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8/28/24 Above All, Choose Love

This life continually offers us choices. Many of those choices are slam dunks because the options available are simple. Right is always right, and wrong is always wrong. There are many times, however, when choices are not simple. Sometimes weighing all the factors doesn’t lead to making choices clear.

Motivated by love, Jesus made a choice to leave heaven and come to earth. In the garden, He made the choice to do His Father’s will. It was also a choice motivated by love. His whole time on this earth was motivated by the love He had for His Father and for us. We are to walk as He walked if we call ourselves His followers.

As a husband and father, you have been placed in the position of being responsible before God for those you steward. You are presented with many choices that determine the outcome in situations that impact the lives of others. It’s a responsibility of your God-given office and it’s important to Him.

Some choices are easy. When choices that require more than simple decisions are before you, you can never go wrong if you choose love when you make them. You’re to lay down your life as Jesus laid down His life. You’re to live for the best interests of others. If the choice you face is doing something either for your best interest or the best interests of others, follow the life decisions of Jesus. Choose love! Make the choice that is in the best interests of the others involved rather than yours. Jesus did it; so should you at every opportunity. Abba likes that!

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

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8/27/24 God Loves to Intervene

“I want to be your only confidence in times of trouble. You need to work with Me towards that end. Do you have any comprehension of how much I love to intervene in your life when you are in peril? I train your heart if you are willing, prepare your spirit, and strengthen your resolve long before there is any sign of trouble, so that you are ready when it comes. Then I am readily available to you to see you through it.

“Most of My children come to Me when trouble comes their way. For some it is the only time I can get their attention. They come, however, to have Me deliver them, not to help them walk through the circumstance. They miss so much when this happens. They miss all the work that I am doing in them, work deep within their inner being, to strengthen them for future perilous times. They miss the joy of seeing My plan unfold, because they are focusing on the circumstances and are blinded to My hand of power on their behalf.

“You, however, have been in training to know better. Walk in what you know at present and receive more of Me as trials come. Begin to rejoice in My deliverance, enjoy each step, and take pleasure as you see My way of bringing you through. Give Me time to work. Give My plan time to unfold. Watch as I eliminate the persons who persecute you. Marvel at how events come into play that fulfill My desired outcome. I have brought you through battles so many times already that by now you should almost enjoy the challenges presented, just so you can observe how I am going to prosper you this time.

“Rest in Me. Take comfort in My promises. Relax in My love for you. As the battle rages, you come with Me to a high place. I will show you the wonders of the places in which I dwell. I will give you rich nourishment, even while those who hate you flounder in their folly against you. Come with Me. I will show you My hand in action. I love you.”

Psalm 20:6-8 NIV 

6) Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He answers him from His holy heaven with the saving power of His right hand.

7) Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the Name of the Lord our God.

8) They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm.

 

It is amazing to see the hand of our Father at work as He frustrates the plans of those who come against us. It’s interesting to see the silly gyrations, controlling manipulations, and empty threats if you have found that place of safety in Him. All that happens holds only empty threats that become evident when observed from the lap of the Father.

In the many years that I have had the privilege of walking with my Lord, I have had countless opportunities of seeing His delivering hand.  After having been in so many battles, one would think that an image of strength similar to the “Rambo” character would emerge. Those who battle in their own strength take great pride in that kind of image. It only shows their ignorance of the Word and need for self-glorification.

True children of the Lord are very familiar with the path to the lap of Father God. They understand the power of His weapons and the wisdom of His plans. They have found that it is much more productive to allow the Lord to wage any war that might come against them, rather than attempt to quench the onslaught themselves, frantically calling for help while feverishly at work. The track record of the Lord immediately comes to the mind of those who have learned this lesson.

The view of any battle observed from our Father’s presence is a wonder to behold. The counsel of His heart overshadows every threat, the sound of His voice rings above the din, and the freedom of His love annihilates any foe. It is the only place for a child of Father God to rest as the battle rages.

Take my hand, Father,

Jim Corbett

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8/27/24 Affirming Your Children

Do your children know of their intrinsic value? I’m not talking about telling them how well they’re performing. I’m talking about how valuable they are to God and to you. If you are a father who is performance-oriented and you place your expectations on your children, they may grow up to be successful because of the striving attitude you’ve taught them; but they’ll never be able to rest in the worth they have simply because they’re breathing.

