Free Will

Be Courageous

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One of God’s great gifts is free will.  He created us out of His love and His desire for relationship with us is one He wants us to seek, willingly.  He did not create us to be robots or puppets, which means we have a responsiblity to make choices.  We will find we are often presented with opportunities to make decisions and if we are paying attention to our faith journey over time it becomes more and more clear which choice is step towards God and which choice is a step toward our sinful nature.  It will take courage to make decisions grounded in faith, it will be different than what the world thinks you should do.  Don’t give in to fear, the journey will be very difficult at times and as it states in the Book of Ephesians chapter 6, put on the full armor of God and stand in faith.  The choices will often be between courage and fear, be courageous in your faith.  Amen.

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“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.”

1 Corinthians 16:13-14

(This photo was taken in July of 2015 at Red Rocks Amphitheatre near Morrison, Colorado)

Choose How You Will Respond

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With every situation in life we are given free will by God which means we choose how to respond to what other people do or say.  This freedom also means we are accountable and responsible for our response even if the response is to do nothing.  If we are focused on self more than anything else we will often choose a poor response as self is only responding to the impact on me without regard for others.  God created us out of His love and we were made to choose the fruits of the Spirit in how we live our daily lives.  Be aware not only of ‘what’ you do and say, but also ‘how’ you do and say things when you respond to others.  Free will is a gift from God, how we respond with this gift makes all the difference in how we feel in our life.  May God’s joy and peace be with you.

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“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”

Proverbs 15:1

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

Listening -Mission Trip “Be Present”

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One of the most important yet least used character traits tends to be listening.  Have you been in one of those conversations where your mind is more on other things and you smile and nod as the person continues with their story?  Unfortunately, I think everyone has been in that position at least once in life and if your like me it happens more often than it should.  What is truly interesting is that when you do stop day dreaming and mind wandering and just listen to what someone is talking about you may just enjoy the conversation more than you realize.

We spent time today walking the downtown area of the city, we shared an extra bag lunch with a person in need on the street and we talked while we ate.  We heard stories about the difficult times our lunch buddy had suffered through and the warmth he felt about his daughter that he hadn’t seen in quite sometime.  We were together out on the sidewalk eating and talking for about 30-45 minutes and we learned where he had worked, how long he had been in the city and how long he had been living on the streets.  We heard about his broken relationships and the difficult battle with addiction. Really the stories he told were not much different than many other people…yet society has treated him differently than others…why…my guess is society, myself included, has already judged his worth.  Don’t misunderstand me, I realize that every person has responsibility for decisions they make and the things they choose to do but I also know that sometimes people may need at least one other person to help them get started on a more positive path.

With free will there always will be bad things happening in the world…we’re human we just can’t help ourselves.  However, with free will we all can choose whether or not we are willing to stop…look… and listen to others in the world around us.  Every person has value and some people just need a bit more help than others finding their place.

May God’s peace be with you.