John Henry Jowett. Born in 1864 in England, and spent most of his days in England, New York, and London before passing away in 1923. He was a preacher ; and while he was known as one of the best pastors of his time, he was known to bring a written version of his sermon to the pulpit and read line to line. Why was he so well thought of, you might ask. It was the fact that his preaching did not include fancy tactics or additions, he just simply preached the word of God. People are attracted to the Truth, whether they realize that or not. John Henry wrote a quote that I want us all to connect to this weekend:
“God comforts us not to make us comfortable, but to make us comforters”.
Simple, yes. Profoundly Christ-like and crucial for us to understand in the midst of the hard. The word of God says it this way,
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)
He is The God of ALL comforts. He comforts us in ALL our affliction, and He does this so that we can comfort those who are walking through any affliction as well. I know that it has been amazing for me to see how my eyes have been open to the suffering of those around me because of the journey the Lord has us on personally. I do not think it is that people have suddenly started suffering more; no, I believe it is because God has brought me to a place in which I find compassion and heartfelt love for those around me who are walking through hard things. Now, I am drawn to people who are in the middle of the hards and uncomfortables of life, because I so want to help them see Christ and find His comfort in the midst.
So, what about you? Who around you needs the comfort that only God Himself can give this weekend? Who can you reach out to and encourage, who can you serve or minister to in a way that might cause them to be able to breathe in deeply the love of God that whispers, “You are not alone. You have never been alone and you never will be. I am with you in this and I am with you in all things. I’ve got this.” My exhortation to us all today is that we would step outside of our comfort zones in order to do just this. All things through the One who loves us so much that He gave it all.
Seeds and Leaven 