From the Heart by B.Demaere

  Well, it is finally happening.  After taking the month of September off.  I needed it off so we can visit our three grandchildren about one thousand kilometres apart (2 and 1).  We had a new arrival in the family and our third grandchild was born.  A little girl named Mielle which is the French feminine word for "honey".  She does live up to her name and she is a doll.  We are so blessed, we are sometimes not even aware of how much we are.  Gratefulness goes a long way and works hand in hand with praise and worship.  I encourage you to be more grateful. I would like to formally introduce you to my new website: www.hopenewthings.ca   New articles will come in my site shortly. I will now be selling and making available well-crafted articles and blogs for small cost when you consider that it takes me about 2 hours to write one.  Also to protect my material from being stollen.  I hope you can appreciate the effort that it took to built this website.  I do appreciate your friend

 Due to unforeseen circumstances I will not be posting for a while I will keep you updated.  In fact, we have too many changes happening in our lives and one of them is to visit our grandchildren.  We have now 3 grandchildren compare to just one a year ago and we have to keep them all happy. It is a big job being grandparents and we are the only ones who can do it for ours little ones. We have more changes happening in the future which will impact the way I blog.  I will keep you posted.  Please pray for us for safe trip.

(The Power of the Tongue) Ouch! This one is going to hurt me more than you.  Trust me!  Here the Apostle James tells us the evil of the tongue to warn us.   Here is what it says about the tongue in  James 3:5-6 “In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body.. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.”   These verses alone show us the potential of the tongue in wickedness, if that is how powerful the tongue is for evil, just think how powerful it would be in our lives if it was controlled by the Holy Spirit. Life and death are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21) I want to help you by sharing what I have learned lately.  In Joshua 1:8-9 it speaks about that if we meditate on the word of God, we will be successful.  Christian med

Good friends are hard to find but I enjoy the few good friends I have.  We get along and every once in a while, we give advise to one another.  Friends should be there to correct and rebuke but also, they should be there to share good times.  Too much of one is never good.  It needs to be balanced.  If a friend is too good to you and overly flattering, be on your guard!  If a friend is too good to be true, it is most likely that he or she is. Choose your friends carefully and do not be too desperate to have a friend or you will be a victim.   It is better to have a few good friends than many friends who are around you to cause you troubles. I have a heart for younger people.   I see teenagers being led into relationships that they may later in life regret.   They might think or say, “Who are you to give me advice…well I have had experiences and that should count for something. This verse should count for something as well: “Young people who obey the law are wise; Those with w

Any community that you personally care for could be called a family or a church is included in this passage in Proverbs 27:23-27.   At least according to my modern interpretation of these verses. “ Know the state of your flocks, and put your heart into caring for your herds, for riches don’t last forever, and the crown might not be passed to the next generation. After the hay is harvested and the new crop appears and the mountain grasses are gathered in. Your sheep will provide wool for clothing, and your goats will provide the price of a field. And you will have enough goats’ milk for yourself, Your family, and your servant girls.”   The way I look at this passage is from a business point of view, and it is talking about a farm like business. The key thought is “Know what is going on in your family, your church or business.   Know the members of your family or your employees and care for them.   Spend your energy in caring for your members and not just the bottom

So many people are looking for answers these days and there does not seem to be a response from anybody and even God seem to be silent.  For some people it seems that life is lived in a vacuum. I used to be one of those people, even after I had been a Christian for many years, I could not find anyone to relate to me.   It is an awful feeling.   Just put yourself in someone else’s shoes for a minute and you might find that the road they are on is very challenging. Many people in today’s world are asking “why”? We do not have all the answers, and we know by our own admission even as Christians that life can be tough sometimes. I do not know why for example on the same day one person might be born and another die before his or her   age.   Yet several places in the Bible it says that “Human’s ways are ordered by the Lord”. “ The Lord directs our steps, So why try to understand Everything along the way” (Proverbs 20:24)     I know that it is a hard pill to swallow but once

Only think for one minute about how life is good…No longer do we have to offer sacrifices, because of what Jesus did for us, His obedience canceled the need for any sacrifices on our part.   Life is like that, it is either obedience or sacrifice.   What is it for you? King Saul had to learn this the hard way when he disobeyed God’s instructions about what to do with the spoil of the enemy.   He gave the lambs in sacrifice rather than obey God himself and that is when God told him: “Obedience is better than sacrifice” (1 Samuel 15:22).   So quit trying to please God by all your good works, it is not what he wants.   He wants you and Jesus understood this because it says in Hebrews 10:5-7… That is why, when Christ came into the world, he said to God, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings. But you have given me a body to offer You were not please with burn offerings or other offerings for sin. Then I said, ‘Look, I have come to do your will, O God--- As is w

