EMOTIONAL CONTAGION

Proverbs 13:20

"He that walketh with wise menshall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed."

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5540018/?ir=Good%20News

You May Have Been A Lab Rat In A Huge Facebook Experiment

Dino GrandoniThe Huffington Post06/29/14 11:24 AM ET

A newly published paper reveals that scientists at Facebook conducted a massive psychological experiment on hundreds of thousands of users by tweaking their feeds and measuring how they felt afterward.

In other words, Facebook decided to try to manipulate some people's emotional states -- for science.

The research involved Facebook's News Feed -- the stream of status updates, photos and news articles that appears when you first fire up the site. For a week in January 2012, a group of researchers, variously affiliated with Facebook, Cornell University and the University of California, San Francisco, altered the algorithm that determines what shows up in News Feed for 689,003 people. One group was shown fewer posts containing words thought to evoke positive emotions, such as "love," "nice" and "sweet," while another group was shown fewer posts with negative words, like "hurt," "ugly" and "nasty." The findings were published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a scientific journal.

The researchers were studying a phenomenon called "emotional contagion," a fancy psychological term for something you've almost certainly experienced: If you spend more time with a happy-go-lucky friend, you end up being more of a ray of sunshine yourself. (Same goes for sadness: Hang with a Debbie Downer, and you likewise become a vector for gloom.) Researchers have found that emotions can be contagious during face-to-face interactions, when a friend's laugh or smile might lift your spirits. But what happens online? Facebook was trying to figure that out.

It turns out that, yes, the Internet is just like real life in this way. People who were shown fewer positive words on Facebook tended to turn around and write posts of their own that contained fewer positive words (and more negative words). And people who were shown fewer negative words tended, in turn, to write posts with fewer negative words and more positive words.

Hypothesis: proven!

In the PNAS article, lead researcher Adam Kramer and his team note that "the effect sizes from the manipulations are small." And in a statement to The Huffington Post, Facebook offered justification for doing the research.

"This research was conducted for a single week in 2012 and none of the data used was associated with a specific person's Facebook account," a company spokesperson told The Huffington Post. "We do research to improve our services and to make the content people see on Facebook as relevant and engaging as possible. A big part of this is understanding how people respond to different types of content, whether it's positive or negative in tone, news from friends, or information from pages they follow. We carefully consider what research we do and have a strong internal review process."

Still, reaction against Facebook was swift when the story was picked up by Animal and then the A.V. Club:

The researchers' findings aren't exactly trivial. If positivity begets more positivity online, we may be overblowing the whole idea of "F.O.M.O.," or "fear of missing out" -- the idea that pixel-perfect beach pictures and other evidence of fun fills Facebook friends with jealousy, not joy.

Facebook employs a group of data scientists to study user activity and publish their findings, often pegged to events like Valentine's Day and national elections. But until now, the research has mostly fallen into the category of "observational studies" -- that is, research that involves someone poring over existing data and trying to draw conclusions from it.

The News Feed manipulation, though, is a different beast. It's an experiment, in which scientists create the data by tweaking one variable to see if it affects another. That's what's disconcerting: The "things" being manipulated in this case are people on Facebook -- i.e., basically everyone with an Internet connection.

If you don't remember agreeing to being a Facebook guinea pig, well, you must not have read all of the site's mind-bogglingly complex terms of service when you set up your account. Within those TOS is language specifying that Facebook members consent to having information about them used for “internal operations, including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, research and service improvement.”

Even though this research was not illegal, Susan Fiske, the Princeton University psychology professor who edited the study for PNAS, was queasy about it. Fiske told The Atlantic:

I was concerned until I queried the authors and they said their local institutional review board had approved it -- and apparently on the grounds that Facebook apparently manipulates people's News Feeds all the time.

"Facebook apparently manipulates people's News Feeds all the time." That's comforting.

[New Scientist via Animal]

7 COMMON TRAITS OF HAPPY PEOPLE

Happiness. It’s the term thrown around more often than any other term when people are asked what they are looking for in life. A loving partner, a fun high-paying job and endless world travel are also amongst some of the most common answers, however all of these are preference-based means to the one ultimate end, which is happiness. Being so sought-after, I thought I’d comprise a list of common traits that seem to be found in happy people -and I’m talking about the genuinely happy people, and not just those who appear to be so on the surface.

By compiling this list I’m not suggesting that these are the only keys to happiness, I’m simply shedding light on some common characteristics I’ve come to find.

1. Love Themselves For Who They Are

On the surface this may sound incredibly egotistical, but by it I simply mean that they are truly comfortable in their own shoes. They accept and embrace themselves physically, they maintain their true character traits regardless of whether or not they receive approval and they work to make the best of the human experience they are living -rather than wallow in what others would define as weaknesses or shortcomings.

2. See Relationships As An Extension To, Rather Than The Basis Of The Human Experience

Relationships, whether friendly, familial or romantic, are certainly one of the greatest parts of the human experience. However, far too many of us let their presence or absence, and even more so the value we attribute to them dictate our overall happiness in life. I’ve found that genuinely happy people tend to find complete contentment within themselves, and see all relationships as the awesome extension to their self-content. It’s often when we are not looking for others to fill a particular void, or to make us feel a certain way, that most of the truest and most-valuable relationships are formed.

3. Embrace Change

Life is a constant lesson and happy people tend to be well-aware of that. Not only are they always open to change, but they truly listen to suggestions, respect and consider all opinions and take criticism constructively rather than offensively.

4. Celebrate Rather Than Compare Themselves To The Accomplishments Of Others

Jealousy is a killer, and as Gary Allan once said, “You can be the moon and still be jealous of the stars.” We are all capable of accomplishing anything in this life and are the only ones that are going to find the drive within ourselves to do it. Rather than observe and compare to those who have accomplished, the truly happy tend to celebrate it and use it as motivation to accomplish things within their own lives.

5. Never Dwell In Being A Victim

We’ve all been the so-called ‘victim’ to several things in life. Whether it be an unexpected break-up, getting fired from a job, or even something as serious as the recipient of domestic abuse. Truly happy people tend to be those who choose not to dwell in it. They choose to let the victimization strengthen them, rather than wear it as a badge of weakness or as the thing that makes them consistently worthy of receiving sympathy.

6. They Live In The Present

As fun as reminiscing about the past or fantasizing about the future can be, nothing will ever be done in anything but the present and happy people tend to realize that. Not only do they realize it, but they tend to use it as motivation to make the most of it. In addition to being motivating, presence can also come in handy for truly appreciating those moments of relaxation, allowing yourself to be truly in them, rather than projecting future concerns into them.

7. Trust That Everything Happens For A Reason

This can very easily be paired with the choice to not be a victim, but happy people tend to trust the process and existence of everything in their life. They know that nothing is ever too big to handle and choose to embrace what life is currently throwing at them rather than cowering at the sight of it.

8. They Don’t Let Money Dictate Their Lives

Nobody is denying that in this world right now we all need money to exist, and as a result many of us spend the bulk of our lives doing things that help us earn it. What I’ve found to differentiate happy people is that they don’t let money be the ultimate dictator in their life. They still make sensible choices within their means, but they never let money: A) prevent them from pursuing a so-called “risky” passion, B) be the factor that is blamed for why their life is so miserable, C) complain about how little they have. There are creative ways to do everything in this world, and seeing money as only being possible to make in the standard ways is the most crippling thing to that creativity.

9. Look Within For Solutions

One of the most powerful realizations a genuinely happy person will often operate based on is “change starts within.” The empowerment that comes as a result of not only realizing this but even more so in using it as the backbone to everything in life can be quite remarkable. There are thousands of books, mantras, techniques and practices out there that can all help us to find solutions to so many things in life, but they all require one thing to truly be serviceable: the consciousness to support them.

THE HEALING POWERS OF A CAT’S PURR

https://www.goexplore.net/infographics/healing-powers-cats-purr/?utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=theblaze

THE HEALING POWERS OF A CAT’S PURR

Be honest, you opened this page hoping for more cute cat pictures – didn’t you? Now you’re here, though, you’ll be glad to learn of the medicinal powers of a cat’s purr. 

As it turns out crazy cat ladies of the world may not be so crazy after all – healing their aches and pains by simply clinging on to their feline friends. So, to find out how a simple cat’s purr can lower your blood pressure, heal infections and make you 40% less likely to fall victim to a heart attack – study the below infographic.

