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Inspirational Article
From
Joanne Lowe
Index of Writings by Joanne Lowe on Gospel Web
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Inspirational Article
From
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Many years ago when I lived in Texas and was able to do so, I would kneel beside my bed and read my Bible out loud. I did that every day for six months. What a precious time that was to me. How I was encouraged by His sweet and tender love for me! The Bible says “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). If you want your faith to increase, don’t read your Bible silently, read it out loud. When we just read our Bibles, we aren’t hearing; we are reading.
Some of you may have heard this song “Lord, help me live from day to day in such a self forgetful way that even when I kneel to pray, my prayers shall be for others”. For three months when I prayed this is all that I said. I didn’t ask Him for anything. All He heard from me during those three months was “ Lord, help me live from day to day in such a self forgetful way that even when I kneel to pray, my prayers shall be for others”. As I look back and reflect on my life, I realize that God was preparing my heart for the ministries that He has entrusted to me.
Encouraging others is one of most important and needed things that you can do each day. It is also urgent that we do this because there are so many people who are hurting but they don’t want anybody to know so they plaster a smile on their faces and keep going.
There is no such thing as a gloomy Christian. If our hearts have been washed in the precious blood of Jesus, we have a joy and happiness in our hearts that nobody and nothing can take away. However, there are times when critical and sarcastic words that have been said to us and cruel things that have been done to us can make us feel like we are worthless and that our dear Saviour couldn’t possibly love us if we really are as rotten as these people have told us we are. When this happens, it is extremely difficult to have a smile on our faces that comes from our hearts. It is then that we need to cry out to Jesus and ask Him to protect us from all the hatred and heartaches of this world. He loves us dearly and He will be faithful to once again restore the joy and happiness in our hearts so that our smiles will be genuine.
When Jesus was here on earth, He spent His entire life in service to others. How can we do less than give our lives every day in service to others? Sometimes we allow ourselves to get so caught up in our own plans that we become selfish with our time and our talents. Sad to say, most of the time we don’t even realize it. This is why it is so important that we allow Jesus to do a daily, and if needed, an hourly checkup of our hearts and our motives. If we are putting our plans and our desires before His plans and desires, then we are not only being selfish, we are hurting Him and we are being disobedient to Him.
How is your heart today? If Jesus were to return for us while you are reading this, would you be able to look Him in the eye and say “I have done my best for You”? Let’s make serving Jesus and serving others our top priority. I urge all of us, including myself, to become more aware of others and the needs of their hearts. We can buy them food and clothes but if their hearts are empty because they feel like nobody loves them or cares about them then all the other things are in vain and mean nothing. Father, please give us a heart for others so we can effectively meet their needs. Amen.