Blessed Sunday to you all!

I have spent the day after church reading about slavery and the Holocaust. I have completed my reading and will write tomorrow. I will turn this paper in on time and check the e-college at least twice per day so I do not get caught unaware again.

I am writing this from my study where Bauer is on the pillow, Jackson is lying on the rug beside my desk and Luther is sleeping on my foot. I love my boys!

Prayer:  Dear Lord, every day that I wake up, I know I have a new opportunity to make a difference for You. I ask right now that You provide me with the strength and knowledge to make that difference today. Show me what You want me to learn, and guide me to where You want me to go. It is through Jesus that I pray. Amen.

“For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; His countenance beholds the upright.”

Psalm 11: 7

Everybody has something that carries their reputation from childhood to adulthood. I have always been able to sing. When I was a senior in high school and the final senior edition of the school newspaper came out I was predicted to be an opera singer. I did go on to study opera in college and sang in a few operas, but did not pursue it outside of the university. I preferred musical theater and singing in church. But I still had the reputation as a singer. I was not a perfect singer, but I was pretty good. For me, singing is like breathing. It is a gift that I intend to take with me to eternity.

In the verse today, God has the reputation for being righteous. For God, His reputation is perfect righteousness.  We fall short of that perfection, but through the blood of Jesus and the forgiveness of our sins we have received perfect righteousness. Jesus stands in the gap between us and God and God sees us as perfect. The blood of Jesus is so thick and so pure that our sins go unseen by the Father because they were taken by the Son on the Cross. God sees us as perfect because we are in relationship with His Son. If we have done our jobs on earth correctly then we will have the reputation for being Christians. That reputation will remain with us into eternity.

But here is the thing…our reputations are gained by the choices we make and the company we keep. We are not known for what we would like to be, would like to have done or a way we should have acted. We are known for what we choose. It is our task while here on the earth to act in ways that are pleasing to God by following Jesus’ lead in this life and so we can be known as righteous in the eyes of God.

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes, give thanks with a grateful heart and get some sleep. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni, Travis and Sarah.

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.