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When the Pharisees sought to trap Christ, they asked Him “Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?” Their question reveals much about their misunderstanding of God's design for marriage, and Christ's response provides a much needed correction for our own day. This sermon was preached at Legacy Reformed Baptist Church in East Grand Forks, MN. For more information, visit ⁠LegacyRBC.org⁠.

We recommend listening to the full teaching, The Good & Trustworthy Servant | Part 23 | Servant, before listening to this episode.Afterburn: also known in the fitness world as the “afterburn effect,” simply put, the more intense the exercise, the more oxygen your body consumes afterward. This effect could occur spiritually after the intense teachings Rabbi Berkson delivers each week. This Afterburn Q&A session allows your mind and soul to consume more understanding (oxygen).Some of the topics covered are:• Intro• “Is that serving?”• What is “wealth”?• I can't fathom the enormity of the Torah life• Why are you working so hard?• Why two perspectives?• Why guard if it's perfect?• Seeking power/mammon?• Yahweh wants to see you make decisions• Thanking the Father for my eyeballs• The main point is that we serve Him• Is it okay to “do meditations”?• Serving mammon?• What should I do instead of worry?Take advantage of new teachings every week. Please click the "LIKE" button if this podcast has been a blessing.To learn more about MTOI, visit our website, https://mtoi.org.Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mtoiworldwideFollow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mtoi_worldwideYou can contact MTOI by emailing us at admin@mtoi.org or calling 423-250-3020. Join us for Shabbat Services & Torah Study LIVE, streamed on our YouTube Channel every Saturday at 1:15 pm and every Friday for Torah Study Live Stream at 7:30 pm, eastern time.

Today's Scripture: John 19:1-16 Jesus has been arrested “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth (Jn 1:1-5, 14).” Jesus was flogged “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed (Is 53:5).” Jesus was mocked “…cursed is the ground because of you…thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you (Gen 3:17b,18a).” Jesus was hit with clinched fists Jesus was questioned “He did not open his mouth (3).” “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth (Is. 53:7).” Jesus was betrayed He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him (Jn. 1:11)." Jesus was released to be crucified "So he delivered him over to them to be crucified (John 19:16)." I. Submitting your circumstances to the Father provides unrivaled strength in the face of real suffering. “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done (Luke 22:42).” “'You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?' Jesus answered him, ‘You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore, he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin (10-11).'” “God works all things for the good of those that love Him and have been called according to His purpose (Rm 8:28).” II. Evil will often seem to be winning, but don't lose hope. “In this world you will have trouble (Jn 16:33).” “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit (Jn 12:24).” “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:2-4).” III. Jesus endured suffering to free us from its power. “…the chastisement of our peace was upon Him (Is. 53:5).”

This episode is all about the person of the Holy Spirit. Tune in as I define who He is, share why can not live a pure lifestyle without Him, and finally closing out the episode with 3 ways to invite Holy Spirit in your everyday life! As promised, here are my show notes that I used to produce this episode! The Holy Spirit is a person. Being a person, the Holy Spirit has feelings. He can become sad or angry, and others can insult Him and blaspheme against Him (Is 63:10; Mt 12:31; Ac 7:51; Eph 4:30; Heb 10:29). He has intentions, shows willfulness and discretion, loves, communicates, testifies, teaches, and prays (Neh 9:20; Jn 15:26; Ac 13:2; Rm 8:26,27; 15:30; 1Co 12:11). These are qualities that distinguish Him as a person. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/joi-williams0/support

So...what about this baby in a manger-- What's so special about Him-- Is this really true-- Let's explore what the Bible tells us about Jesus...you may be surprised at what you don't know-

So...what about this baby in a manger- What's so special about Him- Is this really true- Let's explore what the Bible tells us about Jesus...you may be surprised at what you don't know-

