Spirit Rising Ministries

Every morning I say a prayer that Holy Spirit will guide me throughout the day. Then I look at my calendar to see what I have scheduled and begin going about my day as planned. But, whose plans are they?  

I am beginning to realize just how often I ask for guidance and then never listen because, if I am honest with myself, I have already decided, on my own, what I want my day to be. My thoughts look more like this: This is what I am going to do today. Please watch over me, keep me safe, and make sure that everything goes the way I want it to. Well, what if where I want to go and what I want to do would not keep me safe and make me happy? What if there’s an accident waiting to happen on the route I would take, or a fire in the theater I want to go to. What if the exact person I’ve been hoping to meet (for whatever reason) is someplace other than where I have planned to visit?

What if there is a greater intelligence guiding me all the time that knows these things and truly has my best interest at heart?

Of course, there IS. Some people call it God, or Jesus, or Holy Spirit or Higher Self. It doesn’t matter what you call it. What matters is that you are aware of this guidance; that you use it; that you TRUST it. I would like to say that I trust and follow this loving guidance all the time. I don’t. But I am building my trust muscle as, each time I do follow guidance, I see my life going more and more smoothly. I found this morning’s passage in a book Jesus Calling, by Sarah Young, very helpful. It is His voice that I am learning to listen to. It is the voice of love.

“Relax and let Me lead you through this day. I have everything under control. My control. You tend to peer anxiously into the day that is before you, trying to figure out what to do, and when. Meanwhile, the phone or the doorbell rings, and you have to reshuffle your plans. All that planning ties you up in knots and distracts you from Me. Attentiveness to Me is not only for your quiet time, but for all your time. As you look to Me, I show you what to do now and next.

Vast quantities of time and energy are wasted in obsessive planning. When you let Me direct your steps, you are free to enjoy Me and to find what I have prepared for you this day.”

What voice do you choose to listen to today?

Let your spirit soar!
Paula

Read Full Post »

 paula-richards.artistwebsites.com

Read Full Post »

The world you see is what you gave it . . . the witness to your state of mind, the outside picture of an inward condition. As a man thinketh, so does he perceive.

A Course in Miracles teaches that everything I see, seemingly outside of myself, is simply a reflection of my inner condition. The tendency, when I deal with someone or something that I wish were different, is to try to change the other person or circumstance. This wish to have someone or something be different than what it is, is an attack.
I am learning that it is far more helpful to look at that person or situation and ask my higher self what it is I need to learn. How can I see this differently? How can I find peace? What message is being delivered to me for my own spiritual growth?

My friend’s daughter has two parakeets, Sea Breeze and Bubbles. One of the items in their cage is a mirror. When I was visiting the other day, her daughter said, “Do you hear that chirp? I can tell by the sound of the chirp that Bubbles is attacking the mirror.” I realized that her words are a good description of what happens when we resist whatever is happening in our life. Instead of seeing our reflection and taking a closer look within ourselves, we attack the mirror.

Let your spirit soar!
Paula

 ”Perspective”, (Text: It’s all in your perspective) available in a variety of formats at my art website: paula-richards.artistwebsites.com

Read Full Post »