IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN US

"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
King James Version

Evangelist Gordon Jenson wrote the hymn "I should Have Been Crucified".  The words in this hymn bring tears to my eyes.  "I was guilty with nothing to say, And they were coming to take me away. But then a voice from heaven was heard, which said,“Turn him loose, and take me instead!”  And I should have been crucified, I should have suffered and died. I should have hung on the cross in disgrace, But Jesus, God’s Son, took my place.  Crown of thorns, the spear in His side, And all the pain should have been mine. Those rusty nails were meant for me, But Jesus took them, and let me go free!"

I believe every time they pounded a nail into our Saviour that He felt that pain in His heart.  I believe with all my heart that Jesus didn't die from the physical pain and torture, I believe our precious Saviour died of a broken heart.  Marvin P. Dalton wrote the hymn "O What a Savior"  Every time I hear this heart touching hymn I stand up and raise my hands to Jesus as high as I can get them.

"Once I was straying in sin's dark valley, No hope within could I see, He searched through Heaven, and found a Savior To save a poor lost soul like me. 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."  Every tear He shed and all the pain of the nails He felt was because He loves you.  Do you understand yet that He loves you?  No matter what you do, He will always love you and He will never leave you, not even for one minute.

On August 14, 1980, I admitted I was a sinner and asked God to forgive me and invited Jesus into my heart to be my personal Saviour and He has never left me, not even for one minute.  I have a wonderful family who I love very much and I have many friends that God has put in my life but the love I feel for them is nothing compared to the love I have for my precious Saviour.

Please lift your heart and your hands and join me in praising the "KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORD'S".  All hail, King Jesus!  Worthy is the Lamb of God!  One happy day, Jesus is coming back for us.  Are you ready to meet Him?

Joanne Lowe

May 7, 2020

KEEP YOUR EYES ON JESUS

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:"

1 Peter 5:8
King James Version

One of my pastors said many times in his sermons "Keep your eyes on Jesus and on Him alone because as soon as you take your eyes off Him and put them on your circumstances or people, satan will do his best to cause problems and discourage you from serving Jesus".  The pastor was so right because every time I put my eyes on my circumstances instead of keeping my  eyes on Jesus, I get discouraged.

Helen H. Lemmel wrote one of my favorite hymns "Turn 

Your Eyes upon Jesus".  "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."  Don't look to your pastor, your Sunday school teacher or to me because we are human and there are times we hurt Jesus and break His heart.  Keep your eyes on Jesus and only on Him because He will never hurt you or fail you.

Joanne Lowe

May 6, 2020

DOES HE

"But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand."

Isaiah 64:8
King James Version

My Mother used to say to me "It doesn't matter what I say, you are going to do what you want to do". Does Jesus have His own way in our heart and life or if we listen with our heart can we hear Him say to us "It doesn't matter what I say, you are going to do what you want to do"?

Jesus deserves to have first place in our heart and life because He died for us and paid the price for our sins, a price you and I could never have paid. Adelaide A. Pollard wrote "Have Thine Own Way, Lord". " Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way! Thou art the Potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me after Thy will, While I am waiting, yielded and still."

Does Jesus have first place in your heart and life? May God help us to give Him the respect that He deserves. I think sometimes we treat Him like a puppet, we put Him on the shelf and only take Him down when we need or want something. May God have mercy on us for not treating Jesus with more respect.

Joanne Lowe
May 5, 2020

JESUS IS WAITING

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

Matthew 11:28
King James Version

Jesus wants us to come to Him for rest, not just when we're tired from doing regular work but also when we are discouraged, brokenhearted, lonely and feel like giving up.  I'm sure Jesus felt like giving up many times when He was here on earth but He kept going and we need to keep going.

I've lost track of the many times when I have been discouraged and felt like giving up.  Sometimes, even before I asked Him, I could feel Jesus lift me up in His loving arms and carry me through the dark valley.  Just think, Jesus, the Saviour of the world, really cares about us.  He cares when we are lonely, discouraged, heartbroken and when people say cruel words to us and He longs to comfort us. 

Ralph Carmichael wrote the hymn "Reach Out to Jesus".  Jesus wants us to reach out to Him because He is waiting for us to come to Him with His arms open.  We don't have to bear our burdens alone.  Tell Jesus you're hurting and allow Him to pick you up in His arms of compassion and love.

Jesus will be the best Friend you will ever have.   He will never hurt you or say anything unkind about you and He will never leave you.  I have a family that I love very much and I have many good friends who I love but they have to leave and go home.  Jesus never leaves me, not even for one minute.

O how I love Jesus!  He is the Joy of my heart and the reason I'm living.  How I long for the day when I will have the privilege of seeing Him face to face and one happy joyous day I will see Him.  We can't make it by ourselves because this world is filled with violence and all other things that hurt Jesus and break His heart. 

