Ahava Love Letter (#56) - "Your Name"

                              

                           “Your Name”


“Therefore Adonai Himself will give you people a sign: the young

woman will become pregnant, bear a son and name Him

‘Immanu El [God is with us].” (Isa 7:14 Complete Jewish Bible)

“She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Yeshua,

[which means ‘Adonai saves,’] because He will save His people

from their sins.” (Matt 1:21 Complete Jewish Bible.)

Dear family of friends,

The visit to the maternity ward last night caught me by surprise. The young couple, family friends of ours for over 24 years, hadn’t named their one day old son yet! I couldn’t believe it. (But, I found out this morning that his name is...ABRAHAM! I got to hold Abraham!)

As I held “To Be Named Later” in my arms, I was asking the Lord to myself, “Is this “Isaac”? Could he be “Joel” (after his uncle), “Barney” (not the TV character); Jimmie #48…? Maybe "Little Eddie” or "Joe"?"

Hey, maybe another Steven! (OK, so there are only 70 other Steve Martins in NC alone. Probably just in the greater Charlotte area itself.)

"Whom is this baby boy you have blessed us with, Adonai? What is his given name?" I pondered later.

Do you know your name is probably your most precious possession that you have been given?

Think about it. You can have a special hairdo, and change it every week. You can put all kinds of ink on your body to make you stand out, but will be gone when your grave is all we see. You can even put on the latest fad, to “keep up with the Jones’, or Robertsons’ now a days, to have that edge I guess, and make your name popular. If that is what you consider important.

But your name. That is special, and I believe the Lord Himself gave it to you.

When our four kids (now full grown adults with kids of their own) were about to be birthed, both Laurie and I were involved in choosing their special names. In our attempt to get it right, we used the “Name Your Baby” book, checked relatives names, and even noted what was “popular” at the time. But in the end, I believe we were led by the Lord in naming each of them, for He already knew them.

Josh would be a leader. Firstborn. To be like Joshua, helping Moses (Moshe).

Ben would be the “Son - of the right hand”, as it means in Hebrew, “Ben-jamin”. I know he is.

Hannah would be one who loved children. Both Hannahs in the Old and New Testaments. And she surely does!

Christen almost was named “Kristen”, but the Lord told us her name was to be spelled “Christen” – even as “Christ”, our Messiah and Lord.

If you think you were named by accident, or maybe don’t even like your name, trust that something as important as who you are, especially in the Lord’s eyes and heart, was not a mistake. 

The Lord knows you by name. When all is said and done, He calls you by your name, for He was certainly involved when you were in His heart, from the beginning of eternity.

Just let Him know, even now, how grateful you are that He knows you. That He knows your name. You are special to Him. He loves you so much.

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

Steve Martin

Founder/President

P.S. Our Lord has many names, as written in our Bible, the Scriptures, both in the Old Testament (Tanakh in Hebrew) and in the New Testament (B’rit Hadashah).

The one I like most is “Yeshua – “Adonai saves”. At the end of this letter I have included a few pieces of artwork, for you to print out along with this letter.

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. You can send checks to the address below. 

Special note: My HP laptop is over 5 years old. That's ancient in tech years (as opposed to dog years.) I have asked the Lord for a new one, to handle current software. 

If you have been encouraged by my Ahava Love Letters, please consider a gift to this ministry, to keep these cards and letters coming! A check made out to Love For His People, Inc. (tax receipt always given) or a new piece of equipment will work! 

Our mailing address is 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)

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.

Ahava Love Letter #56   “Your Name” Date: In the year of our Lord 2013 (05/31/13 Friday, 5:00 am. Charlotte, NC)

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Israeli start-up to turn down $1 billion acquisition by Facebook

Report: Israeli start-up to turn down $1 billion acquisition by Facebook

Thursday, May 30, 2013 |  Israel Today Staff  

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Israeli start-up Waze, which provides a real-time navigation and traffic report app for smartphones, is reportedly set to turn down a $1 billion dollar acquisition bid by Facebook in order to keep its team in Israel.

With the improved GPS capabilities of newer smartphones like the iPhone and various Android handsets, Waze has seen a huge increase in usage in recent years, and today has an estimated user base of 48 million worldwide.

Waze competes directly with the "Maps" applications provided by Google and Apple, at least when it comes to traffic and road navigation. Most users say that in these situations, Waze manages to far outdo both of the technology giants.

