NEW, Mini-Series Weekday 4 of 20

*Giving a boost to our day and life, with this 10-minute Weekday Blog*

Our 2nd Blog Mini-Series, each Weekday in JULY!

Thank you for joining us as we
continue this JOURNEY...
digging in to the 2nd - 3rd CHAPTERS 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 #4 of 20-day Blog mini-series #2
Chapter TWO, "In Christ Jesus our Lord"

    
"In Christ Jesus our Lord"
          Now, before we read Christ's reply I would advise that you brace yourself. Why? Because, in my many years in the church, I have never met a Bible teacher who would dare go near this particular passage of scripture, even though Christ Jesus, Son of God Himself, said it. So, as we now endeavor to go where no man that I have ever heard teach has dared to go, hold on to your hat. Herein lies exactly what you have been wanting. Please read this very slowly and watch what the Holy Spirit shows you.
          "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from My Father; for which of those works do ye stone Me? The Jews answered Him, saying, For a good work we stone Thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that Thou, being a man, makest Thyself God. Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If He called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; Say ye of Him, Whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? If I do not the works of My Father, believe Me not. But if I do, though ye believe not Me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in Me, and I in Him." (John 10:27-38)

Question to ponder:

In the practices of the shepherds who lead their flocks through the pasture or fields, if they asked someone new to step in and call for the sheep to follow, would the sheep hear and follow?  _________________________________________

Keith's "Comments from the Author":

"When Jesus put forth the proclamation that He was equal with God, the words He used, explaining that the Old Testament scripture cannot be considered false or blasphemous, was enough to clear Him of the charge of blasphemy.  How much more so was the sanctification and authority given Him by the Father? Selah."

"Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked. They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course. I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes. Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations." (Psalm 82:4-8)

*See you tomorrow, and please make sure to invite your friends who are lost or who just need encouragement too! God bless you!*

________________________________

Find this blog mini-series message, and more on the topic, in our book Keep the FAITH Keep Your VISION based on crucial, real-life matters for each of us. To ask questions, make a special donation, request a large quantity of books, 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 pray God bless you greatly as you have greatly blessed us and the entire Toward The Mark, Inc. Family!

Your friends & servants in Christ,

Keep PRESSIN' IN!

           Take me back to the top of this post.

           Take me to *DAY 3* of this 20-day mini-series.

           Take me to *DAY 2* of this 20-day mini-series.

           Take me to *DAY 1* of this 20-day mini-series.

           Take me to Keith's Journey through Chapter ONE of *Keep the FAITH*.

           Take me to the LAST DAY of Keith's Journey through *Chapter ONE*.

           Take me to "Rattlesnake Revelation" post.

           Take me to "Honoring Gold Star Patriots" post.

           Take me to "The Love of God" post.

           Take me to "Fiery Trials of My Broken Vessel" post.

           Take me to "Magnetic Mantle...Why cats..." post.

           Take me to "Valentine's 5-Step Prep" post.

           Take me to "Run TO the Roar!" post.

           Take me to "Overcoming Intimidation" post.

           Take me to "The Heart of Thanksgiving" post.

           Take me to "The Invisible Man" post.

           Take me to "The Abomination of Misrepresentation" post.

           Take me to "Living Among Thorns" post.

To Show GOD BIG in a World that Sees Him small… 
sums up the reason Keith stepped out in faith 35+ years ago to focus full-time 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 thanks to the faithful prayer and financial contributions of the TTM Support Family.  We'd like to invite you to join our family, and welcome you to become a special part of our regular sponsorship team TODAY!

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

~  "Keith Shealy & Wisdom for Weekdays"  on Facebook  

      

~  "TTM Singing Sergeant"  on Twitter  

      

~  "Between The Lines Podcast"  by Keith and Brenda Shealy  

      

~  "VIDEO Versions of Between The Lines Podcast"  on Vimeo  

      

~  "NEW TowardTheMark MINUTE Podcast"  on our Libsyn Channel  

      

~  "Sharing with you Secrets God Whispers to Us"  on the website  

      

~  "I want to help TTM, Inc."  by giving a tax-deductible donation here:  

      

Keep PRESSIN' IN!

This blog mini-series, 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)

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Mail tax-deductible contributions by check to the order of:
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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!

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Don't Say You'll Pray If You WON'T!

Perhaps one of the most subtle things satan does to deceive us away from God, and from serving others with Godly integrity, is working to keep us from realizing the cost of NOT doing what we say we are going to do.  Let's take, for instance, the popular phrase, or commonly-used "sign-off", "I'll pray for you."  How many times do we hear that statement, in a "see-ya-later" kind of voice, and from someone closing a conversation with a fellow Christian brother or sister?  How many times do we make that statement ourselves, then go on about our day, week, and month, and not think about the commitment we had made, or even remember it, again?

