From the Heart by B.Demaere

(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 o...

  I bel ieve What you Say... Up to this point, I assumed that believing in Jesus was one package, but I found out after years of Christian living that it is not enough to believe in him.  You must believe unequivocally what he says a ‘knowledge’ that is unshakable. His Word is the Truth and that without any doubt stands throughout the ages. Here is an example of Jesus saying the words, ‘believe me’: “ Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.   I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing.   He will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:11-12) So, my question to myself and to each one of you is when the words in the Bible resonate to our heart. Do I or we believe what he is saying or are they forgotten and covered in sand?   It is especially important to not merely believe in Him even th...

  Meditation A lot of books are sold on meditation of all kinds these days.  People in general are interested in the deeper meaning of life.  I, for one want to grow closer to God, meaning I know he is always with me and in me, but I just want to know him more.  I must focus more on him and all the other things like time spend on social media will fall by the wayside. The Lord seemed to be leading me to read and meditate on Him through the 23 rd Psalm that speaks about the Great Shepherd.   The Lord is my Shepherd, it starts…What a great focus point for us.   This psalm has been a great inspiration to me in the past and still is.   It is full of pictures.   A shepherd with the sheep throughout.   He is always with them in their lowest time and their best time.   In time of hunger and time of thirst.   To start with proper meditation is to focus on Christ or the Bible other than self oriented.   Teaching on m editation, I a...

  What is Most Important Thing? Here, is the Apostle Paul who did not consider anything about himself as important.  According to Philippians 3:5-11, he does not even consider his past accomplishments or religion as important.  All his moral qualities and advantages, even past failures as he had persecuted the Church.  Everything about him he considers lost for the cause of knowing Christ. “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (v.8) If you read about him in the Book of Acts 9 and through his letters, he will tell you that he was a know-it-all kind of person.   Very proud of who he was and what he did.   It took a vision of Christ on the road to Damascus to convert him to Christ.   He had previously been a Pharisee of Pharisees and knew the Law of Moses inside and out.   What could have changed him so drastically, but Christ.   For delivering him from that bondage to the Law an...

Focus Focus can be an all-around good thing: In your life or business, job, and goals that you set for yourself. As well, in your spiritual life you can focus on whoever you think your maker is.  As a Christian, for me it boils down to ‘adoration or worship.  Focussing on God and removing all distractions. We are so used to focus on social media that we lose focus on the main thing, which is relationships, one at a time.  Even God take the second best. Focussing in photography is moving the focus of the lens to the right or to the left unless it is automatic. God has spoken to me about the importance of keeping the focus on anything or anyone important to us.  If we lose focus on God for example, he loses some of his power in our lives to the point we end up becoming useless for him.  Like a photograph becoming useless when it is out of focus.  I want you to be able to reflect on your life and notice that you have lost focus on some of the important stuff....

  Guard your Heart   “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it, according to your Word.” (Psalm 119:9)   Your spiritual heart   Heart is the seat of life; you make it a throne to whoever or whatever is important to you.  Physically, the heart is the junction of many highways filled with blood and the blood means life to you and God.  Therefore, it is important to guard your heart with a breastplate.  It is important to guard your life.  Today, many people experience a lot of stress for different reasons.  One reason might be that in our society we have taught ourselves that saying “no” to different things is a bad answer.  We say to our children, “Don’t say ‘no’ to me”.  This does not encourage open communication.  What I am trying to say is that by not saying ‘no’ we create stress in our lives and the highways of our heart are opened to whatever we failed to filter through.  Saying ‘no’ is healthy...

  121. Don't leave me to the mercy of my enemies, for I have done what is just and right.  122. Please guarantee  a blessing for me.  Don't let those who are arrogant oppress me!  123. My eyes strain to see your deliverance, to see the truth of your promise fulfilled.  124. I am your servant; deal with me in unfailing love, and teach me your principles.  125. Give discernment to me, your servant; then I will understand your decrees.  126. Lord, it is time for you to act, for these evil people have broken your law.  127. Truly, I love your commands more than gold, even the finest gold.  128. Truly, each of your commandments is right.  This is why I hate every false way. (Psalm 119:121-128) 1) Vindicate me (v.121-122) Let my righteous life be enough to vindicate me from my enemies.  Guarantee me a blessing against the oppression of the arrogant people. 2) Deliverance promised (v.123-125 Let the promise of deliverance you made to ...

  Then teaching them more about prayer, he used this illustration: "Suppose you went to a friend's house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread.  You would say to him, 'A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.' He would call out from his bedroom, 'Don't bother me.  The door is locked for the night, and we are all in bed, I can't help you this time.'  But I tell you this--- though he won't do it as a friend, if you keep knocking long enough he will get up and give you what you want so his reputation won't be damaged. A friend certainly has a reputation to keep toward you and others.  A good friend will help you as you would help them.  Jesus, though, is emphasizing the need to be importunate in prayer.  Staying on target in your prayer is important.  Too many of us wonder in left field and never receive what we need.  So many of us never see what we need before we receive it.  That fr...

