The Bible Love Letter from God ...

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This Pressin' IN Toward The Mark blog post is written to aim our sights on God's Holy written Word, The Holy Bible, provided to all of us so that every person can seek God by investing themselves and their time inside of it. The Holy Bible, The Holy Scriptures, God's written Word, is so much more than “a book”. It is a collection of "Love Letters from our Father” and our LORD and Savior Christ Jesus, written by the leading of The Holy Spirit. This “The Bible Love Letter from God” message is our re-take of the “Love Letter from Your Father… in TWO Parts” blog post. We wrote both posts to proclaim how we have read, re-read, studied, and met with The Holy Spirit in the pages of God's Holy Scriptures, each time waiting as long as it takes to "hear" the voice of The Holy Spirit.

Now, to expound on the way we get to enjoy hearing the teaching, the voice, the words of comfort, and the leading of The Holy Spirit of Jesus, we’ve put a detailed instruction together. As we pray you will find for yourself what you may not know already, let’s get INto The printed Scriptures and rendezvous with The Holy Spirit there to experience the real “Life” He is always ready to bring... just like God repeatedly promises in His written Word - The Holy Bible.
"Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, The LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? [there is] no searching of His understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might He increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon The LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint (Isaiah 40:28-31)."

Thank you for joining us for another fun and encouraging journey as we, once again, set out to show GOD big in a world that sees Him small. We're writing about something that's really cool – one of our favorite subjects, “Love Letters from our Father” about the collective group of Love Letters God has had written to us through His apostles, prophets, and scribes down through the years - The Holy Bible... where we find “Home” i-n The Holy Trinity. There’s nothing like it! “Love Letters from our Father (God)” in The Holy Bible help us to, over time, "become one" in Him, through Christ Jesus, by the leading of The Holy Spirit.

Now letters can be a funny thing. We can tend to leave them lay on our desk where things can pile up around them, and they can disappear kind-of like our Holy Bible can. As an example, Brenda was in her closet the other day and told Keith about a big box of letters she forgot about up there. It is a box full of letters that she held on to during her military career, 20 years in the Air Force. While she was working her different assignments across the country and around the world, sometimes deployed away from home, sometimes in the foxholes, the closest thing to “home” she could put her hands on was a letter.

If you don't know who we are, don't know where we've been or what we're about, we'd like to share with you that, since she was a little girl, Brenda dreamed of serving in the United States Air Force. Now, with a 20-year career of serving our country under her belt, she in deed followed through with that dream. She used her skills in BioEnvironmental Engineering, Military Personnel management, and ambassadorship as she sang and danced with premiere music groups world-wide. Keith often commends Brenda for being one of the rare few who had a vision as a young person and actually saw it all the way through. Most of us don't know a whole lot of people that have kept with their visions they’ve had since they were a kid. One of them that we do know is Keith’s dad. And, actually, if somebody in your life is going to be steadfast at keeping that vision, and walking it through, it's good if it's a parent, and you get to see that.

When Brenda found those letters in that box, she saw them as a reflection of how the “Love Letters from our Father” are represented in The Holy Bible. A lot of people seem to look at The Holy Bible as “a book of do's and don’ts” but we look at it, especially these days, as a wonder-filled “Love Letter” that God provided for us to have and to live by. The Scriptures, The Holy Bible, has been preserved and passed down through all of The Old Testament and The New Testament history, which is longer than any book has ever lasted... over 3,600 years. It is definitely miraculous, only by God’s superintending Ways, that The Holy Bible, The Scriptures, God’s written Word to us, has been preserved and provided for the world to have, to study, to read, and most of all to be able to use as “a place of meeting with The Holy Trinity”. Because of God and His apostles, prophets, and scribes, we can read the “Love Letters from our Father” printed in The Holy Bible that is available to almost everybody in the world in almost every single language. We must cherish the “Love Letters from our Father” in our Holy Bible in our hearts, much like Brenda cherishes the letters she received from loved ones while she was working away from home.

Now, let’s get into some of the main reasons that we wanted to sit down and write “The Bible Love Letter from our Father” message for this blog post. Being able to get alone with our Heavenly Father to receive His Word of prophecy and wisdom for us, this is a most wonder-full reason for reading The Bible. In The Holy Bible, The Holy Spirit comes to meet with us. We ask Him to come and define God’s written Word for us as we read it with Him, together. He also defines what our Heavenly Father has for us, personally, at the very time we are reading it. God's written Word, The Holy Bible, is for intimacy, quality time, between us and our Father.

