Amazing Testimonies of God’s Awesome Work in December!

Dear Presence-seeking family,

Today is the day for testimonies and ministry updates from December through now, and from all God has done in the last month or so through your work and mine together with Him!

I am so thankful to our Papa, and I’m thankful for you. Thank you for your monthly partnerships, donations, product purchases, comments, letters and notes of encouragement, and SO MUCH MORE that make God’s work through this blog possible.

Here’s what has happened since the last update in the middle of December, through the present–glory to God!

December was a very busy month for me personally, as my husband and I travelled to visit his family in another state, about 10 hours away. He had a tragic death in his family, so he had to drive up about a week before I went. Then, I had to travel separately to join him just before Christmas. It was a very busy time.

But, despite all that, we were still able to get the Gospel out! Check it out:

• I edited the audio from all 4 of the 21 Kisses sermons (releasing later this week, as part of our series on healing from rejection and abandonment)!
• PLUS edited audio from 3 more sermons in my 10-part Intro to Dreams, Visions, Tattoos, and Strange Events teaching series (which I recorded in 2014, but haven’t ever edited and made available in my shopping cart).
• With the help of my lovely friends, Maria and Courtney, I taught 1 Bible journaling class about prophetic dream interpretation to a group of teenagers, adults, and children at my local church. (Two classes total in December, but I already told you about one of them in the last update.)
• Organized and coordinated one prophetic ministry workshop at my church. We ended up having half of it (last Friday night) and the other half got cancelled due to inclement weather, so we’ll have to reschedule it. But anyway, we had a great crowd of attendees; the speakers (my friends Mimi and Kirk) were amazing; and I was so blessed just hearing the word of the Lord from them.
• Helped a missionary in Mexico improve her website to increase her support.
• Using your donations, provided material provision for 5 individuals with physical needs.
• Released a total of 21 blog posts in the month of December (not counting my little “Merry Christmas” note).
• Have already released 5 more blog posts in January so far, not counting today’s (this update is the 6th).
• Completed 16 mentoring sessions with people whom I disciple personally here in my hometown.
• Taught 3 webinars total in December–2 paid and one free. (These I’ve already mentioned to you.)
• Led 3 intercessory prayer and worship meetings at my local church.
• Mentored a group of Gospel writers in the art of marketing their work, so they can reach people for Jesus.
• Sent out multiple encouraging words via email only to members of Presence Seekers University, my free, email-based equipping program.

I also had several prophetic words published by outside venues (SpiritFuel.me and iBelieve.com).

The biggest labor of love in December was releasing all the blog posts and editing audio.

To give you an idea of the time it takes, yesterday’s post about inner healing took me all morning–about 4 hours of work–to produce. Just one post.

It also takes me about 2 hours to edit the audio from one sermon of about 45 minutes in duration. And the 21 Kisses and dream interpretation sermons/teachings are sometimes up to an hour in length … so you can imagine how much time that takes.

That’s not counting answering emails and comments (on which I’m very behind still), ministry here in person in my hometown, or all the other tons of things that are necessary in order to keep the blog running.

So, thank you. TIME really is the thing that makes this work happen, and your partnerships, donations, and product purchases are what God has used to redeem my time.

I’m not telling you this to brag about how much work I’ve put in. But I do want you to know that I am not sitting at home watching Happy Valley re-runs with the money you give through donations, partnerships, and product purchases.

No … I’m working, and I’m working hard. I take it very seriously to be a good steward of the resources Papa has provided for me to preach the Gospel with.

And, in December, we reached 57,774 pageviews on this blog!

That’s a little lower than November, but it’s because–oddly enough–around the holidays (Thanksgiving in November here in the USA, and Christmas in December), people are not online reading blogs much. They are spending time with their families, and running around frantically from appointment to appointment.

Therefore, some drop in traffic is expected across the whole blogging industry in November and December. However, in January, traffic has increased significantly already–higher than it’s ever been before. Thank God for that! People are hungry for God’s Word!

A couple other wonderful ministry updates:

I’m beyond thrilled that I was accepted into Pastor Judy Jacobs‘ mentoring program for female ministers! This is huge to me, and it’s going to be so helpful. Thank You, Lord.

I am grateful.

Also, as you know, I also applied in November to be an intern, volunteering writing and editing services for The Call. I really want to serve there if they can use me.

Anyway, I heard from them yesterday, and I will be talking with them on the phone in the next few days. Yay! I hope to be able to help there if possible. I’m passionate about stadium Christianity, and seeing the Gospel go forth with power again to turn the whole nation back to God. And that’s what The Call is all about.

Also: God made a way for something else amazing!

Through the generosity of several precious blog readers, one of whom generously invited us to stay in her home–THANK YOU, you know who you are!–a fellow intercessor and I are going to be able to go to The Call’s 222 intercessory prayer meeting in Colorado Springs in February!

I am so thankful.

Fasting and prayer is one of the things I am driven, compelled, to in my whole life. And getting to be around others who share the same passion fuels me and fires me up, more than almost anything else (besides the Word, of course).

Filling up on what you were born for is absolutely essential.

