9/21/20 The Underbelly

One of the most vulnerable spots of any animal is the underbelly or underside of its body. In most cases, it consists of soft tissue with little armor for protection. Knowing that, most any foe can do life-threatening damage once the underbelly is exposed.

In the intimacy of a marriage, all faults, traits, fears, and vulnerabilities are exposed to husband and wife. In a very real sense, the underbelly or weakest areas of who they are become known to each other. Unwise stewardship of that knowledge can be deadly in the truest sense of the word.

As a husband, you have the privilege of knowing who your wife really is behind all the masks and protections put in place over the years. You get to see all her fears and weaknesses. On the other hand, she gets to see who you really are. If either of you makes that knowledge available to anyone else, even a best friend, you have violated the trust of your mate and closed down a very important part of your stewardship of each other.

If this trust is violated, walls of protection go up and true intimacy becomes impossible from that point forward. The offended mate hides his or her vulnerabilities for protection, and the offender loses the privilege of holding his or her mate before God in prayer for healing. Wise husbands and wives never allow anyone to see the underbelly of their mate. They seal their marriage; and unless it is mutually decided to seek outside help in certain instances, they seal their lips from any outside influence, so that the Lord alone is their healer as they present those needs to Him.

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

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Stop – Repent – Rejoice

We, as believers, can find wondrous truth in the fall feasts that the Jewish people celebrate every year. These feasts remind them to examine their lives and become aware of things that call for repentance. Once that repentance takes place, they celebrate and rejoice.

I believe our Lord is truly calling His people to stop and readdress their relationship with Him. We are to see what may be hindering us from the true, intimate relationship He desires with us. Second, as our sins are revealed, our course of action should be to repent of whatever the Holy Spirit exposes in us. After repentance, we can rejoice because of the freedom that comes with repentance and forgiveness. Stop – Repent – Rejoice. A God-ordained, unbeatable formula!

 

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9/19/20 Consider Your Ways

“Now is not the time to make eternal mistakes. Make sure that what you believe and who you are listening to align perfectly with My Word. If you have become complacent in your relationship with Me, do what it takes to draw close now. If you are not in My Word to have solid foundation for what you believe, drop everything and go there. If you have friends who say they know the Lord but are not serious about honoring Jesus, or care little about the sin in their lives, walk away from them. They are stumbling blocks and will hinder you from drawing close yourself.

"Whatever is consuming your time, whatever is hindering you from drawing close, whatever is stopping you from making Me your priority, remove it or nullify its influence on you. Time is too short to play spiritual games.”

 Haggai 1:7-10 AMP

7) Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways (your previous and present conduct) and how you have fared.

8) Go up to the hill country and bring lumber and rebuild [My] house, and I will take pleasure in it and I will be glorified, says the Lord [by accepting it as done for My glory and displaying My glory in it].

9) You looked for much [harvest], and behold, it came to little; and even when you brought that home, I blew it away. Why? says the Lord of hosts. Because of My house, which lies waste while you yourselves run each man to his own house [eager to build and adorn it].

10) Therefore the heavens above you [for your sake] withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its produce.

Mark 4:24 AMP

And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing. The measure [of thought and study] you give [to the truth you hear] will be the measure [of virtue and knowledge] that comes back to you – and more [besides] will be given to you who hear.

Acts 15:36-40 AMP 

36) And after some time Paul said to Barnabas, Come, let us go back and again visit and help and minister to the brethren in every town where we made known the message of the Lord, and see how they are getting along.

37) Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark [his near relative].

38) But Paul did not think it best to have along with them the one who had quit and deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone on with them to the work.

39) And there followed a sharp disagreement between them, so that they separated from each other, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus.

40) But Paul selected Silas and set out, being commended by the brethren to the grace (the favor and mercy) of the Lord.

 

Walking with the Lord is serious stuff. In fact, our relationship with Jesus is the most important relationship we will ever have. Why, then, is it placed behind most everything that seems more urgent or fun?

I am noticing that the Lord has noticed our reversed priorities. This is a topic He addresses quite regularly. He is serious; I think that we had better get serious.

Change my heart, Lord,

Jim Corbett

9/19/20 In His Hands

Although Father God has given us a stewardship of our wife and children, He asks us to turn them over to Him for their safe keeping. He is ultimately responsible for their best interests. We are responsible to give them and their needs to Him.

Foolish stewards look to their own strength and wisdom to protect and guide their charges. They personally take on their responsibility, instead of placing everything in God’s hands. Wise stewards, knowing that they are, in themselves, incapable of taking care of the needs of their marriage and family, give everything over to God.

Think for a moment of that exchange. Attempting to navigate the perils of this life with our weak, limited capabilities, or giving those perils over to an almighty God, capable of providing everything we need. Which is true wisdom? It’s really a no brainer. Why then do we attempt the first option almost every day of our lives?

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

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9/18/20 Called to Be Wholly His

“Who is calling My people to holiness? Who is heralding the need to drop all pretenses of religion and bring the benchmark of Jesus back as truth? There is a plumb line from which I have never moved, even though some with loud voices may say that I have. When compromise is used to bring people to Me and teach Who I am not, a weak form of religion replaces a quest for holiness and a heart craving only My presence.

"Some of you need to reassess what My Word says about who you are supposed to be when you call yourself a follower of Jesus. Truth is truth, no matter how many times an attempt is made to dilute it. Find My truths again. Step out from the mire of those who have watered down My Word. Shake off the mediocrity that has invaded your life. Become passionate for Me once again.”

Isaiah 43:21 NIV

“…the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.”

Isaiah 46:9-10 AMP

9) [Earnestly] remember the former things, [which I did] of old; for I am God, and there is no one else; I am God, and there is none like Me.

10) Declaring the end and the result from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand and I will do all My pleasure and purpose.

Jeremiah 2:13 NIV

“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”

John 3:30 AMP

He must increase, but I must decrease. [He must grow more prominent; I must grow less so.]

 

Have you noticed that in some cases, loud voices and manipulative tactics seem to be accepted as an anointing? People seem to flock to demonstrative speakers, sometimes at the risk of accepting another gospel, one that is self-serving rather than Christ-serving.

Everything that I read in the Word indicates that we, as followers of Jesus Christ, are called to lay our lives down in service to the Lord. We are no longer our own. We have been bought with the precious blood of Jesus and are to live His life of holiness before a world that is minute by minute heading for destruction.

What kind of gospel are you proclaiming by your life? Is it the Gospel that Jesus proclaimed because you have studied His Word and His life, and will accept no other way; or is it a gospel that someone else has given you and you have only emotional feelings and someone else’s ideas on which you base your belief?

Teach me Your truth, Lord,

Jim Corbett

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