It's really cool that we're talking about our Father because there's a huge difference between “our dad” and “our Father”. I love my dad greatly, but The Love of my Father is even greater because my Father is God. Your Father is God. And, if you're reading this and you want to hear from your Father, we hope that you'll take from this message the way you can obtain the ability to hear The Voice of your loving Father speaking to you. It is a fact that your Father, God, is always wanting to talk to you. And The Holy Bible “Love Letters from our Father” plays a key part in “our communication”. The military used to use the term “communiques”. What is that? A communique is a written letter from one office wanting to correspond with another, often containing “personalized” and “confidential” messages. That's what The Bible is, written “Love Letters from our Father” containing personalized messages between God and us, personally.

Keith has always enjoyed watching old World War II movies. He and his dad had that quality in common. Often, in old war movies, you’ll have a scene where you hear somebody in the camp scream out “Mail call!” Everybody lit up because they were hoping to receive some mail, especially a personal letter from back home. For those individuals who were deployed, receiving those letters loved ones sent in the mail connected them by allowing the bonds to stay in place between them and their family. That is just what meant so much for Brenda and her loved ones. And she remembered it clearly when she ran across that box of letters from friends and loved ones back home... letters from her parents, sister, children, and precious family, as well as notes and letters she saved that she had written to her children when they were little.

Maybe you, like Brenda, have kept a collection of personally valuable letters too. Or maybe you didn’t keep personal letters and you wish you had. Brenda explains how, when she has low times in her life, when she has doubts about love or hope in her life, she would open those letters and remember how others care for her and how she loves and cares for others. Wow; How appropriate that we are doing this message about The Holy Bible, the greatest book of letters filled with The Love of God, “Love Letters from our Father” relaying to us His tender loving care and where we relay to God our care by simply w-a-n-t-i-n-g Him enough to spend time with Him there!

We think of The Holy Bible as “communication” from our Father, God. Our Father relays His instruction to us, but His Love for us is relayed to us first and foremost. He uses The Bible to also relay to us His correction as well as His direction about the boundaries we best set up in our Life so that we can stay “between the lines” so to speak. Especially think on how much we can learn about God by the way that He moved in the Lives of His people in The Bible that committed to Live by His blessed boundaries. Because of their love for God and His ways, the people and their testimonies tell us everything we need to know. Each time we start reading a few pages of the accounts written by God’s people, we wish we had all day to stay there reading and learning with The Holy spirit! It makes us wonder why our Bible so often sits on the shelf so long that it collects dust. Why aren't we in it more often?

More important than a million love letters from our parents, our brothers, sisters, friends, or anyone else in our lives, God’s written Word, The Holy Bible provides for us “one big Love Letter” from God that is a collection of the most blessed gift of all -- “communication” between us and Him! The Holy Bible messages are what God has had on His Heart for His children – us! These are the things He wants us to know so that we can have a full Life -- a Life filled with one-ness in Him in The Spirit. That is exactly what The Holy Bible is.

A lot of times we don't know what we don't know… until we find out. The Holy Bible is not “just a book”. So, when we begin to read The written Word of God, listening for The Holy Spirit to speak to us, things we hadn’t even thought about before suddenly “pops off of the page”. All distractions removed, noise and clutter removed, and it's “just us and God”... there we are positioned to hear His Word. We are set to expect to really hear Him tell us what He wants for us to know. It's a time for Him to talk with us and us with Him, a sweet exchange that nothing else compares to! We'll talk about this until the day God takes us Home because The Bible is God's “place of meeting with us” that is indescribably priceless to all who love Him and w-a-n-t Him and His Will for our lives.

God’s written Word is “the only book” that becomes “a place of meeting” when we open it to read God’s letters written to us with Love. This is why God has gone to great lengths to make sure that The Bible, The Scriptures, were protected and preserved down through history, “His-story” in the world for over 3,600 years. And, as a side-note here, something that’s got to be said because we don't hear it enough: “The Holy Spirit comes to meet with us in the pages of The Holy Bible, to bring to us God’s Word for us, personally.”

