Life

Pray

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When wondering about prayer, Jesus set the example for us.  He not only gave us the words of the Lord’s prayer…He lived it in His actions and behaviors.  Prayer works…true, sincere, honest and from the heart prayer works.  It is not about granting you what you want, when you want it.  It is about your relationship with God.  If you struggle with prayer…think about when a child is learning to talk…they don’t use the right words the right way when they first speak, yet it gets better over time.  They also do not get everything they ask for but the communication is still very important for their relationships.  Dedicate time to prayer every day.  Amen.

“But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”

Luke 5:16

“One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.”

Luke 6:12

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“Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

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

Daily Living By Faith

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“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform 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 12:1-2

“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. 14 Do everything in love.”

1 Corinthians 16:13-14

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“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”

Romans 12:9-13

(This photo was taken in May of 2020 during sunrise along the North Shore of Lake Superior)

Today

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“God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
    do not harden your hearts.”[a]

Hebrews 4:7

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“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

Hebrews 4:12-13

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

Surrender

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“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

James 4:7

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“Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life[a] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.”

Mark 8:34-35

(This photo was taken in April of 2020 at a lake near Plymouth, Minnesota)

The Message

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“…but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”

1 Corinthians 1:23-24

“Who has believed our message
    and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
    and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
    nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

4 Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.”

Isaiah 53:1-5

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“Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. 32 “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.

33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

John 16:31-33

(This photo was taken in July of 2015 at a lake in central Minnesota)

Gratitude

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“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.

2     Worship the Lord with gladness;
    come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
    It is he who made us, and we are his[a];
    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.”

Psalm 100:1-3

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“Enter his gates with thanksgiving
    and his courts with praise;
    give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
    his faithfulness continues through all generations.”

Psalm 100:4-5

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

Compassion

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Sympathy…empathy…understanding…tenderness…gentleness…mercy…love.  Amen.

“The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
    slow to anger, abounding in love.”

Psalm 103:8

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“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 5:6-8

(This photo was taken in May of 2020 along the North Shore of Lake Superior)

Courage

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“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

More Than Conquerors

31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 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? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?”

Romans 8:28-35

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“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[c] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 8:37-39

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

Actions Of Hope

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An action of hope means getting practical.  Working and doing things with trust in God’s plan even when the circumstances don’t reveal it.  Actions of hope are a way to live in faith and to put your trust in God.  In Jeremiah 32 there is a story of Jeremiah buying a field at a time when Babylon was coming to capture the city…this was not a logical action at the time rather an action of hope because God had said the people will return to buy fields, build houses and live in this land.  Destruction was coming yet Jeremiah bought a field.  Turn towards God in faith and ask for His guidance for opportunities for you to take actions of hope in your life.  Amen.

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“…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 1:6

(This photo was taken in July of 2016 while traveling in North Dakota)

God Is Love

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“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 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. 10 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 4:8-10

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“We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”

1 John 4:19-21

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