Infographic designed by Gemma Busquets.

Homepage Photo: Broker/REX

ENTERTAINING STRANGERS: Making Ourselves the Strangers

http://www.christianitytoday.com/women/2013/october/making-ourselves-strangers.html?paging=off

Making Ourselves the Strangers

Recently, an open letter from the Asian American community to the evangelical church pointed out that all too often we are racially divided, indifferent, and prefer to make generalizations at a safe distance rather than confront difference and make amends face to face.

The authors call on evangelicals to take further steps toward racial unity by hosting dialogues to discuss racial stereotyping, examining hiring practices in Christian organizations, and committing to higher standards of media portrayals of Asian Americans. I would add this call to action: White Christians, make an active effort to put yourselves in situations where you are a minority.

White Christians hold a majority of the power in the American evangelical church. They hold most leadership positions in nationally influential Christian organizations, including Christian media. Their congregations are usually wealthier and have members with higher social status. Also, white evangelicals, like all other white Americans, benefit from living in a society that has historically been tilted to their advantage.

When you have always been in the position of power and privilege, it can be difficult to understand what it's like to be in the minority. As much as well-intended efforts by majority white churches to be more culturally inclusive are necessary to bridge racial divides, things such as hosting conversations on race, I think something more is needed. Why? Because these efforts still start with white people operating from their position of power. They remain the hosts, the benefactors, the do-gooders.

But when people put themselves in the minority, the power dynamic is reversed. For example, when my husband and I started attending our Hispanic church, we found ourselves on the cultural margins as the only white and Asian in the group. We struggled to make ourselves understood in our halting Spanish, we strained our ears and mental energy to catch culturally embedded jokes, we waited shyly by the coffee until others beckoned us to join their conversations.

In a country where whites and Asians generally hold higher status than Hispanics, our attending the Hispanic church reversed that dynamic. Our Hispanic sisters and brothers became the hosts; we were the ones who needed to be accommodated to. They had the linguistic and cultural advantage; we became like children who need to be led around by the hand and have the obvious explained. They gave; we received.

After several years of going to this church and receiving such generous hospitality, we truly feel that this church is our family. We know them as Gloria, Carlos, and Elizabeth, not as "those Mexicans" or "those Latinos." We've prayed with families through hard immigration situations, we know the difference between Peruvian "ají" and Mexican salsa, and we know we'll never go hungry at any church event. We are part of them. They are part of us.

Would we have gained such a deep solidarity with our Hispanic brothers and sisters, say, if Gloria or Carlos had started attending our former white suburban church? Perhaps. But it would have been easier for us, being in culturally familiar territory, to bypass the uncomfortable work of getting to know them as individuals despite the communication barriers. Easier to remain distant. Also, we would have lost out on the priceless experience of being strangers on the receiving end of grace.

In her book An Altar in the World, Barbara Brown Taylor sums up an oft-repeated command in the Pentateuch from God to the Hebrews, "You shall love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt." In other words, God reminded his people of their experiences of being on the outside, being in the minority, so that they would be better able to love the strangers in their midst. Another white pastor put it this way, "Time spent submitted to diverse community holds a lot of promise for our own spiritual formation." When we have experienced what it's like to be in the minority, to be the ones who are misunderstood and less-powerful, we are changed. We will never treat others who are different from us in the same way again.

Our experiences attending a church where we are in the minority has been paradigm-shifting, and that's why I believe having white Christians place themselves in minority positions is so crucial to the work of racial reconciliation in the American church. It is transformational. And it is a concrete action, not just talk. It demonstrates a true humility and willingness to change.

Attending a non-white church (even just on occasion) is one way to practice this. Being a guest in a foreign country, joining a non-white cultural group, or even moving into a non-white neighborhood are others. The important thing is that we become willing to give up power and position ourselves as guests, receivers, and students, rather than hosts, benefactors, and teachers.

Jesus did the same when he came in the flesh as a vulnerable child to reconcile humanity to God. He humbled himself and did not cling to his status as Son of God (Phil. 2). As his followers, we are called to this same humility and downward mobility as we walk the path toward racial reconciliation.

21 TRAITS OF AN AWAKENING SOUL

http://thespiritscience.net/2014/06/23/21-traits-of-an-awakening-soul/

21 TRAITS OF AN AWAKENING SOUL

Written by Christina Sarich of www.wakingtimes.com

You can say it’s because of a global shift in consciousness, a destiny we have arrived at due to spiritual evolution, or the outcome of strange times, but, many people all across the globe are going through intense personal changes and sensing an expansion of consciousness. Personal changes of this magnitude can be difficult to recognize and to understand, but here are 21 traits of an awakening soul, a ‘sensitive’, or an ‘empath.’

1.  Being in public places is sometimes overwhelming. Since our walls between self and other are dissolving, we haven’t really learned to distinguish between someone else’s energy and our own. If the general mood of the crowd is herd-like or negative, we can feel this acutely, and may feel like retreating into our own private space. When we have recharged our batteries with meditation, spending time in nature, far away from other people, or just sitting in quiet contemplation, we are ready to be with the masses again. In personal relationships, we often will feel someone else’s emotions as our own. It is important to have this higher sense of empathy, but we must learn to allow another person’s emotions while observing them and keeping our empathy, but, realizing that not all emotions belong to us. Social influence can dampen our own innate wisdom.

2.  We know things without having to intellectually figure them out. Often called intuitive awareness, we have ‘a-ha’ moments and insights that can explain some of the most complex theories or phenomenon in the world. Some of the most brilliant minds of our time just ‘know.’ Adepts and sages often were given downloads of information from higher states of consciousness after meditating or being in the presence of a more conscious individual; this is happening for more people with more frequency. As we trust our intuition more often, it grows stronger.  This is a time of ‘thinking’ with our hearts more than our heads. Our guts will no longer be ignored. Our dreams are becoming precognitive and eventually our conscious thoughts will be as well.

3.  Watching television or most of main stream media, including newspapers and many Hollywood movies is very distasteful to us. The mindset that creates much, but not all, of the programming on television and in cinema is abhorrent. It commodifies people and promotes violence. It reduces our intelligence and numbs our natural empathetic response to someone in pain.

4.  Lying to us is nearly impossible. We may not know exactly what truth you are withholding, but we can also tell (with our developing intuition and ESP skills) that something isn’t right. We also know when you have other emotions, pain, love, etc. that you aren’t expressing. You’re an open book to us. We aren’t trained in counter-intelligence, we are just observant and knowing. While we may pick up on physical cues, we can look into your eyes and know what you are feeling.

5.  We may pick up symptoms of your cold, just like men who get morning sickness when their wives are pregnant. Sympathy pains, whether emotional or physical, are something we experience often. We tend to absorb emotion through the solar plexus, considered the place we ‘stomach emotion’ so as we learn to strengthen this chakra center, we may sometimes develop digestive issues. Grounding to the earth can help to re-establish our emotional center. Walking barefoot is a great way to re-ground.

6.  We tend to root for the underdog, those without voices, those who have been beaten down by the matrix, etc. We are very compassionate people, and these marginalized individuals often need more love. People can sense our loving hearts, so complete strangers will often tell us their life stories or approach us with their problems. While we don’t want to be a dumping ground for everyone’s issues, we are also a good ear for those working through their stuff.

7.  If we don’t learn how to set proper boundaries, we can get tired easily from taking on other people’s emotions. Energy Vampires are drawn to us like flies to paper, so we need to be extra vigilant in protecting ourselves at times.

8.  Unfortunately, sensitives or empaths often turn to drug abuse or alcohol to block some of their emotions and to ‘protect’ themselves from feeling the pain of others.

9.  We are all becoming healers. We naturally gravitate toward healing fields, acupuncture, reiki, Qi-Gong, yoga, massage, midwivery, etc. are fields we often find ourselves in. We know that the collective needs to be healed, and so we try our best to offer healing in whatever form we are most drawn to. We also turn away from the ‘traditional’ forms of healing ourselves. Preferring natural foods, herbs, and holistic medicine as ways to cure every ailment.

10.  We see the possibilities before others do. Just like when the church told Copernicus he was wrong, and he stood by his heliocentric theory, we know what the masses refuse to believe. Our minds are light-years ahead.

