Tag: Jesus

“Praise is not songs sung from a distracted heart, a wandering mind, or an organized musical score. Make no mistake; I know the difference. To Me, high praise is a devoted life that longs only to glorify Jesus. It is a heart consumed with the ardent desire to fulfill My plans and My passions. It is an inner being that is passionate to align with My Spirit by submitting to the power of My Holy Spirit and being fulfilled only when it overflows with My ideals and My character. It is a life that is continually making room for My presence. These anthems ring throughout the heavens and become choruses that weave their melodies with those of celestial beings who cry Holy, Holy, Holy!”

Psalm 46:10a NIV

Be still, and know that I am God...

Psalm 51:10 AMP 

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

Isaiah 43:21 NIV

…the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.

Luke 6:45-46 AMP

45) The upright (honorable, intrinsically good) man out of the good treasure [stored] in his heart produces what is upright (honorable and intrinsically good), and the evil man out of the evil storehouse brings forth that which is depraved (wicked and intrinsically evil); for out of the abundance (overflow) of the heart his mouth speaks.

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

 

I am convinced that the Lord God is calling His devoted hearts out of any place that is playing business-as-usual church. The heart of God is saying that dirty hands lifted in song do not please Him. They never did, but now He is making those who will listen aware of how much an abomination it really is. I believe that it is time to shake off all gatherings, programs, and rituals that sound and look like service to God—but are not and turn to Jesus for His pattern of praise while He walked as a man.

Jesus did nothing of Himself. Jesus came to die for others. Jesus was torn from communion with His Father only long enough to fulfill what He had been told to do in that time of communion, and then rushed to get back to His Father as soon as it was implemented. He continually stole away from living out life to gain the power of real life.

Jesus loved with action, wept for the decadence of those He created, and died for those who hated Him. He glorified His Father by being a devoted Son and set a pattern for us to follow. I believe that we must get on with it!

Teach me Your way, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“As you grow in Me, you will begin to realize the work that I am doing in you. You will understand two of the steps that are part of your growth pattern when serving Me. When you first come to Me through Jesus, you learn to make choices between those things that are against My will or those things that are within My will. In essence, you are making choices between good and bad.

"As My heart develops in you, your choices become those of a more spiritual nature, rather than those of your sin nature. You will be making choices between doing good things and doing those things that are specifically of Me. They are no longer choices between good things and bad things, but between good things and God things.

"I am raising you to a place that, when presented with the opportunity to decide whether to do the usual good things or do things that refine you and send you deeper with Me, you choose the latter. “Deeper with Me” is leading you to the heart of Jesus. It is a place of training for His remnant bride. It is preparing you for His soon arrival.”

Jeremiah 10:23 AMP

O Lord [pleads Jeremiah in the name of the people], I know that [the determination of] the way of a man is not in himself; it is not in man [even in a strong man or a man at his best] to direct his [own] steps.

Matthew 16:22-23 NIV 

22) Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

23) Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Out of my sight, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

 

I remember when I first came to the Lord. I was so full of worldly sins - yet so full of love for my newfound Lord - that I would fluctuate between extremes of overpowering desires to sin and then a rush to repentance immediately after my sin was committed. My life was a roller-coaster ride of high praise and deep repentance, a desire for the fulfillment of my lusts and an equally strong desire to no longer sin. I feel like I have sinned more since I’ve come to the Lord than I did before I accepted Him as my Savior. At least it seems that way because I now know what sin is.

The Bible says that the kindness of the Lord brings us to repentance. Over the years, the reality of this verse and the promised effectual working of the Word in my life have changed the complexion of my sin. Offenses that I once was powerless to overcome, no matter how hard I tried, have become distant memories and manageable temptations through the power of the Lord. The change has little to do with me and everything to do with what God has done in me. It is His covenant fulfilled in each of our lives, as we seek the Lord and choose His ways over ours every day.

As Paul changed from the hapless sinner who agonized over his helplessness in doing what he didn’t want to do - and was not able to do what he really wanted - to the person who only wanted to know his Lord and the power of the resurrection, we too are changed from glory to glory. Our purposes for living, our attitudes of service, and our focused desires all change as the work of the Lord is continually being completed in each of us.

Only You can complete what You’ve started, Lord, 

Jim Corbett

“You must never hesitate to bless someone. You must never be afraid to share what I have given you when I tell you to bless that person. It’s time for you to realize that whenever you have come to Me in your need, I have shared something of Myself with you. You have never gone away empty-handed. You have always become a bit more like Jesus. If you have the misfortune of thinking that all the wealth I have imparted to you is for you alone, you are wrong. You are My ambassador to those around you.

