Tag: Devotional

“Are you willing to give up all you ever hoped for in life for the sake of My call on your life? What about your dreams or your reputation? Are they dead to you? The Lordship of Jesus over your life means that you no longer have rights to control any portion of your being. You have been bought with the great price of the blood of Jesus.

"As someone who calls himself a Christian under His Lordship, you can either be a bondservant or a slave. It is all determined by the position of your heart. A slave mentality is compliant to the Lordship of Jesus but fighting His desires all the way. That individual’s personal desires and motives are not under the work of the cross. A bondservant delights in His wishes and willingly gives away everything for His will.

"Which are you? Which do you believe is My will for you? Which is the heart of the waiting bride?”

Matt. 7:21-23 NIV

21) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

22) Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’

23) Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

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].

Galatians 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.

 

Very simply stated: Jesus lived an exuberant, passionate life because He loved deeply and knew the truth. Everything that He did had love as its foundation, its continual motivation, and its ultimate goal. Nothing, not even death, could move Him from expressing that love to and for those around Him.

Because He was One with and knew His Father intimately, He understood the truth about the fate of mankind as a result of the fall. Because He lived with His Father in all of eternity past, He knew what separation from His Father for all eternity future really meant for those He loved and created. He felt His Father’s heartbreak because some would perish.

Jesus was brought into a world so perilous that children were killed at the whimsical edict of an evil king, crucifixions were as commonplace as morning walks, and people were held in slavery to ignorant teachers and foolish guides, yet He was absolutely fearless. His passionate love, His intimacy with His Father, and His zeal for imparting truth made Him “Teflon” in a world seething with infectious evil and eternal danger. His presence in any society was a gift of love from His Father God. We are in training to be the same kind of gift to those around us wherever our Father sends us.

Jesus could be fearless because He loved perfectly. He cared only for others and desired nothing for Himself. Even though He had all power, He was under full submission to the will of His Father. In His heart, He had given away everything, so He had no fear of someone robbing Him, even of His life. He held Himself in lower esteem than everyone, even the lowly leper, so no one could destroy His reputation. Jesus’ love was so pure that He was absolutely free from any peril that the world would attempt to place on Him.

I choose to love Your will, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Do you know what your purpose is? I don’t mean what your personal calling might be, but do you know what the overall purpose of My church is? You have the privilege of telling the wonderful news that, in the unseen world, the impossible has been done for all men. Jesus reconciled everything between Us. Now you have been given the joyful task of telling the hurting, the discouraged, the little ones that flounder in the darkness, that all has been made right between Us.

“Without the work that Jesus did, not one of you had any hope of ever being free. Now you can be free from all the horrors in your world and free from all the eternal horrors that awaited you just after you closed your eyes for the last time.

“There is nothing to fear if you accept the work that has been done by Him. Your greatest gift besides your own freedom is the opportunity to tell everyone of this fantastic news. I want everyone to have the opportunity to hear of His wonderful accomplishment. You tell them for Me, OK? I will be with you to empower you when you do it. The angels and I will rejoice whenever someone receives this great gift. It is fun for Me. I can’t wait for you to rejoice with Me.”

II Cor. 5:18 AMP

But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself [received us into favor, brought us into harmony with Himself] and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation [that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him].

 

Our great, great, great, etc. grandpa and grandma, Adam and Eve, generated an incredible black hole in the spiritual realm when they defied God. Their seemingly harmless act of rebellion, (the same act that each of us has the choice to wallow in each and every day, by the way) did far more than expose the first apple core (if indeed it was an apple.) It created an impasse between the holy and the newly profane. God could not legally go where His children were and they could not legally go where He was. Two beings once capable of intimate interaction were now as different as darkness and light.

Enter Jesus. Far more than hanging on a cross, He once more bonded Creator and creation and made them inseparable. He destroyed everything that once separated us from God. (You can jump for joy right here if you want.)

I remember once, when my older daughter was a teen, Satan had created a separation between us for several months. Those months were the most agonizing months that both of us ever spent. Nothing could console me. There was nothing that I wouldn’t have done to be able to bridge the gap between us. There was no solace for me; nothing mattered except reconciliation. I’m sure she would have felt the same if she could have. I was a daddy who was hurting, and she was a child hurting equally as much.

