Tag Archives: God

What Others Think . .

13 Monday Oct 2014

Posted by in Attitude, Character, Choices, Confidence, God, Gratitude, Happiness, Humility, Love, Peace, Self-Esteem, Self-Respect

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Often we think it matters more what others think of us, if we’re acceptable or alright in their eyes. But we mustn’t forget that what matters most in this world is how we appraise ourselves and who we are in God’s eyes. Others will have their opinions, fleeting, and based on their own limited knowledge and awareness. Perhaps they never fully know the inner workings of our hearts, minds and spirits. So basing our own self-appraisal on limited thought and consideration provides us with a limited or faulty appraisal. But God knows us through and through. We cannot hide who we are from Him! We cannot hide who we are from ourselves. It is all self-evident in our choices, in our family-lives, in our pursuits, in our hobbies, in our friendships and in our priorities. Spending time on developing the inner soul and sanctum means more in this life than any measure of outer approval rendered by any other means. We simply cannot ever be “enough” measured by anything external to us when such an appraisal is needed for just our ego’s sake. 15352_20130502_091007_Pali

 

We should always endeavor to be self-propelled and self-managed, rather than relying upon the conditional approval of others. When we cede our ego’s appraisal to any outside source, we lose pieces and parts, clarity and awareness, from our identity within. I’ve witnessed so many people nearly destroyed by not getting the favorable opinions or praise from others that should have been established from within them – by knowing who they are, by believing in and respecting themselves, by establishing themselves in the known love of God. 64181_290813230990390_109759299095785_738958_1742442314_n

 

Human appraisal is not sustaining and is need-based; but self-acceptance formed through His love and promises is! Self-acceptance, self-respect and self-love fully-formed out of knowing who we are and from where we rightfully come is undeniable, firm and indelible. It’s nice to have others affirm qualities about us or compliment us on various aspects of our lives or person; but what is even nicer is having genuine self-acceptance of all that God has created us to be, with our foothold in self-confidence, self-love and self-respect regardless the opinions of others!

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Flexing All Your Muscles . .

23 Thursday Jan 2014

Posted by in Character, Choices, Faith, Faithfulness, Gentleness, God, Goodness, Growing, Joy, Kindness, Love, Patience, Peace, Self-Control

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Flexing All Your Muscles….

FruitMusclesPeople are capable of amazing & wondrous things in life . . it just takes a heart braced in awareness of what fruits lie within! Inside each one of us are the fruits of our spirit . . nine essential qualities or traits which we already have in ample supply, which merely require our awareness & our determined effort to flex like muscles. We might not use them, they might turn to mush, but they’re there regardless, just like other physical, fleshy muscles in our bodies. They’re just as real to a human as flesh & bone. We prove to ourselves that when we use our flesh-muscles, when we practice with them, strengthening them, purposefully flexing them, we make our bodies healthier & better able to cope with life. So if we do the same with the fruits of our spirit, we in fact make those traits stronger in turn, preparing us for life in this world filled with people, giving us the much-needed support & help to face life head-on! Flex all your muscles, those of flesh & those of fruit, learn to use what you have or lose the potential for what you might be! Developing the fruits of your spirit truly is just a disciplined effort to be a better human being . . one who lives in the world wearing their heart as a banner & exuding the following essential traits:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The fruits of your spirit are nine muscles within you which empower a lifetime of amazing gifts!
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MY THOUGHTS ON HUMANITY … THE ROLE OF GOD

05 Wednesday Sep 2012

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MY THOUGHTS ON HUMANITY . . . THE ROLE OF GOD

As long as we have evil revealed through infertile thoughts, words and deeds of men, we will need to find our comfort and our rest in God’s abundant, verdant pastures. – Cheryl Ries, September 9, 2010

We are fast approaching an another anniversary of September 11th, a most notorious day for realizing in modern terms the extent of man’s hatred. It is based on a centuries-old tradition of religious intolerance.  We’ve seen it played out all too often throughout the history of civilization. As long as human beings have existed, an animosity for someone who believes something slightly different or in great measure differently than another.  

