Every Valley is Exalted -Every Mountain Made Low Isaiah 40

For a little over a year the Lord has been encouraging me to be more vulnerable around my brothers and sisters in Christ. At first I was thinking..."show people my weaknesses...yikes! I have been working for 25 years to hide my faults and you want me to show them off?" But this persisted for a long season so I decided it was time to trust that this really was a good thing for me or at the very least it would be a blessing to others.

So I've been out there allowing others to see my weaknesses. If someone asks me how I'm doing I don't give the standard, "I'm just fine...I'm blessed and highly favored..." I would tell them. "God is doing a good work but I have days where I'm just a mess." This would often open a door for others to share with me about how they feel overwhelmed and not able to walk out this thing we call the "Christian Life".

I was set free in my thinking recently by a video I watched by Bill Johnson that stated that it is not by accident that we cannot "do" the Christian life. It's actually impossible for us to do this thing we call being a Christian. It says in the Bible that we would do greater works than Jesus... hmm... that will make your brain cells wilt if you think on that for too long. It's impossible, right?

Well, it's not impossible if we are weak and He is strong through us.

Several weeks ago, I heard the Father say to go buy an accompaniment track from the Christian Book store. Then I called our worship leader and I was put on the schedule to sing in our worship service. There was a few weeks between the purchase of the CD and me actually singing... In the meantime...

We had some circumstance arise that were very difficult and disturbing. I will admit, it was a trial that caused me to feel fear in the pit of my gut. It's too personal to state the details but indeed it was the roar of the enemy to try to get me to retreat. I felt condemned in my heart that I had even caused this difficult thing to fall upon our family.

So the day comes that I'm going to sing. I will tell you that it was not a pretty picture. I had shed more tears that week than I thought were humanly possible. I could not sing the song in practice without choking up and weeping. The song the Father chose for me was "Call on Jesus" by Nicole C. Mullen. That morning before I sang, my husband and I had a terrible fight... I was irrational and acting like a wee baby in Christ rather than a strong woman of God that many see... or I've allow them to see...

So I'm sitting on the end of my bed, weeping and still in my p.j.s and I'm supposed to be walking out the door to sing. I tell my husband to please call the worship leader and make some excuse.... but just after he tried to call, I heard the Father say, "If you will go and sing, I will show everyone in the room what MY GRACE looks like..." So, I choose to believe what the Father tells me and I throw on some clothes and drive to church.

I stood before my church family, with a tear stained face, shaking like I had never shook before. I told them I was up there as a vulnerable sister. I told them I had cried all week due to a difficult situation and a mountain was laughing at me all the way to the Church building. I told them I wanted them to do something that morning. I told them that if they had a mountain laughing at them as well, that they were to write the name of that mountain on a little piece of paper and along with me stand with their foot on the paper as a sign of their faith.

I sang the lyrics,

"When I call on Jesus,
All things are possible
I can mount on wings like eagles' and soar
When I call on Jesus,
Mountains are gonna fall
'Cause He'll move heaven and earth to come rescue me when I call"

The presence of God was amazing! And I felt like a battle was won in the spiritual realm that day. The gates of hell did not prevail. The mountain was still standing at that point but certainly the foundation was cracked. Indeed, the molecules of that mountain were disturbed since only a few weeks later a VICTORY was brought to us.

I could do nothing to affect my circumstances. I could do nothing to cause the victory. It was out of my hands but that mountain fell. It crumbled and it was so obviously the work of God.

Zech 4 Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’
Says the LORD of hosts.
‘ Who are you, O great mountain?
Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain!
And he shall bring forth the capstone
With shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’”

God is Not in the Business of Fixing Junk: He's in the Business of Restoration

I had been chewing on it for several months before I felt brave enough to make this my status update on Facebook:

"God's not trying to fix the old me...nope... the old me died. He made me a NEW CREATION IN CHRIST. So I will discontinue trying to fix a corpse."

It's only been a few months since I have discovered that God is not interested in fixing my old nature. I knew the Word of God says that we are a New Creation in Christ Jesus, but some how missed the part that God is not interested in behavior modification.


He does not want to fix the stuff in my life or your life that is broken. At least not fix the old sinful natural man born of Adam's seed. I was re-born of the Last Adam (Jesus) so I am reborn of incorruptible seed. We just have to have it revealed to us who we really are.


I knew that the Word says we are overcomers in Christ and that no weapon formed against us shall ever prosper, but it seems for so many things in my life that I was not overcoming and not prospering. I knew 3 John 1;2 that says, "Beloved I pray that you would be prospering and be in health just as your soul is prospering" but I would think this was something I did to make my soul prosper. I would sincerely ask God to purge me of the weak or bad character flaws that kept me from living a victorious life. I would ask God to show me how to overcome that junk that remained in my life. I was asking God to fix my old sinful nature.


