Christianity Oasis Forum

[vahn]

Oh , oh ... watchout !!! ... She's changing !!!

[xxJILLxx]

Hi vahn, love you my knight in shining armour.


"It is the Law that any difficulties that can come to you at any time, no matter what they are, must be exactly what you need most at the moment, to enable you to take the next step forward by overcoming them. The only real misfortune, the only real tragedy, comes when we suffer without learning the lesson." -- Emmet Fox


What does this quote have to do with change? I'm thinkin about it, it popped out at me cause Emmet Fox was a great man with lots of wisdom. But im sure i can find the theme of change in this quote and application of how it pertains to me and why our Lord decided to put it on my plate this morning.

Holy Spirit is letting me know that the application to this quote to me is to accept difficulties with fervor instead of a sense of defeat. Remove yourself from the emotions of the present difficulty and cleave to Him and know there is a lesson behind it that He wants us to embrace, and that through the difficulty(s) , His most desire is for us all is to be in perfect communion with Him.

Random findings todays:

A hermit was meditating by a river when a young man interrupted him. "Master, I wish to become your disciple," said the man. "Why?" replied the hermit. The young man thought for a moment. "Because I want to find God."

The master jumped up, grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, dragged him into the river, and plunged his head under water. After holding him there for a minute, with him kicking and struggling to free himself, the master finally pulled him up out of the river. The young man coughed up water and gasped to get his breath. When he eventually quieted down, the master spoke. "Tell me, what did you want most of all when you were under water."

"Air!" answered the man.

"Very well," said the master. "Go home and come back to me when you want God as much as you just wanted air."


Lots to ponder on.
God bless
♥Jill

[xxJILLxx]

Another Ancient story with much wisdom:

Upon meeting a Master Rabbi at a social event, a psychiatrist decided to ask him a question that had been on his mind. "Exactly how do you help people?" he inquired.

"I get them where they can't ask any more questions," the Master answered.
----------------------------------------------------
All of our questions come from the fact that we are discontent about something. When we reach the place where we don't have to ask any more questions, we can just "be" and transcend our earthly problems.

Sometimes it's better not to dwell on questions, but just to accept.

Quote:
The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance.
Nathaniel Branden

Acceptance is the answer to all my "problems".

God bless
♥Jill

[xxJILLxx]

Something else Holy Spirit has been cue ing me on is being aware. Self awareness as well as being aware of what is around me.

Instead of being numb , waking to the truth that I need to be in a state of awareness. Of my thoughts, my behavior, my attitude, my demeanor and most importantly being aware of His voice and leading.

I noticed that when I am being stuck in a past thought, or action of another ,or feeling , I block Him out as well as my awareness to what is In front of me right now. Why am I stuck? Is it anger? Is it disappointment etc... Being aware of my emotions and having Him walk me through them and sorting them out and then letting them go, end result is peace and understanding.

Being aware is BIG BIG steps to improving my happiness and coping with lifes twists and turns in a healthy mindset. Also being truthful with myself as well as my God and others brings me serenity and such peace.

Awareness quotes:

To know your limits is a state of self-delusion~ Bill Purden

We don't See things as they are, we see them as we are .~ Anais Nin

To become different from what we are, we must have some awareness of what we are. ~ Eric Hoffer

God bless
Jill

[xxJILLxx]

EGO

As vahn likes to say, Easing God Out.

My ego backs me into corners, corners where i dont like to be backed into and the end result... explosion to get myself out of the corner.

The other day at work, I was not having a successful moment with my resident (in my eyes) She was irritable, accusatory and saying some very mean things to me that were not true. From her i can expect such remarks and behavior because of her alzheimer's. That's not what even got me infused the most, i mean yes it takes a toll on a caregiver but i understand that her behavior is not who she is, it is a symptom of the disease. What made me infused was the comment of a nurse who tried to give her meds and she refused them. The nurse then went out and by the way was training another new nurse and she said a comment about me being with her asd a contributing factor to the residents behavior. I felt stunned. I have very good days with this resident and have worked very hard and have been doing great strides and so so many activities with her. The resident was just having a mood change, which happens from time to time.

Anyways, my ego or my pride was hurt.

A great example:

The Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty was a national hero for his success as both a statesman and military leader. But despite his fame, power, and wealth, he considered himself a humble and devout believer. Often he visited his favorite rabbi to study under him, and they seemed to get along very well. The fact that he was prime minister apparently had no effect on their relationship, which seemed to be simply one of a revered teacher and respectful student.

One day, during his usual visit, the Prime Minister asked the rabbi, "Your Reverence, what is egotism according to Spiritualism?" The teacher's face turned red, and in a very condescending and insulting tone of voice, he shot back, "What kind of stupid question is that!?"

This unexpected response so shocked the Prime Minister that he became sullen and angry. The rabbi then smiled and said, "THIS, Your Excellency, is egotism."

Quotes i found:

An inflated consciousness is always egocentric and conscious of nothing but its own existence. It is incapable of learning from the past, incapable of understanding contemporary events, and incapable of drawing right conclusions about the future. It is hypnotized by itself and therefore cannot be argued with. It inevitably dooms itself to calamities that must strike it dead. |
-Carl Gustav Jung

With the disappearance of God the Ego moves forward to become the sole divinity.
-Dorothee Sölle
Thank you Holy Spirit for taking me on this journey with you.

