Saturday, February 19, 2011

Happy Friday!

Prayer: “Father, as I begin the day, I ask that You do in me what is required to make me holy. I confess that there is no good thing in me. However, I am confident that Jesus can produce in me the spirit and practice of holiness. I rest today in that assurance. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Romans 6: 22 “Now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.”

Tonight’s meditation held a wonderful epiphany for each of us, “The Lord Jesus received is holiness begun; the Lord Jesus cherished is holiness advancing; the Lord Jesus counted upon as never absent would be holiness complete.” As believers we need to live out our lives clear in the knowledge that without Christ we can do nothing. The world tells us that we are to work and strive to accomplish goals. The goals the world would have us accomplish will have only temporary meaning and time. The world tells us that we must be the best, have the most, be the fastest, be the strongest, the most beautiful and have the world chant our name.

But God says our eternal value is in holiness. Holiness is an eternal accomplishment that never ends. Our holiness will reap eternal rewards as we work in the kingdom here on earth. There is no need to be the best or have the most because God calls us His children. The highest place we will ever be is at the feet of the Father.

Holiness is achieved by staying at the feet of the Father and faithfully walking in the abiding grace and love of Christ in our lives. The interesting thing about this achieving holiness is that we do not work and strive for holiness. We rest in the love of God through the life and death of Jesus Christ. We remember that Christ is sufficient to make us holy. We are made holy as we live our lives resting and believing in Christ and faithfully living in His Word.

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes. Count your blessings and say your prayers. Let us lift each other up in prayer daily remembering that each of us is fighting some sort of battle. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.

PS Please pray for the educators in the state of Texas as they face major changes in the challenges of teaching in the near future. gc

Friday, February 18, 2011

Happy Thursday!

“In every victory let it be said of me, my source of strength, my source of hope is Christ alone.” Carme Russell (This was my morning text from Carme today.)

Prayer: “Father, I confess that without You, I can do nothing. Thank you for the promise that I can do all things through Christ’s strength. Today I need that power so I can be a fruitful believer. My desire is to abide in You. Thank You for being the true Vine and for making me one of Your branches. Amen”

John 15—5-7 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”

The opening phrase of my meditation tonight is “Before we can pray “Lord, Your kingdom come,” we must pray, “Lord, my kingdom go.” How often do we pray those words, “Your will be done”, when in reality we really want “our will be done” ? How often do we want a fast, easy answer? I have discovered that this is what the journey of discernment is all about. When God calls each of us into service we must follow earthly rules and procedures to enact the calling. Discernment is wading through the paperwork without sacrificing the original purpose for the journey. I am discovering during this time of transition from being a full time teacher to retirement to becoming a fulltime student, that decisions made must be made prayerfully especially when one has received a call by God into His service and to be His representative.

Have you ever prayed about something so hard that when the answer came you did not hear it, you did not understand it or you missed it all together? Well, I certainly have. I have also discovered that most of what we pray for will have a relatively simple answer if we just listen and stop trying by our earthly power to accomplish matters of eternity.

Today was such a day. As I have prayed for discernment about the path of ordination the answer came quite clearly…Christ alone. Victory in Jesus’ name was claimed today as I surrendered to these words…Christ alone. These words began in the darkness of early morning and resounded throughout the day in some form or another, even as I read the music selections in our church newsletter. The special music by the praise team will be “In Christ Alone.” So if any of you know me, I threw up my hands and said, “Okay, God I get it!!” I am being called to be a pastoral care giver. God has given me a name…I am an agent of hope. I am called to help those who are dying to have hope even in death and help families to live on in hope through the power of the living hope in Jesus Christ.

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes. Count your blessings and say your prayers. Please continue to keep me in your prayers while lifting each other up in prayer remembering that each of us is fighting some sort of battle. Love you all so very much mighty and faithful prayer warriors, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Happy Wednesday!

