"You Are Not Abnormal" - Steve Martin message, Love for His People Ministry

 

Sept. 24, 2025 Greetings to you once again. You are not abnormal. Don't let the enemy or anyone else make you believe that. My new message below brings encouragement that we often need. Ahava and Shalom, Steve Martin Love For His People Ministry P.S. The day continues to draw nigh. Our upcomg three month volunteer trip to Israel for Laurie and I is Oct. 15, 2025-Jan. 12, 2026. Please be praying for us. We would greatly appreciate that. And thanks to all who have supported us already with generous gifts. What we have, we will share with those in the Land. We welcome your prayers and support as we together bless Israel and His people in their Land. Contributions can be made online by clicking the DONATE button on this website.

Israel Photo of the Week: Sitting down for a Shabbat meal at the home of Larry and Bess Herzekow, just west of Jerusalem, Israel. We also had the joy of spending that time with Morris Ruddick, a good friend from CO. Looking forward to the same! (Photo May 9, 2025)

You Are Not Abnormal   “But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.” 1 Peter 2:9-10 The Message   There are times when we think we are the only ones experiencing a trial, a bad moment, a situation that no one else has had or has gone through before.    You are not abnormal. We are often in spiritual warfare. Where do you think Satan and his demons always attack first? The marriage. The family. The mission. The Lord’s chosen ones, in Israel and throughout the nations.   The Word tells us, prophetically, that in these last days we will experience trials, tribulations, roadblocks, temptations, and ongoing attempts by our enemy to curtail us from completing the mission set before us. Our enemy is not brilliant, but he is not dumb either. He has had enough experience to know what will keep us from pressing on, if we fall to his schemes.   A well-known prophetic man once said, “There are the three things that will be set before you in temptations. Gold, glory, or girls.” He was right. (Or as Scripture puts it, in 1 John 2:16, "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.")   It is supernaturally natural for those who are seeking to hear and obey the call of the Lord Jesus (Yeshua), as He leads us through His Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh), to be opposed by the one who hates God the Father and all those who are His children, Jew and Gentile. And if he can’t get you in one area, he will use another. Or those close to you, who may be more vulnerable.   Is it no surprise then that we, Laurie and I, have been warned by those abiding in Israel and others who have gone before, to be “prayed up” with intercessors covering our backs, as we go forward into His call and purpose for Israel. “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.  Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.  Stand firm therefore, having belted your waist with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having strapped on your feet the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With every prayer and request, pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be alert with all perseverance and every request for all the saints,” Ephesians 6:10-18, NASB As you too face opposition in your own daily walk, call upon the Name of the Lord, and as I often say, and you can too, “My times are in Your hands.” Lead us and protect us, Lord.   We can thus press forward and complete the assignments He has given to each of us with faith and courage. Ahava (love) and Shalom (peace), Steve Martin We welcome your prayers and support as we together bless Israel and His people in their Land. Contributions can be made online by clicking the DONATE button on this website. Love For His People Ministry    P.O. Box 1113    Pineville, North Carolina 28134 USA Message #17 in my series (2025): “You Are Not Abnormal" – Sept. 22, 2025

My latest book was published on Aug. 18, 2025. Love For His People" Steve Martin (444 pages, 372 photos/images) Remained #1 on the Amazon New Releases List for "Jerusalem Travel Guides" for a month. (And I am not even a tour guide, but I love taking people with me.) In several of my previous 38 books, I wrote stories and chapters on Israel and our friends in the Land. Their lives, their courage, and the Ahava Adventures we have had, sharing our time with them in Eretz Yisrael. In my desire to share these stories with you in a more concise manner, I have chosen the “best ones” and included in my book, “Love For His People – The Land and Friends in Israel”. (Aug. 2025) Having given 39 years so far (and this being my 39th book!) to loving and supporting the Chosen People, as the Living God of Israel so ordained throughout the Bible of Christians and the Jewish people, it is proper and time to publish. Sharing this book, containing some of my experiences in Jerusalem and all of Israel, is a joy, and also a promise to always stand with Israel. I know it will stir your heart as He reveals more of His plans for all. Special Note: I have reduced the price on the hard cover and paperback, to just over my cost. I want you to have one. I will receive minimal royalty. Buy now on Amazon, Hard cover $18.55, Paperback $12.95, Kindle $2.95 We certainly are grateful for your support, which we will use for our volunteer months in Jerusalem. Contributions are welcome online by clicking the DONATE button on this website.

