Believe

May 11, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

So often doubts and fears creep in on us and overwhelm us. We hear things and we read things and it becomes difficult to know who and what we can trust. This has been true through out all of history. In the bible the Israelite’s were afraid to go into Canaan except for Caleb and Joshua but everyone listened to those who were fearful and did not go. During the life of Jesus, many of the actions of people were based in fear. They had doubts about who Jesus was and they were afraid. When we let the fear and doubt rule us we are not living the life that God intended for us. His goodness becomes harder and harder to understand. As it says in Hebrews 11…

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

Hebrews 11:1

We must combat the fear when it paralyzes us from moving forward. Pray to God and offer up to Him what fears you have. It is okay to have doubts but when doubts arise think back in your life when you had doubts and you were surprised by the results of the situation, that is where God shows up. Believe in God, believe in Jesus Christ his one and only Son and trust the Holy Spirit as your guide…when you do you will sense His presence, His joy and peace. May God’s love and peace be with you.

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“He replied, “Because you have so little faith, I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Matthew 17:20-21

(This photo was taken in October of 2014 during sunrise on the island of Maui, Hawaii)

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)

Bring Your Burdens To The Lord

May 7, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

When something is weighing you down, constantly causing angst and worry, bring it to the Lord in prayer. Our minds often deceive us that we can take care of things or just distract ourselves long enough and everything will be alright…yet that concern finds its way back to the forefront of our mind and if we are not careful we could continue this cycle endlessly. When we come before the Lord in prayer and offer these worries up to Him and we trust in Him to guide us we can make our way forward. We still have a role to play as we need to pay attention and listen for God’s guidance and then we will begin to see a change in that burden or belief. God is always working for our good, we just need to talk with Him and get out of our own way. May God’s peace be with you.

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“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Matthew 11:28

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

Worship And Praise

May 6, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

Music is one of the ways I sit in praise and worship of our Lord. We have so much to be thankful for in our lives. Take time to be with the Lord. Some times it is just sitting and listening to songs of praise like one of these…

10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord) – Matt Redman

What A Beautiful Name – Hillsong Worship

I encourage you whatever you do and wherever you go to sense His presence the most, go to that place and thank God for all you have and all He has done and then invite Him to guide you going forward…He is always there waiting for you and He will never leave you. May God’s love, joy and peace be with you.

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“The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.”

Psalm 145:8-9

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

Good Things

May 1, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

If can be hard to see the good sometimes. The world so full of evil and darkness, deceitfulness and envy. Often when living in the moment, I tend to question, what difference does it make? It matters, it always matters, especially when at least one other person will be impacted. We are not in a position to know what God has intended for us. In the book of Genesis, Joseph, son of Jacob, was thrown in a pit and left to die, he was sold into slavery, he resisted the advances of a married woman and was put in jail. Joseph continued to be a good person and saved another man’s life and that man quickly forgot about him when he left prison. Eventually, he became a ruler in Egypt and saved many lives during a famine. He never stopped trying, he never stopped doing good to others and all along the way he suffered and must have been frustrated…in the end he never stopped trusting in God and he saved many lives. Reflect on the road you have been on and look to see the good things. May God’s peace be with you.

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“No, in all things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

Romans 8:37

(This photo was taken in July of 2016 while driving through North Dakota)

Lead Me, O Lord

April 30, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

We are always looking for the the best way to go, looking for the right path, whether physically going from one place to another or mentally trying to make a decision. We analyze and assess multiple options and eventually proceed. We do this so often it is easy to forget to consult with our Creator and to consider what direction or path will keep leading us closer to Christ versus leading us farther away in from our relationship with Him. God knows you better than anyone, even if you haven’t spent much time with Him. You are His child and He loves you. Take time to meet with Him each day and bring your choices to Him. May God’s peace be with you.

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“Teach me your way, O Lord; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors.”

Psalm 27:11

(This photo was taken in April of 2018 while walking the dog at a park near Plymouth, Minnesota)

The Joy Of The Lord

April 28, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

We live and we work, we eat and we drink, we move from one activity to the next day by day. We face decisions and choices day after day, big decisions, little choices and through it all God calls to us to live life to the fullest. What does that mean for you? What is living to the fullest? It all depends on the perspective you choose to look from…if you choose to view life through the eyes of the world measuring success by possessions, material things and number of likes on social media then you will find much disappointment. If you choose to look at life through the spiritual perspective, with a daily connection with God, praying for and helping others, serving those in need and living life filled with the fruits of the spirit…you will find joy. True joy is found only in a relationship with Jesus Christ. May God’s love and joy be with you.

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“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”

John 15:11

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

Walking In The Light

April 25, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

Actions speak louder than words…words are an introduction, actions are the full story. In the life of Jesus we learn that He taught the people with His words and He showed the people the truth with His actions. Being true to our word is a characteristic that seems to be fading away in this ‘me’ first world. Living life by walking in the light is being very aware of what we say we will or won’t do and then following through with what we said…if we say, I will call you later, we need to be sure to do it…if we say I will pray for you, we need to offer an honest to goodness true prayer to God regarding that person. The concept in words is simple…the execution in daily life is the next step in our faith journey. May God’s peace be with you.

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“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

1 John 1:7

(This photo was taken in September of 2014 while on a walk in a neighborhood near Plymouth, Minnesota)

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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