Tag: Jesus

“How much time do you need to get your house in order? How far is your heart from the heart of Jesus? What is the name of the god that you really serve? These are several of the questions that I have been asking you to answer for some time now. Distractions have forced you to modify your priorities for a season and you have set My priorities aside to serve other impending needs. Because you have done that, you have become weary. It is important that you bring your focus back to My heart focus, and approach these and other areas of your life with renewed vigor, or you will not be ready when I need you.

"One of the tactics of the enemy of your soul is to desensitize your heart to My every desire. He often brings so much debris into your life that you reel from its pull and are guided by its influence and seeming importance rather than by My guiding voice. You become so busy that My priorities are no longer the center of your attention. Even good-sounding activities and needs that appear important will often bring you to the point of exhaustion. I understand how that can happen, but now you need to shake yourself loose from anything that takes My place as a priority in your life.

"Get back to the kind of fellowship that We had begun. Sit quietly with Me. Listen to My heart once again. Do not listen to the lie that My needs are heavy weights and that time away from My tasks will give you rest. The opposite is true. You have been trained to place your burdens on Me. Any distraction that causes you to handle your life by yourself is no longer a part of your new nature. Its weight brings weariness, not peace. Your only place of true rest is in Our fellowship. You now only receive true joy when you give the control of your life to Me, rather than being controlled by circumstances and situations.

"As you return to Me, I will pour My peace back into your heart. I will refresh and strengthen you. I will be your source of joy and peace once again. I will restore your proper focus. Together, We will overcome anything that has invaded your heart, so that you can see clearly once more. Come to Me now. I am waiting for you.”

Matthew 11:28-30 NIV 

28) “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

29) Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

30) For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Mark 6:30-32 NIV

30) The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all that they had done and taught.

31) Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

32) So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.

 

Each of us must find a way to shake loose from the demands of our “every days” and run away with Jesus. I know that is a tall order for some of us. It must, however, become a priority in our lives.

If every one of us, who are too busy because of life’s demands, could express our true longing, it would be for simple, quiet moments with Jesus. That is because our new, born again spirit has that desire as its only priority. Our inner being is happy only when it is resting with its Lord. That place with Jesus is the only true source of joy and comfort.

If we can find time for meetings with people, if we can be active in sports, if we schedule appointments, why can we find so little time for Jesus? It should be our main goal in life, especially during these times and seasons.

Why wouldn’t a homemaker get a babysitter once a week for three hours so that she can be with Jesus or share “Mom” time with other moms, so that all could find moments to tuck away?  What about a businessman actually scheduling an appointment during his day, so that he can be locked up with the Word? Think of the possibilities. We are creative in all other areas of our lives; what happened to us when the most important need in our life is set somewhere in the back of our minds or forgotten completely? How foolish have we become?

Replace everything else with Your presence, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“When will you really begin to stop playing church games? When are you going to stop talking and start acting out what you have been called to do? Where is the corresponding outpouring to what you’ve been given? Do you realize that you are only eternal moments away from looking into the face of Jesus? What are you going to say when He asks for your portfolio? To those of you who are diligently seeking Me for direction in your lives, be patient; I am at work. I will soon show you who you are in Me and where I want you to spend My time. You are faithful, and I am pleased.

"To those of you who have been lulled to sleep, or settled into complacency, or stopped seeking Me with all your heart for your purpose in life - I am setting My chin against you for a moment, until you come to repentance. You are in danger, and I cannot allow you to remain in your sin. Get up. Get involved in My work with My kind of heart. Find out what I am doing in your midst and pour your life and everything you have into it. I will require an accounting of your moments and resources soon. Time is short. If you don’t understand My heart, why I am calling you to account; and then respond with sincerity, I will move on. Someone else will take your place and accomplish your task. You will miss what I have for you.”

Esther 4:1 AMP

Now when Mordecai learned all that was done, [he] rent his clothes and put on sackcloth with ashes and went out into the midst of the city and cried with a loud and bitter cry.

Esther 4:4 AMP

When Esther’s maids and her attendants came and told it to her, the queen was exceedingly grieved and distressed. She sent garments to clothe Mordecai, with orders to take his sackcloth from off him, but he would not receive them.

Esther 4:13-14 AMP

13) Then Mordecai told them to return this answer to Esther. Do not flatter yourself that you shall escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews.

14) For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance shall arise for the Jews from elsewhere, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows but that you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this and for this very occasion?

 

The above selected verses paint a brilliant picture of positioned people who have choices to make. In the simplest form, it goes like this. Mordecai was sincerely crying out to the Lord, asking Him to overcome what had been put in place against His people. Esther was in a position of influence and vast resources, enough to have a real impact on the challenge and the fate of her people; but she feared to get involved because she was primarily focused on herself and her own well being. Mordecai showed her that she was the one ordained for the task at hand; but if she didn’t respond commensurate with her calling and the various resources she had been given, someone else would be used and she would be set aside.

