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1/30/21 Ask for Help

Being the steward of a Christ-like family is an impossible task. Husbands and fathers, who think they can oversee that kind of family in their own strength, are fooling themselves. Without God’s help and the prayers of others, a mediocre marriage and children who don’t really serve the Lord will more than likely be the result. How can we be content to present that to God one day?

If you care little whether or not your marriage is an example of the relationship between Christ and His church or whether or not your children live significant lives before the Lord, then you can remain a blissful blind guide. You’ll be teaching your family - and many future generations if they follow your lead – to settle for far less than God intends. Why would we do that to those we love?

If, however, you want a marriage and family that pleases God and represents Him properly, then begin by asking Him for help at every opportunity. Make a life of prayer your home base so you’ll have the wisdom, guidance, and power to war against the plots of the enemy. Call upon your family to pray for you, too. Share with your wife and children the responsibilities of your offices of husband and father, and that you understand how much you need the power of the Holy Spirit to fulfill them for your family’s good. Make them an integral part of family prayer. Without violating any trusts within your family, call upon one or two trustworthy friends to hold you accountable. Get to work. There is much that needs to be done!

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

1/29/21 You or Someone Else?

“When will you really begin to stop playing church games? When are you going to stop talking and start acting out what you have been called to do? Where is the corresponding outpouring to what you’ve been given? Do you realize that you are only eternal moments away from looking into the face of Jesus? What are you going to say when He asks for your portfolio? To those of you who are diligently seeking Me for direction in your lives, be patient; I am at work. I will soon show you who you are in Me and where I want you to spend My time. You are faithful, and I am pleased.

"To those of you who have been lulled to sleep, or settled into complacency, or stopped seeking Me with all your heart for your purpose in life - I am setting My chin against you for a moment, until you come to repentance. You are in danger, and I cannot allow you to remain in your sin. Get up. Get involved in My work with My kind of heart. Find out what I am doing in your midst and pour your life and everything you have into it. I will require an accounting of your moments and resources soon. Time is short. If you don’t understand My heart, why I am calling you to account; and then respond with sincerity, I will move on. Someone else will take your place and accomplish your task. You will miss what I have for you.”

Esther 4:1 AMP

Now when Mordecai learned all that was done, [he] rent his clothes and put on sackcloth with ashes and went out into the midst of the city and cried with a loud and bitter cry.

Esther 4:4 AMP

When Esther’s maids and her attendants came and told it to her, the queen was exceedingly grieved and distressed. She sent garments to clothe Mordecai, with orders to take his sackcloth from off him, but he would not receive them.

Esther 4:13-14 AMP

13) Then Mordecai told them to return this answer to Esther. Do not flatter yourself that you shall escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews.

14) For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance shall arise for the Jews from elsewhere, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows but that you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this and for this very occasion?

The above selected verses paint a brilliant picture of positioned people who have choices to make. In the simplest form, it goes like this. Mordecai was sincerely crying out to the Lord, asking Him to overcome what had been put in place against His people. Esther was in a position of influence and vast resources, enough to have a real impact on the challenge and the fate of her people; but she feared to get involved because she was primarily focused on herself and her own well being. Mordecai showed her that she was the one ordained for the task at hand; but if she didn’t respond commensurate with her calling and the various resources she had been given, someone else would be used and she would be set aside.

Let me not step aside, Lord,

Jim Corbett

1/29/21 Your Table

A family, known in their community as compassionless due to their uncaring attitude for everything other than satisfying their own needs, sat down for their evening meal. One table - adorned with a fine linen tablecloth and exquisite china - was set for the parents and their children. A second table for the grandparents was off to the side, set with a vinyl tablecloth and unbreakable plates and cups because they had grown feeble. Their shaking hands and poor eyesight had caused just too many spills and broken dishes for the family to trust them at the other table.

One day the young daughter of the family was playing house. She had a second table set up with her dishes and cups. Her mother entered the room and asked why she had the extra table. The daughter responded, “Oh, that’s for you and Daddy when you get old.”

Compassion is one of the characteristics of Jesus. He cared for others more than He cared for His own life. Families with little or no compassion for the plight of others are relatively useless in a society. Taking and rarely giving, while teaching their children to do likewise, they exhibit their unChrist-like attitude wherever they go. Imagine the ripple effect.

As a father, you have an astounding opportunity to add wealth wherever you and your family live, if you understand God’s plan for you. When you invest the wealth of Jesus in your children, not only do you give them the opportunity to lead honorable, significant lives before the Father; they also gain the ability to affect their immediate surroundings with that same immeasurable wealth and much needed compassion.

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

1/28/21 Eyes on Others

“Your world is in constant turmoil and always changing. Small people with evil eyes and loud mouths demand your attention. Their incessant hatred will challenge you to become more like Jesus, so that you can bring hope to those who need to hear truth. People are running out of answers. Give them the answer. His Name is Jesus. You are His representative. Get your eyes off of yourself and your needs.

"I will take care of you. Find out what purpose I have for your life and then function in your calling. You are needed now! Help others to see Jesus before it is too late for them. I am counting on you!”

1 Cor. 6:19b-20 NIV

19b) …You are not your own;

20) you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

2 Cor. 1:3-4 AMP

3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of sympathy (pity and mercy) and the God [Who is the Source] of every comfort (consolation and encouragement),

4) Who comforts (consoles and encourages) us in every trouble (calamity and affliction), so that we may also be able to comfort (console and encourage) those who are in any kind of trouble or distress, with the comfort (consolation and encouragement) with which we ourselves are comforted (consoled and encouraged) by God.

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.

Many people in the body of Christ have forgotten why they have been given breath to breathe. It is to proclaim Jesus to a world that has no answers by living His life before them and for their eternal good. Any other focus eventually leads to a dead end road, leaving believers with the same fears that the world has.

Jesus brings life. The life lived for Him brings life to others and has unlimited resources to overcome any challenge, anywhere, anytime. No power on earth can dilute its God-ordained power to rise above anything the world and its ways attempts to throw at it. Life in Jesus sees through fear and on to promise. Loud voices and violent eyes only drive the one in Christ to the safety of His presence. Fearful times bring the remembrance that the Word of God is being fulfilled in our midst. God’s ways are high above any ways of the world.

Teach me Your ways, Lord,

Jim Corbett

1/28/21 One Day

Harry Chapin wrote a song called “Cat’s in the Cradle.” It talks of a father who’s always too busy to spend time with his son, even though the son admires him and wants to be just like him when he grows up. At the end of the song, we learn the son turned out exactly like his father, prioritizing everything else above their relationship.

Each of our days is important enough to be numbered by God. He is looking to fulfill His purposes in the people He brings our way through us, especially our children. Our children should desire to be just like us because they experience us being just like Jesus toward them. That hope should be nurtured each and every day. It will not happen automatically one day in the future. It happens conversation by conversation, fulfilled promise after fulfilled promise, with a continual assurance and demonstration of their importance. They need to know you value your relationship with them, which will help them to understand God’s love for them.

God wants your children to grow up to be just like Jesus. The best example He has placed in their lives to show them the character of Jesus ought to be you. In what ways are you showing Him to them?

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

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