Tag: Prayer

“It is your responsibility to do what is right; it is My responsibility to give you the desire and ability to do so. These are not responsibilities that I take lightly. They are pivotal to Our relationship and the expression of My covenant with you to those who are observing Our interaction. Our relationship demands nothing less than absolute trust and honesty with each other. It relies on the fact that I must create in you a new heart, one that will be obedient to My will in everything, right down to the minutest detail. The expression of My work is when you do it.

"My first creation, the angels as you know them, had no opportunity to work through obedience. When they rebelled, they were simply removed from My presence. I am working through obedience with you because of the nature of the relationship that I desire. Interaction is part of that relationship. Proper choices on your part declare the depth of your allegiance to Me. The progressive purity of your allegiance determines the depth of the flow of My work in your heart. That cycle continues until you see Me face to face. You submit, I build more of Myself in you. More of My nature in you creates more of a desire to submit, which brings more of My nature, and so on and so on. The cycle is necessary for My reasons.

"All heaven is watching this interaction and marveling at your opportunity to relate to Me in that way. You believe Our relationship is limited to what you can understand. I have plans that are far above your knowledge. For now, you simply trust Me and submit to My will as best you can. I will then give you what it takes to move deeper with Me.”

Psalm 51:10 AMP

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

Ephesians 3:10-12 AMP 

10) [The purpose is] that through the church the complicated, many-sided wisdom of God in all its infinite variety and innumerable aspects might now be made known to the angelic rulers and authorities (principalities and powers) in the heavenly sphere.

11) This is in accordance with the terms of the eternal and timeless purpose which He has realized and carried into effect in [the person of] Christ Jesus our Lord.

12) In Whom, because of our faith in Him, we dare to have the boldness (courage and confidence) of free access (an unreserved approach to God with freedom and without fear).

 

The angels are amazed that we have free access and unreserved approach to God. What an astounding truth!

We have lost our awe of God. We have been given so much grace, and have functioned under so much mercy, that our perspective of what Jesus has done for us has been limited to our ability to reason. We go to God with a yawn, demand that He respond to our wishes with pompous attitudes, and receive from Him with ungrateful hearts.

God is allowing us to have access to Him so that His eternal plan can be worked out. He, for some reason that is far beyond my ability to comprehend, desires to be patient enough with our blatant disregard for His majesty and omnipotence in order to accomplish that work in us. We really don’t get it.

When I think about how we, as the body of Christ, misuse and misunderstand the incredible privilege we take for granted, I am reminded of a small child and his very caring parents. The child functions in his daily life, oblivious and unconcerned of what it requires of his parents. His expectations for the basics of life cause him to receive them mostly without any gratefulness, and sometimes even with a demanding attitude.

In their own little worlds, children demand their portion of respect, adulation, and honor, unaware that their basic freedoms are only theirs because of the graciousness of those around them - those who have built the kind of environment that facilitates their freedoms. They go happily about their self-centered little lives, giving little thought to the magnitude of the gifts in which they function.

Are we not very much the same with God, only compounded one thousand fold? I believe that if God would ever really expose us to our puny perspectives and naive attitudes, we would fall at His feet in repentance. We would also have a rekindled gratefulness for who He really is.

Show me the truth, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“Share My heart with your friends. Tell them that I really do exist. Show them Who I am by living the life of Jesus in their midst. You will be surprised at how many people in your circle have little knowledge of Me. Many may be religious, but that’s the extent of their capacity to know Me. If you take the first step, I will bring My presence to your willingness to reach to others.”

Exodus 33:13-16 NIV

13) “If I have found favor in your eyes, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”

14) The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

15) Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.

16) How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”

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...”

Ephesians 3:14-19 NLB

14) When I think of the wisdom and scope of God’s plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,

15) the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.

16) I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit.

17) And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him.  May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love.

18) And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is.

19) May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

 

Over the years, I have encountered a good number of people who have said with their words or their actions that they are too busy to do more for God than they are already doing. In one instance, someone said that his business was so fruitful and kept him so busy that teaching a Sunday school class once a week was enough. I saw that sharing Christ has been pigeon-holed as one more activity in their lives, rather than a work of love and a passion as important as breathing.

Can you imagine how that breaks the heart of God?  Do you understand how much they are missing compared to the full, vibrant life that the Lord has planned for them if only they would decide to fall in love with Him, instead of simply taking all they can from His goodness and His promises? I would call that foolishness.

Teach me to love so deeply that I need to share You or I will burst, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“When you are in Christ, you have been made new and you are continually being made new. There are always new beginnings in Me. Old things are continually passing away and all things are being conformed into His image. Your part of this wonderful process is a life of repentance and subsequent cleansing. I know that you are in the process of change. I know that you will fail to act like Jesus every moment until His completed work on the cross is done in you.

"While you are being conformed to be more like Him to others, I want your fellowship. I desire that you come to Me to be refreshed and cleansed from any attachments to the world. Repent of who you are not and I will bring you closer to Who He is. Submit yourself to the completed work of the cross. Remain under the Lordship of Jesus. If you remain humble and insignificant in your own eyes, I will make your life significant. I will form you to be able to function properly within My eternal plans. I love you!”

2 Cor. 5-17 AMP

Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ, (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!

James 4: 8-10 AMP

8) Come close to God and He will come close to you. [Recognize that you are] sinners, get your soiled hands clean; [realize that you have been disloyal] wavering individuals with divided interests, and purify your hearts [of your spiritual adultery].

9) [As you draw near to God] be deeply penitent and grieve, even weep [over your disloyalty]. Let your laughter be turned to grief and your mirth to dejection and heartfelt shame [for your sins].

10) Humble yourselves [feeling very insignificant] in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you [He will lift you up and make your lives significant].

 

What an astounding privilege it is to be given the opportunity by God Himself to have a significant life. The whole world scurries to and fro to find some sort of significance to their existence. Everyone craves to be known and embraced for who they are. Most of the time this is the driving force for all their worldly deeds and accomplishments.

If we have submitted ourselves to the Lordship of Jesus, we are known and appreciated by God for who we are. We also live in the promise whereby He will form us into the image of the most wonderful, most significant life ever lived. How wonderful it is to know and be known by the One Who created us in the first place. How wonderful it is to be able to live daily with the peace of knowing that we are significant and that our lives really matter.

I submit to Your hand, Lord,

Jim Corbett