From the Heart by B.Demaere

Promises to Keep Devotional by B.Demaere: Prayer of Annoyance (Luke 11:5-8 :   Then teaching them more about prayer, he used this illustration: "Suppose you went to a friend's house at midnight, wanting to bo...

  Then teaching them more about prayer, he used this illustration: "Suppose you went to a friend's house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread.  You would say to him, 'A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.' He would call out from his bedroom, 'Don't bother me.  The door is locked for the night, and we are all in bed, I can't help you this time.'  But I tell you this--- though he won't do it as a friend, if you keep knocking long enough he will get up and give you what you want so his reputation won't be damaged. A friend certainly has a reputation to keep toward you and others.  A good friend will help you as you would help them.  Jesus, though, is emphasizing the need to be importunate in prayer.  Staying on target in your prayer is important.  Too many of us wonder in left field and never receive what we need.  So many of us never see what we need before we receive it.  That friend kne

Promises to Keep Devotional by B.Demaere: The Suffering and Comfort we share (2 Corinthians ... :   All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us.  He comforts us i...

  All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us.  He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others.  When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.  You can be sure that the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ.  So when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your benefit and salvation!  For when God comforts us, it is so that we, in turn, can be an encouragement to you.  Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer.  We are confident that as you share in suffering, you will also share God's comfort. When Paul talked about sufferings he could have been talking about the suffering for Christ through persecutions or hardships through their own problems happening in the church at Corinth (chapter 2:5).  He was certainly very honest in his dealings with that church .  He also had to be de

Promises to Keep Devotional by B.Demaere: Daniel Thrown to the Lions (Daniel 6:19-23) :   Very early the next morning, the king hurried out to the lions’ den. When he got there, he called out in anguish, “Daniel, servant of the ...

  Very early the next morning, the king hurried out to the lions’ den. When he got there, he called out in anguish, “Daniel, servant of the living God! Was your God, whom you worship continually, able to rescue you from the lions?”  Daniel answered, “Long live the king!  My God sent his angel to shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, for I have been found innocent in his sight. And I have not wronged you, Your Majesty.” The king was overjoyed and ordered that Daniel be lifted out from the den. Not a scratch was found on him because he had trusted in his God. Daniel thrown to the lions, his friends had been thrown in the furnace earlier but he missed that opportunity. Now he was thrown to the hungry lions and clearly God spared him just as much as he had saved his  friends from the fire. Just like that and almost overnight everything changed in that country. A change of leadership and a few jealous administrators and that was all that it took. Daniel was thrown to the li

Promises to Keep Devotional by B.Demaere: Making it through difficult times (Psalm 84) :   1) How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty.   2) I long, yes, I faint with longing to enter the courts of the Lord.  With my wh...

  1) How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty.   2) I long, yes, I faint with longing to enter the courts of the Lord.  With my whole being, body and soul, I will shout joyfully to the living God.  3) Even the sparrow finds a home there, and the swallow builds her nest and raises her young---at a place near your altar, O Lord Almighty, my King and my God.   4) How happy are those who can live in your house, always singing your praise.  interlude. 5) Happy are those who are strong in the Lord, who set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.   6) When they walk through the valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs, where pools of blessing collect after the rains.   7) They will continue to grow stronger, and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem. I hope that my sharing about the Presence of God  doesn't bore you and that you are encouraged by these devotional.  There is definitely a theme in the Psalms and that is the presence of God but m

Promises to Keep Devotional by B.Demaere: Faith is Alive (Romans 12:1-2) :   And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—-the kind he will ...

  And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—-the kind he will accept.  When you think of what he has done for you, is that too much to ask?  Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a person by changing the way you think. Then you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is. The Apostle Paul here puts the emphasis on self before speaking about the gifting given to each one to minister. He says, first of all, I plead with you, that means that what he is asking is not supposed to be overlooked.  It's important! It is not obviously the giving of 'living' bodies.  Of course, God wants 'living' bodies and not dead ones.  We know two things from scripture,  1) God is pleased by our faith: "God gave his approval to people in days of old because of their faith." (Hebrews 11:2)                              Verse 6: "So you s

Promises to Keep Devotional by B.Demaere: Viewing a Psalm (Palm114) :   1. When the Israelites escaped from Egypt---when the family of Jacob left the foreign land--- 2. the land of Judah became God's sanctu...

  1. When the Israelites escaped from Egypt---when the family of Jacob left the foreign land--- 2. the land of Judah became God's sanctuary, and Israel became his kingdom, 3.The Red Sea saw them coming and hurried out of their way!  The water of the Jordan River turned away.   4. The mountains skipped like rams, the little hills like lambs!   5. What's wrong, Red Sea, that made you hurry out of their way?  What happened, Jordan River, that you turned away?   6. Why, mountains did you skip like rams?  Why, little hills, like lambs? 7. Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Israel.   8. He turned the rock into pools of water; yes, springs of water came from solid rock. Picture this with your imagination! You are walking and all of the sudden the sea at the front of you parts, the river stops running to let you through, the mountains leap out of the way and the hills skip like lambs. This is not you overdosing on something. You actually see it