11.  We are creative. We sing, dance, paint, invent, or write. We have amazing imaginations.

12.  We require more solitude than the average person.

13.  We might get bored easily, but we are really good at entertaining ourselves.

14.  We have a difficult time doing things we don’t want to do or don’t really enjoy. We really do believe life was meant to be an expression of joy. Why waste it doing something you hate? We aren’t lazy, we are discerning.

15.  We are obsessed with bringing the truth to light. Like little children who say, “that’s not fair” we want to right the wrongs of the world, and we believe it often just takes education. We endeavor to explain the unexplainable and find answers to the deep questions of life. We are seekers, in the Campbellian paradigm. ‘The Hero With a Thousand Faces.”

16.  We can’t keep track of time. Our imaginations often get away with us and a day can feel like a minute, a week, a day.

17.  We abhor routine.

18.  We often disagree with authority (for obvious reasons).

19.  We will often be kind, but if you are egotistical or rude, we won’t spend much time with you or find an excuse to not hang out with people who are obsessed with themselves. We don’t ‘get’ people who are insensitive to other people’s feelings or points of view.

20.  We may be vegan or vegetarian because we can sense a certain energy of the food we eat, like if an animal was slaughtered inhumanely. We don’t want to consume negative energy.

21.  We wear our own emotions on our sleeves and have a hard time ‘pretending’ to be happy if we aren’t. We avoid confrontation, But will quietly go about changing the world in ways you can’t even see.

These 21 traits of an awakening soul are a reminder of how important it is to maintain awareness, clarity and strength in these interesting times. If you are experiencing something that is not on this list, please add it to the comments section below.

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Scientists have found that memories may be passed down through generations in our DNA

http://themindunleashed.org/2014/01/scientists-found-memories-may-passed-generations-dna.html

Scientists have found that memories may be passed down through generations in our DNA

              

New research from Emory University School of Medicine, in Atlanta, has shown that it is possible for some information to be inherited biologically through chemical changes that occur in DNA. During the tests they learned that that mice can pass on learned information about traumatic or stressful experiences – in this case a fear of the smell of cherry blossom – to subsequent generations.

According to the Telegraph, Dr Brian Dias, from the department of psychiatry at Emory University, said: ”From a translational perspective, our results allow us to appreciate how the experiences of a parent, before even conceiving offspring, markedly influence both structure and function in the nervous system of subsequent generations.

“Such a phenomenon may contribute to the etiology and potential intergenerational transmission of risk for neuropsychiatric disorders such as phobias, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.”

This suggests that experiences are somehow transferred from the brain into the genome, allowing them to be passed on to later generations.

The researchers now hope to carry out further work to understand how the information comes to be stored on the DNA in the first place.

They also want to explore whether similar effects can be seen in the genes of humans.

Professor Marcus Pembrey, a paediatric geneticist at University College London, said the work provided “compelling evidence” for the biological transmission of memory.

He added: “It addresses constitutional fearfulness that is highly relevant to phobias, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorders, plus the controversial subject of transmission of the ‘memory’ of ancestral experience down the generations.

“It is high time public health researchers took human transgenerational responses seriously.”

“I suspect we will not understand the rise in neuropsychiatric disorders or obesity, diabetes and metabolic disruptions generally without taking a multigenerational approach.”

Professor Wolf Reik, head of epigenetics at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, said, however, further work was needed before such results could be applied to humans.

He said: “These types of results are encouraging as they suggest that transgenerational inheritance exists and is mediated by epigenetics, but more careful mechanistic study of animal models is needed before extrapolating such findings to humans.”

May our DNA Carrying also spiritual and cosmic memories passed down in genes from our ancestors?

Research link- http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v17/n1/full/nn.3594.html

Source: UTAOT

Image Credits: TruNews

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Sent from my iPhone

How to Stop Absorbing Other People’s Emotions

http://themindunleashed.org/2014/06/stop-absorbing-peoples-emotions.html

How to Stop Absorbing Other People’s Emotions

Emotions such as fear, anger, frustration, and immobility are energies. And you can potentially ‘catch’ these energies from people without realizing it. If you tend to be an emotional sponge, it’s vital to know how to avoid taking on an individual’s negative emotions, or even how to deflect the free-floating negativities in crowds.

Another twist is that chronic anxiety, depression, or stress can turn you into an emotional sponge by wearing down your defenses. Suddenly, you become hyper-attuned to others, especially suffering with similar pain. That’s how empathy works; we zero in on hot-button issues that are unresolved in ourselves.

From an energetic standpoint, negative emotions can originate from several sources: what you’re feeling may be your own; it may be someone else’s; or it may be a combination. Here is how to tell the difference and strategically bolster your positive emotions so you don’t shoulder negativity that doesn’t belong to you.

Stop Absorbing Other People’s Emotions

1. Identify whether you’re susceptible. The person most likely to be overwhelmed by negative energies surrounding you is an “empath”, someone who acts as an “emotional sponge”. Signs that you might be an empath include:

• People call you “hyper-sensitive”, “overly sensitive”, etc., and they don’t mean it as a compliment!
• You sense fear, anxiety, and stress from other people and draw this into your body, resolving them as your own physical pain and symptoms. It doesn’t have to be people you don’t know or don’t like; you’re also impacted by friends, family, and colleagues.
• You quickly feel exhausted, drained, and unhappy in the presence of crowds.
• Noise, smells, and excessive talking can set off your nerves and anxiety.
• You need to be alone to recharge your energy.
• You’re less likely to intellectualize what you’re feeling. Your feelings are easily hurt.
• You’re naturally giving, generous, spiritually inclined, and a good listener.
• You tend to ensure that you’ve got an escape plan, so that you can get away fast, such as bringing your own car to events, etc.
• The intimacy of close relationships can feel like suffocation or loss of your own self.

2. Seek the source. First, ask yourself whether the feeling is your own or someone else’s. It could be both. If the emotion such as fear or anger is yours, gently confront what’s causing it on your own or with professional help. If not, try to pinpoint the obvious generator.

• For instance, if you’ve just watched a comedy, yet you came home from the movie theater feeling blue, you may have incorporated the depression of the people sitting beside you; in close proximity, energy fields overlap.
• The same is true with going to a mall or a packed concert. If crowded places upset or overwhelm you, it may well be because you’re absorbing all the negative energy around you.

3. Distance yourself from the suspected source, where possible.Move at least twenty feet away; see if you feel relief. Don’t err on the side of not wanting to offend strangers. In a public place, don’t hesitate to change seats if you feel a sense of depression imposing on you.

4. Center yourself by concentrating on your breath. Doing this connects you to your essence. For a few minutes, keep exhaling negativity, inhaling calm. This helps to ground yourself and purify fear or other difficult emotions. Visualize negativity as gray fog lifting from your body, and hope as golden light entering. This can yield quick results.

5. Flush out the harm. Negative emotions such as fear frequently lodge in your emotional center at the solar plexus (celiac plexus).

• Place your palm on your solar plexus as you keep sending loving-kindness to that area to flush stress out.
• For longstanding depression or anxiety, use this method daily to strengthen this center. It’s comforting and it builds a sense of safety and optimism as it becomes a ritual.

6. Shield yourself. A handy form of protection many people use, including healers with trying patients, involves visualizing an envelope of white light (or any color you feel imparts power) around your entire body. Think of it as a shield that blocks out negativity or physical discomfort but allows what’s positive to filter in.

7. Manage the emotional overload. You don’t need to be beholden to your ability to absorb other’s emotions; turn the curse into a gift by practicing strategies that can free you:

• Learn to recognize people who can bring you down. People who are particularly difficult for emotional empaths include criticizer, the victim, the narcissist, and the controller. Judith Orloff terms these people “emotional vampires”. When you know how to spot these behaviors, you can protect yourself against them, including removing yourself from their presence, and telling yourself that “I respect the person you are within even though I don’t like what you’re doing.”
• Eat a high protein meal before entering stressful situations such as being part of a crowd. When in a crowd, find places of refuge, such as sitting on the edges, or standing apart.
• Ensure that you don’t have to rely on other people to get you out of difficult situations. Bring your own car or know how to get home easily when needed. Have sufficient funds to be able to make alternate arrangements if you start feeling overwhelmed.
• Set time limits. Knowing how much you can stand and obeying that limit is vital to ensure your mental well-being. Also set kind but meaningful boundaries with others who overwhelm you; don’t stand around listening to them talking for two hours when you can only cope with half an hour.
• Have your own private place in a home shared with others. Ask others to respect your downtime during which you can rejuvenate. This is especially important to prevent you from taking on your partner’s feelings too much. A study, man cave, sewing room, reading nook, etc., all offer your own space.
• Practice meditation and mindfulness.

