“Wounded" - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

“Wounded"

"Praised be God, Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, compassionate Father, God of all encouragement and comfort; who encourages us in all our trials, so that we can encourage others in whatever trials they may be undergoing with the encouragement we ourselves have received from God." (2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Complete Jewish Bible)

Being wounded in life is a universal experience shared by all. It doesn't make it any easier to bear or walk out of, but the truth is we all have been and quite possibly will continue to be hurt by people, situations, or circumstances. Often it may not be our fault. At times, well, yes it is. Be honest now.

There are so many situations we have experienced growing up in our family and communities. For some, not having a family was the beginning of the wound. And then being passed around, as many foster children are, just adds more hurt to that which is already embedded into the spirit, soul, and even body.

How we deal with the wound determines if it will actually go away or not, or be healed from causing lasting injury. Drugs are often prescribed to heal a wound buried deep into our psychic, when it is actually the spirit that either needs to be healed, or even cast out (as in deliverance of evil spirits.) Doctors who are not believers in the supernatural have no understanding of that which can only be healed through the Blood of Jesus. Drugs often only cover up. His blood-drenched stripes bring the healing - in spirit, soul, and body.

"Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:4-5, NKJV)

When one studies the sacrificial trial, whipping, and death by crucifixion which Jesus (Yeshua) undertook on our behalf, you get a deeper understanding that every area that had been, is being or would come to mankind, in spirit, soul, and the body was endured by Him. Every hurt, scourge, wound He went through during those Passover days was for our benefit, the Sacrificial Lamb, in order that we might receive the healing that only comes through His shed Blood.  

I recently shared with another some of my experiences of being wounded over the years. Not so they would feel sorry for me, for forgiveness, which then brought healing, had already taken place on my part, by the grace of God. No, it was to help them see that what they had gone through, in part, was to not only see the love of God the Father working on their behalf, but also to now be able to share that same comfort and encouragement with others who have, or will, walk through that same experience.

We have not been saved from hell to just keep us out of hell, but we have been saved, and now called and anointed, to be vessels of the Lord's love, forgiveness, and healing with those He brings us into contact with. His actions done for us were not just to keep it to ourselves, but to then share it with others.

Isn't that what it means to be part of the "Body of Christ"?

We will be wounded. We will be hurt. We will have many opportunities to become embittered, rejected, and remain in that if we choose. But we don't have to. We have been given the means to receive healing, and then to pass it on.

That old fireside song, "It Only Takes A Spark", may seem a bit quirky now, but if you have that spark, there are many people who need to get a bit of it in their life too.

My prayer is that wounds received will become grace and compassion from which we can give. If each of us did our part, wouldn't that put a smile on the Lord's face? Wouldn't that put a smile in His heart?


And wouldn't that help someone overcome being wounded, and get back into what the Lord has planned for them? Yes, it will.

Now think on this, and see what good things the Lord has in store for you and those around you.

Ahava and shalom,

Steve Martin

Founder/President

Love For His People, Inc.

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Now Think On This #434 - in the year of our Lord 06.19.19 – “Wounded” – Wednesday, 6:30 pm

Mary Had A Little Lamb - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

Mary Had A Little Lamb

Now Think On This

Steve Martin

“The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29 NASU)

“The next day, Yochanan saw Yeshua coming toward him and said, “Look! God’s lamb! The one who is taking away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29, Complete Jewish Bible)

It is a bit fascinating how the Holy Spirit speaks to us. After finishing my morning reading of the Bible, with today’s Scripture being from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 21, He spoke to me, “Mary had a little lamb.” I thought, “Hmm. Now what is that all about? An old nursery rhyme from centuries ago? What are you saying to me, Lord?”

So I asked Him for further revelation. It became a bit clearer. Mary did have a little lamb.

Thinking that there was more to the story than what we think, from days gone by, I looked up the history of the song which we all learned as little kids. Here is what Wikepedia has to say.

“Mary Had A Little Lamb is a nursery rhyme first published by the Boston publishing firm Marsh, Capen & Lyon, as an original poem by Sarah Josepha Hale on May 24, 1830, and was inspired by an actual incident.

As a young girl, Mary Sawyer (later Mary Tyler) kept a pet lamb that she took to school one day at the suggestion of her brother. A commotion naturally ensued. Mary recalled: "Visiting school that morning was a young man by the name of John Roulstone, a nephew of the Reverend Lemuel Capen, who was then settled in Sterling. It was the custom then for students to prepare for college with ministers, and for this purpose Roulstone was studying with his uncle.

