Tag: Devotional

“As I take you to places that refine you, you must know that I have not forgotten you, even though it may seem as if you are alone. How you respond during these trying times determines how long you must remain there. Squirming and complaining shows your immaturity. Attitudes of defiance or anger show how much work needs to be done in your heart. Lack of faith in Me should drive you to study My Word.

"Times of refinement are for your good. They allow you to see how far you really are from the way you should be if you are a follower of Jesus. They show you your self-focus. They reveal benchmarks of your spiritual life. During these times, repent of any areas that are out of line with My Word. Stop complaining and grow up! I am making you more like Jesus! You should be rejoicing about My love for you, not complaining about the fires that refine you.”

2 Cor. 7:10 NIV

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

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 Christ and the completeness found in Him.

Hebrews 12:2 NIV 

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…

James 1:2-4 NIV

2) Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,

3) because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

4) Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

James 4: 8-10 AMP

8) Come close to God and He will come close to you. [Recognize that you are] sinners, get your soiled hands clean; [realize that you have been disloyal] wavering individuals with divided interests, and purify your hearts [of your spiritual adultery].

9) [As you draw near to God] be deeply penitent and grieve, even weep [over your disloyalty]. Let your laughter be turned to grief and your mirth to dejection and heartfelt shame [for your sins].

10) Humble yourselves [feeling very insignificant] in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you [He will lift you up and make your lives significant].

I Peter 4:12 AMP

Beloved, do not be amazed and bewildered at the fiery ordeal which is taking place to test your quality, as though something strange (unusual and alien to you and your position) were befalling you.

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].

Show me Your perspective on everything, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“You can rely on My Word. It is always true. He is always Truth. I am always Faithful.”

Psalm 111:2 NIV

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

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.

 

Few of us realize the wealth that we have because of the integrity of God. As the world reels in deception upon deception, attempting to form some semblance of order in which they can live, we have the Word of God - absolute, reliable Truth.

Thank You, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“When I look upon your life, there is nothing but mercy and compassion in My heart. I realize how far you have to go to understand and walk in what I have provided for you. I also realize how far We have come together. I see that you are doing the best that you can do and will continue to do so from now on. Even when you fall in deep sin, throw away your friends, judge others, gossip, hate, and little resemble Jesus to the world, it is sin, yes; but it is the best that you can do. As you grow up, you will be able to do better. Because that is fully understood, My heart is always for you and never against you. Keep doing your best. Give others the freedom to do the same, and We will walk together as you mature in Me. I love you. You love others. It is My way.”

Luke 23:34 NIV

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.”

Heb. 13:20-21 AMP

20) Now may the God of peace [Who is the Author and the Giver of peace], Who brought again from among the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood [that sealed, ratified] the everlasting agreement (covenant, testament),

21) Strengthen (complete, perfect) and make you what you ought to be and equip you with everything good that you may carry out His will; [while He Himself] works in you and accomplishes that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ (the Messiah); to Whom be the glory forever and ever (to the ages of the ages). Amen (so be it).

 

Those words from Luke 23 were said as Jesus looked down from the cross at those who had just crucified Him. They were said to the soldier who probably still had the hammer in his hands, the once filthy leper who Jesus had touched, the young man who was possibly still being fed by the loaves and fishes incident several months ago; and many other jeering, spitting, and cursing people.

I am convinced that He was saying, “Father, I know that every one of them is doing the best that he or she knows how to do. I am glad to do this for them. I know that You are, also. Let’s forgive them over and over until they can see things better. One day, when Our love overcomes their ignorance and hate, they will need what We have. I gladly forgive them and I know that you do, too.”

Once, after Merry and I had just been “sucker punched” almost to the point of giving up, the Lord whispered to us: “They did the best that they could.” He was saying, “They had jealousy, so they had to try to destroy you so they could survive. They were so broken, that you were a threat to them. They were full of pride, so you seemingly stole some of their parade. You need to forgive them and understand that in their immaturity, they did the best that they could.”

The concept of everyone doing the very best that they know how to do, even the worst of sinners, allows us to understand the mercy that Jesus had on the cross a little bit better.

While I’m doing my best, please heal those whom I might hurt,

Jim Corbett

“Many of you have become so busy that I have been apportioned second place. In some cases, you have even minimized the need to seek Me with all of your heart. Have you learned nothing? Where is the heart of first love? Where is the weeping at the altar for the souls of those who are perishing? In your foolishness, you have determined that My ways are not the way to live and you have reclaimed the lordship of your lives. You have left My refiner’s fire and have entered a fowler’s snare. It is sure death to the purity of life to which I have called you.  Your indictment is business-as-usual religious activity, striving to find My power to replace My presence. Soon, you will not even care that My presence is nowhere near your abundance of religious activities. You will have been given over to the freedom you so longed for. You must turn now! Repent while you can.”

Psalm 106:12-15 AMP

12) Then [Israel] believed His words [trusting in, relying on them]; they sang His praise.

13) But they hastily forgot His works; they did not [earnestly] wait for His plans [to develop] regarding them.

14) But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness and tempted and tried to restrain God [with their insistent desires] in the desert.

15) And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their souls and [thinned their numbers by] disease and death.

 

A fowler’s snare is designed to entice a bird toward its own death. The fowler would take a vine with long thorns and weave a tube-shaped trap, placing all of the one-to-two-inch thorns facing inside the trap. He would then leave one end open and place a morsel of the kind of food his prey would consider delightful at the other closed end.

Looking only at the food at the closed end of the snare, the bird would weave its way around the thorns to get to the delicacy. Deep inside the tunnel of thorns, it would eventually wake up to the dangerous protrusions, then panic, flail about and impale itself, causing either disabling harm or death.

So many of us are unwilling to allow the Lord to put to death the desires of our flesh. We never realize that submitting to its passions and desires is a death trap, causing great harm to our representation of Jesus, and eventual death to any form of intimacy with the Lord.

Oh Lord! Keep my mind off the morsels and only on You,

Jim Corbett

“Call upon Me anytime. You never bother Me. Jesus paved the way for you to have access to My presence. I never sleep. I am never too busy. My availability to you honors His work on the cross. Come to Me in need. Come to Me in praise. Come to Me to rest. Just come, I am waiting.”

Luke 23:44-45 NIV

44) It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour,

45) for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.

John 8:36 NIV

“So if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed.”

John 19:30 NIV

…Jesus said, “It is finished.”

Hebrews 4:16 NIV

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

 

Access to the inner chambers of God has been provided for us by the work of Jesus on the cross. His death and subsequent resurrection opened the door of communication for us. We now have unlimited audience with God whenever we have any kind of need, question, or just a desire to spend time with Him. It is one of the covenant commitments God made with Jesus for us. In God’s eyes, we have exchanged our old carnal life for a new spiritual life that is accepted by Him forever. The covenant cannot be broken.

In prayer, there is a connection between what God does and what you are to do. Prayer (communication with God) is the vehicle that Father God has established for us to navigate from the physical realm to the spiritual realm and back again to accomplish His will from heaven to earth through us.

Through this communication and because of the work of Jesus, God brings Himself, His plans, and His very being into His established tabernacles – us. Within the communication, we present our requests for all that is necessary for us to become who we need to be. Our Father also communicates His will to us. It is true communication between the Creator and His creation, with Father God all the while fine tuning our encounters with Him through the Holy Spirit.

Let me honor You by coming to You, Lord,

Jim Corbett