Are You Free… to do what the Lord has given you to do? - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

Are You Free…

to do what the Lord

has given you to do?

Now Think On This

Steve Martin

As a young boy, (growing into a fine young man!) I really enjoyed reading biographies of men and women – those who found what they were created to do, and actually did it.

Men like David Livingstone, the Scottish Congregationalist pioneer medical missionary with the London Missionary Society, and an explorer in Africa. When he was “found” by Henry M. Stanley, the famous British explorer and New York Times reporter, deep in the heart of “the dark continent”, Stanley reportedly spoke this famous quote, when on November 10, 1871, he found the missionary and asked, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"

I really liked the bios I read of Eric Liddell, the Scottish missionary to China, as his parents were before him, who was made even more well-known after the movie Chariots of Fire came out in 1981. Eric was an Olympic hero who followed after the heart of the Lord, in all His ways. He took the Gospel to the Far East nation. What an example for a young boy!

Of course there were others who inspired me, much like Harmon Killebrew, the Minnesota Twins baseball home run hitter in the 1970’s; Francis of Assisi, who left it all behind to touch the lives of the poor; and Abraham Lincoln, our American 16^th President during the Civil War in the 1860s (I think I must have over 24 books on him alone.)

Finally, a most inspiring book for one who wanted to do the Lord’s will in his life...

The Actes and Monuments, popularly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs. Is a work of Protestant history and martyrology by John Foxe, first published in English in 1563 by John Day. It includes a polemical account of the sufferings of Protestants under the Catholic Church, with particular emphasis on England and Scotland. The book was highly influential in those countries, and helped shape lasting popular notions of Catholicism there.

The book went through four editions in Foxe's lifetime and a number of later editions and abridgements, including some that specifically reduced the text to a Book of Martyrs. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Above all, there is the One whom it is written, that there are not enough books to cover His life here on earth - our Lord, Jesus the Messiah. None can compare when reading of Him, and how we can walk in His steps even today.

But how do we walk in His ways, or those who continue to inspire and encourage us on today?

If the Lord called you tonight (or sent a text), and said, “Leave all you have and follow Me?" – what would keep you from doing it?

Would it be that job you have, that you don’t like anyway, but grudgingly to it because that is what you think there is just for you to do?

Is it lack of money, believing you need a good amount to get started down the path you’d really like to take, but never took that first step?

Would the opinion of family or friends outweigh the word the Lord wants to give you, or already has spoken to you about, and you keep pushing it back to another time, another place?

Can it be a simple thing like needing to have the constant noise of the TV on, watching meaningless weekly shows, that a month from now will have proven to be of nothing, having lasting value in your life?

Are you free to do what the Lord has given you to do? What is holding you back?

I think if you ask Him, actually “inquire of the Lord” as David did, you’d be given the inspiration to take the first step. 

Psalm 25The Message (MSG)

A David Psalm

25 ^1-2 My head is high, God, held high;
I’m looking to you, God;
No hangdog skulking for me.

³ I’ve thrown in my lot with you;
You won’t embarrass me, will you?
Or let my enemies get the best of me?

Don’t embarrass any of us
Who went out on a limb for you.
It’s the traitors who should be humiliated.

⁴ Show me how you work, God;
School me in your ways.

⁵ Take me by the hand;
Lead me down the path of truth.
You are my Savior, aren’t you?

⁶ Mark the milestones of your mercy and love, God;
Rebuild the ancient landmarks!

⁷ Forget that I sowed wild oats;
Mark me with your sign of love.
Plan only the best for me, God!

⁸ God is fair and just;
He corrects the misdirected,
Sends them in the right direction.

⁹ He gives the rejects his hand,
And leads them step-by-step.

¹⁰ From now on every road you travel
Will take you to God.
Follow the Covenant signs;
Read the charted directions."

So seek the Lord in faith, not fear, and see what He says. It will be worth it.

Something to think about.

Love you,

Steve Martin

Founder

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.