This is good to want to change. It's good to want to live a more holy life and be a better example of a Christian. I would even see some change at times in my life to overcome some really yucky, unholy, shameful junk that seems to stick to me like slime. I would seem to change and even proclaim a victory but then the same junk would just keep creeping back in my life and I would be right back at square one.


Why is this? It's seems pretty simple to me now. God is in the business of restoration. He does not want to fix the old junk you (your sinful nature) Nope! He is using a process that is called sanctification (1 Thes 5:23) that does not fix the old nature but reveals the New Creation to your mind. If we can understand in our soul or mind about who we are IN CHRIST then we will start living it. However, I have proven the opposite to be true in my life. If see myself as junk that needs to be fixed then I will continue to identify myself as broken junk never able to do the job I was designed to accomplish.


When I really got a hold of the truth that I was crucified with Christ, then buried with him, that qualified my old sinful nature as DEAD!!! I died! My old yucky, sinful, unholy person died and also was buried. I did not know that I was not to dig it up and ask God to fix it. Sounds rather silly now. I'm a brand New Creation. I was qualified to partake of the divine nature (Col 1:12). God had to do this because His Holy Spirit could not dwell in an unholy habitation. That's why the Holy Spirit only visited the Old Testament believers. They were not redeemed by Christ so they could house or be the tabernacle of the Most High God. Hallelujah! That we can have His Spirit dwell within us.


If I believe I am a sinner that is saved by grace then I continue to identify with being a sinful creature. But I I know that I'm the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Cor 5:21) then I start to identify myself with God's righteousness inside of my new nature. God needed me transformed into a holy vessel because a Holy God cannot live inside of an unholy habitation.


The moment I was born-again I was made holy and righteous because of His grace toward me. It is unmerited favor of course. I did nothing to deserve such a gift and in the same manner I can do nothing to deserve God continuing to work in me to transform my inward nature to my outward life. This is God's business. I can only cooperate by choosing to believe that this process is taking place.


So my new motto: "Nice people do nice things but changed people change a culture." Since I now recognize that I'm a New Creation and not some piece of junk that God is trying to fix up. It is a truth that is setting me free!

The irony of laboring to enter His rest.

It’s Labor Day here in the USA. It’s our holiday to honor the extremely hard-working folks who go to work to make this country great. It’s about celebrating the many generations of people who decided they could get ahead if they would just do their best. They knew their efforts would be rewarded as they labored to make their lives better and the lives of their families. Those of us who know God, know that He has blessed our nation but working hard is one of those factors of how He blessed us. Working is noble and I am proud of the people in this country that work hard and make it what it is today.

From our Christian perspective, I was thinking about our laboring. I used to approach serving God from a standpoint of fear of being punished or missing out on a blessing if I didn’t do the work that I thought was required of me. I even thought of prayer as one of those works that would please God and get the attention of my Father in Heaven. This process of a works mentality was very exhausting and kept me bound to some very destructive habits in my spiritual life.

I had a notion that serving God meant I did things like praying, giving, fasting, reading my bible, working in the church building, as well as committing to projects that my pastor and the other leaders of the church were promoting. These were all good things. They were all healthy things IF I had a proper perspective and appropriate mindset. I did not. I thought DO these things equaled blessing.

No we are blessed because we HAVE the blessing. The blessing is the Spirit of Christ dwelling on the inside. Eph 1:13-14 In Him you also who have heard the Word of Truth, the glad tidings (Gospel) of your salvation, and have believed in and adhered to and relied on Him, were stamped with the seal of the long-promised Holy Spirit. That [Spirit] is the guarantee of our inheritance [the firstfruits, the pledge and foretaste, the down payment on our heritage], in anticipation of its full redemption and our acquiring [complete] possession of it--to the praise of His glory.

We are co-laborers with Christ. That does not mean we work along side of Christ. Nope. It means He works in us and through us as we are IN CHRIST JESUS.

You and I are actually dead. The old man died when I became born-again. This is very important to realize if we are to understand what it means to rest in the finished work of Christ or the Cross.

Jesus did all the work. He labored so I could rest. I have to laugh at the irony in Hebrews chapter 4. We are told to labor to enter into His rest. Well, I guess that makes sense. It’s my natural mindset to try to work to make God happy. I asked Him to even work on me to perfect me, which is contrary to the Good News. God is not trying to fix my old nature.

