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4/15/24 What is God Doing?

2 Corinthians 4:18 (NIV) " So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

As we look around our world as it impacts our daily lives and the stewardship of our family, there can be much cause for concern unless we can see past what our circumstances tell us, and on to what our loving Father is really doing. It is easy to listen to the boasts of those who think they are in power and forget who is really in charge.

Our God is still very much on the throne. Jesus is our Mighty Lord, and the Holy Spirit is causing all circumstances to be in line with the ultimate plan of God. Even those who curse God are being used to do His bidding the same as Pharaoh was in Moses' time.

Looking beyond circumstances, there can be much joy if we see daily challenges for what they really are and understand that what God is doing is about mankind and our relationship with Him. Nothing has changed.

God has sent Jesus to restore the intended Garden of Eden relationship with Him. He is always after the hearts of those He has created. Once we accept the provision of the cross, He is always in the process of bringing us to an intimate relationship. Those who respond to that call are continually brought into challenging circumstances and refiner's fires to burn the world out of them. These fires become more intense for those who want only Jesus and nothing of the world and its ways.

Today if you see past what is in the headlines or look beyond the difficulties you are personally facing and on to what God is really doing, you will find His love in action. To the unsaved He is giving a chance to embrace His love before He closes things down. To His children, He is calling them to Himself in preparation for the most wonderful time possible, the marriage supper of the Lamb. To fathers and husbands, He is giving opportunity to repair the breaches in our fortress family.

Difficulties always bring need. Need forces us to cry out for help. Crying out for help to God always brings Him close and moves His heart. His bottom line is to make us like Jesus. Difficult times and refiner's fires do that. Look past them and embrace what is really happening; it is for your eternal good. Are you willing to go through the fires?

Let's talk more!

Jim Corbett

4/13/24 Don’t Make It Complicated

“Some of you have forgotten why you have been born. Your vision is so clouded that there is little eternal purpose in your life. Because of self-interest, you have complicated My very simple plan. I want you to love Me above everything else, and then love others more than you love yourself. That is what Jesus did. Why would I ask you to live any other way?”

1 John 2:6 AMP

Whoever says he abides in Him ought [as a personal debt] to walk and conduct himself in the same way in which He walked and conducted Himself.

Have you ever wondered what the above verse really means? I believe it means that whoever says he abides in Him ought [as a personal debt] to walk and conduct himself in the same way in which He walked and conducted Himself.

Help me, Lord,

Jim Corbett

4/13/24 You Are Valuable

Do you have any idea how valuable you are to your Father God? I don't think many of us men can really grasp the concept of a Father that loves us not for what we do, but just because we are valuable to Him. In fact, most of us look at the stewardship that we have been given only as an obligation that we will be held accountable for, without realizing that it is because He really cares for us, He chooses to trust us.

Some of us had an earthly father who demanded from us without the corresponding love and encouragement. We were told to live up to expectations to maintain some kind of worth in his eyes. Possibly because he never had any encouragement from his father, he wasn't able to pass on what he had no knowledge of. Whatever the case, we spent our days attempting to prove our worth to him, and to anyone else for that matter.

God is not like that. He lovingly places value on us, value that is not changed by our actions good or bad, right or wrong. His kind of value is a wealth beyond our comprehension. It is placed on us simply because we exist and belong to Him.

If we ever really comprehend that concept, we can take on the powerful stewardship given us as husband and father with an incredible joy, knowing that our heavenly Father is not only for us, but covers our back when we blow it. In essence, His mercy and grace flow stronger to us and our needs when we turn to Him because we are out of answers. He guards us, protects us, loves us unconditionally, and guides us to truth, just because we are His. Maybe it's time to bask in the value He places on us as we go about our days heading up our family, so we can pass unquestioned value on to them.

Let's talk more!

Jim Corbett

4/12/24 For Reasons You Can’t See

“I love how many of you are becoming so sensitive to My leading. I know that We’ve talked about this many times, but it really is important to Me. I need to tell everyone that they have been reconciled to Me. You are My missionaries. From My perspective, I know when and where you can be effective. That is where you must be. When you learn to hear Me correctly, I can trust you to be there as My agent.

