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2/12/24 Pursuing a Higher Standard

As a husband and father, would you do anything to change your ways if you realized the lives of your wife and children are gifts that will be presented to God one day? Who they become will be laid at the feet of our Lord. Because you hold these offices, you’re a steward of those lives. You’re responsible to provide an atmosphere for them to become all they can be in Christ and you’ll answer to God for the result.

You see, as Christian men, you and I are called to a higher standard than those who live in the world. We’re to love more, serve more, and have God’s higher purposes in mind for everything we do. We are God’s representatives on this earth. He owns our lives, which makes us stewards of them for His honor and glory.

In the world, husbands and fathers are considered a success if their marriage is outwardly OK and their children are accepted by society’s standards. You have a higher call. God asks that your marriage be an example of the relationship of Christ and His church. He asks that your children come to know Him personally through their submission to Jesus as their Savior and Lord and serve Him with all their hearts. He asks you to pave the way for that to happen through the power of the Holy Spirit. Success in His eyes is far different than the supposed success of the world. Which will you choose?

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

2/10/24 Being the Blessing

“Are you really aware of those who are around you? When you are blessed, is it good for your community of believers or do you consume your blessings upon yourself? I place you in the midst of others so that they benefit from who you are and what you have to offer. Some need an attentive ear. Others need a service. Still others need My financial wealth, which I have entrusted to you. All of them need the Jesus that resides in you. Are you really aware of that? Is that your mode of thinking when you see them? Jesus saw the needs and died for them. You have been given the same eyes to see and a heart to love because He dwells in you. Are you using them, or have you closed them so that you can serve yourself?”

Rom. 8:5b-11 NIV

5b) …but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

6) The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;

7) the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.

8) Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

9) You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.

10) But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.

11) And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

Some time ago, I talked to an individual who stated that the Lord gave him a financial windfall. He was obviously excited and with good reason. After our conversation, I began to think about the things that he said. It was then I realized that nothing was said about what the Lord wanted to do with His blessing. Being familiar with where this man lives and understanding the needs all around him, it came to me that the blessing was not for him. It was to bless others.

The man had more than enough to live on and was wealthy already by almost any standards. In the spirit, I saw that the Lord was trying to make him a conduit of blessing, one through which mighty rivers of financial wealth could flow to those sent to him, not hindered by greed. We need not judge, for every one of us is guilty of the same sin as this man. Money is not the only conduit of blessing that is misused. However we are blessed, we are to use those blessings only how the Lord wants us to use them. They are not always only for us.

Make me a willing conduit, Lord,

Jim Corbett

2/10/24 Just Say Yes

Make sure you respond to the call God has for your life. Make sure you don’t choose to take the easier road by living a life that’s different than God intended.

If you follow hard after God, you’ll probably feel like you’re on the outside looking in within the church. I'm not talking about doing weird things that discredit the integrity of the Gospel. I mean that if you follow the example of the life of Jesus and move only when and where God tells you, people will not understand. You may find yourself giving away your possessions, taking a lesser job so you can reach people, or - heaven forbid - trusting God completely for your provision while you go into full time service.

One of the most heart-wrenching sights you'll ever see is the emptiness in the eyes of those who have not responded to the call of God, usually because of fear or their lust for worldly goods. Those desires may be simple things, like security, new clothes, or a new car. They understand deep down that they have heard the call of their Creator and have said "no" when asked to fulfill His desires for their lives. Nothing, absolutely nothing, will satisfy the emptiness of soul that follows.

After saying “no” to the Lord, most of them eventually find themselves working feverishly at some other ministry or filling a myriad of church positions to cover up the emptiness. The end result is almost always an involvement with other weary, often critical people who are also doing good works, attempting to make a difference of some sort to cover their pain, rather than following after God's original plan for their lives. How sad! How grievous to God. Just say yes!

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

2/09/24 What More Do You Need?

“What is it going to take to break your heart and return to first love? What must I do to convince you that you live in very volatile times? How long before you begin to prepare in earnest for the return of Jesus? Do you see how your world is changing and could be unrecognizable in moments? Do you see how your planet is groaning as if in birth pains? What more do you need to get serious, really serious about your life with Me? Get your eyes off yourself and sell out to My plans. You are called for your specific generation. I have a plan for you. It’s time for you to really get on with it!”

Isaiah 28:9-10 TLB

9) ”Who does Isaiah think he is,” the people say, “to speak to us like this! Are we little children, barely old enough to talk?

10) He tells us everything over and over again, a line at a time and in such simple words!”

Isaiah 42:25 AMP

Therefore He poured out upon [Israel] the fierceness of His anger and the strength of battle. And it set him on fire round about, yet he knew not [the lesson of repentance which the Assyrian conquest was intended to teach]; it burned him, but he did not lay it to heart.

Isaiah 48:3 NIV

“I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.”

Jeremiah 12:5 AMP [But the Lord rebukes Jeremiah’s impatience, saying] If you have raced with men on foot and they have tired you out, then how can you compete with horses? And if [you take to flight] in a land of peace where you feel secure, then what will you do [when you tread the tangled maze of jungle haunted by lions] in the swelling and flooding of the Jordan?

Let’s see! We have a holy God Who has been warning us to prepare at every turn. Our world is changing, groaning, and deteriorating minute by minute. We say that we know we are living in the end of the end times. Why is it that we remain selfish, self-centered, and secretly hoping that what we know is about to occur will not happen, so that we can remain as we are a little longer? Why will we not respond to what we know is a herald of repentance and bridal heart preparation, calling for a radical life change? Why are we so foolish as to shake off all the warnings?

I sense that the Lord is about to do what it takes to refine this generation of His own. I’m afraid that most of us will be walking around wide-eyed and drooling at the mouth, the same as those who are called foolish, when it happens. Instead of being prepared vessels who are able to pour the life of Jesus into those who need, we will be needy ourselves, consuming from those prepared to represent Jesus to the lost. All because we will not hear now!

Help me hear and act, Lord,

Jim Corbett

2/09/24 The Bad Guys

As men, we are taught to hold on to our own safety and make sure no one takes our stuff. Some time ago, the Lord startled me while I was in one of those quiet-almost-sleepy-could-really-be-dozing kind of prayer times. His voice was quiet and full of love. He said, "I want you to know that I love your most aggressive enemies as much as I love you. There is no one on the face of this earth that I wish would perish. I want you to pray for all those who hate Me. In fact, I want you to pray for anyone who will hate My children. Pray that they will be able to share My love."

Then things got personally serious. "I want you to pray for those who will kill you. I don't mean that someone is going to do that, necessarily; but I want you to have the heart that would care about their salvation more than you care about your own life." By now, I was awake. Pray for someone who hated me enough to kill me! Love others - even the bad guys?

The Lord then reminded me of His actions on the cross. He had words of forgiveness for those who were spitting on Him and an attitude of great love for those who drove the nails in His hands. He told me to do the same with anyone who came against me. It was enough to remind me this life is not centered around my well-being. What a novel thought!

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

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