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OPEN TO GOD, CLEANSE, AND FIND THAT BIG PROBLEMS OFTEN MEAN A GREATER DESTINY

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The greater your problems, the greater potential there is for the future; the greater may be your destiny!

Who had greater problems than Jesus, than Mary? Who had greater destinies?

The key is to get to your destiny -- and that means working through the challenge and being open to the Will of God (as was St. Anne, in whom the Immaculate Conception occurred, and then the Virgin herself, who then gave birth to Jesus).

It was the Lord telling God "Your Will be done, not Mine" that opened the way for the greatest destiny of all: our salvation.

When we confront and work through our problems (instead of complaining about them -- or spending all our energy circumventing them) we too bear fruit. We too cleanse. Blessed was Mary's fruit! Blessed is our fruit when we allow the Holy Spirit to come through and pour forth from us. Our fruits define us.

That means using our gifts -- to the maximum.

Your gifts produce your fruits and your fruits are who you really are; they are what is "in the wash"; they are the end product.

What are your gifts? What are your fruits? What's pouring out now? What should be?

It's an important topic because your fruits reflect the truth of who you are and where in the afterlife you will be positioned.

Are they good? Are they plentiful? Are they yielded solely for others?

A fruit is not something that the tree itself eats!

In life, we should always view ourselves as cornucopias -- and we should always seek to be yielding as much good, true fruit, healthful fruit, not cosmetic fruit -- as possible.

That comes only when we are constantly and unselfishly open to the Holy Spirit as was Mary. It means planting yourself in the right place, seeing the sun as much as possible, making sure you are firmly rooted, and cooperating with what is around you.

The more we yield, the more God sends, and the more He sends through us, the healthier we are (despite the challenges of physical or emotional pain, which are challenges).

The more we smile through pain, the more joy He sends us.

Think of His Spirit like crystal-pure water. The more you drink, the more you refresh your cells; the more you expel impurities.

Spiritual toxins. Emotional toxins.

Impurities are used like fertilizer when we expel them instead of holding them inside.

Look at the fig: when Christ sees a tree bear fruit, He nurtures it, while the opposite occurs with a tree that is rotting or holding everything in for itself.

The Holy Spirit is the Living Water that grants us health, and He comes in proportion to how much we yield, which is how much we give to others, with no thought of recompense.

He comes to help us reach what we are destined to reach and we reach that full potential only by yielding all we can through what He has given us.

There are many gifts in life. Do we use them to their fullest? Do we find the gifts we uniquely possess, and share the plenty?

The more we use our muscles, the firmer they get, the brighter our eyes, the cleaner our vessels (because the Holy Spirit "washes" through us).

You'll be amazed at the pleasant turns in your life when you are yielding fruit at full throttle without second-guessing. (Constantly, there will be good surprise.)

When we don't produce -- when we're not using all our gifts, on all cylinders -- there can be a logjam, a block, which can cause illness (the non-redemptive kind).

We're "stopped up." There is lack of meaning. There's anxiety. We are stagnant. There is frustration.

Flush that away by using your gifts and producing like a valuable plant -- not necessarily a plant that yields the best-looking fruit on the surface, but a plant that yields the largest healthful crop. God gives you all the gifts you need to work through problems and reach your destiny.

There are always trials in life, but joy comes much more frequently (in a regular, balanced fashion) to those who are doing all they can to use the gifts God has given them. Miracles abound! They occur regularly. Surprises. What are your gifts? How do you use them? How often do you use them? There is the gift of patience. There is the gift of prayer. There are many skills that are gifted to us. There is the gift (above all) of love.

Ask the Holy Spirit what your gifts are and ask Him to guide you in how to use them. For when you use them to the max, you are not only bearing cleansing fruit that brings you closer to the immaculate but fulfilling something that is totally crucial: your life mission!

[resources: The Other Side and Michael Brown retreat, Houston]

[see also: Farmer leaves two million to church]