Let me not step aside, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Your world is in constant turmoil and always changing. Small people with evil eyes and loud mouths demand your attention. Their incessant hatred will challenge you to become more like Jesus, so that you can bring hope to those who need to hear truth. People are running out of answers. Give them the answer. His Name is Jesus. You are His representative. Get your eyes off of yourself and your needs.

"I will take care of you. Find out what purpose I have for your life and then function in your calling. You are needed now! Help others to see Jesus before it is too late for them. I am counting on you!”

 1 Cor. 6:19b-20 NIV

19b) …You are not your own;

20) you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

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.

2:Cor. 10:3-5 NIV

3) For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.

4) The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

5) We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

 

Many people in the body of Christ have forgotten why they have been given breath to breathe. It is to proclaim Jesus to a world that has no answers by living His life before them and for their eternal good. Any other focus eventually leads to a dead end road, leaving believers with the same fears that the world has.

Jesus brings life. The life lived for Him brings life to others and has unlimited resources to overcome any challenge, anywhere, anytime. No power on earth can dilute its God-ordained power to rise above anything the world and its ways attempts to throw at it. Life in Jesus sees through fear and on to promise. Loud voices and violent eyes only drive the one in Christ to the safety of His presence. Fearful times bring the remembrance that the Word of God is being fulfilled in our midst. God’s ways are high above any ways of the world.

Teach me Your ways, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Where are My representatives? Where are the sold-out members of My family who care about the souls of others before their own interests? To those of you who have given your lives completely to Me and are in My service with your whole hearts, keep up the good work. I am with you. To those of you who still are not hearing, you need to listen with your spiritual ears. I remove your money to get your attention; and you work harder, taking even less time for Our relationship. I place you in situations that are impossible for you to solve; and you struggle until you are exhausted, instead of surrendering to Me. I bring relationships into your life that challenge you to show them Jesus and you run for cover the first time they offend you.

"What is it that you do not understand about your life in Christ? What do you not comprehend about a refiner’s fire? Please grow up so that those who need Jesus might see Him in you. Submit to My hand of training. Embrace the ways of Jesus. You are needed in these end times.”

 Gal. 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.

James 1:2-4 NIV

2) Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,

3) because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

4) Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

 

A friend and I were talking about a person whose life ended in tragedy. We discussed all the “if only’s” regarding the life mentioned. If only his mother had known the Lord. If only his wife had told him about Jesus. If only friends, teachers, or peers had been there, he probably would have turned out differently. His life could have been a benefit to others instead of an astounding tragedy. I wonder how many people we could influence if we would really get our eyes off ourselves and get serious about the Lord’s business?

I also think about the astounding number of people who have heard God’s “Good News” and have been changed. Those of us who know the truth fully understand that the difference between an eternally valuable life and one that ends in tragedy is Jesus. Knowing that truth, you would think that we would submit with all of our hearts to the desire of the Lord that none should perish. Help us, Lord!

Help me, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Prepare to begin to implement what you have learned from spending time with Me. I am about to move through those who have responded to My call to intimacy. I am about to have you walk in your chosen calling. What you have been through until now has been the preparation of your heart and the discovery of your life’s direction. Now I will bring My presence to the work of your hands. You have submitted to My training. You have repented of your carnal religion. You have responded to My call to get your house in order. You have repented of following anything but My wishes. You have become Mine with your whole heart.

"Now I can trust you to listen only to My voice. Now I can send you where you are needed. Dress for war. Dress for peace. Be ready to heal the broken. Be alert for the needy. Be prepared to be My hands and My voice in every season. I will send you forth from My lap with My love for those who are ready to hear. Take My heart to them. Show them Jesus!”

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.

Proverbs 16:9 AMP 

A man’s mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps and makes them sure.

Acts 8:1b&4 NIV

1b) On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and  Samaria.

4) Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.

 

Our loving Father has an incredible way of moving us from our comfort zones and into action on His behalf. In these days, He is allowing those He has in training to experience challenges that strengthen their faith, remove their personal will; and equip them for service done with the heart of Jesus. He is cleaning the house and the heart of those He is calling to service in these end days.

Recently, the Lord spoke to my heart. He asked Merry and me to seek Him for direction. That may be a simple request, but it sent us on a journey of discovery akin to little we have known before. His direction has caused us to clean our house. We have found and chosen to put aside those things that redirect and distract us from focusing on the tasks He has called us to do. We have discovered areas in our lives that have been a part of us for so long that we failed to realize that we were doing them out of habit, when the Lord was trying to get us to ask why we were doing them at all. He has told us to lay aside those things that are cumbersome and nothing more than extra weight to carry. In essence, He is streamlining our lives, putting His order to them so that He can bless the work of our hands and make us truly fit for service in these special days.

I submit to Your hand of training, Lord,

Jim Corbett