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4/26/22 His Love Never Changes

“My heart is really with those of you who are selling out to Me. Thank you. I have great love for all of My children. What you do or don’t do does not determine how much I love you. My love never changes. Your desire to press in and know Me does, however, allow Me to reveal more of Myself to you. I can show My plans to you. I can share My heart. We can work on yours together. Thank you for hearing My call to holiness. Thank you for pressing in and desiring intimacy. I am delighted when My children understand My ways and walk in obedience to them. My ways always lead to intimacy.”

Matthew 19:14 NIV

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Mark 6:30-32 NIV

30) The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught.

31) Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

32) So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.

John 5:19-20 NIV

19) Jesus gave them this answer: “‘I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.

20) For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.”

Jesus was always showing us His relationship with His Father, so that we would emulate Him when He restored our relationship with Father God. So many of us miss one of the most important results of the death and resurrection of Jesus—our acceptance into the presence of God. No small thing!

Immature believers go to God for things. Mature believers go for more of God and His ways. The mature heart longs to please God and is a wonder to behold. This is the passionate heart of Jesus. It is also the bridal heart, prepared and waiting for Christ, the one that will overcome and even prosper during the perilous times ahead. As Jesus is one with the Father, the mature or bridal heart beats in unison with Them both.

This heart sees only the Father’s will as important, only the Father’s plans as worth addressing throughout life. The world, the cold church, and all else in the physical realm hold no audience with this heart. There is no purpose but God’s purpose, no plan but God’s plan, no future but God’s future. This heart is untouchable in its alliance with God. It is in total freedom in its chosen “slavery” to only the Father’s will.

Develop a mature heart in me, Lord,

Jim Corbett

4/26/22 Old Habits

“Sarah, that’s my daughter,” Barry responded. “Well, Sarah was on a road to some pretty dark places. Somehow she had changed. When she was young, she was an incredibly bright, beautiful girl, full of smiles, love, laughter, just a good kid.”

Barry shifted his position and leaned back on the bleacher above the one on which he was sitting.

“But then things went bad. When she started seventh grade, she went behind some kind of cloud. She isolated herself, kept secrets from us, and hung around with some unsavory friends. They weren’t real bottom dwellers, but they just had a bad influence on her. We even found small items missing from our house after they came over and money began to disappear from Connie’s purse.” Barry sat up, tracing his index finger over his racket strings as he chose his next words.

“Over a period of time, things kept getting worse. I’ll spare you the details, but she started lying to us about everything and would get angry whenever we asked any kind of question regarding her life. Connie and I knew we were losing her. There was no talking to her about her friends. She wouldn’t hear it. All she wanted to do was listen to her music - man, I hated those ear-buds, and be on the phone with her friends. There was so much more. Making a long story short, she was in deep trouble and something had to be done.”

“What did you do?” Nick asked, sitting up straight as he looked piercingly at Barry.

“Well, we prayed long and hard, asking the Lord how we could get Sarah to change.” A small chuckle escaped his lips. “We were pretty surprised at the answer He gave us.”

Nick couldn’t wait for the next words to come out of Barry’s mouth.

“The Lord showed me that one day I would answer to Him for her life, because He placed Sarah under my care. I would be asked if I had done all that I could to provide a fertile place for Sarah to grow in Him.” Barry looked down and twirled his racket a few times.

“That shook me up pretty good,” he recalled. “I mean, I knew that God had given Sarah to Connie and me, but I guess I never thought that God was actually holding me accountable for her.” Barry looked purposefully into Nick’s eyes. The two men briefly stared at each other before Barry continued.

“I thought that my job was to provide a good home, keep food on the table, and give my kids what they needed to stay on top of everything. I thought that by having a big house in a great neighborhood I was doing my job. Connie was working. I had a thriving business. We had everything we needed. I thought we had made it, ya know? The Lord showed me that while I was busy working and playing so hard, I lost my daughter in the process.”

Nick waited for a few seconds before he asked the question that burned in his heart.

“What did you do?”

“Well, that’s why we’re here,” Barry answered. “God showed me that Connie and I were the ones who needed to make some changes so we could rescue Sarah. He showed me that she wasn’t capable of making proper decisions at that time, and that we needed to help by creating a place of safety for her. She needed a protected place where she could rest from the things that were harming her while she was being healed. It was really important to God that we did what was necessary to bring her around, so that she could grow up strong and straight, spiritually sound in Him.”

Nick became really interested now, and moved onto the bench, seating himself next to Barry.

