Author: Jim Corbett

Jim is an author, heart revival coach, teacher, and public speaker. His heart and mission is to bring people to an understanding of the times and seasons and lead them to be all they can be in Christ and know the thrill of Jesus as their Lord. Merry is a co-author, editor, pianist, and worship leader. Her heart mission is to encourage believers in discovering the wonder and truth available in the opportunity presented to everyone because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Together with their daughter Jubilee Faith, they are the founders of The 101 Group. A back to basics spiritual investment company that equips the body of Christ to effectively serve the Lord through written and spoken word, personal publications, music, daily devotionals, concert venues, and MASH icu, a comprehensive program for men.

1/01/20 Broken Relationships

"Have you ever carried the weight of other people's sins? Have you ever labored for them so intensely that you thought you would break under pressure? Have you ever longed that they get right with Me for their good, for My reasons? Did the loss of their fellowship make you mourn and desire to do something, anything, to restore it? Was the feeling of emptiness so intense that you were consumed with finding ways to bring yourself together with them once again?

"If you see broken relationships with Me and with each other - which are caused by sin - as the horror that they really are, you are beginning to understand relationships as I see them and the reasons for which I have established them. When someone sins against you, your heart should break, not necessarily for the offense, but for the broken relationships - the relationship with Me and with you. You must intercede that the relationships be restored, that he or she makes things right, for his or her good and for My glory.

"If you have sinned against another brother or sister, you must drop everything and run to repentance. I will not allow you to rest until that is done. If you have hardened your heart and do not crave restoration, I will begin My process of breaking your rebellion until you do. You will eventually wonder why your praise is empty, your eyes are dry, your prayers are cold, and your life is out of order. Nothing you do will satisfy you until you move in the direction of healing. It is because your inner being knows that something is out of order. It is My doing so that you desire restoration.

"Don't think that I do not notice violated relationships; they are key to My will going forth on your land. They are important to Me. I would not allow the broken relationship with My creation to remain; why would I not require the same from you? If you see that things are out of order in someone's life, pray for that person. If you have been offended, take the steps necessary to reestablish communion. If you have offended, don't rest until the offense is gone. I will wait."

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."

Matthew 5:23-24 NIV

23) "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,

24) leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift."

Galatians 4:19 NIV

My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.

Christ being formed in someone is far more than the initial salvation process. It is a continual working out of forsaking our old nature and walking in His new nature, which we received upon establishing a relationship with Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 3:18 AMP) Paul labored hard for that. Christ died for that.

Our interaction with fellow believers is a command of God. He said that we should not forsake the fellowshipping with others. We take that lightly, but God sees the pressure of refinement through those relationships as very important for our growth.
True fellowship requires something from everyone - tolerance, compassion, time, forgiveness, and continual monitoring. It is not easy; so many interactions fall by the wayside. What is usually never noticed is the broken heart of God when they perish.

Relationships and friendships are no accident. God brings people together for His reasons. He requires us to maintain them for His good and for our growth.
It is easy to throw someone away because of an offense. Children who do not know any better do that all the time. It requires maturity to pursue through offenses and go the distance to restoration. Most people are not willing to pay the price and therefore never really grow to God's kind of maturity.

I firmly believe that most of us in the church are not trusted to function in many of the gifts of the Spirit because we cannot be trusted with the relationships that God brings our way. Few of us are willing to humble ourselves enough to do what it takes to love others as Jesus loved us. Most of us get off the cross when the going gets tough. We are grateful for the persistence of Jesus, but not humble enough to honor His heart.

Change my heart, Lord,

Jim Corbett

12/30/19 Why Prepare?

"Sarah, that's my daughter," Barry responded. "Well, Sarah was on a road to some pretty dark places. Somehow she had changed. When she was young, she was an incredibly bright, beautiful girl, full of smiles, love, laughter, just a good kid."

Barry shifted his position and leaned back on the bleacher above the one on which he was sitting.

"But then things went bad. When she started seventh grade, she went behind some kind of cloud. She isolated herself, kept secrets from us, and hung around with some unsavory friends. They weren't real bottom dwellers, but they just had a bad influence on her. We even found small items missing from our house after they came over and money began to disappear from Connie's purse." Barry sat up, tracing his index finger over his racket strings as he chose his next words.

