We'll FIGHT ... Our Finest Hour!

"You and I best be believing that this fight can, and will, be for 'Our Finest Hour'!" -- KeithAndBrendaLee Shealy

Last week, when I (Keith) was listening to a friend's fears concerning a mass spread of the coronavirus, he asked if I thought we in America run the same risk as in other countries. He also wanted to know, if we are at risk, what would I suggest each of us do to defeat it. I'm not a physician of course but, after I thought about how I could set his mind at ease, I gave him my personal opinion that the deadly effects of the COVID-19 are not nearly as much of a risk to the lives of our citizens, per capita, as to citizens of other countries like China and Italy. He was quick to respond by asking, "Why? Why would this thing be called a worldwide pandemic by those with brilliant medical minds, yet you're able to say that we don't run the same risks in America?"

We've had friends over the years who travelled to many different countries around the world. Several of them had spoken about how much cleaner the United States is compared to every other country they had travelled to for work or vacation. Why do I mention that? Because, when it comes to starving the coronavirus or any other bad viral bacteria, we've got the best conditions and practices right here in the U.S. with our good sanitation, healthy eating habits, and overall hygiene. Just to hear me say that helped our friend feel better. He candidly replied, "You know, as simple and obvious as that point is, I hadn't even thought of that." I also told him that it's times like these that can come to remind us to sterilize our souls, the inward man of the heart, every day. Just as we focus our efforts on keeping our bodies healthy and prepared to maintain us in our life, our spiritual being needs kept as well. We are fighting against all kinds of "germs" that constantly attack our body, soul, and spirit, being in the world. The process of sterilization is crucial to our lives in critical times like these. As we pay special attention to our physical health, we cannot allow fear and misplaced focus to cost us the important attention we must pay to the principle thing of the remaking of our soul.

Just as coronavirus is able to spread in the natural, unclean spirits are able to spread in the spiritual realm, I told our friend. He replied, "I don't get it. What does that mean?" In order to keep my answer short, I explained simply that we fight against "spiritual germs" that are no less deadly than germs in the natural realm, but they are called "unclean spirits" that we identify with. To further explain, a few examples of those "unclean spirits" are fear, intimidation, anger, worry, anxiety, and greed, all of which can be passed to us through the lives of those we are exposed to, much like we know germs and bad bacteria are able to spread in the natural. Through the lives of people who have been exposed to people "infected" with unclean spiritual germs, the unclean spirits are able to spread as well. So you see, it all gets back to staying clean using sterilization, physically and also spiritually!

As soon as our conversation finished, The Lord reminded me, by the wonderful Holy Spirit of course, something I learned earlier in life concerning the process of sterilization in the physical realm. This may help better explain the crucial importance of using cleanliness by sterilization to defeat unclean germs, both in the natural and in the spiritual. I remember the first time when I heard the name of Florence Nightingale. I was a little boy and my dad was working in the medical field developing the designs, production, and sales of new medical devices and equipment. It was through Dad's work that I learned about the remarkable accomplishments of Florence Nightingale, and so much so that her legacy has been imprinted on my mind ever since. During his time in the medical field, Dad accomplished a rather mammoth feat. He designed and took to market thirty-eight new medical devices, each one of them needing a unique and note-worthy product name, slogan, and sales campaign. To me, that was perhaps the most exciting part of the entire development process.

Every time I would see Dad come home with that easily-recognizable smile and spring in his step, I would just drop what I was doing and follow him into his office. One day when I was about ten years old, Dad came home excited about a new product in the trademark process that was just months from being introduced to market. That particular day is when I heard of Florence Nightingale for the first time. In the mid-1960's there was a real need for a more effective way to sterilize medical instruments such as scalpels, needles, and syringes. The product Dad had been developing was a device that would be capable of substantially reducing the transference of germs that were increasingly taking the lives of people in surgical and recovery hospitals. If you know anything of the profound sterilization processes that Florence Nightingale fought to implement, and the fierce resistance and hospital regulations she had to fight, you know just how mightily God used her brilliant discoveries in saving countless lives, both then and to this day. When Dad told me his plan to associate his new sterilization device with Florence Nightingale, referring to her as "the mother of modern-day sterilization", I remember thinking how fitting that was.

Florence Nightingale lived from 1820 to 1910 and is well-known in England as "the mother of nursing." She was just 16 years old when she is known to have said that "hearing the voice of God" it was confirmed in her heart that she was being called to care for the sick. In short, God had given her the wisdom to know that, if she could provide more sanitary conditions on the battle fields, in hospitals, and in homes, she could help to greatly increase the chances of sick or injured patients to survive the deadly diseases that occurred at any uncertain time. As a matter of fact, her first assignment as a military field nurse for the British was to oversee a filthy, disease-riddled, rat-infested military field hospital during a war against the Russians. The lives that she and her nurses saved in the first few months were in the thousands, just by their implementing sanitary work conditions. As a result of her training up new nurses in the crucially-important practice of sterilization, facility cleanliness, and feeding patients nutritious, sanitarily-prepared foods, the mortality rate improved so much and so quickly that Florence received worldwide acclaim and was awarded the highest honors of a number of different nations. Also, she accomplished all of that despite the sad fact that her mother and dad, high society folks, were ashamed of the noble career path she had chosen. Among the many revolutionary ideas of Florence Nightingale and her life's work, she also is the inventor of the pie chart.