The young man was very much pleased with the incident of the lamb; and the next day he rode across the fields on horseback to the little old schoolhouse and handed me a slip of paper which had written upon it the three original stanzas of the poem..."

There are two competing theories on the origin of this poem. One holds that Roulstone wrote the first four lines and that the final twelve lines, less childlike than the first, were composed by Sarah Josepha Hale; the other is that Hale was responsible for the entire poem.

In the 1830s, Lowell Mason set the nursery rhyme Mary Had A Little Lamb, originally written by to a melody adding repetition in the verses:

Mary had a little lamb,

His fleece was white as snow,
And everywhere that Mary went,
The lamb was sure to go.

He followed her to school one day,
Which was against the rule,
It made the children laugh and play
To see a lamb at school.

And so the teacher turned it out,

But still it lingered near,
And waited patiently about,
Till Mary did appear.

"Why does the lamb love Mary so?"
The eager children cry.
"Why, Mary loves the lamb, you know."
The teacher did reply.^”

As I further pursued Holy Spirit’s thoughts, asking Him what He wanted to share in regards to this rather strange thought, here is what I got. You can seek Him too, and see what He says to you. It may be similar, or with more!

Mary, actually having the Hebrew name Miriam, did indeed have a little lamb, who was the Lamb of God. Yeshua (Jesus) was being sent by God the Father to planet earth to redeem mankind, for “long lay the world in sin and error pining” (Recall O Holy Night?)

She had been called by God, to be the human vessel used by Him in this unfolding eternal plan of salvation, in order to further show His love through and for us. The Lord’s plan of redemption was being fulfilled.

It always amazes me how our God uses ordinary people, just like us, to do extraordinary things. That is how He chooses to so often do His work.

Mary’s response to this call was to walk in obedience, though I am sure in her heart, mind, and soul she had many questions. We ourselves can learn from her, seeing how she chose to walk it out in faith, and not let doubt or unbelief keep her from her mission. Good move Mary!

As the nursery rhyme continues, “His fleece was white as snow.” Fleece in those days was the woolen coat of the lamb, not the jacket we wear today. This lamb’s fleece was a white as snow. In Isaiah 1:18 we read, "Come now, and let us reason together," says the LORD, "Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool.”

As students of the Scriptures, we know that the lamb brought to the altar of sacrifice, to be offered up to cover sin, had to be without spot or wrinkle. The lamb’s fleece had to be white as snow. Only Yeshua (Jesus), the perfect Lamb of God, was born without spot or wrinkle, with no sin (and no, it was not Mary who was without sin, as I was taught as a young boy at the Catholic school I attended. She too had to be saved by the Savior born through her.)

“And everywhere that Mary went the lamb was sure to go.” As a boy growing up in Joseph (Yosef was his Hebrew/Jewish name) and Mary’s Nazareth home, Yeshua was raised fully in His Jewish culture, following in obedience that which His earthly parents taught Him. He learned what the feasts of the Lord were; He experienced the day to day life we all do; He lived fully as a man so He could identify with everything that we ourselves would experience. There was no “silver spoon” for Him, in life or death.

“He followed her to school one day.” Up until His 13^th birthday, the year He would have had His bar mitzvah when a Jewish boy is now to become a man, Yeshua learned obedience from Miriam and Yosef. He learned to listen, to become responsible, to allow His parents to prepare Him in the natural for the supernatural work He knew He was sent to do. He did manual labor, learning from Yosef the carpenter, even all about the sweat and toil that comes from being productive (as my son-in-law Andrew likes to say – “We need to be productive.”)

“He followed her to school one day, which was against the rule, it made the children laugh and play to see a lamb at school.”

Yeshua didn’t play along with the religious games of that time in history. Nor does He even today. On many occasions, He would point out that the Pharisees and Sadducees were not the ones to follow. Their religion, their rules, and manmade regulations were actually strangling the people, keeping them from knowing the true love, care, and protection of their heavenly Father.

“And so the teacher turned it out, but still it lingered near, and waited patiently about, till Mary did appear.”

Jesus was rejected by the ruling authorities – both the religious and the political Romans. He was crucified outside the Jerusalem city walls, along with the common thieves, murderers, and even innocent victims of the cruel world. Today He is still rejected by those who seek their own agendas. But those who seek Him will receive the salvation He alone can offer them.