Rev. George O. Webster wrote one of my favorite hymns "I Need Jesus".  The words in this inspiring hymn describe how I feel in my heart.  "I need Jesus, my need I now confess; No friend like Him in times of deep distress; I need Jesus, the need I gladly own; Tho’ some may bear their load alone, Yet I need Jesus."   Thank You, dear Jesus, for loving us and for never leaving us.

Joanne Lowe

May 4, 2020  

ATTACKED AGAIN

"Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."

Revelation 2:10
King James Version

Bessie F. Hatcher wrote the hymn "Keep on the Firing Line". We need to do what the words in this hymn tell us to do. "Then fight brave against all evil, Never run or even lag behind; If you would win for God and right, Keep on the firing line."

It makes satan very angry when we serve Jesus and satan will do all he can do to discourage us so much we will stop serving jesus. We must not let that happen. We must stay on the battlefield for Jesus just as He stayed on the cross for us. He could have come down from the cross but He loves us and wanted to provide a way for us to go to Heaven.

Ray Overholt wrote the heart touching hymn "He Could Have Called Ten Thousand Angels." The words in this hymn bring tears to my eyes. "They bound the hands of Jesus In the garden where He prayed They led Him through the streets in shame They spat upon the Saviour So pure and free from sin They said, "Crucify Him He's to blame" He could have called ten thousand angels To destroy the world (the world) and set Him free He could have called ten thousand angels But He died alone (alone) for you and me."

If you are reading this devotion, allow it to go from head knowledge to heart knowledge how much Jesus loves you. There is nothing you could ever do that would make Him stop loving you. You might wonder why I keep telling you that Jesus loves you. The reason is because of an illustration that a pastor used in a sermon.

An old Methodist preacher was asked why he kept preaching the same sermon over and over? The pastor replied "I am going to keep preaching it until you get it". I am going to keep telling you Jesus loves you until you allow it to go from head knowledge to heart knowledge.
We know He loves us because He proved He loves us when He died for us.

You might think He knows I love Him. If we really loved Him, we wouldn't say things an do things that hurt Him. Are you serving Jesus? If not, why aren't you serving Him? Jesus left His Father, His home and all that He had to come to earth and die for us so we can be saved.

To serve Jesus, you will have to shut off the television, get out of your comfort zone and go tell people Jesus loves them. However, it's not enough to tell people that Jesus loves them, we have to prove it to them by our kind loving words and actions. May God help us to give Jesus the love and respect He deserves.

Joanne Lowe
May 3, 2020

HIS HEART AND HIS BODY

"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
King James Version

Many years ago when I lived in East Texas, Dr. Bailey, my Sunday school teacher who was also my doctor, had a party for her Sunday school class in her home. She lived in a big house. Before we got there for the party her husband made a cross and brought it in and laid it on her living room floor. After we finished having refreshments she had us go in the living room for our devotion. That was the first time we saw the cross.

Dr. Bailey taught us a lesson that I will never forget about the agony and pain that Jesus suffered for our sins on the cross. She gave us paper and pens and had us write on the paper every sin we had committed. I am ashamed to say this but my list was the longest of every person there.

My heart broke that day and I cried like I had never cried. I had already asked Jesus to come into my heart to be my personal Saviour so I knew I was saved but when I understood just how much pain He endured because of me, I was amazed and humbled that He would love me this much.

I have heard many sermons about the physical pain that Jesus had while He was hanging there on that cross, dying for my sins and for your sins but I have never heard a sermon about the emotional pain He endured on the cross. I have said this many times and I will keep saying it until God calls me to Heaven. "No one loves you like Jesus loves you and nobody ever will".

I believe with all my heart that Jesus died of a broken heart. Marvin P. Dalton wrote a beautiful heart touching hymn about our precious Saviour " O What a Savior". The words in this hymn bring tears to my eyes. "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 proved His love for us. What are we doing to prove to Him that we love Him? We can tell people we love Him but He can see into our heart and He knows if we love Him or just putting on an act. Please raise your hands and your heart to Jesus and join me in praising the "KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS". Worthy is the Lamb of God! All hail, King Jesus!

I love You, dear Jesus and I long to see You face to face and one happy joyful day I will see You. The next time yoi are hurting, allow Jesus to pick you up and carry you until the pain goes away. He loves you and He loves you uncondtionally.

Joanne Lowe
May 2, 2020

THANK YOU

"Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah."

Psalms 68:19
King James Version

Precious Heavenly Father, what a healing balm it is to our weary battle scarred heart to know that You not only love us unconditionally, You also take care of us. We are Your children and I pray that we will act like Your children. Please help us to love one another uncondtionally as Jesus has commanded us to love one another. I pray for every man, every women, every boy and every girl who has not asked Jesus into their heart to be their personal Saviour. Thank You for loving me even when I hurt You. In Jesus' Name, I pray. Amen.

Joanne Lowe
May 1, 2020