Tag: Jesus

“For a long time now, I have called you to be like My Son, Jesus – to be complete in Me – but many of you have refused to listen.  You have chosen to remain in your sinful nature, denying My power to change you. You have a form of godliness, but you do not let Me complete the work that is necessary for you to show the world My Son, Jesus. Soon, My Holy Spirit will be moving in a direction that is new to those who haven’t chosen My ways. He will execute My bold judgments to make you bend to My ways, instead of allowing you to continue in your ways. There will no more be the kind of grace from Me that has allowed you to be less than I have determined for your life. The kind of grace that I will send will overpower your hardened heart.

"I advise you to buy gold from Me that has been refined in the fire, before I refine My gold in the fire of judgment, which is also designed to change you. Come to Me now. I am waiting.  Now is the time. This season is My final call - My bridal call. Do not turn from Me again, or My eyes of judgment will turn toward your life - for your good and for the glory of My Son, Jesus.”

Hosea 10:12 AMP

Sow for yourselves according to righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God); reap according to mercy and loving-kindness. Break up your uncultivated ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, to inquire for and of Him, and to require His favor, till He comes and teaches you righteousness and rains His righteous gift of salvation upon you.

II Tim. 3:1-5 AMP

1) But understand this, that in the last days will come (set in) perilous times of great stress and trouble [hard to deal with and hard to bear].

2) For people will be lovers of self and [utterly] self-centered, lovers of money and aroused by an inordinate [greedy] desire for wealth, proud and arrogant and contemptuous boasters. They will be abusive (blasphemous, scoffing), disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy and profane.

3) [They will be] without natural [human] affection (callous and inhuman), relentless (admitting of no truce or appeasement); [they will be] slanderers (false accusers, troublemakers), intemperate and loose in morals and conduct, uncontrolled and fierce, haters of good.

4) [They will be] treacherous [betrayers], rash, [and] inflated with self-conceit. [They will be] lovers of sensual pleasures and vain amusements more than and rather than lovers of God.

5) For [although] they hold a form of piety (true religion), they deny and reject and are strangers to the power of it [their conduct belies the genuineness of their profession]. Avoid [all] such people [turn away from them].

Revelation 3:10 NIV

Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.

 

I remember when I was a teenager. (Boy! That was a long time ago!) My dad would observe some of my behavior and then take me aside to show me that if I continued on the path I was walking, there would be consequences to my actions. Sometimes he would even show me very clearly what those consequences might be, should I decide not to heed his warning.

Usually I would stand there, hear what he had to say; and then continue on my way, doing exactly what I had done before. As I look back, there must have been some kind of “stupid filter” in my brain that allowed only foolishness in and filtered out all wisdom.

Good stuff - like wisdom, understanding, thoughtfulness - seemed to be a foreign language to me. It was not so much that I didn’t want to think clearly; I just don’t remember thoughts of having any need to do so. Take the importance of driving carefully, for example. It just didn’t enter into the equation as soon as I heard the sound of my mufflers or thought of the three carburetors under the hood.

The thought of applying wisdom to any of my actions never entered my mind once I started the engine.  Logic and understanding were also nowhere to be found when I got in my car. I would probably have invited them to go with me as I drove; but somehow, I don’t remember them even being available. It was as though they were not part of my brain cell group.

Sitting on the front lawn on a Saturday night, staring at my impounded car over and over again, eventually eroded some of that “stupid filter.”  What a concept. If I would listen to my dad, things would go better in my life.

In our walk with the Lord, “stupid filters” are commonplace. We just call them little sins. God, however, sees the horrible ramifications of our indulgence. He knows the terrible difference between being with Him completely and never really seeing the need to sell out to His ways with all our hearts. Eventually, because of His great love for us, He must take Fatherly action to curb our foolishness. He knows that the consequences are too great for Him to leave us where we are.

Needing to heed what is being said by my Father,

Jim Corbett

“Never judge the gifts that I give you with your carnal mind. Never judge what I am doing because things look dark. I am always looking out for your spiritual well-being. My church is cold and far from Me. Now they will need Me. As things become darker, My light will be brighter to those who turn to Me with all of their hearts. As you need Me, I will be there for you. I have told you of difficult times on the horizon. I have counseled you to cultivate an intimacy with Me. Now you will have need of knowing My will and My ways to overcome the challenges that come your way.

"It is not too late. Look upon those things that are happening around you as My gift to you. Anything that draws you to Me is very good for you. I am waiting for you to fully understand your need of Me. When you need Me, you will come to Me. That delights My heart for I know that it is My best for you. I am waiting!”

II Chr. 16:9a AMP

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong in behalf of those whose hearts are blameless toward Him.

Romans 12:1 NIV

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.

Heb. 4:16 AMP 

Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God's unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it].

James 4:7-8a AMP 

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

8a) Come close to God and He will come close to you.

 

Because of what has been prophesied in the Bible and what is happening all around us, I am convinced that in the very near future, you and I will have difficult choices to make. With those choices, we can either succumb to the temptation to protect what is ours and be consumed with our little world, or we can rise to the challenge of overcoming the world’s darkness.

We can dig in with God to find our portion of what He is doing and about to do to further His kingdom. That is the only place of safety. Our flesh may want to reel in fear. Our spirits, however, know that we will be drawn to the Lord as never before. If we submit to His power, we will overcome all of the challenges that will come our way. That is the only option for us if we say that we follow Jesus. It is our act of worship.