"Why does the lamb love Mary so?" the eager children cry. "Why, Mary loves the lamb, you know." The teacher did reply.”

The majority of people in the nations will not understand why the Lamb of God loves us so much. They will not receive the Gospel and believe that Jesus, the Son of the Living God, came to this earth to die for our sins. They will not understand His desire to deliver them from their sins; to free them from bondage they live under; to redeem their souls from the eternal hell that will come if they do not repent, believe, and follow after Him.

But that is now our mission that we have been called to do – to take the Gospel, the Good News of the Lamb, to the peoples inhabiting the nations, so that they can hear, believe, and obey. To those, whosoever will believe and receive, the Living God of Israel’s plan of redemption. The know the One who came to earth, was raised in a Jewish family, lived among us, died on the tree, and was gloriously raised from the dead on the third day, as was prophesied centuries before by the Jewish prophets. He now ever lives upon His throne, preparing the world before He returns, coming the second time in glory and power.

The Lamb of God came the first time to lay His life down so that we might live eternally with Him. Walking this world as a man, He lived as we do, yet without sin, in order to be the perfect Lamb that God the Father would receive as the perfect sacrificial lamb.

When Jesus returns in glory, as the Lion from the tribe of Judah, I pray that this nursery rhyme, which Holy Spirit used today, in a small way, to again tell His story. I hope this will inspire you to walk in faith, learn obedience, and be ready for these end of days that are coming upon us, if not already here.

It won’t be a nursery rhyme then. So you better watch out, you better not cry. But instead, pray, and then obey. He will be speaking to you today.

Now think on this,

Ahava and shalom,

Steve Martin

Love For His People, Inc.

P.S. This message was first published on Dec. 13, 2015. It can also be found in my published book "Twelve"for $7.99 in paperback, and also in Kindle e-book format. 

Order here: "Twelve" (12) by Steve Martin - Amazon paperback

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

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.

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Now Think On This - In the year of our Lord 12.13.15 - #219 –“Mary Had A Little Lamb” – Sunday at 7:45 am in Charlotte, NC.

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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

Desperation - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

Desperation

Now Think On This

Steve Martin

“When I was desperate, I called out, and God got me out of a tight spot.” (Psalm 34:6, The Message)

The Merriam-Webster dictionary states that desperation is the “loss of hope and surrender to despair.” Loss of hope is a terrible thing. When there is no hope, not much else is left to cling to.

There will certainly come a time when many will reach a point where things get desperate, with no seemingly place to turn, people to call, or even a hopeless prayer to be said. Of course, having no belief in God, with many of these it is happening already.

Those who have no faith, whom have denied the factual proof of the Living God of Israel in their heart, head and history, trusting instead in their deceived mind, may never reach the point of salvation. Instead of giving up the pride that has exalted them to lofty human levels, they continue to lift their fists of anger and hatred to Him Who sits on the throne.

How ironic. They deny Him in every step of their being, and yet demonstrate their despite of the very Creator when something goes terribly wrong in their life, and those around them. Rather than call on the Name of the Lord, Who alone is salvation, they choose to continue down their path of destruction, heading further into the pit of darkness.

This need not be so.

All through Scripture we read where saints of old had to cry out to the Lord, desperate for Him to respond. David on the run from Saul; Job in the middle of his not-so-helpful friends; Paul while being stoned by the religious. Each were to experience those times of desperation, where no human answer was readily available to change the situation they had been brought to.

Yes, we are brought to situations where we have the choice - to call on the Lord and His salvation, or continue to deny His very presence, and reap the consequences that are promised to follow.

The Bible, that book which has remained accurately constant since the days it was put down on stone and paper, is our only hope. For anyone who seeks an answer, needs the truth, and is willing to repent of their own ways, it is THE ANSWER for all who will. For all who will call on the Name of the Lord.

“…that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

For the Scripture says, "WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED." For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED." (Romans 10:9-13, NASU)

If you are reading this, I hope you have already trusted in the Lord Jesus, Yeshua HaMashiach, to deliver you from your sin and haughty ways. You thus know now that He who delivered you in the beginning will continue to deliver you to the end. He is faithful. He never changes.

For those who have yet to come to the realization point, where nothing else can or has changed your life, having tried all else, this is now the time where you need to make that decision, to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus, Savior of the World, and rest in His assurance that no matter what comes your way, He will be there to save you through it. He happened for those saints of old – He will happen for us too.

“Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One, to Him whom man despises, to Him whom the nation abhors,  to the Servant of rulers: "Kings shall see and arise, Princes also shall worship, because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel; and He has chosen You."

(Isaiah 49:7, NKJV)

The One whom the nations abhor, the Redeemer of Israel and those who come to Him, is the faithful One, the Solid Rock on which to stand.

As we see and hear of many in desperate situations, now is the time to stand on the solid rock of His Word, and see Him once again save His people in their time of need. May we also do our part in being His, the Body of Christ, His arm of hope and salvation, and show Him as the answer to those who need Him even more so now.

For those yet to come to the Messiah, the Lion and the Lamb of God, who has already come once and is soon coming again, my prayer is that you will know firmly in your heart that He will come and save you, for no other god or human can do as He alone can and will do for you.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Yeshua, Yeshua, Yeshua. The only Name that saves.

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-$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.

Secure, conveniently contributions can be done online now through our website using the DONATE buttons on either side column of our 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+ and Twitter. (And all other social media platforms!)

Now Think On This - in the Year of our Lord 09.02.17 - #310 – “Desperation” – Saturday, 8:15 am

Salvation Belongs To The Lord - Now Think On This Steve Martin

Salvation Belongs To The Lord

Now Think On This

Steve Martin

"Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing is upon Your people.” (Psalm 3:8, NKJV)

Several decades ago we often sang in our church meetings a song with a title very similar to this verse, declaring that salvation belongs to our God. When I “googled” it, because my memory banks took too long to search all that is held within them (older age does that you know) I found the following from a YouTube description of the song listed:

“This song was recorded in the Integrity Hosanna's worship album ARMY OF GOD which was released in 1988. Worship leader for the album was Randy Rothwell. One year later Petra included this song in their Petra Praise released in 1989. So Integrity Hosanna was closer to the original.”

  

I knew I knew it from somewhere! I still have that cassette, as it was delivered in that format in those days from Integrity Music.

What exactly does it mean that salvation belongs to the Lord?

According to Strong’s Concordance, the English translation for salvation comes from the Hebrew word, “Yeshua”. Sound familiar? Of course, Jesus’ Hebrew name was/is Yeshua. He alone IS the Salvation of the World.

Most, if not all, who read my messages believe that the End of Days, the Tribulation period, is coming upon the earth. Though we don’t know the exact time (which some will use as an excuse to not watch or be ready) for only the Father Himself knows, we have been told in Scripture that we can certainly know the season. 

Just as a mother is about to give birth, though she and those around her may not know the exact time, they absolutely know when it is time to get ready for delivery, towards the very end of that nine-month baby’s growing period inside her womb. Her womb, that very place which should be the most protected one in the baby’s life, from the time of conception to their appointed time of birth.

In Revelation 7:9-17, we are given the picture of what is going on in heaven, at the throne of Jesus, from the Apostle John, one of the 12 Jewish ambassadors of Yeshua, during this age.

“After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:

"Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom,

Thanksgiving and honor and power and might,

Be to our God forever and ever.

Amen."

Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, "Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?"

And I said to him, "Sir, you know."

So he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." (NKJV)

The world needs saving. The nations in the world are in much turmoil, rage, anger, and lawlessness. Just keep watching the news. Times are changing, and it is not changing for the good.

It is happening. Just as the prophets spoke; just as Jesus (Yeshua) Himself said in Matthew 24 and Luke 21. 

The signs are all around us, forth telling those exact things which would take place before the Lamb of God returns as the Lion from the Tribe of Judah. 

Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus Christ, the Messiah of Jews and Gentiles, all who call upon His name for salvation, is coming back for us.

While we have time yet with us, while there is still light before the darkness, we must work with His Holy Spirit to spread the Good News - that salvation from sin, death, destruction and all evil is found only in the salvation that belongs to the Lord. And He is so willing and loving to give it to all who call upon His Name.

“His blessing is upon His people.” (Psalm 3:8)

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-$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.

  

Secure, conveniently contributions can be done online now through our website by using the DONATE button on either side column.

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+ and Twitter. (And all other social media platforms!)

 Steve Martin

Now Think On This - in the Year of our Lord 08.20.17 - #308 – “Salvation Belongs to The Lord” – Sunday, 4:30 pm