Walking with God

Teach Me Your Way

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“Show me your ways, Lord,
    teach me your paths.
5 Guide me in your truth and teach me,
    for you are God my Savior,
    and my hope is in you all day long.”

Psalm 25:4-5 NIV

God invites us into a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ.  It is up to us to respond to that invitation.  If we ignore God’s call and go our own way we will bring about more pain and suffering without God’s presence and guidance.

We need to be willing to open ourselves up to God’s way and His plan, that happens with His timing.  It is a willingness and an ability to surrender our self-centered ways to Him…God is not in a hurry, like we typically are in this world.  God is faithful and will guide you and lead you if you are willing to put your faith and trust in Him and His Way.

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“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
    I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.“

Psalm 32:8 NIV

(This photo was taken in May of 2020 along the North Shore of Lake Superior in northern Minnesota)

Grace…Love…Hope

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“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”

1 John 4:7-12 NIV

God gives us blessings for every part or our lives…

God gives us Grace for our past

God gives us Love for the present

God gives us Hope for the future

Thanks be to God for all that He is and all that He does for us.  Amen.

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“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 15:13 NIV

(This photo was taken in May of 2023 along the North Shore of Lake Superior)

Remember What God Can Do

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“The Lord is righteous in all his ways
    and faithful in all he does.
18 The Lord is near to all who call on him,
    to all who call on him in truth.
19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;
    he hears their cry and saves them.”

Psalm 145:17-19 NIV

Don’t give up…keep going.  God is with you.  We may not understand everything right now…yet we must continue on in faith.  Remember in the past how God showed up?  Even when you thought the situation was hopeless or impossible?  Keep praying and be courageous even when you are unsure of the outcome.  He is with you, He is within you, every day, all the time!

May God’s comfort and peace be 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 NIV

(This photo was taken in July of 2016 while traveling along Beartooth Pass)

Serve One Another

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“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”

1 Peter 4:8-11 NIV

“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love.”

Galatians 5:13 NIV

We each get to choose each day the attitude we will embrace and how we will act when interacting with others.  God has given us instructions in His Word and He has followed up His Word with actions that show His love, His grace.

Our job, our purpose is to seek Him and live out His will in our life every day.  Put your trust in Lord and choose to live as Jesus lived, love and serve one another.

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“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

Galatians 6:2 NIV

(This photo was taken in July of 2021 at Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado)

He Will Carry Our Burdens

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“Cast your burden on the Lord,
    and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
    the righteous to be moved.”

Psalm 55:22 ESV

How often do you feel like you have to carry something all by yourself?  That it all depends on you and what you do?  We all have moments and seasons of life like this and God knows we will face them…in fact, He is the one that told us about them in Scripture…

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

John 16:33 NIV

And He is the One who has given us the Way through these times in life…turn towards Jesus…tell Him about the things that you are carrying.  During my morning prayer time with God I give thanks to Him, affirm my belief in Jesus and ask for His guidance throughout my day.  I share my worries and my concerns and I work on changing the way I think in order to trust His way.  Your experience may be similar or different, what is most important is that you do it.

He wants to hear from you and He wants you to know He is walking right along side you…you just have to acknowledge Him and seek Him.  He is with you and He is willing to carry your burdens for you.  May we find peace with the Savior.  Amen.

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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 NIV

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

Peace From God

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“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 14:6 NIV

If you are wondering about having peace from God in your life there is only one Way to receive it…Jesus Christ.  He sacrificed Himself to death on the Cross to reconcile us with God.  This was God’s plan to save us from our sin and from separation from Him.  If you are looking for peace from God, be still, believe in Jesus, seek Him and you will find peace.

Peace Be Still by Hope Darst

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“You will keep in perfect peace
    those whose minds are steadfast,
    because they trust in you.
4 Trust in the Lord forever,
    for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.”

Isaiah 26:3-4 NIV

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

Trust…Commit

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

Psalms 37:3-4 NIV

No matter what the situation or circumstances you are facing…good, bad, unknown…put your trust in the One who knows you, loves you and is walking with you through every moment.  Commit it all to Him and He will guide you on your path.

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“Commit to the Lord whatever you do,
    and he will establish your plans.”

Proverbs 16:3 NIV

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

A Foundation Of Faith

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“He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” [21] [a]“

Matthew 17:20-21 NIV

What is the foundation of your life?  What do you stand on?  Worldly beliefs and values that reject God or Jesus Christ and the Word of God?  We are all free to choose what we believe and our decision has a direct impact on our life in this world and in the life to come.  What do you believe?  What is the foundation of your life?  Faith or something else?

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“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.“

Matthew 7:24 NIV

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

Fruit Of The Spirit…Faithfulness

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“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

Galatians 5:22-23 NIV

“Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations…”

Deuteronomy 7:9 NIV

God keeps His promises.  We are responsible for how we live our lives and how we treat each other…God gave us free will.  If we do our part and put our trust in Him and walk in the Light of Christ, He is faithful and will forgive us our sins and restore us.

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“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

1 John 1:5-9 NIV

(This photo was taken in June of 2020 at sunset at a lake in northwestern Wisconsin)

Stop Chasing After The Wind

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“For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22 What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? 23 All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless.

24 A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? 26 To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”

Ecclesiastes 2:21-26 NIV

The wisest person who ever lived learned that worldly values and pursuits are foolishness and he wrote it down to share with you and me.  I believe learning from others in history, especially those who had a close relationship with God, is an incredible opportunity for all of us.  This is why God has given us His Word.  Solomon also had the opportunity to do more than many of us ever will, so we would be wise to pay attention to his conclusion to matter.  May we take time to read and acknowledge the wisdom Solomon has left for us.  Amen.

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“Now all has been heard;
    here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
    for this is the duty of all mankind.
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,
    including every hidden thing,
    whether it is good or evil.”

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 NIV

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