Month: July 2018

Prayer

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This is about communicating with God.  It involves more than speaking and it is not about saying the right words or phrases or using the correct gestures.  It is about being humble, trusting, honoring and giving thanks.  Prayer is about knowing how our spirit is fed and trusting that our greatest hope for anything is with God.  Even when things don’t go the way we want or the way we planned…that is just another reminder that life is not about us it is about our relationships with others, beginning with our relationship with Jesus Christ.  The path to joy, love, peace and forgiveness starts and ends with prayer.  May you be surrounded by God’s grace and peace.

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“Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you.  Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.”

Psalm 143:8

(This photo was taken in July of 2016 in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming)

Home

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We all want a place where we feel like we belong. A place where the majority of the time people are interacting with kindness, goodness and love. The boom of electronic devices has created an invasion in our houses or places to be in community. It is interesting to me that we look down and draw into ourselves with these devices as our life and relationships are enriched when we look up, listen and engage with others and nature. One of the reasons I focus so much time and attention on nature in photography is because it is God created. He made the earth a place for us to live before we go to our eternal home. Wherever your home is invite God into it and invite Jesus into your life every day. The lessons we learn during life on earth are all to help us thrive in eternity. May you see God’s blessings in your life and relationships.

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“Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Psalm 37:3-4

(This photo was taken this morning on the shore of Lake Superior in Ashland, Wisconsin)

Use Your Gifts

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All of us have something that comes naturally for us to do.  Things we do well that can help others and serve a useful purpose.  Our gifts or strengths that God has blessed us with could help support the basics in life…food, shelter or clothing.  They also could be gifts that help spread the Good News of the Lord.  Whatever they are and whatever they help you to do…get to know them, understand how to use them best and if you are not sure about this…start by asking God in prayer to help you to see the goodness He has planted in you and where and when to use it.  All that is good comes from God and He created you, don’t take your cues about your worth from the world.  Learn from the Creator about your goodness and use your gifts from Him to help others.  May God’s love and joy surround you each day.

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“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”

1 Peter 4:10

(This photo was taken in June of 2016 at a lake place in northwestern Wisconsin)

Draw Near To God

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It is so easy to get drawn into a worldly perspective.  To judge others and have thoughts that justify ourselves in our own minds.  Eventually we may find that things are beginning to draw us farther away from our relationship with Jesus and our faith life.  This can be a very gradual process, during this time when you start to question something from a faith perspective be sure to draw close to God and His Word.  In order to persevere in faith we must look to God and the Holy Spirit for guidance.  I believe it is true that all people were made to be able to be good and do good things as we are all created by God.  The hard part for us as humans is managing our free will.  It is a gift from God and when it is used to pursue the sinful nature we are choosing to turn away from the Lord.  May the grace and peace of the Lord be with you.

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“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 15:13

(This photo was taken in June of 2018 near the border between Minnesota and South Dakota)

Rest And Sleep

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How many of us have had or are having trouble falling sleep?  Our minds won’t stop wandering or we are constantly moving, rolling from side to side trying to find the comfortable way to fall asleep.  There is usually much more than physical discomfort at work when this is happening.  If we are trying to control everything in our lives we keep thinking about the next thing we need to focus on and if we go with very little sleep too long we will eventually wear out sooner than we should.  Being unable to fall asleep is a spiritual problem more than anything else.  We all need to rest and recharge.  One thing that has worked great is when I hit the pillow and close my eyes I start to pray in my mind, prayer that is memorized, whether it is bible verses or the Our Father.  It keeps my mind focused and I drift off secure in the hands of the Lord.  Another great source of soothing bible verses are in the Psalms.  If you are struggling to fall asleep try something new, put yourself in God’s hands for your rest.  May you find rest and be at peace with God.

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“I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.”

Psalm 4:8

(This photo was taken in September of 2016 at a lake place in central Minnesota)

Transformation

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A change…conversion…overhaul…renew…remake.  When something or someone is transformed they appear new again.  The change from what of how they used to be to a new way.  A transformation in the spiritual life means recognizing who and what we are and admitting that we need to be made new again.  We must be willing to admit we are broken, stubborn and chasing after the sinful nature…once we see and know the conviction of sin we have the opportunity to be renewed, restored and redeemed.  A relationship with Jesus Christ is vital to finding redemption.  May God’s mercy and grace be with you.

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“I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them;  I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.”

Ezekiel 11:19

(This photo was taken last week in a neighborhood near Plymouth, Minnesota)

Treasures

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What gets your attention quickly?  What is it that gets your blood flowing faster?  What is it in your life that you have passion towards?  These are hints of your treasures.  We all have something that drives to the heart of us.  As we continue to grow on our faith journey the treasures tend to change.  As our knowledge and time spent on growing our relationship with Jesus Christ grows we begin to get a better understanding of the value of a person.  We also can begin to clearly see that the stuff and the things we have worried about in the past may have been foolish worries.  We are humbled to learn and to know that God in heaven knows us, loves us and forgives us and the things He has planned for us are far greater treasures than those the world offers us.  May the awe and wonder of our God be with you.

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“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Matthew 6:21

(This photo was taken in June of 2013 near Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado)

Understanding

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There are a few places in the bible that state…“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,…”  (Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 9:10)  There is also…“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,…”  (Proverbs 1:7)  I want to take a moment to talk about “The fear of the Lord…”  In modern language fear is strictly defined as being afraid of or believing something or someone is dangerous and to avoid.  An older definition of fear is to stand in awe of; to have respect for, to revere, reverence.  These verses are telling us to have ultimate respect for the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.  To stand in awe of the love, the mercy, the grace and the power of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.  May the grace and peace of the Lord be with you.

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“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding.  To him belongs eternal praise.”

Psalm 111:10

(This photo was taken in August of 2016 in Arches National Park in Utah)

Time

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We measure ourselves by it constantly.  We rush from here to there, as a song from the early 1980’s says…”everybody’s working for the weekend” – (Loverboy, 1981)  We gauge where we can spend our life by the day of the week and the hour of the day.  We are not made to measure our lives by the minutes, hours, days, weeks and years.  More important than time are relationships.  Focus more on who we spend our time with, what we are doing with our community of people.  The things we do that help others who are in need are the most valuable.  Instead of measuring how long we did something or how much time we saved we should start measuring ourselves by asking two questions.  Who have I helped today?  Who has helped me today?  As always ask the Lord to help with the answers in prayer.  May God’s wisdom and grace be with you.

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“As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows it over and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.”

Psalm 103:15-16

(This photo was taken in April of 2016 at a lake in central Minnesota)

 

Reflect And Recharge

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When our hope is in the Lord, we will see goodness and blessings.  When our focus is on living our life through our faith in Jesus Christ, we tend to be able to see with new eyes on old or familiar situations.  When we walk daily with the Lord our perspective improves from worldly to heavenly.  In the New Testament is states…“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”  (2 Corinthians 5:17)  With the Lord we have hope, we can trust in goodness and righteousness and we can have faith that we will be able to see our way through anything.  May God’s love, joy and peace be with you.

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“Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again:  Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all.  The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:4-7

(This photo was taken in August of 2016 at Sapphire Point near Dillon, Colorado)