Sometimes I Forget to Write

I realized as I opened this document that it has been over a month since my last post. My bad ya’ll. As I am typing I am wrapped in a blanket on the couch watching the fire I built smolder out. It has gotten cold here. It also has been raining for several days strait. The worst part is that if it were just a bit colder it would snow.

First I would like to thank everybody who is supporting me with their prayers and finances. Your contributions have changed my life. I'm serious. Also I would like to thank you for the contributions to my missions fund. I still have a good bit to go but God is faithful and I have met my first deadline. So much love there.

As far as what is happening at school it would be impossible to recount exactly what has happened here this month. So I will give you a basic overview. Supernatural ministry is the norm here. I am seeing miracles regularly. One night I prayed and saw two backs and a shoulder healed. At Sunday Night Service it is not common for whoever is speaking to call out certain ailments from injuries to desires and then see them immediately healed after the congregation circles around them and prays for them. My friend Toni was called out prayed for and has been crossing off allergies from the medical bracelet she no longer wears. The thing you might find surprising is that we don’t really here much preaching on miracles or power. Our teaching focuses primarily our identity in Christ. Once you know who you are and the power you have it just becomes normal. You spend your days chasing God and when you run into miracle opportunities you just act.

Thanksgiving was great. I friend of mine flew in from the great state of GA and we went camping in the Redwood National Forrest. It poured down rain, snowed, and the temperatures dipped below freezing. In the morning I could feel my hands or feet. We probably almost died but adventure is always worth it!

Also thanks to the best Grandma in the world! (I mean it. I’ll fight about it.) I will be coming home for Christmas and not just in my dreams, I will fly in on the 18th at around 11pm! I am so excited to hear a southern draw and talk to a boy who isn’t wearing skinny jeans. I respect the people and their style I just don’t prefer it. I am also excited to see green plants, the sun, and the beach!!! To smell the salt air is to smell heaven! (Actually heaven has a different sort of smell. It’s like incense. I smelled it the other day in worship. And no I’m sure it wasn’t hippies they hunt them in this part of California.) Any way, please feel free to call and schedule some hang out time if you like. I would love to impart what I am learning to ya’ll. (And when I say schedule I mean just call before you come over to the house:) I miss and can’t wait to see you all.

Love,

Jessica

P.S. Perny98 sorry for not calling you back. It has been mad hear. I will find some time this weekend and we will knock it out.

So as part of my schooling here at Bethel I am asked to go on a missions trip in March. I had my interview about a week or so ago and the results are in! I am going to Kenya!!!! This is cool for many reasons but the two in the front of my mind are this:

1. My grandfather spent time working there.
2. I have a friend who was raised in the slums there and he served here in America for a summer as a missionary. Now I will get to honor and sow into his community. I also might get to see him; pray and cross your fingers.

While in Kenya my team will be involved in partnering with Heroes of the Nations Kenya’s largest orphanage as well as doing ministry in the slums. Bethel is a partner with this non-profit organization and has regularly been sending Bethel Students to these locations. I am super excited and honored to be a part of this rich tradition. If you would like more information you should check out these two websites: http://www.ibethelinternational.org/kenya/ and http://www.htn.org/
What’s that you ask? How can you help? Well let me tell you. I need to raise $2900 by February. My first deadline is Nov. 12th for $290. There are four ways to support me:

1. PRAY. This sounds obvious but it is still the most important. (Even if you don’t believe humor me.)
2. Send me money. My address is below.
3. Buy a sweet Kenya shirt. The picture to the left is the design and it is on a white shirt. I will get $11 dollars for every shirt you buy so get your friend to buy them too. Here is the link: http://www.cafepress.com/sodiumfree
4. Send me money and buy a shirt.

I appreciate all your prayers and support. Know that what you sow will not return void. If you have questions comments or concerns please feel free to call me. All my love.

Address
6850 Estrada Rd
Jacksonville Fl 32217

Down Came The Rain

So its now cold here and the rain is coming in sheets. This type of weather depresses me because I feel trapped inside. I am gonna start off with a prayer request today. I have been feeling a bit sad today. California is not my home and even as great as this place is I still haven’t seemed to settle in. I also don’t really get alone time because I share a room and it is starting to ware on me. I am an introvert when it comes to recharge time because I need to be alone and after two months of zero alone time I am spread a bit thin. So pray.

