August 15, 2011
Two days ago, as I sat on a high bluff in front of the Pacific Ocean listening to the waves, with my eyes closed, I was so aware of my friendship with God. For so many years, more than eighteen, I have sat with Him there. Our friendship has been forged through fire and water.
As I am writing this email, I know that Peter and I have come through another huge testing in the arena of finance. You see, the down-to-earth threat is that when Peter's unemployment checks stop in a few months, and if he still cannot find work, we may no longer be able to make the heavy mortgage payments which will lead to the loss of our home of 40 years. The fabric of our lives as to my teaching art in our wonderful art room, as well as Peter publishing my books and prints in our home office, and the many years of housing our house church where so many have come and are still coming to eat and worship the Lord together, all that will be gone.
BUT GOD...Since the beginning of this year 2011, the Lord has instructed us to daily declare Psalm 91 over ourselves and our home. Through Psalm 91 He promises us that His faithfulness will be our shield and rampart and that no disaster will come near our home. In fact, He commands His angels to guard us in all our ways as we learn to take power and authority over the devourer and the enemy's lies, in the name of Jesus and by His shed blood. He says that because we love Him and acknowledges Him, He will answer us when we call out to Him for help. He will deliver us from troubles and honor us and show us our salvation. This is not written lightly. Over and over we are being trained and tested on this. Do we believe His word in Psalm 91? Do we trust Him? Is He Who He says He is - Jehovah Jireh (the God who provides) and Jehovah Rapha (the God who heals)? He asks us to enter into rest as in Hebrew 4. He invites us to to live in His Garden of Rest (reference His Garden at http://www.jbrushwork.com/, book section). Can we rest when the whole world is falling into economic woes and disasters of all sorts? How can we find rest when we are sitting on the brink of possible loss of our home? Yet, both Peter and I are truly coming into our rest regarding our financial quandary. Our spirit is learning to say "Yes, Lord, we will rest. We choose to rest."
I am sharing this because this training is coming to all of us. The bottomline is that He's got to train His bride now to keep our eyes on Jesus and to walk on water. We are all in the school of the overcomer.
As I sat there at the bluff by the ocean, I opened my journal and began to re-read the notes I took of Graham Cooke's teaching at the Aglow conference in Ontario on July 9th this year. (see "You have lost your first love" July 28, 2011 on my blog http://jeanshenart.blogspot.com/ or the journal section of my website or read Graham Cooke's book, Prophetic Wisdom). As I was pacing on the bluff wondering how to get it, that is, Graham's teaching, suddenly I felt the Holy Spirit nudging me to take courage and say to the Lord, " You painstakingly carved those truths on Graham Cooke's heart which brought him to live profoundly in Your rest, without even one worry in the last so many years. That man has gone to live in the Garden of Rest and he has not left, and that's what I want, Lord. You gave me the book His Garden, and You are sending me out to share the story, but I still have unrest in my own heart. Lord, I am desperate for Your Holy Spirit to transport those words of Graham Cooke into my heart so that I too, like Graham, will truly live in the Garden of Rest and never leave it again."
I sense that He was pleased with my request and that this was His response: "I have been doing that in you for many years now, dear Jean. Many, many years. You are simply being processed differently from Graham. But the goal is the same for you and him and all my other beloved ones who delight in Me. I am calling one and all to enter into My Garden of Rest. There lies your hiding place, your shelter from all storm. It is also where I will walk and talk with you in the cool of the day as in the Garden of Eden. Do not fear. Remember, all things are possible with Me. If I ask you to do something, it means I will empower you to do it. There is no other way you can do it but by My power.Take heart and trust in My faithfulness to provide for all your needs."
