From the Heart by B.Demaere

 Hello everyone It appears that my laptop is not connected to the internet and I have not figured out what is wrong yet. So I am writing this blog via my phone. The main challenge I have for myself and for those of you who want to participate is this: 1) Consistency in abiding in Christ . It’s so easy to miss this. We can abide but maybe not as long as we want to. We abide maybe 5 minutes and then slip in the flesh. Consistency every hour of every day takes practice. Let’s get better at it 2) Consistency in giving : I was raised in home where giving to the church was discouraged and made fun of. Yet from the time I became born again I have opened up and practiced consistency  with my giving. The Lord has blessed me over the years  3) Consistency in Life : another challenge is that of being consistent in loving others and having a plan in doing it.  We like to be creative at times…Why not be creative in the art of loving others. We look to google for many things but we can also look for

        1) Jesus, the only One alive today Of all the prophets and teachers that lived Jesus is the only one who rose from the dead and is still alive today.   Just think of this for a moment if a religious leader is dead why do we worship him as being alive.   Jesus Christ is the only one who is alive, and we worship him as such. In Matthew 28, we see the grave is empty because Jesus rose from the dead and the angels proclaim it. 22)       The Life that Qualifies us He is alive so he could live but why would Jesus live?   Because all along God planned to reach the world so he could save the world starting with the Jews all the way to the last of human being.   He does not want anyone to miss this good news.   The purpose of Jesus being alive is to forgive humans their sins and give them eternal life in quantity and quality.   Eternal life is the life Jesus is made of.   His teachings and lifestyle represent quality which is higher than any other religious teachers.   The quali

Peace is a beautiful thing to have in this chaotic world where it is sometimes sought after through drugs and alcohol and other means.   To the born-again Christian it is a peace that is meaningful with a person called Jesus Christ as the author of it. He is the Prince of Peace.   This peace comes by the Holy Spirit in the daily life of the Christian, but Christians are not perfect and still do become angry at the injustices around them. Learning the way of peace comes from a lifelong commitment to God and is experienced by this abiding Presence. “But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others],   joy [inner] peace , … (Galatians 5:22 Amplified) Please note also that all the characteristics of the Fruit of the Spirit are included in each other in perfect unity.   For example: Where is no love without patience and no patience without peace as well?     How can a person be patient if they have no peace?    How can one ha

  “But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others],   joy [inner] peace “ (Galatians 5:22 Amplified)   Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, Yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory (1 Peter 1:8   KJV )   Because of my past with depression…Joy has evaded me many times.   Yet Joy is not even of this world, it belongs to Jesus.   Joy is not the feeling you experience at a party, but it is quieter than this. I believe joy is received when you live in the presence of God.   “ You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence.” (Psalm 16:11 NLT)   It is not necessarily something we have and hold in greed but something that comes from within and flows unto others.   We give it away.   I thought that the description of love prior joy was an ‘unselfish’ clue.   In this world that is geared to the love of self, joy must stand out in a pleasant

                                                    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 with him and found my roots not to be as deep as they ought to be.   Especially my roots in the Word are quite shallow.   He is not finished with me yet and satisfa

  Met with Apprehension Out of my struggle to swallow all that God is showing me in his Word.   I concluded that if his response to me was as bad as mine is to him right now.   I would become very depressed.   Do we ever realize that God is himself a person with feeling.   The Holy Spirit can be grieved by us.   Is he hurt by my apprehension that I have toward him and his Word. I tell you what I struggle with right now.   I am reading Isaiah 61:3-4 and verse 7. I know, I know these verses are regarding Jesus’s mission on earth, but could it not be also our mission on earth?   Are we not little Christ called out to preach to the nations.   So why am I in disbelief when it happens.   Rather, I should be rejoicing at this opportunity.   I guess the grandiosity of the mission leaves me overwhelmed.   I heard once a preacher saying something like this…   “If the vision does not scare you, it is probably not from God”. I agree. It was clearly shown to me by God that my apprehension t

  Exciting Growth The hope of exciting growth always comes after strong hardship, does it not? Here in the part of Canada where I live, we have the harshest of winter (-40’C) which is like the hardship to the ground and us.   Then comes Spring in all its beauty and elegance.   A short Spring but nice and then now we are in the Summer which is a moment of growth for the fruits and plants and vegetables.   Notice that before the period of growth and renewal we have the hardship of Winter.   It is the same in life.   Our lives are made up of seasons and years and months.   We have weeks and days and hours.   Everything is broken up in stages and it is up to us to make these seasons valuable.   Those breaks count.   Make your life count but break it up in stages.   Plan accordingly and carefully.   This is the advice of a 66-year-old senior who has experienced it.   I am not all wisdom, but I have some wisdom. You cannot live your life twice but make it count the first time.   Save mon

