Inspirational Article From Joanne Lowe Index of Writings by Joanne Lowe on Gospel Web

THE SUN IS RISING

“For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.”

Malachi 4: 1, 2 King James Version

The sun is starting to rise. It looks like it’s going to be a beautiful day outside. It may be a beautiful day outside but is it going to be a beautiful day in our hearts? We don’t have any control over the sun in the sky. Only God has that control. However, there is a Son that we can allow to rise or not and it is the precious Son of God. If Jesus lives in our hearts, we have the choice to allow Him to rise in our hearts every morning when we wake up.

We can choose to be depressed and discouraged all day or we can choose to allow Him to encourage, inspire and motivate us. It is only by spending time with Him every morning before we start our day that He will rise in our hearts. As we allow Him to rise in our hearts, we will feel the joy, peace, excitement and happiness that only He can give to us.

I have found that if I don’t worship and praise Him before I put my feet on the floor when I wake up, satan will immediately attack me with doubts and discouragement. I used to have my worship time with Jesus after I washed my face and hands but I learned the hard way that satan is waiting for any opportunity to discourage and defeat us. It only takes a minute for satan to lie to us and deceive us. We must not give him that opportunity.

Of course, if you have never humbled yourself, admitted that you are a sinner and asked Jesus to forgive you and come into your heart to be your personal Saviour, then you will spend every day in darkness, discouragement and hopelessness. You may think that you don’t need Jesus; that you are doing just fine. However, the world can’t give you anything that will last. The happiness that you think you have is simply a fleeting moment.

Only Jesus can give real happiness, a lasting peace which nobody or nothing can take away, and unconditional love. Jesus is our great Physician. He not only heals our diseases; He heals our emotions and our broken hearts. Jesus is the only one who can see into the depths of our hearts and He is the only one who really knows how much we are hurting. It makes Him very sad when we hurt. He wants us to be happy.

Whatever heartaches, sorrows and discouragement you are facing today, I can tell you on the authority of the Word of God and from personal experience that Jesus is able to restore your joy, peace and happiness. There is nothing too hard for Him but He can’t help us if our hearts are not right before Him. How is the condition of your heart today? Is there something that hurts Him and brings shame to Him? If there is, confess it and ask Him to forgive you.

We can’t expect Him to answer our prayers if there is something that displeases Him in our hearts. Not only that, it is very arrogant of us to ask Him for something if our hearts are not right before Him. Again, how is the condition of your heart today? You can fool your family, your loved ones and you can even fool yourself but you can’t fool Jesus. He knows what is in your heart. Does He smile when He looks in your heart or do tears come to His eyes?

Joanne Lowe

August 24, 2007

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