Showing posts with label 40 years. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 40 years. Show all posts

Saturday, May 11, 2019

"Walk With Me" - Now Think On This by Steve Martin


Walk With Me


“Walk with me and work with me — watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." (Yeshua/Jesus Matthew 11:29-30, THE MESSAGE)

As believers in Jesus, Yeshua HaMashiach, we are called to walk with Him. We are called to hear, obey, and see His plans and purposes fulfilled not only in our lives but in those He touches through us as a result of our obedience. What a wonderful and privileged calling that is. To walk with Jesus, the King of the universe.

Boyhood home in Cedar Falls, Iowa - Steve Martin (1962-1985)
Since the call on my life to live for Him, knowing I received it at the age of 10 in Cedar Falls, Iowa, He has kept me in His grace, mercy, and love. For this, I will forever give thanks and testify of my Savior’s goodness and provision.

Walk with me. That is the challenge, and the opportunity, He gives to each. What have you done with His call on your life? Have you heard and obeyed? Have you experienced His adventures, while at the same time dying to self as that also comes with the call and the territory?

Just under 10 years ago, when my good wife Laurie and I founded the ministry of Love For His People, Inc, in April of 2010, primarily to support Messianic Jews in the promised Land of the Jews, Israel, He gave me even more of a challenge, to walk with Him, and in that doing and going, to share it with others. At first, I was not clear as to how to do it, but now, after 420 messages I call, “NowThink On This”, through 20 published books and over 300 videos which I have entitled as the series, “Walk With Me”, the picture has become quite clear.

It is all about hearing and obeying. Do what you know to do, even if having only a word or two to go by (and yet, having the entire Word of God as our instruction!), and He will take you on His journey one step at a time. It is all to share His love for the nations.

It is also quite clear to me that the Lord will put you through the tests, even as He did with Moses, Joseph, the prophets. Some for 40 years. Even Yeshua Himself had 30 years of training and then another 40 days and nights in the wilderness. Our God, and Father, does this to make sure you are willing and will continue to press on even when you want to quit. Been there. Done that.

During my 24 years of training and serving while with the ministries of three well-known international organizations, the Lord gave me several tests. Would I give my best? Would I seek to bless others through them and not myself? Would I receive from them what they had learned and were willing to teach me, knowingly or unknowingly?

Former luggage of Mahesh Chavda (1987-1999)
With one particular ministry, that of Mahesh Chavda Ministries (now known as Chavda Ministries International, to rightly include Bonnie Chavda), I counted my trips hauling luggage while taking them to the local airports of Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and Charlotte, back and forth, as 400 plus. No exaggeration. I am an accountant. 

And towards the end of this 14-year period with them from 1987-2001, my heart cry had become, “O Lord, when will I get to go?”

Now, after completing my 20th trip to Israel, this May 2019, the Lord continues to answer, and fulfill, that desire which He Himself placed there. And as a special side note, the black and gray pieces of luggage which I used to carry to the airport for Mahesh for his trips, which became mine back when he bought new luggage around 1999, has been with me on these many foreign ministry travels. 

On this trip, I too gave one to a volunteer in Israel and will give the other to whomever just needs a well-traveled, answered-prayer, piece of natural and spiritual history. Maybe they too will do as I was able to do. (Or maybe with some new luggage I really hope!)

Be encouraged if you are still serving with another, longing for the day when you too will have your “vineyard” as I call this ministry of Love For His People. If you continue to hear and obey, in the little and the much, small and large, trust me, you will!

Now think of this,

Ahava and shalom,

Steve Martin
Founder/President
Love For His People, Inc.

