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

Open post

1/27/21 What Don’t You Understand?

“Where are My representatives? Where are the sold-out members of My family who care about the souls of others before their own interests? To those of you who have given your lives completely to Me and are in My service with your whole hearts, keep up the good work. I am with you. To those of you who still are not hearing, you need to listen with your spiritual ears. I remove your money to get your attention; and you work harder, taking even less time for Our relationship. I place you in situations that are impossible for you to solve; and you struggle until you are exhausted, instead of surrendering to Me. I bring relationships into your life that challenge you to show them Jesus and you run for cover the first time they offend you.

"What is it that you do not understand about your life in Christ? What do you not comprehend about a refiner’s fire? Please grow up so that those who need Jesus might see Him in you. Submit to My hand of training. Embrace the ways of Jesus. You are needed in these end times.”

 Gal. 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.

James 1:2-4 NIV

2) Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,

3) because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

4) Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

 

A friend and I were talking about a person whose life ended in tragedy. We discussed all the “if only’s” regarding the life mentioned. If only his mother had known the Lord. If only his wife had told him about Jesus. If only friends, teachers, or peers had been there, he probably would have turned out differently. His life could have been a benefit to others instead of an astounding tragedy. I wonder how many people we could influence if we would really get our eyes off ourselves and get serious about the Lord’s business?

I also think about the astounding number of people who have heard God’s “Good News” and have been changed. Those of us who know the truth fully understand that the difference between an eternally valuable life and one that ends in tragedy is Jesus. Knowing that truth, you would think that we would submit with all of our hearts to the desire of the Lord that none should perish. Help us, Lord!

Help me, Lord,

Jim Corbett

1/27/21 Nothing More Important

We live in a throw-away society where products are geared toward planned obsolescence, newer is supposedly better; and why fix it when you can throw it away and get a new one.  Well, that’s certainly not the way God wants us to approach our marriages and families. He asks us to do everything we can to monitor, rescue, rebuild, and help repair the lives we steward as husbands and fathers. He calls us to do it mainly on our knees.

When the enemy attempts to harm those we steward, we must engage in spiritual warfare on behalf of those he’s attempting to destroy with everything we can muster by the power of the Holy Spirit. We’re to minimize other priorities and fight on their behalf until the war is won. Other than our personal relationship with Christ, there should be nothing more important to us than maintaining Christ-like relationships within our families and engaging in the restoration of either our marriages or our children when they are in peril.

As you appraise your marriage and the lives of your children, ask the Lord to show you His perspective. Ask Him to allow you to see them as He sees them. Do they have need of your spiritual intervention? Is it time for you to say, as Paul did, that you are as if in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in others? In your case, that would be your relationship with your wife and the welfare of your children. Is your approach as intense as Paul’s was? It should be!

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

Open post

1/26/21 Getting Your House in Order

“Prepare to begin to implement what you have learned from spending time with Me. I am about to move through those who have responded to My call to intimacy. I am about to have you walk in your chosen calling. What you have been through until now has been the preparation of your heart and the discovery of your life’s direction. Now I will bring My presence to the work of your hands. You have submitted to My training. You have repented of your carnal religion. You have responded to My call to get your house in order. You have repented of following anything but My wishes. You have become Mine with your whole heart.

"Now I can trust you to listen only to My voice. Now I can send you where you are needed. Dress for war. Dress for peace. Be ready to heal the broken. Be alert for the needy. Be prepared to be My hands and My voice in every season. I will send you forth from My lap with My love for those who are ready to hear. Take My heart to them. Show them Jesus!”

Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV

5) Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

6) in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 16:9 AMP 

A man’s mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps and makes them sure.

Acts 8:1b&4 NIV

1b) On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and  Samaria.

4) Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.

 

Our loving Father has an incredible way of moving us from our comfort zones and into action on His behalf. In these days, He is allowing those He has in training to experience challenges that strengthen their faith, remove their personal will; and equip them for service done with the heart of Jesus. He is cleaning the house and the heart of those He is calling to service in these end days.

Recently, the Lord spoke to my heart. He asked Merry and me to seek Him for direction. That may be a simple request, but it sent us on a journey of discovery akin to little we have known before. His direction has caused us to clean our house. We have found and chosen to put aside those things that redirect and distract us from focusing on the tasks He has called us to do. We have discovered areas in our lives that have been a part of us for so long that we failed to realize that we were doing them out of habit, when the Lord was trying to get us to ask why we were doing them at all. He has told us to lay aside those things that are cumbersome and nothing more than extra weight to carry. In essence, He is streamlining our lives, putting His order to them so that He can bless the work of our hands and make us truly fit for service in these special days.

I submit to Your hand of training, Lord,

Jim Corbett

1/26/21 Pursuing a Higher Standard

As a husband and father, would you do anything to change your ways if you realized the lives of your wife and children are gifts that will be presented to God one day? Who they become will be laid at the feet of our Lord. Because you hold these offices, you’re a steward of those lives. You’re responsible to provide an atmosphere for them to become all they can be in Christ and you’ll answer to God for the result.

You see, as Christian men, you and I are called to a higher standard than those who live in the world. We’re to love more, serve more, and have God’s higher purposes in mind for everything we do. We are God’s representatives on this earth. He owns our lives, which makes us stewards of them for His honor and glory.

In the world, husbands and fathers are considered a success if their marriage is outwardly OK and their children are accepted by society’s standards. You have a higher call. God asks that your marriage be an example of the relationship of Christ and His church. He asks that your children come to know Him personally through their submission to Jesus as their Savior and Lord, and serve Him with all their hearts. He asks you to pave the way for that to happen through the power of the Holy Spirit. Success in His eyes is far different than the supposed success of the world. Which will you choose?

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

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