From the Heart by B.Demaere

  1) How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty.   2) I long, yes, I faint with longing to enter the courts of the Lord.  With my whole being, body and soul, I will shout joyfully to the living God.  3) Even the sparrow finds a home there, and the swallow builds her nest and raises her young---at a place near your altar, O Lord Almighty, my King and my God.   4) How happy are those who can live in your house, always singing your praise.  interlude. 5) Happy are those who are strong in the Lord, who set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.   6) When they walk through the valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs, where pools of blessing collect after the rains.   7) They will continue to grow stronger, and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem. I hope that my sharing about the Presence of God  doesn't bore you and that you are encouraged by these devotional.  There is definitely a theme in the Psalms and that is the presence of God but m

Promises to Keep Devotional by B.Demaere: Faith is Alive (Romans 12:1-2) :   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 ...

  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

Promises to Keep Devotional by B.Demaere: Viewing a Psalm (Palm114) :   1. When the Israelites escaped from Egypt---when the family of Jacob left the foreign land--- 2. the land of Judah became God's sanctu...

  1. When the Israelites escaped from Egypt---when the family of Jacob left the foreign land--- 2. the land of Judah became God's sanctuary, and Israel became his kingdom, 3.The Red Sea saw them coming and hurried out of their way!  The water of the Jordan River turned away.   4. The mountains skipped like rams, the little hills like lambs!   5. What's wrong, Red Sea, that made you hurry out of their way?  What happened, Jordan River, that you turned away?   6. Why, mountains did you skip like rams?  Why, little hills, like lambs? 7. Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Israel.   8. He turned the rock into pools of water; yes, springs of water came from solid rock. Picture this with your imagination! You are walking and all of the sudden the sea at the front of you parts, the river stops running to let you through, the mountains leap out of the way and the hills skip like lambs. This is not you overdosing on something. You actually see it

Promises to Keep Devotional by B.Demaere: Who is your father? (John 8:31-44) : Jesus said to the people who believed in him, "You are truly my disciples if you keep obeying my teachings.  And you will know the trut...

Jesus said to the people who believed in him, "You are truly my disciples if you keep obeying my teachings.  And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." "But we are descendants of Abraham," they said. "We have never been slaves to anyone on earth.  What do you mean,  'set free'?" Jesus replied, "I assure  you that everyone who sins is a slave of sin.  A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever.  So if the Son sets you free, you will indeed be free.  Yes, I realize that you are descendants of Abraham.  And yet some of you are trying to kill me because my message does not find a place in your hearts.  I am telling you what I saw when I was when I was with my Father.  But you are following the advice of your father." "Our father is Abraham," they declared. "No," Jesus replied,  "for if you were children of Abraham, you would follow his good example.&quo