Faith | TFRC | The Faith Resource Community

4/08/21 Full Surrender

“Freedom comes only after you have fully surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus. Most people attempt to be free without that full commitment. They find themselves attempting to find things and participate in events to fill the emptiness that ensues because of their rebellion. Now is the time to give yourself completely away. Stop dealing in half measures. Freedom will begin as soon as you start functioning in the truth you will find under absolute Lordship. Do it today!”

Matthew 24:35 NIV

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”

1Cor 6:19b-20 NIV

19b) You are not your own;

20) you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

2 Cor 5:14-15 AMP

14) For the love of Christ controls and urges and impels us, because we are of the opinion and conviction that [if] One died for all, then all died;

15) And He died for all, so that all those who live might live no longer to and for themselves, but to and for Him Who died and was raised again for their sake.

Because of past experiences, wounds, and fears, most of us have difficulty surrendering fully to anyone, even Jesus. If we do, we no longer have control of our circumstances. That frightens us.

We have a problem. There are no halfway commitments with Jesus. Either He is the Lord over all areas of our lives or He is not. If we are not fully surrendered, our Father is finding ways to make our surrender complete. We wonder what is wrong, why nothing is working for us. Most of the time, it is simply a call for us to do what we said we would do when we gave our lives to Him in the first place - give Him everything. Once that is done, the rest falls in place.

Search my heart and show me what is not completely Yours, Lord,

Jim Corbett

4/08/21 The Privilege of Desperately Needing Jesus

In a day when most of us men have been taught that weakness of any kind is something that needs to be avoided like the plague, there is an eternal truth that has been lost in the body of Christ. The wealth of desperately needing Jesus at every moment is so important, that without functioning in it as our life's purpose, we become weak, impotent, and incapable of exhibiting His life properly. Any reliance on ourselves, our own capabilities, or the resources of others hinders us from walking as Jesus walked on this earth, and stops us from craving the deeper, more important spiritual truths that are needed to represent Him properly and fulfill our purpose for living.

Looking to Jesus as our only source brings us into the kind of relationship the Father intended for all believers from the very beginning. Because of His mercy, that relationship was made available for all eternity through the cross and resurrection of His Son. The richness of desperate need, total reliance, and full submission to God's will and purposes - no matter what the cost - is the road map to a wealthy spiritual walk and the warm, tender, Father-to-child relationship that was meant for us all along. When we experience that kind of fellowship with our Father, we can lead our children to His lap also.

The full acceptance of our weakness is the key to receiving the deep truths from the heart of God and the path to intimacy with Him. It is the single entrance into the throne room where a warm place on His lap is reserved for us. What stops you from going there?

Let's talk more!

Jim Corbett

4/07/21 Growing in the Moment

“I know how imperfect your love is. I understand that you can’t really keep most of your promises, even to Me. That’s why I tell you not to promise anything. That is also why the Holy Spirit keeps them for you. As imperfect as you are, and as futile as all of your attempts to change may be, I still love you. Walk with a heart that understands your need for Jesus. Give away what I have given you. Show others My love and the life that is theirs if they want it. Hold them for Me until they can stand themselves. I will do the rest. I will make you into who you really want to be without you even knowing it. I will make you like Jesus.”

John 21:15-17 AMP

15) When they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these [others do—with reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion, as one loves the Father]? He said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I love You [that I have deep, instinctive, personal affection for You, as for a close friend]. He said to him, Feed My lambs.

16) Again He said to him the second time, Simon, son of John, do you love Me [with reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion, as one loves the Father]? He said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I love You [that I have a deep, instinctive, personal affection for You, as for a close friend]. He said to him, Shepherd (tend) My sheep.

17) He said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love Me [with a deep, instinctive, personal affection for Me, as for a close friend]? Peter was grieved (took it ill and was hurt) that He should ask him the third time, Do you love Me? And he said to Him, Lord, You know everything; You know that I love You [that I have a deep, instinctive, personal affection for You, as for a close friend]. Jesus said to him, Feed My sheep.

James 5:12 AMP

But above all [things], my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath; but let your yes be [a simple] yes, and your no be [a simple] no, so that you may not sin and fall under condemnation.

Pompous, arrogant Peter, (Boy! Can I identify with him!) - the “I’ll never deny You” guy, humbled and now humble, responding in truth. “Will you love Me like I want you to love Me?” Jesus asks.

Peter responds in honesty, understanding his weakness. “I can only love You this much, Lord.” The third time the Lord asks if he would love Him as best he can, knowing full well how weak he was. Peter, ashamed at his own weakness, responds that he will. It was almost as if he was asking the Lord not to expect too much.

Here is the good part. Jesus is saying, “I know that you now know who you really are after what happened and how empty your promises are, but I love you and I know that you’ll make it. Take care of My friends, OK?” What compassion and forgiveness! What kindness! That’s when Peter was given the love that is better than silver or gold deep within his inner being- a place where it remains for eternity. He was given the stuff that would never deny the Lord again, plus the stuff that could make the lame walk.

If you’re in a refining fire, a humbling circumstance, or a wearisome trial, you need to understand that what is needed for you to represent Jesus - the Peter kind of stuff - is being formed in you. Don’t give up. Don’t sell out for some morsel of temporary relief. Don’t bail out. Your Father loves you and knows that you will make it. Just keep getting up every morning and do what you know to do that day, leaning on Jesus with all of your might. Pretty soon you will have the eternal stuff that’s more important than silver or gold, just like Peter. Just like Jesus!

I want Your stuff, Lord,

Jim Corbett

4/07/21 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

4/06/21 Tell Them Now

“Soon, the world will awaken to the fact that I am Who I say that I am and that I mean what I have said. They will finally understand that they have based their lives and their eternal well-being on lies. They will attempt to justify their folly, but it will be too late. My Word will be the plumb line for truth. Whether they embraced Jesus as their Lord or not will be the only criteria for My accepting them into My kingdom. Reliance upon any other name will fall far short of My requirements. In that day, you will rejoice because of My grace.

"In that day, however, they will stagger under the weight of My decree for their eternity. You tell them now, so that they may come. You turn from being proud of who you are and empty yourselves for the good of those who need to know. On that day, I will embrace you. I will also rejoice for those who may come with you because of you. I will grieve for those who did not hear. Tell them! Tell them often. Spend your life for them.”

Isaiah 48:3 NIV

“I foretold the former things long ago, My mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.”

Zechariah 7:13 NIV

“When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen.”

1 Cor. 11:1 NIV

Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

There are two purposes for every person who has ever been born to fulfill. The first is to accept the provision that God has set forth as the single eternal provision for salvation - the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ as absolute truth, submitting to His Lordship. The second is to exhaust our days telling others of God’s plan, so that they might also embrace Jesus as Lord. Everything else that garners our attention away from those realities in any way is a distraction.

Our world is so cluttered with the things that side track us from the simple reality of God’s purpose, that each of us have missed its importance to Him and to others. It is, however, the central reason each of us has been born and the single reason for each of us to live out our days. All that God has shown in His Word leads to the conclusion that He wishes that none should perish. If He has spent our recorded centuries focusing on that heart motivation, wouldn’t you think that each of us might consider it to be important? Even more important than what we care about?

Turn my heart, Lord,

Jim Corbett

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