dailydatewithgod

We have the attributes of our Creator. They are inherent in our design.  We can choose to develop any attributes we want but those endowed in us will allow for our greatest potential of being in the world.  Allowing the attributes of God in us to flourish we will find ourselves at our most effectiveness and power as well as a peace with ourselves in the world because that is who God is.  The attributes of God give us the courage to extend love in all circumstances.  They give us the eyes of our hearts through which to see ourselves and the world.  These attributes are emblazoned with the hope of light and love which make our hearts sing and our souls rejoice. We know we are tapped into and making use of these attributes when life is flowing, things make sense beyond a literal understanding, and we can sense the harmony with which life operates.

If we embrace who we are at our core we live a different kind of life.  When we experience breakdowns in our life we tend to see them as failures.  We focus on the cracks and brokenness from the breakdown.  We compare it to things that still appear whole.  We compare ourselves to when we felt put together and unbreakable.  When we witness nature we see her breakdowns as part of the process.  We have the seasons where the flowers bloom and shrivel up, the trees grow leaves and then they fall off when they die.  Yet the following spring new life returns. We find beauty in the breakdowns of nature.  Why is it that a leaf which is dying has so many more colors than the vibrant green color when it is fully alive?  Why are we drawn to the sunset as the light breaks down over the sky and most people would tell you it is more beautiful than the light of the sun at high noon in the desert?  Are we not also part of this same foundation of life?  Are we not created by the same One who designed all the intricate movements in nature?  Perhaps our breakdowns do not shake us lose from our foundation but cause us to stop and take a look at where we have rooted ourselves.  Maybe our breakdowns allow the light of God to seep into places we have decided to keep from God.  We go through life and until we are shaken up a little, we may not stop to question what our foundation is.  God wants us to recognize love as our true foundation.  They may need to come through a process of questioning ourselves and God about who we already thought God was.  Maybe God wants us to shake up our understanding of what kind of God we view as our foundation.  The process of mending from a breakdown reconnects us to our core foundation if we walk through it instead of run from it.

God is fully realized and alive in the moment.  When we venture our mind into the past or the future we find ourselves disconnected from our core because the Creator designed us to live and be fully in the moment.  The realities of the day-to-day essence of the human experience means we sometimes struggle with staying present.  There are all kinds of things occurring in the moment that cause us to recall the past.  When we look for meaning in what is happening now we typically go to the past.  Our brain is looking for answers.  And sometimes we find them in the past. The key is not forgetting to return to the present where we can make use of the information.  If we are simply trudging up past scenarios to get out of the present, we may find ourselves stuck.  God is ready to welcome us back to the present when we return.  God does not punish us for taking whatever time it took.  God simply accepts us where we are. When we are stuck God will also reach out to us in any number of ways to remind us of the truth which lies in the moment.  In the present we can take action or choose not to take action based on what is actually happening versus responding to the past occurrence.  It requires us to be mindful if we are operating only from our mind or our heart as well.  Our heart is always calling us to return to the present where and when the breath is going in and out.

God does not see lack.  God sees wholeness and peace.  God sees triumph and victory of love.  God sees us for who we really are. When we choose to engage in relationship with God we are asked to allow for the removal of all things standing in opposition to embracing the way God thinks.  Through our daily dates I began to see how holding on to my ideas about who I was that had served me for many years were not the same ideas God had about me.  Thinking and feeling I was at fault all the time, having to prove why I took up space on the planet, not valuing my own experience were just some of the ideas God proposed for removal.  God never imposed her will and yanked those things from me.  Instead, he would invite me through awareness by spending our time in my heart space to take a closer look at how my ideas about me resonated with the truth I was discovering in my heart.  As I learned to trust God’s vision of me and noticed it matched the one deep inside myself, I was willing to have God remove any thinking or patterns of behavior that stood in contrast to it.  It is a step by step process and a continual relationship.  As I allow for the removal of the thinking and doing based on old beliefs about myself coming from circumstances that no longer exist, there is more room for the love God created within me to shine through.  I live with a greater sense of peace and ease.  I honor the thinking and acting of my past knowing it was my best solution at the time.  Living in relationship one day at a time with God means I have more options and can expand my horizons.

