Faith

Put Your Hope In God

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Good morning.  Welcome to a new day.  There are many things happening in your life today, yet God is still with you because He loves you.  Sharing the lyrics and music of the song on my mind this morning.  Here is “Find Rest” by Francesca Battistelli

“Find Rest”

He never sleeps, He never slumbers
He’s been awake at every hour
No tear catches Him by surprise
He’s never lost, He never runs out
He never lives in the shadows of doubt
No fear catches Him by surprise

Find rest my soul
Put your hope in God
Put your hope, put your hope in God

He always is, He always will be
He always has been everything I need
How can this be catching me by surprise
He’s ever strong, He’s ever faithful
His love is real, now nothing is impossible
‘Cause nothing catches Him by surprise

Find rest my soul
Put your hope in God
Put your hope, put your hope in God

I close my eyes, and I can see
The arms of mercy holding me
I close my eyes, and I can see
The arms of Jesus holding me

Find rest my soul
Put your hope in God
Put your hope, put your hope in God

Put your hope in God
Put your hope in God

Songwriters: Francesca Battistelli / Ian Eskelin / Jared Anderson
Find Rest lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc, Capitol Christian Music Group

 

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“Why are you downcast, O my soul?  Why so disturbed within me?  Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”

Psalm 42:11

(This photo was taken in June of 2016 at a lake near Plymouth, Minnesota)

Doing Good

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Patience…Persistence…Perseverance…Consistent…Helpful…Supportive…Kind.  It can be difficult to sustain an attitude that focuses on good things.  There is darkness and evil lurking everywhere in the world.  When we state our belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and profess our faith that He is our Lord and Savior we will receive the Holy Spirit within us.  The Holy Spirit along with the Word of God can be our foundation to stand on for doing good things and serving the needs of others.  God is love and He has poured out His love to us through His One and Only Son.  Let’s be grateful for His love, His mercy, His grace and His forgiveness and keep our courage up to do good things.  Amen.

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“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

Galatians 6:9

(This photo was taken in August of 2016 while traveling through Utah)

Questions

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So many questions in our hearts and minds every day.  We must be careful not to let them overcome us.  We should bring our questions to the Lord in prayer and listen for Him to guide us.  He is the light for our path.  Whatever is troubling you this day, take it to the Cross and live.  May we seek the will of the Lord everywhere we go.  Amen.

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“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you;  I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Isaiah 41:10

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

Commitment

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This is hard when things are difficult, when it feels like at every turn we try and failure is right there to greet us.  When we commit to something we naturally put some level of our own expectations of how things should go or what we believe should be the outcome.  Here is the issue with this approach…we are setting “our expectations” on the result with little regard for God’s will and God’s plan.  Following our faith and trust in the Lord means we can be free from the limited results our own minds can generate and be open to new possibilities.  For me this is hard to grasp and at times very difficult to embrace…even Jesus struggled in the last moments of His commitment to save us right before He was arrested and He prayed to His Father…“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”  – Luke 22:42  Bring your commitments to the Lord in prayer and seek His will.  Listen for Him and for the Holy Spirit to guide you…find your quiet place and quiet time and rest in Him.  May the peace and joy of the Lord be with you.  Amen.

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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 June of 2013 near Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado)

Wait For The Lord

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The ways of the Lord are exemplified by the Fruits of the Spirit…love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  It is so easy to get derailed and off track with these ways because the world is pushing for self-centered behaviors of hate, anger, dissension, me first, greed, faster, get out of my way and other similar attitudes.  God keeps His promises and He will encourage you, hold you up and strengthen you for every and any battle…it is up to you to be engaged in your relationship with Jesus Christ and for you to read the Word of God to gain the wisdom and understanding God provides.  If we are unsure of where God is in our life then we should continue in prayer and wait for Him…He always shows up, always.  I pray we seek to live the Fruits of the Spirit in our relationship with the Lord and with others.  Amen.

