From the Heart by B.Demaere

  It looks like after having placed a branch by the fence, we seem to have finally taken care of the ‘deer’ problem in our yard.   The weather is already spring-like, and we enjoy the sunshine. The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) I received an email this morning that got me thinking about my gifts and talents in different shapes and forms.   The person writing the email spoke about the different interpretation of the word “talent” in various English translations. In the original text it clearly refers to a large amount of money or equivalent. To me it could mean a gift of any kind given to 3 servants who are to increase it by investment.   Character skills or potentials As I was thinking of it either way, I found out that what it is talking about in this parable, not so obviously, are the character skills of everyone involved in the deal.   It is the character skills of these individuals that are important. You need character to be able to keep a job, and for in

  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

I am just an average Joe, but I know enough to know that if you invest time and effort in the people around you.  It will be a worthwhile investment that will bring great returns in your life. Treat them with respect and dignity and you will get it back several folds.   I have made a lot of mistakes in my life, but God by his grace has covered my many faults and given me back for the little obedience I have given him. We hear a lot about ‘invest your money in this and that’ and those deals might not be always good and even scary looking. But invest yourself in people and they will go out of their way to serve you. Soon or later it will happen. Like I said, I don’t have much but the little I know, or have I invested it around me, and it grows on its own.   My wife has invested in her garden time and effort, and she is enjoying the return of a beautiful crop.   Should she have left it growing on its own would she have the same results?   I doubt it.   Time is the greatest value

  Love surpasses Religion (Luke 7:36-50) Simon, the Pharisees had welcomed Jesus in his house.  After all, it made him look great in the eyes of his peers and his disciples.  A woman of poor reputation, probably an adulteress or prostitute came in the house.  (God often uses ‘sinners’ to test religion’s authenticity and this situation is no exception).  This woman opened her heart to Jesus and poured all the love she had for him.  It was worship at its highest degree.  She knew who Jesus was and she didn’t care about her own reputation anymore.  She had none left.  She had probably spent all her love on men to no avail.  Now she fell empty of self at Jesus’s feet with the most expensive perfume she could find.  She had made lots of her money through prostitution and now she was not willing to use it on herself but on Jesus the only one who could save her soul.  What are you using your money on?  What was this Pharisee using his money for?  But she was using her money to exalt Jesus. 

  Am I a Victim? Should I be treated or feel any different because I have a disability of any kind?  In my case, it is mental illness. The answer is a ‘no’ and ‘yes’.  In terms of extra support, people might need some financial assistance if there is.  As far as being considered different because of disabilities, not at all.  Even self pity has its limits.   Anyway, we must find a way to manoeuvre through this world or it will swallow us.  The world does not really care about you, each wants a paycheck at the end of the month.  That is the sad reality. It took me a while to figure it out, but now I know.  Only a few make the exception!   The Victor   We have many choices to make in our life and the result of the sum of those choices will either make us a victim or a victor .  No one wants to be a loser and everyone wants to be a winner.  The majority of people are unfortunately showing signs of deterioration.  The world, as a whole is on the losing end just because of poor

The trustworthy will get a rich reward.  But the person who wants to get rich quick will only get into trouble. Showing partiality is never good, yet some will do wrong for something as small as a piece of bread. A greedy person tries to get rich quick , but it only leads to poverty. Greed causes fighting, trusting the Lord leads to prosperity. Greed is like cancer.  It eats you from the inside out.  I must admit that I have wanted to get rich-quick like anyone else wants to but...it brings poverty.   There is definitely a lot of money going around with get rich quick schemes like MLM and lotteries of all kind. When and if you get rich from these, there is almost a curse that comes with them.  I can tell, I will become popular for saying this! The world seems to revolve around with greed.  There is so much of it going around.  Money machines all over. Many, many poor people as a cause of greed.  It fulfills these verses precisely. People in general are drawn to greed and we all wond

Listen! The Lord is not weak to save you, and he is not becoming deaf.  He can hear you when you call. But there is a problem---your sins have cut you off from God.  Because of your sin, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.  Your hands are the hands of murderers, and your fingers are filthy with sin.  Your mouth is full of lies, and your lips are tainted with corruption. No one cares about being fair and honest.  Their lawsuits are based on lies.  They spend their time plotting evil deeds and then doing them.  They spend their time and energy spinning evil plans that end up in deadly actions.  They cheat and shortchange everyone.  Nothing they do is productive; all their activity is filled with sin.  Violence is their trademark. I just came across this passage last night and the Lord spoke to me through it.  "Don't be surprised when evil comes your way after many prayers and supplications.  I can hear you but sin is in the way.  I can't do anything." To the