As you may well-imagine based on my brief dissertation of Florence Nightingale and her storied life and victories over unsanitary conditions, God used her as a gift to all of us. With that, we would like to share this little poem we've put together, in the fashion and spirit of Sir Winston Churchill's famed rallying cry to the British people during Germany's brutal attacks and bombings over London in World War II. We hope it'll make you smile as you read, "We'll Fight!"

"We'll fight these COVID-germs at every turn, in the inside and outside air, we'll fight'em in bathrooms and kitchens too, we'll fight'em everywhere! We'll fight'em in our houses round, up noses and even our britches. We'll fight'em on steering wheels, on desktops, and in frig's. We'll fight'em on our hands and faces, in nooks, crannies, and ledges. We'll fight'em in their dens and caves in unexpected places. We'll fight'em up, we'll fight'em down, we'll fight'em side to side, we'll fight those germs and devils both... 'til each of'em has died!"

And the greatest gift of all, God-given by way of the cleansing, purifying blood that His Son Jesus Christ shed in His suffering and death on the cross for us all, whosoever will ask Him will be saved. Let's reflect on our Father's promises to each one of us, individually, in Isaiah 54:10-17, "For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but My kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of My peace be removed, saith The LORD that hath mercy on thee. O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. And all thy children shall be taught of The LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee. Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by Me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake. Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of The LORD, and their righteousness is of Me, saith The LORD."

We close with letting you know we are praying for you and all who stop here to read this blog, standing together with believing that this can be "Our Finest Hour". We pray in The Name of Jesus Christ, by His Authority, for God to raise His hedge of protection around you. We will continue to be warring in prayer on your behalf, and will continue praying for you once this unpredictable fight is past.

You and I best be believing that this fight can, and will, be for 'Our Finest Hour'!"

If you haven't already, write God's promises on your heart, "... No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper... (Isaiah 54:10-17)."

HEAR the podcast testimony that set Keith's affections firmly on God; Warring Angels are what God had in store that night, something that no one could imagine possible or be prepared to endure...The Night That Changed My Life Forever!

We, too, can know without a doubt that, if God gave those who have gone before us the strength, the help, and the resolve that they needed to finish their course, just like He did for Florence Nightingale, then He will most certainly do the same for us who ask Him. So we, now, are just as capable to initiate, perform, and finish the missions that He has assigned us to complete, as well as those before us have.

Thank you for taking time to hear our hearts and thank you for your friendship that encourages us. The financial support and prayers of our sponsorship family is making this work possible, fanning the flame in our hearts big-time! We invite you to become a part of our sponsorship team, by giving your financial gift to help us, and we pray The Lord blesses you 100-times over for that support toward sending us into Jesus Christ's harvest of souls in these final hours.

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

Every gift is appreciated, tax-deductible, and helps.

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

Every gift is tax-deductible and helps. Thank you for sowing your financial seed into this work and mission that God has given! May God bless you with a 100-fold return on your gift of generosity!

We INVITE YOU...
see and hear, also follow and share, more TowardTheMark work and messages:

~ "Keith and Brenda Shealy's Video Channel"

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~ Keith and BrendaLee Shealy "How To Activate Your PASSION" on TTM's Podcast Channel
HEAR full-podcast (TTM110) to fan the flame in your heart for what God wired you to do and be, with HIM (48 min, 01 sec):

~ "Sharing with you the Secrets God Whispers to us" teachings on our website 

Thanks for reading and sharing this PRESSIN'IN Blog message from Toward The Mark! May God bless you in the fulfillment of your heart's deepest desires w-i-t-h Him!

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            ONE MORE THING...

Would you offer your testimony by writing to tell us how you would personally describe your personal SALVATION EXPERIENCE?"

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Take me to "Favor With Our Enemies!" post.

Take me to "Is GOD Accelerating Time?" post.

Take me to "WINNING THE LOST *Part I* Throw off Religious..." post.

Take me to "WINNING THE LOST *Part II* We Can Only Give What..." post.

Take me to "WINNING THE LOST *Part III* Count The Cost..." post.

Take me to the "Gratitude is Literally The KEY" post.

Take me to the "Award Shows and Idols" post.

Take me to "What Quality Guitars & Instruments Should Be" post.

Take me to the "HAPPY BIRTHDAY American Flag & USArmy" post.

Take me to the "D-Day 75th Anniversary" post.

Take me to the "Out of the Shadows" post.

Take me to "What is God's View of Abortion" post.

