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1/09/24 Just Love ‘Em

As a daddy, you have the privilege of loving your children right into the kingdom of heaven! You have the opportunity to forgive them for any time they’ve offended you, and be there for them when they fail and fall. You have the honor of sticking up for them when others decide to separate from them for whatever reason, and the joy of being their guide, counselor, father, and friend.

In today’s society, there are few opportunities to have really close lifetime friends. Other than Jesus, who promises to stick closer to us than a brother? Most of today’s youth rarely find that kind of companionship. You can be that person they can count on to love them no matter what, even if they don’t want it or ask for it.

No one can stop you from loving them. No one can stop you from praying for them. No one can hinder you from holding them in your spirit before the Lord until they can walk in the way God has planned for them to walk.  You, as a father, have the privilege of watching them grow and blessing them at every turn.

So let’s get on with it! Put aside anything that may separate you from your children. Stop being a watchdog and become a devoted father/advocate. Love them even if you can’t tell them. Hold them before the Lord even if you can’t hold them in person because of the past. Become the father God intends you to be. God loves them; so should you!  What happens next is up to Him.

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

 

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1/08/24 You Are in Ministry

“How do you rate other believers? When will you give up on those who do not believe? In fact, what is the benchmark you use to classify anyone that I place in your path? Do you know that My love has no limits? Everyone that has been given breath is very precious to Me. Jesus gave His life for your worst enemy. He died so that the one who hates you may find eternal peace with Me. Do you know that the very people that are part of your world are there so that they might embrace the work of the cross because you show it to them?

"You might encourage someone who is about to give up on Me, because they do not understand My ways. You might have the privilege of displaying the virtues of Jesus to those who hate Him and scorn His work. Contact with you might soften his or her heart. It could happen tomorrow. The very reason you may want to escape from the pressures of scrutinizing eyes and judgmental lips may be the reason I have placed you there. You are the vessel of My hope placed in their midst. What are you doing about it?”

II Cor. 6:3-13 NIV

3) We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited.

4) Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses;

5) in beatings, imprisonment and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger;

6) in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love;

7) in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left;

8) through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors;

9) known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed;

10) sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing and yet possessing everything.

11) We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you.

12) We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us.

13) As a fair exchange—I speak as to my children—open wide your hearts also.

 

Most of us wait to one day be in ministry. What few of us realize is that from the moment we accepted Jesus as our Savior, we have entered the ministry. You and I are in full-time ministry. How and where we minister is the only difference.  Someone once said that “ministry is a whole lot of ordinary days.” I find that very true.

I am often approached and asked how to get into full-time ministry. How do I start a youth group? How do I start a church fellowship? How do I win my husband or wife to the Lord, and so on?  The Lord showed me the biblical formula for every one of those questions. His answer to me when I asked Him some of the same questions was: “Fall deeply in love with Jesus and begin to love those around you.”

Show me how to live Your love, Jesus,

Jim Corbett

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1/08/24 Office of Service

Did you know that you have the opportunity to follow a life that can’t be beaten? His Name is Jesus. Because He came to serve and give His everything, no one could take anything from Him. He had already overcome their greed.

You, as a husband and father, have the same opportunity to flow in the unbeatable power of the cross. As you serve your wife and children through the power and wisdom of God, you overcome anything the world will attempt to do to harm them. Submitting to Jesus and emulating His life takes you into a whole new dimension of authority and power - a power the world doesn’t understand, but a power God endorses and enforces. How wonderful is that?!

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

 

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1/06/24 Are You Prospering?

“If I were to remove everything that you hold dear from your life, would you still serve Me with all your heart? You really need to think about that! Some of you base My love for you on how I have blessed you. You see yourself as being in right standing with Me because you have much to show for your efforts. You are living far from truth. The epitome of My love hung on a cross, bleeding for those who cursed Him and Me. That is how He prospered. He was the most prosperous person that ever walked your land. Jesus loved so much that He kept nothing for Himself, even His life.

"Arrange your priorities to be in line with His priorities and you will truly prosper. Start by loving others more than you love yourself. That means some of you will have to eliminate the gods you have formed for yourselves - those gods that you really serve, and those that you demand serve you.”

Psalm 25:12-14 NIV

12) Who, then, is the man that fears the Lord? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him.

13) He will spend his days in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land.

14) The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes His covenant known to them.

Proverbs 29:21 AMP 

He who pampers his servant from childhood will have him expecting the rights of a son afterward.

Luke 9:23-25 AMP

23) And He said to all, If any person wills to come after Me, let him deny himself [disown himself, forget, lose sight of himself and his own interests, refuse and give up himself] and take up his cross daily and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying also].

24) For whoever would preserve his life and save it will lose and destroy it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he will preserve and save it [from the penalty of eternal death].

25) For what does it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and ruins or forfeits (loses) himself?

 

When I study Proverbs 29:21, I see a picture of many of us who call ourselves Christians. The proverb reveals a heart that has become so blinded by his comforts that he has forgotten that they all have come to him because of the mercy and grace of his master. He now demands from the master instead of being grateful.

In these closing hours of time, God is revealing our true heart motives and demands. He is separating sheep from sheep, finding those of us who follow the Shepherd out of love rather than comfort and safety.

If your comfort, safety, and all the things with which you identify your prosperity were gone, would you still follow your Shepherd with a loving, devoted heart? You must, you know!

Teach me how, Lord,

Jim Corbett

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1/06/24 Breaking God’s Heart

Did you know that a child who’s not serving the Lord and living a significant life for Him breaks the heart of God? Did you know that a cold marriage grieves Him and isn’t in line with His plans?  Did you know that you, as a man called to the offices of husband and father, will be held accountable before God if your marriage and family are out of order? It’s true!

As a steward of your marriage and family, you are not fulfilling the plan God has for you if you aren’t on your face before the Lord when things are out of order in either area. I’m not talking about attempting to control the lives you are involved with through a heavy hand, laws, and restrictions. That is way out of order!

God’s plan for husbands and fathers is to create an atmosphere for those you steward so they can freely serve Him. That doesn’t come with laws or physical control. It comes through prayers and petitions for help. It comes with a broken heart for others and a desire to appease the broken heart of God.

If your marriage and family aren’t serving God, you have basically one option. You need to readjust your priorities, no matter how much it costs you. You need to understand that God’s heart is breaking for them, and then get on your face in repentance. You need to stay there until He intervenes. That pleases Him!

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

 

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