Fwd: prayer request & "Breakthrough Horse" & "Out of the Wilderness"

May, 2013

One night in the year that the Lord gave me "The Breakthrough Horse" painting, I was sitting in front of that painting and my courage failed me.  I had thought the horse is me, and I must be bold and strong and be able to jump over the obstacles. Suddenly, I "saw" myself inside the belly of the Horse, Who is the Lord, and He is the Breakthrough Horse, not me, and He does not fail. But He warned me to focus, and just watch what He is doing, while I rest inside Him. 

Whoosh!  Whoosh!  I feel like I am riding inside the Breakthrough Horse as it is jumping over the obstacle and carrying me to my destiny.  I can see out of the belly of the Horse, and I can see others doing different things the Lord has equipped them to do.  I want to put my hands outside his belly and touch what the others are doing. But "No," the Lord tells me, "You are to wrap your arms around your body, with your eyes looking only to the front. Not even your little pinkie is to be outside of Me wanting to touch what others are doing. You must focus and I the Breakthrough Horse will take you to your destiny." 

Well, I am in that season of God sending me out to speak for Him, with my paintings and my books.  Last year it was all about the story of "His Garden"; this year He seems to be focusing on healing.

A few days ago I spoke at a women's group here in La Jolla. I read the story of "His Garden" to them.  The interesting thing was that the night before the meeting, I received a revelation about the painting, "Out of the Wilderness," and how that painting ties in with the story of "His Garden."  I never knew that. What He wanted to say through that painting is that Jesus will do anything and everything to go into each of our "wilderness" - which can be cancer, loss of a loved one through death or divorce, loss of job, loneliness and fear - to look for us and to carry us out of our "wilderness." 

I was led to paint Jesus and the harassed bride of Christ gazing into each other's eyes, going deeper into a love relationship that will last for eternity. I sense God wanting to re-ignite my own heart to long for Jesus, to be that "bride" in the painting, gazing up at Him, feeling His embrace. Busyness and doing ministry and worries can subtly take the place of heartfelt desperation for Him. We are to guard our hearts along that line.  I know I do.  In fact, that is my prayer request.  It's the bottom line, isn't it. Our destiny is our love affair with Him. 

(You can view this painting on my  website: www.jbrushwork.com , gallery section, painting #26)

There seems to be much warfare over the arena of healing this year - healing of cancer and other sicknesses. The enemy is out to steal the healing that God has given us.  We need to pray Psalm 91 over our loved ones, friends and even ourselves.

See the gold from the Mountain of God? (for new book)

April 20, 2013

Lately I am feeling the need for more weapons from the Lord.  I have been using the ones He has given me in the last year, but time is much harder now, and I know I need more weapons.  In answer to my petitioning I am getting these new weapons, which is much more hefty. Not as easy for me to commit to memory.

Romans 8:33, 35, 37, "Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who purifies...Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword...No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."

Isaiah 60:1-3,"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you..."

Isaiah 61:1-4, "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God..."

Even as the Lord is busily giving me His scriptures while I am busily fretting over my failures, I hear Him say, "Get over those, Jean! Step into the realm of the power generator of God. Go into it - be zapped by it. The world and all the inhabitants are in dire need of the power surge and power zap of His generator. 'Lift up your eyes and look about you. All assemble and come to you, your sons come from afar and your daughters are carried on the arm. Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy..."  (Isaiah 60:4-5)

Jesus turning clusters of grapes into one wine (for new book)

April 22, 2013

Yesterday I called Eileen and we talked about her experience at a worship-intercession meeting which I had wanted to attend but did not make it.  So I began to bounce my thoughts on worship off Eileen. I sense that worship is when the Spirit takes us, the bride, into a realm of being one body of Christ before the Father and Son. As one we sing to Him, adoring Him, with or without words or even music.  We are no longer separate people in our skin and our own personalities; rather, the Holy Spirit mysteriously transports us as one bride before the Bridegroom. It is like we are individual grapes which are in a vat, and the Godhead is dancing on us, and we are pressed out of our own skin, and we become one and we become WINE that He will enjoy.

It is not so much our singing and singing to Him, to get Him to come be with us, but rather it is He singing over us and dancing on us which cause us to mysteriously become wine.