People ask over and over, “Brother Keith, you've heard the voice of The LORD; How do I get to hear the voice of God? What am I not doing that you’re doing?” Keith explains it in the way The Holy Spirit best leads him into it, basically using the following eight steps:

• You get your printed Bible out;
• You find a quiet place where you can relax;
• You make sure the phone and electrical devices are off;
• You make sure there is no TV noise or other distractions in the background;
• You open The Bible in your hands and, as you are relaxing, begin to pray and ask for The Holy Spirit of God, in the name of Jesus Christ, to please come and meet you there;
• You ask The Holy Spirit to read with you and interpret for you what God had in His Heart when He entrusted these words to His apostles and prophets to write down in these passages;
• Then, as you relax and read, you focus on listening for The Spirit to upload what God has for you in that hour;
• And, remember, “But they that wait upon The Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint (Isaiah 40:31).”

Once you experience “meeting” with The Holy Trinity in the pages of The Bible, you will see for yourself the indescribable blessing that comes in your time of reading “with Him” and you’ll only want more! There’s no better way to read a letter from someone who loves you than having it on printed pages you hold in your hands. God knew this and set the example for us to follow; He wrote us a Love Letter we call The Holy Bible. Our Father did that for us "as a gift". Now we get to read His written Word and follow after His example by sitting down and writing personal letters “as a gift” to bless others.

To read more about the personal notes Keith and Brenda gathered in “meetings” of the heart with The Holy Trinity over recent years, click to read the “Love Letter from your Father… in TWO Parts” Pressin’IN Blog post. Then consider writing your own “Love Letter from your Father” to read over and over, and to print copies you can send to friends and loved ones by mail. Be encouraged to write the following words on your heart, part of a Love Letter from Scriptures God has emphasized to Brenda from His written Word... and watch what God will do.

Hear God saying to you, today...

Dear child of Mine,

You may not know Me but I know you. I AM familiar with all your ways and everything about you, even the number of each hair on your head. For you were made in My Image.

Nobody in the world knows when you are lying down or rising up to the deepest parts of your being like I do. I AM with you every place where you sit. I understand your thoughts, whether big thoughts or small.

In Me you live and move and have your being, for you are My Offspring. I knew you even before you were conceived.

I chose you when I planned Creation. You were not a mistake, for all of your days are written in My Book. I determined when you would be born and where you would live.

You are fearfully and wonder-fully made. I knit you together in your mother's womb and brought you forth on the day you were born.

I have been misrepresented by those who don't know Me; I AM n-o-t distant and angry, but I AM the "Complete Expression" of Love. And it is My desire to lavish My love on you, simply because you are My child and I AM your Father.

I offer you more than your earthly father ever could, for I AM The omnipotent Father, your Heavenly Father. Every good gift you receive comes from My Hand. For I AM your provider and I meet all your needs.

My plan for your future has always been filled with hope because I Love you with an Everlasting Love. My thoughts toward you are countless as the sands on the seashore.

And I rejoice over you with singing! I will never stop doing good to you, for you are My treasured possession. I desire to "establish you" with all My Heart and all My Soul and I want to show you great and marvelous things.

If you seek Me with all your heart, you will find Me. Delight in Me and I will give you the desires of your heart, for it is I Who gave you those desires to begin with.

I AM able to do more for you than you can possibly imagine, for I AM your greatest encourager. I AM also The Father Who comforts you in all of your troubles. When you are broken-hearted, I AM close to you.

As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to My Heart. One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes, and I will take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth.

I AM your Father, and I Love you even as I Love My Son, Jesus. For in Jesus, My Love for you is revealed. He is The Exact Representation of My Being. He came to demonstrate that I AM for you, not against you, and to tell you that I AM n-o-t counting your sins.

Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled. His death is The Ultimate Expression of My Love. I gave up every-thing that I love that I might "gain" your love. If you receive The Gift of My Son, Christ Jesus you receive Me, and nothing will ever separate you from My Love again.

Come Home and I will throw "the Biggest Party" that Heaven has ever seen. I have always been your Father. I will always be Father.

My question is, will you be My child? I AM waiting for you.

When you draw close to Me, I AM drawing close to you.

I love YOU!
Eternally yours, your Father,
God

Halleluia and Amen!! “The LORD gave The Word and great was the company of those who published it Psalm 68:11.” We encourage you to publish "the word" God lays on your heart also, writing it on letters to send out to those you know, love, and who need an "encouraging word" from God's Word.

Begin to read The Holy Scriptures slowly, with focus, with determination, as you listen quietly with your spirit's ear for The Holy Spirit to arrive. Read slowly and intentionally focus on God's written Word written on the pages. As you read, listen intently for His whisper into your spirit, personally... waiting to "hear Him" no matter how long He takes. If you truly w-a-n-t to hear God's Word for you, "spoken" to you, The wonder-full Holy Spirit w-i-l-l come and deliver The Word God give Him for you, and with gladness, personally.

