dailydatewithgod

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.

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.