I wish it were simple to believe that a wave of love could ease and one day heal this rift between people, ending this inhumanity, this barbaric and most ungodly desire to slaughter one another, often in the name of a god.  My God is a God of love, therefore, there is no reason to believe He could or would condone it, this murderous desire to be all one religion, one category, one race, one nationality, one of anything . . . I believe He created the world, with many of everything, because He enjoys diversity.  He is offended by our foolish desire to fight and squander our lives, our resources, our eternities upon this mistaken notion of overcoming, besting and beating into submission for His sake.  Who is at fault originally no longer matters, but to find a place of peace between people, a way to share the world’s plenty without someone always thinking with greed towards overthrow and overpowering others is the question which has haunted Him surely since even the days of Cain and Abel.  But, since He knows our days even before we are born, does He wait expectantly upon the braver better people He knows we can be, having given us the freedom of choice, to make a different choice?  I think so.  I think He waits for us, one by one, to rise above the imperfections which can take us back towards the pulls of evil, the fleshy things which don’t give us what only He can, eternal life in a place so perfect, we cannot even hope to find anything worth murdering, stealing, slaughtering, nor decimating here on this earth.   If one by one we rise to the occasion, we will soon be an army of good marching over the land instead of always good fighting bad, evil seeking to conquer His rule.  Fight for what you believe, now more than ever!  If you have God in your life, stand up and be the Godly person you were meant to be, shine that light and shine it brightly for all to see, and maybe your light will be a beacon to someone who stands upon a precipice wavering against temptation.  

God bless us all this September 11th, all around the world.  May we know a continued sense of His abiding hand of loving rule, not the kind that beats, nor tortures, but that which nurtures all creation.

LEARNING AS WE GO

05 Wednesday Sep 2012

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LEARNING AS WE GO

I wish I knew then what I know now.  I didn’t, and so, I made mistakes, I lived my life with a flawed sense of reality, sometimes quite selfishly focusing on all the wrong things, the things which don’t really matter when it comes right down to it.  But you know, I suppose that is what separates me from sainthood, I didn’t know, I wasn’t perfect, and all I could do was the best I knew to do when I knew to do it!  Lighten up . . . we are imperfect creatures, designed with flaws, made in flesh with all too human characteristics.  We hurt, we bleed, we covet, we need.  But we can strive to be better each new day, to do better each new year of this life.  I am not where I want to be yet, but I’m headed in the right direction, facing my demons, conquering my enemy fears, and looking for my dreams!
When we make mistakes, do we know that we have two choices?  We can forgive ourselves, as easily as we would probably forgive our friends or family theirs, or we can harbor the harm as though it has ownership on some part of us.  It is often the case that we mold ourselves around our upsets, shape our lives to fit our troubles and create new forms out of the dented clay we have battered in just being humans.  Is that fair?  Does anyone deserve an onus of responsibility which requires perfection?  I have set such lofty standards, that I almost made it impossible at times to exist in this world with my portfolio of follies, those things which I would label the collective mistakes which altered my life significantly.  No, in terms of the world’s turning, they are not earth-shaking, but for my life, perhaps I would have had an entirely different life had I not made these mistakes or lived with these choices.  Can we go back and change the past to ease our burden of guilt?  No  . . . we are left to process, to forgive ourselves our failings and to proceed.  Failing at something doesn’t make us failures as human beings.  It is not the case.  If I cannot come to terms with that significant difference in defining my life, then I cannot move onward to the future with peace of mind.  And I must!  That is what I must do.  I must move forward, so I must forgive myself for being human.  If God can and does forgive me, why can’t I forgive myself?  I must!!

Learn to be all too human, it is what God made you to be.  You are not the exception to the rule, but just another one of us, doing your best each new day!  Let go, trust in God, and try to do better and be better each morning.  But, remember as you live your life, you will make mistakes, you will fail along the journey, you will suffer disappointments and you will let people down.  That doesn’t make you a failure, nor does it destroy your life.  You must forgive yourself, just as you would ask God or others to forgive you, let yourself find a kind and loving heart waiting there within to give nurturing back to yourself!  It’s the requisite condition of our very human design. 

 

RIGHT NOW . . .

05 Wednesday Sep 2012

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RIGHT NOW . . .

Right now in my life, I’m like an unfinished masterpiece.  I was reminded today when looking at the infant niece of a friend, who is ill and facing heart surgery, that life’s brevity is enough inspiration to constantly let yourself be shaped and formed!  I whine too much.  I moan and complain over such silly things.  I know nothing of pain, nor enduring it, in comparison to that of a tiny little 2-month old baby fighting for hers!

