FAITH IS LIFE

It is easy to be overwhelmed when distress strikes at you. Harder when you feel there's no one there to turn to. Then somebody tells you to pray. But even that sometimes does not bring comfort to you. Oh yes, it happens. Faith is something you will struggle with just as much as you struggle with the bad times of life.

You can't buy faith in a jar nor preserve it only to be taken down the shelf when you need it. You might force yourself to have faith... or brainwash yourself to have faith... or pretend to have the faith... or cry your way to faith. There is one thing though you don't even try to learn --- surrender to faith.

And don't ever think that once you catch it, it's there forever in the same intensity or magnitude you had it the first time.

Because truth of the matter is -- faith is nurtured, prayed for, and lived by our lives day after day.

When you do find yourself one day just wondering whether you'll make it through or not, think of this which I quote from a good friend's email .......


"We all find times of great trouble. When we do, it is so easy to forget the victories that God would work in our lives, sometimes in the most surprising ways. Whatever is happening in your life, with God, a mere spider's web can become a brick wall of protection. Believe that He is with you always and you will see his great power and love for you." --- (Lifted from a story 'God and the Spider' by an unknown writer.)

LIFE AND WORK ARE TWO THINGS DIFFERENT

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Friends have asked "what's truly important in life?" I don't have the answer to that. It's something that every person should discover by himself. But you can find your answer; that's your life journey.

But I do know something about work and life. They are two different things.

But who ever listens to that? I've been writing about it for so long but nobody pays really good attention to it. In fact, it's a post that registered low readership in the blog. Nobody wants to know.. or maybe just don't care.. or maybe have gotten themselves so entrenched in their respective work zones which they are not inclined to give up... not yet. Or simply have as a habit taken so many things in life for granted that they can't tell anymore if it's good or worthy at all.

Don't! Work is not the be-all or by-all of life and living. Take it away and you'd still be alive. And you could queue up for interviews again and again. But take away life ... you're gone. Period.

Life is that whole experience that puts you together as a person. It's the touch of happenings, incidents, occurrences, wonder, awe, surprises, revelations, relationships, discoveries, retrospection .... all what life and living is about which happens to you. It's what makes you who you are-what you are. Not living life the way it should makes you incomplete. Insensitive, Jaded. It's a narrow world that centers only on one individual -- the me-person. Oh yes, we work for many reasons --- families, financial independence, dreams and ambitions, careers, children, education .. so many reasons, some sublime. All well and good. Nobody is taking that away from you. But in the pursuit of these -- we tend to lose self, that person inside who started off as a creator right after God's heart. We bury that person down the bottom rank of our being. We lose the balance that our lives should and need.

"Don't ever confuse the two, your life and your work. That's what I have to say. The second is only part of the first." -- Anna Quindlen

GOD - YOUR POWER SOURCE

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If God would speak to you now up close, do you know what he would say to you... seeing you now fraught with so much anxiety worry and fear?

Allow me to quote this from the book I'm reading --- "Good Morning... God" (Pamela Steinke) .....

To quote:

EVEN THIS

"Even this. Say it often --- 'The Lord would take care of even this.' There are no exceptions, there is not one thing beyond My control and power. These are valuable lessons to be learned, and there is no other way to learn them than simply to put your faith on the line and trust Me. There need be no discomfort in the midst of trials. Not in my presence. Discomfort comes from worry, from fear, from meeting or anticipating problems in your own power, not in Mine. If you were truly trusting Me with no reservations, you would not be uncomfortable in any situation. You would not be irritable, or depressed, or upset. You would know my rest, the rest i give so liberally to My children who are trusting Me. Is there discomfort? Then go to the source and oust it from your life. Discomfort does not come from Me and need have no part of you." -Unquote.
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Now you tell me... are you seeing this with disbelief? you say easier said than done? impossible? not doable? Yup you are also correct in your perceptions. Humanly correct yet spiritually incorrect.

But only because we.. yes all if not most of us ... have not yet learned so well how to put our faith and trust in God. Our nature is to worry. (I worry too just like you.) That's a flaw in us, among many others more. But God understands us and judges us not. Instead He shows us how to handle our anxieties in life. Gently He nudges us closer to Him knowing fully well our own frail weak souls and offers Himself as refuge.

Take it! Don't hesitate. Bring God into your life, into your heart, into your mind. And stick to it like hard glue no-matter-how-you-feel and no-matter-how-things-may-look to you. Understand that without Him, you will certainly be lost beaten overwhelmed and defeated. But with Him -- you have the power to overcome whatever it is that comes to beat you to the ground. Let go of your weakness.. and LET GOD - your power source.

Write this in your heart --- "EVEN THIS. THE LORD WOULD TAKE CARE OF EVEN THIS." Remember you have a great FATHER and KING. Don't make Him a small GOD.
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MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICES -- AND DO YOUR JOB

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What's on my mind today..... so asks a friend, not that she cares. :-) But I do care to tell. Because somebody out there might need to hear it. He or she might need to hear what a day is like in the life of one of God's creation. And after hearing maybe just maybe it would light up the spark kindling in the heart that never was given the chance to shine out to the world brightly. There's plenty of us who live very quiet lives holding that spark within quietly. So thus here are my thoughts today...........

