Tag: Faith

“There is more. I have so much more for you, but you do not care enough to find it in Me. If you only knew the depth of fellowship that I desire for you. If you could only understand how far you are from Us walking so close together that there is no difference in Our thoughts, ideas, and ways of doing things. Jesus did have that kind of communion as an example for you to follow. His example was not there to tease you; it was to encourage you to desire the same kind of relationship with Me. Most of you have never desired to enter into that kind of interaction. Most of you feel that if you got that close, My intense light would consume you. That is not true. Because of your acceptance of the work of Jesus, you have been formed into the kind of being that is at home in My presence.

"You don’t come, however, because you will not lay down all the other loves in your life that would be consumed by Me. You would rather hang on to those things that separate Us than really be together as I have made Us to be. How foolish! By hanging on to your carnal needs that cannot come into My presence with you, you miss the very life that would set you free from them. You need to shake off all of your old nature by My power. You need to desire only My presence as you did when We first met. Return to your first love of Me. Intimate, total fellowship is your heritage. Let go of foolish loves. Come to My love. I am waiting.”

 Rom. 2:4 AMP

Or are you [so blind as to] trifle with and presume upon and despise and underestimate the wealth of His kindness and forbearance and longsuffering patience? 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)?

 

There is a story often told on how to catch a monkey. I am not sure if it is true; but accurate or not, the example fits very well here.

First, you hollow out a tethered coconut with a hole that is just large enough for a monkey to fit his hand into.  Then, you place food in the coconut shell and the monkey will be caught. When he puts his hand in the hole to grab the food, the monkey will form a fist that will be impossible to extract from the hole. Since he will not let go of the food for fear of losing it, the monkey will remain with his hand in the coconut until he is captured. If he would simply let go of the food, he could be free.

That is so much like each one of us. We are so deceived by the brightness of our sin, that we will even miss true fellowship with God in order to keep holding on to it. We choose to remain weak, confused, vulnerable to the enemy; and most horrible, unavailable for the Lord’s use. He wants people who can represent Him because they have been with Him often. Our heritage is the wonder of being with our Lord so often, that to move away from Him, even a little bit, would be the worst thing that could happen to us.

Take notice of your life. Allow the Lord to observe it with you. As He points out everything that separates the two of you from complete fellowship as He intends it - and there could possibly be a ton of the stuff - repent of them one by one. Keep repenting of them until they are no longer part of your existence. Make your life a life of joyous repentance while walking as close as you can with Him. Join Him in the war against your rebellion. You will be washed and washed and washed until you have no hindrances to your fellowship.

As you keep talking and walking and gladly repenting, you will notice the constant forgiveness and astounding kindness of the Lord as He walks closer and closer with you. This kindness will draw you back over and over again. Each encounter allows you to release the “food” a little more and loosen your “hand” so that you will be free from the bondage of the “coconut.” His power changes your desires.

 Wanting to let go of the “poisonous food” completely,

Jim Corbett

“It gives Me great pleasure to see you prosper. It delights My heart when you find the rhythm that I intend for your life. So many of My children miss what I have for them because they will not set aside their desires long enough to find My desires for them. They do not delight in Me and allow Me to place My ways in them.

"Look what I have completed in you because you have come to Me. I have modified your cares and needs. I have eliminated strongholds that have hindered you from seeing clearly and have replaced them with cravings for heavenly involvements. Even your understanding of what is real and what is not has changed over time. You are on your way to prosperity as I see prosperity. You are placing your life focuses where they need to be - on My desires. In fact, My desires are becoming your desires. That is the path to prosperity. Step by step, I am taking you there as We walk together. Come closer to Me. I will give you more of My heart so that you can prosper.”

Exodus 33:13 NIV

‘If I have found favor in your eyes, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you….’

Psalm 37:4 NIV

Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

 

Two things come to my mind when I ponder what has been said above. First, I think of how much work has been done in my heart to modify who I once was and move me to what the Lord desires for me. I know how impossible it was for me to think clearly for so many years. What astounding patience on His part! What incredible mercy and grace I have received, instead of the judgments and wrath that I deserve.

My second thought centers on the verse in Psalms. He gives us the desires of our hearts. I used to come with my wish list, attempting to hold Him to His Word. I expected every desire I gave Him to be fulfilled. In fact, there are many cars (pretty old and rusted cars now) that had my handprints on them because I prayed “in faith,” knowing that they one day would belong to me, simply because I desired them. When most of my dreams and wishes fell by the wayside, I began to seek the Lord in earnest to know what that verse really meant.

I found out that the key to its fulfillment is certainly delighting in the Lord, but I had missed how that played out in God’s economy. As I began to delight in Him and take pleasure in learning His ways, I found that He planted His desires in my heart. What wisdom! As I began to pray about His desires and ways that were now in my heart - low and behold! - things started to happen. What an incredible God! (By the way, I am so grateful that He doesn’t give us everything we ask for!)

Teach me Your ways, Lord, as I delight in You,

Jim Corbett

“I love to have you come to Me for many reasons, the main reason being the interaction and intimacy that We share. When you pray, you are learning to submit. You are learning to admit that you have no control over your situations. You are acknowledging that you need Me to intervene in your life. That is very wise on your part.

"When you pray for others, you have admitted that you can do nothing for them in your own power and so you turn their lives over to My power for what needs to be accomplished. That is good for you and good for them. It is good that you are learning to need Me, rather than continuing to rely on your limited resources. It is good for them, because My unlimited resources work on their need. Come to Me often. Jesus won that privilege for you. Let’s share everything. Come mostly just because I desire to be with you.”

Mark 15:37-38 AMP 

37) Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed out His life.

38) And the curtain [of the Holy of Holies] of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

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 5:19-20 NIV

19) Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.

20) For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.”

 

Think of what true prayer is. In prayer, as we approach the Lord, we are expressing an understanding of His office as God. We are saying that we understand and fully submit to His sovereignty, His power, and His position as the ruler of all that exists.

As we lower ourselves in our own eyes, making requests or offering heart petitions of love, we are stating that He is God, and we are not. To do so moves us from our normal position of rebellious independence to one of humble submission. It honors Him, whereas our fleshly offerings cannot do so.

It might be noted here that the Bible records Jesus as stealing away for prayer often. He taught those around Him to pray – they already knew how to sing to the Lord in psalms and hymns. He even stated clearly the importance of doing nothing in our own strength and showed us the importance of submitting to His Father’s strength at all times. I am convinced that He was showing us how best to honor His Father by looking to Him for all things. That is called worship!

Teach me to need only You, Lord,

Jim Corbett