Joel C. Rosenberg Blog: Is There Any Good News In The Mideast? Yes, despite intense persecution of the Church, we’re also seeing a great harvest of Muslims turning to Christ.

Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog

Is There Any Good News In The Mideast? Yes, despite intense persecution of the Church, we’re also seeing a great harvest of Muslims turning to Christ. Here’s the latest. by joelcrosenberg Recently, Lynn and I had the opportunity to have dinner in Jerusalem with our good friends, Tom and JoAnn Doyle. Among other things we talked about two important trend lines in the world of Gospel ministry to Muslims -- persecution and harvest. Below is an article on this subject that I asked Tom to write specifically for this blog. It's very informative and encouraging. I hope you'll not only read it but share it with others. By way of context, Tom was a senior pastor in New Mexico and Colorado for more than two decades. Then, in the summer of 2001, the Lord called he and JoAnn to serve the persecuted Church in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia. Little did they know the horrific events of 9/11 were coming. Nor could they have possibly imagined that the greatest era of church growth in the Muslim world in fourteen centuries was about to accelerate even faster, deeper and wider. In recent years, Tom has written some excellent books on what God is doing among Muslims. Among them are Killing Christians: Living the Faith Where It's Not Safe to Believe and DREAMS AND VISIONS: Is Jesus Awakening the Muslim World?  I commend them both to you. ------------------------- Is There Any Good News In The Middle East? Yes, despite intense persecution, we’re also seeing a great harvest of Muslims turning to Christ. Here’s the latest. By Tom Doyle When you think of Christianity in the Middle East, the first word that probably comes to mind is persecution.  But another word should come to mind – harvest.  The year 2015 was certainly a year of persecution for followers of Jesus Christ in the Muslim world. But one of the reasons for this is the large number of Muslims who have left the religion of Islam and now embrace Jesus as their Savior. That said, persecution is not stopping the spread of the gospel. To the contrary, the killing of Christians is accelerating the spread of the gospel and the growth of the church. In fact, over the centuries, oppressors have never recognized that the persecution of Christians is always a failed initiative. It doesn’t destroy the church; it makes the church grow. Welcome to the New Middle East. Muslims all over the region are coming to faith in Christ. What’s more, they’re willing to suffer persecution for the Lord Jesus Christ in part because they see a great harvest of other Muslims and want to be faithful in proclaiming the good news of salvation in a world of such darkness. Here are some of the things my wife and team and I have been seeing as we travel in and out of the region: In November 2015, I took a team to a country in the Middle East and witnessed something phenomenal: 25 former Muslims baptized as new believers in Jesus. The city where we were has a steadily growing underground church – indeed, they’ve seen 90 Muslims receive Jesus recently. And that’s just in one city. One was a woman who is married to a Muslim Imam (religious cleric). When she embraced Jesus, her irate husband found out and threw her out of the house and kept their three children. He vowed that if she were baptized he would kill her. But there she was, one of the 25 lining up to be baptized, and when she came out of the water there was overwhelming relief and joy on her face. By the world's standards, she has lost everything, but she was not willing to deny Jesus and her love for Him. In Syria, Farid – a pastor and national Christian leader – says: “We’ve never seen Muslims come to Jesus like this. The ongoing civil war in our country has soured many to religion since this is essentially a religious war. Jesus brings something that religion can never deliver. He brings hope and reconciliation.” Farid says that the Syrian underground church is growing rapidly and in some home groups Alawites and Muslims worship together. “In the streets of Syria, they are killing one another, but when they find Jesus and reconcile with the Father, only then can they reconcile to one another. Jesus is the only hope for Syria. We have seen more than 1,000 Muslims come to faith in Christ in Syria in the last few years. This brings us great joy in Syria.” A pastor in Jordan named, Amir, says: “The amazing occurrence of dreams about Jesus seems to be even growing. Of the hundreds of Muslims that we are working with, the majority of them claim to have had one or more Jesus dreams. Jesus tells them in the dream how He loves them. What a message Jesus has in this sea of hatred all around us.” In February of 2015, ISIS killed 21 Christians on the beach in Libya and released the horrific footage of their beheading. The video showed 20 Egyptian men and one man from Chad walking onto the beach in orange jumpsuits and an ISIS terrorist with their covered, in all black, leading each prisoner. The picture summarized the year of persecution for the church. In fact, it became a defining moment for the persecuted church in the region, much like the image of the lone Chinese dissident standing in front of a column of oncoming tanks in Tiananmen Square in 1989. In October of 2015, I took a small team to Egypt to meet the wives of those brave martyrs. Before we left, I happened to mention on a national radio program in the States what we were going to do. I said that we were going to Egypt to encourage these dear widows and bring letters that our e3 Partners team had written. We were so surprised but encouraged when listeners began to write letters to the martyrs for us to take with us. Over 2,000 from around the world poured in within two days. A kindergarten class from a Christian school even drew pictures and sent them in since they were too young to write. Emails came in from countries around the world. What a blessing these messages of solidarity were to these faithful Christian women. During the research I did for my book, Killing Christians, I came to believe thatpersecuted believers have become the face of genuine Christianity around the world. As Evangelicals, we may not agree with every element of theology of the Coptic Church that these men came from. But in meeting their families and hearing their stories, there is no question in my mind that these men truly loved the Lord Jesus with their whole hearts, and I was moved that they were more than willing to die for Him. We visited their widows in their simple poverty-stricken villages. They told us how their husbands had been held captive and tortured for 45 days but they never gave in to the free ticket out that was promised to them if all they would do is convert to Islam. One widow shared this: “How is it that we were given this privilege and honor to have someone in our family die for Jesus? We are just humble village people in an insignificant village in Egypt. But yet Jesus selected my husband for the most important thing we could ever do in life-to die for Jesus!” So why is it that Muslims are now coming to faith in Christ in significant numbers? One of the reasons is that Islamic terrorists are killing violently for their faith, while followers of Jesus are dying peacefully for their faith. Muslims are watching the violence and it has soured them towards their religion. It has also opened them up to the possibility that there may be something to this Jesus after all. They see hate in Radical Islam and love among the Jesus followers, even as they are taken to be executed. What a contrast. Yes, Christians are being persecuted openly in the Middle East. But they are standing strong, and this has served to spread the gospel even more rapidly. In a world of bad news, that is very good news. Let us thank God for this – and let us be faithful in praying for our persecuted brothers and sisters, that the Lord would give them strength and courage and boldness to keep living for Christ and keep preaching the Gospel, come what may. Despite the persecution, killing, and terrorism in the Middle East, this is one of the Church’s finest hours. -------- Tom Doyle is the Vice President of e3 Partners, focusing on evangelism and equipping the Church around the world, including in Muslim countries. You can get real-time prayer requests from your brothers and sisters on the frontlines and in harms way at the face book page called 8thirty8. In Tom’s recent book, Killing Christians: Living the Faith Where it is Not Safe to Believe, you can also read true stories of persecuted believers in the Middle East that will inspire you to live wholeheartedly for Christ. joelcrosenberg | May 21, 2016 at 2:45 pm | Categories: Epicenter | URL: http://wp.me/piWZ7-4X0

