#215: Being Led by the Spirit (Overcomer Series)

Welcome to Kingdom Writers where we help equip and empower Christian writers of all genres to share your unique gifts with the world. We're your hosts, C.J. and Shelley Hitz.

This podcast is filled with spiritual encouragement as well as prayers to help you overcome the resistance you face as a writer. Your story matters.

Welcome to the Overcomer series. My name is Shelli Hitz and in this series my husband CJ and I will walk you through some steps to help you overcome in your writing, publishing and marketing of your books. This series was originally recorded as live videos inside Christian Book Academy and so if you would like to join us and be able to stay spend time with us live, then join us@christianbookacademy.com we wanted this series to also be able to encourage you. So I hope that you enjoy it and leave us a review and let us know how this podcast is encouraging your writing. We would love to hear from you. Enjoy this episode. This is the theme for today is Being led by the Spirit. And so the scripture is Psalm 142, verses 2 through 3a and it says overwhelmed, you alone know the way I should turn. Talking about God, you know, if you're feeling overwhelmed at all in life or whatever, writing your book, realize that God alone knows the way that you should turn. And we are here to walk with you as your guides. We are here to cheer you on. We are here, I hope you've seen in the member area or in the Facebook group. No question ever goes unanswered. In fact, a lot of you get many, many replies, right? It's an active group. We are here for you. We see you. I'm listening to what you're saying and I'm adapting even the curriculum as we go to help you. So we are here as your guides. You will learn skills, skill sets. I mean there's a lot of amazing curriculum still coming up in just the things that you're going to learn that you can use for a lifetime. We will teach you skill sets and we will teach you things that you can learn but and we'll give you that personalized feedback that you crave. You know, in the Facebook group we will listen to you, we will pray for you. But ultimately you need to hear from God which way to go with your book. And so we want to help connect you to the source so that you can hear from him on what is the pace for you? What is the next, you know, what is the next chapter? What is it you're to write next? And he is going to Give you what you need as we're here to be your guides.

Yeah. You know, in the last 10 years, since I took up running again, I've probably run well over 200 races. You know, whether it's trails, roads, and there's been so many of those races, and mainly on the roads where once the gun fires and the people are off, there's a lead bike or motorcycle that actually sets off ahead of the runners. And they're simply a guide. So they will turn whenever, you know, the course turns, and they're the person that you're following in the race in order to know where to navigate on the course. You know, they're the ones that actually show the correct route. And so it's really helpful, especially, you know, if I haven't previewed a course. And by far and away, I'm not always in the lead pack. And so, you know, I'm able to follow the guys right behind.

But typically you are in the front, I'm in the back.

But I want to say that as writers, the Holy Spirit is our lead bike.

Amen.

And, you know, he's going to help us navigate unfamiliar territory in the whole process of writing our books. And that's a good picture for me. And, you know, I hope that's something that you might remember as well, that, you know, it's a. It's a navigational. You might even think of the Holy Spirit as that gps. Hopefully not an annoying voice, you know, like some of those GPSs have. But the Holy Spirit is guiding you. Turn left up here, son. Go right up here, daughter. You know, he's going to, you know, guide us step by step. And as Shelley said, we are helping guide as mentors along with the other mentors in the group. But, man, ultimately, it's the Holy Spirit that we need to be tuned into. That's a frequency that we want to tune in, just like on a radio, as clear as possible and allow that static to sort of fall away.

Yeah. And so being led by the Spirit means letting go of control. How many do we have that tend to be control freaks? I'm one of them. C.J. and I are both firstborns. And so when we first got married, we both wanted to be in control. And it was like, boom, boom, boom. First couple years were rough, but the adjustment period. Yeah, but we both learned, you know, we both had, you know, adapted. But being led by the spirit means letting go of control. It's like, you know, you know, when they used to have the horse and buggy and the Person that was driving had the reins. It's like giving the reins to God, letting him be the one that's driving, so to speak, and allowing him to be in the driver's seat. And sometimes the only instructions that God will give us is buckle up. He doesn't tell us where we're going, when we're gonna go there. You know, it's like we want to know all the details, but God, you know, what exactly, you know, is this gonna happen? You know, and how's this gonna happen? And how am I gonna pay for all the publishing and what's gonna, you know what, you know things and you want to know everything. And God just says, buckle up, we're going.

