Goodness

Forgiveness And For Goodness

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These are the presents we receive from God, not only at Christmas, we receive these every day of our lives.  It is up to us to accept these gifts and to trust in the Lord.  We are forgiven because of Jesus Christ and we receive goodness from God’s Holy Spirit within us.  All throughout the bible the miracles performed included Jesus involving someone else in completing the miracle.  An example would be the little boy who had the fish and bread, that was to be multiplied for all to eat.  God wants us to accept the gift of forgiveness from Jesus and to open our hearts and minds to the goodness of the Holy Spirit and God wants each of us to participate in the story.  God loves you; God forgives you and He is ready to lead you to good things.  Accept these gifts from God.  Amen.

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“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

James 1:17

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

Righteousness

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Honesty…integrity…honor…purity…goodness.  Seek to do good and good will come back to you.  This is about who we are as a person in all aspects of life.  When you seek to do good, there is no telling how long it can last in the world, especially when you do good to others.  There is a quote from John Wesley who was an English evangelical clergyman, preacher, and writer in the 1700’s that still sums up what our goals for goodness should be:

“Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”

― John Wesley

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“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

Matthew 5:6

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

 

Self-Awareness

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This is defined as knowledge of one’s own feelings, motives and desires.  If we are able to understand more about ourselves, we can become more confident in our values and purpose.  Being more self-aware will also improve our relationships and interactions with others.  For example, if our motives and desires center around self-satisfaction we will most likely have difficulty in relationships as we are not accounting for the needs of others.  There is a balance between self-care and helping others that we should strive for and we don’t have to do it alone.  God is with us and because of Jesus Christ we can ask for guidance in finding this balance.  May the Fruit of the Spirit be in you and flow through you.  Amen.

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“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

Galatians 5:22-23

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

Keep Doing Good Things

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Not for your benefit, rather for the benefit of helping others.  We reap what we sow in this life.  This does not mean we can earn our way into heaven by doing the right things…it means whatever we give out into the world will come back around to us at some point and none of us knows or can control how or when that will happen.  This is further proof that God is in control and it is our responsibility to choose our behaviors and our actions in our daily life.  We cannot control what others will think, say or do, yet we can control how we respond.  Let’s choose to keep doing good things.  May the Fruit of the Spirit flow through us each day.  Amen.

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“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.  Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.  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 6:7-9

(This photo was taken in June of 2013 in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado)

Generosity

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Give whatever you can, whenever you can, wherever you are.  Giving and being generous is about so much more than money.  We all have the ability to give…we can give of our time, we can give attention, we can give of ourselves physically to help out another, etc.  We all have been given talents and gifts.  Certain people are good at somethings while others are good at other things and when people are willing to give of their gifts good things occur for many people.  If you are unsure what you can offer, ask God: How can I help?  And pay attention for opportunities to give wherever you can.  Amen.

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“…remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ “

Acts 20:35

(This photo was taken in July of 2016 at the North Entrance of Yellowstone National Park)

 

If God Is For Us…

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What more could we possibly need?  He is our Creator.  The Old Testament tells us about the back and forth relationship between the people and God.  Eventually God decides there is only One way to save us and because of His great love for us, it is finished.  God tried many different ways to have relationships with people and Jesus Christ knows what it is like to be human in this world.  God knows you; He knows more about you than you realize and He loves you.  All that is good comes from God, He is with you and His plan is for good things in your life and even though things will go wrong because of sin in the world, He will still be with you to strengthen you and encourage you to keep going, keep trying and keep trusting in Him.  Seek out God and His plan and you will find peace.  Amen.

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“What, then, shall we say in response to these things?  If God is for us,who can be against us?  He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”

Romans 8:31-32

(This photo was taken in August of 2016 in Mount Rainier National Park in Washington)

The Fruit Of The Spirit

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When we come to Christ and seek Him, we are renewed.  The Holy Spirit within us encourages us to live by the Fruit of the Spirit more and more and to leave the evil, anger, hatred and darkness behind.  The more we use the Fruit of the Spirit when thinking about ourselves and while helping others the better our life will be.  Most of us are too hard on ourselves and too hard on others…things can be different.  Pick up God’s Word and read about it, pray and ask for forgiveness of your sins and to have the Fruit of the Spirit stirred up in you.  May God’s love, joy and peace be with you.  Amen.

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“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Against such things there is no law.”

Galatians 5:22-23

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

His Love Endures Forever

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All that is good comes from God.  When darkness creeps in and fear takes hold, God is our strength.  When you don’t know what to do ask God to guide you and your decisions.  When life is going well give thanks to God for His blessings.  Remember the Lord every day and know that with God all things are possible.  Amen.

Forever by Chris Tomlin

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“Give thanks to the Lord, for his is good.  His love endures forever.”

Psalm 136:1

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

Free Will

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God has given us the gift of free will.  We are allowed to choose how we will respond to everything.  When you think about it after everything that God has experienced with the human race…why did He do this?  After all the things humans have chosen to do wrong starting with Adam and Eve, why allow us to choose?  I believe it is because real love, joy and goodness offered voluntarily is the only kind worth having…the risk, of course, is we are filled with sinful hearts and minds and we often choose poorly and that is why bad things happen in the world.  Use your free will to offer goodness, kindness, love and joy to others.  Amen.

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“You, my brothers and sisters, 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.”

Galatians 5:13-14

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

Return To Sender

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It is true…we will get exactly what we give in this life.  If we choose to stomp around with anger, deceit and selfish motivations, always screaming and yelling about our rights…there is no reason to expect others to treat us any differently.  Take a moment to reflect on any recent interaction you have had that didn’t go well from your perspective.  Who was first to start the interaction?  You or the other person and what was the tone and demeanor of the first person to act?  If things started from a place of anger and tension then I would guess it continued and escalated or even if it started out just fine something must have happened that turned it into something unpleasant.  We are wired to react and respond and if someone doesn’t stop the reaction response mentality things get to the point where people get hurt or killed.  There must be a better way…The Good News is just that…a better way.  We can choose to be different, we can be kind and compassionate with patience if we are willing to turn towards Jesus Christ and invite Him into our hearts and minds and we read the Word of God to learn about this Way every day.  Amen.

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“The one who sows to please the sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”

Galatians 6:8

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