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7/27/23 To Love as He Loved

“Are you prepared? Are you prepared to work ceaselessly and tirelessly to understand My ways and find My heart? Are you prepared to defend the honor of Jesus at any cost? Will you give up your life for His life to work through you, so that others can know Who He is? Will you turn from your ways and embrace His ways just because it is right to do so? Are you prepared to love as He loved? Start now!”

 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.”

Jeremiah 12:5 AMP

[But the Lord rebukes Jeremiah’s impatience, saying] If you have raced with men on foot and they have tired you out, then how can you compete with horses? And if [you take flight] in a land of peace where you feel secure, then what will you do [when you tread the tangled maze of jungle haunted by lions] in the swelling and flooding of the Jordan?

 

The above Bible verses confirm in my heart that the Lord always tells His people to prepare for a time when strength they do not have at present will be needed at a future date. He is looking for us to grow up, heed His warnings, and become strong enough to face those predicted challenges.

Even the most casual observer can see that our world is changing rapidly. Over the years, the Lord in His mercy has been warning His children to prepare for a time when we will need to be able to function with the heart of Jesus in the midst of those who do not want Him and those who say they serve Him but have no strength to do so.

Most of us don’t want things to change, and some of us desire to discard the warnings; but wish as we might, we cannot stop what is going to happen, especially if these are the end of the end times. Maybe it’s best to heed the warnings and submit to the changes that are needed to represent Jesus properly when called upon to do so.

Do what it takes to prepare my heart to glorify You, Lord,

Jim Corbett

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7/26/23 Examine Your Heart

“I seek out the hardened heart to change it. I pursue the damaged heart to heal it. I embrace the seeking heart to fulfill My Word in it. Examine your heart. Is it soft toward My ways? Are you available to the moving of My Holy Spirit for My reasons? You need to be.”

2 Samuel 14:14b NIV 

“God does not take away life; instead he devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him.”

Psalm 51:10 AMP 

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

 

I am convinced that God is very particular about heart motives.  Why we do whatever it is that we do is far more important to the Lord than it is to most of us. Jesus had compassion for His motivation. We usually have personal agendas or pride at the center of our actions.

If our motivations for our actions are really as important as I think they are, there are going to be some very surprised Christians facing Jesus one day. I’m afraid some of us will only be bringing tinder for an incredible fire, when we thought we were carrying crowns to lay at His feet.

Change my heart, Lord,

Jim Corbett

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7/25/23 Learn Your Lessons Well

“Do you know that you are to be a herald and an ambassador, representing and proclaiming the glories of your Lord? My Holy Spirit is to precede you wherever Jesus chooses to make His presence known. After He prepares the way, you are to move with Him, bringing the character of Jesus to those who need to hear and see. Learn your lessons well. Become a study of your Lord. Learn His heart. Put aside any other gods you served at one time, so that you don’t represent them to the ones to whom I send you. Bring His clear life where it is needed through the Holy Spirit’s power. Watch how His life, flowing through you, changes things.”

Acts 4:29-35 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.

32) All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.

33) With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.

34) There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales

35) and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.”

2 Cor. 2:14-16a NIV 

14) But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.

15) For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

16a) To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.

2 Cor. 5:20 NIV 

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.

 

Sometimes we forget that one of our primary purposes is to take the indwelling Spirit of Jesus to everyone to whom we are sent. That is who we are, what we do, and one of the very important reasons that we have been born again.

Thank You for reminding me, Lord,

Jim Corbett

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7/24/23 Do Your Days Count?

“You have been given an allotment of days. What are you doing with them? These specific days have challenges that you will face. How are you going to handle them? You have been designed to overcome any and every challenge as We walk together. You have been given power to rise above whatever attempts to destroy your peace if you trust in Jesus. Allow Him to live His life through you to overcome. Allow Him to be your Victor. His plans are My plans. His directions are My directions. You cannot fail if you trust Him.”

Amos 5:4b AMP

…Seek Me [inquire for and of Me and require Me as you require food] and you shall live!

John 16:33 AMP 

I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]

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…

 

Jesus was brought into a world so perilous that children were killed at the whimsical edict of an evil king, crucifixions were as commonplace as morning walks, and people were held in slavery to ignorant teachers and foolish guides, yet He was absolutely fearless. His passionate love, His intimacy with His Father, and His zeal for imparting truth made Him “Teflon” in a world seething with infectious evil and eternal danger. His presence in any society was a gift of love from His Father God. We are in training to be the same kind of gift to those around us wherever our Father sends us.

To have the wonder of the living Christ residing in us is one of life’s profound miracles. To have Him desire to share our time on this earth and then for eternity is an astounding privilege. To not take full advantage of this wondrous gift is foolishness.

Remove my foolish heart, Lord,

Jim Corbett

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7/22/23 Get Uncomfortable

“Do you know how the words “I will have a people who serve Me with all of their hearts” will impact your life?  It means that your personal world will never be the same. At present, you have little desire to serve Me with all of your heart. There are many distractions that vie for your allegiance, and you submit to most of them. Many of them rob Me of My time with you. Many of them rob you of your desire to spend time with Me. That is not a positive combination. Would you think it cruel of Me if I removed everything from your life that hindered you from becoming like My Son? Would you curse Me if you were brought to a place of absolute dependence upon Me for your next morsel of food, a moment of safety from the surrounding terrors, your very life?

"I am deeply concerned for you. No matter how many times I call you to intimacy, no matter how often I warn you of the coming terrors, you have little knowledge of what it is like to have Me and Me alone for your sustenance. You don’t even seem to care. So many other gods occupy your world that you have little determination to learn of My Son, even though He is the key to your safety when your world falls apart. When will you stop the foolishness? Look around. How can you miss the abundance of signs that proclaim imminent changes in your world? How can you not respond to My calling to become holy so that you can overcome what lies ahead?

"Look to those who see with My eyes. Listen to My prophets - not the street-corner variety - but those whose strong words make you uncomfortable. Listen to what I am saying and determine in your heart to move with Me in the soon coming times. I will have a people who will serve Me with all of their hearts.  There, I’ve said it. Now what will you do in response?”

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].

 

According to the Bible verses above, Paul had a determined purpose that drove his life. He was hungry for God. His whole being embraced his calling and he knew that he needed everything that the Lord had for him to be able to make it. Since he did make it, it would be good if we embraced his formula.

His unswayable (Is that a word?) determination was his first direction for us to follow. We need to get serious.

He wanted to truly know Jesus. Not a bad choice for a mentor.

He wanted to know what was provided for him at the cross and the resurrection. What were his tools? How much of God did he have at his every call for help? Where was true power to overcome and how could he tap into it?

Now he tells us. If we die to our every desire and take up His cross, we will rise above every worldly god and function in concert with the only real God even while in the body.

He got it, and it proved powerful to the end. Study these wealthy verses until they are deep in your heart. Feed on them and determine to get determined.

Determined to become determined,

Jim Corbett

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