Tag: From Our Father’s Heart

“Do you see how different things look when you focus on someone else as you go through a trial of your own? There is great power in the way that Jesus functioned. He was focused on My plans and your welfare, even during His darkest hour. Because of that, every attempt to destroy the work at hand was foiled. It is the secret to your success because it allows Me to accomplish what needs to be done without you hindering My work in any way.

“Listen to this. Whenever you are facing a trial of any kind, learn to divert your attention from the trial and focus on Me or on someone else, rather than the trial. I know that sounds simplistic, but it is the basis for perfect faith. I don’t mean that you are to avoid the trial, nor do I mean that you are to ignore it completely or make believe that it isn’t real. That would be denial and really quite foolish. Get the job done by lifting your needs to Me but then turn your prayers and offerings toward Me in praise or on behalf of someone else.

“Love as My Son loved. You will be amazed at the strength you receive to make the trial endurable. You will rejoice, even in your darkest hour, as I am allowed to place My forces against your trial with My mighty power. The battle is really Mine. The direction of your concentration exhibits and enacts faith that pleases Me and moves in My spiritual laws. Your actions, where you place your trust, either inhibit or enable that faith to accomplish its work.

“Never have faith in your faith. Your faith should be in Me. When you have faith to quietly trust Me enough to allow Me to work on your behalf, as you look to the best interests of others during your trial, no power can hinder My actions. Your trial is in My hands completely. That is where it should be.”

Luke 23:33b-34 AMP

33b) …they crucified Him, and [along with] the criminals, one on the right and one on the left.

34) And Jesus prayed, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

Hebrews 12:2 NIV

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross…

 

I’m convinced that Jesus was thinking of us on the way to the cross. In fact, the whole reason that He left heaven and allowed Himself to be killed by those whom He had created was for the benefit of helpless mankind.

Through it all, He was showing us how to accomplish anything of eternal value. The formula is so simple, that we continually miss it. We are called to first, find out what the will of our Father in heaven is; and then trust Him to accomplish it for us while we continually walk with Him. Being hidden from the world in that truth is how to do it.

As we study the life of Jesus, we see that His focus was on His Father’s power and on our well-being. He endured everything for the joy of knowing that His actions would set us free. Even on the cross, He was concerned for those who had driven the nails in His hands and those whose actions caused the crucifixion of the Son of God.

Luke’s account of Jesus’ time on the cross depicts three statements. The first is for those who crucified Him. The second is for the thief next to Him. The third is a statement of completion to His Father. What astounding faith in what His Father was doing, and what an astounding lesson for us! He cared more for others than He cared for Himself. In His darkest hour, Jesus had the best interests of others on His mind. He loved so deeply that His passion for us overcame His pain.

Needing to focus on everyone but me,

Jim Corbett

“Do not become complacent! You must be diligent in your pursuit of Me, so that you will have sufficient tools for the times in your path. Your world is reeling in hatred of My ways. It is exploding from within. Soon many things will not resemble the way they are now. You must learn to sit in My presence, so that you become familiar with My ways. Learn to hear My heart and move immediately. Learn My wisdom. Learn of My love for you. It will fortify you when others spew their hatred. Adjust your priorities. Make time with Me the most important tool you have to overcome your world. Make it your most important resource. Make it your most fervent desire.”

Matthew 10:38-39 AMP

38) And he who does not take up his cross and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conforming wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying also] is not worthy of Me.

39) Whoever finds his [lower] life will lose it [the higher life], and whoever loses his [lower] life on My account will find it [the higher life].

Matthew 19:29 AMP

And anyone and everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for My name’s sake will receive many [even a hundred] times more and will inherit eternal life.

 

The earth, in response to the Lord’s command, groaned and strained as if in childbirth, as a warning to those who had eyes to see or ears to hear.  Natural disasters such as unparalleled storms, earthquakes, and flooding would leave many helpless and without hope.  Manmade disasters such as fires, riots, rampant terrorism and unbridled crime made citizens demand something be done for the safety of the majority. Although all was, in His mercy, a fulfillment of God’s promises to reveal to mankind its helplessness without Him, and to allow those who would hear the opportunity to repent, many would scoff at the thought that He had a hand in it at all.  More police, more organization, more law, more money, would become the cry. Instead of turning to God, most would turn their backs on Him all the more, with ever hardening hearts.

