Happy Saturday! 

Prayer:  “You, God are worthy of praise.  You are seated on Your throne in power, glory, splendor and majesty.  Even now the angels are declaring Your holiness; those around the throne sing Your praise.  I bless You for Your mercy that endures and Your Spirit that empowers. Be glorified in my life, oh God. Amen.”

“So Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Have faith in God.’”

Mark 11: 22

Don’t you just love a passage of scripture that just gets right to the message?  This simple scripture is spoken after Peter notices the withered fig tree that Jesus had cursed.  Jesus says to Peter, “Have faith in God.”

Faith by itself will never be as important as the object of our faith.  Sometimes faith is placed in the wrong places for faith is only as valuable as the value of its object. 

Jesus uses these words to teach the disciples about the power of faith.  Jesus further tells them that faith has the power to move mountains and toss them into the sea.  I love the way my meditation tonight says, “Faith also has the power to capture God’s attention in our prayers.” Verse 24 says, “Therefore I say to you, whatever you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” I do not think that God wants us to think of our faith as a vending machine, but what I do think is that it calls us to ask ourselves “How much faith do we really have?”  The potential of a life of faith is limitless.  So why do we pray such little prayers to such a big God?  The Lord of heaven, the Creator of all things has unlimited resources.  The storehouse of God is without end.

“Faith believes when there is no sight.” Faith calls us to be willing to be obedient when we really do not want to follow the path.  Faith forgives and makes us free to take risks and then lifts us up when we fail.  Faith allows us to love those we find unlovable.  This kind of faith only has power when it is founded in God and God alone. 

Take joy in this journey of faith.  Wear comfortable shoes and get some sleep.  Count your blessings and say your prayers.  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 only moved by what I believe and I believe God.

Prayer alert:  Tatum Kate finished up her chemo this week. Radiation is the next step and begins in the near future.

Also, I have my second ordination interview on Monday afternoon at 3:15.  I ask for your prayers as I continue on this journey of faith.  Peace, gc

Happy Thursday! 

Prayer:  “Dear God, Your Word teaches that faith is the catalyst of a life well lived. With that in mind, I ask You to strengthen my faith. Amen.”

“Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.”

Romans 3: 28

The prophet Job asked the question, “How then can a man be righteous before God?”  (Job 25: 4) The greatest lie Satan ever tells is that man and women have the ability to make themselves acceptable to God.  Paul is very clear on this point.  He states that the only way we become righteous is by faith.  In one verse Paul eliminates works, good intentions, rituals, religious exercises or anything else we can think of to do in hopes of bringing ourselves before God as worthy of salvation.  Paul repeatedly says that salvation is of the Lord and there is nothing we can contribute.  Salvation is by God’s mercy, by God’s grace, the result of a divine relationship and a relational encounter with Jesus Christ founded on faith. God is the author and creator of our faith and desires a divine encounter with us through faith.

God views our faith as righteousness.  Faith is not a human work—but a divine gift.  It is God’s grace that makes faith possible.  The greatest power of faith is seen in justification.  Justification is the act by faith which gives us, as sinners, a righteous standing before a holy God.  Praise God for every good and perfect gift especially the gift of faith!

Take joy in the journey.  Wear comfortable shoes and get some sleep.  Count your blessings and say your prayers.  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 only moved by what I believe and I believe God.

Happy Wednesday! 

Prayer:  “Lord, My heart is to worship You in spirit and truth.  I want not only my words to glorify You, but my very life itself to bring You glory.  Lord, You are the creator of life, the author of salvation, the sustainer of all that is, and You are my Savior.  I love You and desire to serve You. Amen.”

“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that counts is faith working through love.

Galatians 5: 6

For the Jews circumcision was the outward and visible sign of their covenant relationship with God.  The issue of circumcision created a great deal of drama among the first century church and a special council was convened to resolve this issue.  The outcome was that salvation was by faith alone.  The religious rules had tried to effect change from the outside in, but faith in Christ effected change in people from the inside out.  It was faith in God that made people right with God and not any outward sign or work they could do. 

There are those who still try to substitute works for faith instead of doing works because of their faith.  We as believers do not perform good works in order to be saved, we perform good works because we have been saved by the love and grace of Jesus and anything we do to further the kingdom of God is a reflection of our faith.  Real faith produces results because faith produces action. 

Take joy in this journey of faith!  Wear comfortable shoes and get some sleep.  Count your blessings and say your prayers.  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 only moved by what I believe and I believe God.

Happy Tuesday!

Prayer: "Lord, it is with a grateful heart that I wish to say thank You for Your grace.  Your heart beats to the tune of grace and I worship You for that truth. You deserve my best today, because You gave Your best on the Cross.  Amen."

"That no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for the just shall live by faith.  Yet the law is not of faith, but the man who does them shall live by them."

Galatians 3: 11, 12

We are studying Paul in my New Testament class.  This week we have been studying Romans. Last week we studied Galatians.  Paul wrote this letter to the Galatians because they were trying to gain salvation through the Torah Law. The Torah pointed out the sinfulness of the Jews.  The Torah was more of a “works” instead of “grace” path of salvation.  The only way we become right with God is through faith in Jesus and because of Jesus' faithfulness to God. Thankfully, God sent Jesus to intervene for us that we might become righteous.  

My meditation tonight made this statement, "On the Cross, God treated Jesus as if He had lived our sinful lives so that by faith in Christ, His righteousness could be credited to our account.  This results in God now treating us as if we had lived Christ's perfect life."  Our faith must solely rely on Christ because Christ did what the Law could never do which is to bring someone into right standing before a holy God.  This is salvation by grace alone, faith alone and in Christ alone.

Take joy in this journey of faith!  Wear comfortable shoes and get some sleep.  Count your blessings and say your prayers.  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 only moved by what I believe and I believe God.

Prayer requests:  Next Monday is my second ordination interview.  I ask your prayers as I continue in this journey of faith. 

Also, Fran Welch, the cousin of our sister in law, is battling cancer and will be spending some time at MD Anderson in the near future. Please offer prayers of healing, peace and strength for she and her husband. Thanks, gc

Blessed Sunday to you all! 

Today, another Brite student and I were commissioned as interns for Rush Creek Christian Church.  I am looking forward to getting to know this congregation and working with them in the ministries of Rush Creek. 

Prayer:  “Lord, I love You.  Help me to live this day completely dependent on You.  Keep pride and arrogance from entering my heart.  With a humble, thankful heart I place my life in Your hands. Use my life for Your glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

“Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith.”

Habakkuk 2: 4

You know, Christians are just different folks.  We Christians are not perfect or better than anyone else.  Many people of this world might think these things and if we think these things then all we carry around with us is pride.  There is no room in our lives for destructive pride.  The thing that sets Christians apart from the rest of the world is faith.  The faith of a Christian believer is rooted in one thing and one thing only: Galatians 2: 20 “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Our sin was crucified that day on Calvary’s hill and we continue to confess and die to our sin each day so that we remain faithful to Christ. Each time we confess our sin it is an act of faith that brings new life.  We no longer live alone because more of Christ lives within us and we become more complete in our faith and love of God through Christ. 

Everyone lives a life of faith.  Some people place their faith in money, business, jobs or other things of this earth, but Christian believers place our faith in the unfailing promise of the crucified  and risen Christ.

So here is the question for the day…Where to do you place your faith?

Take joy in the journey.  Wear comfortable shoes and get some sleep.  Count your blessings and say your prayers.  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 only moved by what I believe and I believe God.