GOD KNOWS

“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Psalm 139:23,24 KJV

We can hide our thoughts from people but we can’t hide them from God.  He knows what we are thinking and He knows what is in our heart.  Have you ever told people you forgive them but in your heart you did not forgive them?  Not only does God know you didn’t forgive them, you also told them a lie.

Unless and until we forgive people from our heart, we have not forgiven them.  If Jesus hadn’t forgiven us for crucifying Him on the cruel cross for our sins, we would be in serious trouble.  However, because Jesus loves us unconditionally, He asked God to forgive us while still on the cross (Luke 23:34).

Do we really want God to search our heart?  We need to make sure that our heart is in right standing with God at all times.  Jesus may come back for us to take us to Heaven with Him even while you are reading this devotion.  Are you ready to go with Him?  Is your heart right with God?

Heavenly Father, we’re sorry we fail You and hurt You at times.  Please forgive us and help us to be children who will make You happy instead of children who hurt You and break Your heart.  I pray for every person who is hurting today.  Please comfort and encourage them as only You can.  In Jesus’ Name, I pray.  Amen.

Joanne Lowe

February 7, 2016

OUR LOVING AND PROTECTIVE SAVIOUR

“The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee.”

Jeremiah 31:3 KJV

Have you ever asked God to forgive you for losing your temper and then lost your temper again?  I have done that and it breaks my heart when I fail Him and hurt Him.  We need to ask Jesus to help us.  When we fail God and hurt Him then Jesus intercedes for us with our Heavenly Father.  Jesus loves us unconditionally.

When Jesus was here on earth, He was ridiculed, cursed and beaten beyond recognition for our sins.  What a Saviour!  What a Friend, this Jesus of Nazareth!  Jesus loved us yesterday.  He loves us today and He will love us forever.  There is nothing we could ever do that would make Him stop loving us.

Knowing that Jesus loves us unconditionally and that He will love us forever should make us want to do everything we can to make Him happy.  How do we make Him happy?  We make Him happy by being kind and loving to one another.  Are we making Jesus happy or are we hurting Him by our words and actions?

Jesus tells us in Matthew 25:40 that what we do to others, we also do to Him so when we are kind and loving to others we are being kind and loving to Him.  However, when we are not kind and loving to others, we are not kind and loving to Him.  May God help us to love others as Jesus has commanded us to love.

Joanne Lowe

February 6, 2016

THANK YOU FOR CARING

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Matthew 11:28 KJV

God has supplied me with a new computer.  I am still trying to learn how to set it up and I have shed tears because when I can’t understand something, it makes me feel stupid and yet I know that I’m not stupid.  It is just another vicious attack from satan to keep me from serving Jesus.

It doesn’t matter what kind of work we are doing, Jesus cares when we get frustrated and He will help us if we will ask Him.  We have a compassionate Saviour Who really understands how we feel because I’m sure Jesus got frustrated many times when He was here on earth.  Thank You, Jesus, for caring.  I love You.

Joanne Lowe

February 5, 2016

JESUS, SAVIOUR, FRIEND

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, the everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

Isaiah 9:6 KJV

Jesus, the Name above all names, not only is He our Saviour He is also our Friend.  I have many wonderful friends but the greatest Friend I have is Jesus.  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.

He loved me when nobody else did.  Jesus came to me when I was lying under a bed in a mental hospital afraid of everyone and everything.  He put His loving arms of compassion around me and lifted me up and told me He loves me.  Is it any wonder why I love Him so much?  Jesus, the Name above all names!

A little boy once said to a friend “My mother is better than peanut butter.”  That was a great compliment coming from this little boy about his mother.  I echo what this little boy said but I say it about Jesus because Jesus is better than peanut butter.  What a privilege it is just to be able to say His precious Name.

I wish I could tell you how much I love Jesus.  He is the reason I’m living, the joy of my heart, and He is every breath I take.  Praise God, one day I am going to have the privilege of seeing Jesus face to face.  How I long for that day.  I pray that every person will feel in their heart how much He loves them.

We know that Jesus loves us because He proved His love for us when He allowed them to crucify Him for our sins.  Does Jesus know we love Him?  What are we doing for Him?

Joanne Lowe

February 4, 2016

GIVE WHAT YOU HAVE

“Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.”

Acts 3:6 KJV

I have had children come to my door and tell me they were hungry and ask me for food.  I didn’t have any money to give them or enough food to make them a meal so I gave them some bread and lunch meat.  I’m like the pastor who emailed me and wrote “There’s more month than there is money”.

No, we may not have money to give them but we can give them what we have.  There are many children who are not only hungry physically, they are also hungry emotionally.  Some children run and hide when they hear their parents yelling at them and also yelling at their spouses.  How heartbreaking this is!

Years ago, we had a mission’s conference at my church. Home missionaries and foreign missionaries showed slides of their work.  What brought tears to my eyes was the fact that not only did the children in the foreign countries look hungry and undernourished so did the children here in America.

How sad and heartbreaking it is that our precious children are going hungry for food, love and affection.  One day we will stand before a Holy God and give an account of the way we treated children.  Will we be able to look Him in the eye or will we have to hang our head in shame?  God help us to love our children.

We may not have money to give to people who are hungry for food but we can give them the love of Jesus.  He loves them so much He died on the cross for their sins.  Are we willing to give what we have to those who need to know that they are loved?

Joanne Lowe

February 3, 2016

OBEDIENCE

“And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;”

Genesis 3:17 KJV

If you ever doubt that obedience is important, remember what happened to Adam and Eve because they disobeyed God.  Someone said, “The things I do are nobody’s business but my own”.  That is not a true statement.  Our words and our actions do affect other people and sometimes we even hurt God.

God does not say that one sin is worse than another sin.  We are the ones who say one sin is worse than another sin.  Jesus died for everybody.  He died for murderers but He also died for liars.  However I think if God were to say one sin is worse than all other sins, He would say disobedience is the worse sin.

Heavenly Father, please forgive us for hurting You when we sometimes disobey You.  We’re sorry that we fail You and hurt You at times.  May we be faithful to obey You all the time.  I love You, Heavenly Father.  I love You, Jesus.  I love You, Holy Spirit.  In Jesus’ Name, I pray.  Amen.

Joanne Lowe

February 2, 2016

THE HEART OF OUR HEAVENLY FATHER

“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

God loves us so much that He gave Jesus to die on the cross for our sins.  What kind of love would make God give His beloved Son to die on the cross for us and what kind of love would make Jesus willingly walk that long lonely road to Calvary and allow them to crucify Him for our sins?

It is an amazing and an unconditional love that only comes from the heart of our Heavenly Father and Jesus.  O how They love us!  Nobody loves us like They love us and nobody ever will.  I write about love a lot but love, unconditional love is the answer to all our heartaches.  Do you know They love you?

It is not enough to know that They love us.  We must allow it to go from head knowledge to heart knowledge.  Yes, God and Jesus love us but do we love Them?  If we do love Them, what are we doing to prove to Them that we love Them?  To serve Jesus, we will have to get out of our comfort zone.

We will have to shut off the television and go tell everyone we see that Jesus loves them so much that He left His Father, His home and all that He had to come to earth.  God didn’t make Jesus come to earth to die.  Jesus chose to come here on the mission His Father had given Him and that is what we must do.

We must make the decision to serve Jesus.  If you want to make our Heavenly Father happy, serve His beloved Son.  If ever someone deserves to be happy, it is Jesus, the Saviour of the world.  O how I love Jesus!  He is the reason I’m happy today.   

Joanne Lowe

February 1, 2016