One day there was complete restoration of our relationship. God said that the gap had been there long enough and moved on our behalf. It was one of the happiest days of our lives. The healed relationship was so complete that we returned to being best friends.

Remembering my pain as a human father, I believe that our Father in heaven must ache so much more for every one of His children who can’t experience His love. We need to tell them, for their sake and for His.

Wanting to see my Daddy happy,

Jim Corbett

“Do you know what your purpose is? I don’t mean what your personal calling might be, but do you know what the overall purpose of My church is? You have the privilege of telling the wonderful news that, in the unseen world, the impossible has been done for all men. Jesus reconciled everything between Us. Now you have been given the joyful task of telling the hurting, the discouraged, the little ones that flounder in the darkness, that all has been made right between Us.

“Without the work that Jesus did, not one of you had any hope of ever being free. Now you can be free from all the horrors in your world and free from all the eternal horrors that awaited you just after you closed your eyes for the last time.

“There is nothing to fear if you accept the work that has been done by Him. Your greatest gift besides your own freedom is the opportunity to tell everyone of this fantastic news. I want everyone to have the opportunity to hear of His wonderful accomplishment. You tell them for Me, OK? I will be with you to empower you when you do it. The angels and I will rejoice whenever someone receives this great gift. It is fun for Me. I can’t wait for you to rejoice with Me.”

II Cor. 5:18 AMP

But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself [received us into favor, brought us into harmony with Himself] and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation [that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him].

 

Our great, great, great, etc. grandpa and grandma, Adam and Eve, generated an incredible black hole in the spiritual realm when they defied God. Their seemingly harmless act of rebellion, (the same act that each of us has the choice to wallow in each and every day, by the way) did far more than expose the first apple core (if indeed it was an apple.) It created an impasse between the holy and the newly profane. God could not legally go where His children were and they could not legally go where He was. Two beings once capable of intimate interaction were now as different as darkness and light.

Enter Jesus. Far more than hanging on a cross, He once more bonded Creator and creation and made them inseparable. He destroyed everything that once separated us from God. (You can jump for joy right here if you want.)

I remember once, when my older daughter was a teen, Satan had created a separation between us for several months. Those months were the most agonizing months that both of us ever spent. Nothing could console me. There was nothing that I wouldn’t have done to be able to bridge the gap between us. There was no solace for me; nothing mattered except reconciliation. I’m sure she would have felt the same if she could have. I was a daddy who was hurting, and she was a child hurting equally as much.

One day there was complete restoration of our relationship. God said that the gap had been there long enough and moved on our behalf. It was one of the happiest days of our lives. The healed relationship was so complete that we returned to being best friends.

Remembering my pain as a human father, I believe that our Father in heaven must ache so much more for every one of His children who can’t experience His love. We need to tell them, for their sake and for His.

Wanting to see my Daddy happy,

Jim Corbett

“I have given you life and I want you to live that life abundantly. I have called you to live it passionately as Jesus did, not with minimal enthusiasm for it or mild involvement in My ways. Your days are full of choices; your years are numbered according to My will. You are on a tailor-made and very personal adventure planned by Me.

“Most of you miss the joy of your journey. You see challenges as threats rather than opportunities for Us to strategize together. You long for the highs and miss the wonder of learning to trust in Me when in the valley. You hope rather than know that My Word is true. You settle for morsels of what I have available. You struggle to maintain control, when absolute surrender to Me and My plans would bring you freedom. Your days are dull and mundane, rather than full of the exuberant life that Jesus lived. He understood how much His life and your life in Him meant to Me. He shared My desires rather than inventing His own to maintain His safety.

“I want you to shake off all of the foolish reasons you have for not becoming deeply involved in My plan for you, no matter what the cost might be to you. I want you to begin to live wondrously, full of the heart of My Holy Spirit. Stop settling for less than I have for you.”

Hos. 2:14-15a AMP 

14) Therefore, behold, I will allure her [Israel] and bring her into the wilderness, and I will speak tenderly and to her heart.