  The Seed must die first   I got so excited about the deep subject of death that here I am again bringing it to you with renewed vision.   Most people out there are excited (maybe a bit) about life.   They ‘want a better life’. In John 12:24 Jesus seems to present it from a different angle: “Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel Of wheat falls to the ground and dies, It remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”   To me, it simply means that to experience the true life you and I need to figuratively die (Be careful here I did not mean literally).   It just means that your self-desired life must die first before you can live a life where you will be truly satisfied.   Not seeking self, but God’s desires for your life.   The seed must die in the ground before there is an explosion of life producing a plant and fruits.   Just think of what will become of you when figuratively you will die, and life eternal will come to you in its fullness.   In life’s princ

  Rise up! After having driven over 1000 km my wife and I arrived at my mother’s funeral.  That same day, I read in my Bible the story of Jesus restoring to life a young boy and giving back to his widow mother (Luke 7:11-17).  There is no coincidence with God. Hope is always there even in the worse of circumstances.  It all depends on the individual seeking it or not. Life after death is real but is it real to you. What you have given up you have given it up long time ago. Come back to God and believe!  Once you give up on him you give up on hope and change for a better life. Now is the time to change and have a new life. Rise up from that grave and be restored.  Be born again (John 3) My mother’s life was long and bitter, but yours doesn’t have to be that way. Decide today and pray to God for a better life and he will hear you and answer you in his time. Life is too short to be bitter. It needs to be lived in truth and love with Jesus as the Captain

I have seen many people hurting mentally and I want to make an impact on society while helping these people.  I have been hurting a great deal from my mind.  I have found that medications are not always enough but that they help getting you into a right frame of mind to be able to cope with your life. Some of you might know what I am talking about: Have you ever felt lonely to the point of it chocking you. Have you ever felt depressed to the point of suicide.  There is a very fine line there that should not be crossed. All this to say, that no medications  are not the only help you should get with depression.   Assuredly, you must deal with the issues that would if dealt with could help you move on.  Don't just pop pills and hope for the best. Life is full of issues we must take responsibilities for.  Start on taking control of your life.  For example: Budgets can be overwhelming for people with mental illness, but just spending less and being more careful what you do with it, is a

  God with us…Forever   From the beginning of times   From the beginnings of beginnings, God was there fashioning and building what we see and feel what is all around us today.  In Psalm 90, we are told that before the mountains and that the world was born into existence.  He was there and he was God.  That same living God is with you today through whatever situation you find yourself in.  He is with you on Mondays and throughout the week.  Don’t miss him!  The Bible clearly shows that he is with his people when times are tough for them.  He cares immensely for each one of us more than we care for ourselves.  We cannot make excuses for leaving him.  People all around us may mess us up enormously, but it does not mean it is God’s fault.  We should not turn our back on him for that reason.  Today, too many things are blamed on others including God and it is not fair.  Whatever, you decide to do with others or with God don’t forget he still has the last word on your life.  He is t

  You were created.   In Psalm 139:13 it says: For you created my inmost being;   you knit me together in my mother’s womb. Verse 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.   But do we know that full well?   We have each been created with careful precision, even with our defects and imperfections to serve a purpose in this dark world that we may shine our light with God’s help.   Some, might think in their frail state…” What a cruel God you speak of?   But I say: “Your attitude might change all that.”   Look at me now, for a long time I was prisoner of my own failure and mental illness.   My mental illness had become a crutch of self pity.   My suicidal thought fed the habit.   I needed Love and I was ready to do whatever it took.   God is Love and I already had him, but I wanted more.   All I had to do was to read my Bible and be quiet before him.   “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:

  We are born expecting We live for short term hope for the next best thing that we hope will soothe us like a pacifier. Throughout life, we are given false hope over and over like in our next paycheque. Then the proverbial carrot is moved every inch further and we hope some more. It would be so much nicer if we could be richer and we buy a lottery ticket for luck as if luck was on our side. We find ourselves in a long tunnel that is life always told by too many people how our lives should be. We end up expecting less and less toward the end when we retire in a space that is getting smaller and smaller waiting for that something to happen when we will be maybe richer. Thinking that maybe we will experience some happy moments with people. All that we have left now is people to love until the end when the space becomes a box and to dust we return as a promise given to us long time ago. To dust we have returned no longer after anything or anyone. Except yes, for the one we h

  The “I am’s” of God All that you need If you know him as he is, you don’t need another miracle.   To know him should be your miracle.   All that he is, is with you. Because he is with you, it makes sense when he also says: “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).   When you understand that truth, you will be alone.   When you trust him, all your needs are met. I am who I am (Exodus 3:14) God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. Here is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'" This was the original verse of the I AM's.   The first time that God was promising Moses that he would go with him to the Israelites. The name I AM packs a punch and suggest that all the names of God are included in it. It was under God's authority that Moses went to them.   The names of God and Jesus also show people that you come under his authority and not your own. In the New International Reader's Version, it says it this way: "