From the Heart by B.Demaere

  One thing we must watch for, it is keeping our promises to God. It is so easy at one time to make a casual promise to Him and then forget or discard as not so important...but God has not forgotten and that is why this verse warn of danger.     It is a trap for a man to [speak a vow of consecration and] say rashly, “it is holy!”    And [not until] afterward consider [whether he can fulfill it] (Proverbs 20:25)     Now in the book of Judges 11:30-31 a man by the name of:       Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, “If you will indeed give the Ammonites into my hand. Then whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites, it shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”     As you read on in that same chapter you realize that it is his own unique virgin daughter that he had to sacrifice. Today this would not be allowed but in biblical times it was accepted. Nevertheless, however this is one of the saddest stor

  Clear Announcement For the Lord is God, and he created the heavens and the earth and put everything in place.   He made the world To be lived in, not to be a place of Empty chaos.   “I am the Lord,” he says, “and there is no other. I publicly Proclaim bold promises.” (Isaiah 45:18-19)   Every word in the Bible should agree with the other and agree also with the spoken word.   If someone now tell you the heavens and the earth were created by God.   You can now say: “Yes, I know I read it in my Bible.   The Bible is the Word of God written on paper.   It even proclaims itself to be Truth.   Whatever God has said is True and to be believed.   He can boldly say in confidence what he wants to say because it is always True.   He is the Absolute Truth.   No lies is found in him.   People may have lied to you, even so-called Christians, but he never will.   You might sometimes have not liked what has happened in your life but was it God’s fault.   We often perceive so

  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: "

  Christ also suffered when he died for our sins once for all time.  He never sinned, but he died for sinners that he might bring us safely home to God.  He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit.  So he went and preached to the spirits in prison---those who disobeyed God long ago when God waited patiently while Noah was building his boat.  Only eight people were saved from drowning in that terrible flood.  And this is a picture of baptism which now saves you by the power of Jesus Christ's resurrection.  Baptism is not the removal of dirt from your body; it is an appeal to God from a clean conscience. Now Christ has gone to heaven.  He is seated in the place of honor next to God, and all the angels and authorities and powers are bowing before him. If you guessed that the solution to the quiz was Psalm 112, you are absolutely right.  I made it more difficult by not including the 3 first words: "Praise the Lord" which would have give it away as a p

  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 was thrown to the li

  And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—-the kind he will accept.  When you think of what he has done for you, is that too much to ask?  Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a person by changing the way you think. Then you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is. The Apostle Paul here puts the emphasis on self before speaking about the gifting given to each one to minister. He says, first of all, I plead with you, that means that what he is asking is not supposed to be overlooked.  It's important! It is not obviously the giving of 'living' bodies.  Of course, God wants 'living' bodies and not dead ones.  We know two things from scripture,  1) God is pleased by our faith: "God gave his approval to people in days of old because of their faith." (Hebrews 11:2)                              Verse 6: "So you s

 I will be your God throughout your lifetime---until your hair is white with age.  I made you, and I will care for you.  I will carry you along and save you. I marked my Bible that day! It was on the eve of my 53rd Birthday.  On November 19, 2009. When God speaks words like that I like to record them.  To me, they are life and they are important.  They will give me hope through hard times.  God's promises always offer us rest for our soul.  Because we forget we have to record it. As some of you know, I have struggled through with my mental illness.  I believe because 'life' was spoken through in my spirit, this word carried me through the challenges I have been through.  Even without me making a conscious effort to remember that specific word.  I believe that every promise that God speaks to us personally through our time with him is a seed that is planted in our heart that day and from it flourishes life, hope and rest. If that promise had been just a word on paper, it wou

Don't act thoughtlessly, but try to understand what the Lord wants you to do. Don't be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life.  Instead, let the Holy Spirit fill and control you. The downfall of thoughtlessness, it's rapid in today's world.  People speak words they don't even understand because if they did and if the understood the impact they have around them they would care more about them than the clothes they wear.  Words can be building bricks or they can be throwing bricks.  We seem to use them most often to throw at people.  Let's build, shall we? What is in a word?  Either thoughtfulness or thoughtlessness. We come out of thoughtlessness to understanding when we stand on God's guidelines which are the foundations of a restful and trusting faith.  Peace is always a good guide into understanding God's will.  Does it give you and the people around you 'peace', true peace. Now thoughtlessness here can progress into drunkenness.  Ha