September 07 2022 Wednesday Week 24 A Study In Romans Joy And Peace In Believing Ephesians 1:15-23 NLT  'Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God's people everywhere, I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God's power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.'  Ephesians 3:14-21 NLT 'When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.' This In Him Scripture Study Started On June 21 2021 Go Back And Listen From The Beginning…  The Study In Romans Started on March 30 2022 Go Back And Listen To This Study From The Beginning… Matthew 11:28  Find Rest In Jesus Christ Your Lord and Savior… Mark 10:29-30  100 Fold Return…  Psalm 37:4  God will give you the desires of your heart… Romans 15:13  Find that Joy and Peace In Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior… Nehemiah 8:10  Joy in Him Is your Strength… Philippians 4:7  God's Peace that passes all understanding… Romans 10:9-10 KJV/NLT/AMPC  Salvation… Romans 13:8  Live in God's Love… Romans 8:16-17  Heirs of God and Joint Heirs with Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior… Revelation 1:6  We are kings and priest in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior… Romans 10:13  Call On The Name Of Jesus And Make Him Lord today… The Biblical Definition Of Grace Is God's Unmerited Favor… Matthew 18:19-20  I will agree with you about your prayer request… Acts 10:34  God is not a respecter of persons. He loves and cares for us all the same… Romans 12:3  God has given us His Faith… Biblical Hope Is A Confident Expectation… Romans 5:5  God has given us His Love… 2 Corinthians 5:17  We are new creatures in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior… 2 Corinthians 5:21  We are the Righteousness of God in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior… God's Word Is True Above All Opinions…  Romans 12:2  Renew your mind to what God's Word says… Believe God's Word Above All Opinion… Philippians 4:13  We can do all things through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior… Philippians 4:19  God will provide all your needs… Romans 10:13  Call on Jesus' Name and be Saved… 1 John 1:9  Confess your sins God Will Cleanse You…  John 3:3  You Must Be Born Again… Luke 15:10  Heaven Rejoices Over One Person That Repents And Is Born Again… John 3:16  Believe On The Lord Jesus Christ Your Lord And Savior… 1 Peter 2:24  Healing… Mark 10:29-30  100 Fold Return… Luke 6:38  Give and it will be given unto you… Share This Podcast On Your Social Media Website https://the-prodigalson.com What God's Word Can Do In Your Life https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJWTZG_x2vE&t=3s Email tstacyhayes@gmail.com YouVersion Bible App  https://my.bible.comi iOS App https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/prodigal-son/id1450529518?mt=8 …  Android App https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tv.wizzard.android.prodical  Social Media https://www.facebook.com/The-Prodigal-SON-209069136315959/ https://www.facebook.com/noreligion1511/ https://twitter.com/noreligion1511 https://www.instagram.com/noreligion1511/ https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCPx4s1CLkSYef6mp4dSuU4w/featured

God had made it clear long before the events of this passage that He would bless all the nations of the earth (Gen. 12:3). Isaiah had prophesied that God would do a new thing, that He would make a way in the wilderness, that He would make rivers through the desert, and that wild beasts would honor Him (Is. 43:18-20). All of this is being fulfilled in Acts 10. In this chapter God arranges a meeting between Cornelius, a devout Roman centurion, and the apostle Peter. The Gentiles are about to believe the gospel and become part of the family God. This is one of the most important moments in all of church history. The nations are beginning to come to King Jesus. If you are in the neighborhood we would love to have you gather with us on Sundays at 76 Lewis Mill Rd. in Gatesville at 10 a.m. If there is anything we can do for you please reach out and let us know. Connect with us at: hopegatesville.com hopegatesville@gmail.com Online Giving YouTube Facebook