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

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Now Think On This #212 “Free To Do?  Wednesday at 7:30 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

As ISIS Rises, Many Muslims Are Turning to Christ - J.D. KING CHARISMA NEWS

In the wake of recent terrorist attacks by ISIS in Paris, here's a reminder of how the kingdom of God is advancing among Muslims. (Reuters)

As ISIS Rises, Many Muslims Are Turning to Christ

11/19/2015 J.D. KING  charisma news

Join us on our podcast each weekday for an interesting story, well told, from Charisma News. Listen at charismapodcastnetwork.com.

---

I love reading stories from the great revivalists and evangelists. In fact, I own a number of books that recount wonderful healings and breakthroughs. Many of these are the kind of inspirational stories that make you want to get up and do something incredible for Jesus.

I recently pulled out a little volume called Miracles by the late R.W. Schambach (1926-2012). This book was originally published in the early '60s and recounts some of his experiences under salvation-healing evangelist A.A. Allen (1911-1970) and when he later launched his own ministry. This is an exciting little book that stirs up a lot of faith.

One of the stories Schambach shared in this book really leaped off the page. As I read it, I felt that it really needed to be recounted. As we think about evangelism and what it means to touch a whole new generation, this is the kind of story that needs to be shouted from the rooftops.

Schambach shares that he had been supporting a missionary to India for 30 years. He heard this missionary mention that he had never brought a Muslim to salvation. This statement made Schambach angry. 

Concerned that his money wasn't doing what it should, he decided to go over and see for himself what going on. So a big crusade was organized in India with over 50,000 in attendance. Schambach preached for hours; sharing powerful truths from Scripture. He assumed his anointed message would pierce the heart of the crowd. Yet, when it came time for the altar call, not one person out of 50,000 responded.

The missionary's words came to mind. Yet, Schambach had already decided that he wasn't going to stand for this. He knew God had called him to more than just preaching the Word. He was also commissioned to bring a demonstration of the gospel. Although the crowd was ready to leave, he told them, "I am not done yet. God says His signs follow the preaching of the Word. I have done my part and you are about to see Him do His part."

Then, out of the massive crowd, he invited three handicapped beggars to come forward. One was blind. Another was deaf and mute. The last was crippled. After bringing them up in front of the crowd, Schambach openly prayed in the name of Jesus. Healing came to the blind woman as well as the deaf and mute man.

He felt compelled to do something different with the crippled woman. He explained to the crowd that he was going to pray in the name of Muhammad, their supposed prophet, and see if anything happened. He got her up in front of everybody and prayed in the name of Islam's founder. Nothing happened.

Then Schambach said, "OK, I am now going to pray in the name that is above every other name. The name of the Savior, who is alive!" He then commanded the woman to be made whole in the name of Jesus. Strength immediately came to her legs in the sight of everyone.

In the aftershock of this moment, Muslims began jumping out of trees and running toward Schambach from all over the staging area. They were shouting, "Jesus is alive." A group of people who were once completely unresponsive to the gospel became radically changed within a few minutes. Many of them were passionately pursuing Jesus.

The preaching of the Word was essential, but the demonstration of power took things to a different level. Preaching prepared their hearts and provided a necessary clarification of Jesus' role. However, it was the signs and wonders that enabled the Muslims to truly visualize Jesus' authority.

This story reminds me that Christians are being called to greater displays of power. I'm thankful for all the wisdom and truth that we have to share, but sometimes God wants more to be on display. Believers must be willing to take a greater risk for the gospel.

Sometimes what we really need is a demonstration to go with our proclamation.

J.D. King, speaker and author, is the director of the World Revival Network.

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Elisabeth Elliot, Influential Author and Missionary, Dies

Elisabeth Elliot, Influential Author and Missionary, Dies

CBNNews.com

Monday, June 15, 2015

Famed Christian author, speaker and missionary Elisabeth Elliot passed away Sunday morning. She was 88 years old.

Elliot's husband, Lars Gren, said his late wife had been battling dementia. He added that she handled her mental decline with the same aplomb as the deaths of her first two spouses.

"She accepted those things, [knowing] they were no surprise to God," Gren said. "It was something she would rather not have experienced, but she received it."