Yeshua (Jesus) Our Salvation - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

Yeshua (Jesus)

Our Salvation

Now Think On This

Steve Martin

“This Yeshua is the stone rejected by you builders which has become the cornerstone.  There is salvation in no one else! For there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by whom we must be saved!” (Acts 4:11-12 Complete Jewish Bible)

There has always been an eternal plan, in the everlasting heart of love found in God the Father, to redeem mankind (save, buy back, pay off the debt) after the Fall. When Adam and Eve sinned, which is an historical fact by the way, the relationship they had experienced with the Creator Father brought separation and banishment from the Garden of Eden. Nothing they personally could do would get that friendship back.

They needed to be saved, they needed a redeemer, or they would face the consequences of their sin, which would be eternal separation from God.

Sin does that. It brings separation from the holy God. And He, the One God who sits on His throne in heaven, requires that the sin be removed, covered by perfect blood, before we can have that relationship with Him restored. He required that blood be shed. That blood had to be without spot or blemish. It had to be perfect. No animal’s blood would accomplish it, for it had to be totally without sin itself.

Only one person’s blood was perfect, who alone could be sacrificed. He himself had to be perfect, to satisfy the holiness required. It was God’s only son, Yeshua, who would and could be that only one.

Throughout the Bible, in both the Old and New Testaments, known as the Scriptures, the redemptive plan of salvation for mankind is found. God the Father unveiled it, using the chosen people, the Jews, to show it. Moses wrote it, the prophets spoke of it, the centuries since have proven it.

In fact, their very own Hebrew/Jewish Tanakh (Scriptures/Bible) clearly states this in Isaiah 53:1-12.

“Who believes our report? To whom is the arm of Adonai revealed? For before him he grew up like a young plant, like a root out of dry ground. He was not well-formed or especially handsome; we saw him, but his appearance did not attract us.

People despised and avoided him, a man of pains, well acquainted with illness. Like someone from whom people turn their faces, he was despised; we did not value him. In fact, it was our diseases he bore, our pains from which he suffered; yet we regarded him as punished, stricken and afflicted by God. But he was wounded because of our crimes, crushed because of our sins; the disciplining that makes us whole fell on him, and by his bruises we are healed.

We all, like sheep, went astray; we turned, each one, to his own way; yet Adonai laid on him the guilt of all of us.

Though mistreated, he was submissive —he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb led to be slaughtered, like a sheep silent before its shearers, he did not open his mouth. After forcible arrest and sentencing, he was taken away; and none of his generation protested his being cut off from the land of the living for the crimes of my people, who deserved the punishment themselves.

He was given a grave among the wicked; in his death he was with a rich man. Although he had done no violence and had said nothing deceptive, yet it pleased Adonai to crush him with illness, to see if he would present himself as a guilt offering. If he does, he will see his offspring; and he will prolong his days; and at his hand Adonai’s desire will be accomplished.

After this ordeal, he will see satisfaction. “By his knowing [pain and sacrifice], my righteous servant makes many righteous; it is for their sins that he suffers. Therefore I will assign him a share with the great, he will divide the spoil with the mighty, for having exposed himself to death and being counted among the sinners, while actually bearing the sin of many and interceding for the offenders.” 

(Isaiah 53:1-12 Complete Jewish Bible)

The reason satan (the devil, the fallen angel) hates Israel and the Jews so much, and is continually seeking to destroy, kill and annihilate them, as he has done since the creation of man, is because he knows of the plan. It is recorded in all historical truths down through the ages.

Yeshua is the plan.

We see the enemies' purpose, for it commonly depicted with anti-Semitism in all the world, and also Replacement Theology in the church. This fallen angel, eternal enemy of Israel, Jews and Christians, knows that the Lord’s plan was and is to bring salvation to the nations through Yeshua. It is Emmanuel (God with us), the Almighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, Who was born, raised, crucified as the Lamb of God, buried in a borrowed tomb, and three days He gloriously rose from the dead. Over 500 eyewitnesses were with Him after His resurrection.

Yeshua (Jesus) then ascended into heaven and now sits at the right hand of the Father. He will be coming back soon, as the roaring Lion from the tribe of Judah.

Kill the Jews – kill God’s plan of redemption? Just read the end of the Bible, Lucifer.

From the Tanakh (Hebrew) made up of the Torah (the five books of Moses, known as The Law, from Genesis through Deuteronomy) the Prophets (Neviim – Joshua through Malachi) and the Writings (Ketuvim – Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and the two Chronicles), and then continuing on with the New Testament (Matthew through Revelation) the red thread of redemption, of the perfect sacrificial blood to come, is revealed.

