Tag: Jesus

“The way to the throne is always by way of the cross. The resurrection life can only come from the grave. Most of My people short-circuit the plans that I have for them, because they attempt to bypass My way of doing things. They attempt to find a relationship with Me on their terms, rather than in the way that I have established through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Why would you believe that I would acknowledge any other pattern for your life than the life that He exhibited before the world? He came to show you the way.

"You want My favor, but you are unwilling to embrace the understanding that the cross is what I recognize—not your positive confessions and your faith in your faith. Give yourself completely to Me now. Humble yourself before the cross. I will lift you up and make your life significant.”

1 Cor. 11:1 NIV  

Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

2 Cor. 1:8-10 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.

10) He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us…

Jam. 4:7-10 NIV 

7) Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

8) Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

9) Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.

10) Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

 

Our significance is in God, not in whatever we place our significance. We live in a day of pride—pride as a nation, pride in our accomplishments, pride in the things we own, even pride in the sports teams for which we root.

The great things of the Lord spring from humbleness and personal insignificance. We will never have God’s kind of worth until we see things from God’s perspective. He is not looking for us to get better at anything, even serving Him. He is looking for us to understand and function in our need of Him in everything. That goes against everything that we hold dear. As soon as we understand and embrace His ways, we will be free.

Teach me Your ways, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“The extent to which you allow Me to eliminate your life will be the extent to which I will be able to replace it with My life. That is why there are so many different motivations within My church. It is because of the varying depths of surrender.

"First and foremost, everyone, who wants to be Mine and spend eternity with Me, must surrender their lives to the work that I have done through Jesus, and make Him the only Lord of their lives. Everything is simply religious games until that step is taken. Without surrender, there is no relationship. When you surrender to Jesus, you are made spiritually alive and able to spend time in My presence.

"After that, how much you desire to be like Jesus is up to you. The extent to which you choose to surrender will be the extent to which He will live through you. I will work with you to make proper choices and in-depth commitments. Your job is not to try to become more like Him; it is to become less like you through My power. I will change you when We are together. As you voluntarily decrease, He will increase. Spend time in My Word and with My Word. Allow My Holy Spirit to lead you into truth. It is why you have been created all over again.”

Matthew 16:24-25 AMP

24) Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interests] and take up his cross and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying, also].

25) For whoever is bent on saving his [temporal] life [his comfort and security here] shall lose it [eternal life]; and whoever loses his life [his comfort and security here] for My sake shall find it [life everlasting].

John 3:30 AMP 

He must increase, but I must decrease. [He must grow more prominent; I must grow less so.]

John 6:57 AMP 

Just as the living Father sent Me and I live by (through, because of) the Father, even so whoever continues to feed on Me [whoever takes Me for his food and is nourished by Me] shall [in his turn] live through and because of Me.

Galatians 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.

 

God has a plan, and we have our own plans. The tragedy of wanting our own way started in the Garden of Eden. Once we, as mankind, decided to go with our own plans and add God to them when we needed Him, things really became messy. Nevertheless, God had a greater plan all along. Instead of creating a second creation that would also obey because it is the right thing to do, (the first being the angels,) He created us—a creation that would eventually follow Him out of love. Therein lies our free will and our ability to make right or wrong choices.

The most important right choice is to surrender our lives to the Lordship of Jesus. That must be a definitive time in our lives when we cross over from death to life in our spirits. After that, we are allowed to make right or wrong choices every day. I am not talking about the typical sin choices. I am talking about choices that determine whether or not we have more of Jesus living through us. Do we surrender to Him and His will, or do we remain in charge over and over again?

It is only through the power of God that we can make the proper choices. We need to seek Him to give us the heart to desire to surrender fully to Jesus. The increasing depth of surrender allows Jesus to live brighter and brighter through us.

Give me a hunger to surrender completely to You, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Are you in the league of the know everything, easily offended? Are you complacent with your life and your spiritual walk? Have you shaken off the many times that I have come to you with My Word through chosen vessels? Get ready to have your world and your life revealed to you for what it really is. I am about to show you how I see your use of My resources and My Word in you. You will soon be given an opportunity to make My choices, because My Spirit is about to move. My remnant is about to be called forth in power. Those, who have submitted to the intense training of My crucified life, are about to be anointed to call forth truth into the lives in My church. They will reveal My heart and My observations because they have been with Me.

"Many who call themselves Mine will be deeply offended by the words of power that come to them through humble warriors of My cause. Many will attempt to shake off the conviction that offends their flesh but will find that it is Me Who is calling them to account. They will hate their brothers and sisters in their hearts and will attempt to nullify those who bring forth My truth— those they have considered of no account for many years. However, make-believe, self-serving Christianity is about to be revealed as the stench that it is to Me.

