DID WE REMEMBER JESUS

“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.”

John 19:30 KJV

Yesterday was Memorial Day.  Did we remember Jesus when we remembered the brave men and women who gave their lives for our country?  Jesus not only gave His life for our country, He gave His life for every person in the world.  When Jesus said “It is finished” He made salvation possible for everybody.

No one made Jesus go to the cross.  Jesus willingly walked that long lonely road to Calvary to die on the cross for us because He loves us unconditionally.  He was cursed, abused, spat on, mocked, beaten beyond recognition and He suffered all that abuse because He loves us.  What a Saviour!

Robert Harkness wrote the beautiful and inspiring hymn “Why Should He Love Me So”.  Have you ever asked yourself why Jesus should love you so much He died for you?  It is because not only does Jesus give love, He is love.  If someone asks you who Jesus is, tell him or her that Jesus is unconditional love.

Think about it.  Jesus did not have to leave His Father and His home to come to earth to die for us, He chose to come because He loves us unconditionally and He wanted to fulfill the mission His Father had given Him.  I repeat, did we remember Jesus on Memorial Day?  He deserves to be loved and respected.

Heavenly Father, thank You for our precious Saviour.  Jesus, thank You for loving us so much that You died for our sins.  I love You, dear Saviour with all of my heart and I long for the day when I will have the privilege of seeing You face to face.  In Jesus’ Name, I pray.  Amen.

Joanne Lowe

May 31, 2016

GOD CARES ABOUT US

“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

Revelation 21:4 KJV  

God cares about us and loves us so much that He is going to wipe away all tears from our eyes.  I believe He is going to wipe the tears from our eyes with tender compassionate kisses of unconditional love.  What a privilege it is to be adopted into our Heavenly Father’s family.  It is the greatest family of all.

Not only is God going to wipe our eyes, we also won’t remember the times when we were yelled at or hit or told we were stupid.  We will have happiness because the former things will be passed away.  The scars of abuse that we carried in our heart will be gone, removed by our Heavenly Father Himself.

God loves His children and it makes Him angry when someone hurts His children.  Not only does it make Him angry, it breaks His heart.  If you are a parent then you know how you feel when someone hurts your children.  It is time that we start loving one another unconditionally as Jesus has commanded us to love.

Heavenly Father, thank You for being a compassionate and loving Father.  Thank You for the many times You have comforted and encouraged me.  I pray for every person who is hurting.  Please comfort and encourage them and reassure them of Your love.  In Jesus’ Name, I pray.  Amen. 

Joanne Lowe

May 30, 2016

WE NEED TO FEED THEM

“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

I have beautiful flowers that grow every year outside of my office window.  However, this year there are no blooms.  I told someone how disappointed I was that they aren’t growing this year and she said that I needed to get fertilizer and feed them.  Just as plants need fertilizer to grow, we need fertilizer.

Jesus is our Fertilizer and He not only feeds us every day with unconditional love, there are times He tells us every hour that He loves us.  If Jesus didn’t tell me every day that He loved me, I would probably just stay in bed.  We need the love of Jesus and we also need others to love us.

Just as we need love, so our family and friends need love.  We need to feed them with the love of Jesus.  How do we feed them with the love of Jesus?  We feed them the love of Jesus by reassuring them that Jesus loves them and that He cares about them and that He will never leave them.

Our Heavenly Father loves us so much that He gave His Son to die on the cross for our sins so we can live in Heaven for eternity.  God nourishes us with unconditional love through His beloved Son.  Not only did God love us yesterday, He loves us today and He will love us tomorrow and for all eternity.

When is the last time you fertilized your family and friends with the love of Jesus?  If married people don’t fertilize each other with love, the marriage will die.  Let’s start loving one another with unconditional love.  Also, tell Jesus that you love Him.     

Joanne Lowe

May 29, 2016

THE JOY OF OUR HEART

“The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.”

Psalm 118:14 KJV

Not only is Jesus our strength, our song and our salvation, He is also the joy of our heart.  When we are walking through dark valleys and are lonely, sad, discouraged and downhearted, Jesus is with us to encourage us and cheer us on to victory.  Our precious Saviour is our Cheerleader in the storms of life.

