Faith | TFRC | The Faith Resource Community

8/15/22 A Much Bigger Plan

“Although you are cherished and I know all that you are, you are only a small part of a much, much bigger plan. You need to widen your horizon concerning Our relationship. You need to understand that My plans don’t revolve around you. You are privileged to participate in what I am doing. Your self-focus limits your ability to grow in Me. You have brought Me down to your level, instead of seeing Who I really am. You have made Me small in your eyes. I am much larger than you have brought yourself to believe. Come to Me. Go to My Word. I will expand your vision, open your eyes, and enlarge your faith.”

Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV

8) “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.

9) “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Ephesians 1:17-19a NIV

17) I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.

18) I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

19) and his incomparably great power for us who believe…

Ephesians 3:10-12 AMP

10) [The purpose is] that through the church the complicated, many-sided wisdom of God in all its infinite variety and innumerable aspects might now be made known to the angelic rulers and authorities (principalities and powers) in the heavenly sphere.

11) This is in accordance with the terms of the eternal and timeless purpose which He has realized and carried into effect in [the person of] Christ Jesus our Lord.

12) In Whom, because of our faith in Him, we dare to have the boldness (courage and confidence) of free access (an unreserved approach to God with freedom and without fear).

Most of us have no power because we have created a weak God in our own minds. He has become our buddy or our servant or our request filler. We hold ourselves in higher esteem than we hold Him. This whole relationship has become about us and our needs, instead of about our Father’s plans.

We forget that only the powerful blood of Jesus allows us to come near to Him. Before the cross, to be in His presence meant death. To even look upon the One Who spoke the worlds into existence was impossible.

Forgive me, Lord,

Jim Corbett

8/15/22 Advancing God’s Kingdom

God’s kingdom advances in part by how your family grows spiritually. You and your family have an important part in the way the world comprehends the Gospel. They see the work of Jesus by the way you present Him to them.

Think of the impact you can have in the world around you. Think of the impact a spiritually mature wife and spiritually alive children can have on those they come in contact with. In no other way can their influence be more important.

Look around. Look at all the out-of-order marriages. Think of all the children who have only the world and its ways to guide them. You and your family can help make a difference in their lives as you present Jesus. As you point to Him in spoken and unspoken ways, those around you can find what they need to live a vibrant life in Christ and then point others in His direction. What a wonderful ripple effect! What an incredible opportunity!

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

8/13/22 Decision Time

“Today is a day of preparation. It is a day of new hope. It is a day of decision. I am calling My people to prepare for a time when things are not as they are in these days. It will be a time when only those who prepare in earnest now will prosper. I am also sending new hope to the fragile and broken, as they submit fully to Me. As you prepare your heart for My presence, I will heal you and build you up in My Son, Jesus.

"Decide today Whom you choose to serve. Set aside every heart attachment to the world. Set aside those things that refocus your priorities. No longer entertain the notion that you are in need of nothing from Me. Seek Me with all your heart. I will be found. Seek Me for what you will need in the coming days. Seek Me and you will walk in My presence when others walk in fear.”

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...”

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.

The only place of real safety is being tucked in the folds of the garments of our Lord. Any time we find ourselves separated from His presence, we are vulnerable, weak, and in danger.

Because of the work of the cross, you and I have been recreated to remain consistently in the presence of God Himself, now and for all eternity. In our pride, for some foolish reason, we choose to think that we can somehow prosper outside of that presence. We go about our days blissfully unaware of the real danger we are in and the grave consequences we will endure by remaining independent of His protecting power. Any decision that we make that sets us apart from the keeping power of our Lord is foolish and improper, denying the provision that Jesus made for us. It has no place in our lives. It is a dangerous way to live.

Help me to remain near You at all times, Lord,

Jim Corbett

8/13/22 The Generation Gap

From The Father Factor by Jim and Merry Corbett

Did you know that in God’s eyes there is no such thing as a generation gap? That whole concept is nothing more than spiritually ignorant, psycho-babble hogwash. Spiritually alive parents who have chosen to invest in their children, considering them more important than themselves and spiritually alive children, who have chosen to invest in the family by the power of the Holy Spirit, have no time to buy into that ridiculousness. The generation gap concept was created by spiritually impotent people, who attempted to incorporate their impotence into guiding and directing their offspring. It is nothing more than a way to excuse their inability to lead their children as they continue to walk in their own ways and thinking. What they really need to do is submit to God through Jesus Christ so that the life of Christ can flow in them through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is God’s wisdom, strength, love, etc. that we need – not ours. Ours will not truly get the job done. Of course, each generation has its own tastes and preferences; but communication, understanding, mutual love and respect, discernment, and prayer overcome any differences and allow generations to flow together with peace and harmony.