"My true people have been in training to rise above the foolishness that has been purported to be My ways for far too long. Now they will be My voice to call out anyone who will listen and change his or her ways. Accusing words and false judgments will not affect My well-trained ones. They will go forth undaunted by lifeless condemnation.

"To My remnant in training: Come into My presence to hear My words of love, intended for those I plan to move away from an attitude of complacency. Receive My boldness for the work I am giving you to do.”

Jeremiah 15:19 AMP

Therefore thus says the Lord [to Jeremiah]: If you return [and give up this mistaken tone of  distrust and despair], then I will give you again a settled place of quiet and safety, and you will be My minister; and if you separate the precious from the vile [cleansing your own heart from unworthy and unwarranted suspicions concerning God’s faithfulness], you shall be My mouthpiece…

Acts 4:29-31 NIV

29) “Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.

30) Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

31) After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

 

If you are at all discerning, you will have noticed the changing tides of the Lord’s church in recent years. For many who are listening to the Lord, what once was is no longer acceptable. What once worked now falls flat on the ground, ineffective. The undiscerning scramble to the next program, trying to find a way to keep going. Those who hear are seeking more of Jesus.

God will always have a people who bring His church back to center. He always raises up a remnant to bring forth truth in a system of half-truths and traditions. Do not make the mistake that some make when strong words of truth come to the church.

Some see chastisement and correction as separation and division. I am convinced that soon strong correction will come to the church from within the church. It will not be infighting; it will be the power of God moving His people back on the path of true Christian living. The call will be one to holiness, a crucified life, and complete submission to the Lordship of Jesus. It will be a call without compromise from a people without compromise in their own lives. Some will listen. Others will scorn. The call, however, will be of God and endued with His presence, coming from those who have been in training with Him.

Create in me a clean heart, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“I ask you to ponder thoroughly what you were given when you were bought by Jesus. Think past all the usual blessings and begin to consider deeply the wonders that are yours in Him. Allow Me to show you how blessed you really are to have access to spiritual wealth and knowledge with Truth as your guide. Sit with Me and My Word to discover how you have been brought into safety and what that really means. Wait patiently with Me and accept My Word deep within your spirit until its truth becomes part of your inner being and releases you from every high thing that has held you in bondage of any form.

"Understand fully the freedom that is yours because you are Mine. Take hold of the truth of your life. Discard everything that does not line up with My Word and My nature. You will move from where you are to where I want you to be because you are in Christ. You will live above the world and its ways.”

Ps. 51:6 AMP  

Behold, You desire truth in the inner being; make me therefore to know wisdom in my inmost heart.

Ps. 119:160 AMP 

The sum of Your word is truth [the total of the full meaning of all Your individual precepts]; and every one of Your righteous decrees endures forever.

Romans 2:4b AMP

…Are you unmindful or actually ignorant [of the fact] that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repent (to change your mind and inner man to accept God’s will)?

Ephesians 1:17-19a NIV

17) I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know him better.

18) I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints

19) and his incomparably great power for us who believe…

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].

 

Religion makes us cold and dead. Our relationship with Jesus brings us into a life that is full of wonders and love. We, as children of God, were never supposed to be part of the world and its ways. We are designed to rise above its horrors and bondages.

Once we fully understand how free our relationship with Jesus has made us, we will never again be touched or influenced by the fears, cares, temptations, and riches of the world. We will finally grasp what true freedom means.

Show me Your truth, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Guard your heart. Guard the hearts of your children. Pray for those with whom you come in contact. Pray for discernment within My body. Many who call themselves Mine through Jesus have little wisdom to discern good from evil. They are often taken in by the enemy and are helpless to break free from their bondages.

"Others are wolves dressed as My sheep. Be careful of them. They are already in your midst to hinder the flow of My Holy Spirit. They are actually praying against your prayers. Make sure your heart is in order. Make sure that you have spent enough time in My presence to wake up from your slumber. You need to become wise.”

Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV 

8) “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.

9) “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Hosea 13:6 NIV

“When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me.”

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].

 

When the church of Jesus Christ decides to follow the ways of the world, we become fair game for the schemes of the enemy. He delights in allowing us to attend our church services, sing our songs, and listen to each others’ prophecies. What he will come against with all of his might is intimacy with God. He loves it as long as we play church games and hates it when we really get serious and decide to dig in with our Lord, seeking holiness.

Whenever we, as children of God, choose activities over intimacy, promises over repentance, and comfort over sacrifice, we can count on cold gatherings and fruitless works. We can count on sterile spiritual relationships, which are helpless against the ploys of the enemy. We will walk blindly into his traps and joyfully remain in deep slumber, thinking that our Lord is pleased and that everything is in order.

Wake me up, Lord,

Jim Corbett