I wish I had time to share with you everything God is doing in my heart but there is not enough time or paper I don’t think, besides its good to keep secrets with God. So I will share with you one of my favorite things I learned this week. We have been learning to study the Bible and have been focusing on the story of Abraham in Genesis. Now I have grown up with the story and I wasn’t sure what else there was to get but God is very multi dimensional and always has something to teach. We focused in on the story of the sacrifice of Isaac. Now since my first Sunday school class when I actually quit screaming and went into the class I have learned about the terrible internal struggle of Abraham at God’s terrible request to sacrifice his only son! It has also been used to illustrate the need to sacrifice our dreams to God. Well I think that is all wrong. If you have your bible turn to Genesis 22 and read from verse 1 to 19. What I found was that the narrator doesn’t comment on emotions at all. In fact when they get to the place where Abraham leaves his servants he says we will go and WE will come back. What I realized is that in the larger context of Abraham’s life this story is not that crazy. God has been telling Abraham to do crazy things from the beginning. God also has been providing for Abraham even when Abraham decides he knows the best way to make God’s plans work, i.e. Hagar and Ishmael. This is not the story of an angry God who demands unrealistic things. This is the story of a beautiful relationship between God and Abraham. Abraham knew God so well he knew he could trust Him with his treasure his promise. This is a story about trust and reveals how good God really is. If you have some time ask God if there is any thing you have put on the altar to kill when really you should be looking for the ram in the bushes. God cares for the promises He has given us because He gave them to us.

I am sure all of you people know this but it absolutely blew my mind. God is good, even in the Old Testament:) So that’s all I got for today, drop me a line if you like. I would love to hear from ya’ll. Also thanks to anyone whop sent me a picture I am still getting them in so I will do judging soon. Also if you would like to send me one but missed the deadline that’s ok send it anyway. I love you all.

P.S. We had a pray for our nation rally that was awesome this week!!! But one of the coolest parts was that Jesus Culture led worship. It sure was a treat!

Prophecy, Gold Dust, Getting Touched (Appropriately)

Ok so I just realized it has been two weeks since my last post, yikers. No I am not dead just busy. I have a lot to say so bare with me. Just read as much as you can and then when your eyes start melting out of your head call me for the rest.

The week following retreat was totally dedicated to the prophetic. Kris Vallotton taught everyday for many hours on the subject. It was extremely eye opening. There is so much to say about that I am finding hard to find a place to start so maybe bullet points will be best.

• Anybody can prophesy. Some people are Prophets while some people have asked for the gift of prophecy. Unsaved people prophesy through a spirit of divination or they had the calling of a prophet and aren’t walking in it. (1 Cor. 12:4-11, Acts 11:28)
• Heaven isn’t the only voice you can here when listening into the spirit realm. Yourself and the demonic realm like to talk too. (1 John 4:1)
• Prophecy is meant to encourage and comfort so beware of negative words. They could be true but God will have a positive answer. Sometimes it’s the devil’s plan we are hearing so we should turn to the Lord and see what he wants to do about it.
• Our job is to find the gold inside people. We get to look past the sin trash and find out how God sees people and then call it forth. That is prophecy.
• Prophets under the new covenant of Christ are to bring reconciliation not doomsday prophesies.
• The gift of prophecy is a gift of the Holy Spirit and any one can have it. The office of a prophet is chosen by Jesus and is an assignment. (Ephesians 4:7-13 and 1 Cor. 12:4-11)
I realize this is general but if you want more scriptures call me or get the book yourself, Basic Training for the Prophetic Ministry.

Also that week I started my extra class, which is a Prophetic class and so that was cool. I also received my outreach assignment. For the rest of the year I will be doing Sidewalk Sunday School! So after many years away I will again make my début on the Kids Church stage. The difference being that the stage will just be attached to a bus and in a neighborhood. I will be assigned to the same neighborhood all year and I am excited for the relational opportunities that will provide.

This past week, if it’s possible, was even crazier. It was a short week because there is a conference going on. We started worship and that was great. The students started a fire tunnel, which was crazy powerful. The Bill Johnson comes on stage to speak and reads only one verse, “When an evil spirit is cast out of a man he goes and wanders in dry aired places seeking rest.” The he said, “Stay in the River. I don’t want to become dry and provide a place for the devil to find rest.” Then he got us all to line up and the staff did impartations. Bill walked around the room and prayed for every person. As he came close to where I was in line you could feel the power of the Holy Spirit. The Lord has trusted him with much. When he touched me I went down. God is so good. As I lay there I felt this overwhelming peace and rest. When it was time to go I was a bit grumpy, like I had been woken up from a nap just a tad to soon.