He made me a NEW CREATION in Christ Jesus. So I need to stop trying to fix that corpse. So as a Christian brother reminded me recently, we labor to rid ourselves of the erroneous beliefs. This takes time and is a process. Hallelujah! We can labor to enter His Rest.

I need to continue to grow in the knowledge that I am not that old corpse but a brand New Creation and no longer from the seed of the first Adam but from the Seed of the Last Adam. Wow! Take a minute and wrap your mind around that. I am --and you are --now born of incorruptible SEED.

So if you are still thinking you need to work for God to be blessed, take some time and ask the Holy Spirit to show you this process of resting in the finished work of Christ. I promise you He will be faithful and begin a good work in you that will change your Christian walk from a chore to a daily Sabbath Rest.

Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush

I must admit it is still hard for me to be transparent and allow people to see how I walk through this thing we call "Life." I finished my book on 8/16 and submitted to my publisher. It was a huge joy the whole time I was writing it and although at time tedious to read and re-read my work it felt like I was being encouraged over and over by the very teaching I wanted to bring to others. So it was a huge shock and disappointment for me to awake exactly one week later feeling like a load of bricks was on my chest.

Of course I prayed and took my authority over this attack. After a few days, I was still not feeling well and my blood pressure was still very high, I went to see my doctor. No surprises there that he said to continue to take my prescribed medication to keep my blood pressure in a healthy range. But still a couple weeks later with controlled blood pressure, I was feeling extreme fatigue and aches in my body.

Of course the enemy tried to lie to me and tell me that depression was upon me again along with all the symptoms of pain, fatigue, anxiety and the whole dung pile. Well, I knew that was a lie. God does not heal us to see us go back under the same oppression but honestly, I felt like I was missing a key to healing. What I was missing was THE Key to walking in the strength of the Lord.

A few days ago, I was having a delightful conversation with a dear friend who was telling me about how God delivered her from a besetting sin. She shared with me the account in 2 Samuel 5 where David went up against the Philistines in the place that is called Baalperazim ( Breakthrough). David was also instructed to listen for the sound in the tops of the mulberry trees.

My dear friend's testimony of God's goodness and grace to change her from the inside out was like a drink of fresh water in my season of discouragement. I was a bit afraid she took it the wrong way when I laughed aloud with joy when she said this account made her think of the song "Here We Go'Round the Mulberry Bush". Her whit and desire to share how God brought her through was inspirational. I thought it's true, these strongholds of sin or sickness are like the song "Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush"

So as we look at this account we see that David's army destroyed the enemy, but they left a bunch of junk laying around. It says in verse 21 that they were to burn it but this word in the Hebrew is nasa' and it means to lift, bear up, carry, take [1) to lift, lift up2) to bear, carry, support, sustain, endure3) to take, take away, carry off, forgive.] So this junk just sat around--it doesn't say if they used it. Maybe it just lay on the ground getting rusty, but if the word does not mean they actually got rid of it.

If the junk stayed with the Israelite army, could one say it's like mixing the truth with the lies left over from before our breakthrough took place?

The next few verses explain that David's enemy is getting very numerous and congregating in the Valley of Rephaim which is the same word we get the name of God "The Lord our Healer" (rapha' ) So the enemy invaded and grew numerous in the Valley of Healing. Talk about making me pay attention to this story! At that point, I was struggling with the issue of healing again. I was feeling an urgency in my spirit to rid myself of some lies that were left over from after my breakthrough! It was no coincidence that my friend asked me to have coffee with her and told me her testimony and how this scripture played a big part in her deliverance.

So David was instructed to go the long way around and then wait to hear the sound in the tops of the mulberry trees. This word for sound is qowl and it is the same word used to describe the voice of God when Adam and Eve were hiding in the garden after their original sin. I hope this has your attention as well. Adam and Eve's original sin was not believing God.

They chose to believe the serpent and went after stuff that they already had in their possession. They believed they lacked something they already had.

Go to Genesis chapter 3 and see the serpent temped them to 1: "to take the fruit because they saw that the tree was good (suitable, pleasant) for food and 2) that it was delightful to look at, and 3) a tree to be desired in order to make one wise". They already had all of this in their intimate relationship with God. I too have been guilty of going after stuff that I already possess. I too, was feeling like I was lacking something and needed to go after something. Once again the Lord revealed to me, it was a perceived lack.

So let's sum up this account in 2 Samuel 5: 20-25

*Victory in the place of Breakthrough
*David's army does not burn the junk left over by the Philistines
*The Philistines overtake the Valley of Healing
*David is told to go the long way around and wait until he hears the 'sound' in the top of the Mulberry trees which is the same root word for God's voice.
*David once again is victorious over the Philistines and destroys the enemy in the Valley of Healing.

