#467 Lighted Path

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, CJ 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 Shelley 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, 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. Well, today CJ is going to share a training, and it's going to be on the theme Lighted Path. I guess more of an encouragement than a training, but he's going to share some encouragement with us. So CJ, why don't you share that with us now?

Yeah, you know, uh, you guys were dancing all around the theme verse, and, uh, which is Psalm 119:105. Which in the New Living Translation says, your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. And some of you might be familiar with this, this, this piece of equipment. So this is a— I won't shine it directly at you and blind you, but this is a headlamp, and it happens to be made by a company named Petzl, which is a pretty common, uh, brand in terms of reputable headlamps. And the people that I'm familiar with that wear these, um, are ultra runners, and specifically ultra runners that run 100-mile races. You run a 100-mile race and you're going to have to run through the night most likely. There are maybe a couple really fast flat 100-mile races where the fastest guys or gals could finish just at sundown after starting even pre-dawn. And yet these, these headlamps they've come a long ways. This here is many years old, and they kind of rate them by lumens in terms of brightness. And this one would not be one of the latest technologies. Some of the lumens they have now will light, you know, well over 100 yards ahead of you. I mean, you can really see ahead quite well, whereas this one This is one of those that you're, you're going to kind of just be taking it slow, and it's going to light maybe 50 feet to 100 feet ahead of you, and you're going to kind of just know what the next step is. And it just reminds me of what the psalmist is getting at, you know, in Psalm 119:105, and of course writing from a shepherd's perspective. You know, a shepherd would guide their sheep along some pretty treacherous kinds of cliffs at times, pathways where there was drop-off. It could be a 20-foot drop-off, it could be a 50-foot. Either way, it was, it was a serious risk and danger along some of these rocky paths that you might envision in, in Israel. And so they would usually carry a lamp. They would strap a lamp to what they were wearing, their garments, and it would just kind of, kind of, you know, dangle, you know, as they went. And you can just imagine, how bright is a lamp really compared to even one of the newest technologies that we have? Well, it probably would have only lit 3, 4, 5 feet ahead. And so they're literally relying on that, that, that little bit of light from that lamp to get them to the next step and make sure it's not a step over a cliff, guiding their sheep safely along that path. And that's really what we refer to as God's word. And if you go to Psalm 119, you know, it's the longest psalm in, in the Psalms, 150 verses. And what's neat about this Psalm is it's, uh, it's, it's divided by the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. And this particular section where 105 starts is the 14th letter of, uh, of the Hebrew alphabet, which is Nun or Nun. And I thought it was interesting. I looked it up. So it's the 14th Hebrew letter. It signifies a fish, possibly representing life or continuation, or— and I love this 'or' because this is, this is where I think you and I as Kingdom Writers come into play— or a faithful bent-over servant. A faithful bent-over servant symbolizing humility and submission. Aren't we as kingdom writers bent-over servants in many ways, leaning over, writing on a desk, leaning over our computers writing? We're, we're these bent-over servants in many ways. And I just love that. And you might also recognize that Nun or Noon, uh, with Joshua. In the scriptures, we read that Joshua was the son of Nun or Noon, and that symbolized also that letter, that 14th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. I just thought that was a, a, a kind of a cool bit of information, just interesting in and of itself, but also just that second definition or meaning of that 14th letter, which is a faithful bent-over servant symbolizing humility. Your word is a lamp to guide my feet. And a light for my path. I love the concept of a lamp guiding our next sentence. Think about this— guiding our next word, leaning on, on, on that light for our next word, that illumination that God brings to our writing through his word through his Holy Spirit leading us step by step. As Kingdom Writers, we often want God to show us the whole story at once, and somebody alluded to that as well— the full outline. I want the perfect ending, the flawless draft. But this verse, this little verse tucked away in the Psalms, reminds us that God usually gives light for the next step not the entire road. How many know that's true? Now, it is true that some of you may get a vision of having that whole thing show up in your mind, and the whole book may come together pretty quickly, but there's still adjustment on the journey. They're still moving in and out of dangers. They're still, uh, looking to God's guidance step by step, knowing that he could change the direction of that manuscript. And so a lamp doesn't flood the path with daylight. It reveals just enough to move forward safely. In the same way, God's word may not reveal your entire book or your entire message or your entire calling today. We want today, right? You know, reveal it all today, Lord, and everything will be great. I think many times we should be grateful that God doesn't reveal the whole thing at once. We may bail. We may get off and say, I'm not going on this route anymore. I'm done. I retire. I fold, you know. And so there's a reason that God