It may seem as a total mystery to the masses. But those who seek the Truth will know the truth, as the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh) will guide all to Yeshua, Who alone is the Way, the Truth and the Life. All who desire to know the truth will be given the light.

“Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." (John 8:12, NKJV)

The apostle John (his name being Yochanan in Hebrew), who witnessed the truth of our Redeemer Yeshua, wrote this,

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing made had being.

In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not suppressed it.

There was a man sent from God whose name was Yochanan. He came to be a testimony, to bear witness concerning the light; so that through him, everyone might put his trust in God and be faithful to him. He himself was not that light; no, he came to bear witness concerning the light.

This was the true light, which gives light to everyone entering the world. He was in the world — the world came to be through him — yet the world did not know him. He came to his own homeland, yet his own people did not receive him. But to as many as did receive him, to those who put their trust in his person and power, he gave the right to become children of God, not because of bloodline, physical impulse or human intention, but because of God.

The Word became a human being and lived with us, and we saw his Sh’khinah, the Sh’khinah of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.

Yochanan witnessed concerning him when he cried out, “This is the man I was talking about when I said, ‘The one coming after me has come to rank ahead of me, because he existed before me.’”

We have all received from his fullness, yes, grace upon grace. For the Torah was given through Moshe; grace and truth came through Yeshua the Messiah. No one has ever seen God; but the only and unique Son, who is identical with God and is at the Father’s side — he has made him known.” (John 1:1-18 Complete Jewish Bible)

Adam and Eve sinned. From that point on we all were separated from God. But the Lord’s plan had always been to bring us back to Him, to redeem us, to save us, to provide a way back to Him. There had to be a sacrifice made. But it could only be a perfect sacrifice, for He is a holy God who requires it that way.

The Jews were given the task of revealing the salvation plan of God. Through the centuries they lived it, wrote of it, and through their lineage Yeshua came to earth to fulfill it. Now they are living proof of His Only Son, Yeshua, as their eyes too are being opened to the eternal plan of salvation.

After being scourged, nailed to the tree (the cross), during the time of Pesach (Passover), the sacrificial Lamb shed His blood for the forgiveness of sins. Our sins. Through Him the relationship with God the Father is now restored, and eternal life in heaven is the great reward.

Today you too need to receive the saving blood of Yeshua, God’s Only Son, as our sacrificial offering, if you have not done so already.

Mohamed won’t save you. Allah certainly cannot. Buddha nor Confucius will ever do it for you. Only Yeshua (Jesus) - the Son of God who came down from His throne in heaven, can do it for you. He who lived on this planet, died an awful death, and then gloriously rose from the dead - all to prove that He is Whom He said He is, and share the love He has for us – is the only Way, the only Truth and the only Life.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

"He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 

But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God." (John 3:16-21, NKJV)

There is no other name under heaven by which man can be saved. Yeshua (Jesus) became man to save us from our sins and eternal damnation in hell. Simple truth shared in what is called the Gospel, the Good News.

Call on His name today.  For the first time, or in your daily walk with Him.

Now think on this, with His love and mine,

Steve Martin

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

We are blessed when the ministry receives gifts to bless the families that we do in Israel, India, Pakistan and the hurting ones here in the USA. You also can share out of the abundance you have been given.

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). 

Contribution checks can be sent to: 

Love For His People, Inc.  P.O. Box414   Pineville, NC 28134

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

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Now Think On This - In the year of our Lord 12.27.15 - #225 –“Yeshua (Jesus) Our Salvation” – Sunday at 6:30 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

Mary Had A Little Lamb - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

Mary Had A Little Lamb

Now Think On This

Steve Martin

“The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29 NASU)

“The next day, Yochanan saw Yeshua coming toward him and said, “Look! God’s lamb! The one who is taking away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29, Complete Jewish Bible)

It is a bit fascinating how the Holy Spirit speaks to us. After finishing my morning reading of the Bible, with today’s Scripture being from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 21, He spoke to me, “Mary had a little lamb.” I thought, “Hmm. Now what is that all about? An old nursery rhyme from centuries ago? What are you saying to me, Lord?”

