dailydatewithgod

God approves of our being.  How do we know this?  How can we be certain God has placed a stamp of approval on our heads?  Simple.  We are breathing.  Our breath is the simplest gift of life. What gives life?  God.  What we do with our breath is up to us. The world would have us belive that the only way of being is to constantly be working to meet its approval.  The difficulty with this idea is that everyone has a different opinion depending on their mood as to what meets their approval.  There are certain societal expectations, but then if one travels to another country or spends time in another culture the approval measure shifts.  What is acceptable in one place is unacceptable in another.  Just think about how often we change our ideas about what is okay and right.  I have found that if I get quiet enough and check in with my own heart I get a better gauge.  In that space I can ask the question: what is going to cause me to have a sense of purpose and meaning about life?  What will encourage me to keep breathing and use my breath in a way that gives life as well as sustains my own?  These are not easy questions to answer but they are often simple answers.  When I live in accordance with the truth of my spirit–love, tolerance, kindness, acceptance I can take deeper breaths of approval.  When I remember life is about the process not the end result and am willing to grow in love I breathe easier. I am not fighting reality.

My prayer for us is to notice that which keeps our breath alive and know that in sustaining and cooperating with our breath we meet the approval of our hearts and it is enough.

If you do something that allows you to breathe easier, would you say that it meets your approval today? Share in the comments.

We are invited to a partnership with God at every moment.  We are given the free will to choose the path of love and light or choose something else.  The beauty of God is that at any moment we can choose to coordinate our efforts with God’s.  We can decide at 9:05 pm that the rest of our day will be in alignment with God’s will.  God does not bat any eye.  God is right there to accept our hand.  God is delighted that we have opted to place our hand in God’s.  There is a tenderness and acceptance that God showers upon us whenever we want to receive it.  It is never about being worthy.  Worthiness has already been determined.  The moment we begin as an idea in the mind of God we are worth it.  If we are worth a thought of God’s how can we think that we are not worthy?  Are our thoughts more powerful than God’s?  Are our ideas more creative and empowering than God’s?  I think back to one of my favorite shows, Joan of Arcadia, when Joan upon meeting God asks God to prove himself (present at the moment as a young hot teenage boy).  So he motions to a tree.  She then remarks that it is just a tree and he says, “you try making one”. It is the simplicity of the magnificence of God that defies our human understanding. Thankfully, God does not require us to understand.  We only need to open our hands, line them up with in God’s, and be willing to go along for the ride.

My prayer for us is a constant reminder of the simple magnificence of God’s unending love for us enough in this moment that we are willing to place our hand in God’s.

What kind of day might be in line for you if you were willing to place your hand in God’s just for today?  Share in the comments.

Meister Eckhart said, “If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.” I like simple and I like enough.  My heart breathes a sigh of relief when I give thanks.  My body relaxes and my soul rejoices.  It is a way of practicing acceptance, being in reality, and recognizing that all of life is a gift that is given.  Being thankful is not always easy when the circumstances I am presented with are less than ideal or terrible.  But if I truly acknowledge in my heart that God is more than any experience or situation or idea in my mind, then I have something to be thankful for.  Gratitude is the quickest way out of any kind of mind funk.  It is easy to go on with the litany of things that I don’t like or wish were different but being grateful allows me to take a step back and notice the simple joys of life.  I am thankful for my breath, being alive today, feeling whatever it is that I am feeling, not being alone, having ten fingers and ten toes, clothes to wear, a roof over my head, a mind to think, ability to choose what to focus on, and situations from which to learn and grow.  As part of my spiritual practice I write out a gratitude list of at least 10 things each night before I go to bed and I try to put several different things on there each night.  I have found over the years that when I go to bed thinking of the things I am grateful for my mind marinates in that soup all night and life is worth looking forward to in the morning.

My prayer for us is the acknowledgment that being thankful is a gift to our entire being and we can be grateful for the power of being able to give thanks this day.

If you were to list five things you are thankful for about this day, what would you put on your list?  Share in the comments.

