Tag: From Our Father’s Heart

“Do not harden your heart because it appears that I have forgotten you. Do not become cynical when you see others living without heavy pressures and you can hardly take a breath without pain. I hold you in your need. When you have completed this refining fire, I want you to understand the pain I feel for those who are so lost that they feel they have no need of Me. I want you to notice the dangerous position they are in and care as Jesus cares for them.

“You are being trained to have compassion for others who have forgotten their need of Me and learning to delight in My will being done in their lives. Don’t give up!  Press in to Me. I am with you!”

Romans 8:9-17 NIV

9) You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.

10) But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.

11) And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

12) Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it.

13) For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live,

14) because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

15) For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”

16) The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.

17) Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

2 Cor. 1:8-9 NIV

8) We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.

9) Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.

 

We forget that after we come to Christ, we are being formed to allow the life of Jesus to be lived through us. When Jesus walked on this earth, He was showing us all how to live. He had the ardent desire and the God-inherited freedom to be deeply in love with His Father and with everyday, ordinary people. Most of those whom He loved freely, and therefore touched the deepest, didn’t have a clue as to who He really was at first. They only knew deep down in their hearts that this special man who lived in their midst somehow loved them in a way that they had never been loved before. It was a love that contained a mysterious kind of power and they wanted to find out what that power was.

Seeing His bright-eyed, mouth-open kind of happiness when they were healed or delivered, people knew He had something special to give them and that He was probably worth following, at least long enough to learn more about Him. When He put His hands on and embraced the outcast, or when He intimately contacted the lonely, chastised leper - something that just wasn’t done in His society - He was viewed as being noticeably different. When He laughed and bear hugged in the wonder of the healing moment with that same lower element of society, He broke their stony hearts and planted a new kind of hope in their souls.”

Teach me Your ways, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“What is your legacy? What are you leaving behind as your life’s work? I am not talking about bank accounts and buildings. I am talking about those you have touched to further My kingdom. Will anyone continue with My work because of your work with them? Have you instilled the desire to further My kingdom in anyone? If not, why not? What is stopping you? Why are you not investing in someone? It is why you have been given a chance to know My will. When will you start fulfilling your legacy?”

Matthew 5:13 AMP

You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste (its strength, its quality) how can its saltness be restored? It is not good for anything any longer but to be thrown out and trodden underfoot by men.

Matthew 6:19-21 NIV

19) “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

20) But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

21) For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

 

Father God is developing a bridal heart and the same character that Jesus has in those who will respond. We must be like Him in our hearts if we are to intimately walk with Him and live passionately for Him. Can you imagine Jesus coming for a church that is selfish, self-centered, and harbors murder in her heart?

Can you imagine Him enjoining Himself to one who looks to the delicacies around her that please her more than He pleases her? Does it seem possible that Jesus would function in a relationship where His bride would not have the same desires, the same motives, and the same purposes in all that they do together? To think so is ludicrous!

Teach me, then teach me to move with You, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Do you know that you are different? Really different? First of all, in My eyes, there is no resemblance between you and anyone who has not chosen the Lord as his Master. Since I see in the spiritual realm, I can easily distinguish those who have chosen Me as their Father, and those who still belong to the father of lies. Both of you are designed to live for eternity with your fathers and are custom-designed to be there. You adapt easily to your new homes when it is time.

“Of course, these homes are as different as you, their inhabitants, are. Yours is more magnificent than you can now imagine. Theirs is horrible beyond belief. Because you have been designed to live among others like you, I desire you to be with each other now.

“Do you know that by interacting with each other as My children, it is making your inner being strong? You need to draw upon My Spirit whenever your interactions with those like you bring challenges your way. Each of you has the seed of My Spirit within you, so as you choose to act like My Son toward each other, you will grow. When you don’t choose to act like Him, there are setbacks in your spiritual wealth.

“To you, these setbacks seem inconsequential. I, however, observe the great harm that is done to My plan. You also further the kingdom of darkness by remaining far from My light. It is time to realize how different you really are and then walk in that wonderful difference with Me. Start now. Let My Word and its promises inhabit you. I will then inhabit the praises that rise from you who are Mine as you help each other grow toward Me.”

2 Cor. 5:17  NIV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation…

James 3:13-18 NIV

13) Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in humility that comes from wisdom.

14) But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.

15) Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil.

16) For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

17) But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

18) Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

 

Whenever we study marriage, the covenant, or the church, a basic understanding of what God uses to change us is essential. Among the many things He has in place to make us more like Jesus are two institutions. One is marriage, and the other is fellowshipping with other believers. In fact, the institutions of marriage and the church are directly established by God.

When we enter marriage and the church properly, one reason they exist is to function as refiner’s fires for each participant. God placed restrictions on both to encourage the participants to “dig in and work things out,” instead of fleeing when challenges come. People refine one another and make us seek the Lord for answers. Each time we choose His answers instead of the answers that make our flesh comfortable, we become more like Jesus.

The most miserable people I’ve seen are those who submit to no one. Listening to only their own answers and opinions, they eventually find themselves bankrupt of any spiritual wisdom that can be found through the honest consideration of other believers.

If you find yourself becoming bitter toward the body of Christ or have separated yourself from continuous fellowshipping with other believers, you are on the road to destruction. That is not God’s way. He uses the physical interaction with others to develop the spiritual maturity that’s needed to represent Jesus properly.

We are spiritual people in a physical world. We are designed to be trained and prepared God’s way, not ours - and certainly not the world’s way. The world follows their father, who loves to entangle, fight, and eventually separate hearts one from another. Our Father goads us to forgive, serve, and develop Christ-like character through challenges caused by others.

