Learning

God’s Love

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Everlasting…forgiving…strengthens us…deeper than any love on earth…reconciled…compassionate…is the light of life.  God chose us, God chose you.  He chose you out of love and He poured out His love for you by sending His one and only Son into the world.  God’s love gave us our Savior, Jesus Christ and through His Sacrifice, we are Saved.  Turn towards God today and thank Him for His love and for Jesus, ask Him to guide you to how you can show His love to others.  Amen.

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“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 4:10

(This photo was taken in July of 2016 in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming)

Attitude And Perspective

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These are two key elements that drive our thoughts, our actions and our behaviors.  The  amazing thing is we are in charge of our attitudes and our perspectives.  Which also means we are accountable for the attitude we choose or the perspective we believe about everything.  We try to blame the things we can’t control for why we choose the attitude or perspective we have, yet our responsibility is in how we choose to respond to events and actions or the behaviors of others.  At this time I would like to share an item written by Charles Swindoll that states a similar perspective about Attitude…

Attitude

by Charles Swindoll

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.  Attitude, to me, is more important than facts.  It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.  It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill.  It will make or break a company…a church…a home.  The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.  We cannot change our past…we cannot change that people will act a certain way.  We cannot change the inevitable.  The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude…I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me, and 90% how I react to it.  And so it is with you…we are in charge of our Attitudes.”

I pray we look to the Holy Spirit to guide us and lead us to choose our attitude according to God’s will.  Amen.

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“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Matthew 6:21

(This photo was taken in March of 2018 in White Sands National Monument in New Mexico)

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)

Character

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Personality…nature…disposition…temperament…mentality…essence…identity…spirit.  Our character is defined by who we are, how we relate and interact with others.  This is at the core of who we are as a person.  For some, their true character is only revealed to a few other people as they have fear and a lack of trust in others due to previous wounds and painful past experiences.  The other reason fear exists in revealing our true character is our concern regarding acceptance.  With the proliferation of social media sites, judgement or what is know as ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’ has inappropriately become the measuring stick of defining who someone is…talk about judging a book by its cover!  We can begin to get knowledge and a better understanding of our character by spending time with Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord and by accepting who we are according to God.  Additionally, we can encourage and help build up others by taking time to listen and discuss the things that make us different.  I pray we all examine who we are more than what we do and we lay our fears and worries at the foot of the cross.  Amen.

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“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.”

2 Peter 1:5-7

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

Follow Jesus

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Commitment…dedication…devotion…faithfulness.  Our spiritual growth will show signs of all these things over time.  The faith journey is more than a one time decision to invite Jesus Christ into your heart and life…don’t misunderstand me, that is absolutely the right first step.  The journey continues from there with a daily giving of ourselves to the will of God for our lives.  It is prayer about everything, it is learning to let go of those things we cannot control nor should we try to control.  It is about learning to accept the love and forgiveness of God in your heart and mind and then turning outward toward others to share that truth in service and kindness.  My prayer is for us all to give of ourselves to Jesus each day.  After all, He gave all He had of His life in this world to save us.  Amen.

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“Then he said to them all:  If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

Luke 9:23

(This photo was taken in October of 2018 at City Park in Winterset, Iowa)

Living In The Light

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Choose to be optimistic…choose to have gratitude…be thankful…appreciate all that you have been blessed with each day.  Some days you may feel like there is not much to be thankful for, yet I encourage you to seek something to have gratitude about receiving or having available.  The more you practice gratitude and thankfulness the easier it gets.  The world is full of good things and good people…we have to want to see them.  This is about changing our perspective and our attitude, not about the world and others changing things to fit our wants and desires.  May we be filled with the light of Christ in our everyday interactions.  Amen.

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“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”

Ephesians 4:29

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

Freedom Found In Forgiveness

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Learning to forgive someone for something that occurred in the past…this is a tough thing for many of us.  It is not in our human nature to forgive.  We usually struggle because we are waiting for the other person to earn our forgiveness, however, as we read in the Scriptures, our forgiveness for our sins was not nor will it ever be earned.  If God was going to wait for us to show we deserved to be forgiven for our sinful ways…well just look around you at the world and the behavior of people…sin rules this world as much or more now than it ever has.  We do not deserve to saved from our sins and yet God sent His Son to suffer and die for us, to pay the penalty for our sins so that we are forgiven and our relationship is reconciled.  We can learn to forgive and break free from the anger, the hatred, the finger pointing that keeps us stuck in a cycle of violence and hurting each other.  Forgiveness means we are not going to let the hurts of the past control our future behavior…that is exactly what God has done for you and for me.  I pray we can each pick one relationship that we know needs our attention and seek to forgive, so that we can be free from the hurts of the past.  Amen.

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“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

Ephesians 4:32

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

Everything, Anything

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Nothing is to big, to complex.  Nothing is to powerful.  Nothing is to difficult to solve.  When we believe in Jesus Christ and trust Him with our everything, everyday we know that God will guide our way through anything we encounter in life.  It may not be the way we would do it on our own, but that is the point, on our own we would get stuck…stopped, without resolution.  No matter what it is you are facing, no matter what battle is knocking you back or down…get back up and surrender the issue to God.  That doesn’t mean you stop doing things or stop living, it means you do your best according to God’s word to live by the fruits of the Spirit and let God take care of the rest.  May we all take steps to surrender our worries and our anxieties to the Lord.  Amen.

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“I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

Philippians 4:13

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

The Love Of Christ

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We can search our entire life for something to comfort us, to depend on and to know that it is always watching over us…and yet there is only one thing that can be all of this and more for everyone…that is the love of Jesus Christ.  Nothing in this world is as powerful as the love of Christ.  No event or circumstances can compare with the death and resurrection of Jesus and the fact that He endured it all for you and for me because of  love.  It is the greatest gift we will ever receive and the most important thing we can share with others.  I pray we all seek ways to shine a light on the love of Christ in our lives.  Amen.

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“…And I pray that you, may have power together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ…”

Ephesians 3:17-18

(This photo was taken in July of 2018 at Devils Island in the Apostle Islands in Lake Superior)

Give Generously

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When we talk about giving and generosity, society and the world focuses on money and wealth alone.  There is so much more to giving than money.  To give of your time, your talents or your gifts.  To give is about perspective, attitude and encouragement of the spirit.  So give whatever it is you have to offer and give to those who are in need in your daily life and surroundings.  Start by thanking God for whatever it is you have been blessed with and ask Him to guide you to how you can share it.  I pray each one of us seeks a generous attitude with the gifts and blessings God has given us.  Amen.

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“Remember this:  Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.  Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a Cheerful giver.”

2 Corinthians 9:6-7

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