From the Heart by B.Demaere

“I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.  God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy.  As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ.  May God give you more and more grace and peace.” (1 Peter 1:1-2) “A peaceful heart. leads to a healthy body; jealousy is like cancer in the bones” (Proverbs 14:30) After the Apostle Peter introduces himself, he reminds these believers that they are foreigners where they live.   He does not necessarily remind them of this as a put-down, but as a state to be proud of.   You are foreigners suggest that you belong to someone else.   You have obtained the priceless position of “chosen people” belonging to God, being holy by his Holy Spirit. This valuable position has placed us as subject of obedience by our own volition and even better we have Jesus Christ...

  Grace is Free… …To anyone who comes to Jesus and accepts him by faith. “For by Grace you have been saved through faith…it is a gift from God.” (Ephesians 2:8) But to live by faith will cost you everything if you walk by it.   But then, you will have joy because at last, you will have freedom. To Abraham, faith costs him his son although in Genesis 22:10-11 he got him back through the intervention of the angel. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said: “Abraham, Abraham!’ And he said, “Here I am.”   Read also: (Hebrews 11:17)   It costs God his Son Jesus but through the Resurrection, his Son was made alive again. Mark 16:5 “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified.   He has risen!” There is a principle here… Abraham got his son Isaac back with a new life… God got his Son back through his Resurrection… And as you become a bo...

  All-Sufficient and Abundant Grace (2 Corinthians 12:9) Grace is more than for salvation, it is for all aspects of the Christian life, and we could always use it.  What would we do without this all-sufficient grace?  We need it for healing, for our interactions with people and parenting.  Grace should be our Friend, it is Jesus.  We, certainly need it in our weaknesses and in our suffering. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you,  For my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)   Over my whole life, Grace has been my Friend even through the deepest depressions I have been into.   For you, it should not be any different.   God is no respecter of persons, all are equals. He has abundant grace for everyone (1 Timothy 1:12-13). Since there we are dead to sins according to Romans 6:1 we are living in grace, God in his wisdom has made an even greater abundance of grace for us.   He is always the one who p...

  Sibling’s Rivalry (Luke 10:38-42) Attention We all seek it whether it be from parents or peers and even from our own boss.   We are natural boasters.   There is a mature way to seek attention and a bad way.   Even from God, many people in the Church seek it by works or duties and its all by grace.   We get ourselves so windup for glory and then fall on our faces in defeat because we have missed the mark.   That is the actual meaning of sin: missing the mark.   Life could be a lot simpler if we well! Focused. Martha and Mary You can see that these two, with Jesus in their home were competing for attention from the Lord.   After all, it’s not every day you have Jesus sitting at your table and yet we do in our own way have him with us.   Only this time he was there physically.   I could have pictured Martha being busy and noisy with pots and pans saying to herself or out loud, “Look at me Jesus, I am here cooking you a meal, am I no...