[xxJILLxx]

Enjoyment

Learn to enjoy Him and pause. Look at all the positives in life. Live and let live without looking for a "problem", with myself, in others, at work etc.

Just simply be.

Look around and maintain self awareness, with Him, those He put in my life... enjoy them. Nurture them. Love them.

Keep in Perspective that every "issue" that pops up, is put there for a reason and i need to be aware of His leading in these "issues" and practice what ever virtues that fits in there at that time. Whether it be forgiveness, patience, unconditional love, longsuffering... etc.

Enjoy the lessons as mere nuggets of gold sent from heaven.

The 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with her hair fashionably coifed and makeup perfectly applied, even though she is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready. As she maneuvered her walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window. "I love it," she stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy. "Mrs. Jones, you haven't seen the room .... just wait." "That doesn't have anything to do with it," she replied. "Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged ... it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it ... It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away ... just for this time in my life."
Author unknown


quote:

A youthful mind is seldom totally free from ambition; to curb that, is the first step to contentment, since to diminish expectation is to increase enjoyment.
Frances Burney

God bless and Enjoy!

♥Jill

[momof3]

Jill,


I absolutely loved that story about the 92 year old woman. Thank you for posting it. What an awesome, awesome reminder.

God bless you, sis. Keep fighting the good fight. You are so precious to Him. Love you, girl.

in Jesus,
love momo

[xxJILLxx]

Momo,

I love you much sister, and YOU my dear, are such a blessin and precious to Him and us all. Glad you enjoyed that lil story. Makes your heart sorta skip a beat, glad He led me to it.


Present thinking

When i am being aware of what is happening to me, what I am doing and what I am feeling and thinking. It is being conscious of my thoughts and focusing them on the present. In this way I can look at situations as they are, without coloring them with my past experiences. Living in such a way makes it easier to deal with whatever I am doing at the present moment. I see things as they are, without being influenced by fears, anger, desires or attachments.

There is a story about two friends traveling by train. One was very nervous, restless and full of complaints the whole trip. He was impatient to reach his destination, and disliked every moment of the trip. He did not pay attention to his surroundings, as his mind was full of impatient, restless and grumpy thoughts.

His friend, on the other hand, enjoyed the scenery, drank a cup of coffee, ate a piece of cake and chatted with the other passengers. He enjoyed every moment the trip. He lived in the present moment and made the most of it. On arrival he was fresh and felt good. His friend, as expected, arrived exhausted, tired and unhappy.

It is a matter of the right attitude. Life becomes a happy and enjoyable trip when the attitude toward it and its events is positive, and the present moment is used in the best possible way.

We become enslaved by thoughts and emotions and lose our freedom by living in the past, and thinking and visualizing events that have already happened. On the other hand, concentrating on the present moment, on what is happening or what you are doing right now, frees us of unnecessary, burdensome and unpleasant thoughts, and we gain peace of mind.

Live now for now.

God bless
♥Jill

[momof3]

I love you, sis. YOU are so precious and such a blessing to all of us. Ive seen Him do so much in your life, and through your life within others. He is so good and faithful. Thank you for being so faithful to Him.

Your post today reminded me of this song.........

Love you, sis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSiJeL0b3Eo

[Faithandlove]

*peeking in*

I just wanted to say hi.

God bless.

[xxJILLxx]

Loved the song momo! Thank u sister for that sharing, reminded me that I am on the right path of these lessons that Holy Spirit is teaching me. Thank U sister for being that vessel.

Love u much Give baby kissies for me Shes a gem, ty Lord! \./ I hope all is well with u sis.

I am learning to muffle the noise in my mind. I realise that as i observe my thoughts and not in a criticizing way , just observe.. they lose their power. Because I am not the thoughts. I am the one who is observing the thoughts. The thoughts are not me. They are tape recordings that get played over and over again, that is until i become aware of them. Once i am in this awareness state, they cant touch me, they cant drag me into the cycle and rehashing and the emotions of the thoughts. I simply observe them. When i am in this state of awareness i am free, I am living in the present, instead of thought that tries to drag me to another time or event. Not excluding thoughts of future, they do the same and take away from the moment at hand.

If i take all this noise in my mind and jumble it up into a ball and throw that ball as far away as i can, I am still here. The thoughts are not who I am, they are distractions, over thinking, over analyzing, its habitual and needless and can bring u down spiriling if not careful. They drag you into them and you begin to feel the emotion of them. It is all an illusion. It is not now. Being present in thought, in this moment erases all of that. Enjoy the miracle of just being.

So I am learning to enjoy peace in the moment. ANd it feels great! Thank U Lord for the changes u are doing in me. Thank U Holy Spirit for being gentle with me, in showing me the harm i have been doing to myself and how to begin to live life as it is intended.

Like any habits, they take time to master over them along with a lot of work and being aware. Bringing things to light and keeping them there.

I have been praying to the Lord for a healthy mind, and He is faithful and true to give me the lessons and the tools to show me how to do so. Thank You Father. Through these lessons , He has been bringing me closer to Him.

I am looking forward to more changes within, and pray they always bring you the Glory that you rightly deserve.

Today is a day of practicing what He has been teaching me. The action.

God bless
♥Jill

[xxJILLxx]

Hello faithandlove! Glad you stopped by . I hope you are enjoying the day the Lord had made, Let us rejoice in it!

God bless u sister
♥Jill