From the Heart by B.Demaere

“I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.  God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy.  As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ.  May God give you more and more grace and peace.” (1 Peter 1:1-2) “A peaceful heart. leads to a healthy body; jealousy is like cancer in the bones” (Proverbs 14:30) After the Apostle Peter introduces himself, he reminds these believers that they are foreigners where they live.   He does not necessarily remind them of this as a put-down, but as a state to be proud of.   You are foreigners suggest that you belong to someone else.   You have obtained the priceless position of “chosen people” belonging to God, being holy by his Holy Spirit. This valuable position has placed us as subject of obedience by our own volition and even better we have Jesus Christ who is forever praised. Wi

  “The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world.  I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.  Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’  Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you.  If they had listened to me, they would listen to you.  They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me.  They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them.  But now they have no excuse for their sin.” (John 15:19-22) If the Christians and Christianity were part of the world system, the world would obey our teachings from Jesus.   In its own way, the world system shows us its dislike and, in many ways, does not respect Jesus Christ as they use him as a swear word. Overall, we must be more careful of what we do with the name of Jesus Christ and respect him by the way we live and talk. What makes us so different from the world has

“Without question, this is the great mystery of our faith: Christ was revealed in a human body And vindicated by the Spirit. He was seen by angels and announced to the nations. He was believed in throughout the world And taken to heaven in glory” (1 Timothy 3:16)   One might ask: What the great mystery and why is it so extraordinary? This is a question that has come to my mind lately.   1)       Christ was revealed in a human body: This distinguishes the Christian faith from all the other faiths that proclaim their leaders to be spirits or dead.   Christianity makes itself unique as the leader has a physical body.   Even more the body had to come from a virgin to be created unto perfection by God. 2)       Vindicated by the Spirit: This word means to clear of suspicion or guilt.   In this sense he was proven to be true where we receive this assurance of faith as a witness from the Spirit.   He was proven to be right. 3)       He was seen by the angels: At b

  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