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7/25/23 Refuse to Be Afraid

As a man, I am often surprised at what we as men are generally afraid of. Even admitting that we have fears is contrary to everything that we have been told since we were little guys wandering through our growing up days. In Christ I can finally say that my early life scared the tricycle out of me.

Throughout high school, locker room bravado, with all of the cocky athletes and their macho stuff, set a standard of who we were supposed to be, and what determined our manhood. We were supposed to be tough, good in bed, and able to make everyone believe we had answers, no matter what we had to do to prove it. I don't know about you, but my high school days were days of lying to myself and to all of my buddies, mostly to just be accepted.

Now, as a Christian man, I know how foolish and downright wrong all of the world-inspired locker room training was. God is continually showing me how to shake off all of the standards set in those days and accept the boldness to act as Jesus acted. He refused to be afraid to act right in a world that was wrong.

As husbands and fathers, isn't it long overdue for us to refuse to be afraid to be the men that Jesus calls us to be? Isn't it time to not be afraid to love our wives and children as He loved His church? Are we not supposed to lay down our fears of being considered less than macho if we serve them as one of our priorities?

If we refuse to live under the world-inspired dictates, we are free. If we can be small enough to admit to being wrong and in need of going to God for answers in front of our wives, we are showing her that she is under the protection of God who is far stronger than we are. If we are free to have no answers for our children, they will see that it is important to drop to our knees for answers; something they will need to do in their lives.

Men, it's time to refuse to be anything less than Jesus calls us to be. What do you say that we live lives that inspire others to be set apart from the world by refusing to be afraid of anything it offers? Jesus did and He has given us the power to do the same. Do you want to be fearless?

Let's talk more!

Jim Corbett

7/24/23 Do Your Days Count?

“You have been given an allotment of days. What are you doing with them? These specific days have challenges that you will face. How are you going to handle them? You have been designed to overcome any and every challenge as We walk together. You have been given power to rise above whatever attempts to destroy your peace if you trust in Jesus. Allow Him to live His life through you to overcome. Allow Him to be your Victor. His plans are My plans. His directions are My directions. You cannot fail if you trust Him.”

Amos 5:4b AMP

…Seek Me [inquire for and of Me and require Me as you require food] and you shall live!

John 16:33 AMP

I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]

2 Cor. 1:8-10 NIV

8) We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.

9) Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.

10) He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us…

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.

To have the wonder of the living Christ residing in us is one of life’s profound miracles. To have Him desire to share our time on this earth and then for eternity is an astounding privilege. To not take full advantage of this wondrous gift is foolishness.

Remove my foolish heart, Lord,

Jim Corbett

7/24/23 Pass It On

I wonder how many of us have had the privilege of simple quiet times with our fathers. I don't mean times when we had nothing to say to them because of heart separation; I am talking of intimate moments where nothing need be said, and it was OK.

As husbands and fathers, how are we expected to pass on what we haven't experienced ourselves? I think that there is a way. I think that maybe one of the reasons our Father in heaven calls us to Himself is to show us how to endear our wives and children to us. I know that may sound a little simplistic, but what if one of the reasons He calls us to Himself is that He intends for us to experience the wondrous peace found in just being with Him? What if, because of those experiences, we begin to find ways to create those same kinds of experiences with those we love?

What comes to mind as I observe wives who have looked to other things for satisfaction, or children that have turned to their peers and the world for acceptance, is that they are screaming out loud by their actions for someone to tell them of their value. Lifetimes are spent looking for someone, anyone, to somehow tell them of their worth. If you look at the phenomenon of cell phones, they are a point of contact that is desperately needed to fill some gap.

Dads, what if you determined to first of all learn how to rest in the quiet acceptance of your heavenly Father, and then passed that kind of privilege on to those who need you to tell them of their worth? What if restoring your family relationships could begin with the simple action of making sure that you are always available to those who need you to show them that they are worth being with? If you've never experienced that kind of acceptance, go get it from your Father, and pass it on by teaching them to go to Him because of being familiar with coming to you. Those who need Him are waiting for you to show them who He is by your actions. Are you willing and ready to go there?

