PRESSIN' IN *Toward The Mark* with Keith Shealy and Team: hear

Showing posts with label hear. Show all posts

Friday, July 8

NEW, Mini-Series Weekday 5 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 #5 of 20-day Blog mini-series #2
Chapter TWO, "In Christ Jesus our Lord"

"In Christ Jesus our Lord"
Jesus said, "I and my Father are one. " (from John 10:27-38) Those who heard Him understood what He meant and considered it blasphemy. They charged Him with claiming to be Deity saying, "Thou, being a man, makest thyself God." Jesus replied with the scripture that declares the same for God's people, "He called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken." Therefore, Jesus extends to all believers the status of Deity!

Question to ponder:

Have you received the gift of the Holy Spirit of truth? _________________________________________

Keith's "Comments from the Author":

"Now, please do not confuse the gift of the Holy Spirit with the diversities of spiritual gifts the Holy Spirit brings, such as, word of wisdom, word of knowledge, prophecy, speaking in tongues, and so on. These are manifestations of the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Holy Ghost precedes all of those. But we must ask the Heavenly Father to give us the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Moreover, if you have not asked for the gift, then you cannot 'know the things that are freely given to us of God' because your natural mind 'receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.' Unless we learn through the Spirit the things that are freely given to us of God, we cannot fulfill the purpose for which God created us. Selah."

"Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ ... For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many." (1 Corinthians 12:4-18)

*HAVE A WONDERFULLY BLESSED WEEKEND! See you MONDAY, 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 4* of this 20-day mini-series.

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)

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!

Toward The Mark INC with KeithAndBrendaLee Shealy

Keith Shealy and TowardTheMark, Inc has been serving God and His Church since 1980. For anyone who wants to partner with us, to show GOD Big in a world that sees Him small, we welcome you... Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account (Philippians 4:17). ...The LORD gave the word: great was the company of those that published it (Psalm 68:11)

Thursday, July 7

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”!

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!*

________________________________

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.

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!

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

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

Toward The Mark INC with KeithAndBrendaLee Shealy

Thursday, June 30

"SIN is 'Rattlesnake Venom' to the SOUL"

Everything satan and his hoards intend for us is, ultimately, to "steal" our joy, "kill" our passion in pursuing God's purpose for us, and "destroy" our lives. Jesus tells us, "The thief comes not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy; I am come that they may have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10:10)

"I came away from this experience with a much deeper understanding of just how destructive sin is to the human soul." -Keith
Find this, and more messages like it, in our book LETTERS FROM THE FRONT.

Early one spring, I began preparing to plant my vegetable garden. At the time, I had no idea that a very profound life lesson was on its way. If you are not familiar with the first chapter of our book, "Letters from the Front," which is called, "Sin Makes Ya Stewpit, "we draw the parallel between the toxic effects of snake venom on the human body and the destructive, and eventually deadly, effects that sin has on the human soul. Like a poisonous snake bite begins to bring death to a person's body at the point of envenomization, sin begins to poison the human's soul at the time in which we allow it to enter into our life. Looking back, I wrote about the effects snake venom can have on the human body based solely on my research studies and what I learned from medical friends that I knew. Until the day I was bitten, in my own back yard, I had no personal experience of the truly terrible toll a poisonous snake bite brings. THEN, all of a sudden, the parallel actually made even, the most, perfect sense.

One evening in early August, when I was watering my garden, I reached into the cucumber plants to pick up the water hose, and I felt a sharp, hard, and sudden sting on my right forearm. At that moment, all I could think of was how, earlier that day, I had been stung by a wasp on my left arm, and how, the day before this, I was bitten on top of my right foot by a spider that left a pretty nasty and painful wound. So, when I felt the snake bite me, I figured that it was another wasp or a bee. Only a moment later, my arm started burning. I reached over with my left hand to rub it, and my hand came away from the spot all covered in blood. I bent my arm around, looking to see what was causing all of the trouble, and this is when I noticed two fang holes. Right away I began sucking the venom out of the puncture wounds which, I later learned, was what saved me a world of hurt and, possibly even, saved my arm. Even though I had sucked out much of the poison that fanged creature had injected into me, I was still about to experience the brutal side effects of trauma to my circulatory and nervous system, of damage to my muscle tissue, and of my body's vital organs beginning to shut down. Most of all, I needed to seek treatment for certain numbness, blurred vision, impaired judgment, decreased sense of hearing, excruciating pain, potential unconsciousness and, if not treated in time, permanent paralysis and eventual death.