I must pinch myself…A while ago God showed me in the Bible that he would give me double the blessings for the troubles I have had in my life starting with those thoughts of suicide I experienced a couple years ago.  I believe now those thoughts were none other than attacks from the enemy Satan.  He wanted to destroy me and kill me.  That is what he wants to do in all of our lives.  No question about that, if you think that Satan has a gram of good in him, think again.  He disguises himself as the angel of Light. The reason I am sharing with you about the double blessing is that by faith I can almost taste it and it makes sense that if it is in the Bible for our own good.   God is so wonderful…why wouldn’t he not do that? Sometimes tough, we feel like we deserve double trouble because we like to think of God as a severe and angry God. But here in Isaiah 61:7 that is not what he says.   You see! God loves us so much that he gave us his Son and then he gives us some more.   It might s

This post written by Kim Potter ministered to me and I wanted to share it with you because I like it so much  Highest Form of Faith Kim Potter This month, I have been thinking about something God once told me.  I was walking on the beach in Boca Grande, Florida, my favorite place.  Perhaps it is so precious to me because it is often years between my visits, but it remains my favorite place to visit. It was early in the morning; I was alone on the beach. I could feel the warm sand between my toes. I heard the waves crashing softly around me. I saw the scuttering of the crabs. I was walking on the edges of the water, feeling the warm water as each wave came in. It was perfect…and it was silent. The only sounds I heard were the waves and silence. In that silence, God spoke to me. He asked me a question: “Do you know what the highest form of faith is?” I continued walking; I didn’t respond at all. I knew the answer was forthcoming.  He continued with, “Rest.” Rest is an important part of s

(1 Samuel 25:2-44) The whole story is in the Bible Excerpt : “As she was riding her donkey into the mountain ravine, she saw David and his men coming toward her.   David had just been saying, ‘A lot of good it did to help this fellow.   We protected his flocks in the wilderness, and nothing he owned was lost or stolen.   But he has repaid me evil with good.   May God strike me and kill me if even one man of his household is still alive tomorrow.              (1 Samuel 25:20-22)   The Joy of her Father...This is what the Name “Abigail” means.   As we will now discover it she was a sensible and beautiful woman of faith and she was also very wise.   Unfortunately, she was married to Nabal who as his name suggest was a fool.   A fool who could not appreciate his blessing in the fact he had a good wife.   Well, you ask me, how do you know he was a fool.   I can tell, in 1 Samuel 25:25 his very wife describes him as such.   If you have a God-fearing wife and you are a fool, look out beca

‘One day near Horesh, David received the news that Saul was on the way to Ziph to search for him and kill him.  Jonathan went to find David and encouraged him to stay strong in his faith in God.  “Don’t be afraid,” Jonathan reassured him, “My father will never find you!  You are going to be the king of Israel, and I will be next to you, as my father, Saul, is well aware.”  So the two of them renewed their solemn pact before the Lord.  Then Jonathan returned home, while David stayed at Horesh.’ (1 Samuel 23:15-18) David was near Horesh.   Horesh means ‘forest” which denotes a place of protection.   David was protected by God from Saul who wanted to kill him.   Jonathan had a holy friendship with David under God.   He was David’s confidant.   A very rare friendship between two young men. Jonathan was so close to David that he knew God’s mind concerning them and he knew David was going to be the next king after Saul who was Jonathan’s father.   Jonathan did not mind that David was the

“I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.  God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy.  As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ.  May God give you more and more grace and peace.” (1 Peter 1:1-2) “A peaceful heart. leads to a healthy body; jealousy is like cancer in the bones” (Proverbs 14:30) After the Apostle Peter introduces himself, he reminds these believers that they are foreigners where they live.   He does not necessarily remind them of this as a put-down, but as a state to be proud of.   You are foreigners suggest that you belong to someone else.   You have obtained the priceless position of “chosen people” belonging to God, being holy by his Holy Spirit. This valuable position has placed us as subject of obedience by our own volition and even better we have Jesus Christ who is forever praised. Wi

  “The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world.  I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.  Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’  Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you.  If they had listened to me, they would listen to you.  They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me.  They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them.  But now they have no excuse for their sin.” (John 15:19-22) If the Christians and Christianity were part of the world system, the world would obey our teachings from Jesus.   In its own way, the world system shows us its dislike and, in many ways, does not respect Jesus Christ as they use him as a swear word. Overall, we must be more careful of what we do with the name of Jesus Christ and respect him by the way we live and talk. What makes us so different from the world has

