“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

Birth Day - message by Steve Martin

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Birth Day

When new life comes into the world parents, grandparents, possibly siblings who may have come before…celebrate.

The Lord has given birth through a mother with another of His creations. Unique. Never before. Special addition to the family and beyond. Birth days, annually and the commemorations following, are a time of rejoicing and showing appreciation for life.

Our calendars, whether on the mobile or still hanging in a noted place, help keep track of these annual events so we can again give thanks for the one who blesses us with their life.

When I see a birthday notice pop up from good friends elsewhere, blessing another friend, it reminds me of how special each of us really are. Even as no two snowflakes are the same, nor are each of us, having separate DNA from the others.

Our God is an amazing God. Continually creating with new life and new additions to families.

The God Who Makes Us Alive with His Own Life

“God’s Message, the God who created the cosmos, stretched out the skies, laid out the earth and all that grows from it, Who breathes life into earth’s people, makes them alive with his own life: “I am God. I have called you to live right and well. I have taken responsibility for you, kept you safe. I have set you among my people to bind them to me, and provided you as a lighthouse to the nations, to make a start at bringing people into the open, into light: opening blind eyes, releasing prisoners from dungeons, emptying the dark prisons. I am God. That’s my name…” Isaiah 42:5-8, The Message

When family or friends have birthdays, be sure to celebrate their life and treat them special. Because we each are.

Ahava and shalom,

Steve Martin

Message #17, in the year of our Lord March 28, 2026

#birth #birthday #prolife #celebratio # newlife #specialoccasion

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

“Day of Rest” by Steve Martin

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Day of Rest

The Jewish word “Shabbat” (Sabbath in English) has been around for centuries, since the day the One and True God rested on the seventh day of creation, and called it “Shabbat.”

“For in six days, Adonai made heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. This is why Adonai blessed the day, Shabbat, and separated it for himself.” Exodus 20:11, Complete Jewish Bible

In America and all the Gentile (non-Jew) nations, Christianity did away with the Shabbat being honored on the last day of the week, calling it Saturday after the Roman god Saturn. Then the Roman Caesar Constantine and the “early church fathers” moved the “day of rest” to Sunday, to spite the Jews.

Sunday is a direct linguistic descendant of ancient pagan traditions honoring the sun, preserved through Latin and Germanic languages, even as Christianity later gave the day religious significance as the "Lord's Day" or day of resurrection. (Google Ai)

 

Being raised a Christian, not understanding our true Jewish roots in the Bible, I did as all others around me did. Sunday was the day.

 

I need to reconsider whom I am following. Man-made religious laws and traditions, or the One Who gave us the Bible through the Jews, who still adhere to it?

 

Ahava and Shalom,

 

Steve Martin, Love For His People

 

P.S. Charlie Kirk’s last book, STOP, in the Name of God: Why Honoring the Sabbath Will Transform Your Life, is a good read.

 

Message #16,”Day of Rest” in the year of our Lord March 27, 2026.

#dayofres #Shabbah #Shabbat #Bible #Sunday

“Example” by Steve Martin

Older men leading by example as we install the church children's playground.

 Example

Most of us learn a great deal by watching others. Sons learn from their fathers how to mow the yard by watching and then doing. Daughters are taught by their mothers, when told to “watch how I do this and then you do it.” (That used to happen more so when it came to baking and preparing a meal than it does these days.)

Our example in walking on our spiritual path? Jesus, or called by His Jewish name, Yeshua.

“In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there.” Mark 1:35 NASB

I find it very energizing, encouraging, and most necessary to do what Yeshua did. Get up before the sun, find “my place of quietness”, and spend my first time of the day with Him. 

He did it. So must I, if I am going to be called His disciple, the one who follows. After all, if God in the flesh had the discipline each day to go, find a secluded place away from the hassle and bustle, to pray, should not I? Obviously He knew something we must too. And do it.

He led by example. I like how St. Francis was known to have said, “Preach the Gospel. Use words if you have to.”

People who know watch you. They learn from you. And you often don’t need to use words.

Let your walk do the talking. Lead by example. 

Ahava and shalom,

Steve Martin

P.S. I might have to forgo that blueberry bagel this morning. My steps aren’t keeping up with the input. I must lead by example.

#example #oldmen #Yeshua #playground #children

"Suddenlies" by Steve Martin

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A beautiful horse in South Carolina. Photo by Steve Martin, March 2026)

Suddenlies

You wait. You wait. You wait. 

And then suddenly! The time has come. And you get the “Now is the time” word from the Holy Spirit.

We all have waited for events to come, people to respond, the answer to a concern we have prayed for. For a long time.

Trusting in the Lord’s timing is what brings us His shalom, His peace, as we, “normal humans” anxiously wait at times for that time.

“Until the time that his word came to pass, The word of the Lord tested him.” Psalm 105:18, NASB

Sometimes we get ahead of the Lord. Remember how King Saul didn’t wait for the prophet Samuel? It later cost him the throne.

Not every time will be this serious, but waiting for His perfect timing is always the way to go. Stay off the horse until the Lord says, “Go!” And then move on it.

I like suddenlies. I feel the presence and joy of the Lord then too. It is like the little kid waiting at the door to get outside, and then Mom gives him the “now” word.

Be expectant. Your suddenly, well certainly, will come. Suddenly.

Ahava and shalom,

Steve Martin

Message #16 in the year of the Lord 03.25.26

#Suddenly #suddenlies #time #horses #HolySpirit #Jesus #Yeshua

"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