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Hi!
I'm
Bruce Collins. I am an evangelist and teacher of the Bible. I
became a child of God by faith in the person and work of the Lord Jesus
Christ on November 24, 1963 and have tried to serve the Lord in various
capacities since then. I am presently an itinerant minister of
the Gospel. I do not work for an organization but I try to
serve the Lord in the best way that I can wherever He leads. That
means that my wife and I have our financial needs met by the Lord as we do
not have a salary from any church or organization. We believe
that the Gospel is free so we have never made a charge for our services.
I
am available for Bible studies, conferences, Gospel meetings, children's meetings
and camp work. I have traveled throughout much of the United States
and Canada in my service for the Lord. My wife helps me, and
we attend the Bethany Bible Chapel in Cedar Falls, Iowa. They have encouraged us
by commending us for this work.
My
wife, Geneva and I live in Waterloo, Iowa. We have four children.
One of them is married and has provided us with two grandchildren.
This
web site has a weekly meditation that I hope will encourage you. It
has links to literature and organizations that I think are helpful.
You can also listen to my weekly radio program here.
Yours
because of Calvary,
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Meditation--updated
weekly
If
you would like to comment go to
http://bdcministries.com/
There are Fathers and then there are Fathers
2 Corinthians 6:17-18
Therefore "COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM AND BE SEPARATE, SAYS
THE LORD. DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN, AND I WILL RECEIVE YOU.
I WILL BE A FATHER TO YOU, AND YOU SHALL BE MY SONS AND
DAUGHTERS, SAYS THE LORD ALMIGHTY.
Becoming a Father
Becoming a father in a physical sense is relatively easy.
I realize that there are some families that cannot have children
and will take exception to what I am saying, but generally speaking a
father can become a father rather easily.
However, being a Father to the children that have been born may
be a whole different matter.
Fathers
can be fathers without wanting to be fathers.
Other fathers take on the responsibilities of a father without
being the reason that the child came into the world.
They may adopt children or just befriend them.
Fatherhood is both a title of one who has produced a child
biologically and a responsibility or function of one who provides for a
child whether that person is the biological father or not.
Responsibilities
of Fathers
The
first responsibility of a father is to love his wife.
This provides a secure environment for a child's nurturing.
A father should provide food, shelter and protection for a child.
A father should instruct a child in a practical way and in
spiritual things. The father
should be a leader that the child can respect and honor. Of course
mothers share in these responsibilities as well but today I am
considering the responsibilities of fathers.
Today, many fathers are not providing these things for their
children. On the other hand
there are those that are not biological fathers that have provided these
things for children that are not their own.
Some
fathers are good and kind even if they are firm. Other fathers are cruel
and evil and destroy the children that they are around emotionally and
in some cases they destroy them physical.
However, as a child matures, a Father cannot act like a
father if the child will not let him.
We see these things in a practical way in this world and we see
them in our relationship with God who wants to father us.
Who
is our Father Spiritually?
In
John 8:44 the Lord tells the religious Pharisees, “You are of your
father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was
a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because
there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own
resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”
That was fairly blunt language.
But children tend to act like their fathers and the Pharisees
were acting like their father the devil.
Who would want the devil as their father?
He is the evil father that we have mentioned earlier.
He is a murderer, liar and destroyer.
Those who are captivated by his lies end up being destroyed in
this life and they end up being destroyed spiritually for eternity.
Satan is really the father of all of us by our first birth.
We have his nature of sin and rebellion.
And apart from the intervention of the Holy Spirit, none of us
would get released from the hold he has over us.
Paul says he is the god of this world and he has blinded the
minds of those who believe not (2 Corinthians 4:4).
But
God wants to be our Father. That
is why we must be born again (See John 3).
Once we have believed on or trusted in the Lord Jesus, we have a
new Father and a new nature. We
now can enjoy the benefits of a benevolent Father.
However, God can't function as our Father if we as Christians
won't let Him provide for us, guide us, discipline us, and instruct us.
One thing we have to do in order for him to be able to father us
is to separate from those who do not believe in Him.
Now many wonder just what this separation involves because we
live and work in a fallen world and the unsaved are all around us.
However, we don't voluntarily put ourselves in a position where
we let unbelievers make ungodly decisions for us.
We have to be careful in our social, political, marriage and
business relationships so that we don't end up worshiping in the wrong
way and living in a disobedient way in order to get along with people
that don't understand their own sinnership and who have never turned
from “idols to serve the living and true God.”
(See 1 Thessalonians 1:9). In
other words, God cannot function as our father if we are letting Satan
and the world he controls function as our father.
God
wants to be a Good Father
Surely, we need to let God
be our Father. We cannot do
that without the new life and the new relationship that results when we
come to end of ourselves and our own reasonings and strength and trust
wholly in the Lord for salvation. And
after being born again, we need to separate from unbelievers so that we
are not sucked back into their attitudes and lifestyle.
We need to be obedient children (1 Peter 1:14).
Then the Lord will call us beloved like He did Daniel and we will
be able to praise Him for all that He has done for us
Meditation
for the week of June 18, 2017
Archived
Meditations
If
you would like to be on the email address list for these meditations
write to me at
mail@bdcministries.faithweb.com
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