From Our Father's Heart: May 2013

Friday, May 31, 2013

5/31/13

"I call you to be grateful for everything, but there are things much more important than the blessings that are yours through the world. As you grow, you will see that thankfulness for refiner's fires that change you is extremely important. You will be grateful for those who use you wrongly when you understand that they have done you a service by allowing you to see how far you've come in Jesus. True thankfulness is a continuous state of heart and it exhibits its fruits over time and in the proper season. I am thankful that you have embraced Jesus. I am anticipating the time when We will spend intimate moments together. I am delighted to call you My child."

Genesis 1:31 NIV

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.

Psalm 111:2 NIV

Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them.

Psalm 150:1-6 AMP

¹ Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in the heavens of His power!

² Praise Him for His mighty acts; praise Him according to the abundance of His greatness!

³ Praise Him with trumpet sound; praise Him with lute and harp!

⁴ Praise Him with tambourine and [single or group] dance; praise Him with stringed and wind instruments or flutes!

⁵ Praise Him with resounding cymbals; praise Him with loud clashing cymbals!

⁶ Let everything that has breath and every breath of life praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)

John 3:16 NIV

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

My Father, thank You for Your incredible love for me! Only You know how little I deserve the wondrous gift of Your Son. He died so that I might live. I am forever grateful. So many times I have given up on You. You, however, have never given up on me. You loved me when I was incapable of loving You back. Your kindness has allowed me to never fear coming to You to be healed and cleaned up.

Jesus, how can words express the value of what You have done? "Thank You" seems so inadequate, but very necessary. Thank You!

Holy Spirit, thank You so much for Your comfort and guidance! Teach me to trust You more each day.

I am truly grateful, Lord,

Jim Corbett

Thursday, May 30, 2013

5/30/13

"I love you."

Genesis 1:27-28a AMP

²⁷ So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him: male and female He created them.

^28a And God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it [using all its vast resources in the service of God and man]...

John 3:16 NIV

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

1 Cor. 13:4,7-8s NIV

⁴Love is patient, love is kind....it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs...

⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

^8a Love never fails.

Ten years ago if someone would have said that there would come a time in this nation when we could lose our freedoms overnight or be persecuted for our faith in the United States, we would've thought that they were some kind of false doom and gloom prophet. How different the world looks now!

Because it is true that the Creator of everything loves us, we have need of nothing else.

Please make that truth very real to me, Lord,

Jim Corbett

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

5/29/13

"Watch! Begin to see everything around you with My eyes. Much is happening that fulfills My end-time plan if you have eyes to see. Most of My church is either asleep or distracted by their lusts for the world and its ways. They are blind. You watch! You listen! You tell others of the coming peril, so that they can be prepared to act like Jesus would act when it comes. Open your eyes so that you can see with My eyes!"

Jeremiah 29:11-13 NIV

¹¹"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

¹²Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

¹³You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

Joshua 7:13 AMP

Up, sanctify (set apart for a holy purpose) the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: There are accursed things in the midst of you, O Israel. You can not stand before your enemies until you take away from among you the things devoted [to destruction].

Matt. 5:11-12 NIV

¹¹"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

¹²Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

There's no denying that as we look around and open our eyes, things sure have changed. Anything is possible and could very well become probable as time goes on. How are you preparing to represent Jesus in a world that may be unrecognizable from even today's world? Are you preparing for what is on the horizon or are you like the proverbial ostrich with your head in the sand, hoping that the bad things will go away?

There is incredible power and safety for those who are walking in the fullness of Jesus. It is the only true place of His incredible presence.

Make me aware and ready, Lord,

Jim Corbett

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

5/28/13

"Will what you have planned for today matter in eternity? What about the plans you've made for the rest of the year? For that matter, how much of the resources of time, talent, and money do you use for yourself, compared to what you have dedicated to the work of the Lord? That's not meant to be a guilt trip; it is an assessment challenge.

Your works will be judged. You will answer for your stewardship of whatever I've given you. Don't fall for the ten percent trap. You said that Jesus was Lord over everything. Isn't it time that you started to do what you have promised to Him? Do you think that He cares more about how many have come to the Lord or about your excuses? This issue is very much on His heart. It should be on yours."

Prov. 19:21 AMP

Many plans are in a man's mind, but it is the Lord's purpose for him that will stand.

Luke 12:19-21 NIV

²⁰"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'

²¹"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

Luke 12:48b AMP

...For everyone to whom much is given, of him shall much be required; and of him to whom men entrust much, they will require and demand all the more.

Heb. 12:1 AMP

THEREFORE THEN, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us.

It amazes me how easily the church gets offended when challenged about our stewardship of time, gifts, and especially our money. It seems that we would rather defend selfishness that offends God than face it, do something about it, and please Him. We forget that, one day, we will be held accountable by the Lord Who accepted our songs and our promises that everything we have is His. That day is not the day to say oops!

Guide my steps, Lord,

Jim Corbett