Tag: From Our Father’s Heart

“Because you are My child, I run to you when you fall or fail Me. I marshal whatever forces are needed to bring you back into My presence. When you repent, I welcome you with open arms and love you with loyal love. You are Mine and I am with you as you grow. Never fear Me when you have done wrong. We will work things out together. As long as you are ready to repent and desire to turn from your sin, you are safe. It is when you harden your heart that you are in danger.”

Matthew 26:31 NIV

Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’”

Acts 17:30 AMP 

Such [former] ages of ignorance God, it is true, ignored and allowed to pass unnoticed; but now He charges all people everywhere to repent (to change their minds for the better and heartily amend their ways, with abhorrence of their past sins),…

 

God calls us to a radical life change of repentance for the sin we see with our new eyes. Before we came to the Lord, our eyes were darkened to the fact that we were in sin. We simply didn’t care. Now that we live in our new nature, not only are we accepted by God as His children, we also have the freedom to continually walk in the freedom of forgiveness. Our job is to continually go to the Lord in repentance, something only those who know Him desire to do. Doing so demonstrates His Lordship and exemplifies our submission. Repentance and submission bring His presence and His power to change us and eventually allow us to deny the sins that so easily beset us.

Thank You for forgiving me often, Lord,

 Jim Corbett

“This is a season in which I desire to deal with issues of your heart that, if left unaddressed, will cause you harm in your future walk with Me. It is time to move closer to the kind of life I desire for you. I desire that you truly walk in holiness. The perfection of My Son has been provided for you. His integrity with Me is a standard that you have access to if you so desire. His compassion for the lost, His loving obedience, and His dedication to My will are all yours should you choose them.

“You need to come to Me. Tell Me that you desire all that I have for you. Submit fully to His Lordship over your life. Renew your desire for first love. I will then bring forth My wealth in you. First you will see who you are not, so that we can eliminate those issues from your life. Then you will understand who you really can be; and, in time, you will walk as He walked. All that Jesus is can be yours. It’s time to go deeper with Me. Simply ask. I will accomplish it in you.”

Deut. 1:6 NIV 

The Lord our God said to us at Horeb, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain.”

2 Chr. 16:9 NIV 

“For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him...”

Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV

5) Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

6) in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Matthew 11:12 NIV

“From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.”

John 3:30 AMP 

He must increase, but I must decrease. [He must grow more prominent; I must grow less so.]

1 John 2:6 AMP

Whoever says he abides in Him ought [as a personal debt] to walk and conduct himself in the same way in which He walked and conducted Himself.

 

When was the last time you became passionate about the Lord’s plans? For that matter, when was the last time the Lord’s plans for your life took priority over the other demands you face each day?

God is clearly requiring each of us to make Him our priority. Still, most of us agonize over the demands of simply living out each day - paying the rent, providing for food, etc. To stop, even for a day, and spend it entirely with the Lord should He ask us to do so would be beyond comprehension for some of us. We are convinced that the answer is heart commitment.

Merry and I believe that each and every one of us, who call ourselves Christians, must make a choice to live Christ’s life passionately throughout our very ordinary days. We are to approach the tasks and the people placed before us with His kind of zeal and unquestioning love, presenting every one of them as an offering to the Lord for His glory. We are convinced that this life is not so much about what we do as it is about the One for whom we are doing it.

If everything that we become involved in is truly offered to the Lord and placed under His Lordship, the fluff will fall away and the eternal purposes of God will become priorities to us. Living Christ’s passionate life unto the Lord will change us and those around us who are looking for answers.

Take my stuff and replace it with Your stuff, Lord,

Jim Corbett

"Do you see how important it is for you to be exactly where I tell you to be? There is no safety outside of My will for you. There is no purpose for you to be anywhere other than where I tell you to be. All of heaven is being poised for the closing minutes of My plan. The beginnings of that plan are being played out in your midst. What that means to you is either the fulfillment of your life’s work, or some secondary task that I can use, although it will have much less impact in My overall plan to bring souls into My kingdom.

“Take the time, over the next few weeks, to set aside the pressures of your normal routine and listen to My heart for you. Don’t stop pressing in until you are confident that you have heard from Me. Do not set aside the questions that come to your heart. Do not be afraid to move from where you are to where I want you to be. Most of you will realize that you have created carnal gods that you serve—obligations that make you comfortable, yet they actually hinder you from doing all that I have planned in your life. These gods have quieted My voice over the years. You can’t hear Me because they need to be fed. Do you really need them? If they weren’t in your life, would you be free to serve Me with all your heart? Would I be able to move you wherever I desire?

“You must remove the word “impossible” from your thoughts as you seek My will for you. Do not entertain foolish, fleshly thoughts. Seek wise counsel; counsel you trust. Do not move ahead of My plans. All must be in order before you move. Do not attempt to rely on those with money as a means for you to accomplish any of your plans. I am your source.”

1 Peter 1:13-19 AMP 

13) So brace up your minds; be sober (circumspect, morally alert); set your hope wholly and unchangeably on the grace (divine favor) that is coming to you when Jesus Christ (the Messiah) is revealed.

14) [Live] as children of obedience [to God]; do not conform yourselves to the evil desires [that governed you] in your former ignorance [when you did not know the requirements of the Gospel].

15) But as the One Who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all your conduct and manner of living.

