Saturday, July 22, 2017

On A Mission From God - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

On A Mission From God

Steve Martin

“Isn't it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these "nobodies" to expose the hollow pretensions of the "somebodies"?” 
(1 Corinthians 27-29, THE MESSAGE)

It is amazing how the Lord picks His people to do His work here on earth. There are not many wise, not many strong, not many considered “smart” by the ones who “are”.
Another thing that is amazing is the fact that it is just how He likes it - to confound the wise with the foolish, to show Himself strong through the weak, to overtake the enemy with strategies that wouldn’t have even been considered without His involvement and leading.
“Just look at yourselves, brothers — look at those whom God has called! Not many of you are wise by the world’s standards, not many wield power or boast noble birth. But God chose what the world considers nonsense in order to shame the wise; God chose what the world considers weak in order to shame the strong; and God chose what the world looks down on as common or regards as nothing in order to bring to nothing what the world considers important; so that no one should boast before God.” (1 Corinthians 26-30, Complete Jewish Bible)

For movie enthusiasts, many enjoyed the comical hit The Blues Brothers in 1980. Starring the late night show Saturday Night Live actors Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as Jake and Elwood Blues, these two “heard the call”, and accepted the mission. From the starting scene to the final one, they gathered the other band members the former Blues Brothers Band, and went on a mission. They needed to raise funds for a special purpose.

They said they were on a mission from God. The reason? They believed they had to save the grade school where they were taught, in their youth by Roman Catholic nuns in Chicago, from certain foreclosure. 


If it was up to me, I don’t think I would have picked these two. One had just gotten out of prison, while the other, well, I wouldn’t call him the brightest apple out of the bushel. But as they said, they believed they were the ones to do what it would take to save the nuns and their beloved school from the certain end of all.

It was a tall order for them to take on. They had little money, hardly any means of transportation (remember the car and speaker system they mounted on top?) And yet, they believed. They went for it. They were indeed on a mission from God.


Bluesmobile was a 1974 Dodge Monaco sedan

Each of us have been given a purpose for being here. You and I have been called by the Living God, the same One who also called the Jews to be a light to the nations from their homeland in Israel, to bring forth His Gospel truth to the peoples of the nations.

After His death, burial and resurrection, Yeshua (Jesus) gave one major command to His disciples. This directive, not a suggestion, was for them, and to all who call upon the Name of the Lord, to take His love, peace and salvation to those who have not heard, who have not seen Him revealed as yet.

We are the ones who have been chosen, redeemed Jews and Gentiles, as the One New Man. We have heard and are now called to obey and do.

“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthews 28:18-20, NASU)


Even from our mother’s womb, even before the beginning of time as the Bible says, He knew us and planned for us to be His Body here on earth. When Jesus (Yeshua) came the first time, before departing back to heaven, He promised, and fulfilled that word, to send His Holy Spirit, to be with us as we were given this eternal mission. This mission from God, in this real life, here and now. We have been commanded to take His love and truth to the nations, beginning where we are at now. First Jerusalem, then Samaria, and then to the ends of the earth.

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." (Acts 1:8, NKJV)

Even as others have been written about in the Lord’s Word, such as Jeremiah, we too have been chosen to be a part of the Body of Christ, and represent Him in the nation we live in, and those He would send us to.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you;
I ordained you a prophet to the nations." (Jeremiah 1:5, NKJV)

We each have been given natural and supernatural gifts to accomplish “our mission.” Each of us has the opportunity to fulfill that mission and receive the heavenly reward promised to us.


I am so ready and willing to fulfill the call of God on my life After His death, burial and resurrection, Yeshua (Jesus) gave that one major command. It was for the apostles then. It is for us now, who call upon the Name of the Lord.

We are to take His love, peace and salvation to those who have not heard, who have not seen the love and peace that comes only from God the Father. We are the ones who have been chosen, both redeemed Jews and Gentiles, as the One New Man, to hear, obey and go.

“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthews 28:18-20, NASU)
.
Are we ready to do the job? We must be. The nations need to see the love of the Lord.

Now think on this,


Steve Martin
Founder/President
Love For His People, Inc.


If these messages have ministered to you, please consider sending a charitable gift of $10-$25 today, and maybe each month, to help us bless families and pastors in Israel, Pakistan, Northern Ireland, and Nigeria, whom we consistently help monthly through our humanitarian ministry. Your tax-deductible contributions receive a receipt for each donation. Fed. ID #27-1633858.

Secure, conveniently contributions can be done online now through our website: Donate

Contribution checks can be sent to: 
Love For His People, Inc.  P.O. Box 414   Pineville, NC 28134

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

Now Think On This - in the Year of our Lord 7.19.17 - #301– “On A Mission From God” – Wednesday 7:37 pm
  


The Blues Brothers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see The Blues Brothers (film) and Blues Brothers (disambiguation).The Blues Brothers are an American blues and soul revivalist band which was founded in 1978 by comedy actors Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on Saturday Night Live. Belushi and Aykroyd, respectively in character as lead vocalist "Joliet" Jake Blues and harmonica player/vocalist Elwood Blues, fronted the band, which was composed of well-known and respected musicians. The band made its debut as the musical guest on the April 22, 1978, episode of Saturday Night Live, performing "Hey Bartender."[1]
The band began to take on a life beyond the confines of the television screen, releasing an album, Briefcase Full of Blues, in 1978, and then having a Hollywood film, The Blues Brothers, created around its characters in 1980.


