Tag: Devotional

“My kind of change is on its way! What has been told to you long ago is about to take place. I have been preparing those who will listen for a time such as this. You have been taught to hear My voice, understand My heart, and move in My will. You may not now fully understand how you will represent Jesus properly when no one will tolerate His truth, but I will guide you with My eyes when the time comes.

"Because you have drawn close to Me and made Me your priority, you will rise above the din of fleshly reactions when you are challenged. Because you have heeded My call to intimacy and practiced My presence in your time of need, you will rest in Our fellowship when others scurry to protect their comfort zones. You will walk on the solid ground of My will and My presence when others stumble over the dictates and demands of their flesh.”

2 Chr. 16:9 NIV

“For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him...”

Psalm 3:1-6 AMP

1) Lord, How they are increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me.

2) Many are saying of me, there is no help for him in God. Selah [pause and calmly think of that]!

3) But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.

4) With my voice I cry to the Lord and He hears and answers me out of His holy hill. Selah [pause and calmly think of that]!

5) I lay down and slept, I awakened again, for the Lord sustains me.

6) I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me round about.

Psalm 20:6-7 AMP

6) Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand.

7) Some trust in and boast of chariots and some of horses, but we will trust in and boast of the name of the Lord our God.

Psalm 127:1 AMP

Except the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; except the Lord keeps a city, the watchman wakes but in vain.

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.”

 

For many centuries, the Lord has made very clear what will happen in the end times. He has also made known the place of victory for His people when that time comes. Safety is always in Jesus. Safety is always functioning with the heart of Jesus toward Father God and toward others. Safety is always doing the will of God, no matter what the cost.

Most Christians are denying the black clouds on the horizon.  Few have chosen intimacy over activity. Few are familiar with the kind of intimacy Jesus had with His Father, even though He died to obtain that opportunity for them. If you have not heeded the call to holiness and intimacy, and practiced the crucified life of Christ, it would seem to be a wise decision to change your ways before you find yourself without the tools that will be necessary to honor Him during the soon-coming difficult times.

Teach me to honor You, Lord,

Jim Corbett

 

“Do you realize how wonderfully you’ve been made, how vastly different you are? Once you were darkness; your whole being was given over to the dark. Now you are light, not just cleaned up, but the opposite of dark. You are no longer part of any darkness. In the eternal future, you will function within light. There will be no need for any additional light other than Jesus, so you will function within Him. Your flowing together will bring His presence everywhere you go.

"I have a surprise for some of you. It is that way now. Whether you understand it or not, you bring Jesus with you everywhere you go in your world. How much He is revealed to that world is up to you. If you choose not to accept the wonder that has been done for you on the cross, that is to your detriment. I will allow you to remain there as long as you desire. If, however, you choose to function in the realm of light, I will be delighted to equip you fully. You are light. Why would you continue to function in darkness? You no longer belong there.”

John 8:42-47 NIV

42) Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me.

43) Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say.

44) You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

45) Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!

46) Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me?

47) He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

Rev.21:22-27 NIV

22) I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

23) The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.

24) The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.

25) On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.

26) The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.

27) Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

 

I keep forgetting the very essence of why I’m thankful this and every other day. As wonderful as all of the other reasons might be, I am so very grateful for what Jesus has done for me and to me.

Because He came, cared, conquered, and went home, my eternal future is very bright. Because He changed me, I can hear and communicate with His Father - my Father - any time I need to do so. What an astounding privilege!

So often, when I step back into the darkness and am buffeted beyond reason, it reminds me of a very basic fact. I no longer belong there. I don’t fit anymore.

Because of the work of the cross, you and I now belong in sweet fellowship with the One who is Light. We belong there forever; not because we are doing good; but because we have been recreated to be there.

 Thank You, thank You, my Father. I am (we are) eternally grateful,

Jim Corbett

 

“You ask Me to provide for the means to pad your comfort areas. I am willing to do that. You present petitions for Me to prosper you and then you will not even move from your comfort areas to provide for those who are doing My work if I do. I am still willing to answer your requests in the hope that someday you will wake up and realize that I have prospered you so that they can have what is needed. You ask Me to understand that you have reasons to hate someone who has wronged you or cheated you. I am patient with you until you change. You have difficulty forgiving those who have been unjust to you or spoken behind your back.

"I am patient while you come to repentance. There is something you must know. In My world, I am receiving your petitions at the same time that petitions are coming from those in prison cells who request mercy for the jailers who beat them every day. I am being asked for forgiveness for someone who has destroyed the petitioner’s life and family. Cries for the souls of those who are about to kill the petitioner are often received at the same time that you are asking Me to come against your fellow worker because he or she gossiped about you. Maybe your perspective is in need of adjustment!”