-- I can let any of my daughters choose the movie they want to see or pick the dish on the menu in a posh restaurant without having to ask of mine own choices if that puts huge smiles on their faces. Because I can.

-- I can shelve my precious free time to listen to my best friend when she calls on the phone with her miseries and woes. Because I can.

-- I can write of things which may not be popular to a greater number of people because it could be something about the harsh truths of life which they don't really want to know. Because I can.

-- I can stop by a display window at the mall gazing at gorgeous fashion and accessories of jewels shoes and bags without batting an eyelash and messing up my wallet. Because I can.

-- I can speak my mind honestly when necessary if the goal was to shake some sense into another person confused and unsure in his hour of darkness. Because I can.

-- I can cry in the privacy of my room, kneel down and pray when things get so tough and tougher. Because I can.

-- I can do a lot more other than what I have been born with as I acknowledge the power of God within me. Because I can.

It's a CHOICE. A choice to do what is good, what is necessary, what is essential, what is kind or noble or meek or generous or compassionate, and what is simply called --- 'doing my job'. A humbling of self so that others could have their joys. An honest acknowledgment of what we should really be doing here with our lives. You see, we have a job .. but our boss is HE who sits on the throne up there in the great halls of heaven.

And what, you may ask, is that JOB? It's simply this..... to be the best we can be to ourselves and to others with who we are-what we have and aim for the greater glory and praise of a wonderful God and Father. He who loves us beyond measure -- constantly, unfailingly... whether we deserve it or not.

Make the right choices.. and do your job. You were created to do far more than you ever dreamed you could as a person and as a child of God. We cannot do anything less or lesser than that. Shine as you are right there where God has placed you. And make it your goal to make God smile. Everyday.
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BE TRUE TO YOURSELF

This is for a young kid I know .............

“Be yourself. Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe, shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish.” --- John Jakes

Unquote.

There can never be anyone else like you on this planet. Or if there be other civilizations out there in the universe, I'm pretty sure you would have no copies out there too. Whoever you are, whatever you are ... crazy, funky, opinionated, brusque, rough, goofy, sweet, gentle, brilliant, stupid, lazy, or other types and names we humans are prone to call ourselves with, good or bad --- you the total package is still an original and unique.

So I don't get it why some people have to play this 'wish I were somebody else' game. Pretending to be somebody else is not cute. Not liking where we are or who we are won't help us in any way. We may not have perfect lives, perfect looks... but that's still okay. Perfection is a journey we all take as we travel in the direction of our final home. But we may or may not achieve it on this planet or in this lifetime. I have yet to see or hear about someone genuinely being the epitome of perfection right here right now. So meantime in-between the lessons and peeling off of unwanted layers (the bad we have gathered through the years), we must deal with our flaws and weaknesses ... live it from day to day.

And to be real with that we must be true to ourselves. We are who we are .. warts and all. But we do our best with what's there in us. We change where we should. Like what is to like. Grow up, mature, progress, develop, change for better. Live the best way we can with all that. Hang on to the hope that one day at the end of the journey we will become perfection in its shining form -- so magnificent that we will not wish to be anyone else ever at all.
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Blessings to you and your loved ones.

CREATIVITY FEEDS YOUR POTENTIAL

Allow me to quote this.....

"The fear of being wrong, different, or socially unaccepted or unpopular is one of the biggest inhibitors to one's creative juices. When a person can do things without worrying what people will think of him, then a person can use their creativity with no limits, and take their work to places they probably would never of imagined going. One of the biggest rules to being creative is to first disregard everyone's opinion. The creativity you have is what makes your work your own, and changing it to fit into someone else's mold would defeat the purpose of it all." - (Author Unknown)


We each have our unique individual talent but it's not given us for keeping or for our sole consumption. Although in its initial stages of discovery and growth we become fascinated and delighted and proud of it.... very pleased to have its ownership. But we must learn to stop when pride takes over lest we ourselves cause our own destruction. But let's leave that for another post.

Creativity is a gift given us to serve as tool to bring forth and grow talent. Its purpose is to nourish - nurture - develop talent. Its strength is powered by courage and fearlessness... unafraid to face its own potential and possibilities for great and greater work. Unafraid of small minds who by their numbers can whittle you down to pieces... or by big minds who by their snobbery can clip your wings and keep you from soaring high and wide.

Do not let these deter you from being the person you were specially made for --- you are God's masterpiece who in turn will create other masterpieces within your realm of creativity. Create with your mind, with your heart, with your hands, with your fullest potential.,,, and turn ordinary things into extraordinary beauty or meaning. Transform an ugly world into a world of great wonder and promise... one after God's heart.

It's never too late. Creativity is not subject to age or aging. It's never lost. It's right there inside you just waiting to be roused and commanded to do its work. So what are you waiting for? The world is waiting.
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