STRIPES OF LOVE

“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”

Isaiah 53:3-5 KJV

Jesus, our precious Saviour was beaten beyond recognition.  He endured and suffered pain and agony that you and I will never know.  I believe that every time they hit Him and pounded the nails in His hand that He felt the pain in His heart.  What kind of love is this, that He would willingly suffer this pain for us?

This is an unconditional love that only comes from the heart of our Heavenly Father and our Saviour.  Nobody loves us like They love us and nobody ever will.  I believe God also felt that pain and agony every time they hit Jesus.  God loves His Son so much and wonder of wonders, He also loves us.

It is a privilege to be able to go to God in prayer.  We are not worthy to go into His presence but because of the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross when He shed His blood for us, we can go into the presence of our Heavenly Father.  Think about it, God loves you very much.  You are precious to Him.

Heavenly Father, thank You for loving us and for sharing Jesus with us.  Jesus, thank You for dying for our sins on the cross.  I love You so much, dear Jesus.  How I long to see You face to face.  One day I will see You face to face.  I’m going to give You a big hug when I see You.  In Jesus’ Name, I pray.  Amen.

Joanne Lowe

October 14, 2015

OUR HEAVENLY FATHER’S HEART

“While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.”

Matthew 17:5 KJV

O how God loves Jesus!  He is very proud of His Son and God wants us to love Jesus, listen to Jesus and serve Jesus.  Do we listen to Jesus?  I think if we are honest with ourselves there are times when we can’t hear Him talking because the television or radio is too loud.  He’s not going to shout so we can hear Him.

It hurts God and breaks His heart when we put other things and people ahead of Jesus.  Why is it that we can get up very early in the morning to go fishing but we can’t get up early in the morning to spend time with Jesus?  Someone said “You will make time to do what is important to you”.

The question every one of us needs to answer is “How important is Jesus to me?”  We can say that Jesus is important to us but Jesus can see into our heart and He knows if we are being honest or just giving Him lip service.  O that you and I will put Jesus first in everything we do.  He deserves to have first place.

Jesus left His Father, His home and all that He had to come to earth and die on the cross for our sins.  What a Saviour!  What a Friend, this Jesus of Nazareth!  O how I love Jesus.  He is the joy of my heart and the reason I’m living.  What a privilege it is to serve the KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS!

What a privilege it is to be loved by God.  Our Heavenly Father is a tender compassionate and forgiving Father.  Think about it!  God, the Creator of the world loves you so much He gave His own Son to die on the cross for your sins so you can be saved.

Joanne Lowe

October 13, 2015

DISCOURAGEMENT

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30 KJV

One of the definitions I found for discourage in Webster’s Dictionary is “something (such as a failure or difficulty) that discourages someone”.  I have had a lot of problems with my computer and email and I am starting to get discouraged.  I have had to do four system recoveries on my computer. 

However, I know that it is satan who is trying to stop me from serving Jesus.  That will never happen!  I will serve Jesus as long as I have breath and as long as He helps me.  After all my precious Saviour has done for me, I am willing to do anything and everything I can do to serve Him and make Him happy.

Jesus Himself warned us to be on the alert for the sneaky attacks of satan.  “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” (1 Peter 5:8).  We must not let satan discourage us so much that we stop serving Jesus.  Our Saviour will help us.

If you’re discouraged, tell Jesus and allow Him to help you.  I was so discouraged this morning that I wanted to go back to bed and stay there.  Our precious Saviour was rejected and ridiculed so many times that He understands and knows how it feels to be discouraged.  We must stay on the battlefield for Jesus.

Heavenly Father, You are the great Comforter.  Please comfort and encourage us when we feel like we can’t give another smile or take another step.  In Jesus’ Name, I pray.  Amen.    

Joanne Lowe

October 12, 2015

GOD UNDERSTANDS

“And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death.  And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.  Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.  And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.”

Luke 23:32-34 KJV

A little girl saw her mother crying and she said to her mother “Why are you crying, momma?”  The mother with tears running down her face said “Because my little baby has died”.  God understands how we feel and why we cry when a loved one dies.  He not only understands how we feel, He also weeps with us.

When Jesus was crucified on the cross, God had to turn away from Him because Jesus had taken our sins on Him.  God is a Holy God and He can’t look at sin.  How it must have broken God’s heart to have to turn away from His Son.  Yes, God understands how our heart hurts when a loved one dies.

We have a compassionate tender loving Heavenly Father and He longs to comfort and encourage us.  If you’re hurting today, climb up on His lap and allow Him to rock you and kiss your tears away.  God loves you so much He gave His beloved Son to die on the cross for you.  O how He loves you.

