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11/16/20 It’s Up to You

“Do you realize how wonderfully you’ve been made, how vastly different you are? Once you were darkness; your whole being was given over to the dark. Now you are light, not just cleaned up, but the opposite of dark. You are no longer part of any darkness. In the eternal future, you will function within light. There will be no need for any additional light other than Jesus, so you will function within Him. Your flowing together will bring His presence everywhere you go.

"I have a surprise for some of you. It is that way now. Whether you understand it or not, you bring Jesus with you everywhere you go in your world. How much He is revealed to that world is up to you. If you choose not to accept the wonder that has been done for you on the cross, that is to your detriment. I will allow you to remain there as long as you desire. If, however, you choose to function in the realm of light, I will be delighted to equip you fully. You are light. Why would you continue to function in darkness? You no longer belong there.”

John 8:42-47 NIV

42) Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me.

43) Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say.

44) You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

45) Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!

46) Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me?

47) He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

Rev.21:22-27 NIV

22) I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

23) The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.

24) The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.

25) On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.

26) The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.

27) Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

I keep forgetting the very essence of why I’m thankful this and every other day. As wonderful as all of the other reasons might be, I am so very grateful for what Jesus has done for me and to me.

Because He came, cared, conquered, and went home, my eternal future is very bright. Because He changed me, I can hear and communicate with His Father - my Father - any time I need to do so. What an astounding privilege!

So often, when I step back into the darkness and am buffeted beyond reason, it reminds me of a very basic fact. I no longer belong there. I don’t fit anymore.

Because of the work of the cross, you and I now belong in sweet fellowship with the One who is Light. We belong there forever; not because we are doing good; but because we have been recreated to be there.

Thank You, thank You, my Father. I am (we are) eternally grateful,

Jim Corbett

11/16/20 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

11/06/20 Perspective Adjustment

“You ask Me to provide for the means to pad your comfort areas. I am willing to do that. You present petitions for Me to prosper you and then you will not even move from your comfort areas to provide for those who are doing My work if I do. I am still willing to answer your requests in the hope that someday you will wake up and realize that I have prospered you so that they can have what is needed. You ask Me to understand that you have reasons to hate someone who has wronged you or cheated you. I am patient with you until you change. You have difficulty forgiving those who have been unjust to you or spoken behind your back.

"I am patient while you come to repentance. There is something you must know. In My world, I am receiving your petitions at the same time that petitions are coming from those in prison cells who request mercy for the jailers who beat them every day. I am being asked for forgiveness for someone who has destroyed the petitioner’s life and family. Cries for the souls of those who are about to kill the petitioner are often received at the same time that you are asking Me to come against your fellow worker because he or she gossiped about you. Maybe your perspective is in need of adjustment!”

Proverbs 29:21 AMP

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

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.

Jesus left a royal position in heaven to be ridiculed, spat upon, and crucified. He gave up all His wealth, His rights, and His will, so that the will of His Father would be done. He owned nothing and gave everything, so that those who cursed Him and crucified Him might be forgiven for their sins against Him.

Giants of the faith throughout the centuries lived for the best interests of others. Testimony after testimony of fallen people of real faith reveal the same heart of Jesus as they laid their lives down so that others might prosper and the Lord might be glorified, even in the most horrific situations. To deny the heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the slightest way was unthinkable to those who lived only for the glory of their Lord. Faced with torture, unbelievable conditions, and unthinkable forms of slow death, they lived and died so that the life of their Savior might be made visible to observers who needed His mercy.

The Proverbs verse above shows an attitude of one who is owned by a master but has forgotten his position because of the master’s grace and mercy toward him. He has become proud in his position, rather than grateful for it; very much like those of us who have come to the mistaken belief that we really own what we have been given and demand more when we have the slightest need. We have become a church that is proud of our magnanimous heart when we toss crumbs to others from our positions of safety and comfort.

Take me from selfish to selfless, Lord,

Jim Corbett

11/06/20 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

11/05/20 Reflection

“It is good to reflect on days that have passed. You can see who you really have become by referring back to the things that you have held valuable and those things that no longer take priority in your life. Reflection affords you the opportunity to rejoice in who you are becoming in Me and repent of who you are not. These insights are necessary for your growth. I would like you to remember that this new day affords you hope, mainly because I am with you. I love you. Whatever you are, I am delighted in your progress. Whatever you are not, We can change together.”

Genesis 1:31 AMP

And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good (suitable, pleasant) and He approved it completely….

Psalm 25:12-14 NIV

12) Who, then, is the man that fears the Lord? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him.

13) He will spend his days in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land.

14) The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them.

Psalm 111:2 NIV

Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them.

It is so comforting to know that our Lord is always with us, no matter how we feel about ourselves. Because He always works from truth, He is not swayed by flowery displays and hopeful promises. He sees through every action and observes our heart motives. We can be honest with Him because there is nothing hidden from Him. He knew how many times we would fail Him and He still invited us to be with Him for eternity.

It is wonderful that He is a God of many, many chances and One Who has our best interests at heart. There is no question that He is the Righteous Judge; however, He is also a loving Father Who is deeply involved in our lives and encourages us to greatness.

Thank You for Who You are, Lord,

Jim Corbett

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