Saturday, November 26, 2016

FIRE - Now Think On This by Steve Martin


FIRE

Now Think On This
Steve Martin


“After this, I will pour out my Spirit on all humanity. Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions;  and also on male and female slaves in those days I will pour out my Spirit. I will show wonders in the sky and on earth — 
blood, fire and columns of smoke.” (Joel 3:1-3, Complete Jewish Bible)


Fire is an amazing creation of the Lord. When mankind discovered how to make it, and keep it burning, he was able to heat his body and home, cook his food, and scare off marauding enemies that tried to attack him and his community. As knowledge increased, fire was harnessed and used for constructive purposes, by generating power to operate machinery, and in time, electricity.

Destructive fire can burn down populated areas and destroy years of growth in forests. In the later part of 2016, we have seen fires consume vast amounts of acreage in some areas that are not usually known for wildfires, such as in the mountains of North Carolina and the land of Israel. These fires can remove accumulations of underbrush and overgrowth, which is a good thing, but if not gotten under control, they will also emblaze people’s habitations and livelihood. 

Arsonists, such as those responsible for the Israeli fires, are bent on destroying that which good people have spent years planting and building up. The hell fire of hell itself lives within their hearts. They seek to kill and destroy, just as their god does.

In the scriptural context of Joel’s prophetic words (verses above), he wrote of both the natural and spiritual fires that were to come upon the earth. In recent decades those fires have already begun to be released, both as a consuming fire for destruction, and a consuming fire for revitalization of human spirits. 

"It will come about after this (Note: the return of the Jews to the Promised Land in Joel 1-3) that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. "I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, blood, fire and columns of smoke." 

The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. "And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.” (Joel 2:28-3:1 NASU)

On the day of Pentecost, as recorded in Acts 2:3-4, Peter exclaimed that the spiritual fire that had come upon them (…and there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance) was a fulfillment of that very declaration of Joel’s prophecy, about that baptism of fire that was coming.

“But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: "Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words.  For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day; but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: 

'AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,' God says,
'THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND;
AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY,
AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS,
AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS; 
EVEN ON MY BONDSLAVES, BOTH MEN AND WOMEN,
I WILL IN THOSE DAYS POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT
And they shall prophesy. 
'AND I WILL GRANT WONDERS IN THE SKY ABOVE.” (Acts 2:14-19, NASU)

As it happened in Peter’s time, during the birth of the church, so again it has happened, and will continue to happen, in our time, in these end times, as the fire of the Lord has once again come in spiritual power. This consuming fire is to empower His people for the fulfillment of His perfect plan and purpose – that of salvation for both Jew and Gentile in all nations of the world.

While we pray for protection from the natural, destructive fires, at the same time we must pray for the full release of the God of Israel’s supernatural fire – to bring His kingdom upon the earth.

Now think on this,

Steve Martin
Founder
Love For His People, Inc. 


  
P.S. I would be most grateful if you'd share this encouraging word with your family and friends. They might need it. You can easily use the social media icons below. Thanks! Steve

We are blessed when the ministry receives gifts to support the families that we do, primarily in Israel, Hungary, India, Pakistan and the hurting ones here in the USA. You also can share out of the abundance you have been given.

Love For His People, Inc. is a charitable, not-for-profit USA humanitarian organization started in 2010 to share the love of the Father in the nations.

If these messages minister to you, please consider sending a charitable gift of $5-$25 today, and maybe each month, to help us bless families we know in Israel, whom we consistently help through our humanitarian ministry. Your tax deductible contributions receive a receipt for each donation. Fed. ID #27-1633858.

Click here for safe ONLINE GIFT GIVINGTHROUGH OUR WEBSITE using major credit cards: Love For His People. If you don't have a PayPal account you can also use your credit card or bank account (where available). 

Contribution checks can be sent to: 
Love For His People, Inc.  P.O. Box414   Pineville, NC 28134

Todah rabah! (Hebrew – Thank you very much.)
Please share Now Think On This with your friends.

Email: loveforhispeople@gmail.com  
martinlighthouse@gmail.com

Facebook pages: Steve Martin and  Love For His People  
Twitter: martinlighthous, LovingHisPeople 

Full website: Love For His People

Now Think On This - In the Year of our Lord 11.25.16 - #269 –“FIRE” – Friday 1:30 pm

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




Again, I would be most grateful if you'd share this encouraging word with your family and friends. You can easily use the social media icons below. Thanks! Steve

Monday, November 14, 2016

Mercy for the USA - Now Think On This by Steve Martin


Mercy for the USA

Now Think On This
Steve Martin


“For He says to Moses, "I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION." So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. 

For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH." So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.” (Romans 9:15-18, NASU)


The United States of America experienced God’s mercy the week of the national elections, rather than receiving judgement on a nation that has in many ways turned its back on God. We could have continued to be cursed with unrighteous leaders, who swore to uphold the ungodly ways we had allowed to overtake us in these last decades. But His mercy prevailed.

With the acceptance of same-sex marriage, applauded (and exalted by the White House); continuing unlimited murder of our unborn children since 1973; adultery and fornication ruling the day; and despising the very laws of God that were foundational in our formation over 240 years ago; the USA was well deserving of the Lord’s righteous judgement.

But instead we received His mercy. Or as a dictionary reads, “the kindness or help given to people who are in a very bad or desperate situation.

How many in our country realized this merciful action of the Living God? How many will acknowledge that it is only by His Hand that we still stand, living another day, with His provision and abundance given our way?

Only by His mercy do we still stand.

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:4-10, NASU)

We do not deserve His grace. Our transgressions as a nation have been seen by all the nations. And it is only by His grace that we have been saved. It is not of ourselves. It is another gift of God, being rich in mercy.

