Teams – It Takes Two or More - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

Teams – It Takes Two or More

Now Think On This

Steve Martin

“In the Antioch congregation were prophets and teachers — Bar-Nabba, Shim‘on (known as “the Black”), Lucius (from Cyrene), Menachem (who had been brought up with Herod the governor) and Sha’ul. One time when they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Ruach HaKodesh said to them, “Set aside for me Bar-Nabba and Sha’ul for the work to which I have called them.” After fasting and praying, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. So these two, after they had been sent out by the Ruach HaKodesh, went down to Seleucia and from there sailed to Cyprus.” Acts 13:1-4 CJB

Movies get our attention as much or more than any other image we may see. They can convey a message and impart a vision like no other media.

I like movies. I like to sit in the theatre, watching the big screen, being captivated by the action and emotion for that hour and a half, and then think about it later, reliving some of that which I experienced.

Movies have impact on people. That is why so many of us go to them, or watch on TV and on our iPads if we have one. They get us “out of here” and take us to a place we may not have been before, or will never get to go to in this life.

Sports can have that same emotional and lasting impact in our situations. We have our favorite players and teams, whom we give ourselves to, sometimes with our whole hearts. Growing up for me it was the Minnesota Twins Major League Baseball team that I cheered on. For my good wife Laurie, well, it was the Chicago Cubs. (I will just leave it at that and continue to write on.)

When you combine a good human life story with a sports theme, you really can have an impact on people, producing an inspiring movie. I will always remember the heart moving film Rudy, about the Notre Dame Fighting Irish college football player, getting his one moment to have his lifetime dream fulfilled. Both my Dad and I, and later my two sons, could relate to much of what Daniel Eugene "Rudy" Ruettiger grew up with, and desired.

Ruettiger's story was told in that 1993 film, which starred actor Sean Astin in the title role as Rudy. The film was written by Angelo Pizzo, directed by David Anspaugh and produced by Rob Fried, both of whom were involved in Hoosiers. Ruettiger appeared in a cameo as a fan behind Rudy's father and brother during the final scene. Dad and I later met Rudy a few years before Dad died of lymphoma cancer in July, 2000. It had been a real desire of his to do so.

Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger – 1975 Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Most sports we cheer on are of teams, where two or more players, whether men or women, combine their skills, work together after much practice time, and compete against another team for the joy of winning and the winning prize. They can achieve something that those going at it alone will not. They accomplish victory together. If they have tried doing it by themselves, it would not have been possible to get it done. Two or more contending for the same goal indeed are better than one. Teammates get it done.

In these last days, as He did in the first century, I believe the Lord is forming teams to accomplish His end time purposes. He is not wanting one man or one woman going at it alone, knowing they will fall and fail. We have been created to live and work together as a team, on a team. Something more, something greater happens when we do so, rather than going at it alone.

Rudy could not have had that moment of glory out there on the football field battling against the opposing group of 11 players by himself. Because his teammates were there and did their individual parts, he was able to fulfill his dream, resulting in that dramatic action that made a good movie, and touched lives for so many more years.

I want to impact this world with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to give myself to accomplishing the dreams He has placed in my heart, as part of His eternal plan and purpose in the nations. I know you do too.

The Lord is putting together His teams to get the job done. He is connecting bone to bone, joints and ligaments, which will provide the means and support to move, to go, whereby we will get the job done. As my wife and I connect with a team, our gifts given to us to serve others with will be joined with those having their gifts, which together as a team will change lives forever in the nations.

May your heart’s purpose be to connect, to find those you are to team with, and as one fulfill the calling you and those you walk with will have in His wide Kingdom realm. Be a team player.

Now think on this,

Steve Martin

Founder

Love For His People. Inc.

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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Now Think On This #142 “Teams – It Takes Two or More” by Steve Martin 

Date: In the year of our Lord 2014 (04.16.14) Wednesday at 5:30 am in Charlotte, NC.

All previous editions of Now Think On This can be found on this Blog, and on our newest website: Now Think On This

John Paul Jackson on Jew & Gentile, One New Man, Feasts, Disasters, USA, Shadow of God's Wings, Word of God

John Paul Jackson - prophetic minister

Published on Jan 3, 2014

www.EleventhHourPolitics.com

John Paul Jackson talks about how to find protection when disasters come onto the earth.

Jew & Gentile, One New Man, Feasts, Disasters, USA, Shadow of God's Wings, Word of God

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Prophecy - JOHN PAUL JACKSON - USA, Euro Dollar fall, Iran, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Israel, weather catastrophes worldwide

John Paul Jackson - prophetic message that will let you know

we must intercede in prayer.

