Tag: study

Most of us would answer that question in some way that has hopefully grown past the “I really love her, man” kind of statement. Let’s forgo the stupidity of the “I really can’t keep my hands off of her” answer and get on with why our Father in heaven has given us permission to be married.

In a nutshell, God has had us men covenant with Him to marry the one He has chosen for us, for His honor and for her best interests. I know that kind of thought has rarely passed through our world-trained, pea-brain ability to understand His ways about marriage; but it is, none-the-less, true. We are to join together with one of His precious children so that she has fertile soil to become all that she can be in Him. That honors Him!

In Ephesians 5, we husbands are called to lay our lives down for our wives in the way that Jesus laid His life down for the church. He died so that we could live. That is how the Lord can use marriage as an example of the relationship of Christ and His church.

When two people are joined together, they are given the privilege of knowing the most intimate details of the other person. They get to see whatever is undone in the other. Most of the time, especially after many years together, those cute little habits or actions become a source of irritation, sometimes even separation, instead of looking at them with Christ’s heart. Jesus would hold them before His Father so that we and our wives could be healed. So should we.

God sees our job in marriage as laying down our needs, our desires, and our comforts, and living for the best interests of our wife and our children. The best interests of our circle of influence violates every area of our fleshly comfort zone. It demands that we live in the spiritual zone where Jesus lived for us. That is why He has given us someone to go through our lives with. They are to be given an atmosphere to learn how to love Him with all of their hearts. We are to provide that atmosphere by the power of the Holy Spirit. How’s that working for you?

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

After broadcasting a person’s need for a couch over the air at our radio station, we found ourselves staring at something that once resembled furniture in the living room of someone who answered the request. When we refused the explosion of stuffing that was home for her cat, the woman said, “Well, what am I supposed to do with it now?”

Her “gift” to someone in need may be the extreme example of wrong motives, but her attitude resembles the attitude of the church throughout history. Although heartfelt generosity propels the gospel of Jesus, there is an underlying plague of corrupt thinking originally confronted by Jesus. As gifts were being given, He asked a question that rings through the centuries right up to each of us. “Who gives more, those guys over there who give out of their abundance, or the widow who gives a small amount, but it is all that she has?”

As a covering for our families, we as men are to teach those in our midst about the heart of Jesus by our actions. When referring to gifts and giving, we are stewards, not owners of everything we have. We are to teach others about the cross of Jesus by sacrifice, not by giving away our surplus. If a person has untold wealth and gives a seemingly large amount away, God looks upon the gift as far less than one who gives very little, but it is all they have.

Be assured that people who don’t know Christ – and for that matter our children, – are watching us as fathers, and how we function. Without knowing it, how we act in every area of our lives is speaking much louder than our words. The freedom in which we give to others, especially sacrificial giving, broadcasts volumes to those who may not understand the cross and its work. People see Jesus in every cup of cold water given by us, especially if the water given means that we go thirsty. Are you ready to be uncomfortable?

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

As I read through the Word, there are many ways in which we are to honor God. In a nutshell, I believe that honoring our Father in heaven is an attitude of the heart. I know that statement is not a lightning flash revelation, but it is something to be considered as we husbands and fathers go about the business of being an example to our families.

One of the foremost ways that I see of honoring God is found in the heart words of Jesus, when He said that He did nothing of Himself, but everything He did was of His Father in heaven. That’s quite a statement. Most of us tough, independent guys gloss over those words, never really understanding the profound impact they would have on our lives if we followed them in everything we do.

Think of the major direction shift our lives would take if we refused to do anything, I mean anything, unless we did it only after we knew that what we did was in our Father’s perfect will. I am convinced that would be one of the highest honors we could give Him.

Honoring God by simply finding His heart before we move in any direction would have more impact on our lives and the lives of those around us than we could ever imagine. The understanding that we are paying Him the highest honor we can give, if waiting on Him becomes one of our highest goals, is a challenge that most of us really need to consider. Will you?

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

In many years of helping people work through their problems – especially men, I have often heard the words, “I’m angry at God” because they blamed Him for something. For a long time, it never dawned on me how ridiculous that statement is. Now, when I hear those words, I think of two things in response.

First, I want to sarcastically say, “That’ll show Him!” As if we were significant enough for our opinion to matter! Just think of the audacity of anyone having the overwhelming pride to call the One True Living God to task for anything He chooses to do or anything the accuser thinks He has done. Consider the idea of a created being calling out his Creator! What a messed-up attitude and perspective!

Next, I am reminded of how far we’ve fallen. Think of it! The God of the universe – the Almighty God who simply spoke and all the endless regions of space were filled with His heart designs – the God Who is so magnificent that it was impossible to even look upon Him until He created Himself in bodily form. That God is the One we choose to be angry at. How low have we placed Him in our prideful hearts? How small have we made Him in our eyes? It seems that we have created a god that we think is supposed to serve us rather than serving an awesome God who has created us, in part, to serve Him. It’s really time to get on our faces and repent!

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett

In a day when most of us men have been taught that weakness of any kind is something that needs to be avoided like the plague, there is an eternal truth that has been lost in the body of Christ. The wealth of desperately needing Jesus at every moment is so important, that without functioning in it as our life’s purpose, we become weak, impotent, and incapable of exhibiting His life properly. Any reliance on ourselves, our own capabilities, or the resources of others hinders us from walking as Jesus walked on this earth, and stops us from craving the deeper, more important spiritual truths that are needed to represent Him properly and fulfill our purpose for living.

Looking to Jesus as our only source brings us into the kind of relationship the Father intended for all believers from the very beginning. Because of His mercy, that relationship was made available for all eternity through the cross and resurrection of His Son. The richness of desperate need, total reliance, and full submission to God’s will and purposes – no matter what the cost – is the road map to a wealthy spiritual walk and the warm, tender, Father-to-child relationship that was meant for us all along. When we experience that kind of fellowship with our Father, we can lead our children to His lap also.

The full acceptance of our weakness is the key to receiving the deep truths from the heart of God and the path to intimacy with Him. It is the single entrance into the throne room where a warm place on His lap is reserved for us. What stops you from going there?

Let’s talk more!

Jim Corbett