When God gives you challenges, it should automatically make you rise up and put your suit of armor on.  There shouldn’t be any question about whether you are able, or even whether you have enough artillery to fight.  Who cares!  If you have a challenge, you are equipped, as you were made to make it through.  We are not a sum of failed parts, but rather the realization of creation born of divine perfection.  Even in our imperfection, our purposeful lives make us meaningful and anything but failures!  So why is it, that when we reach a rough patch in our roads, we start to cower, not sure we are able to drive further?  Shouldn’t we just proceed, knowing that we are God’s most armed fortresses, with the Holy Spirit dwelling inside, filled with all the inherent strength, bravery and knowledge we will need.  We might not actually have the physical prowess, the actual bravado, nor the skills to know how to do something, but we have the best warrior we could ever hope to have, we have God in our corner!

So the very next time you encounter something, anything, even almost nothing, which challenges your ability to know what to do, or how to react, or which way to proceed, I challenge you to do what I have learned to do . . . ask God to help you!  It’s so simple.  In every aspect of life, I keep my inner ear open to God’s consult for direction.  I don’t consider anything to small nor too simple to call upon God for help.  If you get in the habit of constantly making contact with God about life, as you are living, you will soon learn that He wants to be a part of everything you are, all that you do, and the totality of what you aspire to be!

Let go and let God is a saying not because it’s catchy!  It’s a saying because others like you and I thought that somewhere along the journey we needed God.  So we made a habit of asking Him to help us with even the most mundane, as even in our comings and our goings, we can be assured, God is interested in our reliance upon Him.  He actually desires it.  He wants us to trust in HIm and to grow dependent upon Him.  It isn’t being needy nor is it being strange, it is the way your Father wants things.  So when you find yourself in need, give your cares to God.  Even in ordinary daily stuff, give it to God and ask Him to make the most and best of everything you do and say today!  Each day you rely on Him will be remarkably notable for its distinguishable calm, simple flow, and naturalness.  In other words, relying on God allows you to live life according to His will and therefore to be in His care!  You will probably notice a big difference when you give up control and let Him take over.  Life is simple, trust in God to lead you in your journey, if you make a mistake along the way, you will find Him willing to help you make the mistake into something beneficial for you!  God wants to bless you and love you if you’ll give Him the chance!!   Ask God to be your coach, your captain, your commander and your chief, let Him arm you for any battle, and trust that He will see you through anything, since He knows what you are going  through!  Have faith, don’t give up the fight!

LET THE FUN SHINE

05 Wednesday Sep 2012

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LET THE FUN SHINE

Let your sun shine, let the fun shine . . . be your joyful self, let the joy within you out, let your inner child reign!

I realize that as adults, we are all inundated with adult dilemmas.  We are overcome by problems, situations, a world plagued by worries and doubts, troubles and tribulations.  Where does that leave us these days?  We are often unable to find our own sweet natural smiles.  How many days do we walk under a dark dreary cloud, not able to muster a smile, nor to enjoy our lives?  It’s tragic, our days are numbered, so therefore, we are wasting such a precious commodity each time we waste one moment in our woeful turmoil.  I surely dread the thought that my last day would be spent muddled in mires of trouble.  I hope that I have pushed that aside and made a commitment to enjoy my every day, even the ones which are complicated by various situations, which I would wish away.  There are going to be those days, but I don’t have to be effected by them.  I can choose to look past them, to have a good attitude and to put my brightest beacon of a smile on, facing the world with an attitude of conqueror . . .

If you have done that, wasted days in perpetual condemnation, then you need to decide right now, enough!  No more wasting your most precious commodity, time!  God knows your days, but you don’t.  Believe in this day, believe it may be your last, and then ask yourself, do you want to waste it angry, frustrated, bitter, worried, conflicted, tense, or upset in any way, shape or form?  Ask yourself, “Self, how do I wish to spend this, my most precious day, today, the only one I know I have for certain?”

