Bible | TFRC | The Faith Resource Community

4/23/24 The Privilege of Desperately Needing Jesus

In a day when most of us men have been taught that weakness of any kind is something that needs to be avoided like the plague, there is an eternal truth that has been lost in the body of Christ. The wealth of desperately needing Jesus at every moment is so important, that without functioning in it as our life's purpose, we become weak, impotent, and incapable of exhibiting His life properly. Any reliance on ourselves, our own capabilities, or the resources of others hinders us from walking as Jesus walked on this earth, and stops us from craving the deeper, more important spiritual truths that are needed to represent Him properly and fulfill our purpose for living.

Looking to Jesus as our only source brings us into the kind of relationship the Father intended for all believers from the very beginning. Because of His mercy, that relationship was made available for all eternity through the cross and resurrection of His Son. The richness of desperate need, total reliance, and full submission to God's will and purposes - no matter what the cost - is the road map to a wealthy spiritual walk and the warm, tender, Father-to-child relationship that was meant for us all along. When we experience that kind of fellowship with our Father, we can lead our children to His lap also.

The full acceptance of our weakness is the key to receiving the deep truths from the heart of God and the path to intimacy with Him. It is the single entrance into the throne room where a warm place on His lap is reserved for us. What stops you from going there?

Let's talk more!

Jim Corbett

4/22/24 Live the Word

“It is time to seek truth with all your might so that you walk in it. There is little time to allow perceived truth, personal perspective, and hindering traditions to sway you to hazardous places. Clean up your lives. Be set free from any hindrances that have been part of who you are because of the lies of the enemy, or the clutter that has allowed you to believe something that’s not true. Forgive everyone in your past relationships. Deny access to the familiar lies in your head about who you are, who you are not, or who you can or cannot be.

"Seek My Word. Allow it to tell you who I have called you to be. Take the time to allow My Word to change any part of your thinking that is out of order with eternal truth. I am present in it to proclaim what really is and is not. Search for Me. I can be found if you seek Me with all your heart. I will show you absolute truth. You can stake your life on what My Word says. In fact, you must.”

Amos 5:4b AMP

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

Mark 4: 24 AMP

And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing. The measure [of thought and study] you give [to the truth you hear] will be the measure [of virtue and knowledge] that comes back to you – and more [besides] will be given to you who hear.

Colossians 1:9-12 NIV

9) For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

10) And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,

11) being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully

12) giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

Most of the world spends more time picking out their wardrobe than they do deeply investigating what happens after they close their eyes for the last time. In the same way, most of the church walks around in half-truths, perceived notions, and flat-out blind traditions. We cling to teachings with little or no biblical foundation, just because it feels right or ministers to some part of our carnal nature; and never give a thought as to whether or not God is pleased with our foolishness.

We need to get serious. This is serious business—this God business. Every one of us should have only God’s desires as the primary focus of our lives. Whatever it takes, we need to get to really know our God, and what His Word actually says. Then we need to live by it.

Teach me Your truth, Lord,

Jim Corbett

4/22/24 Refuse to Be Afraid

As a man, I am often surprised at what we as men are generally afraid of. Even admitting that we have fears is contrary to everything that we have been told since we were little guys wandering through our growing up days. In Christ I can finally say that my early life scared the tricycle out of me.

Throughout high school, locker room bravado, with all of the cocky athletes and their macho stuff, set a standard of who we were supposed to be, and what determined our manhood. We were supposed to be tough, good in bed, and able to make everyone believe we had answers, no matter what we had to do to prove it. I don't know about you, but my high school days were days of lying to myself and to all of my buddies, mostly to just be accepted.

Now, as a Christian man, I know how foolish and downright wrong all of the world-inspired locker room training was. God is continually showing me how to shake off all of the standards set in those days and accept the boldness to act as Jesus acted. He refused to be afraid to act right in a world that was wrong.

As husbands and fathers, isn't it long overdue for us to refuse to be afraid to be the men that Jesus calls us to be? Isn't it time to not be afraid to love our wives and children as He loved His church? Are we not supposed to lay down our fears of being considered less than macho if we serve them as one of our priorities?

If we refuse to live under the world-inspired dictates, we are free. If we can be small enough to admit to being wrong and in need of going to God for answers in front of our wives, we are showing her that she is under the protection of God who is far stronger than we are. If we are free to have no answers for our children, they will see that it is important to drop to our knees for answers; something they will need to do in their lives.