February 13 2022 Sunday T. Stacy Hayes  Shine God's Light Into Your Life 2 Peter 3:9  God's not will that anyone perish but all live with him forever… Psalms 119:105  Let God light your path… 1 John 1:5  God is Light and in Him Is no darkness at all… Romans 8:6  Don't be carnally minded… Mark 16:15  Preach the good news to the world… Numbers 23:19  God can't lie He said so… Hebrews 9:26  Jesus dies once for all… 1 John 1:9  God' is faithful to forgive(confess your sin)… Mark 11:22-23  Have faith in God and speak to your problems… Romans 10:9-10  Salvation… 1 John 1:9  Confess your sins and receive cleansing from God… God's Word Is True Above All Opinions… Romans 10:10  With the heart man believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto Salvation… Mark 10:29-30  100 Fold Return… June 21 2021 The Beginning Of The In Him Scripture Study… Ephesians 2:8  We are Saved by Grace through Faith in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior… Believe God's Word Above All Opinions God Loves The abortion dr's As Much As He Loves The Babies They Are Killing… Mark 10:29-30  100 Fold Return… Share This Podcast On Your Social Media… Website https://the-prodigalson.com Email tstacyhayes@gmail.comWe  YouVersion Bible App https://my.bible.comi iOS App https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/prodigal-son/id1450529518?mt=8 …  Android App https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tv.wizzard.android.prodical  Social Media https://www.facebook.com/The-Prodigal-SON-209069136315959/ https://www.facebook.com/noreligion1511/ https://twitter.com/noreligion1511 https://www.instagram.com/noreligion1511/ https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCPx4s1CLkSYef6mp4dSuU4w/featured          

Much of the account of Gideon in Judges shows him to be a man who lacked faith. But did God use him despite his lack of faith? Yes! His grace covers Gideon's foolishness. And while we should be thankful that God graces covers us in moments when we lack faith, let's not use Gideon's example as an excuse. It is okay to be afraid of what our future holds, particularly when God is leading us to do something dangerous. Fear is not sinful, but denying God's sovereign power and testing Him IS. Resources: Sign up to get the FREE reading plan & reflection questions for this devotional HERE. Which woman of the Bible describes your faith best? Take this quiz and find out! The email series How to Grow Closer to God in Just 5 min a Day is now a VIDEO SERIES. Check it out HERE Learn more about The Busy Woman's Guide to Growing Your Faith course & mentorship HERE.

We have a bad habit of trying to define for ourselves what the 'good life' is by what this world has to offer. What do you consider as part of the good life? Following Jesus, and knowing Him IS the good life, not anything that we can attempt to attain, that we believe will make this life better, easier or more fulfilling, nothing on this earth will satisfy our souls. Let's redefine the 'good life.'In this episode I mention the devotion called 'New Morning Mercies' by Paul David Tripp, and I highly recommend it. You can find it below! https://www.christianbook.com/new-morning-mercies-daily-gospel-devotional/paul-tripp/9781433541384/pd/541384?en=google&event=SHOP&kw=christian-living-0-20%7C541384&p=1179710&dv=c&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_dWGBhDAARIsAMcYuJw8ezV7kMVyNo0suT3EacZbhTxT2yOE-liRbCnq8eLZnwcjJF1qMaUaAqNKEALw_wcB

Do you think you've been treated unfairly in life? Get over it. No one had greater unfair treatment than our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He endured illegal trials and was sentenced to death even after Pilate proclaimed, “I find no basis for a charge against this Man." Yes, it was unfair but it was God the Father's plan for Him. “He was despised and rejected of men…we esteemed Him not. He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our inequities and the chastisement of our peace was upon Him” (Is 53:3-10). Jesus Christ purchased our redemption out of the slave market of sin. His substitutionary death on the cross frees us from the penalty of sin. “He that knew no sin was made sin for us so that we may be made the righteousness of God through Him” (2 Cor 5:21). Full Transcript: https://rhem.pub/easter-message-2c007 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rick-hughes/message

A poem copied down in England for a blind friend by a minister traveled three years later across the ocean to America, where it was published in a newspaper. Still later, William Bradbury saw it and composed a melody for it. William Walford is credited with the poem, though that is not 100% verified. "Sweet Hour of Prayer" calls us to a private time of communing with our Lord in a deeply personal way. Truly, time like this with Him IS sweet.

