10/28/19 Investing in Your Children

Whether it looks like it or not at this time, your children need you to be a godly father to them. No matter how far they may be into the world or how far they seem to be OK without your loving input in their lives, they need you.
If you've taken on the role of disciplinarian and minimized the role of nurturing father, the relationship with your child has more than likely gone south. Any form of real, loving communication is more than likely a thing of the past. If that is the case, your input into their lives is less than minimal and in some cases non-existent.
I had a friend who counseled a man and his daughter. Their only form of communication was loud, aggressive, and wounding at every turn. It was clear that both parties had long ago abandoned any hope of meaningful interaction. The possibility of joy in their relationship was hopelessly off the radar.
Here's the counsel my friend gave the father in front of the daughter. For the next two weeks, he was to allow her to express anything - even her deepest hurts, angers, and wounds that he had created - without fear of any return comment, defense, or grudge on his part. He promised to keep his mouth shut and allow her to express anything she wanted.
For the first four days, a torrent of his violations toward her - real or perceived - poured from her heart. Wounds from long ago - most of them long forgotten by the father - spewed forth every time she opened her mouth. On about the fifth day, something pretty incredible happened. It started with her asking questions about his violations. He began to apologize and accept the blame for everything without transferring it to her in any way. She responded to that with tears and deeper communication of her wounds. He simply started to hold her close, physically and in his heart.

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After about a week, meaningful dialog became part of their lives. They decided to hold each other in high esteem. The relationship took on the glow of love rather than the fire of anger. Beginning steps were made to a long, proper father-daughter relationship. This may not be something for you, but ask the Lord for His direction in your situation. You are the daddy. You begin the healing by humbling yourself in any way that the Lord directs. Will you do it for His sake and theirs?
Let's talk more!
Jim Corbett

10/29/19 No Longer That Person

       “Don’t limit Me because of your fears! Don’t hinder My life flowing through you, because you refuse to give up your hold on the life that once was yours. You are no longer that person. You have been born anew.

       The new life that was given to you when you surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus fully accepts My spiritual gifts. It desires the truth in Jesus. It desires My presence. It is in training to function for all of eternity with Me. Do not limit access to Me by your fears. Seek truth. Confirm truth with My Word; then flow in it. Receive the power and might of the Holy Spirit in your inner man. Become strong in Him!”

Ephesians 3:16-17 AMP 

16) May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the [Holy] Spirit [Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality].

17) May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love,

 

We miss so much of God when we walk in fear. Most of our fears are accepted by other Christians who live in fear themselves. If we took the Word of God at its face value, it would dispel any questions we have regarding how we should be living our lives. It would be very clear to us that we are to live as Jesus lived, being fully committed to the Father’s plans, placing no restrictions on how the Father desires to work in our lives. Any fear that stops us from living Christ’s life each day causes us to miss so much and limits us to standing on the sidelines of the wonder that has been provided for us.

Forgive me for my fears, Lord,

Jim Corbett

10/28/19 Love Like That

"Love each other as I have loved you! That is not a suggestion, but a necessity if you want to be in My perfect will. I love you so much that I have given you access to My heart without restriction. I have given you Myself through Jesus. I have also given you mercy, grace, and absolute forgiveness through Him. Love like that!  It is My way. It is required of you if you say that you follow Jesus."
 Exodus 33:13 NIV
"If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people."
2 Chr 16:9a NIV
"For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him..."
If you say that you are a follower of Jesus, you have a life pattern to follow. He lived in a very visible way, so that we could live that way also. We have been given His very life within us, so that He can actually live His life through us, if we surrender fully to Him.
Why is it, then, that so few people recognize Jesus when they see us? Why don't people want to live for Him and follow His ways, if His ways are so evident in our daily activities and relationships? God's Word has never changed. Jesus certainly hasn't changed. Maybe it's us! Maybe we are saying that we are followers of Jesus, but we really follow our own desires for living.

Teach me to follow Your ways, Lord,

 
Jim Corbett

10/26/19 Live the Truth

"You need to walk in truth. You need to speak truth in love. You must receive truth when it is presented to you, no matter how it offends your flesh. Repent and come back to My truth. Most in My church tolerate sin in their midst and are afraid to confront sin for the sake of false peace. They are afraid to offend the one who brings lies and a false representation of who Jesus is. They are afraid to approach the preacher or so-called prophet when error is proclaimed as truth. That offends Me! It leads My children astray. It must stop.
       "I am about to expose.  I am about to raise up My heralds who have been trained at My hand.  I will bring forth those I have held close through refiner's fires that were designed to make them Mine in every area of their lives. They now live truth because they desire to live as Jesus lived in His world, focusing on those things that matter to Me. They don't simply talk about others or attempt to correct the world. The world does not understand truth. My church needs to do so.
       "Confront sin in My church in love. Start with your life. Make sure that you know what is life and what is death. Know how to express truth when it is needed to those who claim to be Mine. Do not fight wars of the flesh with those who have eyes to see but will not see, or ears to hear but will not hear. Make sure that you love as Jesus loved, and then live His life of truth for His glory and for the sake of others."
II Chr. 7:14 NIV
"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."
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."
Hosea 4:6 AMP 
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you [the priestly nation] have rejected knowledge..."
Expressing truth is not a license to condemn others. It does not give us the freedom to demand that others walk as we do. It is not accomplished by holding the sin of others before the world.  God-ordained correction and expression of truth is done in private, one-on-one with the offender, and only after much prayer. If that does not accomplish God's purposes, only then is it taken further within the church, according to God's Word. It is always for the sake of the healing and restoration of the one in error. It must follow the order established by God.
The Lord is correcting His church. He is using those who hold the reputation of Jesus in highest esteem and live out His compassion for others and their well-being before God.
Examine my heart, Lord,
Jim Corbett

10/26/19 Violation of a Trust

A violation of a trust is hazardous to any relationship, especially a marriage covenant relationship. Recently, we talked about sealing your marriage. If you don't do so, it opens the door to violations of your wife's trust on countless occasions, leaving a shell of a true marriage relationship as God sees it. These violations can continue to grow until the communication gap between spouses is so wide that there is little or no meaningful dialog except for addressing practical daily needs. When there is a lack of trust and communication breaks down, the true, intimate feelings, fears, and needs of either spouse can easily become fodder for the other spouse with his or her friends or a counselor of some sort. When this happens, it is more than likely that both of them will retreat even more to protect themselves from further wounds.
Men, your office demands that you guide your wife and family to true intimacy with the Lord, so that they can be prepared to glorify His name and do His work.  That ability only comes from intimacy with Him yourself. If you find intimacy difficult to attain, there is a good possibility that the violations of trust in your past have been carried into your marriage and will not allow you to trust anyone, even God. If that is the case, only the Lord can show you how deep the scars are. Only He can heal you so that you have the ability to really trust again and be trustworthy yourself.
While you're dealing with the Lord about your own brokenness, a good place to start is to stop violating your wife's trust at this very moment. Stop every negative thought about her. Stop jesting to others about even her smallest quirk. Stop communicating her failures with your buddies. Never again minimize her with your mouth or in your mind. Don't criticize her so you can feel better about yourself. Determine that every communication that comes out of your mouth about her will be positive and uplifting. Learn to speak of her value to others as the Lord shows you how He sees her.  Make it your project in life to be trustworthy of her slightest wound or deepest fear, so she can learn to whole-heartedly trust you. Although it's only a beginning of the kind of covenant God has established for the two of you, it's a start. Watch the life that springs from the change in your perspective by the grace of God. Are you encouraged to try?
Let's talk more!
Jim Corbett

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