Day 15, Paragraph 15 of Weekday Blog #1

*Starting our morning and day off great with the 10-minute Weekday Blog*

Our first DAILY blog for each Weekday in JUNE!

Thank you for joining us for this
ground-breaking JOURNEY...
through the 1st CHAPTER of Keith's book,
“Keep the FAITH…Keep Your VISION”!

If you will read this book in its entirety, then you will be equipped
to begin walking with the confidence and authority that Jesus Christ came and died to provide for us, in order that we may work *with* Him, be *fulfilled* in our work, lead a *successful life*, and...
      

Day FIFTEEN,
Paragraph FIFTEEN:

    
Consider what the enemies of God said to those who were reviving the wall of Jerusalem in obedience to the great calling of God. God had put the calling into the heart of His servant Nehemiah as he described in chapter 2, verse 12, "And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon." Then, observe the import of the lying words of the enemies of God in Nehemiah 4 (scripture in bold below). "The thing is too great for you!" they said. Nehemiah and those with him were seen as small and despised in the eyes of their enemies. What is not so evident is this: because God was with Nehemiah and the builders, their enemies were actually saying that the thing was too great for God. Hence, God was small and despised in their eyes, and all of their words of condemnation applied directly to the Lord God, as Scripture says in Romans 15:3, "For even Christ pleased not Himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on Me."

Question to ponder:

What are some of the lying words that are aborting the gifts and callings of God in the lives of people today?  _________________________________________

Keith's "Comments from the Author":

"One of the most important lessons, among many, that we can learn from Christ Jesus and His making His way to the cross, is that He 'finished.' I can remember when I managed an RV dealership, there was a young man who needed help to get back on his feet and I hired him to help out in our service department. After his first week on the payroll, I learned about a disturbing pattern in his work habits. One day the manager of our service department came to my office and asked me to step outside where she had something she felt that I needed to see. She led me to the service area, pointed at two of the motor homes, and asked me what I saw wrong with that picture. After taking a moment to look around, I answered her saying, 'Judging from the parts and tools laying on the ground around those two coaches, they look to still need to get finished. Is that what you are referring to?' She said, 'Exactly! The coaches are NOT finished because the young man you hired talks like he knows what he's doing, but, after he gets a good start on a job, he drops what he's doing and moves on to something else or another job.' She was telling me that the young man did not know how to 'finish' what he starts. Luke chapter 14 addresses the importance of counting the cost of a task, and making sure to be equipped to finish what we start, '...which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?' (Luke 14:28) Counting the cost includes measuring the resistance that we will likely have leveled against us, both by people around us and by satan's wicked spirits working against us in word and deed. It is crucial that we understand that, when we start to do something, if we don't 'finish', it discredits us and God in the eyes of those watching. Our unfinished project gives satan an occasion to accuse God of not being able to fulfill His promise in the lives of those people who observed our lack of following through and 'finishing'. The young guy I hired, in the eyes of those watching his incomplete work, was discredited, and I was discredited as the hiring manager. Additionally, in the eyes of the customers we were serving, who didn't receive the product we promised them, the entire company was discredited. Opposite of the example of the young service department worker, Jesus set the example for us to count the cost, and to 'finish'! So, my word of advice is: If you believe that God has called you to do something, put your hands to the task, press through the resistance and criticism of those who come trying to defeat you and abort your calling, cross the 'finish' line just as you were called by God to do, and watch God be glorified! The calling fulfilled will be something that you 'finished', working together with God - you IN Him, Him IN you, the two of you in ONEness. Selah."

"But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews. And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they receive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned? Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall."  (Nehemiah 4:1-3)


WE PRAY YOU HAVE A FUN WEEKEND...
... FILLED with fresh visions of God!
... FILLED with unfathomable joy in Christ Jesus!
... FILLED with wisdom that only the Person of The Holy Spirit brings!

*See you Monday, and pass a personal invitation to your friends! God bless and keep you!*

_____________________________

This book is based on real-life matters that are crucial for each of us to embrace in our life. To ask questions, make a special donation for a large quantity of books, or if you would like to share a testimony or prayer request with us, please click for e-mail, or write a letter and mail it to the address shown on our website, and as provided below.

