Tag: Devotional

“Do you know that there will be times when you will look like a fool if you choose to serve Me with all your heart? Do you know that you might appear to have missed My will for you, yet be exactly where I want you to be, so that you can learn directly from My hand? The gospels of man cannot understand walking in My Spirit. In their hearts, I am held to perform according to their interpretation of My Word, a very self-serving interpretation. I will never do that. Their doctrines appear to work because they appeal to the carnal nature of undiscerning believers.

"My Gospel calls for absolute obedience to what I tell you to do, no matter what the consequence to you. You may never be vindicated if I should use you to expose the hardened hearts of the hosts of the controlling spirits that you encounter. You may never be a success in the eyes of the world and most of the carnal church. Your reputation may be non-existent as I focus on your character. Remember this. I am the One keeping score. I observe truth from folly. Nothing is hidden from My sight. I see those of you who desire to serve Me without considering the cost, when others have a death grip on what I have given them. You are very pleasing to Me. You bless My heart. I love you very much.”

I Cor. 4:9-14 NIV

9) For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men.

10) We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored!

11) To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.

12) We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted we endure it;

13) When we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.

14) I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children.

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.

 

If Jesus is our example of living, then having nowhere to lay your head would be the norm as followers of Christ. Money to pay taxes would have to come from some form of a fish’s mouth. Being cursed, laughed at, scorned, and even hated enough to be crucified should be part of our job description; even while we are being used to heal the sick or raise the dead. The possibility of being struck dead because we lie to the Holy Spirit about how much we hold back and consider our own, or imprisoned so that we can bless people there or write God’s important correspondence from our cell, is not entirely out of the picture. Let’s not even begin to discuss those incredible examples of God’s love who died in the arenas. But then, that might mean that this walk with the Lord is not about us and our comfort. Maybe we are not our own? Hmmm!

Teach me truth, Lord,

Jim Corbett

 

“When I hold back on anything that has been promised to you, I am looking for you to have confidence in Me. Confidence is gained not in times of provision, but in times of waiting. It also builds a reliance upon Me for your provision. Think on this. If I were to provide every one of your needs instantly, how would I get you to seek Me? How would I get you to find the heart to examine My heart?  You would be so busy going about your business that you would have no time for Me.

"To those of you who are faithful, waiting on Me is also a time of building testimony. Those around you are watching you while you wait for My Word to be fulfilled in your lives. They need to be able to understand how to stand with Me when there seems to be no answer in sight. They need to see the peace you have in waiting for Me to move rather than trying to make something happen yourself. Rest assured, I will fulfill My promise to you. It will be in My time, My way. No one will be able to deny that I have moved on your behalf when I do.”

Jeremiah 15:19 AMP

Therefore thus says the Lord [to Jeremiah]: If you return [and give up this mistaken tone of distrust and despair], then I will give you again a settled place of quiet and safety, and you will be My minister; and if you separate the precious from the vile [cleansing your own heart from unworthy and unwarranted suspicions concerning God’s faithfulness], you shall be My mouthpiece…

Hosea 13:6 NIV

“When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me.”

Hebrews 11:1-2  AMP 

1) Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].

2) For by [faith – trust and holy fervor born of faith] the men of old had divine testimony borne to them and obtained a good report.

 

Few of us understand what the Lord is trying to accomplish when He delays the answers to our needs. We keep wondering what is holding up the answer. He is making us more like Jesus, and building a testimony in our lives.

The crucifixion of Jesus confirmed to the skeptics that He was nothing more than a mere man with unique ideas. The resurrection silenced them. The time in between allowed everyone’s hearts to be revealed.

Paul’s imprisonment gave many people of that day fuel to discredit his ministry. Rotting in a prison cell sure limits one’s outreach activities. Few could see that reducing those activities to writing letters, rather than traveling the countryside preaching, was exactly the way that God intended to get His Words written down for many future generations of believers to ingest. For centuries after Paul’s death, the Lord has declared the testimony of His faithfulness to His servant. It was important to place Paul in an environment that quieted him and made him seek the Lord with all his might. He provided for Paul in a manner only understood by centuries of later generations because Paul was faithful in the time of waiting.

The depth of seeking God during times of trouble and waiting builds the kind of testimony needed to share Him and His heart with those who need to see it. It is in times of waiting for the Lord to reveal Himself and His provision that most of His wealth is gained by us and for others.

Needing to understand more,

Jim Corbett

 

“How do you choose to spend your time in My kingdom? How you function while on earth impacts your function for eternity. One day the pattern for your life will be established forever. You will be able to change nothing, repent of nothing, and redo nothing from that moment on. What you have in your hands at that time will be the determined value of your life. You will be given rewards and understand loss. Now you can still be forgiven for your hardened hearts, your self-seeking motives, and your independent thinking. Then you will be exposed if you have squandered My resources that have been placed in your hands for My use.