“Without question, this is the great mystery of our faith: Christ was revealed in a human body And vindicated by the Spirit. He was seen by angels and announced to the nations. He was believed in throughout the world And taken to heaven in glory” (1 Timothy 3:16)   One might ask: What the great mystery and why is it so extraordinary? This is a question that has come to my mind lately.   1)       Christ was revealed in a human body: This distinguishes the Christian faith from all the other faiths that proclaim their leaders to be spirits or dead.   Christianity makes itself unique as the leader has a physical body.   Even more the body had to come from a virgin to be created unto perfection by God. 2)       Vindicated by the Spirit: This word means to clear of suspicion or guilt.   In this sense he was proven to be true where we receive this assurance of faith as a witness from the Spirit.   He was proven to be right. 3)       He was seen by the angels: At b

  To answer Peter simple question: How many times should I forgive someone, Jesus gives him the answer.  Seventy times seven= an astronomical number… One day long ago, I was in prison…visiting and it made me realize the heaviness of a sentence that some men would never be able to serve and be forgiven.   They would eventually die in prison and one friend of mine did.   Fortunately, that friend had been forgiven for the sins he had committed and is in heaven today.   He became a Christian. Today, I must talk about forgiveness because it is so sweet when you are at the receiving end of it.   Imagine that you have a great debt owing…some of us do not have to go very far.   You have a great debt owing. Well, that was a reality for a man in the story of Jesus in Matthew 18:21-35 The man owed to his master a debt of several million dollars.   He certainly could have never paid this large debt that him and his family owed.   He was brought to the master who wanted at first to sell him a

  For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7 NLT) (1Samuel 9-10) In this process God had chosen and called Saul to be king of Israel.   At first, he was timid and fearful and hid among the luggage.   As a consequence, he lost the respect of some of his people.   He lost his footing as a king soon after his calling.   Fear and timidity were not a substitute for humility in God’s sight.   God had given him a chance to be king.   Had he blown it? Maybe you have had a leader over you who was anointed of the Lord but showed a timid spirit and did not really fit in as a leader.   Nevertheless, as we look deeper in the story, we find that Saul’s shyness caused him trouble and worked against him. As God became sorry that he ever called Saul because of a disobedient step he gave him many opportunities to repent of his wrongs.   He placed a truly assistant on his path and David the next to be king was first used through the medium

Have you ever read a book with a new outlook, a renewed focus about it or life?  This happened to me as I was reading the “strange ” book of Ecclesiastes .  Although the author of the book is thought to be king Solomon.  It is now Solomon as a ‘senior” we are reading.  I always thought I was reading the book of an old man“tired of life”.  But now I am reconsidering him.  He is not so far from the truth.  I better pay attention to his wisdom. What I see in this book is phenomenal.   He is inviting us to evaluate our lives and to think long and hard at our time and moments. How we value it or them.   Do not work so hard that you miss half of your life.   He is asking us to consider the value of things and for him to have reached the end of his life and passing it on to us is a treasure of wisdom that I am truly thankful for.   It is my legacy from him. In the third chapter he wants to break our time in moments and name them.   That is an excellent time management strategy.   Little m

  Today’s scripture is straight forward:   “Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble, the Lord delivers him; The Lord protects him and keeps him alive; He is called blessed in the land; You do not give him up to the will of his enemies. The Lord sustains him on his sickbed; In his illness you restore him to full health . (Psalm 41:1-3) Yes although the picture changes after this verse as he goes through persecution he does not take his sight off the Lord and he return to him in victory.   Why? Based on his integrity.   The psalmist always believed that his integrity would save him.   He viewed God with a pure heart and blessed are those who are pure in heart for they shall see God.   It is the way you think God views you that affects your relationship the most.   Look at the servant who hid his talent and did not let it grow into a profit.   He did not view his master as a good master because he feared him. The ultimate test of trust in God i

 In truth, God loves you always even when you do not feel it inside.  Even when you feel all alone and abandoned, do not fear but always press into his love in complete trust. Are you in the depth of your soul crying for help?   Help is on the way in a new way.   Be ready to listen to God’s prompting. Go wherever he leads you he will give you an answer. He did give an answer to Hannah in (1 Samuel 1:9-20) when she was praying quietly for a son.   It was between her and her God and out of great sadness she trusted God. After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose.   Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord.   She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly.   And she vowed a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no

The whole world is into it now, investing, gambling and banking but is it for the Christian community to get involved.  We like it but is it good, is it expedient?  Do we honour God in that way?  Jesus said sell, give to the poor but is that too radical for us?  There is a constant pull in us to be like the world.  It is comfortable.  We have to provide for our families, or do we?  Is it not God’s responsibility?  Do we let him be God?  Do we let him be in control or do we do our own thing?  How much comfort do we need?  It is hard for me to write this because I like it so much my way. But I also like it God’s way and I want to grow in wisdom, his wisdom.   Many will hate it but that is the risk I take, not to be liked. Nevertheless, in Galatians 6:7 it says: “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap”(NLT) Yes, and so God does not want to be mocked and so he will remain faithful to you when you give.   That verse is in the context of gi