Those who would respond to the call to holiness and to full submission would walk in intimate fellowship with their Savior.  If they chose to move selflessly and reverently with crucifixion power, they would see the wonder of God in their daily activities.  An irresistible wooing, except to the most hardened heart, would become visible to the church first, and then to the ripe fields ready to produce their crop in abundance.

 Open my eyes, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“At times, it will seem as if I am nowhere to be found. You will seem hemmed up in every direction and find that you have nowhere to go even if you could move. I have done this. I have you right where I want you. Sit still now and allow Me to talk to you. You are not out of My will. I am not finished with you. In fact, I am about to move you to a deeper walk and a more trustworthy position. Be still and know that I am your God. Tuck away with Me and I will impart Myself to you. Stop everything that you are doing if necessary, so that you can hear Me clearly. As you wait on Me, I will be found by you.”

Psalm 46:10 NIV

“Be still, and know that I am God…”

Psalm 62:5 AMP

My soul, wait only upon God and silently submit to Him; for my hope and expectation are from Him.

Psalm 139:5-10 NIV

5) You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.

6) Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

7) Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?

8) If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

9) If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10) even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

 

Rarely do we understand the intense love that the Lord has for us. Jesus died so that we could meet with God. To not do so is truly foolish. The relationship that He has provided should be the very first concern that we address as we plan our lives. It should be monitored every moment to see if anything has usurped its priority position. Nothing should be allowed to intrude on this wondrous gift.

Make it my priority, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Are you being conformed to My ways or the ways of the world? To whom are you listening and what is their message? Are they calling you to holiness or is peace, prosperity, and safety their main theme? You need to know My heart. Any gospel that allows you to remain in your comfort zone - looking to your personal needs only and caring for the things of the world - is another gospel, not Mine.

“In this crucial end-time season, you are to be setting yourself apart for My glory. You are to be learning to act like Jesus would act for when the horrors of the world come to pass. You are to be learning how to be salt and light to a world that has no bearing on truth. You are to show a world that has forgotten how to love the love of Jesus. I never said that your life was supposed to be easy. I called you to crucify your flesh and its needs and desires.

“Soon, I will call you to account. Soon, what you have studied and what position you have taken in Me will bear its kind of fruit. If you have lived only for yourself, you will have no tools to defend My honor. If you have heeded My Word and truly lived under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, learning of His ways as your priority, many will see Who He is because of you. Your life will have been well spent in My eyes.”

Psalm 51:10 AMP

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right, persevering and steadfast spirit within me.

Psalm 106:12-15 AMP

12) Then [Israel] believed His words [trusting in, relying on them] ; they sang His praise.

13) But they hastily forgot His works; they did not [earnestly] wait for His plans [to develop] regarding them,

14) But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness and tempted and tried to restrain God [with their insistent desires] in the desert.

15) And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their souls and [thinned their numbers by] disease and death.

Isaiah 48:3 NIV

“I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.”

Jeremiah 12:5 AMP

[But the Lord rebukes Jeremiah’s impatience, saying] If you have raced with men on foot and they have tired you out, then how can you compete with horses? And if [you take flight] in a land of peace where you feel secure, then what will you do [when you tread the tangled maze of jungle haunted by lions] in the swelling and flooding of the Jordan?

 

In my quiet times, I feel an urgency I’ve only felt a few times before. I am convinced that something big is on the horizon. That is not a gloom and doom prediction, but a call to diligence. For many years now, the Lord has been calling His people to a depth of commitment and subsequent service so that their lives will be of consequence to Him. The intensity of the call is increasing as time grows short.

There are two phases I have observed that honor God. The first is a commitment to become intimate with the Lord - to draw close so that He can reveal who we really are or are not, so that we can repent and become who He desires us to be. The second phase is to go forth in the new life and calling that each of us has - to implement whatever task for which the Lord has formed us once we are completely His.

I am convinced that we will stand before the Lord one day and answer for this time, whether it be a time of preparation or implementation. How diligent were we with either phase? How important was the work that the Lord had for us compared to the things of the day that clouded our real purpose for being born?