Hopefully, when you accept the realization that each is not promised but rather a generous gift, then you will believe your only choice is to correct your attitude, make changes in your behaviors, knowing that you are responsible for the outcome of your day.  We will all know good and bad events in our days.  That is a given.  No one is immune from the negative events which can hurt, harm, and chisel away at our security.  But bad events are only negative truly if we never learn from them, never see any opportunity to grow through the lessons we learn in them, nor if we never experience life as a survivor but rather always as a victim.  Even through the worst events in my life, eventually, after the pain subsides, I can see that I learned from the experience, I grew and improved from the living of that time.  It is all in our view of what we live through.  Change your view, be as positive and filled with faith, hope and a sense of determination through all your troubles as possible.  It is not always easy, but it is what makes us gritty and preserves our self-integrity, helps establish our sense of self in a strong and consistent way, and helps us to realize our full potential by eliminating the limitations we often place on ourselves when in “victim” mentalities.

See yourself as your own superhero of mood, attitude, emotion and determined effort!  Don’t just wait to react to things with emotions which tear down your defenses, but rather establish your own undeniable strong fortressed walls of healthy esteem, firm attitude, and positive energy.  Believe in yourself, accept that your life is a reflection of how you can shape your own emotions around life’s events, and don’t let anything tear down your sense of well-being, positivity, nor your assurances that all will work out for good in life!  Expect good things, dream big and don’t settle for less in life because you assume you aren’t worth any more!  You are worth the very best!

THE UNFAMILIAR PATH . .

05 Wednesday Sep 2012

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THE UNFAMILIAR PATH . .

You know, you can have your whole way known, your whole life pointed in certain directions, but things can happen which change those courses without your permission as it were.  Suddenly, your pathway isn’t the familiar one you were just traveling.  You are pushed into an area of discomfort and fear, all the way around you is cast with a pall of something foreign to you.  
What do you do when you don’t recognize your way?  How do you know what to do and how to proceed?  I’ve found those places this year or so, it is a fearful journey if I let myself feel it.  I’ve struggled against the current, fighting to swim as hard as I could, but realizing, it is like a rip tide, I’m not able to fight it . . . I can only ride it out and recover from wherever it takes me.  To be on this ride is to be washed out to sea on a rip tide.  It is a battle, exhaustive and frightening.  It is not the worst thing people have experienced surely, but it is one of the worst times I have known.  I’m confronting things I haven’t had to confront as a “mature” adult . . . insecurity, lack of confidence, doubt, fear.  All those conveniently coming at the same time as this major challenge to further make things difficult.  It has been a bit of a struggle some days.  I don’t recognize the fighter I was, for the “adolescent” who now feels all those same tumultuous emotions of youth again.  It is to bring a woman who knows herself to a point of being a stranger before her own eyes.  

So, in that bleak place, how do I keep my faith?  That too has been a struggle at times.  I wish I were made of metal, hard and perfectly strong, but I weaken at times.  Life is like that.  We move and then we survey our progress.  We move some more and then we survey again.  We very rarely do as we did when we are younger, which is just move and move and move, and maybe some day, survey!  We are much more cautious generally as we age.  It is our nature to know the cost of our actions, versus the insolent youth who seem to defy the knowledge that life is not a constant.  We seem to need more caution when we just live, as we also find our faith less blind as when we were children, since as adults, it is more aware of life’s inevitable truth . . . bad things happen to good people.  But there are also lessons we hopefully learn as we age, about our struggles, which can define our ability to ride the tide calmly to our new destination.  Those lessons are that even in the bad there is something we can know of good, positive and which teaches us for the future to come.  It makes us better.  Well, most don’t like this, but it is true and it is good for us, like our vegetables! 

Another lesson concerns faith.  Without it, I would be and have nothing.  I would surely have given up on this world a long time ago had I nothing to believe in and if I didn’t have my sense that a greater power carried me during those times, like now, when I am not so sure of my own abilities.  Faith abides in me, it is my constant learning curve in life to be riding out the troubles I am in by believing God will make them all for my good one day.  Now it’s surely not an easy nor constantly abundant resource within me, but with the Word to ignite me daily, I can restore and renew the Spirit within me which keeps the torch of faith burning, much like a symbol of hope from within my own self, to inspire me to fight the good fight, keep my head held high, to cast my cares upon He who loves me unfailingly and wants my life to be joyful. That may not always mean He wants me to have what I thought I should, and that may mean sometimes I must learn a lesson or six about something which helps to shape me into a better human, but it also most surely means that I am in great and abiding care!