Today the first round of cuts was announced through emails and meetings for educators throughout the state of Texas. This is a devastating time in our state for people in the education system. Several of my friends will be out of work in a few short months. I am asking you to pray for all who are involved in education. I also ask you to pray for those who are graduating from college this year. Geni was heartbroken with the news of the cuts.

Prayer: “Father, as Your child I purpose to abide in You today. Open Your Word to me. Teach me to pray. Give me grace to keep my focus on You. May I walk with You in the following of the Holy Spirit. My desire is for You to bear fruit in my life this day. In Your name, Amen”

John`5:4 “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you should abide in Me.”

My best friend, Carme, sends me a text message most mornings. It is usually a passage of scripture that I particularly need to hear at that time or sometimes it is a song that has particular meaning to both of us. The meditation I read for this passage says that the only way to be a “legitimate believer is to be an abiding believer.” To be an abiding believer takes two qualities; persistence and the faithfulness to remain. To remain means to stay and to persist is to never stop following the path of Jesus. We cannot bear fruit in our own lives, but if we remain in Christ and persistently follow the path laid before us then Christ will bear fruit in our lives.

The way we abide in Jesus and He in us is by spending time with Him in prayer, meditation and conversation. When we realize that we can do nothing without Christ in our lives then we gain confidence in the “sufficiency of Christ alone.” Abiding is the part that takes time. When we walk with Christ each day and allow Him to have lordship over our lives then we abide in Him and He can abide in us. When we are persistent in our pursuits to follow then the spiritual fruit Christ desires in each of us is produced.

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes. Count your blessings and say your prayers remembering that everyone is fighting some kind of battle. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Happy Tuesday!

It is once again long Tuesday for me. I don’t get home until nearly 10:00. From 5:15 AM to 10:00 PM is a really long day! Tonight in class someone suggested that we do classroom introductions once again due to our long absence (two weeks) from class due to the icy, winter weather. That, coupled with Minister’s Week when we do not have class, and we have missed three weeks of classes. Minister’s Week is lovingly called “Reading Week.” I am just not sure reading really gets done.

Prayer: “Father, as I begin this day, I submit to You as the Vinedresser. Prepare me for fruitfulness. Prune me if necessary. I welcome Your sovereign activity in my life. Thank you for providing the power of the Holy Spirit within me. Produce eternal fruit in me today, I ask. Amen”

John 15: 1-2 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”

Years ago I used to teach in a private school. There were two of us who taught first grade. Joann was wonderful with plants while I was sort of a “plant them, water them and watch them grow” kind of gardener. I had some type of plant that was (to my eyes) was full, green and pretty. To Joann’s eyes, there was too much in the pot and it needed to be thinned out. By the time she finished thinning out this plant there was not much left. She saw the look on my face when she was finished as it registered sort of a disbelief. Joann assured me that it would come back better than before. It did come back fuller, stronger and more beautiful than it had been before.

As God prepares us for use in His kingdom to bear fruit He may have to do some pruning in our lives. Just as the plant needs to be thinned out so that it may receive its full sunlight and nourishment from the soil, we must be pruned, taught and forgiven, so that we have room in our lives to receive the fullness of God’s wisdom. God removes all of the things in our lives that will keep us from being the servants he has called us to be. I know the saying is old, but it still is quite true and appropriate; “God does not call the equipped, God equips those He has called.” We must be willing to offer up the unhealthy parts of our lives and surrender them for His correction and forgiveness so that His teaching and leading will have lordship over our decisions, thoughts and actions. The action of the pruning may be painful, but the healing and our growth in God’s wisdom will enable all of us to serve in the Kingdom.

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes. Count your blessings and say your prayers. Let us continue to lift each other up in prayer remembering that each of us is fighting some sort of battle. Love you all so very much, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy Monday and Happy valentine’s Day!

