No matter what you believe you are living without, the only thing missing is having God at the core of what you believe you are missing. You will then see that issue differently and will no longer see it as something you are living without.

So many of the letters I receive are often related to financial or physical restrictions the person is currently experiencing. These individuals reach out because they know life could be better...but they just don't know how to get there on their own. They are tired of feeling they are living without so many of the good things that life could or should provide.

We all have these thoughts and experiences in one way or another, but they can all be worked on and healed by applying a few basic concepts.

#1 Determine The True Source Of Your Problem

We often attempt to fix the result of a problem instead of the source of the problem. You can put a band-aid on a cut and say your problem is now healing...but that does not eliminate another cut from occurring. The cut isn't the problem...but whatever is creating the cut, that is the source of the problem and that is what needs to be seen and healed. The goal would be to stop the cuts, debt, illness, etc. from occurring...not fixing them as they occur.

• You can't fix a problem if you believe God is the source of your problem. He is the only one who can help, but if you believe he is also responsible for your situation, you can only be angry and upset at him and you will not be in a position to hear him or follow his guidance. To see the source of your problem, you must first conclude, without reservation, that whatever your problem or situation is, God is not doing this to you.
• We all project what we believe will occur in our lives and we are therefore open to those events to occur. The Holy Spirit's job is to help bring about the perfect situation that will draw you closer to the light and he works within these events we create and looks for every second or micro-second where we are open to make new and better choices. The Holy Spirit always has, does and will provide us with the strength to make the better choice and eventually move past our current situation. The current situation, although being used in the best way by the Holy Spirit, is not created by the Holy Spirit.

Every situation in our lives is brought about by what we allow to occur. We are the sources of all our problems. We initiate the cycles of poor health, bad finances, depression and all things that do not gravitate towards peace, love and happiness. This statement is not one of condemning ourselves, but is only meant to be used as an awareness of where our problems originate.

You are not guilty in God's eyes for having brought bad things upon yourself and God does not want you to feel sadness or remorse. He only wants you to see the light of awareness with respect to what your actions have brought about. Guilt creates a reason to defend yourself or become sad or depressed and often increases the walls you have placed between yourself and anybody attempting to help you. However, awareness creates an openness for truth and change. It allows peace and the healing power of God to flow into your mind. With awareness and not guilt, you are more likely to be open to allow God to heal your situation.

#2 Be Open For Change

Every problem or situation is part of a cycle that we must be willing and open to allow it to conclude...to finish...to end...to cease to exist. As long as we make the same decision, time and time again, the cycle will return...for millennia to come. Ending a cycle often means facing issues you have chosen not to face...thus, if you do not face them and change the end result, the cycle continues and will return to you again in some form.

It has been said, and I have experienced this myself, that when you become open for a problem to be resolved and are open for God to bring about the best situations to resolve the problem...your world turns upside down. Parts of your life as you know it appear to deteriorate and all outward appearances indicate that your life has not improved and is now worse than ever.

The reason for this is simple...God does not resolve issues by placating them as we do. He does not use band-aids. For example, our answer to resolving a past due debt might be approval of a loan, winning the lottery, ignoring it till it goes away, etc. God's answer is to help change that part of you that allowed the debt to exist in the first place. He will not focus on resolving your specific late payment, but will bring about the situation you have not resolved and will provide you with the opportunity to choose differently than before and heal your mind of the method of thinking that allowed your situation to occur in the first place. This might not appear to resolve your current situation as quickly as you think you could resolve it, but Gods answers help ensure the problem does not occur again and again. In essence, God is not looking to help you solve your problems, he's looking to teach you to prevent them in the first place.

The Holy Spirit knows exactly what is the most perfect series of events that will help you be more open for change. By allowing the results of your previous actions to exit the closets and stand upright before you, He is offering you opportunity after opportunity (problem after problem) so that you have the chance to make a different choice as compared to how you had chosen before. Problems are resolved by facing them and choosing differently than you chose before...thus ending the cycle.

#3 Know Your Answer Has Been Provided

When you are open for change and you have handed something over to God, your results are guaranteed. You don't have to hope and you don't have to perform certain acts to help convince God to cooperate. You don't have to do anything other than to hand it over and know it has been resolved. Know that God is listening. Know that he desires your life to improve. Know that God wants you to have a life of love, peace and happiness and he will help you achieve anything that will help bring about those things into your life.

The Holy Spirit sees a picture of our life that is complete, while we only see the tip of the iceberg. There is so much more going on and so many more influences and so many other events underway...and that is why we will never know what is the best thing to occur and we will almost never know how a problem should be resolved. Jesus and the Holy Spirit see our lives differently than we do. They see a picture we can't yet comprehend and so when you truly hand something over...don't judge how things change or how long they appear to take to change. Don't assume how the issue should be resolved or have a time frame where you believe results should be obtained. All those actions are indications that you really have not turned the issue over to God and are still thinking you know what is best.

Turn your issue over to God and trust that he will provide the most perfect answer. Trust that God loves you and will only do the most perfect and best things. Don't be afraid of what you think the answer might be. Don't be sure God will take away something from you...that your answer will include losss in any way. God never takes...he only gives and frees. God's answer is not to be feared, but to be embraced as a wonderful step forward. God will bring about the perfect answer that will heal your mind and allow you to grow further than before.

#4 Move On To Your Next Issue

As you hand over each issue or cycle to God, you are allowing the foggy veil between you and God...between you and truth, to thin out a bit. More light will get through. More truth will make sense. More understanding will occur.

No matter what you believe you are living without, the only real thing missing is having God at the core of that thing you believe you are missing. Upon doing that, you will see that item, issue or problem differently than before and you will no longer see it as something you are living without. You will see it as an opportunity for change and as an opportunity to increase your communication with our creator.