From the Heart by B.Demaere

  Man of Purpose Introducing, John the Baptist, no, that is not his denomination.  It is his calling.  Little is known about him but enough to draw a good picture.  Very straight forward and he said it like it was.  He came with a purpose and a duty, he stack with the plan and never complained.  They announced him  in the Scriptures as the voice in the wilderness.  Obviously, He was the forerunner of Christ.  He would clear the way for Jesus's ministry and proclaim his coming.  He was very much a chosen vessel.  Yet, I have heard very little about him, except in Scripture.  I have heard many sermons about other Bible personalities.  Also, I have seen a lot of books, but seldom about John the Baptist.  Yet, Jesus himself spoke highly of him (Matthew 11:11) and he seemed to refer to John as an example of humility.  Definitely not, the guy you would invite to a three piece suit banquet.  He would certainly hav...

  What things?" Jesus asked. "The things that happened to Jesus, the man from Nazareth," they said.  He was a prophet who did wonderful miracles.  He was a mighty teacher highly regarded by both God and all the people.  But our leading priests and other religious leaders arrested him and handed him over to be condemned to death, and they crucified him.  We had thought that he was the Messiah, who had come to rescue Israel.  That all happened three days ago  (Luke 24:19-21) Then Jesus said to them, "You are such foolish people!  You find it hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures.  Wasn't it clearly predicted by the prophets that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his time of glory?"  (Luke 24:25-26) All of a sudden, Jesus shows up unexpectedly in the darkest time of their lives and when their hearts are heavy with sadness.  Their friend whom they believed had left them.  He c...

For nothing will be impossible with God (Luke 1:37) Barely born in 1956, I clung to life.  You see, I had epilepsy and a fever of approximately 40'C.  That day I almost died . My mother described the color of my little body as of a really deep red. This was the miracle, I would survive this. Later, she told me that she had been, of course, panicking as I was her first child.  Now as you probably know we were in Belgium at around 1956.  They didn't know much back then about this and the doctor advised my mother to dip me in ice cold water.  She was willing to do whatever it took to keep her baby alive.  She had to dip me in cold water which today would not have been done. Maybe related to this, later I needed help because I was too slow in school.  They moved me to a slower paced school.  Slow in school, later, meant I would be slow in my jobs which unfortunately required speed and concentration, baking and cooking. From the age of 5-18, I had t...

Jesus Christ should be the focus of our hope.  Let's go back to the Word of God.  I am just finishing my reading of the Gospel of Luke 23:1-25 which is: The trial of Jesus.  If there ever was an unfair trial in history here it was of a truly innocent man and so humiliating it was the trial of your Savior and mine.  He did it all for us. First of all, he was tossed back and forth between Pilate  and Herod.  They could not determine who was to run the trial.  What really tick them off was what upset a lot of people today.  He had claimed to be the Son of God and the Messiah.  This is why there are so many cults and religions today, yet meanwhile even the demons and Satan believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.  If those people would at least read it in the Scriptures.  Demons were afraid of Jesus's deity. (Luke 4:40-41) is an example. Some were possessed by demons and the demons came out at his command, shouting, "You are the...

Essential Times (Psalm 31:15) : Essential, a word we have heard a lot lately. What are those things that are most important in times of crisis? Should God also be left on the background in good times?