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1/19/22 Respect

Saying that we have respect for someone is becoming a statement that is almost obsolete. The world has turned so dark, that the qualities determining if a person is to be respected are not qualities admired. The appearance of success or power has taken the place of a life that is worth respecting by those who are watching.

When was the last time anyone in your family said that they respect you as a father or husband? When was the last time that you have exhibited a life, or even an action, that was worthy of being respected in God's eyes, and then in those around you?

God has ordained the offices of husband and father as a covering for those he has been given. We are to provide a safe place for our families to function in as they grow in Christ. You, as the one functioning in that office, are to act as Christ would act if he were in your position. Obviously you will only be able to act worthy of the kind of respect He would have if you have been with Him enough to learn His ways.

The life we live in this world is important to God. How we function in front of others determines how they perceive a man of God should act, especially those in our families. Are you acting in a manner that garners respect from your wife or your children? Do others show respect for Jesus because you act in a way that represents Him properly? What are you going to do about it if you are not?

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett


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1/18/22 Back to Responsibility

“Have you noticed that a spirit of intolerance and flagrant independence has been loosed upon your land? It is the prelude to the apostasy that has been predicted in My Word. Few will take responsibility for their wrong doings. Almost no one will stand up for what is right anymore. The concept of right and wrong has migrated into a gray area of muddled legalisms. Few can be trusted, even within the walls of My church.

"If everyone is now conditioned to blame the other for that which they themselves should be responsible, they will not be familiar with and understand the concept of repentance. Because their hardened hearts will see sin as the offense of the other, rather than of themselves, they will see no need of a Savior. Even My church will go to court rather than live up to their responsibility when they are wrong. I need to break them and bring them back to responsibility. I must remove their comfort zones. I must destroy their flagrant rebellion and make them realize who they are following.

"My breaking them will change your lives. You will lose your comfort zones as I deal with them if you rely on the world for your safety. Determine in your heart now that your power is not in your own resources. I am waiting to renew your source for everything in your life. That is why My training course for you has intensified. That is why My warnings have become more clear. It is so that you will not be caught unaware. I am causing you to prepare your heart and trust Me to be your provision, your only source. When you rely on Me, you will walk above everything that attempts to hinder you from your appointed tasks or rob you of your peace. You become strong in the power of My might. I love it when that happens!”

2 Samuel 14:14b NIV

“But God does not take away life; instead, he devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him.”

2 Cor. 7:9-11a  AMP 

9) Yet I am glad now, not because you were pained, but because you were pained into repentance [that turned you to God]; for you felt a grief such as God meant you to feel, so that in nothing you might suffer loss through us or harm for what we did.

10) For godly grief and the pain God is permitted to direct, produce a repentance that leads and contributes to salvation and deliverance from evil, and it never brings regret; but worldly grief (the hopeless sorrow that is characteristic of the pagan world) is deadly [breeding and ending in death].

11) For [you can look back now and] observe what this same godly sorrow has done for you and has produced in you…

 

Do you realize how unique it is to hear the words, “Wow, I was wrong. It was my fault; please forgive me”? No doubt a majority of lawyers in this country would spend countless hours attempting to prove in court that those words were never said, so that someone could be declared only partially wrong or be completely vindicated from his or her responsibility. Almost everyone would go along with it, so that the impact of the transgression would be lessened. It would be the “wise” thing to do.

Because this attitude now permeates every layer of society, the concept of sin is no longer understood. Try something when people begin to talk about an offense that has happened, especially if their words make it apparent that they were at least partially in the wrong. Try it with both Christians and non-Christians.

After they have explained their side of the story, suggest that they apologize to the other party for their part in the offense. Suggest that their actions were sin. Watch their eyes as you do so. Usually there is some sort of silence and a shuffling of feet before a response comes. When it does come, be prepared to have a much-shortened conversation with them.

We, who are Christ’s, must realize more than ever that words alone, even the most eloquent and persuasive words, cannot convict someone of his sin. Unless our witness and our words are anointed by the Holy Spirit and permeated with His presence, they are wasted on the hardened heart. We simply speak a foreign language to someone if they are not.

In the days ahead, any success that we have in helping to bring someone to the Lord or change the hardened heart of someone who is already a Christian will only come from the power of the throne room. It is, more than ever, a spiritual thing in need of a spiritual answer.

Needing to walk everywhere only in the Spirit,

Jim Corbett

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1/18/22 Why Are You Married?

Most of us would answer that question in some way that has hopefully grown past the "I really love her, man" kind of statement. Let's forgo the stupidity of the "I really can't keep my hands off of her" answer and get on with why our Father in heaven has given us permission to be married.

In a nutshell, God has had us men covenant with Him to marry the one He has chosen for us, for His honor and for her best interests. I know that kind of thought has rarely passed through our world-trained, pea-brain ability to understand His ways about marriage; but it is, none-the-less, true. We are to join together with one of His precious children so that she has fertile soil to become all that she can be in Him. That honors Him!

In Ephesians 5, we husbands are called to lay our lives down for our wives in the way that Jesus laid His life down for the church. He died so that we could live. That is how the Lord can use marriage as an example of the relationship of Christ and His church.

