Choose Wisely - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

Choose Wisely

Now Think On This

Steve Martin

“The wisdom of the wise keeps life on track; the foolishness of fools lands them in the ditch.” (Proverbs 14:8, THE MESSAGE)

Have you ever gone down a wrong way, thinking at the time it was the right way, and end up somewhere you wish you hadn’t? Whether it be a road, a choice in life or a decision made hurriedly to avoid making another one, only to find out later it was just the wrong decision.

I have. And I have had to pay a price for it.

Sometimes it cost time. Other occasions it cost money. And then even at a more hurtful occurrence, it cost a relationship. Many times the wrong can’t be undone and you live with the pain and hurt for many years. Try as you might, there are repercussions to our actions that have to be walked out.

When I consider a lost relationship between friends, one that had taken years to build, I find myself trusting once again in the goodness of the Lord, after seeking forgiveness and reconciliation with them, ending with no positive results. Our times are in His hands, and we must trust that His restoration hopefully will come at some point.

There is one choice that many continue to decide to do, and that is to walk day by day without giving one’s life to the Lord’s plan and purpose for oneself. To me, that would be unthinkable. To go through this life choosing to do our own thing, without thought or consideration of having the Creator, the very One who created each of us, be unable to reveal His ultimate desire for our life because of our choosing not to let Him. To ignore His longing to give us the future and the hope promised to each, if only we freely choose to let Him in, would indeed be tragic. And yet many choose the unthinkable and do just that.

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.” (Jeremiah 29:11-14, NKJV)

No one person, family or country can long seek their own way and reap the ultimate results of goodness without the love of God working through them. All around us we can see the lasting effects of those who have gone before us, choosing to live as one sang decades ago, “I did it my way.” And where did that get you?

Our lifelong choices not only affect our ending but decisions we make ripple down through those who follow behind us, possibly making the same mistakes as they too walk in our footsteps.

When I was in my late 20’s I heard a message from the pulpit, when the leader of the church gathering told us that choices we make today will have a long-lasting effect decades down the road. If we make the decision to go one way, ultimately we will possibly end up way off the mark, and the only way to get back on the right road would be to go back to that point and choose the right one. It is called repentance.

In my walk with the Lord, I considered this word quite often, and sought to have the Holy Spirit give me clarity and insight as to which road to choose each time I came to a fork in the road. Many times it wasn’t the easy choice, or the “multitudes” choice, but it was the Lord’s choice. To this day I can say I am very thankful for His guidance and direction He has certainly given.

My prayer is that today, when you are faced with a decision that will impact your life for years to come, that you will not depend on your own insights, your own feelings, or what is the “likely” choice, but that you will seek the roadmap the Lord already knows about and has laid out before you were born, and which we can know – through His Word and by receiving godly counsel from others. And then walk in faith no matter what the cost may be. It will affect not only your eternity but others around you.

We all have been given a free will, but we also have been given God’s Word, His Holy Spirit, and the fellowship of believers to help guide us.

Choose wisely.

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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Now Think On This #347 - in the year of our Lord 04.21.18 – “Choose Wisely”, Saturday, 9:45 am

Let the Dead Bury the Dead - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

Let the Dead Bury the Dead

  

Now Think On This

Steve Martin

“Yeshua said, “Let the dead bury their own dead; you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God!” 

(Luke 9:60-61 Complete Jewish Bible)

For years I had thought this was a rather harsh response Jesus (Yeshua) gave to the one who said he wanted to follow Him and be His disciple. Jesus didn’t say, “Great! Just come along, do what you want when you want, and I will be sure to accommodate how you live so it won’t cramp your style.” It even seems in some circles that our response nowadays would be, “Wow! Someone who wants to be a Christian! Let’s not make it too hard on them so they won’t start the walk and then later quit. We need all the ones we can get.”

No, Jesus gave the man the one choice he had. Follow Him by letting go of his current life, and live the one I (Jesus) would direct him in. My way is the only way.

Jesus clearly told the one the way it would be, as Luke recounted for us in this historical report.

“As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, "I will follow You wherever You go." And Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have  nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  And He said to another, " Follow Me." But he said, "Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father." But He said to him, "Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God." 

Another also said, "I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home." But Jesus said to him, "No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:57-62 NASU)

I like how The Message words it in a similar, but unique way.

“On the road someone asked if he could go along. "I'll go with you, wherever," he said. Jesus was curt: "Are you ready to rough it? We're not staying in the best inns, you know." Jesus said to another, "Follow me." He said, "Certainly, but first excuse me for a couple of days, please. I have to make arrangements for my father's funeral." Jesus refused. "First things first. Your business is life, not death. And life is urgent: Announce God's kingdom!"

Then another said, "I'm ready to follow you, Master, but first excuse me while I get things straightened out at home." Jesus said, "No procrastination. No backward looks. You can't put God's kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day." (Luke 9:57-62 THE MESSAGE)

(Just one minor side thought to point out before moving on. Jesus said, “We're not staying in the best inns, you know." I wonder how many leaders in the church today would still follow Jesus if they lived as He did? Or walked as He walked? I am sure the numbers would be reduced if such were the case. Maybe they missed it somewhere? And what example are they giving to those who follow them? It doesn’t appear to be Yeshua’s.)

So my thoughts on this now, to let the dead bury the dead?

I think it is time that we quit sugar-coating the Gospel message, trying to make it fit in today’s world, so as not to put too much inconvenience on those needing to hear the Gospel, and repent from living the sinful life. Jesus didn’t make it a convenient choice to become His disciple. He spoke right up front to let them know, “This will change your life. What you did yesterday you will no longer do today. The life you led then, it needs to be gone. Repent, take up your cross and follow Me.”

