Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope this writing finds you full of turkey and all of the trimmings. We had more than our share of good things to eat while at Ken and Sheena’s today. Last year no one told anyone what they were bringing, so all of us brought something made with pumpkin for dessert. This year we were all on the same wave length again and all brought pecan pie. Not a pumpkin anything on the table. Perhaps next year we will call each other and make a bit more varied dessert area of the table. (I must say, that pecan pie is my most favorite dessert of all, so I was not too upset.)

Isaiah 53:2 “For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of the dry ground…and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.”

As I watched the news tonight I saw the report of the early bird shoppers who were allowed into the Toys-R-Us store at 10:00pm! The toy store has lots of eye catching things that children believe they cannot live without and parents eager to please their children this Christmas are shopping at their earliest opportunity.

The prophet Isaiah tells us that when God comes to the earth the body that will inhabit the Spirit of God will not be so beautiful that others will desire it. It will be a body that will be lost in a crowd as ordinary as any other Jewish man. It is the intention of God for the people of the earth to desire the beauty of “His Countenance.” We know that the world, which only saw him through human eyes, would come to despise this one called Jesus, but the Spirit that dwelt in this body would be the Spirit that “those who have ears would hear and those who have eyes would see.”

God’s fervent hope for us is that we would see the character of God and His Spirit embodied in Jesus. Perhaps if we can see the Spirit of God, His Love, His Forgiveness, His Kindness and His Tender Mercies in a rather ordinary looking man then we could see Jesus in others and others would see Jesus in us. If we seek God through the eyes of faith then we will see all that we desire. That will be more than arriving at Kohl’s at 3:00 am could possibly offer.

Each day in my prayer time I pray that others would sense God’s presence in me. So I pray that I will be loving, kind, forgiving and show tender mercies to those with whom I come into contact. In order for others to sense God’s presence in me then I must get to know God. I must learn of Him through studying His Word, praying in conversation with Him each day and staying in fellowship with His servant people.

So here is a thought…tomorrow before you leave for the frenzy of Black Friday, pour yourself another cup of coffee and spend some time with God, for what He has to offer cannot be bought on this black Friday, but was purchased on a Black Friday long ago.

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes (especially tomorrow). 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 moved only by what I believe and I believe God.

PS If you noticed that the link to the Celebration of Life service for Casey was missing from the page, you are right. The link was recently disabled at the source. We are not upset because they left it active for over two years, much longer than we thought they would. Still, we want the service to be available on this blog, so we are in the process of getting a copy of the service so we can offer it in another format. Thought you might want to know. bc