HEAVEN

“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.  In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.  And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.  Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

John 14:1-6 KJV

The greatest thing about going to Heaven to me is that we will see Jesus face to face and we will be with Him for all eternity.  The second most important thing to me is I will be able to sing.  I read this in a devotional book “If you can sing, sing.  If you can’t carry a tune, let the Spirit carry it for you.”

I’m so glad that God listens to the song coming from our heart and that He doesn’t listen to see if we can carry a tune.  One glorious day, I will sing with the Heavenly Choir forever and I won’t be kicked out of the Heavenly Choir as I was kicked out of a church choir because I was told I couldn’t carry a tune.

What a glorious day it is going to be when Jesus comes back for us.  We will see our loved ones who are already in Heaven and we’ll never have to say goodbye.  We will see Jesus face to face.  Think about it!  We are going to have the privilege of seeing Jesus Who loves us so much He died on the cross for our sins.

How I long for the day when I will see my precious Saviour face to face!  I’m going to give Him a big hug and for all eternity I’m going to tell Him how much I love Him and appreciate Him.  What a precious loving Saviour we are privileged to know and have.

Joanne Lowe

February 7, 2015

DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT

“But Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.”

Deuteronomy 1:38 KJV

Just as we have to eat every day because we get hungry, so we need daily encouragement because of all the heartaches and stress in our life.  All of us are hungry for love.  If Jesus needed to be encouraged, how much more you and I need to be encouraged.  Every one of us needs to be encouraged.

Evangelist Charles Weigle wrote the beautiful and inspiring hymn “No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus”.  How true this is because no one ever cared for us like Jesus does and no one ever will.  We are very blessed and privileged to be loved by the Saviour of the world.  O how I love Jesus!

Have you encouraged your spouse, your children and your loved ones today?  Have you encouraged your pastor?  What about Jesus?  Have you encouraged Him today?  How do we encourage Jesus?  We encourage Him by being kind and loving to others and by telling everyone how much Jesus loves them.

Joanne Lowe

February 6, 2015

HE GIVES US LIGHT

“For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.”

Psalm 18:28 KJV

A pastor said in one of his sermons “We were in a cave and it was so dark I couldn’t see my hands”.  Sometimes people criticize us and ridicule us and the light in our heart dims.   It is then that we need to ask God to shine His light of love brighter in our heart to take away the darkness of criticism and ridicule.

As heartbreaking as it is for us to be criticized and ridiculed, what is even worse is for you and I to criticize and ridicule someone else.  Christians are supposed to live so others will know that Jesus lives in our heart and has made a difference in our heart.  Do people know you are a Christian?

Heavenly Father, please shine Your light of love brighter in our heart when people say unkind words to us.  Thank You for Your light and thank You for loving us.  I pray for everyone who is hurting.  Please encourage them and comfort them as only You can.  Thank You.  In Jesus’ Name, I pray.  Amen.

Joanne Lowe

February 5, 2015

HE IS CALLING US

“And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.  And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?  And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.  And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked?  Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?  And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.  And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done?  And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.”

Genesis 3:8-13 KJV

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent.  Isn’t this what we do a lot of times?  Instead of accepting the blame when we do something wrong, we blame others.  It is time that we admit that we sometimes fail God and ask Him to forgive us. 

If we will listen with our heart, we will hear God calling us to serve His Son.  We read in the Bible “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).  Have you answered the call and told Jesus you will go for Him?

He may not be calling us to go to a different country as a foreign missionary but He is calling us to tell everyone about the good news of our risen Saviour.  Our service to Jesus depends on our love for Him.  How much do you love Him and how much are you willing to do for Him?  O how I love Jesus!

Joanne Lowe

February 4, 2015

FORGIVEN NOT PERFECT

“And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Jeremiah 31:34 KJV

My sister gave me a blouse.  It has a picture of the Bible and the words “I’M NOT PERFECT JUST FORGIVEN”.  Even though I’ve had the blouse for a long time and it has faded because of being washed so much, it is my favorite blouse because it says that I am forgiven.  Thank God for His forgiveness.

I have received a lot of emails telling me how wonderful it is that I write devotions and even though I appreciate the kind words and comments because I get discouraged just like you do, I am not perfect.  Please don’t look to me, keep your eyes on Jesus.  He is the only perfect One and He will never fail you.

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).  Don’t look to me or to your pastor or to your Sunday school teacher because we are human, look to Jesus.

Rev. Arthur Luther wrote a hymn I used to sing in Sunday school “Jesus Never Fails”.  I was always happy when we sang it.  I used to put people on pedestals but I don’t do that any more. We are still in the flesh and we will fail one another at times.  Also, it’s not fair to people to put them on a pedestal.

Heavenly Father, thank You for forgiving my sins.  Jesus, thank You for dying for my sins.  In Jesus’ Name, I pray.  Amen.

Joanne Lowe

February 3, 2015

ARE THEY PLEASING TO HIM

“And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”

Colossians 3:17 KJV

When we say words and do things, are they pleasing to Him?  May God help us to be a good example of the believers in the things we do and the words we say.  If the things we want to do make God unhappy, we shouldn’t do them.  If the words we say are breaking God’s heart, we need to stop saying them.

Heavenly Father, I pray that You would put a zipper on my mouth if I start to say something that would hurt You.  Please help me point others to Jesus by the way I live and the words I say.  May others always see the love of Jesus in my smiles, in my words and in the things I do.  In Jesus’ Name, I pray.  Amen.

Joanne Lowe

February 2, 2015

DO THEY KNOW

“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

John 13:34,35 KJV

Several years ago, I had a wonderful Sunday school teacher but I could never remember her name.  I remembered how loving and kind she was but I couldn’t remember her name.  When I told her I couldn’t remember her name she said “It’s okay because you know I love Jesus and that I love you”.

It is so important and even urgent that people see the love of Jesus in our smiles and hear His love for them in the words we say to them.  There are so many people who are hurting, lonely, heartbroken, going through crises and some of them are even suicidal.  They need to know how much Jesus loves them.

What about our spouse and children?  Do we tell them we love them every day or just on birthdays and holidays?  A man who was talking to a friend said “I don’t have to tell my wife I love her.  My wife should know I love her.  I married her.”  I’m so glad our Bridegroom, Jesus tells us every day that He loves us.

What about Jesus?  Do we tell Him every day how much we love Him and appreciate Him or do we just tell Him on Christmas day?  I believe we hurt Him and break His heart many times because we neglect to talk to Him and tell Him that we love Him.  Jesus has feelings and we need to tell Him that we love Him.

Joanne Lowe

February 1, 2015