Someone said to us once that God speaks by way of His "still, small voice". We have found that to be a very accurate description of how He sounds when He speaks to us. We would also add from our personal experience that, once you hear Him begin to speak to you in your spirit, you will begin to continually listen for Him with ever-growing zeal! Selah.

We thank you for joining together with us for this message from out hearts! We have posted it to help fan the flame in your heart for Christ Jesus, His wonder-full ways, and His plan and purpose for us in this life. To ask questions about our work and organization, to make a special tax-deductible donation to help in this work, to place a special order for our special offer of "Keep the FAITH, Keep Your VISION" or another Keith Shealy and Toward The Mark book or CD, or to share a testimony or prayer request with us, please click here to e-mail us, or write a letter and mail it to the address on our website, which is also provided below.

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Keep PRESSIN' IN!

To Show GOD BIG in a World that Sees Him small… 
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WHEN IT COMES TO SHARING YOUR FAITH...

"When It Comes to Sharing Your Faith Are You a Scaredy Cat? No problem! All You've Really Got to Do is Tell'em What God Has Done For You!”

  It’s time we learn to raise our hands; And sing praise to The One that sits on High! And, giving thanks to The LORD for our salvation, we’ll press Toward The Mark, we’ll get The Prize. Well, let's see if we can share more light on this matter.

       We were just talking about songs that we sang in school and Bible school. Especially "Jesus Loves Me". And we love hearing our kids sing, "Jesus Loves Me"; We love that so much. We were just listening to a friend of ours who was recording her granddaughter singing Jesus Loves Me. It was beautiful. Think about the words and what they mean. What do you think about that? It really was sweet, enjoying a very small girl singing the song lyrics, "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so". Then she goes on to sing, "we are weak, but He (Jesus) is strong".

        We are often asked what it means that "He is strong, but we are weak?" We've read in The Scriptures (in John 14:11-18) where Jesus Himself said, if the fullness of glory is in us, we will not only do the things that He did when He was here on the earth, but we would do greater things when the Holy Spirit comes, when Christ is in us. "Believe me that I am in The Father, and The Father in Me: … (John 14:11-18).”

        I've really been praying about "Christ in us" because not a lot of people really understand what it means to have Christ in them. I know growing up, I never heard that brought to light. So, Christ in me, we’ll explain a little bit more.

        One night, the Holy Spirit began showing me something that had changed all of my thinking. I was swept into the presence of God and what I was seeing was numbers, just numbers coming out of everything. The Holy Spirit allowed me to peek into God's playroom, so to speak. And He was creating various mathematical equations faster than the speed of light. And each time He would combine numbers, He would be creating something different or allowing something to move, that it was by the arrangement and the changing of numbers that decides what is created and how.

       For example, if we study The Scripture (in Matthew 10) where Jesus was telling that every hair on our head is numbered. "… But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. …(Matthew 10:28-31).” I never really gave that much thought until the Holy Spirit allowed me to peek into God's room doing His math. It dawned on me that Jesus was doing two things. First, Jesus was telling the guys, right there that were with Him at that moment, about the degree and enormity to which God loves each one of them. Secondly, He was also letting them know that God knows every hair that's on your head and, if He knows that, then He'll know everything else about you. So whatever you struggle with, whatever you go through, whatever your heart's desire is,... God knows that. And Jesus was making that point when He was telling them every hair on your head is numbered, it's by the arranging of code.

       When He creates hair on our head, that particular arrangement of numbers will determine whether the hair is round, whether it's flat, whether it's black, red, gray, or whatever. He arranges all of these mathematical equations, "code" at the cellular level. That was a life-changing point that Jesus was making when He was talking to the guys about the hair on their heads being numbered, filling them in on how much God loves them and to what degree.

       Jesus had another awesome point that subliminally was provided as a message to the science community that would be here before His return, 2000+ years later when technology increases. What He was literally sending the message that, hey guys, we're talking about DNA code. He was telling the guys that would come thousands of years later about DNA code saying, "Hey guys, every hair on your head is numbered" or "has a number"; Each and every hair on your head is "God-coded." That's what Jesus was saying. Each hair on your head is "coded--with a number"! And see, God being the consummate mathematician, He knows even the hair of your head, how He coded each hair and what color, what texture, the whole deal. See, I'm making the math point to let you know what He showed me changed my life. The Scripture (in Psalm 139:14) says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. "I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well (Psalm 139:14).”