We pray God bless you greatly as you have greatly blessed us and the entire Toward The Mark, Inc. Family!

Your friends & servants in Christ,

Take me back to the top of this post.

Take me to yesterday's post, *Day 14*.

Take me to the first post of this week, *DAY 11*.

Take me to the first post of last week, *DAY 6*.

Take me to the beginning, *DAY 1* of this Blog.

To Show GOD BIG in a World that Sees Him small… 
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.  The complete collection of original podcasts, music, blogs, books, CDs, and other resources of Toward The Mark, Inc. are made possible by the prayer and financial contributions of the TTM Support Family.  We'd like to welcome you onboard TODAY!

We INVITE You ... to follow and share these resources that are available as well, for helping build your faith in God, His Will, and His Ways:

~    "Keith Shealy & Wisdom Wednesday" on Facebook 

      

~  "TTM Singing Sergeant" on Twitter
~  "Sharing Messages God Whispers" on the website
~  "Between The Lines TTM Podcast" by Keith Shealy 

      

This blog message, along with the rest of our inventory of Bible-based resources, is made possible by the support of our faithful monthly partners. Would you consider helping us expand our outreach capabilities by becoming a monthly financial partner? Your support will go toward fulfilling our God-given calling to help provide effective, contemporary outreach tools, available to everyone, the churched and un-churched alike, for getting to know 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 3:14)

CLICK HERE to make a tax-deductible contribution securely by PayPal.

Every gift is tax-deductible and helps, and we thank you for it!

Mail tax-deductible contributions by check to the order of:
Toward The Mark, Inc., P.O. Box 1152, Yorktown, VA 23692-1152. 

Thank you in advance for sowing your financial seed into the fertile soil of this ministry! We pray God bless you with a 100-fold return for your generosity!

Day 6, Paragraph 6 of Weekday Blog #1

*Starting our morning and day off great with the 10-minute Weekday Blog*

Our first DAILY blog, every Weekday in JUNE!

Thank you for joining us for this
ground-breaking JOURNEY...
through the 1st CHAPTER of Keith's book,
“Keep the FAITH…Keep Your VISION”!

If you will read this book in its entirety, then you will be equipped
to begin walking with the confidence and authority that Jesus Christ
came and died to provide for us, in order that we may work *with*
Him, be *fulfilled* in our work, lead a *successful life*, and...
      

Day SIX,
Paragraph SIX:

    
I admit, even after I had become a Christian, I had it all backwards until the Holy Spirit taught me otherwise.  It all came about when I began wondering why I did not feel more strongly about the abortion issue than I did.  As I sought the Lord concerning my obvious lack of empathy for the babies being aborted, I was shown something that would forever change the way I felt.  I was focusing on how bad the aborting of little babies was, while totally missing the fact of the bigger picture:  human life is much more than the physical body.

Question to ponder:

How is it that satan has been so effective at killing millions of God’s Children in the womb?  _________________________________________

Keith's Comments:

"That same sentiment that I had early on about the sin of abortion is the same deceptive lie that is fueling the abortion problem today.  The truth of the abortion issue is centered on God being the Consummate Family Man, His great passion for each of His Children, and the bitter, jealous hatred that satan is consumed with toward God.  Satan knows that, if he can reduce the ‘child’ in the womb to a lifeless non-entity in the eyes of people in society, he can manipulate our country’s legislators into perpetuating the mass slaughter of God’s children.  By blinding so many people to the fact that a little child is a spirit and soul developing in the womb, as well as physical body, satan has been able to downplay the priceless and unique value of each child.  Through deception, he has blinded millions in the world to the truth of a child being a living, three-part entity: spirit, soul, and body, in that order, and not just the body.