So the lesson I can pass on is this:  through the storms are made the better sailors.  God is our ultimate captain, helping us find our way, leading us back when we get lost and enabling us to discover, in the world and ourselves, the humanity He encourages us all to find.  Greater is He who is in me, than he who is in the world.  Believe the God who designed you will help you find your way, He is more powerful than any force which mankind, or otherwise, has designed to destroy you, distract you, and to deny you from your true potential!

EVEN ONE BLESSING MAKES YOU BLESSED

05 Wednesday Sep 2012

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EVEN ONE BLESSING MAKES YOU BLESSED

You needn’t wait upon a sea of blessings to consider yourself blessed!  You are blessed and should feel thankful even if there is just one thing today, right now, that you can consider a blessing.  Although, I would dare you to muse further and realize the others!

Look at your life, did you wake up anew today?  Then you are blessed.  Did you share a greeting, exchange some words of love, compassion, or warmth with another living soul?  Then you are blessed.  Did you witness something in nature which made you smile, which warmed your spirit, or which possibly reminded you of the awesome power of a universe so much greater than your own?  Then you are blessed.  Did you eat breakfast?  Did you find food and something to take in to enrich your body this morning?  Then you are blessed.  Did you have clothing to put on your body and shoes for your feet?  Then you are blessed.  I could go on and on . . but I think you get the message.  Most of us are quite blessed, even much more than just once a day!  How many of us really see all the ways which we are blessed and are thankful for those many blessings? 

Life’s greatest joy is in learning to appreciate all the richness of blessings we receive, including love; experiencing beauty; knowing joy, feeling wellness of body, mind and spirit; learning things; having relationships with others; tasting the fruits of the earth’s bounty; and living full, productive lives, not to mention God and the Holy Spirit.  Being thankful is the key to realizing how rich you are in life.  Most of us have so many reasons to celebrate life each day if we just choose to become focused on blessings, to see them, to know them in our lives.  Don’t miss the chance to alter your life by experiencing gratitude each day.  There are always things to be grateful for, in and about!  You are blessed, never waiver a day feeling ungrateful and without blessings.  If you take a magnifying lens to your life, you will notice in great detail, the many ways in which you were blessed today!

Getting Close

04 Tuesday Sep 2012

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Getting Close

When I lost my dad, it was the worst thing yet to happen in my life. I went through months of grieving, anger being the strongest emotional reaction to the feeling of loss I had. I spent many hours dealing with healing, and in that time, I had to learn again why I believed what I believed, as for a while, I couldn’t believe in anything!    The hardest period of my life was living without believing, feeling so much pain and anger with God for taking my dad away, that I had trouble releasing that anger just to allow myself time to move through the stages of grief. I was changed in that time, into someone who doubted things, but through that doubt, I learned the most important thing I have ever learned, that I do believe in God, I know Christ died for my forgiveness, giving me eternal life, and that my dad’s death wasn’t a punishment He gave to me for something I had done in my life.   

Losing my dad actually gave me the ideal reason to re-examine my faith at the very core . . I had to, it was completely shaken to my core! I had nothing to do but to test my beliefs, asking many questions, learning how to heal, growing closer to God and becoming a greater believer in the process! The worst thing that has ever happened to me, also helped to make me a much stronger person, forcing me to learn to adapt, giving me reason to explore and examine my faith, and allowing me to find God again, in a relationship which has grown more intimate each and every day!    Through loss and the ensuing grief, I turned heartache into the most rewarding way to develop my faith to a whole new level! I learned through it what spiritual maturity is, why it mattered and how to rely on God for everything each day! I took anger at God and turned it to constant love, even realizing that sometimes God’s actions are not comfortable, do not make me happy, and can even hurt! Sometimes, I have to accept what God does, even though it is painful, for it is a part of life and a part of our process of living a faith-based life! I matured into the person who accepts God’s will in my life, knowing that bad things will happen, but He will always see me through those times!   

