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Tuesday, March 5, 2019
Israelis Call for Synagogue on Temple Mount; Palestinians Blame Jews for Holocaust; Anti-Israel Hackers Sabotage News Sites - United with Israel
Charlie the Gopherilla - Now Think On This by Steve Martin
Steve Martin
“For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; (Psalm 139:13-14, NASU)
In February of 2019, a few of us men at Antioch International Church in Fort Mill, South Carolina started a men’s group. I hadn’t been involved with one for many, many years. Part of the object of our bi-monthly gathering is to get to know the Lord more, and these men that He is connecting us within this church body.
Every other Tuesday, at the close of the meeting, we are given an assignment, or “heartwork” as our leader, Greg Partipilo, likes to call it. For one particular lesson, one of the four choices was to write a story about a fictional animal. Thus, I composed this story. Can you tell what I felt the Holy Spirit was trying to convey through it? I hope so!
My heartwork story for a March 2019 meeting.
Charlie was an odd bird, and yet he wasn’t a bird. That was part of the problem, as he saw it.
No, Charlie was a gopherilla. His dad was a gorilla and his mom was a gopher. Don’t ask Charlie how. He just knew he was what he was.
But God loved Charlie anyway, because no matter what, no matter how, God would always love the ones no one else should, could, or would. God loves. And He knew. He knew why He had created Charlie.
One day as Charlie was out for a nice walk, on a clear blue African day, alone as usual, he was alerted by a ruckus just off the path in the thick brush. Something was trying to get free from a predicament they were in.
Using his big gorilla paws, attached to his long, thin brown torso, Charlie was able to work his way through the greenery, when no one else probably could have, tearing away at the dense foliage. There he discovered a tortilito (a mixture of tortoise and armadillo) desperately trying to slash away and free himself. But the tortilito had gotten so worn out that he had finally stopped trying to escape in exhaustion.
Because Charlie had managed to bust through, due to the makeup of his body, he pulled out his new-found friend. It was a tremendous rescue!
Recovered and very thankful, Chuck and Charlie became instant comrades. Together then they continued down the road, paw to paw, singing the praises of their God.
From that point on the gopherilla and the tortilito were truly the best of the best friends. For you see, Charlie’s Creator had created him for such a time as this, and it was good.
He now realized that God is love. And Charlie was content in that.
No, Charlie was a gopherilla. His dad was a gorilla and his mom was a gopher. Don’t ask Charlie how. He just knew he was what he was.
But God loved Charlie anyway, because no matter what, no matter how, God would always love the ones no one else should, could, or would. God loves. And He knew. He knew why He had created Charlie.
One day as Charlie was out for a nice walk, on a clear blue African day, alone as usual, he was alerted by a ruckus just off the path in the thick brush. Something was trying to get free from a predicament they were in.
Using his big gorilla paws, attached to his long, thin brown torso, Charlie was able to work his way through the greenery, when no one else probably could have, tearing away at the dense foliage. There he discovered a tortilito (a mixture of tortoise and armadillo) desperately trying to slash away and free himself. But the tortilito had gotten so worn out that he had finally stopped trying to escape in exhaustion.
Because Charlie had managed to bust through, due to the makeup of his body, he pulled out his new-found friend. It was a tremendous rescue!
Recovered and very thankful, Chuck and Charlie became instant comrades. Together then they continued down the road, paw to paw, singing the praises of their God.
From that point on the gopherilla and the tortilito were truly the best of the best friends. For you see, Charlie’s Creator had created him for such a time as this, and it was good.
He now realized that God is love. And Charlie was content in that.
“For You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother's womb.
I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You.
(Psalm 139:13-18, NASU)
How precious are all creatures that our Lord God, the Father Almighty, has created. The unborn, the born; the lovely, the not-so-lovely. We are to receive and love them all, even as He Himself does each and every day.
He is the All-Loving God, and as the old saying of years gone by was written and shared by many, “He is good. And He doesn’t make junk.”