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“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

Psalm 27:14

(This photo was taken in June of 2013 at Falls Park in Sioux Falls, South Dakota)

There Is Hope…

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Where can you apply this phrase in your life?  We get tired, we get frustrated and we get discouraged…and when this occurs it is important to remember with God all things are possible, even if and especially if we can’t see the way ahead or we can’t figure out how this is going to change or get better.  Because there is hope we can keep going, keep trying, keep giving our best to that situation in our life…we persevere because there is hope.  With God the most desperate time in human history when Jesus Christ was crucified, died and was buried became the greatest event of Good News.  He was this baby born on Christmas morning who brought peace, healing and joy…He became a man performing miracles everywhere He went and then…He was gone…I can’t imagine what it must have been like for those days between His death and His resurrection.  But because Jesus Christ has risen and He lives there is always Hope!  May we all be strengthened and encouraged by the hope God has poured out for us through Jesus Christ.  Amen.

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“And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love in to our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

Romans 5:5

(This photo was taken in December of 2013 on a walk in northwestern Wisconsin)

Peace In Our Hearts

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Where can we find peace?  We look around at the world and the actions and behaviors of so many people and wonder, where can peace be found?  So much anger, hatred, rage and darkness…people choosing to follow the evil desires of greed, lust and the sinful nature.  It is written that the peace of God is found only one way…that is to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior.  It has been the way of peace ever since that baby was born in a manger over 2,000 years ago.  We can have peace through Christ because of the grace of God and only by the grace of God is peace possible.  “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” (Luke 2:14)  If we believe and accept that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Lord we will find peace and we will be prepared to share the peace of Christ with others.  I pray we all turn toward Jesus to seek peace that is provided to us by the grace of God.  Amen.

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“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.  And be thankful.”

Colossians 3:15

(This photo was taken in February of 2013 in a neighborhood near Plymouth , Minnesota)

Believe

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When life feels surrounded by darkness, when the light of life is dim and it feels like there are no answers…believe in Jesus.  The most difficult part of surrender to God can be setting aside our desire to control the outcome.  We say we believe, we pray like we believe and then we go out and try to ensure things end up the way we desire.  Been there, done that…too many times.  To believe is to trust that if I just do the best I can and offer the best version of myself and trust in God, He will take care of the rest.  He always has and He always will.  The best approach I have found to helping my belief is to memorize bible verses.  Pick one or some that speak clearly to you, if you don’t know any, pick up the good book and read.  I suggest starting in Proverbs.  May we all pray a prayer of surrender and live our lives in way that shows we believe.  Amen.

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“When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.”  Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you.  Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

Mark 5:27-29,34

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

Holy Living

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The people in our daily lives, the family and friends we interact with everyday, these are the people on earth who should know the most about us.  How we treat each other, whether or not we trust each other, these are the cornerstones of our relationships.  It is too easy to take others for granted or think they will always be there because for such a long time they have always been there.  Yet things will happen in this broken and sinful world or time and age itself will catch up with every single person, and one day you may get a phone call that will change everything in an instant…they are gone.  None us really knows what is in-store for us each day, only God knows.  He doesn’t make the bad things happen, the sins of the human race has done that…however, He will bring comfort, He will bring courage and He will bring His presence to strengthen us.  Let’s strive to not take people and relationships for granted, each day.  I pray we attempt to live our best and present others with the light and love of Christ that we have so graciously received.  Amen.

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“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

Colossians 3:12-14

(This photo was taken in July of 2018 on the shore of Lake Superior in Ashland, Wisconsin)

Be Humble

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We have seen the example of what humility looks like when we look at Jesus Christ and His actions and behaviors while He was here.  He suffered as a human and yet was obedient to the will of God.  It was not easy, even for Him…He prayed so hard that it could go differently and then in the next breath gave everything to God.  “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”  -Luke 22:42  The only way we have a chance to learn about God’s will, is to be willing to surrender our own will.  One of my biggest obstacles in my faith journey is sustaining surrender…getting to the point of surrender is one thing, maintaining an attitude of surrender so God’s plan can unfold with His timing is yet another battle.  One thing I know for sure, as it is true for all of us…God’s not finished with me yet!  I pray that God will open the eyes of our hearts and wash over us with courage and patience.  Amen.

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“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

Philippians 2:3-4

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