My prayer is that our hearts will be turned back to His, that we will repent of our sins, receive His full mercy, and be a light on the hill that we were created to be. I pray that we will not use His mercy for our own pleasures, or as an excuse to continue in unbridled transgressions, but will walk in His light and goodness, to be an extension of the hand of God, reaching out to ingather those He longs to save.

The Lord God of Israel has once again had mercy on the USA. May we not take this unmerited grace for granted.

Now think on this,

Steve Martin
Founder
Love For His People, Inc. 

 P.S. I would be most grateful if you'd share this encouraging word with your family and friends. They might need it. You can easily use the social media icons below. Thanks! Steve

We are blessed when the ministry receives gifts to support the families that we do, primarily in Israel, Hungary, India, Pakistan and the hurting ones here in the USA. You also can share out of the abundance you have been given.

Love For His People, Inc. is a charitable, not-for-profit USA humanitarian organization started in 2010 to share the love of the Father in the nations.

If these messages minister to you, please consider sending a charitable gift of $5-$25 today, and maybe each month, to help us bless families we know in Israel, whom we consistently help through our humanitarian ministry. Your tax deductible contributions receive a receipt for each donation. Fed. ID #27-1633858.

Click here for safe ONLINE GIFT GIVING THROUGH OUR WEBSITE using major credit cards: Love For His People. If you don't have a PayPal account you can also use your credit card or bank account (where available). 

Contribution checks can be sent to: 
Love For His People, Inc.  P.O. Box414   Pineville, NC 28134

Todah rabah! (Hebrew – Thank you very much.)
Please share Now Think On This with your friends.

Email: loveforhispeople@gmail.com  
martinlighthouse@gmail.com

Facebook pages: Steve Martin and  Love For His People  
Twitter: martinlighthous, LovingHisPeople 

Full website: Love For His People

Now Think On This - In the Year of our Lord 11.11.16 - #268 –“Mercy for the USA” – Friday 7:45 am

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




Again, I would be most grateful if you'd share this encouraging word with your family and friends. You can easily use the social media icons below. Thanks! Steve

Monday, November 7, 2016

H.O.P.E. - Now Think On This by Steve Martin


H.O.P.E.

Now Think On This
Steve Martin


“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” 
(Proverbs 13:12 NASU)


We all want hope. We all need hope. Something beyond ourselves that we can count on, to come about when all else seems beyond our reach, beyond our ability to make it happen.

For the die-hard Cub fans, their hope was fulfilled in 2016 after 108 years of waiting. For the political minded, having their candidate win gives them another year to anticipate a better government coming to their community, state or nation.

For others, just knowing they have food to eat for tomorrow will get them through another day. That hope is a reality even for many in America, the land of great abundance and provision.

As I sat to pray this morning, I thought of hope, and was grateful that the Lord Jesus has given me some, which I count on now, and for future times ahead. As the Scripture states, it is a tree of life, the knowing in your “knower” that He will come through in the end.

Quietly waiting to hear Him, this acronym came to mind:

H – HEAVEN
O – OPEN
P – PEOPLE
E – ENTER

HEAVEN - our eternal hope. For those who believe that after this life ends, and who have received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we have a never-ending hope to be fulfilled. The Bible states that the dwelling of the King of kings and the Lord of lords will also be our home forever.

OPEN – having our prayers heard, which we cry out from the bottom of our heart to the Father above. An open heaven gives us confidence that we are on the right road, interceding for that which He has put in our hearts. His will to be done, according to His perfect plans and purposes.

PEOPLE – in all the nations. Everyone can experience the gift of salvation, the forgiveness of sins, the everlasting life found only in the only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach.

ENTER – with thanksgiving and praise. What a joy that will be! Coming into the very presence of the Almighty God, being with those who have gone before us; receiving our eternal reward for living a faithful life here on earth. 

“Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.” Revelation 22:14-15, NASU)

We have hope in that which is imperishable, which is eternal, because of the One who paid the price, the One who has gone before us, and now awaits us with open arms. As the things of this earth fade away, keeping our eyes on Him, the Faithful One, will give us hope that will never fail.

“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:1-3, NASU)

Keep hoping. You can count on Him.

Now think on this,

Steve Martin
Founder
Love For His People, Inc. 


 P.S. I would be most grateful if you'd share this encouraging word with your family and friends. They might need it. You can easily use the social media icons below. Thanks! Steve

We are blessed when the ministry receives gifts to support the families that we do, primarily in Israel, Hungary, India, Pakistan and the hurting ones here in the USA. You also can share out of the abundance you have been given.

Love For His People, Inc. is a charitable, not-for-profit USA humanitarian organization started in 2010 to share the love of the Father in the nations.

If these messages minister to you, please consider sending a charitable gift of $5-$25 today, and maybe each month, to help us bless families we know in Israel, whom we consistently help through our humanitarian ministry. Your tax deductible contributions receive a receipt for each donation. Fed. ID #27-1633858.

Click here for safe ONLINE GIFT GIVING THROUGH OUR WEBSITE using major credit cards: Love For His People. If you don't have a PayPal account you can also use your credit card or bank account (where available). 

Contribution checks can be sent to: 
Love For His People, Inc.  P.O. Box414   Pineville, NC 28134

Todah rabah! (Hebrew – Thank you very much.)
Please share Now Think On This with your friends.

Email: loveforhispeople@gmail.com  
martinlighthouse@gmail.com

Facebook pages: Steve Martin and  Love For His People  
Twitter: martinlighthous, LovingHisPeople 

Full website: Love For His People

Now Think On This - In the Year of our Lord 11.05.16 - #267 –“H.O.P.E.” – Saturday 8:45 am

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




Again, I would be most grateful if you'd share this encouraging word with your family and friends. You can easily use the social media icons below. Thanks! Steve