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4/02/22 Fulfilling God’s Will

“Do you really understand the covenant that My Son and I have made with you and for you? My covenant with you has little to do with keeping you healthy, wealthy, and out of harm’s way, as some false prophets claim. My Son did go to the cross. Paul did spend most of his ministry years in prison. Countless missionaries of Mine did perish. You are no different.

"Here is My covenant with you in a nutshell. I have promised to give you all of Myself while you live. I will equip you and fill you with My presence so that you testify of My Son. I have promised to change you, to finish what I have started in you. I have promised to be with you wherever you go, to help you through whatever situation you find yourself in, if you call on Me! You will see miracles when I need miracles to be shown to others. I will then bring you home to spend eternity with Me when your work is completed. You have promised to need Me and submit to Me as best you can.

"You must realize that this life with Me is to fulfill My will. Unless you set your mind to be in line with My heart and My Word, you will find yourself confused, and eventually heartbroken. Do I love you? Oh, yes, more than you will ever know! But I also love those who hate both Me and you at present. I desire that they also be with Us for eternity. You are My agent to show them My Son, so that they have a chance to embrace Him. If that means that they need to see how He reacts to difficult situations, I will lead you into difficult situations for their sake because I can trust you there.

"I have bought you with My Son’s blood. That is a high price to pay. I will show Him to the world in whatever way that I deem necessary, and I promise to use you to do it. There is much work to be done at present. When it is finished, I will bring you home and We will celebrate.”

John 14:10 AMP

Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in Me? What I am telling you I do not say on My own authority and of My own accord; but the Father Who lives continually in Me does the (His) works (His own miracles, deeds of power).

John 14:12-13 AMP 

12) I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, if anyone steadfastly believes in Me, he will himself be able to do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these, because I go to the Father.

13) And I will do [I Myself will grant] whatever you ask in My Name [as presenting all that I AM], so that the Father may be glorified and extolled in (through) the Son.

Rom. 11:36 AMP

For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. [For all things originate with Him and come from Him; all things live through Him, and all things center in and tend to consummate and to end in Him.] To Him be glory forever! Amen (so be it).

I Cor. 6:19-20 NIV

19) Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;

20) you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

Col. 2:6-7 AMP 

6) As you have therefore received Christ, [even] Jesus the Lord, [so] walk (regulate your lives and conduct yourselves) in union with and conformity to Him.

7) Have the roots [of your being] firmly and deeply planted [in Him, fixed and founded in Him], being continually built up in Him, becoming increasingly more confirmed and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and abounding and overflowing in it with thanksgiving.

Col. 2:9-10 AMP 

9) For in Him the whole fullness of Deity (the Godhead) continues to dwell in bodily form [giving complete expression of the divine nature].

10) And you are in Him, made full and having come to fullness of life [in Christ you too are filled with the Godhead—Father, Son and Holy Spirit— and reach full spiritual stature]. And He is the Head of all rule and authority [of every angelic principality and power].

 

It would be laughable if it weren’t so sad when I hear some well-known street-corner prophets proclaim a gospel of God serving us rather than one of us serving Him. I have seen so many young believers shipwrecked and discouraged because they came into the true Gospel under that teaching. When that teaching didn’t work - when they weren’t healed, when they couldn’t talk or pray or believe themselves out of a situation - there was no place to go. They felt God had left them.

I once asked the Lord to give me a key teaching that is always safe and in line with His Word. He said, “My true Gospel works everywhere, during any time in history, and in whatever situation you find yourself. It never changes.”

When I thought about it, those words made everything clear; and they’ve protected me numerous times. Prosperity doctrines will not work in impoverished nations or during God’s judgments. “Name it and claim it” doctrines did not work in the arena for the first century Christians, and so on. Any teaching that is limited to a generation, a locality, or a specific time in history has flaws in it, and will cause unnecessary rabbit trails. One by one, I have found that any doctrine preached must work everywhere in any season or it shows the Lord to be partial, when His Word tells us He is no respecter of persons.

The single teaching that seems to stand the test in every situation, every nation, and every generation is the crucified life. The teaching that we are not our own sets us free to be the Lord’s. When we understand that we have been bought with a price and are the Lord’s to use as He pleases, no real harm will ever come to us. We might be broken, shamed, and even killed; but when we have “died” already, who can harm a dead man?  Having “crucified” our old nature with its self-serving ways, we have the freedom to live with Him and for Him. Our lives can freely be a testimony of God’s love to others. Basking in the joy of His love for us, remembering what lies ahead, we live for the well-being of others and for our Lord. We are free!

