Sharing how the "Red Cardinal at Dusk" report has touched another life

      
Dear praying friends, I have been given permission to share this powerful story with you. This is from my friend who is a professor and a seasoned intercessor. As you can guess, she has purchased this painting. She wrote to me:       

 

 

"This painting-word comes in the midst of continuing upheaval at my university.  Next year's budget is still unknown. My state legislators and the governor can't come to an agreement about it.  Our chancellor unexpectedly announced her resignation.   So, we will start the year with a brand new dean, a provost who has only been there a year, and no chancellor.  In the midst of all of this, I have been asking should I stay or should I go?  The word coming through the "Red Cardinal at Dusk" painting and the events surrounding it is telling me to stay.

In the painting, the red cardinal is sitting calmly and peacefully at dusk.  It is holding on to the branch from which springs the promise of new life.     

The word being spoken through this painting is amplified by its backstory.  The painting survived the flood in your art room.  And not only did it survive, it and the four other paintings it impacted emerged from the flood more beautiful than ever.  (It is interesting how in the painting four branches split off from the main branch).  There were five paintings involved and you write 'They were rescued at 5:00 AM that fateful morning when "disaster" struck.'  Five is the number of grace.  God's grace turns a disaster into something beautiful. The names of the specific paintings you mentioned that the red from the cardinal (the color of Jesus' blood) bled through speak volumes too: "BLESSING" ("A man walking in the garden with God is blessed)", "Freedom" and "A Flight in Wind."    

So here's what it speaks to me, if I stay, and stay fixed to God (the branch), new life will come.  God's grace will come amidst the flood and he will transform this place into something more beautiful than ever.  Jesus' blood will release blessing, freedom, and the ability to fly even in the wind.  And if I stay, I will get to be part of all of this.  Jesus' blood, flowing through me, will help release blessing and freedom and the ability to fly in others and they will become more beautiful in the process.  Weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5).  I can face seeming dusk and "disaster" with peace (and dare I say joy) because I know joy comes in the morning.    

God is so good.      

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Here's a follow-up story from another intercessor who wrote thus:

 

Hi Jean! 

This testimony of the Red Cardinal really blessed me as I am going through a really difficult physical and emotional trial right now. Some days I could hardly bear it but know the Lord had healed me and manifestation is coming. Few weeks ago, a very young gal came and prayed for me and as she was praying she saw the vision of a red cardinal.  Very interesting. That is why this testimony blesses me deeply.
 

    

 

 

2015 - The Year of Fight, with PRAISE!

On February 8, 2008, I painted a modern bride of Christ, in jeans, in front of the Pacific Ocean, with her arms outstretched and her eyes shining, singing to God with her whole being, with hummingbirds in the tree, butterflies and tall grass dancing in the wind, dolphins surfing the waves below, and a long line of pelicans flying as the sun is setting, each being a musical note, joining the bride of Christ to make a sound of praise and worship going up to the Throne Room. I called the painting, "Valentine Card to God."

Today, December 23, 2014, almost nine years later, I am sitting in my attic room, still coughing from a cold, sharing and praying with my friend Beth, about God wanting to use this painting for the 2015 calendar. This being God's kairos time to show us deeper revelations through this painting, which is that "all creations have been groaning as in childbirth"..."and the creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed." (Rom. 8: 22,19) Even the beloved Christmas song, "Joy to the World" carries the words, " Joy to the world the Lord is come, let earth receive her King. Let every heart prepare Him room, and heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing, and heaven, and heaven and nature sing," which reveals to us that in this coming year, the year of fight, God's people are to use the weapon of praise to fight with.

I Samuel 2:1, Hannah's prayer, says, "My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance." Luke 1:47, 48, Mary says, "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant." All across the world, many saints are persevering in prayer, waiting for deliverance from sicknesses, broken hearts, difficult circumstances and oppressions of long duration. This painting has been given to show us that the way to fight is to rejoice in the Lord. Jesus came to the earth to bring joy.

