“Determination” by Steve Martin

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Determination

Our walk with the Lord will bring us to events and situations where we are going to have to either stand strong, or we will turn and run. In my life, I have made that decision already. My life is His. I will stand, so help me God.

Yeshua (Jesus) had made that decision too. He was determined to do the Father’s will, and He did it.

We must choose to be as He was, and have the determination to do what is right before that time will certainly come.

“The Master, God, has given me a well-taught tongue, so I know how to encourage tired people. He wakes me up in the morning. Wakes me up, opens my ears to listen as one ready to take orders.

 

The Master, God, opened my ears, and I didn’t go back to sleep, didn’t pull the covers back over my head. I followed orders, stood there and took it while they beat me, held steady while they pulled out my beard.

 

Didn’t dodge their insults, faced them as they spit in my face. And the Master, God, stays right there and helps me, so I’m not disgraced.

 

Therefore I set my face like flint, confident that I’ll never regret this. My champion is right here. Let’s take our stand together! Who dares bring suit against me? Let him try! Look! the Master, God, is right here.

 

Who would dare call me guilty? Look! My accusers are a clothes bin of threadbare socks and shirts, fodder for moths!” Isaiah 50:7-9, The Message

 

When I was the office manager of a Canon copier dealer in Lansing, Michigan, between 1980-1987, I was asked to do an invoice for the company, billing a location that I had heard did abortions. I refused to do so. I wanted no part in it.

 

I would have been around 26, and we had three young kids at the time. I couldn’t afford to lose my job, but my Lord told me I was not to do that invoice. I told the owner as such.

 

He then made his wife, the co-owner, do the invoice. (In later years they asked me to become Vice President of the company, but even then the Lord had called me on to other work for Him, and that meant a move to Fort Lauderdale, Florida to work for Derek Prince Ministries.)

 

Are we going to stand as Christians, when faced with decisions that will go against the actions and beliefs of those around us?

 

Now is the time to make that determination. Not when the time to stand faces us head on. We will need to have made that decision already.

 

Christians, and Jews, are among the most persecuted in the world. Times have not changed since Jesus’ time. We know the Bible says the same days are coming for us.

 

Decide now what you are going to do when called upon to choose.

 

Ahava and shalom,

 

Steve Martin

 

Message #21, April 14, 2026

#determination #walkwithJesus #SteveMartin #Bible #Christians #decisions #commitment #persecution #Israel #faith #courage

Anchor of My Soul - Steve Martin

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As I drove home on Sunday after a luncheon with friends, the song by Michael W. Smith came on the radio. “You Won’t Let Go”, speaking of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Adonai.

It was such an encouragement to know, deep in my soul, that the One Who came to earth, died for us, and rose from the dead, has restored the fellowship we can have with God the Father, Jesus the Only Son, and Holy Spirit.

Giving our life to the Godhead is the best thing anyone can do. Saying to them, “Take me, I am yours” opens the door for them to fulfill the plans and purposes they have for each of us.

The anchor of my soul holds strong. After 71 years of following the Lord, my faith is held by their mighty strong promises and faithfulness.

I trust yours does too.

Ahava and Shalom,

Steve Martin

#anchorofmysoul #SteveMartin #Adonai #encouragement #faith #promises #HolySpirit #Jesus #GodtheFather

"Carry My Bags" by Steve Martin

 

Carry My Bags

Totally devastated. After 14 years of service in the ministry, in which I was called “part of the family”, in April 1999, I asked a very personal question to the founder of the ministry, “Can I go with you on your next international trip?” His answer came back without hesitation, “What would you do, carry my bags?” My heart sank.

I knew then that I was leaving this work. The Lord had another place for me. And He did, showing His faithfulness as He always does throughout this whole time.

Looking back on that time, when my heart’s desire was to travel, not just for the sake of traveling, but to do more than sit behind an administration and accounting desk, while taking the leaders to the airport and back 400 times over those years, I knew the Lord had more plans for me to accomplish. My heart was burning for something more.

