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Start With These…

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Love God.  Love People.  Too often we seek power or control over situations and people. That’s what gets us into trouble.  For some of us we are protecting ourselves because we have been hurt in our past…the longer we proceed carrying around the hurts of the past the longer they will damage our future.  Life is not about what others do to us…it is about how do we choose to respond?  Choose God, choose love…Love God.  Love People.  Amen.

Love God Love People by Danny Gokey

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“One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[a] 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[b] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[c] There is no commandment greater than these.”

Mark 12:28-31

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

 

Courageous

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You were created out of God’s love…He is with you…do not be afraid, be courageous.  Amen.

“He has shown 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[a] with your God.”

Micah 6:8

Courageous by Casting Crowns

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“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Joshua 1:9

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

 

Help Wherever You Can

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There is a quote by John Wesley who was an English clergyman from the 1700’s that best sums up daily life and serving those in need.  If more people took the time and effort to help someone else in a way that they can there would be fewer people in need of the basics in life of food, shelter and clothing.  None of us can solve the whole problem alone yet we can help when we do whatever we can.  Amen.

“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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“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”

Matthew 25:40

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

Faithful God

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Our God is faithful to all His promises…forever.  Amen.

Forever by Chris Tomlin

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“Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.”

Deuteronomy 7:9

(This photo was taken in June of 2013 near Garden of Gods in Colorado)

Peace

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True peace is from God.  It is a perspective and an attitude that is not rooted in worldly desires amd motives.  The path to peace begins when we turn in faith towards Jesus Christ and trust in His way.  Amen.

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:4-7

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“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

John 14:27

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

By His Wounds We Are Healed

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Our sins leave a mark on us.  Some mark our hearts or our minds, some leave a mark on our bodies and some sins leave long lasting wounds.  These wounds occur because we chase after sinful desires that hurt us and may hurt others.  He took the punishment for our sins…He sacrificed Himself for us because He loves us and we are not capable of saving ourselves.  Jesus Christ suffered, was crucified and died for us and it is by His wounds we are healed.  Amen.

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”

1 Peter 2:24

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“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 53:5

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

 

Work In Progress

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Each day we live means God is still working on us.  He knows the number of our days and He is with us for each and every one of them.  It is up to us to seek Him…to acknowledge Him and His Presence…we have the task of learning, growing and sharing as we go…it doesn’t have to be perfect and it never will be.  God tells us we are His work in progress and if we live our lives trusting and believing and spending time with Him good things will come.  Amen.

God’s Not Done With You by Tauren Wells

“In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 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 1:4-6

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“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Ephesians 2:10

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

 

An Encounter

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The difference between faith and religion…faith is about trust and belief because we have experienced the Presence of God in our lives.  Has it happened to you?  It is hard to put into words…unexplainable…a time for me was putting together and delivering the eulogy at my father’s funeral.  Not something I ever could have done alone…when I think about that time words are few, yet the ones that come to mind are comfort, unusual peace, clear thinking…that doesn’t fully cover it but what I can come up with…in the book of Exodus Moses was up on the mountain for 40 days with God without food or water, yet it does not say he felt hunger or thirst.  An encounter with the Presence of God is unlike anything else in life.  May His Peace be with you.  Amen.

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“The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

Exodus 33:14

(This photo was taken in September of 2014 on a walk near Plymouth, Minnesota)

Holy Spirit

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Our Guide…our Advocate…our Counselor…the very presence of God.  Amen.

Holy Spirit by Francesca Battistelli

“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”

John 14:26

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.”

Romans 8:26

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“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity but one of power, love, and self-discipline.[a]”

2 Timothy 1:7

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