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3/22/25 Where’s Your Identity?

“When all your handles cease to exist, what will you hang on to so that you survive? What will you do when those things that define you are no longer available to you? You must begin to establish your identity in Jesus. Only then will you remain strong when all the world’s treasures become known for what they really are. Only Jesus will be your source for everything you will ever need. When He is all you have, He will be all you need!”

Phil. 3:8 AMP

Yes, furthermore, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege (the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage) of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him [of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly]. For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish (refuse, dregs) in order that I may win (gain) Christ (the Anointed One).

 

Would the loss of everything you call your own be the end of you? If Jesus was all that you had, and you had no hope to ever gain anything else, would that be enough for you?

I boastfully announced with most others around me during my younger Christian years that if He was all I had, He would be enough. When everything was taken away from me, I had to come to repentance. I was a hypocrite. I was not satisfied with only Jesus. I wanted security, reputation, a home, and the hope of things getting better. I found that Jesus, plus these things and more, made me who I was. It was a startling revelation; one that changed my life.

What makes you who you are in your own heart? If everything was taken away, would you be the same person that you are now? Really think about it and be careful with your answer.

Create in me a clean heart, Lord,

 Jim Corbett

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3/22/25 Heavy Stuff

As men, most of us get great satisfaction in achievements. If we are successful, we feel that we’ve done something of great worth and enjoy the results. In doing a great job, we have the additional satisfaction of having others note that we can be trusted with a better position, so we get promoted and are given more responsibility. That is all good stuff, and it motivates us to continually do better.

As a husband and father, we’ve been given the highest offices available to any human being.  In essence, we have been promoted before we’ve achieved anything worthwhile to earn that high position.  Most of us have few skills to succeed at our high office.

With our promotion - whether we like it or not - comes great responsibility.  Success or failure in fulfilling our offices properly brings eternal consequences. It includes the possibility that our wives or offspring could be separated from God for eternity, in part, because of how we function in our offices. In addition to that horrible prospect is the reality of standing before the Most High God and being required to give answers for our actions concerning the stewardship of our families.

At a minimum, failure at our position could place our sons in the unenviable position of not having the skills they will need for their own high position of overseeing their families, and possibly standing before God themselves with little success if we couldn’t equip them properly with the tools we passed on to them, and they never found another way to acquire the proper tools. Our daughters could be ill-equipped to face life’s challenges because of our lack of proper investment in them. Our wives may not become all they can be in Christ because we don’t or can’t provide the proper atmosphere for them to prosper spiritually. These are some pretty heavy thoughts to ponder for any thinking human being. What are you going to do about them?

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

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3/21/25 Ready for Another Season

“To those of you who have been in My refiner’s fire, remain steadfast just a while longer. I am moving you to another season soon. In the time you are to remain under My hand of vigorous training, learn the deep lessons I am teaching you.

“Rest in My presence. I will show you My heart as We spend quality time together. When this season is over, you will understand why you needed the skills I have given you. Others will benefit from your learned obedience. I will be glorified in your life as I send you forth. Be patient! I am with you. I will soon be able to trust you.”

Deut. 1:6 NIV

The Lord our God said to us at Horeb, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain.”

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...”

James 1:2-4 NIV

2) Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,

3) because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

4) Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Rev. 2:2-5 NIV

2) “I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance.  I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.

3) You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name and have not grown weary.

4) Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.

5) Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.”

Rev. 3:19 AMP

Those whom I [dearly and tenderly] love, I tell their faults and convict and convince and reprove and chasten [I discipline and instruct them]. So be enthusiastic and in earnest and burning with zeal and repent [changing your mind and attitude].

 

In the book of Amos, it talks of two not being able to walk together unless they are agreed. How can we expect Jesus to overlook the filth of the world’s attitudes that are still in us, when He died so that they might be eliminated?   We are, in fact, saying that His suffering and death are of no consequence, if we refuse to allow lofty attitudes to be removed from our lives.

It is time that we all acknowledge our need of God’s mercy.  It is also time that we understand that He is showing us our need; so that we, in turn, will function in His mercy towards everyone, as He has. He is being merciful at this very moment as we see who we are not.