Raising godly children requires a lifetime of investing in them, most of the time in ways that violate our personal comfort zones. It is going to take a lot of surrender of our own ways to the Lord, a lot of prayer, a lot of selfless choices, placing their well-being above our comfort; and a lot of heart work. Yes, heart work. However, the eventual satisfaction and rewards of seeing a child being formed by God and the character of Jesus going forth through our children more than compensates for whatever price we may have to pay.

Godly children, who eventually become godly adults, are the goal and heart desire of Father God for both marriage and family. His standards are higher than the world’s standards and most of the standards in the typical church of today. He is after the heart of our children, not their compliance. His methods raise the bar in comparison with “normal” child rearing.

[While education is vitally important and must be part of any child’s growth process, which child lives a more significant life – one who has all the degrees in the world, a successful business, and a mediocre life in Christ; or one who has the priorities of God as his priority, dedicating himself to bringing others to significance while having few of the successes of the world?]

Investing in our children God’s way creates generations of strong, healthy children, who are full of integrity and inner wealth and capable of not only overcoming any of the challenges that come their way, but actually prospering because of them. Raising children God’s way brings proper credit to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and a testimony of His eternal work.

Knowing this, each of us has a choice to make at some point in our lives. This moment may be that time for you. You can approach child rearing with an attitude that your children are the ones who need to conform to His ways on their own, or you can settle it in your heart, once and for all time, that who you are and who you become in Christ is a major factor in determining who they will become.

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

8/12/22 Eternal Truth

“Everything that you see happening is about lies and truth. It is the continuing battle that will bring forth the culmination of My plan, just as I promised it would. As the elements of the plan unfold and the players come and go, you will see blatant deceptions and half truths. You will see right-sounding agendas and seemingly pure motives—designed to move the battle lines one way or another—achieving small, temporary victories that will fade with the next encounter.

"Little by little, every nation will be affected and involved as the battles escalate, until a cry for peace rings throughout your world. There will then be what looks like an answer, but there will still not be truth. I am the only Truth. I always was. I always will be. Your temporary battles are an infinitesimal portion of the absolute truth that governs the heavenlies and is, at present, overcoming the father of lies for all eternity. My truth will continue on for eternities upon eternities.

"In the times ahead, when the battles rage, you will be asked to pick sides. You will be asked to choose between one agenda or another. You would be wise to see through the smoke and the fire and look to My Word. Choose My plan and overcome the battle lines. I am asking you to bring others to Truth. That is My plan for you. He is Jesus.”

John 4:34 NIV

”My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”

Joshua 5:13-14 NIV

13) Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”

14) “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come.”

An overview of all of recorded history shows nations rising and falling, wars in diverse places, men coming to power, only to fall to the next person more powerful; and generations of people raised up only to cease to exist. From His heavenly post, Father God - although concerned about each and every hair on every head that ever existed - moves and directs, guides and leads every person and every nation, all for the eventual outcome of His completed plan. Our days are in His hands and for His use. The final generation will see a world leader emerge out of the revived, old Roman Empire. This leader will be the predicted antichrist, who is determined to establish himself as God. He will lose one final battle with the Lord.

History, however, is also about people - people just like you and me - with very real lives, who are living in our apportioned time in God’s timeline to accomplish our portion of God’s overall plan. Once we are born, all the mechanisms of God track and direct our lives, giving us every opportunity to make the choice of committing our way to God or rejecting Him for all eternity. In more recent generations, once we choose God through Jesus Christ, the only access provided, we have the privilege of seeking the heart of Father God and obtaining our individual part in His overall plan. We have the opportunity to become players, moving with God to implement His wishes; or non-players, going along for the ride and clueless to what is really happening.

As players, we have the honor of setting aside all that hinders His will to be accomplished in us, eagerly flowing with His unfolding plan. Our concerns are not earthly, our war is not with people, our hearts are not on the material. Our eyes focus on the spiritual and see God’s truth unfolding above every earthly situation.

As non-players, everything we see is carnal. Our deepest concerns are for the immediate, our time is spent in providing protection for our little area in life; and our hearts are for safety and comfort for ourselves. When our small world is threatened, we have little wisdom to embrace the overall plan of God. Unable to see God’s truth, we hope that we will win over any threat to our lives. Success is attained only if, after any conflict is resolved, we emerge unscathed, and continue our selfish little lives of pursuing personal safety and comfort. We cannot envision God’s truth as harming our small perspective of life in any way. We are short-sighted fools, living fruitless lives.

Our generation of believers is at a crucial juncture. Each of us must set aside our own desires for protection and safety and focus our attentions toward God’s truth. What is He doing? Why are the things happening around us happening? What are the daily headlines all about?

If we don’t focus all our attentions toward finding God’s perspective in every situation, our prayers will be selfish and self-serving, our actions will be carnal, and our witness will be nullified. We may even be fighting against the overall plans of God without knowing it. What a horrible prospect!

Show me Your truth, Lord,

Jim Corbett

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