# 243: What is in Your Hand? (Kingdom Marketing Mindset 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 Kingdom Marketing Mindset series. My name is Shelli Hitz, and my husband CJ and I are so thrilled that you have joined us for this series. I really believe this is going to be a landmark series for many of you, helping you to get your message to more people, to really be able to do what God has called you to do in a way that is so freeing and that actually works. And so we are excited. And the foundation of this entire series really starts when you start having regular business meetings with God. And I have a free training for you on this that walks you through the steps. I've been doing this regularly myself for the last few years, and it just works. So go get this training for for free@trainingauthors.com businessmeeting. I guarantee if you start having weekly business meetings with God, your life is going to change, your marketing is going to change, and there's going to be some amazing things that happen. So go get that training@trainingauthors.com businessmeeting and I hope that this series is a blessing to you and your book marketing. So this week we're continuing on the Kingdom Marketing Mindset series. How many of you have been enjoying this this week? This the topic is what is in your hand? And this is a topic that keeps coming back up for me over and over. And God keeps saying this to me. And we just wanted to unpack this even more for each one of you, your writing and publishing, but particularly as you're going, you know, moving to that journey of marketing your book. What is in your hand?

Yeah, and that whole phrase, what is in your hand? Really references back to Moses and his encounter with the Lord in Exodus chapter 3 and 4. And I'll just read Exodus 4:2 from the New living translation. It says, then the Lord asked him, what is. Is that in your hand? A shepherd staff? Moses replied, and what we need to realize is that this question comes after several protests of Moses basically giving God excuses as to why he wasn't the man for the job that God was calling him to. And you know, Moses just kept coming back with excuse after excuse. How many of us have done that with the Lord? We say, oh, you know, I just don't Think so, God? I'm not equipped or I don't. I don't have enough education.

You know, I'm not the most eloquent writer. You know, I don't have the best computer.

You know, I get distracted easily. Are you sure you're really calling me to this? I. I mean, we give excuse after excuse after excuse. And this was Moses. And so we can relate to Moses. Yeah.

A staff.

Is essentially just a stick. And so when Moses replied, you know, it's a shepherd's staff. And that staff was used to prod and poke sheep and basically get the sheep to go where they wanted to go. But how many know that that staff, if you read the rest of the story, becomes something mighty when God anoints it?

Amen.

And this is what's happening here. I mean, this is just a little snippet. You know, you can read Exodus chapter three and all of the protests. You can read chapter four, where finally, you know, Moses starts coming around, really asking God some more specifics. Okay, well, how are you going to prove this to me, God? What should I say when I get there? What's going to happen? And so he kind of wanted some details. Many of us want those details as well, which God sometimes gives us, sometimes doesn't, by the way. But.

Moses is an example for all of us that whatever we have in our hands, as simple as it is, can become something mighty and anointed. I think of Samson, who had this donkey jawbone. Any of you know that story, knows that he actually slayed a thousand men with that donkey jawbone? Was that Samson's strength? No, it was the Lord's anointing, allowing him to accomplish that.

You know, basically coming against a people who wanted to destroy, you know, God's people. David and his sling with his simple stones defend, you know, basically defeating Goliath God. You think it was just David's, like, supreme accuracy that day? I think. I mean, it only took. Took one stone. Yeah, he didn't even have to use all five. And so, you know, you got the boy that is out there with the crowds, you know, Jesus and his disciples. This boy offers his five loaves and two fish. And what does Jesus do with it? He multiplies it. And he feeds the whole crowd, which could have been as many as 15,000 people. When you consider all of the women and children that were there as well. It says 5,000 men were there, not including all of those that were with them. You think about the woman with the alabaster jar who anointed Jesus broke it open and it was, it was expensive stuff. You know, she anointed Jesus with it. And the point there is that we all have something in our hands, every single one of us. And when you and I choose to release that, as all of these people eventually did, Moses threw a stick on the ground, his staff became a snake. It became something powerful that God used as a sign of his power. You think about the breaking open of that alabaster jar, a giving away of something expensive to anoint Jesus. You just think about the releasing of what God has given you. And that's when it becomes powerful. And not only that, when we choose to release whatever's in our hands and we have that open hand mentality, not of tight fisted, like, I'm going to keep this, but this open hand mentality, that's when God releases his best. It's when we choose to release that God releases his power, his anointing on what we're doing. And I just believe it with all of you, that some of you may have had the thoughts. And these are certainly things that come from the enemy. They're fiery darts that hit our minds. You know, you're just not well equipped, you're just not well educated. You're just not quite ready for this task. And we kind of make these excuses and yet we forget we're dealing with the God of the universe.