When two people are joined together, they are given the privilege of knowing the most intimate details of the other person. They get to see whatever is undone in the other. Most of the time, especially after many years together, those cute little habits or actions become a source of irritation, sometimes even separation, instead of looking at them with Christ's heart. Jesus would hold them before His Father so that we and our wives could be healed. So should we.

God sees our job in marriage as laying down our needs, our desires, and our comforts, and living for the best interests of our wife and our children. The best interests of our circle of influence violates every area of our fleshly comfort zone. It demands that we live in the spiritual zone where Jesus lived for us. That is why He has given us someone to go through our lives with. They are to be given an atmosphere to learn how to love Him with all of their hearts. We are to provide that atmosphere by the power of the Holy Spirit. How's that working for you?

Let's talk more!

Jim Corbett

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1/17/22 More Important Than Ever

“Do you understand how important your every word and your every action are? I don’t believe that you do. If you did, you would not be saying and doing some of the things that are part of your everyday life. I see you slander those who come against you. I see you gossip about your neighbors and your friends. Often you ridicule those who are called by My Name because they do not believe exactly as you do. Some of you have become the judge and the jury of those who have not been with Me long enough to look and dress or act in the manner that you see fit. You shun them from your fellowship because of your pride in your religion of Christianity. It is bad enough that you choose to condemn those who have not embraced Me, but when you come against anyone who is called by My Name, I am not pleased. You are coming against Me!

"Why do you place yourselves above anyone? Have I not called you to serve everyone? You represent My Son. People see Who He is by how you talk and act toward others, especially those who are called by the same Name as you are. You do not realize how harmful your wayward tongues and hardened hearts are to you, especially when you have come against My anointed ones. I have placed reciprocal judgments on your life because of them. Those judgments have My signature on them. I have always paid in kind for actions done.

"If you bless, I will bless you. If you are merciful, mercy will be given to you. When you do one of My children harm, you have placed yourself in position for the same kind of harm to come to you for your training. Reflect on your past actions toward others, especially my greatly loved children. Then allow Me to show you how your actions have come back to you. You are called to function above the ways of the world. I ask you to do that because of your respect and love for Me. If that is not enough of a reason, I have sorrow for you. You will now clearly reap whatever you sow.

"Soon it will be paramount that you stand in your world in a manner that brings honor to My Name. It is more important than ever to do so in these closing hours. The days of shallow representation of Me are over. It is important to Me that others see a true representation of My Name. I will have little mercy toward those who tarnish the Name that is above all names. Remove yourself from that group or I will judge your actions with an iron fist.”

1 Chronicles 16:21-22 AMP

21) He allowed no man to do them wrong; yes, He reproved kings for their sakes.

22) Saying, Touch not My anointed, and do My prophets no harm.

Esther 7:10 AMP

So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath was pacified.

Obadiah 1:15 AMP

For the day of the Lord is near upon all the nations. As you have done, it shall be done to you; your dealings will return upon your own head.

Luke 6:38 NIV

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

 

God’s signature judgments are sometimes horrible to watch. People involved usually reel under the weight of them. What is even more difficult to observe is when those under the judgments are oblivious to them and why they are happening.

A pastor friend of mine, who has given Merry and me wise counsel often, made this statement when we were seeking help for judgments that were coming against us. He said, “Confidence in God is how little you respond when falsely accused.”

After taking that advice and not responding in any way to the “done in love” accusations, we have seen those who had accused flounder visibly as they felt the weight of the hand of God on their lives. Because we chose not to defend ourselves, we had the opportunity to see our God defend us as each person experienced the tailor-made response to their words. Father God has a way of doing that for His children. Often, we have wept as we see some of them “shake off” the judgment, unable to understand why things are no longer going as well as before.

God’s Word is true and very real. I am convinced that, in these closing hours of time, we are going to realize that He means what He says. We will soon be held accountable much more readily for our words and actions. It’s time once again to become aware of Who we represent and how we are representing Him.

Make me accountable, Lord,

Jim Corbett

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1/17/22 Comfort Zone Gifts

After broadcasting a person's need for a couch over the air at our radio station, we found ourselves staring at something that once resembled furniture in the living room of someone who answered the request. When we refused the explosion of stuffing that was home for her cat, the woman said, "Well, what am I supposed to do with it now?"

Her "gift" to someone in need may be the extreme example of wrong motives, but her attitude resembles the attitude of the church throughout history. Although heartfelt generosity propels the gospel of Jesus, there is an underlying plague of corrupt thinking originally confronted by Jesus. As gifts were being given, He asked a question that rings through the centuries right up to each of us. "Who gives more, those guys over there who give out of their abundance, or the widow who gives a small amount, but it is all that she has?"

As a covering for our families, we as men are to teach those in our midst about the heart of Jesus by our actions. When referring to gifts and giving, we are stewards, not owners of everything we have. We are to teach others about the cross of Jesus by sacrifice, not by giving away our surplus. If a person has untold wealth and gives a seemingly large amount away, God looks upon the gift as far less than one who gives very little, but it is all they have.

Be assured that people who don't know Christ - and for that matter our children, - are watching us as fathers, and how we function. Without knowing it, how we act in every area of our lives is speaking much louder than our words. The freedom in which we give to others, especially sacrificial giving, broadcasts volumes to those who may not understand the cross and its work. People see Jesus in every cup of cold water given by us, especially if the water given means that we go thirsty. Are you ready to be uncomfortable?

Let's talk more!

Jim Corbett

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