“Pass the Test”
“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses
surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so
easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before
us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the
joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at
the right hand of the throne of God.
For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners
against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Hebrews 12:1-3, NASU
Dear family of friends,
Sometimes one wonders (me too) how long
situations are going to last before a resolution comes. It seems like we each
have a few going on at one time or another.
During those times of waiting for the finale’, which may take a day, week, month or even years, the Lord does a work in our hearts. He's looking for something. He's checking us out to see how much resolve we have; how long will we endure; will love or bitterness win out? Will persistence through the grim and grind prove we are willing to be a worthy fulfillment of His plans and purposes in our lives, and those around us? Every good parent does this with his/her child. It makes them strong. It causes them to grow up into the mature men and women we need.
Employment situations, family relationships, church congregations, government policies, the world in general for that matter - each offer opportunities to test our hearts, to show us what we are made of in the very depths of them.
During those times of waiting for the finale’, which may take a day, week, month or even years, the Lord does a work in our hearts. He's looking for something. He's checking us out to see how much resolve we have; how long will we endure; will love or bitterness win out? Will persistence through the grim and grind prove we are willing to be a worthy fulfillment of His plans and purposes in our lives, and those around us? Every good parent does this with his/her child. It makes them strong. It causes them to grow up into the mature men and women we need.
Employment situations, family relationships, church congregations, government policies, the world in general for that matter - each offer opportunities to test our hearts, to show us what we are made of in the very depths of them.
Your heart has ached at times, just like
others who want to please the Lord, while pushing forward through the head
winds that come at you and I more often than we’d like. But we keep pushing on.
We keep our eyes fixed on Jesus (Yeshua), Who has the Holy Spirit (Ruach
HaKodesh) walking with us on this planet.
At the end of the journey we have the promise,
we have His trustworthy commitment that we will hear God the Father say, both
to you and I, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
I have passed a few tests. I have failed a lot. So I keep taking them, because ultimately I want to be one of those "standing" when He gives out the rewards. My eyes are fixed on Him, and He will provide the grace to endure what He has directed for us during our journeys.
Our faith, our grounded and yet heavenly trust
in Him, will be the fuel burning in our spirits on this unpaved, often
uncharted road we travel.
Pass the test. Complete the grade you are currently in. Move on to the bigger challenges that come with the bigger rewards.
Ahava to my family of friends,
Pass the test. Complete the grade you are currently in. Move on to the bigger challenges that come with the bigger rewards.
Ahava to my family of friends,
Steve & Laurie Martin
Founders
Love For His People, Inc.
Love For His People,
Inc. is a charitable,
not-for-profit USA organization. Fed. ID#27-1633858.
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
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Todah rabah! (Hebrew
- Thank you very much.)
I hope you get my two
books The Promise (CreateSpace/Amazon 2013) and Ahava Love Letters (Xulon
Press, 2013). Both available through Amazon.com Xulon Press.com , plus other
website book stores.
You can also order
both books, The Promise (on Amazon.com for $7.19 plus $3.95 S/H) and Ahava Love
Letters Xulon Press for $14.90, plus $3.80) or you can get both from our office
for $29. Send check to the address above. I will autograph all copies ordered
through our office. (Hey, and please include a contribution for Israel too!)
Please share this
Ahava Love Letter with your friends.
Email addresses: loveforhispeople@gmail.com
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Full website: Love For His People
Ahava Love Letter #92
“Pass the Test” ©2013 Steve Martin
Date: In the year of
our Lord 2013 (12/1/13 Sunday at 7:00 am in Charlotte, NC).
All previous editions
of Ahava Love Letter can be found on this Blog, and our newest
website: Ahava Love
Letters
Many have proclaimed this New Hebrew Year, 5774, as a "Year of the Open Door." While I concur with that, I often look at things from an additional perspective which includes not only the "revelation of the Holy Spirit" but the "ways of God." So, if it is a "Year of the Open Door," then it is helpful to ask, "What are the requirements to go from one stage to the next?"
global economics, the very moral foundation of this generation, concerns of social justice, required change in the Body of Christ, and all the ramifications these bring into our personal lives and families. 
The new place is like the camel going through the eye of the needle. One school of thought was that that was a narrow gate. The only way the camel could get through was to be unloaded. This is the needle – the narrow gate. 
It isn't the new thing coming that is so hard to deal with, it's the transition from the old state of affairs to the new one.
Observing from my own prayer posture in life and ministry experience, if you are experiencing a "narrow place of confinement," or you sense you are in transition, be assured,