8. Look for positive people and situations. Call a friend who sees the good in others. Spend time with a colleague who affirms the bright side of things. Listen to hopeful people. Hear the faith they have in themselves and others. Also relish hopeful words, songs, and art forms. Hope is contagious and it will lift your mood.

• Cultivate positive emotions that boost your inner strength. If you’re surrounded by peace and love, you’ll flourish as strongly as negative emotions cause you to wilt. Respecting your own needs through healthy self love will increase your ability to respect others.
• Learn to use compassion as a way to defend yourself against overwhelming emotions. Compassion allows you to be empathetic to the plight of other people but also requires that you are compassionate toward yourself. This means that you don’t need to feel guilty about seeking respite from being overwhelmed; doing so ensures that you can be more engaged with others in the long run, rather than less so. It also means that you keep yourself whole by not immersing yourself in the world of negative people.

9. Create and maintain a haven for disengagement. Leave many paths open that lead to communing with the resonance of nature. Returning to your rightful home as a creature of nature switches off your victim mentality and recharges you energetically and spiritually.

• Keep a picture of a waterfall or a lush forest with you and look at it when overwhelmed.
• Step onto the quiet of a forest path or absorb the coolness of a gently babbling brook from beneath a weeping willow.
• Maintain a your personal space of cozy retreat where you hook into your own personal power and energy.
• Practise Yoga and breathing techniques. These draw upon emotional centering and provide safe harbor in times of storm.

About the Author

Judith Orloff MD is the author of many self-help books including, The Ecstasy of Surrender: 12 Surprising Ways Letting Go Can Empower Your Life, Emotional Freedom: Liberate Yourself from Negative Emotions and Transform Your Life, and Positive Energy: 10 Extraordinary Prescriptions for Transforming Fatigue, Stress, and Fear into Vibrance, Strength, and Love. 

This article was featured at WikiHow.** 

Featured image credits: PersonalExcellence.co

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Gratitude Is a Choice

http://www.familylife.com/articles/topics/faith/essentials/growing-in-your-faith/gratitude-is-a-choice#.U6mDpXi9LCQ

Gratitude Is a Choice

To really experience His peace, we must come to Him with thankful hearts.

by Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Matthew Henry, the eighteenth-century Puritan preacher whose Bible commentary remains among the most popular of all time, was once accosted by robbers while living in London.

Perhaps you’ve experienced this yourself—whether by having your car broken into or coming home to discover that your house had been burglarized. It’s among the most unsettling things that can happen to a person. I’m sure it was, as well, for a quiet, thoughtful man of letters like Matthew Henry.

Let me be thankful, first, because I was never robbed before; second, because although they took my purse, they did not take my life; third, because although they took my all, it was not much; and fourth, because it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed.

What a perspective! As someone has said, “If you can’t be thankful for what you receive, be thankful for what you escape.”

Gratitude is the pure, appropriate response to the saving and keeping grace of God. Its opposite is ingratitude, and it can be deceptively dangerous in our lives and relationships. In the ongoing struggle of daily life—out there where feelings of disappointment and entitlement can easily talk louder than our best intentions—why choose gratitude over ingratitude?

For starters, here are three good reasons. Personalizing and internalizing these alone should be sufficient to continually outweigh whatever tempts us to whine when we should be worshiping.

1. Gratitude is a matter of obedience. Oh, how I wish it was enough for you and for me to do something just because God has told us to—not because it would give us whiter teeth and fresher breath, or improve our debt-to-income ratio, or improve our dysfunctional relationships. No. Just because He says so. 

Like being grateful, for instance.

“Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,” the psalmist wrote, “and perform your vows to the Most High” (Psalm 50:14). “Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples” (105:1). The Psalms are filled with exhortations to “thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man” (107:8). The “attitude of gratitude” is a clear command and expectation of God.

This theme runs through the entire book of Colossians. In the course of just a few pages, the apostle exhorts believers about being “always” thankful (1:3), “abounding in thanksgiving” (2:7), devoting themselves to prayer, “being watchful in it with thanksgiving” (4:2). Then, as if summing up this whole idea, Paul seals it with one comprehensive, all-inclusive exclamation point: “Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (3:17).

If you’re sitting down to dinner, be thankful.

If you’re getting up to go to bed, be thankful.

If you’re coming out from under a two-week cold and cough, if you’re paying bills, if you’re cleaning up after overnight company, if you’re driving to work, if you’re changing a lightbulb, if you’re worshiping in a church service, if you’re visiting a friend in the hospital, if you’re picking up kids from school or practice …

Be thankful. God has commanded it—for our good and for His glory.

2. Gratitude draws us close. God’s command to be thankful is not the threatening demand of a tyrant. Rather, it is the invitation of a lifetime—the opportunity to draw near to Him at any moment of the day.

Do you sometimes long for a greater sense of God’s nearness? When pressures intensify, when nighttime worries magnify in strength, when the days are simply piling up one after another, or when life simply feels dull and routine, do you crave the assurance of His presence?

The Scripture says that God inhabits the praises of His people (see Psalm 22:3 KJV). God lives in the place of praise. If we want to be where He is, we need to go to His address.

This is a recurring theme in the psalms: “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise!” (Psalm 100:4). “Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving” (95:2). Thanks-giving ushers us into the very presence of God!

The tabernacle in the Old Testament was the place God set apart to meet with His people. In front of the entrance to the Holy of Holies—the sacred seat of God’s manifest presence—stood the altar of incense, where every morning and every evening the priest would offer up the sweet scents, representing the prayers and thanksgiving of God’s people who sought to draw near to Him.

Those ancient rituals were types and symbols of a relationship that we as New Testament believers can enjoy with God anytime, anyplace. Through His sacrifice on the cross, Christ has granted us access to the Father who dwells in us by His Spirit.

See what happens when you open your heart afresh to the Lord, moving beyond the normal, the canned, the almost obligatory phrases of praise and worship, where you truly begin to “magnify him with thanksgiving” (Psalm 69:30).

Yes, see if expressing gratitude to the Lord doesn’t “magnify” Him in your eyes, increasing your depth perception of this One who knows your name, counts the hairs on your head, and manifests His love for you with one blessing after another. See if the practice of intentional gratitude doesn’t transport you even nearer to Him—not just where your faith can believe it but where your heart can sense it.  Thanksgiving puts us in God’s living room. It paves the way to His presence.

3. Gratitude is a sure path to peace.

I know a lot of women who suffer from a noticeable deficiency of peace. I’m one of them sometimes. I’m not talking about a peace that equates to having a day with nothing on the calendar, plopping down on the sofa with a cup of hot tea and a good book. Not that this doesn’t sound inviting, but let’s be honest—that’s a rare occasion for most of us. The peace I’m talking about doesn’t require a mountain cabin or a getaway weekend. It can happen anywhere, even in the most hectic moments and places of your life.

But only because gratitude knows where to look for it.

If we were sitting across the table from each other, you could tell me what’s stealing your peace right now without having to think hard. You may be grieving a loss that never settles far from your conscious thoughts. You may be crying yourself to sleep at night over a situation with a son or daughter that is beyond your ability to control—a failing marriage, a little one undergoing diagnostic medical tests, perhaps open rebellion against God and against your parenting decisions. Maybe you’re facing some health issues of your own, or your income just isn’t meeting your monthly expenses, or your church is in turmoil over some hot-button issue.

We know that we can and should pray about these matters. But praying is not all that we can and should do. “Do not be anxious about anything,” the apostle Paul wrote, “but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

To put it even more simply: In every situation … prayer plus thanksgiving equals peace.

When prayer teams up with gratitude, when we open our eyes wide enough to see God’s mercies even in the midst of our pain, and when we exercise faith and give Him thanks even when we can’t see those mercies, He meets us with His indescribable peace. It’s a promise.

