Let It Pour. Let It Rain. - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

Let It Rain. Let It Pour.
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;” (Joel 3:1, Complete Jewish Bible)

We all love it when the richly colored blue sky is splattered with those puffy white, voluminous clouds; when the golden sun rises faithfully in the morning, bringing forth its warmth and brilliance, and many hours later leaving a most beautiful trail across the painted canvas, at its daily setting in the west.

But then…

It pours rain. Seemingly never-ending rain lately. Day in and day out in many areas. (Or snow, if the temperature is low enough for the precipitation to be changed to that form.)

And what should we be proclaiming?

Let it rain Lord!

Amongst the complainers, and in some cases those who curse, my heart is proclaiming, “Let it rain oh Lord! Let Your Spirit pour down upon us, even as You promised in these last days through Your Jewish prophet Joel centuries ago. Let it rain!”

I want to sing it repeatedly, even as Michael W. Smith did, beginning in 2001. Remember?

Let It Rain Michael W. Smith

Let it rain, let it rain.
Open the floodgates of heaven
Let it rain, let it rain.
Open the floodgates of heaven

Let it rain, let it rain.
Open the floodgates of heaven
Let it rain, let it rain.
Open the floodgates of heaven

The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad
Let the distance shores rejoice
Clouds and thick darkness surround Him
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne

A fire goes before Him and consumes His foes on every side
His lightning lights up the world
The earth sees and trembles
The mountains melt like wax before the Lord

Before the Lord of all the earth
The heavens proclaim His righteousness
And all peoples will see His glory

We want to see Your glory, God!
Do you want to see His glory?

Lift your voices, lift your hands!

Let it rain, let it rain.
Open the floodgates of heaven
Let it rain, let it rain.
Open the floodgates of heaven

Songwriters: Smith

Let It Rain lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Reservoir Media Management Inc

Listen again. Be encouraged. Let this be your prayer, rising from deep within your spirit.

Listen to that powerful song here (LET IT RAIN) and let your spirit rejoice. Be glad that rain is coming. Give thanks that He is sending the rain.

We welcome Your reign, Oh Lord!

And even as the Lord’s prophet Joel so rightly prophesied, that as the Lord’s prophetic promises are being brought to fruition, even in His Promised Land, we know that we can trust Him, for He is forever Faithful and True.

“Do not fear, O land, rejoice and be glad,

For the Lord has done great things.

Do not fear, beasts of the field,

For the pastures of the wilderness have turned green,

For the tree has borne its fruit,

The fig tree and the vine have yielded in full.

So rejoice, O sons of Zion,

And be glad in the Lord your God;

For He has given you the early rain for your vindication.

And He has poured down for you the rain,

The early and latter rain as before.

The threshing floors will be full of grain,

And the vats will overflow with the new wine and oil.

"Then I will make up to you for the years

That the swarming locust has eaten,

The creeping locust, the stripping locust and the gnawing locust,

My great army which I sent among you.

"You will have plenty to eat and be satisfied

And praise the name of the Lord your God,

Who has dealt wondrously with you;

Then My people will never be put to shame.

"Thus you will know that I am in the midst of Israel,

And that I am the Lord your God,

And there is no other;

And My people will never be put to shame.

After rain in Jerusalem. (Photo by Steve Martin 2016.)

It will come about after this

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 2:21-32, NASU)

  

It is coming! He is coming! He is coming back and preparing the way for us and all the nations that will turn to Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach, the One and Only Savior of the world.

Do not complain. Do not give in to soulish proclamations that exist among the naysayers.

Be the one who welcomes the rain. Be the one who says even now, “So let it rain, Lord. We need Your reign!”

In all His Glory and Majestic rule, He is the One sending the rain.

For He will reign! Reign, Lord!

Shalom and ahava (peace and love in Hebrew).

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-$120 today, and maybe each month, to help us bless families in Israel whom we consistently help monthly through our humanitarian work. Your tax-deductible contributions receive a receipt for each donation. Fed. ID #27-1633858.

  

Please donate online safely through our website. Click here: DONATE  

(or use the DONATE  buttons on the blog.)

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.) 

Also, my latest book (#20) was just released last week. You can get it on Amazon here, in paperback or Kindle version: All Together Now - For His Plans & Purposes 

Please share Now Think On This with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, and LinkedIn.  Others will be thankful you did.

The Silvers Are Back! - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

The Silvers Are Back!

Steve Martin

“But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.” (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14, NASU)

After more than 5 years...it is time to be back. 
The silver-hairs are BACK AT IT!

I just want to share this testimony, for it has become a fulfilled hope and promised day for us. I strongly believe it will also be an encouragement for many others who think the time has come and gone.

On Feb. 3, 2019, Laurie and I were once again on a Sunday morning church worship team. It had been almost six years since the last time that had happened.

Then it had gotten to the point where we thought our time was done. The days were over. The years had come and moved on. We didn't sing in public since August 2013 - the last time with our group Ahava Love Band at a One New Man Saturday night meeting with Warren Marcus.

In fact, at times we considered, if not aloud but to ourselves, "Let the others do it now. I've done my part. I am tired, old, and time has passed." I can speak for myself, that this thought was just to cover up the longing I still had from the Lord to lead others into worship. And now that it seemed to have finished, I wanted the inner longing to stop. It almost was as if I didn't want to think about it, for it didn't seem that it would happen again.

The Bible speaks of that happening to others. They have a call from the Lord, they do it for a time, and then they are set aside; distracted into other areas, or just quit out of discouragement and "lack of use".

 Laurie Martin - climbing up once again.

