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  • Essay / The Power of God's Promises in "The Walls" by Ryan Rush

    Throughout life, everyone at one time or another experiences devastating events that can eventually hinder our spiritual lives, leaving us with the feeling of being stuck and without a strategy for a resolution. Although we sometimes want to label these excruciating situations as walls, according to Ryan Rush, they are not the basis of our true stillness – circumstances and bad feelings are not the real walls. According to Rush, a true "wall" is not a physical or emotional incident, but rather "an unhealthy state of mind that prevents you from living the way God wants you to live." Rush's writings seek to define these walls, show how to break them down through the power of God's promises, and explain how to approach life as a "wall breaker." Although it sometimes presents itself as a bit of a self-help book, Walls simply emboldens a precise biblical intellect that transports the reader beyond temporary contexts and closer to God. The goal of breaking down these walls is not simply deliverance, but rather to push the reader "to know God himself, to experience with him the intimacy that is the ultimate fulfillment." Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned"?Get the original essay The foundation of Walls is Rush's personal adversity centered on the early years of his youngest daughter's life, which caused serious cardiac complications. This story about his daughter motivated him to write this book and sparked Rush's desire to help people break down their own walls. Rush is “convinced that there is a whole new world waiting for those who are courageous enough to face their walls head on, deal with them honestly, and take the steps toward a breakthrough in faith.” Rush explains that breaking down walls “starts with discovering God's promises: discovering a passage or promise that you can hold on to and trusting God to make a breakthrough in faith in the days ahead. A promise that can prove to be a turning point in your life and in your history.” It incorporates several biblical references and promises that break down walls such as discontentment, perfectionism and uncertainty. This is usually where the book shines the most. Rush's use of God's promises and assurance that we find in Scripture seems to be the strongest point of his book. Throughout the book, Rush incorporates heartbreaking stories of individuals within his own church who faced breakthroughs in faith by clinging to these assurances from God. Along with current examples, Rush looks at characters in Scripture who were able to tear down their own walls with God's power, such as Abraham, King Josiah, and the paralyzed man brought to Jesus by his friends in the second chapter of the Gospel. by Mark. Although these examples are captivating and fascinating, their frequent appearance throughout the text makes the book a bit long and the author seems to ramble a bit at times. I would consider this to be probably the weakest part of his book. Some chapters could have been much more succinct and probably more effective if they didn't drag on at times. But ultimately, instead of presenting his ideas as a simple method of self-help, Rush emphasizes God's Word as the true source of freedom from errant and oppressive paradigms. He considers a church member who sought to affirm God's promise to be debt-free, to which Rush responds, "Where is that promise?" and explains what promises God has specified regarding financial provision (79). In other parts of..