We attended the induction ceremony with Geni for the Kappa Delta Pi Educators National Honor Society on Sunday afternoon. Needless to say there were a few proud tears from this mom, lots of pictures taken by a very proud Dad and a beautiful daughter who will make an exceptional teacher. It was a wonderful ceremony. As we sat in the ballroom during the ceremony I found myself giving thanks for so many things; for Geni who has worked so hard, for those new educators and how hard it is going to be to get a job in Texas in the fall and for God to just let Casey peek down on his sister and share this moment with the rest of us. He would have been so proud.

Prayer; “Father, as I begin the day, I submit myself to You. I open my life to Your Word. I accept it as true and ask You to produce fruit in me. Do not allow me to harden my heart or be distracted by the cares of the world. I choose to focus my life on Jesus. In His name I pray. Amen”

Mark 4: 20 “These are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the Word, accept it and bear fruit some thirty fold—some sixty—and some a hundred.”

Okay, it is so nice to be thawing out. The jury is still out on the plants on my porch as to whether they survived the cold winter weather. We placed a blanket over them on the cold days and nights and watered them periodically. Time will tell. Hopefully the soil survived the winter blast and extreme cold. The plants were beautiful in the spring, survived the summer heat and did well in the fall.

Our care during the cold will hopefully prevent the death of these plants. As Christians we must take care of the soil of our souls year round. We must blanket ourselves in God’s Word. As we enrich our souls with the Word we are called in the scriptures to hear it, accept it as true and then act on it by bearing the fruit it produces. This process can only occur if we allow the life giving Spirit of God to flow through us and open our hearts to receive this Word and be taught by it. We need to read it, listen to it, meditate on it and pray that God will reveal its meaning to us. When God reveals the meaning of His Word to us through study and prayer then we must bear that fruit to those in need.

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes. Count your blessings and say your prayers. Let us continue to lift one another in prayer each day remembering that everyone fights some sort of battle each day. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Happy Saturday!

Was today a simply gorgeous day or what!? It is so nice to be thawing. There was still ice on my deck this morning but by this afternoon it was all finally gone.

I must share a mother moment with you. It is a moment of exceptional pride. Geni has been named to the President’s List at UNT by achieving a 4.0 for the fall semester. She has now been invited to join a national honor society, Kappa Delta Pi. The induction ceremony is tomorrow in Denton. We are so proud of her and her accomplishments. Her brother is taking her shift at Starbucks so she can attend.

Prayer: “Lord, today help me to hear Your truth with Your mind and see this world through Your eyes in Jesus name, Amen”

Galatians 6:1-2 “Brethren if a man is overtaken by in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

In my meditation tonight the author likened this verse to a soldier on a battlefield. He spoke of an injured soldier on the battlefield and how the other soldiers bear him/her up and carry their wounded comrade to the nearest aid station or wherever they need to go to receive help. Most of us do not get the chance to rescue someone with a physical wound and get them to the nearest place for help, but we certainly have opportunity to rescue in other ways. There is a group at our church that makes sandwiches for the homeless shelter. There is a group that makes prayer shawls for those in need of prayer. There are other ways that our church helps rescue those in need.

But on Friday I was able to begin to put my fledgling chaplain skills to work with a co-worker who is having trouble with her kindergarten son. I really did not do much more than listen and ask a few questions. I did not solve her problem but I gave her someone to talk to who would listen. Sometimes all someone needs is a listening ear and a good cup of coffee and a prayer to help them work things out. But as the body of Christ when one of us suffers all of us suffer because as Jesus’ body was broken and was wounded we become wounded also and the body of Christ (the rest of us) needs to come to the rescue. We then become the hands and feed of Jesus. We are not only called to rescue, but to stay with our charge until they reach a place of safely. We stay with them until they are healed. This is how we become not only the hands and feet of Jesus, but His eyes and ears as well.

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes. Count your blessings and say your prayers. Let us remember to continue to lift one another up in prayer each day remembering that everyone is fighting some sort of battle. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.