Elliot authored numerous books but perhaps her most famous were those she penned about the martyrdom of her first husband, Jim Elliot. He was killed in 1956 by Waorani tribal members while he and four other missionaries attempted to reach them with the Gospel. At the time, the Waorani (also called the Aucas) was one of eastern Ecuador's unreached tribes.

"Our daughter Valerie was 10 months old when Jim was killed," she said. "Since then, my life has been one of writing and speaking."

For almost 13 years, Elisabeth Elliot recorded a 15-minute radio program, "Gateway to Joy," aimed at women. Her former producer, Jan Wismer, spoke with CBN News about her life and influence.

Steve Saint, son of the famous missionary pilot Nate Saint who was one of the five killed, shared similar sentiments regarding the woman he knew as "Aunt Betty."

"To the rest of us mortals she was an incredibly talented and gifted woman who trusted God in life's greatest calamities, even the loss of her mind to dementia, and who allowed God to use her. He did use her," Saint wrote on his Facebook page.

"I'm very sure she would not want to be remembered as a great writer, as a great speaker. She would want to be remembered as a girl, a woman who trusted God to use her and he did, powerfully," he told CBN News.

***Read more of Steve Saint's tribute to Elisabeth Elliot here.

In 1969, Elliot married Gordon-Conwell Seminary professor Addison Leitch. He passed away four years later from cancer.

"After his death I had two lodgers in my home," she wrote. "One of them married my daughter; the other one, Lars Gren, married me."

Elliot, a Wheaton College graduate and the daughter of missionaries, later went on to launch the radio program called, "Gateway to Joy."

"Elisabeth Elliot never set out to be a radio personality. She set out to do the will of God -- something we don't hear much about these days," her cohost, Jan Wismer, wrote in a 2013 tribute.

"Elisabeth believed in asking this foundational question: Is this God's will for me, right now, in this place? … Unapologetically, Elisabeth espoused such truths as: give to get, lose to find, and die to live," Wismer continued.

"Setting her sights "on things above" (Colossians 3:1), Elisabeth ministered among three indigenous groups in Ecuador before helping listeners and readers find joy in the ordinary affairs of life--like cooking meals and cleaning toilets--on her globally syndicated radio program," she said.

"She called it living sacramentally, and her rock-solid principles shaped my life," she concluded.

Elliot leaves behind her husband, daughter Valerie Elliot Shepard, son in-law Walt, and eight grandchildren.

Watch: CBN interview

Cindy Jacobs: A Movement Coming to Korea Like a Tsunami Wave - Changing Korea and the World

Cindy Jacobs:

A Movement Coming to Korea Like a Tsunami Wave - Changing Korea and the World

The Elijah List

Asia: The Missionary Wave

Mike and I just traveled to Asia to teach in Korea and Hong Kong. We were scheduled to go to Korea two years ago to minister, but I cancelled to stay at my sister's side the weeks before she went to Heaven.

Asia is special to us, perhaps because we have been going since the early '90s. It is said that old friends are good friends, and while that is true, when one is in Christ, the bond goes much deeper; we begin to experience something the Bible reveals to us as Believers, and we become family.

Our first stop on the journey was Seoul, Korea. It is hard to describe this nation without intertwining the impact of the Gospel on the land; it has literally gone from what was known as the "Hermit Kingdom" to one of the most booming economies in the world. Korea is right up at the top with the leaders in the tech and automotive industries. One only has to drive down a street to realize the reformation principles placed in the nation through the education systems started by early missionaries have caused the nation to thrive.

A Recent Time of Mourning

As we landed at Inchon International Airport, my thoughts were on this amazing nation and their recent deep sorrow – a ferryboat sank with school children and resulted in around three hundred deaths. There are testimonies of text messages sent from young Christian students who gave up their life vests to other classmates. No doubt these stories will live for generations and keep their memories alive in the collective heart of the nation. Later in the trip, we were told this incident was the "Korean 911." 

(Photo via Wikimedia Commons)

The spirit of mourning was palpable as we sat with our brothers and sisters in the Lord. We knew we needed to bring comfort and hope, not only for their sakes, but also so the missions movement that is a huge part of the nation's destiny would not be slowed down. I knew that would actually dishonor those whose lives were tragically cut short.

