Happy Friday! 

I spent the most wonderful day with my beautiful daughter. Geni treated me to lunch. We went to the mall where she got her nails done. We had a treat at The Cheesecake Factory and did a little shopping. I did not get my small daily home project done, but time spent with my daughter was so much more important. I love her a whole lot!

Prayer: God of greatness and light. God of goodness and life, You have filled me with joy. I have spent time in Your presence and remembered Your deeds of kindness, forgiveness, Presence and unfailing love. You have allowed me to lean on Your everlasting arms and have filled me with joy once again. The problems I face are not gone, but because Your sacred Word states that the joy of the Lord is my strength then I greatly rejoice in the trials because of Your continual Presence in my life. Lord, in Your mercy, hear this prayer. Amen.

“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trails. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.”

1 Peter 1: 1: 6-8

Having joy does not mean that all the problems are gone. Joy is being secure in the knowledge that God is with us and gives us a new day to receive the joy given by His strength. God is present in the pleasant and the unwanted circumstances. The joy we are given as a gift with each new day is God’s presence in our lives and is sufficient for all situations we face, because we are God’s creation and God knows us intimately and better than we know ourselves. When things are going our way then the joy of the Lord is our total delight. When times are tough and life situations are really hard then it is the deep, bold joy that causes us to cling to God for the help we need. It takes courage to receive and act in the joy given to us by God. When we cling to God with gladness and praise we become filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.

Take joy in the journey remembering that hope never disappoints. Wear comfortable shoes, pray with a heart filled with gratitude cast your cares upon the Lord and get some sleep. God is up all night anyway and there is no reason for both of you to be awake. Love you all, Bruce and Gaylene.

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 Thursday! 

One more small house project completed and I made a new recipe for dinner. It was a layered cornbread salad. If you are on Facebook the recipe is on there. It would be perfect for a church or office potluck because it makes quite a bit.  Definitely a repeater. Totally delicious! 

Prayer:  Lord of hope. Lord of rest. Lord of the peaceful soul. Your sacred word from the psalmist tells us to find rest for our souls in You alone. When our minds are restless and cannot be still especially at night when we are trying to sleep let us think of You. Lord, may we whisper Your name and wait in Your Presence. When we wait in Your presence we are on holy ground. 

Let us then breathe in the most holy and sacred and call on the Holy Spirit to ease our rapid scattered thoughts and only think of You.  When we are in Your holy Presence please soak us in Your unfailing love where peace, comfort, forgiveness and tender mercies abound. Lord, in Your mercy, hear this prayer. Amen.

“Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him,”

Psalm 62: 5

True hope comes from God. False hope comes from all of the advertising we see on TV. Brighter smiles with toothpaste, romance with perfume, run faster with fancy tennis shoes, better fitness and health with supercharged water and the list goes on. We have so many forces around us that say, “just try me,” and “come this way.”  We cannot be deceived by the information overload with which we are bombarded each day. 

When we are overloaded with the world and all of its distractions let us stop and refocus on the God of hope. When we step into the peaceful presence of God His hope grows within us and we can find rest.

Take joy in the journey remembering that hope does not disappoint.  Wear comfortable shoes, pray with a heart filled with gratitude, cast your cares upon the Lord and get some sleep. God is up all night anyway and there is no reason for both of you to be awake. Love you all, Bruce and Gaylene.

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! 

My dog, Luther, has planted himself under my desk as I write. As bassets are notorious for lying on their backs to sleep I am currently using him as a foot rest and giving the occasional belly rub.  I can’t even put my chair fully under the desk and he does not seem to be bothered at all. And neither am I.

Also, I think I may have downloaded all of my resources for my paper. 

Tomorrow after the daily home project I will begin reading my research and preparing to write this paper. Begin to pray now, I am a bit (no, a lot) out of my league writing this paper.

Prayer: Lord of the rough and smooth places. Lord of the challenge in the journey. Even though the journey sometimes seems long and hard I know You are there, always with me guiding me by Your hand and Your counsel. Help me to find joy in the steepest climb by knowing that You are there. Let me remember to count on Your Divine guidance to find the best way to scale the mountain ahead. Lord, in Your mercy, hear this prayer. Amen.

“The sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.”

Habakkuk 3: 19

“I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.”

Psalm 73: 23-24

The journey beginning in 2007 at Brite has been at times challenging and other times grueling. The good news is that the journey has been not just a road of endurance, with places of joy even in the most difficult times, but an amazing time spent with God.  God has become a constant companion Who has infused His Presence in those steepest of climbs, those most difficult of classes and all of the writing of papers. There have been times I have thought that I could not do this and then in the same breath I knew I had come too far to turn back. The completion of my Brite career is not the end of the journey, but the preparation for the next journey to come. So I think for the remainder of the summer I will remember God’s unfailing presence in the journey and think of His glory that I feel all around me and see in those who have walked this journey with me. It is when I look into the eyes of Love I realize I am on a high place because it is in those who have journeyed with me that I see the glory of God. Thank you all family and dear friends.

