DID YOU ANSWER

"Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me."

Isaiah 6:8
King James Version

Have you answered the call of Jesus to serve Him? He calls everyone of us to serve Him. He may not call us to be a pastor, a Sunday school teacher or to a position within the church but He calls everyone of us to serve Him.

Are you serving Him? You may not be called to be a missionary in another country or to a position in the church but He calls everyone of us to serve Him right where we live.

There are people who will go to another country, drive to another state or across town but neglect to encourage those who live around them. We need to be encouraging everyone who lives around us and reassure them that Jesus loves them.

Joyce Landorf Heatherley, a speaker and author, says on one of her teaching tapes about the people we sit next to in church "They look fine and they look darling but inside they are hurting".

What about your pastor? Are you an encouragement to your pastor? Have you said thank you to your pastor for all your pastor has done for you?

Pastors sometimes get up in the middle of the night to go to the hospital and be with someone who is sick.

I received an email several years ago from a pastor who was discouraged and brokenhearted who wrote "I was called to serve in a new church and nobody ever said anything kind and encouraging to me or to my wife or children while we were there".

One day all of us will stand before God and give an account of how we treated His beloved Son and our pastor. I don't know about you but I don't want to have to hang my head in shame because I didn't love and encourage Jesus and my pastor.

How do we encourage Jesus? We encourage Jesus by being kind and loving to one another. Jesus has told us to love one another as He loves us. It is not an option to love one another unconditionally as He loves us. It is a commandment from Jesus.

We read in the Bible. "This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you." John 15:12.  Can you honestly say you always love unconditionally? I can't because there are times when someone hurts me that I get upset and either say something that is not kind or think something in my heart that hurts Jesus and then I have to ask God to forgive me.

Let's make a special effort to make Jesus happy by loving one another unconditionally jist as He loves us. If ever someone deserves to be happy, it is Jesus. He is the "KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS"

I love You, dear Jesus and I appreciate all that You have done for me and all that You do for me every day.

Joanne Lowe
January 2, 2022