A REMINDER TO TRUST JESUS

“For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?”

1 John 5:3-5 KJV

A dad who was very worried about his older daughter was discouraged, sad and in tears.  His younger daughter reminded him that he had said to them “Faith means not to worry”.  What a reminder to us that we should trust Jesus at all times.  May God help us to stop worrying and trust Jesus.

Rev. John Henry Yates wrote one of my favorite hymns “Faith Is the Victory”.  The words in this hymn are so true.  “Faith is the victory!  Faith is the victory!  O glorious victory, that overcomes the world.”  Do we trust Jesus to help us even when we think that we can’t give another smile or take another step?

Just as the little girl reminded her dad to trust Jesus, we need to remember that we can trust Jesus.  Our tender loving and precious Saviour has never let us down and He never will.  We must always remember that Jesus has endured more pain than we will ever know so He understands how it hurts and He cares.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Jesus and for loving us so much You sent Your beloved Son to die on the cross for our sins.  Jesus, thank You for loving us unconditionally and for dying for our sins.  Heavenly Father, I love You.  Jesus, I love You.  Holy Spirit, I love You.  In Jesus’ Name, I pray.  Amen.

Joanne Lowe

July 14, 2015

DO WE ACKNOWLEDGE HIM

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.  Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.  It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.”

Proverbs 3:5-8 KJV

One of the definitions for acknowledge in Webster’s Dictionary is “to recognize the rights, authority, or status thereof”.  Do we acknowledge Jesus in all our ways?  Do we trust Him to lead us or do we insist on doing things the way we want to do them?  Jesus has the authority and the right to direct our paths.

When Jesus walked that long lonely road to Calvary and there allowed them to crucify Him on the cross for our sins, He proved to us how much He loves us.  Not only was He crucified for your sins and for my sins, He forgave us while hanging on the cross with the blood flowing down His body.  O how He loves us!

I’ve said this many times and will say it until God calls me home or Jesus comes back for us.  Nobody loves us like Jesus loves us and nobody ever will.  His love for us is unconditional and eternal.  There is nothing we could do that would make Him stop loving us.  Do we love Him?  How much do we love Him?

Are we doing things the way Jesus wants us to do them?  When we do things our way, we will never succeed.  Our Scripture verse tells us to “trust in the LORD with all our heart”.  Do we trust Jesus for everything?  If we don’t trust Him with all our heart, we are hurting Him and breaking His heart.

Joanne Lowe

July 13, 2015

WE NEED YOU JESUS

“Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

Hebrews 4:14-16 KJV

Jesus understands how we feel when we are discouraged and lonely.  He was tempted like we are.  He was spat on, cursed, mocked, ridiculed and forsaken by everyone.  I’m sure there were many times when He was here on earth and praying to His Father that He had tears in His eyes because He was hurting.

It is a great relief to be able to talk to someone and share our burdens but nobody understands and feels our pain like Jesus does.  Jesus is the best Friend we will ever have.  When we are hurting and it seems like the long night will never end, He sets beside our bed and tenderly dries our tears with kisses.

Jesus is tender, understanding, compassionate and caring.  He longs to pick us up in His loving arms and carry us through all the dark valleys in our life until the pain goes away.  What a loving compassionate Saviour and Friend we are privileged to know.  We need You, Jesus and we love You.

Heavenly Father, thank You for giving Jesus to us, not only to die for our sins but also to be our best Friend.  Precious Saviour, we do need You.  We need You every minute of every day.  Thank You for loving us and for being our best Friend.  I love You with all my heart.  In Jesus’ Name, I pray.  Amen.

Joanne Lowe

July 12, 2015

WRINKLES

“But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.”

1 Samuel 16:7 KJV

When I make my bed, I do my best to be sure there are no wrinkles in the sheets.  No one else sees the wrinkles in the sheets but I do.  Every time I make my bed, I think about our scripture verse and it reminds me that God doesn’t look at our outward appearance, He looks on our heart.

What does God see when He looks on our heart?  Does He see unconditional love for people as Jesus has commanded us to love one another or does He see resentment, jealousy, anger and hatred in our heart?  May God have mercy on us if we are hurting Him because of the things in our heart.

