Showing posts with label encouragement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label encouragement. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Ambassadors & Cheerleaders - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

Ambassadors & Cheerleaders


“I have heard a message from the Lord, and an ambassador has been sent to the nations:
"Gather together, come against her, and rise up to battle!” (Jeremiah 49:14, NKJV)


Those who know the Lord have been called to be His ambassadors here on earth. We have been chosen for a high calling, something not to be taken lightly. We represent His Name, His authority, His life in those places and to those people He has placed us in and about.

Being an ambassador, as the dictionary says, is one who is “an accredited diplomat sent by a country as its official representative to a foreign country.  It is a person who acts as a representative or promoter of a specified activity.

This is not a choice we have, but a very specific duty and obligation the Lord Himself has given to each one of us. The choice we do have is whether we will carry out our duties and responsibilities or not, and to what extent.

When an ambassador is sent from his homeland to another country, to represent his government to that government and country he now works in, he doesn’t just decide to think and do what he believes he is to do. He has been sent to give the input from his sending President and the authorized leadership he walks under. Otherwise, he is not representing the rightful authority, but his own. That is not his purpose, nor his decision.

When Jesus sent out His disciples, as ambassadors, He gave them certain commands they were to follow.

“These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: "Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans.  But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'  Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.  Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food.

"Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out.  And when you go into a household, greet it. If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.  And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet.  Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!” (Matthew 10:5-15, NKJV)

Because they represented the government and authority that Jesus had, they were required to follow His instructions and do as He Himself would have done.

We are to do the same. We are to be the ambassadors that the King of the Universe has sent us here to be.

In addition to being good ambassadors, we are also called to be cheerleaders. As those who are commonly found at sporting events, the ones who typically do the “Rah! Rah!” and “Go team go!” (but with a little more creatively than I just used…), they cheer on, whether for the ones just starting out in their first year on the soccer and football fields, or the professionals with years of experience. Cheerleaders are commonly walking the perimeter of the field, getting the crowd fired up in support of their home team. They bring encouragement.

As the psalmist wrote, we need cheering on. From Him personally, and through each other.

“Who will champion my cause against the wicked? Who will stand up for me against evildoers? If Adonai hadn’t helped me, I would soon have dwelt in the land of silence. When I said, “My foot is slipping!” your grace, Adonai, supported me. When my cares within me are many, your comforts cheer me up.” (Psalm 94:16-19, Complete Jewish Bible)

“First, I thank my God through Yeshua the Messiah for all of you, because the report of your trust is spreading throughout the whole world. For God, whom I serve in my spirit by spreading the Good News about his Son, is my witness that I regularly remember you in my prayers; and I always pray that somehow, now or in the future, I might, by God’s will, succeed in coming to visit you. For I long to see you, so that I might share with you some spiritual gift that can make you stronger —  or, to put it another way, so that by my being with you, we might, through the faith we share, encourage one another. (Romans 1:8-13, Complete Jewish Bible)


As ambassadors also, cheerleaders represent the owners of the sports team and must be physically fit to properly perform their cheers and encouragement for the team they also represent. So, we too must keep ourselves strong, and keep building one another up in His purposes and plans.

We often will find ourselves put in locations and events where we are called upon to cheer on our friends, our co-workers, our family, our nation. We have been chosen to share the light, the truth, that which will bring encouragement to those looking for such, so much needed in our times.

A spoken word here, a Scripture shared now, an acknowledgment of approval given to one who is discouraged – all of these can be done as we represent the King, being His ambassadors and His cheerleaders.

People need the Lord. (Thank you, Steve Green, for your song powerfully sung decades ago!) People need to hear good news, have good news, and abide by good news.

We have been called as ambassadors and given the job of being cheerleaders, to share with our neighbors and the nations the Good News of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is His righteousness, honesty, truthfulness, and holiness that we all need currently.

Be a good ambassador, and cheer on while doing it!

Now think on this.

Shalom and ahava (peace and love in Hebrew).


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 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, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, and LinkedIn.  Others will be thankful you did.

Now Think On This #416 - in the year of our Lord 04.24.19 – “Ambassadors & Cheerleaders – Wednesday 5:07 am

Thursday, October 25, 2018

Don’t Give Up - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

Don’t Give Up
Now Think On This
Steve Martin


“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” (1 Timothy 6:12-13, NKJV)


Cross country runners face it, approaching, at last, the long, steep hill climb to complete the race. Boxers in the 7th round feel it when exhaustion burns in their tightening arm muscles. Wrestlers going into the third period of a fierce competition, against a ruthless opponent, know it, and must call up the strength within them to get to the final bell and not get pinned, but get the win.

