Faith | TFRC | The Faith Resource Community

1/04/23 The Difference

A while back, I had the opportunity to observe two families. The setting was at a swimming pool at a hotel. One family was Christian, and the three children had been home schooled all of their lives with God as the center of their schooling and the Bible as the foundation for all that they lived. I know this because I talked to the parents. The other family had all the trappings of the world and typified what most would call the “beautiful people.” Their children were enrolled in a secular, private school and seemed to lack for nothing materially. Both families were there for some educational competition and seemed equal socially.

The families did not know each other, so I was able to observe them in their own environment, separate from each other yet in a common atmosphere. There were differences in age and gender, so they had little reason to interact and remained as autonomous family units.

Over the course of the afternoon, each family obviously had opportunity to interact, resolve differences, and engage in conflict if they were so inclined. That is where the striking differences came forth. The secular family functioned as separate people, loosely joined by a family bond, seemingly only tolerating each other because of that bond. With the father and mother acting as wardens from the sidelines, they trudged through the afternoon, demanding their individual rights, imposing their diverse opinions on each other, and biding their time until it was time to go and do something they had planned for later. All had something different planned for their individual lives once the pool time ended.

The Christian family was bonded in love and respect for each other. They were a delight to behold as they each seemed to strive to please the other. They embraced the fullness of the day, sharing and loving openly, whole-heartedly enjoying, respecting, and building each other up. They lived the truth of God’s Word as a family. The difference was remarkable, the contrast astounding, and the impact of the truth of the Word in action was evident every moment of the afternoon. The concepts of God and His Word were so lived out by this family that they were “bright” with living truth. Their lives were such a presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that everyone there - even the parents of the other family - noticed that something was different about them. The foundation of their lives, individually and collectively, was biblical truth - and it showed.

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

1/03/23 The Greatest Kind of Love

“My gifts to you sometimes come in the form of great trials and hardships. I know that it is hard for you to see My love in difficult circumstances, but from the heavenly perspective it is the greatest kind of love. Look at it this way. I know what you are about to face in this life. I know where your weaknesses are, and I also know where you are vulnerable to attack. If I didn’t strengthen you in those areas, what kind of love would that be? It would be no love at all, but very much like an uncaring friend.

"I am training you for My ministry of reconciliation. That is why you must submit to My training. Let Me assure you that I am hovering over you in the midst of each trial to make sure that it is not too much for you. It needs to be strong enough to change you, but it will not crush you. Rest assured that I am with you through it. I love you.”

Rev. 3:19 AMP

Those whom I [dearly and tenderly] love, I tell their faults and convict and convince and reprove and chasten [I discipline and instruct them]. So be enthusiastic and in earnest and burning with zeal and repent [changing your mind and attitude].

II Cor. 5:17-19 AMP

17) Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!

18 But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself [received us into favor, brought us into harmony with Himself] and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation [that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him].

19 It was God [personally present] in Christ, reconciling and restoring the world to favor with Himself, not counting up and holding against [men] their trespasses [but canceling them], and committing to us the message of reconciliation (of the restoration to favor).

If you haven’t been through any kind of trial or hardship before this, just keep walking with Jesus and you will experience them. It is part of God’s promise to us to train us for our ministry of restoring others to the Lord. Look at the lives of the prophets and apostles. Look at those who willingly gave up their lives for Jesus throughout the centuries. How do our trials compare to theirs? Then again, how does our love for God and other people compare to theirs?

I am convinced that our ability to love others and to love God is directly related to the amount of forgiveness we have received and the amount of pressure that we submit to at the hand of God. Placing ourselves directly in a situation of desperately needing the Father eventually trains us to have the kind of faith and caring that is needed to touch our world. (Is God responsible for all of the evil things that happen to us and in the world? Of course not. There is an enemy of our soul that is in the business of discouraging us, trying to separate us from the love of God, and attempting to kill us.)

Maybe we need to really understand something, however. God is not in the business of making our lives comfortable. To believe that is a lie. (That lie has done more harm than almost anything in the body of Christ because to believe it allows us to embrace a self-centered, self -absorbed gospel.)

God is in the business of making sure that others do not perish. His plan is to use us to bring that gospel to those who haven’t heard it. The problem is that you and I are not showing others what Jesus looks like, so He needs to change our character.

Few people will embrace the saving Gospel and come to Jesus because of our lives and our witness, if all we can offer them is empty words and fruitless lives. We need a Christ-like life for them to see who He is. That kind of life only comes through the pressure of trials and hardships. They are forming us to embrace those who hate us and those who need us.

