From the Heart by B.Demaere

Love one another with brotherly affection.  Outdo one another in showing honor.  (Romans 12:10) (ESV) WOW! That’s a new concept…Competing, outdoing one another in love.   We all like to compete, we see it in churches all the time.   We see it in children as well.   Competing for attention, but how about competing in loving our pastor more or anybody else for that matter. Here are verse 9,10 in the Message translation (A translation in English is the same verse said in a different way) Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it.   Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good.   Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. This says it differently…play second fiddle means put the other before you.   Play to accompany, to uplift. In other words, God expects us to excel in love and get better and better at it.   We got to outdo, outperform one another in love.   Not comparing to the other bu...

  “This is why it is crucial that we be all the more engaged and attentive to the truths that we have heard so that we do not drift off course” (Hebrews 2:1) (TPT) I know this post is going to look strange to some of you. Different translation.   Different layout. Have you noticed something different about your life lately? A certain drifting off course like an aimless ship.   That can be dangerous by one degree. The following verses were impressed on me like a ‘pay attention’ checkmark… Paul is writing to Timothy and millions of others through the New Testament wonder.   This is what he writes: “Most of all, I am writing to encourage you to pray with gratitude to God.   Pray for all men with all forms of prayers and requests as you intercede with intense passion.   And pray for every political leader and representative, so that we would be able to live tranquil, undisturbed lives, as we worship the awe-inspiring God with pure hearts.   It is...

Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples.  Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat.  But Jesus was sleeping.  The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Lord, save us! We are going to drown!” Jesus responded, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then he got us and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm. The disciples were amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked.   “Even the wind and the waves obey him!” (Matthew 8:23-27) Unpredictable Situations As soon as they got into the boat they didn’t know there would be a storm, but Jesus knows everything.   There was no way that they were going to die with Jesus there, even if he was sleeping.   He knew the storm would come just as he knows the storms that are coming in your life or even in this world.   We already have gone though a few storms together.   It made us stronger. Helpful Si...