Published on Mar 5, 2014 on YouTube. 

Originally his message was given on Jan. 22, 2012.

This is just a 15 minute clip of the full 1.5 hr video. The entire video can be seen at:

Watch full message here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4_Bq...

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"Embrace The Change When It Comes" - Rick Joyner

Rick Joyner - Founder, MorningStar Ministries

The Lord brings change to keep us fresh. Embrace the change and move with it. Rick Joyner

March 16, 2014 at MorningStar Ministries Sunday 11:00 am meeting

Video by Steve Martin, using my iPhone4.
Founder, Love For His People

Happy Passover (Pesach) To Our Friends!

...and because I couldn't decide 

on which one to send, 

I send you all these greetings!

With our love (ahava),

Steve & Laurie Martin

Love For His People

Charlotte, NC

 

2 Keys to Surviving God's Refining Fire by Teresa Seputis

2 Keys to Surviving God's Refining Fire

4/10/2014 TERESA SEPUTIS CHARISMA MAGAZINE

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Every believer enters a season when God turns up the heat. Here's how to keep the goal of the refinement process in view when going through the flames.

Those of you who are familiar with the process of refining gold know that the gold is first placed in a crucible and subjected to intense heat. The heat causes the gold to melt and its impurities to separate and come to the top, where they can be skimmed off.

This process is repeated as many times as necessary in order to increase the quality and purity of the gold. For example, 10-karat gold does not have to be heated as much or as long as 14-karat gold. Twenty-four karat gold undergoes an even more intensive refining process.

In a similar manner, God is in the process of refining His church. He wants a pure, beautiful bride upon whom He can pour out His anointing and His power. God desires to manifest Himself through His church so that each of us is able to do the things Jesus did (John 14:12-14).

Christ longs for each member of His body to see what the Father is doing and to do it with Him. It is His will that we walk in victory and be overcomers. These are His highest priorities for the church.

 The Refining Process 

God has to remove the impurities from our lives that hold us back from going all the way with Him. I believe that this is His agenda for the church right now and that we have entered a season of God's refinement.

Refining can be a difficult and uncomfortable process. At times, we may feel very much as the gold does when it is being melted. We experience heat, discomfort and adversity.

This process is walked out a bit differently in each of our lives. For some of us, important relationships seem to fall apart. Others are misunderstood, misjudged and falsely accused.

Finances run out for some; others may face sickness or hardships. We may find ourselves struggling once again with emotions and issues that we thought we had long since conquered.

The purifying process can be especially confusing to those of us who have been seeking the Lord and drawn to a place of deeper intimacy with Him than ever before. We may not understand why God is allowing "bad" things to happen in our lives.

Is It God or the Enemy? 

Some believers don't understand that God is refining them, so they "resist the devil" instead of submitting to the Holy Spirit (James 4:7, NIV). But God wants us to know what He is doing in this season so that we can properly respond to it.

Sometime the enemy's attacks and the refiner's fire look a lot alike. Fortunately, God has given us a strategy for distinguishing them. In his letter to the church, the apostle James wrote: "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him" (James 1:5).

In other words, ask God, and He will make it clear to you. It may not happen the instant you ask because sometimes His answer has to work its way into our understanding.

God may choose to speak to you through circumstances. James says that the enemy must flee when we resist him and submit to God (James 4:7). So if you apply the authority that Jesus has given you over the situation and nothing changes, that may be a hint that this is God's hand on you and not the enemy's.

Perhaps you've seen a certain weakness frequently rise up in you. The Lord may be calling your attention to a character trait He wants to refine.

He may put a conviction in your heart, speak to you through the Scriptures or use friends to let you know that He wants to deal with you in a certain area. I can't tell you precisely how, but He will make it clear to you.

You can know when it's the enemy's attack and what strategy God wants you to use to resist him. And you can know when it is God's refining fire and how to best cooperate with Him in the process.

Why God Allows the Fire 

We need to realize that God wants to purify our lives of the things that keep us from moving forward with His plan. Hosea 6:1-2 paints a picture of what God is doing:

"He has torn us to pieces but He will heal us; He has injured us but He will bind up our wounds. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will restore us, that we may live in His presence."

When I first read that passage, I had a mental image of a lion mauling someone. I could not understand why a loving Father would maul His children in that manner, so I asked God about it.

