Ahava Love Letter (#62) - "Hidden"

“Hidden” “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field.  A man found it, hid it again, then in great joy went and sold  everything he owned, and bought that field.”  Matt 13:44 Complete Jewish Bible

Dear family of friends,

As the verse above says, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden. Hidden from whom? Hidden for what purpose? What does it have to say about you?

The Lord had the apostle Matthew, or emissary as the CJB version would say, add these spoken words of Yeshua (Jesus) as a parable telling of the value of finding the Kingdom of Heaven, and then selling all to obtain it. So it must be possible to obtain the Kingdom of Heaven for ourselves. But it will cost dearly of ourselves to have it. It will cost everything we have.

How many of us are willing to sell all – our current life, our job situation, our hopes and dreams – to get all that the Lord has for us? There used to be a time when that seemed common. Sell all you had, join the Jesus People or the charismatic movement, and live in the commune. I know I did in the late 1970’s.

You don’t hear too much of this generation wanting to become missionaries and “go to Africa”, or young ones leaving home to give their heart and soul to what Jesus has called them to do. There are the summer short-term mission trips, the Saturday youth group team outing to help needy church members, but rarely anymore do I hear of young people, college age young adults in church wanting to serve the Lord lifetime on the mission field, or join YWAM (Youth With A Mission.)

Or maybe I just am not seeing it, and the Lord is preparing a group of young people, future leaders, who are now “hidden” from my view, and many others.

I have hope in my heart that there are right now being prepared these who are going to give their all to serve His purposes. It seems like every generation has some.

Maybe you are in your late teens or early twenties; maybe you are “thirtysomething”, and longing for the Lord to move in your life. You want Him to respond to that stirring He put in your heart when you were ten, or 15. I promise you, He will. I am living proof of it.

It may take 10 or 20 years to happen, but His promises are true. While you may seem hidden, unnoticed, cast aside and somewhat useless in your own eyes and others, I tend to think that is because you are the Kingdom of Heaven material that He has sought for. When the Lord goes out in His field, looking for buried treasure that He already knows is there, He will already have paid the price, as He did on the cross, and take you as His own. The hidden treasure in the field this time is you.

Don’t grow weary in your current situation, struggling without hope and vision. Know that His plan for you is good. Hang in there, and you will see Him open doors that no man can shut. You will step out and walk in your calling. The world needs you, and He will be the one to complete His purposes for you.

Be encouraged young one.

Ahava (love in Hebrew) to my family of friends,

Steve Martin

Founder/President

Love For His People, Inc. truly appreciates your generous support. Please consider sending a monthly charitable gift of $5-$25 each month to help us bless Messianic Jews in Israel. 

Love For His People, Inc. is a charitable, not-for-profit USA organization. Fed. ID#27-1633858.  Tax deductible contributions receive a receipt for each donation.

Click here for  Online PayPal gifts using all major credit cards.

Don't have a PayPal account? You can also use your credit card or bank account (where available). 

You can also send checks to the address below. Todah rabah! (Hebrew - Thank you very much.)

©2013 Steve Martin      Love For His People, Inc.  12120 Woodside Falls Rd. Pineville, NC 28134      

E-mail: loveforhispeople@gmail.com martinlighthouse@gmail.com

Facebook pages: Steve Martin  and  Love For His People 

      

Twitter: martinlighthous, LovingHisPeople and ahavaloveletter 

Blog: http://loveforhispeople.blogspot.com         

Full website: www.loveforhispeople.org

YouTube: Steve Martin (loveforhispeopleinc)

Ahava Love Letter #62   “Hidden”

 Date: In the year of our Lord 2013 (07/24/13 Wednesday 10 pm in Charlotte, NC)

All previous editions of Ahava Love Letter can be found on this Blog:

   http://loveforhispeople.blogspot.com 

       

Here are the last few:

Get Back in the Boat (#61)

Need Money? (#60)

Rejected? (#59)

In Your Building – Guard Against Distractions (#58)

Connections (#57)

Your Name (#56)