Are you getting excited to hear what God told me next?

I told you I was asking God for an understanding of truth to know if I was holding onto some false believe about healing and lacking some truth concerning walking in divine health. I was asking God and expecting Him to reveal to me a truth that I had previously missed KNOWING that this would bring healing to my body.

The following is what a Facebook friend posted on His wall within moments of my healing:

If a son shall ask for bread (of grace) of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone (of the law)? Luke11: 11~ Beloved, we are to feed this generation with the pure bread of grace, without the stone of the law! Did Jesus say feed my sheep, or discipline my sheep? Jesus said, feed my sheep, not beat my sheep with the law!"

"Beloved, in the old covenant under the law, you would have to be willing and obedient to eat the good of the land! But in the new covenant of grace the word "obedient" has been "replaced" with the word "believe!" So when you read the old covenant, read it with grace eyes like this: If ye be willing to believe, you shall eat the good of the land! Isaiah 1: 19 When we believe right we will be blessed!"~Rudy Rodriguez

THIS was the sound in the top of the mulberry trees--THIS was the sound of the voice of God. I needed to put away my notion that obedience is the way God will use me. I need to trust that Jesus did everything--including obedience to obtain everything for life and godliness. I need to rest in the finished work of the Cross for everything including obedience. I have to trust that submitting to God's way --grace-- will cause me to walk in obedience.

The Old Covenant was obey and be blessed. The New Covenant is BELIEVE you are blessed.

The Horse and His Boy...Do you know who you are?

Do we know who we are?

I love the Chronicles of Narnia and believe that Mr. Lewis did an excellent job in writing a fictitious depiction of our relationship with Christ (the Lion named Aslan) and who we are as the Church. My favorite story from this series is The Horse and His Boy.

Like the beginning of many great tales, the protagonist is a baby who was separated from his birth parents and raised by a cruel, fisherman who treated Shasta like a slave. Shasta overhears his supposed father is willing to sell him to a man on his way to another land. Shasta is so poorly treated by this fisherman, whom he thought was his father, he declines to think this might be for his best and says aloud that he will go peacefully with this new master.

This causes the potential master’s horse to speak up and declare this master to be even more cruel than the man posing as Shasta’s father. This talking horse is from Narnia explains they should together runaway to his homeland where they could both be free from slavery. This horse named Bree explains that many animals talk in the land of Narnia and along the way they meet another talking horse, Hwin, and her newly emancipated rider named Arivis. Together they venture toward Narnia but there are lions that cause them veer off course and go into an unknown land.

I’ve read this story more than a few times and must admit I weep when I get to the parts of the story where it seems hopeless for Shasta. He grew up believing he was the son of a cruel fisherman and was made to feel like less than human. Shasta had to learn who he really was. He had to endure many hardships along the path until he discovered his true identity as an heir to the throne of his original homeland. If he had even a hint of knowledge of the amount of people that cared about him and wished him the best, he would not have felt so discouraged.

If he had known that he possessed the authority in the land to send away his enemies, he would not have felt so helpless in the face of danger. If he had known is true identity then Shasta would have stood tall and brave. It still would have been a difficult journey but the knowledge of what he had waiting for him, a kingdom, would have given him hope to press on.

Who are you? The Word of God says you are a royal priest. You are a joint heir with Christ. You are seated with Christ in heavenly places. You are blessed and favored of the Most High God. You are accepted. You are the righteousness of God in Christ.

Maybe somehow the enemy of your soul has convinced you that you are a slave to sin and a dishonorable subject of the kingdom. Maybe this enemy has taken advantage of you and told you are unworthy because of your sin. You think this is true because your true birthright has been hidden from you. The Gospel is the good news that Jesus came and paid the price for you to have life and have it more abundantly. Your sins have not only been forgiven, but removed as far as the east is from the west and you are now righteous in God’s sight because Jesus donned you with this robe of righteousness. You do not have to jump through a series of religious hoops to get God to accept you. You do not have to prove your worth. Being in Christ means that Jesus is all you need. He paid the price. I like the saying: Jesus plus nothing.

Just like Shasta, you are royalty and once you are aware of who you really are in Christ, then I will send my condolences to your enemy cause he is through with bullying the sons of God.

Season of Seeking Excerpt "Hedged in by God's Grace"

"You have Jesus in your heart so how can you be depressed when His joy lives on the inside of you?” All truth, but none of the statements of that nature penetrated my heart. My heart hurt, my body felt sick, and just getting out of bed was an extreme effort.