Barry continued. “Connie and I prayed together quite a bit, but I knew that because I functioned in the offices of husband and father – something very important God gives to men - I was responsible to Him. I would answer to Him for Sarah’s life. He showed me that I was incapable of helping Him to reproduce the life of Jesus in Sarah, because I had been distracted by my own needs and wants. I wanted the successful business. I wanted the big house, the new car, money. I never even gave much thought to the fact that Sarah was on her way to throwing her life away and then burning in hell for eternity because I was too busy with my own life to stop her. That really scared me. It scared Connie, too, when I told her.”

“So, what did God tell you to do?” Nick asked with great anticipation.

“Well, things became pretty clear after a while. The stuff that we treasured for so long became pretty useless to us once we surrendered everything to Him, especially in light of Sarah’s need. We looked around, and then looked at Sarah and her pain, and the path was pretty well laid out for us since we were going to answer to God for her life.”

Barry got up to stretch, then sat down again. Nick didn’t move. He couldn’t wait to hear what steps Barry and Connie took.

“Within a matter of a few months, I sold my business, Connie quit her job, we sold our house, and moved here. I took a job which allowed me to spend time with my family. We bought a much smaller house, traded in our cars for really good used ones; and now Connie home schools Sarah.”

Nick was dumbfounded. His mouth dropped open and he just stared at Barry. “You must be kidding,” was all he could muster as his mind reeled.

“No, we got Sarah back,” Barry said with a smile. “She hated us for a little while. We had to build some pretty strong “love fences” around her in the beginning —move her away from bad influences, take away her headset so she’d start to communicate, monitor her computer and phone time, you know, stuff like that, all the time praying real hard for her. It was pretty much touch and go at first, but we got her back. Now we live in a family fortress of love and compassion designed by God—one that the world can’t touch. We laugh, love, communicate, and have a great relationship. She’s in tune with the Lord and wants to reach out to kids her own age. She’s really happy again and our times together as a family are special no matter what we do.”

(Taken from the book, The Father Factor, by Jim and Merry Corbett)

Rarely do we consider the daily routines of our lifestyles as a series of habits and demands that hinder the power of the Lord to move freely in our lives. What are you willing to do to have God move on behalf of someone you love?

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

4/25/22 Becoming Complete

“Do you know that I love watching your lives unfold? You are the stars in the eternal drama that is history in the making. As a true Father, there are many demonstrations of My love that bring you into the fullness of My salvation process. I must respond to your needs and your actions to make sure that you become complete. Any real father has to encourage, goad, chastise, and guide.

"Most of all, however, I love to love you. I love to watch you respond to My calling. I truly enjoy seeing you grow strong in understanding. I love to observe you when you flow in My Word. Most of all, it thrills Me when I see you flowing in My love, not only My love toward you, but My love in you toward others. When you function in both of those realms, you are living the kind of life for which I have formed you. You are complete.

"I know that presently you can only dwell in love, complete love, for very short periods at a time. Sometimes you have little understanding of My love toward you, especially when times are difficult. Other times you find it difficult to love others. To do so you must take your eyes off of what is best for you and live what is best for them, like Jesus did. I also know, however, that as you draw near to Me, you will be able to love deeper more often. Eventually, you will realize that honest loving is why you have been born of the Spirit, and that love is your strongest weapon and your truest joy.

"Learn to flow in love. Do not function in the fickle, self-serving love of your former nature, but the kind of love inspired in the heavenlies, the kind that I have instituted to last for eternity. My love overcomes, creates, heals, and transcends every negative element in life, now and forever. My love is for you to receive and then give away. Flow in it.”

Romans 12:9-10, 16 NIV

9) Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.

10) Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.

16) Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

1 Cor. 13:12b-13 NIV

12b) Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13) And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Eph. 5:1-2 NIV

1) Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children

2) and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Eph. 5:10 AMP

And try to learn [in your experience] what is pleasing to the Lord [let your lives be constant proofs of what is most acceptable to Him].

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].

Our limited understanding denies the power of real love. Because we can only comprehend the kind of love that exists on earth—an emotional, evasive, sometimes fleeting kind of love—we have difficulty seeing the wealth of loving God’s way, wealth that is to us and for us.

Do a study of God’s kind of love. You will see that the word itself will take on new meaning. (That was a dual reference. I mean the word “love” and the Word, meaning the Bible.)

Out of a heart of love, God spoke this world into being, created mankind, installed the redemption process, remains patient until all things are fulfilled, and promises eternal freedom. Those are not small items that can be accomplished by flighty, emotional feelings. Our kind of love is so limited in scope that we don’t associate it with such power in action. Love, however, is the foundation for all that is done in God’s economy. Maybe it’s time to learn what it’s all about, and then make functioning in it our priority.

Wanting to understand God’s kind of love,

Jim Corbett

4/25/22 Why Prepare?

