From the Heart by B.Demaere

  Well, the baby, we were waiting for has arrived.   We are proud Grandparents now and we are looking forward to the growing years of this new child.   This was pretty well the highlight of this Christmas season.   We have of course enjoyed the deeper meaning of this time. I have kept reading my French Bible, In Isaiah 59:9 I read in French about the reason God does not give us always what he has promised to us right away.   We seek for one thing, and he gives the opposite. Voila pourquoi Dieu met du temps a intervenir pour nous et repousse a plus tard ce qu’il a promis Nous esperons voir la Lumiere, Mais c’est partout l’obscurite. Nous attendions que le jour se leve, Mais nous marchons dans la nuit noire.   The same verse in the Common English Bible is:   Because of all this, justice is far from us, And righteousness beyond our reach. We expect light, and there is darkness; We await a gleam of light, but walk about in gloom. ...

  Immanuel There you have it, the simple message of the Gospel in the baby Jesus.  The promised Messiah, the Son of God.  The prophets foretold his birth some 600 years prior it happened. “Behold the virgin shall be with child and give birth to a Son, and they shall call his name Immanuel”--- which, when translated, means, “God with us"   (Matthew 1:23) Now this might seem obvious that any god could be with us.   But this Almighty God is living and almighty. Have you heard the story in the Bible in 1 King 18:26-29 where the prophet Elijah along with the prophets of Baal called on their false gods to get some attention from them but obviously since they were not real, they never responded. (verse 27)   At noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry out with a loud voice, for he is a god, either he is occupied, or he is out or he is on a journey.   Perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened….   In the end, the living God is the only One who r...

  What’s your Silver?   Is it of a good quality?   If you were the silver would God want you? “They are the worst kind of rebel, Full of slander. They are as hard as bronze and iron, And they lead others into corruption. The bellows fiercely fan the flames to burn out the corruption. But it does not purify them, For the wickedness remains. I will label them ‘Rejected Silver,’ For I, the Lord, am discarding them.”(Jeremiah 6:28-30)   Let us be honest with God.   Are we as good as we claim to be, or do we put lots of makeup on our brokenness? God looks at us like an appraiser of metals.   He wants quality in his silver.   He wants to see his reflection. He wants to see Jesus in us.   We are his showpiece to the world, let’s not have too high an opinion of ourselves. What’s your silver? Too many impurities?   Too many foreign metals in it?   No, not good enough!   God wants the purest kind of silver, nice an...

  Just to Let everyone know that I usually post on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays .  I will try to keep posting during Christmas as well on those days.   Is It a Blue Christmas? For those people who are fortunate to not grieve right now please bear with us.  My mother passed away last May.  I am living now in her house with my wife.  If my wife was not with me, I would find this very difficult.  Being in this house is so emotional and everything reminds me of what it used to be when I was with my parents.  Sunday morning the pastor preached on one of the attributes of the son that was to be born to Mary and Joseph about 700 years after the prophecy in the book of Isaiah 9:6. This one name that Jesus bears is “Wonderful Counsellor” which means that he is too wonderful for words. It was explained that a counsellor is only effective when people come to him for counselling.   Have you gone to a counsellor?   Has it helped you? ...