A SHOUT OF VICTORY

“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

1 Thessalonians 4:16,17 KJV

One joyous day Jesus is coming back for us with a shout of victory.  It will be the loudest shout that has ever been heard.  People shout at football games for their favorite team but the loudest shout we hear now will not equal the shout that Jesus is going to give when He comes back for us.

Jesus is going to give a shout of happiness and victory.  As much as we want to see Him, I believe He wants to see us more because we are His bride and He loves us so much He died for us.  He not only died for our sins on the cross, He also defeated satan so we don’t have to live in bondage to satan anymore.

When Jesus shed His precious blood for us on the cross, He set us free from the shackles and bondage of satan.  If we have confessed and repented of our sins and invited the Christ of Calvary into our heart, satan can’t keep us in bondage to him any longer.  Thank God for the blood of Jesus.

Have you forgiven the people who have hurt you and have you asked the people you hurt to forgive you?  One of the greatest sermons I ever heard was the sermon I heard on judging and forgiveness when the pastor said if you will keep your own heart clean, you won’t have the time to judge and condemn others.

Jesus died on the cross and shed His precious blood for the forgiveness of your sins.  This is how much He loves you.

Joanne Lowe

October 7, 2016

THE GIFT OF UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

“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

A mother with tears rolling down her cheeks said “I don’t have money to buy my children Christmas gifts”.  We can give Christmas gifts to our children but if we don’t give them unconditional love every day of the year, we really haven’t given them anything.  God gives us unconditional love every day.

There are parents who never talk to their children except to yell at them and tell them what to do.  Think what would happen if we shut off a movie or game we were watching on television and used that time to talk to our children.  Giving our time to our children is a gift of unconditional love.

What do we do on Christmas morning?  The first thing we should do before opening gifts is to read the story of the birth of Jesus.  It doesn’t matter if have a family or live by ourselves.  I live by myself but every Christmas morning as soon as I wake up I open my Bible and read aloud the birth of Jesus.

Let’s make this coming Christmas the best one we’ve ever had for our children starting with reading the birth of Jesus to them.  We can go into debt with credit cards buying big and expensive gifts for our children but if we don’t read the birth of Jesus to them, we haven’t given them anything that will last.

Precious Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us the gift of unconditional love by giving Jesus to us.  We love You so much and we appreciate all You have done for us.  Thank You for the privilege of serving Jesus.  In Jesus’ Name, I pray.  Amen.

Joanne Lowe

October 6, 2016

A COMMANDMENT FROM JESUS

“This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.”

John 15:12 KJV

When I was a teenager, my Mother used to say to me “It doesn’t matter what I say, you’re going to do what you want to do”.  I think that Jesus might say the same thing to us.  He has told us to love one another like He loves us yet many times we don’t do it.  He didn’t give us an option, He gave us a commandment.

Can we honestly say that we love one another as Jesus has commanded us to love?  Jesus loves us even when we hurt Him.  Our Saviour’s love for us is an unconditional love.  His love for us does not depend on what we do or don’t do because not only does Jesus give us love, He is love, unconditional love.

There would be less violence if we would start loving one another unconditionally.  It is no wonder at all that there is so much violence and hatred.  It is because people feel unloved and unwanted.  It is time that we who claim to be Christians make a special effort to spread the love of Jesus by our actions.

We also need to speak encouraging and loving words to one another.  When we criticize people and say hateful and sarcastic words to them we might as well take a knife and plunge it deep into their heart because it hurts just as much as if we had stabbed them with a knife.  Let’s start loving instead of hating. 

May God help us to love one another unconditionally as Jesus has commanded us to love each other.  What about Jesus?  Do we love Him unconditionally or just when He does something we ask Him to do?  Jesus is not a puppet and we can’t pull His strings.  He does things for us because He loves us.

Joanne Lowe

October 5, 2016

JESUS NEVER SINNED

“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.  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” 

Isaiah 53:3-6 KJV

Jesus never sinned and yet He willingly left His Father, His home and all that He had to come to earth and die on the cross for our sins.  Think about it.  Jesus didn’t have to die on the cross.  His Father didn’t make Him. Our precious Saviour chose to fulfill the mission His Father had given Him.

If you ever think that nobody loves you or cares about you, remember the cross and the agony and pain that Jesus suffered for you and for me.  He was beaten beyond recognition, cursed, spat on, mocked and rejected.  I believe every time they pounded a nail into His hands, He felt the pain in His heart.