"Here’s how it really works. I woo you—or drive you if necessary—to Me, so that you can be changed. You come at first because of your need. Eventually you begin to come because of Our mutual love. That is when I can begin to trust you with those who also need Me. Share with them what We share with each other in its proper season. Keep coming to Me. I have much more for you. Then help others begin to know Who I really am.”

Matthew 19:14 NIV

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

John 14:12 NIV

“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”

2 Cor. 1:3-4 AMP 

3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of sympathy (pity and mercy) and the God [Who is the Source] of every comfort (consolation and encouragement),

4) Who comforts (consoles and encourages) us in every trouble (calamity and affliction), so that we may also be able to comfort (console and encourage) those who are in any kind of trouble or distress, with the comfort (consolation and encouragement) with which we ourselves are comforted (consoled and encouraged) by God.

 

Whenever we become self-centered and selfish, we lose the overall purpose of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God’s plan is to have each of us come to Him through Jesus, learn of Him; and then tell others about Him, so that they can repeat the cycle. Most of us must not really learn of Him, or else we would know His heart. He wishes that none should perish. We wish that things always get better for us.

Create in me a clean heart, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“How grateful are you for those whom I place in your life as refiner’s fires? What gives you the right to turn your back on them, when they are a gift from Me? Do you really understand that every challenge that enters your life is really a gift to you as I see it? They are agents of refinement and change. I promised that I would war against your flesh and build your spirit. You are on your way to becoming like Jesus.

"Make note of this. Everything that you face is working for Me to bring you closer to My desire for you. If you would embrace the people, situations, and challenges that you encounter, instead of becoming angry or discouraged, you would find real peace as We walk together. Look around. Find those things that are making you grow. Begin to be thankful for them and see how your life changes.”

Lam. 3:27-28 AMP

27) It is good for a man that he should bear the yoke [of divine disciplinary dealings] in his youth.

28) Let him sit alone uncomplaining and keeping silent [in hope], because [God] has laid [the yoke] upon him [for his benefit].

2 Cor. 3:18 AMP

And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit.

 

We don’t get it. God is in the business of doing everything necessary to destroy any trace of our old man, and we seem to be in the business of ignoring or never understanding the ways He is doing it. For some reason, it never seems to occur to us that almost every person, place, or thing that enters our lives is an opportunity to either show us how much we have grown, or how stagnant we really are, by the way we deal with it.  Our representation of Jesus is not defined by how spiritual we think or say we are. It is defined by how we act, especially to those who boil our potatoes.

You mean they were part of my blessing, Lord?

Jim Corbett

“Most of you understand how important it is to prepare for the season ahead. Others have become desensitized and lulled to sleep. While they rest in comfort, much is being organized against everything for which they stand. You, however, must heed My exhortations to minimize the importance of things that matter little in My economy. You must fix your heart on eternal wealth.

"For those of you who are seeing the times and seasons and have turned your hearts toward the heart of Jesus, I delight in your wisdom. You please Me. I will be able to use you during perilous times because you have the kind of power needed to overcome any ploy of the enemy. You will exhibit My love when others hate. You will be free when others flee in terror. You will freely give away whatever does not own you.”

Gen. 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.

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 wakened 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.

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.”

 

Have we, as followers of the Lord, lost our wide-eyed enthusiasm for the end of things as we know them? Have we become so attached to this world, holding it so close, that we fear the loss of our comfort more than relish the wonder of the Lord’s plans being fulfilled? I believe that some of us have.

I know that most of you who read these messages have ceased to play games with God and are serious students of His Word. I know you see the times and seasons and understand the need for preparation. From the correspondence that Merry and I receive from you, your hearts are longing for truth.

As I write this, I believe that the Lord is asking me to ask you to quietly check to see if some attachment has robbed you of perfect zeal and absolute devotion. The sense that I feel as I pray is that the Lord is calling His people - the ones who have heard His heart - to make sure that no wrong footholds have been embraced because of the pressures and distractions of recent months, possibly years. Your weariness and the length of your situation are beginning to change your focus and you need to address whatever it is. It is almost like a call for an equipment check before engaging in battle. It is a call of love from a devoted Father.

Thank You for being so close, Lord,

Jim Corbett