Category: personal comments

The Father’s House

 

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

– John 14:1-3

Our hearts can be very disturbed.  It happens more frequently than we think.  We are like a styrofoam cup on the sea in a storm.  Jesus asks us to trust Him in this.  Your trust is very important to Him.  He covets your faith in Him.

Jesus reveals a bit of heaven to us.

  • First, it is a house and not a motel.  There is a warmth and comfort in a house.
  • Second, it is expansive– many rooms, the word is ‘dwelling places’.  Someplace that is relaxing and restful. It’s a place you’ll never, ever want to leave.
  • Third, it is a ‘prepared’ place.  I have friends with a B & B.  They are continually working to make it a comfortable and restful place for their guests.

We see our Lord Jesus taking a personal interest in our stay.  He is involved in making heaven a remarkable place.  That intrigues me.  Somehow eternity seems more hospitable with Jesus directly handling our transition.  He is making all the arrangements on our behalf.

A promise has been given.  He intends to be our escort into heaven.  No one gets lost, or confused as He is completely present.  Our destination is sure, and our Savior is strong.  When Jesus spoke these things, His disciples were encouraged and fortified in their hope and faith.

“It is not darkness you are going to, for God is Light. It is not lonely, for Christ is with you. It is not unknown country, for Christ is there.”

 Charles Kingsley

The promise is precise.  Where I am, there you will be!  This is solid and definitive.  There is nothing vague or ethereal about this.  We will be in His presence just as if it were a dear friend coming by for coffee.  Too often this all gets lost in a haze or fog, and reality is just not there.  But it is real, and its this life, here and now that has no eternal solidity.  And, He has given us His word.

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Today’s Suicide Toll: Put Faces to the Numbers

It’s time to attach faces to numbers. In less than 24 hours, 1577 will commit suicide. If you look closely, you can see faces.

As believers, these are our business. They are God’s business. Be aware of this. And pray.

 

For more valuable information see:

http://www.facebook.com/puttingafaceonsuicide AND http://nami.org/

BB is Being Useful to God

These are the numbers for just the last seven days!

If you scan the list you’ll see the teaching ministry/witness is penetrating closed countries. A couple of months ago, we added “a translation button” that makes its way into the viewers own language. (We even got a visit from the Vatican!)

At this point we are averaging between 500-600 views each day.

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Top Views by Country for 7 days ending 10-08-12 (Summarized)

Country Views
United States FlagUnited States 2,379
Canada FlagCanada 180
United Kingdom FlagUnited Kingdom 176
Australia FlagAustralia 113
Philippines FlagPhilippines 79
India FlagIndia 75
Brazil FlagBrazil 49
Mexico FlagMexico 37
Netherlands FlagNetherlands 33
South Africa FlagSouth Africa 29
Indonesia FlagIndonesia 27
Singapore FlagSingapore 25
Sweden FlagSweden 21
Turkey FlagTurkey 20
Austria FlagAustria 17
Finland FlagFinland 17
Germany FlagGermany 16
Italy FlagItaly 15
Portugal FlagPortugal 15
Greece FlagGreece 15
United Arab Emirates FlagUnited Arab Emirates 14
France FlagFrance 14
Argentina FlagArgentina 13
Ireland FlagIreland 13
Thailand FlagThailand 13
Malaysia FlagMalaysia 12
Spain FlagSpain 12
Hungary FlagHungary 12
New Zealand FlagNew Zealand 12
Korea, Republic of FlagRepublic of Korea 12
Russian Federation FlagRussian Federation 11
Israel FlagIsrael 11
Pakistan FlagPakistan 9
Slovenia FlagSlovenia 8
Egypt FlagEgypt 7
Switzerland FlagSwitzerland 7
Poland FlagPoland 7
Malta FlagMalta 7
Denmark FlagDenmark 7
Peru FlagPeru 6
Ghana FlagGhana 6
Ukraine FlagUkraine 6
Kuwait FlagKuwait 6
Hong Kong FlagHong Kong 5
Croatia FlagCroatia 5
Colombia FlagColombia 4
Romania FlagRomania 4
Albania FlagAlbania 4
Serbia FlagSerbia 4
Taiwan, Province of China FlagTaiwan 4
Brunei Darussalam FlagBrunei Darussalam 3
Estonia FlagEstonia 3
Chile FlagChile 3
Japan FlagJapan 3
Guatemala FlagGuatemala 3
Haiti FlagHaiti 3
Puerto Rico FlagPuerto Rico 3
Azerbaijan FlagAzerbaijan 3
Bulgaria FlagBulgaria 3
Latvia FlagLatvia 3
Panama FlagPanama 2
Belgium FlagBelgium 2
El Salvador FlagEl Salvador 2
Maldives FlagMaldives 2
Jamaica FlagJamaica 2
Kenya FlagKenya 2
Moldova, Republic of FlagMoldova 2
Bangladesh FlagBangladesh 2
Jordan FlagJordan 2
Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of FlagMacedonia, the Former Yugoslav Republic 2
Viet Nam FlagViet Nam 2
Georgia FlagGeorgia 2
Slovakia FlagSlovakia 2
Zambia FlagZambia 2
Cambodia FlagCambodia 2
Nigeria FlagNigeria 2
Trinidad and Tobago FlagTrinidad and Tobago 2
Macao FlagMacao 1
Norway FlagNorway 1
Bolivia FlagBolivia 1
Costa Rica FlagCosta Rica 1
Mongolia FlagMongolia 1
Cyprus FlagCyprus 1
Sri Lanka FlagSri Lanka 1
Venezuela FlagVenezuela 1
Belarus FlagBelarus 1
Senegal FlagSenegal 1
Uganda FlagUganda 1
Bahrain FlagBahrain 1
Qatar FlagQatar 1
Oman FlagOman 1
Dominica FlagDominica 1
Barbados FlagBarbados 1
Saudi Arabia FlagSaudi Arabia 1
Lithuania FlagLithuania 1
Nepal FlagNepal 1
Zimbabwe FlagZimbabwe 1

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

1 Corinthians 15:58

ybic, Bryan

Correction for Christ Followers

“For the Lord corrects those he loves,
just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.”  

Prov. 3:12, NLT

Interesting.  Some people get a double-dip.  If you are a loved son/daughter you have the tremendous honor of being loved and also of being disciplined.  My own son is disciplined because I love him so much.  He’s my boy and I love him even more than my own life.  When I do need to correct him, it is that love that makes it possible.  If I didn’t really love him, I would let him do his thing without any discipline at all. It would be easier.

To be left alone, with no correction or discipline is to be in a difficult place.  It smacks of abandonment.  Or of being cast-off or sent away.  It can be worse then abuse.

And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said,

   “My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline,
      and don’t give up when he corrects you.
  For the Lord disciplines those he loves,
      and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.”

Heb. 12:5-6

The connection between a loving and caring Father, and you will require you to cooperate with His correction.  The writer of Hebrews knew the frail nature of people.  The writer knew that people would be tempted to quit– it is so hard.  “Don’t give up” in verse 5.  That means we will be tempted do so, to walk away and quit.  People do it all the time. It is easy.

“As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? 8 If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. 9 Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever?”

Heb. 12:7-9

God loves you.  God loves you so much that He wants to change you.  Understanding that you are a son or a daughter in His family makes life worth living.

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ybic, Bryan

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