Guardians Raise Objections!

By Susan Mitchell

We gotta love the prickly Guardian parts of our soul/heart, but they can create strife when their protective objections conflict with our current goal or purpose. This often happens when my husband is chauffeuring me somewhere: I’m totally at ease playing on my iPhone, but my Guardian suddenly emerges to shriek, Watch out! about a “dangerous” shadow movement out of the corner of my eye. Then hubby’s Guardian comes out in response to being startled into, well, nearly wrecking the car. Or, on occasions when I have gone to meet with a group I know and love, some Guardian gets alerted and irritated for who knows what reason and simply won’t calm down. I might even get into an argument with someone if I don’t resolve the trigger, choose a non-reactive path, or remove myself. 

A few Sundays ago I was looking forward to peaceful time with my church. Worship for many of us is one place that is usually safe from triggers, so this is often easy since Guardians are often lulled into a sense of safety by music. The worship team began singing “How Great Is Our God,” a lovely anthem I’d heard many times. The word pictures (“wraps himself in light” and “time is in his hands”) ignited my imaginative awe and sparked actual conversation with the Lord (“my heart will sing”). The Function, Emotion, and True Self parts of my heart were wholly engaged in appreciating the Lord and allowing their joy capacity to expand.

At the moment my Guardian did not seem to be “up,” which is not surprising. They can go dormant for months or years. They do not sequence time, so they can be completely desynchronized from a person’s overall timeline, unaware of past encounters or experiences that occurred between their creation and their seemingly random awakening to take a guard shift.

But on this occasion, when we hit the line “the Lion and the Lamb,” my Guardian woke up to declare the equivalent of, “Danger! Untrue! Words found nowhere in Scripture! Misquote of Isaiah 11:6, 'And the wolf will dwell with the lamb….’”

Guardians can really wreck a party, but my Function considered the artifact of the song and the accusation carefully and came up with a logical narrative counterpoint: “This song is about the reach, span, and range of God: age to age, beginning to end, Lion apex predator to slaughtered Lamb. He is great in encompassing it all, and Jesus stands in these two faces of himself in Revelation 5:5-6. It’s legit.”

Guardian, appreciating the logic, bought it and relaxed, letting the gate swing wide open for the rest of my heart to re-engage in the adoration of our great and glorious God. Whew.

A few takeaways —  

• Music is a good way to keep Guardians at peace. I believe King Saul used David’s harp-playing to keep the scary, loud evil spirits that were attached to his Guardian at bay.

• If a Guardian shows up unexpectedly, take some time to reply kindly with facts and with logic to suggest another way to view things. 

• If they keep intruding (not all Guardians are as compliant as mine was), it’s often helpful to affirm them: “Guardian, you are an important part of me, and I appreciate your help. However, I, Susan, could really use this time to soak and relax from the stresses of the last week. Is it okay if we continue this conversation later?”

• Of course, if this is a Guardian that simply will not be mollified, it might be time to schedule an appointment to do look deeper at the cause, so Jesus can be brought in to resolve and heal the underlying issue: www.estuarycourts.com/book

Belated Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!

By Susan Mitchell

This year, we at Estuary Courts (Susan, Dorothy, and Darla) have shut down for the holiday and will be celebrating together a little later than everyone else in order to accommodate the schedules of the members of our family coming together from multiple places.

Dorothy has a perspective on the Christmas holiday that she published here: https://theparacleteshammer.com/2022/12/14/no-room-in-the-christmas-inn-for-jesus-by-dorothy-mitchell/

The end of that post is especially amazing as points to ponder, so I’m quoting it here, along with some photos of our home decorations:

For my own family, when we have asked how we can best represent Jesus in this season, he has replied that since the purpose of Christmas these days is to show love to one another, we should decorate to the degree that decorations support that effort—to display just enough to make one another feel warm, welcome, and comfortable, and not to stand out with a lack of decoration.

Now ask the Lord for your own instructions. Or make him a proposal and ask for his approval. Your choice!

We are welcome to celebrate [Jesus] anytime, whether in June, or September, or May, or October. You may celebrate him on Sukkot (for he tabernacled with us). You may celebrate him on Hannukah (for he is the light of the world). Or do you want to celebrate him 5-6 days before or after Rosh Hashanah, in accordance with the medieval reasoning for the December 25th date? Go for it! You are welcome to celebrate his conception, or his trimesters, or his birth. You are welcome to consider his stays in Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Egypt on a five- or three-year cycle. (How I long to know what challenging experiences Mary and Joseph went through while on Mission Savior’s Toddlerhood: Escape from Herod – Emergency Staycation in Egypt!) You can speculate when and where the journey of the magi began and ended and celebrate their progress over the course of the year. You may imagine when the angel appeared to Mary. You have the opportunity to consider Jesus’ birth at every census, at every quest for reunion and rediscovering homeland, at every farm, at every hotel and inn, or with every new baby. You may even confront or redeem a relevant holiday of your own problematic pagan heritage. You are free to play it safe and free to take risks.

