Your Personal Relationship With God

May 12, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

It comes down to this…what is the status of your personal relationship with God? Is He someone you used to know really well and have lost touch with over time? Is He a social media friend who you only interact with in a superficial way? Is He a friend that you are unsure about? Is He someone you have heard some good things about but you have never really met Him in person? God wants you to know how He is involved in every area of your life…He wants you to want to be closely connected to Him daily. He is with you and He is waiting to hear from you. If you are wondering where is God…stop what you are doing and take sometime and ask Him. He knows you and He loves you. May God’s love and peace be with you.

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“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Jeremiah 29:11

(This photo was taken in August of 2016 in Glacier National Park in Montana)

The God Of Peace

May 10, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

Everyone is facing a battle and a struggle of some kind. It is natural in this broken and fallen world. Some battles are easy for others to see on the outside and some battles are kept hidden from others yet they rage on inside a person just the same. We are not equipped to fight these battles alone, the dark forces that exist in and around the human race are very powerful. Our Creator God knows this and He has promised to never leave you or abandon you. His presence is even more powerful than the darkness, He is the God of peace. He will calm your anxious thoughts just like He calms a raging sea. He has sent His one and only Son to be one of us to reconcile a relationship with us. And most importantly He loves us with an everlasting love. Bring your battle to Christ, no matter what it is, invite Him into your heart and mind and trust in God to bring you a peace like nothing you have ever experienced before. May God’s love and peace wash over you this day.

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“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

John 14:27

(This photo was taken in August of 2016 in Glacier National Park in Montana)

Sacrifice

May 8, 2018 / mcalcagno / 1 Comment

He gave us His everything to restore a relationship with us. God loves us, God loves you so much that He came down from heaven to be born as a baby among us. From the moment of His birth different people in the world sought to kill Him. Even still God has forgiven us. The world is filled with darkness, anger and shouting about my rights…yet when Jesus was here He spent the majority of His time teaching and helping others. When He was persecuted He didn’t shout out you have no right to attack me, I am God…instead just before His death He said Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. Jesus has set us an example of how we should live, now it is up to us to choose our attitude and our behavior each day. May God’s love, joy and peace be with you.

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“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 5:8

(This photo was taken in March of 2018 while driving through southern New Mexico)

Spiritual Growth

May 4, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

The growth that leads to spiritual maturity is the growth of your inner being. The inner self is the driver of our attitude and our behaviors. We all are equipped with a space in our inner being that only God can fill. As humans we will try to fill this gap with many other things…a professional career, wealth, adventure and adrenalin, alcohol, gambling and many others. This unique inner self only has one companion that fills us and makes us complete as God intended us to be and that is God Himself. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit we do not grow tired and weary chasing after other things…we know that we are secure in God’s love, God’s mercy, God’s grace and God’s forgiveness. Invite the Lord into your life and into your daily routine and activities…after all He designed us in His own image and He knows us better than anyone else ever could. Seek spiritual growth and see how your life and the world changes from your perspective. May God’s peace and love and joy be with you.

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“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ…”

Ephesians 3:16-18

(This photo was taken in August of 2016 in Glacier National Park in Montana)

Strength

May 2, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

When life is difficult and frustrating, where do we get the ability to move forward? What could possibly renew us? What makes some people so resilient? It has been my experience that there is only one thing powerful enough to lift us up out of any tragedy or trial…it is the Presence of the Lord. A relationship with Jesus Christ in the way to strength in the battle and rest when we are weary. To experience His presence we must do our part and be willing to spend time in devotions and prayer. God made a promise, He will never leave you nor forsake you and He always keeps His promises. Invite Jesus into your heart and into your life daily and you will be renewed each day. May God’s peace be with you.

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“The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.”