Once I realized I had been bitten by a rattlesnake, I called my doctor, in hopes that he might tell me that he could just give me some antibiotics or something to avoid any of the side effects. Instead, he took one look at it, directed me to go straight to the Emergency Room, and off I went. My doctor even called the ER ahead of time, to notify them to expect a viper bite victim who is on his way. This is the time I realized the intensity of my situation and my urgent need for emergency treatment.

If you have ever experienced the "horrors" of being processed through an ER, you can understand how the thought of the long waiting period, was actually more frustrating to me than the snakebite itself. After being admitted for treatment, the doctors took a while to make sure that I was in the clear, then they released me to make my way back home. That is when I began, what turned out to be, about a 3-month healing process of some pretty weird side effects from the venom in my body. One thing that happened a few days after the snake-bite incident was, while I was driving home from a trip to the post office, I experienced a serious example of impaired judgment. It's still somewhat blurry in my memory. The snake venom in my system was apparently burning up a mess of my brain cells, causing short-term memory loss.

There I was, on my way driving home, being pulled over by a patrol officer on a motorcycle. I did not think I was speeding, so I was wondering what in the world his reason could be for stopping me. You need to know that, up until that day, I had a spotless driving record and, frankly, I took great pride in that. The officer got off his motorcycle and walked over to my car. My curiosity peaked as he asked for my license. He then began to ask what my reason was for running that red light at the intersection. I was stunned! I had just run through a red light and had no idea that there was even one there. After the officer had written me a ticket, I very cautiously made my way home and called my doctor. The staff at the hospital had not warned me about these strange side effects that were suddenly taking over my ability to use the judgment that normally came naturally to me. Gratefully, my doctor wrote a nice letter on my behalf, and addressed it to the court, to explain my predicament.

In the courtroom on my court date, I submitted a guilty plea, but with extenuating circumstances that were explained in the letter that I then handed over to the judge. The judge read it, and was amazed. He immediately excused my case and said that he would like to hang on to the letter as a souvenir. At that, we all had a good laugh, and I went home. At the end of court that day, although the whole thing was somewhat amusing and nearly unbelievable, the tormenting effects of the snake’s venom on my body’s system turned into a profound revelation. If there could ever be a clear parallel drawn between the things in the natural and the things of the spirit, it is HERE. In the spiritual sense, sin brings pain, impaired judgment, blurred vision, dulled sense of hearing, and pure destruction upon the soul, like the snake venom brings all of those effects to the human body.

Obviously, it took time for the poison to run its course and work its way to leaving my body, for which I had no choice but to wait. This is where my prayer life suffered during the process. It was as if there had been a huge wall built between me and the Lord. The more I tried to focus on hearing His life-giving Voice, the more frustrated I grew. The snake’s venom numbed my senses, impacting my ability to hear not only in the physical, but in the spirit. It kept me from hearing the one thing that means more to me than life itself – GOD'S VOICE.

The solution to the "sin problem" in our life starts with repenting of any sin we may have allowed into our life -- the sin we know of as well as the sin of which we are not even aware. And, if there has ever been a good time to inspect your "hedge of protection" around you, it's now. Fortify yourself with continual meditation on both God and His Word. Stay in continual communication with Him. Don't look on anything unclean. Keep company with people who love God with all of their hearts.

I came away from the experience of this story with a much deeper understanding of how destructive sin is to the human soul. In my experience, I can say without hesitation, steer clear of BOTH sneaky ol' snakes, and anything that tempts you to invite the devastating effects of sin into your life! If we don't want to suffer the traumatic effects of deadly snakebites, don't touch snakes. Likewise, if we don't want to suffer the awful, excruciating separation from God, don't accept the deadly effects of sin by giving in to temptations, no matter what form they may come in.

"But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it brings forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death." (James 1:14-15)

"Once we have allowed sin into our system, whether we like it or not, it is going to run its painful course, damaging any and everything that it comes into contact with. Never forget, no matter how void of consequence satan may present (or package) sin to be, the truth is... SIN’s results are NEVER without destructive, and eventually deadly, circumstances!" -Keith

For more on this topic, see Chapter 1 in our book, "LETTERS FROM THE FRONT."

Keep PRESSIN' IN!

Your friends and servants in Christ,

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 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.

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:

~ "Between The Lines Video Podcast" online

~ Keith'sBetweenTheLines Podcast channel

~ "TTMSingingSgt"on Twitter

~ and "Sharing with you the Secrets we Hear God Whisper" messages on the website, for more Scripture-based truth, unveiling God's Word on real-life matters - what the devil DOESN'T want you to know!

Keep PRESSIN' IN!

Take me back to the top of this 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.

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

Toward The Mark INC with KeithAndBrendaLee Shealy

Subscribe to: Posts ( Atom )