Open post

9/18/23 Sometimes Waiting Gets Old

Patience - a word avoided by most people these days, but vital when dealing with a God who patiently waits for all things to come to pass. God uses patience to deal with our trust issues. Do we really trust Him? Do we really trust His timing? Or do we usually try to convince Him it would be better if He worked on our suggestions and timetables?

True faith in God has no limitations, no timing issues, and no conditions whatsoever. It simply believes that God is in charge, and that He knows what needs to be done and when. Therein lies the problem. We don’t believe Him.

If waiting on God to do something that He has promised is taking longer than you would like, you might as well get used to the fact that He has better plans than you can see from your perspective.  It might also be good to remember that the result you are waiting for may not be the reason you are waiting. Your Lord is more than likely dealing with many other issues in you.  He may be using your need to perfect some part of you.  It may not seem like it at the moment, but that is a good thing!

If you are a man who is always in charge, needs to control, or must have things your way, get ready to become really tired of waiting on God. He will probably box you in somehow so that you can do nothing but wait. He must be in charge, and you have said that He is when you submitted yourself to the Lordship of Jesus.  Your control issues are sins that He needs to eliminate from you. Waiting longer than you would like is one of the tools He uses to put to death the dark things of your heart. Get ready to wait! It’s time for you to become comfortable in waiting.

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

Open post

9/16/23 God’s Best

“I have always given My best to you. Never have you received less than the finest that all of heaven could offer you. My love for you is more powerful than any wealth in heaven or on earth, so I hold nothing back. When it came time to redeem all of mankind from the nature that everyone legally inherited, the very best was sent to do what was necessary. His Name is Jesus.”

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.

John 10:17a, 18a AMP 

17a) For this [reason] the Father loves Me, because I lay down My [own] life…

18a) No one takes it away from Me. On the contrary, I lay it down voluntarily.

 

Have you ever seen the movie “Dances with Wolves?” There is one statement in it that has touched me deeply. When Lieutenant Dunbar was getting married, the tribe was generous in supplying him with “payment” for his bride. They would give gifts that he could, in turn, give to “purchase” her. His statement, “The more valued the gift, the more easily it was given,” reminds me of the heart of our Father God. God’s love for us was so strong that only the most valued gift would suffice when He sent a Savior. The perfect sacrifice would not have been complete with anything less. Perfection in its truest form would have been watered down if a lesser gift had been sent.

Jesus, in turn, did the same. He gave His life. There was, again, no greater gift that He, as God, could give for fallen, depraved man. Just consider the astounding imbalance. The life of God was traded for the uncaring, undeserving, rebellious heart of man.

The saga continues to unfold as we continually violate every principle established for us. God gave His best. We, when we are called upon, give what we no longer need or what we have left over. Rarely do you see the newest car given to someone in need rather than the “junker,” or the best furniture instead of whatever was replaced because it was no longer wanted. We even give second best to God, holding back parts of our lives when we have promised Him everything. Somehow, we then have the audacity to demand God’s best for us. Yikes!

Help me, Lord,

Jim Corbett

Open post

9/16/23 Just Get in the Car

A while ago I was faced with an opportunity to see how much I lacked faith and really needed God if things were going to work out. As a husband and father, the weight of my responsibility was somewhat overwhelming. We had packed everything we owned in a small truck and our van, given away what we were told to share, and spent most of what we had at the time for necessities. What little I had, I knew that my faith was being tested. I felt like a rubber band that had been stretched to its limit.

I had read somewhere that faith combined with sensitivity to the leading of the Holy Spirit fills hands that were formerly empty. Well, my hands felt really, really empty. My faith felt like a single drop of water on its way to attempting to put out a raging fire. So we went - not in a bright powerful way, but just one foot after another, one mile after another until we reached a temporary destination.

A little while later, someone mentioned a phrase that really spoke to my heart. He said something like, “Faith is simply getting in the car and going when you are told.” Boy, did that hit home! I felt that phrase applied directly to me. “Just get in the car.” That’s faith!

Men, if you are attempting to be a monument of faith to your family, you may be imparting the wrong message to them. Maybe it’s time to trust in the faithfulness of God instead of your ability to have faith for any situation. Maybe it’s time to simply “get in the car” and trust God to do what He has told you He would do. God is faithful. You are His greatly loved child. He desires to walk with you even more than you desire to walk with Him every moment.  Why not trust Him to be Who He says He is?