But the Lord has His plans, His purposes, and His faith, which is bigger than ours. If the time is not over with Him, then it is not over with us. That which He has put in each of us may have been buried for a while, and even thought as dead. But it is only taking more process time to pressure the soft coal into a hard diamond, more so to enable the finest to come forth, beyond what would have done if completed earlier ahead of its time.

Character building.

The gifts may be there, but the fruit takes longer to develop.

We give thanks for the Lord God Almighty, bringing us back into the place of leading worship, as we had been gifted to do for so many years before.

We also give thanks to the leadership of Antioch International Church, with Dr. Peter and Joy Wyns, Pastors Jesse and Elizabeth (Liz) Enns, who have given us this opportunity once again.

Our hearts are that we, being 64 (Steve) and 59 (Laurie) respectively, will be an encouragement to others who are "silver-haired"- that the Lord has much yet to do in and through you too.

He is not finished with us yet! There is much to do, increasingly coming forth as we step out in faith and keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the Author and the FINISHER of our faith.

If you have been out of the game for a while, seek the Lord to get back in. You are needed on the team once again. With you in the Lord's service!

  

Shalom and ahava (peace and love in Hebrew).

Now think on this,

Steve Martin

Founder/President

Love For His People, Inc.

Also, I hope you get my latest book, Adventures in Courage, published in November 2018. Comes in paperback or Kindle versions. This was my 19^th authored publication. (Yes, this is an advertisement!) 

Buy it here on Amazon: Adventures in Courage. It is worth the $7.95 price!

If these messages have ministered to you, please consider sending a charitable gift of $10-$120 today, and maybe each month, to help us bless families in Israel whom we consistently help monthly through our humanitarian work. Your tax-deductible contributions receive a receipt for each donation. Fed. ID #27-1633858.

  

Please donate online safely through our website. Click here: DONATE  

(or use the DONATE  buttons on the blog.)

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 on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, and LinkedIn.  We appreciate your help.

Now Think On This #387 - in the year of our Lord 02.04.19 – “The Silvers Are Back” – Monday, 7:40 pm

Also on the team (one of 5 teams that Antioch has in the church), are these as follows.

Worship leader Trista Smith (middle)

Also Christian Akker and Toni Bogart.

(L-R) Christine Adams, Luanna Peterman

Steve & Laurie Martin

(Photo by Ed Brigham)

THANK YOU JESUS!

Prayer Spot. Got One? - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

Prayer Spot. Got One?

Now Think On This

Steve Martin

“However, he (Yeshua/Jesus) made a practice of withdrawing to remote places in order to pray.” (Luke 5:16, Complete Jewish Bible)

Do you have a prayer spot, a prayer place, and space where you can go to be alone with the Lord? Yeshua (Jesus) made it a habit to withdraw to “remote places in order to pray.” To me, that says a lot. It also demonstrates a real example to each of us, that if Yeshua, the Son of God, felt it was important enough to find a quiet place, in order to talk with His Father, alone, on a regular basis, then we ought to do the same.

But do we? Or do we get the One-Minute Bible, say a one-minute prayer, and do a one-minute devotional each day as we rush to the daily job, take the kids to the next event, or plop down for a two-hour movie to “relax” and let nothing else come our way until bedtime?

Do we then expect and trust that all will be just great (hunky dory for you old-timers like me) being we have dutifully given Him a one-minute time slot out of the 24 hours we each have, every single day, and then call this “living the Christian life?”

Ever try not talking to your spouse for over a day or two while being in the same house? Or have you tried ignoring your kids when they get home from school for more than a few hours, and then send them to bed, and expect that this will suffice in showing them that you care, and love them?

I am not looking to pass judgment, nor accuse anyone of not getting your priorities straight, but heh, if we want to know the Lord, and claim to believe that He is the Loving, Living Father Whom He says He is, shouldn’t, couldn’t we give Him the proper respect and time in our “busy” lives to allow Him to guide and direct our steps? By spending time alone, in quiet communication with Him, we will find out more than what we expected, and receive more than previously known of Him. Knowing God as a father touches His heart.

He would really appreciate you being with Him so He can show you more of His love, protection, provision and shalom. Each and every day hopefully.

We all know we live in a turbulent, stressed out world. Because of that, we each need real physical, mental and spiritual breaks, to get recharged, energized and ready to stand and do what is right each and every day.

“Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd away. After bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray.” (Mark 6:45-46, NASU)

My prayer chair in front room corner

Jesus got recharged, after a very busy day, by getting away for a needed time to spend in prayer with the Father. He could have easily chosen to get in the boat along with His disciples, sleep on the Sea of Galilee crossover, and let it go at that. But He knew where He got His inspiration, His strength, and His motivation to do all that He was sent to do. We must learn from Him, for He is our teacher, in all things.

As for me, if I don’t set aside time each day to be with our Lord, I feel it later in the day. My preference is the early morning hours. Yours may be in the evening. So do what is necessary to be faithful and committed to having time with the Father.

I really do personally appreciate the time and location I have set aside to pray, read His Word the Bible, and listen for that which He does tell me. 

I hope you do too.

Shalom and ahava (peace and love in Hebrew).

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-$50 today, and maybe each month, to help us bless families in Israel whom we consistently help monthly through our humanitarian work. Your tax-deductible contributions receive a receipt for each donation. Fed. ID #27-1633858.

  

Secure, conveniently contributions can be done online now. Click here: DONATE 

(or use the DONATE buttons on the blog.)

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 on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr and LinkedIn.  We appreciate your help.

Now Think On This #359 - in the year of our Lord 10.27.18 – “Prayer Spot. Got One?”, Saturday, 3:37 pm

 Other items of interest in my "prayer corner".