From the Heart by B.Demaere

Promises to Keep Devotional by B.Demaere: Who is your father? (John 8:31-44) : Jesus said to the people who believed in him, "You are truly my disciples if you keep obeying my teachings.  And you will know the trut...

Jesus said to the people who believed in him, "You are truly my disciples if you keep obeying my teachings.  And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." "But we are descendants of Abraham," they said. "We have never been slaves to anyone on earth.  What do you mean,  'set free'?" Jesus replied, "I assure  you that everyone who sins is a slave of sin.  A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever.  So if the Son sets you free, you will indeed be free.  Yes, I realize that you are descendants of Abraham.  And yet some of you are trying to kill me because my message does not find a place in your hearts.  I am telling you what I saw when I was when I was with my Father.  But you are following the advice of your father." "Our father is Abraham," they declared. "No," Jesus replied,  "for if you were children of Abraham, you would follow his good example.&quo

 As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and Pharisees brought a woman they had caught in the the act of adultery.  They put her in front of the crowd.                                                 "Teacher," they said to Jesus, 'this woman was caught in the very act of adultery.  The law of Moses says to stone her.  What do you say?'                                                                                      They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger.'                                                                                  They kept demanding and answer, so he stood up again and said, "All right, stone her.  But let those who have never sinned throw the first stones!"                                                                       Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.                   When the accusers heard t

Promises to Keep Devotional by B.Demaere: God Speaks (Isaiah 46:4) :  I will be your God throughout your lifetime---until your hair is white with age.  I made you, and I will care for you.  I will carry you al...

 I will be your God throughout your lifetime---until your hair is white with age.  I made you, and I will care for you.  I will carry you along and save you. I marked my Bible that day! It was on the eve of my 53rd Birthday.  On November 19, 2009. When God speaks words like that I like to record them.  To me, they are life and they are important.  They will give me hope through hard times.  God's promises always offer us rest for our soul.  Because we forget we have to record it. As some of you know, I have struggled through with my mental illness.  I believe because 'life' was spoken through in my spirit, this word carried me through the challenges I have been through.  Even without me making a conscious effort to remember that specific word.  I believe that every promise that God speaks to us personally through our time with him is a seed that is planted in our heart that day and from it flourishes life, hope and rest. If that promise had been just a word on paper, it wou

Promises to Keep Devotional by B.Demaere: Walking in Childlike faith! ( Psalm 116:1-9) : I love the Lord because he hears and answers my prayers.  Because he bends down and listens, I will pray as long as I have breath!  Death ha...

I love the Lord because he hears and answers my prayers.  Because he bends down and listens, I will pray as long as I have breath!  Death had its hands around my throat; the terrors of the grave overtook me.  I saw only trouble and sorrow.  Then I called on the name of the Lord: "Please, Lord save me!"  How kind the Lord is!  How good he is!  So merciful, this God of ours!  The Lord protects those of childlike faith;   I was facing death, and then he saved me.  Now I can rest again , for the Lord has been good to me.  He has saved me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.  And so I walk in the Lord's presence as I live here on earth.... This first part of Psalm 116 has a theme and the central focus is not 'death' but a childlike faith.  A childlike faith that is strong and unmovable when facing death.  God is stronger than death and so the person with childlike faith look in the face of the Father and trust him through anything.  It's hard no

Promises to Keep Devotional by B.Demaere: Jesus gave up everything for you (Isaiah 53:2-9) : . .. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him..  He was despised and rejected---a man of s...

. .. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him..  He was despised and rejected---a man of sorrows acquainted with bitterest grief.  We turned our backs on him and looked the other way when he went by.  He was despised and we didn't care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down.  And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God for his own sins!  But he was wounded and crushed for our sins.  He was beaten that we might have peace.  He was whipped, and we were healed!  All of us have strayed away like sheep.  We have left God's path to follow our own.  Yet the Lord laid on him the guilt and sins of us all. He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word.  He was led as a lamb to the slaughter.  And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.  From prison and trial they led him away to his death.  But who among the people realized that he was dying

Promises to Keep Devotional by B.Demaere: Prayer and Beyond (Colossians 4:2-6) : Devote yourselves in prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. Don’t forget to pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunit...

Devote yourselves in prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. Don’t forget to pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to preach about his secret plan—that Christ is also for you Gentiles. That is why I am here in chains. Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.  Live wisely among those who are not Christians, and make the most of every opportunity.  Let your conversation  be gracious and effective so that you will have the right answer for everyone. According to the www,http://reverso.net  dictionary Alert mind antonyms: careless, heedless, inactive, languid, lethargic, listless, oblivious, slow, unaware, unconcerned, unwary. So our mind have to have that kind of caring and active alertness with a thankful spirit. The main goal throughout Paul's ministry was to preach and pray for his ministry but also to involved people who would back him up but not only that, he would expect them to pray for him with an alert mind and thankful heart