Forgiveness And For Goodness

December 23, 2019 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

These are the presents we receive from God, not only at Christmas, we receive these every day of our lives. It is up to us to accept these gifts and to trust in the Lord. We are forgiven because of Jesus Christ and we receive goodness from God’s Holy Spirit within us. All throughout the bible the miracles performed included Jesus involving someone else in completing the miracle. An example would be the little boy who had the fish and bread, that was to be multiplied for all to eat. God wants us to accept the gift of forgiveness from Jesus and to open our hearts and minds to the goodness of the Holy Spirit and God wants each of us to participate in the story. God loves you; God forgives you and He is ready to lead you to good things. Accept these gifts from God. Amen.

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“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

James 1:17

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

Trust

December 13, 2019 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

God knows you…He knows what is happening in your life…He cares for you…He knows the pain, He knows the struggle, He knows about the battle you think nobody else knows about…He knows because Jesus Christ lived as a man on earth and experienced pain and suffering and temptation and He died…but then something wonderful happened…God raised Him from death to life and claimed victory over evil. Trouble will come to all of us and we have a Savior who is Christ the Lord who can lead us and guide through the difficult times in our lives. May the peace of the Lord be with you. Amen.

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“Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.”

Proverbs 3:5-6

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

Give Your Best

October 30, 2019 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

Trusting in God means trusting in Him for the outcome of circumstances and events. If we can offer the best of what we can give, whether it is our time, our ideas, our attention or our money and we trust in God, He can take what we offer and do so much more than we can do on our own. In Matthew 14:13-21, the disciples gave Him all they had, five loaves of bread and two fish and with that over five thousand people were fed with plenty of leftovers. When we give our best and trust God for the outcome, amazing things can happen. May the peace of the Lord be with you. Amen.

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“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “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 25:37-40

(This photo was taken in June of 2013 at Garden of the Gods park near Colorado Springs, Colorado)

Doing Good

September 28, 2019 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

It makes a difference…even when you don’t get to see it or know how it made a difference. Do your best to offer what you can, to whoever you can, wherever you are. Don’t start with trying to change the whole world…make it your goal to do good for at least one other person every day and let God take it from there. Our job is to Love the Lord and Love our neighbor as ourselves. Do good things, offer your best and let God take care of the rest. Amen.

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“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

Galatians 6:9-10

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

Trust In The Lord

September 23, 2019September 23, 2019 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

When you are facing trouble in this world…when it seems like everything you try or do is failing…when you don’t know what to do next…pray and trust in the Lord. Do something good and wait patiently for God and His will. Trust is hard, especially when we have put our trust in things that have let us down in the past…you can trust in the Lord, He keeps His promises and He is always with you. Amen.

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

Psalm 37:3-4

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

Trust Him

September 13, 2019 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

God has fulfilled every promise He made to us, except one, and you can be sure that one will be fulfilled when Christ returns. We so easily give trust to some that don’t deserve it and hold back our trust when we have more than enough evidence know that we can trust. We will continue to struggle and be frustrated if we believe that other people and the things of this world are all we need. We need God and when we read God’s Word we can learn about His past relationship with humanity and that when God makes a promise, He will fulfill it on His timeline, not ours. Trust God believe in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord and connect with the Holy Spirit within your heart. Amen.

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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 July of 2018 on Lake Superior near the Apostle Islands)

If God Is For Us…

July 31, 2019 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

What more could we possibly need? He is our Creator. The Old Testament tells us about the back and forth relationship between the people and God. Eventually God decides there is only One way to save us and because of His great love for us, it is finished. God tried many different ways to have relationships with people and Jesus Christ knows what it is like to be human in this world. God knows you; He knows more about you than you realize and He loves you. All that is good comes from God, He is with you and His plan is for good things in your life and even though things will go wrong because of sin in the world, He will still be with you to strengthen you and encourage you to keep going, keep trying and keep trusting in Him. Seek out God and His plan and you will find peace. Amen.

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“What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us,who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”

Romans 8:31-32

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

Put Your Trust In God

July 30, 2019 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

What do you put your trust in? Who do you believe is trustworthy? Take a moment and think about it. The dictionary states trust is – firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something. So, who or what in your life do you trust? The world is filled with deception, selfishness, lying, cheating, etc… these things were brought into the world by the human race. There is still hope…there is One who is worthy of trust. There is One who is reliable, who is the truth, who has the ability and the strength and He is the One who sacrificed himself to save us…Jesus Christ. He is a Light in the darkness, turn to Jesus and put your trust in God. Amen.

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“Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.”

Psalm 143:8

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

Safe Pasture

July 29, 2019 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

What does it take to feel safe? To have shelter, food and water? These are the physical essentials for life. When traveling on mission trips, I have met some people who struggle for these things every day and yet they seem to have unique peace about them…for others they have all these things and much more and they are worried, scattered, scared. This isn’t true in all cases for either group of people, however, there was a noticeable difference sometimes. The one thing that stood out whenever I met a person who exuded a sense of peace, whether they had little or plenty of worldly things? It was their faith. Take inventory of people in your life…who constantly seems to have a sense of hope and who always seems eager to complain and worry? Now take time to reflect on yourself…how do you typically present yourself? To say we believe in God and know that He is with us is one thing…to live it out in our everyday life is the next step in spiritual growth. Trust in the Lord and you will find safe pasture. Amen.

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

Psalm 37:3-4

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

Trust

July 11, 2019 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

Even when you can’t see the result…even when it feels like everything is working against you, He is working for your good…even when your feel your desires, wants and temptations are pulling you away from God, turn towards Him and be patient. This can be so difficult to live out each day, yet by reading God’s Word and spending time with Him in prayer, He will renew your strength. May the peace of the Lord be with you. Amen.

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