PS.  Please know, if you have had an abortion, Jesus Christ stands ready to forgive you of the decisions that you have made in the past, if you will simply ask Him.  It is also crucially important that you know, and remember, that God will not condemn you.  God convicts us, by His precious Holy Spirit, for the purpose of leading us into His loving, waiting, and open arms, after we have fallen.  On the other hand, condemnation comes from satan, to attack us for our wrong-doings.  It is important for us to know that, even though we have asked God to forgive us of our sins, satan will not stop his attempts at condemning us for those sins of the past.  Be strong and remember, ‘It’s not our falling in the water that causes us to drown.  We drown because we refuse to make our way o-u-t of the water.’  Press on!”

"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.  Abstain from all appearance of evil.  And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly;  and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it." (1 Thessalonians 5:21-24)

_____________________________

This book is based on real-life matters that are crucial for each one of us to embrace in our life. To ask questions, make a special donation for a large quantity of books, or if you would like to share a testimony or prayer request with us, please click for e-mail, or write a letter and mail it to the address shown on our website, and as provided below.

We pray God bless you greatly as you have greatly blessed us and the entire Toward The Mark, Inc. Family!

Your friends & servants in Christ,

Take me back to the top of this page.

Take me to the top of the previous post *DAY 5* posted June 5th.

Take me to the beginning *DAY 1* posted June 1st.

To Show GOD BIG in a World that Sees Him small… 
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.  The complete collection of original podcasts, music, blogs, books, CDs, and other resources of Toward The Mark, Inc. are made possible by the prayer and financial contributions of the TTM Support Family.  We'd like to welcome you onboard TODAY!

We INVITE You ... to follow and share these resources that are available as well, for helping build your faith in God, His Will, and His Ways:

~  "Keith Shealy & Toward The Mark" on Facebook
~  "TTM Singing Sergeant" on Twitter
~  "Sharing Messages God Whispers" on the website
~  "Between The Lines TTM Podcast" by Keith Shealy 

      

This blog message, along with the rest of our inventory of Bible-based resources, is made possible by the support of our faithful monthly partners. Would you consider helping us expand our outreach capabilities by becoming a monthly financial partner? Your support will go toward fulfilling our God-given calling to help provide effective, contemporary outreach tools, available to everyone, the churched and un-churched alike, for getting to know 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 3:14)

CLICK HERE to make a tax-deductible contribution securely by PayPal.

Every gift is tax-deductible and helps, and we thank you for it!

Mail tax-deductible contributions by check to the order of:
Toward The Mark, Inc., P.O. Box 1152, Yorktown, VA 23692-1152. 

Thank you in advance for sowing your financial seed into the fertile soil of this ministry! We pray God bless you with a 100-fold return for your generosity!

Day 5, Paragraph 5 of Weekday Blog #1

*Starting our morning and day off great with the 10-minute Weekday Blog*

Our first DAILY blog, every Weekday in JUNE!

Thank you for joining us for this
ground-breaking JOURNEY...
through the 1st CHAPTER of Keith's book,
“Keep the FAITH…Keep Your VISION”!

If you will read this book in its entirety, then you will be equipped
to begin walking with the confidence and authority that Jesus Christ
came and died to provide for us, in order that we may work *with*
Him, be *fulfilled* in our work, lead a *successful life*, and...
      

Day FIVE,
Paragraph FIVE:

    
Now, when we commit ourselves to God for the fulfillment of His will, there is something that is of utmost importance for us to understand.  We must expect to be confronted, and to face attacks, by the enemy as he comes to abort God's will for our lives.  I use the word "abort" quite deliberately here.  Abortion is an inflammatory term, one that stirs the emotions.  The Church (the True Believers in Christ) and many folks in secular society view the abortion of an unborn child as a great evil.  There are many other people who view abortion as a "bad thing", at worst.  Those who do not know God or His ways cannot understand that "abortion" is one of the "Seven Abominations" as written in God's Holy Word in Proverbs 6:16-19, "These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto Him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren."

