“God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”
Psalm 53: 2, 3
King James Version
I was talking to a dear friend yesterday morning. My friend is going through a very difficult time right now and he is very discouraged. He has had a lot of sorrow and heartaches in his life. As he was sharing the difficult situation he is facing with me, God laid it on my heart to be sure that my friend knows without a shadow of doubt and understands that Jesus really does love him and that Jesus hurts when he is hurting. I gave my friend one of my new business cards and he read on the card “Jesus loves you.”
As my friend was looking at my business card, he got tears in his eyes and said “I’m not a good person. I don’t know how Jesus could love me. I have done a lot of terrible things in my life; hateful things that I know I should not have done.” I told my friend that the unconditional love of Jesus for us is not based on who we are or on the things that we have done or will do. The unconditional and compassionate love of our precious Saviour for us is based on who He is.
Jesus is not only the definition of unconditional love and compassion; He is unconditional love and compassion! His heart is filled with forgiveness for all of us. None of us are any good and none of us are worthy of His love, no, not one of us. It is only because the heart of our precious Saviour is filled with compassion, forgiveness and unconditional love for us that He willingly walked that long and lonely road to Calvary to die for our sins.
He allowed the people to curse Him, mock Him, ridicule Him, beat Him beyond recognition, spit on Him and nail Him to a cross of horror and agony because He loves us so much. What unconditional love and what compassion flowed from the heart of our precious Saviour on the darkest and most horrible day in all of history for you and for me.
That same unconditional love and compassion still flows from the heart of Jesus for every one of us every day of our lives. He loved us yesterday; He loves us today just as much as He did yesterday and He will love us tomorrow just as much as He does today. There is nothing that we can do that will cause Him to stop loving us. Yes, all of us fail Him and hurt Him at times, but He still loves us unconditionally. There is no one like Jesus! No one loves us like Jesus loves us.
We can do good deeds every day and give money to charity but those things do not make us good people. When my friend said to me “I’m not a good person”, he was telling the truth. My friend is not a good person. You are not a good person and I am not a good person. There was only one perfect person and His name is Jesus. I am so thankful that one day our dear Heavenly Father opened His compassionate heart to us and sent His beloved Son to pay the price for our sins so that we may have the privilege of being saved and live in Heaven with Him for all eternity.
Don’t wait until you think you are a good person to ask Jesus into your heart to be your personal Saviour. You will never be good enough no matter what you do. If you have never opened the door to your heart and invited Jesus into your heart to be your personal Saviour, I urge you, I plead with you to say “yes” to Jesus right now. You may not have a tomorrow or even another hour. Swallow your pride, admit that you are a sinner and invite the Christ of Calvary into your heart right now before it is too late!
Joanne Lowe
October 31, 2008
Posts
2 comments:
One of the blogs that I chose to write about is “I am not a good person,” by Joanne Lowe.Lowe engages the reader into her blog by starting off with her quote, “I am not a good person.”By using this quote, the reader automatically thinks the blog is about the wrongs that she has done in her life and how she has changed since then; but to the reader’s surprise, Lowe is not talking about herself, rather a friend of hers that had lost his faith. Lowe’s logos are intriguing by her starting off with a catchy title. The logic continues throughout the blog by Lowe using her friend’s experience to the reader’s benefit. The pagos that Lowe uses makes the reader feel sympathy towards Lowe’s friend while making the reader question himself/herself if they were put in the same situation. The ethos in this blog shows the passion and dedication that Lowe has for her readers.
Throughout the blog, Lowe uses biblical examples, and gives statements as to how the reader can change his/her life by accepting God. The mythos in this blog were completely eliminated. Lowe mentions the fact that people feel that they are too good for God, and that others feel that God doesn’t feel the pain that they go through. Lowe explains in full detail that God feels the emotions that people have, and that He cares for us when we’re doing right, and when we’re doing wrong.Although the blog isn’t in fancy writing, doesn’t have serene pictures nor is colorful, the fact that Lowe breaks down the myths that people feel towards God were calming enough. This site appeals to people that are in a spiritual struggle, and feel that God isn’t listening to them nor helping them in their situations. The title alone draws the audience in, and informs them that God is always there. Lowe provides sufficient examples of the feelings of her friend, and the comfort feeling that he had after talking with her.
Lowe also describes the feelings that she felt when she first heard her friend tell her that he wasn’t a good person. By having the insight on how most people feel, Lowe tries to show through her to stories that God can handle any and everything,and that He loves us for us despite the feelings we have towards ourselves.The point of this blog is to inform people of the love of God, and to show them that there is no such thing as a perfect person, and that He loves us for who we are.
The blog entitled “I’m Not a Good Person” by Joanne Lowe is a touching one under the category “Christian Living.” Joanne defines herself through details about her life such as a personal experience with a friend. She also mentions her business cards with “Jesus Loves You” on them; this established the fact that she is some sort of businesswoman, which suggests that she is well-educated. Joanne also defines herself through the appearance of the blog. The scripture she includes at the beginning of the blog is in red text which indicates that it is very important to her.
This blog appeals to a specific type of reader simply because of the category it is under. The “Christian Living” category will attract Christians and those who are interested in the Christian religion. Also, the blog’s summary claims that she discusses news, politics, and faith from a Christian point of view and most of her other blogs were politically-based. This particular blog is also aimed at non-believers in Christ because of the message of salvation discussed.
Joanne presents her topic in a very personal way; she starts with a personal story of a meeting with a friend that turned into a life experience. The meeting was very private, yet she reveals the details because they are obviously what inspired her to write this particular blog. Her writing is very descriptive and readers can actually visualize this conversation between her and her friend. She almost makes her blog story-like which keeps it interesting. The blog then transitions nicely from storytelling to a teaching format. After the introduction of the story that many people can relate to—believing that they are not a good person—Joanne begins teaching the message of Christ and salvation. She does this with such passion, that readers are instantly engaged. Joanne uses emotions and her own personal feelings in order to convey her point and she is successful in her efforts. She also appeals to the readers’ emotion by telling the horrible story of Jesus’ hanging on the cross for the sins of humanity.
The point of this blog is to stress the fact that no one is technically a good person. Salvation is another main point of the blog; Joanne discusses that people are not saved by their own works, but by their faith. She wants her readers to know how important salvation is and that God’s love is unconditional.
All together, Joanne was successful in writing her blog. She kept the reader interested and effectively conveyed her points. She was able to create a strong, emotional connection with her readers and to keep their attention.
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