Is He in Your Heart?
“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his
Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought
also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one
another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we
that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And
we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of
the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in
him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us.
God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” (1
John 4: 10 - 16 KJV)
Did you know that we need to be on the alert every minute because satan is very
tricky and he will attack us even in the most sacred moments? People have told
me that satan attacked them even while they were sitting in church listening to
their pastor preach the sermon. Two days ago, on Christmas Eve, as I looked
around my home at the beautiful Christmas decorations that my family and friends
had given me, all of a sudden without any warning at all, I started feeling very
discouraged and sad.
Nothing had happened to make me sad. The attack seemed to come from out of the
blue and I couldn’t understand why I was starting to feel discouraged and sad
because I was very happy. In fact, I am happier now than I have ever been in my
life. The reason why I am so happy now is because I dedicated my life to Jesus
in full time service on January 24, 2005.
If Jesus should tarry His return and God doesn’t call me home, next month on
January 24, 2008 I will have the privilege of serving Jesus in full time service
for three years. That may not seem like very long to some people who have been
serving Him for years, but to me, a lady who had crawled under a hospital bed in
a mental hospital over twenty five years ago because I was afraid to live and
afraid to die and was afraid of everyone and everything, it is a miracle of
unconditional love, grace, mercy and compassion from the heart of my precious
Saviour. Is it any wonder that I love Him so much and say, and will continue to
say it for as long as Jesus gives me breath, “There is no one like Jesus? No one
loves us like Jesus loves us.”
Suddenly, as if I had been in a long dark tunnel for a long time and finally saw
a ray of light, I realized what was happening; why I was starting to feel
discouraged and sad when I looked around my home at the beautiful Christmas
decorations. It was because nobody was coming to spend Christmas with me and I
was going to be alone on Christmas Day.
It was also an attack from satan to discourage me from making my Christmas Eve
audio recording to send to all of my dear friends on my mailing list. I decided
that I would not make the recording because nobody would care if I sent it or
not. However, satan didn’t win and he will never win because "greater is He
that is in me, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
Not only is satan a liar; he is also a deceiver. There is absolutely nothing
that satan can do to us that Jesus can’t conquer. Jesus is more than enough for
every crisis, every problem, every heartache and every situation if we will only
trust Him.
As soon as I understood what was happening, that satan was using the decorations
to remind me that I was going to be alone on Christmas Day, I started laughing.
I informed satan that Christmas is not the decorations that are in my home; that
the joy of Christmas is Jesus who lives in my heart.
I told satan that he was not going to discourage me and I immediately took all
the Christmas decorations down. The only thing I didn’t put away was the manger
scene. The minute I finished putting the decorations away, I felt an
overwhelming peace and joy once more flood my heart.
I put the ham in the oven to bake and put the sweet potato’s on to cook. I
opened the can of cranberry sauce and put it in a bowl. At eight o’clock on
Christmas Eve, I had my Christmas dinner. I will have several more meals from
this dinner because it was a half ham.
We don’t have to wait for Christmas or a special occasion to celebrate because
if we have accepted Jesus as our personal Saviour, He lives in our hearts. He is
with us morning, noon, and night and He will never leave us, not even for a
minute.
Not only is Jesus our loving, merciful, forgiving and compassionate Saviour; He
is also a trusted companion and friend. He stays with us when everyone else
leaves us and He is never too busy to listen when we need to talk.
O dear friends, every day of our lives should be Christmas for us if we claim to
be Christians. If Jesus lives in our hearts, we have the joy of the Christ Child
every day of our lives. The Bible tells us that God sent His Son to be the
propitiation for our sins. The definition for propitiation in Webster’s
Dictionary is “something that propitiates; specifically : an atoning sacrifice.”
Jesus went to the cross of Calvary and there allowed Himself to be tortured,
beaten, abused, ridiculed, mocked, spat upon, cursed and crucified for us. He
endured all of that agony and horror for you and for me so that we can have our
sins forgiven and live with Him for all eternity.
Does Jesus live in your heart or are just giving Him lip service? Does He have
control of your heart and your life? Have you surrendered your life to Him in
full time service? You can serve Him full time right in your own home. Again, is
Jesus living in your heart? If not, I urge you; I plead with you to give your
heart and life to Him right now, right this minute before it is too late!
Joanne Lowe
December 26, 2007
joannelowe8@cox.net
www.joanne-ourprecioussaviour.blogspot.com