The Lord will use compassionate hearts. Steve Martin, Love For His People Ministry
Jan. 3, 2023 Charlotte, North Carolina Greetings to my family and friends of Love For His People Ministry. For the last couple of days, I sensed the Lord speaking to me on justice, and how in the end His justice will prevail, with wickedness, evil, and the hard-heartedness of men and women ceasing. But when I sat down to write it, I felt the Holy Spirit steer me more to share the message of a heart of compassion. He brought back to my memory a time when His heart used mine to show His love to those who needed a friend. With a new year ahead of us, having more days to share His compassion in a world that desperately needs it, I encourage you to read my message “A Heart of Compassion”. Ahava and shalom, Steve Martin Founder, Love For His People Ministry |
Heart of Compassion “Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.” Matthew 9:36-37, NASU Many of us still remember our years in high school. For some, it was a good time, experiencing those growing and transforming years when we thought we knew everything there was to know and were ready to conquer the world. (Maybe this year I will be able to go to my 50th graduation anniversary.) For others, we may have wanted to just get those days over so we could get out of there. There may have been too many times that the other students did as is so commonly done in every generation – teasing, belittling, rejection, and more. There were two boys in my senior class who always seemed to get the brunt of the jokes, the ones others picked on. Neither Gene nor Bernie had the handsome looks, wore the latest in clothes in fashion, or received good grades in any of the classes that I knew of. In fact, there were some who were just plain mean to them. Gene’s face was covered with pimples, as acne was an obvious problem. Most days he needed a good shampoo too, as his jet-black hair was slick, and not with the stuff intended to be used. As he walked the halls to each class, he would slump down, not looking up except to confirm his whereabouts. When he did talk his words were quiet and his speech slurred. It was believed that Gene’s dad was a lawyer, but that status didn’t do Gene any good. Bernie was sadly called the “Hunchback of Notre Dame”. He had a large body with a deformed hump on his back. Generally, his clothes were from a second-hand store, obviously costly little to purchase. He was ridiculed and scorned for something he could not change on his own. It didn’t matter that he was enrolled in this Catholic high school, Columbus High in Waterloo, Iowa. Every kid in that school needed to be saved and know salvation through Jesus. Just because you could call yourself a Catholic didn’t make you a Christian. There were not many students there that I knew who were born again, sad to say. It was the Lord who gave me a heart of compassion for Gene and Bernie. As much as I could be their friend, I was. I stood with them. I communicated with them. I walked the halls with them. Because of the Lord’s heart that He had for each, He had allowed me to befriend them as no one else would. The Chosen TV series does a great portrayal of the Savior’s heart for His creation. As Yeshua walked this earth as God in the flesh, He showed the love of His Father and taught the disciples to do the same. Often as more than words can say, His actions spoke forth what He continues to long for each of us to communicate to those He places around us. As St. Francis is known for saying, “Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.” In reading again the verse I started out with above, understand the one verse that follows it, with Yeshua speaking of the harvest. Many people and nations experience suffering and the need for the Lord’s love. It is His Body that is able and must share it. “Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, ” The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.” Matthew 9:36-38, NASU Each of us knew, or know, a Gene or a Bernie. Or maybe you were that one in high school who got the brunt of the jokes and the ridicule. Know that Jesus was there and felt your hurt and pain, and above all, it is His compassion that can and will heal you, and those others who know the same. May His heart of compassion be growing in your heart, as you too express love to those who know so little of it and need what you have to share. Let us each have a heart of compassion. Ahava and shalom, Steve Martin Founder, Love For His People Message #132 in this series – in the year of our Lord 01.02.22 – “Heart of Compassion” – Monday 5:45 pm in Charlotte, North Carolina David Peterman and I recently recorded three “Ahava Moments With You” messages in his home in South Carolina (now totaling over 84 recordings over the last year.) This one is entitled, “Being A Light in the World” which can add further to my message above on Heart of Compassion, Listen to the other ones also. Click on each title: 1. The Chosen and Discipleship 2. First Century Church in a Modern World. Paperback $12.95 Hard cover $19.95 THE PROMISE – JOURNEY OF A LIFETIME In 2004 I wrote an autobiography, sharing 40 years of life with ministries and the search for the Lord’s purposes. In January 2023, 19 years later, I added 114 photos. To purchase on Amazon click here: The Promise – Journey of a Lifetime – Hardcover $19.95 Paperback $12.95 The Promise – Journey of a Lifetime (2023 Edited Version with 114 photos added!!) by Steve Martin (published Jan. 2023) Throughout our lives, God keeps His hand on our shoulders and nudges us on to more than what we could ever realize. I am excited to share how He did it this with me, and am confident mine will be a story you’ll be able to relate to. As I unveil my story, think back to those times when you knew there was something more but you just couldn’t put your finger on it. You knew deep down that life wasn’t what the TV sitcoms portrayed it to be. In our souls, there is the hope, the cry for more, that someday questions will be answered and promises fulfilled if we just kept plugging away at what we know to do. In The Promise, I share my first 40 years of journey with you and show you that dreams do come true. Though Peter Pan isn’t real, the Lord, the One Who created us, indeed is, and He has a plan in place for each one of us. When you are done reading this story, I pray that you too will know more of that good plan and His purpose for you. This edited version of the 2004 edition, written 19 years ago, now includes 114 photos! To purchase on Amazon: The Promise – Journey of a Lifetime – Hardcover $19.95 Paperback $12.95 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 Love For His People Ministry. is a charitable, USA humanitarian ministry started in 2010 to share the love of the Father in the nations, especially to and within Israel. If these letters minister to you, please consider sending a charitable gift of $5-$25 today, and maybe each month, to help us bless known families in Israel, whom we consistently help through our humanitarian ministry. Go here for safe ONLINE GIFT GIVING THROUGH OUR WEBSITE using major credit cards, Zelle, or PayPal Contribution checks can be sent to: Love For His People Ministry 12120 Woodside Falls Rd. Pineville, NC 28134 Todah rabah! (Hebrew – Thank you very much.) Please share this encouraging message with your friends. Email: loveforhispeople@gmail.com martinlighthouse@gmail.com Full website: Love For His People Ministry YouTube: Steve Martin/Love For His People 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 – sign up/free app You can sign up for my email messages: Love For His People. The sign-up form is on our ministry website: ministry newsletter |
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Steve Martin
STEVE & LAURIE MARTIN - LOVE FOR HIS PEOPLE FOUNDERS My good wife Laurie and I (married 45 years), founded Love For His People Ministry in 2010. This work gives love and support to our friends in Israel and other nations with friendship and humanitarian aid. Through social media, Steve's messages, and our Ahava Adventures trips to Israel, it is a growing, effective organization. Steve has also authored and published 36 books. We live in the Charlotte, NC area and have four adult children, spouses, and eight grandkids. Ahava and shalom with blessings on ye head!