Silence - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

Silence

“I was mute with silence, I held my peace even from good, and my sorrow was stirred up. My heart was hot within me; while I was musing, the fire burned.” (Psalm 39:2-3, NKJV)

While sitting on our front porch swing in the early morning hours, the cool breeze blew gently across in the quiet moments. While others continued to rest in bed, or prepare for the new day, I enjoy these times in prayer and listening to our Lord’s heart and voice. He enjoys it too, I believe, as time is given with Him and His Holy Spirit.

Then within my spirit, I sensed a weeping build up, as if I was interceding for another who was softly crying out to the Lord. I continued in prayer, and He spoke, “Silence.”

Not one but several I understood were crying out to the Lord in this hour. I was interceding for them. As they sought the Lord, knowingly or unknowingly, He was having me join them in prayer. His heart was being shared with me, for them.

Throughout the ages, the Lord has called upon His people to stand up and speak up for those who cannot. We are being asked to intercede for the unborn, the prisoners lost in deep, dark cellars, the believers in closed nations that are being persecuted for following the Way, the Truth, and the Life, Jesus, Yeshua. We are being called upon to speak up, and not remain in silence, for those who can’t.

As many are left alone, having no mouth to speak for themselves for the world to hear, we must be the ones who rise and speak for them. For many, it is us, the believers of the only Savior, who know the truth, who are the ones who need to speak for those who have been silenced, or whose mouth has not even been allowed to breathe the air of life for the first time outside the womb.

Every opportunity you get, every moment you have been given, to intercede, to write, to speak…do it. Those of us who know the truth must now speak it. Boldly, loudly, and with the confidence that Truth, His truth, will be heard.

Now think of this,

Ahava and shalom,

Steve Martin

Founder/President

Love For His People, Inc.

P.S. As I was writing this, my WORD document kept shutting down. No obstacle must keep us from speaking up. 

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Now Think On This #427 - in the year of our Lord 06.07.19 – “Silence” – Friday, 5:30 am

This little fella joined me this morning, June 7, 2019, around 4 am, on our front porch.

A new prayer partner!

Christians Persecuted by ISIS: 'God Will Use This Hell to Perform a Miracle' - CBN NEWS

Displaced Iraqi children who fled their homes with their family during a battle between Iraqi forces and Islamic State militants, gather at a checkpoint to be transferred to Hammam al-Alil camp, in Mosul. (REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani)

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

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Christians Persecuted by ISIS: 'God Will Use This Hell to Perform a Miracle' 

3/20/2017 CBN NEWS

The Islamic State has pushed its way across Iraq and Syria, devastating entire cities and families. This hasn't stopped faithful believers from trusting God to restore their lives. 

"We see destruction all around us," Ryan Mauro, a national security analyst, told Breitbart News after walking through the ancient city of Qaraqosh. 

While ISIS fighters have wreaked havoc everywhere, they say their favorite prey are Christians. They have toppled down Christian homes and left church sanctuaries as burnt skeletons of the building they once were. 

However, Christians remain firm. 

"On a few occasions, I heard the line, 'We don't worship a God of buildings. Our God is in here,' while pointing toward their hearts," he said of local Christian.
 
Some say their faith is even stronger than it was before. 

"The ones who I walked around Qaraqosh with were adamant that their faith is even stronger than it was before and vowed to reopen the burned church and fill it with an even bigger crowd than before," the national security analyst explained. "To them, God will use this hell they've endured to perform a miracle."

While they do not know what their future holds, many Christians and fighters on the frontlines are looking to America to help.

"The Kurds, the Kakai Kurdish minority and the Christians directly and passionately asked me to relay a request to President Trump: for him to personally come visit with them and for the U.S. to provide political and military support. A safe zone for the persecuted minorities should immediately become an official objective of U.S. policy," Mauro said.

In the meantime, they will continue praying for the day their cities will be restored. 

Copyright The Christian Broadcasting Network, Inc., All rights reserved.

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We Must Wake Up the World! ✡ "See My Affliction From My Enemies" - ISRAEL365

Have mercy on me, O Lord, see my affliction from my enemies, You Who raise me up from the gates of death. PSALMS (9:14) יד חָנְנֵנִי יְ-הֹוָה רְאֵה עָנְיִי מִשּׂנְאָי מְרוֹמְמִי מִשַּׁעֲרֵי מָוֶת תהילים ט:טז yad kha-n'-nay-nee a-do-nai r'-ay an-yee mi-sin-ai m'-ro-m'-mee mi-sha-a-ray ma-vet

