love

The Greatest Commandment

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When you wonder what should I do?  Choose to love.  When things are spinning out of control…choose to act in love.  When others attack and express anger…choose a response based on love.  We must be careful not to get caught up in the ebb and flow of the world and the information overload we are constantly presented.  The best we can do for ourselves and for the Lord is follow the command of Jesus.  He is the way, the truth and the life and as our Savior, He will light our path.  I pray we are blessed with the courage and perseverance to follow Jesus.  Amen.

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“Jesus replied:  ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it:  ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Matthew 22:37-40

(This photo was taken in October of 2018 in Madison County near Winterset, Iowa)

Love Conquers All

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The driving force in any relationship is love.  It is described by specific behaviors to us in 1 Corinthians 13, so that we know what it means to love.  These words are read at more weddings than any other bible verse…just hearing or reading the words alone is not enough.  How do each of us as individuals put the words in 1 Corinthians 13 into actions and behaviors in our lives and relationships?  When we look at the life of Jesus…He did not only tell people to pray, He did it…He did not only teach people to help others in need, He did that to…He did not only speak about love…He did the one thing that showed the world His love for all people, for everyone and anyone who ever lives to see.  True love that shows up in our actions and our behaviors will always win over the most difficult and tragic situations.  How can we get better at practicing love in our lives?  I pray we seek to understand where we need to be better at love in our relationships.  Amen.

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“There is no fear in love.  But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.  The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”

1 John 4:18

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

Live A Life Filled With Love

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Offer hospitality…speak encouraging words…serve the needs of others…offer prayers and praise to God.  A life of love is not an ‘it’s all about me life’ rather it is a life with God at the center.  How can we show the love of Christ in our life today?  It is easy to get caught up in the world’s definition of something worth doing, you know…’go big or go home’…we can make a difference in the world just by fulfilling the needs of just one person…to them it may be the biggest or best thing that is done for them today.  Don’t judge your value or your life by the world’s standards…God created you…He knows you, He loves you and He is with you.  I pray we seek and know the love of God in our hearts and minds and we have the courage to share it with others.  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 one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”

1 Peter 4:8-10

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

Trust

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Something that is earned…easily eroded by poor behavior…to be a person of your word…to keep your promises.  Trust is an essential element in good relationships, in relationships that have a chance to grow.  It makes us vulnerable and when we get burned it takes that much longer for us to trust again.  God is the only one who has never broken a promise, He is the only one who is by our side every single day, He is the one who sent His only Son to die in order to save us…yet so many of us want to keep Him in a box with a glass door that says “In case of an emergency break glass.”  In order to trust God we need to be willing to be more open to Him, to be more vulnerable in our relationship with Him and to believe that He is working for good things in our life.  I pray we all can take steps toward trusting God more in our life everyday.  Amen.

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“I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

Psalm 91:2

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

Seek God’s Will

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We all have been given a conscience and we all have the ability to choose how we will respond to events and activity in our lives and the world.  Every day, every interaction with others is an opportunity to choose the way you will go.  We can’t get caught up in ‘the problems are too big’ or ‘they won’t listen to me’ or ‘I don’t have anything to offer others’…these are the words of darkness and evil trying to keep you from God’s will.  It may be only one moment in a day, one brief interaction or act of kindness but if you can do something to help or serve just one other person today, you have made a difference the world.  The world is broken and the problems, the suffering and the pursuit of selfishness and evil has people angry and fearful, for the human race overcoming all this alone is impossible but nothing is impossible for God.  I pray that we all will seek Him and His will for our lives.  Amen.

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“He has showed you, O mortal, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

Micah 6:8

(This photo was taken in July of 2016 at the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park)

Amazing Grace

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This is the message God has put on my heart this morning.  Below are the words, I encourage you to go find your favorite recording of it and listen to it.  May God’s love, joy and peace be with you.

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me,
His Word my hope secures;
He will my Shield and Portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’d first begun.

Written by John Newton

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“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is a gift of God…”

Ephesians 2:8

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

Wait For The Lord

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Our lives are usual so busy moving from one thing to the next, that planning and preparing become dominant activities…the thing is if we are always planning and preparing for what’s next when are we living in the present moment?  A difficult part of surrender for all of us is not always trying to control what’s next.  A life of faith doesn’t mean we always go and do what we want…Jesus said in Luke 9:23 “…If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”  We all have a cross to bear in life, it is different for everyone…and bearing a cross is doing what we should be doing, doing what needs to be done.  It means being obedient to God and we do these things because of love.  Be in prayer and talk with the Lord about what He needs you to do then wait and listen.  May you be surrounded by the love of God each day.

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“The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord,”

Lamentations 3:25-26

(This photo was taken in June of 2013 in Badlands National Park in South Dakota)

Everlasting Love

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Friends the Lord is speaking again with hymns from my childhood and today on this day of worship this one is playing over and over in my mind telling me that no matter what you face the Lord loves you and you will find comfort in Him.  Here are the lyrics and a link to the song.

I Have Loved You

I have loved you with an everlasting love, I have called you and you are mine;

I have loved you with an everlasting love, I have called you and you are mine.
Seek the face of the Lord and long for him: He will bring you his light and his peace.
I have loved you with an everlasting love, I have called you and you are mine;

I have loved you with an everlasting love, I have called you and you are mine.
Seek the face of the Lord and long for him: He will bring you his joy and his hope.
I have loved you with an everlasting love, I have called you and you are mine;

I have loved you with an everlasting love, I have called you and you are mine.
Seek the face of the Lord and long for him: He will bring you his care and his love.
I have loved you with an everlasting love, I have called you and you are mine;

I have loved you with an everlasting love, I have called you and you are mine.
Jeremiah 31:3, Psalm 24:3
Michael Joncas
May we all know the love and peace of the Lord.
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“The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying:  “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.”
Jeremiah 31:3
(This photo was taken in March of 2018 while traveling through southern New Mexico)

Living Water

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How are we going to get through this?  Now what?  I don’t know what to do?  Why is this happening?  The answers to these and many other questions is Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord.  The true source of all that makes life good is your relationship with Jesus.  Like any relationship we must invest time in meeting with Him, we must be willing to listen to Him, we should do our best to help support what is important to Him and be willing to introduce Him to others.  He supplies the living water of life.  The first step to staying connected or re-connecting with Christ is spending time reading the Word of God.  May God’s mercy and grace be with you.

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“Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.  Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

John 4:13-14

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

He Knows Me

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The One who created us knows everything about us.  Even if we haven’t spent much time with God in our life.  Even if we have put Him aside in our daily, weekly routine and have been trying to go it alone or do things our own way.  He knows you, He loves you and He wants to have a relationship with you.  If you want to seek more about this read Psalm 139.  Then pray and invite Jesus into your everyday moments.  God has a plan for you and your life and we must be willing to surrender our belief that we are in control and seek His Word.  God knows you, He loves you because He created you.  May our days be filled with the comfort of God’s presence.

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“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Psalm 139:23-24

(This photo was taken in July of 2018 on Lake Superior near the Apostle Islands)