Keep Pressing On - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

Keep Pressing On

 by Steve Martin

“Keep your eyes open, hold tight to your convictions, give it all you've got, be resolute, and love without stopping.” 1 Corinthians 16:13-14, THE MESSAGE

As I began keeping a close watch on my iPhone 8 Health app, especially after the third day, I saw that the walking steps had been amassing in great numbers for each day. Noticing the foot mileage the four of us were accumulating, on this first annual Love For His People ministry men’s Ahava Adventure (ahava is love in Hebrew) to Israel this October 2019, I was astonished. Truly I was. Two miles. Four miles. Over 12 miles on one day by the end of the fantastic journey.

We had walked the Land of Israel a grand total of over 51 miles by the completion of the 8^th day we had been there. With three of us being over 64 years of age (one 74), and the other one a mere 41, I certainly was impressed with the strength the Lord had given us. In fact, on most of those days, the mileage didn’t seem that great. I mean, compared to sometimes walking a mile or two at home, in the early morning hour at the encouragement of my good wife Laurie, just that shorter distance seems way too far for me.

But our Lord had given us a purpose, and He gave us the will and strength to accomplish it.

As I read Paul’s encouragement to the Corinthians this morning, as part of my normal “chapters a day” Bible reading during my time strictly with our Lord Jesus (Yeshua), Paul was writing to the followers of the Messiah, giving instruction, provoking, challenging and uplifting them with the Scripture, “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.” 1 Corinthians 16:13-14, NASU

Keep pressing on, in simple terms, is what we need to keep doing. Being alert, standing firm, acting like men (and women of God), being strong - while doing it all in love.

When we have a clear vision, a known purpose, a plan to accomplish, it does enable us to keep pressing on, even as the daily challenges faced often try to get us to stop, or even slow down.

Our enemy is always at work, trying to discourage us, distract us, wear us out until we just want to quit at times. But by the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus, actively working in our spirit through His Holy Spirit, He causes us to be overcomers, and to keep pressing on for that goal-line set before us.

“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.” Galatians 6:9-10, NKJV

The four of us men had a purpose of course, which included spending as much time as we could to encourage and uplift the friends Love For His People ministry supports monthly in Israel. While the rented Hyundai SUV enabled us to travel the road mileage between the cities they lived in, the busy, hilly sidewalks and grassy parks of Jerusalem provided the foot trekking paths, getting us to the other appointed destinations as we met with our other Messianic Jewish friends.

After you get “recharged” by spending the time with the Lord each day – receiving His word, listening to His Holy Spirit, and acting upon the instructing life He freely gives us daily, be encouraged in your pressing on for the goals He has given you individually, and collectively with others, to complete.

You are on a mission for God. Don’t just let the Blues Brothers get all the credit.

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2, NKJV

Now think on this and see what good things the Lord has in store for you and those around you.

Ahava and shalom,

Steve Martin

Founder/President

Love For His People, Inc.

*Much more will be written about this in my next book.

Thank you for reading!

Please sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter: Now Think On This. The sign-up form is on our ministry website: https://loveforhispeople.com

You are welcome to help support the families in Israel that we do. Give now. Givelify.

Love For His People ministry

P.O. Box 414

Pineville, NC 28134

loveforhispeople@gmail.com

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Now Think On This #460 - in the year of our Lord 10.10.19 – “Keep Pressing On – Thursday, 5:12 am

God Is Pouring Out Prophetic Visions in This Season - JENNIFER LECLAIRE CHARISMA MAGAZINE

God Is Pouring Out Prophetic Visions in This Season

 2/11/2016 JENNIFER LECLAIRE  charisma magazine

We need to keep a watch on what the Lord is saying to us. (Flickr )

Jennifer LeClaire is now sharing her reflections and revelations through Walking in the Spirit, a new podcast from Charisma. Listen at charismapodcastnetwork.com.

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In this hour of Christianity, God is looking for those who will stand watch, station themselves on the watchtower and keep watch to see what the Lord will say—and answer when they are reproved.