He told me: "Teresa, you have the wrong picture. Let Me show you what it really means." Then I saw a picture in my mind's eye of a surgeon skilfully cutting around a cancerous growth so it could be removed.

The cutting away of the "death" within us can be painful. But God's goal for the surgery is to remove those things that work death in us and replace them with His life.

Even if you are already walking in holiness, you will go through a season of God's refinement because He desires to radiate His glory and His presence through your life. He wants pure vessels that He can pour His anointing into.

We can't control whether or not God will take us through His refiner's fire, but we can control how long we stay in the fire. The more we resist Him, the longer the process will take. The more we cooperate with Him, the faster it will go.

Surrender to the Process 

The first step in surviving God's refining process is to cooperate with Him rather than resist Him. Once I was holding on to something dear to me that held me back in my walk with God. For about a week, God and I struggled over this. Then He said: "Teresa, we can do this the easy way or the hard way, but we will do it."

God showed me two pictures. The first was a child's hand tightly clasping a stone. An adult's hand began peeling back the child's fingers one by one until the stone fell out of her hand.

The second picture was the same child's hand holding the stone. But the child relaxed her grip and placed the stone in the adult's hand.

"Which will it be?" the Lord asked me.

Suddenly I understood that God was going to remove this thing from my life. I could willingly cooperate with Him, and He would help me gain the victory with minimal pain and effort. However, if I chose to resist Him, He would orchestrate one situation after another to "pry back my fingers" until I could not hang on to it any longer.

Tearfully, I laid this thing on the altar. It was not long before God gave me the victory in this area, and I found new fruit of the Spirit emerging in my life.

Then God showed me a little girl holding on to a very dirty and tattered teddy bear. The girl's father was trying to take the bear away, and she resisted strenuously.

Finally, she released her grip on the old teddy bear. As soon as she did, the father placed an exquisitely beautiful doll in her hands that she liked much more.

God showed me that He made me give up what I had been holding on to so that He could replace it with something better.

Acknowledge the Need 

The second step in surviving the process is to see our need for cleansing. "Impurities" will rise to the surface, and we will see behaviors, attitudes and character traits in ourselves that we do not like.

When the pressure is on, inappropriate responses from our weaknesses and woundedness will become more visible. These may include bitterness, unforgiveness, fear, anger or sinful desires that we know are displeasing to God. These have to come to the top so they can be "skimmed off."

We may be horrified at what shows up in our lives. Some of us may go into denial mode and try to push these things down.

But Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick" (Luke 5:31). We need to see our need before God will help us.

Receiving forgiveness for sins works on the same principle. We must see our guilt, confess our sins and repent before God will forgive us (1 John 1:9). If we acknowledge our need for God to help us in this area of our character, He will.

Some of us become upset and condemn ourselves when we notice impurities present in our lives. We may even pull away from God.

But God wants us to run to Him and receive His forgiveness and cleansing. His desire is not to condemn us but to purify us and transform us into the image of His son (Rom. 8:1; Titus 2:14; 2 Cor. 3:18).

We're in the Fire Together 

We can be of great help to our friends and acquaintances when they go through God's refining in their lives by 1) understanding that God is bringing impurities to the surface to remove them and 2) being quick to forgive and slow to take offense. We also need to encourage our loved ones to have hearts after God, bless their resolve for holiness, pray and speak God's strength into them.

What Has Already Been Set in Motion - Part 3 by Bill Click

What Has Already Been Set in Motion 

- Part 3 by Bill Click

Identity Network

Jesus commanded the Apostles to continue what He had set in motion. It was a succession of faith that would reproduce the very same dimension of who He had not only been to them, but  was getting ready to release into them and then throughout the earth (Acts 1:4-8).

While they were with Jesus, the Apostles evangelized under Christ’s authority with an anointing (Mt.10:8). This power was also released to the seventy.  The effectiveness of all was verified by the testimony that they, “seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your Name” (Luke10:17). 

Such is to be God’s normal for the Great Commission today (Mt.28:18-20). But to be and do this, we must abandon the old wineskins that make these commands no longer valid (Mt.22:29).

Our experience leads us to form doctrines that say being healed, delivered and experiencing God supernaturally is either false, unnecessary or a bonus to salvation, instead of being an essential part of its total package.

Moving from the Concept to Conception

Jesus came to institute Spiritual reality, true relationship, and divine authority. For years, however, the dimension of the apostolic most of us have witnessed is primarily one of doctrine, networking and structure. There is so much more. But that is what happens when we take what we have received in seed form and prematurely call it a tree. The seed of the revelation of the apostolic was not planted prematurely, but any evaluation of it being either fully established or a finished product is. 