Are you willing to trust him to be the driver in your car today, to be the driver in your writing, to be the driver as you write this first draft? And God had given me a vision a while ago because I do struggle with this. I struggle with wanting to be in control and self sufficient and all of those things. And God was like, shelly, you can get so far on your own two feet. And he gave me the picture. I always run this same path in our neighborhood. C.J. knows, and I do it just because I don't have to drive anywhere. It's quick, it's easy, it's simple, and it's beautiful. We live right by Garden of the Gods in Pikes Peak. And he's like, shelly, you can go so far on your own two feet. You know, I'm up to about seven miles with my long run, which it took me a year to get to that point, but. But that's the longest. Like, that's about it, you know, But I can go a few miles on my own two feet. But he said, I want you to come and peek around the corner. And he showed me, like, it was like I was walking around the corner and all of a sudden there was a private jet sitting there. And God was like, this is my private jet. And you have the opportunity. Instead of just going the few miles, you can go on your own two feet to get into my private jet. Buckle up. And trust me that I have the agenda, I have the budget, I know where we're going, and I'm not, you know, he was basically like, yeah, just buckle up and get ready for the adventure. And not really going to tell me, you know, exactly what was ahead. But do you want to just go where you can go on your own two feet, or are you willing to get into his private jet, buckle up and let him take you where you can never go in your own strength and in your own resources, in your own connections, in your own finances, are you willing to give up control to be led by the Spirit?

Yeah.

And we want to remind you that one of the most life transforming.

Workshops.

Workshops. Thank you. That I ever attended.

I couldn't think of the word playing Pictionary here today.

Well, he knows me, but because he has my. Sees my notes too. We have notes, by the way.

He sees my notes. But one of the most life transforming workshops I ever attended was how to Hear God's Voice by Mark Berkler. You have that workshop. I purchased the rights to teach that workshop to you. You have that in the Kingdom Foundations module. So if you just feel like you're not hearing God's voice or you don't know what, what it means to be led by the Spirit, go and at least watch the introduction video. It gives you an overview of it. If you can watch all of them and actually go through. Is life transformational?

Yeah. And you know, there's a verse that I have meditated on for years now, and it's just a short little verse in Luke, but yet it just gives us this picture of where Jesus received his power, how he was always connected and how he was intentional. And it's Luke 5:16. And it simply says, but Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for, for prayer. Simple as that. But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer. Often. You know, he was constantly looking forward to that time with his Father. And you know, I believe to truly be led by the Spirit requires intentional stillness with the Lord before the Lord having that posture prayer of just communing. And it doesn't even have to be tons of words. You know, I think many times we think we have to bring this huge, you know, three page list. And there's a time for that. But there's also going to be times where you just, you just sit in stillness and you allow your soul to quiet to the point where you can actually begin to hear the voice of the Lord. Maybe he's impressing something on your mind. As Shelley said, you know, this training by Mark Verkler, he does a great job of really helping believers tune in to that voice of the Lord. And what is the voice of the Lord? What might not be the voice of the Lord. But you and I need to realize that God usually doesn't compete.

Above. He doesn't usually yell over the noise in our lives. It requires intentionality on our parts to say, okay, I'm going to put myself in A position to be still and break away from all this chaos, whatever it is, in each of our lives. I'm going to break away and sit before the Lord. I'm going to break away and withdraw to the wilderness for prayer. You know, and there's this ancient phrase that's been used throughout the centuries, Christian writings, and it's really simple. And it's called its four words, Attention of the heart. Attention of the heart. And you look at some of the deepest spiritual writings throughout the centuries, from monks to people like Teresa of Avila, to all kinds of people that are known for the richness of their writings, and you see this phrase, a true tension of the heart. And you need to picture Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus. And this is the same Mary that was sitting at the feet of Jesus while Mary was stirring around in the kitchen, or Martha trying to, you know, fix the meal, which we've mentioned in a previous episode. But picture Mary just sitting at the feet of Jesus, really tuning in, just feeding off every word that proceeds from Jesus mouth as if it's the very words of life themselves. And that's the attention of the heart. And what I want to ask is, where is the most peaceful place that you can think of in your neck of the woods that you can break away and withdraw to the wilderness for prayer? What is it for you? I have a few that I can think of here in the Springs area and the surrounding areas. But what is it for you? It could be right there in your own home. Maybe there's a nook that just. It just evokes peace. The minute you, you get in there and you close the door, it could be a place right by a very babbling brook, you know, a stream that is nearby your home. It could be somewhere in the mountains, it could be a lake, it could be.

