"Intimacy" - Think About It. Again. - Steve Martin, Love For His People ministry

July 28, 2019

Greetings friends of Love For His People.

As the Lord gives me titles of those messages once given, to be shared again, such as this one entitled “Intimacy” from March 2015, I realize that each of us need to be reminded of that which the Lord has already done in our lives.

When the Israelites (Hebrews) crossed over the Jordan River, under the leadership of Joshua in Exodus, they were commanded to take stones from the dry river bed and make an altar on the other side, to continually be reminded of the Lord’s deliverance for them out of slavery and bondage.

As you read the following, again or for the first time, be thankful for that which the Lord has also given you from your history, to share with the next generation and those who would follow. Our testimonies and lives laid down are to be examples of what the Lord has already done, thus giving us faith and courage for that which He yet plans to do with us, and them.

Think about it. Again. Or for the first time.

Ahava and shalom,

Steve Martin

Founder

Love For His People ministry

Charlotte, North Carolina USA

Intimacy

- Now Think On This

by Steve Martin

“My beloved responded and said to me,

' Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,

And come along.

'For behold, the winter is past,

The rain is over and gone.

'The flowers have already appeared in the land;

The time has arrived for pruning the vines,

And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land.

'The fig tree has ripened its figs,

And the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance.

Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,

And come along!'"

Song of Songs 2:10-13 NASU)

As my bride came down the church aisle that beautiful early evening, I sang these Scriptural words to her that I had written in my song, “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come along.” Though I had intended to sing several verses, I choked up on the second one. My heart was just overwhelmed at her beauty, her movement in that flowing white lace gown, and the presence of the Lord’s Holy Spirit in that place of matrimony. The time had come for us to be joined together as man and wife.

Our parents standing with us on Oct. 8, 1977, in Peru, Illinois

What seemed to have been a decade long wait was about to be fulfilled at that moment, as we were acknowledging the Lord’s plans and purposes for unity. Out of our desire to share the love in our hearts, He would also bring forth a family to demonstrate His love on the earth, in preparation for the eternal love in heaven.

From that day forward, we have grown in our care and provision for each other, sharing the gifts and spiritual fruit we each have had to give. In physical, emotional and spiritual intimate moments, we have experienced a touch of what the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have shared for all eternity. Believing that through the times of trials and required persistence, our hearts have been bonded together, the intimacy becoming more real in our lives together.

Being intimate with one other is not an “overnight sensation” that one can have with another simply out of a physical act. To participate in the intent of the Father’s love for mankind, there must be that commitment to be joined together for the long haul; to stand strong when the temptation is to flee; to keep the promise that was spoken at the altar years before. Intimacy is not for those who are looking for quick satisfaction of one’s emotional lust, but is given to committed hearts who have been and continue to be willing to sacrifice for each other, time and time again. From that solid promise to stay through sickness and health, riches or poverty, until death do we part, the intimate moments are fully experienced, fulfilling the longing in each heart to be accepted, nourished and kept in committed and submitted love.

In today’s society, there is the prevailing belief that there can be emotional intimacy without having a strong commitment to one another beyond a sexual act. When the Lord says that sex outside of marriage is wrong, it is because the Creator knows that a deep soulish tie will occur, bringing hurt and lasting pain when an improper joining happens. We were not created to share this intimate act in a non-binding relationship.

The emotional and physical act also carries with it a spiritual bond that has to be kept within the protected walls of marriage. Thus doing that which was intended only within the committed relationship of sacred marriage will produce an emotional scar, keeping us from experiencing real love. It will also leave a strong imprint that will need to be healed later. Our loving Father thus has warned over and over again that sexual intimacy is for the marriage bed only.

Laws are made to protect us, not to keep us from the Lord’s goodness and favor. Abiding in His laws of love and protection will bring eternal satisfaction, keeping our hearts pure and emotions strong. Breaking His loving laws will produce destruction in our spirit, soul, and body.

Intimacy between a man and a woman is a beautiful gift from God. Keeping it that way is a protection for our society and the good of all mankind.

Now think on this,

Steve Martin

Founder

Love For His People. Inc.

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.

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Now Think On This #169 “Intimacy” by Steve Martin 

Date: In the year of our Lord 2015 (03.29.15) Sunday at 12:30 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

Christopher Wants A Baby; Catherine Wants A Cookie - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

Christopher Wants A Baby;

Catherine Wants A Cookie

Now Think On This

Steve Martin

“Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” 

(Psalms 37:4, NKJV)

“Christopher wants a baby; Catherine wants a cookie.”

Have you ever dreamed of such a thing? Weird, huh? But I have, and I still am not sure what exactly it means, if in only partiality. I can speculate and then draw my own conclusion – the man wants one thing while the woman in the relationship wants another. Happens all the time, right?

Really, I did dream this recently, and have been asking the Lord what it is supposed to convey. I know there are multiple times when two people may want different things, as even a man and a woman in marriage do. The one’s desire may seem lofty and admirable, while the other’s may seem trivial. Our concepts and perceptions certainly do not always agree in relationships, and yet we are called to pursue love and understanding in them.

When I consider this dream I would almost think that it is backwards – that Catherine would be the one who wants a baby, granting her a God-given desire for motherhood, while Christopher, where in today’s society considers men to be weak, babyish, selfish and egotistical, would be content with just having a cookie. His choice would not be a life-long commitment to raising a child as unto the Lord, but to have a cookie in place of it, with more selfish desires that follow. Kind of like being satisfied with getting a bowl of soup when one is hungry in exchange for giving your natural birthright away.

