#441 Useful

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 Writers Podcast. My name is Shelly Hitz, one of your hosts. This episode is an excerpt from our virtual writing retreat we host every month inside our membership Christian Book Academy. You can join us with a special coupon code just for podcast listeners and this will get you 50% off your first month. Use the coupon code Podcast podcast and this way we can help you take a step of faith and finally finish your book. So go to ChristianBookAcademy.com and enter the Coupon Code Podcast at checkout for 50% off your first month. Come join us at our retreats and all the other things that we offer throughout the month and I pray that the encouragement from this episode blesses you. So today's theme and the training CJ has for you today is on the word useful. And so cj, why don't you share with us this encouragement for Kingdom Writers today.

Yeah, so I thought I'd read a passage.

That really would lead up to Christmas and some of those popular passages that we see in Scripture regarding Jesus's birth and some of the events surrounding that. In this particular story, I want to read in Luke chapter 1.

Regarding Zechariah and Elizabeth, and we'll start in verse 5. So it's Luke 1, verse 5 through 17. So it says, when Herod was king of Judah.

There was a Jewish priest named Zechariah. He was a member of the priestly order of Abijah, and his wife Elizabeth was also from the priestly line of Aaron.

Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in God's eyes, careful to obey all of the Lord's commandments and regulations. They had no children because Elizabeth was unable to conceive and they were both very old. One day Zechariah was serving God in the temple, for his order was on duty that week. As was the custom of the priests, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense. While the incense was being burned, a great crowd stood outside praying. While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar. Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him, but the angel said, don't be afraid Zechariah, God has heard your prayer. Your wife Elizabeth will give you a son and you are to name him John. You will have great joy and gladness and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. He must never touch wine or other alcoholic drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before his birth.

And he will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God. He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and who he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the Godly.

So.

I'll stop there. We could continue to go on.

There's certainly other portions of that story regarding Zechariah that are important, but for our sake this morning.

I want to just mention a few things regarding that passage that we might be able to relate to here this morning as Kingdom writers. So it should be noted that out of all of the thousands of Levites serving in the temple in the first century, Zechariah is the only one of the only ones that we know by name during that whole time. Now, just as a side note too.

I also find it interesting that this instance where the angel mentioned the Holy Spirit.

In terms of filling John that he would be a man filled with the Holy Spirit. Do you remember that instance where just shortly after Mary makes the trip to visit Elizabeth and when Mary encounters Elizabeth, it's as if John inside Elizabeth did a somersault. It's as if he was basically filled right there, filled with the Holy Spirit. Do you realize that was the first instance of the mention of anything spiritual for 400 years? I want you just to think about this for 400 years. From the end of the Old Testament of Malachi, we don't hear another mention of the Lord speaking clearly through a man or a woman until this instance. I find that very interesting. So there was a long lull.

Up to this. And yet look at all of the birth of Jesus. And of course in where to find Zechariah. God does not require that you and I have a big flashy, well known life to be significant to Him. We should realize that.

God knows exactly where you and I are as well, just like he knew where Zechariah was.

All that matters to God is what he sees, what he thinks, and how he is pleased with our lives. Some of you mentioned that in the comments regarding useful it's really about what are we doing for the kingdom. Are we available and useful for the kingdom. And, and so that's important for us as kingdom writers.

Now we should realize that Zechariah and Elizabeth, it's not a flashy, outgoing couple.

They're dutifully behind the scenes in their lives. Zechariah and Elizabeth were just a tiny, almost insignificant part of a community of thousands of Levitical priests grouped into 24 teams that took their turns on duty at the temple of God. They were simply taking their turn as Zechariah was serving in the temple. Do you realize that Zechariah was one of 24,000 priests who served two weeks each year by rotation.

As an aged man, it would have been a supreme honor given once in a lifetime to serve at the altar of incense.

And so it's important to realize that this is monumental and momentous for the aged Zechariah, the old priest getting the opportunity. And yet as he gets his opportunity, the Lord takes his opportunity as well in order to speak to Zechariah.

The incense was offered daily before the morning sacrifice at about 9am and after the evening sacrifice, which was 3pm in the afternoon, it was probably the evening offering. Scholars think that this, that that was assigned to Zechariah during this time. So he was probably there just doing his duty.