I also talked about the formations of clusters of grapes - who we are in a cluster with. It seems that we are in the season of being put together by the Holy Spirit with those we are truly in a cluster with. I told her that the greatest marvel to me is that finally, after forty-some years of marriage, Peter and I are in a cluster together and the Lord of marriage is dancing and singing over us as He makes us into wine.

In February of this year God brought us to birth the J Brushworks Ministry, with a board of directors, and those God is bringing to pray and give to this ministry - that is another cluster of grapes being turned into wine. It is also a church built upon the Rock of Jesus and hell cannot prevail against her because of the oneness.  Isaiah 61 tells of the wonders of this kind of oneness - what we will do for Him and what we can do for Him. This is what the Lord shows me is the wine He is producing through J Brushworks Ministry:

to preach good news to the poor,

to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim the freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn,

and provide for those who grieve in Zion -

to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,

the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair...

they (the painting-words and books) will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated, they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations...

I feel that God says J Brushworks Ministry is "a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor." (Isaiah 61:3)

"Where does my help come from?"

April 23, 2013

It's been 20 years since He said, "I want you to be My court painter, painting for the King, and I will provide for your every need."  It's been 7 years since I had the fight with cancer and Out of the Wilderness was written.  I am a senior now.  I am aware of time against me; aware time is running out for me. Yet I live like I am going to live forever - forever teaching art, forever writing and painting for the Lord, forever having Peter by my side, forever having Valerie, Andrew and Noah living close by, forever going deeper and deeper into the vat of God's love, forever being set free from fear, forever learning to love others as I love myself.  I live like I am a young, wild horse running alongside other young wild horses, going for broke for the Lord. 

One day blurs into another day. I don't remember birthdays or special days like Mother's Day or my anniversary.  But I am aware of the seasons for God's people, and what He is about with us all and where we are all going with Him.  Our flesh grows older and weaker, but our spirit is being trained and forged into muscled warriors, some at a slower rate, like me, than others.  I look around me and I see many well-built warriors, some are busily sharpening their swords, others are steely-eyed with a determined stance, ready to head out on yet another assignment.  I look down at myself, and it seems I am a childlike creature, wearing a transparent gown, holding a pen in one hand and a brush tucked behind my ear, and I don't leave the Garden much. I can often be found sitting on the lap of Jesus, listening to Him talk about things...

Today, He is talking about lineage. I was reading Romans 8, 9, 10.  Paul was writing about the Jews that theirs is the adoption of sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the promises, and yet so many Jews rejected Christ.  God had stated in Exodus 33:10 that "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." This is not a chapter that I would often read;  yet the words are coming to life for me. "What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath-prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory-even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? As he says in Hosea: 

I will call them 'my people,' who are not my people; and I will call her 'my loved one' who is not my loved one," and, "It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' they will be called 'sons of the living God.'"

Suddenly I am deeply aware that God has chosen and called from among the people of the world, and among numerous Chinese, as numerous as the sand of the sea - my father and his grandparents from Taiwan, my mother and her grandparents of Fookien province in China, and my husband Peter and his parents and grandparents from Shanghai, and my son-in-law Andrew and his parents from South Africa - to be a people who would be the recipient of the riches of His glory and of His mercy. 

What is the chance of my mother's grandfather playing by the river in Fookien, tricked by pirates to get on their boat, and kidnapped and sold to a Chinese family living in Amoy who just happened to be Christians? It was one in a million chance that there was a Chinese Christian family in that region at that time. This boy grew up to be the first pastor of a church in that region, a church that my sister and cousins went to worship at a few years ago when they visited China. What is the chance that my father's grandfather, a prosperous Buddha maker in Taiwan, should be tormented by a demon every night and driven half crazy from lack of sleep and forced to seek a Christian church to get away from the demon, thus becoming the first Christian in his bloodline? This bloodline has led to a grandson named George Chua, my father, through whom God has established Chinese churches in the Philippines and California which in turn are birthing many churches in many parts of the world.  What is the chance of me marrying Peter whose grandfather was a humble country pastor in China and his mother was a Christian radio personality and Valerie marrying Andrew who came from South Africa and his parents were at one time part of a Catholic ministry that took care of the poorest of the poor in South Africa? 