P.S. You can see my last 71 short “Walk With Me in Israel” videos here on our YouTube channel: Walk With Me - Israel May 2019


Also, my previous ones are here on YouTube: Walk With Me


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 #420 - in the year of our Lord 05.11.19 – “Walk With Me” – Saturday, 8:30 am



Sunday, October 8, 2017

Commitment - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

Commitment

Now Think On This
Steve Martin

  
“Once the commitment is clear, you do what you can, not what you can't. The heart regulates the hands.” (2 Corinthians 8:12-13, THE MESSAGE)

Normally you don’t celebrate your 40th marriage anniversary of covenant love by writing a blog post to speak of commitment. You save that for later as you speak words of cherished days, happy memories, and the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus for your good wife or husband, as the case may appropriately be. That is right and great to do!

But I want to take this very special occasion, on my good wife Laurie and my 40th wedding anniversary this October 8, 2017, to write on that very appropriate word for such a time as this – commitment.

I believe the Lord uses people as examples. His heart is to show His committed love, grace, mercy, faithfulness, long-suffering (!) and so much more through His people. He above all is the perfect example that we must follow after, and demonstrates that through His creation!

In these days of the “anything goes” attitude, which has now become so prevalent in our American culture, and elsewhere around the world, which people have so gravely mistaken to believe, and which will prove to their own hurt - that giving one’s word and standing on it; holding fast to something that will cost you to stick to it; and living a life laid down for others and not just for yourself - are “old school” and can be cast aside.

“That was for then. This is now. We must live in an enlightened era of freedom with no restraints.” Or so many would proclaim and take to the streets to demonstrate.

Well I am here to say, “Not true!”

Without giving multitudes and multitudes of Scripture, which have stood the onslaught of lies, destruction, slashing of teeth over and utter falsehoods spoken by the proud ignorant and vastly deceived, I want to once again proclaim the eternal truths that need to be spoken loud and clear.

1.      Marriage is between a man and a woman. You can’t produce the next generation naturally any other way. That should be obvious to anyone and all.

      2.      Sex is for the committed marriage bed. Anything outside of committed love will bring sickness and the clear results that sin produces.

      3.      When you stand at the altar of marriage, you eliminate the “D” word from your vocabulary. I spoke to my good wife 40 years ago within that week of our commitment to each other that divorce would never be an option. By the Lord’s grace and mercy we have fulfilled that promised word to each other.

4.      It takes a real man and a real woman to make a promise to one another and then stick to it, come heaven or hell. A promise is to be a promise, not a “we shall see whatever will be will be” watered down attitude; nor just as “long as were are in love.”

5.      If you commit to do something, do it. If you give your word, then keep your word.

6.      The weather isn’t always to your best liking. Neither are you to one another moment of the day. But tomorrow will still come, so get through it and make it work.

7.      I am not perfect. You are not perfect. But the Lord is, and He will prove Himself faithful to keep us together for His plans and purposes to be fulfilled in our lives. He is the reason He created you and I. 
      For His good pleasure, and to share it with us and all who believe.

8.      Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. Put them on anything or anyone else and you will sink. That is Gospel truth.

I could give a hundred more, but eight reasons for holding solid onto commitment is a good number to finish with. After all, 5 x 8 = 40, which by the Lord’s numbers means much “grace” (5) and “new beginnings” (8) to get to 40, which is “tried and true”. He has tried us, and He has proven Himself TRUE!

Shalom and ahava (peace and love in Hebrew).

Now think on this,

Steve Martin
Founder/President
Love For His People, Inc.

P.S. I want to give special thanks to my Dad (Louis J. Martin, who is living in glory with His Lord and Savior), my Mom (Lila Martin Parker); Laurie's parents Otto and Lorraine Unzicker, also dancing on the streets of gold; our children Josh, Ben, Hannah, Christien and their families; and all of our extended family (especially Bob and Mary Smith of Charleston, SC (one of my five sisters) and Laurie's sister Linda and Dick Skaggs!); and the dear, good friends whom have been there along the way these 40 years of life thus far. We love you dearly!!! 

And to you Kevin Grafton, my Best Man and my best friend to this day! (Photo below...)