just reveals a little bit at a time, leading us along step by step. But here's the thing: a lamp will illuminate your next paragraph, your next idea, your next faithful act of obedience. There's another— there are more references. I just want to read a couple of these in scripture where we get this idea of a lamp illuminating. And Proverbs 6:23 is one of those. For their command is a lamp and their instruction a light. Their corrective discipline is the way to life. What does it mean? Who's it talking about by their? Well, a few verses earlier, the writer of Proverbs mentioned obeying your father's commands and your mother's instructions. We could almost even translate that as well to obeying the Father's commands, listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit and the instructions step by step, having that, that fine-tuned hearing of knowing when the Lord's calling us to change or maybe take a little different path, or that there's something, there's danger ahead. So I love that, for their command is a lamp and their instruction a light. Their corrective discipline is a way to life. In a New Testament reference, we see Peter, 2 Peter 1:19-21. Peter starts off, because of that experience— what, what ex— what experience is he talking about? He's talking about the experience of he and a couple other disciples being on that Mount of Transfiguration with Jesus. He says, because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. And you must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and Christ the morning star shines in your hearts. Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in scripture ever came from the prophet's own understanding or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit and they spoke from God. I want to say, Kingdom Writer, that in the same way, any manuscript that's going to possibly impact lives for eternity was not birthed by you and your own reasoning. It was, it was birthed by the Lord himself, implanting that in you, inspiring you as you stay close to him, as you stay close to his word. His word is going to help light that path. And so I love those references But what I want to challenge us all to consider, coming back to the importance of the word, God's word, the Bible— if we'll give God's word daily attention, I believe it's going to provide us with the direction, the correction, and wisdom that we need to be the best kingdom writers that we can be, aided by the Holy Spirit. That's why I think it's so important that whether it's a few verses, a chapter, or 3 to 5 chapters a day, you plant yourself in front of God's Word every day. Why every day? Because it's a daily humility of saying, I need this. I need this instruction to fill my mind, to saturate my soul, and to be the basis by which anything good flows from my pen or my fingers as I'm typing. If we'll do that, I believe we'll actually stay on the path that God is asking us to, to walk upon. We won't get off base in this world where there's so many different voices clamoring for your attention. Follow me, follow me, follow me. That word keeps us on that, that narrow path. Leading sheep— do you know that you could possibly lead sheep? Every one of you with your writing could be a shepherd leading sheep. Of course, we have the Great Shepherd, the Good Shepherd Jesus, leading us, but we are in a way writing shepherds. Every single one of us, you have a chance now to help lead other, uh, sheep that could easily get lost, could easily stray. Have strayed in this dark world, have fallen over cliffs. Your writing could help lead them along these rocky paths home to Jesus. Your writing has that kind of impact. And so as we give God's Word daily attention, I believe it's going to provide the direction, correction, and wisdom that we need to be the best kingdom writers that we can possibly be. Kingdom Writer, we are humbling ourselves and acknowledging our need when we open God's word every day. You and I aren't going to find anything in the world that matches the substance or the guidance of God's word. We can turn over every rock under this earth. It will not provide what God's word is. Why? Because it was birthed out of God's heart. God Almighty. It's alive and active, as Hebrews 4:12 says. Why? Why is it alive and active? Because the same God who spoke creation into his word is the same God who spoke the words of the Bible that we have in our hands. He's the same God who will empower our own written words that then point to Him and point others to Him. That's the same God. The same God that spoke the beautiful creation all around us will speak words into your heart and your mind and allow you to write words that impact people for eternity because they're eternal kinds of words. And that's why we come back humbly to the Word of God. It reminds us that there is a higher authority and there is a direction, there is a GPS. But God is going to use that word to light our way one step at a time, not revealing the whole thing, rarely at once. In closing, I want to just leave you with this: God's not asking you and I to see the whole journey. He's asking us to trust him for the next line that you write. That's what he wants. And as we put ourselves humbly before his word, we're saying, I acknowledge that in a rough world, in a dark world, in a world full of cliffs, I need that lamp. I need that lamp. I'm aimless, and I'm putting a whole lot of other people at risk if I don't stay glued to God's word, and then the Holy Spirit helping illuminate that word so that then I can have a basis by which I'm even writing from. And so that's my challenge to all of us today, is the way you, you have a lighted path is you keep coming back to that lamp. You keep that lamp attached to you. You keep it close at hand. And as you do that, I believe you're going to write words that inspire people for eternity.

