All of Your Heart
“Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your
heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning. And rend your
hearts, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is
gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him
of the evil.” (Joel 2: 12, 13 KJV)
Today is the first day of a new year. How happy we would make our Heavenly
Father if we will resolve that we will give Him all of our hearts and not hold
anything back from Him. He gave us the greatest gift that anyone can give; His
precious beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. If He can make this heartbreaking
sacrifice for us, how dare you and I not give Him all that we have. It all
belongs to Him anyway.
I received an email from someone who told me that he was heartbroken and very
discouraged. This person told me that he has been in the ministry for over
twenty years but was going to resign his position because he felt that he wasn’t
effective in his service to Jesus. For many years, people had made harsh,
criticizing and judgmental remarks to this person. Instead of praying for and
encouraging this person, they had discouraged this person.
Pastors, please don’t give up! Please don’t leave the ministry. Please keep
preaching from your hearts with compassion and with love and understanding for
your congregation. You may never see the fruit of your sermons but Jesus sees
the fruits and He records them in His heart.
One of my beloved pastors that I had many years ago preached a sermon that
didn’t penetrate my heart until several years later. He had planted the seed in
my heart that I needed to surrender my life to Jesus in full time service. I
wasn’t really listening to the sermon that day because my mind was elsewhere. I
think if you are honest with yourselves, you probably have also let your mind
wander while listening to a sermon.
Because of what my pastor said in his sermon, I was freed from the bondage of
devastating depression and daily suicidal thoughts. Pastor Byron said, “If you
want to fly higher than a kite, start bragging on Jesus.” I started bragging on
Jesus and began to experience a joy, happiness, excitement and peace that I had
never known.
We read in the Bible “For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and
returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and
bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my
word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but
it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing
whereto I sent it. ” (Isaiah 55: 10, 11) Pastors, when you preach it will not
return void to Jesus but it will prosper in the thing whereto He sent it.
One day all of us will stand before a Holy God and give an account of the things
we have said and done to one another. May God forgive us for being critical and
judgmental of others. As a dear pastor friend has said so many times in his
sermons, “If you will concentrate on keeping your own heart right before God,
you won’t have time to criticize and judge others.”
If ever we needed to be praying for our pastors and their families, it is now.
Our pastors make many sacrifices for us. They give up precious time with their
own families so they can be available for us. They are on call twenty four hours
a day. They get up in the middle of the night many times to go visit someone who
is sick or dying. They pray for us and weep for us. They counsel us and
encourage us.
Let’s not forget to thank God for our pastor’s spouse because our pastor’s
spouse is the person who makes the home comfortable and encourages our pastor.
Our pastor’s spouses are the ones who do things around the church that nobody
else will do. Don’t forget to pray for your pastor’s children. It is not easy
being a pastor’s child because everyone is looking at them and judging them.
Are you serving Jesus with all of your heart or are you keeping something for
yourself? If you have surrendered everything to Jesus, are you willing to shut
off the television and call someone who is lonely and hurting and who
desperately needs to know that somebody cares? Do people know that you love
Jesus? Above all, does Jesus know that you love Him?
Joanne Lowe
January 1, 2008
joannelowe8@cox.net
http://joannelowe.blogspot.com
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