Tag: jesus christ

2 Corinthians 4:18 (NIV) " So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

As we look around our world as it impacts our daily lives and the stewardship of our family, there can be much cause for concern unless we can see past what our circumstances tell us, and on to what our loving Father is really doing. It is easy to listen to the boasts of those who think they are in power and forget who is really in charge.

Our God is still very much on the throne. Jesus is our Mighty Lord, and the Holy Spirit is causing all circumstances to be in line with the ultimate plan of God. Even those who curse God are being used to do His bidding the same as Pharaoh was in Moses' time.

Looking beyond circumstances, there can be much joy if we see daily challenges for what they really are and understand that what God is doing is about mankind and our relationship with Him. Nothing has changed.

God has sent Jesus to restore the intended Garden of Eden relationship with Him. He is always after the hearts of those He has created. Once we accept the provision of the cross, He is always in the process of bringing us to an intimate relationship. Those who respond to that call are continually brought into challenging circumstances and refiner's fires to burn the world out of them. These fires become more intense for those who want only Jesus and nothing of the world and its ways.

Today if you see past what is in the headlines or look beyond the difficulties you are personally facing and on to what God is really doing, you will find His love in action. To the unsaved He is giving a chance to embrace His love before He closes things down. To His children, He is calling them to Himself in preparation for the most wonderful time possible, the marriage supper of the Lamb. To fathers and husbands, He is giving opportunity to repair the breaches in our fortress family.

Difficulties always bring need. Need forces us to cry out for help. Crying out for help to God always brings Him close and moves His heart. His bottom line is to make us like Jesus. Difficult times and refiner's fires do that. Look past them and embrace what is really happening; it is for your eternal good. Are you willing to go through the fires?

Let's talk more!

Jim Corbett

Do you have any idea how valuable you are to your Father God? I don't think many of us men can really grasp the concept of a Father that loves us not for what we do, but just because we are valuable to Him. In fact, most of us look at the stewardship that we have been given only as an obligation that we will be held accountable for, without realizing that it is because He really cares for us, He chooses to trust us.

Some of us had an earthly father who demanded from us without the corresponding love and encouragement. We were told to live up to expectations to maintain some kind of worth in his eyes. Possibly because he never had any encouragement from his father, he wasn't able to pass on what he had no knowledge of. Whatever the case, we spent our days attempting to prove our worth to him, and to anyone else for that matter.

God is not like that. He lovingly places value on us, value that is not changed by our actions good or bad, right or wrong. His kind of value is a wealth beyond our comprehension. It is placed on us simply because we exist and belong to Him.

If we ever really comprehend that concept, we can take on the powerful stewardship given us as husband and father with an incredible joy, knowing that our heavenly Father is not only for us, but covers our back when we blow it. In essence, His mercy and grace flow stronger to us and our needs when we turn to Him because we are out of answers. He guards us, protects us, loves us unconditionally, and guides us to truth, just because we are His. Maybe it's time to bask in the value He places on us as we go about our days heading up our family, so we can pass unquestioned value on to them.

Let's talk more!

Jim Corbett

How would you fare if you found out that nothing in this life is about you - nothing? What if you fully understood that there may be no Hollywood ending for you; that you were asked to burn yourself out for Jesus and no one will ever know about it? What if you were called to pour yourself and all that you had into others out of obedience? What if, in God's eyes, there is really no other way to live?

As a father, husband, and man of God, your job is to seek out the life of Jesus and then live it out in front of those around you. That means that you do nothing of yourself or for yourself. It's called the crucified life - a life of laying down your own for the best interests of others and for the glory of God.

Jesus overcame the world from the cross. Although that kind of life is foreign to us, He asks us to do the same. He asks us to provide a smooth path for our wives to become all that they can be in Christ. He asks us to guide our children to the life that has been bought for them from the cross. He asks us to be an example of Him to our friends and acquaintances. We are stewards of their precious lives. When we stand before Jesus He won't be impressed about how much money we made, or how big a house we had; we will answer for the lives that God has placed in our path to direct and love.

How much time have you spent to find out what this life is really all about? The more you devote yourself to the Word of God and spend time in His presence, you will see that your life is to be spent for others, not yourself. That's what the life of Jesus looked like. That's what ours should look like. What does yours look like?

Let's talk more!

Jim Corbett

2 Corinthians 10:5(AMPC) [Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One), 

What if everything we have been taught to hold dear since we were old enough to reason has been a lie of the world that has set itself up against the Word of God? What if all of our thoughts, self-strengths, abilities, or anything that does not have God as its center or source is not of God, so we are to cast them down? If that is truth, they are strongholds that set themselves up against the will of God in our lives.

Jesus walked above the world and all of its ways. There was not one thing of the world He accepted or based any decision on. He only listened to His Father and did what they had agreed should be done. The lie of sickness and disease, the lie of doing anything without consulting the Father first, the lie of fear, dread, even death when it was not time, like Lazarus, were called to account by the kingdom laws of His Father. He lived in the realm of higher laws. Gravity even meant nothing to Him when He disappeared into the air.

With our limited carnal abilities and reasonings, the things that Jesus did, those that we are able to comprehend, are sometimes held as good stories for us to learn from. But what if we are supposed to really walk as Jesus did? He was Spirit and flesh. We are flesh and of the Spirit because of the covenant of the cross. He was the first born of many. We are the "many" that followed Him in our born-again experience. We are called to do even greater things than He did.

Maybe it's time to really seek the Lord's opinion on how we are to live this life, looking above the ways of the world and casting down anything that doesn't agree with the Word of God. Jesus didn't like them; should we live under their dictates? What do you think?

Let's talk more!

Jim Corbett

When was the last time you made a pursuit of the awe of God your priority? For that matter, how often have you set aside anything - your job, a sports event you love, even good things at church - to spend time with the Lord? I don't mean a couple of moments you throw at Him when you have nothing else to do; I mean scheduling times, possibly complete days or more for Him - times that are normally consumed with "important" things.

One of my biggest challenges is my war against the intrusions on my time with my Father. Things considered normal, even good things, are continuously presenting themselves as roadblocks to the path of quiet moments spent in pursuing an intimate relationship with ABBA God.

What I have discovered is the enemy hates anyone to go there because of the power and wisdom found by those who do. He hates us, especially men, to do all that we do from the warm, protected place on the lap of our Father. He has no power against the destruction it causes to his plans.

Have you ever wondered how you have been robbed of the tastebuds for that kind of intimacy? Doesn't it make sense that your real enemy loves to keep you so busy with urgent things that the things God sees as important are placed on a back burner, or forgotten about all together? Maybe your life and the lives of those around you will really prosper in Christ if you make time with God your priority rather than meeting Him when it’s convenient for you? What do you think?

Let's talk more!

Jim Corbett