Teach me to remember what this life with You is really all about,

Jim Corbett

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4/02/22 Getting Honest with Yourself

Men, if you are typical of the Christian man of today, you function as if you are unable to recognize your spiritual impotence to the point that you do not desire to see the character of Christ reproduced completely in you or in those around you as your priority in life.  As a typical Christian man, you have chosen to set aside God’s desire for your life in order to fulfill your own concept of what your life should be, or maybe just survive in an incredibly difficult world. You feel that you are spiritually comfortable and adequate, and see no need to consistently act as Jesus would act and love as He would love in your family.

Like a gelded horse that no longer has an interest in mares, most of you have little Christ-like spiritual enthusiasm toward the people within your circle of influence or for your part in God’s plan for mankind. Remember, we are talking priorities. If you would really get honest with yourself, your thoughts are not continually on where others will spend eternity or on who they could become in this lifetime through your influence on them by the way you represent Jesus. Even the spiritual well-being of your family, those God has entrusted to you as His steward, falls somewhere behind economic challenges, your job demands, the home and yard work, the toys you want to acquire, and the sports teams you idolize. If this is you, you are impotent in discerning the things that are important to God.

As an example of your impotence, if you sports fans would also get honest with yourself, you’d admit you focus more on whatever teams you follow than on the spiritual condition of your wife and children. Even if you do care about their spirituality, you probably have little ability, little desire, and few tools to foster their spiritual growth, to do whatever it takes to have them able to present a significant life to God. If you are not that heavy into sports, you can substitute the word “sports” with any other personal god, such as worry, fear, work, success, money, or worldly power, etc., to which you’ve pledged your allegiance.

[Even attempting to gain a significant life for your own good shows your spiritual impotence.]

If you take that same “getting honest with yourself” and carry it further to the point of getting honest with God, you will have to admit that the things that are important to God have been placed somewhere behind the things that give you some semblance of purpose for your life here, not eternally. Focusing on your personal fulfillment for so long, you may have actually become impotent in even discerning the things that are important to God.

Think of the eternal impact of those last statements if they are true for your life. Ask the Lord to reveal how accurate they might be for you. They may not be exactly where you stand with God; but more than likely, they’re quite close to the spiritual impotence you experience every day, if you are like Christian men in general. To whatever degree you are dealing with spiritual impotence in your life, the sooner you realize and admit it, the sooner you will be on your way to a significant, world-overcoming life in God’s eyes.

(From The Father Factor by Jim and Merry Corbett)

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

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4/01/22 Prepare

“Prepare, prepare, prepare. Prepare for a time when things as you know them will no longer exist. Prepare for seasons when you will need to call upon Me and then make sure that it is Me that you hear, rather than the enemy of fear and confusion. Prepare for situations where people, ignorant of My ways, desperately need answers and are asking you for them. It is time to stop playing games. It is time for those who know Me, to now also know how to use what I have provided for them.

"From this date forward, be ready for anything that may come your way. Herald the call, talk to your friends, forgive your enemies. Make things right between you and anybody. Clean house and make sure all is in order. Children, prepare your hearts. Receive My love for you. Walk with purpose, for the time is near when I will need you to be a representation of My Son. Everything else will soon pass away.”

Psalm 24:7-10 NIV 

7) Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up you ancient doors, that the King of Glory may come in.

8) Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.

9) Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.

10) Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty - he is the King of glory.

1 Timothy 1:16-17 NIV

16) But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Jesus Christ might display His unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.

17) Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever, Amen.

 

Boy! I wish that I could always send sweet, lovely, fun kinds of messages. It seems that that is not always going to happen. For those of you who have been receiving these messages for a season, you know that we have seen the many sides of our Father during that time. The messages have had a range that has allowed all of us to “drink some milk” between the “meat” messages. That has been very freeing, and frankly quite wonderful - for me, at least.

At certain times, however, I have had to just sit quietly after writing and sending them to you. I have had to realize deep within my heart that, fact is, our Father is God with a “big G.” This is not a game. He is an absolute, unchangeable Creator and Lord, worthy of all our service. Also, He is our best friend, caring for us more than we could ever imagine. His love for us is beyond our deepest comprehension.

There was something worthy of note with this particular message. As I was praying, it seemed to me that, in the spiritual realm, a page was turning; and a new season was at hand. If before this day, Jesus, as our guide, had been taking us down a hallway toward a room, explaining all the way what we should do once we get there; now, we have just arrived at the room. What He had been explaining before was about to be needed, soon after we step through the doorway.