How many of us know the right thing to do, but struggle to actually do it?James is constantly reminding us that we must put our faith into action, we must choose to live correctly and to walk with God. This week, in James 4:1-10, he addresses the challenge of living in the world but not being in love with the things of the world. 4 You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (James 4:4-10 NIV 1984)  How do we live in the world? 1.     Recognize (evil and dangers) v. 4 “Adulterous people” – to pursue the pleasures of the world is to be unfaithful to God What are signs we have become a “friend of the world” and an enemy of God? Are you jealous towards others and their successes? Do you have selfish ambition? Is it “all about you”? When you hear someone has succeeded is your first thought, “I could have done that”? When was the last time you had a conversation when you didn't talk about yourself? These are just a few of the warning signs that you are “friends of the world” and preoccupied with yourself.2.      Receive Christ (Submit) v. 7 “Submit yourselves…to God,” or surrender your whole life to Him Is your thought process before you do something, “Would this be pleasing to God”? Do you love God more than you love anything in this world? If so, how do you show your love for God is a priority in your life?  3.     Resist (the Devil) v. 7  “Resist the evil, and he will flee from you.”As children of God we have God's protection and strength on our side, so we are able to resist evil and overcome temptation. 4.     Repent (Humble yourselves)  vv. 8-10  “Come near to God and he will come near to you… Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts… Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” We must repent (turn away from the things and values of this world) and come to God with a desire to be made right and pure.  When we do that, God comes near to us and lifts us up. What will you do about it?From your experience and knowledge of the Bible, what are some of the symptoms of friendship with the world? Why is friendship with the world considered “adulterous” or makes you an “enemy” of God?Do you recognize any of the symptoms of friendship with the world in your own life? If so, what can you do about it?How can you actively submit to God today or tomorrow?In what areas of life do you need to resist the Devil today? Do you need to repent of anything? What one aspect of this lesson would you most like to apply to your life this week?  Don't just listen to God's word. You must do what it says. (James 1:22a NLT)  

The Scriptures are very clear as to what God demands by those who worship and praise Him? Is that what we are doing?

When we look at the times in which we live, no question seems more important than this: Where are we in prophetic history? And what is going to happen next? What is next on the prophetic calendar? Where are we in regards to Matthew 24 or Daniel 9 or the book of Revelation? Where are we, right now, in the continuum of prophetic history?And the answer to that question will either fill you with peace or dread, depending on your relationship with the Lord. If you long for His return, then the signs of His coming provide great encouragement. But if you are trying to live your best life now, then His return and judgment should keep you up at night.Scripture gives us a few signs, like a timeline, for the end. And when we see these signs coming in rapid successions, like birth pains, we know the time of His return is near. Let’s look at just a few of these signs. The Regathering of the Jewish People to their Land Increasing Apostasy in the Church The Coming Middle East Peace Reuniting of the Roman Empire (East / West) The Proliferation of GlobalismRemember what our Lord said about these signs:Matthew 24:4-8 – “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.”Did you catch that? The “beginning of sorrows (or travail from childbirth).”Question: Where Are We In Prophetic History?But what about our country? Where does the United States fit in the end time? Where are we, as a nation, in prophetic history?The simple answer is, we do not figure into the end time scenario. And there are many speculations why that may be. We may be included in the list of Gentile nations that reject God in the end times (Revelation 10:11, 11:18, 12:5, 14:8, 15:4, 16:19, 17:15, 18:3, 23, 19:15). Or even worse, we may be included in the nations that rage against God in Psalm 2.Or, are we a Godly nation that follows after Him?Is the church pure enough to forestall His wrath?Can we expect another great revival before the end?And, if so, what would the rapture do to our nation?Or are we, as a nation, long overdue for judgment?As you can see, these are vital questions that need to be answered as we see the day of His return approaching (Hebrews 10:5). So let’s take a look at this together to determine exactly where we are in prophetic history and what we can expect next.To download the slides to this message, click – HEREOur Latest Posts:476: The Condition of the Church475: How to Understand the Why Questions474: Time to Call a Sacred Assembly473: Self-Examination and Salvation472: Have You Experienced Regeneration or Conversion?

http://sowhatdoyouthink.buzzsprout.com/Christian Podcast: In this episode David Copeland Vice President of "Prayers that Avail Much" ministry joins us. We discuss God the Father. Do you see Him as a loving father? Do you have a relationship with Him? Is your picture in God's wallet?

