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3/06/23 The Price of Compromise

Compromise as seen through our eyes is very different than how God sees it. As men, we see working overtime hours to provide a better house or a newer car as being a good steward. The Lord may see it as robbing our children of our presence in their lives. We may think that by going on a two-week vacation with the family, we’ve provided our dutiful input into our children’s lives, when the Lord is asking us to invest in them on our knees and in their presence on a continual daily basis.

We may settle for a marriage that seems as good as anyone else’s, when God is asking that don’t settle for anything less than a marriage that’s a mirror of the relationship between Christ and His church. We may think that being a breadwinner is the fulfillment of our obligation, when God asks us to lay our lives down for our wives just as Christ did for us.

Compromise, as God sees it, is acting in any way other than the way Jesus acted. His purpose for your offices is to create an atmosphere in your marriage and your family in the same way that Jesus would. Because you say that you follow Him, you are to act and conduct yourself in the same way that He acted and conducted Himself. We must ask ourselves; in what spirit would Jesus honor the office of husband and father, and then act accordingly. Acting as Jesus would in every situation we face is not legalism; it’s Christianity 101.

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

3/04/23 Have You Done What God Asked of You?

“If I were to call you home today, would your life give a testimony of your obedience? Would it show that you have listened to My direction and moved in My heart towards those around you through Jesus? Have you done what I asked you to do? More importantly, have you chosen time with Me over time with the world and its ways? Your life and how you spend it really counts, you know!”

I Sam. 15:22 NIV

But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.”

Jer. 10:23 AMP

O Lord [pleads Jeremiah in the name of the people], I know that [the determination of] the way of a man is not in himself; it is not in man [even in a strong man or in a man at his best] to direct his [own] steps.

Luke 12:48b AMP

For everyone to whom much is given, of him shall much be required; and of him to whom men entrust much, they will require and demand all the more.

Ephesians 3:10-12 AMP

10) [The purpose is] that through the church the complicated, many-sided wisdom of God in all its infinite variety and innumerable aspects might now be made known to the angelic rulers and authorities (principalities and powers) in the heavenly sphere.

11) This is in accordance with the terms of the eternal and timeless purpose which He has realized and carried into effect in [the person of] Christ Jesus our Lord.

12) In Whom, because of our faith in Him, we dare to have the boldness (courage and confidence) of free access (an unreserved approach to God with freedom and without fear).

You and I have been born with a purpose and for a purpose. We are the Lord’s tools - designed, then redesigned and continually perfected to represent His heart and desire to our specific corner of the world, even to the angelic creation. Maybe we had better get on with it.

When was the last time you became passionate about the Lord’s plans? For that matter, when was the last time the Lord’s plans for your life took priority over the other demands you face each day? God is clearly requiring each of us to make Him our priority. Still, most of us agonize over the demands of simply living out each day - paying the rent, providing for food, etc. To stop, even for a day, and spend it entirely with the Lord should He ask us to do so would be beyond comprehension for some of us.

Give me Your passions, Lord,

Jim Corbett

3/04/23 Favor from God

Because they have so much impact, the offices of husband and father are very important to Father God. The world sees a strong man as someone who selfishly dominates his realm of influence. Men not worthy of these offices take advantage of those they steward and cause them much harm. Countless children in every strata of society grow up and spend their entire lives looking to be healed because of ignorant or uncaring fathers.

The offices of husband and father are designed by God to be the highest offices He has created. Because every person on this earth is born into a family situation, that institution is very dear to His heart. Any man, who attempts to raise his family to honor God and live a significant life in His eyes, has great favor with Him. He responds to the father on his knees, who prays for the best interests of his wife and family.

Men, as you begin to understand the importance of your office and function in it God’s way, expect answers to your needs. Expect supernatural intervention in impossible situations. Be prepared to meet unusual responses from formerly unresponsive children. Prepare to fall in a deeper kind of love with your wife, no matter how impossible that may seem at present. When God favors your actions and directions, He hovers over them like a loving, enthusiastic, doting Father. After all, that’s Who He is!