  There is a depth in the word rejoicing. In another beloved Christmas song, "O Holy Night" we sing, "Long lay the world in sin and error pining 'Til he appeared and the soul felt its worth." That is why we can rejoice, because through Jesus our soul now feels its worth. Those words say everything. The enemy and the world and even our own thoughts tell us we are worthless, hopeless, cast out ones, failures, victims, guilty, abandoned. But those are lies. God says we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus; we are the beloved; we are the victorious ones. (Romans 8:28-39) Everything is in Christ. Not by (our) might, nor by (our) power, but by His Spirit. All He needs from us is that we stand in faith, we sing praises, we persevere in prayer, we abide in Him. He does everything else. We have to know who we are in Christ to fight. Knowing who are is our weapon. We are to use our mouth to declare who we are. The sound of our declaration is powerful. We are in tune with the word of God. We do not doubt. We take authority in Jesus' name. We speak and sing who God is in a situation, with praises on our lips.

From January of 2013 to December of 2014, prayers had gone up to the Throne Room for my cousin's son Matthew and his wife Grace, who were held in Qatar by the court for the death of their daughter Gloria, accused of murder which the court later changed to child trafficking. First it was the relatives and the churches they belong to who were praying, but by the end of this year countless people in churches and outside of churches all around the world were praying for their release. The prayers started out to be mixed with anger, anxiety, fear, but as time went by, we know the Holy Spirit has been training His bride to learn to pray with praise and rest. All the way to the end no one had the assurance that the court could ever change their sentence and release them; except in our prayers we knew God would come through, when or how we did not know. In early December, the last judge reversed the verdict of the other judges and set them free.

We who prayed persevering prayer for M & G, we are the modern bride of Christ standing before the Pacific Ocean, singing at the top of our lungs, with all nature singing with us, praising God and rejoicing in Who He is for Matthew and Grace, and for all of us. That He 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!" (Ephesians 3:20-21)

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Additional note from Jean - In the last two days, when a "fearful"(or so it seemed) situation of long duration loomed in my sight again, I wanted to run to the attic room to kneel in supplication before the Lord, but the Holy Spirit immediately corrected me, saying, "No! No! You are to lift your arms up high in praise to God, and do keep your head held up high, like the young woman in the 2015 calendar-word. Her posture is the stance the bride of Christ must have for the year 2015." (January 1st, 2015) The timing of the day in the painting is sunset over the Pacific Ocean, or sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean. Take your pick.

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note: I recommended a little book, Prison to Praise, by Merlin Carothers. "Prison" meaning prison of circumstances. www.merlincarothers.com

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)

Sharing the 2013 word from the Lord on a 1-year calendar.

2013 Prophetic Calendar

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor...

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor...(Isaiah 61:1-2)

 
At the start of December, I began to ask the Lord what was on His heart for 2013 calendar. From the plight of God's people, including our own, and that of our nation, it seemed the calendar should carry the paintings of the whirlpool of devastation and troubles with the four angelic horses pushing the world through the tunnel to see Jesus on the other side of the tunnel holding the child on His lap, as the child listens to His voice speaking Psalm 91 over him. (see www.jbrushwork.com , gallery #29 and 30 and to read the message)

This seemed to be the appropriate painting-words for 2013, but was it? 

I felt a heaviness on my heart for church and nation when on December 13, 2012, I took a trip to Oceanside in the northern region of San Diego county, to pray with the Gatekeepers led by pastor Joanne Stroud.  It is a very small strategic prayer group that hears His heartbeat and prays accordingly and knows ahead of time what He is doing, especially for the San Diego county. I walked into a blast of spiritual fresh air. Joanne had received two scripture passages from the Lord and she was having the group read these Scriptures.

Isaiah 60:1-3

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.  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; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come.

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 the 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 will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.

Joanne was like a trainer, a coach, or a general in our face, saying "Say 'Yes'! Say 'Yes'! Say 'Yes'!  Receive it!  Know that we are 'it'. The glory of the Lord is on His people and we are not praying and hoping for that to come in - it is already in. We are anointed to preach good news to the poor, to those who mourn, to set the captives free.  This is the way we are to be positioned  as we receive the impact of the Holy Spirit upon each of us. We are keeping our eyes not upon darkness but upon the Sovereign Lord. We declare,'I am anointed. I am anointed.' We receive this word on behalf of the church, both individually and corporately.  We don't know what it will look like and how it will play out for each of us, even each church, but we know we don't want to miss it. Know that if you are willing to accept it, your DNA changes today, unless you allow the enemy to take it from you.  We are the in-Christ one. It is part of His over all plan that His bride is risen up proclaimng the year of the Lord's favor. The Lion of Judah roars over us - His power and authority imprinted upon our spirit. We are to cause the anointing to rise up in our innermost beings. Because the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon us, therefore nothing is impossible for us.  Lord, help us to grasp this and to walk it out to impact others with it as we affect our family, our region, state, nation, the world."

