Tag: Faith

“Resolve in your heart that you will serve no other gods, and I will be all the God you will ever need! I promise! Of course, I never change. You, however, have a choice to make. If you continue to look in other places to find happiness of any kind, you will always have need of more than you will be able to see in Me. Your vision will be so obscured that I will never appear to be enough for you. That is, of course, pure foolishness. If, however, you turn from anything that takes My place in your heart, you will never need another love again. My love will fill you full. You see, I formed you. You fit nicely in the palm of My hand. My desire is to share Myself with you.

"All that I have done on your behalf has been accomplished so that you and I can spend time together. I love you more than you will ever know and take great pleasure in you becoming all that you have been created to be. You are the desire of My heart and the work of My hand. I will always be there for you. I will always be for you, never against you. Lay down everything that gets in the way of Our fellowship, and you will never be the same again. You will be complete for the first time in your life. I will be your God and you will be My people, a people blessed beyond measure, rising above every frailty of the world. I love it when that happens!”

Psalm 46:7 AMP

The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our Refuge (our Fortress and High Tower). Selah [pause and calmly think of that]!

1 Peter 1:3-4 AMP 

3) Praised, (honored, blessed) be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah)! By His boundless mercy we have been born again to an ever-living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

4) [Born anew] into an inheritance which is beyond the reach of change and decay [imperishable], unsullied and unfading, reserved in heaven for you.

 

As the darkness gathers strength, in the midst of our training to become all that we can be in Christ, isn’t it just like a loving Father to take the time to encourage us with His love? I love the idea of pausing and calmly thinking of that!

There is no question in my mind that we are in training for the closing, probably most difficult times since creation. I believe that our Lord is calling each of us to unprecedented union with Him so that His will is accomplished in our lives. There is no question in my mind about the seriousness of our calling and the intensity of His work being done in each of us.

The wooing to His love, however, brings glorious light in the midst of the death-life process that is taking place. We are called to remember the most important part of all of it. He - our Father God, the One True God, the Creator of all the heavens and the earth, that singular, magnificent, Holy God - loves us softly and tenderly. He desires to spend time with us while the salvation process of the whole world is being worked to its conclusion. That is a pretty astounding truth. I’m sure that He desires to bring comfort to our hearts as we ponder and embrace it.

I remember a song by Twila Paris called “The Warrior Is a Child.” It tells of a time in which the battle rages and the warrior comes running home to the safety of Father God. Part of one of the lines in the song says, “…I come running home when I fall down.” What a picture of our incredible heritage!

Thank You, ABBA,

Jim Corbett

“How do you rate other believers? When will you give up on those who do not believe? In fact, what is the benchmark you use to classify anyone that I place in your path? Do you know that My love has no limits? Everyone that has been given breath is very precious to Me. Jesus gave His life for your worst enemy. He died so that the one who hates you may find eternal peace with Me. Do you know that the very people that are part of your world are there so that they might embrace the work of the cross because you show it to them?

"You might encourage someone who is about to give up on Me, because they do not understand My ways. You might have the privilege of displaying the virtues of Jesus to those who hate Him and scorn His work. Contact with you might soften his or her heart. It could happen tomorrow. The very reason you may want to escape from the pressures of scrutinizing eyes and judgmental lips may be the reason I have placed you there. You are the vessel of My hope placed in their midst. What are you doing about it?”

II Cor. 6:3-13 NIV

3) We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited.

4) Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses;

5) in beatings, imprisonment and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger;

6) in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love;

7) in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left;

8) through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors;

9) known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed;

10) sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing and yet possessing everything.

11) We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you.

12) We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us.

13) As a fair exchange—I speak as to my children—open wide your hearts also.

 

Most of us wait to one day be in ministry. What few of us realize is that from the moment we accepted Jesus as our Savior, we have entered the ministry. You and I are in full-time ministry. How and where we minister is the only difference.  Someone once said that “ministry is a whole lot of ordinary days.” I find that very true.

I am often approached and asked how to get into full-time ministry. How do I start a youth group? How do I start a church fellowship? How do I win my husband or wife to the Lord, and so on?  The Lord showed me the biblical formula for every one of those questions. His answer to me when I asked Him some of the same questions was: “Fall deeply in love with Jesus and begin to love those around you.”

Show me how to live Your love, Jesus,

Jim Corbett

“If I were to remove everything that you hold dear from your life, would you still serve Me with all your heart? You really need to think about that! Some of you base My love for you on how I have blessed you. You see yourself as being in right standing with Me because you have much to show for your efforts. You are living far from truth. The epitome of My love hung on a cross, bleeding for those who cursed Him and Me. That is how He prospered. He was the most prosperous person that ever walked your land. Jesus loved so much that He kept nothing for Himself, even His life.

"Arrange your priorities to be in line with His priorities and you will truly prosper. Start by loving others more than you love yourself. That means some of you will have to eliminate the gods you have formed for yourselves - those gods that you really serve, and those that you demand serve you.”

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.

Proverbs 29:21 AMP

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

Luke 9:23-25 AMP 

23) And He said to all, If any person wills to come after Me, let him deny himself [disown himself, forget, lose sight of himself and his own interests, refuse and give up himself] and take up his cross daily and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying also].

24) For whoever would preserve his life and save it will lose and destroy it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he will preserve and save it [from the penalty of eternal death].

25) For what does it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and ruins or forfeits (loses) himself?

 

When I study Proverbs 29:21, I see a picture of many of us who call ourselves Christians. The proverb reveals a heart that has become so blinded by his comforts that he has forgotten that they all have come to him because of the mercy and grace of his master. He now demands from the master instead of being grateful.

In these closing hours of time, God is revealing our true heart motives and demands. He is separating sheep from sheep, finding those of us who follow the Shepherd out of love rather than comfort and safety.

If your comfort, safety, and all the things with which you identify your prosperity were gone, would you still follow your Shepherd with a loving, devoted heart? You must, you know!

Teach me how, Lord,

Jim Corbett