Tag: From Our Father’s Heart

“How do you choose to spend your time in My kingdom? How you function while on earth impacts your function for eternity. One day the pattern for your life will be established forever. You will be able to change nothing, repent of nothing, and redo nothing from that moment on. What you have in your hands at that time will be the determined value of your life. You will be given rewards and understand loss. Now you can still be forgiven for your hardened hearts, your self-seeking motives, and your independent thinking. Then you will be exposed if you have squandered My resources that have been placed in your hands for My use.

"Come to Me to change your heart and modify your motives while you can. Embrace My reasons for purchasing you. Study to be as a waiting bride, functioning with proper insights and absolute devotion in your heart. I want you to be able to show your life to be approved. It saddens Me if you arrive on that day with empty hands and worthless trophies. You have no idea how much the pottage that you are consuming is really costing you.”

Genesis 25:29-33 NIV 

29) Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished.

30) He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.)

31) Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”

32) “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”

33) But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.

Matthew 19:21 NIV 

Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Luke 12:19-21 NIV

19) ‘And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ‘

20) “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

21) “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”

 

Some of us are so short-sighted that we never make the connection that we are eternal people. It never dawns on us that we simply have different stages of life - one here and one in eternity future.  In this life, our decisions determine what happens in the next portion of our lives. The major decision about where we place Jesus and the eternal implications of that decision are very clear to most of us. Somehow, though, all of the eternal implications and the impact of our other decisions and actions in this life seem to elude us.

I believe that when we get to heaven, we will not simply sit on clouds and play harps. We will be doing something, working and functioning with our very creative God. What we are given to do, I think, is determined by how faithful we were in this life. If I’m right, my every action, every moment really mean something. Possibly more than I want to know.

Even so, show me truth, Lord,

Jim Corbett

 

“Just a little longer and I will move. Stay the course. Do not become weary in well doing. Study the heart of Jesus so that when I move on your behalf, you will move in unison with His desires. Listen to My heart. Don’t attempt to force My hand. Too much is at stake for you to run ahead of My timing. Press in. I am waiting for all of your heart. Examine your motives. Sharpen your tools. Wait for My presence. I am with you.”

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.

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.

Proverbs 16:9 AMP

A man’s mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps and makes them sure.

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.”

Joshua 7:13 AMP

Up, sanctify (set apart for a holy purpose) the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: There are accursed things in the midst of you, O Israel. You can not stand before your enemies until you take away from among you the things devoted [to destruction].

Matt.16:19  AMP

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind (declare to be improper and unlawful) on earth, must be whatever is already bound in heaven; and whatever you loose (declare lawful) on earth must be what is already loosed in heaven.

 

In Psalm 106, leanness of the soul is a portrait of today’s church. So many of us become impatient with God. We stop waiting on Him to move on our behalf and take matters into our own hands. We run, empty-handed. We create programs without the presence of God. We move ahead of Him, never considering the consequences of not having fully developed plans in the heavenlies preceding us to make our path smooth. Then we wonder why nothing changes in our lives, or why we are powerless to overcome life’s situations.

Forgive our foolish hearts, Lord,

Jim Corbett

 

“Why would you attempt to complete anything in the flesh when all spiritual power and authority have been won for you on the cross? On Calvary, all fleshly wisdom and power were destroyed for all eternity. Every weapon of the enemy was shown for what it really is. Hatred, anger, and murder were defeated by love and submission to My will. They no longer have any power over you because you are Mine. In the spiritual authority won for you, no weapon formed against you can prosper.

"The weapons of the enemy are antiquated and have no real power. Don’t submit to their lies. Walk in love - it is an undefeatable weapon against schemes against you. Practice forgiveness - it destroys hatred and malice. Stand in faith - fear then has no stronghold. Live as Jesus lived. Love as He did, and you will prosper no matter what challenges may come your way.”

Matthew 5:23-24 NIV  

23) “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,

24) leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled with your brother; then come and offer your gift.”

 I Cor. 13:4-7 AMP

4) Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.

5) It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].

6) It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail.

7) Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].

Gal. 2:20 AMP

I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body  I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

 

With Jesus as our example, and with the Father’s love flowing through us, we are to walk as advocates for our Lord, each other as believers, and then on behalf of those who have need. Our adoption into the family of God, our sonship, gives each of us the heritage and ability to do so through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Those walking as advocates delight in seeing others become all that they can be in Christ. Seeing any less motivates them to respond for the good of those individuals, even at a loss to themselves.