Not long ago, Brenda and I attended a special ceremony to observe a change of leadership for a local organization we work with in ministry on occasion.  At the end of the ceremony, as we went through the receiving line, we waited to shake hands with one of the primary national directors over the local organization.  As the person ahead of us finished talking and prepared to move on down the line, he reached out his hand and closed by saying, "Sir, I'll be praying for you."  Brenda reached out, shook his hand next, and shared how grateful we were to see that he was able to be here for this special leadership transition, and added that we pray God bless him for his support.  Being that Brenda and I had been discussing the subject of what the gentleman had said ahead of us, the subject of this blog, I took the opportunity to have a little bit of fun with him, saying, "Brother, I won't say, 'I'll be praying for you' because I probably won't."  He looked at me and, I could see by the look on his face, he was briefly puzzled by my making that comment.  Within just seconds, I could see that a light went on, when, with a big smile on his face, he replied, "I'm glad, because I probably won't be praying for you either."  We both agreed that, when we hear someone telling someone else that they are going to be praying for them, the first thing we think is, "Lord, I hope with all of my heart that that person truly understands the crucial importance of not breaking a commitment or vow."

Jesus blessed us with wisdom concerning this in Luke 14:28-30, "For which of you, intending to build a tower, stitch not down first, and counts the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?  Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish."  Though we are not talking about the construction of a tower, we are discussing the crucial importance of making sure, before we ever commit to praying for someone, that we have taken the time to learn about the needs of that particular person so we are able to pray for them effectively.  Remember, good intentions will never make up for failure to follow through with our verbal commitment to others.

When we tell God or anyone else that we are going to do something, and then turn around and not fulfill that commitment, we not only inflict pain on the one we committed to, but we reveal the lack of integrity operating in our lives.  To any of the people who heard you commit, and then observe your subsequent failure to honor that commitment, it does not matter what your intentions were.  The result is the same as if you had deliberately misled them.

It is easy to say to someone that we are going to pray for them.  That person doesn't know one way or the other if we actually do what we promised them, or not.  On the other hand, however, God does know, ... every vow we make.

When Jesus teaches us of the crucial importance of counting the cost of whatever we commit to doing, He teaches us that it is vital that we calculate whether or not we can keep the vow, and do so before we have made the vow.  Why?  It is because, in the eyes of Jesus Christ, whatever we have done "even to the least of His brethren," whether we have kept our word or not, we have done it to Him, personally!  This is what we must be aware of, and ask The Lord to help us remember always, as Jesus says in Matthew 25:40, "And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."  A person who says one thing and does another is a detriment to God and to everyone around them!

It boils down to this: If you are going to tell someone that you will do something, you had better think it through very carefully before you make the commitment.  A broken vow is an offense that carries a very stiff sentence in the eyes of God.  Do not be deceived by the use of the word “vow".  This can be something as simple as our telling someone that we are going to pray for them, but we do not—or our telling someone that we will call, stop by, or do something else for them, then we do not.  This especially includes honoring our words concerning punctuality.  When we say we are going to be at a certain place at a certain time, we need to keep the commitment to the T (as in Time).  If we find we will not make it at the time we committed to, at the very least, we should let the others know as soon as we can.  Even our worship depends upon this.  “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him.  God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23-24)

There is no way around it.  Integrity must be the hallmark of our lives, in order for us to effectively model ourselves after God, and to verbally represent the Word of God to people!  We must speak the truth and live the truth.  Do not say you are going to do something, and then not follow through.  Whenever a person says one thing but does another, it is lying and will be judged as such.  Listen to the warning Jesus gives us concerning vows that are made in passing, “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.  For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” (Matthew 12:36-37)  We must make sure our yea means yea and our nay means nay.

We pray that this message encourages you, and reminds you to S-T-O-P and COUNT THE COST of what you say and how you follow through.  Make sure to ask yourself daily, "Have I made an account of prayers I've committed to today, and am I making sure I really mean whatever it is that I say?

THANK YOU for connecting with us today!  Also, we appreciate you downloading copies of this blog to share with others, and a copy to keep handy for yourself!   

 

Find many more messages based on real-life matters, like this one, in our published book called, "THE CRISIS OF ERODING INTEGRITY."  For more information or to place large-quantity orders, visit us online at the Toward The Mark website today.

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

In Christ Jesus,

PS.  THANK YOU for following the Blog of TTM, Inc. and we INVITE YOU to...  follow and share these Scripture-based tools also as we “Press Toward the Mark…”:

~ "Keith Shealy & Toward The Mark" on Facebook

~ "Keith Shealy's "Between TheLines" Podcast on Libsyn

~ "Sharing the Secrets God Whispers to me" teaching messages on our website

CLICK HERE to make a tax-deductible contribution securely by PayPal.
Every gift you send 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 contributing to the fulfillment of the vision and mission of this ministry!  We pray God bless you, and return to you a 100-fold harvest for your generosity!