I wish you could feel what I feel. It is so much more than crying or falling over. These are only outward manifestations of what God is doing on the inside of me. My whole life I was taught never to chase a feeling but I know that to be slightly untrue now. When I am in these places where God radically moves the feeling of His love is over whelming and I do believe I will be chasing that feeling for the rest of my life.

Well that’s all for now I guess. I might post again tomorrow so be on the look out for that! I really should post everyday but I think they still might end up just as long.

Thanks to all for your prayer and support. I truly am honored. I love you all.

P.S. The Gold dust found in the title is because the day of impartation I got gold dust on my hands during worship. Cool right?

RETREAT!

I realize that as you read this title you might be thinking I have hit an obstacle and I am now running full force in the opposite direction. To this thought I say oh ye of little faith. The title is actually in reference to our Revival Group retreat we had this past week. To the left is a picture of said revival group. (I am the one with my eyes closed at the bottom right.) And let me tell you something: IT WAS AWESOME! We went up to this place called Richardson Springs in Chico, CA. It is an old 1920s hotel turned into a YWAM base. There we pray, played, and prophesied. Actually the Bethel staff did most of the prophesying but it was still great.

My favorite memory from this past weekend happened on the second night. We ended the evening in worship and then did a fire tunnel. A fire tunnel is when the staff forms a tunnel in pray over you as you go through. That part was cool the spirit gets so tangible and heavy that I fell down a couple of times. But that’s not even the best part. The bets part was when we finished the tunnel we cleared the room of chairs and danced. People pulled out flags and the room was filled with vibrant twirling colors. It is awesome to see men dance and twirl flags before God with total freedom and no shame. God is good. We danced for maybe half an hour in a room with about 300 people. It was powerful dance with a purpose. Stuff broke off people as we danced that night.

All this to say, if you need freedom dance. Don’t wait for the freedom to dance because as you worship you are in warfare and as you dance you are given your victory. It is like the story of Ester. God told the Israelites to celebrate victory the night before the battle. The next day they of course won the battle. We too should put this method into practice.

Thank you for your continued prayer and support. Drop me a line if you ever want to chat I would love to hear from you. I love you guys.

Aviram

Okay so here is a cool story…

I have been wanting to get a bicycle so I could have a speedy cool way to get around. So today I had some free time and I found this add on Craig’s List for a $35 Huffy bike. It looked like a pretty sweet ride. So I called up the lady and she was like, “The bike is still available so please come and take a look.” So I walk on over. Come to find out she just recently graduated from Bethel's 3rd year intern program. She had filled the tires up for me and told me to take a spin. I did, but honestly it was a formality for me at this point. So I said, “I’ll take it” and she said, “Take it for free. I believe the Lord told me to give you this bike.” I was like what!!! Then we thanked the Lord together and the Holy Spirit showed up and we got a little tipsy. So today the Lord has blessed me with a bike. God is so good!!!!! So rejoice with me and see what God does for you! I named him Aviram meaning, “My God is mighty”.



Also I have a little project going on called “Help End Whiteness.” This is a cry for help!!! The walls in my room look like the inside of an insane asylum. So in an attempt to avoid putting up padding I would like all of you to color me pictures that I can hang on my wall. If you are to poor to afford crayons and a stamp don't worry I won't judge you. But there is a competition for 1st through 3rd place. Get Ready. You have until October 6th. Have fun and good luck! Also, just so I've said it, nothing inappropriate please...
This is my address:

My House (Kind of...)
851 Mission de Oro Dr. Apt.39
Redding, CA 96003

Chupie Crew

Week two and I am still high as a kite! I have happy feet and I am sure if I had dancing shoes I would wear them.

First off, this post contains 3 sections. You are currently reading section one and if you stop now you will save yourself minutes of your life that you can never get back… or can you? But if you keep reading you will discover section one is the summary area of this post who love me 15 minutes much. The second section entitled “Who’s your Daddy?” is for people curious about my personal growth. Then section three entitled “What you see is What you Get” is an advertisement for anyone interested in my hand in marriage. That was a joke… It is a section of a sermon from school that I really loved.

Okay 15 minute crew here we go. School is amazing and I cry everyday as the Lord messages me into who He wants me to become. Right now school is focused heavily on how we perceive God and what our relationship looks like. “How we see God determines what we receive from God.” This is very stretching for my heart but I love it!!!!

