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6/19/21 Serving from a Place of Challenge

“When I put you in a place where you cannot move and have hemmed you in all around so that you must make difficult choices, I am allowing you to see who your god really is. In most cases, your god is your need at the time. It is all that you can think about. It is what you focus all of your attention on. It is what you serve with all your heart. You must take your eyes off of your need and find what I am doing in your situation. Begin to focus on the need of others. Begin to find My purpose in the situation that you are in. Fools serve Me only from their comfort areas. My power flows through you when you serve Me from a place of challenge.”

Matthew 26:53-54 NIV

53) “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?

54) But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”

Luke 23:34 NIV

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

Phil 4:13 AMP

I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency].

 

Jesus cared more for the souls of those who drove the nails in His hands than He cared for the pain He was going through. Paul ministered to those in need from a prison cell. Those who lost their homes proclaimed the gospel from their place of need.

Throughout the Word of God, we see the true heart of many individuals emerge when they are faced with much need themselves. We see the rich young ruler choosing to cast aside his own salvation rather than loosen his grip on his god of money. In contrast, we see Paul choose obedience to his Lord over his own comfort and safety. Each instance was an exposure of heart motive. One failed miserably; the other glorified the Lord.

At this very moment in time, I believe that God is again exposing the true heart motives of the church. From difficult places, extreme circumstances, unusual challenges, and God- orchestrated opportunities, whether we know it or not, we are once again proclaiming out loud by our words and actions, who or what holds our hearts and is the true lord of our lives. Our mask of religion is being taken from us by everyday occurrences, revealing an honest image of who we really are and what god controls our lives.

Bring me to repentance if I serve anyone or anything but you, Lord,

Jim Corbett

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6/19/21 How Far Would You Go?

I once saw a movie where a father’s daughter was kidnapped. Instead of following the rules set by the kidnappers, he used his very capable skills to find her, rescue her, and destroy the kidnappers. The movie was a story of his relentless pursuit of someone he loved even more than his own life.

As I look around at the families in the church today, I am amazed at how many are so fractured that they don’t resemble the family that God has in mind. After getting past all the rhetoric about how powerful and influential society and its dictates are, the bottom line is that the rescue of a man’s family is normally not a priority on his list.

I believe that most men have been sold a bill of goods, told that they are too weak or incapable of doing something about whatever worms have crept in to destroy their family. I am convinced that they have been lied to by the enemy, who is out to not only destroy the family, but bent on minimizing the limitless power of the office that the father has to reclaim and help restore the children God has given him.

The guidelines for God’s family are pretty clear. The husband is a spiritual covering, continually seeking the Lord on behalf of those he stewards. The wife is an equal in supporting and undergirding his mission of providing a safe spiritual place for their children to prosper in Christ. They are to nurture their children in the deep things of God, so that they become honorable legacies who are capable of passing on spiritual wealth to their own offspring.

If anything disrupts the flow of God’s love and power in that family, everything else is to take second place until Christ-like harmony is restored. Nothing or no one should get in the way of the war that the father and mother engage in to rescue any one of their children in harm’s way. They are to be relentless in seeking the Lord for wisdom and guidance, and then for doing whatever is necessary to bring His real life back to the ones they love. They are to persevere until the job is completed and the enemy is destroyed. Do you agree? If not, why not?

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

PS A good example of this kind of warfare is in the first chapter of our book, The Father Factor.

 

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6/18/21 You Are Someone’s Opportunity

“As soon as you sell out to Me, people will not know what to do with you. Once you begin to flow in My anointing, the world and most of the church will not understand your actions. They may need and sometimes want what you have for a while, but often you will not be part of their inner circle. Because you will flow in unison with My will, you will not act according to the flesh. You will be trained to hear My voice and then move for My reasons alone. Therefore, you will no longer fit into the world, and you will be a challenge to the cold church. If your anointing is to provide finances to My people, your “overly benevolent” actions will look like foolishness to others who hoard their money for themselves.

"You, however, will flow freely with Me, building My kingdom by supplying My servants with the needed resources to do their work. Typical tithes and offerings will be exposed in your heart as elementary forms of giving when you move in concert with My heart into the realm of being honest stewards of My resources. If your anointing is to flow with Me as your only reason for breathing, you will not travel the “normal” ways of living. You will hear only My heartbeat and be moved only by My voice. Your actions will always be scrutinized and judged by those who choose to walk in the ways of the world, but claim to be following Me. You will not be any fun to be around when you are not needed. You will understand the loneliness that My Son felt, even in the midst of a crowd. Your only solace will be to be in My presence.

