dailydatewithgod

God is at every angle. There is no area or element of the universe where God’s presence is not.  We like to think that as human beings we can block God, but how can we block something that is part of our essence.  The denial in our mind can be powerful but the presence of the force of God is there whether we recognize it or not.  God does not require recognition of us but our hearts and souls are at peace when we do.  It is easy to get caught up in the idea of self-sufficiency and requires no vulnerability.  But at some point it will break down because we are not self-sufficient. If that were true we would have manifested ourselves. But more than one someone was involved in our conception and coming to be present in the world and that was just the beginning.  We have independent spirits and make decisions on our own but everything is interconnected.  Our humility is recognizing this is our key to freedom.

My prayer for us today is a willingness to recognize the connection we have to God in the area of our lives that we are hoping God is not.

If you could recognize God’s presence in the area of your life that you think God wants nothing to do with, how might you see it differently today?  Share in the comments.

The marvels of God go beyond our understanding.  When I stop for a minute and focus on all that is living and breathing just within my own body I am completely amazed.  What is it that structured my bones together so that my fingers can bend and grasp at things?  How is it that I am able to walk from one point to another and keep my balance?  At what point did my brain learn to make the connection of letters into words and into sentences so that I can share my thoughts with you right now?  Then I look outside of me.  How is that the tree knows to sway in the wind and not get knocked over?  What tells that flower that it is safe to expose its beauty to the world?  There is an intelligence guiding and flowing through the whole universe in an intricate and gentle manner.  This gentleness does not require its power to be shouted from the rooftops. It only asked that it be noticed and appreciated.

My prayer for us is the courage to appreciate the simple gentle intelligence that lives and breathes through us and around us reminding us that we are taken care of.

What one small gentle element of infinite intelligence working in your life today can you appreciate as a sign that you are loved and taken care of today by God?  Share in the comments.

One of the most beautiful elements of a relationship with God that continues to blow my mind is how I am continually called to draw closer.  Even more amazing is that the times I feel that tug on my heart are the times when I don’t even want to be close to myself.  When I am in pain and strife and having feelings of anger and judgment, I want to abandon ship.  I am in the not good stuff, right?  I should know better not to feel that way, right?  Wrong.  They are just feelings.  Indications of energy that is present in my body and in my heart.  I am being called to pay attention to something that is asking me to take a deeper look.  In those times, God is on the ship.  God is ready and willing to take that deeper look but I get scared.  I fear that being present to the “not nice girl feelings” will mean that I am them.  This is why God calls me to draw closer to take a look. God can remind me while I am taking a deeper look that I have not changed.  I am still the presence of love.  I am still innocent in my heart of hearts.  God still sees what he created and knows that anything I think or feel cannot undo the presence of love no matter how much energy it generates.

My prayer for us is a willingness to take a closer look at the deeper energies that are calling for our attention and with God’s hand know that looking at them is part of the experience that cannot change our true essence.

If you could look at the “not nice” feelings or energies that you come up today without thinking they would change who you are at your core, what might you and God discover?  Share in the comments.

God is wholeness.  God is complete.  When we align ourselves with God we too are in the realm of wholeness and completeness.  We become the elements of life from which love can grow.  In the space of unknowing we develop a willingness to be known by our creator.  Our creator is already present to who we are fully but we see ourselves as fragments.  Our physical experience is constantly seeing distinctions and differences.  It sees breakdowns and pieces.  The wholeness that is who we are, the elemental nature of our being supersedes anything we can grasp.  God gently calls us to draw close and own the element of our true selves and be the message of love to the world.

My prayer for us is an openness to the elemental truth of our being and embrace our wholeness this day.

If you could willingly embrace the idea of your elemental wholeness today how might your day go?  Share in the comments.

In the mystery of life there lies a key that opens the door to enlightenment.  It is not found hilltops or in castles.  It will not be seen in a from a far away shore.  It is not hidden in caves of wonder or shouted from the rooftops.  It is a quiet knowing in our own hearts.  Within us God has placed the key of love.  Our role is to reconnect with out and allow to grow inside of us.  To grow continually  until it completely inhabits every part of our being.  It is not about getting or finding it.  It is about resonating with the truth of who we are.  It is about staking the claim of our inheritance as creatures of an Everlasting Love Force beyond our imagination.  God did not selectively create some things with love and others not.  God is the force of love that connects all that exists.  When we recognize it in ourselves we begin to see everything around us as part of that same force. We are able to identify those elements in which it flourishes and those in which it is diminished.  When we allow the power of love to lighten us from the inside out we become a beacon of love and a message of hope.  I could not amidst my self-hatred and self-condemnation be the presence of love.  I had to step into the uncomfortable territory of believing God over my thinking.  I had to let go of the idea that I should know better and allow the Great Known to be enough to fill in the gaps.  I had to surrender to the notion that God would not have anything other than love in mind when I was created. For me, this means that my date time with God starts by saying Thank you.  Thank you for giving me the gift of this new day.  Thank you for entrusting that today I can and want to grow closer to You and fulfill my greatest nature.  Thank you for being willing to stick by me no matter how many times my attempts at doing so go awry.

My prayer for us is the gumption to step into recognizing the blueprint of our hearts as they key to unlocking the mystery of life that awaits us today.