So, dear ones who have sent donations lately, and who have helped us with lodging–THANK YOU.

Go, Jesus!

And, my first-ever contribution to a book in-print from an actual publishing company released!

I have a contribution to a Cru Press (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ) anthology, which just released!

The book is called Dating During The Apocalypse (and Other Conversations on God, Sex, and Life), and it’s available here from Cru Press! 

This book contains powerful, personal, transparent stories about love, sex, healthy relationships and boundaries, knowing God, and more. I’m so honored to have been a part. My contribution was my blog post called Dear Beauty With the Orphan Heart …, which you can read in full here.

When I received my copy in the mail, I devoured it immediately. It is a wonderful read, full of wonderful stories and encouragement.

If you need a book that will encourage your young-adult daughter, or if you are in college or your young adult years, I can’t recommend this book enough. Check it out today!

Here are some neat testimonies from readers:

An email from a precious reader after reading a blog post about rest:

“Jamie, I want to hug you right now. I so needed this word. This is me to the T, everything you said. Just before reading this post, I thought to myself. I should be listening to praise and worship or something, but I was just sitting here, no TV, which I don’t normally watch anyway, and no music just silence. I didn’t feel lead to pray about certain situation. I was actually tried of praying about it. I was just in the zone, and thought what is going on with me. Now I know. Thank you!” – J

From a reader who is getting a sneak peek at the dreams-and-visions series:

“I have listened to your dream lesson twice. Girl you nailed it! The whole evil forboding thing! I thought I was just crazy and the only one that would have these awful mental pictures! I mean straight-out-of-a-suspense-movie stuff! I about fell off the couch when you spoke about it in the lesson. I love that now if it happens. I know exactly what it is and how to come against it!!”

and

“I totally finished the other two classes … and again wow! I will be listening to them again … and probably again … I have really enjoyed them that much and [they] have truly helped me!” – H

And testimonies from blog readers regarding some of December’s posts:

“Thank you Jamie! Your blog posts the last few days have really spoken to me. I have been through an excruciating several months and felt so invisible and misunderstood and asking God, what now? This so speaks to my spirit. Blessings on you and your ministry!” – B

and

“Thank you for this word I felt Him speaking to me and I am so in awe of what was spoken I was hidden with no friends or family and recently God has been using me to bring his people that needed to know that they were not alone and in need of a touch from God to be encouraged and feel loved and brought back home to the Lord . Hallelujah I accept the new challenge Abba Father! I love you Lord ???????” – S

and

“Praise God I was sitting in expectation in my heart for a Word from the Lord and in your obedience I received it. Thank you. I will mutter over this word and cherish it in my heart and say “yes” to my new assignment. I have felt for years that there is more for me to do with all that God has invested in me, and that my efforts have not been fully seen by some in authority over me; yet my service was always to the Lord. Thanks again and Happy Happy New Year 2017. Grace to you.” – A

and

“Oh my,my, my!!!! Yes, this relates to me, and how specifically it relates to me!!! I’m sitting in awe, the Word was too powerful for me to stand in awe!! I’m in an humbled position to receive His Word and His instructions. Years flooded my face as I read this. Many of the words were my own prayers to the Lord. I so grateful that the Lord has sent you Jamie as His vessel to continue to encourage, equip, and build me up!! May the Lord bless you 100 fold for you service!!” – K

Also, this month, I saw:

• A sister encouraged to say no to the enemy’s lies and yes to Papa’s love.
• A sister encouraged to help get her family’s living situation back on track so they can live in abundance and victory.

And I promised last month that I’d be accountable for soul care on an ongoing basis, so …

You will be proud. I have gone for walks several days now, and am trying to get a routine going so I can exercise daily. I’m also doing so much better about eating healthy food. These things are really helping me stay on track physically.

Also, since you all began praying for me over the last month or so, I’ve been sleeping better!

I still wake up sometimes in the middle of the night when God wakes me up, but those non-God sleep interruptions have almost disappeared! Thank you so much for praying!

Well, that sums up December. God has done so much.

Throughout 2016, I felt like 2016 was one of the worst years of my life. However, around New Year’s, I felt led to make a list of all the things to be thankful for that God did in 2016. So I did.

And you know what? That list was 3 pages long.

Seriously.

Making that list made all the difference in the world. It showed me that, even though 2016 felt like the worst year of my life, in reality it was the greatest year of my life.

Not great as in “enjoyable.” No, it wasn’t enjoyable at all. But it was great in the sense of greatest impact; greatest blessing from the Lord; greatest spiritual and character growth.

I’m so thankful. And I am thankful for you, for allowing God to use you to help me reach people for Jesus.

If you haven’t already done so, please consider partnering with me financially to help me continue reaching people. You can set your own partnership amount. I have partners at $5, $8, $10, $20, and even over $100 per month. Every gift counts.

If the Lord is leading you to help me, click here to sign up to be a monthly partner on my Gumroad store.

Beloved, thank you. Thank you for everything.

And I bless you with this blessing today:

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace” (Numbers 6:24-26).

Together with you in His harvest field,
Jamie