Open post

9/26/23 Focus on Eternal Things

“So many of you are walking in fear, but you are in fear of those things that matter little in the light of eternity. You fear the loss of your possessions, your freedoms, and your rights. These fears and others like them consume your time and your energy. They place your focus on the temporal, not the eternal. The enemy of your soul loves to keep you occupied with such things. When you do so, you have little time to focus on those things that really matter, such as Our relationship, Our time together considering your mission, and Our desire for those who need to hear about Jesus.

"Once you understand that all fears disappear when you know Me and My power, you will never focus on things that are passing away again. We can concentrate on important matters. Devour My Word. Listen to My heart. Walk in My love for you. Spend time with Me. Fear is a very foolish waste of time. It is for those who do not really know Me and My Word.”

Ps. 56:1-4 AMP

1) BE MERCIFUL and gracious to me, O God, for man would trample me or devour me; all the day long the adversary oppresses me.

2) They that lie in wait for me would swallow me up or trample me all day long, for they are many who fight against me, O Most High!

3) What time I am afraid, I will have confidence in and put my trust and reliance in You.

4) By [the help of] God I will praise His word; on God I lean, rely, and confidently put my trust; I will not fear. What can man, who is flesh, do to me?

Proverbs 18:10 NIV 

The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.

Phil. 4:8-9 NIV 

8) Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.

9) Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Phil. 4:6-7 AMP 

6) Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.

7 And God’s peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

 

I remember when I was a kid that the big kid down the block wanted to hurt me... what was his name? I remember when that project at work had this incredible deadline… that was how long ago? I remember how I worried about this one situation…what was that about anyway?

Our Father God holds every moment of every day in His mighty hands. He calls us out from under the weight of our needs and brings us into the realm of His glory. He reigns over everything. He has also invited us to come to Him and promises to cover all our needs. He also has some mighty exciting plans to share with us and our part in them. Maybe it’s time to refocus our attentions on those things that are important and stop fearing things that pass away only to become dim memories.

I’m sorry, Lord,

Jim Corbett

Open post

9/26/23 Our Privilege

Being a husband and father is a God-given privilege. It is pretty incredible to think that He trusts us enough to place the lives of other people in our hands - people He loves as much as He loves us. Because of this tremendous responsibility, He also gives us Himself and all that He has so that we can succeed as husbands and fathers. He is always available and ready to supply whatever we need to fulfill our offices.

Our Father has promoted us, then pledges to equip us, and allows us to observe the wonder of the work He accomplishes in us and in those we’ve invested in.  Yes, the offices of husband and father include an enormous responsibility, but what immeasurable joy and satisfaction there is to experience in the process when fully submitted to Him. What an extraordinary privilege! I encourage you to make the most of it!

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

Open post

9/25/23 Not Ready

“When are you, My children, going to wake up? When will you finally decide to shake off the spiritual lethargy and sell out to Me? Don’t you see the signs that your world is changing at a rapid pace? Soon, the freedoms that you have to proclaim My Word will no longer exist. At present, you have no power to resist. You have no endurance to withstand the coming onslaught against My ways. What is worse, you have no desire to be My standard unless it is comfortable for you. I call you to intimacy with Me, because I know that the time We are together will show you My heart; but you do not come.

"My Word tells you that the ability to love as I love is vital to your representation of Who I am. After all this time, you are still thin-skinned and angry when I place you in training or when someone offends you. You are no different than the world. You are not ready for what is about to take place. If you don’t make Me your priority, you will not overcome when times change. Look at what is happening in your world. It is out of control. Wake up! Draw close to Me for My instructions. Draw close to Me, so that I can show you My heart. I am waiting now.”

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 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?

Matthew 11:12 KJV

“And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.”

2:Cor.10:3-5 NIV 

3) For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.

4) The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

5) We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

 

Loving as Jesus loved is unspeakable violence in the dark world of sin. Taking thoughts captive, so that they align with the heart of God, destroys one of the enemy’s most effective strongholds against God’s children. Intimacy with Father God violently destroys the enemy’s weapons that hold our hearts captive.

The Lord Jesus Functioned in a Spirit of Purity – So Must We

To Jesus, everyone and all things were pure. As He walked through this world and saw everything through His Father’s eyes, even the vilest action or the filthiest motive could not cause Him to remove Himself from His Father’s plan - the salvation of souls.

The Oneness that He and His Father shared left no room for worldly ways to interfere with His purpose for being on earth in the first place. Because we do not determine to see everything from God’s eternal perspective, our hearts will remain impure and our lives will remain unusable for the purposes of God.  Only as we become a study of His motives and commit to trust Him at all times will He be able to fully use us.

 Wake me from my slumber, Lord,

Jim Corbett

Open post

9/25/23 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

Open post

9/23/23 Choose Joy

“Life, as you know it, could change in an instant. Are you living this day to the fullest? Are you taking every opportunity to focus on the wonders of your life with Me with joy and love, or are you wasting your energies worrying about what will happen tomorrow? Have you chosen to be free from every bondage in which the enemy of your soul would desire for you to wallow, or have you forgiven and forgotten every offense against you? Are your daily concerns self-oriented, or do you strive to see the needs of others before your own?

"You see, the highest caliber of life is available to everyone who has given his or her life to Jesus. All of the resources of heaven and earth are poised to provide what is necessary to those who understand My way of life. Why then, do you look and act and attempt to emulate those who do not know Me? Jesus was free from every hint of the world and its ways. You should be too! He established the pattern of living for those around Him. So should you!”

Genesis 1:27-28a AMP

27) So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them.

28a) And God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it [using all its vast resources in the service of God and man]…

Matthew 5:13 AMP 

You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste (its strength, its quality) how can its saltness be restored? It is not good for anything any longer but to be thrown out and trodden underfoot by men.

 

Someone who is motivated at anything becomes a study of whatever has his heart. If he is really motivated, nothing stands in the way of the fulfillment of his desired end. He will work tirelessly, study endlessly, and spend whatever resources necessary to “own completely” the object of his affection, whether it be the ability to excel in sports, business, the love of another, or worldly possessions. What has his heart has his life.

When I first came to know Jesus as my Savior and Lord, He had my heart completely. There was nothing more vital than pleasing Him. Nothing would be powerful enough to stand in the way of whatever He desired. He was more important than anything and everything. He was the only One I could see or hear, my food and my drink, my very reason for living.

Somehow, things far less important have replaced Jesus in some areas of my life. Somehow, smaller, more fleeting loves have acquired portions of my heart to the point that I have forgotten the incredible wealth of knowing and desiring Him and only Him. My first love wonder has been modified to “mature” love; and although it is steady and real and obedient, it lacks the lover’s zeal it once had. I miss that “everything, Lord” zeal. I want it back and I believe that Jesus desires my heart to be that way for Him again also.

Bring me back, Lord,

Jim Corbett

Posts navigation

1 2 3 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 647 648 649
Scroll to top