To withhold mercy would, once again, show a wrong heart motive - one of consuming God’s mercy while showing none. It is one of the most selfish of acts, most unlike the One whom we say we represent and for whom we are waiting, so that He might take us with Him because we are supposedly like Him.

The merciless heart is very much like that of the foolish virgins in Matthew 25. They came, not for the good of the master who was to arrive, but for their own good. They are also the ones pounding on the door after it had been closed and locked.  Quite a sobering thought!

Eliminate whatever You are after in me, Lord,

 Jim Corbett

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3/21/25 Real Power

Given that God has ordained the offices of husband and father as His highest offices, the most powerful position a man can take is on his knees for his family. I believe that no other position is dearer to the heart of God or garners more favor, because the family produces and fosters pastors, prayer warriors, and every conceivable worker for the Lord. God’s heart responds to a man praying for his own. (In case you think I’m overlooking something – yes, He also has a fervent spot in His heart as people pray for souls to come to know Jesus Christ!)

I think of David’s mighty men. His men understood warfare. His men were tried in battle and came out unbeaten, far more proficient than greater numbers of other warriors. They knew how to fight. They knew what it would take to win the battles for their king.

Most men today have no idea how important their position is. Most men give little thought to the probability that they’ve lost the most important battles of their lives as they see their families fall apart or, at the very least, become unproductive in the Lord’s work. Few men even consider that their wives or children are literally supposed to walk as Jesus walked, and that they are supposed to provide the atmosphere for them to do so.

Men, God intended you to be just like David’s mighty men in the war for your families. He is more than willing to respond with power to your requests for their ability to overcome the world. You are a man of power when you call upon His power on behalf of those you steward. Why are you not laboring for them as your priority work in this life? Paul said that he was in birth pangs until Christ - the character of Christ - was formed in others. Is that not supposed to be your heart for those you love?

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

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3/20/25 The Larger Picture

“Be careful that you don’t become complacent during times of ease and comfort. It is important that you seize these times to refocus and readjust, making sure that you have not moved from My calling during the times of pressure. Come close to Me. I will refresh your heart. I will comfort your spirit and give you strength to continue on. I will adjust your perspective and clear your vision.

“When you are involved in a battle, it is easy to place emphasis on winning the battle, rather than seeing the larger picture of My overall plan. It is easy to limit Me when there is peril. It is in times of rest that you will be reminded of My motives and My reasons for your life.

“You are of great value to Me. Never even entertain the idea that I have forgotten you or have not noticed your situation. I am always with you. Whether you stand in the midst of great peril, or rest by a quiet stream, I am with you. That is My way.”

Pr. 3:5-6 AMP

5) Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding.

6) In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.

Isa. 30:15, 18 AMP

15) For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning [to Me] and resting [in Me] you shall be saved; in quietness and in [trusting] confidence shall be your strength. But you would not,

18) And therefore the Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking, and longing] to be gracious to you; and therefore He lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him, [for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken companionship]!

Isa. 40:31 AMP

But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired.

Matt. 10:29-31 AMP

29) Are not two little sparrows sold for a penny? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s leave (consent) and notice.

30) But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

31) Fear not, then; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Heb. 13:5b AMP

… for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]

 

Once we submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, every moment of every day is His. We have been purchased. Our lives are owned by another. No longer our own, our lives are to be in full submission to our Lord.

The plan of God is that no one should perish. Through us, He continually brings the knowledge of Christ to everyone we meet, so that they might see and embrace Him.  We represent Him whether in difficult times or in times of ease and comfort.

When we go through difficult times, it is easy to focus on removing ourselves from the pressures that accompany them. We can become self-focused, attempting to be delivered. The best interests of God and others can be placed on a shelf, far behind our own needs during these times. We all have a tendency to forget that this life is not all about us, but about God and His plans.

In times of rest, our Father can bring us back to His perspectives, if we allow Him to do so. He can again show us the reality of why we have been bought and what our purpose on this earth is, while reminding us of the wonder of what is in store for us because of what Jesus has done. Our life in Christ becomes clear again.

Draw me to You, Lord,

Jim Corbett

 

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