Yeah, so good. And CJ, you probably weren't seeing the comments, but Karen said earlier, Aslan guided Lucy in the dark, and only the next day did she see the treacherous cliff they had walked along.

I love that, that image. It's, it's awesome. Perfect.

Yeah, it's so good. And as you were speaking, like, CJ never tells me in advance what he's going to say or share, um, but I was just praying and asking the Lord if he had something that he wanted me to share. Immediately I saw the Red Sea parting, and the Lord said sometimes it's an unexpected path. The Red Sea parting, that was not the regular path. That was a path that God created in that moment for a specific reason. And so he may actually give you an unexpected path. And I actually, I looked it up, and in Exodus 14:19, it said, then the angel of God who had been leading the people of Israel moved to the rear of the camp. The pillar of cloud also moved to the front and stood behind them. The cloud settled between the Egyptian and Israelite camps. As darkness fell, the cloud turned to fire. He lighted the unexpected path, right? Lighting up the night. And then it says, Moses raised his hand over the sea and the Lord opened up a path through the water with a strong east wind. And it blew, the wind blew all night, turning the seabed into dry land. So the people of Israel walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground with walls of water on each side. So I just want to encourage you, Kingdom Writers, the Lord may have a lighted path for you that you can't even imagine. It's not even something you can conceive of. It's a miracle that He will provide in the moment as you need it. Not only will He provide the path, He'll provide the light, He'll provide everything you need. And so if you feel like you're up against a wall or up against that Red Sea, know that, like CJ was saying, He will give you what you need today. So CJ, why don't you go ahead and pray over us right now?

Yes, Father, we acknowledge our need for Your Word today. Your words are life. Your words are instruction, guidance. They are a divine GPS that keep our lives going the right direction. And I pray, Lord, that you would just continue to even illuminate, um, the path before us, that your word would saturate our souls, and that your Holy Spirit would give power and aid as we write words that are birthed from your heart, as we write words that seek to share what you've done out of our own lives, sharing our own stories, our testimonies, and then combining that with the power of your holy word I pray, Lord, that there would be divine illumination today into tomorrow, that people would— they, they may take 10 steps, but those 10 steps were, were 10 steps closer to that finish line of this book being birthed. And so, Lord, would you do it? Do what only you can do, Lord, and we will humbly put ourselves before your word, acknowledging our need and being those faithful bent-over servants that endeavor to write words that outlast us. And we just thank you and, and We're just excited, Lord, for what's to happen, what's to come, Lord, in our writing. 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 at 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 at 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 at 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.

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 sponsored by Christian Book Academy, where we help you give birth to your books. We invite you to join our community of kingdom writers.