Amen.

We're dealing with the God who spoke creation to existence with words. And so your words as they're released through your fingers, through, through that pen, you know, and each of us again are priestly pens in the hands of the author of life. When we choose to release those things into the world and not just hold on to them like, well, who's going to really like this? Who's going to really be encouraged by this? We start to diminish and we get into our own skin and we forget there is a God who can take those simple words.

Do mighty things with them. So I just want to encourage all of us, that's what we mean by the question, what is in your hand? What's currently there right now? If the Lord were to ask you, what do you have that you can offer me that I can then take and anoint for my glory?

Yeah. So those of you that are here live or watching the replay, what are some of the excuses that you've had or some of the thoughts that have come into your mind? Share those in the comments. Because we've all had them, right? We've all been like Moses, that's like, oh, I can't do this. Who am I? What you're asking me to do what?

Yeah.

And yet it's not about us. It's about God. And so. So this whole theme of what is in your hand, it's really a concept of stewardship, right? God gives us a little many times. And then once we start to take those steps, once we start to apply it, he will then multiply it into much. But many times we want to start off with the big thing, right? We want to start off with all the things and, you know, just be able to have the end result and the big thing right away. And God's like, I want to see what you're going to do with what you have right now. You know, and some of you may feel like, well, what do I have? You know, what? Even if you just have a paper and a pencil or a pen, you have enough. You can start writing your book on a paper and a pencil and a pen. You can dictate your book into your phone. You can, you know, I mean. I mean, we. We don't need all of the big fancy things sometimes that we think we need, but we just need to start where we're at. So, you know, you think about the parable of the talents. And, you know, different people had different talents. And then, you know, the owner went away. He had given them the responsibility of that, the stewardship of those things. He went away and then he came back. Some of them multiplied what they had, and then one, remember, hid their talent because they were afraid. And so in Matthew 25:29, it says, to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given.

And they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.

That's powerful, right? It doesn't say, okay, you have to go out and sell X number of books. You have to be this worldwide, you know, national speaker or international speaker. You don't have to, you know, it doesn't say that. It says, you know, with. To those who use well, what they've been given. So what you have right now, what is in your hand right now to what you've been given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. And I really feel like that is the story of C.J. and I and our ministry and our business.