15a) There I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor [troubling] to be for her a door of hope and expectation…

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].

 

Somehow we have believed the lie that things such as comfort, the world’s definition of success, and a life without challenges and heartaches are more important than an intimate relationship with our Lord. We seek the visible comforts rather than understanding that whatever causes us to need Him, to come to Him, to wait for Him or to rest in Him alone are what give us true wealth and an abundant life. We miss how God is working to fulfill our days and pattern our lives after the abundant life of Jesus when we look only for the mountain tops, ignoring the opportunities for growth and intimacy in the valleys. We miss the joy of the journey while waiting for the comforts of our flesh.

Let me find Your abundant life in every aspect of my days, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Have you noticed that a spirit of intolerance and flagrant independence has been loosed upon your land? It is the prelude to the apostasy that has been predicted in My Word. Few will take responsibility for their wrong doings. Almost no one will stand up for what is right anymore. The concept of right and wrong has migrated into a gray area of muddled legalisms. Few can be trusted, even within the walls of My church.

“If everyone is now conditioned to blame the other for that which they themselves should be responsible, they will not be familiar with and understand the concept of repentance. Because their hardened hearts will see sin as the offense of the other, rather than of themselves, they will see no need of a Savior. Even My church will go to court rather than live up to their responsibility when they are wrong. I need to break them and bring them back to responsibility. I must remove their comfort zones. I must destroy their flagrant rebellion and make them realize who they are following.

“My breaking them will change your lives. You will lose your comfort zones as I deal with them if you rely on the world for your safety. Determine in your heart now that your power is not in your own resources. I am waiting to renew your source for everything in your life. That is why My training course for you has intensified. That is why My warnings have become more clear. It is so that you will not be caught unaware. I am causing you to prepare your heart and trust Me to be your provision, your only source. When you rely on Me, you will walk above everything that attempts to hinder you from your appointed tasks or rob you of your peace. You become strong in the power of My might. I love it when that happens!”

2 Samuel 14:14b NIV

“But God does not take away life; instead, he devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him.”

2 Cor. 7:9-11a  AMP

9) Yet I am glad now, not because you were pained, but because you were pained into repentance [that turned you to God]; for you felt a grief such as God meant you to feel, so that in nothing you might suffer loss through us or harm for what we did.

10) For godly grief and the pain God is permitted to direct, produce a repentance that leads and contributes to salvation and deliverance from evil, and it never brings regret; but worldly grief (the hopeless sorrow that is characteristic of the pagan world) is deadly [breeding and ending in death].

11) For [you can look back now and] observe what this same godly sorrow has done for you and has produced in you…

 

Do you realize how unique it is to hear the words, “Wow, I was wrong. It was my fault; please forgive me”? No doubt a majority of lawyers in this country would spend countless hours attempting to prove in court that those words were never said, so that someone could be declared only partially wrong or be completely vindicated from his or her responsibility. Almost everyone would go along with it, so that the impact of the transgression would be lessened. It would be the “wise” thing to do.

Because this attitude now permeates every layer of society, the concept of sin is no longer understood. Try something when people begin to talk about an offense that has happened, especially if their words make it apparent that they were at least partially in the wrong. Try it with both Christians and non-Christians.

After they have explained their side of the story, suggest that they apologize to the other party for their part in the offense. Suggest that their actions were sin. Watch their eyes as you do so. Usually there is some sort of silence and a shuffling of feet before a response comes. When it does come, be prepared to have a much-shortened conversation with them.

We, who are Christ’s, must realize more than ever that words alone, even the most eloquent and persuasive words, cannot convict someone of his sin. Unless our witness and our words are anointed by the Holy Spirit and permeated with His presence, they are wasted on the hardened heart. We simply speak a foreign language to someone if they are not.

In the days ahead, any success that we have in helping to bring someone to the Lord or change the hardened heart of someone who is already a Christian will only come from the power of the throne room. It is, more than ever, a spiritual thing in need of a spiritual answer.

Needing to walk everywhere only in the Spirit,

Jim Corbett