Do what it takes to change me, Lord,

Jim Corbett

1/03/23 The Unaware Plague

As I do research for our books and other ministry outreaches, I am pretty astounded by how unaware most people are of the war they are in. They don’t see overwhelming business demands as a tool of the enemy to nullify their real effectiveness. They don’t understand that hours before the television set help erode family unity. Cell phones are divisional devices used to separate families.

Take a look around. Watch how the enemy of everything that God desires is steadily at work to distract, divide, and destroy everything God holds dear in the family unit. He will use anything he can, any way he can, to take the family members’ eyes off of the important and place them on the urgent or the entertaining.

If you think that I’m being a little melodramatic, do this experiment. Pick any device - cell phone, television, business pressure, school, or social engagements and compare the time consumed by them with the time a family spends together communicating and investing in each other. See how long most families spend quality time together before each member runs off to do something more important. I think you will be amazed at how few people consider their family more important than whatever personal god they serve first. What do you see in your family?

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

1/02/23 When Everyone Else Panics

“Perilous times require adventurous people to counteract fear in the immature believer. You are heading for some perilous times, and it is time for you to make some decisions. What will you do when everyone else panics? Where will you find safety when everyone around you finds their strength in what they can do with their heads and their hands?

"You need to practice My presence now. You need to learn to remain on My lap until I release you with the answers that are needed to overcome the situation in My timing. You need to learn to hear My voice above the din created by the loud voices of carnal men and immature believers. I want you to realize something. If you are really following Me, you should have long ago considered yourself dead to everything that others long for. This world should hold nothing for you. You should be getting rid of those things that hold your attention, instead of acquiring more. You should be practicing to become a leader to those who will need answers when the paper leaders fail them. That power comes from being with Me.

"Become adventurous today. Quit holding on to things that will soon disappear. Hold on to Me. I will show you places that are marvelous, when others see only havoc. I will show you wondrous, high places that cannot be touched by carnal fears and insignificant terrors. I will make you adventurous when others are hamstrung with fear and confusion. I will impart My kind of strength to you. Your place is with Me, not with those who are hanging on to things that don’t matter. Time with Me is where the resources for your adventure will be found. Come to Me now.”

Hebrews 10:32-36 NIV

32) Remember those earlier days after you received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering.

33) Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated.

34) You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.

35) So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

36) You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

Hebrews 12:1-3 NIV

1) Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

2) Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

3) Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

I wonder what the early church would think of the self-serving gospel that is being presented in most circles these days. I wonder how Paul would contend with the prosperity preachers who would proclaim that it was his lack of faith that landed him in prison. How many of them do you think came to him in his day, telling him to confess that he is free so that he could be? The immaturity of today’s doctrines is so apparent when placed alongside the maturity of those who understood their positions as believers and showed us a much better way.

From the moment Saul (Paul) was knocked down on his way to Damascus by the power of God, his adventure began. His feet were firmly placed on a new road to uncharted territory. He was on his way to living a life that few, if any, had experienced before - a life of death to self and alive to Christ and His ways. He led the way to the most prosperous life imaginable, designed in heaven and implemented by his Lord. Hidden danger, terrorizing threats, beatings, and imprisonment were no match for the wonder of trusting his Lord at every turn. He had found the greatest adventure of his life.

Our Father has shown us the success achieved at the end of Paul’s kind of life. Not very visible then but read about most every day since he lived it by those who need to learn how to really live God’s way.

Wanting to be part of an adventure with God,

Jim Corbett

1/02/23 More Than Your Own Skills

To be able to fulfill your offices of husband and father with power and skill, you’re going to need much more than you can do in your own strength. You’re going to need the power of the Holy Spirit continually working in and for you.

The enemy of your family is hard at work attempting to nullify your marriage and destroy the legacy that God intends for your children. If you think that you’re going to be able to fend off the onslaught that is programmed against you, you’re badly mistaken. If you think that there is no war, you are already beaten and just don’t know it.

Visible evidence of his aggression against your family - such as constant strife between you and your wife, children who don’t want to discuss the things of God with you or have little interest in Jesus and the cross - means you have a spiritual battle on your hands. Head knowledge won’t do the trick, so your preaching at them will fall on deaf ears. Your youth pastor is not going to be able to help continually. Your pastor is not the one.

The power to bring vibrancy to your marriage or to win your children back to God lies with you seeking the Lord on their behalf. It’s in your spiritual job description. They are incapable of winning the fight themselves. They need you as a daddy, fighting for their best interest on your knees. It’s time to bend down and hit the carpet, friend. It’s time to call for help from the winner of all battles. His name is Jesus and He’s waiting for you! It’s you He’s chosen for their sake.

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

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