Monday, August 11, 2014

Where to Set Your Heart

Last week I didn't know what Twitter was. Now, I have over a hundred followers on Twitter after a week of Twittering. If only those followers had all bought one or two of my books. That is the whole reason I joined Twitter. I am trying to create buzz about my books. It seems that I need a few million more followers before the buzz starts buzzing enough to turn a profit. That should take me just under five hundred years. Meanwhile, all this time spent trying to sell my books has resulted in me having zero time to write books. How does any writer manage?

So I stepped up my Twitter game. After several days, I seem to have sold one book due to Twitter activity. I am beginning to think God is directing me elsewhere. Maybe He wants me to take up a new career, like professional wrestling. I suspect I would be as successful at that as at selling books.

Here is where the message of God gets murky. Is He guiding me to build my character and persevere....or to build my resume and find another job? Sometimes, discernment is not as clear-cut as one would hope. I write for two reasons: #1. I LOVE  to write...and always have. #2. I think it is my best method of pointing others to the God I love and believe has the absolute BEST plan for all of us.

I suppose since neither of those main reasons involves making money off my books, I should just keep at it. I like to remind God that I need "2 x 4 direction" -- if He wants to turn me from my path, He needs to hit me over the head with a 2x4. I don't think I am the only one that needs a good bashing over the head to be redirected.

Meanwhile, our sermon Sunday reminded me and my fellow church members that the only path to a purposeful life will be found by looking up, setting our hearts and minds on Jesus. We are to put to death the things of this world that are not of God, and instead put on love and compassion and kindness. The earth (and all its books...) will pass away. But our life with God will be eternal, so we should not lose heart over the struggles and torments of this world. Eternity awaits. This is clearly not to say we should close our eyes to the troubles of our fellow man. But we should not be focused on the petty, trivial matters in which most of us spend our time immersed.

This is hard to keep in mind when the world is what we focus on. It was very good for the pastor to remind us of that since the world visibly surrounds us, but God is unseen. I will try to close my eyes to the world and all its trivial woes (such as yet another follower on Twitter that does not seem the slightest bit interested in buying my books) and open the eyes of my heart on God above.

"Set your heart on things above, where Christ is..."

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PS- Just in case God is speaking to you to read inspiring Christian books with uplifting, Godly messages, here are my latest two books:
Bark of the Covenant at -- http://www.amazon.com/The-Bark-Covenant-Vicky-Kaseorg/dp/1500406295
The Tower Builder at -- http://www.amazon.com/The-Tower-Builder-Vicky-Kaseorg/dp/1494434997
(both available in kindle e-book version as well.)
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Colossians 3: 3-14

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your[a] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.[b] You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

2 comments:

  1. Vicky, many of the members of our Christian Poets & Writers group will identify with this, so I'll highlight your post on the Christian Poets & Writers blog - http://christianpoetsandwriters.blogspot.com.

    Also wanted to say, it takes a while to build followers on all of the social sites, but a few things will help: On your blog or website, post your full URL to your Profile on Twitter, so people can click to Follow easily. For instance, mine is https://twitter.com/MaryHSayler and unless someone is scary or anti-Christian, it's good to follow back. :)

    Be aware, too, that most poets and writers need book sales. It's fine to "tweet" URLs to our books, but tweets do well to include helpful info or snappy sayings or Bible verses or something that other people might enjoy and RT (retweet.)

    Finally, I realized I needed to be more pro-active in seeking Followers whose tweets I like! So I check out the suggestions Twitter makes, but I also look up key words such as "Christian poet," "Bible," "book publisher," and find other Christian poets, writers, editors, and publishers to follow.

    Hope that helps. May God guide and bless you and your work in Jesus' Name.

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