And even when you do ask, you don’t get it because your whole motive is wrong – you want only what will give you pleasure.”

 

So many of today’s altar calls are an injustice to the work of God. To get a response from the listening audience and to build up churches, the one making the call normally paints a picture of health, wealth, and wisdom - not to mention eternity on streets of gold. Because of this, most Christians spend their days attempting to understand their salvation, instead of becoming mature vessels fit for the use of the Master.

I am convinced that the most important, missing piece of furniture in our churches today is the “tarrying bench.” The tarrying bench was a place where the one seeking salvation dealt with all the issues of salvation before making a commitment. Sometimes it took days as the person wrestled with the flesh, understanding its total depravity. Only after he understood that his life was no longer his own, and that he was bought with a bloody price, would the person be released to commit to Christ and His work on the cross. When he was finished, he understood his position in Christ with its benefits, but also its priorities. He was a servant, not a lord - especially of his own life and its needs. He understood that prayer was not a vehicle to accomplish his desires, but a two-way interaction. It was necessary to first find the will of God, and then be a surrendered vessel, who could be used to implement His will.

When a person in proper understanding of his relationship with the Lord prays, nothing can stop that prayer. A God-initiated, Holy Spirit-ordained prayer, presented in the Name of Jesus and designed to be in perfect unison with His plans, moves heaven, all of its powerful beings, and all of earth. Not only does it accomplish much for the will of God, it accomplishes much in the one who prayed. The seeking process, which occurs as the one who prays attempts to find the will of the Lord in a given situation, accomplishes untold benefits and multiple unseen changes in the seeker’s character. That, too, is in order with the will of God.

Needing to remember to seek first, then pray,

Jim Corbett

“Soon it will become evident that you will not be able to impart to others what they need to survive. Because they have not responded to My continuous wooing to draw close so that I can give them My Spirit, My wisdom, and My life, they will have nothing to offer anyone. They will not even have enough for themselves. They will ask you for what you have, but you can only send them to Me. I am what they need. They will ask for too much, too late.”

Matt. 25:1-12 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 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!’

7) Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps.

8) The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

9) ‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

10) But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

11) Later the others also came. ‘Sir! Sir! they said. ‘Open the door for us!’

12) But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’”

 

To continually remain unresponsive to the Holy Spirit’s wooing to draw close to the Lord, which is clearly evident in this land, is foolish and will reap little reward in the future. When we need what only God can give us, it must be on tap. Future seasons will be overcome with what has been gained from today’s intimacy.

Open my eyes, Lord,

Jim Corbett