You know, just started with what we had. I just started writing articles on a website. At that time, it wasn't even blogging. It was articles 2004. I just started writing articles on A website, and then, you know, eventually was able to publish my first book in 2008. And one thing has led to the other. One small step of obedience has led to the other. Has it been an overnight success? No, no. It's one small step of obedience at a time. With what he's given me at that moment in my hand, I couldn't have done what I'm doing now. You know, back in 2004, I wasn't ready for that. But he gives even more when you are faithful to use well what he's given you. So we're talking about marketing and a kingdom marketing mindset. So we want to. Want you to think about as you're marketing your book, what do you have in your hand? So you may think, well, I don't have a lot of money to do advertising right now. I. I don't have this. I don't have that. Well, ask God to start selling books and then start setting aside your book royalties, and then you can start using that little for those ads. But, you know, what do you already have? What connections do you already have? You know, one of the things that each Christian Book Academy member has right now is access to training in Christian Book Academy, right? That's something you have in your hand. Are you using it? Are you faithful to go through the training, and are you faithful to apply it, not just take in more knowledge and information, but actually apply it as God leads you? One thing that all of you have as Christian Book Academy members is access to our Facebook group. You can ask a question at any time, 24, 7. It's never closed, and within 24 hours, typically she shorter. You'll get an answer, you know, from myself, our mentor team. Ask your questions. That's something you have in your hand right now. Are you using that resource? Right. That's just a small example, but I just wanted to share a case study. C.J. and I, as most of you know, we bought our condo last month, and it was a little bit of a stretch financially. Well, a lot of a stretch. A big stretch. Let me say that. Better, grammatically better. It was a big stretch for us. And so during that time, during my business meetings with God, I was praying and asking him, God, is there anything that you would have us to do so we could have more money for our down payment? So we couldn't actually have a down payment. And one of the things that he brought to my mind is, shelly, what do you have in your hand? And so I started thinking about that, and all of a sudden he brought to my mind that at that time, we still had some of my brushstroke workbooks in stock. So this is a specialty book that I had created with my artwork on special paper. It's a really big book. I mean, I can't even remember how many pages right now. About 170some pages. And it has a ton of instructional training in it. So I sell it for $39. It's not a $2.99 ebook. And God reminded me I had some of those books in stock. I'd already paid for them. They were sitting there and he was like, why don't you put together a bundle, a book bundle? So I bundled some of the other books we had because, you know, with the God's Glory box subscription that. That we partnership that we have, we get some overs, what are called overs. We get like 300 extra books each time. So we had some extra books in stock from that. So I bundled some of those books in. I had some brush lettering pens in stock. I mean, all these things I had in my hand, right? So I put together a bundle. I also gave a discount and I shared it with my email list. And guess what? That book bundle sale brought in a profit of around $1,000 that went towards our down payment. And I could have just sat there and worried. I could have just sat there and, you know, had all of these things on my shelves and never done anything with it. What is in your hand?

Yeah. And, you know, my own little testimony here recently is many of you know that I do some running coaching on the side, and.

You know, for a little season there, I. I shut. Shut that down, you know, to focus on more writing and just some other stuff that we were doing. And yet recently I thought, you know, I've got a little extra time. It's something I know how to do. There are people that are interested. And so I just decided to open it back up. And over the last three weeks, I picked up for running clients that are just really good fit. You know, there's some people that, you know, you get paired with and you're like, I'm not sure if this is the greatest fit. You know, we're not kind of communicating well with each other. There's a disconnect there. But, man, these four people that I feel like the Lord dropped in my lap are just perfect. And one of them that I just was introduced to yesterday on the phone, I'm going to be meeting with him on Saturday. He's a believer. He somehow found Shelly and I online just Type Googling Colorado Springs running coach.

And that's the power of SEO Search engine optimization.

I told him I have to give credit to my techie wife for that one for sure. But I just look at this.

It's.

It's an extra help financially, and we.

Actually need it right now. Like, it's actually a need that. And it's been a blessing for CJ to get these new clients.

But, yeah, that's one small thing that's in my hand, you know, something I know how to do. There are seasons. I think there's seasons when we really dive into something, and there's seasons when we take a break from those very things. And. And so for me, it's not like a burden to take on some of these running clients, especially when they're such a good fit. And I'm actually excited to see their improvement and see them apply some of the things that I teach them. So that's just one small example. I mean, I think all of us just have something that sits in our hands that maybe has even lied dormant for a while, and God wants to sort of resurrect that, use it for that season that you're in, and maybe it's been sitting on the shelf and God says, it's time. I want to use that. There's something good that can come from that.

