Tag: From Our Father’s Heart

“‘How can it be?’ you say. ‘That couldn’t happen to us,’ you tell others. How blind you are. You cannot see the signs all around you that tell you to prepare in earnest for the coming of My Son. How foolish your life is to those who really love Me. You live the days that I have given you devoted to your own needs. You walk past those whom I have given to you with a cold, uncaring heart. They are dying, and you are unaffected by their plight. You are awakened only when you are in peril. You are like drunken sailors on shore leave. Your only quest is to live for the next moment before you must return to work. My work has become burdensome to you. Now I will yoke you to a heavy plow to end your foolishness and return your heart to Me.”

I Sam. 16:7b AMP

For the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.

Matt. 9:37-38 AMP

37) Then He said to His disciples, The harvest is indeed plentiful, but the laborers are few.

38) So pray to the Lord of the harvest to force out and thrust laborers into His harvest.

Matt. 13:22 AMP

As for what was sown among thorns, this is he who hears the Word, but the cares of the world and the pleasure and delight and glamour and deceitfulness of riches choke and suffocate the Word, and it yields no fruit.

Matt. 24:42-46 AMP

42) Watch therefore [give strict attention, be cautious and active], for you do not know in what kind of a day [whether a near or remote one] your Lord is coming.

43) But understand this: had the householder known in what [part of the night, whether in a night or a morning] watch the thief was coming, he would have watched and would not have allowed his house to be undermined and broken into.

44) You also must be ready therefore, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect Him.

45) Who then is the faithful, thoughtful, and wise servant, whom his master has put in charge of his household to give to the others the food and supplies at the proper time?

46) Blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) is that servant whom, when his master comes, he will find so doing.

 

Ten years ago, most of us would have locked ourselves in our rooms, so frightened that we would not have been able to function, if the perils that we now deal with on a daily basis were present then. We have become so accustomed to the downward spiral of society—maybe not in your little corner, but in general—that we don’t even notice how horrible it really has become.

We are a nation at war. In a heartbeat, the comfortable lives that we live at present could be unrecognizable. At this very moment, there are people with aggressive agendas making sure that our lives do not remain the same for very long.

I am convinced that soon the world and most of the church will wander around from place to place wide-eyed, drooling at the mouth from fear and astonishment. Only those who know their Lord, and actually respond to the wooing to draw close to Him for His power to overcome the horrors during perilous times, will prosper. They will have unquenchable resources to bring souls into the kingdom of God, while others will be part of the huddling masses.

Somehow, most of us seem to desire to be casual observers rather than eager participants in the Lord’s work. We see the signs that were predicted in the Bible all around us. We know in our hearts that there is a time of trouble close at hand, but somehow we hope that we will be unaffected by what is about to occur. It is as if we are looking at our ever-changing world in an early morning stupor. It seems impossible to be shaken awake.

God, however, is about to do the shaking. He is about to take self-serving wimps and form them into gallant warriors for souls. In His economy, there is little time left to put up with our foolish, hedonistic lives. He has placed each of us in this generation to accomplish His will of gathering in the harvest before all is completed. He will make us into the kind of missionary that is needed for the times and seasons in which we live. It is His promise to those who press in and allow Him to do it in them. It is the only place of real safety.

 Needing the strength to have the wisdom to even press in,

Jim Corbett

“Do you understand that I am preparing you? The reason I am stirring up the desire in your heart to draw close to Jesus is so that you will be prepared for the events that are soon coming your way. Only those who know My Word, know My heart, and know how to listen to Me for everything will be able to overcome the trials that are about to occur. Formulas will soon fail. Make-believe doctrines will be shown for what they really are.

“Draw close to Me. Make Jesus the center of your life. Function in My Word. Submit to My training. Learn to need Me. I am calling you to intimacy.”

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 2:13 NIV

“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”

Luke 6:46 AMP

Why do you call Me Lord, Lord, and do not [practice] what I tell you?

Ephesians 6:10-13 NIV

10) Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

11) Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.

12) For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

13) Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

 

Many of us forget that the trials that we are going through are for a greater purpose. We are being trained to hear the voice of God and move when and where He wants us to move in a time when the voices of the enemy are much louder and stronger than they are now.

The times in which we live are deadly for many reasons; but most of all, because we are incapable of really following God. Bad doctrines, false beliefs, immature understanding, and flat-out lazy Christianity have lulled us into a spiritual complacency. It is almost like we are in a drunken stupor, unable to shake loose from the ways of the world that have permeated the church. We need to pray and ask the Lord to stir our hearts. We need to wake up and remember the times in which we are living and our role in the fulfillment of those times. We need to get as serious with Jesus as He is with us.

Get me ready, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“I am with you! My presence will precede you. I will personally be your rear guard. I will build a hedge of protection to your right and to your left. Though your path may be strewn with challenges at times, I will make them straight as you turn to Me. Nothing shall harm you. I will guide you with My right hand. I will be your covering. You are called to do My will. Proceed with My plans. You cannot fail! I am with you!”

 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 18:1-2 NIV

1) I love you, O Lord, my strength.

2) The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield…

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.

2 Cor. 2:14-16a NIV

14) But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.

15)  For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

16) To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.

 

The life of Jesus was a stark contrast to the stagnant religion of the self-important, pompous, segregated, and aloof religious leaders of that day. Ordinary people were free to love Him because He loved them first, something never equated with things that were called “godly” up until that time.

Honest, longing people enthusiastically chased Him everywhere He went to hear more about and experience His kind of love. They chased Him until they themselves were caught up in the wonder of eternal life.

Have you ever wondered about the situations and conversations that Jesus had with His chosen twelve that were never chronicled? Have you ever thought about the jokes they played on each other, and the fun they must have had together? Remember, the guys that Jesus chose to be with were “from the street.” They were all very worldly and full of typical “guy stuff.”