I believe that Jesus died of a broken heart.  He was totally alone while hanging on the cross.  God couldn’t look at Jesus because our Saviour had taken our sins on Him.  God is a Holy God and He can’t look at sin.  God cried when they crucified His beloved Son.  He died for you and He died for me.  O how He loves us!

Jesus, when I think about all the pain You suffered because of my sins, it brings tears to my eyes.  O how I love You!   

Joanne Lowe

October 4, 2016

FULNESS OF JOY

“Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”

Psalms 16:11 KJV

Family reunions and parties with our family and friends are nice.  Hopefully, we have a wonderful time laughing and enjoying one another but nothing compares to the fulness of joy we have when we are in the presence of Jesus.  Stay in the presence of Jesus if you want to have joy flood your heart. 

I dearly love my family but I can’t explain the joy I feel when I am in the presence of Jesus.  Jack P. Scholfield wrote the beautiful hymn “Saved, Saved”.  It is one of my favorite hymns.  “Saved by His power divine, Saved to new life sublime!  Life now is sweet and my joy is complete, For I’m saved, saved, saved!”

There is nothing to compare with the joy that floods our heart when Jesus saves us.  When I think about Jesus, the Saviour of the world loving me so much He died for my sins, I am overwhelmed with love and gratitude for Him.  What a Saviour!  What a Friend, this Jesus of Nazareth!

It brings tears of happiness to my eyes to know that one day I will see my precious Saviour face to face and will be with Him for all eternity.  Are you shouting with happiness yet?  Think about it, we will be with Jesus for all eternity and we will be reunited with our loved ones who have gone to Heaven.

Precious Heavenly Father, I pray for every person who is lonely, hurting, sad and depressed.  Please comfort them as only You can.  Reassure them that You love them.  I pray for every pastor.  Please encourage them and may they see many people’s hearts and lives changed.  In Jesus’ Name, I pray.  Amen.

Joanne Lowe

October 3, 2016

ALL THE TIME

“For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks and water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;”

Deuteronomy 8:7 KJV

Lynda Randle wrote the beautiful hymn “God of the Mountain”.  Yes, God is God of the mountains but He is also God of the valleys.  Our Heavenly Father is God all the time.  It doesn’t matter if we are on the mountain top of happiness or in the valley of despair, God is still God and He hasn’t left us.

It doesn’t matter how many heartaches and valleys you have in your life, God cares about you and He will never leave you.  When your heart is breaking. cry out to Him and He will comfort and encourage you as only He can.  He loves you so much He gave His beloved Son to die on the cross for your sins.

I have lost track of the many times God has picked me up and held me close to His loving compassionate heart as He tenderly dried my tears with kisses.  I saw a little girl who was hurting lift her arms up so her daddy would pick her up and comfort her.  That’s what you and I need to do to our Heavenly Father.

Not only do we need to lift our heart up to God, we also need to lift our arms up to Him.  If you have invited Jesus into your heart to be your personal Saviour, God has adopted you into His family and you are part of the family of God.  There is no greater family to be a member of than the family of God.

Heavenly Father, thank You that You’re not only the God of the mountain; You’re also God of the valleys when our heart is breaking.  We love You and we appreciate You.  Thank You for loving us even when we fail You.  In Jesus’ Name, I pray.  Amen. 

Joanne Lowe

October 2, 2016

TAKE HIS PEACE

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

John 14:27 KJV

Jesus has given us His peace but we have to take it.  He tells us to not let our heart be troubled but many times instead of taking His peace and trusting Him to take care of the situation, we worry.  We need to understand that Jesus is not only our Saviour; He is also our Protecter and great Physician.

This is difficult for me to write but God laid it on my heart to share it with you.  Many years ago I was raped and had a baby girl as a result of that rape.  I kept her for five months but didn’t have the money to buy her food and clothes and other things she needed so I placed her for adoption and it broke my heart.

Every year on her birthday I cried and cried and had to give her back to Jesus again.  Finally, one year I told Him I trusted Him to take care of my daughter.  Jesus can take care of our children better than we can because He loves them with an everlasting and unconditional love.

When I told Jesus I trusted Him to take of my daughter, I had peace in my heart.  I still miss my daughter but I know that Jesus loves her and will protect her.  I pray that someone has told her about Jesus and told her that He loves her.  If you are hurting today, give it to Jesus and take His peace.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Jesus.  Precious Saviour, thank You for loving me, for dying for me and for taking care of my daughter.  I love You so much.  In Jesus’ Name, I pray.  Amen.

Joanne Lowe

October 1, 2016