  Very early the next morning, the king hurried out to the lions’ den. When he got there, he called out in anguish, “Daniel, servant of the living God! Was your God, whom you worship continually, able to rescue you from the lions?”  Daniel answered, “Long live the king!  My God sent his angel to shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, for I have been found innocent in his sight. And I have not wronged you, Your Majesty.” The king was overjoyed and ordered that Daniel be lifted out from the den. Not a scratch was found on him because he had trusted in his God. Daniel thrown to the lions, his friends had been thrown in the furnace earlier but he missed that opportunity. Now he was thrown to the hungry lions and clearly God spared him just as much as he had saved his  friends from the fire. Just like that and almost overnight everything changed in that country. A change of leadership and a few jealous administrators and that was all that it took. Daniel w...

  And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—-the kind he will accept.  When you think of what he has done for you, is that too much to ask?  Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a person by changing the way you think. Then you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is. The Apostle Paul here puts the emphasis on self before speaking about the gifting given to each one to minister. He says, first of all, I plead with you, that means that what he is asking is not supposed to be overlooked.  It's important! It is not obviously the giving of 'living' bodies.  Of course, God wants 'living' bodies and not dead ones.  We know two things from scripture,  1) God is pleased by our faith: "God gave his approval to people in days of old because of their faith." (Hebrews 11:2)              ...

 I will be your God throughout your lifetime---until your hair is white with age.  I made you, and I will care for you.  I will carry you along and save you. I marked my Bible that day! It was on the eve of my 53rd Birthday.  On November 19, 2009. When God speaks words like that I like to record them.  To me, they are life and they are important.  They will give me hope through hard times.  God's promises always offer us rest for our soul.  Because we forget we have to record it. As some of you know, I have struggled through with my mental illness.  I believe because 'life' was spoken through in my spirit, this word carried me through the challenges I have been through.  Even without me making a conscious effort to remember that specific word.  I believe that every promise that God speaks to us personally through our time with him is a seed that is planted in our heart that day and from it flourishes life, hope and rest. If that pro...

I want you to know how much I have agonized for you and for the church at Laodicea, and for many other friends who have never known me personally.  My goal is that  they will be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love.  I want them to have full confidence because they have complete understanding of God's secret plan, which is Christ himself.  In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I am telling you this so that no one will be able to deceive you with persuasive arguments.  For though I am away from you, my heart is with you. And I am very happy because you are living as you should and because of your strong faith in Christ. The historic background of Paul's life is that he was probably born in 5 AD and became a believer at the age of about  28-30 years.  Here in 60 AD when he writes this letter he is around 60 years old and agonizing in prayer for people he had known only while living in Ephesus. My question is then, ho...

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.  It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. Well, I hope you had a great day yesterday and today. The foundation of the Word is faith.  Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2 NLT) "We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish" (the KJV says the Author).  Faith can be translated or interpreted to be Hope which in the Epistle to the Hebrews is described as an anchor.  An anchor is what keeps a boat in the place you want it to be, steady even in the storm.(Hebrews 6:19) On that foundation of faith we built. There is a thread running through the Bible, it is red and it represent, blood.  The blood of Jesus that was shed for us.  That thread appears in the book of Joshua as Rahab puts it by her window (Joshua 2:17-21).  It's there as a sign of salvation to her family.  The family of a prostitute, a Gentile and a descend...

Don't act thoughtlessly, but try to understand what the Lord wants you to do. Don't be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life.  Instead, let the Holy Spirit fill and control you. The downfall of thoughtlessness, it's rapid in today's world.  People speak words they don't even understand because if they did and if the understood the impact they have around them they would care more about them than the clothes they wear.  Words can be building bricks or they can be throwing bricks.  We seem to use them most often to throw at people.  Let's build, shall we? What is in a word?  Either thoughtfulness or thoughtlessness. We come out of thoughtlessness to understanding when we stand on God's guidelines which are the foundations of a restful and trusting faith.  Peace is always a good guide into understanding God's will.  Does it give you and the people around you 'peace', true peace. Now thoughtlessness here can progress into drunkenness....

As you read what I have written, you will understand what I know about this plan regarding Christ.  God did not reveal it to previous generations, but now he has revealed it by the Holy Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets. And this is the secret plan: the Gentiles have an equal share with the Jews in all the riches inherited by God's children.   Both groups have believed the Good News, and both  are part of the same body and enjoy together the promise of blessings through Christ Jesus.  By God's special favor and mighty power, I have been given the wonderful privilege of serving him by spreading this Good News. Just think! Though I did nothing to deserve it, and though I am the least deserving Christian there is, I was chosen for this special joy of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ.  I was chosen to explain to everyone this plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning. God's purpos...

Then he ordered some of the strongest men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace.  So they tied them up and threw them into the furnace, fully dressed in their pants, turbans, robes, and other garments.  And because the king in his anger, had demanded such a hot fire in the furnace, the flames killed the soldiers as they threw the three men in.  So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, securely tied, fell into the roaring flames. But suddenly, Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in amazement and exclaimed to his advisers, "Didn't we tie three men and throw them into the furnace?" "Yes, Your Majesty, we certainly did," they replied. "Look!" Nebuchadnezzar shouted. "I see four men, unbound, walking around in the fire unharmed! And the fourth looks like a god* (Aramaic 'like a son of gods', who is thought to be Jesus, the Son of God which this appearance in the Old Testament of Christ is called a 'Chri...