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5/10/24 Follow Me as I Follow Christ

05/10/2024
by Jim Corbett

These incredible words are one of the most powerful directions a man can give to his family. Just think of it, a man who chooses to follow Christ could assure his family that no matter what happens, he has Christ as a guide for himself and them. How comforting this would be for a wife and family who are serving the Lord.

With that kind of commitment in place, the man would have a corresponding commitment to do everything to protect his family, just as Christ did for the church. He would willingly lay his life down for the ones he loves.

Can you imagine the peace a family would have in knowing that their husband and father would lay his life down for them? Do you see the impact that kind of atmosphere would create? A wife would be free to trust motives and decisions made in doing things that affect the family. The children would bask in an arena of absolute, unquestioned love. The family unit would be impenetrable. The outside forces against the family would never gain a foothold.

What a glorious picture - all members moving in unison, guided and directed by a father who is guided and directed by God alone. What an astounding plan! Maybe that’s the way our Father in heaven wants it. What do you think?

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

5/09/24 Oil Floating on Top of Water

“People will see your humble submission to Me as weakness. They misunderstood Jesus. Even after He did mighty wonders in their midst, they had no respect for His power. Laying down His life for others meant nothing to them. In their eyes, their physical prowess and worldly station filled them with pride so deadly that they couldn’t discern truth. It is the same today.

"If you claim to have nothing of yourself, if you fully understand your bankruptcy without My influence on your life, if you realize that true wealth means you have no wealth or prowess of your own making, you will be one of My children who knows truth. If you confess your total submission to Me out loud and live it before others, you will be scorned, laughed at, maligned, and perceived as a weakling in the world and in most so-called spiritual circles. They did it to Jesus; they will surely do it to you. Be at peace. You are following My heart and My Word. You are flowing in the life and character of Jesus!”

Amos 5:4b AMP

…Seek Me [inquire for and of Me and require Me as you require food] and you shall live!

Matt. 5:11-12 NIV

11) “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

12) Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Matthew 16:24-25 AMP

24) Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interests] and take up his cross and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying, also].

25) For whoever is bent on saving his [temporal] life [his comfort and security here] shall lose it [eternal life]; and whoever loses his life [his comfort and security here] for My sake shall find it [life everlasting].

John 4:34 NIV

”My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.”

John 6:57 AMP

Just as the living Father sent Me and I live by (through, because of) the Father, even so whoever continues to feed on Me [whoever takes Me for his food and is nourished by Me] shall [in his turn] live through and because of Me.

God has placed us in a world that is actually out to kill us, so to speak. As Christians, we are oil floating on top of water and if we are true to our calling, we’ll never mix in because the spirit and flesh cannot function together. God has also called us to overcome that world. Our time spent with others and our responses to them allow us to seek the Father so that we can be changed in order to reflect Christ properly.

Phil. 2:12b-13 AMP …work out (cultivate, carry out to the goal, and fully complete) your own salvation with reverence and awe and trembling (self-distrust, with serious caution, tenderness of conscience, watchfulness against temptation, timidly shrinking from whatever might offend God and discredit the name of Christ).

13 [Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight.

Once we have given Jesus Lordship over our lives, it is the Father’s intent to refine, mold, and develop that salvation in us to the fullest extent. If we are going to tell others about Jesus, we will have to be changed so that we can represent Him properly. Our words alone will usually not be enough for others to see their need of Jesus. In fact, if our lives do not mirror Him, our words will more than likely be cast aside, and rightfully so. The world can spot a phony and they won’t listen to one.

Teach me to need only You, Lord,

Jim Corbett

5/09/24 An Incredible Heart

I wish I could give proper credit to the players in this story, but I don’t remember who they were or when the story took place. I just remember how much it impacted me.

The story goes that a father set some rules for his children to obey, so that there would be harmony in the home and Jesus would be glorified. If a violation of any one of the rules took place, the violator had to spend the night in the barn - not only for punishment, but to have that person think about how good it was to not be separated from the rest of the family. At the time, belonging to a family unit was a very important thing, so being an outcast (even for a short time) hurt.