            Our sincerest hope is that this blog enables The Lord to strengthen you in faith and oneness with Him. We would also like to invite you to take advantage of even more messages available for encouraging you, and for your friends and family members as well, especially available in one of our most-requested Toward The Mark books entitled "Letters From The Front." We want to personally invite you to get your personal copy today.

            Our book  LETTERS FROM THE FRONT is a special collection of 12 of our most-requested teaching titles:

Sin Makes Ya Stewpit	The Cart's Before The Horse;
The Crisis of Eroding Integrity	The Fruit's at the End of the Limb
Too Quick to Compromise	The Rarest of All Breeds
Please...Stop Stinkin'	3 Keys to God-Pleasing Faith
Let It Go!	Understanding the Fear of The Lord
Into The Secret Place	Give to Give!

          This collection of twelve teachings, when taken to heart, will help you emerge triumphant over seemingly impossible situations... "LETTERS From The FRONT" available at TowardTheMark online.  We are eternally grateful for our loving Toward The Mark Family who, by their friendship, financial support, and faithful prayers, make this resource and all of our TowardTheMark INC work possible!

Would you write and let us know how this message has fanned the flame in your heart for Christ Jesus, His Ways, and God's Plan for your life? If you would like to request a special order of "LETTERS From The FRONT" or any of Keith Shealy's Toward The Mark resources, when you send us your donation request, simply mention "COMPLIMENTARY COPY PLEASE" for an extra THANK YOU copy that we will be happy to include in your shipment. Also, if you have questions about our work, resources, or giving tax-deductible donations, please click here to e-mail us. We welcome you to also feel free to write to us by mail at: TOWARD THE MARK, P.O. Box 1152, Yorktown, VA 23692-1152.  

May you be specially moved, blessed, and strengthened as The Lord God writes His message in your heart.

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Favor With Our Enemies

"When We Determine To Finish Our Course In Christ, God Causes Even Our Enemies To Help Us Cross The Finish Line!" -- Keith Shealy

As we were praying one day, The Holy Spirit illuminated the Scripture, "When a man's ways please The LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him (Proverb 16:7)." We were overcome with inspiration from this incredible WWII account I (Keith) remembered about an American B-17 Pilot whose life and crew were rescued, against all reason or explanation, by the efforts of an enemy fighter. As we write this blog, The wonder-full Holy Spirit has impressed upon us to release our faith for God's healing to come to any "battle-scars" that you may have sustained to your soul during the past season or seasons of your life. Even in overwhelming attacks during our life mission, God delivers us from what we would call "impossible situations" in the midst of insurmountable odds. As the Holy Spirit begins to remind us of various details in our often-daily fights and what we can endure based on past events, we've got to take note of exactly what He shows us because we will more-than-likely find various parallels between battles we witness, sometimes third-hand like the pilot's experience in this account, and what we as warriors in Jesus Christ's Army experience in our endeavor to fight the good fight of faith... under the grace, protection, and help of God! We pray that you will be encouraged and strengthened as you read this important message, and that you will be filled with gratitude offerings for The Lord and your Life.

Keith just finished reading the miraculously true account of a WWII United States Army Air Corp bomber pilot by the name of Captain Charles Brown. While piloting his B-17 bomber with its ten-man crew, Captain Brown was on a bombing mission over Germany, and was hit twice by German cannon fire known as "flack". The direct hits on the bomber resulted in the loss of one of the plane's engines, significantly damaging a second of the three remaining engines, and destroyed a number of the plane's crucial operating systems. The plane's loss of power, a symptom of the damages that, in and of itself, was bad enough to bring the plane crashing to the ground, also resulted in Captain Brown being forced to drift back out of the protection of the other bombers in his squadron. This left him and his crew unprotected and vulnerable to even more attacks from the enemy. The year was 1943.

At this point, as he flew his lagging plane that is terribly crippled with "flack" damage, Captain Brown was falling further and further behind the rest of the bombers that were already miles ahead of him in formation. As he was nursing his crippled airplane from about 400 miles deep in German territory, he and his crew were praying that, against all odds, they could ultimately make it out of Germany, across the English Channel, and back to home base in England.

Soon, their worst nightmare was realized when over fifteen German fighter planes came from all directions, violently attacking them from all sides... all at once! This turn of events was horrifying! The German fighters shot the American bomber full of hundreds of holes, shooting off half the plane's tail section, killing their tail gunner, destroying their oxygen system, and further damaging their electrical and hydraulics systems. The bomber was attacked so violently that the entire crew, including every one of the machine gun operators, were incapacitated, leaving them now completely defenseless and vulnerable.

Captain Brown's entire crew and co-pilot were injured to the point that they were now unconscious from blood loss and lack of oxygen. Miraculously, by God's grace and by sheer determination, Captain Brown was still able to fight to keep what was left of his bomber and crew in the air, even being shot in the shoulder and now beginning to fade in and out of consciousness. It seemed all but impossible. Another miraculous circumstance happened at this point.

