Better Know Your Cave - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

Better Know Your Cave

Now Think On This

Steve Martin

“You're my cave to hide in, my cliff to climb. Be my safe leader, be my true mountain guide. Free me from hidden traps; I want to hide in you. I've put my life in your hands. You won't drop me, you'll never let me down.” (Psalm 31:3-5, THE MESSAGE)

By the title of this message, you may have thought this was one to provoke you to get your hiding place ready for when the tribulation comes. Not a bad thought. I have some extra long-term food stored away on hand, for when the troubling times that will come, do come, just as the Word says.

Noah was prepared. Joseph was prepared. Often the Lord told His people in advance to prepare. It isn’t an “unbelief” action as some would make you think. It is wisdom, and knowing that what the Lord says will come to pass, will indeed come to pass. So I have prepared too.

No, this specific message is more about the spiritual aspect of knowing where you go when you need a place to hide, a place to be under the shadow of His wing, the covering that can only be found in the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

David, the Jewish shepherd boy who was anointed king years before it actually came about, had to learn the secret to “living in the cave.” When his soul was troubled, when he was being pursued by his frequent enemies, primarily King Saul (who, like some modern day “religious” leaders try to destroy the newcomers who have been chosen to take their place) he knew where to abide. He had learned Who to abide in. David knew his cave. And he went there often.

St. George Monastery - Wadi Qelt Judean desert in Israel

(Photo: Steve Martin, 2008)

Both you and I need to know where our spiritual cave is. We need to have established a place where we often meet with the Lord. Not just in the bad times, but in the good as well. It must be a consistent, daily if possible, location. Both physically and spiritually.

When the troubling times come, not if but when, be they today, tomorrow or beyond, we have to be in such a place spiritually so that when the enemy strikes at us (and we know he doesn’t fight fair), we are confident that our covering and protection are solid in the Lord Jesus.

Not in drugs. Not from alcohol. Nor in the TV set or on the Internet, or some other “escape” route. Our refuge must be in the Lord Himself.

The Lord God Almighty promises us this in His Word.

“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust."

Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look, and see the reward of the wicked.

Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; for He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

"Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation." (Psalm 91:1-16, NKJV)

During the day, when the stress and pressure on the job, in the family, on the highway, or wherever you may experience it, gets to be too much, we must have learned to call upon the Name of the Lord and abide in Him. We must firmly believe that He is with us, knowing it in our “knower”, as an old wise man used to say. Confidence will be assured, primarily because we had spent time with Him in our “cave time”.

We can learn to be at peace, in His peace, even in the presence of our enemies.

As David wrote, for himself then and as a sure word for us today, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies…” (Psalm 23:5, NKJV)

Learning to abide in the shadow of the Lord, in His place of refuge, in that “cave” we can go to, will make us ready for the times when we must know how, when and where to know His presence is with us. We can have that assurance by practicing His presence with us today.

Now think on this,

Steve Martin

Founder/President

Love For His People, Inc.

  

If these messages have ministered to you, please consider sending a charitable gift of $10-$25 today, and maybe each month, to help us bless families and pastors in Israel, Pakistan, Northern Ireland, and Nigeria, whom we consistently help monthly through our humanitarian ministry. Your tax-deductible contributions receive a receipt for each donation. Fed. ID #27-1633858.

Secure, conveniently contributions can be done online now through our website: Donate

Contribution checks can be sent to: 

Love For His People, Inc.  P.O. Box 414   Pineville, NC 28134

Todah rabah! (Hebrew – Thank you very much.) Please share Now Think On This with your friends. Steve Martin

Now Think On This - in the Year of our Lord 7.25.17 - #302– “Better Know Your Cave” – Tuesday 6:10 pm

Our ministry outreach to help supply international pastors with our teaching materials is much appreciated by them. We hope you can join us to bless them. Remeber in the past when someone gave you a free book that taught you of our Lord's love and grace? Return the blessing to another.

Nigerian pastors received our books. July 22, 2017

Secure, conveniently contributions can be done online now through our website: Donate

Contribution checks can be sent to: 

Love For His People, Inc.  P.O. Box 414   Pineville, NC 28134

USA tax receipts are provided by our 501(c)3 ministry Love For His People, Inc.

