Happy Thursday!

I am doing a short term weight loss plan. Tomorrow I get to eat a cabbage based vegetable soup (which is really very good) and bananas and skim milk. You only do this plan for 7 days. I am not looking forward to bananas and milk tomorrow.

Prayer: “Father I thank you for giving me another day to live. The desire of my heart today is to walk in praise to you. I will praise You with my soul, my hands, and my mouth. Amen”

Psalm 63: 3-5 “Because Your loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You. Thus I will bless You while I live, I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.”

Practice praise. When David wrote these words He was full of encouragement and all must have been going well. It is not so easy to praise when we are in despair. But when we are encouraged and our prayers have been answered in the ways we would like then praise is easy.

David identifies God in this passage as a God of loving kindness, a steadfast God. God’s love is not based on a brief moment in time or what we love, where we live or any of these things. God loves us because He chooses to love us. It is His desire to love us and lavish all of His love upon us. It is not a temporary love, but a love that is everlasting, never ending, forever and always.

God’s love is a love that satisfies. Every once in a while I have a craving for a lemon bar from Central Market. The lemon bars from Central Market are their biggest selling bakery item. These are the Cadillac of lemon bars. And even though these delightful treats are amazing they are a temporary fix and one I do not need each day. But the love of God is something I need 24/7 and 365 days a year. The satisfaction of eating the lemon bar soon passes, but the satisfaction of God’s love is eternal. In my meditation tonight I was reminded of the satisfaction of God’s love given to the woman at the well. Jesus promised her a love that would always be there and that she would never thirst for again.

So my friends let us find praise for God even when it is hard. Let us remember to praise God when everything is going well. Let us find joy in the situation even when all we see is despair. God’s love for us is so strong, so deep and so amazing that it overcomes our despair.

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes. Count your blessings and say your prayers. Let us remember to continually lift each other up in prayer each day. 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.