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6/10/21 Planned That Way

“Do you know what My anointing is? It is when I take your small offering and empower it through My Holy Spirit. My presence and My power do all of the work to make an optimum impact in all that I call you to do. Understand that you have little to offer Me other than your full surrender to My power. Your skills are limited. I know that. It’s how I planned it. Mine are boundless, eternal, and accompanied by sovereign insights. Allow Me to amplify your offering of love into the eternal realm. Allow Me to do everything My way through you. You will marvel at how free you will be to enjoy what I call you to do, as you see how much is accomplished when you wait for Me to do it My way.”

Esther 6:1-3 AMP

1) On that night the king could not sleep; and he ordered that the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, be brought, and they were read before the king.

2) And it was found written there how Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s attendants who guarded the door, who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.

3) And the king said, What honor or distinction has been given Mordecai for this? Then the king’s servants who ministered to him said, Nothing has been done for him.

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 into their souls…

 

The verses above minister mightily to me. The verses in Esther tell of a time when a king, unbeknownst to him, was awakened so that he could be used to further the mission of the Lord. God was working behind the scenes in His power. Mordecai was probably fretting and sleeplessly wondering how he was ever going to accomplish what was necessary, when all the while God was in the process of doing what Mordecai could never have done. God gave him favor in the heart of the king.

The verses in Psalm 106 smack of a people who insisted on their own way, not caring past their own needs. God answered their hard-hearted whining, giving them what they wanted; but also limited them to only what their carnal requests could produce. They missed the abundance God had for them, because they chose not to wait for God’s ways to unfold.

Let me not miss Your plans and Your ways, Lord,

Jim Corbett

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6/10/21 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

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6/09/21 The School of Bridal Preparation

“There is a very real reason for My allowing you to go through difficult times. There are also times that I discipline you. You are in My school of refinement and training. It is called bridal preparation. Those of you who are wise volunteer for My hand of discipline to be heavy upon you from the beginning of your walk with Me. Those who are foolish have little desire to pay the price of true fellowship and intimacy. They have chosen to consume what is not theirs and hold on to what they no longer own. They are so busy providing for themselves that they have missed one of the real purposes for Our relationship.

"Jesus is returning for those who have the same heart as His. I am developing that heart in those who press in and request it. I am allowing those who do not desire absolute submission to go their way. In the times ahead, those who have chosen the route of limited submission will be brought to full submission through very difficult times. You will be at peace. They will learn what you have known all along.”

 I Sam. 16:7b AMP

For the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.

Proverbs 29:21 AMP 

He who pampers his servant from childhood will have him expecting the rights of a son afterward.

Phil. 3:14-15 AMP

14) I press on toward the goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward.

15) So let those [of us] who are spiritually mature and full-grown have this mind and hold these convictions; and if in any respect you have a different attitude of mind, God will make that clear to you also.

Rev. 3:19 AMP

Those whom I [dearly and tenderly] love, I tell their faults and convict and convince and reprove and chasten [I discipline and instruct them]. So be enthusiastic and in earnest and burning with zeal and repent [changing your mind and attitude].

 

I believe that there are going to be some very surprised people when the standard that is required by God is revealed. Just a simple perusal of the churches of Revelation indicates that He is exposing attitudes that don’t live up to His ideals. There is a price for spiritual complacency within the body of Christ.

Most of the popular church today examines the pages of the Bible to find the provisions for good health, the right to great wealth, and the guarantee of safety for eternity. That is a mindset that is diametrically opposed to the mind of Christ. It is the posture of a self-serving, self-oriented carnal mind, not the mind of Christ.

Jesus set a standard when He left unimaginable wealth, position, and power to walk on this earth as an impoverished servant to all, anxious to die for those who hated Him. His standard is the bench mark for all who come after Him as they press forward. It is the high calling of Jesus Christ, which we all talk about, but few really seek.

When the call to join Jesus in the marriage supper is heralded, it is hard to imagine that it would include those who have never wanted to be there except to feast and fill themselves.  I see the standard that Jesus set scoffed at and replaced so often by another kind of Gospel; and I am fearful for those who promote it. There are too many places in the Word that goad all of us to “be as He is.” I believe that He will come for those who are looking and preparing their hearts for His return as their only purpose in this life, functioning as He did while they wait.

Turn my heart, Lord,

Jim Corbett

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6/09/21 Real Power

Given that God has ordained the offices of husband and father as His highest offices, the most powerful position a man can take is on his knees for his family. I believe that no other position is dearer to the heart of God or garners more favor, because the family produces and fosters pastors, prayer warriors, and every conceivable worker for the Lord. God’s heart responds to a man praying for his own. (In case you think I’m overlooking something – yes, He also has a fervent spot in His heart as people pray for souls to come to know Jesus Christ!)

I think of David’s mighty men. His men understood warfare. His men were tried in battle and came out unbeaten, far more proficient than greater numbers of other warriors. They knew how to fight. They knew what it would take to win the battles for their king.

Most men today have no idea how important their position is. Most men give little thought to the probability that they’ve lost the most important battles of their lives as they see their families fall apart or, at the very least, become unproductive in the Lord’s work. Few men even consider that their wives or children are literally supposed to walk as Jesus walked, and that they are supposed to provide the atmosphere for them to do so.

Men, God intended you to be just like David’s mighty men in the war for your families. He is more than willing to respond with power to your requests for their ability to overcome the world. You are a man of power when you call upon His power on behalf of those you steward. Why are you not laboring for them as your priority work in this life? Paul said that he was in birth pangs until Christ - the character of Christ - was formed in others. Is that not supposed to be your heart for those you love?

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

 

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6/08/21 When the Veil Was Torn

“In your world, you are supposed to be a light that draws people to Jesus. I am doing a great work in you. It is so that others can be set free. First, however, you must be free. Submit everything in you that does not represent Jesus properly. I will take your wounds and heal you. I will take your sin and remove it as far as the east is from the west. I will take your fears and replace them with absolute confidence in My faithfulness. Once you fully understand the access to Me that Jesus provided when the veil was torn, you will never lack for anything again. I am your provider. I will equip you for service. I will protect you. Come to Me now. I am waiting to form you for My service.”

Psalm 119:105 NIV 

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.

Luke 23:44-45 NIV

44) It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour,

45) for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.

Romans 12:1 NIV

Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God…

I Peter 2:24 AMP 

He personally bore our sins in His [own] body on the tree [as on an altar and offered Himself on it], that we might die (cease to exist) to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.

 

Access to the inner chambers of God has been provided for us by the work of Jesus on the cross. His death and subsequent resurrection opened the door of communication for us. We now have unlimited audience with God whenever we have any kind of need, question, or just a desire to spend time with Him. It is one of the covenant commitments God made with Jesus for us. In God’s eyes, we have exchanged our old carnal life for a new spiritual life that is accepted by Him forever. The covenant cannot be broken.

In prayer, there is a connection between what God does and what you are to do. Prayer (communication with God) is the vehicle that Father God has established for us to navigate from the physical realm to the spiritual realm and back again to accomplish His will from heaven to earth through us.

Through this communication and because of the work of Jesus, God brings Himself, His plans, and His very being into His established tabernacles – us. Within the communication, we present our requests for all that is necessary for us to become who we need to be. Our Father also communicates His will to us. It is true communication between the Creator and His creation, with Father God all the while fine tuning our encounters with Him through the Holy Spirit.

Make my time with You the most important time of my day, Lord,

Jim Corbett

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