There is something so sacred about hearing the words, I forgive you.  Whether it is directed towards you or by you it is a phrase that signifies a releasing of chains around our hearts.  The beauty of forgiveness is in its ability to be used for big and small things.  Without realizing it we have a tendency to hold on to little injuries and unmet expectations.  After a while we don’t realize how much they clutter up our hearts.  We can remember clearly injustices or wrongs done to us or by us that hold more energy, but it is the little things can eat away at our hearts and souls just as much.  When we carry those around, we have less space to love.  This means we are not able to be fully who we truly are.  Anytime that we are not being from a space of complete love we are not our full potential.  The gift of mercy that we have the capability to release others and ultimately ourselves is immeasurable.  Before I spoke the words of forgiveness to my father my heart had released the energy.  It came when I decided I didn’t want to carry the anger in my heart anymore.  It took several years but I am free now.  As I reflect upon the past year, there are little ideas and experiences that are sitting in my heart and in my mind for which I had expectations and fixed ideas that did not go as planned.  I am sure there was a person or two who bothered me or spoke unkindly to me or I to them.  As a gift of embracing a new year I have decided to ask God for the courage to release myself and forgive them.  In the end, I know we are all trying our best and some days it is harder than others. By being the experience of mercy, I free myself up to live more from my heart, to be the love that I am at my core, and share that message with others.

My prayer for us is the courage to say goodbye to 2015 by releasing all that is not love into the hands of the Merciful One who is happy to show us the depth of love that resides in our hearts today.

If you could experience the gift of mercy for yourself, who or what might you be willing to let go of today? Share in the comments.

When we become consciously aware of the magnitude of God’s love for us and every living energetic being we are blown away.  It is beyond a mind comprehension or understanding it is an awareness.  It is like being in a room filled with illuminating lights that glow in and around us.  It is like being held in a big hand that is soft and gentle and just the right temperature.  God’s love is who God is.  Filled with God’s love is who we are. Our greatness is not dependent upon what we do or who we see or what we say or think.  Our greatness is inherent because we are a creation of God.  We focus so much on the outer expression of who we are in our physical selves and measure our worth by the world’s standards.  But why would something outside of us hold greater importance than the very essence that created us?

My prayer for us is a willingness to step outside of the world’s view of us and step into the lit up stadium of God’s love that is present in our hearts this moment.

If you knew that you were great because you were breathing in and out all day long the light and love of God but just cannot see it, what would your next decision be?  Share in the comments.

God creates us to be the fullest manifestation of love.  Through this love we are called to embrace the joys of life.  When we are present to the amount of love that exists in our own hearts we cannot help but feel true joy.  Joy is more than happiness.  Joy is an interlacing experience that allows us to sustain hope even when we don’t feel it.  Joy is the underlying understanding that God is good and so are we.  Joy is th expression and experience of confidence in God to be who God is revealed to be both within us and without us.

My prayer for us is to claim to the power of joy as part of who we are because we are of God today.

If you believe even just a little bit more than usual that joy is interwoven into your being today what words might you use to say how you are when asked today?  Share in the comments.

Each of us is a gift.  God calls us to be alive in the present moment so that we and others can experience the gifts of each other’s presence.  As I was walking down the street recently, I was thinking about how it is never a mistake the people we encounter in our daily lives.  It is all an orchestration of exactly what we need and with whom we are called to interact and be touched by.  It unfolds the tapestry of our lives and creates a pattern of beauty and magnificence that hangs in the rooms of our soul carried in our hearts.  As I was thinking about this I saw a woman walking on the sidewalk coming towards me and I thought, even she is someone with whom I am supposed to cross paths.  I could walk by without looking at her or I could take in the face of someone whom is meant to be in my life for a moment.  As I looked up and at her directly she smiled,my heart was touched, and I found myself smiling back at her.  She could have just as easily looked away but she chose on some level to contribute a smile to my life.  How lucky am I to receive such a lovely gift?  God smiled at me through this woman whose name I will never know.  But the smile that came across her lips and lit up her eyes will forever be embedded in my brain.

My prayer for us is the insight to recognize that our very presence in this moment is the gift we are given to share this day with all that we come across including ourselves.

If you knew that being present in one moment of your life would alter the lift of another what kind of contribution would your gift be today?  Share in the comments.

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.