When Jesus showed me this, I was overwhelmed with gratitude and thanksgiving that He has chosen us to be "His people" who are not His people, called "His loved one" when we were not His loved ones, objects of His mercy and not His wrath.  How I treasure our lineage!  I love those people who are chosen and called, anointed to be vessels of honor, and not vessels of His wrath. We are blessed beyond words.  We depend on God and God alone. We choose to declare that "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." We are blessed to proclaim, "Where does my help come from, my help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth."

my prayer for our nation with the prophetic painting and book of "Out of the Wilderness"

written November 1st, 2012

Last Monday I woke up and my heart went into SVT (heart palpitation that causes my blood pressure to drop dangerously low). This happens whenever I carry something too heavy for my heart to bear for too long.   I realized that I had not/could not cast my worries about the future of our nation to the Lord. Unbeknowst to me, there's a part in my heart that still had unresolved fear of the Chinese God of judgment. As the election date got closer, like a little child I tried to hide "under the bed" from the Father whose loving voice I had come to love and trust since the days He walked me through cancer. Life became boring, very, very boring when I was not skipping and dancing alongside Him, and not watching how He would turn everything in my life, good and bad, into adventures with Him.  So, after a few days of not hanging out with Him and being miserable, I "heard" in my spirit,

"Jean, you don't really want to miss the election adventure with Me, do you?" 

That was the Holy Spirit talking to me. 

"Oh!  I sure don't want to miss any adventure with You, Lord.  I have decided I will trust the election to you. I don't know what the outcome will be, but I know I will hear Your voice telling me things, and I don't want to miss what You have to say."

Today, November 1st, I had an hour before my art class tonight, so I sat with the Lord with my Out of the Wilderness book and began to read through several entries dated January, 2005 (I was diagnosed with cancer on December 22, 2004). In the course of walking through cancer I received many scriptures from the Lord which came to enfold me in His voluminous gown. In fact, He said to me that He was using scriptures to cocoon me, so that when I emerge out of the cocoon I will be a beautiful butterfly.

As I was reading a few of these scriptures tonight, I felt a soft urging to declare them on behalf of the bride of Christ for our nation:

Psalm 27: I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord. Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

Psalm 144: Praise be to the Lord, my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. You are my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge...Part your heavens, O Lord, and come down...Reach down your hand from on high; Deliver me and rescue me from the mighty waters...I will sing a new song to you, O God; on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you...There will be no breaching of walls, no going into captivity, no cry of distress in our streets.

II Chronicle 20:15, 16 and 17: Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's, Tomorrow march down against them...You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you.

These are just a few words I received back in January of 2005. Today as I read them, they are coming to speak to me not about cancer but about the bride fighting for the future of her nation, even as Esther did in her time.

On January 29, 2005, I wrote, "I believe the crux of the matter is this: How do I treat His word? Do I believe it as the final authority on earth? Can I stake all of my life upon those words? Even as Elijah and Elisha in the Old Testament declared those words in the face of their enemies who sought their lives, will I be able to say the same things in the face of the enemies in my life? Do I see countless horses and a fiery chariot poised to come and fight for me, or is it just very inspiring to read those stories? I do not want to only read these scriptures and believe in them, be lifted up by them for a time, only to go right back to agonizing over my hardships. Whatever I am learning today in my fight against cancer is going to stand me in good stead in the days to come."  (As I read this paragraph tonight, my spirit took note that indeed the faith I received in 2005 for fighting cancer is going to stand me in good stead in this hour when we are fighting for the future of our nation - for our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and the unborn.)

In my journal on that same date, I was asking God if He wanted me to get the chemo and radiation that all the doctors said I must have or I would die or He was telling me to get tested to see if I was healed already. Whatever He was saying I would do it. I wrote,"But to my surprise, I heard Him ask me, 'What do you want out of this?' Without any thinking, my heart says, 'I want to experience miraculous healing.' I realize this is not just my wishful thinking. My whole being wants this."

It seems that today my heart wants to say to Him as representing the bride of Christ to her Beloved, "I just want to experience miraculous deliverance of our nation out of cancerous lies." 

May the bride of Christ who is leaning on the arm of her Beloved coming out of the wildnerness be the prophetic painting-word for our nation. Amen.