After losing consciousness for a time, Captain Brown woke up to find his bomber in a nose-dive just about two hundred feet from the ground. He was miraculously enabled to save his plane, this time also saving himself and his crew members from certain death. Having to continuously fan the thick smoke that filled the cabin, trying to see and also catch his breath, Captain Brown managed to fly his bomber that was later determined to be "too damaged to fly", out of German-held territory, across the English channel, and then land safely on an American airfield in Norfolk, England... just as his plane was running out of fuel. When the ground crew entered the smoke-filled bomber, they said that it was all but destroyed inside, blood spatter on the walls, wires and hoses hanging down like vines in a jungle, and Captain Brown slumped over the aircraft's steering wheel, utterly exhausted. If we were to end here, this story is undeniably a mighty miracle of God. Wouldn't you say?!

But wait, we have saved perhaps the greatest miracle of that day for last. As if everything that had taken place up to this point was not already plenty enough to be a remarkable miracle of an "impossible" mission, what took place while Captain Brown and his crew were still well-over enemy airspace was even more remarkable as having never been heard-of in the entire air war over Germany. God, through Captain Brown's utter refusal to give up, provided a miracle the likes of which had not been reported, or even heard of, up to that point. It was a miracle that saved Captain Brown and his crew and ensured their successful flight to safety.

While the lame-duck bomber and its brave pilot Captain Brown were still well in German airspace, with the English channel still two hundred and sixty grueling miles away, all of a sudden Captain Brown, over the deafening sounds of the wind rushing violently into the plane's cockpit through the windows that had been shot out, and over the deafening roar of his own crippled engines, he began vaguely hearing a uniquely different sound, one that he had sadly heard before. It was the high-pitched sound that no American bomber pilot ever wanted to hear.

As Captain Brown, with dense smoke blurring his vision, turned to look out of what used be his cockpit window, his heart sank. There he saw the terrifying sight of a German ME-109 fighter plane, Germany's premiere killing-machine, flying just off of his right wing-tip. As if having a German fighter just a few feet off of your wing-tip were not heart-stopping enough, it would be discovered later that the German fighter plane was piloted by none other than famed Fighter Ace, Franz Stigler, who by that point in the war had already had twenty-four kills to his credit... and now was rabidly looking to score his twenty-fifth. As Captain Brown struggled to see the German pilot through his smoke-filled cockpit, he could just barely make out the German pilot motioning with his hand for Captain Brown to land his crippled bomber and, of course, surrender to German ground troops.

Even under the heart-sickening and gut-wrenching reality that the German pilot was only moments from shooting them down, Captain Brown motioned back to the German pilot that he would not be landing his plane. Instead, he was going to continue flying, knowing that his decision would likely ensure the death of him and his crew. Captain Brown decided, without hesitation, that he was going to give his all, even to the death, trying to get his crew back home. As soon as Captain Brown signaled his intentions, knowing exactly what the German would do, the German pilot immediately dropped back into what bomber crews knew to be the dreaded kill or firing position behind the American bomber.

When the German was in position, knowing the German was now poised to make his kill-shot, Captain Brown clinched his teeth and braced himself for what he knew would be his and his unconscious crew members' certain and brutal demise. After several moments of time had passed, each moment seeming like hours, and much to Captain Brown's utter amazement, the German had not fired on them. Captain Brown, knowing that the German was right on his bomber's tail, began wondering, "Why hasn't the German begun firing on us?"

At Captain Brown's utter surprise, the German pilot paused for a moment, pulled his plane up and out of the firing position, and repositioned himself to fly "protection," to fly escort for the crippled bomber. Once in position, the German pilot then proceeded to cover the crippled bomber all the way to the English Channel. Once they were well over the English Channel, the German broke escort formation, pulled up beside Captain Brown's plane, saluted him, and as quickly as the German had appeared turned his plane back toward Germany and disappeared.

Once Captain Brown and his crew had been treated for their wounds and were released, Captain Brown told his commanding officer and a few of the other pilots what had taken place. Both skeptical and cautious about Captain Brown's "impossible tale", his commanding officer told him that he was not to mention the incident to anyone else, afraid that if the story got out, it would make the German's appear "kind" in the press, totally going against the true and vile reality that the American military leaders needed to project to the troops and to the American public. So, with his commander and his own squadron members not believing him, and due to the fog of war at the time of the incident, Captain Brown began to even doubt himself, whether or not the whole thing actually happened.

After the war had ended, Captain Brown graduated college, rejoined the Air Force as a pilot where in 1965 he retired at the rank of Colonel. Some twenty years later, retired Colonel Brown attended a gathering of retired pilots where the details of that day in 1943 over Germany began to make their way back to the forefront of his mind. Shortly after, the retired Colonel began wondering what became of the German pilot and what the possibility might be that he could locate the former Ace, hoping that he could somehow find the German pilot and ask him if the events of that day in 1943 had actually happened. So, Colonial Brown decided that he would make it his mission to research the WWII archives and try to track down the German fighter pilot.

