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1/26/22 Waiting in Fellowship

“Do not become weary in what I have called you to do. Don’t give up because things seem to be going wrong. All is in order except your priorities. I am bringing everything into its proper place. You will have what is needed to finish your task. You will see why there seem to be delays when I unfold the reasons for them to you.

"While you are waiting, let’s talk. Let’s spend some quality time together. Time with you is always more important to Me than anything you are doing, even My very important projects. Jesus gave His life so that We could be together. Make Our fellowship your priority. It was His. It is also Mine.”

Matthew 26:53-54 NIV

53) “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?

54) But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”

Mark 15:37-38 AMP  

37) Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed out His life.

38) And the curtain [of the Holy of Holies] of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

 

When things aren’t going according to my schedule, I sometimes feel that there must be an emergency meeting of the Trinity going on to discuss the urgency of my situation. Obviously, that is never true!

It is in those times that my Father reveals to me lessons about trust, Lordship, faith, and patience. He brings me back to the truth that He is the Lord over my life and I am not. He has everything under control, so I should stop attempting to control the days He has called me to live for Him. I also realize that I have not made my time with Him my priority. In His eyes, that will never do.

Forgive me, Lord,

Jim Corbett

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1/26/22 Your Obedience Helps Others

As a father and husband, if you are where you’re supposed to be with God, then those in your circle of influence have a much better chance of being where they’re supposed to be. It stands to reason that if you are setting an example of obedience to God and make it comfortable for your family to walk in obedience to God, they will be able to search His heart for their lives.

Conversely, if you are going about your days moving in your own thoughts and abilities, never really understanding the importance of finding His heart and His will, they will do the same simply because it’s a family pattern you’ve established.  Is it any wonder that so many families are fractured and directionless as far as God is concerned? Is it any wonder that most families will not be prepared to face the challenges on the horizon and will seek direction from other sources than the Lord?

Your job, dads, is to provide an atmosphere of dependence on the Lord in every area of your life and each situation you face. In doing so, you will be allowing those around you to do the same. That dependence is the only place of faultless direction and powerful wisdom available to any of them to face every challenge, even when you’re not around. Cultivating the habit of seeking God for direction and following that direction in absolute obedience is the best gift you can give to those around you. It’s the only place of real safety for all of you.

Jesus loved doing only His Father’s will. If you and your wife love walking in obedience to Him, your children will have the freedom to follow His will, too. That’s a very good thing! Will you walk in obedience to help your family do likewise?

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

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1/25/22 Encounters with God

Men, as leaders of those under your stewardship, are you preparing yourself for an encounter with God? Does your heart long for such intimacy that only His personal invitation into His throne room - where He anoints you in preparation for the times and seasons ahead - will satisfy you? If not, why not?

You have been born spiritually because of the work of Jesus. You have been invited into an intimate relationship with your Father in heaven. You have been called and selected to walk with Him throughout your days in continual communion. He has become your Father in the truest sense of the word.

He is also your Almighty God. Meeting with Him on a regular basis will change you. Any encounter you are privileged to have will destroy all those things that hinder you from walking in His truths. It will change how you think, how you act, and you will know why you have been given breath. You will have answers for yourself and for those around you.

As a watchman looking past what we have been told to believe and observing what is really on the horizon, I am convinced that nothing but the keeping power of God will suffice in the near future. Nothing but clear directions and God-ordained paths will be safe places to travel. Those paths only come from having moment by moment encounters with a loving, direction-giving Father. He is waiting to meet with you long and often. Maybe it’s time to make such encounters the priority of your life - for your sake and for those around you.

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

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1/25/22 Where’s Your Heart?

“Obedience to My desires brings My presence in what I call you to do. Delighting to be obedient brings My heart. I value the difference between compliance out of duty and an excitement to see My will go forth. One accomplishes much; the other is why Jesus spent His life.

"It’s time for you to reexamine why you do what you are doing. My goal is that We walk together with the same heart. What is your purpose for waking and working? Why do you call upon Me in prayer? Turn aside from the elementary teachings of your youth. Long for My heart. Spend enough time with Me to know it. Crave to own it!”

Psalm 51:10 AMP

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right, persevering and steadfast spirit within me.

Isaiah 43:21 NIV

-the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.

Amos 3:3 KJV 

Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

Matt. 25:1-12 NIV

  1. “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

2) Five of them were foolish and five were wise.

3) The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them.

4) The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps.

5) The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

6) At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

7) Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps.

8) The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

9) ‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

10) But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

11) Later the others also came. ‘Sir! Sir!’ they said. ‘Open the door for us!’

12) But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’”

 

God is always after our hearts. So many of us walk in compliance, thinking that we are pleasing God. The Sadducees and the Pharisees became arrogant because of their self-righteousness. They fulfilled the law but lost the heart of God. In the same way, most of us do the right things, but miss God’s heart while doing them. It’s time to grow up for the good of our God and the reputation of Jesus.

I want to love Your ways, Lord,

Jim Corbett

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1/24/22 Slave or Bondservant?

“Are you willing to give up all you ever hoped for in life for the sake of My call on your life? What about your dreams or your reputation? Are they dead to you? The Lordship of Jesus over your life means that you no longer have rights to control any portion of your being. You have been bought with the great price of the blood of Jesus.

"As someone who calls himself a Christian under His Lordship, you can either be a bondservant or a slave. It is all determined by the position of your heart. A slave mentality is compliant to the Lordship of Jesus but fighting His desires all the way. That individual’s personal desires and motives are not under the work of the cross. A bondservant delights in His wishes and willingly gives away everything for His will.

"Which are you? Which do you believe is My will for you? Which is the heart of the waiting bride?”

Matt. 7:21-23 NIV

21) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

22) Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’

23) Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

Matthew 16:24-25 AMP

24) Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interests] and take up his cross and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying, also].

25) For whoever is bent on saving his [temporal] life [his comfort and security here] shall lose it [eternal life]; and whoever loses his life [his comfort and security here] for My sake shall find it [life everlasting].

 Galatians 2:20 AMP

I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]: it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

 

Very simply stated: Jesus lived an exuberant, passionate life because He loved deeply and knew the truth. Everything that He did had love as its foundation, its continual motivation, and its ultimate goal. Nothing, not even death, could move Him from expressing that love to and for those around Him.

Because He was One with and knew His Father intimately, He understood the truth about the fate of mankind as a result of the fall. Because He lived with His Father in all of eternity past, He knew what separation from His Father for all eternity future really meant for those He loved and created. He felt His Father’s heartbreak because some would perish.

Jesus was brought into a world so perilous that children were killed at the whimsical edict of an evil king, crucifixions were as commonplace as morning walks, and people were held in slavery to ignorant teachers and foolish guides, yet He was absolutely fearless. His passionate love, His intimacy with His Father, and His zeal for imparting truth made Him “Teflon” in a world seething with infectious evil and eternal danger. His presence in any society was a gift of love from His Father God. We are in training to be the same kind of gift to those around us wherever our Father sends us.

Jesus could be fearless because He loved perfectly. He cared only for others and desired nothing for Himself. Even though He had all power, He was under full submission to the will of His Father. In His heart, He had given away everything, so He had no fear of someone robbing Him, even of His life. He held Himself in lower esteem than everyone, even the lowly leper, so no one could destroy His reputation. Jesus’ love was so pure that He was absolutely free from any peril that the world would attempt to place on Him.

I choose to love Your will, Lord,

Jim Corbett

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