Oh, we can try it the other way. Without thanksgiving. In her book Breaking Free, author and Bible teacher Beth Moore describes the way most people live, by substituting the familiar phrases from Philippians 4:6-7 with their polar opposites:

Do not be calm about anything, but in everything, by dwelling on it constantly and feeling picked on by God, with thoughts like, “And this is the thanks I get,” present your aggravations to everyone you know but Him. And the acid in your stomach, which transcends all milk products, will cause you an ulcer, and the doctor bills will cause you a heart attack, and you will lose your mind.

Prayer is vital—but to really experience His peace, we must come to Him with gratitude. Hard gratitude. Costly gratitude. The kind that trusts that He is working for our good even in unpleasant circumstances … the kind that garrisons our troubled hearts and minds with His unexplainable peace. 

Are you facing one or more chaotic, unsettled situations? Is your soul weary from striving, stress, and strain? There is peace, my friend—God’s peace—waiting for you just beyond the doors of deliberate gratitude. But the only way to find it is to go there and see for yourself. God’s peace is one of the many blessings that live on the other side of gratitude.

Adapted from Choosing Gratitude, by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. Published by Moody Publishers, Chicago, Ill. Copyright © 2009 Nancy Leigh DeMoss. Used with permission.

IF YOU WANT A BIGGER BLESSING DIG A BIGGER DITCH

II KINGS 3:9-20

Sermon copied from the following link:

http://www.jackhyles.com/ditches.htm

Sunday Morning Sermon July 5, 1970

"Make the Valley Full of Ditches"

By Dr. Jack Hyles

"And he said, Thus saith the Lord, Make this valley full of ditches." II Kings 3:16.

I think you'll want to listen to the sermon because the story itself is a very interesting one. So let me have your mind completely for five minutes at least.

Three kings with three armies are gathered together against Moab to battle. This is no problem. Moab will offer no important resistance to these three kings. Except difficulty arises and the kings are thwarted by one simple problem. That is, there was no water. God withheld His rain, and the wisdom and efforts of kings were set at naught once again. God reminds us, that after all, we are dependant upon Him. So, these kings find their forces stopped, and their progress stopped. They find the battle being staid because they have no water. Well, there was a Baptist preacher in the crowd. (The reason I know he was a Baptist preacher is because he wanted water.) The kings came, and they inquired of him. His name was Elijah. They had not given Elijah any attention thus far. He had just come along for the ride you may say. Now they contact the preacher; and Jehoshaphat, one of the three kings, asked, "Is there not here a prophet of      the Lord besides, that we might inquire of him?" (I Kings 22:7)

Now, this is a very sad thing. Why didn't the kings      inquire of the prophet of the Lord when they had water? Why do you have to wait until the famine comes, or the drought comes before you start asking the preacher's advice? Why is it that you have to turn to God when you are in trouble? These three kings should have asked the prophet of God a long time ago what to do. Now they face the battle against the Moabites, and they have no water. Though they be strong enough to win the battle, God does not provide water, and now suddenly they say, "We had better call a preacher; we had better call the preacher."

I recall one day when Diane Hammers came to my office. She had called and made an appointment. She came in and said, "Pastor, could I see you for a few minutes?" I said, "Why, of course you may." And as I almost always say, I said, "What is your problem?" Good night, what do you want to see the preacher for if you're not in trouble. Diane sat down and she said, "Pastor, I have made an appointment with you for one reason and one reason only. I have come to tell you that everything is all right, and that we have no problems. Everything is fine. I thought you'd like for someone to tell you sometimes that everything is fine." (Now, please. Let's don't have a rash of those this week. I don't want a thousand folks coming by the office this week saying everything's okay.) But, Diane just made an appointment. She came all the way from Highland, or Griffith, or Indianapolis, or wherever, and she just came by and said, "There is nothing wrong. Everything is fine. I'm happy. We're happy. I just wanted you to know that." And then she said, "I thank God for you." And then she went away.

Isn't it a sad thing we have to get in trouble before we turn to the Lord? One fellow was dying, or sick, and the doctor said, "I'm afraid you're going to have to call on the Lord." And he said, "Has it come to that? Has it come to that?" That means nobody else can help you. Call on the Lord.

In the Bible, God's greatest men had a sense of humor. The Bible has a lot of humor in it and one of the funniest stories follows.

Elijah, who said, "Call a little louder. Your god's probably gone hunting or fishing. He's pursuing or being pursued. Call a little louder." He had a sense of humor. Well, they came to Elijah, these three kings. These kings came and knocked on the door of Elijah, the prophet. Elijah had been neglected. Nobody had asked his advice about anything, and he was the man of God. Now the kings were in trouble, and they came—can you feature three kings knocking at the door of the Baptist preacher? To me, that's funny, but here is something funnier. Elijah came to the door and said, (this is, by the way, in Hebrew. You won't find this in the English.) "Hi, fellows. What do you need?" They said, "We want to talk to you." Elijah said, "I'm tied up right now." Three kings sitting out in the waiting room waited to see the preacher. The preacher was sitting there laughing, nothing to do, but he just wanted to keep them waiting for a while. No, what he really said was, "You kept me waiting, now you birds wait for a while." (That's in the Hebrew also, "you birds.") He said, "I'll keep you waiting for a while," and so they sat there. Then the kings came in, and Elijah said, "I'm not in the mood right now. I think I want to hear some music. You know any musicians that can come and play for me so that I can get in the mood to tell you?" Oh, boy. I like Elijah. God bless him.

You've heard me tell about the Mayor of Hammond calling our office and Mrs. O'Brien answering the phone. The Mayor said, "Is Jack there?" This is Joe." She said, "Jack who?" He said, "I want to talk to Jack; this is Joe." Mrs. O'Brien, to make a long story short, wouldn't let him talk to me until he asked for Brother Hyles – I mean, the Mayor. (That just tickled the fire out of me.) So finally, he asked for "Brother Hyles," and she let him, but she wouldn't let him talk to "Jack" because I don't care if it's the Mayor, or a garbage collector; it's not "Jack," it's "Brother Hyles."

So Elijah said, "I want some music. I'm not in the      mood right now." These three kings—I'm sure they were fuming and fussing and stewing and smoking. (Not the kind of smoking you do, but the other kind.) And angry—said, "Well, why can't he talk to us? We're kings. Now, let us talk to you. We want water." "If you want water, go ahead and get the water."

So they had to go back and get Elijah some musician to come back and play to him to get him in the mood. Then Elijah said, "Make this valley full of ditches." "Make this valley full of ditches? Why?" "Because water is going to come. You will not hear the wind; you will not see the rain, but God is going to give you water, the prophet said so. Make this valley full of ditches." I can just see the kings going back and lining up their men to start digging ditches and making the whole valley full of ditches. Now, here's the thought. "Make this valley full of ditches."

1. Prepare for the blessings of God. Get ready for the blessings of God. I'm convinced as much as I am that I'm standing behind this pulpit that one reason God does not do more for us is because we don't dig enough ditches for his blessings. We don't expect the blessings of God. We don't dig ditches until the rain begins to fall. We don't make the preparation until the rain is falling, and then it's too late. The ditches overflow.

God told the man of God, "Tell the kings to make the      valley full of ditches. Get ready for the water." And God sent the water.

Before the Nile River begins to rise, you'll see the Egyptian people preparing for the rise of the Nile River. A long time before that great river begins to lift out of its bank, you'll see Egyptian people doing several things. You'll see them deepening the channel. You'll see them enlarging the reservoir. They will make small canals and minor pools. From the river to the channel, to the reservoir, to the canals, to the minor pools, they prepare contributories. Why? Because they know the Nile is going to rise. They know at the time of rising, the great river will rise; if they're not prepared, their crops will not be irrigated. So they dig the ditches and reservoirs, and minor tributaries, preparing for the rising of the river.

Our God is saying here, "I would love to bless you. I would love to give you My blessing, but you do not get ready for it. You do not dig the ditches. I want so much to bless you, but you do not prepare to receive My blessings."

You recall the story of the Apostle Peter. When Peter      was catching no fish, the Lord said, "Let your nets down over here." And you recall that Peter didn't let his nets down. The Bible says that he put his net down over here, and his net did break. Why? God said to get nets. God said, "I've got a lot of fish for you." And Peter said, "Just one net is all I'll need." And because just one net came or was let down, the net broke, and the fish were all lost. Why? Because God said, "Dig ditches. Get ready for my blessing." But Peter didn't do it, and the net broke.

