From the Heart by B.Demaere

 Always be full of joy in the Lord.  I say it again---rejoice!  Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do.  Remember, the Lord is coming soon.  Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.  Tell God what you need, and thank him for what he has done.  If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand.  His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. These are very simple and basic verses to follow and yet we fail so miserably at experiencing peace.  Why?  I would venture to suggest that it is probably because we focus on peace.  This old world likes to focus on the rewards rather than the process even to the point of disregarding the process altogether.  We have everything revolving around peace.  Yet the true peace from above comes through prayer. First of all though in this passage we are encourage to think of others through our joy and consideration in all we do.

Exploring the Bible by B.Demaere: The Wonder of his Presence (Psalm 76:1-12) :  I love the Bible, I love the Lord.  One of my most favorite book is the book of Psalms.  The Lord is actually teaching me how to study his ...

 I love the Bible, I love the Lord.  One of my most favorite book is the book of Psalms.  The Lord is actually teaching me how to study his Word more responsibly.  By meditating on it for a while I can picture the scene of the psalm I am reading.  The psalm I meditated on is psalm 76. What a psalm! The first couple verses talk about places where the Lord is 'well known', where he is 'great' and where 'he lives' and 'has his home'.  His very Presence!  That's how you go to war and face your enemies with his Presence and conquer them.  That's where your enemies fear for their lives The enemy can't stand in the Lord's Presence or before it. "No wonder you are greatly feared! Who can stand before you when your anger explodes? From heaven you sentenced your enemies; the earth trembled and stood silent before you."            (Psalm 76:7-8) And look at verse 10 which is a real slap in the enemy's face: "Human opposition only

Exploring the Bible by B.Demaere: Trust and Anxiety (Proverbs 3:5) : Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5) I am just wondering, does that exclude anyo...

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5) I am just wondering, does that exclude anyone of us? Anxiety is one of the number one mental problem in the world. Some statistics from around the world show that in the world and US anxiety disorders go up to close to 18% of the entire population. https://anxietyhub.org It still doesn't mean that the rest of us don't worry. In this verse, we see a split between "trust" and leaning on your own understanding. Now I am going to say that word that is being disliked more and more in this world.  It is "sin" to lean on our own understanding for anything. I am not saying that, but God is saying in his Word and in my spirit.  Whenever you lean on your understanding , you loose your peace.  Whenever you loose your peace if you are a Christian, your eyes stop looking and focusing on the Lord and that is sin.  Whenever you get out of the light of his presence, you become

Exploring the Bible by B.Demaere: Facing an All-knowing God (Psalm 119:168) :   Yes, I obey your commandments and decrees, because you know everything I do. (Psalm 119:168) Here the writer of this psalm whom I think is...

  Yes, I obey your commandments and decrees, because you know everything I do. (Psalm 119:168) Here the writer of this psalm whom I think is king David gives us the answer on what our obedience to God should be based on and that is on God's all-knowing attribute of us. To be honest with you, I don't like it when God knows everything about me and my first reaction is the same one Adam and Eve demonstrated to Him shortly after creation.  I want to hide from him even just because... But his knowledge of me and what I do has its benefits, he protects me and helps me when I am in trouble.  I should be wanting him to know all about me like a sheep would be more comfortable knowing that the shepherd knows its whereabouts at all time. As sheep we don't want to be in the light, but for our sake we should be. Our level of commitment is totally equal to our awareness of the knowledge that we want God to have of us.  If we are 100% committed to him, we will not mind being known 100% by