So I asked Him for further revelation. It became a bit clearer. Mary did have a little lamb.

Thinking that there was more to the story than what we think, from days gone by, I looked up the history of the song which we all learned as little kids. Here is what Wikepedia has to say.

“Mary Had A Little Lamb is a nursery rhyme first published by the Boston publishing firm Marsh, Capen & Lyon, as an original poem by Sarah Josepha Hale on May 24, 1830, and was inspired by an actual incident.

As a young girl, Mary Sawyer (later Mary Tyler) kept a pet lamb that she took to school one day at the suggestion of her brother. A commotion naturally ensued. Mary recalled: "Visiting school that morning was a young man by the name of John Roulstone, a nephew of the Reverend Lemuel Capen, who was then settled in Sterling. It was the custom then for students to prepare for college with ministers, and for this purpose Roulstone was studying with his uncle.

The young man was very much pleased with the incident of the lamb; and the next day he rode across the fields on horseback to the little old schoolhouse and handed me a slip of paper which had written upon it the three original stanzas of the poem..."

There are two competing theories on the origin of this poem. One holds that Roulstone wrote the first four lines and that the final twelve lines, less childlike than the first, were composed by Sarah Josepha Hale; the other is that Hale was responsible for the entire poem.

In the 1830s, Lowell Mason set the nursery rhyme Mary Had A Little Lamb, originally written by to a melody adding repetition in the verses:

Mary had a little lamb,
His fleece was white as snow,
And everywhere that Mary went,
The lamb was sure to go.

He followed her to school one day,
Which was against the rule,
It made the children laugh and play
To see a lamb at school.

And so the teacher turned it out,
But still it lingered near,
And waited patiently about,
Till Mary did appear.

"Why does the lamb love Mary so?"
The eager children cry.
"Why, Mary loves the lamb, you know."
The teacher did reply.^”

As I further pursued Holy Spirit’s thoughts, asking Him what He wanted to share in regards to this rather strange thought, here is what I got. You can seek Him too, and see what He says to you. It may be similar, or with more!

Mary, actually having the Hebrew name Miriam, did indeed have a little lamb, who was the Lamb of God. Yeshua (Jesus) was being sent by God the Father to planet earth to redeem mankind, for “long lay the world in sin and error pining” (Recall O Holy Night?)

She had been called by God, to be the human vessel used by Him in this unfolding eternal plan of salvation, in order to further show His love through and for us. The Lord’s plan of redemption was being fulfilled.

It always amazes me how our God uses ordinary people, just like us, to do extraordinary things. That is how He chooses to so often do His work.

Mary’s response to this call was to walk in obedience, though I am sure in her heart, mind and soul she had many questions. We ourselves can learn from her, seeing how she chose to walk it out in faith, and not let doubt or unbelief keep her from her mission. Good move Mary!

As the nursery rhyme continues, “His fleece was white as snow.” Fleece in those days was the woolen coat of the lamb, not the jacket we wear today. This lamb’s fleece was a white as snow. In Isaiah 1:18 we read, "Come now, and let us reason together," says the LORD, "Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool.”

As students of the Scriptures, we know that the lamb brought to the altar of sacrifice, to be offered up to cover sin, had to be without spot or wrinkle. The lamb’s fleece had to be white as snow. Only Yeshua (Jesus), the perfect Lamb of God, was born without spot or wrinkle, with no sin (and no, it was not Mary who was without sin, as I was taught as a young boy at the Catholic school I attended. She too had to be saved by the Savior born through her.)

“And everywhere that Mary went the lamb was sure to go.” As a boy growing up in Joseph (Yosef was his Hebrew/Jewish name) and Mary’s Nazareth home, Yeshua was raised fully in His Jewish culture, following in obedience that which His earthly parents taught Him. He learned what the feasts of the Lord were; He experienced the day to day life we all do; He lived fully as man, so He could identify with everything that we ourselves would experience. There was no “silver spoon” for Him, in life or death.