Lost, But Not Forgotten Friends (#55)

Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? (#54)

We Speak To Nations (#53)

Ted Pearce in Concert - full video of Messianic music

Ted Pearce shares Messianic music

Ted Pearce is a singer/songwriter/guitarist who has been a worship leader since coming to faith while driving south on a stormy Dallas night in January 1990. He has a testimony of salvation by grace through faith with a sound that borrows heavily from artists like Joel Chernoff & Lamb, Paul Wilbur & Israel's Hope, Kol Simcha, Marty Goetz, Karen Davis, Jonathan Settel, Barry & Batya Segal, Liberated Wailing Wall and others who began creating a unique song of Jewish praise to Yeshua in America during the 1970s.

Ted first released a couple of Christian rock albums in the late 90s featuring bluesy Texas rock'n'roll in his bands the Nomadic Farmers & Big Methuselah. Then, reflecting the shift in his passion for a decidedly Jewish Messiah, Ted traveled to Israel in May 2001 to release a 12" vinyl record of "Kineti/Zealous Over Zion" at the Underground Club in Jerusalem. These dance singles were included in a CD entitled "Letter to the Hebrews" during Shavuot. A year later those songs were remixed and new ones produced by the legendary Jerry Marcellino and Bill Cuomo as Ted began working with Galilee of the Nations Records. 

His discography includes:
Ted Pearce Project • Zealous Over Zion • Oct 2002 The music originally released during Shavuot 2001 in dance clubs in Israel

Various Artists • Road to Jerusalem • July 2005 Co-wrote theme song for Coach Bill McCartney's & Pastor Raleigh Washington's "Road to Jerusalem" ministry

Lamb • The Sacrifice • Oct 2005 A duo with the legendary Joel Chernoff of Lamb

Various Artists • For Zion’s Sake I Will Not Be Silent • April 2007
The release of "The Forgotten People" DVD at Dachau on Yom HaShoah

Ted Pearce with Beersheva • Hallelu Et Adonai • April 2008 19 new original acoustic praise & worship songs

Ted Pearce • Battle For Zion • October 2009 Released in Ariel, Israel with Beersheva from Tubingen, Germany

Paul Wilbur • Desert Rain • 2010 Integrity Records recording artist Paul Wilbur features a couple of Ted's songs

Sue & Brian Samuel • Promises • May 2011
Ted was honored to be asked to produce Sue Samuel's third album, Promises, and he contributed to this album's studio arrangements

Ted Pearce• emergency • November 2011
Ted's first studio release from Moshav Records

All of these projects are currently being distributed internationally through Provident/Integrity/Sony and are available on iTunes.

But we hope you will consider purchasing these projects in our webstore.

It's easier than you think to book an event with Ted Pearce.
Call 214.693.6464 or email us.

Since 2006, Ted has been working closely with TOS Ministries, Intl. and Pastor Jobst Bittner from Tubingen, Germany on a series of reconciliation prayer walks known as the March of Life in various nations of Europe and the March of Remembrance, a Holocaust Memorial prayer walk in the United States of America.

For more information about this international prayer movement checkout the websites at:MarchOfLife.org and MarchofRemembrance.org

Israel's new 'Power' at the UN

Wednesday, July 24, 2013 |  Connie Fieraru , Israel Today

Share on gmailShare on bloggerShare on facebookShare on twitterMore Sharing Services

• Enlarge

Related Stories

• MUST SEE: With friends like Obama...
• Israel uneasy over Obama selection of Kerry and Hagel
• Israelis react to Obama visit

Topics:

America

Samantha Power is set to be the next US ambassador to the UN following overwhelming approval during her Senate Foreign Relations Committee appearance on Tuesday. Power made special note of her intention to defend Israel in the world body and work to secure a seat for the Jewish state on the Security Council by 2018.

After her approval by all but two of the 18-member Senate committee, Power is expected to easily win confirmation from the rest of the Senate.