Heavenly Father, we love You.  Thank You for loving us so much that You gave Your beloved Son to die on the cross for our sins.  We love You, Jesus.  Thank You for dying for our sins.  We love You, Holy Spirit.  Father, I pray You will comfort all who need comforting.  In Jesus’ Name, I pray.  Amen.  

Joanne Lowe

October 11, 2015

JESUS WILL HELP US

“So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”

Hebrews 13:6 KJV

Curtis S. Kauffman wrote the inspiring hymn “Keep in Touch With Jesus”.  “Would you be a victor over every foe, Conquer every trial in this world below; Overcome temptations that each day you meet?  Keep in touch with Jesus; He will keep you sweet.”  Jesus will help us and He will keep us sweet.

Our world is filled with hatred, violence, murders and all other things that hurt Jesus and break His heart.  I heard on the news about people being killed at universities.  God never meant for us to live this way.  We can’t make it in this world without our precious Saviour guiding us, helping us and protecting us.

One day all the violence will be over and we will have no more heartaches because Jesus, the KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS is coming back to take us with Him to Heaven.  What a joyous and happy day that will be.  O how I want to see my precious Saviour face to face.  I love Jesus so much.

If you are hurting and discouraged, allow Jesus to pick you up in His loving arms.  He will carry you through all the dark valleys in your life and will be faithful to set you once again on the mountain top of happiness.  We can depend on Jesus.  Can He depend on us?  Are we serving Him with all our heart and time?

Heavenly Father, thank You for giving Your beloved Son to die on the cross for our sins so we can be saved and go to Heaven.  What about you?  Are you going to Heaven?  Have your sins been washed in the blood of the Lamb?  If not, give your heart and life to Jesus today.  In Jesus’ Name, I pray.  Amen.   

Joanne Lowe

October 10, 2015

THE MOST EXPENSIVE PRICE

“What?  know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?  For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

1 Corinthians 6:19,20 KJV

The newspaper reports a house was sold for millions of dollars.  However, the most expensive price that has ever been paid for anything was the redeeming cleansing blood of Jesus that He shed for our sins on the cross so we can be saved and go to Heaven.  Jesus shed His own blood for you and for me.

Marvin P. Dalton wrote the beautiful inspiring hymn “Oh What A Savior”.  “O what a Savior, O hallelujah!  His heart was broken on Calvary, His hands were nail scarred, His side was riven, He gave His life-blood for even me.”  Jesus gave His own blood for you so you can have your sins forgiven and go to Heaven. 

What an amazing love Jesus has for us.  Not only was the heart of Jesus broken when He died, God’s heart was also broken because His Son had been beaten beyond recognition, spat on, cursed and rejected.  Jesus had taken our sins on Himself and God can’t look on sin so He had to turn away from Jesus.

Yes, Jesus’ heart was broken on Calvary and we are still hurting Him and breaking His heart when we don’t allow Him to be first in our heart, in our life, in our time and in everything that we do.  Jesus has the right to be first in our life because He died on the cross for our sins.  What a Saviour, this Jesus of Nazareth!

Joanne Lowe

October 9, 2015

DON’T GIVE UP AND QUIT

“If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.”

Proverbs 24:10 KJV

I’m sure when Jesus was here on His mission that He felt like giving up and quitting many times.  He was human just as we are and felt all the emotions we feel.  He was ridiculed, rejected, cursed, spat on and He endured an agony and excruciating pain that you and I will never know.  What a loving Saviour!

Helen L. Lemmel wrote the beautiful hymn “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”.  It is one of my favorite hymns.  “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.”  May God help us to keep our eyes on Jesus.

If Jesus had gave up and quit, you and I would be on our way to hell for all eternity.  Thank God that Jesus didn’t quit, that He loves us so much He was willing to leave His Home, His Father and all that He had to come to earth and die on the cross for our sins.  What a Friend, what a Saviour, this Jesus of Nazareth!

The next time we are tempted to give up and quit we need to ask Jesus to help us.  He understands how we feel and He will pick us up in His loving arms and will carry us through our dark valleys until the pain goes away and He will be faithful to set us again on the mountain top of happiness.

I’ve said this many times but it is so important that you allow it to go from head knowledge to heart knowledge. Nobody loves you like Jesus loves you and nobody ever will.  He laughs with you and weeps with you.  He also sits beside your bed when you can’t sleep and holds your hand.  O how Jesus loves you.

Joanne Lowe

October 8, 2015