Note: Please see the painting-word below which was commissioned by the Lord to be on the cover of my book, Out of the Wilderness, My Journey Through Cancer and Cancerous Lies. It is not until today that my mind/heart is awakened to the connection between the deliverance God gave me out of cancer and the plight of our nation oppressed by cancerous lies)

 

It's all about tasks vs. "Be still and know that I am God"

May 2, 2013

I lost the sense of the Garden in the past two years and became a person with "to-do list."  Today as I came to the bluff He was waiting to remind me of what the Garden is and is not.  My mind was full of so many tasks and worries and pressures.  When that sudden revelation came to me that none of these pressures are compatible with His Garden, I said to myself, "Huh?!!! Are you sure?" To which I responded, "Yes, I am sure. I dimly remember that He showed me over and over and over and over that in His Garden there is to be no "to-do list."

So I argued with myself, "This is not the thing to say to anyone when the world is getting so dark now. Everyday there is more advancement towards darkness. The church is getting louder and louder that 'Woe is the United States! Woe! Woe! Woe!' Revelation is full of woes!  So how can I be touting for a state of mind and heart and body where God calls His people to enter into rest as in Hebrews 4?  Or in other words to enter into His Garden where we are to be like children and trust Him for everything and we go there to PLAY?  Who am I?  I am not a prophet or an intercessor.  I paint for God and write books for Him.  I have a small audience. That small audience loves what I have to say as from God.  What I hear has been validated by these ones.

Nonetheless, I am like a small child and my voice is small.  I am reminded of the cartoon I love of Snoopy dog dancing with great joy while Lucy glowers at him and forbids him to dance because the whole world is falling apart.  I also remember the story of Moses hidden behind the rock while God walks by and there was thunder and lightning, but God was not in it; there was huge wind, but God was not in it.  Then when everything was quiet, Moses heard a still small voice, and that was God.

Here's what God was showing me today. That my strength is in being in the Garden and hearing His still small voice, because the Garden is in that still small voice of the Lord. "Be still and know that I am God."  I was hearing that it's all about God who is in love with the world who would do anything to bring humans into His embrace, who knew the only way was for His Son to die on the cross and resurrect from the tomb, so that all humans can return to the rest and joy of garden living. No more do they have to toil under the hot sun. The Garden is restored in the hearts of all who believe  the Son and through believing to live the life of walking and talking with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

There is to be no more toiling, no more tears, no more worries because Jesus did all the toiling, all the suffering, bore all the pain and torment and rejection, all the sicknesses for every inhabitant of the earth.  Every inhabitant that calls upon His name is now living in the Garden with Him day in and day out, conversing with Him and enjoying sweetness and delight. God has made everything beautiful. I remember Dr. Mary Neal saying that after her return to life she now lives everyday of her life in the full awareness of the beauty of everything that happens to her. There is not one incident that is not beautiful, whether it is hard or difficult.  I remember hearing and reading Graham Cooke saying that he has not worried about anything for many years now. Wow!  Imagine that!  I want to trust Him so much and know that whatever the enemy means for evil He can turned it for good.

Hebrews 4:1,9 says "Therefore, since the promise of entering into his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it...There remains, then, a Sabbth rest for the people of God, for anyone who enters God's rest also from his own work, just as God did from his."  To not enter into the Garden of rest is unbelief. Unbelief is to say to Jesus, "No!  I don't believe that Your death has paid for my suffering and that I don't have to live in torment. It's not true. I am suffering. We only rest when we get to heaven. On earth it is all toiling, pain and sorrow. That's the truth. So, please don't bother me with the offer of Garden living. What a lie! What a delusion!  All the days of my life is full of sorrow, pain and disappointments and hardship - that's my lot. It's all our lot!"

It is indeed farfetched to believe we can live the Garden life because it is not found in the wind or the thunder, but in the still small voice.  It takes the discipline of "Be still and know that I am God" to be a Garden dweller.

I lost the Garden living when for two years we attended a church with a strong religious spirit of works, works, works. I lost it when I fell into the vat of religious anger.  When I had thought by fighting injustices with my anger I could right wrongs, I ended losing my peace and therefore the art of "hearing" the still small voice. His still small voice.

On this my birthday month I began to fall into that peace.  It was by reading my book, Out of the Wilderness.  I randomly began  to read pages and pages of my book.  I started to read and took note that I could not relate to what I wrote.  Everything I had written seemed so distant, so unbelievable, so farfetched to me.  But the more I read the more I could relate and understand. Ever so gently the Spirit began to shake my body.  I sensed a peace coming down over me, covering me. My eyelids became heavy with the pressure of His Presence. I knew that He was carrying me into His Garden.  I knew I had come home to His Garden. The sense of sweetness and delight came over me. It was as if He was singing over me.