Continuous Prayer with Repentance and Reconciliation

Pastor Hye Ja Kim and Young Dong of First Church worked tirelessly to prepare. They also spent hours in prayer. In fact, they have had 24 hours of prayer continually since I gave them a word about it in 1997.

Their youth had all-night prayer meetings to prepare and prayed around the building at Sejong, the university where we would meet. The campus is lovely with beautiful statues of Christ in different Biblical scenes.

Over four thousand attended the conference. The power of God was evident from the first night. The other speakers were Pastor Takimoto from Japan (he is 86 years old, the head of All Revival Koshien Mission, and an old friend), Jerome Ocampo of the JREV in the Philippines (a next generation leader who has mobilized more than 100,000 youth to pray for his nation), and Dutch Sheets.

Powerful times of reconciliation and repentance took place. Pastor Takimoto repented on behalf of the Japanese Church leaders who came to Korea during the Japanese Occupation and told the Korean Church leaders that it was okay to bow down to the Emperor of Japan and Amaterasu in the Shinto Shrines. The Japanese built them all over the country in order to spiritually control the nation. He also asked forgiveness from those whose ancestors were killed by the occupiers. There were many tears, especially from the older generation.

The Role of Korea

I preached prophetically on the role of Korea in God's end-time move. The conference theme was Prepare the Way. I gave what I see as three previous awakenings of the nation and spoke of another awakening still to come.

1. The 1907 Revival in Phong Yang: the start of the early morning prayer meetings
2. The Evangelism Movement sparked by Billy Graham's visit and Expo
3. The Charismatic Movement in the '60s
4. A fourth movement still to come that will be like a tsunami wave of people changing both Korea, with a Jesus People style movement, and the world, with a missions movement

On the last night Dutch preached on the heart of David and the identity of Korea; it was like a spiritual eruption took place as people threw off shackles of hopelessness and despair. A leader named Joshua, proclaiming the role of the Korean Church and its role as David to fight Goliath and as the tribe of Judah, declared, "We are not kittens; we are lions!" 

(Photo via Pixabay)

Indeed, the sleeping Church awakened.

We caught an early morning flight to Hong Kong in order to have lunch with a good friend before the Empowered 21 Asia conference. Going to the meeting was like old home week for us. They had asked us to minister to the people, not on simple inspiration themes, but on that which would heal the generations.

I spoke on the theme of the spirit of Elijah and the Father's heart; the text was from Luke 1:17, and I spoke into the healing of orphan hearts among Asians. The power to heal broken hearts was manifested, and one could hear open weeping all over the center packed with 4,000 leaders from the continent of Asia and island nations such as Japan. I would say the majority of the participants had never heard their own fathers say, "I love you," in their entire lives, such tender, but powerful words.

My friend, Billy Wilson, the President of Oral Roberts University and the founder of Empowered 21, tag-teamed the message with his own message on the Father's heart, including his own personal testimony. We ministered together afterwards, and God's power and tender loving kindness swept the center from the top to the bottom. 

I really believe many of the problems we have with fighting in the Church and competition between businesses and nations are symptoms of unhealed hearts from a lack of spiritual parenting.

Surely God was smiling from Heaven as He was able to wrap His loving arms around His children from the beautiful harbor city of Hong Kong. The Spirit of Elijah was released to heal generations from Asia that will have an impact to the ends of the earth.

Cindy Jacobs
Generals International

Email: generals@generals.org
Website: generals.org

Cindy Jacobs is a respected prophet who travels the world, ministering not only to crowds of people but to heads of nations. Her first calling is and always will be prophetic intercession. Each year she travels, and she has spoken on nearly every inhabited continent to tens of thousands. Yet, in her heart is the memory that Jesus left the ninety-and-nine to go to the one. Generals International is an international church movement, reforming the nations of the world back to a Biblical worldview. They are achieving societal transformation through intercession and the prophetic.

Cindy has authored seven books, loves to travel and speak, but one of her favorite past-times is spending time with her husband Mike and their children Daniel and Mary Madison, along with her five adorable grandchildren.