Love For His People: #347

Showing posts with label #347. Show all posts

Monday, July 16, 2018

Family Ties - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

Family Ties

Now Think On This

Steve Martin

“Delighted with the world of things and creatures, happily celebrating the human family.” (Proverbs 8:31, THE MESSAGE)

Summertime is a good season for family reunions. It’s an annual gathering of relatives who enjoy talking about the good old days, when life wasn’t so complicated as it can seem today. Cherished in recollection are those years of the days gone by when right was right and wrong was wrong. Sharing moments of “back then” helps shed light on how things should be now.

I myself will be attending two such events this summer – one on my Dad’s side and one on my Mom’s side. Both will take place in southeastern Minnesota, the land where many of my ancestors, relatives and I were born and raised.

Around my current home location, in beautiful North Carolina, it is enjoyable to see family reunions using the picnic tables at local city park shelters when you see the brightly colored t-shirts, all the same color of course, proclaiming the family name and reunion date. At times you might even see matching ball caps, as I provided when I was in charge of our family reunion.

Picture the Father’s loving heart as He also sees these family times. Watching the adults and children, some very young and others very old, with all ages in between, is very special, as they are reconnecting, interacting, and showing appreciation for the lives each has traveled, while at the same time making more memories for the generations that follow. You can see how the One who created family expresses Himself even further when His children know and experience the bonds of love, support and encouragement that comes about when families thrive. His care, provision and protection is demonstrated over and over again as the family unit is cherished and nurtured.

As important as these natural gatherings are, in order to follow His lead, part of my earthly father’s duties is to take the spiritual responsibility to pray daily for each of my immediate family members. My good wife, children, spouses and grandkids know that their names are brought before the throne of heaven often. Caring for them in this manner will further maintain that foundation laid, from which to keep looking up. It is from where their help supernaturally comes. Sharing my Father’s heart assists in continually strengthening theirs.

As we can share in these natural and supernatural moments of love, may each of us as parents strive to be a safety net for those whom we have been given care for, from the time of birth, through the growing years, and even until the time of eternal passage. Though many of our children are now grown adults, may we continue to be a source of strength and encouragement for them, and for the ones that have also come forth.

Enjoy your family reunion should you be blessed with one. Continue to be an example of the Father’s love for His children, and how He has purposed for us to be connected with these times of family ties.

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 07.16.18 – “Family Ties”, Monday, 11:30 am

Saturday, April 21, 2018

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, even if just a slight turn off the correct path, 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.