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11/21/23 ABC Christianity

Philippians 3:10-11 AMP 

 10) [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope]

11) That if possible I may attain to the [spiritual and moral] resurrection [that lifts me] out from among the dead [even while in the body].

Paul saw the need to overcome the world he lived in. As a husband and father, you need to have the tools to overcome your world just as he did. The verses above give the formula for doing so.

A - Know Jesus. You need to prioritize your time to really get to know the only One Who spent His life so that you can have real life. To understand the wonders of His person is the most astounding privilege available. Knowing Him, and learning to walk as He walked, will also give you answers for how you are to function in your offices and the hope you need to be able to do what it takes so that you and your family can stand before God having lived lives that brought Him honor and glory.

B - Understand what Jesus did, and how it affects your life. Without a working comprehension of what happened at the cross - how it gave you access to your Father in heaven, established a covenant of love for you, provided a new spiritual life for eternity and a new spiritual world on this earth - you have no hope of navigating the challenges that will come your way. With this understanding, those around you will be able to see hope for their lives, too.

C - Become like Him. Becoming like Jesus is not only a hope; it’s a covenant promise for everyone who has surrendered fully to His Lordship. His life, lived through you, gives you the power to see as He saw and act as He acted. In the midst of a dying world, people don’t need another religious person. They need to see the life of Jesus lived out before them. You can be that life if you choose to do so. It’s a gift for you because you are His. It’s a command to you because you are His.

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

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11/20/23 Have You Forgotten?

“When was the last time you expressed the joy of your salvation? For that matter, when was the last time you were even thankful that you have been saved from eternal separation from Me? How hardened has your heart become? Are you using your salvation as a license to not care for the well-being of others? Why are you not shouting the joy you’ve been given from the rooftops to others? Why are you not filled with delight every day so that others can see your joy? Have you forgotten the incredible value of the free gift you’ve been given? Sometimes it seems that way to Me!”

Ps. 13:5-6 AMP

5) But I have trusted, leaned on, and been confident in Your mercy and loving-kindness; my heart shall rejoice and be in high spirits in Your salvation.

6) I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me.

Ps. 40:16 NIV 

But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation always say, “The LORD be exalted!

Ps. 149:4-5 NIV 

4) For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation.

5) Let the saints rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds.

Rom. 15:13 AMP

May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing  (bubbling over) with hope.

Phil. 4:12-13 AMP

12) I know how to be abased and live humbly in straitened circumstances, and I know also how to enjoy plenty and live in abundance. I have learned in any and all circumstances the secret of facing every situation, whether well-fed or going hungry, having a sufficiency and enough to spare or going without and being in want.

13) I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency].

 

I have experienced some people who call themselves followers of Jesus who are real prune faces with dead hearts. I believe that if the Lord would choose to give them a million dollars, they would complain about some other area that makes them a teeny bit uncomfortable.

How foolish have we become? How far have we fallen?  When are we going to remember what this wonder-filled relationship is all about and bubble over to others in our joy?

Teach me to bubble rather than blubber, Lord,

Jim Corbett

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11/20/23 Nurturing vs. Disciplining

Our Father God disciplines His children. All of His discipline is for our good in the end. He is also the kindest, most loving, most nurturing Father there is. His provisions to us as His children allow us to find a way out of any and all of our wrongdoings. His promises bring us hope. His Words envelop us in love.

Many earthly fathers have missed the mark in trying to carry out their role as a guide for their children, which causes separation between the father and his children. Continual correction and subsequent discipline in the form of consequences, without the corresponding love needed to balance it, brings despair and rebellion. No correction or guidance brings confusion and a spirit of abandonment.

Have you ever seen a true craftsman nurturing his apprentice to help him become a craftsman, too? He cares about the skills he’s imparting. He guides the hands of the apprentice, so they eventually function as his hands do. He passes on his wisdom in every area of the trade. He is always “in the corner” of the apprentice, knowing that only loving guidance will help the apprentice become the skilled craftsman he is called to be.

You are supposed to be a craftsman in the things of God, nurturing your children to become skilled in the things of God also. You are called to pass on those things you have learned from the lap of your Father in heaven. You are not called to be a disciplinarian only. Doing so allows the enemy of your family to plant irreversible inroads and insurmountable divisions between you and those you steward. Nurturing, however, is God’s way of imparting wealth. You can make your children wealthy craftsmen if you nurture them toward the love of God.

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

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11/18/23 Look Beyond Your Needs

“As I unfold My plans and the events that were promised long ago come to pass, many around you will need what you have. That is why I am taking the time to train you now. You see your present pressures as challenges to overcome. I am using them to teach you to submit. You see your needs as temporary circumstances that you can work your way through. I am teaching you faith in Me. Few of you know how to trust Me, really trust Me. I am taking care of that. Embrace your trials as the eternal work that they are. Begin to see with My eyes. Look past your needs and covet only My presence. Grow past your self-serving hopes and dedicate your entire being to My ways. It is your only place of honest service.”

John 17:15-19 AMP

15) I do not ask that You will take them out of the world, but that You will keep and protect them from the evil one.

16) They are not of the world (worldly, belonging to the world), [just] as I am not of the world.

17) Sanctify them [purify, consecrate, separate them for Yourself, make them holy] by Truth; Your Word is Truth.

18) Just as You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.

19) And so for their sake and on their behalf I sanctify (dedicate, consecrate) Myself, that they also may be sanctified (dedicated, consecrated, made holy) in the Truth.

Jam. 1:2-4 AMP 

2) Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations.

3) Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience.

4) But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing.

 

A good friend called me a while ago. In the course of our conversation, through the obedience of this vessel, the Lord exposed my fickle heart. I had taken on the responsibility to make happen what only the Lord was supposed to do. Repentance was necessary and I did so.

After a while, the Lord showed me where my heart really was and how my sin had affected my relationship with Him. I had taken over the lordship of my circumstances once again, a heart position that deeply offends Him. I had decided that my ways were better than His ways for my life - no small matter. In fact, my foolishness grieved my God the same way that the Israelites offended Him over and over again by not trusting Him after they were delivered from Egypt.

In this time when we, as God’s people, lounge under His astounding grace and mercy, and vacation in His overwhelming forbearance, we must never miss the fact that His heart never changes. This life is all about His ways. He is God, and we are not.

Forgive me, Lord,

Jim Corbett

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11/18/23 Get with God’s Plan

In my years of working with adults, I’ve found that many of them are fighting inward fights from many years ago. Most of these people are living their lives trying to measure up to the expectations - real or perceived - of their fathers. Their lives are way out of control because of things that have happened between them and their dads.

When the father is out of line, generally the whole family goes south. Most fathers have little idea that in the process of directing their children, they assume the role of authoritarian. This role, when out of focus, can lead to many years of sorrow, pain, and confusion for their children. If the father was too harsh, the spirit of the child is broken. If he is absent, either physically or emotionally, the child replaces him with whatever role model he or she can find to fill the void, and so on.

Fathers, your role is very important to your children. I don’t mean the role of physical provider only, but the role of father, guide, and friend. God has placed your office as the covering over your household for good reason. If you have sold out to the Lord, your spiritual depth protects your household. If it is shallow, the lack of spiritual covering and discernment allows for destruction from the enemy to enter in. You hold the office because of God. You can’t possibly be the kind of father He intends you to be without Him.

It’s time to make some quite important decisions if your household is out of order, or if you are a new dad. You need to understand what is required of you by the Lord for the good of your family. You need to get with God’s plan. Your children are depending on it! Are you?

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

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