Take joy in the journey remembering that hope does not disappoint. Wear comfortable shoes, pray with a heart filled with gratitude, cast your cares upon God and get some sleep. God is up all night anyway and so there is no need for both of you to be us. Love you all, Bruce and Gaylene.

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!

I have decided to do one small home project per day and spend the remainder of the daylight hours gathering sources for the paper I have to write for this last class. Cleaning out, throwing away and sorting for charity sort of helps me clean out the clutter from my head and my house. It is kind of nice to walk into a room and look at a space that has space!

Prayer:  Holy Lord, giver of hope and encouragement. I give You thanks that You remain with us giving the gifts of hope and encouragement every time we remember we are in the presence of You and Your unfailing love. Your Word says it is impossible for you to lie. We hold on to the hope offered to us so that we may be greatly encouraged. Thank you, Lord. We love You so much. In Your mercy, hear this prayer. Amen

“God [confirmed his promise to Abraham] so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged.”

Hebrews 6: 18

I take so much joy in the truth that it is impossible for God to lie. I am grateful that the God who gave us the gift of hope is the same God who encourages us. The apostle Paul taught us that we need to press on toward the goal and live up to what we have already attained. Paul is telling us that we are to grasp onto heavenly hope from which all of our blessings flow. 

When we grasp onto heavenly hope we are encouraged to remember what God has already done for us (died for our sins) and for what God is doing now (living in us now). Here is something we need to remember. God not only gives good gifts, but the gifts are given generously.

I was rereading one of my favorite books this morning and came across a passage that reminded me of this scripture. The woman in the book is on a journey and has already come very far in her journey with the generous help of God. She comes to the most difficult place in her journey and completely craters and thinks she cannot possibly climb one more mountain and face this part of her journey. Then she remembers that God helped her through the most difficult places in the journey before. She begins to live in hope and encouragement that the God of hope who cannot lie will help her once again.

My friends…take hold of hope…find encouragement in the unfailing love of God in your life and climb the mountain.

Take joy in the journey remembering that hope does not disappoint. Wear comfortable shoes, pray with a heart filled to overflowing with gratitude, cast your cares upon God and get some sleep. God is up all night anyway and there is no need for both of you to be awake. Love you all, Bruce and Gaylene.

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 Monday!

No studying or writing today; just household stuff, coffee, NCIS and dinner with Bruce at a reasonable hour. It was so very nice.

Travis and Sarah got home safely from their week in Key Largo. They had a wonderful time.

Prayer report:  My Aunt Linda came through surgery very well and is already in far less pain than she has been in for the last two or three years. Giving thanks for God and His tender mercies for her healing.

Prayer: God, You are God and that is enough. You are called Immanuel, God with us. You are with us always. Help us to remember to rejoice in Your Presence when the road is smooth and when the road is rough. Your Spirit lives within us and that is sufficient for all of our needs. You are with us moment by moment of our lives and we find joy in You because You are our Savior. Thank you ever present Lord. In Your mercy, hear this prayer. Amen.

“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are not sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”

Habakkuk 3: 17-18

It is so easy to be joyful when the things in our lives are going smoothly and trust in God’s sufficiency is easy. But when we encounter rough roads, difficult times, sadness, sorrow and times that tear at our very souls and when these times seem to happen one after another it is not easy to be joyful.  It is in those times when we try to smooth out the rough places or find solutions to the difficulties or try other methods to make things better on our own. There is nothing wrong with trying to figure out solutions to problems and situations, but after a while of doing this on our own we get tired.

God’s sufficiency is the work of the Holy Spirit within us. But also very important is that we make the choice to allow the Holy Spirit, God’s power within us, to help with the burdens, problems, and difficult situations. We choose the Holy Spirit day by day, moment by moment and even breath by God given breath. God is with us by His Word and by His creation. Rejoice my friends, rejoice!

Take joy in the journey remembering that hope does not disappoint. Wear comfortable shoes, pray with a heart filled with gratitude, cast your cares upon God and get some sleep. God is up all night anyway and so there is no need for both of you to be awake. Love you all, Bruce and Gaylene.

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.

Blessed Sunday to you all. 

Prayer:  Holy Spirit, thank You for being the God that lives within each of us. Holy Spirit, take our prayers before the Father and speak our praises, our concerns, our joys and our sorrows at the mercy seat of God. God, speak through the Holy Spirit so that we may understand Your desires for our lives and direction for the path You want us to walk. Help us to trust even when the path seems to turn away from where we think we are supposed to be going and believe that You always know best. Lord, in Your mercy, hear this prayer. Amen.

“The LORD loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.”

Psalm 33: 5

God calls each of us to put down whatever baggage we are carrying around and experience His Presence so that we can receive His unfailing love. Choose God each day. Find God in each moment and practice until this becomes a habit. As we continually practice we will find ourselves getting closer to God and being able to understand the plans God has for us.

Take joy in the journey remembering that hope does not disappoint. Wear comfortable shoes and pray with a heart filled with gratitude. Cast your cares upon the Lord and get some sleep. God is up all night anyway so there is no need for both of us to be awake. Love you all, Bruce and Gaylene.

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.