        When God created the blood in The Spirit that flows through Christ's veins, He was creating the most powerful substance in all of creation. The blood that flows through Christ's Veins is the most powerful element in all of creation. So here's the deal... When somebody calls out on the name of Jesus Christ, when they go to the altar or to the closet, in their car, out in the middle of a field, ... and they cry out to God and they say, "Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, please forgive me of my sins and I ask that You would come into my heart", what happens at that moment is, in the spirit, there's a blood transfusion that takes place.

       So, now, wherever you go with your new blood, the blood of Christ is flowing in "your spiritual veins." That is, by the way, the point Jesus was making at The Last Supper (in John 6:52-54), that if you drink My blood and eat My flesh..., He was talking about His blood becoming in us, being in us. "… Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no Life in you..(John 6:52-54).” And the way this happens is through that transfusion in The Holy Spirit. So, wherever we go now, Jesus Christ's blood is in our spiritual veins. This is not just some folk tale. This is the reality. Christ's blood is in the veins of those who w-a-n-t God and who are pursuing Him.

        Now, where The Scripture (in Acts 7:33) says wherever your foot is, that's holy ground; It's not holy ground because we made a commitment in an altar. It's holy ground because Christ's blood is flowing in our veins now. "… Then said The LORD to him (Moses), Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground (Acts 7:30-35).” Or the other Scripture in the Bible (in Psalm 1:2-3), about whatsoever you put your hand to it will prosper. "Blessed is the man that … his delight is in the law of The LORD; and … whatsoever he doeth shall prosper (Psalm 1:1-3).” Or, "And The LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for The LORD will again rejoice over thee for good, as He rejoiced over thy fathers: … (Deuteronomy 30:9-10).“ What does this mean? It means that the works you performed before your transfusion would prosper to some small degree, like if you were a good engineer or a good builder,... that's as good as it gets. Using my talent that I naturally have? Bingo. But now, Christ's blood is flowing in your veins, His DNA -- the supernatural way that God arranged the numbers in His blood, in the DNA at the cellular level in Christ's blood in The Spirit-- now whatsoever your hand touches will prosper just like for Christ when Christ was on earth. "He that heareth you heareth Me; and he that despiseth you despiseth Me; … Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: … rejoice, because your names are written in heaven (Luke 10:16-20).” Then He says in Matthew 28:18-20, "And Jesus came and spake unto them (His disciples), saying, … Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, … all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen (Matthew 28:18-20).” So, when Christ Jesus’ blood is in you, wherever you go, He goes. Wherever you put your foot, that is holy ground. Why? Not because of us, but because of Christ in us.

      
 

      

        Christ's blood in your veins is supernaturally life-changing power. We wrote a piece here not long ago talking about Revelation 12:7-11. "And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against … that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: … And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death (Revelation 12:7-11).” Verse 11 gives us three primary parts there that must be rightly divided before it can fulfill the purpose for which God had it written that way. First, "And they overcame him (the devil) by The Blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony...." Wait a minute, they overcame the devil by what? By "the blood of the Lamb" that is now flowing through my veins because I asked Him to come into my heart and life. That's right. “And by the word of their testimony” means by our telling others about our oneness with our Father, when we brag on God.

       When we start Sharing things with people the "actual accounts of God's working in our Life", on that personal level... person who's passionately in love with God, who loves God for who He is more than for what He can do for them, a child of God, that is a person who's passionately in love with God; It's the passion by which they love God that the story or the testimonies are shared totally committed to God. When that happens, the reaction is powerful. It overcomes the devil. Why? Not because we tell the story pretty, but because of the blood of Christ that flows in our veins. That is the power. Though we are weak, He's strong IN us.

      
 

      
        I used to wonder when I was a young believer, you know, "faith"... I'm believing Christ is in me. And I didn't understand that when we fall in love with God and pursue Him with our whole heart, He blesses us with a transfusion that allows us to be Christ in the earth. Wherever we go, we preach love for God; We preach the awesomeness of God!

        We preach about God, doing it in such a way that, with the blood of Christ flowing in our veins, and our testimony is supercharged. It doesn’t become supercharged because we're telling it pretty. Our testimony is supercharged because we love God more than life itself! And when that happens "because of the blood of Christ", that story changes human hearts. It unlocks the chains that bind those who have made poor choices in life; It breaks those chains so that that person can come to God, Who in fact is waiting for them with open arms.

