The Walls Can Come Down

"So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets; and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpets, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him and they took the city."~~Joshua 6:20

Some time ago, Michael and I had the opportunity to meet with an old classmate of his and his wife.  He had become quite successful and since retired, he continued to sit on many Boards across the country.  Michael looked at his friend and said, "What is the secret of your success?"  Funny, how that is asked so often; however, people never seem to ask questions of a man who has become a failure.  The facts are quite evident...choices being the most prevalent!

I had to stop the past few days and think a lot about where I fit in the grand scheme of things.  Why in so many ways am I normal and why in just one area was I such a failure.  And, why is it difficult for me to hold resentments (or so I thought).  Nearly everyone has built a wall around his own Jericho.  Often it is a wall of resenting someone or resenting a situation which shuts off good.  Living in the past, complaining of  misfortunes, builds a thick wall around your Jericho. 

As our economy falters, many people are up against the wall of discouragement.  Courage and endurance are prevalent in the lives of all successful men and women.  You attract the things you give a great deal of thought to.

In all of my blogs, I talk about the power of the word, your word which dissolves obstacles, and removes barriers or hurts and drives wedges.  As Christians, we know that whatever we send out comes back and sometimes we begin to be afraid of our own boomerangs.  Be ever so careful of the hardened heart.  In all the counseling I have had, one thing I remember is that as we change, all conditions and relationships around us change.  Happiness and a positive attitude are so important.  If you think you can't or if you don't want to, you won't experience the blessings the Lord has in store.

What is the secret of my positiveness and joy?  Well, when I was a small child, I was always on the hunt for God who in my mind lived in the Lutheran Church.  When I detached from abuse, I built this wonderful fantasy world of making houses out of shoe boxes, fairies out of hollyhocks, reading about adventuresome people, and playing with my doll babies and pets.  I wanted to be a wife, a mother and the keeper of a wonderful home.  My imagination was so acute and I could play by myself for hours.  I absorbed love where I could find it.  I was bright and the world was a wonderful playground.  Although the abuse was real, my subconscious absorbed the abuse but also locked in the good.

In my teenage years, I wasn't able to detach from the words spoken that "it" was my fault and "I was a nobody."  Those words spoken were locked in on top of the good of my detachment.  This confident little girl became afraid of failure and only did things that she knew she could accomplish.  By this time, I had dreams of being a psychoanalyst and was corrected by my mother saying that I should be a teacher or a nurse.  As it has turned out, my biggest joys have come from the Stephen's Ministry doing lay counseling; teaching women to be better wives; being on the Speaker's Forum for the Battered Women's Shelter and yes, being a member advisor (author of the Relationship Corner and Dr. Romance column) of a major dating service.  My dreams came forth in a different way but they were there.  I love growing, laughing, and walking with my fellowman and sharing our stories.

The only area that needed much help was with my relationships with men.  It was when the light bulb went off that I realized that it wasn't about them, it was about the "why?" inside me.  It was then that God led me to a counselor who specialized in Trauma Counsel.  I thought I had forgiven but now I realize that I only said the words and internalized the hurt.  All organs of the body are effected by trauma and I have paid the penalty with degenerative osteoarthritis, degenerative disk disease, and a myriad of other serious illnesses and surgeries.  All this trouble came because I was fighting the battle and not leaving it to the Great Physician, Jesus Christ.  If I am to get well, I need to speak wellness to my body.  My friend, Brooks, gave me a great little pamphlet on that, and it's time I locked in the power of those words.  If you're sick a lot examine what's going on in your life and if you're harboring resentment and anger.

I just read a book by Florence Scovel Shinn and I love her quote:  "...prayer is telephoning to God and intuition is God's telephoning to you."  I love Intercessory Prayer because it allows me to stand in the gap for other's needing God's grace, protection, healing, and peace.  I let God juggle every situation for when I try to juggle the situation, I drop all the balls.  Choose this day who you will serve fear or faith.  For me, I choose faith!!

We can't always control our thoughts (that's where I had to replace bad tapes with good ones) but we can control our words...repetition impresses the subconscious and we are then master of the situation. 

"The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want."~~Ps 23:1  Yes, the Lord is my shepherd...I have an authentic shepherd's staff and each time I look at it, I remember...He leads me and protects me.  My friend, Janene, facebooked me a message about reading this Psalm.  It's taken me several months but now I know why...In the 23rd Psalm we read, "He restores my soul.  I believe my soul not only lives in my heart but my mind.  My subconscious mind had to be restored with the RIGHT ideas..  You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.  Truth...heals the wounds if you allow it.

One of the most important passages in the 23rd Psalm is "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies."  For me, means that even in the presence of my enemies brought on by my doubts, fears, or resentments, a way out is prepared for me.  I am free to choose who I let into my life, I examine their words then choose who to believe, the speaker or the Lord.  I am careful though to thoroughly examine why I am thinking my intuitiveness is true.  We are human beings and can bring about intuitions that are just thoughts of our own making.  As daughter of the king, I drool though at the thought of having a feast prepared just for me!

Yes, the Lord is my Shepherd...He works behind the scenes and protects me...I shall never want.  He leads me beside still water and my soul is restored....oh the wonders around me!

May the floodgates of blessings flow into your life today.  Speak positively to yourself, imagine yourself in that job you want, getting that raise necessary to meet your needs, imagine yourself in a warm loving relationship.  When I taught the class, The Power of A Praying Wife, the first thing we had to agree on was to let go of our own expectations and allow God to work in and through our spouses (without our control and interference).  When you're so busy working on yourself, you really don't have a lot of time to chastise your mate or partner.

I feel so good today...I ditched several blogs that I had written and just felt that someone needed these words today.  They'll come when the time is right!  God bless!  I love you all!