"Pressing On –
Encouragement for the Long Haul”
“My times are in Your
hands…” (Psalm 31:15 NAS)
Dear family of
friends,
As I sat in my prayer
chair that Saturday morn, having already read the Lord’s Word which I keep beside
me on the lamp stand, and now accompanied with a fresh cup of java my good wife
had brought me, I pondered on what the new year would bring. Weariness had
taken a bit of a toll on my body, my mind and even my spirit. I looked forward
to the road ahead, but as many of us do, we wonder what is on that road. Is it
good? Will we make it? Will our faith be strong enough? And so I asked Him for
more strength and hope.
In a brief message I
had written to one of my five sisters that week, who was anxious about an
upcoming job situation, I encouraged her to daily pray His words, one of many given
to us in His Book of Promises. He simply says for us to believe, “My times are
in Your hands.”
I found myself praying that same prayer again – for her, others
on my prayer list, and for myself. As Derek Prince once said about receiving Scripture,
it is like taking daily medicine. Here is an excerpt from a devotional he wrote.
Daily Devotional by Derek Prince.
God’s Medicine Bottle
Proverbs 4:20–22
“My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.” KJV
For many years I have known those three verses from the fourth chapter of Proverbs as “God’s medicine bottle.” God declares that if we will rightly receive His words and His sayings, they will be life to us and health to all our flesh. The marginal translation for the word that is translated “health” is “medicine.” That’s why I say it’s “God’s medicine bottle.”
And God says His medicine will provide us with health in all our flesh. In every area of our physical body it will provide health, but remember, the directions are on the bottle. The medicine only works if you take it according to the directions. There are four directions.
First, attend to God’s word.
Second, incline or bow down your ear and listen to His sayings.
Third, let them not depart from your eyes, keep them before your eyes continually.
And fourth, let them settle and abide in the midst of your heart.
If you take the Word of God according to those fourfold directions, you will find, as I did many years ago, that God’s medicine bottle produces just the results that He claims. It brings life and health to all our flesh. I found that after a year on end in a hospital when doctors couldn’t heal me, God’s medicine did the job.
Whitaker House Publishers, 1996
Personally I can’t
comprehend how people who do not know the Lord God of Israel, Yeshua (Jesus),
make it through their day to day life. It astounds me how many keep trusting in
their own abilities or someone else’s, which will ultimately fail, when they
too could be having an ongoing faith in their Creator, and Knower of the road
ahead for them. I am so thankful we can know His will, walk in His ways, and
gain daily encouragement through His Holy Spirit.
For the long haul, for
the marathon we run, we must keep pressing on in our faith and hope in Him. Our
Good Lord will see us through. He will provide daily strength for the journey,
to the end of time. His reward will be great.
Keep your eyes fixed
on Him, the Author and Finisher of our faith. Keep pressing on to the mark He
has set before us. His promises are sure. We can count on Him. Thank you Lord.
Ahava to my family of
friends,
Steve Martin
Founder, Love For His
People
Love For His People,
Inc. is a charitable,
not-for-profit USA organization. Fed. ID#27-1633858.
Please consider
sending a charitable gift of $5-$25 today, and maybe each month, to help us
bless the known families in Israel, whom we consistently help through our
humanitarian ministry.
Your tax deductible
contributions receive a receipt for each donation.
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.)
I hope you read my first
two books The Promise (CreateSpace/Amazon 2013) and Ahava Love Letters (Xulon
Press, 2013). Both available through Amazon.com Xulon Press.com, plus other
website book stores.
You can also order
both books, The Promise (on Amazon.com for $7.19 plus $3.95 S/H) and Ahava Love
Letters Xulon Press for$14.90, plus $3.80) or you can get both from our office
for $29. Send check to the address above. I will autograph all copies ordered
through our office. (Hey, and please include a contribution for Israel too!)
Please share this Ahava Love Letter with your friends.
Email: loveforhispeople@gmail.com
martinlighthouse@gmail.com
Facebook pages: Steve
Martin and Love For His People
Twitter: martinlighthous,
LovingHisPeople and ahavaloveletter
Full
website: Love For His
People
Ahava Love Letter #96
“Pressing On”
Steve Martin
Date: In the year of
our Lord 2013 (12.28.13 Saturday at 8:00 am in Charlotte, NC).
All previous editions
of Ahava Love Letter can be found on this Blog, and our newest
website: Ahava Love
Letters