"Over a period of time, things kept getting worse. I'll spare you the details, but she started lying to us about everything and would get angry whenever we asked any kind of question regarding her life. Connie and I knew we were losing her. There was no talking to her about her friends. She wouldn't hear it. All she wanted to do was listen to her music - man, I hated those ear-buds, and be on the phone with her friends. There was so much more. Making a long story short, she was in deep trouble and something had to be done."

"What did you do?" Nick asked, sitting up straight as he looked piercingly at Barry.

"Well, we prayed long and hard, asking the Lord how we could get Sarah to change." A small chuckle escaped his lips. "We were pretty surprised at the answer He gave us."

Nick couldn't wait for the next words to come out of Barry's mouth.

"The Lord showed me that one day I would answer to Him for her life, because He placed Sarah under my care. I would be asked if I had done all that I could to provide a fertile place for Sarah to grow in Him." Barry looked down and twirled his racket a few times.

"That shook me up pretty good," he recalled. "I mean, I knew that God had given Sarah to Connie and me, but I guess I never thought that God was actually holding me accountable for her." Barry looked purposefully into Nick's eyes. The two men briefly stared at each other before Barry continued.

"I thought that my job was to provide a good home, keep food on the table, and give my kids what they needed to stay on top of everything. I thought that by having a big house in a great neighborhood I was doing my job. Connie was working. I had a thriving business. We had everything we needed. I thought we had made it, ya know? The Lord showed me that while I was busy working and playing so hard, I lost my daughter in the process."

Nick waited for a few seconds before he asked the question that burned in his heart.

"What did you do?"

"Well, that's why we're here," Barry answered. "God showed me that Connie and I were the ones who needed to make some changes so we could rescue Sarah. He showed me that she wasn't capable of making proper decisions at that time, and that we needed to help by creating a place of safety for her. She needed a protected place where she could rest from the things that were harming her while she was being healed. It was really important to God that we did what was necessary to bring her around, so that she could grow up strong and straight, spiritually sound in Him."

Nick became really interested now, and moved onto the bench, seating himself next to Barry.

Barry continued. "Connie and I prayed together quite a bit, but I knew that because I functioned in the offices of husband and father - something very important God gives to men - I was responsible to Him. I would answer to Him for Sarah's life. He showed me that I was incapable of helping Him to reproduce the life of Jesus in Sarah, because I had been distracted by my own needs and wants. I wanted the successful business. I wanted the big house, the new car, money. I never even gave much thought to the fact that Sarah was on her way to throwing her life away and then burning in hell for eternity because I was too busy with my own life to stop her. That really scared me. It scared Connie, too, when I told her."

"So, what did God tell you to do?" Nick asked with great anticipation.

"Well, things became pretty clear after a while. The stuff that we treasured for so long became pretty useless to us once we surrendered everything to Him, especially in light of Sarah's need. We looked around, and then looked at Sarah and her pain, and the path was pretty well laid out for us since we were going to answer to God for her life."

Barry got up to stretch, then sat down again. Nick didn't move. He couldn't wait to hear what steps Barry and Connie took.

"Within a matter of a few months, I sold my business, Connie quit her job, we sold our house, and moved here. I took a job which allowed me to spend time with my family. We bought a much smaller house, traded in our cars for really good used ones; and now Connie home schools Sarah."

Nick was dumbfounded. His mouth dropped open and he just stared at Barry. "You must be kidding," was all he could muster as his mind reeled.

"No, we got Sarah back," Barry said with a smile. "She hated us for a little while. We had to build some pretty strong "love fences" around her in the beginning -move her away from bad influences, take away her headset so she'd start to communicate, monitor her computer and phone time, you know, stuff like that, all the time praying real hard for her. It was pretty much touch and go at first, but we got her back. Now we live in a family fortress of love and compassion designed by God-one that the world can't touch. We laugh, love, communicate, and have a great relationship. She's in tune with the Lord and wants to reach out to kids her own age. She's really happy again and our times together as a family are special no matter what we do."