God has called everyone into being. His desire was for all of your children to be born, and He calls them good. As a father, you are to carry on His attitude toward them. You’re commanded to build in them, by the power of the Holy Spirit, a knowledge of His love and acceptance of them. You’re to show them they are accepted just as they are and not for what they do. It begins with teaching them how much you appreciate them as His representatives.

If you are not in the habit of affirming your children and have set a course where they need your approval to maintain their worth, they’re on the road to a life of needing that approval even after you’re gone. If they don’t have it, they will need to find it from some other source. Many lives are spent seeking approval of some kind because you, as a father, haven’t established God’s kind of approval in them through your words and actions toward them.

Begin now! Seek the Lord as to how you can be used to change the course of the direction of the lives of your children. Ask Him to show you the wounds you may have already caused and how He wants to use you to heal them. Commit to creating an atmosphere of affirming their worth with your words and actions, so they are free to be who they are. Give them the freedom to fail without your disapproval. Give them the freedom to live their lives, not yours. Show them Jesus through your attitude toward them. You will be amazed at how beautiful they really are.

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

 

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8/26/24 To the Fullest Extent

“Everything that I bring to life has an order to it. There is always a beginning, an intermediate time of development and the institution of My plan; and then there is an ending. It is My pattern for physical life. What is never fully appreciated is that My spiritual plan never ceases.

“Your development time in the physical has paramount impact on your spiritual life. The choices you make have eternal impact, not only on your life, but on everyone you encounter. Your interaction with others is My way of refining you and helping them to make proper choices. That is why I put you in training to be like Jesus to your world. Your life is no small thing. Each of your representations to others really influences them for eternity. What you do each and every day has meaning. Make your days count. They have eternal impact on someone.”

Gen. 1:27-28a AMP 

27) So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them.

28a) And God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it [using all its vast resources in the service of God and man]…

Esther 4:13-14 AMP

13) Then Mordecai told them to return this answer to Esther, Do not flatter yourself that you shall escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews.

14) For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance shall arise for the Jews from elsewhere, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows but that you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this and for this very occasion?

Phil. 2:12b-13 AMP 

12b) …work out (cultivate, carry out to the goal, and fully complete) your own salvation with reverence and awe and trembling (self-distrust, with serious caution, tenderness of conscience, watchfulness against temptation, timidly shrinking from whatever might offend God and discredit the name of Christ).

13) [Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight.

 

Interaction with others is God’s way of refining us and those around us. He has placed us in a world that is actually out to kill us, so to speak. As Christians, we are oil floating on top of water and if we are true to our calling, we’ll never mix in because the spirit and flesh cannot function together. God has also called us to overcome that world. Our time spent with others and our responses to them allow us to seek the Father so that we can be changed in order to reflect Christ properly.

Once we have given Jesus Lordship over our lives, it is the Father’s intent to refine, mold, and develop that salvation in us to the fullest extent. If we are going to tell others about Jesus, we will have to be changed so that we can represent Him properly. Our words alone will usually not be enough for others to see their need of Jesus. In fact, if our lives do not mirror Him, our words will more than likely be cast aside.

Your grace is sufficient,

Jim Corbett

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8/26/24 Affirming Your Wife

When was the last time you sat down and simply told your wife of her value? I don’t mean the “I love you, Honey.” I’m talking about looking her in the eyes and telling her how valuable she is not only in God’s eyes, but in yours, too.

In the Word, you, as a husband, are directed to lay your life down for your wife in the same way Jesus laid His life down for you. He died for you; you are told to die to all your selfishness and personal interests in regard to your wife and your marriage. Affirming her is one way to do that.

Men, take this challenge. Wait on the Lord for His timing. In the proper time - when your heart believes it - make a special effort to tell your wife of her intrinsic value and how important she really is. Let her know you consider her a gift, and that you’re thankful God put you together. Start there and take it wherever God leads. Do it regularly and mean it.

Next, find opportunities throughout your life to affirm your wife in front of your children. Stay away from the amorous stuff, and focus on the habit of letting them see your Christ-like attitude toward her when they are around - even if she’s not there. Whether you know it or not, they’re watching and learning from you. Teach them the wonder of expressing value by your words and your actions. It will go a long way in allowing them to see the character of Christ up close and personal.

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

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