From the Heart by B.Demaere

Peace is a beautiful thing to have in this chaotic world where it is sometimes sought after through drugs and alcohol and other means.   To the born-again Christian it is a peace that is meaningful with a person called Jesus Christ as the author of it. He is the Prince of Peace.   This peace comes by the Holy Spirit in the daily life of the Christian, but Christians are not perfect and still do become angry at the injustices around them. Learning the way of peace comes from a lifelong commitment to God and is experienced by this abiding Presence. “But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others],   joy [inner] peace , … (Galatians 5:22 Amplified) Please note also that all the characteristics of the Fruit of the Spirit are included in each other in perfect unity.   For example: Where is no love without patience and no patience without peace as well?     How can a person be patient if they have no peace?    How can one ha

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud. Or rude It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, And it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice. But rejoice whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith. Is always hopeful, And endures through every circumstance. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)   Here we have love in its purest form.   Love of God is part of the fruit of the Spirit, and it is a gift for us to share with people and with God. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives : love , joy, peace… (Galatians 5:22) This kind of Love can only be produced by the Spirit of God in us, otherwise our hearts only produce vanity and pride and all kind of prejudices. The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked.   Who really knows how bad it is? (Jeremiah 17:9) That is why love that is not too far out of reach is available to us throug

  “But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others],   joy [inner] peace “ (Galatians 5:22 Amplified)   Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, Yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory (1 Peter 1:8   KJV )   Because of my past with depression…Joy has evaded me many times.   Yet Joy is not even of this world, it belongs to Jesus.   Joy is not the feeling you experience at a party, but it is quieter than this. I believe joy is received when you live in the presence of God.   “ You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence.” (Psalm 16:11 NLT)   It is not necessarily something we have and hold in greed but something that comes from within and flows unto others.   We give it away.   I thought that the description of love prior joy was an ‘unselfish’ clue.   In this world that is geared to the love of self, joy must stand out in a pleasant