Tag: Prayer

“Are you ready? Are you ready to expand your tent pegs? Soon your world will change. You will be required to modify your lifestyle to accommodate those challenges that will face you. For some of you, life will never be the same. External changes will not necessarily be the catalyst for your change; I will. I am about to fulfill My promises to those of you who have been crying out for holiness. I am about to equip those of you who have been faithful to My call to draw close. You will thrive during the coming difficult times. My presence will be with you. Prepare to receive My fullness.

"Prepare to become leaders to a leaderless people. As I set aside those who have not heeded My calls and have continued doing “business as usual,” you will need to step in and respond to the multitude of questions and needs. You will need to have ready answers. You will need to represent Jesus by your fearless approach to the times and seasons.

"Remember where your source of life is. It will still come from your devotion to Our relationship and spending time with Me. When the relative quietness of your world is shattered by the many requirements of your time, remember to set aside even more time with Me. Time with Me will be your resource. To be distracted from Our fellowship will dim your witness and minimize your effectiveness. Prepare now. Come to Me now. Come to Me more often then.”

Romans 15:1-7 AMP 

1) We who are strong [in our convictions and of robust faith] ought to bear with the failings and the frailties and the tender scruples of the weak; [we ought to help carry the doubts and qualms of others] and not to please ourselves.

2) Let each one of us make it a practice to please (make happy) his neighbor for his good and for his true welfare, to edify him [to strengthen him and build him up spiritually].

3) For Christ did not please Himself [gave no thought to His own interests]; but, as it is written, The reproaches and abuses of those who reproached and abused you fell on Me.

4) For whatever was thus written in former days was written for our instruction, that by [our steadfast and patient] endurance and the encouragement [drawn] from the Scriptures we might hold fast to and cherish hope.

5) Now may the God Who gives the power of patient endurance (steadfastness) and Who supplies encouragement, grant you to live in such mutual harmony and such full sympathy with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus,

6) That together you may [unanimously] with united hearts and one voice, praise and glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah).

7) Welcome and receive [to your hearts] one another, then, even as Christ has welcomed and received you, for the glory of God.

Mark 6:30-32 NIV

30) The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all 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.

 

Few of us really comprehend the value of being with our Lord. We squeeze in time with Him between our work and our daily commitments. How foolish. He should be our priority, not our minimum daily requirement.

I remember using a pressure sprayer to clean the patios, sidewalks, and driveway of a place in which we lived awhile back. (Actually I cleaned almost everything that didn’t move.) It was amazing to see the incredible difference it made. Simple hose water became a powerful force when sent through the machine. It was actually so much fun, I found myself doing more than I intended to do.

The system reminded me of our life with the Lord. We are very much like the normal hose, giving refreshment to those who need it, flowing moderately and as required.

I see continuous fellowship with our Lord as the power sprayer. Hooked up to Him, everything changes. Not only do we have the possibility of affecting others in the same way as before; but when His mighty force propels our flow, our impact is vastly different and much more powerful. We can do things far beyond anything we ever thought possible.

Keep me hooked up, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“When all your handles cease to exist, what will you hang on to so that you survive? What will you do when those things that define you are no longer available to you? You must begin to establish your identity in Jesus. Only then will you remain strong when all the world’s treasures become known for what they really are. Only Jesus will be your source for everything you will ever need. When He is all you have, He will be all you need!”

Phil. 3:8 AMP

Yes, furthermore, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege (the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage) of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him [of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly]. For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish (refuse, dregs) in order that I may win (gain) Christ (the Anointed One).

 

Would the loss of everything you call your own be the end of you? If Jesus was all that you had, and you had no hope to ever gain anything else, would that be enough for you?

I boastfully announced with most others around me during my younger Christian years that if He was all I had, He would be enough. When everything was taken away from me, I had to come to repentance. I was a hypocrite. I was not satisfied with only Jesus. I wanted security, reputation, a home, and the hope of things getting better. I found that Jesus, plus these things and more, made me who I was. It was a startling revelation; one that changed my life.

What makes you who you are in your own heart? If everything was taken away, would you be the same person that you are now? Really think about it and be careful with your answer.

Create in me a clean heart, Lord,

Jim Corbett

“To those of you who have been in My refiner’s fire, remain steadfast just a while longer. I am moving you to another season soon. In the time you are to remain under My hand of vigorous training, learn the deep lessons I am teaching you.

"Rest in My presence. I will show you My heart as We spend quality time together. When this season is over, you will understand why you needed the skills I have given you. Others will benefit from your learned obedience. I will be glorified in your life as I send you forth. Be patient! I am with you. I will soon be able to trust you.”

Deut. 1:6 NIV

The Lord our God said to us at Horeb, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain.”

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...”

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.

Rev. 2:2-5 NIV

2) “I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance.  I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.

3) You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name and have not grown weary.

4) Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.

5) Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.”

Rev. 3:19 AMP

Those whom I [dearly and tenderly] love, I tell their faults and convict and convince and reprove and chasten [I discipline and instruct them]. So be enthusiastic and in earnest and burning with zeal and repent [changing your mind and attitude].

 

In the book of Amos, it talks of two not being able to walk together unless they are agreed. How can we expect Jesus to overlook the filth of the world’s attitudes that are still in us, when He died so that they might be eliminated?   We are, in fact, saying that His suffering and death are of no consequence, if we refuse to allow lofty attitudes to be removed from our lives.

It is time that we all acknowledge our need of God’s mercy.  It is also time that we understand that He is showing us our need; so that we, in turn, will function in His mercy towards everyone, as He has. He is being merciful at this very moment as we see who we are not.

To withhold mercy would, once again, show a wrong heart motive - one of consuming God’s mercy while showing none. It is one of the most selfish of acts, most unlike the One whom we say we represent and for whom we are waiting, so that He might take us with Him because we are supposedly like Him.

The merciless heart is very much like that of the foolish virgins in Matthew 25. They came, not for the good of the master who was to arrive, but for their own good. They are also the ones pounding on the door after it had been closed and locked.  Quite a sobering thought!

Eliminate whatever You are after in me, Lord,

Jim Corbett