        So, the moral of the story is, it's not us; It's Christ i-n us. It's His Blood, the most powerful element in the universe, that breaks the yoke (of oppression), that changes the hearts, that does all of these wonder-full things. That's what it is. And, if you really think about it, everything we just unveiled is "freeing." We get so concerned about “I just can't do this" or "I'm too weak" or "I can't break the habits I have”. It's I, I, I. The real point, that will free us from looking inward at ourselves, is “it's NOT me, it's God i-n me and He does the work.” That can make a world of difference in the whole context of being saved and the changes that are necessary in your life. And we should love letting people know about how awesome He is in our life. Because He is the one that's doing the changes in us and our lives. Isn’t that a wonder-full fact to write on our hearts and share with everybody!?

      
 

      

        We all want to do things for God. We all want our life to count. We all want to walk in and flow in God's purpose for putting us here. And, for any thought that God possibly made a mistake… God doesn't make mistakes. You can't find one if you dig for it for a million years. He never made a mistake. And, what does that tell us? That tells us that, if God has never made a mistake and you're on the planet, you have a specific purpose to fulfill. God factored you in to His plan or you would not be here. Understand that.

        So, here's the deal. Over the years as “churchianity” has infiltrated the fabric of American society, with it has come a, well, if I'm not sharp enough looking, if I don't sing well enough, if I'm not married and have kids, or if I don't own my own home, then I won't be accepted in-to ministry. Satan has blinded a lot of people to what ministry truly is. I've confronted that deception a whole lot in my years.

        Ministry is not joining a church, and doing whatever you have to, to finally wind up preaching in the pulpit. A lot of people think also that “ministry” is acquiring the ability, or acquiring the nod from the senior pastor or the elders, to stand in the pulpit and preach a message. And there's a lot of people believe that, once they stand in that pulpit and preach a few messages, now we are “in” ministry and they've made it. THAT is a demonic revelation. And I know that's a bold statement.

        God has given each one of us a ministry. And do you know what that ministry is called? That "ministry" is called "our testimony"… our personal, individual stories. When we start sharing our experiences in Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit’s leading, each of our shared stories is unlike anyone else's. And, when we’ve given our hearts to The LORD and we love Him with all of our heart, totally committed to God, it doesn't matter if we are in a wheelchair, if we walk upside down on our hands, or if we've never sung a note,... none of that matters.

       Where ministry truly lies is in our intimacy with our Father. It is to flow out of intimacy with our Father, and not out of textbooks. Now, if you love reading The Scripture, the written Word of God, The Holy Bible, that is "wonder-full" in that it equips us to know the Nature of our Father. Studying the written Word of God we learn His thoughts and ways so that, when He speaks to us, we'll recognize His voice.

        There are many facets of the Word of God, the Holy Bible, and the spoken Word of God to us. This point is often missed in teachings and preachers in the church pulpits. Lacking this knowledge and understanding, church leaders have rejected countless people in communities.

        Satan has painted an image, a lying image, of what "ministry" is supposed to be. There's that lie that, to be a part of a "local church ministry", you need to dress like them, look like them, sing like them, and do the same songs they do. There's that lie that is a lie indeed.

        It doesn’t matter where you're from; It doesn’t matter what you've done, if you can sing, if you can't sing, if you own a suit or you don't; It doesn’t matter what you look like or how good your ability to speak to people... maybe standing up in front of folks or speaking to groups isn’t what you’re supposed to do, or maybe it is. We will tell you this one thing. Using the talents, abilities, and everything our Father God designed in us, we have opportunity to prepare now, actively sowing our unique seed for an abundant harvest, for the account we will give before The Lord and Savior Jesus Christ when He returns for His People.

        Think about the three men and the talents in Matthew 25. One man said, "Well, Lord, I, I hid Your talent." The Lord’s response was something like, “Depart from here. Well, bring the next guy.” The next man said, "Lord, I multiplied Your talents." The Lord’s reply, “Good! Take your place….” Do you know what that “talent” really is where ministry is concerned? That talent is us sharing the things that God has done in our lives along the way, having unstoppable passion for sharing and bragging on the austere God.

        In that passage… Christ Jesus tells us the parable of “5 wise women w-i-t-h full oil in their lamps vs 5 foolish women with-o-u-t full oil in their lamps” AND Jesus tells us the parable of “the 3 men and how each put to use their talents suited to their abilities … to reinforce our essential focus on “CHRIST-MINDEDNESS” always using OUR TIME & TALENTS TO GLORIFY HIM ultimately understanding that, "… When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: And before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left (Matthew 25:1-33).”