It’s easy for you and me to forget that He was on a “God-designed” mission of love, His Father’s deep kind of love. He was fellowshipping firsthand for the first time in the wonder of those He had actually created.

When Jesus walked on the earth, God was physically present with His creation for the first time since the Garden of Eden. His “adventure” allowed Him to experience the joy of those He loved firsthand, while expressing His love to them, and at the same time birthing His Father’s kind of love in their hearts.

He may not have spoken a black ’57 Chevy convertible with fender skirts and a continental kit into existence for their entertainment or anything like that; but when He left their immediate presence, He sure had a bunch of devoted people to carry on His work. They were crazy in love with Him - crazy enough to enthusiastically set a passionate enough life course that would probably lead to their deaths.

After they understood the full impact of what they were called to do and were empowered by God to do it, they embraced their mission heartily. They chose an all-out, fully committed, enthusiastic denial of self, and embraced the life of the One who showed them what love really was. Their passion set the world on a course of change, just as yours could in this day. In fact, that is exactly what you have the privilege of doing.

The kind of adventure that the first century church embarked upon didn’t begin in them because the Lord simply preached good stuff, exhibited a sour countenance to hearty fishermen, or compromised His teachings while in private. They followed the example of a life worth following, a life worth dying for.

By Your power, Lord, help me to do the same,

Jim Corbett

“The impossible is simple for Me. I spoke the universe into existence. My desire brought you to life. My plan through Jesus allows you to spend eternity with Me. I am God and there is no other. Because I gave everyone a free will, however, some choose to spend eternity separate from Me. I will do much to allow them to see truth, but they have the ultimate choice. Those of you who see and hear truth must tell them, so that they can make that choice to accept Jesus before it’s too late. It breaks My heart that anyone should perish.”

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.”

 

It fascinates me how some people blame God whenever they get the chance if they have a rebellious heart. They accuse God of anything and everything from pollution to His creation of hell. Some even get angry at Him if He doesn’t do things their way. Many people will curse Him for living up to His Word when He tells them that because of the choices they made, choices contrary to His plan for salvation through Jesus, they can’t be with Him for eternity.

The answer to life is really quite simple and quite wonderful. There is a God. He really is God and we are not. We serve Him; He doesn’t have to serve us. He wishes that no one would be banned from His presence, so He has provided a way for everyone to be able to spend eternity with Him through Jesus. If we accept His way, we will be with Him. If we try to be accepted by Him by doing things any other way, we won’t. Submission to His ways leads to a joyous, abundant, fruitful life, and then, a glorious eternity in His presence.

Teach me Your ways, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“When was the last time that you loved someone with reckless abandon? For that matter, when was the last time you did anything that resembled the character of My Son without the bondages of traditions, personal inhibitions, or fear?

“I would like you to know something. Please, never forget it. Because I love you so much, I have poured Myself into you. My Son gave everything away for your benefit. My people have, for centuries, given everything - even their lives - for the good of others with that same love. They have had the heart of Jesus and were justified in calling themselves by His Name. I was honored to bestow that Name on them. When they lost everything, they proclaimed My Name louder than ever. When they were called upon to give up their lives, their hearts praised Me for the opportunity to do so. No one could overcome them, because they had won every battle in their prayer closets before it manifested itself in front of them. They gave everything away in their hearts long before others took it from them. I had people who could be used to show the world the heart of Jesus.

“I am very concerned about your generation. You hold on to everything I give you, or give only a small portion of it away, calling it stewardship. Your praise is hindered because you have not completely surrendered to My Lordship. Where there is no surrender, there is no real praise welling up in your hearts. How could it come forth when it has not been nurtured in your heart? You are comparing yourselves with yourselves to see how you are faring in My economy. That is one of the reasons you do not come to repentance. Compare yourselves with Jesus, or My true prophets, or those who died praising Me in the arena. Then see how you fare and come to Me in repentance.”

Acts 8:1b and 4 AMP

8:1b) On that day a great and severe persecution broke out against the church which was in Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles (special messengers).

4) Now those who were scattered abroad went about [through the land from place to place] preaching the glad tidings, the Word [the doctrine concerning the attainment through Christ of salvation in the kingdom of God].

 Romans 15:1-7 NIV

1) We who are strong ought to bear the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.

2) Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.

3) For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”

4) For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

5) May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus,

6) so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

7) Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

 

I have often thought of writing a story about dropping someone from this generation back into the first century during the heavy persecutions; especially someone who has accepted the prosperity doctrine or the “name it and claim it” foolishness that is so prevalent within today’s church. Where would they find peace sitting in the arena or when fleeing because their homes were confiscated? Could they praise the Lord for the opportunity to lay their lives down as Jesus did, instead of speaking “positive words” to deliver themselves from the trials?

Before the rest of us judge them, how about if any one of us were there? How much fear would we have? How much “justice” would we demand when we were persecuted? How much of our prosperity would we justify when others had nothing? Would we sell everything that we had so others could have a little something? Would we demand the “right” to prosper?

Frankly, I wonder how we can feel proud of giving our pittance to the work of the Lord when Ananias and Sapphira fell down and died because they held back a small portion of what they should have given and then lied about it. Both we and they made the same commitment to God when we accepted Jesus – “Everything I have is Yours, Lord.”

The lesson has little to do with money. It is an issue of the heart. Is everything we have truly His - time, relationships, money, thoughts, etc.? I’m sure that He loves us; but is He proud of us when we have promised Him everything, yet hold back in every way, actually offering even less of what we have than what Ananias and Sapphira held back? I wonder.

Lord, teach me to hold nothing back,

Jim Corbett