Let's talk more!

Jim Corbett

7/22/23 Get Uncomfortable

“Do you know how the words “I will have a people who serve Me with all of their hearts” will impact your life? It means that your personal world will never be the same. At present, you have little desire to serve Me with all of your heart. There are many distractions that vie for your allegiance, and you submit to most of them. Many of them rob Me of My time with you. Many of them rob you of your desire to spend time with Me. That is not a positive combination. Would you think it cruel of Me if I removed everything from your life that hindered you from becoming like My Son? Would you curse Me if you were brought to a place of absolute dependence upon Me for your next morsel of food, a moment of safety from the surrounding terrors, your very life?

"I am deeply concerned for you. No matter how many times I call you to intimacy, no matter how often I warn you of the coming terrors, you have little knowledge of what it is like to have Me and Me alone for your sustenance. You don’t even seem to care. So many other gods occupy your world that you have little determination to learn of My Son, even though He is the key to your safety when your world falls apart. When will you stop the foolishness? Look around. How can you miss the abundance of signs that proclaim imminent changes in your world? How can you not respond to My calling to become holy so that you can overcome what lies ahead?

"Look to those who see with My eyes. Listen to My prophets - not the street-corner variety - but those whose strong words make you uncomfortable. Listen to what I am saying and determine in your heart to move with Me in the soon coming times. I will have a people who will serve Me with all of their hearts. There, I’ve said it. Now what will you do in response?”

Phil 3:10-11 AMP

10) [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope]

11) That if possible I may attain to the [spiritual and moral] resurrection [that lifts me] out from among the dead [even while in the body].

According to the Bible verses above, Paul had a determined purpose that drove his life. He was hungry for God. His whole being embraced his calling and he knew that he needed everything that the Lord had for him to be able to make it. Since he did make it, it would be good if we embraced his formula.

His unswayable (Is that a word?) determination was his first direction for us to follow. We need to get serious.

He wanted to truly know Jesus. Not a bad choice for a mentor.

He wanted to know what was provided for him at the cross and the resurrection. What were his tools? How much of God did he have at his every call for help? Where was true power to overcome and how could he tap into it?

Now he tells us. If we die to our every desire and take up His cross, we will rise above every worldly god and function in concert with the only real God even while in the body.

He got it, and it proved powerful to the end. Study these wealthy verses until they are deep in your heart. Feed on them and determine to get determined.

Determined to become determined,

Jim Corbett

7/22/23 Who Controls Your Family?

As the world grows darker, and men and women seek out answers for their lives that are out of whack, I am amazed at how many of them are reeling from fathers who had little or no ability to parent. The world is looking to its own wisdom as to why we have horrific things done by youth, or why marriages are thrown away at a whim, or why our cities are festering with hate and crime. For them there are no answers.

In God's economy, however, the answer is very simple. Satan understands the incredible detriment a strong family, headed by a man who seeks the Lord, is to his kingdom. He does everything in his power to destroy it. Generations upon generations have been blinded to the importance and power of a God-honoring father and a Christ-centered family. This erosion has brought our world to the point that the family, God's most important institution, is guided and controlled by peer groups, experts trained in the ways of the world, and governments who make life decisions for us instead of Him.

How is your family doing? As a husband and father, are you leading those God has given you to a place of spiritual power, the kind of power that is overcoming the world and its pressures? Do you have a strong relationship with your heavenly Father, and does your guidance come from Him? Have you determined in your heart that as a steward of your wife and children, you will do what is necessary by the power of the Holy Spirit to see that they have real answers for their lives and are equipped to represent Christ to a world that is out of answers? If not, what do you plan to say to the Lord when you stand before Him and have to give an account for those He has given you?

Let's talk more!

Jim Corbett

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