It is not difficult for me to say "Yes" to this word, because 2012 has been a year of spiritual preparation for the bride of Christ to rise all the way up and shine. Yet it is one of God's great "suddenlies," a paradigm shift for the church, His bride.  Indeed, my excitement is that I am here to see the rising up of the warrior bride of Christ, "for such a time as this." (Esther 4:24)  Heaven's bells are ringing!

 Note: How the painting "Waterfall and Eagle" was painted:  In July of 2001, I was invited to get a painting from the Lord on the stage of a conference in San Diego, not knowing what I was to paint.  It happened that as soon as the worship team began to play and sing, and the dancers began to dance, I  knew I was  to paint an eagle taking off. The Holy Spirit spoke to me of this eagle, how it had been sitting on a bare branch for a long time, waiting for the branch to bud and the flowers to bloom, looking out to the waterfall, knowing that when the glory of the Lord shows up on the fall and on him, and the tree began to bud, that would be the sign for him to take off.  I believe that the timing of this painting-word which came in 2001 is for the year 2013. "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the Lord rises upon you." (Isaiah 60:1)
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 Please write to jbrushwrk@aol.com if you wish to order the calendar. Would love you to share this 2013 word with others. Much thanks!     

A new (old) project to do for the Lord

written October 28, 2012

We serve a God who dictates time and season. Even as the election is in the next 10 days, this is the time He is reminding me to write my next art book. What?!  Listen to this!  On June 3, 2005, I wrote in my journal which is the first entry of my Out of the Wilderness, My Journey through Cancer and Cancerous Lies, book: "as I sit here by the ocean with my journal and Bible and pen, numbed and bewildered by the diagnosis of breast cancer, my spirit is hearing Him speak about a second art book He wants me to write...It would be about how to paint small animals, butterfly, crab, fruits and vegetables with childlike freedom and joy. What does this book have to do with my plight with cancer? I sensed Him answering thus: Jean, this book will be all about life. It is a celebration of life.Do you see why the enemy, Satan, wants you to focus on cancer and death?  It is because you are about to receive from Heaven the fragrance or 'nard' for life and life abundant. Every word, every stroke will bring down Heaven's fragrant 'nard' of life...Catch a whiff of the fragrance and you will catch Heaven's desire to impart life and life abundant...You have the power to write the book that speaks life and life abundant. You have the authority to command life and life abundant to come forth through the words you write and the paintings you paint. Life pulsates out of your words and your paintings as you live life abundantly. I am living inside you, and as you move and have your being in Me, My life will pulsate through you." 

It has been seven years since I wrote those words. For seven years I did not sense His anointing to write this second art book. In due course, I came to wonder if He was actually referring to my last book, Out of the Wilderness and not to an art book. I even considered taking that first entry out of my book.

Two weeks ago as I was getting ready to put together another art book with pumpkins, rabbit, fruits and vegetables for the use of a workshop I am doing in Fallbrook in a couple of weeks, I could not sleep all night. As I was restlessly prowling around the house, I took out my Out of the Wilderness book and started reading it. As I reread June 3rd entry and several more entries where He talked about the art book that is to bring down Heaven's desire to give life and life abundant, I knew that the time is NOW, because it is a prophetic word from seven years ago, asking me to do a prophetic act that is for this time, not only for our lives, but also for our nation.

In a month, December 1st, I will be doing a whole day workshop on healing at the Pasadena International House of Prayer (PIHOP). Today, end of October, they are having the national directors of Healing Rooms do a workshop on healing.  My session is the next in line. I said to God, "Are you kidding?  What do I have to say about healing!"  I believe He is saying, "Plenty!" It won't be about training people to pray for healing, but it would be to share on the stance of the bride of Christ to combat the spirit of infirmity - how she embraces life and life abundant, how her mind is being transformed into the mind of Christ as she thinks on whatever is true and lovely and beautiful and excellent and praiseworthy.(Philippians 4:8) - all that He has been painstakingly speaking into me in the cavern of my heart tucked in the cavern of His heart. Please pray  for me so I will not be distracted. 

