Women of Faith Day 1

I went into the Phillips Arena to the sound of a bunch of women singing and it was good.  The first speaker was one of my favorites, Sheila Walsh.  There is nothing sweeter than the sound of her Scottish brogue telling wonderful stories about God's love.  She did not disappoint.  She began with a piece of scripture from Solomon 4:1 about "hair like a goat."...and followed it up with the fact that nothing will make you more beautiful than the Word of God.  Amen to that!  She then read Psalms 143:8  and told us it would be a great way to start every day.  Note to self....DO THIS!  She then gave us a wonderful prayer to follow up the scripture.  "Good morning Father.  I don't know where you're going today...but wherever it is I am going with you."  Did you know that there are over 3000 promises from God in the Bible?  I didn't.  Wow....God's word is definitely something you can stake your life on.  Romans 8:38-39 is one of the greatest promises ever...it begins with no condemnation and ends with no separation. She then told us that once you enter into a relationship with God there is no condemnation.  Not a bit....zero....nada....zilch.  She then asked the audience if there were times when we felt as though we were in a place where it does not feel as if God is with us.  I sat there with tears rolling down my face....she was talking to me....and pointing her finger straight at me.  How did she know where I was sitting?  She then talked about the woman who was unclean because she had been bleeding for twelve years and asked the audience how long we have been bleeding.  She challenged us to push through the crowd, touch the hem of His garment, and tell Him the whole truth....and nothing but the truth.  She finished off her segment by singing an amazing song....and one of my favorites, "Amazing Grace."  The crowd was on their feet applauding.  Speaker two was Steve Arterburn.  He is one of the founders of Women of Faith.  He has a new book out called Walking into Walls. and his talk was on walls and relationships with others and with God.  He began by reading Isaiah 43:8, "Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf people that have ears."  He then prayed that God would open our eyes so that we would not continue to walk into walls.  He said we build these phantom walls and believe them to be there...and real....and the walls prevent God from working in our life.  The 5 walls that keep you from God are:
1.  Stubborn Resistance - Prov. 12:15 - refuse to change.
2.  Wall of Arrogant Entitlement -nothing is ever enough.
3.  Justifiable Resentment - resentments that are justifiable are never dealt with.
We took a break for lunch and when we returned Steve Arterburn and the last two walls.
4.  Disconnected Isolation - then seems to be very important to women.  He talked about the submission of women to their husbands...and then read to us from Eph. 5:21 where MUTUAL submission is the topic.  He talked about dying for someone and how much easier that is than actually submitting to someone elses will.  James 5:16 - says we should express our sins to each other....because we need each other.
5. The final wall was Blind Ignorance - this is where we choose to be unaware of what God wants us to do.  This is where desperation overrides a woman's intuition.  It takes courage to to what needs to be done when it needs to be done  A wall in your life says, "I am done!  I am going to protect myself!  I am going to lock myself into the past."  Walls are the end of a relationship.  So how do we overcome walls?
1.  Willingness - sacrifice - we need to be willing to. The level of your willingness determines how far God can use you.  Thes. 3:14 - ....so what is your excuse for not being willing?
2.Acceptance - this affects your degree of contentment about your life....so get over it.  There are five high C's that fall here and affect relational things...and can cause disasters.  These are things you might as well accept...that you cannot do.
A  You cannot change someone.
B.  You cannot cure someone.
C.  You cannot control someone.
D.  You cannot compare someone to someone else.
E.  You cannot criticize.  He issued us a challenge to not be critical for 48 hours.  Criticism does not work...acceptance does.....and BTW....constructive criticism is nothing more than criticism with a smile.
3.  Gratitude - we need  to be grateful in all and anxious for nothing.  We also need to know....that God does not miss anything....he allows things to happen....and it makes us stronger because of it.  I think todays lesson was meant specifically for me.  I had a wonderful time.  I can't wait to go back tonight and see what unfolds.  Happy Friday!