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

Open post

1/25/21 Receive from the Throne Room

“When evil men plan their evil schemes, I am still in charge. Throughout history there have been those who have attempted to take My timetable into their own hands. They have erroneously thought that they were in control of the times and seasons. Not only have they been foolish, but they have been dead wrong; and it has cost them dearly. Conversely, many of My people have misunderstood the seasons that are being played out before them. They have chosen to blind their eyes to what I am doing for the sake of their own agendas, leaving those that rely upon them in peril. That is just as foolish.

"My people, you who know better, I am calling for valiant stewardship of all My resources. I am heralding a call to My leaders to rise up and be strong in the power of My might. You who have been given resources to hold for Me, it is time to use them as I have planned, so that My Word goes forth to those who need to hear it. Hold on to only what I allow you to keep for yourself. Any more than that will be burned, wasted, and removed forcefully from you by My hand. You who have been given a stewardship of My Word, cast down the imaginations that have held you for so long and begin to preach only what has been given to you from My throne room.

"To do that, you must come to My throne room to receive truth. So many of you have never been here. Now is the time to come. I have much to say to you. I have strong food to give you to nourish My children who have been trained to digest it. To My true church, separate yourselves from any foolish traditions and teachings. Receive what you need from Me and Me alone. Cast aside anything that is not from Me, no matter who is saying it. Learn now to discern the difference. Devour My Word. It will feed you.”

Ephesians 4:11-13 NIV 

11) It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,

12) to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up

13) until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining  to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

If you had a job to do and were given a choice of equipment to use for that job, how would you go about selecting which piece to use? I would assume that you would select the tool that would perform the best for you. If you were given choices of the same kind of tool, but they were of different quality, more than likely you would select the best quality tool, knowing that it will help you do a better job. The reason it will work better is the fact that each part of that tool is functioning at its optimum performance with no tolerance for failure.

Our Father is once again refining His church. He is, so to speak, adjusting the tolerances to His requirements for the seasons ahead. Because of the task at hand, there is no room for sloppy operation of any part of His end-time machine.

Obviously the comparison of God’s holy church to a machine leaves much to be desired, but the point is clear. The only church that is fit for the Master’s use is a people who function with optimum characteristics - those of Jesus Christ. For too long, we have felt that inferior performance in areas of our calling would suffice. Often it has appeared that we have gotten away with sloppy attitudes and workmanship because the horrendous damage that was done was not readily evident. In the times ahead, however, badly functioning parts will be exposed for what they are – immediately - when their function does not suffice for the task at hand.

In less critical times, bad, unanointed preaching and teaching would be tolerated because the havoc it caused could be covered by someone else over time. That is no longer the case when shepherds have flocks hungry for only absolute truth to take with them for immediate life and death situations. Bad money stewardship will manifest itself quickly when there is silence from those who require it to function for the Lord. The lack of personal fellowship with God and His Word will be quickly evident because of foolish actions and empty words that fall short of the need.

The Lord will soon be able to use only those who have submitted to His refining processes in their lives and in their areas of service. Others will soon be set aside, unable to function properly for His very important, rapidly-approaching tasks.

Needing to submit everything to His hand,

Jim Corbett

1/25/21 Just Say Yes

Make sure you respond to the call God has for your life. Make sure you don’t choose to take the easier road by living a life that’s different than God intended.

If you follow hard after God, you’ll probably feel like you’re on the outside looking in within the church. I'm not talking about doing weird things that discredit the integrity of the Gospel. I mean that if you follow the example of the life of Jesus and move only when and where God tells you, people will not understand. You may find yourself giving away your possessions, taking a lesser job so you can reach people, or - heaven forbid - trusting God completely for your provision while you go into full time service.

One of the most heart-wrenching sights you'll ever see is the  emptiness in the eyes of those who have not responded to the call of God, usually because of fear or their lust for worldly goods. Those desires may be simple things, like security, new clothes, or a new car. They understand deep down that they have heard the call of their Creator and have said "no" when asked to fulfill His desires for their lives. Nothing,  absolutely nothing, will satisfy the emptiness of soul that follows.

After saying “no” to the Lord, most of them eventually find themselves working feverishly at some other ministry or filling a myriad  of church positions to cover up the emptiness. The end result is almost always an involvement with other weary, often critical people who are also doing good works, attempting to make a difference of some sort to cover their pain, rather than following after God's original plan for their lives. How sad! How grievous to God. Just say yes!

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

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