God bless us all as we wind up this 2022 year and praise his name for all the good he has wrought, including the hugely consequential birth of his son, the Immanuel Jesus Christ.

On Judging Angels: Case Study

By Susan Mitchell

This week, I had the opportunity to judge the angels appointed to me. Here’s what happened.

The first week in December, my sister Darla (in Charlotte, NC) and I (in Los Angeles, CA) were comparing notes on our Christmas holiday plans. When I realized she had no plans, and no one to spend them with, I invited her out for a visit. She preferred to drive (over 2400 miles!), so we concocted a road trip and enlisted my sister Sherry (in Dallas, TX) to join us. What we didn’t know is that the “snow bomb” was about to hit the Midwest and camp out for a period of time!

On the appointed day, Sherry and I flew separately to Nashville, TN, then joined up to fly on together to Charlotte, NC. We spent a couple of days with Darla (and my parents) before heading cross-country. Before we left, we prayed for blessings, travel mercies, and the appointment of angels to see us through.

Darla was a superb driver in her sporty RAV 4. Sherry entertained us with stories, questions, insights. I was the extra navigator and leader in an impromptu courts of heaven session for an ongoing family matter. Along the way, we stayed overnight with our brother Eric, his wife, and two aunts, and we stopped for lunch with Darla’s friends. We left Sherry with her family, and proceeded home.

The trip home was flawless, delightful—a rare opportunity to be together as traveling adults, sharing and practicing our faith. We saw just a bit of rain, with none of the incoming snow or ice. We stayed ahead of the inclement weather and found relatively inexpensive gas along the way, even in California.

Upon our arrival at my home, we judged our angels worthy, earnest, and serious about their task. We praised the Lord and applauded our angels for a wonderful, joyful, effective trip. I could feel the atmosphere vibrate with delight at the affirmation, as though we were all applauding each other, an echo chamber of praise for all.

Later, we reflected on the events of the year and the prayers that we prayed and the courts of heaven that we held for our families. We have seen much progress in situations that seemed impossible to resolve by our own strength at the outset of the year. The Lord's good verdicts will surely come to pass, and so far, we can say he has been faithful to give us signs and dreams that call our attention to his answers in further developments as they happen. “For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand” (Romans 13:11 ESV). Lord, come quickly!

Merry Christmas to all!

On Judging Angels

By Dorothy Mitchell

Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! (1 Corinthians 6:2-3 ESV).

Do you find this passage intimidating? I do. It calls and reminds me to be holy, blameless, kind, and loving justice and mercy. What do I know of angels, other than that they are servants of the King of Kings? Although I have grown to see them more often, I know precious little of their world or their tasks. How could I consider myself qualified for this task? How would I know whether they did well, or poorly? And why would Paul admonish the church to think of itself in this role?

But what if — what if we were already doing our jobs? Our souls are quick to judge! We do it almost automatically, without thinking. And while there certainly are times when we need to rein in our souls, maybe we don’t need to overthink this verse quite so much. We can approach our roles with confidence and intention, without being too bold. Here’s why I think so.

On October 10th, 2021, I awoke from a dream that illuminated this ordinary sense of what it means to judge angels.

In the dream, I watched a similar scenario replay again and again: a scene at most, a single beat in the context of a larger plot. A satellite filled with explosives and power had unexpectedly dropped out of orbit — purposely dislodged and booby-trapped by the Enemy. It had enormous destructive power ready to release on impact with the Earth. Where the falling satellite was poised to land and what a small hard-working team of earth and space defenders did to contain the damage and preserve human life was different every time, so the outcome varied greatly. Sometimes the defense team was able to divert the satellite to land in the ocean or the countryside. Sometimes they were able to slow its descent, or if it was still too close to a city, to land it on top of a bridge or an evacuated building. Always, they managed to avert the worst of the disaster and spare human life, infrastructure, and livelihood to a greater or lesser extent.