 Proverbs 29:21 AMP

He who pampers his servant from childhood will have him expecting the rights of a son afterward.

Matthew 5:13 AMP

You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste (its strength, its quality) how can its saltness be restored? It is not good for anything any longer but to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men.

 

Jesus left a royal position in heaven to be ridiculed, spat upon, and crucified. He gave up all His wealth, His rights, and His will, so that the will of His Father would be done. He owned nothing and gave everything, so that those who cursed Him and crucified Him might be forgiven for their sins against Him.

Giants of the faith throughout the centuries lived for the best interests of others. Testimony after testimony of fallen people of real faith reveal the same heart of Jesus as they laid their lives down so that others might prosper and the Lord might be glorified, even in the most horrific situations. To deny the heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the slightest way was unthinkable to those who lived only for the glory of their Lord. Faced with torture, unbelievable conditions, and unthinkable forms of slow death, they lived and died so that the life of their Savior might be made visible to observers who needed His mercy.

The Proverbs verse above shows an attitude of one who is owned by a master but has forgotten his position because of the master’s grace and mercy toward him. He has become proud in his position, rather than grateful for it; very much like those of us who have come to the mistaken belief that we really own what we have been given and demand more when we have the slightest need. We have become a church that is proud of our magnanimous heart when we toss crumbs to others from our positions of safety and comfort.

Take me from selfish to selfless, Lord,

Jim Corbett

 

“It is good to reflect on days that have passed. You can see who you really have become by referring back to the things that you have held valuable and those things that no longer take priority in your life. Reflection affords you the opportunity to rejoice in who you are becoming in Me and repent of who you are not. These insights are necessary for your growth. I would like you to remember that this new day affords you hope, mainly because I am with you. I love you. Whatever you are, I am delighted in your progress. Whatever you are not, We can change together.”

Genesis 1:31 AMP

And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good (suitable, pleasant) and He approved it completely….

Psalm 25:12-14 NIV

12) Who, then, is the man that fears the Lord? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him.

13) He will spend his days in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land.

14) The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them.

Psalm 111:2 NIV

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

 

It is so comforting to know that our Lord is always with us, no matter how we feel about ourselves. Because He always works from truth, He is not swayed by flowery displays and hopeful promises. He sees through every action and observes our heart motives. We can be honest with Him because there is nothing hidden from Him. He knew how many times we would fail Him and He still invited us to be with Him for eternity.

It is wonderful that He is a God of many, many chances and One Who has our best interests at heart. There is no question that He is the Righteous Judge; however, He is also a loving Father Who is deeply involved in our lives and encourages us to greatness.

 Thank You for Who You are, Lord,

Jim Corbett

 

“You need a vision. You need to either seek Me to gain My purpose for your life, or until you find out what that is, you should join with someone who is heading in My direction for his or her life. There is never a time for My children to be doing nothing to further My kingdom. Even if I call you to prayer, pray for someone on the cutting edge of My work. If you will not totally dedicate yourself to finding My purpose for your life, support those who are doing My work. So many of you are consumed with fulfilling your own needs that you forget about My needs. First and foremost, spend quality time with Me. Then do something that I care about or help those who are doing so.”

Jeremiah 2:13 NIV

“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”

Matthew 5:13 AMP

You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste (its strength, its quality) how can its saltness be restored? It is not good for anything any longer but to be thrown out and trodden underfoot by men.

Matthew 16:24-25 AMP

24) Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interests] and take up his cross and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying, also].

25) For whoever is bent on saving his [temporal] life [his comfort and security here] shall lose it [eternal life]; and whoever loses his life [his comfort and security here] for My sake shall find it [life everlasting].

Luke 6:45-46 AMP

45) The upright (honorable, intrinsically good) man out of the good treasure [stored] in his heart produces what is upright (honorable and intrinsically good), and the evil man out of the evil storehouse brings forth that which is depraved (wicked and intrinsically evil); for out of the abundance (overflow) of the heart his mouth speaks.

46) Why do you call Me, Lord, Lord, and do not [practice] what I tell you?

 

A while back, I realized that the only real purpose for any of us to be here is to gain, maintain, and function in and through a relationship with our Father in heaven; and then find His will for our lives. Anything else is fleeting and more than likely of no eternal consequence. I also understood how serious our accountability is for the days He has given us. We will answer for them.

Everybody can do something. A cup of cold water is simple to give. A kind word costs nothing. A sincere prayer never wastes time. The next time you are doing something for yourself, compare it to how much you are doing for the Lord. The next time you are spending His money on yourself - I don’t mean the necessities or survival money, but self-consuming money - compare it to how much you really are supporting His work. This is real stuff, this relationship with God stuff. How seriously are you taking it?

Make me really serious about fulfilling Your needs and Your desires, Lord,

Jim Corbett