From the Heart by B.Demaere

  To answer Peter simple question: How many times should I forgive someone, Jesus gives him the answer.  Seventy times seven= an astronomical number… One day long ago, I was in prison…visiting and it made me realize the heaviness of a sentence that some men would never be able to serve and be forgiven.   They would eventually die in prison and one friend of mine did.   Fortunately, that friend had been forgiven for the sins he had committed and is in heaven today.   He became a Christian. Today, I must talk about forgiveness because it is so sweet when you are at the receiving end of it.   Imagine that you have a great debt owing…some of us do not have to go very far.   You have a great debt owing. Well, that was a reality for a man in the story of Jesus in Matthew 18:21-35 The man owed to his master a debt of several million dollars.   He certainly could have never paid this large debt that him and his family owed.   He was brought to the master who wanted at first to sell him a

  For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7 NLT) (1Samuel 9-10) In this process God had chosen and called Saul to be king of Israel.   At first, he was timid and fearful and hid among the luggage.   As a consequence, he lost the respect of some of his people.   He lost his footing as a king soon after his calling.   Fear and timidity were not a substitute for humility in God’s sight.   God had given him a chance to be king.   Had he blown it? Maybe you have had a leader over you who was anointed of the Lord but showed a timid spirit and did not really fit in as a leader.   Nevertheless, as we look deeper in the story, we find that Saul’s shyness caused him trouble and worked against him. As God became sorry that he ever called Saul because of a disobedient step he gave him many opportunities to repent of his wrongs.   He placed a truly assistant on his path and David the next to be king was first used through the medium

Have you ever read a book with a new outlook, a renewed focus about it or life?  This happened to me as I was reading the “strange ” book of Ecclesiastes .  Although the author of the book is thought to be king Solomon.  It is now Solomon as a ‘senior” we are reading.  I always thought I was reading the book of an old man“tired of life”.  But now I am reconsidering him.  He is not so far from the truth.  I better pay attention to his wisdom. What I see in this book is phenomenal.   He is inviting us to evaluate our lives and to think long and hard at our time and moments. How we value it or them.   Do not work so hard that you miss half of your life.   He is asking us to consider the value of things and for him to have reached the end of his life and passing it on to us is a treasure of wisdom that I am truly thankful for.   It is my legacy from him. In the third chapter he wants to break our time in moments and name them.   That is an excellent time management strategy.   Little m

  Today’s scripture is straight forward:   “Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble, the Lord delivers him; The Lord protects him and keeps him alive; He is called blessed in the land; You do not give him up to the will of his enemies. The Lord sustains him on his sickbed; In his illness you restore him to full health . (Psalm 41:1-3) Yes although the picture changes after this verse as he goes through persecution he does not take his sight off the Lord and he return to him in victory.   Why? Based on his integrity.   The psalmist always believed that his integrity would save him.   He viewed God with a pure heart and blessed are those who are pure in heart for they shall see God.   It is the way you think God views you that affects your relationship the most.   Look at the servant who hid his talent and did not let it grow into a profit.   He did not view his master as a good master because he feared him. The ultimate test of trust in God i

 In truth, God loves you always even when you do not feel it inside.  Even when you feel all alone and abandoned, do not fear but always press into his love in complete trust. Are you in the depth of your soul crying for help?   Help is on the way in a new way.   Be ready to listen to God’s prompting. Go wherever he leads you he will give you an answer. He did give an answer to Hannah in (1 Samuel 1:9-20) when she was praying quietly for a son.   It was between her and her God and out of great sadness she trusted God. After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose.   Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord.   She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly.   And she vowed a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no

The whole world is into it now, investing, gambling and banking but is it for the Christian community to get involved.  We like it but is it good, is it expedient?  Do we honour God in that way?  Jesus said sell, give to the poor but is that too radical for us?  There is a constant pull in us to be like the world.  It is comfortable.  We have to provide for our families, or do we?  Is it not God’s responsibility?  Do we let him be God?  Do we let him be in control or do we do our own thing?  How much comfort do we need?  It is hard for me to write this because I like it so much my way. But I also like it God’s way and I want to grow in wisdom, his wisdom.   Many will hate it but that is the risk I take, not to be liked. Nevertheless, in Galatians 6:7 it says: “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap”(NLT) Yes, and so God does not want to be mocked and so he will remain faithful to you when you give.   That verse is in the context of gi

    I am more than excited about the wisdom I find in Proverbs from the Bible these days.  A wisdom that I want to grow into and be able to pass it on to future generation The book of Proverbs is to me in part an admonition from a father to his son.   A legacy of wisdom and character.   Very obviously and more than anything he does not want his son just to be wealthy    but rather, want him to be rich in wisdom from God, the highest kind of wisdom there is.   The kind of wisdom that you want to know intimately and even pass it on to the next generation.   Men, I am talking to you or with you While still reading and meditating on the Book of Proverbs from the Bible, I cannot help but experiencing it as an admonition from a father to his son.   The Father wants to pass on a legacy to his son.   Are you a father or one to be? Or perhaps, like me a grandfather who has struggled all his life to put food on the table?   Now is my second chance to build a future filled with wisdom into my