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

3/03/23 Valuable to God

“Unfolding your life for you is a joy every heavenly moment. I relish the idea that you will eventually be the person that I have planned for you to be. I see how you stumble and wander and wonder. I love how you are seeking for truth. It pleases Me that you are coming to Me more often for that truth. You need to know that I am pleased with you. I understand how far you have to go. I appreciate the struggles that you are going through. I knew how many times you would fail long before you were born, and still I gladly invited you to be with Me for eternity.

"If you have any doubt that I would ever leave you or forsake you, eliminate that doubt forever in your mind. It is all a lie of the enemy. I have created you. I have called you. Now I am forming you. I will invest My time in you because I believe in who you are. You are valuable to Me. It delights Me to know that I am becoming more valuable to you each and every day. This is only the beginning. You should see what I have in store for you. Run your race hard. Focus on your calling. Prepare as a bride in waiting with every fiber of your being. It will all be worth it.”

Ps. 139:14-16 NIV

14) I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

15) My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

16) your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

2 Cor. 3:3 AMP

You show and make obvious that you are a letter Christ delivered by us, not written with ink but with [the] Spirit of [the] living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

II Tim. 4:7-8 NIV

7) I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

8) Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

What an incredible Father! The more we learn of Him, the more we can understand why He goads us, chastises us, encourages us, and flat out loves us. He has a plan for us.

I once received a letter demanding that I remove a person from our mailing list. He asked to be removed because he stated that the messages were for the “namby-pamby, wimpy, and weak.” He went on to say that the messages nauseated him and that a “Mr. Rogers” approach to the gospel was not appealing to him. He said that God is violent with our sins and will rip us from them by force…

I took that letter to prayer often after receiving it, wondering if the strong truth needed to bring each of us to proper, honest repentance was not being spoken. Many times I reviewed the former messages to gain overall insight into what is really on the heart of our Father.

I have come to this conclusion. Our Father in heaven is a loving Father who is eliminating the sin in our lives with determined energy. He has brought us to Himself through Jesus Christ so that we have the privilege of knowing who He really is. God is violent with our sin, but He is loving toward us. We have been brought into His presence because of the shed blood of Jesus. That blood is not wasted.

There is a fearful awe of God that is missing in the church today. He will not be mocked. That awe, however, should never overwhelm us to the point that we can’t go to Him in need while we are in the process of being cleaned up and made into the image of Christ. We can come to Him, confident that He will accept us because of and covered in the blood of Jesus.

I feel very sorry for the one who wrote the letter mentioned above. He has focused on an attitude that shows little of the complete nature of our Father who loves us deeply, whether He is chastising us or encouraging us. The man is missing so much.

Able to cry “Abba” because of Jesus,

Jim Corbett

3/03/23 Saying I’m Sorry

For some of us macho guys, saying “I’m sorry” is very difficult, especially if our parents never told us they were sorry for anything. Let’s face it; we all make mistakes. Sometimes those mistakes occur through our ignorance, our upbringing, or our sin.

As a husband and father, your words and actions have a very big impact on your family. Your undoneness may be revealed every time you open your mouth or with every reaction you exhibit regarding the challenges you encounter involving your wife or children. Sometimes that inability to deal with things properly will cause separation. Maybe your children have separated from you in their hearts or your marriage may be far less than you ever thought it would be.

Usually in these situations, we have a tendency to replace love for our children with discipline, or take on hard work instead of communicating with our wives. The hope that things will get better is a whole lot easier than dealing directly with the issues that have caused the situation we’re in. It’s also much easier to blame others for the things they’ve done or for their imperfections, rather than taking responsibility for the heart separation ourselves.

Holy Spirit-led, heartfelt repentance to those, who have separated themselves from you in their hearts, can go a long way toward healing. Honest repentance for your mistakes and completely forgiving others for their mistakes is God’s way of making relationships whole. Your release of any undoneness and all offenses, which have caused the situation you are in, brings a whole new dynamic into play.

In essence, our relationship with Jesus began and remains whole with saying “I’m sorry,” whenever we offend Him. We need His mercy each time we come to Him. Our job is to extend that same mercy to those who have offended us – real or perceived, especially family members. Your expression of sorrow for the times you may have offended others gives them the freedom to heal from your offenses. It opens the doors of communication and allows weapons of self- defense or survival instinct to be laid down. “I’m sorry” - two little words that could change the direction of your family when said for the good of others. Will you say them?

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

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