J. Lee Grady - 6 Mentors Who Can Help You Grow Spiritually

J. Lee Grady - 6 Mentors Who Can 

Help You Grow Spiritually

CHARISMA MAGAZINE March 2014

God doesn’t want us to live in isolation. I realized many years ago that I desperately need people in my life in order to fulfill my purpose. My parents invested in me, and so did teachers, coaches, employers, pastors, role models and good friends. I am not self-made, and neither are you. Any success we have achieved is the result of someone taking time to instruct, encourage or correct us. That’s humbling!

Mentorship is a basic biblical principle. The book of Proverbs opens with an exhortation to listen not only to parents but also to the “words of the wise” (Prov. 1:6, NASB). Moses mentored Joshua, Naomi mentored Ruth, and Elijah mentored Elisha. Jesus spent most of His time teaching a small group of disciples. One of those, Peter, discipled his spiritual son, Mark (1 Pet. 5:13), who in turn wrote the Gospel of Mark based on Peter’s testimony.

The message of Christ is best transmitted through the process of mentoring. But this art has been lost in today’s church—partly because of family breakdown and partly because our celebrity-obsessed culture values self-effort and instant results. Mentoring is too slow for most of us because we prefer the overnight sensation. God’s kingdom is built through a tedious process we don’t have the patience for.

Yet I believe we can reclaim biblical discipleship. In fact, I’m convinced the church is shifting radically back to God’s original plan as we reject the program-driven, impersonal, televangelistic one-man show of the past season. Everywhere I go I find people who are hungry for authentic relationships that can help them become team players and mature mentors.

I’ve found six types of mentors who have helped me in my spiritual journey:

1. Distant mentors. British author Charles Spurgeon died in 1892, but I consider him a mentor because I read his books often. The same is true of other dead authors such as Andrew Murray and A.W. Tozer. You don’t have to know a person to receive instruction from them. I’ve never met author Henry Blackaby, but his books, especially Experiencing God, have profoundly influenced me.

2. Occasional mentors. Brother Andrew, the founder of the Open Doors ministry, became a hero to me after I read his book God’s Smuggler in the 1970s. Then in 2004, I had the privilege of interviewing him in his home in Holland. Some of the things he said to me that day still ring in my ears. I may never visit him again, but he made an eternal investment in my life.

3. Supportive friends. A mentor does not have to be 20 years older than you. I have a close group of peers who sometimes gather from four states just to pray for each other. We call this group “the band of brothers.” I am constantly on the phone with a few of them. We share prayer requests and offer advice—and we aren’t afraid to step on each others’ toes if necessary. You need friends like that to survive life’s challenges.

4. Negative mentors. Not everyone you meet is a good example. I have sometimes encountered people in positions of leadership who had serious flaws. Some had prideful attitudes; others had poor people skills; a few had selfish agendas. Rather than allowing myself to become bitter or judgmental, I studied their behavior and determined to avoid doing the same things. I said to myself, “Let this be a lesson. That is not how to lead.”

5. Reverse mentors. You can also learn from younger people. I invest in a lot of Timothys, and they love to ask me for counsel. But I sometimes flip roles and pick their brains. One of the guys I’m mentoring, Alex, is a tech geek—so I know he will have the answer when I have a question about my computer, my smartphone or the latest app. I also get regular feedback from the guys I’m mentoring because I want to know if I’m communicating in a way that is relevant to their generation. Sometimes the best way to mentor is to ask questions!

6. Spiritual fathers and mothers. God has used many different mentors in my life, but there are some who invested in me in a very personal way for a long span of time. One of them, Barry St. Clair, invited me to a discipleship group when I was only 15. He taught me the basics of the Christian life during those Bible studies in his basement, and we have stayed connected for 40 years. This month the two of us are doing a conference together in Atlanta! Barry has been a role model, counselor and spiritual father most of my life, and his investment in me has now been passed on to dozens of others.

If you don’t have mentors, I urge you to find them. If you are fortunate to have been mentored, then pay forward what you have received—and invest in someone else.

J. Lee Grady is the former editor of Charisma. You can follow him on Twitter at@leegrady. He is the author of 10 Lies Men Believe and other books.

Did you enjoy this blog? Click here to receive CHARISMA MAGAZINE by email.