Advancing God's Word ... At Home, In Our Schools, And On The Job!
Last week a dear pastor friend called and, before he even said hello, quickly asked, "Keith, what is The Lord saying to you r-i-g-h-t n-o-w?" In a short moment, I began to say exactly what I saw in my spirit.
"Jesus is saying that we must encourage God's beloved to encourage His beloved, being ready and willing to speak courage INto the lives of His faithful ones, to bring strength to those who have become weak, to refresh their spirits by speaking over them in prayer. We are to help repair the breaches in the hedge of protection God placed around His beloved, fortifying the hedge by 'calling those things which be not as though they were (Romans 4:17)', reminding them of their Heavenly Father's infinite love for them so their faith is built up so they can trust in Him, rest in Him, and wait on Him. He wants us to teach His beloved, His fiance' to have His Joy, to smile and laugh in the face of trials. We must be helping them to store God's Word in their hearts, to meet with Him personally, and often, so they can learn to hear Him by The Holy Spirit's Voice. Jesus' greatest desire is that we each pursue Him passionately, all of us, encouraging one another to 'be ye doers of The Word (James 1:22)' executing God's Word, both written and spoken."
After relaying what our wonder-full Lord was saying, as He had been relaying to me over the past few days, by His spirit, my friend paused and said, "Yesss!" I added, "Brother, all of us must be 'becoming God's end-time executives', believing Believers in Jesus Christ, just as consumed with being 'doers of God's Word' as we are about being 'hearers of God's Word'. Our job is to take God's Word and 'execute, execute, execute' constantly."
I wonder, what comes to mind when you hear the word "executive"?
This conversation takes me back to about seven years old, skateboarding in the driveway on a summer afternoon, when Dad pulled up in his company car as he was just coming home from work. Dad worked as a regional sales representative for a Fortune 500 company that manufactures medical products and laboratory supplies and equipment for hospitals, medical clinics, colleges for medicine, military medical groups, and other institutions. Dad got out of the car and said, "Keith, something happened at work today that I want to tell you about. Let's go inside."
We went inside where Mom had dinner ready. We set the table, sat down together to thank God for our food and family, and then Dad began smiling real big, almost giddy, as he said, "Well, your ol' dad here has just been awarded 'SALES EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR' for our entire company." My mom, brothers, and I clapped and made over him like he just won The Super Bowl single-handedly. Not only was this prestigious award a defining moment for Dad but it would mark the beginning of my life-long venture toward becoming an "executive" in business and more, as well! But, at that moment, my big question was, "What is an 'executive' really?"
As a result of Dad's great news, from that night on, the image for an "executive" began to form in my young mind. I kept seeing the daily image of my Dad heading to work in the morning dressed in a nice suit and carrying his brief case. Then, just weeks after Dad's announcement, a big-sized heavy package came in the mail. Seeing it had our whole family excited for Dad to open it. Dad had hit the top of his game as a top-level sales executive, and what he reached into the shipping box and pulled out proved it. He received a beautiful, 18-inch-high trophy with a tall sharp-dressed businessman on top carrying a briefcase, one foot in front of the other as if he was frozen in mid-stride, confidently walking forward, and Dad's name and award title was printed in large bronze letters on the front. That was 1962 and Dad's trophy still sits on his office Credenza to this day.
So, what is an "executive" really?
People who get to be called "executives" also get known for the nice, expensive suits they wear to work and the leather briefcase they carry everywhere, right? Well, over my years of searching for understanding, thanks to my late friend and mentor Myles Munroe's teaching on finding, and defining, the root word of a subject, I looked up the root word in the dictionary to learn the true definition of the noun "executive" by its action/verb root word "execute". The word execute, a transitive verb, is defined as, "1) To put into effect; to carry out. 2) To perform; to do: synonym: perform. 3) To create (a work of art, for example) in accordance with a prescribed design." So, an executive is one who executes, carries out, advances an objective. An executive is a producer who advances an agenda, through much effort, "executing" the objective of the company he/she is working for.
Eventually, The Holy Spirit taught me, and reinforced over and over in me, that an expensive suit wearer, carrying a leather briefcase, is not somebody who is qualified to be an "executive". You may know the funny little adage we've heard Christians say over the years in The Church, "Sitting in a pew at Church on Sunday makes a person a Christian about as much as standing in a garage makes a person a car." Seeing through God's eyes for the definition of an "executive" took me a bit by surprise. The Holy Spirit uploaded this to me, "The title of executive is reserved for the fruit-full." I began to see the men and women of different professions in a new light after this.
Employees, like Dad, are the serious movers and shakers, having a contagious passion for the company and products they promote and represent. I watched Dad eager to go to work every day, excited to "execute" the company's objectives, constantly striving to profit the company and their consumers all across the eastern region of the U.S. His passion for his job as an "executive" grew as he grew to know more about the company's products and benefits, easily able to promote and demonstrate the superior quality and benefits that await the purchasing agents that accept "his" products, over those of his competitors. Dad always made it a point to show respect and honor for all who he worked with, inside his company's offices and in the offices of prospective buyers. He was always thinking of how to better demonstrate the way he valued an individual person or group he met to shake hands with. Never once did Dad look away from someone he was engaged in talking with. He was disciplined to: --look a person in the eye when he was talking with them; --use the name of the person to show value for them as a person; and --giving a firm handshake to a potential client, even if they may not buy.
In corporate life, the level of excitement and passion an executive has for their products becomes clearly evident in the way that it spills over onto clients. Those executives with the greatest excitement and passion for their company and products can be easily recognized by the resulting deals they finish and close upon delivery, whatever the product is that they sell and represent for selling.
