From the Heart by B.Demaere

  “The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world.  I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.  Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’  Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you.  If they had listened to me, they would listen to you.  They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me.  They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them.  But now they have no excuse for their sin.” (John 15:19-22) If the Christians and Christianity were part of the world system, the world would obey our teachings from Jesus.   In its own way, the world system shows us its dislike and, in many ways, does not respect Jesus Christ as they use him as a swear word. Overall, we must be more careful of what we do with the name of Jesus Christ and respect him by the way we live and talk. Wh...

I have read twice through the letter to the Galatian church, I realized that the whole book is linked to the fruit of the Spirit.   The ‘should’ and the ‘should not’ of the Law are erased by the belief we have in Jesus Christ. The fruit of the Spirit is produced by the faith we live by and have in Christ.   The evidence of the fruit of the Spirit is the fact we don’t do the works of the Law, but we obey by faith Jesus who lives in us. Consequently, life is simplest, and we no longer boast in our own works but in the works of Christ who died on the Cross for us.   We are only free if we believe the finished work of Christ. We have no obligation to the Law and are free to believe in the God of Love who dared to serve us and wash our feet. Our inheritance is guaranteed because of the promise made to Abraham.   We end up with the same blessings given to Abraham.   Certainly, we are not deserving of any of it, but we have them because of the promise that cann...

“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)   The Danger of being without it We see the danger that this world has encountered while having no self control.   Please understand that self control is not just related to how much you take on your plate at dinner time.   Self control may even make you cringe as you consider the self discipline you will have to endure.   Simplicity It is not necessarily like that; it is first also produced by God’s Spirit in your life and so it can be taught to you by that same Spirit.   It could be as simple as holding your tongue from speaking certain words.   Having your whole body volunt...

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud. Or rude It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, And it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice. But rejoice whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith. Is always hopeful, And endures through every circumstance. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)   Here we have love in its purest form.   Love of God is part of the fruit of the Spirit, and it is a gift for us to share with people and with God. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives : love , joy, peace… (Galatians 5:22) This kind of Love can only be produced by the Spirit of God in us, otherwise our hearts only produce vanity and pride and all kind of prejudices. The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked.   Who really knows how bad it is? (Jeremiah 17:9) That is why love that is not too far out of reach is ava...

  “ 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],” (Galatians 5:22) This time let us look at the outcome of God’s presence within us.   Whenever we see the fruit of the Spirit we see the evidence of God’s presence.   The fruit and the presence go hand in hand. This is an online quote from www.machammond.org : “If you are like most believers, you probably cringe when you hear the word “patience.   To most Christians, being patient means gritting your teeth and hanging on by your toenails in hopes things will eventually get better.   We think it means, hang on until the bitter end or until Jesus comes back, whatever comes first. If you have been reluctant to ask for patience, I’ve got news for you today.   That’s not what the Bible means when it talks about being patient.   Bible patie...

                                                    No More Distractions The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receive it with joy.   But since they have no root, they last only a short time.   When trouble and persecution come because of the word, they quickly fall away. (Matthew 13:20-21) Basically, that is what the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13: 1-9 and Matthew 13: 18-23) teaches:   No more distractions, no more love for the things of the world like riches and pleasures of all kinds.   Persecutions and pain could also be a distraction from the purpose of what the word wants to accomplish.   Life is full of distractions have you noticed?   But God wants to distill or filter through all these and bring the Word of God in our lives.   He has made an evaluation of my time ...

  Be like a Tree (Jeremiah 17:7-8) I like this verse in the Bible so much.  This is one of my goals in life.  The verses before these ones are the alternative life one gets if they do not trust the Lord. “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.   They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.   It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.   It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”          (Jeremiah 17:7-8) Over the years I have noticed some improvement in my life as the Lord has used this verse to help me to trust him more and more.   I used to be very anxious because of my mental illness.   To get back to this verse.   The trust that we must have in the Lord must ideally be unshakeable because he is unshakeable.   Our reliance must be on him and his ability to do something ab...

  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...

Live right, and you will eat from the life-giving tree.  And if you act wisely, others will follow. If good people are rewarded here on earth, all who are cruel and mean will surely be punished. Imagine being like a tree in this world, (after all a blind man whom Jesus healed saw at first people looking like trees so it's not that far fetched. Imagine being yourself like a tree in the world and you are growing nice fruit of life.  People around you are dying and wouldn't this fruit taste so sweet to them if they could eat of this fruit and live.   They do have the opportunity to do so while here on earth by seeing that fruit in your life and those will accept the fruit and those will be rewarded here on earth but others wouldn't accept that fruit who have lived cruelly will be punished.  Let God be the judge! The fruit of righteousness is there on you that you partake of and present to the world through your actions and lifestyle and as you share your God-given wisdo...