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Be Not Unaware by Steve Martin

 

Be Not Unaware

 “For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of our affliction which occurred in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life.” 2 Corinthians 1:8, NASB

 Battles come. Be prepared. Prayed up. Read up. Connected.

 The believer’s walk is not easy. Whoever sang the song, “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden” sometime back may have been reading what Paul went through in his trials. Or what we go through as we seek to walk in the calling the Lord has given us.

In this life we have trials. Promised in the Bible. And yet the best is coming. Eternal life. But as we look to heaven, and the reward that awaits us, we must continue to walk on earth in faith, in assurance of His leading us.

God’s Word says that first the natural comes, and then the spiritual. “However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.” 1 Cor. 15:46, NASB

Watch Israel and the Jewish people and you will know what I am talking about.

I often wondered about the verse that speaks about “abundant life” found in John 10:10. “The thief comes only in order to steal, kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, life in its fullest measure.” (Complete Jewish Bible)

At times here on earth I don’t find it so abundantly. In fact, there are days I long to be where He is, seated in heavenly places and already there. Be true – so do you.

But until our appointed mission, the one we have been apprehended for has been completed, the grace, strength, willingness, hopefulness found only in the Lord Jesus, must remain strong. For He alone is the Faithful One, the Giver of Life, the One Who carries us on unto the end.

Be not unaware that our enemy continues to war against us. In many trials, temptations, discouragements, and roadblocks. But in the Lord, we have the victory, and He will see us to the end.

Phil Wickman, contemporary worship leader, sings it well. What An Awesome God!

Believe it and keep walking on. Press forward to the finish line!

Ahava (love) and Shalom (peace),

Steve Martin

P.S. Again. Battles come. Be prepared. Prayed up. Read up. Connected up.

We welcome your prayers and support as we together bless Israel and His people in their Land.

Contributions are welcome online by clicking here on our webpage, when you look for the little DONATE button on each side column, Love For His People uses. DONATE HERE.

Are you new to these messages, or has another shared them with you? Sign up here to receive it directly in your email InBox. Go to our website and click on the nice, “full of brewed coffee mug” with the Love For His People logo on it, found on either side column of the webpage. You will be glad you did! Sign Up for Steve Martin's Messages

Please request to have your name added to our Signal group “Love for His People” for regular updates, especially when we are in Jerusalem. Email Steve here to connect more: Love For His People

Love For His People Ministry 12120 Woodside Falls Rd. Pineville, North Carolina, USA

Message #15 in my new series (2025): “Be Not Unaware" – Sept. 4, 2025

Phil Wickham in concert

#Benotunaware #Jesus #Yeshua #thankful #PhilWickham #spiritualwarfare #Bible #Scripture #Israel #Jews #FaithfulOne #abundantlife

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR OR LOVE YOURSELF? Cathy Hargett, Highway To Zion

 

                                             LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR OR LOVE YOURSELF?

By:  Cathy Hargett

August 3, 2025

 In a world where there seems to be no lack of people loving themselves and exalting themselves, perhaps the second greatest commandment makes sense - or maybe not?  Are we supposed to love ourselves first and then our neighbor?

Here is how Yeshua answered when one of the Torah scholars asked Him which is the greatest commandment in the Torah:

“And He said to him, ‘You shall love Adonai your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.”

(Matthew 22:37)

And then Yeshua went further and told the Torah scholar the second greatest commandment:

“And the second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The entire Torah and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’ ”

(Matthew 22:38-40)

Note that Yeshua said that these two commandments are the foundation for the entire Torah. In other words, without both of them, you do not have the Torah in its completeness, in its fulfillment.

And remember this, Yeshua said He did not come to abolish Torah but to fulfill it with His very life:

“Do not think that I came to abolish the Torah or the Prophets! I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.”