After an extensive four-year search, and with the help of friends, Colonel Brown was able to locate the German pilot. Much to his astonishment, he found that the German pilot and he had only been living two hundred miles apart from one another, Colonel Charles Brown in Settle, Washington and the German pilot, Franz Stigler, just two hundred miles up the Canadian coast where he had fled to settle with his family after the war. Once Colonel Brown and Franz Stigler had made contact with one another, they went on become the best of friends and would later travel around together telling their miraculous story to various groups.

In the first paragraph of our letter, we had remarked on how we as believers are standing at the threshold of a brand new and "hard fought for" season of opportunity where leading others to Jesus Christ is concerned. As I read the heart- wrenching accounts of Captain Brown, and the brutal battles that had to be raging in his mind that day, it was obvious that the same kinds of attacks of confusion, doubt, loneliness, hopelessness, rejection, and helplessness that Captain Brown warred against, so brutally, are what we as believers often have to fight through in our own minds, in the good fight of faith. Fighting in a physical war or fighting through spiritual battles on our way to completing our God-assigned missions in the earth parallel in many ways. And we cannot forget, perhaps the most brutal of battles that Colonel Brown must have fought, for all of those years, was at the tormenting hand of "rejection" from his peers.

The voices of tormentors were finally silenced as soon as Colonel Brown's "unbelievable" account of his fight was finally confirmed by, none other than, Franz Stigler himself. A very wise man once told me that the battles of this life are fought in the mind. The Apostle Paul, concerning his "good fight of faith" said, "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)."

As believers In Jesus Christ, warriors in God's Army, no matter how severely we have been attacked, injured, or riddled with hopelessness and offenses, we must always fight to remember as The Apostle Paul, and Captain Brown in our story, modeled for us. Through their sufferings and determination, those who press through and overcome the certain adversities that come to take us out of this "good fight of faith", whether it be returning to a military base so busted up and confused that we can hardly see, or like Apostle Paul's finishing his course, overcoming many brutal years of fighting to endure beatings, profane rants, scourging, imprisonment, ship wrecks, loneliness, and so many other difficult trials, we too must take advantage of hearing their "hard-fought-for" stories of victory, for the building up of our "most holy faith".

We, too, can know without a doubt that, if God gave those who have gone before us the strength, the help, and the resolve that they needed to finish their course, then He will most certainly do the same for us who ask Him. So we, now, are just as capable to initiate, perform, and finish the missions that He has assigned us to complete, as well as those before us have.

In closing, this testimony began by making a crucial point for all of us in "the good fight of faith" in Jesus Christ's Army to remember. Every moment of every day, as a warrior of faith in Christ, God our Father will be sure to provide just what we need at just the time when we need it. He ensured the safety of the American pilot and his crew by giving them favor in the eyes of a truly "ruthless" enemy, and He will cause even our enemies to help us reach the finish line when we determine to finish our course in Christ. Through the wonder-full Holy Spirit working IN and through those whose hearts are stayed on Christ, the heart of even our enemies will change from literally being hard-wired to destroy us to suddenly giving us favor and the help we need to finish the fight that will complete our life's mission... God's mission wired into each of our lives.

God's promise is written in Proverb 16:7, saying, "When a man's ways please The LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him."

CLICK HERE... Watch living testimony of this historical account.

We can rest in this fact... Like Captain Brown in the story had a commanding officer handing down and briefed him and his crew on their mission objectives, potential dangers to watch out for, and even what to do if captured while on their way to fulfilling their mission, our Great God, Commander Jesus Christ, and The Wonder-Full Person of The Holy Spirit will also brief us when we ask Him, and listen of course, on the various aspects of our missions, in much the same way.

An excellent example is in Jesus' "briefing" to His disciples in Matthew 10. Prior to His disciples beginning their own life missions, Jesus described the potential dangers and instructed them on what to do if captured, saying, "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for My sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but The Spirit of your Father which speaks in you. And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for My Name's sake: but he that endures to the end shall be saved (Matthew 10:16-22)."

So now, it's time we get up, brush off the numbing effects of any offenses and ask The Person of The Holy Spirit to meet with us in the wonder-filled pages of God's Holy Word. There, if we will seek Him with our whole heart, ask Him and wait patiently, He will refresh our spirits, bandage our wounds, give us strength, and provide the courage we need to forgive those who have offended us in any way. Right there is where The Lord God will enable us to finish our course and to especially... Finish Triumphant!

Thank you for taking time to hear our hearts and thank you for your friendship that encourages us. The financial support and prayers of our sponsorship family is making this work possible, fanning the flame in our hearts big-time! We invite you to become a part of our sponsorship team, by giving your financial gift to help us, and we pray The Lord blesses you 100-times over for that support toward sending us into Jesus Christ's harvest of souls in these final hours.

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

Every gift is appreciated, tax-deductible, and helps.

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

Every gift is tax-deductible and helps. Thank you for sowing your financial seed into this work and mission that God has given! May God bless you with a 100-fold return on your gift of generosity!

