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12/06/25 Keep Yourself Available

“Reflect on the things that I have been telling you over the past years. Become sensitive once again to the times and seasons in which you live. Do not allow your daily routine to desensitize you to what I am doing in the heavenlies. You must keep yourself available to Me. I may need you at an instant’s notice, so do not become spiritually sluggish. Your training will not be in vain. Many across the land have been trained over the years to be ready to move when I call them. You are one of them. Be alert.

“Do not sleep just because I seem to tarry. I am faithful to My promises. Others may not be able to hear My voice and move at My desire, but I have had you in training to do so. When I call, I am confident that you will answer. Be ready.”

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.”

Isaiah 66:9 AMP

Shall I bring to the [moment of] birth and not cause to bring forth? says the Lord. Shall I Who causes to bring forth shut the womb? says your God.

 

Upon observing the first century church, it seems that the Lord kept them in a constant state of preparedness. They believed that the Lord was returning for them momentarily. I picture them doing their daily tasks having one eye to the sky, looking for Jesus to come for them. Even though the Lord didn’t return in their generation, that continuous state of awareness made them available for use by the Lord. Their hearts were ready.

We Christians, in our humanness, have a tendency to doze off spiritually if the Lord doesn’t move in our time frames. We also have been known to interpret, or misinterpret, God’s reasons for doing things. Often, we receive a specific word, whether personally or over time as part of the body of Christ and place our own idea on the time and place of the fulfillment of that Word, which leaves much room for discouragement and heartbreak when the Lord doesn’t follow our plans.

For some time now, the Lord has been wooing His people to a closeness with Him. He has been asking us to truly separate ourselves from the trappings of the world and strive to become a true representative of Jesus. Many believe that this recent call is bridal preparation, awaiting the soon coming of Jesus.

Whether that is true or not (I believe that it is) has little to do with the importance of our being obedient to the call. Our portion as followers of Jesus is to obey whatever the Lord chooses to do, simply because it is right. We must never allow ourselves to be swayed from continually pressing in, or tire of the preparation for which He is asking, no matter what daily circumstances might bring or the length of time it takes between the call and the fulfillment. The reason for this move or any move of God and the time of its completion are rightfully in His hands, not ours.

Putting it all aside simply because You asked me to do so,

Jim Corbett

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12/06/25 Your Privilege

Men, do you remember those cute little things that you loved when you first met your wife that now drive you nuts? Remember when you were so much in love that she could do nothing wrong? Remember when all your conversations about her were glittering with accolades and glowing with wondrous praises? Has anything changed?

If things have become complacent in your marriage, you now quietly put up with those quirks, and you have few glorious praises about your wife before others because the glow of her wealth has worn off, she is not wrong - you are. If you minimize her in any way because she has flaws in your eyes, you don’t understand your office as a husband.

Here is your privilege, men! You are the only one in this world chosen by God to observe the imperfections of your wife. You are the only one in this world whom He trusts to prayerfully hold those imperfections before Him, so that she might become more like Jesus. He trusts you to never share them with others. God observes your wife as righteous and on her way to holiness. He observes her through the blood of Jesus. He is focused more on who she will become rather than on what she is not.

Satan loves it when married couples pick each other apart by bringing up each other’s flaws. Unwise couples fall for his plan, and minimize the impact their marriage could have in the world. Wise men and women understand that the limitations they have the privilege of seeing in their spouse are wonderful opportunities to hold that person before the Lord for his or her best interest. It is one of the highest privileges given in marriage. How are you doing with that?

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

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12/05/25 Occupy

“Why do you not use what I have placed in your hand until I move in the direction for which you have been praying? You are waiting for Me to give you clear direction; that is good. That is what I have formed you to do. In the meantime, there is much you can do to proclaim My Word, minister to people; and simply love those who need to see the love of Jesus. I have called you to occupy. You miss so much by not imparting the life that I have given you. Tarry with Me for your specific instructions; but while you wait, walk through the smaller doors that I provide for you. Meet the needs of those around you. Others need to see who you are in Me.”