"When you - My servants with both of these gifts and with other gifts that complete My church - are with people, your lives will convict them of who they are not in Christ. They will need to either repent of their way of life, flee from you, or separate you from their world through mudslinging or deceit. They will do all that they can to remove the conviction that they feel simply by your presence. Understand that they are not rejecting you; they are rejecting Me. I am using you to give them an opportunity to change.”

 I Cor. 4:9-13 NIV

9) For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men.

10) We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored!

11) To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.

12) We work hard with our hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it;

13) when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.

 

We’ve all heard the story of the man of God who was on a train and people moved from his presence saying that he convicted them of their sin, even though he had not said a word. Have you, however, lived the story?

If you are following hard after God, (I’m not talking about foolish, ignorant behavior, and single doctrine causes that are supposedly done in the name of Christ,) you have felt the sting of rejection, separation, and judgment. You will be used and then set aside until you are needed again for the next gala fundraiser or healing meeting, depending on your gift of service. That is the same warfare in action.

You may not feel like the powerful person of God; but whether you know it or not, your anointing is at work. The world and the mainstream church will not know how to talk to you, and definitely will not know what to do with you. You won’t be wanted in most circles because you convict people of their actions and pet beliefs for what they really are - sin.

People will need to attempt to pigeonhole you in some area that makes sense to their blind religion. When they can’t do that, they will have to either allow the Holy Spirit to change them, or they will flee from you. Your mere presence will sometimes do more havoc in the spiritual realm than anything that you say or do. It is God at work, His Spirit colliding with their carnal spirits. In the unseen spiritual realm, it is intense, violent spiritual warfare being accomplished by the hand of God.

As soon as the feet of Jesus touched the Jordan River, the world felt the effect of His presence. Walking only with His Father, doing only His Father’s will, people were moved from their complacency by His words, actions, and His mere presence. We are called to be the same kind of influence in our world. If we seek only the face of God and His holiness, we will follow Him in true obedience. He will take care of the rest.

Wanting to go deeper, no matter what the cost,

Jim Corbett

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6/18/21 Motivated by Love

Everything that God does for mankind is motivated by love. His creation process brought companionship. His patience with fallen man, the redemption process, and His plans for our future have an astounding, unbelievable love as their foundation.

As a father, everything we do is to be done because of the love we have for Jesus and the privilege of overseeing those He loves. Above everything else, we are to love others as He first loved us. The idea that our stewardship is an obligation or something to dread is foolish worldly thinking. We have the privilege of loving.

The next time the cares of the world seem a little overwhelming, it might be good to go back to the understanding that your Father in heaven is hovering over you with His boundless love. He is pleased as He sees your submission to His plans.

Think of how you feel as a father when you see your son or daughter do well in any given situation, then multiply that feeling to an unlimited degree. That’s how your Father sees you as you go about your days. Bask in that thought and then pass it on to those who need it.

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

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6/17/21 Purchased by His Blood

“Do you fully understand the impact of the changed life I have given you, or has your heart become dull over time? Remember how I changed your life when you entered covenant with Me? Remember how dead you were before I brought you to life through your acceptance of Jesus as your Lord? We entered covenant then. You promised to have Him be Lord over your very existence; all that you are and everything that you have. You were purchased by His blood. At that time, My covenant promise to always be your Father and to conform you into His image also went into effect. Moment by moment, you are being made into His likeness, so that others can see Jesus in you and embrace Him, just like you did.

"When your work is finished, I promised to bring you home to Me. Don’t minimize the importance of Our covenant. It has a daily benefit for you and many others, and an eternal benefit when your task is completed. Stir up your first love energy again. Do not become weary because of the refining I am doing in you. Benefit others by your new life. Bring the love of Jesus to them today.”

 Matthew 25:23 NIV

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!’”

John 3:5-8 NIV

5) Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

6) Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

7) You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’

8) The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

2 Cor. 5:17 AMP

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!

2 Cor. 5:20a NIV

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.

 

So often the cares of our days quiet our hearts to the astounding event that has happened to each of us who have given our lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We forget that we are made new in Jesus so that we can learn of Him, submit to our Father’s promise to us and then do His work on this earth. That is our sole purpose for taking each new breath.

If that is really the truth in Christ, how does our life compare to the intent God has for it?

Help me to remember and submit, Lord,

Jim Corbett

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