Happy Saturday!

Things continue to go well for Bruce. He is looking at a number of weeks of low level physical activity. So today he became a teacher. Our hall bathroom has a vanity with a faucet. The pipes in the wall leaked rendering the vanity useless. Bruce sat in the bathroom and instructed Travis on how to repair the leak and now the vanity is fully functional. How cool is that! And following doctor’s orders Bruce will not be attending worship in the morning.

Prayer: God teach me to pray. I need to talk with You, and I feel, like so many other times, inadequate to do so. I am grateful for the blood of Jesus that makes me worthy to stand before You. I am grateful for the presence of the Holy Spirit that never leaves me. I am thankful to You, Father, for enabling me to do everything I do, including praying. Amen.”

Romans 8:16 “The Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groaning which cannot be uttered.”

I have a dear friend who was carrying the heaviest of burdens for our family. There were many difficult situations going on in her home and she was so burdened down that she confessed to me that she could not pray. This weight was so heavy that she was not even able to speak the name of Jesus. This scripture is a message for those who carry heavy burdens.

God knows our every need and every groan. When we are so weighted down by our own sin or our current situation the Holy Spirit makes intercession for us by the blood of Jesus. That same Holy Spirit goes before the Father when we cannot even speak the name of Jesus. The Spirit carries our greatest needs to the seat of Mercy at the feet of the Father and intercedes for us.

A tradition at Texas A & M University is to stand for the entirety of their football games. The student body and all in the crowd are called the 12th Man. They represent the 12th player who is ready to go in when help is needed. The difference in the 12th Man at A & M and the Holy Spirit is that the Holy Spirit never leaves. The Holy Spirit prays for us even when we do not know or when we do not even know how to pray. This is God’s extraordinary power made available to each. Remember Romans 8, “If God is for us then who can be against us.” The Holy Spirit stands with us at all times and never leaves us.

So if you are going through a tough time and the circumstances seem so large that you are drowning and you cannot even speak, there is One who is speaking on your behalf to the hearer of all prayers. And he loves each of us more than we will ever know.

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes. Count your blessings and say your prayers. Love you all and I will see you in worship in the morning, 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.