John 4:34 NIV

”My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”

John 6:57 AMP

Just as the living Father sent Me and I live by (through, because of) the Father, even so whoever continues to feed on Me [whoever takes Me for his food and is nourished by Me] shall [in his turn] live through and because of Me.

Romans 8:28 NIV

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

 

So often we misunderstand the way the Lord wants us to occupy. We confuse waiting for specific directions on a certain matter with the commands we have been given that will never change. We have been commanded to love. We are told to proclaim the Gospel. Every day, we are to live to meet the needs of others with the means we have so far been given. These are part of our life in Christ.

Often, the Lord uses these general instructions to lead us to the specific task for which we have been created. While you are waiting for the Lord to unfold His plan or provide the resources needed to accomplish your specific ministry, you are called to do two things - spend time with Him and present Jesus to others with your actions. These are always the same.

Show me the difference between waiting for You and occupying, Lord,

Jim Corbett

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12/05/25 What Does Your Wife Need?

As a husband, your position is one of service, never dominance. If you really understand Ephesians 5, you will see that you are to lay down your life for your wife in the same way that Jesus laid down His life for you. He gave Himself up for you. In God’s eyes, loving your wife as Christ loved the church is the only reason you are to leave your father and mother and be married.

With that in mind, what does your wife need?  I don’t mean what does she want, but what does she need to help her become everything she is supposed to be in Christ? What kind of fertile soil are you providing for her to prosper spiritually?

Your marriage relationship is to be an example of the relationship Christ has with the church. The world is supposed to see Jesus through how they perceive your interaction with your wife. How is that working for you? How do your actions toward your wife - caring for her spiritual life, placing her before yourself, communication to others about her - reflect the character of Jesus in front of others?

In general, men, the family is out of order in this world, mostly because men don’t comprehend the impact of their actions toward their wives. You as a man need to understand the spiritual implications of your husband to wife interactions. You need to know that interaction not only affects your whole family, it affects how those who are watching you see Jesus.  Your continual awareness of your wife’s needs is one of God’s ways of you fulfilling your offices of husband and father in His eyes. He considers it good stuff! Do you?

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

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12/04/25 Keep Pressing In

“My mercy is always with you. Never think that I am against you. I have paid a great price to have you with Me for eternity. What Jesus gave will never go to waste just because you do not have the strength to overcome. In fact, it is because of your weakness and helplessness that He spent His life. At present, you have little ability to be what you need to become. Keep pressing in. Repent of your sin. Cry out for My mercy. It will always be there for you when you do.”

Hebrews 13:5b AMP

…for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]

Hebrews 12:12-13 NLB

12) So take a new grip with your tired hands and stand firm on your shaky legs.

13) Mark out a straight path for your feet. Then those who follow you, though they are weak and lame, will not stumble and fall but will become strong.

 

There are several forces always at work as we learn to follow Jesus. Although we are new creatures in Christ, our old sin nature continually raises its ugly head. We fall, get up, need to cry out for mercy, take strides forward; and then fall again. This cycle repeats itself with less frequency the longer we are with the Lord, but it is part of our growing up.

At the same time as this cycle is very present in our lives, we are often called upon to represent Jesus to a world needing to see His nature through us. Our command is to occupy until He comes for us. We are His only ambassadors, given the stewardship of His Word.

I am convinced that both are at play to form us into the nature of Jesus. As we fail, we need to cry out for mercy. As we cry out for mercy, we begin to understand the kindness of the Lord. We learn of His forgiveness. We also learn to submit to His Lordship and are taught obedience.

Eventually, as we allow the nature of Christ to flow through us more and more because of the work accomplished in us through our crying out to the Lord for our failures, we begin to understand the wonder of His plan. We understand that His abundant mercy teaches Who He is. Our need for His mercy teaches us of our need for Him and the wonder of what Jesus has done.

Thank You, Lord,

Jim Corbett

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