We INVITE YOU...
see and hear, also follow and share, more TowardTheMark work and messages:

~ "Keith and Brenda Shealy's Video Channel"

~ "Keith Shealy's Toward The Mark" on Facebook

~ "TTM SingingSgt" on Twitter

 

~ Keith and BrendaLee Shealy "How To Activate Your PASSION" on TTM's Podcast Channel
HEAR full-podcast (TTM110) to fan the flame in your heart for what God wired you to do and be, with HIM (48 min, 01 sec):

~ "Sharing with you the Secrets God Whispers to us" teachings on our website 

Thanks for reading and sharing this PRESSIN'IN Blog message from Toward The Mark! May God bless you in the fulfillment of your heart's deepest desires w-i-t-h Him!

"Take me back to the top of this blog post".

            ONE MORE THING...

Would you offer your experience/testimony by writing to tell us, *How would you personally describe the Proverb 16:7 prophecy Christ Jesus made, and how have you found it applicable to YOUR OWN LIFE'S EXPERIENCE?* "When a man's ways please The LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him (Proverb 16:7)."

"See flipcard titles from Pressin'IN..."

Take me to "Is GOD Accelerating Time?" post.

Take me to "WINNING THE LOST *Part III* Count The Cost..." post.

Take me to "WINNING THE LOST *Part II* We Can Only Give What..." post.

Take me to "WINNING THE LOST *Part I* Throw off Religious..." post.

Take me to the "Gratitude is Literally The KEY" post.

Take me to the "Award Shows and Idols" post.

Take me to "What Quality Guitars & Instruments Should Be" post.

Take me to the "HAPPY BIRTHDAY American Flag & USArmy" post.

Take me to the "D-Day 75th Anniversary" post.

Take me to the "Out of the Shadows" post.

Take me to "What is God's View of Abortion" post.

            Our sincerest hope is that this blog enables The Lord to strengthen you in faith and oneness with Him. We would also like to invite you to take advantage of even more messages available for encouraging you, and for your friends and family members as well, especially available in one of our most-requested Toward The Mark books entitled "Letters From The Front." We want to personally invite you to get your personal copy today.

            Our book  LETTERS FROM THE FRONT is a special collection of 12 of our most-requested teaching titles:

Sin Makes Ya Stewpit	The Cart's Before The Horse;
The Crisis of Eroding Integrity	The Fruit's at the End of the Limb
Too Quick to Compromise	The Rarest of All Breeds
Please...Stop Stinkin'	3 Keys to God-Pleasing Faith
Let It Go!	Understanding the Fear of The Lord
Into The Secret Place	Give to Give!

          This collection of twelve teachings, when taken to heart, will help you emerge triumphant over seemingly impossible situations... "LETTERS From The FRONT" available at TowardTheMark online.  We are eternally grateful for our loving Toward The Mark Family who, by their friendship, financial support, and faithful prayers, make this resource and all of our TowardTheMark INC work possible!

Would you write and let us know how this message has fanned the flame in your heart for Christ Jesus, His Ways, and God's Plan for your life? If you would like to request a special order of "LETTERS From The FRONT" or any of Keith Shealy's Toward The Mark resources, when you send us your donation request, simply mention "COMPLIMENTARY COPY PLEASE" for an extra THANK YOU copy that we will be happy to include in your shipment. Also, if you have questions about our work, resources, or giving tax-deductible donations, please click here to e-mail us. We welcome you to also feel free to write to us by mail at: TOWARD THE MARK, P.O. Box 1152, Yorktown, VA 23692-1152.  

May you be specially moved, blessed, and strengthened as The Lord God writes His message in your heart.

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All Toward the Mark content © 2005 - 2020 | All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use apply |
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Is God accelerating time?

For the first time in our ten-year marriage, Keith got hit with a terrible case of writer's block.  He called it his "worst case, ever", likening the symptoms to those of a concussion.  In his 15+ years of playing football, racing hydroplane boats, competitive water-skiing, dirt-bike racing, and a couple more collision-type sports, Keith knows all too well how a concussion injury affects your sensory functions and every-day abilities, often for weeks or months.

A sudden event happened after about 11 days into Keith's writer's block experience!  Keith came into my office to tell me about a wonder-full time of prayer.  The Holy Spirit had illuminated a passage of Scripture that he hadn't given much thought to over the years. He told me he was about to close himself in his office so he could begin writing down what The Lord said about it.  The passage was the one in Matthew 24:22 where Jesus said, “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened."

When he read the verse, he said that a sense of clarity came over him and his writer's block fell away.  Immediately, he sat down and started typing out what he had been shown in the spiritual realm.  This blog message is what he wrote.  We're excited to share this timely word of the prophecy of Christ Jesus that answers for us "IS GOD ACCELERATING TIME?" --Brenda

Have you ever heard the funny little adage, "Life is like a roll of toilet paper; the closer you get to the end, the faster it goes?" Some of our older friends might call that adage "profound" (in jest). However, are you aware that Jesus Christ actually prophesied about the days being shortened the closer we get to "the end", the time of His return?  Matthew described just how Jesus said it in Matthew 24:22, "And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened."  We believe that we are currently experiencing these "days...shortened" and actually have been for some time now.

