Reflect And Recharge

July 22, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

When our hope is in the Lord, we will see goodness and blessings. When our focus is on living our life through our faith in Jesus Christ, we tend to be able to see with new eyes on old or familiar situations. When we walk daily with the Lord our perspective improves from worldly to heavenly. In the New Testament is states…“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17) With the Lord we have hope, we can trust in goodness and righteousness and we can have faith that we will be able to see our way through anything. May God’s love, joy and peace be with you.

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

Philippians 4:4-7

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

The Good Shepherd

July 11, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

The Shepherd, of all the roles on earth, we can read in several places in the bible that Jesus is the Good Shepherd (Psalm 23, Isaiah 40:11, John 10:11-18). In today’s world a shepherd seems like a character in a story of a very different world, not an actual role in a society. To understand more about why is Jesus the Good Shepherd we look more closely at Psalm 23. Some of David’s words and descriptions of the Shepherd are as follows: He leads me; He restores my soul; He guides me; I will fear no evil; they comfort me; my cup overflows. A shepherd provides everything the sheep will ever need. Leadership, a restoration hope, guidance, protection, comfort and blessings…love. Most importantly for the sheep a shepherd will lay down his life for the sheep to keep them safe from evil. Jesus Christ has done all things possible for you to have life, turn or return to Him as He is our Good Shepherd. May God’s love and mercy be with you.

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“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me – just as the Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life for the sheep.”

John 10:14-15

(This photo was taken in June of 2016 near the Minnesota and South Dakota border)

His Love Endures Forever

July 7, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

Look around the world and the things happening today, when you stop and think about all the darkness and evil present in this world and then think about that even though He knew we are broken God still sent His Son to save us. Jesus took on all the sin for all the people in the world, He himself was innocent, yet Jesus took our punishment so that we could be reconciled with God and why did He do it? Because of love. When you are feeling the pain and suffering of life, when you don’t know where to turn or what to do, turn to Jesus Christ and invite Him into your heart and life. He knows you and He loves you and He will always be there for you. May you sense the goodness of the Lord today.

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“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

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

Psalm 100

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

The Cross

July 3, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

Come to the Cross…A place to bring your burdens…Savior…Salvation…Forgiveness…Peace. The Cross of Christ, this is the place we should turn to in all situations. This is where God sent His One and Only Son to be crucified to save us from our sins. This is where our relationship with God is reconciled. There are problems and struggles everywhere you can’t change everything for everyone, but He can. You can’t change everything but you can change something, you can change one thing that will make a difference in the world…You. Jesus said ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’ (John 14:6) Open your heart and mind and invite Jesus Christ into your life everyday. This will make the world a better place. May God’s joy and peace be with you.

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“When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

John 19:30

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

On Believing And Seeing

June 28, 2018June 28, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

You may have heard someone say or you may have said it yourself, a phrase such as ‘I’ll believe it when I see it.’ This originated in biblical times after the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus appeared to the disciples at a time when Thomas was not with them. Even as one of the apostles who had been with Jesus he could not comprehend the resurrection and told his brothers…“unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.” (John 20:25) Thomas was so sure this could not be true, that Jesus had risen, that he made this statement basically saying to the others…prove it! Oh boy, I have been there before. The problem with this approach to our faith is it is not faith at all…if we have to see it to believe it, what do we truly believe in? A simple example is the wind…the air can move at very high speeds at different elevations and we know this not because we can see it move, what we can see is what it can do. Don’t get caught being a doubting Thomas, rather learn from him and have faith in the One who knows us and can see what He has planned for our lives. May God’s love and joy be with you.

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“We live by faith, not by sight.”

2 Corinthians 5:7

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

Jesus

June 24, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

To Him be the glory.

The world divided, broken and lost…how can there be hope? Lives of struggle, hearts broken, sadness…who can make this better? People hurting each other, selfishness in control, fear and anger rule the days…what can change our perspectives?

The answers to all of this; to every thought of despair, to every life looking for a new direction and for every individual wanting to make a change…Jesus is the answer. Believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, invite Him into your life everyday, spend time reading God’s Word, build your personal relationship with Him and you will see transformation. May the presence of God be in you and may the saving grace of Jesus Christ bless you each day.

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“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

John 1:14

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

The Door To Your Heart

June 22, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

We learn to build walls around the parts of our heart where the deepest and most vulnerable topics and issues, thoughts and feelings are hidden from others. We believe we are safe keeping these items locked away. There is a door in these walls and Jesus is on the other side. He is not locked out, we are locked in…think about this…we do not have to wait and hope that He will find us and help us or save us. He already knows about these things, He has done what He needed to do to save us. In His words, it is finished (John 19:30). We are the ones who need to take the next step, unlock the door to your heart for Jesus and let Him in. I like many people have been searching for the door in the wall, it takes persistence, discipline and courage to open the door and let go of those things keeping us trapped in cycles…we need to let the fullness of Christ into our lives. May God’s peace be with you.

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“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”

Revelation 3:20

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

God’s Grace

June 20, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

Have you ever been in a situation where someone you love has done something that offends you? I believe we all have this experience. We know what they did was wrong, they know what they did was wrong and yet we love them so much we forgive them. We go forward not holding the past against them…well as humans we are not quite that good at forgiveness…there seems to remain that little voice that says ‘remember what they did? they might hurt you again.’ It is hard to forgive because we are not sure we can trust again. Think about how hard this is for us…God has done this and will continue to do this for you everyday. We are sinners, we are broken and yet He forgives us our sins. We have never deserved it or earned it, yet Jesus Christ gave up His life to give it to us. May you find peace knowing you are forgiven in God’s grace.

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“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Ephesians 2:8-9

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

The Lord Of My Everything?

June 16, 2018 / mcalcagno / 2 Comments

One of my struggles in faith is opening up to the Lord for everything. Not only the parts of my life and my heart I think He wants to be involved in…that would be God on my terms. It does not work like that. God is the God of everything and Jesus Christ is Lord of all. All of creation, all people in all nations since the beginning of time and His love for everything, His grace and His mercy will endure forever. It is so difficult for my finite mind to comprehend the totality of God and His love. He is more than the God of Sunday morning or Wednesday evening…He is more than the God of when I really need help or a crisis is happening…He is more than a beautiful sunrise or sunset when we feel more of His presence. He is the Lord of housework, the Lord of daily errands, the Lord of trips to Grandma and Grandpa’s house, He is the Lord of where you work and what you do…He is the Lord of everything. Period. The best part of all of this means He is right there waiting to hear from you about all of it. He is your Lord and Savior and even though that doesn’t mean everything will be easy and good He is with you through it all everyday. May God’s presence, His love, His joy and His forgiveness be present in your life everyday.

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“Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of the life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

Psalm 23:6

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

His Love Endures Forever

June 7, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

Just when we think, ‘I am sure God is upset with me’ or ‘why do I feel so distant from God’ or any other self pity thoughts about our relationship with God…He shows us again that His love is all around us. Either through nature or through another person God shows up and reminds everyone He will never leave you or abandon you. When we make an effort to start with gratitude for what blessings we have been given, we learn to better understand how God is working in our life. God is love and His love is never-ending for us. He gave His one and only Son to be a sacrifice for us, out of love, and He continues to know you and to bless you because His love endures forever. May you see God’s love and peace present in your life.

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