From the Heart by B.Demaere

  The Fruit of the Spirit   A while ago you may recall the we talked about the fruit of the Spirit: Love, Joy, peace etc... I just decided that a few others were missing and now I am adding them in continuing with kindness. “But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others],  joy [inner] peace , patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting],   kindness, goodness,  faithfulness,  gentleness,  self-control.   Against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23)(Amplified) Kindness is a Seed Do not misunderstand me I know that it is a fruit but like any fruit kindness has a seed enclosed in it.   When you sow the seed in people’s lives you will reap the benefits of it.   Maybe a harvest of kindness in return.   Kindness softens the ground in which it is planted.   We ought not to be kind with others who are kind only to us but...

For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen.  These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth.  And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that god made with hands are not gods.  And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing…. (Acts 19:24-27) The goddess Artemis was a Greek goddess of wild animals, the hunt, and vegetation.   Yet one silversmith in Ephesus was becoming wealthy as well as providing jobs for others in the community.   Because of such profit it is very understandable that the whole town became upset at Paul’s preaching about a God that could replace all of their gods.   We hold ...

  I Keep on Writing Although I am kept busy by different situations happening in our lives I want to keep writing even if it is a short message. I was reading out of Acts 18 and verses 9-10 stuck out.   “And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack or harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” So I am writing this morning before I post this.   I normally write the day before, but we put a new washer in this old house and the washer is not responding properly to the old plumbing.   The washer has a brain in the form of a chip.   We have had to do our laundry outside the home the old fashion way in a laundromat.   It takes more time and so that is why my writing is affected. I will hopefully write more later on because I like writing and some of you have been kind enough to encourage me to keep writing. I thought that these verse...