I’m not saying that peril is necessarily within hours or days, or even years, for with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day; but if you are archiving these messages, I believe that this one is worthy of note. Bookmark it in some way and by all means take to heart what has been said.

Sensing a new urgency,

Jim Corbett

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4/01/22 Too Many Times

When I was young in the Lord, I had many besetting sins. Even though I loved the Lord with all my heart, the bondages had not yet fallen away. The Lord was removing them one at a time and I had many left to address.

Once after many failures, I cried out to the Lord, asking Him how He could continue to forgive me. It seemed like the thousandth time I had come to Him. In the quiet of the evening, He came to me and said, “Do you know that I forgive you no longer unto My remembrance?  I don’t have a bad memory; I choose to forgive and forget, never remembering the last time you offended me. Your sins are as far as the East is from the West.”  He then told me I had a million “forgivenesses” in my account and many more after that if I needed them.

Our Father is on our side. He knew how many times we would fail Him even before He asked us into His kingdom, and He still asked us! He is in the forgiveness business as long as we are in the repentance business. That means we always have His power available to us to do whatever tasks we may have on hand with the knowledge that He is with us.

Men, there are times when you and I fall down on the job concerning our families. If things are so bad that the possibility of reconciliation seems hopeless, we can be confident that the Lord is with us in our time of need. He is waiting for us to call out to Him, and by the power of His Holy Spirit, He will do whatever it takes to help us overcome our situation.

You can’t fall down one too many times. He will be there, enabling you to repent. Your life is His. It was His idea in the first place, and He delights in your need of Him.

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

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3/31/22 From His Perspective

“Do you know that I am aggressively at work, changing your perception of others? That is one of My main focuses on your path to becoming like Jesus. When I get you to see other people as He did, you will be well on your way to being a useable tool to accomplish My will on the earth. Before you have His heart toward others, all of your actions are tainted by your faulty perceptions and opinions. They are worthless in accomplishing My will. Jesus saw everyone from My perspective from the beginning of creation. His coming to earth was not just “happenstance;” it was an outward expression of Our unity. Long before the sin in mankind was expressed outwardly, even for the very first time, all was prepared to accomplish the work on the cross. We saw your need!

"Have you ever thought of My Words to you and those actions toward you through the centuries - those written and those expressed in the life of Jesus - as the epitome of love? Everything that has been done was done for your benefit from a heart of love. I am bringing your heart to that same place of love. I need you to love others as I do. I want no one to perish, not even your most aggressive enemy. Set a gauge as to how close you are to being in accord with My heart. How much do you love others? I would venture to say that if you were really honest with yourself and with Me, you would find that you have little love toward those in My family, much less toward those who hate you.

"You mutter, judge, and set your face against anyone who does not see as you do. How does that compare to the words of forgiveness that Jesus said from the cross? It is where you must go. It is where I’m taking you, before you are completely usable in My work.”

Luke 23:33-34 NIV 

33) When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals -one on his right, the other on his left.

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

 

More than likely the soldier who drove the nails in the hands and feet of Jesus still had the hammer in his hand. It’s possible that the men who vented their demonic aggression toward Him earlier with their whips, followed him to the place of the cross for the satanic thrill of final victory. Some scholars say that some in the jeering crowd, even some of those who only days before called Him the Son of God, spit at Him and gnashed their teeth against Him. In their grief, they hated Him for dying and disappointing their hopes. The religious leaders probably stood off to the side with smirks of prideful power, some possibly already plotting their next juicy bit of learned wisdom to give to their inquiring students.

For everyone there, and for everyone in the future who would laugh at His life, at all that He was, and at His gruesome death, Jesus asked His Father to forgive them. TO FORGIVE THEM! Of all the words that the Son of God could have said, of all the power He could have invoked against those who had murder, rebellion, ridicule, and every other base emotion toward Him in their hearts, He only spoke words of compassionate forgiveness and astounding love. His heart broke for those who killed Him. Even then, in the midst of unimaginable pain and horrifying death, He could only see their desperate need as they wallowed in their sin.

After many years of basking in that same kind of love toward me from my Lord, I probably still would want to call down legions of angels to get those ungrateful, pompous bigots if I had been Him; maybe even jump off that cross and shown everyone who’s really in charge. Why, I would…

Needing Your mercy and forgiveness more than ever, Lord. Please change my heart and how I perceive others, so that You can use me,

Jim Corbett

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