Whenever we take whatever is only ours in seed form and run with it prematurely, what we ultimately see is only the result of our own efforts. Then the obvious disparity between “this is that” and what it is discredits not only the realm of the Spirit, but also the Lord Himself (Acts.2:16).

Our desire for something to be does not make it so. Even when whatever we may perceive reaches to the farthest extent of what has been understood to that point. Instead, what the Lord is calling His people into is the very substance and evidence of apostolic faith which brings power with its revelation (Heb.11:1; Ro.10:17). 

This is not only more but also completely different from understandings acknowledged and agreed upon by groups based on principles that are rooted in the mind rather than the power of the Spirit (1Cor.2; 2Tim.3:1-5). What you just read above was the very definition of denominationalism: common ideals of truth about God and the church designed to identify who is “one of us” and who is not.

Deepening in the Spirit without Complicating it in Soul

To move past the framework of what is true about God into the actual house Christ is building, we first need to get into His living room. We need the intimacy and resulting power that makes the foundation not only identifiable, but sustainable. The foundation itself is essential, but God has more than just acknowledging gifts, ministries and offices, their place, and what their function should look like in serving the Church. The foundation is about the whole body doing likewise, because of what Christ’s work in each of us is to result in.

Through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. (Eph.2:19-22).

Paul was emphasizing that through Christ, both he and those who would read have our access in one Spirit to the Father (19). The same Spirit that was on the Apostles and Prophets came on the body at Ephesus. Although Apostles and Prophets lay foundation, it is not so they can do so over and over again. It is so that the whole building, being fitted together will be growing into a holy temple in the Lord (21). Paul gave them (& also us) the word of the Lord. I the same way Apostles and Prophets receive and release Christ in the Spirit, you (we) also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit (22).

With a foundation alone you have the appearance of what can become a house. Set apart for building purposes, its future use is determined, but it is only the beginning. That doesn’t change too much just by adding a frame. Without the Spiritual reality, true relationship, and divine authority of the foundation actually becoming that which belongs to body members, only the framework of what has been promised is established. But the Lord has given us all we need to become that completely finished house. Not only observed and defined as such, but inhabited and functioning as one. That way, the house becomes a home.

We are to become His home on Earth, just as His home will be ours in eternity. Jesus came to occupy us in such a way that He not only resides, but we abide (Col.1:27; Jn.15:7). It is a mutual, ongoing experience shared by those who have entered into His abundant life (Jn.10:10). And by doing so, we cannot only work the works of God but come to the place in our shared housing that we do greater works than these “because I go to the Father.” (Jn.6:28; 14:12)

We want to get caught up in qualifications, so that we may excuse and explain away what we are not seeing. But how many times have we said, “God qualifies those He calls, He does not call the qualified.”  We tend to get caught in criticism of people or manifestations, then reject what does not match our “jot and tittle” of doctrine or lack of Supernatural experience (Mt.5:18). But we have neither seen it all, heard it all, nor experienced it all. God WILL definitely use His Word as a confirmation for what He does in the Spirit, but He has called us to understand it and apply His Word by His Spirit, not our soul (1Cor.2:12-16).

God Goes Beyond Our Understanding in Ways which Require Us to Receive as Children

It is clear that the Kingdom of God belongs to those Jesus personally touches (Mt.19:13-15). No one can understand the extent to which people are physically impacted by a true visitation: not only what happens in the Spirit realm, but also in their bodies and how it often transforms their mind, will and emotions. The adult in most of us says, “all that is not necessary, we just need the anointing to get the job done.”  But Jesus said that the gist of what it means to truly be converted is to become as children (Mt.18:3).

Throughout Scripture and Church history, God chooses to manifest His Glory by granting His children moments of visitation which not only feature down loadings of anointing, but demonstrations of the extent to which our bodies, souls and cultures are so obviously vacant and powerless compared to His presence and power. Phenomena such as visions of Jesus, revelations of past or future, loss of bodily control and/or waves of glory which emanate and affect those who get near them (spread the experience). The laughing, crying, vacillation between the two or even other unusual sounds which come forth not only cleanse but empower and are truly signs and wonders.