God’s reality is the innocence of who we are. When we are aware of the truth of ourselves always present  in the depth of our hearts, we will find ourselves blown away by the phenomenal nature of the power of God. It is a wonder that no matter our outer circumstances there lives within us this nature that cannot be destroyed or broken apart by anything from the outside.  The awe-inspiring power of love is residing in us  because the one who created us is indestructible love.  We are a phenomenon.  When we lose touch with ourselves we just reach for the hand of God who draws it back to our hearts.  God is always ready to remind us of our true nature, to show us who we really are despite what we think or feel.  Early on in my recovery those who were there to support me reminded me over and over again that my actions despite my thinking or feeling were going to propel me in the direction I wanted to go in.  We can act our way into right thinking quicker than we can think our way into right acting.  When we allow ourselves to act from the phenomenon of love we know God sees inside of us our perspective of ourselves will be in alignment with how God thinks.

We all long to be free.  Freedom gives us room to breathe and be. It is about not being hindered by anything or anyone because we are led by our Creator and his view of who we are. When we have been hurt we are not able to be the fullest expression of ourselves because our view is eschewed    We end up spending our energy trying to protect ourselves from further harm.  The freedom to love which is who we are is the most fundamental part of our design. The barriers to our freedom come in all shapes and sizes.  We have negative experiences with people.  We deal with trying and stressful circumstances.  We all know these moments.  Some of us think these experiences define us.  I know I did for a long time. When I began my daily dates with God, it was because I was in a lot of pain emotionally and physically. I was desperate to change my view of myself and the world.  God, however, never saw my experiences as changing any part of my design. I learned God does not believe what I believe. She sees me as the love she created and this view is never changed by the things outside of me. He draws my attention on our date to my heart where I can choose to connect with her view of me which is unlimited freedom to love.

God is all about what we are going to do now.  Being in relationship is a daily practice.  Each moment is full of opportunities to continue to share the connection with one another.  Consistency and openness are called for because we all change over time. Being in relationship with who we are from moment to moment takes time and attention.  A relationship with God works the same.  God is always ready to meet us where we are, even more than we are willing to meet with ourselves.  God shows up because God is invested in the continuation of a relationship with us.  God began engaging with us before we were even conscious of it and desires to continue it on a daily basis.  The invitations she provides come in many forms. It is up to us to accept what he sends.  Showing up for our daily dates is my way of staying committed to the continuation of my relationship with God and myself.  My soul desires to grow closer and closer to the reality of my creator. All of our souls do if we examine our hearts and seek the truth of our nature. Through our daily interactions I see how God becomes present to me in many facets and a multitude of possibilities. Being committed to the continuation of our relationship one day at a time means I am open to the beauty of light and love in the moment. The moment I think I know how God will show up, I am choosing to not  continue to engage in the nature and mystery of love.

The miraculous nature of God is in the presence of love in all it’s totality at all times.  God does not show up to the party of life with an almost full tank of love.  It is who God is and because we were created by God it is who we are.   The total and complete nature of our being lives and thrives fully in love.  When we find ourselves feeling or acting in contradiction to it, we have simply tried to operate from less of the total of who we are.  It happens all the time. I am convinced that life is about the dance to and from this experience.  Living in a human body and interacting with other impermanent beings stands in contradiction to the totality of love because we can become easily preoccupied by the day-to-day limitations.  It is not about perfectly being aligned with our total nature all the time its more about how long do we stay misaligned.  How far away from our complete nature do we get before we remember to reach to our hearts and God’s hands to reel us back in?  The reason we feel discomfort and pain when we find ourselves thinking and behaving in ways that are not love is because it is contrary to our truest nature.  It is a good sign we are bothered by it.  It means we have not grown numb to the reality of our total design.  Whatever ways we use to bring ourselves back to the total and complete nature of love are there for the taking.  There are multiple religions and various philosophies with paths set out for just that purpose.  We only need to pick one or find our own.  Whatever it is, we will know it when we find the peace we have once known when we did not know there was another option than living in total love.

Inherent in our system is restoration.  Each time we take a breath we restore the oxygen levels in our system.  Each time we close and then open our eyes our lenses are refreshed.  So much of what occurs beyond our awareness is a restoring of the truth of who we are.  God is at work all the time making sure love wins.  The more we are willing to allow ourselves to play a role in the restoring of love’s reign, the more we are equipped to handle everything that stands in opposition to it. God does not need us to believe in his power. God needs us to be willing to stand and live on his message.  When we make the time to align ourselves to God’s vision of life, we can see clearly the vital role we play in restoring the presence of love in whatever situation we encounter.  God needs us where we are.  When I feel myself off kilter or stuck in my stinking thinking, I am nowhere near being able to believe in the possibility that love is what is restoring life to its right place.  I need God’s help as only she can guide me back to my heart.  On our dates each morning I humbly bring the madness of my thinking and lay it at his feet.  I think it should all be thrown away like a scrap heap and just start new.  God shows me it is not about getting rid of my darker energies but allowing them to be restored by the light.