Category: understanding

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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Getting the Pieces to Fit Together

The Wisdom and Prayer of an Anonymous Believer

Lord, thou knowest better than myself that I am growing older and will soon be old. Keep me from becoming too talkative, and especially from the unfortunate habit of thinking that I must say something on every subject and at every opportunity.

Release me from the idea that I must straighten out other peoples’ affairs. With my immense treasure of experience and wisdom, it seems a pity not to let everybody partake of it. But thou knowest, Lord, that in the end I will need a few friends.

Keep me from the recital of endless details; give me wings to get to the point.

Grant me the patience to listen to the complaints of others; help me to endure them with charity. But seal my lips on my own aches and pains — they increase with the increasing years and my inclination to recount them is also increasing.

I will not ask thee for improved memory, only for a little more humility and less self-assurance when my own memory doesn’t agree with that of others. Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be wrong.

Keep me reasonably gentle. I do not have the ambition to become a saint — it is so hard to live with some of them — but a harsh old person is one of the devil’s masterpieces.

Make me sympathetic without being sentimental, helpful but not bossy. Let me discover merits where I had not expected them, and talents in people whom I had not thought to possess any. And, Lord, give me the grace to tell them so.

Amen.

 

Related articles

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