Power, 42, is an expert on genocide, a champion of human rights, and a Harvard professor. She will replace Susan Rice, who has been appointed as America’s next National Security Advisor. Power earned a degree at Yale and worked as a journalist covering the Yugoslav wars from 1993-1996 before returning to the US and graduating from Harvard Law School.

Power is known to be ‘blunt and outspoken’ and has made a career out of her intellectual and critical engagement with human rights policy, especially on the topic of genocide. She promised to utilize her strong character traits an expertise to advocate America’s interest in the UN and to eliminate bias against Israel.

However, Power has not been received without criticism, especially in light of statements made about Israel in a 2002 interview at the University of California Berkeley’s Institute of International Studies. During the interview, Power was asked to conduct a “thought experiment” on how she would intervene in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in order to protect human rights. Power responded that, given the opportunity, she would advise the president to “sacrifice billions of dollars in aid to the Jewish state” and instead allocate those funds for “the new state of Palestine instead.”

But now Power is seen openly condemning the UN’s “unacceptable bias” against Israel and pledging to “lobby hard” to get Israel a seat on the Security Council. So, what swayed her thinking? Maybe it was her marriage to Jewish lawyer Cass Sustein in 2008, or perhaps it was her more recent work with the administration in Washington that alternated her perspective.

During the recent confirmation hearing, Power stated, “What I believe in terms of Middle East peace is, I think, what is obvious to all of us here which is peace can only come about through a negotiated solution. There is no shortcut. That’s why Palestinian…unilateral statehood efforts within the UN system — shortcuts of that nature just won’t work.” With such comments Power quickly won over her critics in the pro-Israel community.

But Republican Senator Marco Rubio, one of only two to vote against Power, was unconvinced, saying she had “failed to distance herself” from past statements “and offered insufficient explanation, leaving me with serious concerns about some of her views.”

Coming to Power’s aid was Shmuley Boteach, perhaps America’s most famous rabbi, who wrote in the Times of Israel that when Power was taking questions regarding the accusations against her in a closed door meeting with 40 American Jewish leaders, “she suddenly became deeply emotional and struggled to complete her presentation as she expressed how deeply such accusations had affected her.”

Boteach continued: “Tears streamed down her cheeks and I think it fair to say that there was no one in the room who wasn’t deeply moved by this incredible display of pain and emotion. More than a few of the leaders of the room came over to me afterward and said that, based on her comments and her unabashed display of emotional attachment to the security of the Jewish people…they would never again question her commitment to Israel’s security.”

In the words of Boteach, “the greatest challenge now facing Power will be changing the UN.”

We wait in hope.

Aviel Schneider - Israel Today publisher in Jerusalem (Aug/Sept. 2013 Issue)

Editor's Note: I met Aviel Schneider in his Jerusalem office in October, 2010. Having long been a subscriber to Israel Today it was a joy to sit in his office and just get to know him a little better. I truly appreciate his work, especially as he shares about the Messianic Jews in His Land. Thank you Aviel! Steve Martin

Have Archaeologists Found Prophet Elisha's House?

By Chris Mitchell and Julie Stahl

CBN News Jerusalem Bureau

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Pat Robertson, 700 Club Founder

TEL REHOV, Israel -- During 16 years of excavating Tel Rehov in the Jordan Valley, archaeologists uncovered a 3,000-year-old, well-planned city.

They also found a unique building that might have been the house of Elisha the prophet.

Elisha and Elijah - prophets of God

"The house was full of objects of unique types… two pottery altars that were used for burning incense," archaeologist Ami Mazar told CBN News.

Altar

"We found there figurines, clay figurines. We found large vessels -- like big vessels that were probably used for serving food, not for just the nuclear family, but maybe for a larger community," he said.

Mazar also pointed out the unique structure of the house.

"Normally the houses had one entrance leading to a large space with rooms all around," he explained. "This house was divided into two wings. The two wings were connected to one another through the backroom and each one of the wings had an opening to the street."

Outside the backroom were incense altars that may have been used to make an offering to God before entering the house to hear the prophet's message.