So, why would Jesus say, "And except those days should be shortened..."? As I asked the Holy Spirit that question, and waited on Him, He brought my attention to the clear evidence of the rapid increase of wickedness in the land.  Then, He brought to my spiritual awareness another interpretation for "days... shortened", as "time being accelerated". He showed me how, as the wickedness in the earth is rapidly increasing, God has been simultaneously making the days shorter, hence making time speed up, all for the sake of drawing our attention to the urgency of searching the condition of our souls.  Because the return of Jesus Christ is fast-approaching, God desires for all who are spiritually asleep to awaken, choose to repent, and come to Him whole-heartedly.  Those who do, He will receive them, will fill their hearts with His Love for His people, and, in turn, will fill them with His passion to reach out and boldly tell all who are lost that their Father in Heaven is calling.

Next, The Holy Spirit privileged me to see three primary objectives for God's shortening the days.  Objective number one is a door of opportunity for those who have never received Jesus Christ to repent and to be saved.  Objective number two is providing a door of repentance to those who had asked Jesus Christ into their heart and, for whatever reason, have fallen into compromise and a state of lukewarm-ness. And objective number three is God providing an affirmation of His Love, in a tangible way, to those who have whole-heartedly given their heart and life to Christ... those He calls "the elect." Not only are the days...shortened to confirm that Jesus Christ is soon to come, but it is God limiting the time and intensity of wickedness to which His elect will be exposed in the land.  "And The Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of My People...and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; (Exodus 3:7)." This also means God is presenting a historic end-times harvest opportunity to those who wholly want and love Jesus Christ and passionately pursue oneness IN Him daily, perhaps to bring a harvest we've never experienced before.

Now is the time that we focus our spiritual eyes and ears intently on Christ Jesus, and call on The Holy Spirit asking Him to rendezvous with us in the pages of God's written Word.  Now is the time for us to throw off spiritual slumber, throw off the cares of this world, pray without ceasing, rebuke intimidating spirits, and go into the Lord's harvest girded with His Authority.

If we are going to take advantage of this historic opportunity for which God has intricately placed us on this earth, at this exact time, we have to understand the authority of Jesus Christ. Just before sending His Disciples out into the mission fields in teams of two, He told them, "And as ye go, preach, saying, The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give (Matthew 10:7-8)." What were His Disciples so freely given for the purpose of giving to others? It was the great news of Jesus Christ and all that comes with receiving Him and His Word into their hearts. And, to confirm to the people that Jesus Christ's Disciples were preaching the Truth about Jesus Christ being the Son of God, Christ equipped them with His Authority to, "... Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils... " giving away all the things that Jesus Christ freely and so richly gave to them, and to us as well.

If we are going to win those who do not know Christ Jesus in these final hours, if we are going to lead people into oneness in Jesus Christ, we have to remember that we cannot depend solely on our natural gifts, talents, abilities, human charisma, or being able to intellectually wield the Scriptures. We must fully depend on Jesus Christ's Spirit, in His Authority, to lead people into oneness in Him. The Scripture tells us that those who look for Him will find Him. Those who love Jesus Christ with our whole heart, and pursue becoming one in Him, by the tutelage of The Holy Spirit, are those to whom He will give His Authority.  "But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you (Matthew 6:33)." Most importantly among "all these things" is Jesus Christ's Authority.  And only by Jesus Christ's Authority will we be able to go and, "... Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils:... (Matthew 10:8b)" just as His Disciples of old.

Speaking of being whole-heartedly dependent on God and His Authority, perhaps one of the very best examples in all The Bible is the account of the young shepherd-boy David who slayed the Philistine giant Goliath using a sling and a stone. The Scriptures tell us that David was a mighty man of God and a man after God's Own Heart.  David wanted and pursued God with his whole heart and had become well-known for his boldness and proficiency at wielding a slingshot.  Interestingly, even as a young shepherd boy, David knew he could not rely on his abilities and strength without God and God's Authority in the fight with him, "And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose (shouting threats and insults), and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.  And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.  So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone,... ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith.  And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled (1 Samuel 17:48-51)."

Notice the fact that, when David went up against the Philistine army's "champion", he hasted, and ran full-on toward the giant.  He knew without a doubt, that God was with Him.  He knew God and, therefore, refused to have fear or be intimidated. In fact, He was so confident in God that he even refused an offer to use the finest weapons and armor of the king.  He knew that it was not going to be by human means that the giant would be defeated, but it would be by God's might.  This we also see confirmed in Zechariah 4:6, "Then He answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the Word of The LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the LORD of hosts."