Can you just do anything and accredit God to glorify Him? Is glorification just an event? Will we all have the same degree of glory in the resurrection? What even is glory?? This word is confusing, so we’re taking a look at what the Bible has to say about it.

Has God let you down? Are you mad at Him? Is there a “fact” in your life that does not line up with the truth of God’s Word?God wants to speak to you. In this message, Robby McGee shares his amazing journey with God. Robby was a songwriter, musician, and athlete before a day at the beach left him paralyzed. Robby’s interactions with God reveal a God who sees us, knows us, and walks with us into our destiny in Him. When you look through the lens of God’s word, the fact has to bow to truth.“You have the authority in Christ to cause the facts to bow and the truth to prevail” - Robby McGee

Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” How does Jesus want us to love Him? Is the flip side of this that if we don’t keep His commands we don’t love Him?Who is the "Spirit of truth"? I find The Holy Spirit to be one of the most difficult theological concepts to explain. In Catholic school our Nuns would say “It’s a mystery”. What say you?Listen as Pastor Nancy helps solve these questions, delivers a message and much more in this weeks Podcast! Support the show (http://www.perrychristian.church)

Sermon Recording Sermon OutlineSpeaker: Rev. Scott StrickmanSermon Series: Faith, Hope & LoveRomans 12:3-21 (ESV) 3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. 9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.Sermon OutlineLet love be genuine (v9)1. How are you holding up?vv9-16 Do your responses to the dynamics of life align with these qualities?2. Where are you drawing strength from?vv9, 17, 21 Is evil exerting influence? What ultimately overcomes? Prayer of ConfessionGod of love and grace, when we look deep within, we are discouraged by what we see. The challenges of life don’t evoke responses of mercy and generosity, but of self-serving anger, bitterness, spite and pride. Our love is so often insincere. We have replaced genuine love with an artificial self we present to the world. Lord, we can’t bear the stress of it. We confess we have tried, but we don’t have the strength in ourselves. Plant your love deep within us, and may our lives be so fully joined with Christ that he is our strength and help. Cleanse us deep within, and do a work of genuine renovation in our lives. Amen.Questions for ReflectionWhat pressures have you felt in recent weeks? What are key sources of stress? What kinds of effects has these stressors had on you?Where do you see evidences of love in your thoughts or actions? In what ways have you tried to love others in recent weeks?Do you believe good overcomes evil? Are there ever legitimate reasons to try to use evil to your advantage?What makes you want to give up on showing kindness and offering help to others? What makes you hopeless? Resentful? Spiteful?What elements of your life are part of your core structure? What values, possessions, aspirations, experiences, etc. are essential to who you are? What is important but not essential? Is God part of your core structure, or is God somewhere in your life in a less essential way? Are faith in Christ, hope in God’s promises, and love from the Holy Spirit your foundation?How did Jesus overcome evil with good? What do you see him doing in the face of hostility and opposition? How does Jesus overcome evil in us? Do you believe God’s love is genuine? Do you believe the God who sees all will help you as you look to Him? Is there any reason to not be yourself before God?What steps can you take to be more genuine? Can you let love be genuine this week? How will you prepare to do it?