While we should look as nice as we can look, it is much more important that our heart is in right standing with God.  If our heart is not in right standing with God, we need to ask Him to forgive us and get our heart right with Him.  When people look at us, do they see us smiling or do they see us frowning?

We can’t smile all the time because we have crises, heartaches and dark valleys in our life.  However, God understands when we are discouraged and need comfort and encouragement.  God is a faithful and loving Father and He will dry our tears with tender loving kisses.  O how our Heavenly Father loves us!

Joanne Lowe

July 11, 2015

FORGET ABOUT YESTERDAY

“Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.  Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?  I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.”

Isaiah 43:18,19 KJV

Christy Lane wrote one of my favorite hymns about Jesus “Give Them All to Jesus”.  It is so true that only Jesus can take our heartaches and sorrows away and fill our heart with joy.  We need to forget what we did yesterday that hurt Jesus and know that He still loves us and that He will always love us.

One of the most vicious attacks of satan is when he lies to us and tells us that Jesus doesn’t love us and that He will never love us because of our past.  Don’t listen to satan because he is a liar!  Jesus does love us and He loves us unconditionally and proved His love for us when He allowed them to crucify Him.

We need to forget about what we did yesterday, the things that we thought and the things that we did that hurt Jesus and broke His heart.  This is a new day to serve Jesus and we can do things and say things that make Him happy.  We can forgive the people who hurt us and ask the people we hurt to forgive us.

Heavenly Father, thank You for loving us unconditionally and for sending Jesus into the world to die for us.  We need Your help, dear Father.  Please help us to live for Jesus in our actions and in our words.  Precious Jesus, thank You for loving us and for dying on the cross for our sins.  In Jesus’ Name, I pray.  Amen.

Joanne Lowe

July 10, 2015

THREE CONDITIONS

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Romans 8:28 KJV

Someone said “I knew when I was ten years old that I wanted to be a doctor and I decided right then I was going to study to be a doctor”.  That is good because we should know what we would like to do with our life.  However, our Scripture verse tells us there are three conditions for our life.

First of all, we must love God.  We can be His child and still not love Him.  Second, we must be called into the ministry He wants us in and third, it should be according to His purpose, not our purpose.  God knows our heart and He knows if we really love Him and not just giving Him lip service.

Someone was asked when God called him to be a pastor.  The pastor replied and said “I decided that I was going to become a pastor when I was a teenager and so I went to Bible school but God didn’t call me.  Becoming a pastor was just something I wanted to do so I did it”.

The decision that this man made to be a pastor was his own decision.  God didn’t call him to be a pastor.  However, every person is called to be a witness for Jesus and spread the good news of our risen Saviour.  When is the last time you told someone Jesus loves him or her?

Everything that we do should be because it is God’s purpose for our life and He has called us to do it.  Let’s wait on God to tell us what He wants us to do and then we can be sure that it’s His purpose for our life.  What a privilege to tell others about Jesus.   

Joanne Lowe

July 9, 2015

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE

“And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.  Amen.” 

John 21:25 KJV

This verse is so true because it would be impossible for me to tell you how much Jesus has done for me and how much He does for me every day.  Think about it.  Jesus, the Saviour of the world tells us every day how much He loves us and proves His love for us by the things He does for us.

Not only does Jesus do things for us, He never leaves us, not even for a minute.  When we are sad and discouraged, He picks us up and carries us through all the dark valleys in our life and sets us once again on the mountain top of happiness.  When we cry, He cries with us.  O how He loves us!

Robert Harkness wrote the heart touching hymn “Why Should He Love Me So”.  Do you realize how much Jesus loves you?  He loves you with an unconditional love and He always will love you no matter what you do.  He loves us because He is love.  If anyone asks you who Jesus is, tell them He is love.

Heavenly Father, thank You that one day You opened Your heart of compassion, forgiveness and mercy and sent Jesus not only to die for us and be our Saviour but also to be the closest and dearest Friend we will ever have.  Jesus, thank You for loving me and dying for me.  I love You.  In Jesus’ Name, I pray.  Amen.

Joanne Lowe

July 8, 2015