An interesting God-news.  My one and only copy of a paperback bound book of  The Rising Up of the Warrior Bride of Christ, A Prophetic Journey, which was hidden from me for many years, is on its way to the federal penitentiary, to be read by a brother in the Lord who is in total solitary confinement for 20  some years and not allowed to have any communication with the outside world except with his immediate family. The Lord has been visiting him and speaking to him and transporting him out of the walls of the prison to do His assignments in different parts of the world - yes, much like Philip who was transported to the desert to minister to the eunuch who was studying the book of Isaiah. He is starting to paint, and his ex-chaplain who is not allowed to write with him, found my website and ordered my book so he can learn about prophetic art. Pray that this book will reach his hand in good time (normally it would be two months before he gets his mail). Pray for the release of the anointing of these painting-words to come upon him. Perchance there be a transference of the prophetic anointing that was on me to him. Amen!    

 

Hallelujah! one more upgrade adventure!

written October 8, 2012

Had no idea that my making it to the Aglow National Conference in Ontario (almost 2 hours away from SD) this past Friday and Saturday would be so critical to my cough/no voice syndrome plus receiving a key word for all of us. He is an amazing God!

Each of the last three adventures - to Pasadena International House of Prayer (PIHOP) to speak on creativity and joy, to the Chinese fellowship in Glendale, and the unplanned trip to the Aglow conference with me still coughing and unable to speak - were "dire straits," or narrow paths that were risky and so uncomfortable, except that by God's grace I stayed on course. Now I already see in my spirit that the fruits, the rewards are HUGE. Thank you for praying for me to make these trips and not to say "No" to God because they are not sensible or smart. Thank God! Thank God! Thank God!

Quickly, about the cough and the loss of voice syndrome. When I rose 10 ft. tall as the fearless warrior bride to speak to my fellow Chinese in Los Angeles, and my voice came forth from my belly full of the Holy Spirit, I really believed that the cough would go away after my talk and my voice returned to normal. But it was not so! I continued to cough and to have no voice. I was miserable and disappointed. In the days following my cough got worse. My every thought was about my symptoms. How could that be when I experienced His miracle at the fellowship? It's not just about the cough and no voice, it was really more about all the prayers from the saints and the faith and the conquering spirit in me that triumphed over circumstances and sickness. The detective part of my spirit knew something was amiss. What was it!  The night before the trip to Aglow conference I could not sleep. I said to God," What hapened to me, God? How did I go from a 10 ft. tall warrior bride to a victim-like person? What went wrong, God? This was not supposed to be my story."

Then the Lord showd me what really happened after my talk: I got careless and from there went into pity party and worry.  I was miffed at God for not healing my cough and voice. That opened the door for the enemy to whisper to me, "Poor Jean! You even had to teach your classes when you had no voice because you needed the income. So sad. Look at your circumstance now - you no longer have the option to be sick anymore. Is God really taking care of your needs?" I woke up to the ploy of the enemy when I could "hear" what he was really saying to me and I was agreeing with. Quickly I asked God to forgive me and I put everything back into His hands - cough, no voice, tiredness and whatever His timing was for healing me. I even began to thank Him for the cough, knowing that He would turn everything to good, even the cough.

On the last session where Graham Cooke spoke, because of my cough(where I have had to run to the restroom due to the coughs), I chose to go to the overflow room where there was practically nobody but me. As Graham began to speak, he chit-chatted with us. Suddenly, out of the blue, I heard him say,"Yeah! Yesterday I felt my voice come under attack. I said to myself, Well, when the enemy attacks my voice, it must mean that he is deadly scared of what I am about to say."  Just like that, I knew the why of my cough and the loss of voice. I knew it has to do with my speaking on the ancient Chinese written words!  The enemy tried to stop me from going to the Chinese fellowship to speak, but failed to do so. That is nothing compared to what God is showing me about the Chinese characters (in C.H. Kang's book on The Discovery of Genesis) that has to do with the creation of the WOMAN out of the rib of the MAN, and the ensuing life of companionship of this woman and this man. I already know He is about to show me something so key, so fundamental about MARRIAGE through those characters our ancients had invented about the life of the TWO humans in that garden. So many characters were about TWO people, not three, not a group, but always, TWO humans. I actually have been waiting to get done with the three out-of-town assignments so I can hide away and listen to Him showing me about the Garden marriage through these characters. It will be a part of  the NEW MAN-NEW MARRIAGE He wants me to write on.