Yeah. Another example is I have a new program that I've been running. It's called Book Marketing Momentum. And when I mentioned the book bundle example, I don't mention that as a blueprint. Right. I'm not giving you, okay, now you need to go out and do blueprints or that you need to go out and do book bundles. But one of the people that is in my Book Marketing Momentum coaching program, she prayed about it, and she had books in stock, and she decided to do a bundle of her own and some really neat items that really went well with her book. And she just decided to do 14, not a huge number, just to try it out, because you have to ship, and there's just, you know, different details. She sold out within a few days, you know, and her following loved it. And she's developing deeper relationships with her followers. She can follow up, because how many of you know, we don't know who buys our book typically on Amazon, but she knows who bought these book bundles so she can follow up, ask them for reviews, you know, and what you have in your hand might be a relationship. Maybe you have a relationship with someone and God is prompting you to connect with them to. To do Something with them in a strategic relationship. We have a lesson on that in the book Challenge, the book launch Challenge curriculum, all about strategic relationships. So go and look at that lesson. If that's something that you feel God prompting in your heart, it doesn't mean that it has to be something physical. It doesn't have to be a book.

In your hands. It doesn't have to be.

A product or a service. It can actually be a relationship that God, a strategic relationship that God is going to use powerfully. It's going to be a win, win situation. But ask God what is in your hand? And this is a good question to ask on an ongoing basis, like not just one and done, but on an ongoing basis. God, what are you asking me to steward right now? You know, and like I said, it can be a multitude of things. You might have 10 email subscribers, but how can you steward those 10 subscribers well? How can you serve them really well right now? You know, what can you give them each week or you know, what free gift that's going to really bless them and, and impact them? You know, I mean, I think a lot of times we just discount, oh, I only have 100 people following me on Facebook. Serve those 100 people well. Right?

What is in your hand? Because to those who use well what they have been given, even more will be given. I'm starting to preach.

Preach.

I'm tired of you, of any of us, not just you, but of authors complaining to me. Shelly, I don't have a big platform. Shelly, I don't have a big email list. Shelly, I don't have money. Shelly, I don't have this. Guess what? Use what you have and God will multiply it. Ask him for the resources that you need. Ask him for ideas to generate the money that you need. Because those who use what they have, even more will be given to them.

Yeah. You know, and speaking of relationships, I mean, how many of us have just been in our prayer times and we have somebody that crosses our mind, and that could very well be that God's putting them on our heart to pray for them. But it also may be a very specific call from the Lord to contact that person.

Yeah.

And so there's some relationships like a family member or somebody that God just puts strongly in your heart because they just really need prayer. Maybe they're down, maybe they're going through a hard time. But I think there's these strategic business partnerships that in your business meetings with the Lord.

He'Ll drop names into your mind, and sometimes we just dismiss them. We Just blow through and then we forget. They kind of dissolve in thin air. Don't you wish that you always wrote down all the good ideas, by the way? Some just dissolve because we, we don't write them down. But in this case, maybe it's somebody specifically that God says, you need to call this person. And maybe you don't even know what's going to happen. Like, you're just like, okay, well what am I going to say, Lord? You know, just like Moses, you know, what am I going to do when I get there? You know, I mean, what do you mean you're going to free millions of Israelites from the Egyptian slavery? I mean, what, like, what am I going to say to this pharaoh? And.

I think sometimes we might have those situations where we're like, okay, so you want me to call this person? Or they just keep strongly being impressed in my mind. Well, what am I going to say, Lord? I don't want to sound like sales or salesy or anything. And yet the Lord, I think he just says, just go with it. Just see where the conversation goes and one thing will lead to the next. And maybe it's just by the end of it, you both have this strategic partnership of them promoting your stuff. You're helping promote their stuff. Just something as simple as that. Maybe they give you one of their emails and you say, well, man, it's not a great trade. You only have 100 people on my list and they have 20,000 on their list. Well, that is good for you.

