Faith Journey

Measuring Success

/ mcalcagno / Leave a comment

The measure of success we have in our life depends on which race we have chosen to run.  Have we decided to pursue the race of the world, chasing money and possessions, constantly consuming and comparing our standing or our place in the world with others on social media?  Or have we been working on pursuing the race marked out for us by God’s will?  Making faith more important than things, focusing on our relationships, how we treat others and seeking to grow in our spiritual life.  God has given us the gift of free will and so we have the ability and the responsibility to choose which race we will run.  No matter where we are today, God is with us and we can trust in Him by turning to Christ in prayer and listening to the Holy Spirit to guide our path.  Best of luck to you and to everyone in your race today.  Amen.

DSC_1554 publish

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

Hebrews 12:1

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

The Power Of Faith

/ 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.

DSC01214 publish

“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)

Strength Through Faith

/ mcalcagno / 3 Comments

DSC07436 publish

Paul writes in his letter to the Philippians…

“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

Philippians 4:12-13

(This photo was taken in June of 2013 while driving through Colorado)

Trust, Learn and Grow

/ mcalcagno / Leave a comment

2012 224 publish

“But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.  He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.  It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.  It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

Jeremiah 17:7-8

What is your Spiritual Gift?

/ mcalcagno / 1 Comment

Image

We all get into routines in life and several days begin to look the same.  Depending on what you choose to focus on in life, this repetition can become mundane and begin to feel like a rut you have created for yourself.  God has created each of us with a purpose in mind and that purpose also came with a spiritual gift.  This gift is something that comes naturally to us and sometimes it gets overlooked because it comes to us so easily.  This doesn’t have to be something complicated to figure out…we typically make things much more complicated in the world than necessary (I speak from personal experience).

In the Bible, the gifts of the spirit are as follows…

“We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.  If a person’s gift is prophesying, let them use it in proportion to their faith.  If it is serving, let them serve; if it is teaching, let them teach; if it is encouraging, let them encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let them give generously; if it is leadership, let them govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let them do it cheerfully.”

                                                                                                Romans 12:6-8

Think about moments in your life where it was easy for you to provide for another…not financially, there are far greater needs in the world than money.  The gifts described above are all related to our interactions with others…what have we been given that we can share with other people?  Many of us go about the business of “our” lives first and wonder why we get discouraged so easily?  One of the best ways to cure your discouragement or disappointment is change your perspective…

Begin by approaching your situation by thinking what can I do that helps others…don’t be so quick to think “nothing” it simply is not true.  You are a valuable part of God’s world…you are his creation…and I have heard it said often “God don’t make no junk!”

Look at the list of Gifts…one of these does apply to you…you just need to spend time praying that God will guide you to opportunities to use it and then be very aware of invitations or things you may read or just hear about that are happening in your community…there is a place for you…do you believe it?

The Gifts given according to grace:

  • Prophecy – calling for action based of God’s truth
  • Service or ministry – serve and meet the needs of others
  • Teaching – explain truth so others can understand it and apply it
  • Encouraging – to strengthen and inspire others to be their best
  • Giving – to generously share what you have been given by God
  • Leadership – to govern by steady and earnest effort
  • Mercy – to show compassion for others and to do it cheerfully 

I pray we all spend time in prayer asking for God to guide us to our gifts and we begin to use them to make this world a better place for others.

Peace.

By Faith

/ mcalcagno / Leave a comment

Image

When speaking to someone who has experienced a terrible tragedy or is going through a difficult time of trial some will ask, “How are you getting through this?” and from certain people the answer is “by faith” or “by the grace of God” and when this is the response I am sure some askers may be thinking ‘what does that mean?’

Well for me to understand it better I would go to the Guide Book for Life…the Bible.

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

                                                                                                                Hebrews 11:1

Faith is based on hope and belief…these my friends are both choices in our life.  This is why so many of us struggle with faith while living in this world.  We live with in a world expecting immediate satisfaction, convenience and me first…not to mention the constant presence of evil and temptations.

As I have reflected this week on the passing of Nelson Mandela all I can think is ‘Wow now that is truly a man of faith.’  The world treated him horribly for so long but he never gave up his hope or his beliefs that the world could be a better place and he could contribute to that with God’s help.  Many organizations are printing quotes from Nelson Mandela in the last few days as we all want to know more about a person who worked for justice in the world…here are a few.

“I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.”

 -Nelson Mandela

“I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one’s head pointed toward the sun, one’s feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.”

-Nelson Mandela

There are many people who will write judgments both positive and negative about Nelson Mandela because of things he did during his life.  I believe by faith that he tried to do what he believed God wanted him to do and he didn’t just wake up one day and decide to do it.  It happened as a part of his journey…his life journey and his faith journey.  He wasn’t perfect, he had his sins just like the rest of us but he also made choices to help others, to be a positive influence and to try and bring justice to other human beings in God’s world.

God has promised many things and it is up to each of us to choose to have hope and to believe in the things we do not see.  We will often fail and fall down but we should never quit.  If we base our faith on how we feel instead of what Christ did for us we will have a difficult time sustaining a faith that is stable and growing.  Faith and life are a journey and we can only live one day at a time on that journey…so I encourage you to embrace each day, thank God for the gift of life and seek what you hope for and what you choose to believe…by faith.

Peace and joy to you this day.