The Martin Family - June 2017


Kevin Grafton and Steve Martin - my Best Man and still best friend.
Photo from sometime in the past years. Maybe two decades. He would probably still beat me in tennis...
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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. 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 - in the Year of our Lord 10.08.17 - #322  – “Commitment”

Sunday  8:08 am

Monday, August 14, 2017

10 Very Strange Facts About The August 21 Solar Eclipse That Will Absolutely Blow Your Mind - Michael Snyder THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG

Posted: 13 Aug 2017  Michael Snyder  THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG

In just a matter of days we are going to witness the most unusual solar eclipse in U.S. history. Could it be possible that all of the very strange “coincidences” surrounding this event have some sort of special significance?  The mainstream media has been buzzing about this upcoming solar eclipse for months, and it will easily be the most watched eclipse in all of U.S. history.

Last week, I published an article entitled “12 Critical Events That Are Going To Happen Over A 40 Day Period From August 21st To September 30th that received an extraordinary amount of attention, and of course the first event on that list was “the Great American Eclipse” on the 21st.  As you will see below, so many numbers seem to indicate that this eclipse could have some sort of special significance, and it begins a period of exactly 40 days that many believe could be a turning point for America.

In the Scriptures, we are specifically told that one of the reasons why God created the sun and the moon was so that they could serve as “signs”.  The following is what Genesis 1:14 tells us…
“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years
And in Luke 21:25, the Lord Jesus specifically warned us to watch for signs “in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars” just prior to His return.

So we should be watching, and we should fully expect to see something happen up there before Christ comes back.

With that in mind, I would like to share some amazing facts about the solar eclipse on August 21st with you.  These were originally compiled by The Countdown Report, and when I first read them they definitely got my attention…

-First contact is in the state of Oregon, the 33rd state in the USA. The last contact is in South Carolina on the 33rd parallel. This eclipse happens on day 233 of the year.

If the Revelation 12 sign is valid, then the eclipse is also 33 days before September 23, 2017. Jesus is thought to have been 33 when He died.

-Just for fun: It is 99 years (3 x 33) since the last eclipse to go coast-to-coast in the US, in 1918. From September 23, 2017 (Revelation 12 sign) to the end of the year, December 31, 2017 is 99 days (or 3 x 33). The number of days from the 1918 eclipse to the August 21 eclipse are 26,234 days. (2+6+2+3+4 = 17; 2017?). From August 12, 2017, the date of the Charlottesville Virginia “State of Emergency” declared to the August 21, 2017 Great Solar Eclipse is 9 days (3+3+3) and the dates are also mirrored – 12 and 21.

-First big city the eclipse hits in Oregon is Salem – Salem was named after Jerusalem. The eclipse also begins in Oregon exactly at sunset time in Jerusalem. So technically speaking, as the sun sets in America it will be setting in Jerusalem at the same time.

-The center line crosses through 12 primary states to receive total darkness. 12 disciples, 12 months in a year, the meaning of 12, which is considered a perfect number, is that it symbolizes God’s power and authority, as well as serving as a perfect governmental foundation.

-The eclipse path is exactly 70 miles wide. 70 has a sacred meaning in the Bible that has two perfect numbers, 7 that represents perfection and 10 that represents completeness and God’s law. 70 also symbolizes perfect spiritual order and a period of judgment. 70 is also specially connected with Jerusalem with so many references it would take a book to write.

-Another eclipse comes in 2024, 7 years after the August 21, 2017 and marks an X over the United States. The combined time of totality of these eclipses together will be 7 minutes. The day of the eclipse is August 21, 2017 – (7 + 7 + 7 = 21). The exact point where the two eclipses cross is right next to Cedar Lake in Illinois… specifically right next to SALEM Road. (Salem again!)

-The original form of the Hebrew letter Tav is like the English letter X or T – which is in the shape of a cross, or X– like the X that is made by the two solar eclipses on the cross paths over 7 years. The letter Tav means “a sign”.

-The path of the eclipse will be situated in such a way that every single state of the US will experience it, even Hawaii and Alaska.