I became aware that other people were watching these scenarios with me. They were believers I knew who did not realize that the events they were watching were supernaturally shaped, and that what they saw was truth, not entertainment or fiction. They freely and animatedly discussed each scene as if it were a complete and engrossing movie, rating and critiquing each iteration of it. They judged the beauty and impressiveness of the final explosion, and how big the resulting blast was, as if they were special effects. They judged the success of the mission and the loss of human life relative to the other scenarios and to the loss of life, if the defense team had done nothing. They critiqued the team’s cooperation, plans, and strategies, and suggested improvements in efficiency and efficacy. The believers applied their own knowledge as chemists, engineers, and lovers of space to the problem, and discussed among themselves why this tool or technology or action would be viable, or not viable, if the defense team had tried it instead. Their final assessment was usually satisfied appreciation.

Whether they believe that God and his angels are involved in world events or not, people constantly sit in judgment of world events, such as COVID-19, famine, or war, or earthly cataclysms like earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, or fires. When believers look at history and current events, we often marvel at how close humanity came to devastation — but didn’t — or disaster struck, but not as badly as it could have. We discuss these things with each other. Sometimes we are so amazed and in awe that we give thanks to God. In gratitude, we refer to the Jewish concept of dayenu: if he had done this much, it would have been enough. And many times, he does more. With these words, we do implicitly judge the efforts and activities of the angels based on the outcomes that we can see.

When we think of judging, I think a lot of us default to thinking of a grading scale from A to F, or 1-5 stars, of good to bad or right to wrong.

But if we switch to the paradigm of the household of the King, one of our privileges as sons is to report on how well the servants are doing. We can ask for their discipline, yes, but that may be called for rarely! Far more often, we might recommend them for promotion, request backup, or just put in a good word for them. Because even if we can’t tell what might have been done differently or better, though we may feel unqualified, we usually know intuitively when something has gone unusually very, very right. When we don’t know what else to say, we can celebrate, honor, and affirm them! “Wow, that was hard work! I’ve noticed you have been posted there a long time. Can we intercede for you to get some rest and relief?”

Word cloud generated at ABCYA.com.

There are many positive, encouraging words: genius, quick, right on time, comforting, encouraging, helpful. Our appreciation and our praise serves as a kind of judgment. Even more directly, we can say, Good job. Well done.

We can relax because the final decision is not our responsibility. So let the judging begin! While we put in our two cents, it is up to the Master to decide on their actual wages and rewards.

Out of Religion, Into Relationship: Part 2

By Dorothy Mitchell

Continuing the story of my journey into an experiential relationship with God.

The Turning Point. My existential distress during my college years came to a head in an unexpected way. I can’t even explain why what happened hit me so hard. At the time, I was living in a dorm for women in the center of campus that had an unofficial reputation for being the virgin dorm.

One day, I was studying in my room when a girl raced down the hall pursued by a pack of boys, who cornered her just outside my door while one of the boys pressured the girl for a date. (Ironically, the boy was in the same religion class that pushed me to familiarize myself with the branches of Christianity I had not been exposed to before, which for me were Pentecostal and Charismatic churches.) Alarmed, I propped my door open in an attempt to give the girl an escape. She did not take it, but succumbed to the pressure and gave the boy her number.

I am not usually an impulsive person, but on this occasion I was so angry I was ready to run out and do something rash. However, the girl did not want anyone to retaliate on her behalf. I filed a report, honoring her choice, but inwardly I wrestled with my anger and my impotence, pursuing justice solely on paper. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

I cried out to God that my ways were not working; I had tried everything in my own strength and had failed to change myself one iota. I had no resilience. I could not cope with my moody, whiplash emotions or the pressures I put on myself. I needed God to change my life and my heart so I could live in the way Jesus had promised.

I did not receive any answer at that time, but soon after, my mom was introduced to the process of HeartSync, and I sensed this might be the tool that I needed in order to change. I was also introduced to Silicon Valley Healing Rooms, where I felt the undeniable presence of God for the first time and began to learn how to listen and hear from God by seeking words of knowledge before praying for physical healing. In the years since, other gifts and modes of communication unlocked: tongues, discernment, and dancing. More importantly, my inner stability and foundation in Christ has become more and more firm.

I have continued to seek God, listen for his voice, receive ministry for the shattered and broken pieces of my heart, and renounce the vows of religion and stoicism that captured me. It has been my pleasure to engage with and learn from teachers, evangelists, healers, and prophets from a great many ministries. It is my honor and joy now to help others restore the lines of communication in a living relationship with our Living God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit in their many roles as Father, Friend, Shepherd, Banner, Defender, King, Teacher, and Creator.

There is hope for you, too. Check out our appointment options for connecting you to the Source of Hope here.