You folks who know about farming, check with the farmer just before the harvest time as he cleans the barn and prepares for the gathering of the harvest. He's getting ready for God's blessings. Check when a vessel of cargo is to come into the wharf; the wharf is cleared. Why? The cargo is coming in. "Get ready for it," say the helpers. "Get ready for it. Clear the wharf." Why? Because the cargo is coming in. Maybe a cargo of coal is coming in; clear the wharf. Why? Get ready for it, and that's what God is saying here.

Let me ask you a question today, just as seriously and sincerely as I can. Is there something you want? Now, don't misunderstand me. I mean is there something that you want? You were spiritual. You were living for God. You were living in the will of God, and suddenly you wanted to delight in something. "Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." (Psalm 37:4) All of a sudden, you believe God gave you an appetite for something. I mean God gave you a desire for something. You were serving God. No, I don't mean you connived, and I don't mean you were out of the will of God. I mean you were in the will of God and all of a sudden, without your own seeking, God gives you an appetite      or a desire for something while you were delighting in Him. You believed God wanted you to have it. All right, then work and pray and prepare your ditches and get it. You see, ladies and gentlemen, God wants us to dig our ditches and get ready for His blessings.

I recall a story in the book of I Kings. (Maybe it's II Kings, I'm not sure, but anyway.) Jehoshaphat joins Ahab, and he says, "Ahab, there's a certain spot that's a very strategic spot on the hilly side of the Jordan River. That spot is ours. It belongs to us. It's called Ramoth and Gilead. It's a high place. It's a coveted place. It's on that the King of Syria promised to give us, but after the battle was over, he didn't give it to us. Now, we're bigger than the King of Syria; let's join forces," and Ahab and Jehoshaphat joined forces. This question was asked. "Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and we be still, and take it not?" (I Kings 22:3.)

Oh, God has so many things He wants to give us if we'll dig our ditches. Prepare for His blessings. The staff here know that I can get hard-boiled sometimes. Now, usually, I'm a kind and loving and sweet fellow like I am in the pulpit, but I can get hard-boiled sometimes. One time I do get hard-boiled is when we don't have enough slips to take the names of all the folks who come forward—I think there are a few staff members who still have marks on their bodies where I beat them—because we are going to get the ditches ready.

One Sunday, I read the names, and we had all the names on a little prepared slip, then I got one on a white card, then I got one on a piece of paper torn out of a book somewhere, then I got a name written on the back of a card, and one was written on an envelope. After the service, I called that staff member in, and I said, "Now, wait a minute." I said, "Why didn't we have enough decision slips?" She said, "I didn't expect to have that many people saved." I said, "Then expect it."

Look. God's blessings are wrapped up in our faith. And our faith is determined by our expectancy, and our expectancy is determined by our preparation. Dig your ditches!

Here's the prophet of God, and the kings say, "We need rain. How can we get rain?" Elijah says, "Let me have a little music. I'm not in the mood right now." He gets in the mood and says, "Thus saith the Lord, make this valley full of ditches." (II Kings 3:16) Prepare for it. Prepare for it.

2. Prepare largely. Make the valley full of ditches—full of ditches! "Now, we don't need that much water," a king could have said. "We just need one big ditch down through the valley; that's all we need." And Elijah said, "Make the valley full of ditches." That means a ditch in the street in front of your house, a ditch in the alley, a ditch between the houses. Every place you've got room, I'm going to give you blessings. Now, he said, "Make it full of ditches."

When I thought about this, I thought about the story of Elijah and the little lady that had a cruse of oil. The man of God came and said, "God's going to give you some oil," and the cruse got full. The Bible says she got every pan she had in the house. In the Hebrew it says, "She got the jars, and she got the buckets, and she got all of the peanut butter glasses that she had, and she got all the pots and pans, and so forth." And the oil kept coming. And it kept coming. And she said, in the Hebrew, "Good night in the morning, wheat am I going to do with all this oil? Oil just everywhere." It kept coming and kept coming. So she told her son—this is also in the Hebrew. It says she had a son or two or three sons—"Do something. Get this oil. It's coming. I'll go next door." She went next door, and she asked the lady next door if she could borrow her vessel. She got all of her pots and pans. The oil kept coming and kept coming and kept coming. Well, good night, lady! If God's going to give you oil, God's going to give you oil! Consequently, she wasn't prepared, but God kept giving it. And Elijah said, "Make the valley full of ditches."

I get so weary at little piddling blessings folks seek from God. I get so weary at people who don't want the big blessings of God. I get so wear of going to churches, and they run a hundred in Sunday School, and they say next Sunday we're going to try for 120. I get so weary of that. I get so wear of going places and a fellow says, "Our goal is to baptize 50 next year." I get so weary of that. Why don't you make the valley full of ditches? I mean, open up the windows of Heaven with God. He would, if we would prepare for His blessings, and so make it full.

This morning, I was thinking about the time when I wanted to be a soul winner in East Texas. I wanted so badly to be a soul winner. I'd go out and knock on doors, and I couldn't win anybody. I'd beg. I'd plead. I'd argue, and I'd get mad, and I'd cry, and I'd beg folks to get saved. It was like Joe Boyd's dog. Joe used to have a big old dog that had a bushy tail. Everybody stepped on the tail. Never missed it. Never missed it. Everybody stepped on the tail. So the dog got to where when company would come, it would lie right at the front door, stick his tail out so that they could stomp on it and get it over with. And that's the way I was. I would go out soul winning and I'd say, "You wouldn't want to get saved, would you?" You know, and one day—I'll never forget it—we were having a city-wide revival in Marshal, Texas. A fellow named Buckner Fannon, a very well-known young preacher, one of these glamour-boy type preachers—he was preaching at the Marshal Baseball Stadium, out in the fairgrounds. A city-wide revival, and we weren't having anybody saved. Nobody. I mean, that well-known preacher, and he had a white jacket and a red tie. That ought to get a lot of folks saved, but he even had on suede shoes. I thought surely we'd have a big crowd saved, but nobody was getting saved. Nobody. And all the churches were cooperating, and great crowds were coming, but nobody was getting saved. One night behind the Grand Stand I said to myself, "Good night, if they won't get them saved, then I will." And then I said, "Who said that?" I didn't expect anybody to get saved. I went alone myself that night and I said, "Dear God, You may as well bless me. That fellow, he's famous, and he's not getting anybody saved. You may as well bless me." I took off the next day for the first time in my life, I expected to see somebody saved. I won 12 adults to Jesus Christ the next day. I carried that revival. I mean, they had 37 people saved, and I won 36 of them, and the whole revival was mine. Why? Because I decided to dig the ditches and make the valley full of ditches. I decided to believe God could use me in soul winning.

I told you about Yetta James a few weeks ago. She's the deaf lady I mentioned. I went out to see her in the south side of Hammond. I think on Beech or Chestnut or Birch or Elm or Oak or Fir or Apple or Peachtree or something—one of these streets out in the south of Hammond. I knocked on the door, and her married daughter came to the door. I said, "I'm Brother Hyles, pastor of First Baptist Church of Hammond. I've come to talk to you about Jesus." And the daughter said, "Don't say that word here." Well, I didn't know which word she mean—Jesus or Brother Hyles. And she said, "Don't say that word. The last one. We don't' mention His name here. We're orthodox Jews." "Orthodox Jews," I said, "I'm half Jew myself." I've told that story all across the country. Put it in print. I am half Jew myself. And she said, "Half Jew yourself?" You don't look like it or sound like it." (And the other half is Texan, by the way.) I said, "Well, it's because I haven't always been a half Jew. For the first 11 years of my life, I wasn't a Jew at all. I became half a Jew when I was 11." She said, "You did what?" I said, "But don't worry. Any day now, I'm going to become a full-blooded Jew." She said, "How can you do that?"

I told her how I was a sinner, and at 11, I received Christ and God made me a spiritual Jew. I told her that any day now, Jesus was going to come, and He was going to rapture me in this robe of flesh. I'll drop and rise and seize the everlasting prize, and I told her that I'd become like Christ. Then in a few minutes, that married daughter was sweetly saved. Now, I said, "Let me talk to your mother." She said, "You can't talk to my mother. She's deaf. The only reason she came to First Baptist Church was because there are deaf people there, and somebody to talk to with sign language." She said, "I'll call her in." She called her, and I think she was 65 at the time. That daughter turned to her mother, and I said, "Tell her what you just did. Tell her what I just told you. Tell her that she's a sinner. Tell her how that sinners are lost. Tell her that Jesus died for sinners. Tell her how to be saved." And that lady who had told me not to mention the name of Jesus, in just a few minutes was using her hands in the sign language to talk to her mother, and she won her mother to Jesus Christ—an orthodox Jewish deaf lady.

