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4/28/21 Are You Spiritually Prepared?

As I’m sure you’re aware, the world is changing at an alarming rate. Times and seasons are moving in the direction of prophecies being fulfilled time after time with biblical accuracy.  As a wise husband and father, it’s becoming increasingly important to have clear direction for the safety and preparedness of you and those the Lord has entrusted to you.

The seasons at hand will require more than simple economic or business savvy. They will require spiritual insight and a working relationship with the Lord so that you have His wisdom to lead your family through the challenging times ahead. The question is two-fold. Are you prepared to navigate the unique times on the horizon with proper spiritual insight, and have you also helped to spiritually prepare those you are a steward of? As things change, it will become increasingly clear that Sunday school classes will not be able to replace intimate family times of seeking the Lord for guidance and direction.

As the Lord’s plan unfolds, only those who have an alive and vibrant relationship with Him - those who are familiar with waiting on Him for each step they take - will be able to overcome the challenges posed in the coming months and years.  Those who wait on the Lord will have insights far more important than any abilities gained in the past. Only they will know the proper directions to take and the dangers to avoid.

Now is the time for all of us to take an appraisal of our directions and motives. Are you putting aside those things that have little value, and trading them for those things the Lord considers of worth? Are you preparing yourself to be able to hear the Lord’s words as He says, “This is the way; walk in it”? Are you also preparing your family to be able to hear His clear voice in a time when many voices will be clamoring for their attention?  If not, what are you going to do when you are out of answers and they are looking to you for direction?

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

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4/27/21 Whatever Stands in the Way

“If you fall, I will pick you up. If you wander, I will come and find you. I will show you the way home. You must understand that My love for you is much stronger than anything in you that will not serve Me. I have created you to have fellowship with you. Jesus has made the way to do just that. Whatever stands in the way of that fellowship, I will overcome for you. You can count on it. I love you.”

Hebrews 13:5b AMP

…for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]”

Rom. 2:4b AMP

Are you unmindful or actually ignorant [of the fact] that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repent (to change your mind and inner man to accept God’s will)?

 

Most of us forget that our heavenly Father is continuously at work bringing us to fullness in Him. Our life was His idea. He ordained the idea of mankind and He initiated the salvation process, all motivated by love.

We need to settle in our hearts once and for all that God loves us. We also need to understand that His love is not a wimpy, tickly-feely kind of love that fluctuates with every whim. Godly love is a committed, full-of-promises kind of love that will never allow us to remain who we once were. It is the kind of love that sees prosperity as the total elimination of the hindrances to which the world and our old life restrict us. It is the kind of love that exists in the heavenlies with Him.

I receive it, Lord,

Jim Corbett

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4/27/21 I Appreciate You!

When was the last time you looked your wife in the eyes and said “I appreciate you”? For that matter, when have you ever simply spent some time with your children and expressed the appreciation you have for them? If that is not part of your MO, why have you been so fooled? Only the enemy of your soul would desire expressions of love and affirmation to be absent from your relationships, especially family relationships.

Most of us men had to earn any kind of affirmation from our fathers. Then, as we grew older, we earned our respect by what we did, not for who we became. All our lives we’ve been attempting to prove our worth by what we do, whether we know it or not. Visible success determines worth in today’s society.

Well, that’s not how God sees things! For some unknown reason, God has placed value on each of us, certainly not because we have earned it; but simply because he chooses to do so. He has in essence said, I consider them valuable enough to spend eternity with them. I appreciate who they are!

Men, the next time you withhold any expression of appreciation toward your wife or your children because you feel they haven’t earned your appreciation, remember how God has dealt with you. Then consider the horror of Him choosing to withhold His favor until you’ve earned it. If that really registers with you, you just might begin to express a waterfall of appreciation to those you love. Just watch as their lives change in the same way that a desert would if water began to flow into its parched land. They’re waiting for you!

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

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4/26/21 Heart Exposure

“Those of you who are following hard after Me affect your world more than you know. Most people don’t know what to do with you, especially in My church. Your mere presence makes carnal followers of My Word very uncomfortable. People who are prideful in what they know become confused just being near you. Their little world is rocked by your immovable love for Me. Your faith makes them see how puny their faith is. I have told you this before; now I am telling you again, so that you can shake loose from the guilt that has been placed on you for so many years.