They can’t quit. They must not give up, even moments before when that prized victory shout is about to happen, while slightly, even so slightly, they consider that it might not come.

A young mother, carrying the ever growing new life within, holds on to make it to the end of the nine long months, hoping, but yet a bit uncertain, if all will come out right, with their child having the ten fingers and the ten toes that will be just perfect.

Even the pastor of 12 years, having given as much as he thought he had to give out, must not stop and give up, nor give in. He must still call upon the name of the Lord, the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and the Omega. He must keep looking to the One who started him on this journey, and not let discouragement and lack of results end the still young man’s initial dream.

We all will face the temptation to call it quits, to end what was started, having begun with so many large expectations, only to look back and think it will never, ever happen. Those big plans and deep desires, instilled years before, seem to be fading away, with the sun setting once again, ending the day the way it began.

Through it all, we must not quit. We must not let the daily grind wear us down, wring us out, or leave us laying on the side of the road. Despair, hopelessness, exhaustion, nor failed dreams must not keep us from that which our Lord Jesus has called us to. With the power of the Holy Spirit working within us, we can fight the good fight, rise to the call on our lives, and finish that which He has started.

How? With His ever-present grace, His unending mercy, and through His love which is continually poured out on us His beloved. That is how we can do it. That is who we are because that is Who He made us to be.

Whether you are 18, going on 37, or have reached the “60 and older” plateau of life, we can, we must, we will be continually assured that the One who saved us, redeemed us, called us into His life to share with us, will keep us and deliver us to the glory that awaits us at the end.

We cannot do it on our own, but He can and will do that which He has planned and purposed for us. His sure promises of fulfilling those deep desires, the heavenly hopes, the daily dreams that He Himself put within us at the beginning of time, will come to pass. Of this, I am certain, for He truly is the Faithful God we serve.

“And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.” (Revelations 19:11-12, NASU)

Our Lord is not sitting upon His throne, just watching to see if we are going to make it. He is actively involved, certain of the beginning and the end, and will ride in victory once His eternal plan is completed. And through it all, He is protecting, directing, establishing and fulfilling His will in each of our lives, bringing encouragement and certainty as we keep our eyes fixed on Him.

This we can be assured of. For the Bible tells us so.

Don’t give up. Don’t quit before the light of day comes forth. Keep pressing on and grab hold of the beautiful plan He has for our lives. It may be tough at times, but the end is going to be worth it all.

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 #358 - in the year of our Lord 10.25.18 – “Don’t Give Up”, Thursday, 5:05 am 

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

For the Love of God - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

For the Love of God

Now Think On This
Steve Martin


“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:3 NASU)


For the love of God we are called to do what we do. Mostly that is to give our life for others, even as the Lord Jesus Himself demonstrated it – by showing us how to do it as He gave His life for us. In walking daily in the leading of the Holy Spirit, and choosing to let go of His natural pleasures in order to do what He came to do, He gave His life.

So when the nudge came to wake up from the night’s sleep, and get out of bed, even though the red numbers on the digital clock read 5:08 am, a bit before my normal rising time these days, I dismissed the urge to lay there, and got up. And I knew why.

The night before someone had shared with me some of their struggles and concerns from that day. And as we all so often do, we allow worry and fears of the future to sometimes rob us of the faith and assurance of the times ahead. Sure, we know the verse, “My times are in Your hands…” (Psalm 31:5), but at times it doesn’t seem to be as strongly settled in our spirit as we would like it to be. We let the certainties be not as certain.

After getting up, getting dressed, and going downstairs, I said to them that I wanted to pray for them before they left for work. A simple prayer for peace, assurance, and trust in the Lord’s guidance – to know once again that their times were in His hands.

I believe it was a meaningful action, both for them and myself. Encouragement can come in many ways. I trust my obedience would bring the results the Lord intended, and the love of God He wanted to be expressed to them had been.

Bearing one another’s burdens is part of the calling we each have who call upon the Name of the Lord. Being there for each other, in good times and not so good, helps the encouragement level in our spirits to be a bit higher than walking it out alone. And so we do these things, as acts of faith and obedience.

We can daily stand on the promise given to us in His Word. When life gets hard, we can always trust in Him.

“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:37-39, NKJV)

For the love of God will keep us until the end. We encourage each other with His words.

Shalom and ahava (peace and love in Hebrew).

Now think on this,
  
Steve Martin
Founder/President
Love For His People, Inc.


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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 #346 - in the year of our Lord 04.11.18 – “For the Love of God”, Wednesday, 6:30 am