Proverbs 18:10

(This photo was taken in August of 2016 in Mount Rainier National Park in Washington)

The Power Of Faith

April 29, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

The blessings that come from our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ are so great it is hard to fully appreciate. We should be careful not to underestimate the gifts God has given us. Each and every one of us has been created and blessed with special talents and our role in life is to learn about those gifts and talents and then to use them to do good things in and around our community, to help others and to spread the Good News of Jesus. Our actions and the things we choose to do and say are a good indication of where we are in our personal faith journey. For myself, I did not understand or spend much time thinking about such things until about 8 years ago and in the last 8 years I have experienced events of all kinds in life, pain and suffering as well as joy and contentment…most importantly I have been learning to be more open to putting my relationship with God first…I have been learning gratitude and thankfulness…I also know I still have a lot of learning left to do as I still mess things up frequently. The best part of my journey so far…I know more about who God has made me to be and I know He is always with me no matter what…I know because He told me so in His instruction manual for life…the Bible. May God’s love, joy and peace be with you.

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“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”

2 Timothy 1:7

(This photo was taken in April of 2016 during the sunrise at a lake place in central Minnesota)

Do You Not Know? Have You Not Heard?

April 27, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

There are so many different verses in the bible that can become a connection point for us. God’s Word is filled with life application instructions and teachings. I have heard people say I son’t know what to do, or all I can do is pray…the power of scripture and prayer should not be underestimated. If you haven’t seen it or you are unsure if God is present in your life…give this a try. Pick up a bible and find words that may apply to your situation…not sure what part of the book to go to…go out onto the internet and type ‘bible verses about (insert your topic here).’ The world is filled with darkness, evil and suffering…choose to follow the light that has been given to us and see what God has planned for you. May God’s peace be with you.

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“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Isaiah 40:28-31

(This photo was taken in July of 2016 while driving along Beartooth Pass in Montana)

Anything Is Possible

April 26, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

Why do we doubt so much? Why is it so hard for us to believe what may be possible with God? When we are willing to surrender to His plan and His way in His time, there’s no telling what can happen. Look at the stories in the bible…Abraham and Sarah had a child they had so longed for when Sarah was 90…the 5000 were fed when all that was available to eat was a few fish and some bread…Lazarus is raised from the dead after being gone for a few days…and there are so many more examples. When God is involved in a situation anything is possible. We must turn to Him first with whatever we are facing and remember He is not a genie in a bottle who sometimes grants wishes…He is our creator, our savior and our guide who always has good things in store for us. Trust in the Lord and watch to see what He has in store for you. May the joy of the Lord be with you.

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“For nothing is impossible with God.”

Luke 1:37

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

Free Will

April 24, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

One of the most sacred aspects regarding the creation of humans is free will. We are given the gift of free will by God to decide and to choose our behavior and attitude each day. How we choose to live is our responsibility and no one else’s. We choose to do good or to do wrong or we choose to do nothing. Everybody in the world is fighting a battle of some kind, real life is not what people are posting on social media, that is merely the book cover that people want to present to the world. We should not take our free will for granted, use the power to choose how you will live to do good for others, just as Christ did to save you. May God’s peace be with you.

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“You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.”

Galatians 5:13-15

(This photo was taken in March of 2018 while traveling through southern New Mexico)

Change Happens When You Truly Pray

April 21, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

How many times have we said, I will pray for you or I am praying for you…and then we never do it. We never sit quietly with God and discuss the specific concern or topic with Him. I know I am guilty of that and I am working really hard on not saying I will pray for you with out doing so the next morning during my daily devotions. I am really working on praying for people in situations in my morning time and telling them afterwords, I have been praying for you when I know it is true. When the words, my thoughts and prayers are with you, become just that a bunch of nice words with no action, we have really disgraced and disrespected the true power of prayer. The recent protests and marches have shown me that we have turned the power and privilege of prayer into a trite saying that causes anger and does not bring peace. True and honest prayer between you and God is powerful and it is one of the strongest weapons we have against evil and darkness…even the people that made the movie “Bruce Almighty” understand that, watch the scene near the end when Bruce is offering his prayer. My last thought for you…every morning just before I hit publish on these posts I pray for you as I pray for anyone who reads my post each day…May God’s love, joy and peace be with you.

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