Gratitude

May 26, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

One of the difficult challenges in life is adjusting your perspective. We receive so many messages through our senses from our daily life. Things we see, things we hear, things we read, etc. We get to choose what things get our time and attention. Whatever we focus on becomes embedded in our perspective. When we spend too much time on negativity, sadness, anger, selfishness and hatred we adopt that point of view to everything else. This is the way of living focused on self. We will always end up disappointed. We need to find ways to build in positive things, goodness, kindness, joy and love. These things will help us live with a balanced perspective. One easy way to start is to practice gratitude. What are you thankful for? It may not come easy at first if you haven’t done this very often. Think about the very basics in life like food, shelter and clothing…don’t take such things for granted as these are not in abundance for everyone in the world. Once you start practicing gratitude and you want to build on it, the next thing is giving…the joy, peace and contentment will continue to build in your life from there. Find your gratitude things and give thanks to God for all of it. May God’s joy and peace be with you.

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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, 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 March of 2018 while traveling through southern New Mexico)

Be Strong And Courageous

May 23, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

Don’t give up, don’t stop trying…whatever it is the next attempt can be the one that gets the results you are hoping to see. Be persistent and be creative. When you have exhausted your approach to an issue or situation, be open and willing to change how you think about it and try again. Pray about it as well, lift your worries and concerns up to Jesus in prayer. Surrender your plans only to God and see what He has in store for you. No matter what the circumstances God is with you and He can guide you. May God’s peace and joy be with you.

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

Joshua 1:9

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

Trust In The Lord

May 22, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

In our interactions with others it may become difficult to trust other people. We are all broken and we all have committed sin. We all have difficulty denying thy self, and we end up doing things that hurt another person. We have all been there…we have all been the one who hurts another and we have all been the one hurt by others. Depending on how bad you have been hurt or betrayed it becomes difficult to trust others. The place we can always trust is at the Cross. This doesn’t mean God will always do what we plan or want, it means we can trust that He is always working for the good in our lives according to His plan. Come to the Cross and learn to live trusting in the Lord first and He will guide us in our relationships with others. May God’s peace be with you.

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“Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Psalm 37:3-4

(This photo was taken in June of 2013 at Falls Park in Sioux Falls, South Dakota)

Patience

May 20, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

When we believe and we trust in God we will be required to develop patience in this world. Circumstances will often look hopeless and many people will despair and be engulfed in sadness and fear, that is the way of evil. We must never give up hope, we must trust in God to continue working for the good for us and for everyone. God does not make bad things happen, He is not tempting you with things that are not good…that is sin in the world and we humans invited that sin into this world. God is at work in all the bad we have created to bring out goodness, kindness and love. Believe in Him who created us, believe in His one and only Son, Jesus Christ and see the good things that can happen in your life in this world. May God’s peace and joy be with you.

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“I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

Psalm 27:13-14

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

Persevere

May 17, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

Continue to try, keep going, don’t believe you are a failure. Mistakes and failure are steps to success. These hold true in so many aspects of life. Even in our daily faith life. If you are working on establishing a daily routine of devotions and bible reading time or just thinking about it, keep trying different times and places. If you miss a day or more than one get back to it the next day or as soon as you can. Do your best to make it a priority that sticks and pray about it. Ask God to guide you to the time and place everyday. As they say, if it was easy everyone would do it, it takes commitment and it takes perseverance to continue to seek Him and His Word. May God’s peace be with you.

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“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”

James 1:12

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

The Path To Joy

May 15, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

It seems so often, we are trying to figure things out…why did this happen? why didn’t it go the way we thought? what went wrong? how did I do that? that is not what I planned? These thoughts take us on a roller-coaster of a ride in our daily life and near the end of the day we are exhausted with few answers. I believe we all need to simplify things a bit, narrow our focus and stay obedient to the way Jesus has taught us. Start by committing our day to the Lord. Spend time reading Scripture and praying that gives you a solid foundation to start on…then be present in the moments that are occurring in your life today. Listen closely to what others are saying, offer encouragement and be of service to others. If your current circumstances make this difficult or impossible in your mind then pray about that and ask God to help you find your way to a better situation. The point is you don’t have to do this journey alone and frankly God did not intend you to be alone. Reach out to the Lord and he will guide you to the right path. May God’s peace be with you.

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“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”

Proverbs 19:21

(This photo was taken in June of 2016 at a lake place in northwestern Wisconsin)

Your Personal Relationship With God

May 12, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

It comes down to this…what is the status of your personal relationship with God? Is He someone you used to know really well and have lost touch with over time? Is He a social media friend who you only interact with in a superficial way? Is He a friend that you are unsure about? Is He someone you have heard some good things about but you have never really met Him in person? God wants you to know how He is involved in every area of your life…He wants you to want to be closely connected to Him daily. He is with you and He is waiting to hear from you. If you are wondering where is God…stop what you are doing and take sometime and ask Him. He knows you and He loves you. May God’s love and peace be with you.

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“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Jeremiah 29:11

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

Living In God’s Love

May 9, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

Never give up hope. Don’t stop believing in goodness. Trust in God to provide all that you need. A life that is centered in Christ and honors God looks very different than what the world tells you about living. The world looks to serve the self, to put me first. The life that honors God surrenders self and is open to God’s plan first. This is a significant shift in perspective and it will not happen overnight for most of us. In fact it is a daily endeavor to stay the course by studying the Word, praying, and serving the needs of those we encounter each day. Remember God is love. When Jesus was asked which commandment is the most important in Matthew 22 He stated:

“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

That is where we should start. Loving God with all that we are and loving our neighbors as ourselves. Once again we are given the answers to the questions and now it is up to us to go out and live it in our daily life and interactions. May God’s hope, peace and love be with you.

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

Romans 12:12

(This photo was taken in March of 2013 at the Botanical Gardens at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nevada)

God Is With You

May 5, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

Be at peace. God is with you. Everywhere you go, in every part of every day in your life He is with you. As I continue to my faith journey, I shudder when I think what life would be like if I was still trying to live without my personal relationship with God. He calms the storms, He lifts me up when I have fallen, He forgives me when I repent and He is the source of the kind of joy that has to be experienced to be understood. My heart is singing today. If you are looking for a song to sing in praise check out this song “Forever” by Chris Tomlin.

God created you, He sacrificed His One and only Son to save you, He forgives you for your sins and He goes with you everywhere, everyday…Forever.

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“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Isaiah 41:10

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

Parenthood

May 3, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

When life on earth begins we are completely dependent on loving parents to care for us, feed us, hold us and watch over us. As time goes by and the phases of life change a child begins to learn about interacting with others in the world, all the while the father and or mother each offer their unique perspective based mostly upon their own experience with their parents. The generations go on…unfortunately the family structure has been under attack by darkness and evil for a long time now and in today’s society the vast majority of people are ruled by selfishness and they show little respect for family or parents mainly because of how people who are given the gift of children have not honored their role of parenthood. When we become parents, we should be prepared to sacrifice things in order to help a child become a contributing adult in community. One of the greatest joys of parenthood is watching your child succeed and do well because you were willing to have patience and willing to be persistent in doing what God has asked you to do with the gift of a child. We are all God’s children and He is patient and persistent in loving us. We would do well to pass it on. May God’s peace be with you.

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