Allow me to receive Your gifts with Your heart, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“If you are going to walk in My authority to accomplish My work, then you must submit to My total authority over your life. If you want My presence to go forth in whatever you are called to do, then you must remove yours. You can never be the center of anything I call you to do. In fact, you are to be an empty vessel for Me to flow through. I call you to lay your life aside. Exchange your life for Mine. I call you to surrender all that you are and all that you have to the complete Lordship of Jesus.

"You have little power to really affect your world because there is so much of you in all you do. You desire to share Lordship! You desire to own some of My power. You will even distort My Word in an attempt to prove that you can maintain some ownership of your life and still serve Me. How is that working for you? Allow Me to crucify everything of your old nature. Become an empty vessel. Then see Who I really am and what I choose to do through you.”

Ps. 39:7 AMP

And now, Lord, what do I wait for and expect? My hope and expectation are in You.

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.

Isaiah 2:22 AMP 

Cease to trust in [weak, frail, and dying] man, whose breath is in his nostrils [for so short a time]; in what sense can he be counted as having intrinsic worth?

Isaiah 40:31 AMP

But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired.

Isaiah 42:25 AMP

Therefore He poured out upon [Israel] the fierceness of His anger and the strength of battle. And it set him on fire round about, yet he knew not [the lesson of repentance which the Assyrian conquest was intended to teach]; it burned him, but he did not lay it to heart.

 

Jesus asks us to exchange our lives for His. We continually want to share in the lordship of our lives, to take part in our healing, our spiritual growth, and sometimes even our salvation. He asks only that we give our old life away in exchange for His to be lived through us. Why don’t we understand?

Take everything, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Do you even remember how many times you have lied to Me? How many times have you made promises to Me only to do the opposite of what you have said? What about all the times you have told others you would pray for them and never gave your commitment in My Name another thought? When was the last time you made the reputation of Jesus more important than your own comfort? Do you see how little you have done to show Me that you have My concerns as the priority of your heart? I don’t like your hypocrisy, no matter how it’s presented; but I will forgive you if you repent! You need Me to change your heart and your actions now! Don’t tolerate that kind of behavior in your life, and don’t associate with those who do. Why would you think that I don’t see, and even more important, why would you even begin to believe that I don’t care?”

Psalm 51:10 AMP 

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

Acts 5:1-5a NIV

1) Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property.

2) With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.

3) Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?

4) Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.”

5a) When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died.

 

“Yeah, OK, but today lies are not as important to God. Nobody’s been killed like that lately. Anyway, everybody’s doing it! I know some people who say they love Jesus and can’t be trusted at all. Look around, nobody gives important stuff to God anymore. I think He just wants us to look and feel good, no matter how selfish we really are. You see, He understands that …”

I believe that some of us who call ourselves representatives of Jesus and stewards of what we have been entrusted with are going to be very surprised one day. Our hands are dirty. It’s time to change now!

Oh, Lord, have mercy on us!

Jim Corbett

“Do you hear the swords rattling all across the nations? Can you not see the sides being drawn? Is it not becoming increasingly clear that your safe little world is about to change forever? What are you doing about it? How are you preparing yourself, so that I can use you during desperate times? Are you locking up with Me, so that you are bold when others are immobilized with fear? Are you prepared to show people Jesus, when they finally realize that they need to turn to Him? You realize that you have been born for this season to carry out My Word, don’t you? What are you doing to prepare for your task?

"You need to come to Me for My reasons, instead of your petty stubbed toes. You need to learn to love deeper and stronger than the hate of the world. Now is the time. Soon it will be too late. You won’t have what is needed to overcome if you don’t come to Me now. Instead of being My vessels of honor and power, walking in the fullness of My love, you will be part of the cowering masses. My, my, what you will be missing!”

Zechariah 7:13 NIV 

“ ‘When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen.’ says the Lord Almighty.”

2 Chr. 16:9a NIV 

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

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.

Acts 4:29-31 AMP

29) And now, Lord, observe their threats and grant to Your bond servants [full freedom] to declare Your message fearlessly,

30) While You stretch out Your hand to cure and to perform signs and wonders through the authority and by the power of the name of Your holy Child and Servant Jesus.

31) And when they had prayed, the place in which they were assembled was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they continued to speak the Word of God with freedom and boldness and courage.

 

There are many stories and fables about preparedness. It generally ends up that the ones, who wouldn’t heed the warnings to be prepared for the predicted season of danger, are found seeking assistance from the ones who did heed the warnings as the season comes upon them. The prepared ones usually help the unprepared and some lessons are learned. Those are nice stories and worthy of attention. There is one situation, however, in which things won’t work so well for the unprepared.

When God calls His people to prepare, only those who respond to His call will prosper when whatever is ahead happens. Since God gives Himself when people come to Him, those who will not heed the call will have little of the nature of the Lord to call upon when peril hits. His nature is what is needed to overcome any situation. Because they responded to the call to intimacy, those who have His nature may desire to help; but they will not be able to give away what only God can give.

This can only end in tragedy for those who decide to respond only when peril is at the door. The nature of God is imparted over time and for reasons other than for selfish survival in panic situations. It is imparted so that His people can rise above any situation and accomplish His purposes in His way.

God has been calling His people to come to Him for some time now. There are very hard times coming in the near future. Those who are responding to His call have become aware of the dangers in our world and are receiving the nature of the Lord to understand them from His perspective. He imparts the part of Himself that sees future situations as opportunities to bring others to Jesus, rather than times to cower in fear. Others, those who are not responding to His call, are going about the business of fighting for their rights, and making unfruitful, personal petitions to pad their comfort areas. They will miss out on walking in concert with the Lord and overcoming the peril of the times ahead. What a tragedy!

I want to live in Your truth for Your reasons, Lord,

Jim Corbett