When someone comes against the advocate heart, there is a godly desire to have the offender eventually walk in all of the wealth of the Lord, for the sake of the Lord. To respond in any form of retaliation would be unthinkable. Advocates will love deeper than any argument. In fact, any accusation or injustice only causes them to desire that the other is forgiven and restored before the Father, never from a position of loftiness, but from the heart of lowliness.

Recognizing their acceptance with God, their heritage, their rights, and their privileges (which come via the work on the cross,) but esteeming others more significantly than themselves or their own needs, people walking with the heart of an advocate are wonderfully free. Jealousy, loss of reputation, perceptions of others, fear, and pride have no hold on them.

They are the leaders who serve, the advocates of their accusers, the servants of those who wrong them; and the comforters of those who are against them. Because they are confident and comfortable in their position with God, there is no negative response when falsely accused, no need to be right when wronged; and no desire to be lifted up in any way…

Teach me to live Your way, Lord,

Jim Corbett

 

“My kind of change is on its way! What has been told to you long ago is about to take place. I have been preparing those who will listen for a time such as this. You have been taught to hear My voice, understand My heart, and move in My will. You may not now fully understand how you will represent Jesus properly when no one will tolerate His truth, but I will guide you with My eyes when the time comes.

"Because you have drawn close to Me and made Me your priority, you will rise above the din of fleshly reactions when you are challenged. Because you have heeded My call to intimacy and practiced My presence in your time of need, you will rest in Our fellowship when others scurry to protect their comfort zones. You will walk on the solid ground of My will and My presence when others stumble over the dictates and demands of their flesh.”

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...”

Psalm 3:1-6 AMP

1) Lord, How they are increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me.

2) Many are saying of me, there is no help for him in God. Selah [pause and calmly think of that]!

3) But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.

4) With my voice I cry to the Lord and He hears and answers me out of His holy hill. Selah [pause and calmly think of that]!

5) I lay down and slept, I awakened again, for the Lord sustains me.

6) I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me round about.

Psalm 20:6-7 AMP

6) Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand.

7) Some trust in and boast of chariots and some of horses, but we will trust in and boast of the name of the Lord our God.

Psalm 127:1 AMP

Except the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; except the Lord keeps a city, the watchman wakes but in vain.

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.”

 

For many centuries, the Lord has made very clear what will happen in the end times. He has also made known the place of victory for His people when that time comes. Safety is always in Jesus. Safety is always functioning with the heart of Jesus toward Father God and toward others. Safety is always doing the will of God, no matter what the cost.

Most Christians are denying the black clouds on the horizon.  Few have chosen intimacy over activity. Few are familiar with the kind of intimacy Jesus had with His Father, even though He died to obtain that opportunity for them. If you have not heeded the call to holiness and intimacy, and practiced the crucified life of Christ, it would seem to be a wise decision to change your ways before you find yourself without the tools that will be necessary to honor Him during the soon-coming difficult times.

Teach me to honor You, Lord,

Jim Corbett

 

“Do you realize how wonderfully you’ve been made, how vastly different you are? Once you were darkness; your whole being was given over to the dark. Now you are light, not just cleaned up, but the opposite of dark. You are no longer part of any darkness. In the eternal future, you will function within light. There will be no need for any additional light other than Jesus, so you will function within Him. Your flowing together will bring His presence everywhere you go.

"I have a surprise for some of you. It is that way now. Whether you understand it or not, you bring Jesus with you everywhere you go in your world. How much He is revealed to that world is up to you. If you choose not to accept the wonder that has been done for you on the cross, that is to your detriment. I will allow you to remain there as long as you desire. If, however, you choose to function in the realm of light, I will be delighted to equip you fully. You are light. Why would you continue to function in darkness? You no longer belong there.”

John 8:42-47 NIV

42) Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me.

43) Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say.

44) You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

45) Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!

46) Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me?

47) He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

Rev.21:22-27 NIV

22) I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

23) The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.

24) The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.

25) On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.

26) The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.

27) Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

 

I keep forgetting the very essence of why I’m thankful this and every other day. As wonderful as all of the other reasons might be, I am so very grateful for what Jesus has done for me and to me.

Because He came, cared, conquered, and went home, my eternal future is very bright. Because He changed me, I can hear and communicate with His Father - my Father - any time I need to do so. What an astounding privilege!

So often, when I step back into the darkness and am buffeted beyond reason, it reminds me of a very basic fact. I no longer belong there. I don’t fit anymore.

Because of the work of the cross, you and I now belong in sweet fellowship with the One who is Light. We belong there forever; not because we are doing good; but because we have been recreated to be there.

 Thank You, thank You, my Father. I am (we are) eternally grateful,

Jim Corbett