-The totality will reach Oregon at 10:16 AM Pacific, and will end in South Carolina at 2:49 PM Eastern. That means it will take 1 hour and 33 minutes to cross the country. There is that 33 again.

-The eclipse is also exactly 40 days from Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur means “Day of Atonement” and is a time of repentance. While the eclipse day itself may come and go with everything remaining “normal” afterwards, we need to be focused on what could be coming soon after.

You can read the entire list of 33 facts that were compiled by The Countdown Report right here.  I just pulled out the ten that I considered to be the most remarkable.

According to Rachel Baxter, “40 is the number for waiting, preparation, testing or punishment. It is also the number to start a new chapter of the history of salvation”, and we see the number 40 pop up time after time in the Bible.

For instance, in Jonah 3:4 the prophet Jonah gave Ninevah a period of 40 days to repent before judgment would begin…
And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
Could this coming 40 day time period have some sort of special significance for us?
Like I said in my previous article, I don’t know if all of this means anything.

But Jesus did specifically instruct us to watch for signs in the sun and the moon, and the solar eclipse on August 21st involves both the sun and the moon.

On August 21st, I am going to be able to travel into the path of this eclipse.  Hopefully it will be a very clear day and I will be able to get some very clear pictures for my readers.
I don’t expect anything world shattering to take place on that particular day, but like millions of other Americans, I will definitely be looking up into the sky to see what happens…

Michael Snyder is a Republican candidate for Congress in Idaho’s First Congressional District, and you can learn how you can get involved in the campaign on his official website. His new book entitled “Living A Life That Really Matters” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.

Friday, January 1, 2016

40 years ago in 1976...

Banner hanging in our home.

40 years ago in 1976...

Forty years ago, way back in 1976, the good Lord moved me from Cedar Falls, Iowa to LaSalle/Peru, Illinois to join a Christian community called Victory. It was there that I met the wife of my youth (and still is in my wise old age!)  - the 17 year old Laura Jean Unzicker. What a joy! One year later we became man and wife (after she graduated from high school!)

For those familiar with the Lord's numbers, the number 40 means a lot in Scripture. I declare that in the Name of the Lord and the power of His love that 2016 will bring great adventures and wonders for the two of us, and for all of you who seek the loving Lord God of Israel. He Who is our Beloved, and we whom are His.

Thank you Lord! You are an Awesome God!

With love and full of ahava,

Steve Martin
Love For His People


Ready to meet the Lover of our Souls




Friday, April 11, 2014

Egypt Demands Compensation for 10 Plagues - ISRAEL TODAY

Egypt Demands Compensation for 10 Plagues

Friday, April 11, 2014 |  Israel Today Staff  
“We demand that the State of Israel pay compensation for the ten plagues that our forefathers in Egypt suffered thousands of years ago as a result of the curses of the Jewish forefathers.” So wrote prominent Egyptian columnist Ahmad Al-Gamal shortly before the Jewish Passover, causing a great stir.
“What is written in the Torah is that Pharaoh discriminated against the children of Israel. What have we to do with it? We therefore need not suffer!” exclaimed Al-Gamal, drawing a clear difference between the Egyptian kingdom of the Pharaohs and Islamic Egypt of today. Islam accepts the biblical narrative as historical evidence.
The columnist suggested that the government in Cairo press charges against Israel: “The Jews caused the land to be stricken with locusts and all agriculture destroyed, turned the Nile red with blood so that one could drink its waters, sent darkness, frogs and killed the firstborn.”
Al-Gamal continued: “During 40 years of wandering in the desert, the Children of Israel enjoyed our goods, which they stole before abandoning us.” He also recommended that Egypt bring charges against France, Great Britain and Turkey for those nations’ historical conquests of Egypt.
The Egyptian column was picked up by the Israeli press, especially religious news outlets, which readily acknowledged all that Al-Gamal wrote as historical fact. Some Israeli columnists retorted that Egypt need first compensate Israel for keeping the Jewish forefathers as slaves and for killing all male Jewish babies in the generation prior to the Exodus.
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