A LEGACY OF PEACE

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.  Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you.  If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.  And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.”

John 14:27-29 KJV

A mother said to her daughter “I have been saving money for years when your sister and brother sent me checks”.  The daughter asked her mother why she had been saving all that money.  The mother replied “Because if I don’t leave you and your sister and brother money when I die, I have failed you”.

I submit to you on the authority of the Word of God that having money is not the answer.  It’s nice to have it and we do need it to pay our bills and buy the things our children need.  However, that doesn’t prove we love our children.  What our children need is unconditional love and peace in our home.

There are children who run and hide when they hear their parents argue because they are afraid of the yelling and violence.  If we want our children to know we love them, we need to love them unconditionally just as our Heavenly Father loves us.  God loves us even when we hurt Him and fail Him.

We can leave our children material things but if we haven’t left them a legacy of peace and unconditional love, not only have we failed our children, we have hurt our precious Saviour.  Jesus loves children very much and it not only hurts Him when we mistreat our children it also upsets Him (Mark 10:14).

Joanne Lowe

June 7, 2015

BECAUSE OF HIS UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

John 3:16 KJV

A teenage boy was talking to a man who loved his mother.  The boy asked the man if he was going to ask his mother to marry him.  The man said “You don’t understand. There are problems.”  The boy rolled his eyes as he said to the man “My mother loves you and you love her.  That’s all that matters.”

When we hurt God as we all do, I believe if we will look with the eyes of our heart we will see God rolling His eyes and hear Him saying to us “I love you unconditionally and I always will.”  Just as children are sometimes disobedient to their parents, we are sometimes disobedient to God but He still loves us.

Why did God give Jesus to die for our sins?  It is because of His unconditional love for us.  God loves us even when we hurt Him and disobey Him.  His love for us is an unconditional love.  God loves us now and He will love us for all eternity.  There is nothing we could ever do that would make Him stop loving us.

When we doubt His unconditional love for us, I believe it hurts Him and breaks His heart.  There is nothing more that He can do to prove to us how much He loves us.  God gave His only Son to die for us because He loves us so much.  It is the precious cleansing blood of Jesus that assures us of a home in Heaven.

Heavenly Father, I love You and appreciate You.  Thank You for adopting me and for the privilege of serving Your beloved Son.  Jesus, I love You with all my heart.  I love You, Holy Spirit.  Thank You for comforting me.  In Jesus’ Name, I pray.  Amen.

Joanne Lowe

June 6, 2015

TEARS OF LOVE

“Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him.  But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.”

John 19:32-34 KJV

When Jesus was beaten beyond recognition, tortured, cursed, mocked, spat on, ridiculed and rejected, it broke God’s heart and He cried.  The tears God shed for His beloved Son were tears of love.  Just as God cried for His Son, God also cries tears of love for us when we are hurting and brokenhearted.

God really loves us and He cares about us.  He loves us so much He gave His beloved Son to die on the cross for us so we can have our sins forgiven and go to Heaven.  Yes, God sheds tears of love for you and for me.  What unconditional love flowed from the heart of God when He gave His Son to die for us.

We know how much God loves us but does He know how much we love Him?  What are we doing for God to prove to Him we love Him?  If we want to make God happy, we will serve His Son.  Jesus left His Father, His home and all that He had to come to earth on the mission God gave Him.  Again, what are we doing?

Heavenly Father, how it must hurt You and break Your heart when people reject Your Son.  I pray for every person who has never opened their heart to Jesus.  May today be the day they invite Jesus into their heart.  Thank You for loving us and for sharing Jesus with us.  In Jesus’ Name, I pray.  Amen.

Joanne Lowe

June 5, 2015

ONLY HIS BLOOD

“And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth.  Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.  Amen.”

Revelation 1:5,6 KJV

Pastor Robert Lowry wrote one of my favorite hymns “Nothing But the Blood”.  It is so true that nothing but the blood of Jesus can wash away our sins and make us whole.  It is only His blood, the precious atoning blood of Jesus that can cleanse us from our sins and assure of a home in Heaven for eternity.