"While you are learning absolute obedience, many times it may appear as if you have made a mistake in following My direction. You may look as if you have missed My will completely. Sometimes that may be the case, but don’t be alarmed. I can handle that. Sometimes, however, you will be exactly where I want you to be, and everything still appears as if you did not hear Me properly. Nothing works, nothing fits, and nothing seems right. You may still be in My perfect will.

"I may be using you for many reasons that you can’t see at the time and will possibly never understand. These are the times that you will hear foolish words like “Where He guides, He will provide” from the uninitiated, ignorant, or success-oriented Christian. Many tender, obedient hearts have been stifled by those who don’t understand My ways. I may even be allowing you to appear as a fool, so that I can reveal the unfair judgments and hardened hearts in the lives of those who are watching you. Your reaction to what looks like a mistake on your part is as important as your reaction to success.

"Don’t listen to those who have not spent enough time with Me to really hear Me and understand My ways. It will only confuse you and hinder My life from flowing through you. I will take much pleasure in guiding you throughout your time with Me. You continue to learn to listen to My voice and move in obedience. The outcome of your obedience is up to Me. Keep walking, keep trusting. I am pleased. You are My special project! I love seeing you grow up.”

John 7:6,8 NIV

6) Therefore Jesus told them, “The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right…

8) You go to the Feast. I am not yet going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come.”

Acts 21:12-14 NIV

12) When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.

13) Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

14) When he would not be dissuaded. We gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”

Jesus was on a mission. Totally obedient, He moved when and where He was told. Fulfilling prophecies, personifying feasts, He had to count every step as ordained, for it was. No one understood His mission and His reasons for doing much of what He did. His death signified to those who had no understanding that He had definitely made a wrong turn somewhere.

I can’t tell you the number of times I have personally experienced or seen my faith-walking friends standing bare-faced and looking foolish because things seemingly did not work out following a step of obedience. I’m not talking about people making rash decisions. I’m talking about those with honest hearts, who spend months, years, and even more time seeking the Lord for their direction, only to seemingly find no answer after they step out.

Following the Lord does not always result in the American dream kind of ending. Jesus was crucified. Paul did go to jail. Most of the apostles died what appeared to be untimely deaths. Many, many people have been martyrs for the Lord because of their obedience and dedication.

Never let the perceived outcome hinder your ability to praise the Lord - knowing that you have been obedient - or hinder you from moving with Him the next time He calls you to a work. You are on a mission. Many in the church have been nullified by the need to look cool and prosperous. They can’t hear God. He can’t trust them.

You are being taught to hear His voice and move with Him, no matter what the others might do. The remnant heart longs only to please the Lord. Nothing else satisfies.

In the coming season, I am convinced that two functions will determine the true church of Jesus Christ. The first will be absolute obedience to the Lord. Listening and following only Him, the church will move in unison to accomplish His end-time work. The second will be looking only for the Lord. Fully ready, fully prepared, she will be purified and waiting hopefully.

Learning to listen and look,

Jim Corbett

4/12/24 It’s Not About You

How would you fare if you found out that nothing in this life is about you - nothing? What if you fully understood that there may be no Hollywood ending for you; that you were asked to burn yourself out for Jesus and no one will ever know about it? What if you were called to pour yourself and all that you had into others out of obedience? What if, in God's eyes, there is really no other way to live?

As a father, husband, and man of God, your job is to seek out the life of Jesus and then live it out in front of those around you. That means that you do nothing of yourself or for yourself. It's called the crucified life - a life of laying down your own for the best interests of others and for the glory of God.

Jesus overcame the world from the cross. Although that kind of life is foreign to us, He asks us to do the same. He asks us to provide a smooth path for our wives to become all that they can be in Christ. He asks us to guide our children to the life that has been bought for them from the cross. He asks us to be an example of Him to our friends and acquaintances. We are stewards of their precious lives. When we stand before Jesus He won't be impressed about how much money we made, or how big a house we had; we will answer for the lives that God has placed in our path to direct and love.

How much time have you spent to find out what this life is really all about? The more you devote yourself to the Word of God and spend time in His presence, you will see that your life is to be spent for others, not yourself. That's what the life of Jesus looked like. That's what ours should look like. What does yours look like?

Let's talk more!

Jim Corbett

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