But the next day I went into calling and writing emails to get students to come to my workshop. The spirit of toiling had jumped back on me and my muscles were tensed up. The sense of His Garden left me. I was into the system of the world: "God helps those who help themselves." Perform, perform, perform. Not realizing that the reason students sign up for my art classes over and over for many years is because I carry His Presence and they are so hungry for His Presence, though they do not know it. I can work so hard to get them to sign up, but it is not necessary as they are coming because His anointing is on me when I teach art. They want what I carry - the still small voice and me quietly vibrating in sync with His vibration, His heartbeat. The quieter I get, the stronger He is heard and felt by people around me.

"A Call to Fight Fear and Arise and Shine! For Our Light Has Come!"

     April 9, 2013

My last email to some of you was such that it may have worried you about my well being.  I am sorry I had to write that email.  It was very hard to be that honest. But I checked with the Lord, and He needed me to be real about what's happening to me and to a lot of His anointed vessels who are under such devious attacks of such long duration.  A friend who is a leader of the army said to me last week, "I have never seen the level of attack go as high as what the enemy is doing now to God's people.  He is not just out to kill us,  He is doing it in such heinous ways to make His faithful warriors suffer way, way almost beyond what we can bear." (words to that effect).

Such as a few weeks ago I discovered a pretty good size lump where seven years ago it was an aggressive cancerous lump. Did cancer come back inspite of God saying to me that I would never be ravaged by cancer again? Or did I really hear God? This would be the third try of the enemy in the last seven years to push me into great fear. For a week I felt the fear of cancer seeking to enter me, and knew that no matter what I must not to give in to it. If I allow fear to enter, it would sweep my emotion away and it would be very hard to hear His voice. One night when fear wanted to flood over me, I declared scriptures until I heard the words, "Jesus is not concerned." (this refers to the story of Jesus sleeping on a boat in a storm and the disciples were in great fear, but Jesus was not concerned.) Peace came over me instantly. When I went for examination the next day, my doctor  told me it was scar tissue that was submerged under the flesh, which felt like a large lump.

BUT GOD!  I see God sending outrageous words to His people at the same time that the enemy seems to have his way and prayers seemingly are not getting answered. Many seasoned warriors are experiencing this double reality of the enemy's unrelenting oppression and at the same time receiving timely revelations from God as if He is not a bit concerned about whatever the enemy is up to. He is simply going right ahead with His agenda. When really awful things are in our face, I am hearing Him say, "Ignore it."

So I am going back to the words He gave for this year 2013 because they are mandate to His church, His bride, the army of God. Remember the calendar-word of Isaiah 60:1-3 and Isaiah 61: 1-4.  Most of us have been so buffeted since January that we have been focusing on darkness, instead of what He is saying to us. It's time to turn back to this really important word He gave us for this year, and throw all our hearts into it, receiving it. "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord appears over you." and "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor...to proclaim freedom fro the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of the vengeance of our God..."  Remember Joanne Stroud  boldly declaring for the year 2013 that we are to say "YES!" to those scriptures and know that we are it!  We are to receive the words that we are anointed to preach good news to the poor; we are anointed to set the captives free; we are anointed to declare the year of the Lord's favor. She warned us that we are going to get serious attacks for this word but we must keep our eyes not upon darkness but upon the Sovereign Lord. This is the year we are to press in and ask for MORE!  Let our passion rise up for Him. 

 

We are very new at this, but we do thank those who are sending donation to our new ministry - J Brushworks Ministry. For one thing, the donations are allowing us to print more books as God is getting these books, especially the Out of the Wilderness book, to go out to people who have not heard about these books before. And the prints and cards. Yesterday as I gave a private lesson to two sisters from Fallbrook and Hawaii, they asked about the "Out of the Wilderness" original painting on my wall and also the "Wild Bird" painting. Before you know it, I was telling them the stories. I gave each of them a "Wild Bird" card and as they were reading the story on the card they began to tear up. These women were so hungry for these painting words which point to the love of God.  Friendship was forged with them and we will see what else the Lord wants to do.

