Tag: Faith

“Do you know what a prostitute is? It is someone who is willing to sell his or her false affections for a price. Can you imagine the heartbreak of the father of the prostitute? In the world, the rationale would be that his actions must have been less than perfect to cause his child to become so calloused toward himself or herself and others, that he or she is able to function as a prostitute.

"What have I done to cause you to care so little, that you give yourselves away to any lover that is willing to satisfy your required price? I have purchased you for a great price. You have gladly received the benefits of My purchase and have consumed them upon yourself. While you say that you are Mine, I notice that your eyes are wandering to and fro, attempting to find the next lover that will satisfy you in some way. As a Father, I grieve. Nothing that I have done causes you to care so little. Nothing that you have been given would cause you to be unsatisfied. But you are. You constantly need more from Me to fulfill your wandering desires.

"Unlike someone who would give up on you because you care so little, I never will. Unlike a wounded father who is incapable of giving any more, I will continue to lavish My love on you until you can see clearly and turn from your ways. Each time you repent of your wandering, I will forgive you, knowing that as soon as other lovers come along, you will follow them again. I will forgive, and forgive, and forgive. I love you. Nothing you will ever do will stop Me from loving you.”

Romans 2:4b NIV

….not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?

I Cor. 13:4, 7-8 NIV

4) Love is patient, love is kind….it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

7) It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8) Love never fails.

 

I remember going to the Lord for what must have been the thousandth time with the same sin, grieving over my failure; and knowing that I would soon be back in the same position, confessing once again. In the beginning, I would go to the Lord so that I could feel good, so that I could be clean again. His forgiveness and the promise of complete restoration of our fellowship always drove me back to that place of cleansing. In my hurt, undoneness, and immaturity, however, I could never really come to true repentance - a complete turning from my sin. I came to Him for my good, so that I would feel better. In His great love, He was always there. He knew that I’d be back the next time I stepped on His love, but He never turned me away.

Eventually, however, something wonderful happened. My reason for coming to Him with my sin began to change. Because of the astounding love of my Lord, Who always accepted me and never gave up on me, I was free to come to Him until the Word that was working in me could change my heart from within.

I began to come to Him with my sin, not only to become cleansed; but because I began to see how much my sin grieved my Father. He hurt when our fellowship was broken. He grieved as He saw me fall back into my own vomit. He was more anxious to clean me off than I was to be clean.

Eventually, I no longer wanted to offend Him. His love became more powerful than my desire to commit that sin. He held me while I was too immature to see clearly. Then He changed me as He said He would. This happened to sin after sin after sin. It is still happening and will continue to happen until He calls me home. What an incredible promise. What an incredible God!

In Him,

Jim Corbett

“If you seek after anything but a deeper relationship with Me, you will travel down many trails that lead to dead ends, and experience only a portion of My Word. You will need to turn from them and eventually come to a place of making Me your priority. Remember this, miracles do happen; but if you only seek them, you will find only part of Who I am.

"It is the same with all the gifts that I provide. The immature run after spiritual experiences and supernatural power. The mature run hard after Jesus and a deeper relationship with Me. I want you to crave intimacy. Because of that intimacy, I will be able to send you to where I am performing miracles and allow you to flow in My power.”

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!’”

Matt. 14:22-23 NIV 

22) Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd.

23) After he had dismissed them, he went up into the hills by himself to pray.

 

It amazes me to see how often Jesus went away to be with His Father. He was telling us that one can minister only from a place of communion and direction.

In contrast, most of us crave the spiritual power, the miracle-working glory, and the wisdom to accomplish work here on earth. We have no idea that such power without intimacy and maturity is like putting a revolver in the hands of a child. He can make it work but has little ability to understand - prior to it going off - the impact of what havoc it can reap.

Draw me close, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“These days you must be very careful to whom you are listening. There are many voices attempting to have their way with you. You need to remember that every one of them has one goal in mind. They all want to minimize Our time together, either personally or through the Word. When they do that, you begin to listen to what they have to say. You become weak and vulnerable to fear and susceptible to lies that minimize the importance of those things that are important to Me.

"Shake yourself loose from whatever is distracting you from Our time together, even good-sounding things. Fight to overcome the sirens that distract you from Me, your only safety in the coming times. You really serve the one to whom you listen. Who you listen to is very important.”

John 10:27 AMP

The sheep that are My own hear and are listening to My voice; and I know them, and they follow Me.

Ephesians 3:14-19 NLT

14) When I think of the wisdom and scope of God’s plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,

15) the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.

16) I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit.

17) And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him.  May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love.

18) And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is.

19) May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Eph. 6:10 AMP

In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]; draw your strength from Him [that strength which His boundless might provides].

Phil. 4:8-9 NIV

8) Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.

9) Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

 

Sometimes it is so much easier to listen to those things that are in our faces, especially when we become weary. Few of us realize that there is a direct correlation between how much quality time we spend with our Lord, and how well we discern what is important in every area of our lives.

One of the major reasons for the cross is so that we can have access to Father God. Jesus spent His life so that we could go to Him and be with Him. How foolish we are if we don’t go there as often as we can.

Make coming to You my priority, Lord,

Jim Corbett