HIS MOTHER

“Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.  When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!   Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.”

John 19:25-27 KJV

O how Jesus loved His mother.  Even in the midst of all His pain, Jesus made sure His disciple would take care of His mother.  O that you and I would follow the example of our Saviour and make sure that someone takes care of our mother if we aren’t able to do so.  Not only does Jesus give us love, He is Love!

If our mother is no longer living, we need to find a mother who needs encouragement and wish her a Happy Mother’s Day.  There are many women who can’t have children or have lost children and they need us to adopt them in our heart.  We need to call them, email them and pray for them.

We want someone to take care of our mother if we aren’t able to take care of her.  We should be willing to take care of a mother who is lonely and hurting.  If we would follow the example Jesus has set for us, not only by taking care of our mothers, but in everything that we do, we would make our Saviour happy.

Heavenly Father, I pray for every mother.  I ask that You will please encourage them, comfort them and let them know how much You love them.  May we be an encouragement to our mothers, not only on Mother’s Day, but on every day of the year.  In Jesus’ Name, I pray.  Amen.

Joanne Lowe

May 14, 2017

  

HE TOOK OUR PLACE

“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 53:5 KJV

Philip Paul Bliss wrote “HALLELUJAH! WHAT A SAVIOR”.  Every time I sing this or hear this beautiful hymn, I am reminded of how much our Saviour loves us. “Bearing shame and scoffing rude, In my place condemned He stood; Sealed my pardon with His blood. “Hallelujah! What a Savior!”

Do you realize how much Jesus loves you?  He allowed them to spit on Him, curse Him, mock Him, beat Him beyond recognition and crucify Him on the cross because He loves you.  What kind of love is this?  This is an unconditional love that can only come from the heart of our Saviour.  O how Jesus loves you.

Think about it.  Jesus left His Father, His home and all that He had to come to earth to die on the cross for you so you can be saved and go to Heaven.  God did not make Jesus come to earth to die for us.  Jesus came because He loves us.  Jesus, the Saviour of the world, loves you and He will always love you.

No matter how many times we hurt Him, He still loves us.  He loved us yesterday.  He loves us today and He will love us forever.  What a Saviour!  What a Friend, this Jesus of Nazareth!  All hail, King Jesus!  Worthy is the Lamb of God!  Please join me in praising the “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS”!

Heavenly Father, Thank You for Jesus.  Not only was His heart broken when He died on the cross, Your heart was also broken when He died.  I love You, precious Heavenly Father.  Thank You for adopting me.  In Jesus’ Name, I pray.  Amen.

Joanne Lowe

May 13, 2017

JESUS FIRST

“Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”

James 4:17 KJV

Someone asked if it is okay to watch movies or football games on television.  No matter what we do, we need to be sure to put Jesus first ahead of everything and everyone.  Jesus deserves to have first place in our heart and in our life after all He has done for us.  He shed His precious blood for you and for me.

If we take the time to exercise in the morning or read the sports page in the newspaper but don’t take the time to talk to Jesus, the Bible makes it very clear that we are sinning.  If we don’t have the time to talk to Jesus and spend time with Him, we need to rearrange our schedules so He comes first.

The most precious times I have had with Jesus are when I was physically able to kneel beside my bed.  I would read my Bible out loud and pray out loud and spend time with Jesus.  O how I miss those times.  However, it is not enough to just bow our knees, we must also bow our heart to our precious Saviour.

What about you?  Does Jesus have first place in your heart, in your life, in your time and in everything you do?  We should never go anywhere unless we can take Jesus with us.  We should never watch anything on television that we wouldn’t watch if Jesus was sitting beside us. 

It is time that we put Jesus first.  After all He has done for us, we should want to do everything we can do to make Him happy.  Jesus deserves to be happy.  O how I love Jesus.  He is the joy of my heart, the reason I’m living and the reason I get out of bed in the morning.  One day I will see Him face to face.    

Joanne Lowe

May 12, 2017

THAT PRECIOUS NAME

“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Philippians 2:9-11 KJV

There is no other name that brings tears of joy to my eyes like that precious Name of Jesus.  We only have a fingernail’s grasp of how wonderful Jesus is and how much He loves us.  Jesus, the “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS” loves us and He loves us unconditionally.

If you ever think nobody loves you, remember the cross and the pain and anguish Jesus felt as He hung there on the cross with His precious blood flowing down His body as He allowed them to crucify Him for our sins.  He could have come down from the cross but He stayed on the cross because He loves us.

