Follow Your Heart

Go where your heart takes you. Follow your heart. It's the true course because your heart is the real you, where your soul resides. Be true to it. Let it guide you. Too often we do the opposite; we replace the heart with the mundane, which can fashion pretense. This causes you tension. The greatest distance can be between your heart and your brain. You should go nowhere nor move anywhere nor strike up a close relationship with anyone unless your heart is in it; it knows secretly what is not in your "rational" consciousness. While there are certain obligations we must fulfill, in most cases we should not do anything unless our hearts are behind it. Don't define yourself to please others. Have a pure heart, a humble heart, and it will guide you. Try to escape problems and they will only repeat (until we repent, which means to change). Change only your facade and surroundings (try to run away) and God in His wisdom will continue to send you the same challenges no matter where you go until you work them out. Let your heart be the guide in finding the root of a problem, for it is often different than the problem it presents on the surface; a root cause might be called a plank in your eyes. "Beware of seeing yourself through other people's eyes," a woman seeking the Lord's words felt she heard. "There are several dangers to this practice. First of all, it is nearly impossible to discern what others think of you. Moreover, their views of you are variable: subject to each viewer's spiritual, emotional, and physical condition. The major problem with letting others define you is that it borders on idolatry. Your concern to please others dampens your desire to please Me, your Creator. It is more real to see yourself through My eyes. My gaze upon you is steady and sure, untainted by sin. Through My eyes you can see yourself as one who is deeply, eternally loved. Rest in My loving gaze, and you will receive deep Peace. Respond to My loving Presence by worshipping Me in spirit and in truth.""Learn to love from your true center in Me. I reside in the deepest depths of your being, in eternal union with your spirit. It is at this deep level that My Peace reigns continually. You will not find lasting peace in the world around you, in circumstances, or in human relationships. The external world is always in flux -- under the curse of death and decay. But there is a gold mine of Peace deep within you, waiting to be tapped. Take time to delve into the riches of My residing Presence. I want you to live increasingly from your real center, where My Love has an eternal grip on you."One thing at a time. To thine own self be true. Look for progress with the eyes of the heart over time. Do not make haste to please the perceptions of others. Every day God will send you special little challenges that relate to your weaknesses and you must tackle each one with that frame of heart: everything He sends has the potential for advancement. Don't force things. Don't reach beyond your strength. Don't try to change who you really are; it is not possible; change who you are not. God works over time. He dissolves what is false and rebuilds us when we cooperate through free will oriented in prayer from the heart. What God looks for is persistence -- not an attempt to do everything at once, or be somebody else, but at making constant progress in union with our deep inner being.  A conversion that is total is gradual in a natural flow over time with ease of the spirit like all things that God so profoundly does. Accept His Way, His design. In humility, use the normal course of daily events (problems and crises) as steppingstones to perfection.  Chip away at each challenge, which will always come. Look at everything that happens as an opportunity. Great monuments were fashioned in this manner. So was the Grand Canyon. Be natural and gradual.As Jesus taught, the evil of the day is sufficient.