(Matthew 5:17)

To go right to the point, with the question “are we to love ourselves first and then love our neighbor”?  I think not.  The main reason for my conclusion is that Yeshua did not say there are three greatest commandments; i.e., “love God, love yourself, and love your neighbor”. No, He said there were two greatest commandments – “love God and love your neighbor as yourself”.

Getting to this conclusion was not without much prayer and study, especially because of the strain to filter out all the background noise and the voices “in the world”, and even in Christian psychology and counseling. So many of these voices are crying out to us with human logic, encouraging us to embrace “self-esteem” and “self-care” and to build ourselves up. But God says we are to build ourselves up in our most holy faith (Jude 20). It’s the Word that divides our flesh from our spirit (Hebrews 4:12). This is how we can hear the Lord. The answer for us, as followers of Yeshua, is in the Word, not in the world.

From what I have learned from the Scriptures, mankind does not need to practice ways to love themselves. It’s our default value. It’s clear in this passage:

“After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body….”

(Ephesians 5:29)

To be clear, the Lord made us in His image. This is our identity, but it is not the same as self-love. Neither are we to be self-deprecating. We are to respect and honor everything He has made. We honor Him who lives inside our mortal flesh. He gives us the responsibility to take care of His creation, which does include our own bodies. We are to steward everything that He has given us. He values us, and we are in awe that we are fearfully and wonderfully made by God. In this regard, yes, we have our identity. And in a manner of speaking, we can say, we love what He has made and we take care of it.

This is very different from being “lovers of ourselves”.  God makes this distinction in the Scripture when He says that being lovers of ourselves is not a good thing:

“..There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God - ”

(II Timothy 3:2)

We are admonished throughout the Scripture not to love ourselves but to love others. This is the lesson we are taught, not the lesson about loving ourselves. We are to think of ourselves with “sober judgment”, to understand who we are, not to despise ourselves or to exalt ourselves, but to give freely of all that He has created us to be:

“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.”

(Romans 12:3)

 He is teaching us how to do what He has required – in Him:

 “with humility, consider others as more important than yourselves, looking out not only for your own interests but also for the interests of others.”

(Philippians 3:3-4)

“Let your attitude toward one another be governed by your being in union with the Messiah Yeshua.”

(Philippians 2:5)

And let’s not miss that Yeshua is the fulfillment of Torah. He desires us to walk in this way, too. In this way we join our Rabbi in reflecting Torah and the Prophets:

“So in all things, do to others what you would want them to do to you – for this is the Torah and the Prophets.”

(Matthew 7:12)

Finally, and amazingly, let’s really listen to what Yeshua told us about the first and second commandments. He said that the “second commandment is like the first commandment”.

“And the second is like it..”

(Matthew 22:39)

This is the major key to the revelation of what it means to love our neighbor as ourselves. And it answers the question, “Are we to love ourselves”? 

I prayerfully asked Him, “in what way is the second commandment like the first commandment?”. “What do You mean that the second is like it?” He explained this to me with these words “love Me with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and love your neighbor the same way that you love Me, with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength”. When you do this, you will fulfill all the Torah and the Prophets.

I am remembering, too, when Yeshua gave instructions to His disciples. He said, “a new commandment I give to you – to love one another..”. He is, once again, revealing the “Transcendent Torah”, higher than we’ve understood Scripture before. Not only are we to love Him, to love God, but we are also to love others the same way we love Him, with everything we’ve got.

There is only one way we can do this. We must allow Him to love us, to receive His great love for us. It’s not self-love that we need to nurture. It is the love of God inside of us that we must have in order to obey the first and second greatest commandments. In this way, yes, we do love ourselves, as the expression of Messiah inside of us, and only because He first loved us and chose us to be His. He is inside of us. He dwells here. In this way we understand that His life abides inside these mortal bodies, His temple. Because of this miracle, we are empowered to love others as we love ourselves.

Cathy Hargett
Highway to Zion Ministries
http://www.highwaytozion.org

#LOVEYOURNEIGHBOR #LOVEYOURSELF #CathyHargett #HighwayToZion #Jesus #Torah #Yeshua #Scripture #love

Something to think about...from Steve Martin

 

Call upon the Name of the Lord Jesus (Yeshua) and you shall be saved. We must do just that. Daily in our faith walk.