(Taken from the book, The Father Factor, by Jim and Merry Corbett)

Rarely do we consider the daily routines of our lifestyles as a series of habits and demands that hinder the power of the Lord to move freely in our lives. What are you willing to do to have God move on behalf of someone you love?

Let's talk more!

Jim Corbett

12/30/19 The Path to Needing Nothing

        "Some of My people have tired of the way that I do things. They have become hardened to the crucified life and have decided to live most of their lives for themselves rather than for others. That means that they have stopped living only for Me. They have redefined My true Gospel. In their folly, they no longer take correction from their peers. They have become thin-skinned one to another.

        "Everyone feels that they hear from Me. Few are really hearing what I am saying. They make up their own gospel that allows them to remain deceived about their cold love for Me. Soon they will harden their hearts to even the strongest Word when I call to them. They will tire of all correction and seek only comforting words, words that make them useless to My desire that none should perish. That is a very great falling away.

        "I weep as I see even some of My most loyal children succumbing to weariness and dullness of hearing, rather than turning and running into My presence. Soon they will feel that they have need of nothing and deserve everything. They will feel that they are fine in their form of religion. All passion for My ways will be gone. It is a very dangerous place to be.

        "This day I ask you to check your heart. How far are you living from the way that Jesus lived? Any path that leads away from that standard is a path away from Me. Turn from it now before you become poor, blind, and naked!"

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."

Jeremiah 9:6-7 AMP

6) Your habitation is in the midst of deceit [oppression upon oppression and deceit upon deceit]; through deceit they refuse to know and understand Me, says the Lord.

7) Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will melt them [by the process of affliction to remove the dross] and test them, for how else should I deal with the daughter of My people?

Jeremiah 15:19 AMP

Therefore thus says the Lord [to Jeremiah]: If you return [and give up this mistaken tone of distrust and despair], then I will give you again a settled place of quiet and safety, and you will be My minister; and if you separate the precious from the vile [cleansing your own heart from unworthy and unwarranted suspicions concerning God's faithfulness], you shall be My mouthpiece...

Rev. 3:15-18 NIV

15) "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!

16) So, because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

17) You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

18) I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see."

 

If we are on a path to destruction, we tire of hearing correction. It is a matter of heart. A full hardening of our hearts does not mean that we visibly turn from God; it means we stop heeding His warnings. We even feel little need to repent of the differences between our lives and the life of Jesus.

Take this day's message. If you do not go to God with fear and trembling to have Him search your heart, if you feel that you could never succumb to a falling away, if you feel that the message is for others and not for you, you are on dangerous ground.

Soft hearts toward God heed every opportunity to check themselves for any hint of offense against God. They check their lives against the plumb line of God's Word and Jesus' heart. To not do so continually, at every opportunity, is the path to needing nothing - first from others who care and eventually even from God. That's a really big oops!

Soften my heart, Lord,

Jim Corbett

Week of December 30th, 2019 Prayer Focus:

- For Families:

Pray that people will understand the wonder of the Word from the manger to the cross and resurrection.

- For Each Other:

Pray that all of us will be aware of the needs of others and then do something about it.

- For Our Mission:

Pray that we will have patience to wait on God alone to accomplish all He has given us to do.

12/28/19 Unlimited Power

One of the reasons the enemy attempts to destroy the offices of husband and father is to eliminate a powerful threat to his plans. He understands that there are no offices closer to the heart of God and no institution more loved by Him than the family.

Far more significant than being a simple breadwinner, God has placed his mighty men in a position to oversee the future men and women of influence from the very beginning of their earthly lives. A man with enough wisdom to be aware of this incredible opportunity also understands the favor Father God has for the servant leader who seeks Him.

There is no more powerful person than an aware, humble steward who continually seeks direction for his family from the lap of His Father God. One, who makes continual visits to the throne room for intimacy, guidance and submission with a loving heart, has all the available power of heaven at his disposal. No weapon formed against the man who has placed himself under the complete Lordship of Jesus Christ will prosper. A man, who submits himself and his family to the Lord and knows the authority he possesses when on his knees in prayer, wields a deathblow to the plans of the enemy. Guaranteed! Is this the life you desire? Maybe not, but it is the one you need.

Let's talk more!

Jim Corbett

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