Somewhere in the woods. That's just a really a park. I don't know where it is for you, but I want to encourage you to withdraw and have that intentional time every single week. Is it every day of the week? I don't know. That's between you and the Lord. Is it twice a week, three times? I don't know. But each of us has to decide. And I want to encourage each of us to say nothing is going to infringe on this time where I withdraw. This is going to be my time. That's extra special of withdrawing with the Lord in prayer. And just watch what the Lord might do during that time, that hour, that two hours, that five hours, that half a day. If you're able to set aside that withdrawing time and again. I just believe that as we all do this and we're intentional, we're going to be tuning in to that spirit, being able to hear the voice of the Lord for what those next steps are in our writings. There's even going to be some manna that falls from heaven that we're able to pick up, scoop up and actually even out of that be able to help feed others with our words.

Yeah. Jan says for her it's her living room, the park and the beach. Jan lives in Hawaii. So.

Yeah.

Rebecca says we have a beautiful park right up the street and I love it there. Yeah. And so for me I have a, a rocking chair in the corner over there. We're like in, in this corner of our living room but over there I have a rocking chair but I put on some peaceful music. So Tammy Sorensen, she's a Christian and as actually like does music, does therapy with music. So it's therapeutic music with certain tones and different things and I play that music. You know, we have a little water fountain that I'll sometimes, you know, will turn on or you know, a candle. So sometimes even if you don't live in a scenic area, you can create that peacefulness right where you're at. My sister, you know, she has two kids, she's really busy, but for her, she actually created this little place in the corner of her walk in closet.

So it doesn't have to be, you know, doesn't have to be, you know, some. Somewhere even outside your home. I usually try to go at least once a week. I try to take Sundays completely off and go somewhere in nature if I can or do something that's really, you know, life giving and, and will connect me, you know, to the Lord in that way as well. Camille says for her it's in the church, you know, so for, for all of us it's different.

Yeah.

But I just want to remind you of our theme verse for today. Psalm 142, verses 2 through 3. A overwhelmed, you alone know the way I should turn. So we are here as your guides and we will guide you every step of the way and we will give you advice in the Facebook group, we will give you feedback. But ultimately it's between you and the Lord to really decide like, you know, which advice to take and what is best for you in this season for your book, you know, all of those things. And so we want you to be hearing directly from the Lord as well as receiving the wisdom and the teaching and the guidance that we offer here in the academy. Amen. And CJ is going to close us in prayer.

Yeah. So I want to remind us all of one more verse. This is a jerk gem found in Isaiah 30:21. And it says your own ears will hear him. Right behind you, a voice will say, this is the way you should go, whether to the right or to the left. So, Father, we just thank you so much for your direction in our lives. We thank you that you have your hand upon each and every one of us. You have us in your grip. You're not letting us go. Yes, we are safe in your arms, no matter what. Whether we live on this earth or we're taken suddenly, we know we're safe in your arms. And so, Lord, I just want to ask that each and every one of our Christian Book Academy members would be able to tune in to your voice, that they would be led by your spirit, step by step, by step, step. And Lord, I just want to pray that each of us would have just an intentional time of often withdrawing to the wilderness for prayer, just as Jesus did, that we would follow his example and say, oh, I long just to be with you, Lord. I just long to spend uninterrupted time just sitting at your feet, listening, sharing my concerns, my heart, whatever it may be. Lord, I just pray that we would really be intentional about that and that each of us would come away with nuggets, with the very words of life that come from God's heart as we write. And I just pray that you would inspire, you would encourage, you would just download creativity into each and every one of us. I pray, Lord, that each of us would be productive in terms of how you define production, Lord, not in the way man defines it. That every ounce of writing, whether it's five words or a thousand words, I pray it would be full of substance, full of weight, weightiness. And I just pray that each of us, Lord, would be able to tap in to your heartbeat, Lord. And I just thank you so much for all that you're doing, the progress that you're making in each and every one of these writers. And I just pray that they would live out their full calling and fulfill the desire that you have, Lord, for each of them to complete this task. And we will glorify you and give you all the credit, Lord. And we ask this in Jesus name, Amen.

Amen.

God bless you guys.

Bye bye. Thank you so much for spending time with us in this episode. It truly means the world to us. We also have a free gift for you. It's a new PDF that CJ and I recently wrote called 8 surprisingly Simple Writing Tips. Say that 10 times real fast in a row, right? But it's a PDF you can get instant access just go to training online authors.com writing tips. We'd love to send that PDF to you right now. And again, it's called Eight Surprisingly Simple Writing Tips. Enjoy.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Kingdom Writers. We believe that you as a Christian writer have a specific role to play in the Kingdom of Heaven to impact lives for eternity.

And because of this, we choose to pour out our lives into encouraging writers like you to not only tell your stories, but to take the courageous step of self publishing your stories in books that will outlive you and leave behind a powerful legacy. This podcast is sponsored by Christian Book Academy where we help you give birth to your books. We invite you to join our community of Kingdom Writers.