Just carrying out his responsibility. I want you to think about the responsibilities that you have that I have. How many times do we wake up? We know what we're to do. We go about it. There's nothing flashy about it. We turn on our computer, we open our notepad, we open our scriptures, we spend time with the Lord. We're offering up incense, so to speak, in our prayers. It's not flashy. Nobody sees it.

We don't even see it with each other. We show up here on Zoom a few times a month. But what you're doing, toiling in your neck of the woods, wherever you're at, wherever you're at in the world, God sees it. God sees it. He knows where you're at. He knows what you're going to be doing today. He knows what's going to happen on this virtual writing retreat today into tomorrow, he sees you toiling. It may seem mundane, you're just going through the motions, but it's in that going through the motions, being dutiful.

Be useful to the Lord, that sometimes the unexpected happens. And when it happens, you and I are changed. And perhaps our readers will be changed as well because of a word that's been given to us that we write down. So I want to just close with this to say if we were to perhaps mention an application here.

God knows your address, he knows exactly where you're at. You can be plain unknown to most people in the world, never achieving public fame, living as an ordinary person.

Having a nondescript life.

And still be living a spirit filled life. Useful to God. I want to emphasize that. Useful to God, how many know that it doesn't require a big platform, a flashy name, a household name, so to speak, in order to be useful for the Lord. You and I could be useful right where we're at, toiling in secrecy, doing our thing, writing down words that perhaps might outlive us and might impact others behind us.

And we like to say that we are priestly pens in the hands of the author of life. We read this story of Zechariah and Elizabeth, who both came from priestly lines.

They were priests, they were serving, they were carrying out their responsibilities, they were living lives.

Among these 24,000 priests scattered throughout the land that each had their, their duties, their two weeks that they would occasionally serve once in a lifetime.

But you and I are priests as well. Hebrews mentions it, Peter mentions it in his writings. We are part of a royal priesthood. This is where we get the idea of priestly pins in the hands of the author of life. Ned, wouldn't you think that a priestly pen in the hands of the author of life, which is Jesus, wouldn't you think that would be a useful tool in the hands of the Lord? You and I can be useful tools today as we toil wherever we're at without having to clamor and have attention to ourselves and make this platform that's about us. We can do it for the Lord and for his glory. And as long as we're doing that, we are always going to be useful in his hands and there's going to be fruit borne out eventually. We don't know how, we don't know when, but if you'll be faithful.

You will be useful in the hands of the Lord. So that's my challenge to all of us here this morning.

Yeah, I think it's always a good reminder. I think our culture is just bombarding us with, you need to be this, you need to do that, you need to have this, you need to have that, you know, and it's like as writers, it's so easy to get caught up in like, you have to have this big platform, you have to do these things, you have to have these sales, you have to have this bestseller Ranking. And you know what, all of those things are great. And we, we, we applaud those. And we, we're like, yes, God, when it is from you and it's not from us and just us trying to do it. But I, I remember hearing someone say that, you know, all of, you know, Earth, you know, on Earth we may not be well known, but when we are connecting with God and we're doing the things that he's called us to do, all of heaven knows our names. And that gives me chills, you know, that makes me excited because to be honest, not a ton of people know about C.J. and I, I mean, we have our, our group, you know, here on Christian Book Academy. We have our email list of about 7,000 Kingdom writers, you know, and all of that. But it's not like we are famous, but God is using us in powerful ways. Many of you are publishing books that will impact lives. You're launching ministries. You're doing things that ripple effect that we won't know until we get to heaven what that effect is going to be, you know, fully. And so the same is for you as you plant those seeds of your books, as you write a blog post, as you share an email or social media. You never know the people's lives that are going to be touched by that. And I just love, you know, Zechariah was just doing his everyday tasks. He was doing what he was, was, you know, doing every day. And God showed up. So, you know, it's like I, I, I say this so many times, but my friend Shay Bine says God can't direct a parked car. And so when we're just going, and we're doing, and we're, we're doing the things that every day, mundane, many times that's when God shows up. Amen. And he's, you know, in this time when you are devoting your time right now to write and to say, God, I am here, here I am, use me. And so just so excited for all of you. And as we move into a new year and all of the things of what God is going to do through your lives as you're just willing, you know, God has one weakness that's humble people who turn to them with their whole heart. I have a sticky note on my desk that says that because I need that reminder because the, the world shouts out at us to puff ourselves up and to, you know, to show what we are worth and how much we can accomplish and all the things. But God says, I see you, I see you. And he will show up. And when he shows up, doors will open that you could never open on your own. Things will happen that you could never imagine. And I've seen that over and over with C. Jay and I, so just keep going. Kingdom writers know that God is with you and he is using you. And so C.J. why don't you close this encouragement with prayer?