        Share the things that God has done in your life along the way. Develop an unstoppable passion for sharing and bragging on the austere God. We must add, God works in "truth". If you try to share your testimony by making one up, or add embellishment of any kind to your stories, your testimony will fall straight to the floor. We must share our testimony "in Truth" for it to work.

        We encourage you right now to sit down and recall as many of the accounts of God's moving in your life as you have. Whether He has knocked you off a horse like He did to Saul on the road heading to abuse Christians in Damascus, or whether He put it on somebody's heart to slip you a $20 bill when you needed a tank of gas and you didn't have any money, you've got a "testimony" and you need to recall it and share it. You need to share it because, what that sharing does is, it blesses you with an ability to preach The Gospel of Jesus Christ. And that ability to preach The Gospel of Jesus Christ, and The Gospel Jesus Christ preached, effectively comes because of “your testimony”.

        “Your "testimony", that ability to preach The Gospel effectively, the devil cannot dispute. Anyone can dispute your knowledge of Bible verses, Scripture passages, or how well you can put a sermon message together, or how well you can sing songs. Some people in your life can take you to your knees condemning you because you quoted a Scripture wrong. But the beauty of the testimony is the way God created it for us to use, providing it in such a way that it cannot be disputed. N-o-b-o-d-y can dispute what God has done in your life and, the deal is, t-h-a-t makes for its unrelenting power.

        The “testimony” makes a minister out of every person on the planet, including the people who thought they weren't good enough, who thought they weren't attractive enough, who thought they weren't wealthy enough, who thought they weren't “anything” enough! Our “testimony” is our license to preach and minister the good things of God, and to, ultimately, tell others... Christ Jesus is right there, right now, waiting with His arms open for them to come home to our Father.

        We often recall hearing the testimony of individuals we have come into contact with, some who we didn’t already know of and some who we “thought” we knew. Hearing where someone had come from, the experiences in their life before Christ then their encounters with Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit where their life was changed, naturally and spiritually. Those changed life stories are what transformed our minds about "our testimony".

        You can't be proud of the things that you have done that are unlawful or hurt others or ourselves but, giving those things to God by surrendering our whole life to The Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, God redeems those things and can use each thing in the life of somebody else. Because everybody has a life with their individual, unique testimony occurring naturally by living it, each and every body can be Christ Jesus’ witness, needing used to reach somebody, according to their experiences and love in The Lord Jesus Christ.

        With all of us, "testimonies" have built our faith. There's nothing cooler than going into a church service and getting to hear somebody in your fellowship minister the good things of God, telling of God’s doing something in their life. Also, hearing a testimony of God’s greatness from a co-worker, or someone in your family or social circles, that "testimony" has a way of building our faith like nothing else can.

        We have often wondered why Satan is working so hard to keep the Scripture passage buried in Revelation 12:7-11, "And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against … that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: … And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death (Revelation 12:7-11).” In our experience, that message has seemingly been "hidden" from God's people. We now know why, and we have to realize, because the testimony of someone sharing the awesomeness, the love of God, the intimacy that we can have with our Father, we’ve got to tell you, it breaks the yoke of oppression! It builds the faith of the hearer!

        Sharing, and living by, the Scripture, "… Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. ….(James 4:7-8)” serves others that bear witness, by fanning the flame in people's hearts to reach for God. If you will draw near to God, He will draw near to you. We are the one that must take the first action. And that's another part of the “testimony” that we have to realize... if you'll "draw nigh to God", hey, then "God will draw nigh to you (James 4:8)."

        And you know what? In order for any of us to fulfill God's will and plan for our life, in order for any of us to have that intimacy with our Father as Jesus prayed in the garden (in John 17:13-26), to be one with God, to live i-n Him and Him i-n us, in order for that to take place there has to be the desire. There has to be "the want-to" for that to take place. And "the want-to" entails "reaching"! Jesus’ prayer for His disciples while they were in The Garden before Christ’s arrest, "… (The Disciples) are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them … That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me. And the glory which thou gave Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one: I in them, and Thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one … (John 17:13-26).”

        If you really want something, you will reach for it. If we're not reaching, then it says we don't really want it. Now I'm going to tell you something. If you listen to some testimonies from some people who've truly been changed, who God has truly moved in their life, it will fan the flame in your heart to reach for Him.