“REMEMBER THE DAY April 29 We all have memories; bad things we try to shut out of our memory, good things we try to retain and bring to the fore. We read today how Moses told the people to look back on; “all the days of your life (that) you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt” [Deut. 16 v.3] The Passover Feast was set up to aid that memory, to cement it into their consciousness. Most of the generation that had experienced the miraculous deliverance had failed to do that and had died in the wilderness because of their faithlessness. Now Moses is delivering the message to the next generation; whose leaders had been teenagers and children at that time. Today’s chapter details the feasts they are to keep when they start living in the promised land. As well as remembering the actual deliverance, through the Passover feast, there are 3 other feasts associated with farming the land and the reward of harvesting. This they would experience for the first time in their lives. The key lesson is they are not to “appear before the LORD empty handed. Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD” [v.16-17]. Verse 20 has another blunt ‘punch line’ message, “Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the LORD your God is giving you.” Now we consider our own journey in life, how close are we to the climax of all that God has prepared for all those who truly believe in and love Him? Is the crossing of the Jordan close at hand for us? We must face up to today’s challenges and make sure we “escape all the things that are going to take place” [Luke 21 v,36] as the Almighty prepares to cleanse the earth of its’ evil. Let us “remember the day” when we made the commitment to join the Lord’s side and accepted his “deliverance” by being baptised. If you have not yet experienced such a day – ask yourself – very seriously - why? Don’t let “that day come upon you suddenly like a trap” [Luke 21 v.34] so that you fail to enter a far greater “promised land”.

Our God is in the Prayer Answering business! He loves to show Himself strong to those whose heart is loyal to Him! He answers all types of prayers. Sometimes, we don't like the answer, but He is still faithful towards His children! However, there are times when God seemingly doesn't answer. We may feel like He forgot about us. Why? Is it Him? Is it us? This message will dive into these topics.

'Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed,yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,' says the Lord, who has compassion on you. - Isaiah 54:10No matter how hard we try, we will always let other people down. We’ll forget a birthday, say the wrong thing, misread a social cue. Even when we want to love each other well, we still fail. But God’s love, it never fails.God doesn’t change His mind or renege on His covenants. When we asked Jesus into our lives, we became part of God’s family forever. No matter how messy our lives get or how troubled our hearts are, God does not abandon us. He promises to love His people and take compassion on us even when our lives are in chaos.Reflect: Do you ever feel unlovable? What makes you feel that way?When God says His love is unshakable, how does that make you feel? Does it affect how you interact with Him?Is there any area of your life where you need God’s peace and compassion? Spend some time in prayer and tell God how you feel.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/yourdailybible)

This course is about God and how we can know Him. In a world where so often the knowledge of God is treated as irrelevant and unnecessary, the words of Jesus stand in stark contrast: "This is eternal life, that they may know YOU the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." So according to Jesus to know God is to have eternal life! But can God be known? Why does He seem so distant? What explains the inherent religiousness of man? Do all people know there is a God? How can we come to know the truth about Him? Is it possible even to know Him personally? These are very important questions, and in this series Steve Johnstone will show you what the Bible says about them. Whether you're a non-Christian who is seeking the truth, or a skeptic with an eye on the Christian scene, or a believer wanting to secure your faith, this course is exactly what you're looking for. For the full video-version of the course (including a workbook for small group discussion), go here: https://courses.barleyfield.org/p/can-we-know-god --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/steven-johnstone/message

This course is about God and how we can know Him. In a world where so often the knowledge of God is treated as irrelevant and unnecessary, the words of Jesus stand in stark contrast: "This is eternal life, that they may know YOU the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." So according to Jesus to know God is to have eternal life! But can God be known? Why does He seem so distant? What explains the inherent religiousness of man? Do all people know there is a God? How can we come to know the truth about Him? Is it possible even to know Him personally? These are very important questions, and in this series Steve Johnstone will show you what the Bible says about them. Whether you're a non-Christian who is seeking the truth, or a skeptic with an eye on the Christian scene, or a believer wanting to secure your faith, this course is exactly what you're looking for. For the full video-version of the course (including a workbook for small group discussion), go here: https://courses.barleyfield.org/p/can-we-know-god --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/steven-johnstone/message