Yeah. Father, first of all, we just want to thank you that you even.

Desire to use us.

Yeah.

That. That we can be useful in your hands as frail human beings that are prone to.

All kinds of things, weird thoughts.

Sometimes wrong motives. But you continue to be patient with us. You continue to work with us.

Yeah.

And I pray that each of us here would be faithful.

To show up.

Even though it feels mundane at times, might even feel a little boring. I pray that our faithfulness would lead to a usefulness and a fruitfulness that really is just beyond us. It has to do with what you're doing in the world and how you desire to use this to accomplish your purposes. So I. I pray Lord, that today and into tomorrow.

Each person here would really accomplish what you desire.

Both in the practical day to day here, but also in the. The heavenly, the spiritual realm, that there would be breakthroughs and Lord, that yout would guide and direct each person's pen, so to speak.

Inspire them. Inspire them with the words that you desire, that they share with the world and encourage the world with. And we're going to give you the glory and the honor for anything that comes about from that. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen.

Amen. If you're ready to take a step of faith and finally finish your book, we have a few ways we can help you. First of all, you can join our Free Writing Week challenge to create a writing habit in just 15 minutes a day. Thousands of writers have taken this over the years and it is incredible the progress that you'll see. So join us@writingweek.com and again, this is completely free. Inside our Book Writing Lab workshop you can choose your book topic, write an outline and create a writing plan in just 90 minutes so you'll finally feel confident that you'll actually finish your book. Get started@bookwritinglab.com and finally you can get more support and personalized feedback from myself and our team by joining Christian Book Academy. Because the honest truth is most writers stay stuck and never finish their first draft. But inside Christian Book Academy, we help you partner with God to write your book so you can become a published author. So finally ditch your self doubt and take A step of faith so you can finish your book. Join Christian book academy@christianbookacademy.com and get 50% off your first month by using the Coupon Code Podcast at checkout there's a special coupon code for our podcast listeners. We love you. So come on over to ChristianBookAcademy.com use the coupon code Podcast and we look forward to working closely with you. Would you like more? If you are enjoying this podcast but want more, I have something exciting to share with you. We have released what's called a private podcast. So a private podcast you will not find by searching in Apple. You have to know specifically how to subscribe to it. It's more private and exclusive and it just can be more relaxed behind the scenes. And my new private podcast is called Hits Blitz and it's wisdom for writers that you're gonna learn from my 18 plus years of experience in publishing and online marketing so that you can move forward in God's call to write. I am best known for injecting energy and enthusiasm into everything I do and inspiring those around me to take action. So I encourage you to listen in to this exclusive, exclusive private podcast. It is free. 100% free. You don't have to pay for it. And be prepared to be inspired by my next Hits Blitz. So you can sign up@trainingauthors.com hits blitz and if you have any other writing friends that you think could benefit from it, definitely share it with them. They can go to the same link trainingauthors.com Training hits blitz to get access. Again, this is a private podcast so you cannot get access to it any other way. It's completely free. All you have to do is sign up and then you'll get all the information on how to add it to your podcast player of choice. So I can't wait for you to join me over there. I share a lot of things behind the scenes and more content just in a real time basis. So it's more like chatting with a friend or following someone on stories on social media. Except you don't have to get caught up in any of the algorithms. You'll just have this in your podcast player and be able to listen in wherever you're at, whatever you're doing. Some of the listeners told me this week that they were listening while waiting in the Target parking lot, while brushing their teeth. You can fit this into the pockets of time that you have, so I hope you'll join me. Come over to trainingauthors.com hitsblitz.

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