They sat back here one Sunday night, and down the aisle they came. They were baptized the next Sunday night. And what happened? Now, the lady, Mrs. James, the older one, died and went to Heaven last night—that deaf lady. She can hear today. She's hearing my voice for the first time. She's hearing the music of our church for the first time. Her ears have been unstopped, and now she can hear the chorus of Heaven. Why? I'll tell you why. Because a long time ago, I said, "Let's dig the ditches. Let's make the valley full of ditches." If you want the blessings of God, dig ditches.

The prophet said, "Prepare and prepare largely." He said, "I want you to prepare now. Dig the ditches now." There was not a cloud in the sky. He said, "You won't hear the wind; you won't see the rain, but dig the ditches. Make the valley full of ditches. Do it now." God wants to bless you now. Now, you say, "Brother Hyles, what do you mean?" I mean this. Now, listen. God wants you to have what you began wanting while you were delighted in Him. Did you hear me? When you delight in the Lord, and are living for Him, and meditating in His word day and night, and serving Him; then, if you have a delight from Him, He wants you to have it. He wants you to get ready for it and work to get it. And so, the prophet said, "Prepare now." Not in a little while.

I've told this story many times here about my Aunt Octa, and it's so appropriate here. Uncle Roy, one of the finest men I ever met, has been in Heaven now for a number of years. He was my mother's favorite brother, and probably there's never been any closer brother/sister relationship on the face of the earth than my mother and her brother, Roy. His wife, Octa, is still alive. O-C-T-A. They had some dumb names back there. Octa. Coystal. My mother's name is Coystal. God bless them. They've called her that all her life. Not even Crystal—could have been Crystal—but Coystal. They call her Coys for short. Anyway, my mother's brother, Uncle Roy, was not saved. They tried to get him saved. They'd send a preacher around, but they couldn't get him saved. He'd go to revivals, but he      wouldn't get saved. He'd go to preaching on Sunday, but he wouldn't get saved. One day, he decided he would go to the afternoon baptizing. So they were baptizing out in the creek in the afternoon—back in those days you had to baptize folks occasionally in the creek. Uncle Roy looked at Aunt Octa while they were baptizing, and he said, "You know what?" He said, "If I had a change of clothes, I'd get baptized right now." And my Aunt Octa said, "You do have a change of clothes." And he said, "No. No, I don't." She said. "Oh, yes. I brought it for you. I brought it for you." And Uncle Roy was saved and baptized that afternoon. You know why? She prepared. She dug some ditches. She dug some ditches. She expected it.

I haven't told this story in a long time, but I want to hear it. I was in a church out at Boise, Idaho, and a preacher met me at the plane--and this is such a perfect illustration. Very seldom do I ever have any perfect illustrations. I've got to use it again. Anyway, the preacher met me at the plane, and he took me to the church. I said, "I would like to see your baptistry." We walked in. They had a curtain up there over a big hole I thought. So I opened the curtain and looked in and my head hit some sheetrock. Drywall. I couldn't see, and I said, "How do you see the baptistry?" "Well," he said, "We have drywall over it." He said, "You go back to the back. The hole is back there." Well, I went back behind and looked. Oak floor was laid over the baptistry. Oak floor.

I said, "Well, look. Where's the hole?" He said, "Underneath the oak floor." I said, "Well, how do you baptize?" He said, "We don't." He said, "We baptized seven years ago once." He said, "We haven't had an invitation in seven years." And I said, "What? Well, what if you had to baptize tonight?" He said, "We will saw it out." I said, "Get a saw." That night I preached. Right before I preached, there was sitting over here      on the side a little adding room like, and the preacher come over to me, and he was as nervous as I ever saw a man. He said, "Brrrrrother Hyles." He said, "The bbbbbiggest atheist in BBBBBoise is sittttting on the frrrront row. Whhhhaaat are you goooooooing to do?" And I said, "I am goooooing to prrrreach." So I walked out, and there he sat, a big old ugly-looking guy. He had his arms folded like he came to blow up the building, and he looked like he was Chairman of the Deacons. Invitation time came. Would you like to know who the first person that got saved was? The town atheist. The biggest atheist in Boise and nobody ever thought he would get saved. Numbers of folks got saved. Did you know after the service that night, ladies came by the dozens and said, "Tomorrow night my husband is going to be here. If that man gets saved, my old man can get saved too."

The next night, we had that place packed and jammed with folks sitting in the aisles and standing back in the back with folks      outside looking in windows. We had hundreds of people. The State Attorney General was there. The State Comptroller was there. The State Legislatures were there, a dozen or more. The biggest atheist in the whole county got converted, and they were there. That night we had 26 people saved. We had politicians saved. We had grown men saved. One lady started shouting at the altar. So when the invitation was all over, the pastor stood up and he said, "Well," he said, "I don't know what to do." I said, "What do you mean?" "Well, it's been seven years," he said, "What do you do with these people now?" I said, "You might start off taking their names." He said, "Anybody got any paper?" And very kindly, I said, "I'll tell you how you can start off. The first thing to do is sit down and let me take care of it." I had to get up and get the names, and read the names, and talk about baptism, and talk about church membership. Why? He didn't even have one single hole dug for the water to come in--not a ditch.

No wonder God doesn't bless us. Elijah said, "Make the valley full of ditches and do it now. Today."

3. Prepare vigorously. Vigorously! Did you know ditch digging is hard work? Now, I never have dug a ditch, but I've dug a fox hole, and I broke an all-time record digging it too. I wasn't in combat, but on maneuvers one time. They said, "We're going to start shooting machine guns right through here in so much time." They put a deadline on it. "And the best thing for you to do is figure out someplace to be." They gave us a shovel. My hole was deep with room to spare before they started shooting those machine guns. Now that's work! They gave me a little shovel not much bigger than a tablespoon, and it's work.

He said, "Make the valley full of ditches. Do it now." Look. Church after church could have the blessings of God if they would make      the valley full of ditches. Sunday School departments and classes could grow if they would make the valley full of ditches. Folks could be saved if they would make the valley full of ditches. Sunday school trench. Soul-winning trench.

May I say this to you folks this morning? You folks who are not saved, and I say this lovingly. Did you know that we've prepared for your coming? We have made the valley full of ditches for you. You know right now—ladies that take the names, would you raise your hands, please? All the ladies. These ladies all over the house, they are prepared to take your name when you come forward. Would all the deacons raise your hand, please? All the deacons. We have trained these men to talk to you about Christ. Name takers, do you have your decision slips? How many do you have? We expected you to come. Don't you see what I'm saying? We've made the valley full of ditches. We're ready. We want to see you saved. We don't want you to die and go to Hell. We don't want you to live a life without God. We don't want you to perish in the fires of eternal damnation. We don't want      you to spend eternity without your loved ones who are saved. We want you to go to Heaven. We've asked God to saved you. We've asked God to speak to you. We've made the valley full of ditches. Now, you come and say, "Yes," to Jesus Christ.

I can go a step further. The baptistry is filled. We expected you to come. We have people now in the baptistry dressing rooms getting ready for you. We expected you to come. We have robes and towels all hanging up there, jus ready for you. We expected you to come. We have prepared for you. We have made the valley full of ditches. Why? Because we want to see you go to Heaven. You say, "You're trying to make a Baptist out of me." I wouldn’t get up in the morning and drive my car to this church and spend my time in this pulpit to make a Baptist out of anybody because you can go to Hell from the Baptist church roll just like you can from a tavern if you're not born again. I want to see you saved. I want you to go to Heaven. We have prepared for you. We have made a valley full of ditches.