I can honestly say that it was in the ultimate   trial that I learned how to let my spirit soar! Without the breaking, without all my anger at Him, I wouldn’t know how deeply I love God, how much I need Him and how much love can live on even after someone leaves. I am so much stronger, better and more mature spiritually because I went through something which could have broken me for good! Instead, I let Him lead me through all my pain, heal my heart and help me see that it does pass, and soon, we are able to stand up to even more challenges in our lives as a result! God helps us through the bad times, knowing that we become better people just by going through them! He gives us His grace and strength sufficient for each day, knowing that with faith, we will come to rely on His new daily dose of grace again tomorrow!    I’m not happy to have lost my dad so early in life, nor anyone I love, but I can say that I have   learned how to take something which was devastating and make it into something with a positive impact upon my spirit, after some time, by asking for God’s abundant grace and love! Through Him all things are possible!

Conquering…

04 Tuesday Sep 2012

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Conquering…

Life is not easy . . we reach stages in our lives when things happen which we simply do not understand, nor have answers for, which test our self-confidence or take hostage our self-esteem.  We feel challenged and pinned up against a wall, immovable and often incapable of progress.  When in these states, we often feel completely out of control, unworthy and stressed to a high level.  It might be a personal problem with a close associate or loved one; it might be from health issues we seemingly cannot resolve to our own satisfaction; we might be beleaguered by conflicts in our work, our home life, our personal relationships or elsewhere; or perhaps we are just aging and feel uncertain how our lives will pan out, how our dreams will be realized.

 Life is not easy, it demands our attention and perseverance to make the best choices, to examine our options and to be true to our own internal spiritual needs.  We must live in tune with many varying factors for our lives to be sensical and for us to deem them successful in the end.  When even one part of our life is out of tune, we notice a sour note played out in the way we appreciate things . . some of our joy is waning, our happiness is not guaranteed, we are more stressed and we struggle more against the currents of our daily endeavors.  Even one choice made erroneously, against what we deem essential for the happiness and contentment of our spirits, can leave us burdened with troubles! 

Knowing what makes you happy is key.  First of all, knowing that only you can be responsible for your own happiness is even more essential in life!  It is no one else’s job to make you happy, to cause your happiness, nor to decide what things in life will lead to your happiness.  Only you, with your consult in God, can make those determinations!  Learn to listen to the internal nudges and proddings which are your instincts.  They are often the best way to heed the real desires of your heart, no one else need convince you of their viewpoint . . only your desires matter after all, it’s your life!  Learn to trust your judgment as it is always the case that a wrong choice, or a choice which weakens your spirit, goes against God’s will or isn’t in your best interests will spike an instinctual call to make a different choice, or at the very least, to correct a poor prior choice!

 We are our own best advocates . . we know what it is that we need, want and what is best for us.  Learning to keep that in the forefront of our minds when making all decisions always assures that we will not make wrong decisions.  It’s okay to say no, to not do what others ask, to be so concerned about the state of your own spirit, that not doing something is the way to go!  Listen with a more alert heart to what makes you spirit content, that is what you should always do!  It is true that you always know in your own “gut” what is right or wrong, it’s instinctual, you feel it! 

The other way to conquer all your issues is to find a peaceful way to be calm when making decisions, when thinking and deliberating on something, and when you are pondering outcomes.  I choose to seek God’s counsel, for I always think He is leading me in the best way possible, knowing the best course for me, and He is always with me wherever I go.  Without my prayerful contemplation on everything throughout my day, I would be lost!  I ask Him for His grace, His favor, His direction and His loving compassion through each part of my day, every day.  I rely on Him, as He is my Shepherd.  Faith allows me to make that most easy decision to trust in God for all things I need and all that I must do.  It’s as simple as deciding that the way off the cliff each day is the way of faith!  As for our struggles, each one of us has them and must overcome them throughout life.  We haven’t exemptions from struggles.  When I’ve been overwhelmed and clearly befuddled by mine, I find that the most obvious reminder that I need God for everything!  I am incapable of doing and being anything without Him.  I am literally a lost sheep without the voice of the Master.  

Trusting in your Spirit’s communication, which comes through the instincts you sense, is the best way to know that you are keeping on the right path, making the right moves and following in God’s will for your life.  Anything else, and you will feel it as a gnawing in your own gut!  Pay attention, all the signals you need are there!  Just listen to the active voice of the Spirit within you.  It never steers you in the wrong direction.  If you make a wrong turn, listen anew and heed the best way to make the situation work out for your behalf!  It’s never wrong to turn it over to Him!