That's what makes Waze a natural acquisition for Facebook, which competes with both Google and Apple on many fronts, but has yet to jump into the GPS-based navigation game.

But, according to American technology website "AllThingsD," talks between the two companies are breaking down. Despite a massive potential payday for the Israeli start-up, the Waze team has reportedly made keeping the bulk of their operations in Israel a red line, while Facebook is presumably insisting that Waze move to its headquarters in California.

Accurate or not, this news is being met with a fair amount of national pride in Israel, where innovative start-ups spring up all the time, but almost always accept a foreign buy-out when it is offered.

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The Rabbi, the Note and the Messiah

Thursday, May 30, 2013 |  Aviel Schneider  

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This is a reprint of a cover story that first appeared in the April 2007 issue of Israel Today Magazine

A few months before he died, one of the nation’s most prominent rabbis, Yitzhak Kaduri, supposedly wrote the name of the Messiah on a small note which he requested would remain sealed until now. When the note was unsealed, it revealed what many have known for centuries: Yehoshua, or Yeshua (Jesus), is the Messiah.

With the biblical name of Jesus, the Rabbi and kabbalist described the Messiah using six words and hinting that the initial letters form the name of the Messiah. The secret note said:

Concerning the letter abbreviation of the Messiah’s name, He will lift the people and prove that his word and law are valid.

This I have signed in the month of mercy,

Yitzhak Kaduri

The Hebrew sentence (translated above in bold) with the hidden name of the Messiah reads:

Yarim Ha’Am Veyokhiakh Shedvaro Vetorato Omdim

ירים העם ויוכיח שדברו ותורתו עומדים

The initials spell the Hebrew name of Jesus יהושוע . Yehoshua and Yeshua are effectively the same name, derived from the same Hebrew root of the word “salvation” as documented in Zechariah 6:11 and Ezra 3:2. The same priest writes in Ezra, “Yeshua (ישוע) son of Yozadak” while writing in Zechariah “Yehoshua (יהושוע) son of Yohozadak.” The priest adds the holy abbreviation of God’s name, ho (הו), in the father’s name Yozadak and in the name Yeshua.

With one of Israel’s most prominent rabbis indicating the name of the Messiah is Yeshua, it is understandable why his last wish was to wait one year after his death before revealing what he wrote.

When the name of Yehoshua appeared in Kaduri’s message, ultra-Orthodox Jews from his Nahalat Yitzhak Yeshiva (seminary) in Jerusalem argued that their master did not leave the exact solution for decoding the Messiah’s name.

The revelation received scant coverage in the Israeli media. Only the Hebrew websites News First Class (Nfc) and Kaduri.net mentioned the Messiah note, insisting it was authentic. The Hebrew daily Ma’ariv ran a story on the note but described it as a forgery.

Jewish readers responded on the websites’ forums with mixed feelings: “So this means Rabbi Kaduri was a Christian?” and “The Christians are dancing and celebrating,” were among the comments.

Israel Today spoke to two of Kaduri’s followers in Jerusalem who admitted that the note was authentic, but confusing for his followers as well. “We have no idea how the Rabbi got to this name of the Messiah,” one of them said.

Yet others completely deny any possibility that the note is authentic.

In an interview with Israel Today, Rabbi David Kaduri, 80, the son of the late Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri, denied that his father left a note with the name Yeshua just before he died. “It’s not his writing,” he said when we showed him a copy of the note. During a night-time meeting in the Nahalat Yitzhak Yeshiva in Jerusalem, books with Kaduri’s handwriting from 80 years ago were presented to us in an attempt to prove that the Messiah note was not authentic.

When we told Rabbi Kaduri that his father’s official website (www.kaduri.net) had mentioned the Messiah note, he was shocked. “Oh no! That’s blasphemy. The people could understand that my father pointed to him [the Messiah of the Christians].” David Kaduri confirmed, however, that in his last year his father had talked and dreamed almost exclusively about the Messiah and his coming. “My father has met the Messiah in a vision,” he said, “and told us that he would come soon.”

Kaduri’s Portrayal of the Messiah

A few months before Kaduri died at the age of 108, he surprised his followers when he told them that he met the Messiah. Kaduri gave a message in his synagogue on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, teaching how to recognize the Messiah. He also mentioned that the Messiah would appear to Israel after Ariel Sharon’s death. (The former prime minister is still in a coma after suffering a massive stroke more than a year ago.) Other rabbis predict the same, including Rabbi Haim Cohen, kabbalist Nir Ben Artzi and the wife of Rabbi Haim Kneiveskzy.