But I'll go a step further than that. Some more ditches are prepared for you. God looked down when eternity passed and saw 1970, and God saw that you were a sinner. God said, "I don't want him to go to Hell. I want that person to be a Christian." And God began to dig ditches for you. God began to dig ditches, and He'd dug the ditch of sending His own Son. In Bethlehem's manger God looked down and said, "There's a person in 1970 sitting in the First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana, who is lost. I don't want him to go to Hell. I'll leave my Heavenly throne. I'll come to earth. I'll become man. I'll live 33 years on earth, homesick for Heaven. I'll do it because I want to dig ditches." God is doing that preparing this morning for you. God's kept on digging. God and Christ went to the cross, and as we said awhile ago in the song and also in the Lord's Supper, God, in Christ paid the penalty for you sin on the cross. He looked down and saw you      sitting out here in 1970, a lost sinner, not prepared to die—without God, without hope. God said, "I don't want them to go to Hell," and so God gave His Son, and His Son gave His life on the cross as a sacrifice for your sins. What was He doing? He was making the valley full of ditches.

But that isn't all. God rose in Christ from the dead after three days and three nights, and He ascended to the Father. God said, "I want to sit at the right hand of the Father. I want to intercede. I want to be the lawyer, the attorney. I want to be the intercessor or the mediator." And Christ today is at the right hand of God. He offers Himself as your mediator and as your lawyer or your attorney, before the throne of God. God said, "I want to make the valley full of ditches."

But that isn't all. He sent His Holy Spirit to tell you that you ought to be a Christian. He sent the Holy Spirit to walk up and down these aisles, in and out of these pews, and say, "You ought to be saved. You've got to die one of these days. You're going to go to Hell if you don't get converted. You know you're not happy without Christ. You ought to receive the Savior. You ought to get saved today. You may not live till next Sunday. Hey, you folks over here. You've got to die. You've got to face God. You've got to meet. You've got to stand judgment."

The Holy Spirit of God was sent that He might convict      you of sin. God prepared ditches for you. Now, wait a minute. While we sat here this morning, up yonder somewhere in the Eternal City of God, our Lord is preparing a place for you. He wants you to go to heaven. He's been digging ditches for you since eternity. He loves you today. Everything He's      ever done was to get you saved. Everything he's ever done was to make it so that you who have fallen in sin could be saved from an eternity without God and the priceless Hell. God loves you, and everything God has done has been for making the valley full of ditches.

By the way, Mrs. James, the deaf lady, this means "yes" in sign language. I'm quite a linguist. I guess this means "no." I don't know. But I know this means "yes." I saw her daughter turn to her. I couldn't understand what she was telling her, but I saw her do this. That's the Jesus Book—the Bible. The nail prints, and the hand, and the book, and I saw her daughter in the sign language tell that lady, up in years, about the Jesus Book and what it says. Then she pointed to her heart, and she pointed to the heart of her mother, and then she asked her mother in some way if she'd trust the Savior. The mother did like this, and then the mother went like this.

Today, won't you today look to the Jesus book? Won't you say yes? Let Him come into your heart? You have got to die someday.

Let us pray.


 

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21 TRAITS OF AN AWAKENING SOUL

http://www.the-open-mind.com/21-traits-of-an-awakening-soul/

21 TRAITS OF AN AWAKENING SOUL

By: WakingTimes

You can say its because of a global shift in consciousness, a destiny we have arrived at due to spiritual evolution, or the outcome of strange times, but, many people all across the globe are going through intense personal changes and sensing an expansion of consciousness. Personal changes of this magnitude can be difficult to recognize and to understand, but here are 21 traits of an awakening soul, a ‘sensitive’, or an ‘empath.’

1.  Being in public places is sometimes overwhelming. Since our walls between self and other are dissolving, we haven’t really learned to distinguish between someone else’s energy and our own. If the general mood of the crowd is herd-like or negative, we can feel this acutely, and may feel like retreating into our own private space. When we have recharged our batteries with meditation, spending time in nature, far away from other people, or just sitting in quiet contemplation, we are ready to be with the masses again. In personal relationships, we often will feel someone else’s emotions as our own. It is important to have this higher sense of empathy, but we must learn to allow another person’s emotions while observing them and keeping our empathy, but, realizing that not all emotions belong to us. Social influence can dampen our own innate wisdom.

2.  We know things without having to intellectually figure them out. Often called intuitive awareness, we have ‘a-ha’ moments and insights that can explain some of the most complex theories or phenomenon in the world. Some of the most brilliant minds of our time just ‘know.’ Adepts and sages often were given downloads of information from higher states of consciousness after meditating or being in the presence of a more conscious individual; this is happening for more people with more frequency. As we trust our intuition more often, it grows stronger.  This is a time of ‘thinking’ with our hearts more than our heads. Our guts will no longer be ignored. Our dreams are becoming precognitive and eventually our conscious thoughts will be as well.

3.  Watching television or most of main stream media, including newspapers and many Hollywood movies is very distasteful to us. The mindset that creates much, but not all, of the programming on television and in cinema is abhorrent. It commodifies people and promotes violence. It reduces our intelligence and numbs our natural empathetic response to someone in pain.

4.  Lying to us is nearly impossible. We may not know exactly what truth you are withholding, but we can also tell (with our developing intuition and ESP skills) that something isn’t right. We also know when you have other emotions, pain, love, etc. that you aren’t expressing. You’re an open book to us. We aren’t trained in counter-intelligence, we are just observant and knowing. While we may pick up on physical cues, we can look into your eyes and know what you are feeling.

5.  We may pick up symptoms of your cold, just like men who get morning sickness when their wives are pregnant. Sympathy pains, whether emotional or physical, are something we experience often. We tend to absorb emotion through the solar plexus, considered the place we ‘stomach emotion’ so as we learn to strengthen this chakra center, we may sometimes develop digestive issues. Grounding to the earth can help to re-establish our emotional center. Walking barefoot is a great way to re-ground.

6.  We tend to root for the underdog, those without voices, those who have been beaten down by the matrix, etc. We are very compassionate people, and these marginalized individuals often need more love. People can sense our loving hearts, so complete strangers will often tell us their life stories or approach us with their problems. While we don’t want to be a dumping ground for everyone’s issues, we are also a good ear for those working through their stuff.

7.  If we don’t learn how to set proper boundaries, we can get tired easily from taking on other people’s emotions. Energy Vampires are drawn to us like flies to paper, so we need to be extra vigilant in protecting ourselves at times.

8.  Unfortunately, sensitives or empaths often turn to drug abuse or alcohol to block some of their emotions and to ‘protect’ themselves from feeling the pain of others.

9.  We are all becoming healers. We naturally gravitate toward healing fields, acupuncture, reiki, Qi-Gong, yoga, massage, midwivery, etc. are fields we often find ourselves in. We know that the collective needs to be healed, and so we try our best to offer healing in whatever form we are most drawn to. We also turn away from the ‘traditional’ forms of healing ourselves. Preferring natural foods, herbs, and holistic medicine as ways to cure every ailment.

10.  We see the possibilities before others do. Just like when the church told Copernicus he was wrong, and he stood by his heliocentric theory, we know what the masses refuse to believe. Our minds are light-years ahead.

11.  We are creative. We sing, dance, paint, invent, or write. We have amazing imaginations.

12.  We require more solitude than the average person.

13.  We might get bored easily, but we are really good at entertaining ourselves.

14.  We have a difficult time doing things we don’t want to do or don’t really enjoy. We really do believe life was meant to be an expression of joy. Why waste it doing something you hate? We aren’t lazy, we are discerning.

15.  We are obsessed with bringing the truth to light. Like little children who say, “that’s not fair” we want to right the wrongs of the world, and we believe it often just takes education. We endeavor to explain the unexplainable and find answers to the deep questions of life. We are seekers, in the Campbellian paradigm. ‘The Hero With a Thousand Faces.”

16.  We can’t keep track of time. Our imaginations often get away with us and a day can feel like a minute, a week, a day.

17.  We abhor routine.

18.  We often disagree with authority (for obvious reasons).

19.  We will often be kind, but if you are egotistical or rude, we won’t spend much time with you or find an excuse to not hang out with people who are obsessed with themselves. We don’t ‘get’ people who are insensitive to other people’s feelings or points of view.

20.  We may be vegan or vegetarian because we can sense a certain energy of the food we eat, like if an animal was slaughtered inhumanely. We don’t want to consume negative energy.

21.  We wear our own emotions on our sleeves and have a hard time ‘pretending’ to be happy if we aren’t. We avoid confrontation, But will quietly go about changing the world in ways you can’t even see.

These 21 traits of an awakening soul are a reminder of how important it is to maintain awareness, clarity and strength in these interesting times. If you are experiencing something that is not on this list, please add it to the comments section below.

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