3/28/20 Precious

The definition of the word precious is “something that is of great value or high priced, highly esteemed or cherished.” Even though this word is not often used to describe men, the definition really fits how God sees his husbands and fathers. In His eyes, we are highly esteemed and very valuable. You, as a husband and father, are also of great consequence in His plans for future generations.

Investing in a marriage, so it exemplifies the relationship between Christ and His church, has untold worth. Nurturing children, so their lives are significant in God’s eyes, is of incalculable value to untold numbers of people as they represent Him in the world. You are part of that!

The next time you feel as if your input in your family is of little value or minimum consequence, you need to remember how God sees your life. You are precious in His eyes. You are valuable to His plans. Your life can impact many generations through the work you do on behalf of those you steward. You are a key player in His plans. Being precious and of great value really means something in God’s economy.

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

Open post

3/28/20 Hands of Hope

       “If I were to take all hope from you, how would you fare? You would be left in dismal surroundings with nothing to look forward to. You see, I could never do that. It is against My nature as your Father. It is against My Word for you. Sending Jesus alone is hope beyond measure. What He has done in the heavenlies has brought hope to you. What He is continually doing makes a bright future for you.

       Look around. You have much for which to be thankful. You have a hope. You have a wonderful future, no matter what you might be facing at present. Place all that you are and all that you desire in My hands. They are hands of hope.”

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.”

2 Chr. 16:9 NIV

“For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him...”

Jeremiah 29:11-13 NIV

11) “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

12) Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

13) You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

 

There is no one with a brighter future and more hope than a servant of the Lord. Submitting to the Lordship of Jesus Christ piles on reward after reward to our lives and gives us a destiny that cannot be matched by all the treasures the world has to offer.

Our future is bright. Our destiny is assured. Our life paths can be straight and our eternity is full of hope. We are truly blessed because of what Jesus has done for us and because of the love of our heavenly Father.

As the Father reveals all aspects of His heart, sometimes I reel with the overwhelming challenge that I am called to face. I begin to condemn myself for who I am not, cower at the prospects ahead of me as a Christian in the coming times, stagger at the weight of my responsibility to represent Jesus properly; and become discouraged as I attempt to prepare for His return. It is then that I remember that none of this was my idea in the first place. My Father has ordained my life and has promised to fulfill His plan for it and in it. My job is simply to need Him desperately.

Remind me to keep my eyes on You, Lord,

Jim Corbett

3/27/20 Your Word

At one time, I was blessed to live in a farm community where the longtime farmers have a higher code than you see most places. In essence, their word is their bond. To shake on something is closer to the covenant meaning in which that gesture originated. Shaking hands (actually wrists) was a blood tie contract. To break it meant possible death if the one you made covenant with followed through according to law.

In this day and age, we have lost that kind of commitment level. (I don’t know if lawyers were a catalyst for that or the lowering of standards created the need for lawyers). Today we break our vows to each other and to God. In reality, we died to every right we hold dear when we gave our lives to the Lordship of Jesus. That’s what lordship means. When we don’t function in it with Him, it spills over into our relationships with others and we excel in finding ways to nullify contracts we’ve entered into when our agreements become inconvenient.

As a man, you have entered into a marriage contract with your wife in the eyes of the world, and of even greater importance in the eyes of God. A commitment made before God is no small thing, whether we believe it or not. He has called you to love your wife as Christ loved the church. It matters little if she knows how to love you back; you have committed to love her no matter what.

If you’re having marital challenges, remember first that your marriage is under contract with God. How you feel or how your wife feels matters little. You, as a husband, will be held accountable for the spiritual atmosphere in your marriage, an atmosphere where your wife should have the freedom to prosper spiritually. It’s dangerous to break that contract. Keep your word with God, and watch what He chooses to do about everything else.

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

Open post

3/27/20 Go for It!

       “It’s time to enter into the prosperous life that I have provided for you. Become engaged fully in My kind of existence, rather than flirting with the ways of the world. You no longer belong there. If you attempt to live in both worlds, you will eventually find yourself gasping for life and wondering why you have little peace and no power to overcome.

       Start by remembering what was accomplished on the cross. Study the power of the blood. Observe once again those who have gone before you. Examine who you really are. How far are you living from who you know you were meant to be? Stir up the gifts that you know are part of your life. Shake off anything that hinders you from selling out to My Word completely. Renounce your sins. Embrace a crucified life. Go for it.

       In your prayer times, allow Me to show those things that are hindering you from becoming all that you have been born to be. Stop listening to the lies of the enemy that remind you of your weaknesses and failures. Listen to My Word. I know who you are because you are in Christ. I understand the power that has been placed in your inner being. I understand My covenant promises to you. Nothing is more powerful than My presence. My Spirit now resides in you. You can rise above anything and are capable of any task because of My presence within you.

       Why would you settle for a mediocre life when I have a victorious life available to you because of Jesus? Be strong in the power of My might! Stop wallowing in a life that is less than you have been appointed to be. I can’t wait to show you who you really are! You have everything you need to fulfill your calling, if you will only surrender fully to Me. Do it now. Enter into the joy of the Lord!”

Joshua 1:8 NIV

“Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and
successful.”

Phil. 4:13 AMP

I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency].

Heb. 12:1-2 AMP

1) THEREFORE THEN, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us.

2) Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

III John 2 AMP

Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in every way and [that your body] may keep well, even as [I know] your soul keeps well and prospers.

 

We really have this life backwards. Our thinking is directly opposed to the thinking of our Lord. What we call prosperity is light years from its biblical definition. Still, somehow, it never sinks into the block between our shoulders that it would be wise to consider the Lord’s definitions, including prosperity, as our guidelines for life. They might make us truly prosperous.

I remember a season in my life before I came to the Lord. I was so doped up, full of lusts and booze, that I couldn’t think straight. My confusion was apparent by the extremely ignorant decisions that I made. At the time, though, I thought I had it all together. Everything I did seemed logical and actually quite wise in my blinded eyes. After my head was cleared by the Lord, I could see how far my life was from any semblance of reason. I couldn’t believe how far I had migrated from the straight road.

That is the way the Lord must see us when we minimize the wonders done for us and in us because of Jesus. Our desires to remain anywhere near our old life must look so foolish to Him. From His perspective, knowing what is available to us, our carnal decisions and desires must appear as foggy thinking. No wonder He is continually goading us to draw closer to Him to receive His kind of wealth.

Turn my heart toward home, Lord,

Jim Corbett

3/26/20 Stewards, Not Owners

If you are a believer, it’s a given that God owns everything. He’s the sole owner of every heartbeat of all who have ever had blood pumping through their veins. The cattle on every hill are marked with His brand.

Then why is it we, as humans, have the audacity to claim anything as our own? The idea of “we’ve worked for it, so it’s ours” is a detrimental attitude if we are to serve the Lord with all our might. That right to ownership in our minds hinders us from ever coming to the full realization of the sovereignty of God. It stops us from truly glorifying Him in all we do.

As husbands and fathers, you really own nothing. Your wife and children are the Lord’s. Your friends and all the things you have called your own really belong to the Lord. You have only been given a stewardship of everything in your midst. Totally embracing that concept is quite sobering to say the least.

As a steward, you will answer to the Lord for the outcome of your existence. How did you steward everything God asked you to care for? Will the results of your life as a caretaker of people and the things that are important to Him - family, friends, time, etc. – be in accord with His wishes? He gave them to you for a season. How did you handle your responsibility?

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

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