Maybe it is time we quit making our Sunday morning a nice place to bring people to, hoping they will receive a “helpful message so you can get saved today”, but rather use it as the time to really train Christians to get out into the world to take the Gospel to the dying. For as you may have already realized, they aren’t coming to us. We have to go to them. And when we do, we need to tell it the way it is to be.

Let the truth be known. You want to follow Jesus? It will cost you everything you have. You can’t have it both ways – to continue living the way you have been six days a week and then “be the Christian” one hour on Sunday. Jesus is requiring a complete lifestyle change. He calls it “repentance”. We should too.

Rather then offering a Gospel that allows one to keep doing that which was leading to death anyway, it is time we offered the “radical” Gospel that Jesus did. To all those He came in contact with, He said come, repent, and He would then give eternal life in exchange. There cannot be any other way. There has to be a life change through repentance.

“From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 4:17 NASU)

He also made it clear that if there was no repentance, there would be no salvation. They would perish in their sin.

“There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answered and said to them, "Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.  Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem?  I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish." (Luke 13:1-5 NKJV)

We are called as believers to demonstrate the Kingdom of God in the world around us, by living a life of repentance. We have been called to leave the old life behind, and walk in the new one that Jesus gives us as we do so. And then, the Gospel message is to tell others to do the same. Repent, believe, and follow Jesus. And in that following, they won’t be doing the same thing they were doing, with just a slight change. They will be letting go of the old in order to receive the new.

They too will be leaving the dead to bury their own dead. They too will no longer be participating with the things in life that are here today and gone tomorrow. They too will be living the way of the cross, which will eternally bring life.

Just like you and I should be doing ourselves.

Now think on this,

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

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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). 

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

Please share Now Think On This with your friends.

Email: loveforhispeople@gmail.com  

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Now Think On This - In the New Year of our Lord 02.14.16 - #243 –“Let the Dead Bury the Dead” – Sunday at 5:15 am

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

I Can Relate - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

I Can Relate

- Now Think On This

by Steve Martin

“I don’t understand my own behavior — I don’t do what I want to do; instead, I do the very thing I hate!” Romans 7:15 Complete Jewish Bible

I certainly can relate to Paul at times. When I think I have mastered something in my spiritual walk, then, boom, I react the same way as before. And here I had thought I had checked that one off the “Got It Mastered” list.

Someone at work gets a big pat on the back during the company staff meeting. My response at times? “Well, what about that great job I did last week?” Instead of being congratulatory for them, I am asking myself, “Why didn’t I get acknowledged?”

Or the emotion that arises when driving down the highway and a young kid races by, obviously going beyond the suggested speed limit. My response has been, “I hope he gets caught. I want to get to my destination just as fast. But no one is catching him now are they?"

At other moments I find myself having high expectations, believing that a person is thinking the same way I am, and then finding out later that that wasn’t even on their mind at all. And then the big disappointment sets in, as I fall to the ground with the thought, “Another hope dashed.” At least it doesn’t take me days to get over it like it used to. Now it is down to a few hours. (At least most of the time.)

Paul got it right when he said, using the same verse as above, but as translated in the New American Standard Version, “For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.”

Weariness sets in when you think you have overcome a sinful act, and yet when the opportunity arises to show that what you had desired to be the true colors by now - well, it just isn’t quite yet, but the same old same old had just come back. Why is this so?

We need to continue to practice repentance; to keep looking to the Lord to help us overcome those things that just seem to hang on and not go away. Attitudes, behaviors, wrong directions we tend to take, in our natural and spiritual walks, that we thought we had dealt with already, are going to take more practice. Our dependence on the Lord should never go away, where we think we have accomplished “it” and can walk on our own. Sure, we are to be mature. It will certainly come as our acknowledgement of Him is kept forefront in our minds, wills and emotions.

David is another person given in Scripture as an example for us to imitate. I can certainly relate to David, as He called upon the Name of the Lord. As a shepherd, and then as king of Israel, his dependence on the Lord is evident in his words I believe he continually prayed, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14 NAS) He knew that only in His Lord would he be able to maintain a proper attitude towards people and situations that came his way.

Paul encourages us with his inspired words, giving us further hope that what we experience isn’t just us going through it, but that our fellow ones also struggle with this. “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13 NAS)

Bob Mumford, a popular Bible teacher whom I enjoyed hearing and reading his books in the 1970’s and 1980’s, liked to share experiences about how we get caught up “going around the mountain” – getting in that mode where we just can’t seem to conquer, or finish the test, but have to keep repeating it over and over again. But someday we do! Someday we will have gotten that last mountain test passed, and be promoted to the next grade, with bigger challenges.

My hope is that as I continually give myself to desiring the Lord’s cross in my life, allowing it to work the eternal effect it is to have in my heart and spirit, that the things I hate to do, will in time no longer have its hold on me.

I know you desire that too. Aren’t you glad we are not alone, that along with the Holy Spirit we will be overcomers. That is my hope. I know that He Who is Faithful and True also desires that for us too.

Now think on this,

Steve Martin

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.

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.

Go 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 #155 “I Can Relate” by Steve Martin 

Date: In the year of our Lord 2014 (6.12.14) Thursday at 8:15 am in Charlotte, NC.

All previous editions of Now Think On This can be found on this Blog, and on our newest website: Now Think On This