Knowing how David did not allow anything or anyone to stop him from fulfilling his mission triumphantly, we have to recognize a crucial aspect that I have never personally heard anyone mention. Put yourself in David's sandals and imagine what he was seeing that day. It wasn't like Goliath was standing out there in front of David all alone. The giant was backed by the entire Philistine army.  Imagine the sound of the enormously intimidating force as every one of them hurled curses and insults at David.  It had to be all but deafening. So when David took off running at a full sprint toward all that was approaching him, he had to know he would have to defeat both Goliath AND the entire Philistine army. I believe that, what it took for David to run into the face of the giant AND the army is what our college football coaches would call "playing with total abandon." Also, just as David's bold haste had won the favor of God, the football players who played with total abandon always won the favor of the coaches who repeatedly reminded us that "playing with total abandon wins games!"  It seems to me that David took Goliath out and God handled running the army away. That's teamwork.

Now is our time to GO, just as David did, in Jesus Christ's Authority. We will also be able to "defeat the giants" that come in the form of wicked spirits of slumber and apathy that come to separate God's people from Him. Let's all join and pray together for fellow-believers, for those who have never asked Jesus Christ into their heart, and for those who at one time asked Jesus Christ into their heart and, for whatever reason, have fallen into a state of lukewarm-ness, that they all will be delivered. Then is when we all will be able to take advantage of this time of our Father shortening the days. This is an exciting time for us to go into all the world ...preaching and proclaiming that The kingdom of Heaven is at hand... healing the sick, cleansing the lepers, raising the dead, and casting out devils. Freely we have all been given, and now is the time for us to GO by Christ's Authority and... freely give.

We'd like to end with the thought many of us have heard over the years, "We may very well be the last opportunity for those whose paths we cross to come to Jesus Christ."  We must be wise and lead those who are lost and bound to become searched-out and found, so all can go with us home to our Father, following this final hour's harvest of souls.  "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that wins souls is wise (Proverb 11:30)."

Thank you for taking time to hear our hearts, and thank you for your love, friendship, encouragement, and timely help you have given to make what we do possible! As we ask our Father every day, may He bless you 100-times over for the support you have given toward sending us into Jesus Christ's harvest of souls in these final hours.

In love and appreciation, your co-laborer IN Christ Jesus,

For these final days leading up to the anticipated return of Christ Jesus, no matter what...  KEEP PRESSIN'IN!

Watch: SHOW YOUR FAITH BY YOUR WORKS Podcast Minute on TTM's Vimeo Channel.

Hear: Don't look to Dad for what only your Father has!

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~ "Sharing with you the Secrets God Whispers to us" teachings on Toward The Mark website

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        Take me back to the top of this post.

        Take me to "WINNING THE LOST *Part III* Count The Cost..." post.

        Take me to "WINNING THE LOST *Part II* We Can Only Give What..." post.

        Take me to "WINNING THE LOST *Part I* Throw off Religious..." post.

        Take me to the "Gratitude is Literally The KEY" post.

        Take me to the "Award Shows and Idols" post.

        Take me to "What Quality Guitars & Instruments Should Be" post.

        Take me to the "HAPPY BIRTHDAY American Flag & USArmy" post.

        Take me to the "D-Day 75th Anniversary" post.

        Take me to the "Out of the Shadows" post.

        Take me to "What is God's View of Abortion" post.

            Our sincerest hope is that you are encouraged as you take in this blog. We'd like to invite you to take advantage of even more messages of encouragement, for you and your friends and family members, specially available now in one of our most-requested Toward The Mark books entitled, "Letters From The Front." We want to personally invite you to get your personal copy today.

            Our book  LETTERS FROM THE FRONT is a special collection of 12 of our most-requested teaching titles:

Sin Makes Ya Stewpit	The Cart's Before The Horse;
The Crisis of Eroding Integrity	The Fruit's at the End of the Limb
Too Quick to Compromise	The Rarest of All Breeds
Please...Stop Stinkin'	3 Keys to God-Pleasing Faith
Let It Go!	Understanding the Fear of The Lord
Into The Secret Place	Give to Give!

          This collection of twelve teachings, when taken to heart, will help you emerge triumphant over seemingly impossible situations... "LETTERS From The FRONT" available at TowardTheMark online.

Would you write and let us know how this message has fanned the flame in your heart for Christ Jesus, His Ways, and God's Plan for your life? If you would like to request a special order of "LETTERS From The FRONT" or another of Keith Shealy and Toward The Mark's resources, mention "COMPLIMENTARY COPY PLEASE" for an extra THANK YOU book copy that we will be happy to include with your order. Also, if you have questions about our work, resources, or giving tax-deductible donations, please click here to e-mail us. We welcome you to also feel free to write us a letter and mail it to TOWARD THE MARK, P.O. Box 1152, Yorktown, VA 23692-1152.

May you be greatly blessed as God writes this message in your heart. We are eternally grateful for our loving Toward The Mark Family of sponsors who, without their friendship, financial support, and faithful prayers this work would not be possible!

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All Toward the Mark content © 2005 - 2020 | All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use apply |
For more information on this platform site, please read Privacy Policy, Terms of Service,
and Ad Choices. | TowardTheMark.com | Resources@TowardTheMark.com