        Often we are asked if we have any particular people that we would encourage others to listen to for their testimony. Well, I do know that sometimes the folks that we call "well-known", the ones on TV or whatever, God bless them, are not the ones that are the most "well-known in the eyes of God". You see, the most "well-known in God's eyes" are the ones who have decided, "I want God more than I want my own life". They're the people that said, "Father, if it kills me, I want to be transformed into Your likeness".

        Zebedee's wife asked Jesus (in Matthew 20:20-28) if her sons could have His approval to sit one on His right side and one on His left? And Jesus asked if they are able to drink of the same cup that He would have to drink of, and asking if they are able to be baptized with the baptism that He will have to be baptized in? "Then came to Him the mother of Zebedee’s children with her sons, worshiping Him, and desiring a certain thing of Him. … He saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on My right hand, and on My left, is not Mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of My Father. … Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many(Matthew 20:20-28).”

        That Matthew 20:22-23 message goes for everybody who follows Christ into God. He came to make it possible for us to enter into God, to be in Him, in Him and us. See, we have to be prepared when we make that commitment to God at the altar, or wherever it is that we encounter Christ Jesus for salvation, that we are committing to have our life be transformed, chiseled apart, piece by piece. To be made in-to the likeness of Christ Jesus, we need to understand that that's gonna take some time under the knife that is in the hand of the Great Physician.

        We're going to have to be able to stay on the table, so to speak. When the fire gets hot, when He's using the baptism of fire to burn away our old flesh nature, the “old” flesh man, we can't run. And He will only do it with our surrendering our permission to God, giving Him our invitation to do His work. That's the truth. Then, when you’ve committed to it, you also need to stay on the table when He starts cutting. That's another thing we'll talk more about another time.

        Take note about "pain" and how "pain" is a gift from God. And, for those who can endure it, there will be countless benefits they will reap. They will be able to draw nigh to God and God will draw nigh to them (James 4:8). Our Father God will show you things. He will perform things in and through us that He will only entrust to a blood child- someone who is i-n His blood line.

        There are millions of different directions we can go in talking about the blood of Jesus Christ and what it's like. When the blood of Christ is in our veins, what we're able to do, what we're capable of doing, and what the greatest part about having the blood of Christ in our veins now is... what it does between each one of us and our Heavenly Father; It graphs us i-n to Him like nothing else!

        Remember that, by the blood of Christ Jesus, the blood of Christ i-n us in The Spirit is what makes everything possible for us. And we encourage you today to give your heart to The LORD. Get before The LORD and admit any sin that you've had in your life, that thing that has had a hold of you that you can't seem to shake. Go to Him and ask Him to help you get free from that so that you can run into His arms.

        If there's anything we can do for you, please reach out to us and connect with us and be sure to take advantage of some of the resources we have that can help you to grow in that oneness with God. Right now we have a special offer available for anyone making a donation of $25 or more to help us to get two copies of our book "Letters From The Front", which contains 12 of Keith's Life stories in his testimony. Right now, enjoy your own copy and also get a second copy of "Letters From The Front" that you can give to somebody, or to use for small group Bible study, or whatever The LORD leads.

        We look forward to hearing from you and hearing how you’ve seen The LORD change you and the lives of those around you. And remember to keep singing and rejoicing with... "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so" and "I am weak, but He is strong" i-n me. Amen. Have a wonderfully blessed week.

       When we stand in the fiery trials of pursuing NEW LIFE IN Christ, we allow them to do their perfect work, so we will one day be able to hear the sweetest of sounds, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." (Matthew 25:21a)

"I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see." (Revelation 3:18)

  This message is provided to help fan the flame in your heart for Christ Jesus, His wonder-full ways, and His plan and purpose for us in this life. To ask questions, make a special donation, place a special order for books or CDs, or 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 look forward to meeting here for the next blogpost as we keep Pressin' In Toward The Mark! Please make sure to invite your friends who are unsaved, or those who just need encouragement in the things of God's Word, His Will, and His Ways. We pray that God bless and keep you!

Take me back to the top of this blogpost.

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We thank you for joining together with us for this message from out hearts! We have posted it to help fan the flame in your heart for Christ Jesus, His wonder-full ways, and His plan and purpose for us in this life. To ask questions about our work and organization, to make a special tax-deductible donation to help in this work, to place a special order for our special offer of "Keep the FAITH, Keep Your VISION" or another Keith Shealy and Toward The Mark book or CD, or to share a testimony or prayer request with us, please click here to e-mail us, or write a letter and mail it to the address on our website, which is also provided below.

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