Persistence And Patience

February 17, 2020 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

Keep going with prayer…don’t let the desire for immediate gratification discourage you…God’s will is not about your timing. Seek comfort from Jesus by spending time in prayer and reading God’s word, pay attention for God’s responses in your daily life. Align yourself with God’s plan and go after it with persistence and patience. God is with you and He loves you. Amen.

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“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”

Colossians 4:2

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

Persistence

January 26, 2020 / mcalcagno / 2 Comments

Perseverance…determination…patience…endurance…dedication…commitment. Stay the course…don’t give up. This is what it takes to find what you are looking for…no matter what it is. Reflect on what you have been “thinking about doing,” what have you been “wishing were different” in your life…is it related to your finances? Is it related to your weight? Is it related to a relationship? Your faith? Something else? Begin again and this time bring it to the Lord first, seek His wisdom and be persistent. Amen.

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“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. ⁸Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. ⁹Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. ¹⁰Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

Galatians 6:7-10

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

Patience And Persistence

September 6, 2019 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

Keep going…learn from what has happened…know that God is working for good things in all situations…He is with you…it is His plan that is best…there will be plenty of opportunities to go your own way…stay on the path…walk with God. Amen.

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“The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.”

Psalm 145:8-9

(This photo was taken in July of 2016 in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota)

Persistence

June 7, 2019 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

Do not give up…don’t assume you know the outcome…they say failure is a stepping stone to success…or as Dory the fish says “just keep swimming.” We will always have the opportunity to stop trying to do something. Maybe the answers for a situation are related to trying a new approach or a new way rather than quitting. If we are able to surrender control and trust in God and His plan, we may find new outcomes we didn’t imagine were possible. Bring your worries and struggles to the Cross and let Jesus lead the way. Amen.

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“Let us not become weary of doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

Galatians 6:9

(This photo was taken in June of 2013 near Pike’s Peak in Colorado)

Persevere

March 14, 2019 / mcalcagno / 1 Comment

Purposeful…dedicated…courageous…committed…determined…resolute. It takes strength to run the race of faith. The evil in this world will serve us many forms of darkness and struggle, it will work hard, very hard to keep us away from God. We have to be willing to fight just as hard to stay close to God and trust in the hope that faith gives us…even when…especially when we can’t see it. Don’t stop believing…(and now the song by Journey is playing in my mind)…keep the faith, when you get knocked back or pushed down trust in God and keep running the race of faith. Amen.

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“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

Hebrews 12:1

(This photo was taken in July of 2016 on Beartooth Pass in Montana)

Facing Trials

March 8, 2019 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

We are not made to do this on our own…so many people try to go it alone. We need faith and a belief in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. We need a community of believers to pray with us and for us. Every trial can provide growth in our relationship with Jesus. The trials will keep coming, that is just part of what we are facing in this fallen world. There is hope, there is joy and there can be peace if you believe in God and trust Him with your life. He has shown His love for us through the sacrifice of His One and Only Son. Whatever are you are facing today…take it to the Lord in prayer. Amen.

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“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, becasue you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.”

James 1:2-3

(This photo was taken in July of 2018 while on a hike near Bayfield, Wisconsin)

Endurance

March 5, 2019 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

Keep going…keep believing…keep praying…listen…observe…endure. God’s Word tells us we will have trouble in this world. Be persistent, seek to do good things, learn from what you have experienced. The next attempt might be the one that breaks through to something greater than you can imagine. There is a new song by an artist named Danny Gokey entitled “Haven’t Seen It Yet” and it provides a perspective about God’s will that many of us need to be reminded of. Don’t give up…God is with you. Amen.

“Haven’t Seen It Yet” by Danny Gokey

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“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

Romans 12:12

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

Persistence

February 12, 2019 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

As of last night our area in the upper Midwest has received 16 inches of snow in the last week. Last night, another 4-5 inches fell and it will continue to snow until this afternoon, we may get more on Thrusday. We are not the only area with weather affecting every day life. I thought I heard the Seattle area received as much snow from one strom that it usually receives the entire winter. The pattern for us has been snow, then cold, then snow, then cold…repeat, repeat. The persistence of it can put some people under pressure while some people have big smiles on their faces…I tend to be more in the latter group. It is all about how we choose to respond. If you want to understand more about yourself and how you handle things that cannot be controlled…observe your reaction in relation to the weather. The same is true when it comes to doing good things we need to be persistent and not give up. Things will go wrong, the problems will seem to big, we will read and see terrible things in this world, we need to focus on Jesus Christ, we need to be persistent in our faith…that is the answer to all that we cannot control. Amen.

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“And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is right.”

2 Thessalonians 3:13

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

Perseverance

January 3, 2019 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

Don’t quit…don’t give up…get up…keep going…keep seeking…keep trying…believe. Here we are back to talking about attitude and perspective. Attitude is formed over a period of time by experience and observation. The things we chose to take in with our senses have significant impact on the formation of our attitudes. Things we chose to read, what we chose to listen to, etc. What is interesting here are the words…we chose, what we decide to spend our time on plays into our attitude. We can develop the courage to persevere in difficulties and tough times or we can be stagnant and let those times defeat us. To be clear none of this occurs in 140 characters or less…it takes time! My personal definition of perseverance is be patient and be persistent and believe good things will come. If you are unsure what to do about this, may I suggest a book? Start with the bible and a sincere prayer to God and as the song says, let Jesus take the wheel. Amen.

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“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.”

James 1:2

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

Persistence

September 27, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

When we read about prayer in the Bible there are words and phrases such as “without ceasing” or “continually” and when we read about the life of Jesus we find He spent hours and sometimes even the whole night in prayer to God His Father. In today’s society we are so quick to move from one item to the next it seems there is little attention paid to dedication and commitment. The ability to stick to it, not giving up and believing the next attempt will be the one that is successful…these are the attributes of true success in life. This approach to anything takes patience, persistence and faith. We learn the most from trying and failing and we succeed by taking what we learn and applying it to the future. The same is true in our prayer life…if you have been praying about something and you haven’t seen results yet, don’t give up, keep praying. God hears you and He will work things out in His time, His way, not based on our thoughts or our timetable…and thankfully His way is always better than ours. Be persistent in prayer and give thanks to God for all your blessings.

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