But the bottom line is it may not be about that specific number that you have. Maybe after you partner with them, you go from 100 to 500 just like that. Because people really enjoy your stuff. There's specific people looking for your stuff. So again, one little thing can lead to the next and snowball. You just never know. You can't discount something going through your mind and like, ah, it's probably nothing. Wait on that. Just pray into it a little, little more. Linger there just a little longer. And say.

What? What's this name being dropped into my mind, Lord, Is this something you want me to pursue?

Yeah. And just a, another example, just from practical example from this week, you know, not all of you have a podcast and that's fine, but this is just an example. It's not a blueprint. Right. We're not talking about blueprints. But somebody that I had met at a previous speaking engagement just happened to reach out to me and ask if I would be on their podcast. And I had been saying no to all those types of invitations for months. But God finally was saying, okay, it's time. And so I was like, okay, yes, I'll be on your podcast. So we did it yesterday, recorded it immediately. God was like, she needs to be connected with this person. So I'm like, let me make this introduction of you to this person. Now, I have no idea what that will do, but just her following the Lord, because she said, I really felt like God had told me to contact you at this time. I said, well, it's a good thing, because I would have said no previously. So God, you know, prompted her to contact me at a specific time that was the right time for the Lord. But then as a result, God put someone in my mind to connect her with. Who knows what that ripple effect will do? Who knows what they will do together? But all I'm saying is just take the step. What do you have in your hand?

Yeah. Well, there's one more example I want to share before we get into our one minute reflection time. And many of us are familiar with Eugene Peterson, who wrote the message translation. And Eugene and his wife passed away in the last year and a half.

But what a legacy. You know, of course he left with that translation, but many of us don't understand how he got started with that. You know, he was a pastor for 29 years.

Fairly small congregation in Maryland. I think that, you know, two, three, 400 people that he faithfully pastored for nearly 30 years. And there was a period, I think it might have been in the late 80s, early 90s, when he was going to lead an adult Bible study. And he had really wanted to take them through Galatians, and there was some racial uproar and just some things happening, even specifically near where they were in Baltimore at the time. And he decided, because some of this mindset had even creeped into some of his congregation, and he was frustrated by that, that some of the same types of almost racial behavior, racism, had crept in there. And he wondered, how could this be? Well, I've got the solution. I'm going to take my congregation or those who are interested in doing a specific class when it take them to Galatians, because Paul deals with a lot of this types of type, type of stuff. So the first week.

It just seemed like, you know, as he's going through the Greek and the Hebrew, and he's really just teaching and getting down to the nitty gritty, a lot of this stuff was just going over their heads, those that were a part of this class. And so he decided, I Need to change things up. This Greek and Hebrew just probably isn't going to be the right fit, you know, for this specific class. And so I'm gonna going to translate chapter by chapter, just Galatians, and I'm going to put this stuff in the common man's language.

It's like a paraphrase, and I'm going.

To print it off. They'll each have a page and a half of notes every single week that we meet. And when he came back with those notes, he found that the class was engaged. They weren't just sitting there boards during their coffee, but they were actually engaged, excited. Something came alive in them. And so he kept doing it through Galatians. Well, fast forward about a year, and somehow his editor had gotten a hold of this paraphrase in Galatians and said, man, Eugene.

There are several of us that are just loving this, like, fresh translation that you did. I guess that's what we could call it, a paraphrase to Galatians. Our only problem is we just keep rereading Galatians over and over again. We need something else.

I need more.

And so basically, his editor was like, what do you think about doing the whole Bible? Eugene? Eugene just kind of was stunned for a second. Like, this thing would take me 20 years.

And it did.

And the bottom line is, within a year, he resigned after nearly 30 years at that pastorate, and he began work on his message translation. And that translation has gone on to paraphrase, right? Yeah. I guess it's considered paraphrase. If you know Eugene or you knew of him, you knew that he was a giant among.

Translators, though. And so that's where. But he paraphrased this. It sold well over 20 million copies. It made him and his family millionaires within a year. And yet they gave most of it away. Eugene and his family were known to.