God is looking for those with a Habakkuk spirit who will not only see and hear, but record and proclaim—and keep proclaiming until the people's ears and eyes open to what the Lord is saying and doing. Once, when Habakkuk stood on the wall, He heard the Lord say this:

"Write the vision, and make it plain on tablets, that he who reads it may run. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but it speaks of an end and does not lie. If it delays, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay" (Hab. 2:2-3).

LISTEN TO JENNIFER'S PODCAST ON THIS TOPIC: Contending for the Prophetic Vision.

A Remnant Rising With Clear Vision

This is a right-now word for the body of Christ. There is a remnant rising with a clear vision from the Lord. Not everyone will catch that vision, but we must continue to speak it forth. It's not man's vision, it's God's vision.

In Habakkuk 2:2, the Lord told the man of God to write the vision. God intended for the prophet to make a record of what he heard. This is important for the sake of accuracy. When God speaks, whether in a conference setting or your prayer closet or somewhere in between, we need to make every effort to record the utterance so we don't miss a word of what God is saying—or inadvertently add to what He said.

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It's important to understand that this oft-cited verse is not talking about just any vision. According to the KJV Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon, the word "vision" in that verse comes from the Hebrew word, chazown, which means vision (in ecstatic state); vision (in the night); vision, oracle, prophecy (divine communication) and vision (as title of book of prophecy).

Clearly, we need to embrace the Lord's vision. Unless the Lord builds the house—or the business or the family or anything else for that matter—they labor in vain who build it (Ps. 127:1). Maybe the Lord has given you prophetic vision for a project or for your life or maybe you are praying for a new vision. He's pouring out new prophetic visions in this season.

Rocking Religious Mindsets

Because these prophetic visions will rock religious mindsets and shake the status quo, you'll have to be determined to write them down, meditate on them day and night and, as Habakkuk 2:2 says, make it plain.

In other words, you need to rely on the Holy Spirit to interpret the vision rightly so that you can declare it clearly to those who are called to run alongside you in the vision. As Paul the apostle wrote, "If the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare himself for the battle?" (1 Cor. 14:8).

Believe me, there's going to be a war over the prophetic vision God gave you—or the vision God gave your leader—and if you aren't clear, if it's not plain, you won't run with it or rise up and defend it from the enemy's abortive plans. Prophecy always brings warfare because the devil is after the word.

Exercising Patience for the Prophetic Vision

God has given some of you prophetic blueprints and plans that seem unimaginable. Some of you have been plowing for a long while now and aren't seeing the fruit you expected at this point in the journey. Take heart. Don't give up.

Habakkuk 2:3 says the vision is for an appointed time. The Hebrew word for time in that verse is moade, which according to the KJV Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon means "appointed time, sacred season, set feasted, appointed season, appointed meeting, appointed place and appointed sign or signal."

When God gives you a prophetic vision, it's inspiring. Waiting is the hard part. We must remember not to grow weary in well-doing because we'll reap in due season if we don't faint (Gal. 6:9). We must also remember that we inherit the promises of God through faith and patience (Heb. 6:12). And we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). And remember this:

"Where there is no vision, the people perish, but happy is he who keeps the teaching" (Prov. 19:18). The Hebrew word for "vision" in this verse is also "chazown." It speaks to prophetic vision. Keep casting the prophetic vision confidently or the people will let go, let loose and ignore what God is saying—and so may you.

If you don't give up, if you're diligent to keep declaring the prophetic vision, it will come to pass in the kairos moment. God is not a man that He should lie or the son of man that He should repent. As the Lord told Habakkuk, "If it delays, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay."

Jennifer LeClaire is senior editor of Charisma. She is also director of Awakening House of Prayer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, co-founder of awakeningtv.com, on the leadership team of the New Breed Revival Network and author of several books, including The Next Great Move of God: An Appeal to Heaven for Spiritual Awakening;Mornings With the Holy Spirit, Listening Daily to the Still, Small Voice of God; The Making of a Prophet and Satan's Deadly Trio: Defeating the Deceptions of Jezebel, Religion and Witchcraft. You can visit her website here. You can also join Jennifer onFacebook or follow her on Twitter. Jennifer's Periscope handle is @propheticbooks.

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