Tag: Devotional

“Holiness is not an option for anyone who chooses to sell out to Me. I’m not talking about the striving, struggling kind of holiness. I’m talking about the peaceful, flowing in My presence kind of holiness. You finally need to accept that there is nothing you can do to bring yourself to that kind of fullness in Me. You can only accept My work being done in you.

"You need, however, to really accept My way of developing Myself in your inner being. I bring death to your old decaying spirit, so that My new life bursts forth. Your way of attempting to change by doing and hoping and striving only brings failure, defeat, and discouragement. My way, the implementing of pressures and the use of circumstances that you can’t handle by yourself, changes you from within. My changes are eternal. They not only develop holiness, but also an eternal friendship with Me. I want you to be enthusiastic about the weight of My hand on you. You are too valuable to have Me leave you the same as you were. We will rejoice out loud as you become who I know you will be.”

Hebrews 12:10-11 NIV 

10) Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best, but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.

11) No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Rev. 3:19 AMP

Those whom I [dearly and tenderly] love, I tell their faults and convict and convince and reprove and chasten [I discipline and instruct them]. So be enthusiastic and in earnest and burning with zeal and repent [changing your mind and attitude].

 

I know people who have been crushed by infant teachings somewhere in their past. They are afraid that if they are ill, or times are rough, or their lives don’t look “successful” in the eyes of the church, they have done something wrong. Worse still, they have been taught to speak “faith” into a difficult situation so that they can be removed from it. What a sad life, supposedly in Christ.

God’s ways are so different from ours. His longing is to have an earnest, vibrant relationship with those who are His. That can’t happen until we choose to embrace God’s ways and have His heart. Both are accomplished through pressure.

Removal of a pressure of some sort, in itself, accomplishes nothing but temporary, carnal comfort. Submitting to that pressure is actually siding with God against that same carnal desire to remain comfortable rather than becoming like Jesus.

The understanding that difficulties will come your way is not a lack of faith as some proclaim. It is the epitome of faith in the One who is faithful. It takes a vast amount of faith in God when all seems hopeless and you turn to Him for strength rather than your own resources to deliver you. (However, don’t be foolish enough to believe that the consequences of decisions made in ignorance are God’s hand or that the refusal of medicinal help when needed is an act of faith.)

An amazing benefit of turning only to God when you are in a helpless situation is the astounding faith and love for God that is implanted deep within your inner parts - not in spite of the trials, but because of them. After walking through shadow after shadow together, the faithful God Himself becomes our only desire. More of Him becomes our request. Only holiness - so that there is no separation - is the common goal.

Needing to remain long enough to be thoroughly changed,

Jim Corbett

“I call you to be grateful for everything, but there are things much more important than the blessings that are yours through the world. As you grow, you will see that thankfulness for refiner’s fires that change you is extremely important. You will be grateful for those who use you wrongly when you understand that they have done you a service by allowing you to see how far you’ve come in Jesus. True thankfulness is a continuous state of heart and it exhibits its fruits over time and in the proper season. I am thankful that you have embraced Jesus. I am anticipating the time when We will spend intimate moments together. I am delighted to call you My child.”

Genesis 1:31 NIV

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.

Psalm 111:2 NIV

Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them.

Psalm 150:1-6 AMP

1) Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in the heavens of His power!

2) Praise Him for His mighty acts; praise Him according to the abundance of His greatness!

3) Praise Him with trumpet sound; praise Him with lute and harp!

4) Praise Him with tambourine and [single or group] dance; praise Him with stringed and wind instruments or flutes!

5) Praise Him with resounding cymbals; praise Him with loud clashing cymbals!

6) Let everything that has breath and every breath of life praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)

John 3:16 NIV

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

 

My Father, thank You for Your incredible love for me! Only You know how little I deserve the wondrous gift of Your Son. He died so that I might live. I am forever grateful. So many times I have given up on You. You, however, have never given up on me. You loved me when I was incapable of loving You back. Your kindness has allowed me to never fear coming to You to be healed and cleaned up.