Dad modeled for me a passion to execute company objectives, to "brag on" his products, and treat others with respect no matter what. I learned to be a true "executive", being squared away with a good-paying white-collar job, wearing nice suits, driving a company car, having an expense account and plush office with my name on the door, and, most of all, passionately pursuing oneness in God, through Jesus Christ, by the leading of The Holy Spirit, working w-i-t-h The Holy Spirit to gain the knowledge and wisdom for "Becoming (one of) God's End-Time Executives".
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Much like it is in the corporate world, there are many people who go to work every day dressed in expensive suits, carrying the latest in electronic devices who are not true executives. Outwardly they look the part but inwardly they are fruitless, much like the fig tree Jesus cursed. (see Matthew 21:19-22) Rather than being an asset to a company and the achieving of it's goals they are a drain on the firm. Kind of like an NFL team paying a ball carrier who rarely shows up to practices and planning meetings that rarely if ever scores a touch down. When dressed out on the practice field or game day these impostors may look the part and appear to be ready for action, but their overall stats tell a different story, they are nonproductive.
In Jesus Christ's Church there are many people who attend multiple services weekly, they dress in expensive suits, carry bibles and own the latest in electronic communication devices but rarely read their bible or pursue Jesus Christ with their whole heart. These folks are sadly not true believers in Jesus Christ or the gospel He preaches. The late prophet of God Smith Wigglesworth referred to this sect of the Church as "unbelieving believers." These people in many cases can have an impressive number of scriptures memorized and can even quote them word for word but they are not doers of what God has given us His wonder-full Holy Scriptures to achieve.
The title of executive in The Holy Trinities eyes is reserved for the doers of God's Holy Word! "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth [therein], he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." James 1:22-25
The first real clue that The Holy Spirit gave to me concerning my quest of becoming one of God's executives was when He reminded me one evening while I was asking Him how I could become more fruitful for God's glory. I was suddenly reminded of how passionate my Dad was about his job, about the company he was a part of and about his obvious excitement about the products that they manufactured and were making available to the medical industry.
What The Holy Spirit reminded me of was the reason or the why for Dad's success. It was his excitement for his company and the products that they manufactured. I was reminded of how, more Dad would spend time in his office at home reading up on his companies products and their products second to none quality and capabilities. The more time he spent with the companies engineers who designed their products the more passionate he would become about those products and how their products would benefit the medical industry as a whole, the more he could not wait to schedule meetings with hospital purchasing agents, doctors and nurses to "brag-on' or to present the products that he was representing.
The Holy Spirit revealed to me that the same principals that promoted Dad to executive status in his business life are the same principals that, if followed, will result in our achieving executive status in our Father's eyes. Dad was so proud of the products that he had the privilege of representing. He was equally as passionate about and proud of the company he was honored to work with, so much so that, from the moment his feet hit the floor in the mornings till his head hit the pillow at night, Dad was thinking of ways that he could locate and make his products available to more medical professionals. He was always thinking of ways that he could announce to as many physicians as he possibly could of the superior quality of his products over his competitors, and most of all, how he could educate them about the benefits of their using his products. Benefits that would greatly improve their end results.
Go into all the world and preach the gospel.
As Christians we must all step back and examine ourselves, are we believing believers or are we unbelieving believers? Do we love Jesus Christ to the point that we are doers of His Word and not hearers only? Are we truly executives in our Father's eyes, those who are passionately pursuing and working with The Holy Trinity to advance Their dream in this earth or are we empty suits, those who are deceived into thinking that reading our bibles on occasion and attending church services one Sunday is enough?
As a ministry family and team here at Toward The Mark, our mission and vision is to lead everyone we come in contact with into the saving knowledge of our wonder-full King Jesus Christ! As that great day of our Lord's return draws closer with each passing day, who do you know that may need encouraged by this blog message you can forward on to them this week?
"The LORD gave the word: great was the company of those that published it (Psalm 68:11)."
sums up the reason Keith stepped out in faith to focus on reaching the lost and strengthening believers everywhere, through Toward The Mark, Inc. Keith and Brenda's prayer is that you will be encouraged and edified by the Secrets from God's Word that Keith recounts in our written and recorded products.
This blog channel, along with the complete collection of original podcasts, music, blogs, books, CDs, and other Bible-based resources of Toward The Mark, Inc. is made possible by the faithful prayer and financial support of the TTM Sponsorship Family. We'd like to invite you to come on-board, to become a part of the TTM Family as well, by becoming a monthly financial partner. Your support will go toward fulfilling our God-given calling to help provide effective, contemporary outreach tools that are available to everyone, the churched and un-churched alike, who desire to know more of the love, truth, and salvation of Jesus Christ. We invite you to partner with us, as we, "...press Toward The Mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14)
see and hear, follow and share, more from our TTM team:
~ Keith and Brenda "Becoming God's End Time Executives" on Keith Shealy's Between The Lines Podcast Channel
~ Special "CELEBRATING FREEDOM" Video on our Rumble Channel
~ The Shealys and Toward The Mark Videos on Vimeo
~ From our 1st-ever Audio Book "LETTERS FROM THE FRONT"
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To help you further your fight to victory through the battles that confront every one of us in these turbulent times we live in, get your copy of our book, " LETTERS FROM THE FRONT." In this collection of 12 letters written from the front lines of battle fought in the spiritual, natural, and theater of the mind, Keith's Scripture messages will build your faith and help you reach God's full potential for your life."LETTERS FROM THE FRONT"
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