Ahava and shalom,

Steve Martin, Founder

Love For His People Ministry

Charlotte, North Carolina USA

(Photos by Steve Martin on July 14, 2025)

1. Trees- Stevens Creek Nature Preserve in Mint Hill (Charlotte), North Carolina.

2. Grandsons Levi and Jack with Grandpa after our 4.2-mile walk in the woods.

#somethingtothinkabout #stevemartin #loveforhispeople #scripture #bible #jesus

 

My 2 Cents on the Prosperity Gospel – Sid Roth, It’s Supernatural

 

Sept. 4, 2022 Sid Roth’s It’s Supernatural! 1.56M subscribers

Sid weighs in on the popular prosperity gospel.

• ← SILENCE IS NOT GOLDEN – new book by Steve Martin, Love For His People Ministry in paperback, hardcover (only $12.95), and Kindle

Steve Martin

STEVE & LAURIE MARTIN - LOVE FOR HIS PEOPLE FOUNDERS My good wife Laurie and I (45 years in October 2022!), through the ministry of Love For His People we founded in 2010, give love and support for our friends in Israel and in other nations with friendship, humanitarian aid, and social media support, along with Steve's messages, and our Ahava Adventures trips to Israel. Steve has also authored and published 34 books. We live in the Charlotte, NC area. We have four adult children, spouses, and eight grandkids.

How do you measure success? Steve Martin, Love For His People Ministry

 