Now hear this. After the Graham Cooke's session, I walked out to meet up with streams of people coming out of the auditorium.  I ran into Pastor Mike Hubbard from Oceanside. We stopped and talked for a few minutes.  He asked me a strange question. "Jean, can you help me out?  I am going to Fuzhow to speak to Chinese men about marriage. I need to have some Chinese characters about marriage."  I looked at him and said, "Interesting you should ask. I am about to write (a book) about such Chinese characters ( which will cast light on God's thought on marriage)"  I know that Mike does not know about Kang's book on Discovery of Genesis, How the Truths Were Found Hidden in the Chinese Language." He just wanted some Chinese calligraphy written for him. But this is what the enemy is scared of. To this day, in China, women are still minority and are abused and mistreated by their husbands, even Christian men. It is culturally acceptable. The enemy cannot afford for me to discover what God wants to show me, and for me to write His revelation down and to share with my readers who pray and also with Mike who is going to China to teach and retrain the Chinese men in their thinking about women and their treatments of their wives. It is important that we identify the ploy of the enemy and expose him, because it renders null and void his wile and scheme against us. 

I want to write so badly about what Graham shared on UPGRADES but it will have to be another report. But let me just slip this in for now-please know that upgrades from God for His people are super important in this day and time. Every time we release all of our fears and worries and anger and bitterness and discouragement and low self-esteem, etc.etc. to God, really, really let them go into His hands, the Holy Spirit is free to give us upgrades from the Father for our lives. Upgrades come from our standing between God the Father and God the Son as they converse and love on each other and we get to receive their joy and peace and thoughts and plans. The Holy Spirit just smile ear to ear as He keep us in that position of love. Also, He gets to take us on adventures to do mighty deeds with Him and for Him.

My eyes are opened now. What I have shared with you in these three emails are my choosing to release my fears and worries to God and the resulting UPGRADES or adventures or creativity and joy I got in return. They were 10-fold, 40-fold, 90-fold kingdom rewards or fruits. It is so important that more and more of God's people release every single one of our worries and fears and issues to Him, even name them one by one, and drop them into Jesus' lap, and not go back to take them back into our own hands again. Then and only then, when we are free to receive His love, He can give us our upgrades. Oh the joy of going into adventures with Him, and bringing back so much fruits!

Adventure into "Creativity and Joy"

written September 6, 2012

Psalm 118

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his loves endures forever...

In my anguish I cried to the Lord, and He answered by setting me free...

They surrounded me on every side, but in the name of the Lord I cut them off.

They swarmed around me like bees, but the Lord helped me.

I was pushed back and about to fall, but the Lord helped me.

The Lord is my strength and my song;

he has become my salvation.

Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous:

"The Lord's right hand is lifted high; the Lord's right hand has done a mighty thing."

I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done.

The Lord has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death.

It was testing and training the whole way for going to do the workshop at Pasadena International House of Prayer (PIHOP).The enemy continued to hit, but the Lord continued to train. I was in the school of the overcomer, and this assignment was pretty high level and God had to train me well to handle this. I was going through what Chuck Pierce calls "dire strait." That's what you and I are experiencing in so many ways. Such a tiny opening and guarded by the enemy, but we must get through that dire passage to get to the next portion of our destiny, the next clearing where we can "see" what is up ahead for us. So important.

But God met me in those dire passages. In the last three days before the workshop on September 1st, I got three painting-words that I was to bring to the workshop. First it was the "Mountain of God" which came the next morning after my heart palpitation episode. This came with passages from Revelation that were given to me to eat. That morning I was stuck with five dilemmas in my life and I was hearing Him tell me, "You come up higher and I will show you what must take place after this." It is climbing higher to be with Him, with nothing but being on a rock, face to face with Him, and singing the song of the overcomer. I knew in my spirit that things looked bad, but if I go up there to hang out with Him, I will KNOW. I proceeded to know by faith that all is well with everyone of those five dilemmas. Wow!

Sensing my weakness, I cried out to God to help me. He answered me by the following passages. Rev. 1:17: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive forever and ever. And I hold the keys of death and Hades. Write (or declare, or dance, or sing, etc.) therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. 

Next I got Rev. 2:7, "To him that overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life." ( I know that is why God keeps training me in the school of the overcomer, so that I will be kept alive by eating from the tree of life, and I believe that these painting-words are fruits from the Tree of Life and I have been kept alive by these painting-words, with special reference to cancer.)

