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10/21/23 The Underbelly

One of the most vulnerable spots of any animal is the underbelly or underside of its body. In most cases, it consists of soft tissue with little armor for protection. Knowing that, most any foe can do life-threatening damage once the underbelly is exposed.

In the intimacy of a marriage, all faults, traits, fears, and vulnerabilities are exposed to husband and wife. In a very real sense, the underbelly or weakest areas of who they are become known to each other. Unwise stewardship of that knowledge can be deadly in the truest sense of the word.

As a husband, you have the privilege of knowing who your wife really is behind all the masks and protections put in place over the years. You get to see all her fears and weaknesses. On the other hand, she gets to see who you really are. If either of you makes that knowledge available to anyone else, even a best friend, you have violated the trust of your mate and closed down a very important part of your stewardship of each other.

If this trust is violated, walls of protection go up and true intimacy becomes impossible from that point forward. The offended mate hides his or her vulnerabilities for protection, and the offender loses the privilege of holding his or her mate before God in prayer for healing. Wise husbands and wives never allow anyone to see the underbelly of their mate. They seal their marriage; and unless it is mutually decided to seek outside help in certain instances, they seal their lips from any outside influence, so that the Lord alone is their healer as they present those needs to Him.

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

10/20/23 What God Has Planned

“Do not become weary in your work for Me. Do not give up when your heart is tired of the warfare. I will never allow anything or anyone to destroy what I have planned for your life. Battles rage against you because of the plans that I have for you. You are garrisoned all around, so the enemy takes notice of your life. As intense as the battle in the heavenlies is, My forces are much stronger than all that comes against anything you do. There may be small inroads that attempt to hinder you. There may be some detours that I will allow for My purposes, but the end result will always be the same. You will win if you keep coming to Me. This day come to Me. Allow Me to give you the peace and rest that is needed so that you can continue. Be still with Me. You are Mine! I am El Shaddai!”

Psalm 46:1 AMP

God is our Refuge and Strength [mighty and impenetrable to temptation], a very present and well-proved help in trouble.

Jeremiah 29:11-13 NIV

11) “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

12) Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you.

13) You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Our Father always arrives in the nick of time. He always finds a way for us to be able to make it another moment, day, month, or year. In the past, I would often ask Him why He would not give me the abundance needed to overcome all the daily pressures that come my way. One day He responded this way: “Then you wouldn’t need Me continually. You are too immature for Me to allow you to be left on your own.”

I love how my Father in heaven loves me. I am continually in awe as He changes me, holds me, and protects me from myself. We grow weary. He never does. We fear. He has none. We become discouraged. He becomes our strength. He is truly our provider and very present help when we need Him.

Thank You, Lord,

Jim Corbett

10/20/23 In His Hands

Although Father God has given us a stewardship of our wife and children, He asks us to turn them over to Him for their safe keeping. He is ultimately responsible for their best interests. We are responsible to give them and their needs to Him.

Foolish stewards look to their own strength and wisdom to protect and guide their charges. They personally take on their responsibility, instead of placing everything in God’s hands. Wise stewards, knowing that they are, in themselves, incapable of taking care of the needs of their marriage and family, give everything over to God.

Think for a moment of that exchange. Attempting to navigate the perils of this life with our weak, limited capabilities, or giving those perils over to an almighty God, capable of providing everything we need. Which is true wisdom? It’s really a no brainer. Why then do we attempt the first option almost every day of our lives?

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

10/19/23 It Will Not

“You are running out of time before your world changes drastically. The enemies of the cross and all that it stands for are marshaling their forces. They are planning their strategies to fulfill their plans. Although they are ultimately planning and scheming their way into doing what I have called into being long ago, anyone who is not close to Me will soon have no answers. I have told you to prepare. Some of you are listening and seeking intimacy with Me. Others of you have become foolish in your hearts, thinking that your comfortable world will continue forever. It will not.

"Your resistance to My warnings is disobedience. You know better. It is sin. It is selfishness. I warn you because you once had an open heart. I need to use you when there are no answers other than My answers. You need to be able to keep your head when others are losing theirs. You need to point many to Jesus. If you are not preparing to know Me intimately now, I will not be able to use you then. Wake up! Repent of your selfish ways and begin to understand your position in Me. I need you to grow up.”

2 Chr. 16:9 NIV

“For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him...”

Esther 4:13-14 AMP

13) Then Mordecai told them to return this answer to Esther. Do not flatter yourself that you shall escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews.

14) For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance shall arise for the Jews from elsewhere, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows but that you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this and for this very occasion?

Proverbs 29:21 AMP

He who pampers his servant from childhood will have him expecting the rights of a son afterward.

Isaiah 48:3 NIV

“I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.”

We, as Christians, need to continually discern the difference between the urgent and the important. The urgent is everything that distracts us from doing the perfect will of God. It is anything that fills our days with incessant needs that have little eternal worth. Most of it is simply called daily life. Although we obviously need to address life’s situations, we must shake ourselves loose from those things that are unnecessary, those things that are redirecting us from our participation in the Lord’s will.

The important is anything that God considers worth focusing on. As far as the Lord is concerned, important things have eternal worth. They are the reason we have been called into His presence. They are the reason Jesus died. They are the reasons we seek the Lord to find our portion in His plans.

Teach me what is important to You, Lord,

Jim Corbett

10/19/23 Hold Nothing, Have Everything

The world chases after possessions. They’re some of the gods we serve, whether we know it or not. Most of us men go to work to gain possessions of some sort, whether it’s bigger houses, cars, clothes - anything we need more than we need intimacy with God.

Some possessions are necessities; others are the enemy’s way of keeping us distracted and so busy that we have little time for God. An example of that would be you and your wife working harder or longer to afford the mortgage payment on a bigger house.

God’s priority is an intimate relationship with Him. Anything that minimizes or distracts from that relationship is out of His will. It is not of Him and should either be eliminated or minimized to its proper place in God’s eyes. If we hold on to anything – money, fame, material wealth, status, etc. - we lose more than we know. If we let go in our hearts of whatever it is that distracts us, we will gain the fullness of God. That fullness is everything. Holding on to nothing of this world in our hearts allows us to grasp the wonder of Who God really is and what He has done. That is true wealth! Are you ready to let go?

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

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