"Come to Me to change your heart and modify your motives while you can. Embrace My reasons for purchasing you. Study to be as a waiting bride, functioning with proper insights and absolute devotion in your heart. I want you to be able to show your life to be approved. It saddens Me if you arrive on that day with empty hands and worthless trophies. You have no idea how much the pottage that you are consuming is really costing you.”

Genesis 25:29-33 NIV 

29) Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished.

30) He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.)

31) Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”

32) “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”

33) But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.

Matthew 19:21 NIV 

Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

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.”

 

Some of us are so short-sighted that we never make the connection that we are eternal people. It never dawns on us that we simply have different stages of life - one here and one in eternity future.  In this life, our decisions determine what happens in the next portion of our lives. The major decision about where we place Jesus and the eternal implications of that decision are very clear to most of us. Somehow, though, all of the eternal implications and the impact of our other decisions and actions in this life seem to elude us.

I believe that when we get to heaven, we will not simply sit on clouds and play harps. We will be doing something, working and functioning with our very creative God. What we are given to do, I think, is determined by how faithful we were in this life. If I’m right, my every action, every moment really mean something. Possibly more than I want to know.

Even so, show me truth, Lord,

Jim Corbett

 

“Just a little longer and I will move. Stay the course. Do not become weary in well doing. Study the heart of Jesus so that when I move on your behalf, you will move in unison with His desires. Listen to My heart. Don’t attempt to force My hand. Too much is at stake for you to run ahead of My timing. Press in. I am waiting for all of your heart. Examine your motives. Sharpen your tools. Wait for My presence. I am with you.”

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.

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.

Proverbs 16:9 AMP

A man’s mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps and makes them sure.

Isaiah 48:3 NIV

“I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.”

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.16:19  AMP

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind (declare to be improper and unlawful) on earth, must be whatever is already bound in heaven; and whatever you loose (declare lawful) on earth must be what is already loosed in heaven.

 

In Psalm 106, leanness of the soul is a portrait of today’s church. So many of us become impatient with God. We stop waiting on Him to move on our behalf and take matters into our own hands. We run, empty-handed. We create programs without the presence of God. We move ahead of Him, never considering the consequences of not having fully developed plans in the heavenlies preceding us to make our path smooth. Then we wonder why nothing changes in our lives, or why we are powerless to overcome life’s situations.

Forgive our foolish hearts, Lord,

Jim Corbett

 

“Why would you attempt to complete anything in the flesh when all spiritual power and authority have been won for you on the cross? On Calvary, all fleshly wisdom and power were destroyed for all eternity. Every weapon of the enemy was shown for what it really is. Hatred, anger, and murder were defeated by love and submission to My will. They no longer have any power over you because you are Mine. In the spiritual authority won for you, no weapon formed against you can prosper.

"The weapons of the enemy are antiquated and have no real power. Don’t submit to their lies. Walk in love - it is an undefeatable weapon against schemes against you. Practice forgiveness - it destroys hatred and malice. Stand in faith - fear then has no stronghold. Live as Jesus lived. Love as He did, and you will prosper no matter what challenges may come your way.”

Matthew 5:23-24 NIV  

23) “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,

24) leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled with your brother; then come and offer your gift.”

 I Cor. 13:4-7 AMP

4) Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.

5) It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].

6) It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail.

7) Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].

Gal. 2:20 AMP

I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body  I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

 

With Jesus as our example, and with the Father’s love flowing through us, we are to walk as advocates for our Lord, each other as believers, and then on behalf of those who have need. Our adoption into the family of God, our sonship, gives each of us the heritage and ability to do so through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Those walking as advocates delight in seeing others become all that they can be in Christ. Seeing any less motivates them to respond for the good of those individuals, even at a loss to themselves.

When someone comes against the advocate heart, there is a godly desire to have the offender eventually walk in all of the wealth of the Lord, for the sake of the Lord. To respond in any form of retaliation would be unthinkable. Advocates will love deeper than any argument. In fact, any accusation or injustice only causes them to desire that the other is forgiven and restored before the Father, never from a position of loftiness, but from the heart of lowliness.

Recognizing their acceptance with God, their heritage, their rights, and their privileges (which come via the work on the cross,) but esteeming others more significantly than themselves or their own needs, people walking with the heart of an advocate are wonderfully free. Jealousy, loss of reputation, perceptions of others, fear, and pride have no hold on them.

They are the leaders who serve, the advocates of their accusers, the servants of those who wrong them; and the comforters of those who are against them. Because they are confident and comfortable in their position with God, there is no negative response when falsely accused, no need to be right when wronged; and no desire to be lifted up in any way…

Teach me to live Your way, Lord,

Jim Corbett