Needing to understand that my opinion means infinitely less to God than my submission,

Jim Corbett

“So many of you are seeking after answers that have no real purpose. So many foolish hearts are turning to find reason for your lives in areas that allow you to remain in charge. If only you would listen to the truth. If only you would understand that My Word is the answer for you.

“There is a heavy price for rebellion. The time for preparation will soon be over. I will implement My Word and create hard choices, life and death kinds of choices. Pride, arrogance, and deceit will abound to stumble those who have chosen to go the route of selfishness. At that time, many can still turn from such foolishness, but that turning will soon cost you everything.”

Ja. 4:7-10 AMP

7) So be subject to God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him], and he will flee from you.

8) Come close to God and He will come close to you. [Recognize that you are] sinners, get your soiled hands clean; [realize that you have been disloyal] wavering individuals with divided interests, and purify your hearts [of your spiritual adultery].

9) [As you draw near to God] be deeply penitent and grieve, even weep [over your disloyalty]. Let your laughter be turned to grief and your mirth to dejection and heartfelt shame [for your sins].

10) Humble yourselves [feeling very insignificant] in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you [He will lift you up and make your lives significant].

 

When I was in the service, there was one guy - a member of our squad in basic training – who thought he was above the system. In his foolishness, he believed that he could fly through the process and not have to go through the rigors that were part of that training. He decided to fake a bad back, and boldly told some of his friends about his plan, even pointing to them as fools if they did not do something similar.

I remember one particularly hot day, while our squad was doing some of the countless push-ups that were our plight; he came up to the fence with a grin on his face, basically to gloat over his freedom. He had been made a courier. His job was to deliver messages all over the base. When he wasn’t doing that, he sat in an air-conditioned office waiting for his next assignment. To those of us who would have given anything to get out of the hot Texas sun, it looked like we were the fools; and even though his life was a ploy, it looked pretty plush compared to ours.

Upon graduation from basic training, while we were getting ready for the ceremony - donning our dress Blues and feeling quite complete because of the training that we had endured - we heard that the courier had been told that his basic training would start in six weeks. Obviously, he was not the first to pull that “bad back” stunt. Because of his foolishness, he now had to wait six weeks after we graduated to begin his eight-week training course. I remember standing in rank, ready to move on and seeing him walk by our squad with a message for someone. He had lost his bravado. In fact, he was down-right sullen.

Our training in Christ is very important to God. He wants each of us to be able to represent Him properly, so that the world can see the love of Jesus and embrace that love. We are to be the example of God’s standard and Christ’s freedom to everyone.

Sometimes, when we are in the throes of rigorous training, others look like they really have it made. Therein lies the deception. Satan would love for us to envy those who look like they are prospering, especially when our toil seems fruitless to us. We need to flee from those thoughts and dig in with the Lord. We know what is right to do. To do anything other than submit to our Lord is foolishness, no matter how hard the training to be like Jesus is. He submitted to the ultimate sacrifice for us. We have the privilege of sacrificing our lives for the good of others.

Time to quit faking the “bad back” in any area in which the Lord wants me to be trained,

Jim Corbett

“What are you doing about the extremely difficult times that are on the crest of your horizon? Why have you not heeded My warnings and prepared properly? You act as if your world could never change. You pray that it won’t because you desire to remain comfortable and fear losing those things that are safety handles for you. Your security remains in the things you have and the walls you have built to fortify your lifestyle. They all could be gone in a heartbeat. What will you do then?

“In times past, those who did not heed My warnings joined the plight of the uninformed and fearful. They suffered the fate of those who only knew of Me rather than those who had intimacy with Me. That is not what I desire for you. I need you to know Me intimately so that you can point others to Jesus when their world falls apart, instead of falling apart with them. That doesn’t seem to matter enough to you to do whatever it takes to walk in wisdom now instead of remaining asleep. I need for you to wake up. You can respond to My call voluntarily, or I will change your heart through hardship for your benefit.”

2 Samuel 14:14b NIV

“But God does not take away life; instead, he devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him.”

Proverbs. 29:1 AMP

HE WHO, being often reproved, hardens his neck shall suddenly be destroyed—–and that without remedy.

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 to 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?

John 19:11 NIV

Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above…”

Phil. 3:10-11 AMP

10) [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope]

11) That if possible I may attain to the [spiritual and moral] resurrection [that lifts me] out from among the dead [even while in the body].

 

Most of us get angry at God when He shakes up our little world, or we blame the devil for difficult times when they enter our lives and remain long enough for us to think that God has forgotten us. Few of us take the time in our panic to deliver ourselves from whatever has disturbed us to consider that our plight may be the hand of God conforming us into someone He can use to bring others to Christ. We would rather fight against a perceived enemy than submit to His desired change in us.

Even minimal observation of the world around us points to loud voices – connected to evil hearts that desire their own way with no consideration of those they hurt - becoming more prevalent. Good is now interpreted as evil and evil is heralded as good. Reason falls way behind anger. Lust has replaced honest love. Might, when powerful enough, impacts the lives of everyone involved.

God will always have a people who will not be caught unaware. His people will be prepared for anything and stronger than everything that stands in His way, because they have made their God the only priority in their lives. With eyes and hearts that look only to Him, no power on earth or in the heavens will defeat children of God who are intimate with their Father God, any more than it could defeat Jesus. Read the above verses in Philippians 3 to see the formula for overcoming.

I choose You as my priority, Lord.

Jim Corbett