"Be prepared to see foolish, prideful hearts harden before your very eyes. Prepare yourselves to see what you have considered to be close friends separate themselves from you for no apparent reason. Watch as they do an about face, making flimsy excuses for their departure. It is not you. It is the exposure of their hearts. They cannot go where they would be expected to go if they stayed in your midst. Their boundaries are being stretched by My call on your life, and it is too far for them to go. All of their talk of service, all their religious games are too comfortable to leave. You don’t fit in their world. You are too much of a maverick in their eyes. They must revert to their comfort zones. They are too weak to face the scorn of their peers if they acknowledge your way of life fully.

"Rest assured, I will take care of you. You will never really fit with anyone but those of like mind and Spirit. Your life will always expose the values of others whether you know it is happening or not. Take comfort in the fact that I will lead you to those who are not playing games with Me. Others will go about their business, relieved that you are no longer in their midst. I will heal your wounds and remove the rejection. I will be Lord for you. I will be your friend. I appreciate you. Pray for the others as they increase their activities, so that the stain of rejecting you feels less painful to them.”

Ps. 31:20 AMP

In the secret place of Your presence You hide them from the plots of men; You keep them secretly in Your pavilion from the strife of tongues.

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 under foot by men.

 

It is encouraging and refreshing to share “war” stories with fellow misunderstood, so-called maverick believers. Somehow, doing so makes the rough times a little easier and the very difficult times more bearable. It also helps to know that you have kindred spirits in your corner, when your faith seems small and all you have the strength to do is hang on desperately to the hem of Jesus’ garment.

To those of you who have embraced the call of a crucified, sacrificial life, you need to understand that you will not ever be understood. Every opportunity to discredit you will be taken. Every effort to show that your way of living is not the proper way will be made.

You will be forever on the sidelines, perpetually called to do without, and continually labeled as misfits. When your spiritual help is no longer needed, you will be discarded with as little concern as yesterday’s laundry, of no more use. After you have paved the way to the most current move of the Lord, others more powerful and more credible in the eyes of the church will take what you have given and make it more saleable, marketing it with professional expertise. You will then be called to start all over, paving the way for the heart of your Lord to be presented in another way, until that takes hold, and so on and so on.

Having said that, you will also have access to the heart of our Father in a way that few understand. You will be able to intimately hold the hand of your Lord during the roughest of times, and you will feel the refreshing breeze of the Holy Spirit more than those who do not have your calling could ever imagine. You are truly blessed.

In the times when you feel weakest, and long for even a morsel of the delicacies that most of the comfortable church enjoys daily, you need to remember the life of your Lord and Savior. You need to remember that you have been called to live as He did among others. Your reward is not in this present time. Your reward is in seeing the Lord’s pleasure as He directs your life, paving the way for His desires to be initiated in a cold church. He will be your reward.

You are groundbreakers. You are called to stir up the complacent. You are gaining the heart of God. You are the salt that has not lost its saltness.  He is very pleased with you.

I remember what it is all about once again, Lord,

Jim Corbett

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4/26/21 Follow Me as I Follow Christ

These incredible words are one of the most powerful directions a man can give to his family. Just think of it, a man who chooses to follow Christ could assure his family that no matter what happens, he has Christ as a guide for himself and them. How comforting this would be for a wife and family who are serving the Lord.

With that kind of commitment in place, the man would have a corresponding commitment to do everything to protect his family, just as Christ did for the church. He would willingly lay his life down for the ones he loves.

Can you imagine the peace a family would have in knowing that their husband and father would lay his life down for them? Do you see the impact that kind of atmosphere would create?  A wife would be free to trust motives and decisions made in doing things that affect the family. The children would bask in an arena of absolute, unquestioned love. The family unit would be impenetrable. The outside forces against the family would never gain a foothold.

What a glorious picture - all members moving in unison, guided and directed by a father who is guided and directed by God alone. What an astounding plan! Maybe that’s the way our Father in heaven wants it. What do you think?

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

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