“He followed her to school one day.” Up until His 13^th birthday, the year He would have had His bar mitzvah, when a Jewish boy is now to become a man, Yeshua learned obedience from Miriam and Yosef. He learned to listen, to become responsible, to allow His parents to prepare Him in the natural for the supernatural work He knew He was sent to do. He did manual labor, learning from Yosef the carpenter, even all about the sweat and toil that comes from being productive (as my son-in-law Andrew likes to say – “We need to be productive.”)

“He followed her to school one day, which was against the rule, it made the children laugh and play to see a lamb at school.”

Yeshua didn’t play along with the religious games of that time in history. Nor does He even today. On many occasions He would point out that the Pharisees and Sadducees were not the ones to follow. Their religion, their rules and manmade regulations, were actually strangling the people, keeping them from knowing the true love, care and protection of their heavenly Father.

“And so the teacher turned it out, but still it lingered near, and waited patiently about, till Mary did appear.”

Jesus was rejected by the ruling authorities – both the religious and the political Romans. He was crucified outside the Jerusalem city walls, along with the common thieves, murderers, and even innocent victims of the cruel world. Today He is still rejected by those who seek their own agendas. But those who seek Him will receive the salvation He alone can offer them.

"Why does the lamb love Mary so?" the eager children cry. "Why, Mary loves the lamb, you know." The teacher did reply.”

The majority of people in the nations will not understand why the Lamb of God loves us so much. They will not receive the Gospel, and believe that Jesus, the Son of the Living God, came to this earth to die for our sins. They will not understand His desire to deliver them from their sins; to free them from bondages they live under; to redeem their souls from the eternal hell that will come if they do not repent, believe, and follow after Him.

But that is now our mission that we have been called to do – to take the Gospel, the Good News of the Lamb, to the peoples inhabiting the nations, so that they they can hear, believe, and obey. To those whosoever will believe, and receive, the Living God of Israel’s plan of redemption. The know the One who came to earth, was raised in a Jewish family, lived among us, died on the tree, and was gloriously raised from the dead on the third day, as was prophesied centuries before by the Jewish prophets. He now ever lives upon His throne, preparing the world before He returns, coming the second time in glory and power.

The Lamb of God came the first time to lay His life down, so that we might live eternally with Him. Walking this world as a man, He lived as we do, yet without sin, in order to be the perfect Lamb that God the Father would receive as the perfect sacrificial lamb.

When Jesus returns in glory, as the Lion from the tribe of Judah, I pray that this nursery rhyme, which Holy Spirit used today, in a small way, to again tell His story. I hope this will inspire you to walk in faith, learn obedience, and be ready for these end of days that are coming upon us, if not already here.

It won’t be a nursery rhyme then. So you better watch out, you better not cry. But instead pray, and then obey. He will be speaking to you today.

Now think on this.

Ahava and shalom,

Steve Martin

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

We sure could use your help to bless the families we do in Israel, India, Pakistan, Vietnam and the hurting ones here in the USA. Please give out of the abundance you have been given.

In May, 2016, my wife Laurie and I will be traveling to Israel to spend time with our friends. We support them in word and deed. We have our plane tickets in hand. We love Israel.

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). 

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 - In the year of our Lord 12.13.15 - #219 –“Mary Had A Little Lamb” – Sunday at 7:45 am 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

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

Times the Prophets Longed to See

By Tzippe Barrow

CBN News Internet Producer - Jerusalem

Friday, August 14, 2015

JERUSALEM, Israel -- Biblical historians say Luke is one of the few non-Jewish authors of the Bible, with both the Old and New Testaments almost exclusively written by Jews.

In his Gospel, Luke writes about the life of Yeshua (Jesus), and in the Book of Acts, we learn how his disciples fared after His ascension.

When God chooses Jeremiah, He tells him He’s watching over His Word to perform it (Jer. 1:12).