Next week hurricane season will be here in Florida where I live but we always have storms of life and usually there is no warning.  Have you ever had a day when everything was great when all of a sudden without any warning, you became discouraged and sad?  That was a vicious attack of satan.

Jesus has warned us in 1 Peter 5:8 to be on the alert for the sneaky devastating attacks of satan.  Nothing makes satan any happier than if he can discourage us so much we stop serving Jesus. WE MUST NOT LET THAT HAPPEN!  We need to keep our eyes on Jesus and cry out to Him for help.

Calling Jesus for help is not like calling the police or an ambulance in an emergency.  Jesus comes immediately to help us.  We aren’t put on hold or get a busy signal, He answers as soon as we call Him.  What a Saviour!  What a Friend, this Jesus of Nazareth!  O how I love Jesus.  I long to see Him face to face.

Praise God!  One day I will see Him face to face.  Are you going to see Him?  Have you invited Him into your heart to be your personal Saviour?  If not, say yes to Jesus today.  He loves you so much He died for you.  He will be the best Friend you have ever known and He will never leave you.  

Joanne Lowe

May 28, 2016

THE UNCONDITIONAL LOVE OF OUR SAVIOUR

“He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.”

Matthew 26:42 KJV

What kind of love is this that Jesus would say to His Father, “Thy will be done”?  It is the amazing unconditional love of our Saviour for you and for me.  He did not have to die on the cross for our sins.  God didn’t make Him die on the cross.  Jesus willingly died for you and for me.  O how He loves us.

He loves us so much He died for us.  How much do we love Him and what are we doing for Him?  Jesus deserves all of our praise, all of our time, all of our talents and all of our heart.  He should have first place in our heart and come before everyone and everything.

We brag about our children and grandchildren.  Are we bragging about Jesus?  Do we tell everyone we see what He has done for us?  Do we include Jesus in our conversations and do we take Him with us where we go?  If we can’t take Jesus with us, we shouldn’t go to those places.

Someone asked if it is okay to watch movies on television.  If we would be comfortable with Jesus sitting beside us watching the movie, it is okay to watch it.  However, if we feel uncomfortable watching the movie with Jesus, we should not watch it.  The movie should make us think about the love of Jesus.

We know Jesus loves us unconditionally because He proved His love for us when He allowed them to beat Him beyond recognition, spit on Him and nail Him to the cross.  How much do we love Him and what are we doing for Him?

Joanne Lowe

May 27, 2016

ARE YOU BROKENHEARTED

“The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.”

Psalm 28:7 KJV

Hopefully we are happy most of the time.  However there are times when we are in the middle of a crisis or have been walking through a dark valley for several days and we feel like giving up and going to bed and staying there.  Are you brokenhearted?   There is good news.  Jesus is our Strength and our Shield.

Jesus really loves us and He cares about us.  He wants us to be happy.  He also wants us to have an abundant life (John 10:10).  When we feel like giving up and going to bed and staying there, it is then that Jesus picks us up in His loving arms and carries us through the dark valleys.  O how He loves us!

Not only does Jesus care about us and love us, He also understands how we feel.  I believe there were many times when He was here on His mission that He felt like going to bed and staying there.  He knows how it feels to be rejected, ridiculed and abused.  He knows how much it hurts.

If you are hurting and brokenhearted, tell Jesus.  He will be faithful to pick you up in His loving arms and carry you until the pain goes away.  Not only will He carry you through the dark valley, He will set you once again on the mountain top of happiness.  We have a loving and compassionate Saviour.

Joanne Lowe

May 26, 2016

WE ALREADY HAVE THE SOLUTION

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

2 Chronicles 7:14 KJV

I heard someone on television say, “We need a solution to all the unrest and violence in the world”.  I submit to you on the authority of the Word of God that we already have the solution to the unrest and violence in the world.  God will forgive our sin and heal our land if we will do what He tells us to do.

Joanne Lowe

May 25, 2016