Jesus, how can words express the value of what You have done?  “Thank You” seems so inadequate, but very necessary. Thank You!

Holy Spirit, thank You so much for Your comfort and guidance! Teach me to trust You more each day.

I am truly grateful, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Watch! Begin to see everything around you with My eyes. Much is happening that fulfills My end-time plan if you have eyes to see. Most of My church is either asleep or distracted by their lusts for the world and its ways. They are blind. You watch! You listen! You tell others of the coming peril, so that they can be prepared to act like Jesus would act when it comes. Open your eyes so that you can see with My eyes!”

Jeremiah 29:11-13 NIV

11) “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

12) Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

13) You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Joshua 7:13 AMP

Up, sanctify (set apart for a holy purpose) the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: There are accursed things in the midst of you, O Israel. You can not stand before your enemies until you take away from among you the things devoted [to destruction].

Matt. 5:11-12 NIV 

11) “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

12) Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

 

Ten years ago, if someone would have said that there would come a time in this nation when we could lose our freedoms overnight or be persecuted for our faith in the United States, we would’ve thought that they were some kind of false doom and gloom prophet. How different the world looks now!

There’s no denying that as we look around and open our eyes, things sure have changed. Anything is possible and could very well become probable as time goes on. How are you preparing to represent Jesus in a world that may be unrecognizable from even today’s world? Are you preparing for what is on the horizon or are you like the proverbial ostrich with your head in the sand, hoping that the bad things will go away?

There is incredible power and safety for those who are walking in the fullness of Jesus. It is the only true place of His incredible presence.

Make me aware and ready, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Will what you have planned for today matter in eternity? What about the plans you’ve made for the rest of the year? For that matter, how much of the resources of time, talent, and money do you use for yourself, compared to what you have dedicated to the work of the Lord? That’s not meant to be a guilt trip; it is an assessment challenge.

"Your works will be judged. You will answer for your stewardship of whatever I’ve given you. Don’t fall for the ten percent trap. You said that Jesus was Lord over everything. Isn’t it time that you started to do what you have promised to Him? Do you think that He cares more about how many have come to the Lord or about your excuses? This issue is very much on His heart. It should be on yours.”

Prov. 19:21 AMP

Many plans are in a man’s mind, but it is the Lord’s purpose for him that will stand.

Luke 12:19-21 NIV 

19) “And I’ll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’

20) “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

21) “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”

Luke 12:48b AMP

…For everyone to whom much is given, of him shall much be required; and of him to whom men entrust much, they will require and demand all the more.

Heb. 12:1 AMP

THEREFORE THEN, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us.

 

It amazes me how easily the church gets offended when challenged about our stewardship of time, gifts, and especially our money. It seems that we would rather defend selfishness that offends God than face it, do something about it, and please Him. We forget that one day, we will be held accountable by the Lord Who accepted our songs and our promises that everything we have is His. That day is not the day to say oops!

Guide my steps, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“If you fall, I will pick you up. If you wander, I will come and find you. I will show you the way home. You must understand that My love for you is much stronger than anything in you that will not serve Me. I have created you to have fellowship with you. Jesus has made the way to do just that. Whatever stands in the way of that fellowship, I will overcome for you. You can count on it. I love you.”

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!]”

Rom. 2:4b AMP

Are you unmindful or actually ignorant [of the fact] that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repent (to change your mind and inner man to accept God’s will)?

 

Most of us forget that our heavenly Father is continuously at work bringing us to fullness in Him. Our life was His idea. He ordained the idea of mankind and He initiated the salvation process, all motivated by love.

We need to settle in our hearts once and for all that God loves us. We also need to understand that His love is not a wimpy, tickly-feely kind of love that fluctuates with every whim. Godly love is a committed, full-of-promises kind of love that will never allow us to remain who we once were. It is the kind of love that sees prosperity as the total elimination of the hindrances to which the world and our old life restrict us. It is the kind of love that exists in the heavenlies with Him.

I receive it, Lord,

Jim Corbett