Rooms in the evacuation

During the excavations, archaeologists discovered a special room inside the house with a table and a bench. They also discovered a pottery shard with the name Elisha on it, dated to the 9th century.

The discovery has led some to believe this was the room of the prophet Elisha.

"We found an ink inscription written in red ink on pottery, but it is broken unfortunately," Mazar said. "But we reconstructed the name as Elisha."

The prophet Elisha was born about seven miles from Tel Rehov in Avel Mehola and went throughout the kingdom of Israel, from Jericho to Samaria to Shunam.

Birthplace of Elisha - Avel Mehola

"You know I cannot say for sure this particular Elisha that we found is the biblical Elisha," Mazar said. "You know it's very difficult to say, but it is very tempting because it is exactly the period when Elisha acted -- the second half of the 9th century BC."

Archaeologist Stephen Pfann calls the evidence compelling.

"With only six other people by the name of Elisha known in that time for a couple of centuries on either side, we can somehow believe that either there was just the luck that this holy man was also by the name of Elisha, or this was Elisha the prophet himself," Pfann told CBN News.

Another discovery pointing to the prophet Elisha are two different inscriptions mentioning the family of Nimshi.

Nimshi family description

"We remember that it was Elijah who was told to anoint Jehu, the son of Nimshi, to be the king," Pfann explained. "And he passed that on to Elisha who sent out one of his disciples to finally do the anointing."

Another inscription with the same name Nimshi was found about five miles away.

"So I came to this idea that perhaps the entire valley of Beit Shean, this beautiful fertile valley [with] food, springs, water, [and] good land was perhaps under rule, perhaps, or property of this family," Ami said.

This family may also have had an unusual business: bee-keeping.

"Perhaps they were the owners of the apiary because one of [the] Nimshi inscriptions was found inside the apiary just between the hives," Pfann said.

Several years ago, archaeologists uncovered a strange installation.

"We saw that we have here a row of cylindrical, of clay cylinders. Each one of them is about 2-1/2 feet long and about 1 foot in diameter," Pfann continued. "We realized these must be bee hives."

This type of bee came from Turkey not Israel, indicating ancient trade relations between regions. They are the most ancient species of bees ever found in the world.

Many archaeologists shy away from drawing conclusions about the Bible, but some see it as a way of putting the pieces together.

"Archaeology is like a huge puzzle, you know, we add information from one excavation, a second excavation, a third excavation -- Meggido, Tel Rehov, Beit Shean…and together we bring it into a large picture, the large puzzle trying to decipher the material culture of the Israelites," Mazar explained.

For Cary Summers, who heads Nazareth Village, it's even more special.

Dr. Cary Summers

"Well, it's like any other archeological site, in essence…every scoop of dirt it proves the Bible, one scoop at a time. And this site is absolutely magnificent dealing with the prophet Elisha," Summers told CBN News.

In this day and age, he said, it's even more important.

"There is always the skeptic who says, 'Show me the proof' and 'When you have the proof.' Basically, [we have] the tile that [was] found here with the name [and] also just the excavation itself," Summers continued.

"It's one more proof for what we call the doubting world," he said.

"For God to allow this to be unearthed at this time, I think it is again another indication that we are to aggressively go forward with this kind of data, this kind of research, this kind of archaeological dig," Summers said.

The future of the site is uncertain because its mud bricks are deteriorating. Researchers hope, however, it can be preserved to help future generations understand the Bible.

Video of Elisha's House site on CBN News

King David in Hebron, Israel (Judea)

The number of days that David was king over the House of Judah in Hebron was seven years and six months. II SAMUEL (2:11) וַיְהִי מִסְפַּר הַיָּמִים אֲשֶׁר הָיָה דָוִד מֶלֶךְ בְּחֶבְרוֹן עַל בֵּית יְהוּדָה שֶׁבַע שָׁנִים וְשִׁשָּׁה חֳדָשִׁיםשמואל ב’ ב:י’’א va-ye-HEE mees-PAR ha-ya-MEEM ah-SHARE ha-YAH da-VEED meh-LEKH be-khev-RON al bayt yeh-hoo-DAH she-VA sha-NEEM ve-shee-SHA kha-da-SHEEM