In the summer of 2026, a trio of friends from Jerusalem, the co-founder of Christian Friends of Israel, Sharon Sanders, and two staff members, will be flying to the USA to hold meetings in Texas, California, Colorado, Montana, and more. I have been asked to accompany them on that journey, as a driver, the worship leader, and the book table manager. I am looking forward to it.

And I will be glad to carry their bags, as they are all older than my 71 years. Thank You, Lord.

And oh yes, speaking of international travel. Since that moment in 1999, when I left the ministry after giving my six-month notice, I have been to Israel 30 times, China, England, Ireland, Trinidad-Tobago, and more.

The Lord gives us the desires of our hearts. After all, He is the One who puts them there.

“Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4, NASB

Carry on!

Ahava and Shalom,

Steve Martin, Love For His People

“Carry My Bags”, Message #19, 04.03.26

#carrymybags #SteveMartin #travel #luggagebags #faithful #desiresofyourheart

“Dependence” - message by Steve Martin

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Dependence

Waking up this morning was almost as if I was in a fog. You have had that before after a night where dreams are somewhat weird. It must have been the ups and downs of the weekend, with many things going on and you try to wrap your head around it all.

With the world seemingly out of joint with the many hotspots, wars and rumors of more, and then on the other hand the sports world’s unexpected twists and turns, if you watch those games on TV. 

Governments not getting things in order as they should; people demonstrating against “kings” as they are clearly showing ignorance to the facts after being paid off by anti-Americans. 

You can be a bit out-of-joint trying to take it all in.

If I didn’t have my quiet time with the Lord, to start each day reading His word, a devotional, and then prayer, all these activities trying to wear me out would have its long term goal - the inability to see the world from His perspective.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:23 it reads, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

Take the time needed each day to rest in the Lord, seek His face for His guidance, and know that He knows all that is going on. We look forward to His soon return as we depend on Him to fulfill His promises.

 

Ahava and Shalom,

 

Steve Martin

#dependence #SteveMartin #morninplacetobe #peace #Jesus #Yeshua #guidance #Bible #prayer

A bit of canvas. Photos by Steve Martin

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A bit of canvas artwork in my home ministry office.

Steve Martin

#canvasphotos #SteveMartin #homeoffice #Israel #Jesus

"Place of Encounter" by Steve Martin

Place of Encounter

As often as I can I make the long 12 hour plane flight to Israel, then take the high speed rail train the 22 minutes to the capital city of Jerusalem, I am on it.

Riding up the three flights of very steep escalators, then walking out onto Jaffa Street, I sense the Lord’s presence every time. He has met me here before.

I feel like I am home, though I am not a Jew. Another Gentile from the nations.

At times the Lord will take you back to a specific place of encounter, where you distinctly remember, “He met me here.”That place where you had come before, discouraged and beat down, and knowing you needed something more, a shot in the arm (a spiritual jolt, not the drugs stuff). Jacob knew that place when he had the dream of the ladder. 

“Then Jacob departed from Beersheba and went toward Haran. And he [f]happened upon a [g]particular place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and made it a support for his head, and lay down in that place. And he had a dream…” Gen. 28:10-12, NASB

(My good friend Morris Ruddick speaks often in his writings of needing “something more” as he knows by experience on his many journeys back to Vietnam and Israel. Thanks Morris!)

It was from Charlotte, North Carolina to Jerusalem where the Lord had instructed me in 1999, to pay the cost, give the time, and go to the place where He promised to meet me. He then indeed gave me the word I needed to hear, which would take me on the adventure lasting the next 20-30 years. 

He took me to my “place of encounter” which I now know, looking back, as a major anchor of encouragement and foundational stone for my spiritual walk.

I know you too have a place of encounter, where you did what you had to do to keep going on, facing your own giant(s), overcoming by His Almighty grace and outpoured love He has deeply entrenched in your inner being. And if not, seek Him for it until He does reveal it.

Remember that place and be strong as you continue to fight to do that which is necessary in your walk today.