I joined the set up and tear down crew for school. We set up and tear down the chairs… My captain is named Danny and his wife Lou is from England and one of my new favorites. I have decided I am a true American because if you have a British accent I am immediately drawn to you like a moth to a flame. What a goober. Our team is awesome and I ended up with a fiercely competitive bunch. We named our team “The Chupie Crew”. This name comes from the infamous el Chupacabra from Mexico a truly noble beast. What’s that, you’ve never heard of such a magical creature before? Then please educate yourself by clicking on this link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chupacabra And now you know. And knowing is half the battle.

Prayer requests are as follows. Pray the Lord will show me the purpose He created uniquely for me, reveals his love for me, I can retain all this without exploding, and that I will be found worthy for the mantle placed on my life. Also pray for my roommates (Heather, Rachael, April), my classmates, my teachers, my pastors, and the congregation at Bethel that so lovingly puts up with us.

That’s it for this section. So for you summary people I love you and call me cause I want to hear your beautiful voices.


Who’s You’re Daddy

Okay so week two here we go. As usual it was an awesome week but to be honest it didn’t start so great. Sunday night we had a Holy Spirit service. What that meant was we showed up to school and then we just waited on the Holy Spirit to direct us from there. So we started to worship and then continued to worship for 2 hours. It was great.

Well then the person who is leading says something to the effect of, “I really feel like there are some people here who haven’t ever really felt the love of God as a father.” It was like someone punched me in the stomach. “We just want to pray for and allow you to have that experience.” So they prayed and for the next 2 hours I cried. It wasn’t a happy freedom cry either it was a messy, snotty, I am so mad right now cry. The last song they played was like an Irish jig and everyone is rejoicing and dancing and I am in the corner in a puddle and mad. I didn’t exactly feel loved.

So Monday I prayed and felt a bit better but still a bit confused.

Tuesday came and it was time for school. One of the pastors Mark begins his talk entitled “Who’s your daddy?” I was thought well God’s still got my number. He goes onto explain how we see God is going to determine what we receive from God. In the parable of the talents the wicked servant who saw the Lord as a hard man received a hard punishment. The Lord began to show me how I saw are relationship. I am a soldier and what he says I will do. No love necessary, no emotional exchange just me doing what he wanted no questions asked. That is a bad attitude. It also provides a shallow pool with which to love others. My mind was blown. The way truth was spoken pierced my soul like a sword. We prayed and did some basic deliverance from lies about how the Father saw us. Then we sat on the floor and waited for Him to show up. He showed me a picture of my heart having bad spots peeled off like a potato (hence the 2 hour cry-fest on Sunday). Then He showed me a picture of Himself sitting next to me and rubbing my back. I am truly loved by God and this heart revelation is amazing!

What You See is What You Get

Here is a lesson from one of my teachers Kris. This is the readers digest version but I think you will enjoy it.

It comes out of Genesis 30. Jacob asks his payment to be all the speckled and spotted offspring of Laban’s heard. Laban says ok and Jacob takes the flock away to mate.

37Then Jacob took fresh rods of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white stripes in them, exposing the white which was in the rods.

38He set the rods which he had peeled in front of the flocks in the gutters, even in the watering troughs, where the flocks came to drink; and they mated when they came to drink.

39So the flocks mated by the rods, and the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted.

What the flock saw it reproduced and that is the same for us. What we see in our minds and the thoughts we keep there shape who we are. If you spend your whole life trying not to be something guess what has been in your head your whole life. Guess what you’ll become. If you serve the Lord for love instead of from love you are living under the curse of performance. That same curse is what the devil used on Adam and Eve. If you do something you will be like God. When a few verses before it says they were created in God’s image already. What are you called? What do you call yourself? Sticks and stones will break your bones but words will take away your future. The Lord calls you his child and his beloved. To believe anything else is to be like an eagle raised with chickens. Always pecking and wobbling not knowing you can fly. Do you call yourself a sinner? The good news is your not. The cross didn’t just take away your sin it gave you a new self. We are saints saved by grace. The question is, are we still gonna live like chickens? Our bondage stems from an identity crisis. We have forgotten who are daddy is.

I hope this makes since. It is a little scatter brained. If you would like me to explain something more in depth give me a call on my cell. If you would like to call and argue call my land line at 9-1-1.