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

Open post

9/15/23 Separating Wheat from Chaff

“I am about to do something in My remnant people that most of My church will miss. I am about to implement My covenant with them in a much more visible form to separate wheat from chaff. To the casual observer, My hand on some will look as though they have made big mistakes and wrong decisions, appearing to fail Me and those around them. In reality, I am bringing a refining fire to their lives to purify them and bring them to the end of themselves, so that I can fill them with My Spirit.

"Although things may seem harsh at first, it is My mercy fulfilling My part of the covenant that I have entered into with My chosen ones. So often the church judges those who are going through rough times harshly. Often, I lead My children in a direction in which they appear to have failed. It is in that precise spot that they are of most value to Me.”

2 Cor.1:8-9  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.

 

Through foolish, self-serving teachings that sound good to the ear, we have doctrines that have little to do with biblical truth. Let me say this out loud. In some places this statement would be considered heresy. When you move in a direction that you believe is God and things don’t work out, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you haven’t heard Him.

The Bible is full of examples where His greatest servants looked as if they had failed miserably; when, in fact, they were directly in the center of God’s will. Paul is one of the most visible examples. He spent most of his ministry in prison. To others, even to some of those whom he led to the Lord, he was a failure.

Here are some well-worn statements that are used to cripple anyone who has moved where the Lord has led him only to find hardship and peril. You need to be on the alert for them, so they don’t cripple you when you hear them. Plan on it. When you are down, one or more of these will be given to you by someone ignorant in the Word and the ways of God.

“If God guides, He will provide. You are a burden to the church. If it was of God, it would not have failed.” These are usually said by people who have the means to relieve you from your plight but may not know what to do with you.

You don’t have enough because you are: out of the will of God, haven’t given enough, don’t tithe, there is sin in your life, you don’t hold your mouth right when you speak,” (that was a joke) and so on and so on and so on. These statements are true in some cases, but not all cases. They are usually presented to you by people who haven’t spent enough time in the Word to have their own opinion. They are simply mouthing the words of some well-known evangelist or teacher.

Don’t be discouraged if you happen to receive this counsel. Some of the most used people of God appeared foolish. Look at Jesus Himself. To many He looked like He had failed. However, plans that no one could see at the time of the cross were being implemented by the Father.

Wanting to trust my Father, even when it looks like I’ve failed,

Jim Corbett

Open post

9/15/23 Pancakes and Sausage

How many of the men’s groups around this land are no more spiritually filling than the pancakes and sausage breakfasts that are considered valuable gatherings? How many men’s groups do nothing more than gather as a social get together? How many men’s group leaders have real answers for men attempting to restore their marriages or rescue their children? Look around; there are seemingly very few.

God is in the process of rebuilding Christian families, because they are the most powerful witness available to a dark and dying world.  A proper marriage tells others about the relationship between Jesus and His church. A proper family builds a legacy that not only impacts those around them, but potentially generation after generation to come.

Men, the power, love, and wisdom needed to walk with God in order to help restore those offices will not come from one more pancake breakfast or weekly social gathering for men. It will not happen through weak leaders who have no answers for themselves. The power to help turn marriages and families around will only come to a man who desires to see wholeness restored as He seeks God in His throne room.

If the leader of your men’s group (even a pastor for that matter) is not a frequent visitor to the throne room of God, where he can receive what is needed to help rebuild marriages and families, he is nothing more than a blind guide. He’s probably a very nice, very caring guy; but, more than likely, he’s incapable of helping anyone who really is serious about God’s plan for the family, which is the key unit for all He does.  That man is unable to share and give away whatever is needed if he doesn’t own it himself.

Today is the day to look around at those you are following and those who are walking with you in life. Are they heading in God’s direction, or are they remaining where they are, hoping that things will one day get better? Are they hearing the call to become servant leaders, first in their marriages and families, and then to those around them? If they aren’t, it might be time to make some changes, so you don’t find yourself with no answers and no one to encourage you to go to God for inspired answers when they are needed.

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

Posts navigation

1 2 3 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 808 809 810
Scroll to top