Shalom and ahava (peace and love in Hebrew).
Shalom and ahava (peace and love in Hebrew).
Now think on this,
Steve Martin
Founder/President
Love For His People, Inc.
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Todah rabah! (Hebrew – Thank you very much.)
Also, my latest book (#20) was just released last week. You can get it on Amazon here, in paperback or Kindle version: All Together Now - For His Plans & Purposes
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Todah rabah! (Hebrew – Thank you very much.)
Please share Now Think On This with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, and LinkedIn. Others will be thankful you did.
Now Think On This #395 - in the year of our Lord 03.05.19 – “Charlie the Gopherilla” – Tuesday 2:30 am
THE CRUCIFIED LIFE - Pastor Abel Oyewale Sunday
Pastor Abel Oyewale Sunday and his wife Margaret in Nigeria
THE CRUCIFIED LIFE
Pastor Abel Oyewale Sunday
Romans 6:1-14
1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
MESSAGE
From the onset of the early Church, different people have tried to describe the crucified life. My understanding of the crucified life is one that is wholly given over to God in absolute humility and obedience. It is a life of sacrifice that is pleasing to the Lord and has its roots in Christ’s atoning work on the cross of Calvary, focusing on the death of the flesh to worldliness and sin.
Living a crucified life implies being dead to sin and being alive in God in holiness and righteousness. Children of God living this way are transformed in character into the image of God that they possess within them through Christ.
Living a crucified life implies being dead to sin and being alive in God in holiness and righteousness. Children of God living this way are transformed in character into the image of God that they possess within them through Christ.
“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” Romans 6:6
“And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” Galatians 5:24
These two passages confirm that the subjection of the flesh to the cross of Jesus Christ is not negotiable for us as Christians. To be born again means to put our old way of life in the flesh to death on the cross, and to thereafter receive a new kind of life which is yielded to God in righteousness, made available through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. After you become born again, you need to enforce the power of the crucified life that you possess inside of you continually by not yielding your natural body as an instrument of sin. The crucified life destroys the power of sin over God’s children. Galatians 5:24 says clearly that those who belong to Jesus Christ by being born again have crucified the flesh with its affection and lusts. You need to believe this and walk in its reality.
Moreover, the crucified life is absolutely committed to following the footsteps of Jesus Christ. It wants to love like Him and be more like Him in thoughts, speech, and action. The whole essence of spiritual perfection has everything to do with mirroring the image of Jesus Christ the Author and Finisher of our faith. We attain this level of grace by daily walking in the Holy Spirit, who lives inside us. He continually ministers the mind of Christ to us on what to do at every point in time. When you consistently follow His guidance, the life of the resurrected Christ will show forth in you and sin will no longer be an issue in your life.
PRAYER POINT:
Father, I receive the grace to walk in your truth that my flesh has been crucified; help me to daily walk in the life of the resurrected Christ in Jesus’ Name.
Amen.
GOD BLESS YOU ALL. Shalom,
PASTOR ABEL
Nigeria
Monday, March 4, 2019
Chuck Smith - "Sooner Than You Expected" prophetic words, Antioch International Church and beyond
Chuck Smith - "Sooner Than You Expected"
- prophetic words for Antioch International Church
and people beyond.
Fort Mill, SC
March 3, 2019
Category
"Resurrection after Decades" - prophetic word through Steve Martin at Antioch International Church in Fort Mill, SC
"Resurrection after Decades"
- prophetic word through Steve Martin
Antioch International Church
Fort Mill, South Carolina USA
Fort Mill, South Carolina USA
March 3, 2019
Thanks to Maynard Porter for this recording! Much appreciated!
Chuck Smith - "Enlarging" - inspirational message at Antioch International Church in Fort Mill, SC
Chuck Smith - "Enlarging" - an inspirational message
at Antioch International Church in Fort Mill, SC
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