Words of Encouragement

One of the things I do that is important to me is to try to find one thing each week that only God could have done in my life. This week I received the following E-MAIL which was a great encouragement to me.

-----Original Message-----
From: Ken Helser
To: brodan@tmail.com

In a few days I will be teaching on journaling. Probably for my 200th time in the past 8 years. Travel all over the world teaching in Youth With a Mission Schools, and my subject is loosely, "what it means to live from the heart." I include journaling as a key to living from the heart.

In 1980, while ministering in Jamie Buckingham's church (author/pastor, who wrote, Run Baby Run for Nicky Cruz, Tramp for the Lord, Corrie Ten Boom, and "The Last Word," for Charisma magazine), Jamie suggested we visit Dunklin Memorial Camp, in Okeechobee, Florida. Our response was anything but exciting, but we went with a small worship band anyway. It was life changing...

Mickey Evans runs in this ranch/rehab center, one of the most successful addiction ministries in the world. Will be going back in a few weeks, but the point is this: "The key to overcoming any addiction," said Mickey, " lies in teaching men how to hear the voice of the Lord." Included, as a daily requirement, every man journals DAILY, the voice of the Lord.

Mickey asked me if I journaled? I said "yes" for about the next 14 years, butthen, one day Mickey asked to see my journal. He read a few pages, skipped a few pages, and finally threw it across the room. "Boy, meet me up in Hendersonville, NC, in a few weeks and let me teach you how to journal."

I did. And after a year of journaling, I began to pass onto others what I had learned. The greatest difference I see in what Mickey taught, and now I pass along, is that he picked up journaling from the way the prophet, Habakkuk, wrote. It's first writing one's most honest prayer, and then writing the voice of God as it is personal to you in response to your prayer.

Long and short, since I have been journaling, almost daily, for the past 8 or so years, the prophetic gifts in my life have increased 1,000 fold. I speak of prophetic in terms of I Corinthians 14, verse one and three..."Follow the way of love, desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy... for everyone who prophesies speaks unto men for their strengthening, encouragement, and comfort."

Don't really have much more to say, but thank you for the encouraging work you did... I especially love the way you put in thoughts as QUOTES... I do the same. I still keep a small notebook that travels everywhere with me in my Bible case, but I do most of my journaling on my laptop. I distinguish between my prayers, quotes, scripture, and God's voice with different signs. The Lord told me to journal in my laptop because it is so easy to use word search for some things I want to go back to and find.

Many blessings and keep up the good work, Ken Helser

Our small ministry has a web site that my son keeps up plus has some of his music as well as my own. If interested: aplacefortheheart.org


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