I once wrote a story about a foolish trainee who attended school for jungle warfare. In his ignorance, this unwise person slept through tactical training courses, joked his way through hand-to-hand combat rehearsals, thought nothing of the importance of parachute packing; and dismissed survival school as something needed for a later date since things were relatively calm at present.

The day came when he was up in the air with other trainees on their way to a jungle jump zone. Remorse for his foolish behavior helped little as the door of the plane opened up and he was next in line to jump. After surviving the jump and because of his rank, he found himself in charge of other recruits because their leader had been critically injured. With no skills and little understanding of what was needed to overcome the extreme hardship at hand, this man put himself and those in his charge in incredible danger due to his foolishness during training.

And so it is with you as the leader and spiritual covering of your family. Any thinking person can see that extreme times of incredible hardship are on the horizon. Spiritual wisdom, Christ-like confidence, fearless action, and intimate submission to the Lord may not be found when the battle rages. These unbeatable skills are learned over time at the feet of Father God in His throne room. The ability to hear His directions clearly when the battles are raging will only be available to the person well practiced in knowing His still small voice.

Figuratively, the plane warming up on the runway is just about ready for take-off. As a husband and father, others are relying on you to have what is needed when called upon for any situation ahead. How do you think you will fare when all the handles you’ve been used to during this relatively calm time disappear? When spiritual business as usual is as ineffective as a cup of water against a raging forest fire, how will you lead others then if you choose not to be equipped now?

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

4/23/22 Awakened by Peril

“‘How can it be?’ you say. ‘That couldn’t happen to us,’ you tell others. How blind you are. You cannot see the signs all around you that tell you to prepare in earnest for the coming of My Son. How foolish your life is to those who really love Me. You live the days that I have given you devoted to your own needs. You walk past those whom I have given to you with a cold, uncaring heart. They are dying, and you are unaffected by their plight. You are awakened only when you are in peril. You are like drunken sailors on shore leave. Your only quest is to live for the next moment before you must return to work. My work has become burdensome to you. Now I will yoke you to a heavy plow to end your foolishness, and return your heart to Me.”

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.

Matt. 9:37-38 AMP

37) Then He said to His disciples, The harvest is indeed plentiful, but the laborers are few.

38) So pray to the Lord of the harvest to force out and thrust laborers into His harvest.

Matt. 13:22 AMP

As for what was sown among thorns, this is he who hears the Word, but the cares of the world and the pleasure and delight and glamour and deceitfulness of riches choke and suffocate the Word, and it yields no fruit.

Matt. 24:42-46 AMP

42) Watch therefore [give strict attention, be cautious and active], for you do not know in what kind of a day [whether a near or remote one] your Lord is coming.

43) But understand this: had the householder known in what [part of the night, whether in a night or a morning] watch the thief was coming, he would have watched and would not have allowed his house to be undermined and broken into.

44) You also must be ready therefore, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect Him.

45) Who then is the faithful, thoughtful, and wise servant, whom his master has put in charge of his household to give to the others the food and supplies at the proper time?

46) Blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) is that servant whom, when his master comes, he will find so doing.

Ten years ago, most of us would have locked ourselves in our rooms, so frightened that we would not have been able to function, if the perils that we now deal with on a daily basis were present then. We have become so accustomed to the downward spiral of society—maybe not in your little corner, but in general—that we don’t even notice how horrible it really has become.

We are a nation at war. In a heartbeat, the comfortable lives that we live at present could be unrecognizable. At this very moment, there are people with aggressive agendas making sure that our lives do not remain the same for very long.

I am convinced that soon the world and most of the church will wander around from place to place wide-eyed, drooling at the mouth from fear and astonishment. Only those who know their Lord, and actually respond to the wooing to draw close to Him for His power to overcome the horrors during perilous times, will prosper. They will have unquenchable resources to bring souls into the kingdom of God, while others will be part of the huddling masses.

Somehow, most of us seem to desire to be casual observers rather than eager participants in the Lord’s work. We see the signs that were predicted in the Bible all around us. We know in our hearts that there is a time of trouble close at hand, but somehow we hope that we will be unaffected by what is about to occur. It is as if we are looking at our ever-changing world in an early morning stupor. It seems impossible to be shaken awake.

God, however, is about to do the shaking. He is about to take self-serving wimps and form them into gallant warriors for souls. In His economy, there is little time left to put up with our foolish, hedonistic lives. He has placed each of us in this generation to accomplish His will of gathering in the harvest before all is completed. He will make us into the kind of missionary that is needed for the times and seasons in which we live. It is His promise to those who press in and allow Him to do it in them. It is the only place of real safety.

Needing the strength to have the wisdom to even press in,

Jim Corbett

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