It certainly appears His plan is moving right along.

To better understand today’s headlines, the biblical prophets are a good place to start. After all Jeremiah lived in politically turbulent times, especially for the Jews.

Today, the Jewish people are returning to their biblical homeland. Since the late 1800s, there’s been a steady stream of returnees. On May 14, 1948, Israel officially became the modern nation-state of the Jewish people.

Aliyah -- immigration to Israel -- is increasing again, partly because of rising anti-Semitism, but also because Diaspora Jews are beginning to realize if they’re not in Israel, they’re in exile. They are returning to the place where a lot of promises to them as a people will be fulfilled. And they’re wonderful promises!

For the first time in nearly 2,000 years, there’s an indigenous Israeli Body.

Estimated at about 15,000 and growing, it’s part of this regathering. And its diversity reflects Israeli society as a whole.

Set in a Jewish Context

While Luke may not have been a Hebrew, his writings mirror the Jewish context of God’s plan of salvation for all mankind. Yeshua was born, lived and died a Jew.

You can’t separate Israel’s Messiah from Israel. Edith Schaffer was right. Christianity is Jewish.

Yeshua said, “You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.” (John 4:22)

So here’s some very good news.

God is raising up an indigenous Body in Israel. These young believers have grown up in a tough little country. They’ve served in the IDF, they’re pursuing their education and careers, meeting their mates, getting married and starting families. These young people are PRAYers and DOers. Corporately and individually they’re products of prayer. In short, they make our hearts smile.

Those with the gift of evangelism are sharing the Good News with Israelis who for the most part never heard it or heard it in a cultural context they couldn’t relate to. The biblical comparison is Joseph’s brothers not recognizing him because he looked like an Egyptian. In the end they find out he’s their brother. So it will be when the Jewish people come to know their Jewish Messiah.

Click here to see “The Forbidden Chapter in the Tenach.”

As latent anti-Semitism raises its ugly head yet again, God is raising up a generation of Israelis equipped to share the Good News with the Jewish people.

Prayer and More Prayer

Now is the time to undergird the Israeli Body in prayer. God is moving in Israel. It’s very exciting and at the same time challenging to be here at this point in time.

The prophet Zechariah foretells that God will pour out a spirit of grace and supplication on Israel and simultaneously remove the veil that has prevented His covenant people from seeing the One they’re awaiting for thousands of years.

Jews will see they are not outside God’s plan of salvation. In fact, the Bible states in more than one place, “to the Jew first and then the Greek.” Israel as a nation will understand and it will bring us to national repentance and salvation. We will be saved as a people, as it is written, “all Israel will be saved.”

And the world can hardly stand it. God’s enemy, the prince of the power of the air, the one who walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, whose only interest is to steal, kill and destroy, is more intent than ever to wipe out the Jewish people.

Iranian Nuclear Deal

The US-brokered Iranian nuclear deal is a prime example. Sadly, the Obama administration has been a tool in the enemy’s hand to stir up anti-Semitism wherever it may be found. His vendetta against Israel and its prime minister is palpable. Many of the world’s largest news agencies are simply pawns in the hands of “the prince of the power of the air.”

There is nothing Elohei Yisrael, the God of Israel, doesn’t know about. He is omniscient, omnipotent and allows what He allows for His purposes.

So while Israel and the Jewish people face increasingly difficult times, God is moving. Along with praying for the peace of Jerusalem, ask God to pour out His spirit on His people (Zech. 12:10).

“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.”

End of End Days

It’s coming. It’s closer and closer. When all the nations of the world come up against Jerusalem, Yeshua himself will save us.

It’s time to dig into the Word of God more than ever. Ask God to open it up to you. Ask for your marching orders. Listen and obey.

These are exciting times, ones the prophets would like to have seen.

He is coming in the clouds! Two millennia ago Yeshua said he was coming quickly. A day is as a thousand years. It won’t be long now.

He will save us! To him be glory and dominion and power forever and ever! Amen.