Men, it's time to refuse to be anything less than Jesus calls us to be. What do you say that we live lives that inspire others to be set apart from the world by refusing to be afraid of anything it offers? Jesus did and He has given us the power to do the same. Do you want to be fearless?

Let's talk more!

Jim Corbett

4/20/24 Waiting on God

“Make sure that you remain diligent while you are waiting for Me to move on your behalf. Your time of waiting is also a time of learning to be obedient in other areas of your life. Complete those things that I have told you to do. Clean up all of the relationships that have been neglected. Become a study of Jesus. Learn about My heart. Bring your house to order so that new assignments can be completed when I give them to you.

"Few understand the importance of waiting on Me. I am not only completing patience, diligence, and obedience in you; I am orchestrating many things concerning your life. As soon as everything is in order, you need to be ready to move. There will be work to be done. Prepare while you can. When I call you, I will expect immediate responses. A work of completed patience will bring new faith in Me. Soon you will walk in it.”

Psalm 51:10 AMP

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right, persevering and steadfast spirit within me.

Psalm 106:12-15a AMP

12) Then [Israel] believed His words [trusting in, relying on them]; they sang His praise.

13) But they hastily forgot His works; they did not [earnestly] wait for His plans [to develop] regarding them.

14) But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness and tempted and tried to restrain God [with their insistent desires] in the desert.

15a) And He gave them their request, but sent leanness to their souls…

Isa. 30:18 NIV

Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!

Acts 12:6 NIV

The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance.

The picture of Peter shackled to two soldiers and possibly snoring up a storm while waiting for the Lord to move on his behalf is probably one of the most descriptive heart positions of trusting in God ever written. It is a delightful picture of absolute trust in a faithful Father God. It can also, however, portray the wrong picture of what waiting for the Lord to move on our behalf is really all about. Yes, waiting on God most certainly accomplishes quiet, peaceful, steadfast patience in those who are waiting; but much more is also accomplished.

Waiting on God is never a time of sleeping the days away. In fact, it is the opposite of inactivity. Although the primary activity is always seeking the Lord diligently and repenting of revealed sins, especially those of faithlessness and control, many “clean-up” tasks are accomplished during these times.

Waiting is a time of both heart and physical preparation. It is a time of bringing proper order back to your spiritual and physical house. To wait on God is a settling in with the Lord, cleaning your ears so that you can once again hear Him properly, cleaning your house so that you can move when He tells you to move; and sharpening your tools so that you have what is needed for the important tasks ahead. Waiting for the Father to impart what is on His heart for your life imparts His life in the process.

Show me how to wait, Lord,

Jim Corbett

4/20/24 Pass It On

I wonder how many of us have had the privilege of simple quiet times with our fathers. I don't mean times when we had nothing to say to them because of heart separation; I am talking of intimate moments where nothing need be said, and it was OK.

As husbands and fathers, how are we expected to pass on what we haven't experienced ourselves? I think that there is a way. I think that maybe one of the reasons our Father in heaven calls us to Himself is to show us how to endear our wives and children to us. I know that may sound a little simplistic, but what if one of the reasons He calls us to Himself is that He intends for us to experience the wondrous peace found in just being with Him? What if, because of those experiences, we begin to find ways to create those same kinds of experiences with those we love?

What comes to mind as I observe wives who have looked to other things for satisfaction, or children that have turned to their peers and the world for acceptance, is that they are screaming out loud by their actions for someone to tell them of their value. Lifetimes are spent looking for someone, anyone, to somehow tell them of their worth. If you look at the phenomenon of cell phones, they are a point of contact that is desperately needed to fill some gap.

Dads, what if you determined to first of all learn how to rest in the quiet acceptance of your heavenly Father, and then passed that kind of privilege on to those who need you to tell them of their worth? What if restoring your family relationships could begin with the simple action of making sure that you are always available to those who need you to show them that they are worth being with? If you've never experienced that kind of acceptance, go get it from your Father, and pass it on by teaching them to go to Him because of being familiar with coming to you. Those who need Him are waiting for you to show them who He is by your actions. Are you willing and ready to go there?

Let's talk more!

Jim Corbett

1 2 3 … 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 … 674 675 676

Posts navigation