Kaduri’s grandson, Rabbi Yosef Kaduri, said his grandfather spoke many times during his last days about the coming of the Messiah and redemption through the Messiah. His spiritual portrayals of the Messiah—reminiscent of New Testament accounts—were published on the websites Kaduri.net and Nfc:

“It is hard for many good people in the society to understand the person of the Messiah. The leadership and order of a Messiah of flesh and blood is hard to accept for many in the nation. As leader, the Messiah will not hold any office, but will be among the people and use the media to communicate. His reign will be pure and without personal or political desire. During his dominion, only righteousness and truth will reign.

“Will all believe in the Messiah right away? No, in the beginning some of us will believe in him and some not. It will be easier for non-religious people to follow the Messiah than for Orthodox people.

“The revelation of the Messiah will be fulfilled in two stages: First, he will actively confirm his position as Messiah without knowing himself that he is the Messiah. Then he will reveal himself to some Jews, not necessarily to wise Torah scholars. It can be even simple people. Only then he will reveal himself to the whole nation. The people will wonder and say: ‘What, that’s the Messiah?’ Many have known his name but have not believed that he is the Messiah.”

Farewell to a ‘Tsadik’

Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri was known for his photographic memory and his memorization of the Bible, the Talmud, Rashi and other Jewish writings. He knew Jewish sages and celebrities of the last century and rabbis who lived in the Holy Land and kept the faith alive before the State of Israel was born.

Kaduri was not only highly esteemed because of his age of 108. He was charismatic and wise, and chief rabbis looked up to him as a Tsadik, a righteous man or saint. He would give advice and blessings to everyone who asked. Thousands visited him to ask for counsel or healing. His followers speak of many miracles and his students say that he predicted many disasters.

When he died, more than 200,000 people joined the funeral procession on the streets of Jerusalem to pay their respects as he was taken to his final resting place.

“When he comes, the Messiah will rescue Jerusalem from foreign religions that want to rule the city,” Kaduri once said. “They will not succeed for they will fight against one another.”

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4HIM - Real Thing

Jesus (Yeshua) IS the real One. 

We need to be His voice in the real world.

Get out of the "church" and into the streets.

Where the people are.

Steve Martin

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Derek Prince Teaching: The Place of Israel in God's Purposes (1)

Uploaded on Jan 12, 2011

Derek Prince Teaching: The Place of Israel in God's Purposes(1)
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No other Bible teacher has so clearly taught the Lord's heart for Israel than Derek Prince, in my opinion. Even what he taught over 40 years ago is still relevant. In fact, even more so today. 

Listen and learn of that which will impact your life, more than you realize. 

It has in mine, very deeply.

Steve Martin

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Derek Prince Teaching: How to Pray for Israel (1)

Derek & Ruth Prince

Derek Prince Teaching: How to Pray for Israel (1) 
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Stakelbeck on Terror: From Israel's Bible Belt to America's

Stakelbeck on Terror: From Israel's Bible Belt to America's

Stakelbeck: I recently hosted an event in Nashville for Mayor Moshe Goldsmith and his wife, Leah. The couple are longtime residents of Itamar, a town in Israel's Biblical heartland of Samaria where Moshe serves as mayor. They share the truth about Israel's ...

CBNNews: Stakelbeck on Terror: From Israel's Bible Belt to America's - May 28, 2013

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Remain Jewish and believe in Jesus

'The point is to remain Jewish and believe in Jesus'

Wednesday, May 29, 2013 |  Israel Today Staff  

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Israel Today recently wrote about a confrontation between Messianic Jewish Israelis and an Orthodox anti-missionary group in the coastal town of Bat Yam.

The same regional newspaper that first reported on that ongoing saga recently published a follow-up including "reader responses," some of which were very interesting.

One readers asked how Messianic Jewish sharing their faith is "any different from religious Jewish missions?" The reader was referring to the regular roadside witnessing and handing out of pamphlets by various Orthodox Jewish sects. He or she went on to conclude that it is no one's business "if I feel like converting to Christianity."

Another respondent tried to clear up that last point by noting that "Messianic Jews do not attempt to convert people. The whole point of Messianic Judaism is to remain Jewish and believe in Jesus."

The upcoming issue of Israel Today Magazine will explore the sensitive topic of some Jews coming to faith in Jesus, only to leave the community after feeling it was not Jewish enough.

To subscribe: Israel Today

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