AMAZING LOVE

“In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.”

Isaiah 63:9 KJV

Pastor Isaac Watts wrote a beautiful hymn about our Redeemer “Plunged in a Gulf of Dark Despair”.  These words describe how much Jesus loves us.  “With pitying eyes the Prince of grace Beheld our helpless grief; He saw, and, O amazing love! He ran to our relief.”  What an amazing love Jesus has for you and me.

One day Jesus will get the honor and praise He so richly deserves.  “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 2:10,11).

If ever someone deserves to be praised and adored, it is Jesus.  He is the “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS”.  Would you join me in praising the One Who loves us so much He died for us.  It brings tears of happiness to my eyes to know that every knee will bow to our precious Redeemer.   

Joanne Lowe

June 7, 2017

OUR LOVING FATHER

“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

1 John 4:10 KJV

God is our loving Father and He loves us so much He sent His Son to die for our sins.  One day, God opened His heart of  unconditional love to us and because of His unconditional love for us, we have the privilege of going to Heaven through the cleansing redeeming blood of Jesus.

Heavenly Father, You are a tender compassionate loving Father.  Thank You for all You have done for me and for adopting me into Your family.  Thank You for the privilege You have given me to serve Your Son.  I love You, Heavenly Father.  I love You, Jesus.  I love You, Holy Spirit.  In Jesus’ Name, I pray.  Amen. 

Joanne Lowe

June 6, 2017

THE LIGHT OF OUR HEART

“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

John 8:12 KJV

Jesus is not only the light of the world, He is also the light of our heart.  When it is cloudy outside, I don’t feel like doing anything because I have SAD.  Mayo Clinic gives this definition.  “Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that's related to changes in seasons”.

However, no matter how dark and gloomy it is outside, I still can be happy because Jesus shines His light a little brighter in my heart.  It makes satan very angry when we are serving Jesus and he will do all he can do to discourage us so much that we stop serving Jesus.  We must not let that happen!

There are times when we allow hatred, resentment, bitterness, unforgiveness, jealousy and all other things that hurt our Heavenly Father to remain in our heart.  It is then that we need to ask God to forgive us for these things.  It is very important that we keep our heart in right standing with God.

We don’t know when Jesus is coming back for us but He is coming and we need to be ready to meet Him.  How sad it would be if we couldn’t look Jesus in the eye because of the things in our heart.  How about you?  Is your heart right with God or do the things in your heart hurt Him and break His heart?

Heavenly Father, search my heart and if there is anything that hurts You, I ask You to forgive me.  Thank You for loving me, dear Father and for adopting me into Your family.  I love You and appreciate You.  In Jesus’ Name, I pray.  Amen.

Joanne Lowe

June 5, 2017

WE MUST LEAN

“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 KJV

Many times we try to do things by ourselves and then we wonder why we can’t do them.  Jesus has told us that without Him, we can’t do anything.  Pastor John Stallings wrote one of my favorite hymns “Learning to Lean”.  Every time I sing this hymn, I’m reminded of how much we need Jesus.

I love these words in this beautiful and inspiring hymn.  “The joy I can't explain fills my soul, Since the day I made Jesus my King; His blessed Holy Spirit is leading my way, He's teaching and I'm learning to lean.”  Are you learning to lean or are you still trying to do things your way?

Heavenly Father, thank You for sharing Your beloved Son with us.  Jesus, I love You.  You have been so faithful to me.  You have never left me, not even for a minute.  I love You so much.  How I long to see You face to face and praise God, one day I will see You face to face.  In Jesus’ Name, I pray.  Amen.

Joanne Lowe

June 4, 2017

OUR PASTORS

“For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.”

Hebrews 6:10 KJV

We need to encourage and pray for our pastors.  There are times when they have to get up in the middle of the night to go to the hospital to see someone who is sick.  They give up time with their family to minister to us.  I think there are times when we forget that pastors need encouragement just like we need it.

I received an email from a pastor several years ago who wrote that he was so discouraged that he was thinking of giving up his church and leaving the pastorate.  Instead of the church members encouraging the pastor and his family, they criticized the pastor, his wife and his children.

Not only did they hurt the pastor, they also hurt God and broke His heart.  We read in the Bible.  “Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm” (1 Chronicles 16:22).  May God help us to be an encouragement to our pastors.  They cry just like we cry and they hurt just like we hurt.

I thank God for my pastor, Pastor Davis.  He has shown me the love of Jesus many times and my pastor has encouraged me.  Let’s make a special effort to be an encouragement to our pastors and we need to remember to pray for them.  Please pray for Pastor Davis as he truly loves God and proves it.

Heavenly Father, I pray for every pastor who is preaching the unconditional love of Jesus.  Please encourage them and let them know how much You appreciate their service to You.  Thank You for my pastor.  In Jesus’ Name, I pray.  Amen.

Joanne Lowe

June 3, 2017

SINGING FROM OUR HEART

“We love him, because he first loved us.”

1 John 4:19 KJV

William Ralph Featherstone wrote one of my favorite hymns “My Jesus, I Love Thee”.  When we sing this hymn, are we singing the words from our heart or are we just singing the words?  O how we should love Him.  Jesus left His Father, His home and all that He had to come to earth to die for our sins.

Knowing that our precious Saviour loves us and that He loves us unconditionally should fill our hearts with joy and happiness.  What a privilege it is to be loved by the Saviour of the world.  It is a privilege just to say His precious name.  Jean Perry wrote a heart touching hymn about Jesus “I Know of a Name”.

I love these words in this beautiful hymn.  “That beautiful name, that beautiful name, From sin has power to free us! That beautiful name, that wonderful name, That matchless name is Jesus!”  O how I love Jesus.  He is the Joy of my heart and He makes life fun, exciting and worth living.

Heavenly Father, You have been so good to me.  Thank You for adopting me into Your family.  Thank You for the many times You have comforted and encouraged me.  I pray for every person who is discouraged, hurting, and lonely and heart broken.  Please comfort them.  In Jesus’ Name, I pray.  Amen.

Joanne Lowe

June 2, 2017

WHAT IS THE TRUTH

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

John 8:32 KJV

Our Scripture verse tells us we shall know the truth and the truth shall make us free.  What is the truth?  The truth is our precious Saviour loves us and He will always love us.  “The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jeremiah 31:3).

The truth is no matter what you have done or will do, Jesus will always love you.  What kind of love is this?  It is an amazing unconditional love that can only come from the heart of our Saviour.  Not only does Jesus give us love, He is love.  If someone asks you who Jesus is, say He is unconditional love.

I write about Jesus loving us a lot and it is because until we allow it to go from head knowledge to heart knowledge that He loves us unconditionally, we will never be happy.  Pastor Ira F. Stanphill wrote a hymn about being happy “Happiness is the Lord”.  If you want to be happy, give your heart to Jesus. 

Heavenly Father, You are so precious.  What a healing balm it is to our weary battle scarred heart to know You will never hit us, curse us or tell us we are no good.  You are a tender loving compassionate Father and I love You.  Thank You for the privilege of serving Your Son.  In Jesus’ Name, I pray.  Amen.

Joanne Lowe

June 1, 2017