In retrospect, I had a stronghold in my mind and believed that if God wanted me well then he would just “poof” make me well. Therefore, I continued to be ill and depressed, all the while believing I was waiting on God to come to me and heal me.

My idea of faith was that God could heal me, and even wanted to heal me but would do so in His own time. In the back of my mind, I believed I was being taught some type of lesson to purge me of sin. I was convinced that this purging would eventually come to an end, and I would be holy and healed.

This cycle of sickness, depression, anxiety, and physical pain continued even through giving birth to two beautiful, healthy daughters. For most of that time, because of my ignorance to the truth in God’s Word, the enemy of my soul was able to pummel me into submitting to his lies. One of those lies was that I was convinced that I was nothing more than a second-class citizen of Heaven who lacked the faith to receive my healing.

When I heard preaching or teaching on healing, the ravenous birds of the evil realm would come and steal the seed that God desired to be sown in my heart. (Luke 8) Deep down, I believed there was hope, but wondered if I would exist this way for the rest of my life. I continued to do all the things I believed were right to gain my healing. “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Proverbs 14:12

I did have one tool of spiritual warfare of which I was not ignorant. I was a worshiper. I poured my heart into worship. I sincerely sought God with my whole heart, mind and strength. In the same manner as when I started college, I began to pursue my relationship with God just like I pursued my career in the music profession.

Worshiping God did cause my spiritual eyes, at times, to have a peek into the heart of the Father. This act of worship was the very key to giving me the strength and hope I needed for this very long season, until I could understand how to receive healing by faith in the finished work of Christ. I am grateful for my spiritual mentors encouraging me to “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.” (Psalm 100:4)

I was passionate for God! I cried out to Him day and night and believed someday I would get my healing that I had read about in my Bible. But, the Word of God does not say that we perish for a lack of passion, or a lack of love, or a lack of worship, does it? It says in Hosea 4: 6, “My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge.” I was lacking knowledge and an understanding of the truth in God’s Word that would set me free.

Excerpt from Chapter 6 "Hedged in by God's Grace"

Near the end of November that year, at 2 o’clock in the morning, I stood by my kitchen sink, weeping once more. I hesitantly decided to ask the Lord if I could start the medication again. After I prayed by my kitchen sink, I didn’t hear Him answer. I purposed to ask Him again, as I glanced toward the cabinet where the medication was stored. This time, I heard him answer, “Yes, but then the medication gets the glory.”

I got angry! Not at God, but at the devil. I recognized this as an attack from Satan. The enemy was pushing my buttons, trying to see if I would give in. He was trying to see if he could cross my boundaries and get me to walk right back into that prison of depression and sickness. You see, this time was different; the tears were not accompanied by any of the other symptoms. I was not sad, not achy with the chronic pain, and not confused. I was tired, but that was from the constant weeping. I had the fear of an anxiety attack looming over me, but never anything that could not be controlled with a simple prayer and a deep cleansing breath. I heard in my mind, “This is a test, only a test, brought to you by your local lying devil.”

Right there in the middle of my kitchen, I did something I had never done before. I commanded the devil to take his hands off my mind and my body. I commanded my brain chemicals to line up with what the Word of God said about me. I had been repeating scripture to myself for months, which said I was not cursed but blessed.

I was convinced I had the mind of Christ, as well as not having a spirit of fear but of love, power and a sound mind. I believed I was a conqueror in Christ Jesus, and I was seated with Christ in Heavenly places. I came to realize I had a foundational belief that Satan did not have the right to rob me of my health or sound mind. (1Corinthians 2; 2Timothy 1:7; Romans 8:37; Galatians 3:13; Ephesians 2:6)

In less than a few minutes, the tears suddenly dammed up. The weeping had ceased. I felt a sense of being empowered with the knowledge that the attack was over and I had caused it to happen by my God-given authority in Jesus’ Name. I felt a rush of peace and joy, as well as a feeling of complete health in my body and mind.

I had discovered, in a somewhat serendipitous moment, that I could speak to my mind and body as well as the enemy, to get some pretty powerful results. I know God’s Spirit led me into this truth. but honestly, I didn’t know I had it in me to command my body back into a position of perfect health and harmony.

My soul was flooded with peace and hope. Even though it was almost December, I felt like spring had come to my heart. I was walking in a new dimension of living. I was convinced I could control of my mind and body because I knew what the Word of God said about me being set free by the power of the sacrifice of Christ.

I still had a lot to learn, but I had the basic pieces to the puzzle at this point in time. I knew the truth that is stated in Isaiah 54:17 “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.”