There are times when hospitals run short of blood and ask for donors.  Thank God that people do donate their blood which helps the doctors when they are treating people.  However, blood from these donors can’t save us from our sins.  We must have the cleansing blood of Jesus in our heart to be saved.

Have you allowed Jesus to wash you in His cleansing atoning blood?  If not, I urge you to open the door of your heart to Jesus and let Him come into your heart.  He will not only cleanse you, He will be the dearest Friend you will ever have.  Also, He will never leave you, not even for a minute.

I dearly love my family and my friends, but it is only when I am in the presence of Jesus that I have the fulness of joy.  O how I love Jesus!  Without Jesus in my heart, I would just exist.  For many years I experienced a crippling depression but now thanks to Jesus, I am happy.

Joanne Lowe

June 4, 2015

JESUS HAS COMMANDED US

“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

I don’t like hearing the news because all I hear is negative and judgmental news.  It hurts Jesus when we constantly judge each other.  Jesus has commanded us to love one another.  Jesus didn’t give us an option about loving.  He didn’t say He wished we loved one another, He said that it is His commandment.

The thing that disturbs me so much is when they constantly talk about homosexuals. The Bible makes it very clear that it is a sin.  The Bible also makes it very clear that telling lies is a sin.  We are the ones who put labels on sin and say that one sin is worse than another sin.  To God, sin is sin.

In Matthew 7:1-5, we read that we are not to judge one another.  I have heard sermons about homosexuals but I have never heard a sermon about liars.  The sin of homosexuality stinks in the nostrils of God but so does the sin of lying.  Instead of judging and condemning them, we need to pray for them.

Many years ago, someone emailed me and wrote “Is it true that Jesus hates homosexuals?”  I emailed the person back and wrote “Jesus loves everyone but He doesn’t love the sin.  He loves you as much as He loves me or anyone else.  Jesus doesn’t play favorites.”

Let’s start loving each other unconditionally as Jesus has commanded us to love one another and pray that we won’t do things and say words that hurt Jesus and break His heart.   

Joanne Lowe

June 3, 2015         

SECURE IN HIS LOVE

“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 8:37-39 KJV

Have you ever heard someone say “he broke us up by the lies he told”?  We never have to worry about someone or something taking the love of God from us because we are secure in His love for us.  What a healing balm it is to our weary and battle scarred heart to know that God will love us for all eternity.

Sometimes people worry that someone doesn’t really love them but God proved how much He loves us when He gave His beloved Son to die for our sins on the cross.  Our precious Saviour proved how much He loves us when He walked that long lonely road to Calvary and allowed them to crucify Him for us.

If you ever doubt that Jesus loves you, remember the cross and the pain, the agony, the heartache and the excruciating pain Jesus suffered and endured for us when He hung on the cross.  He was spat on, cursed, mocked and beaten beyond recognition because He loves you so much.

We sing the hymn that Evangelist Judson W. Van Deventer wrote “I Surrender All”.  Can we honestly say that we have surrendered all?  Is Jesus the Lord of our life?  May God help us to do all we can do to make Jesus happy.  If ever someone deserves to be happy, it is Jesus, our beautiful Saviour.”

Joanne Lowe

June 2, 2015

DO WE LOVE THEM

“Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.  For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye?  do not even the publicans the same?”

Matthew 5:43-46 KJV

Jesus has told us to love our enemies.  Do we love them?  It is very difficult to love someone who is cursing us, making fun of us and telling lies about us.  Yet, that is exactly what they did to Jesus and He still loved them.  We need to follow His example and love those who hurt us.

Why does Jesus still love us when we do things and say words that hurt Him and break His heart?  It is because not only does Jesus love us unconditionally, He is love.  If someone asks you who Jesus is, tell the person that Jesus not only gives love, He is love.  Jesus will love us forever even when we hurt Him.

We can’t love people in our own strength.  We need to ask Jesus for help because He has told us we can’t do anything without Him.  We read in the Bible.  “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5).

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your love.  Jesus, thank You for loving us and dying for us.  We need You to help us so that we will love one another unconditionally as You have commanded us to love each other.  In Jesus’ Name, I pray.  Amen.

Joanne Lowe

June 1, 2015