​“When I looked things over, I rose up and said to the nobles, the rulers and the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the great and awesome Lord, and fight on behalf of your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.” Nehemiah 4:13-14 Tree of Life version

Ahava and Shalom,

Steve Martin, Love For His People

#encounter #morningplacetobe #SteveMartin

Keep On Keeping On

KEEP ON KEEPING ON

In days gone by, when the computer monitor was the big one with the large tube, barely fitting on your home desktop, I had taped on the side, printed on a 81/2” x 11” paper, this verse, “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.“ Galatians 6:9, NKJV

It was a daily reminder to keep on keeping on.

The same old same old, the daily grind, can wear us out. We need encouragement. We need renewed strength. We need grace to start each day and see through to the end.

Whatever makes you wonder, “When will a break come?” remember that our Lord is the One able to cheer us, giving us the ability to complete the race set before us to the finish line.

“Therefore, since we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let’s rid ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking only at Jesus, the originator and perfecter of the 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.“ Hebrews 12:1-2, NASB

Lord, bring us each renewed strength so we can keep on keeping on.

Ahava and shalom,

Steve Martin

#Keepon #keepingon #SteveMartin#loseheart#encouragement #Jesus 

Choices by Steve Martin

Our young friend Grace, whom we met in Jerusalem last December, came to our home for a visit last week. We love Grace! (She works with YWAM/David’s Tent in Washington, DC. You can support her, too. Ask me.)

CHOICES

So I get in the car to get my coffee, Colombian dark roast in honor of Camila, our daughter-in-law, and the blueberry bagel, which has now become my “norm”, and the adjustments are needed.

Since we have downsized to one car (another story), Laurie and I each have our own seat settings, mirror adjustments, and, of course, the radio. The routine each time now.

I don’t know about you, but the radio choices include music, news, comedy, and sports. Especially on XM, which I have managed to trim down to only $4.98 a month. (Ask me how to use the contact form.)

Today I chose The Message Worship, which they say is a temporary choice. I hope they keep it on. No DJ. No commercials. All worship music. From the past and others known by even the youth today.

More choices will come our way today. Experience helps in those decisions. And so does wisdom from above.

Carry on. Have a coffee and a bagel.

Steve Martin

#choices #SteveMartin #MessageWorship #Columbia #coffee #blueberry #bagel

Where it began...I can't begin to know it. But come and see!

                       

Where it all began...must have been in Lawrence, Kansas, in August of 2025. My good wife Laurie and I flew to Kansas City to be with one of my sisters (I have 5), Janet, and her husband, Nate. It was a very pleasant time of touring the city, the countryside, the small towns, and the parks found in central Kansas.

When Nate told me about his "$4.95 Sip and What Not" (not the real name) at the local coffee-and-bagel restaurant, I just had to do it. I was raised looking for the "good deals".

When we got back to Charlotte, North Carolina, I checked out the local one. And sure enough, every morning I could get a cup of coffee (limit one every two hours, mind you), and I liked adding a blueberry bagel just to ease my conscience.

Lo and behold, this website began with that theme. "Morning Place To Be."

I like to write, so this will be one of those "not so heavy with all the news" places to go, as you, too, enjoy your coffee every morning.

As they say (sometimes, though it gets worn out), "Enjoy."

Be blessed,

Steve Martin

P.S. Nate in the top photo is on the left. More grayer, though a wee bit younger, than I am. Ha!

And of course, we went to the Wizard of Oz Museum! Click the photo to watch the video.

Dorothy's Epic Journey on the Yellow Brick Road | The Wizard of Oz Adventure Join Dorothy on her epic adventure down the Yellow Brick Road in this magical retelling of The Wizard of Oz! From the winds of Kansas to the sparkling Emerald City, follow her journey alongside Toto, the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion as they seek courage, heart, brains — and a way home. This timeless tale is brought to life with new storytelling and vivid imagination. Whether you’re a lifelong fan or discovering The Wizard of Oz for the first time, this is the perfect place to relive the magic!

#WizardofOz # Dorothy #Kansas #Morningplacetobe #SteveMartin

Susita Israel Park over Sea of Galilee. A Roman fortress. Walk With Me, Steve Martin

Windy but fun atop the mountain overlooking the Sea of Galilee.

#SusitaIsraelPark #SeaofGalilee #Romanfortress #WalkWithMe #SteveMartin #Israelpark, #Kinneret, #travel