How do you measure success? Steve Martin, Love For His People Ministry

June 22, 2022 Charlotte, North Carolina Greetings to my family and friends of Love For His People Ministry. It was a delightful last few days if you consider having some poundage removed due to oversizeness. (A new word!) I am thankful to the Lord for good doctors and very friendly nurses. They have succeeded in their endeavors as far as I am concerned. Speaking of success, some measure it in several ways. I share what the Lord understands success to be. Please read my new message below. Also, check out our YouTube playlist here: Jerusalem, Israel. You will particularly love the one with “George Bush” the camel! It was a joy being in the Land this past April and seeing our friends once again, including George. Ahava and shalom, Steve Martin Love For His People Ministry Success   “They are like trees planted by streams — they bear their fruit in season, their leaves never wither, everything they do succeeds.” Psalm 1:3, Complete Jewish Bible   How do you measure success? A large brick house on the inland waterfront? An electric car so that the “greenies” are happy you heed their advice and support their agenda when the rest of us pay triple for the energy the Lord already blessed us with? (So now you know what I think of their policies!) Do you measure success by college degrees? One of my five sisters, Janet, has her masters and a couple of bachelors. She is very humble and lives the Christian walk. She has helped many young students in the public school system because of her knowledge and wisdom applied. She has also been a great pastor’s wife in Lawrence, Kansas, sharing the Gospel truth among a most liberal college city. She doesn’t boast about her success in that area. She knows Who has led her in her walk of faith and endurance, along with her husband Nate. Yes, she has ministered quite well in both the natural and the spiritual, being the challenge that is. What about the star athletes who get paid the big, and ever-growing bigger, bucks, and yet when their careers are over have lost much of the wealth they had accumulated? How far did those years of satisfaction last once the gleam and glitter of the spotlight were over? It is so very sad that so many believe their success in life is due to their own achievements, while at the same time railing at the One True God Who has given us His Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach, to save us from the hell otherwise received. In their hatred for all that is good, they despise the One Who so desires them to know His love and freedom He gives. The Lord doesn’t measure His success by how many planet systems He has created, or the vast realm of different plant, animal, or insect life He has shown us on this planet from His creative hand. He did and continues to demonstrate His love for us out of His fatherly love, to bless mankind, His ultimate creation that shares with His family life now and will forever more. Without the Light of the World in your life, deception abounds, and “success” is very short-lived. When I was growing up, I admired the saints (believers) who gave themselves totally for the Lord’s plans and purposes in their lives. They let all else go to discover and walk in the adventurous life they realized came from the One Who gives life. Saint Francis, Saint Martin de Porres, David Livingston, Eric Lindell, and Joan of Arc, to name just a few godly men and women whose biographies so encouraged me in my teen years. They knew the Savior Jesus (Yeshua), and it was His heart and meaning of success that they were after. Eternity meant more to them than the riches that are too often sought after, and then left behind as dust in the wind. When we understand and look to the One Who alone can satisfy the desires of our hearts, nothing else satisfies. I hope you continually strive to know our Lord better today than yesterday. As my good friend, Art Maki will say to the day he goes on to glory, “It is better today but not as good as tomorrow” when we follow the Lord and experience the success He so desires us to have here, and then in heaven forever with Him. Our Father promised success to Joshua if he would follow after Him. His Word is true. He does what He says He will do. “No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. “Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. “Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go.” Joshua 1:5-8, NASU Ahava and shalom, Steve Martin, Love For His People founder Encouragement – first from Jerusalem, Israel, and then from Charlotte, North Carolina, USAby Steve Martin (published May 25, 2022) In April 2022 my good friend David Peterman of Lancaster, South Carolina, and I took an Ahava Adventure (“love” in Hebrew) back to Jerusalem as soon as the skies and the Land of Israel opened up again. During those 10 days the Lord Yeshua, Jesus Christ, gave me words to share, which I wrote down each day to share with others. These make up the first part of this book. The next section is comprised of messages inspired by the Holy Spirit from our home in Charlotte, North Carolina, beginning before and after the Israel trip. As the Lord would give me a prophetic word, I would start writing and He would further expand on it. Thus those words are written in the major section of this book. Everyone needs encouragement. Every day. All the negative news spewed out from social media platforms and airwaves needs to be offset by the good news the Lord Jesus (Yeshua) brings to us. From the time He walked the streets of Jerusalem in the first century, to today in this 21st Century, He shares love from heaven and from this home in Charlotte, North Carolina. Until He returns soon, may these messages uplift your spirit, reveal more of His heart, and sustain you as you walk daily in the direction the Holy Spirit gives with the grace and provision that comes with His presence. Steve Martin May 2022 Charlotte, North Carolina USA To purchase on Amazon: Encouragement – from Jerusalem, Israel and then from Charlotte, North Carolina – Paperback $12.95 E-book $2.99 SPECIAL NOTE: Our ministry’s mobile app is available for iPhones and Androids. This is a free app download. Look here: Love For His People free phone app  You can sign up for my email messages: Love For His People. The sign-up form is on our ministry website: ministry newsletter  You have the opportunity to help support the work of this ministry, including the monthly support we give to these in Israel: His Lighthouse (Nissim and Hadassah Lerner), the Aliyah Return Center (Chaim Malespin), His Heart Ministries (Richard and Carolyn Hyde), Messianic Ethiopian Rabbi Kokeb Gedamu, CBN News Jerusalem (Chris Mitchell and Julie Stahl) and others: Please DONATE online now. You can also send checks to: Love For His People P.O. Box 53 Pineville, NC 28134  E-mail: loveforhispeople@gmail.com  Please share this message with your friends through your email, on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, LinkedIn, Gettr, and more.  Others will be thankful you did. And I thank you too.   E-mail: loveforhispeople@gmail.com About Us Donate Sign Up Why Support Israel? FREE App Love For His People, Inc. P.O. Box 53Pineville, NC 28134 USA Send Us A Message ‌  ‌  ‌  ‌  ‌  ‌

Love For His People, Inc. | P.O. Box 53, Pineville, NC 28134

• ← FlashPoint: Woke Walmart & What Comes Next…

Steve Martin

STEVE & LAURIE MARTIN - LOVE FOR HIS PEOPLE FOUNDERS My good wife Laurie and I (45 years in October 2022!), through the ministry of Love For His People we founded in 2010, give love and support for our friends in Israel and in other nations with friendship, humanitarian aid, and social media support, along with Steve's messages, and our Ahava Adventures trips to Israel. Steve has also authored and published 34 books. We live in the Charlotte, NC area. We have four adult children, spouses, and eight grandkids.

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