Question to ponder:

When we turn to God for the fulfillment of His will, what are some examples of how the enemy might attack or confront us in our life?  _________________________________________

Keith's "Comments from the Author":

"As crude as this may be as an example of the enemy's resistance to our turning away from him, I would like to draw your attention to the young ladies who get drawn into the bondage of prostitution and of pimps.  When a young lady who has gotten herself caught up in prostitution decides she wants to break out of it, her pimp is going to be standing between her and her freedom from the control the prostitution has taken over her life.  She must want out very badly to accept the resistance that she will face before she can be free.  Why?  The pimp makes a whole lot of money by keeping control over her life, her work, and her staying right where he wants her.  If the pimp loses that control over her, he loses the money that comes to him through her, and he would rather kill her than let go of the money and power.  There are stories we hear about a pimp relentlessly chasing the woman down for trying to get out of the ring she has become bound to.  He torments her in horrific ways to convince her that she will not be able to survive without him and he will kill her if she doesn't come back.  Just as the pimp will use brutal or deadly intimidation and fear tactics to keep the prostitute from getting away from him for good, satan uses those same tactics to keep folks away from God.  In my experience, I know this to be true of satan and his ways.  When I left the secular rock-n-roll business to pursue God with all of my heart, satan and his wicked spirits relentlessly attacked my mind using the fiery darts of thoughts, tempting me to return to my old ways and sinful nature.  In great part, that battle I fought, the battle we all fight, to put to death the old sinful nature to make way into God, is what Paul referred to when he said, ‘I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith' (2 Timothy 4:7).  I would also like to note how important the next thing is that Paul referred to, ‘the crown of righteousness' that the Lord God has laid up for 'all them that also love His appearing'.  Paul is not only referring to Christ’s 'appearing' to all of us at His second coming before judgement, but to all who are constantly looking to see Him, themselves, personally.  Much like a child looks, with great anticipation, for their daddy to come through the door at the end of each day, the person who constantly looks for God to show Himself in person, place, or circumstances within their life, is the one who lives with expectation and joy in each day here on earth, in this earthen vessel.”

"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:  Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing."
(2 Timothy 4:7-8)


WE PRAY YOU HAVE A FUN WEEKEND...
... FILLED with fresh visions of God!
... FILLED with unfathomable joy in Christ Jesus!
... FILLED with wisdom that only the Person of The Holy Spirit brings!

*See you Monday, and invite your friends too! God bless and keep you!*

_____________________________

This book is based on real-life matters that are crucial for each one of us to embrace in our life. To ask questions, make a special donation for a large quantity of books, or if you would like to share a testimony or prayer request with us, please click for e-mail, or write a letter and mail it to the address shown on our website, and as provided below.

We pray God bless you greatly as you have greatly blessed us and the entire Toward The Mark, Inc. Family!

Your friends & servants in Christ,

Take me back to the top of this page.

Take me to the top of yesterday's page *DAY 4*

Take me to the top of *DAY 3*

Take me to the top of *DAY 2*.

Take me to the top of *DAY 1*

To Show GOD BIG in a World that Sees Him small… 
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.  The complete collection of original podcasts, music, blogs, books, CDs, and other resources of Toward The Mark, Inc. are made possible by the prayer and financial contributions of the TTM Support Family.  We'd like to welcome you onboard TODAY!

We INVITE You ... to follow and share these resources that are available as well, for helping build your faith in God, His Will, and His Ways:

~ "Keith Shealy & Toward The Mark" on Facebook
~ "TTM Singing Sergeant" on Twitter
~ Keith Shealy's "Between The Lines Podcast" on Libsyn
~ "Sharing Messages God Whispers" on the website

This blog message, along with the rest of our inventory of Bible-based resources, is made possible by the support of our faithful monthly partners. Would you consider helping us expand our outreach capabilities by becoming a monthly financial partner? Your support will go toward fulfilling our God-given calling to help provide effective, contemporary outreach tools, available to everyone, the churched and un-churched alike, for getting to know 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 3:14)

CLICK HERE to make a tax-deductible contribution securely by PayPal.

Every gift is tax-deductible and helps, and we thank you for it!

Mail tax-deductible contributions by check to the order of:
Toward The Mark, Inc., P.O. Box 1152, Yorktown, VA 23692-1152. 

Thank you in advance for sowing your financial seed into the fertile soil of this ministry! We pray God bless you with a 100-fold return for your generosity!