3/02/20 Time to Respond

Why is it we so often need to be afflicted in order to consent to being changed? If only we could respond when, as the Word states, His kindness leads us to repentance.

I believe the key lies in getting to know our God, and coming to an understanding of Who Jesus really is. If we don’t really know Who Jesus is, how can we know what we ought to be like? The more we know Him, the clearer it becomes Who He isn’t. With Him as our example, we begin to see those things in us which are not acceptable - things we just didn’t consider all that serious before they were exposed by God’s Truth - Jesus.

The world can’t possibly see Jesus if they see only us. Our families will need to find some other way to know Him if we don’t choose to know Him ourselves. They won’t be able to rely on us to help them find truth. Our offices of husband and father will become those of a weak steward. That is not a good thing!

“Lord, please draw us. We can only pursue a relationship with You and choose Your ways over our ways by Your grace - whether it be through kindness or affliction. Help us, Lord!”

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

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3/02/20 How to Be God’s Ally

        “Join Me in destroying those things in you that separate Us or limit Our intimacy. You must not tolerate them in you if you desire to be completely Mine. You know what they are. I have been pointing them out over and over again. I use My Word. I use those I bring to you. Now it’s time that you listen and submit to My hand upon you.

        "As you fortify yourself against My intervention, you become opposed to Who I am. When you resist My removal of your sin and build your little support places to be able to remain where you are, instead of where I want you to be, you are no longer an ally to Me and My Word. That is not a good place to be! I am relentless in My covenant promise to make you into the image of Jesus.

        "You have some choices to make. Make the right ones and your joy will return because We are walking together again. It is always good for you to side with Me. I win!”

2 Samuel 14:14b NIV

“But God does not take away life; instead, he devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him.”

Romans 2:4 NIV

Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?

Eph 4:12-13 AMP

12) His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), [that they should do] the work of ministering toward building up Christ’s body (the church),

13) [That it might develop] until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the [full and accurate] knowledge of the Son of God, that [we might arrive] at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ’s own perfection), the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him.

Hebrews 12:10-11 AMP

10) For [our earthly fathers] disciplined us for only a short period of time and chastened us as seemed proper and good to them; but He disciplines us for our certain good, that we may become sharers in His own holiness.

11) For the time being no discipline brings joy, but seems grievous and painful; but afterwards it yields a peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it [a harvest of fruit which consists in righteousness – in conformity to God’s will in purpose, thought, and action, resulting in right living and right standing with God].

 

Forgetting God’s promise to be relentless against our sin is not a wise thing to do. It can be great cause for confusion as we deal with the reminders He places before us, if we think that they are attacks; or, worse yet, harbor thoughts that He has turned away from us. His great love is what motivates Him to eliminate those things that harm us and our relationship with Him. We need to join with Him against those things, rather than fight the process.

Help me to learn to work with You, not against You, Lord,

Jim Corbett

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Week of March 2nd, 2020 Prayer Focus:

- For Families:

Pray that fathers become all they can be in Christ and live their lives as He would live for them

- For Each Other:

Pray that we learn to pour Christ's love into those who have been harmed by the world and its ways

- For Our Mission:

Pray that we remember our calling and avoid getting too caught up in the mechanics of our mission

2/29/20 Are You Ready?

One day, possibly early in the morning, a worn sandal touched the edge of the Jordan River. The time had come for the next portion of the plans of God to be set in motion. Quietly, with no fanfare except for the comments made by John, the baptizer, the eternal consequences of people’s choices from that time onward would be made known to them. The people who lived in that time period would need to conform to the plan that unfolded before them, whether they wanted to or not. Their lives had changed from that very moment. No one could stop what had been set in motion. This season in the plan of God will continue until He says it’s over.

Shortly before this season concludes, it is generally believed that an application of grace will be available to the end generation of people, so that they might reveal to the world the true character of Jesus Christ. It is also an accepted teaching that there will be a wooing, or heralding, to draw intimately close to Jesus for those Christians who choose to be a part of that move of God, shortly before the final call.

For several years now, the discerning ones within the church have sensed that particular wooing to holiness, an exhortation to deep repentance, a bridal call to single-heartedness and complete submission to the will of God. Make no mistake, as sure as the times changed when that sandal of the Messiah was on the edge of the Jordan, the present times will change when the Lord decides to finalize His current bridal call. Have you responded? Maybe you, as a husband and father, should consider doing so before He says, “Enough; all is completed.” Maybe those you are a steward of will benefit from your decision to prepare spiritually for what is ahead. What do you think?

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

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2/29/20 A Life of Unlimited Significance

        “Have you ever considered that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus took place in a remote corner of a vast empire? If I hadn’t willed it to be noticed, it would have remained an obscure event. Even His crucifixion was one of many that took place week after week in that day. Because I chose to place My hand upon this event, that day on the cross was, among many things, the dividing day between the old and the new.

        "To this day, you determine your place in time as before or after this event. No other day in history is given so much importance, even by those who do not know that they are doing it. They function by My calendar whether they want to or not.

        "Have you ever considered that Paul’s letters were similar to many such pieces of correspondence written to loved ones from prisons? Because I had My hand on him, his writings have transcended time and history. He was simply being responsible for the ministry that was on his heart. I had greater plans. I chose that countless numbers of people would read them, so that is what happened.

        "In the same way, I choose that your life be significant. If you will simply follow My desires one day at a time, nothing will stop that from happening. I promise. You have My Word on it!”

Eph. 5:1-2 AMP

1) THEREFORE BE imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father].

2) And walk in love, [esteeming and delighting in one another] as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a slain offering and sacrifice to God [for you, so that it became] a sweet fragrance.

Col. 3:1-4 AMP

1) IF THEN you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, thus sharing His resurrection from the dead], aim at and seek the [rich, eternal treasures] that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

2) And set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth.

3) For [as far as this world is concerned] you have died, and your [new, real] life is hidden with Christ in God.

4) When Christ, Who is our life, appears, you also will appear with Him in [the splendor of His] glory.

Ja 4:10 AMP

Humble yourselves [feeling very insignificant] in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you [He will lift you up and make your lives significant].

 

A life that is significant is one upon which the Lord places His hand. Events and acts of obedience- such as the cross and the letters written by Paul - have great significance for obvious reasons. The cross of Jesus Christ is the single most significant event in all of history. Without it, nothing in this life really matters.

In God’s economy since the cross, however, your comings and goings are of great importance to God, especially if they are in obedience to His desires. The hugs that you give, the meals you provide, the smiles that you share are significant to our Lord. They, in their own way, could carry the weight of Paul’s letters, should the Lord choose to place His presence on them. You may never even know it until you are with the Lord.

I know a lady who at one time felt that she would never be used by God. She simply went about her days attempting to follow her Lord as best she could. She was diligent in caring for her ailing husband, and now has taken the call to pass on some of the works of a small ministry. I’m sure that there are times when the enemy loudly proclaims to her the insignificance of her life.

In God’s economy, however, the heavenlies proclaim the wonder and importance of her every day on earth. She is being used by God in ways that only a life in eternity will expose. God has His hand on her and her heart is His. That makes her of unlimited significance. It is the same with you as you follow the Lord, one day, one step at a time.

Wanting to move only with my Lord,

Jim Corbett

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