Prayer | TFRC | The Faith Resource Community

11/14/24 Your Table

A family, known in their community as compassionless due to their uncaring attitude for everything other than satisfying their own needs, sat down for their evening meal. One table - adorned with a fine linen tablecloth and exquisite china - was set for the parents and their children. A second table for the grandparents was off to the side, set with a vinyl tablecloth and unbreakable plates and cups because they had grown feeble. Their shaking hands and poor eyesight had caused just too many spills and broken dishes for the family to trust them at the other table.

One day the young daughter of the family was playing house. She had a second table set up with her dishes and cups. Her mother entered the room and asked why she had the extra table. The daughter responded, “Oh, that’s for you and Daddy when you get old.”

Compassion is one of the characteristics of Jesus. He cared for others more than He cared for His own life. Families with little or no compassion for the plight of others are relatively useless in a society. Taking and rarely giving, while teaching their children to do likewise, they exhibit their unChrist-like attitude wherever they go. Imagine the ripple effect.

As a father, you have an astounding opportunity to add wealth wherever you and your family live, if you understand God’s plan for you. When you invest the wealth of Jesus in your children, not only do you give them the opportunity to lead honorable, significant lives before the Father; they also gain the ability to affect their immediate surroundings with that same immeasurable wealth and much needed compassion.

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

11/13/24 God’s Concerns

“Do you even remember how many times you have lied to Me? How many times have you made promises to Me only to do the opposite of what you have said? What about all the times you have told others you would pray for them and never gave your commitment in My Name another thought? When was the last time you made the reputation of Jesus more important than your own comfort? Do you see how little you have done to show Me that you have My concerns as the priority of your heart? I don’t like your hypocrisy, no matter how it’s presented; but I will forgive you if you repent! You need Me to change your heart and your actions now! Don’t tolerate that kind of behavior in your life, and don’t associate with those who do. Why would you think that I don’t see, and even more important, why would you even begin to believe that I don’t care?”

Psalm 51:10 AMP

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right, persevering, and steadfast spirit within me.

Acts 5:1-5a NIV

1) Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property.

2) With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.

3) Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?

4) Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.”

5a) When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died.

“Yeah, OK, but today lies are not as important to God. Nobody’s been killed like that lately. Anyway, everybody’s doing it! I know some people who say they love Jesus and can’t be trusted at all. Look around, nobody gives important stuff to God anymore. I think He just wants us to look and feel good, no matter how selfish we really are. You see, He understands that …”

I believe that some of us who call ourselves representatives of Jesus and stewards of what we have been entrusted with are going to be very surprised one day. Our hands are dirty. It’s time to change now!

Oh, Lord, have mercy on us!

Jim Corbett

11/13/24 One Day

Harry Chapin wrote a song called “Cat’s in the Cradle.” It talks of a father who’s always too busy to spend time with his son, even though the son admires him and wants to be just like him when he grows up. At the end of the song, we learn the son turned out exactly like his father, prioritizing everything else above their relationship.

Each of our days is important enough to be numbered by God. He is looking to fulfill His purposes in the people He brings our way through us, especially our children. Our children should desire to be just like us because they experience us being just like Jesus toward them. That hope should be nurtured each and every day. It will not happen automatically one day in the future. It happens conversation by conversation, fulfilled promise after fulfilled promise, with a continual assurance and demonstration of their importance. They need to know you value your relationship with them, which will help them to understand God’s love for them.

God wants your children to grow up to be just like Jesus. The best example He has placed in their lives to show them the character of Jesus ought to be you. In what ways are you showing Him to them?

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

11/12/24 Born for This Season

“Do you hear the swords rattling all across the nations? Can you not see the sides being drawn? Is it not becoming increasingly clear that your safe little world is about to change forever? What are you doing about it? How are you preparing yourself, so that I can use you during desperate times? Are you locking up with Me, so that you are bold when others are immobilized with fear? Are you prepared to show people Jesus, when they finally realize that they need to turn to Him? You realize that you have been born for this season to carry out My Word, don’t you? What are you doing to prepare for your task?

“You need to come to Me for My reasons, instead of your petty stubbed toes. You need to learn to love deeper and stronger than the hate of the world. Now is the time. Soon it will be too late. You won’t have what is needed to overcome if you don’t come to Me now. Instead of being My vessels of honor and power, walking in the fullness of My love, you will be part of the cowering masses. My, my, what you will be missing!”

Zechariah 7:13 NIV

“ ‘When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen.’ says the Lord Almighty.”

2 Chr. 16:9a NIV

“For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him...”

Matthew 5:13 AMP

You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste (its strength, its quality) how can its saltness be restored? It is not good for anything any longer but to be thrown out and trodden underfoot by men.

Acts 4:29-31 AMP

29) And now, Lord, observe their threats and grant to Your bond servants [full freedom] to declare Your message fearlessly,

30) While You stretch out Your hand to cure and to perform signs and wonders through the authority and by the power of the name of Your holy Child and Servant Jesus.

31) And when they had prayed, the place in which they were assembled was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they continued to speak the Word of God with freedom and boldness and courage.

There are many stories and fables about preparedness. It generally ends up that the ones, who wouldn’t heed the warnings to be prepared for the predicted season of danger, are found seeking assistance from the ones who did heed the warnings as the season comes upon them. The prepared ones usually help the unprepared and some lessons are learned. Those are nice stories and worthy of attention. There is one situation, however, in which things won’t work so well for the unprepared.

When God calls His people to prepare, only those who respond to His call will prosper when whatever is ahead happens. Since God gives Himself when people come to Him, those who will not heed the call will have little of the nature of the Lord to call upon when peril hits. His nature is what is needed to overcome any situation. Because they responded to the call to intimacy, those who have His nature may desire to help; but they will not be able to give away what only God can give.

This can only end in tragedy for those who decide to respond only when peril is at the door. The nature of God is imparted over time and for reasons other than for selfish survival in panic situations. It is imparted so that His people can rise above any situation and accomplish His purposes in His way.

God has been calling His people to come to Him for some time now. There are very hard times coming in the near future. Those who are responding to His call have become aware of the dangers in our world and are receiving the nature of the Lord to understand them from His perspective. He imparts the part of Himself that sees future situations as opportunities to bring others to Jesus, rather than times to cower in fear. Others, those who are not responding to His call, are going about the business of fighting for their rights, and making unfruitful, personal petitions to pad their comfort areas. They will miss out on walking in concert with the Lord and overcoming the peril of the times ahead. What a tragedy!

I want to live in Your truth for Your reasons, Lord,

Jim Corbett

11/12/24 Nothing More Important

We live in a throw-away society where products are geared toward planned obsolescence, newer is supposedly better; and why fix it when you can throw it away and get a new one. Well, that’s certainly not the way God wants us to approach our marriages and families. He asks us to do everything we can to monitor, rescue, rebuild, and help repair the lives we steward as husbands and fathers. He calls us to do it mainly on our knees.

When the enemy attempts to harm those we steward, we must engage in spiritual warfare on behalf of those he’s attempting to destroy with everything we can muster by the power of the Holy Spirit. We’re to minimize other priorities and fight on their behalf until the war is won. Other than our personal relationship with Christ, there should be nothing more important to us than maintaining Christ-like relationships within our families and engaging in the restoration of either our marriages or our children when they are in peril.

As you appraise your marriage and the lives of your children, ask the Lord to show you His perspective. Ask Him to allow you to see them as He sees them. Do they have need of your spiritual intervention? Is it time for you to say, as Paul did, that you are as if in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in others? In your case, that would be your relationship with your wife and the welfare of your children. Is your approach as intense as Paul’s was? It should be!

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

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