Please pray for this ministry through art "for such a time as this." (Esther 4:14)  More and more, through fire and water, Peter and I are realizing that our new ministry is being called to rise up and shine and He the Sovereign Lord is anointing us to preach good news to the poor and to proclaim freedom to the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. And we are saying "YES!" to Him. We want more of Him! More passion for Him!

Sharing the word from the Lord - 2014 calendar.

Last year at this time the Lord sent two scriptures - Isaiah 60:1-3 and 61:1-4 to our Gatekeepers prayer group, which I wrote about on the 2013 calendar. Throughout 2013 I have experienced the Holy Spirit bringing me to these scriptures in so many ways and through many circumstances.  Today I take note that I had started the year 2013 in one way, and am ending this year with my life changed by these scriptures, particularly in the realm of creativity and joy in my teaching art. I am amazed by so many OMG! (Oh My God!) stories to tell! 


Well, the cycle has started again. Our Gatekeepers prayer group had our last meeting for this year and received three scriptures from the Lord for 2014. Already I find myself "eating" these scriptures (which is more than meditating)  as the anointing for doing so is strong. Here are the three verses:


Ephesians 3:20-21, "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."


I Corinthians 3:9-10, "'No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him' but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit."


Hebrew 11:1, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."


The painting-word He is using for 2014 is "The River of Living Water Flowing in the Cavern of my heart in His heart." This is a painting the Lord sends to depict the verse "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us..."   Look at the painting and go deep into it to see what God sees of our hearts - through Christ He sees the river of gold, fire and water flowing powerfully through our hearts tucked in His heart. Gold stands for His glory and goodness; fire stands for passionate love from Him to us and us to Him, water stands for purity of our hearts cleansed by the blood of Jesus.  When we realize how God sees our hearts and how powerfully He is at work in our hearts as we go through the fire and water of life's experiences, we know our value to Him as His bride.


The enemy is creating more havoc and chaos in the earth and many hearts are stricken with fear, worries and depression. Whatever the media tells us life is about, the Lord is ushering you and me, His bride, to live more and more in the realm of eye has not seen, ear has not heard, mind has not conceived what God has prepared for those who love him. He is preparing a bride who will live with a sense of wonder. His church will become more astonished by His beauty and goodness. To quote Graham Cooke(www.BrilliantBookHouse.com ) "Our gift to the world is the revelation of the nature of God to us."  Goodness is the very nature of God.  At the cross our Savior Jesus declared, "It is finished!" because He has done everything needed to be done so we can live with the river of living water flowing through our hearts tucked into His heart. We get to receive the huge portion of His goodness with our names on it, and eat and grow strong even as we abide in the stance of faith.  "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."  (Hebrew 11:1)


With a twinkle in my eyes let me tell you some "immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine" news that are coming in - my 5-year nephew who lives in Los Angeles fell off a trailer cart that was carting customers to pick up their Christmas trees, and the cart went over his body. Yet doctors treating him could not find anything broken, exclaiming, "This is simply not possible that he is not hurt!" A Chinese lawyer in Los Angeles riddled with cancer was being prayed for at a church meeting. With no one pushing him, he fell background to the ground under the power of God (something he could never imagine experiencing before). When he went back to his doctor, all signs of cancer was gone.  For four years my husband has applied and applied for jobs, but there was no job for him. A few days before Christmas, out of the blue, he got an interview, and this one looks hopeful. Our neighbor who has been suffering from back pain for many years, went and bought a mattress called "Cloud" which I had recommended to her a few years ago. In four days time she was beside herself with joy that the pain is almost not noticeable anymore.  Love to hear your "immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine" news.


In this last week before 2014, the Lord has been getting me up in the night hours to pray for for those who have been oppressed by fear in their marriage, by a son or daughter's mental health, by the plight of God's people whose lives are endangered, etc.  I received these verses in Isaiah for you who are waiting for His deliverance: "Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you...Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away." (Isa.35:4,10)  *  "You will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. Although the Lord gave you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teacher will be hidden no more; you will see them with your own eyes whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ear will hear a voice behind you, saying, 'This is the way, walk in it.'...He will send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful." (Isa.30:19-21,23)  *  "See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you." (Isa.42:9)"I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you, do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand...Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob, O little Israel, for I myself will help you, declares the Lord."(Isa.41:9-10,14)