From the Heart by B.Demaere

  None is Diminished We all go through hard times, even John the Baptist, the cousin of the Lord Jesus ended up in prison and probably wondered why it was happening to him. Nevertheless, as this passage shows neither Jesus nor John had diminished in each other’s estimation.   The situation John found himself in didn’t affect his identity.   Jesus still thought of him to be greater than a prophet and Jesus encouraged John to look at Jesus in the same way because the Kingdom was growing because of Jesus, he was the Messiah. When John who was in prison heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him. “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see.   The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.   Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.          

  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 and all its religious regulations like there a