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

10/25/19 Seal Your Marriage

How many of your friends know some of your wife's faults? How many times have the words from your mouth been less than high praise for the partner God has given you? How many of your "prayer needs" to others are nothing more than spiritual gossip and an opportunity to minimize her and show your spirituality?
Well, men, if any of those questions or something like them pertains to you, you have some repenting to do. You have completely missed the concept and astounding, powerful impact that sealing your marriage has.
God has ordained a marriage to allow two people to grow and prosper in Christ through His power. He has joined two very imperfect people together so that they can provide a safe place for each other to fail over and over again, and then be healed over and over again. In His eyes, they have covenanted to live their lives for the best interests of the other.
People today think nothing of violating the trust of their husband or wife at the drop of a hat, missing the fact that each violation minimizes the ability of the spouse to safely share his or her personal details. Each instance of gossip, "counsel" with a friend, or even a small verbal jab shows the spouse that communication with his or her mate is a potential danger of the exposure of his or her deepest needs. That danger closes the door to any form of deep healing.
God's way is to have those He has joined together go to each other for their healing. He intends that every marriage should be sealed and off limits to everyone else unless both partners agree to have some form of counsel, and then only to a point they both agree on. Other than that, they are to go to God for the needs of the other. Once trust is established again, true God-impacted healing can take place. Maybe it's time to rethink things.
Let's talk more!
Jim Corbett

10/25/19 Benefits with Responsibilities

"Few of My children choose to fully dedicate themselves to Jesus and the gift that We have given them. They willingly take the benefits of what has been accomplished at the cross, but rarely accept the responsibilities that are associated with them. Examine your heart. Do you care about the things that have eternal value as your priority? Are you conscious about the times and seasons in which you live to the point that you have modified your lifestyle to tell others of the urgency of each day? Have you sacrificed your comfort areas, so that others might find out Who Jesus is? Do you really know Who He is yourself?
       "Those questions are only the beginning of what you might ask as you take the time to find your real motives and reasons for the choices you are making. I do notice what takes place in the hearts of those of you who say that you are Mine. I note who is responding to My call to holiness. I welcome your desire to press into intimacy with Me, to gain My heart and understand My desires. It is why you have been called. It is why I have given you breath."
Joshua 24:15 NIV 
"But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for this day whom you will serve,  whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."
II Chr. 16:9a NIV  
"For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him..."
Proverbs 29:21 AMP  
He who pampers his servant from childhood will have him expecting the rights of a son afterward.
Amos 3:3 KJV
Can two walk together, except they be agreed?
So many foolish things are being done in the Name of Jesus that it is clear that little time is spent to really know what His heart is. Representatives of His Word maneuver people for their own gain. Representatives of His life attempt to maneuver God to pad their comfort areas.
Jesus went to the cross so that we could accept God's way as our way. It is the highest calling and the most astounding privilege. Whatever gets in the way of our conforming to His plans and to the image of Jesus should be cast aside as the horror that it really is. We represent Him. We will be held accountable for what we do in His Name.

Show me what is real, Lord,

Jim Corbett

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