Heart

Living For God – A Prayer by St. Francis of Assisi

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Make me a channel of Your peace.
Where there is hatred let me bring Your love,
Where there is injury Your pardon Lord,
And where there’s doubt, true faith in You.

Make me a channel of Your peace.
Where there’s despair in life let me bring hope,
Where there is darkness, only light,
And where there’s sadness, ever joy.

Oh, Master, grant that I may never seek,
So much to be consoled, as to console.
To be understood, as to understand,
To be loved, as to love with all my soul.

Make me a channel of Your peace.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
In giving to all men that we receive,
And in dying that we’re born to eternal life.

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“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.  If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God.  If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.  To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever.  Amen.”

1 Peter 4:10-11

(This photo was taken in June of 2016 on a lake in northwestern Wisconsin)

The Answers Are Found At The Cross

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History is filled with events and stories of struggle, despair, war, judgement and injustice.  People of all generations have pressed for money, power and self-centered convenience.  This continues in the present day for all of us…I like everyone else am a sinner and have succumbed to temptations and poor decisions.  These behaviors are the result of human beings inviting sin into the world.  It seems like defeat is all around us and that is just how the prince of darkness wants you feel.  Yet even today there is hope…there is hope of goodness, faithfulness, kindness, peace, patience, love and joy.  And it begins at the Cross of Christ.  May God’s peace be with you.

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“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:  Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!”

Philippians 2:5-8

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

Give Thanks

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It is easy to get caught up in the minutia of life everyday and forget that God is with you.  In fact that is exactly what the forces of evil want you to do, evil wants you to believe you are all alone and you should only look out for yourself.  God knows the struggle…Jesus faced the devil in the desert and He has overcome death and evil through His death and resurrection.  Connect with the Lord today and be thankful for Jesus who has fought the battle and won.  May God’s peace be with you.

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“But thanks be to God!  He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

1 Corinthians 15:57

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

What Is Love?

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Living our life in relationships with others and living in a self-giving, self-humbling manner that shows us and others that we are together in this journey of life and faith.  Who you are as a person reflects the love in your heart, even when and especially when it is the hardest to love because others have treated you poorly.  When we get to the most difficult moments and life has been beating us down…the strength to be renewed will come from the love of God.  May God’s peace be with you.

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“This is how God showed his love among us:  He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.  This is love:  not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

1 John 4:9-10

(This photo was taken in October of 2014 at the Nakalele Blowhole on the island of Maui)

Use Your Spiritual Gifts

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We are all uniquely made by God.  In each one of us there are gifts and talents that we have that were given to us to use to help others in some way.  These may not be fully developed yet but they are still there.  Seek to find what your gifts and talents may be…when you are able to do something that feels like no effort at all and yet others are so thankful for your effort that may be telling you something about your gifts.  Another way to learn about your gifts is to look through a list of volunteer opportunities and whichever one speaks to you and makes you think ‘I could do that’…then go and do it.  You were made for a purpose find ways to seek out what that is and when you find it do more of it.  May God’s peace be with you.

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

Romans 12:6-8

(This photo was taken in June of 2013 near Colorado Springs, Colorado)

Give Your Time And Gifts For Others

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We all have received spiritual gifts and blessings in this life…these are not always related to worldly power and finances.  The gift of time and the ability to choose your attitude are two things worth more than all the money in the world.  Don’t take these gifts for granted…do something, do an act of love today…it doesn’t matter what size of an act it is.  Even if your action shows kindness and love to only one other person the ripples of impact can travel far beyond you in this world.  May God’s peace be with you.

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“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”

Matthew 25:35-36

(This photo was taken in June of 2013 at Garden of the Gods park in Colorado Springs, Colorado)

Let The Light Of Christ Shine

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When we open ourselves up and invite Jesus into our heart and lives we will receive the gift of Holy Spirit to guide us and our thoughts.  Leading us to a life that is filled with the fruits of the Spirit.  In order to get there we must surrender the desire to serve ourselves be willing to serve the purpose that God has planned for us.  This is not easy and it is not a one moment event, it is a daily journey to learn to die to self and live to God, changing from the sinful nature of this fallen world to an eternal nature of the Spirit.  The world is dark but Jesus is the Light in the darkness.  Shine on.  May God’s peace be with you.

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“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”

2 Corinthians 4:6

(This photo was taken in July of 2014 at a lake place in central Minnesota)

A Purpose For Everything

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As I have traveled on this faith journey I have on occasion asked, ‘Why God?’  ‘Why is this happening?’ and through the reading of the Word and in the quiet of my time with God an answer sometimes is revealed.  Maybe through the words of a song that comes to mind out of nowhere or in certain verses I am reflecting on.  To me to trust in the Lord means I don’t have to get an answer to all my questions because I trust he is working for good in my life and if I am truly honest as I look at my life I have many blessings and just need to focus on gratitude.  Eventually I come back to my purpose…To know Him and to make Him known…that is what I believe He has asked of me.  May God’s peace be with you.

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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 June of 2016 at a lake near Minneapolis, Minnesota)

Living By The Spirit

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We receive messages all day long about “how we are to live”…”what we are to want”…as if we are missing out on something from this world if we don’t do or want the same things everyone else desires.  The Christian life is not better than others but rather different.  Dare to be different and trust God to guide your way.

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“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Romans 12:2

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

Sow The Seeds Of Faith

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“Remember this:  Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.  Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.“

2 Corinthians 9:6-7

(This photo was taken in March in 2013 at the Botanical Gardens at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nevada)