From the Heart by B.Demaere

Promises to Keep Devotional by B.Demaere: Jesus gave up everything for you (Isaiah 53:2-9) : . .. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him..  He was despised and rejected---a man of s...

. .. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him..  He was despised and rejected---a man of sorrows acquainted with bitterest grief.  We turned our backs on him and looked the other way when he went by.  He was despised and we didn't care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down.  And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God for his own sins!  But he was wounded and crushed for our sins.  He was beaten that we might have peace.  He was whipped, and we were healed!  All of us have strayed away like sheep.  We have left God's path to follow our own.  Yet the Lord laid on him the guilt and sins of us all. He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word.  He was led as a lamb to the slaughter.  And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.  From prison and trial they led him away to his death.  But who among the people realized that he was dying

Promises to Keep Devotional by B.Demaere: Prayer and Beyond (Colossians 4:2-6) : Devote yourselves in prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. Don’t forget to pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunit...

Devote yourselves in prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. Don’t forget to pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to preach about his secret plan—that Christ is also for you Gentiles. That is why I am here in chains. Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.  Live wisely among those who are not Christians, and make the most of every opportunity.  Let your conversation  be gracious and effective so that you will have the right answer for everyone. According to the www,http://reverso.net  dictionary Alert mind antonyms: careless, heedless, inactive, languid, lethargic, listless, oblivious, slow, unaware, unconcerned, unwary. So our mind have to have that kind of caring and active alertness with a thankful spirit. The main goal throughout Paul's ministry was to preach and pray for his ministry but also to involved people who would back him up but not only that, he would expect them to pray for him with an alert mind and thankful heart

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits at God's right hand in the place of honor and power.  Let heaven fill your thoughts.  Do not think only about things down here on earth.  For you died when Christ died, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.  And when Christ, who is your real life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory. I have a question:  Is he talking to an individual or to a whole church as a gathering?  The letter is clearly to a church. Maybe he is also talking to individuals. Our focus should be always on Christ and on the realities of heaven.  How often do we consider our lives here on earth as the real life because we can see it and feel it?  We are not to think only about earthly things but also about our real life with Christ in heaven.  This is the life of surrender because we died with Christ.  Our thought patterns and desires are all devoted to Christ lik

Promises to Keep Devotional by B.Demaere: I want you to know how much I have agonized for yo... : I want you to know how much I have agonized for you and for the church at Laodicea, and for many other friends who have never known me perso...

I want you to know how much I have agonized for you and for the church at Laodicea, and for many other friends who have never known me personally.  My goal is that  they will be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love.  I want them to have full confidence because they have complete understanding of God's secret plan, which is Christ himself.  In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I am telling you this so that no one will be able to deceive you with persuasive arguments.  For though I am away from you, my heart is with you. And I am very happy because you are living as you should and because of your strong faith in Christ. The historic background of Paul's life is that he was probably born in 5 AD and became a believer at the age of about  28-30 years.  Here in 60 AD when he writes this letter he is around 60 years old and agonizing in prayer for people he had known only while living in Ephesus. My question is then, how much more stronger must