I’ve said this before and I will keep saying it until Jesus comes back for us or God calls me home.  Nobody loves you like Jesus loves you and nobody ever will.  Allow it to go from head knowledge to heart knowledge that the Saviour of the world loves you.  Yes, I mean you.  Jesus loves you.

Heavenly Father, what a privilege it is to be loved by Your precious Son.  Thank You for loving us so much You gave Jesus to die for our sins.  You are a tender compassionate Father and I love You and appreciate You.  Thank You for the privilege of serving Your beloved Son.  In Jesus’ Name, I pray.  Amen. 

Joanne Lowe

May 11, 2017

OUR FAITHFUL SAVIOUR

“And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.”

Psalms 9:10 KJV

Jesus, our faithful and loving Saviour is with us all the time.  He is with us when we are on the mountain top of happiness and He is also with us when we are in the valley of despair.  We only have a fingernails grasp of how much Jesus loves us.  He never leaves us, not even for a minute. 

Have you allowed it to go from head knowledge to heart knowledge that Jesus loves you and that He loves you unconditionally?  He loved you yesterday.  He loves you today and He will love you forever.  When you are happy, He rejoices with you and when you cry, He weeps with you.

Do you realize what a privilege it is to be loved by the Saviour of the world?  Jesus, the “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS” loves you.  Think about it, He left His Father, His home and all that He had to come to earth to die for our sins.  Why did He die for us?  It is because not only does Jesus give love, He is love.

Heavenly Father, thank You for sharing Jesus with us.  I pray for all those who are discouraged, lonely and heartbroken.  Please comfort and encourage them as You have done for me countless times.  I love You, Heavenly Father.  I love You, precious Jesus.  I love You, Holy Spirit.  In Jesus’ Name, I pray.  Amen. 

Joanne Lowe

May 10, 2017

HE ALWAYS UNDERSTANDS

“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 4:15,16 KJV

Have you ever thought that nobody understood the pain and heartache you were feeling?  Jesus understands how you feel.  He always understands how we feel.  John W. Peterson wrote a beautiful hymn about our Saviour “No One Understands Like Jesus”.  Nobody does understand like Jesus understands.

I love these words in this heart touching and inspiring hymn.  “No one understands like Jesus, Every woe He sees and feels; Tenderly He whispers comfort, And the broken heart He heals.”  It is very hard for me to share what is in my heart with others because I think they won’t understand or care.

It’s easy to share what is in my heart with Jesus because I know that He really understands how I feel.  Many times we tell people we understand and we may understand a little of how they feel but only Jesus can see into our heart and only Jesus really knows and feels the hurt and pain we experience.

What a Saviour!  What a Friend, this Jesus of Nazareth!  All hail, King Jesus!  Worthy is the Lamb of God!.  He is the “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS”.  Please join me in praising the One Who loves us so much He died for us.  O how I love Jesus.  I long to see Him face to face and one day I will see Him.

Joanne Lowe

May 9, 2017

HE REALLY CARES ABOUT US

“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

Have you ever thought that nobody cares about you?  I thought that for many years.  I really believed that nobody cared if I lived or died until the day Jesus told me He loves me and that He would protect me and never leave me.  He really cares about us.  What a precious Saviour we are privileged to have.

Rev. Frank Ellsworth Graeff wrote a beautiful hymn about Jesus “Does Jesus Care”.  I love these words.  “Oh yes, He cares, I know He cares, His heart is touched with my grief; When the days are weary, the long nights dreary, I know my Savior cares.”  Jesus loves us unconditionally and He cares about us.

Jesus not only cares, He is also with us through the long lonely nights when we can’t sleep.  Have you allowed it to go from head knowledge to heart knowledge that Jesus, the Saviour of the world, loves you?  Yes, I mean you.  If you are reading this devotion, Jesus loves you and will always love you.

We know Jesus loves us.  He proved His love for us when He died for our sins.  Does Jesus know we love Him?  What are we doing to prove to Him that we love Him?  The best way to prove to Him that we love Him is to serve Him.  We will have to shut off the television and get out of our comfort zone to serve Him.

Are you willing to shut off the television and get out of your comfort zone and serve Jesus?  Our Saviour left Heaven, His Father and everything He had to die on the cross for you.

Joanne Lowe

May 8, 2017