Tag: men

From the book, Manna Moments, by Jim and Merry Corbett

If you were going to go into battle and your enemy - numbered in the hundreds of thousands - stood before you in full battle array, what would you do?  What if, for some unknown reason, you had always thought that on the day of battle you would have to face such overpowering forces all alone? In your mind, from as far back as you could remember, you pictured yourself standing on this vast battlefield with nothing but whatever puny weapons you had in hand. Because the scene was played over and over for so many years, you had long ago given up any hope of victory. You knew that when the time would come, you were as good as defeated. It was simply a matter of going through the formality of losing big-time.

What if, however, when the actual day approached and you’re standing there with the raging enemy before you just as you had pictured it, someone from outside of your frame of reference approached you with a big smile and a hearty handshake. Delighted that he had arrived in time, he told you to turn around and see what they had brought to help you. As you did, you saw a much larger, immensely better-equipped army, ready and poised for battle in your stead. What would you do? Would you turn down the assistance? Would you fight with them, knowing that you personally would probably get hurt or killed?  Or would you graciously step aside and let them fight for you?

As obvious as the answer is, most of us have not made the right choice since we have met our Lord. We still take on the adversary, asking for whatever help that might be available, when we’re not even supposed to be in the battle. We have really missed what Jesus has done for us.

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Jim Corbett

From The Overcoming Life by Jim and Merry Corbett

Oftentimes we choose to serve God rather than get to know Him because it is easier to focus on and control what we do than it is to focus on becoming who God desires us to be. The Lord’s main concern centers on us reflecting the character of Christ, and the only way that occurs is by spending time in His presence. Interestingly enough, it’s also the only way to truly serve Him, because how do we really know what He desires us to do if we do not wait in His presence to find out?

Remember, even Satan would be pleased to have you busy with good things if it stops you from becoming intimately acquainted with the Lord and walking in the real power that comes through surrender and obedience.

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Jim Corbett

From the book, The Father Factor, by Jim and Merry Corbett

Chris stared at the needle tracks in his arm, a constant reminder of the choices he had made to bring himself to this point in his life. Once a successful businessman on his way to the top with a loving wife and family, he could only lament over the turns his life had taken because of his addictions. How could he have fallen so far? How could his needs mean more to him than those he once loved and who once loved him?

He had to make a choice, or he was going to die as one more hapless vagrant in some garbage-strewn alley. He had to choose either life or death. He knew it and he knew how difficult the road back would be. Picking up the filthy needle, he inserted it in his arm once again. As the drug flowed through his body, he resolved that maybe he would choose to love his wife more than his habit tomorrow. Maybe he could help his kids tomorrow. Maybe … Chris rolled into a smelly corner near a large dumpster and passed out.

Across town, Jerry turned the corner and drove into the parking lot of his club. Late for his meeting, he had shaken off the pleading look in his son’s eyes that said, “Please, Daddy, stay here with Mommy and me.” Business once again called. It was going to be one more late night, one more closed deal that allowed him to live the way he wanted. “Success has its price,” he thought to himself. Anyway, to change direction in life now would be almost impossible. He was way too far down the corporate road to give his family the amount of personal time with him they seemed to need.

Maybe one day his wife and family would realize that he was doing this all for them. It was a time in life to set them up, so they wouldn’t have to grow up in poverty as he did. They needed to realize that. He was sure that God knew that.

“Why don’t I have peace in my heart, Lord? Why can’t I shake off the look that Tommy gave me? Why do I feel so bad when I’m doing so much for them?”

As he locked his car and headed for the club entrance, Jerry resolved to spend more time at home tomorrow. Tomorrow he would give some special time to his wife, Susan. Tomorrow, he would really focus on her insistent need to be with him and make some changes that he knew were necessary to be the husband and father she and Tommy wanted. Oh wait, tomorrow was that conference in Detroit …

Whatever vehicle Satan uses to hinder the work of God, whether dismal failure, monumental success, or anything in between, the results are always the same - an insignificant life standing before Father God one day. His entrapment is so diabolical that the road back is impossible to embrace without God’s involvement and intervention.

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Jim Corbett

From the book, The Father Factor, by Jim and Merry Corbett

Father God’s goal for your life is that you become all you can be in Christ Jesus. So if your goal is to head toward becoming a pathetic, frail, atrophied, self-serving loser in this world, while claiming to be a follower of the ways of His glorious, all-powerful Son, don’t look for Him to help you get there. There is no more important mission on His heart than the mission that Jesus has for you. There is no more powerful way for Jesus to be glorified than to have valiant spiritual warriors, who are unwilling to compromise, unwilling to turn away until the battle for souls has been won and the last enemy of the cross experiences the eternal consequences of his choices.

The Lord is cheering you on and doing everything in His power so that you can come to a full realization of who He created you to be both now and in eternity. His great desire is that you walk in the fullness of the overcoming, victorious life in Christ that is available to you.

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

From the book, The Father Factor, by Jim and Merry Corbett

God has established the most powerful, unbreakable, eternal covenant with us through Jesus! Before that was accomplished, Father God established many other covenants with trustworthy Old Testament figures to propel mankind closer to the cross of Christ. He established covenant in long ago generations for their protection and safety, as they would covenant one with another. He is doing the same today.

God Himself will anoint and reinforce your relationship with Him in very visible ways. He will anoint your marriage so that it is a brilliant representation of the relationship between Jesus and the church. He will anoint your children and your children’s children to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. He will bring forth holy business alliances for the purpose of fulfilling His will and flowing resources to accomplish His plans through trustworthy stewards.  He will create kinsman friendships for the protection of you and your family during perilous times. He will do all of this so that His plan on earth can go forth and because you have submitted to Him to make you trustworthy with the stewardships He has given you.

God is in the business of doing these things not only so that none should perish, but also that they will be brought to maturity in Him. It is part of His plan that spiritually potent men properly oversee the offices He has given them so that others can see Jesus. This kind of life has never been expected on our part, because He has not had enough trustworthy men to make it clearly visible. That is not the way it will be for the coming church, as they wait for the return of Jesus and live His kind of life while they wait. His real church, those who allow His life to flow through them, will be engulfed with powerful holy alliances, unbreakable covenant relationships among valiant men, women, and children, and family-like kinsmen friendships that overcome anything the enemy has in store for them.

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett