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.

  

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Todah rabah! (Hebrew – Thank you very much.) 

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Zebra, Moon & Truck. What? - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

Zebra, Moon & Truck.

What?

Now Think On This

Steve Martin

“These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” (1 Corinthians 2:13 NKJV)

It is a snow and ice day here in Charlotte, NC this January day. No uptown office open for work. Schools are shut down. After all, there is an inch of snow on the ground. I love how this global warming fantasy hits us! (But in all fairness to Charlotteans and many Carolinians, there is a ¼” of ice under the snow. Treacherous.)

So great! I can write another Now Think On This message!

This past week I attended the Wednesday night classes our church, MorningStar (Rick Joyner) in Fort Mill, SC, started up again with the new year. Being I want to have the Holy Spirit more develop the prophetic gift He has given me in some measure, with further training, I selected the “Prophetic 101” six week course. There was a good turnout. People are getting more hungry for His Word.It will be an hour of power.

After listening to a time of instruction, which I had familiarity with much of it already, the teacher asked us to pray a short moment at our tables. (We use tables rather than rows of chairs. Works good in getting to know others.) She said to then write down words or phrases that the Holy Spirit would give us, with us assuming and believing that we would then share them with another, as something to encourage them with.

So I did. (I was always a good student!)

As you will see in the photo, I wrote in one column down the left hand side of the page the following words:

Zebra, moon, blue, river, truck, anticipation, songbird, elation, joyful, and simplify. 

What?

I had no idea what they meant, or stood for. I knew the Holy Spirit knew, for He normally either gives me a “prophetic word” as a picture in my mind whenever I receive a prophetic word, to start with, or just one word, as a word of knowledge (literally, right?)

Then the instructor told us that those words or phrases we had written down were actually for us. Oh really? Nice. Now I was certainly intrigued. This class will be good I thought.

As I usually do, I shared the words with Laurie once I got home, and being past my bedtime, dutifully went to bed. I would have to ponder over the words in the days to come.

Well, that was three days ago, and I had just initially put the words in my “Prophetic Words 2016” 3-ring binder, along with other personal ones from 2015. But this morning I took them out of the protective plastic sleeve and asked the Holy Spirit to give me further revelation. He did.

“Zebra” to me represents black and white. I am a “black and white” guy. No gray in my character, or so I hope. Others, even my boss at Derek Prince Ministries back in the day, once told me I was “too black and white.” At the time he wasn’t congratulating me. (Basically, I was be asked to “expand” my viewpoint in a situation, as he saw it.) I still see things either black or white.

“Moon” – well, I desire to reflect the Son. I hope we all have that heart’s desire within us, and that we shine in the darkness growing all around us.

“Blue” – the color blue in spiritual, prophetic words represents “prophetic”. I want to grow in that gift of the Holy Spirit. Thus the weekly Wednesday night class attendance for me.

“River” – may the Holy Spirit’s “river of life” flow through us, bringing His refreshing and provision!

“Truck” – moving in ministry should be our desire - to have that “vehicle” to hear and then obey the Lord as we move forward. I want a big truck!

“Anticipation” – without hope our vision fails us. Without having an anticipation for what the good Lord has planned and purposed for us will leave us in discouragement, defeat, and ultimate death in our walk with Jesus (Yeshua).

“Songbird” – one who is singing praise, proclamations and declarations of the Lord. Yes! Love it! May we have a heart of worship towards the Risen King of Israel and the nations.

“Elation” – not sure on this one yet. Any advice out there?

“Joyful” – a fruit of the Holy Spirit. May His joy be ours, so we can be overcomers in all that we will face today, and tomorrow, with His grace and power.

“Simplify” – the times are coming when we will have to simplify our lives, not only for ourselves, but also our families. “The times they are a changin’” as Bob Dylan sang in 1964. Even more so in our time, and we best get ready for it. This won’t be our daddy’s lifestyle for that which lies ahead of us. We will have to cut back in our consumption of worldly goods, and be ready to share what we have more so with others.

Ask Him to speak to you today. He certainly wants to. Together we need more of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We need You daily Lord, so we can hear and obey.

More Lord. We need more of You.

So think on this, with the compassionate love of the Lord,

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 bless the families that we do in Israel, 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 

Blogs: Love For His People,   Now Think On This

Full website: Love For His People

YouTube: Love For His People Inc.

Now Think On This - In the New Year of our Lord 01.22.16 - #237 –“Zebra, Moon & Truck. What?” – Friday at 4:30 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

Keep Walking - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

Keep Walking

Now Think On This

by Steve Martin

“Do you see what this means — all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running — and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins.

Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed — that exhilarating finish in and with God — he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God.

When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!” (Hebrews 12:1-3 The Message)

Hanging on our family room wall is a worn out record album. You can see that it had gotten much use during it’s time from 1976 on. The cover itself, framed in black with a glass covering, has special meaning to me. Whenever I see it, going in and out of that room, it reminds me of the need to keep walking in faith, and to keep my hand to the plow.

The black 33 1/3 vinyl enclosed within is entitled Hand To The Plow, one of Paul Clark’s many albums produced during the time of my early Christian walk. To this day he is still a Christian guitarist and soloist, though maybe not as well known.

On the front of that framed piece of artwork, in simple black and white color, is a pair of well worn, rather hairy hands. They surely had seen better days in their prime years. But these calloused hands were still holding onto the wooden plow. Obviously they were preparing the fields for another harvest yet to come. They had faithfully kept walking as the seasons went by.

Growing up in Minnesota and Iowa (located in the Midwest of America, for the sake of the international readers) I had plenty of summer opportunities to be on a working farm. Of the 11 uncles I had (both sides of the family) I remember at least four of them raising their families on farms. Each would put in the annual field crops, in addition to all the dairy cows, pigs, sheep, chickens or all of the above.

In those years from 1954 -1970, tractors had long since taken over the single steel blade as the method of plowing. But being aware of how the early pioneers had to sweat, endure, and pray to the Lord of the weather for favor, I understood what it would have physically cost to keep those hands on the plow to prepare the black soil.

Staying on the path takes courage and commitment. The apostle Paul wrote to disciple Timothy to be continually mindful of the prophetic words spoken over him in his faith walk. In order to do that in my own life I transcribed all prophetic words that had been recorded. Keeping them in a three ring binder for easy access, and also saved on my laptop, it is an encouraging reminder to go back and read what the Lord had spoken through His people.

We often need to be reminded of that which the Lord has revealed to us in our earlier years. In February, 2007, that was such a time for me.

After a period of discouragement in my life, I sought the Lord for a prophetic word. What amazes me now, looking back (October, 2015 as I write this), little did I know that three years later, in July of 2010, I would leave a $70,000 a year ministry director position, with full benefits, to start our own new ministry organization called Love For His People, Inc.

When I filed my income tax for 2011, my individual total taxable income had fallen to $11,000 for that year. Needless to say, either I had missed the Lord or He was doing a deep work in my spirit, soul and body. Not only for myself, but also for Laurie my wife. (We are thankful she still had her part time day care job.)

The following is a prophetic word that I still read as a reminder to this day. It helps me to keep walking the walk and my hands on the plow.

As transcribed from the cassette tape that was recorded that night:

Robbie Phillips, from Columbia, SC, met with a group at Michael & Mary Ann Blade's home in Charlotte, NC. Here is a word prophesied to me.

Robbie Phillips: We call for the blessings of God. Everything he puts his hands to, bless. Everything he puts his hands to, bless, in Jesus’ name.

It seems to me in your work – talk about plowing – brother it seems to me that you have been plowing and plowing and plowing and plowing and plowing and plowing. And there is a verse in Haggai. In Haggai it is in the negative sense but in your case it is in the positive sense, where the word of the prophet was that you have sown much but have harvested little.

And it seems to me that in the ministry that you have been in the last few years, that you have sown far more than what you have seen coming back. But it’s almost like as I see you are going down, like you have one of the old time plows and you have an oxen or a mule or something ahead of you, and here you are, just getting it done day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year.

And it’s like I see this tremendously long row, and there is this man standing there, and he has a linen garment on, he’s right out of Ezekiel, and you recognize that this is an angelic visitor, and you stop, and he says, “Steve, look behind you. And you look back and you thought you had been plowing, but in the distance, where you had plowed a long time ago, whole forests have sprung up, and they are seeding new forests, and right behind you there has been an acceleration of what God is doing in your ministry, so that it’s not just a place where you just plowed, but there are already small trees that have sprung up even a few feet behind you.

And I see about you, I think it is just trickling in now, but I see the blessings of God beginning to come now, to the point where they are going to overtake you. It talks about when you are faithful to the Lord, and in the 7^th year when the land has the Sabbath, that you don’t need to worry about plowing and harvesting in that 7th year, because what you sowed three years before, and the next year and the following year, will all seem to come in on top of you at one time, and you will have more than enough, in fact you will have so much coming in, that you will have to move out some of the old to bring the new in.

And I see the blessing of the Lord and it’s like you have been looking and trusting God for His faithfulness and you are going to see a demonstration of the faithfulness of God and not just in spiritual things but in financial ways and material ways.

I see you, brother, you riding the high places of the earth with the Lord. I see you at 50,000 feet in jet liners just about all the time, flying all over the world. I see you a connector in the hand of the Lord. I see you being behind the scenes man, much of the time, major conferences and things like that, but the people that really know, the people that are the shakers and the movers in the Kingdom, the people that are well known, they’ll say that if you really want to meet a shaker and a mover, then you go and meet Steve Martin. He’s the guy behind the scenes, and he’s the guy that really gets things done.

And I see you being able to go to Scandinavian countries, European countries, the countries of the Far East, South America, all over the world, and I see you having contacts all over the world, and I see you being able to be used of the Lord to connect this person on one end of the world to a person over here and to bring things together in just the right timing of the Lord.

I see a tremendous amount of influence in your life, and I see that teaching anointing of your life. I see situation, particularly with leadership, it seems to me the Lord, just like with Elijah, suddenly “Boom!” out of nowhere Elijah appears, he wasn’t there one day and suddenly he’s the talk of the nation and I see the Lord just suddenly revealing you, revealing a teaching anointing, particularly for leadership and with leaders, and a lot of it having to do with the holiness of God, and your own personal, their own personal walk with God, the things that are near and dear to your heart, about right relationships with your wife and your family. How your relationships with that, how those dynamics work, things that really matter. The nitty gritty stuff that drive the kingdom. These things being those that are really near to your heart.

Being able to be a real impact to people who are key leaders. But I see that in a teaching format, even more so than your own personal encouragement and strengthening. I see the Lord giving you teachings to begin to bring to leadership, in due season.”

We know that not all personal prophetic words may come to pass, for a variety of reasons. (Another message for another day.) But there are several spoken in this word from that 2007 date that have since been fulfilled already. I anticipate that more of them will be in the years ahead.

I shared this to encourage you to keep believing the Lord on your faith walk. There are many days when things don’t look like they are moving; when advancement would be great if even just a step forward happened one day, rather than the two steps backward that seemed to occur yesterday. We must keep pressing on towards the goal set before us. (Philippians 3:14)

Winston Churchill is famously known for a simple but profound speech he gave, where he walked out onto the stage, said, “Never, never, never give up” and then walked off.

Scripture also encourages us to never quit, but to keep walking and standing firm in our commitment to the Lord and His eternal purposes.

“Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.

Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:11-17 NASU)

Days of trial and tribulations are coming even more so on the earth. For many believers in the Middle East and the Far East, they can’t get much worse than what they already are. But wherever we find ourselves, we are called to stand in the power of the Lord’s might, and be witnesses in the nations.

The Lord God Almighty, Victor of All, is on His eternal throne in heaven, along with many witnesses who have gone on before us, interceding and cheering us on.

Keep walking.

Now think on this,

Steve Martin

Founder

Love For His People. Inc.

P.S. We sure could use your help to bless the families we do in Israel, India, Pakistan, Vietnam and the hurting ones here in the USA. Please give out of the abundance you have been given. Details below.

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 

Blogs: Love For His People,   Now Think On This

Full website: Love For His People

YouTube: Love For His People Inc.

Now Think On This #195 “Keep Walking” by Steve Martin 

Date: In the year of our Lord 2015 (10.23.15) Friday at 6:30 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

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