Offer Kindness

July 18, 2019 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

Every single person is fighting a personal battle within themselves…every single one of us. Don’t be so quick to judge and assume your knowledge about any situation or individual. Be different, be kind…listen and seek to understand. The quickest way to diffuse an escalating situation is kindness and compassion, not pushing your personal agenda. Turn towards Jesus and ask that you are filled with courage and the ability to see others with His eyes. Amen.

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“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”

1 Peter 4:8-10

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

Give Thanks And Praise

July 16, 2019 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

The Lord gives us blessings…He knows each of us and He cares for us. Some blessings are talents or natural skills we can use to share abundance with others…some blessings don’t feel like a blessing but are intended for us to learn from, in these times it can be difficult to stay true to faith and to look for God in all of it. He is right there with you, no matter what has happened, no matter who you have lost in this life. Spiritual maturity comes by walking with God and trusting in Him. Give thanks and praise Him for His love, His mercy, His forgiveness and His grace. Amen.

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“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”

Deuteronomy 6:5

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

Hope

July 15, 2019 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

Our faith relies on hope and our hope is eternal because of Jesus and what He has done for us. The events and circumstances of our lives are constantly trying to snuff out all hope…if we get distracted and put ourselves in the center of our lives instead of Christ, it becomes difficult to see any hope. When we choose to live this way, focused on the self, we will be frustrated, disappointed and feel hopeless. When we turn our attention to the Lord, when we read God’s Word and we pray we can find hope once again. As it is written in Matthew 19:26 “…With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” May the hope that is found in Christ be with you this day. Amen.

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“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 15:13

(This photo was taken in July of 2017 at a lake place in northwestern Wisconson)

God’s Word

July 13, 2019 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

When we open up and read the Word of God, we can sense the Spirit that God has planted within us. Our faith is living and breathing and needs to be fed. God’s Word renews us, encourages us and centers us on Him and His plan for us. His Word is truth, it is fact based on actual events in history and His Word gives us life. May God’s peace be with you and flow through you each day. Amen.

Word Of Life by Jeremy Camp

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“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

John 1:1

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

Trust

July 11, 2019 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

Even when you can’t see the result…even when it feels like everything is working against you, He is working for your good…even when your feel your desires, wants and temptations are pulling you away from God, turn towards Him and be patient. This can be so difficult to live out each day, yet by reading God’s Word and spending time with Him in prayer, He will renew your strength. May the peace of the Lord be with you. Amen.

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“The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?”

Psalms 27:1

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

Love And Faithfulness

July 10, 2019 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

When we are able to surrender ourselves to God and His plan and we follow Jesus as our Savior and Lord, we will grow and mature spiritually. We may believe we know a great deal about love and faithfulness and yet there is so much more God wants to show us. It will not be easy and we should take nothing for granted. Living in this world where sin and selfishness run wild, where temptations are lurking…we will never be perfect, so that is not a realistic goal and we are not to be the judge of others. In the Gospel of John 13:34-35, Jesus gives us a new command of love, He is speaking about it at a time when one of His close disciples in going off to betray Him. Love and faithfulness these are characteristics of the new creation God is making us to be. Seek the Lord and the life He has planned for you. Amen.

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“Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.”

Proverbs 3:3-4

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

Contentment

July 8, 2019 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

I hope you have enjoyed the music and listening for God in the talent of those who have been blessed to share the Good News through song over the last few weeks. This morning I am struck by gratitude for all the good things God has given. There is so much to be thankful for and yet we often choose to wish for things to be different or to have more or less of something. It seems to be human nature to desire more in some way, however, true joy and peace is found only in contentment. Think about how much we can enjoy the present moments in life each day if we begin with gratitude and thankfulness for what blessings we have been given and put Christ in the center of our lives rather than ourselves and our desires. Thanks be to God for all He has done for us and may the peace of the Lord be with you. Amen.

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“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.”

1 Timothy 6:6-7

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

Extending His Grace to Others

July 7, 2019July 7, 2019 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

We have been blessed to be a blessing…He provides amazing grace to flow through us, so that we show His love to others with our actions and behaviors.

Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) by Chris Tomlin

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“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

John 3:16

(This photo was taken in June of 2018 near the border of South Dakota and Minesota)

He Loves Us

July 6, 2019 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

There is nothing in the world like God’s love for us…He sacrificed His one and only Son to save us…sin and suffering are the result of human behavior, all that is good comes from God. Seek Him and His will for you. Amen.

How He Loves by David Crowder Band

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“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 Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

Ephesians 3:17-19

(This photo was taken in October of 2018 at a lake near Plymouth, Minnesota)

He Knows…

July 3, 2019 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

No matter where we go or what we do…we can be assured God knows us and is watching out for us. He has a plan for us and it is up to us to seek Him and His Word.

He Knows by Jeremy Camp

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