Be very generous. And it's just one of those examples of this is what Eugene had in his hand. He started working with this adult class of 10 people with the idea of trying to.

Allow them to see Galatians and then live that out in their own sphere in regard to racial relations. And it turned out to be the whole Bible that he eventually did, over the course of 20 years, that eventually impacted and continues to impact millions upon millions of people who find this paraphrase refreshing. And they read Scripture.

Yeah. So what I love about this story, CJ Shared it with me earlier this week. I'm like, oh, this would be a great one to share on one of our live videos. He used what he had. He was in some basement with 10 people.

10 people. He wasn't thinking of, oh, I want to sell millions.

That never even entered his mind.

He wasn't even thinking about writing a book or paraphrasing the Bible. He was just using what he had in his hand, you know, taking direction from God. And then one step at a time, one thing led to the next, to the next, to the next. And then this has been his legacy. And so what do you have in your hand today? It may seem small today. You may not know what the impact. I mean, I'm just getting chills. You may not know what God wants to do or what he will do with that small, small thing that you have in your hand today. But in God's hands, it can multiply. So we're gonna have a minute of reflection, and I just want you to ask God, what do I have in my hand today? What is it you want me to use today? And if you're comfortable, please share in the comments. Will give you a minute to ask God about this.

Sam.

Please share anything that you felt like God said to you today. What do you have in your hand? And this, like I said, this is something I really recommend that you bring to your business meetings with God. You know, ask him. And, you know, as we were just reflecting and praying, God gave me just this picture of how many of you have ever walked into your closet and just looked and was like, I have nothing to wear.

Or you go to your cupboard and you're like, there's nothing to eat.

And it's not true. It's just we just kind of are seeing things, you know, the same way. Whereas if, like, for example, when I was in college, I was studying to be a physical therapist and I had to do an internship, I stayed with my aunt and uncle during that time. And I would do that. I would look into her cupboard, and I'd be like, there's nothing to eat. What are we going to eat for dinner tonight? She would come home. Somehow, my Aunt Donna would put together this gourmet meal. From what I saw is, like, nothing.

And some of you, right now, you're looking into your cupboard and you're like, there's nothing to eat here. There's nothing. And then God's like, hey, if you just put this and this and this together, you can have a gourmet meal. You can have something amazing. And so I just pray that each one of you just really, you know, you dig deep and ask God, you know, what is in Your hand. But, cj, why don't you pray first?

Yeah. Father, we thank you so much again for this time together.

Yes.

Thank you. That you have given each of us something that's in our hands.

Yeah.

That each of us could.

With open hands, say, take, take and use this, Lord, and multiply it for your glory. And we ask, Lord, that you would open our eyes to the things that are all around us, that we could turn into your hands and allow you to use it however you desire. I pray that you'd open our eyes. I think sometimes.

We just become familiar and we overlook something that's right in front of us. And I pray that you would reveal those things that could be used in your kingdom and also to help move along our ministries and businesses. And we're asking, Lord, that you give us those aha moments that only you can give. And I thank you for each person here. And.

We ask these things in Jesus name. Amen.

Amen. Thank you so much for joining me for this episode in our Kingdom Marketing mindset series. God has really led us to start teaching marketing differently. So, yes, we will still teach you the skill sets and the strategies. We will give you all the case studies, but we are going to be teaching marketing from a kingdom marketing mindset, encouraging you to hear from God and get those strategies directly from Him. I am just so excited for you to start going through the training that I have been creating for you in our book launch challenge. If you're tired of the same old messages with book marketing, I encourage you to join us inside Christian Book Academy. I believe it will truly be a breath of fresh air for you and you'll not only get the practical training you need, but you'll get the encouragement to stay connected with God to receive his blueprint and his strategy for your marketing. Join us now@christianbookacademy.com I can't wait to work further with you and help you reach more people with your message. I'll see you on the inside.

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 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.