Tag: men

The wisest stance any man can take is to allow the One Who created him to determine the workings of his life.  It’s fascinating how much power and control this world flaunts to show itself strong. We’ve become desensitized to the bombardment of propaganda that tries to stop us from submitting to God in all that we do. Personal strength, winning at all costs, self-motivation, self-esteem - these are  terms that are so familiar, we don't recognize them for what they really are. They’re Satan's ploys to nullify the Word of God in which submission, repentance, humility, servanthood, and working together for the good of the other are keys to God's plan for real strength.

Nations rise when people join together for the common good, thinking of others. Nations fail when there is no real glue to join people together. That’s when people think about themselves, and that’s when they fail. Families are impacted in the same way. Preoccupied parents and children who have gone their own way is a formula for disaster in God’s eyes. It’s out of line with His plan for the purpose of the family unit.

God's plan for a strong nation or a strong, prosperous family includes the absence of self in any equation. His plan for serving one another is the answer for any situation that arises, because it exemplifies the life of Jesus. He made us; He knows what’s best for us.

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Jim Corbett

Holding the offices of husband and father requires us to need God in every aspect of our lives. The more we understand our need, the more life we can impart to those we steward.

How capable would you be as a husband and father if you never went to God for wisdom? How would your wife and children fare if you were so prideful that you chose to never ask God who you really are and what you needed to live your life His way?

Having it together has little to do with having all the answers. Independence and the foolish notion of striving to become powerful in our own strength is the world’s way of doing things. That kind of attitude has been taught to us men from the time we were little. The “you can do it yourself” attitude is a dead end in God’s economy.

God desires us to need Him. Jesus did nothing unless He saw His Father doing it. Our safety can be in having the same kind of attitude. The veil in the temple was torn in two so we could have the freedom to submit our needs to the Lord. Acknowledging that we have needs and submitting them to our Lord to gain His wisdom is the epitome of having it together.

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Jim Corbett

Why is it we so often need to be afflicted in order to consent to being changed?  If only we could respond when, as the Word states, His kindness leads us to repentance.

I believe the key lies in getting to know our God, and coming to an understanding of Who Jesus really is.  If we don’t really know Who Jesus is, how can we know what we ought to be like?  The more we know Him, the clearer it becomes Who He isn’t.  With Him as our example, we begin to see those things in us which are not acceptable - things we just didn’t consider all that serious before they were exposed by God’s Truth - Jesus.

The world can’t possibly see Jesus if they see only us. Our families will need to find some other way to know Him if we don’t choose to know Him ourselves. They won’t be able to rely on us to help them find truth. Our offices of husband and father will become those of a weak steward. That is not a good thing!

“Lord, please draw us.  We can only pursue a relationship with You and choose Your ways over our ways by Your grace - whether it be through kindness or affliction. Help us, Lord!”

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Jim Corbett

One day, possibly early in the morning, a worn sandal touched the edge of the Jordan River. The time had come for the next portion of the plans of God to be set in motion. Quietly, with no fanfare except for the comments made by John, the baptizer, the eternal consequences of people’s choices from that time onward would be made known to them. The people who lived in that time period would need to conform to the plan that unfolded before them, whether they wanted to or not. Their lives had changed from that very moment. No one could stop what had been set in motion. This season in the plan of God will continue until He says it’s over.

Shortly before this season concludes, it is generally believed that an application of grace will be available to the end generation of people, so that they might reveal to the world the true character of Jesus Christ. It is also an accepted teaching that there will be a wooing, or heralding, to draw intimately close to Jesus for those Christians who choose to be a part of that move of God, shortly before the final call.

For several years now, the discerning ones within the church have sensed that particular wooing to holiness, an exhortation to deep repentance, a bridal call to single-heartedness and complete submission to the will of God.  Make no mistake, as sure as the times changed when that sandal of the Messiah was on the edge of the Jordan, the present times will change when the Lord decides to finalize His current bridal call. Have you responded?  Maybe you, as a husband and father, should consider doing so before He says, “Enough; all is completed.” Maybe those you are a steward of will benefit from your decision to prepare spiritually for what is ahead. What do you think?

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Jim Corbett

Without knowing it, most people are walking around with a wounded spirit because of the harm someone has caused them in the past. We may have forgiven them, which is the only way to bring about complete healing; but somehow the pain just doesn’t go away. What we don’t know is that our spirit, in essence, has a hole in it. It is as if we have been stabbed, possibly many times, by the words or actions of others. We are trying to function as if we’re whole; but, in reality, we’re attempting to cover our wounds with a tiny bandage to stop the bleeding, while continuing on with life. Spiritual wounds are very real and very debilitating.

When asked, I have found that most people who walk in woundedness have never had anyone who wounded them say that they’re sorry, either because the offender is unaware or incapable, or the individual has passed away, leaving things unresolved. Standing in for those who can’t or won’t repent to the wounded person, I have said “I’m sorry. Please forgive me for all the harm I’ve caused you,” and I extend that apology to you as well as a representative of the man or woman who has harmed you and is incapable of asking for your forgiveness. Will you make the choice to forgive that person?

If you receive that apology, and can truly forgive the offender (whether man, woman, father, mother, family member, or friend) as if he or she had said the words, you will be well on your way to discovering why you have led a powerless life as a man, or why you keep attempting to find something to fill the void that you feel as a woman. Your healing has begun.

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Jim Corbett