Today's Israel Inspiration The Psalmist's words are a modern day plea for the world to wake up and “see the affliction” of Christians and other minorities who are being persecuted, driven and wiped out, and their places of worship destroyed. Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize recipient, once said “We must take sides. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” Yet the world remains quiet in the face of ISIS’ declared campaign to eradicate Christianity. “Faithkeepers” is an upcoming documentary film about the violent persecution of Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East. Support an urgent crowdfunding campaign to distribute the film and educate America about the plight of persecuted Christians in the Middle East and mobilize people to action. Inspire the world to stop the genocide of Christians. Help to complete production and global launch of "Faithkeepers" & get the DVD » Sneak Preview of "Faithkeepers" the Film Faithkeepers – the movie and the movement –  enlighten and inspire all people of faith to stand-up and take action. Watch the promo » Go Behind the Scenes of Groundbreaking Documentary & "Sound the Alarm" The Clarion Project, a nonprofit organization founded in 2006, is working to wake up the sleeping masses with a new, groundbreaking film about radical Islam called “Faithkeepers – Sound the Alarm on Christian Genocide”. Read more » Multi Leather Cords Necklace This beautiful silverplated ring necklace with turquoise accents, combines crystals and Hebrew blessings for happiness, health, love, and good luck! Get 5% off storewide with coupon code "GOODBYE2015" » Israel Photo Trivia Can you guess where Ilan Rosen took this incredible photo in Israel? (Hint: it's a geological landform considered unique to Israel's desert.) Send me an email or post your answer on Facebook! Guess on Facebook » Thank You Today's Scenes and Inspiration is sponsored by Victor Koros of Brooklyn, New York. Todah rabah! Sponsor a day and receive a free devotional book » “Thank You for Your Emails, I Just Love Them!” It’s great to hear from so many of you - stay in touch and let us know where in the world you are enjoying Israel365! Stay in Touch » Hi, my name is Kathryn. I am from Minnesota. Thank you for your emails, I just love them! God Bless you! I am enjoying Israel365 from my job desk in Harrisburg, PA. It is really a blessing to know what is happening in my beautiful Jerusalem and be able to pray for everyone out there. Blessings to all in Israel!.-Luz Rivera Shalom, Rabbi Tuly Weisz RabbiTuly@Israel365.com

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We Must Focus on Ending Persecution of Christians Worldwide - Steve Strang

We Must Focus on Ending Persecution of Christians Worldwide

 4/21/2015 STEVE STRANG  charisma magazine

United Nations building (Wikimedia Commons)

Last Friday I had the privilege of speaking at the United Nations on the topic of the persecuted church. If you missed what I said, click here. Even though I've had many wonderful experiences in my role as a Christian journalist, it was a peak experience to go to that august assembly and be given the floor to speak out for those who have no voice.

Since Friday there have been reports of Christians thrown overboard by Muslims on a migrant ship in the Mediterranean apparently only because they were Christians. And some Ethiopians were slaughtered in Libya only because they were Christians.

When will the killing end? The United Nations and U.S. leaders must pass resolutions to protect Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East.

It's also vitally important that President Obama appoint a Special Envoy for the protection of religious minorities in the Middle East and call for the establishment of an International Day of Prayer in solidarity with Christians in the Middle East.

There was an impressive lineup of speakers from Rabbi Jonathan Cahn to Lt. Gen. (Ret) William Boykin, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, and representatives from nearly every segment of the Christian community. The speeches were so good that we will publish most of them in the next two weeks. It's my way of giving attention to the problem.

While it was a great honor to be invited to speak and I delivered my remarks with conviction, I realized the real value in my being there wasn't to speak as much as for me to be reminded of the seriousness of the problem. Also, it reminded me that I can't be content to write about it from time to time rather than make it a focus.

We must focus on this. If we don't, who will? And we can't just feel persecution of Christians is something that only applies to others in some far away place. If one part of the body of Christ suffers, we all suffer. And in a way, we're victims of the same anti-Christian feelings—there is more societal discrimination of Christians in the West too.

I call on other Christian media like Christianity Today, WND, Christian Post and Salem Communications to focus on this too. In addition, Christian radios and TV should raise awareness since the secular media seem to minimize it.

Friday's event, as historic as it was, received minimal coverage in the press.

So you can help by making your friends and fellow church members aware of the problem. Speak up. Make your voice heard. Forward articles on Christian persecution to your friends on social media—including the ones we publish.

And pray. We must pray for those who suffer. We must pray the suffering will end. We must pray that the U.N. will speak up to condemn this as unacceptable in the civilized world.

Do you agree? Leave your thoughts below.

Steve Strang is the founding editor and publisher of Charisma. Follow him on Twitter@sstrang or Facebook (stephenestrang).

To read more about Christian persecution and Islamic terrorism, please check out Mark Gabriel's Journey Into the Mind of an Islamic Terrorist. You can purchase the book by clicking here.

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