If God could offer you one thing today that would allow you to be willing to connect with your heart a little bit more, what would God offer?  Share in the comments.

God embodies the wisdom of love. In our creation we are given this same embodiment.  We are an extension of the understanding of love in its fullness.  We are called to step into this knowledge through our human experience.  These experiences can distract us if we get caught up in the form instead of the process.  If we focus solely on the end result we can lose the lesson of growth in love.  God is the Eternal Teacher.  We are the eternal students.  Every moment of our lives is a chance to choose to grow in love or not.  We are free to choose.  Sometimes growth can be painful because we are fixated on the circumstances and the feelings that we are experiencing.  Our mind tells us that we must rely only on the physical perception of what is happening.  Our soul and spirit however, see everything the same. It is either growing closer to God or further away.  It is not about figuring God out.  It is about expecting that God is already here and we get to find the love that dwells within us.

My prayer for us is a willingness to ask ourselves in the moment we are in if we want to grow in love from whatever we are experiencing or not.

How do you imagine God responding to your decision to grow in love through one of your experiences today?  Share in the comments.

Life is meant to be lived. For me that means getting out there and showing up.  It is the only thing that seems to work.  Intentions are important and having a vision is guiding but when it come right down to the moment, I have to actually be there.  There was a time when really living was too scary.  I carried around too many scars from past hurts and resentments and just could not see past the fear box I had built around myself and my heart.  I think I thought I was taking care of myself and I was doing the best I knew how to do. Today I know better and more importantly my trust in God being there has grown.  There is less fear in my life because I know that God is bigger than any fear that I have.  This means there is more energy to take risks and try things out.  I don’t live by the rule that making a mistake means I am a mistake because I have opened my heart to God and become a witness to who I am in God.  I know in my heart and soul that whatever happens God can show me how love can grow from it because I have seen it happen with the circumstances of my life already.  If good can come from incest, self-hatred, and addiction, anything is possible.

My prayer for us is to be reminded that God is there even when we don’t want to be and life can be lived on this principle if nothing else today.

Are you willing to take a chance and live knowing that God is there no matter what today?  Share in the comments.

Each of us has a unique mission in life. It is part of the whole mission of life to be an expression of life.  We are called into being by our creator because we have a crucial role in this mission of love.  We have gifts and talents that are necessary to bring it to fruition.  As we grow in relationship with God we can awaken what those gifts and talents are.  For me the secret has been in embracing my calling.  I did not think that I would be asked to learn and share about love from the perspective of an incest survivor.  I did not think that as a recovering addict and obesity survivor I would have anything worthwhile to share.  Most of my life until I got into recovery was simply about survival.  But when I was willing to truly take the hand of God and be led out of that darkness I began to see the shape and depth of the light of love in the very circumstances of my life that I had grown to begrudge.  Somehow God took even the darkest part of my experience to show me the depth of love.  This is how I have come to be open to how I might be in the service of love in my day when things are not going the way that I want them to.

My prayer for us is a belief that God knows what God is doing when the unwanted circumstances of our lives show up to show us how to love today.

Are you open to the idea that the very element of your life that you wish was not happening is the key to being open to knowing and showing love today? Share in the comments.

When we come from a place of new beginnings we are fascinated by every step of the process.  When we do not know what is going to happen or how it is all going to work out we have no place to be but in the moment of what is happening.  This is the essence of living in the now.  As we grow older and gain experience in life we tend to look for the familiar.  There is an element of safety in this because the longer we are alive the more there is to sort through.  Our mind is actually trying to reserve energy so that focus is there when we need it most. This can be detrimental however because the moment we sense that it is like something we have already done or gone through we abandon the experience on some level. Our minds determine that we already know the outcome so why be present for the process. Unfortunately this all to often sets up expectations that can lead to a let down.  Not because what is happening is not supposed to be happening but because it is not what we thought we already knew and the ego relies on being right. Being right means we are safe and okay to our mind. The beauty of a relationship with God is the courage to step back into the present moment and be  a part of the process.  We do not have to rely on the outcome to determine who we are or where we want to be.  The moment we are in is enough and even though we have never been there before, God is here with us.

My prayer for us is the courage to call upon God in the moments when we want to abandon the process under the idea that we already know what is going to happen and ask to be present for the unexpected.

Are you willing to practice the courage of asking to be present and open to the process of what you do not know but think you do today?  Share in the comments.

One of the many blessings of being alive is the ability to move.  All of life is energy and the energy flows.  It is in constant motion.  We are meant to be a part of that motion on all levels.  When we surrender to the reality of motion we are free to go with the flow.  We can relax and let what happens happen and trust that God will find a way to make good everything that happens.  We experience distress and disease when we are stagnant, when we try to hinder the motion, and hold on to things.  This happens on a physical, thought, and emotional level.  We are not immune to the consequences of hindering motion.  When we become stagnant in our thinking we are less open to learning.  When we don’t move our muscles weaken and lose strength in our bodies not to mention with the lack of fresh oxygen our bodies wear down faster.  Stopping the emotional flow causes us to build resentments and close off our hearts.  God is in motion and is constantly changing and we are invited to join in the motion of God.

My prayer for us is a willingness to look at where we are hindering motion in our lives and be honest about what it is costing us today?

Are you willing to honestly assess what the cost of hindering motion is for your today and ask God what his cost is? Share in the comments.