Help me to be more diligent with my appointed mission for each day, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“The enemy is attempting to destroy relationships during these closing times. That is because I am building strong, powerful, holy alliances to accomplish My work. This could be a confusing time for most of you if you do not seek Me with all your heart. At present, most of you are familiar with the throw-away relationships that have permeated My church and hindered My work. You are used to those who walk away from you when you have failed, or when you do not live up to the prevailing standard of a particular body of believers. You have become accustomed to gossip, backstabbing, and false judgments against your character, if you choose to follow Me with all of your heart.

“The confusion may come in when I am giving you the opportunity to separate yourself from long-time friendships, because they are not able to be trusted. I will do this by exposing their true character to you. You will see who they really are, and how much they can be trusted.

“In the coming times, you will need to know whom you can trust. You will need advocate friendships, those who will consider your interests before their own. That is the character of Jesus. It should be your standard, one to another. Your life will depend on it. In most cases, friendships that you have established over the years will turn on you to save themselves. They will drop years of investment on your part to save their fickle reputations, or so they do not have to face their sin when I am convicting them. Do not overlook their actions or dismiss their inability to be the kind of friend that you will need soon.

“Yes, you must love them, forgive them when they offend you, and seek reconciliation when they do harm to you; but do not be foolish enough to think that they can be trusted the next time their trust is needed. Only after they have submitted to My hand of healing should they regain your trust. To do so before they are healed could plague you with distractions, confusion, and time-consuming rhetoric. Be wise in My counsel. Be careful in your friendships. If your heart is honest toward My Word, I will separate you from those who do not have the same heart; and find holy alliances for you that will replace them.”     

Acts 15:36-40 AMP

36) And after some time Paul said to Barnabas, Come, let us go back and again visit and help and minister to the brethren in every town where we made known the message of the Lord, and see how they are getting along.

37) Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark [his near relative].

38) But Paul did not think it best to have along with them the one who had quit and deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone on with them to the work.

39) And there followed a sharp disagreement between them, so that they separated from each other, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus.

40) But Paul selected Silas and set out, being commended by the brethren to the grace (the favor and mercy) of the Lord.

Rev. 3:19 AMP

Those whom I [dearly and tenderly] love, I tell their faults and convict and convince and reprove and chasten [I discipline and instruct them]. So be enthusiastic and in earnest and burning with zeal and repent [changing your mind and attitude].

 

This issue of relationships seems to keep coming up as the Lord grows us up, and as the times require integrity one to another. So many of us are so short-sighted about this issue that the Lord has to break us from our comfort area and teach us His standards, so that we will be able to accomplish His work.

God is building an army of believers who have been trained to walk in the integrity of Jesus before a world that needs to see His character in action. He is aligning those of like mind and like heart to implement His plans.

We need to face these facts. There are some people within the body of Christ who cannot be trusted. They simply do not have the ability to be a true friend. It may be brokenness, immaturity, or simple rebellion from the teachings of the Word. The fact remains, they do not have the ability to remain focused and faithful when they are needed. To rely on them would be foolish.

Over the years, Merry and I have waded through and observed a quagmire of fickle friendships, broken promises, false interpretations, and downright lies among so-called Christians. We have spent countless hours in prayer waiting for the Lord to bring forth His truth from the immature, controlling spirits that have side-tracked the work of the Lord, attempting to implement their own agendas.

We have seen good, honest hearts hamstrung by false friendships. We have observed hundreds of hours wasted because of the need to detangle webs of self-consuming relationships and warring Christians who once were friends. Often things have appeared so foolish, we thought it impossible to be happening among those who claim to love Jesus. The time has exhausted us. The Lord has shown us that this is His church at present. It is wasting His time and their energy warring one with another, confused and distracted, unable to address the needs of bringing others to Jesus.

I am convinced that our Father has had enough. I believe that He is about to set aside those who choose their own agenda over His and bring like-minded allies forward. From the hidden prayer closets, refiner’s fires, and the quiet retreats will come honest hearts ready to serve as Jesus served. He will bring advocate friends together who have been repelled by the bad representation of their Savior and have no time and no desire to be hamstrung by dishonest associations. He will join together those who have learned absolute obedience to Him and are godly friends one to another. All others who continue to play their selfish games will be nullified concerning the work of the Lord.

Wanting an honest heart,

Jim Corbett