After the death of Belushi in 1982, the Blues Brothers have continued to perform with a rotation of guest singers and other band members. The band reformed in 1988 for a world tour and again in 1998 for a sequel to the film, Blues Brothers 2000. They make regular appearances at musical festivals worldwide.

Monday, July 17, 2017

People like free stuff. So here you go...with a donation to help us give free books to foreign pastors. Will you?



With your donation to help us 
give these books (and others)
free to pastors in other nations, 
you'll get one too.

Will you help us help them?
(And then I will give you one too.)

July 17, 2017

Greetings current friends and soon-to-be new friends.

Love For His People, Inc, now in its 8th year, is beginning a new program to give our books (currently 15 titles) free of charge to pastors in Nigeria, the USA, and soon in Pakistan with the Urdu language publication of my book Arms of Love - English version.

You want to help? Will you help?

In order to pay for the printed books and the costly postage (it cost us $52.00 to send 7 books to Nigeria on July 10, 2017 from Charlotte to Africa), we need your help. Pastor Abel is going to translate them into his people's language, and then we can print them there.

And as a side note, we do not have any paid staff or overhead costs, so don't be concerned about us using your contributed money to pay our power bill. My wife and I take care of that.

So much for my fund raising letter!

Info below.

Shalom,


Steve Martin
Founder/President
Love For His People, Inc.

P.S. And being we want you to know that we aren't sending a small pamphlet in a letter envelope to them, I will send you my latest book, Basic Life Principles. Or you can click on that link and buy the paperback for $11.95. Kindle e-book is $2.95.

Deal? That's if you send a contribution of $25 or more. Just let me know in the memo line that you would like one. (USA addresses only please.)

Hey, and I will autograph it too!

Please send checks to:

Love For His People, Inc.
P.O. Box 414
Pineville, NC 28134

Each check will receive our USA tax-receipt. 501(c) 3 Fed. ID #27-1633858

On-line donations can use our safe, secure donation method now.

DONATE TO BLESS FAMILIES IN JERUSALEM, PAKISTAN, NORTHERN IRELAND AND NIGERIA WITH YOUR LOVE.

Love For His People, Inc. is a 501(c)3 ministry in the USA.


Books we will provide free of charge 
to pastors in other nations.




We've Only Just Begun! Now Think On This by Steve Martin


We've Only Just Begun!

Steve Martin

“Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.” (John 5:25-26,  NKJV)

On a Friday night in July 2017 Laurie and I met with three lovely ladies we have known for years, two of which we had not seen in quite a few. So many years, in fact, that the youth and vigor we once knew we possessed, we each thought had come and gone.

“Not so!” says the Living God of Israel.

Sitting around the Martin family room, sharing of past adventures we had had together, primarily in the work of the ministry, brought back sweet memories of what the Lord had done thus far in our lives. We also spoke of what He was now doing in our midst. But then we shared some concerns of what we thought were yet to come, being four of us had already reached the 60’s decade. Not the 1960’s (though we all lived through that), but the years of life thus far on this planet. With the “golden years” fast approaching, we may have, just may have, considered in our minds that our time here was coming to an end.

Except for my good wife Laurie, the young one at 58, the years of vigorous youth which we had known had become the years of the slower silver hairs, even if covered over with another color.

But then again, the Lord had His say on the matter. He told us how He saw it, as follows.

During our prayer time at the end of our gathering, He gave me this picture in my mind, demonstrating how He looked upon us from His heavenly throne above. This came as His Holy Spirit, Ruach HaKodesh, was moving down here among us, in our very midst.

Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina, where I have labored as an accountant for the past five years, has another new office/residential/retail space building that has risen more than 24 stories above ground. It is about ready to cross the finish line of completion. In man’s eyes, it is a very significant and magnificent work of skill, beauty, and awe.

When the foundation was being dug a year earlier, in 2016, the vast numbers of men in their orange construction vests, with their mighty machines of great power, kept digging deeper, and deeper, and deeper. I was quite amazed as to how far down they went, even as they continually removed truckload after truckload of unearthed dirt and solid rock, which had been buried there, probably since the creation of the earth. I mean, it was extremely deep! (And I have the photos to prove it…)

Staring up at the fantastic building, on my way back to the Charlotte Center City Partners office from my lunchtime prayer walk, one would never know what lay beneath the street level, where thousands pass by each day. That very deep foundation, having taken much time to establish, had been necessary to sustain the weight and “glory” that now rested securely on it.

Charlotte, North Carolina building (photo by Steve Martin)

This almost completed work was about ready for the planned purpose always intended at the beginning by the architects who created it. Once it was but an image in their mind. Now the towering project rising into the sky was almost done.

We can only imagine what was in the minds of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit back then before time began. In time though, we will know.