16) For it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy.

17) And if you call upon Him as [your] Father Who judges each one impartially according to what he does, [then] you should conduct yourselves with true reverence throughout the time of your temporary residence [on the earth, whether long or short].

18) You must know (recognize) that you were redeemed (ransomed) from the useless (fruitless) way of living inherited by tradition from [your] forefathers, not with corruptible things [such as] silver or gold,

19) But [you were purchased] with the precious blood of Christ (the Messiah), like that of a [sacrificial] lamb without blemish or spot.

 

I look at my life and the lives of others in the body of Christ. I am amazed at the gods we serve. In the spiritual realm, there are the usual attachments such as fear, lust, anger, hopelessness, pride, and so on. In the physical realm, some of the most prominent gods we serve are security, comfort, ownership of our time, ownership of our resources; and just plain spiritual blindness to the importance of doing God’s perfect will. In reality, most of us bow down before our personal gods before we bend our knees to the Lord and serve Him totally. Because of our surface personal seeking and prayerless days, more often than not we find ourselves serving the bills that are due every month, incapable of moving in God’s direction even if we wanted to do so. He and His work play second fiddle to our encumbered lives.

I believe that the Lord is challenging each of us to take stock in our lives and hold them up to the scrutiny of the Word and the Holy Spirit. Over the course of time, moved and directed by the Holy Spirit, we must be willing to bring things in proper order - His order. What does God really own in us and what are the gods that we faithfully serve above Him? He requires all our devotion. When we eliminate the smothering covers of this world, we will be able to discern much more readily the direction and focus that the Lord desires for us.

Rip the covers off my eyes, Lord! I want to see clearly and move easily with You,

Jim Corbett

“When you come to Me in prayer, do you really believe that I hear you? If you fully understood My Word, you would never question Me again.

“Because of the work of the cross, the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom. I did that! I was telling you that full access to My heart was now available to you. Jesus made the way for you to come to Me whenever you need to come. He is your High Priest. At that moment, the fellowship We once had in the garden, before sin came between Us, was restored. When you surrender your everything to Jesus, I covenant My everything to you in your time of need. That formula works well. You should try it. You should try it often.”

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 11:41-42 NIV

41) So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.

42) I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

 

One day Merry handed me a note in which she’d written down a saying—author unknown—taken from a wall plaque she’d seen. It read, “Work like you don’t need the money; Love like you’ve never been hurt; Dance like nobody’s watching.” I think that we, as children of God, should add to that little saying, “Pray like your Father is listening.”

What an incredible honor to know you, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“There are those in this world who can hate much deeper than you are able to love. That is very important to know, because your ability to love is the only antidote for their hate. I have planned it that way. Any war, conflict, or separation is caused by a lack of love. It may appear on the outside as a situation of attempting to prove who is right or wrong. It may seem necessary to protect rights or territory or separate the good from the bad; but the bottom line is always a lack of love displayed toward one another.

"You must grow in love—not the foolish, milquetoast emotion, but the kind of love displayed on the cross. Love enough to consider nothing as your own. Love with a passion. Consider the hatred of your enemy as weakness, not strength, for that is what it is. It is an absence of My strength and My presence when anyone hates, no matter how it is disguised. Most wars are implemented as just causes and presented as important, because they attach My Name to them. It is the foolish, blind heart that initiates conflict in My Name. I am never with them. They are simply using Me to cover up their real agenda of hatred and confusion. I am not at war with anyone; I have already won.

"In the coming times, you will see My plan for your world played out and implemented by those who do not understand what real love is. I am using their hatred to cause everything to fall in place. You will have choices to make because you are Mine. You can be part of the conflict, or you can be part of My solution for the hating heart. Your best weapon during the coming times is My kind of love. Study it. Practice it. Look to Jesus and His life. He showed you how to win any war.”

Exodus 33:13-16 NIV

13) “If I have found favor in your eyes, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”

14) The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

15) Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.

16) How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”

Eph. 5:1-2 AMP 

1) THEREFORE BE imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father].

2) And walk in love, [esteeming and delighting in one another] as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a slain offering and sacrifice to God [for you, so that it became] a sweet fragrance.

I Peter 4:8 AMP 

Above all things have intense and unfailing love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins [forgives and disregards the offenses of others].

 

So often, when we get caught up in the emotion of a situation, season, or cause, we become blind to God’s perspective and fail to practice His kind of love. Have you ever really questioned how the early followers of Christ could freely give away all their possessions, be at peace when imprisoned, and die in the arenas praising God? Have you ever compared their kind of strength to our puny kind of life, as we say that we are “in Christ”? The answer is simple. They understood what love really is; we do not!

We willingly hate our brothers or sisters in Christ if they offend our pride, our rights, or our established territory. We will throw away family or friends for the sake of our own gain, caring little that we have stepped far beyond the limits of the character of Christ in doing so. We will hate anyone who hates us, justifying our doing so by telling ourselves that our side is right, and thinking that God is with us when He is not with anyone who hoards or hates.

Soon, every one of us will be tested for who we really are. Those of us who have been playing games with God to suit our own needs will be exposed. How will we fare? Will we look like Jesus during those tests, or just like those who hate us, while using His Name to justify the hatred in our own hearts?

Help me, Lord,

Jim Corbett