TROUBLE IN THE HOLY LAND

'SECRET OBAMA PLAN' FORFEITS TEMPLE MOUNT TO PALESTINIANS

Formula for Israel-Arab talks leaked to WND

Published: July 21, 2013

 AARON KLEIN About | Email | Archive

  Subscribe to feed

• Join with Billy Graham,Declare: "I still have hope for America because of Jesus Christ"billygraham.org/SignTheDeclaration

• 
• Text smaller
• Text bigger

The Obama administration has quietly presented a plan in which the Palestinian Authority and Jordan will receive sovereignty over the Temple Mount while Israel will retain the land below the Western Wall, according to a senior PA negotiator speaking to WND.

The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism.

The proposed plan is part of the basis for U.S.-brokered talks that are set to resume in Washington next week after Secretary of State John Kerry announced that both Israel and PA President Mahmoud Abbas have agreed to open negotiations aimed at creating a Palestinian state.

Israel has not agreed to the U.S. plan over the Temple Mount, with details still open for discussion, stated the PA negotiator.

The negotiator, who is one of the main Palestinian figures leading the Arab side of the talks, further divulged Kerry’s proposed outline for a Palestinian state as presented orally to Israel and the PA.

He said Jordan has been invited to play a key role in the discussions surrounding both the Temple Mount and Jerusalem while it will be the PA, with some Jordanian assistance, that would ultimately receive control of some of those areas.

WND was first to report in 2007 that Jordan had been quietly purchasing real estate surrounding the Temple Mount in Jerusalem hoping to gain more control over the area accessing the holy site, according to Palestinian and Israeli officials.

Meanwhile, regarding the rest of Jerusalem, Kerry’s plan is to rehash what is known as the Clinton parameters. That formula, pushed by President Bill Clinton during the Camp David talks in 2000, called for Jewish areas of Jerusalem to remain Israeli while the Palestinians would get sovereignty over neighborhoods that are largely Arab. Most Arab sections are located in eastern Jerusalem.

WND previously reported the Palestinians are building illegally in Jewish-owned areas of Jerusalem, resulting in Arab majorities in some neighborhoods.

For the strategic Jordan Valley, Obama’s proposal calls for international forces to maintain security control along with unarmed Palestinian police forces, the PA negotiator said. Israel will retain security posts in some strategic areas of the Jordan Valley, according to the leaked plan.

When it comes to the West Bank, which borders Jerusalem and is within rocket range of Israel’s main population centers, Israel is expected to evacuate about 90 percent of its Jewish communities currently located in the territory, as outlined in Kerry’s plan.

Israel would retain strategic security posts along with the West Bank’s main blocs, Maale Adumin, Ariel and Gush Etzion. In return, Obama is calling for an exchange of territory with the Palestinians in other locations inside Israel, with discussion being open for the Palestinians to possibly receive land in the Israeli Negev in the country’s south.

The PA negotiator further said Israel rejected a Palestinian request that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agree not to place the final peace plan up for referendum in the Knesset.

Indeed, Netanyahu announced today any plan must receive final approval in a national poll.

“I am committed to two objectives that must guide the result … if there will be a result. And if there will be a result, it will be put to a national referendum,” he said at the start of the cabinet meeting.

“Negotiations with the Palestinians will not be easy, but we are entering them with integrity, honesty and hope,” Netanyahu added.

The PA negotiator, meanwhile, said Netanyahu agreed that as a gesture to restart talks, Israel will enact a temporary freeze on all Jewish construction in the West Bank outside the main settlement blocs. According to Israeli sources, such a freeze has largely already been in place for several months now anyway.

The negotiator warned that one of the toughest issues centers on control of water, with Kerry already reaching out to Turkey about the prospect of selling water at a cheaper rate to a future Palestinian state.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/07/secret-obama-plan-forfeits-temple-mount-to-palestinians/#RW13pqp8BZiypILq.99