We need more than just the witness of the Spirit (Ro.8:9,16). We need more than just the call of God (Ro.11:29). We need much more than just the revelation of our gift (Ro.12:6). We even need more than just to move in spiritual gifts (1Cor.12:11; 14:1). Years ago, during a time of training: the Lord called us into His depths by having me exhort that, “you need to get inside the One who is inside you.”  It will take that to begin to see things through His eyes and not our own. And it will take even more to become fully occupied by Christ. We need to actually “receive power when the Holy Spirit has come…” (Acts1:8).

Jesus made it mandatory for the Apostles who were to make it mandatory for those who followed them (Mt.28:20). And we have inherited both their promise and its command: “I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high” (Luke.24:49).

At the end of part 1, I emphasized that we need to seek the Lord until we find Him. After finding, we must then ask Him what He wants. After receiving His direction, we must then believe that following His process will result in becoming those who will truly be houses of his power. In part 2, I encouraged that we do not have to stop all human activity to do so, neither do we have to refuse to be available for use by the Lord. Instead, that we are to give away what we already have received as we seek Him for the “more” that will make the difference in this next, upcoming and ongoing release of His Glory.

The Power will Reveal what has not Yet Been Discovered

Again, we need more than just the witness of the Spirit, the call of God, the revelation of our gift, and even moving in the spiritual gifts (1Cor.12:11; 14:1). Most if not all have been designed to flow in gifts which have never been activated, even if already received. On occasion you may have been used in the anointing in ways that have yet to become consistent or even seasonal. There are times when God will do something sovereign through us, but at the same time point toward what can become more than just a momentarily experience or even sporadic occurrence.

For God to use us more consistently (& increasingly) in power, we must receive greater impartations of His power. For Jesus to extend Himself through you prophetically, you must receive more significant impartations of revelation.

But to increase what you already have, you must use what you have been given while you seek for more of Him. Instead of just trying to “hold on till the end” or “hold on to the horns of the altar” or “hold onto faith” or “hold on until things change,” it is time to take hold of what He has taken hold of us for (Php.3:12).

All through Scripture we are reminded that we will reap what we sow. Paul exhorted us to “sow after the Spirit” (Gal.6:7-9). What puts to death the misdeeds of the body and enables us to live that abundant life only happens through the Spirit (Ro.8:13). So that is how we will demonstrate being true sons and daughters of God (Ro.8:14).

Sow with a view to righteousness, Reap in accordance with kindness; Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD Until He comes to rain righteousness on you. (Ho.10:12)

Bill Click

rpm5clicks@juno.com

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Persecuted Christian Asia Bibi's Appeal Hearing Delayed for Third Time

4/14/2014 ASIA NEWS CHARISMA NEWS

Appeal proceedings have been delayed again in the case of Asia Bibi, the Christian mother of five sentenced to death for blasphemy.

Lahore high court judges Sardar Tariq Masood and Abdul Sami Khan adjourned the case shortly after the hearing began and arguments were presented.

Court sources say that a new date for the appeal is expected tomorrow in a case that has dragged on without any progress for quite some time.

For several months, extremist groups have been making threats against the judges in order to pressure them to confirm the death penalty imposed by the lower court.

However, the woman's lawyers say they remain confident and hopeful that the high court will soon overturn her conviction and let her go.

In recent days, Pakistani Christians have promoted days of fasting and prayer on behalf of Asia Bibi and Sawan Masih, both of whom are innocent but sentenced to death under the infamous "black law."

Asia Bibi, who has been on death row since November 2010 and held under solitary confinement on security grounds, has become a symbol of the fight against blasphemy.

Punjab Gov. Salman Taseer and Federal Minority Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, a Catholic, were killed in 2011 for coming to her defense.

Masih, a 26-year-old Christian from Lahore, was convicted recently by a lower court on false charges as a result of a personal dispute with the person who reported him.

It is sad "to see how the situation in Pakistan is getting worse by the day, not only for minorities, but especially for women and girls," Father James Chand, from the Archdiocese of Lahore, told AsiaNews.

"Let us continue to pray for Asia Bibi and Sawan Masih," he added.

Father Arthur Nat, a priest from Central Punjab, joined Chand's appeal, calling for "a day of fasting and prayer on Wednesday."

Meanwhile, a new case of child sexual assault has been reported. On Sunday, a 12-year-old girl was raped by an Islamic cleric in a Punjab mosque.

Witnesses say the imam sent students home, asking the girl to stay. He then assaulted her ​​with the help of four boys.

The girl's family plans to report the crime, but it appears the religious leader has already fled the area without leaving a trace.

Click here to read this article on persecution.org from CHARISMA NEWS.