Feeding the City with the Inspiration it Needs and Deserves.

Dear God,

I want a heart that forgives, one that is full of love. Teach me how to overcome evil with goodness. Choosing to overlook offenses and not to hold on to bitterness or even harbor a grudge.

Father, help me to have a heart that forgives. One that keeps choosing love over hate and forgiveness over resentment.  Please hide your word within so I’m not easily offended, damaged or hurt.

Teach me Lord how to pray for everyone including my enemies, and if the ones that hurt me are the ones closest, or the ones that I’ve known the longest help me to still love them just like how you still love me.

And Lord when I’m hurting, when the pain is so deep and it’s so hard to talk about it, help me to remember to give up my right to hold on to it with hatred inside. Instead please help me to let go of every person that has ever hurt me, every pain and every hurt I’ve experienced. Lord I hand it over to you…You can have it…..Amen.

“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Matthew 6:14-15

“The heart that forgives is the heart that will live totally free from the pain of the past and the heart that lets go is the heart that will know so much freedom”

Contributed by: Shaping the Best You

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Sometimes you come across a simple reminder that just takes your breath away and you just feel compelled to pause and take some time to take it in.

That’s how I felt when I saw this picture today, it made me pause and remember how beautifully intertwined Love and Trust can be….

Today I just want to simply paint a picture in your mind about how much you are loved by God, our spiritual Father! Won’t you take a moment out with me and absorb the powerful simplicity of that truth.

Then listen to the song below because I want you to know that no matter what comes your way, never stop believing that you are as precious, as cared for, and as loved as depicted here.  So trust.  Because there is something absolutely special that comes from knowing how very much you are worth!

Contributed by: Shaping the Best You

http://godsmasterpiece.wordpress.com/

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This week I found myself reflecting on a story I heard a long time ago about a caterpillar who had been struggling in its cocoon.  A well-intentioned passerby saw the caterpillar struggling and decided to cut the cocoon with a knife to free the caterpillar and save it from what he supposed would be certain death.

But when the caterpillar was freed it fell to the ground, helpless.  It tried to flap its wings to fly, but its wings were under developed and did not have the strength needed to fly.  All the butterfly could do was crawl away, underdeveloped and exposed too early to the world around it without the strength it needed to successfully navigate through it.

THE TAKE AWAY

• Even with the best intentions if we rush in too quickly to help, fix, or try to protect others from the process they have to go through, we might unknowingly become the very thing that hinders the development they need to become resilient and successful in their lives.

• There are many times in life where we may find ourselves struggling, and so we pray for God to step in and fix everything immediately.  But he does not always do it in the timing we hoped because he knows exactly what we need to go through to become all that he has destined for us to be.  Therefore the things he does not quickly remove must be necessary for our growth, development and ultimate success.

So the next time we are tempted to get frustrated with the process, I pray we will pause and thank him instead for the growth that will come because of it!!!

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

Contributed by: Shaping the Best You

http://godsmasterpiece.wordpress.com/

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I love my contact lenses! But no matter how clearly I am able to see with them, I have to willingly remove each lens, check and clean them every night so I can guarantee my ability to see clearly tomorrow.

Likewise every now and again you have to check your vision as it relates to your future.

If your vision check reveals only obstacles in your path, then it’s time to step back and ask yourself:

WHAT’S BLOCKING MY ABILITY TO SEE AHEAD?

• Is it baggage from unresolved and unaddressed past issues for example: unforgiveness?
• Is it fear of the unknown, fear of failure or even fear of success?
• Is it misplaced anxiety based on a lack of trust in God, yourself or others?
• Or are there people, habits, circumstances and motivations that you need to unplug from?

Bottom line: In life we occasionally have to clean and clear our perspective [i.e. the lens we use to frame and define the way we see the world and the possibilities around us] by addressing these challenging questions, but we in doing so you must always remember that:

The presence of obstacles in and of themselves will not stop you from moving forward.  It is only what you believe about those obstacles that have the ability to affect your progress forward.

Therefore keep your perspective clear by never allowing yourself to view obstacles as being larger than your ability to overcome them!

And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint. Galatians 6:9 (Amplified)

Contributed by: Shaping the Best You

http://godsmasterpiece.wordpress.com/

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