Sounds like Jacob and Esau.

“When Jacob had cooked stew, Esau came in from the field and he was famished; and Esau said to Jacob, "Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished." Therefore his name was called Edom. But Jacob said, " First sell me your birthright." Esau said, "Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?" And Jacob said, " First swear to me"; so he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.” (Genesis 25:29-34, NASU)

But let’s just for a moment give this guy in the dream, Christopher, a little slack, and believe he really wants to be responsible man, raise a family, and lead both wife and child(ren) into the ways of the Lord. Let’s also give it a real possibility that there are indeed other men out there who are wanting to do the same. (I personally know of two close to me, right now, who would love to have a wife, desiring both of them to then live for the Lord in marriage. It has been a real struggle for them as they wait on the Lord, for a woman to come along who also desires this type of relationship, and not one who would just be content with having a “cookie”.)

Before our society totally loses it, when it comes to a man and woman being solidly joined together in a godly marriage, giving of each other to each other, and then bringing forth children to care for and raising up to bless the Lord and their parents, my prayer is that the “Christophers” out there, who desire to have a scared relationship, are indeed given that opportunity in finding a “Catherine” who too desires more than a “cookie”, and is willing to also lay her life down in order to realize the blessing the Lord still grants upon the union of one man and one wife, living for Him and His purposes.

My dream may not be so weird after all.

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.

  

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P.O. Box 414   

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Now Think On This #345 - in the year of our Lord 04.03.18 – “Christopher Wants A Baby; Catherine Wants A Cookie”, Tuesday, 11:00 am

40 Something? - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

40 Something?

Now Think On This

Steve Martin

“Now David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. The period which he reigned over Israel was forty years; he reigned in Hebron seven years and in Jerusalem thirty-three years.” (1 Chronicles 29:26-27, NASU)

Have you ever wondered what 40 will get you? No, I am not thinking about what prison sentence comes with what crime. I think about all the times the Lord God of the Living Bible uses numbers to get across His point, or to bring about His purpose in a person, people group or nation.

When I use my PC Bible Study software to give me all the references to the number 40, it stops after just one Bible version. There are just too many to list them all! And that is just with the number 40!

Here are a few samples of the ones most known about, which are historical facts, not just figments of imaginations, or used just to give some idea of the length of time. No, they are real periods that occurred in history. And they meant something then and can serve as a measure of time for us today.

The following are all from the ERV version, which uses “40” instead of “forty”.

1.      Gen 7:11 “The rain fell on the earth for 40 days and 40 nights.”

2.      Gen 25:20 “When Isaac was 40 years old, he married Rebekah.”

3.      Ex 16:35-36 “The people ate the manna for 40 years, until they came to the land of rest, that is, until they came to the edge of the land of Canaan.”

4.      Ex 24:18 “Then Moses went higher up the mountain into the cloud. He was on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights.”

5.      Numbers 13:25-26 “The men (10 spies) explored that country for 40 days, and then they went back to the camp.”

6.      Joshua 14:7 “(Joshua speaking) Moses, the Lord's servant, sent me to look at the land where we were going. I was 40 years old at that time.”

7.       2 Sam 5:4-5 “David was 30 years old when he began to rule. He was king for 40 years. In Hebron he ruled over Judah for 7 years and 6 months, and in Jerusalem he ruled over all Israel and Judah for 33 years.”

8.      2 Chronicles 9:30 “Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for 40 years.”

9.       Matt 4:2-3 “Jesus ate nothing for 40 days and nights. After this, he was very hungry.”

10.   Acts 13:21 “Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin. He was king for 40 years.”

As I meditate on these verses, and what transpired in each one, I see testing (40 days or 40 years) and rulership (40 years for these kings). For several there were 40 days or 40 years of testing, walking it out in faith (or until they were released from unbelief.) For others, it was 40 years of ruling as a king.

Maybe in your life, as in mine, you can see time periods of 40 days, or on a longer length, 40 years, as a time period in which the Lord was working something out, or putting something in - preparing you for the call He has on your life.

(Photo - Negev Judean desert, Israel. Steve Martin, 2017)

When I was 23, I never thought it would take 40 years to follow, in preparation for the final call on my life; when I would “retire” from one segment to begin what I consider will be the best and final one. I am “retiring” on October 31, 2017 from my accounting job that has consumed 55 hours per week of my time. When I turn 63 on November 23, 40 years will have gone by since that 23^rd year, when I got married.

Celebrating our 40^th anniversary of marriage on October 7, 2017, will be a major accomplishment for Laurie and I. Was it all a “time of testing” in order to build the foundational pad needed to launch from, out into the “promised land” (atmosphere)?  I think maybe so. Then the ruling will begin, as a king, for we have been prepared to take the Gospel even further into territories from our home base.

What has been your 40 days, or 40 years? I would bet (surely there is a verse for that!) that if you look hard enough backward in your natural and spiritual walk, you too will see what the Lord has done, where He has taken you, and who around you is now involved with the plans and purposes the Lord, God of Israel, has in store for you too.

I find it very interesting, and encouraging. I think you will 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-$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 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. 9(And all other social media platforms!)

 Steve Martin

Now Think On This - in the Year of our Lord 08.23.17 - #309 – “40 Something?” – Wednesday, 5:40 am