After one of the children was sent to the barn for a violation that had occurred during the day, he heard - amid the strange groans and creaks encountered in a loft late at night - a particularly clear presence of someone else in the barn. As he cowered in fear, awaiting the intruder to make himself known, his father’s face appeared at the ladder. As he entered the loft with a pillow and blanket in hand, he said something like this. “I had to follow through with giving you the consequences you earned, so I couldn’t let you in the house; but that doesn’t stop me from coming out here to spend the night with you so you won’t be afraid.”

As a father, have you ever given of yourself even when strong discipline is deserved by one of your children? Has there ever been a big dose of love accompanying it? As it says in the Word, our Father disciplines us for our own good. Do you do the same?

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

5/08/24 Has God Become Small in Your Eyes?

“Because you are mature enough to understand, I wish to make something very clear to you. There is no you without Me. So many of My people have brought Me down to their level. I have become something they have added to their lives instead of their only source of life. Do not make that same mistake. Ponder what I’ve said until it becomes truth to your heart. It will change your life, increase your faith, and renew the proper sense of awe needed to trust Me fully once again.

"I gave the first breath to Adam. If I should turn My attention from you for a single moment, you would cease to exist. However, you don’t need to fear. Your days are planned by My desire and numbered by Me. No one and nothing will rob you of a single moment.

"Begin to see a larger picture of things. I spoke the universe into being. I formed you and I keep you. You will live by My will. It would be wise for you to live for My will.”

Psalm 46:10 NIV

“Be still and know that I am God...”

Psalm 150:1-6 AMP

1) Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in the heavens of His power!

2) Praise Him for His mighty acts; praise Him according to the abundance of His greatness!

3) Praise Him with trumpet sound; praise Him with lute and harp!

4) Praise Him with tambourine and [single or group] dance; praise Him with stringed and wind instruments or flutes!

5) Praise Him with resounding cymbals; praise Him with loud clashing cymbals!

6) Let everything that has breath and every breath of life praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!

Proverbs 20:24 AMP

Man’s steps are ordered by the Lord….

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.

Most of our words about our Sovereign, Almighty God have lost their impact because of familiarity and loose usage. There is no question that the blood of Jesus has given us the right to call Him ABBA, but it never gave us the right to diminish Who He really is because of our pride. Because of His abounding mercy and grace, some of us have lost perspective and minimized Him as God in our eyes. Some have brought Him to the level of being made in our image, demanding that He serve our needs.

In this present time, there is an onslaught to destroy our faith. The best way that the enemy can destroy who we are, what has been done for us through Jesus, and the corresponding wonder of our relationship with Him is to diminish Who God really is in our eyes. We need to remember that this is the very same God Moses could not look upon because of His glory.

The “smaller” our God and Lord can be made to appear to us, the weaker He will seem. The weaker He seems, the less we will be in awe of Him. That is hazardous to our walk with Him; and, consequently, to our wonder of Him and trust in Him as God.

Remember; there is only One God. He is El Shaddai. He is more powerful than any need, greater than any foe; and worthy of all honor and glory. His will brought everything into being. He is God and there is no other. He held our first breath and owns our last. It is right to serve Him and live only for Him.

Never let me forget, Lord,

Jim Corbett

5/08/24 A Great Lesson

I remember the time my dad came to me at 2:00 AM with a spare tire in his hand, because I had burned the rubber off my own tires after about two months. I had a flat about a mile from home, and I woke him up to take me back where I left my car. I was sure that I was really in for it this time. He had commented on me driving foolishly for a long time, so I knew this was incredible fuel for a fatherly “I told you so” kind of lesson.

What surprised me, though, was the fact that he said nothing that night, or even after that I can recall. He didn’t have to. I knew how wrong I had been. Now, I’m not going to say that I changed my ways immediately since I went through many sets of tires before I finally wised up; but that instance had a great impact on me none-the-less.

My dad’s quiet assistance at that time said more than any lecture he could have given me. He simply served because he was my dad. In his own way, he said out loud that he loved me without saying a word in a situation where I deserved many words.

As a father, it might be good to take a thorough look at the way you are directing your children into wholeness. Are you continually correcting them, or are you giving them some space to learn some valuable lessons in ways that allow God to work on their hearts? Sometimes the most is said when no words are involved. It gives you time to pray for their best interests, too.

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

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