Revelation 3:7 follows: "What he opens no one can shut and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name." (That speaks clearly to me because I know that on my part all I have is that I have kept His word and not denied His name. That is my two fish and five loaves of bread or my 1% to His 99% in the scheme of things.)

Revelation 3:11, "Hold on to what you have, so no one can take your crown."  (His training is strengthening my arms so I can hold on to what He has given me and not allow the enemy to rob, steal and kill. It is the warrior bride stance that He is developing in all of us. No more limpy arms, and victim-like mentality.)

During another midnight of hanging out with the Lord, Revelation 12 was given. He was giving me the interpretation about the woman who was giving birth and the dragon who was waiting to devour the child. The woman was the church, and she was about to give birth to "creativity and joy." It is the rising up of an army of creative people. Yes! Yes! an army of passionately creative people who are hearing, hearing, hearing from the Throne Room and receiving ideas, formulas, visions, sound, cures, inventions straight from the Creator God. Thus, a second painting-word was added to bring to PIHOP- the Tidal Wave 2. He was saying to us that this next tidal wave will not be like The Call tidal wave of 2001. Rather, this tidal wave will bring in the Renaissance period with an outpouring of creativity and joy unlike anything we have seen or heard or imagined, thus sweeping many into the kingdom of God. 

As an aside, let me share a story of my teaching art. For the last 4 years or so, God has been coming to my Chinese brush painting classes. Before that, I was burned out teaching a bunch of atheists, intellectuals, new-agers, eastern religion proponents.I wanted to quit teaching. But He said He would come to my classes if I continued to teach.  From then on my classes became the joy of my life. When I was teaching and demonstrating, I would see my students listening with such focus, sometimes with tears brimming their eyes. I could not preach about Jesus, but Jesus was giving them kingdom principles. I was able to take these pre-believers to underground passages and show them how to paint from deep within the caverns of their hearts. I took note that my students were turning into children who laugh and play in His Garden. These are people who would not step into a church, nor hold a Bible, but God is preparing to sweep them one day into His kingdom through the outpouring of creativity and joy.

On Friday, August 31st, the Lord revealed that the third word I was to share at PIHOP was the "Sunflower" painting-word. This painting was the second one that God gave me in 1993. It was about joy.  The scripture was "anointing you with the oil of joy."(Psalm 45:7).  I saw a vision of a heart with a stout white pipeline stuck on its side pointing up to heaven. The Lord said to me at that time, "I am pouring out the oil of joy into your heart and the heart of my people. This joy is not of the earth, but purely of heaven." Yet, at 1:30 AM of Sept.1, I was up asking the Lord how was I going to speak about joy when I rarely feel joy. Creativity, yes, but not joy. People with my background in depression do not experience joy very often. Yet at the night hour I felt as if I was going through a birthing experience. I was groaning and rocking in the spirit participating in something His Spirit was doing. It was a deep experience that was more than I could comprehend. I knew then that my going to PIHOP was to birth something important in the spirit, with the help of those who would attend the workshop.

As we drove up to Pasadena, I was so tired from lack of sleep and all the warfare. I told God, "Look!  I don't have an ounce of strength left to do a 21/2 hour workshop. But I give You all I have."  As soon as I stepped through the doorway of PIHOP, all tiredness left. There was so much peace in that building. I felt spiritual energy flowing into me. Gone was any thought of warfare or concern of any sort. All I can tell you is that I sensed such presence of the Holy Spirit the whole time I was speaking. I never had time and energy to organize my talk, so I simply flowed with the Spirit and it was great. I felt so safe there with these people I had never met before. I felt so confident and sure-footed as a mountain goat. I took my time developing the thoughts from the Lord, point by point.  I got to share everything the Holy Spirit entrusted me to share. What luxury to have that kind of ease in sharing His kingdom thoughts with fellow lovers of God.  After my talk we went into prayer. Then I got to pray for a lot of people there. Just about everyone was connecting with God in deep ways, with tears flowing down their faces. We were full of joy.

 Psalm 126 is what happened to us there:

When the Lord brought back the captive to Zion,

we were like men who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter,

our tonues with songs of joy.

Then it was said among the nations,

"The Lord has done great things for them."

The Lord has done great things for us,

and we are filled with joy.

Restore our fortunes, O Lord,

like streams in the Negev.

Those who sow in tears

will reap with songs of joy.

He who goes out weeping,

carrying seeds to sow,

will return with songs of joy,

carrying sheaves with him.