“God can do anything, you know - far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.” (Ephesians 3:20, THE MESSAGE)

And so, as the five of us finished our cherished time of fellowship together, holding hands in a circle of praise and prayer, the Lord vividly and clearly reminded me of that building image, that picture of a rather beautiful structure, and the very deep foundation that had been necessary for that tower of power to stand tall on.

This clear image, of what is really a natural demonstration to show us of what He has always seen in the spiritual realm, in our lives, and now most needed in this earthly hour, is the very spiritual dimension that He has brought us through in our lives.

While in each of our minds we may have considered those many years that have come and gone, as ones of lost energy, disappointments, and discouragements along the way, and wondering how we could now accomplish what had been in our hearts of desire since our youth, the Lord was saying to us, “During those decades of preparation, with My digging and digging and digging even more, I have been readying you for the work I have called you to do in these last days."

"I have seen all this from My heavenly throne above, delighting Myself in the fact that you, along with a vast number of so many others, Jews and Gentiles joined together as the One New Man; you who are My “bought with the blood”, after being “sought by My Spirit”, are now ready to be “caught along in the glorious cloud” coming down to this first heaven, to be My witnesses in the nations. You will be part of the greatest revival this world has ever seen! It has taken this long to get you ready for that which I have now begun to bring to the finish.”

He was telling us, we are not done. And as we heard on the radio back then, in the decade of the 70's, have only just begun! 

(Sing it mighty loud Carpenters! Thanks for those prophetic words to us, whether you knew it or not!)

(Listen below, but only after you finish reading this message!
Lyrics too included far below. In the deep foundation...)

The Lord has been doing the hard, necessary work in our hearts, in our characters, in our entire spirit, soul and body over these many, many years, because He knows what it will take to finish the job, and complete the work that He so long ago started with His creation of Adam and Eve in that Garden of Eden, at the beginning of man's time as we know it.

In Jesus' (Yeshua) coming the first time, He touched the daily lives of His Chosen Ones the Jews and then wrapped His arms around all the Gentiles who would. Now He is launching the “silver hairs”, yes, that is exactly you and me, into the nations to gather in the remaining ones who will, before His soon coming return.

We are ready Lord! You have prepared us so well in all Your wisdom and knowledge!

Now is the time when we are being released to go, gather, and see Your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.

Yes, we are ready. Yes, we have been prepared. And yes, the final push has already begun!  

It will be power against power, demonstrating His love over the enemy’s hate, as Jesus is once again revealed in all the earth - this time as the Almighty King of kings and the outstanding Lord of lords, redeeming the people who will receive His outstretched arms of loving salvation.

Even so, Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus! We have been so prepared and so ready to get in the final game. 

For Yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever, amen!

Now think on this,

Steve Martin
Founder/President
Love For His People, Inc.


P.S. This marks the 300th edition of what first started in October 2010, after my 10th journey to the Land of Israel, as the “Ahava Love Letters”, which then became my “Now Think of This”words of encouragement.

Thank you Holy Spirit, Ruach HaKodesh, Who brings the inspiration to share Jesus’ heart of love, Yeshua, from our Heavenly Father, Abba. I love You! And I love you!

P.S.S. Listen to the Carpenters sing their all-time hit, and envision what the Holy Spirit was speaking then, and now. We've Only Just Begun

If these messages have ministered to you, please consider sending a charitable gift of $10-$25 today, and maybe each month, to help us bless families and pastors in Israel, Pakistan, Northern Ireland, and Nigeria, whom we consistently help monthly through our humanitarian ministry. Your tax-deductible contributions receive a receipt for each donation. Fed. ID #27-1633858. 

Secure, conveniently contributions can be done online now through our website: Donate

Contribution checks can be sent to: 
Love For His People, Inc.  P.O. Box 414   Pineville, NC 28134

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

Now Think On This - in the Year of our Lord 7.15.17 - #300– “We've Only Just Begun!” – Saturday 7:02 am 

DONATE TO BLESS FAMILIES IN JERUSALEM, PAKISTAN, NORTHERN IRELAND AND NIGERIA WITH YOUR LOVE.

Donate to Bless families in Jerusalem, Pakistan, Northern Ireland and Nigeria with your love. 
Love For His People, Inc. is a 501(c)3 ministry in the USA.

We've only just begun to live
White lace and promises
A kiss for luck and we're on our way
(We've only begun)
Before the risin' sun, we fly
So many roads to choose
We'll start out walkin' and learn to run
(And yes, we've just begun)
Sharing horizons that are new to us
Watching the signs along the way
Talkin' it over, just the two of us
Workin' together day to day
Together
And when the evening comes, we smile
So much of life ahead
We'll find a place where there's room to grow
(And yes, we've just begun)
Sharing horizons that are new to us
Watching the signs along the way
Talkin' it over, just the two of us
Workin' together day to day
Together
Together
And when the evening comes, we smile
So much of life ahead
We'll find a place where there's room to grow
And yes, we've just begun
Written by Nichols Williams • Copyright © Universal Music Publishing Group, Tratore