Now Think On This - Steve Martin: April 2015

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Still Waiting - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

Still Waiting

- Now Think On This

by Steve Martin

“And so, having patiently waited, he (Abraham) obtained the promise.” Heb. 6:15 NASU

So how many years did Abraham wait for the promise? His promised son? 5, 10, 15 years or more? It was 25 years after the Lord had promised to Abraham that a son, whom he named Isaac, was born to Abraham and his wife Sarah.

^{“Now the Lord said to Abram,}

^{"Go forth from your country,}

^{And from your relatives}

^{And from your father's house,}

^{To the land which I will show you;}

^{And I will make you a great nation,}

^{And I will bless you,}

^{And make your name great;}

^{And so you shall be a blessing;}

^{And I will bless those who bless you,}

^{And the one who curses you I will curse.}

^{And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed." Gen. 12:1-5 NASU}

^{So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; thus they came to the land of Canaan.” Gen. 12:1-5 NASU}

Later in Gen. 21:5 it tells us that “Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.”

Are you still waiting for a promise to be fulfilled that the Lord had given to you? I know I am.

Sometimes I get tired of waiting. If I had my way, surely those things I heard many years ago would have come to pass by now. I wouldn’t have taken any detours; I would have stayed on the narrow path; I would have known exactly what I was to do when I was to do it. But I didn’t have my way (or maybe I did and that is why I am still waiting!)

Or maybe the Lord knew all my steps I was to take, and in spite of all that, He still is working out His plan, on my behalf, and that I will receive those promises. So that is what I will continue to believe.

Waiting on the Lord is a sign of faith. If you don’t have faith, you don’t wait. You jump right in to what seems right, without seeking the Lord for His direction, and you then reap what you have sown. But to wait, day in and day out, year after year, requires a faith that His faithfulness will be proven in the end. No matter what the circumstances look like now, you have a confidence that the Lord’s word is true, and thus so it will be.

Whether the wait is for something to happen in a relationship, a financial situation to come about, or there is a desire to get married and raise a family…we each have dreams, hopes and promises that we wait to come. It is in those times of days, months and years of waiting that our maturity and confidence should be growing. After all, an oak tree doesn’t grow up overnight. Neither does a city get built in a day.

As I head out to the car each morning for the daily trek up the interstate to the accounting job, by faith I thank the Lord that the time for this current assignment will come to an end, and the desires in my heart, which I believe He put there years ago in my youth, are yet to come about. Doing the best job I can, while on this job, says to the Lord, “I will be faithful here as You yourself will prove of Your faithfulness when that time comes.”

Waiting can be tough. Often we are tempted to give up, to quit, to say I can’t keep up with this much longer. But as we take time to spend with the Lord each day, to receive His encouragement, our hearts and spirits will be strengthened. Grace will be available to wait the wait, and in the meantime to be faithful where we are.

I am still waiting. I will continue to wait. For He is the One I ultimately wait on, and time and time again He has proven Himself faithful.

Now think on this,

Steve Martin

Founder

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Now Think On This #170 “Still Waiting” by Steve Martin

Date: In the year of our Lord 2015 (04.16.15) Thursday at 1:00 pm in Charlotte, NC

All previous editions of Now Think On This can be found on this Blog, and on the website: Now Think On This

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Intimacy - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

Intimacy

- Now Think On This

by Steve Martin

“My beloved responded and said to me,

'Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,

And come along.

'For behold, the winter is past,

The rain is over and gone.

'The flowers have already appeared in the land;

The time has arrived for pruning the vines,

And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land.

'The fig tree has ripened its figs,

And the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance.

Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,

And come along!'"

Song of Songs 2:10-13 NASU)

As my bride came down the church aisle that beautiful early evening, I sang these Scriptural words to her that I had written in my song, “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come along.” Though I had intended to sing several verses, I choked up on the second one. My heart was just overwhelmed at her beauty, her movement in that flowing white laced gown, and the presence of the Lord’s Holy Spirit in that place of matrimony. The time had come for us to be joined together as man and wife.

What seemed to have been a decade long wait was about to be fulfilled in that moment, as we were acknowledging the Lord’s plans and purposes for unity. Out of our desire to share the love in our hearts, He would also bring forth a family to demonstrate His love on the earth, in preparation for the eternal love in heaven.

From that day forward, we have grown in our care and provision for each other, sharing the gifts and spiritual fruit we each have had to give. In physical, emotional and spiritual intimate moments, we have experienced a touch of what the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have shared for all eternity. Believing that through the times of trials and required persistency, our hearts have been bonded together, the intimacy becoming more real in our lives together.

Being intimate with one other is not an “overnight sensation” that one can have with another simply out of a physical act. To participate in the intent of the Father’s love for mankind, there must be that commitment to be joined together for the long haul; to stand strong when the temptation is to flee; to keep the promise that was spoken at the altar years before. Intimacy is not for those who are looking for a quick satisfaction of one’s emotional lust, but is given to committed hearts who have been and continue to be willing to sacrifice for each other, time and time again. From that solid promise to stay through sickness and health, riches or poverty, until death do we part, the intimate moments are fully experienced, fulfilling the longing in each heart to be accepted, nourished and kept in committed and submitted love.

In today’s society there is the prevailing belief that there can be emotional intimacy without having a strong commitment to one another beyond a sexual act. When the Lord says that sex outside of marriage is wrong, it is because the Creator knows that a deep soulish tie will occur, bringing hurt and lasting pain when an improper joining happens. We were not created to share this intimate act in a non-binding relationship.

The emotional and physical act also carries with it a spiritual bond that has to be kept within the protected walls of marriage. Thus doing that which was intended only within the committed relationship of sacred marriage will produce an emotional scar, keeping us from experiencing real love. It will also leave a strong imprint that will need to be healed later. Our loving Father thus has warned over and over again that sexual intimacy is for the marriage bed only.

Laws are made to protect us, not to keep us from the Lord’s goodness and favor. Abiding in His laws of love and protection will bring eternal satisfaction, keeping our hearts pure and emotions strong. Breaking His loving laws will produce destruction in our spirit, soul and body.

Intimacy between a man and a woman is a beautiful gift from God. Keeping it that way is a protection for our society and the good of all mankind.