This course is about God and how we can know Him. In a world where so often the knowledge of God is treated as irrelevant and unnecessary, the words of Jesus stand in stark contrast: "This is eternal life, that they may know YOU the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." So according to Jesus to know God is to have eternal life! But can God be known? Why does He seem so distant? What explains the inherent religiousness of man? Do all people know there is a God? How can we come to know the truth about Him? Is it possible even to know Him personally? These are very important questions, and in this series Steve Johnstone will show you what the Bible says about them. Whether you're a non-Christian who is seeking the truth, or a skeptic with an eye on the Christian scene, or a believer wanting to secure your faith, this course is exactly what you're looking for. For the full video-version of the course (including a workbook for small group discussion), go here: https://courses.barleyfield.org/p/can-we-know-god --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/steven-johnstone/message

This course is about God and how we can know Him. In a world where so often the knowledge of God is treated as irrelevant and unnecessary, the words of Jesus stand in stark contrast: "This is eternal life, that they may know YOU the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." So according to Jesus to know God is to have eternal life! But can God be known? Why does He seem so distant? What explains the inherent religiousness of man? Do all people know there is a God? How can we come to know the truth about Him? Is it possible even to know Him personally? These are very important questions, and in this series Steve Johnstone will show you what the Bible says about them. Whether you're a non-Christian who is seeking the truth, or a skeptic with an eye on the Christian scene, or a believer wanting to secure your faith, this course is exactly what you're looking for. For the full video-version of the course (including a workbook for small group discussion), go here: https://courses.barleyfield.org/p/can-we-know-god --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/steven-johnstone/message

This course is about God and how we can know Him. In a world where so often the knowledge of God is treated as irrelevant and unnecessary, the words of Jesus stand in stark contrast: "This is eternal life, that they may know YOU the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." So according to Jesus to know God is to have eternal life! But can God be known? Why does He seem so distant? What explains the inherent religiousness of man? Do all people know there is a God? How can we come to know the truth about Him? Is it possible even to know Him personally? These are very important questions, and in this series Steve Johnstone will show you what the Bible says about them. Whether you're a non-Christian who is seeking the truth, or a skeptic with an eye on the Christian scene, or a believer wanting to secure your faith, this course is exactly what you're looking for. For the full video-version of the course (including a workbook for small group discussion), go here: https://courses.barleyfield.org/p/can-we-know-god --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/steven-johnstone/message

God calls us who are His to live as reconciled reconcilers, by loving those who hate us, as God loved us when we hated Him.    43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers,[a] what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:43-48 ESV   Forgive your enemies Pray for your enemies Take a posture of reconciliation  Honor the image of God in your enemies by seeking to bless them   How is God calling you to live as a reconciled reconciler, by loving those who hate you, as God loved you when you hated Him? Is there an enemy you need to forgive as God forgave you when you were still his enemy? Is there an enemy you need to pray for as Jesus prayed for you at the cross? What enemy is God calling you to take a posture of reconciliation toward, as he did for you, while you were still rebelling against Him? What enemy is God calling you to bless instead of scorn, as God blessed you while you were scorning Him?      

Singleness—part 6. Again, what does loving God have to do with singleness and marriage? Why should we surrender this part of our lives to Him? Is it possible that our Creator knows what His creation needs? How can we trust Him to do the work instead of us? --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

God's Healing Word by Cindy Hyde, MA Jesus said it was the sick who needed a physician (Mt 9:12). He is our great Physician. He is the LORD that heals us (Ps 30:2).  God wants us healthy in every way possible and He wants our soul to prosper (III Jn 2). Therefore, He sent His WORD, which is His Son Jesus Christ (Jn 1:1; Rev. 19:13), to heal us and deliver us from all of our destructions (Ps 107:20). His Living WORD (Jesus Christ) truly is health to all our flesh (Pr 4:20-22).  In Him we live and move and have our being (Ac 17:28). God sent His Son Jesus Christ to destroy the works of the devil (I Jn 3:8b; Acts 10:38). Jesus bore our griefs and carried our sorrows; He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him; He took our infirmities and our sicknesses from us (Mt 8:17b), and with His stripes we were and are healed (Is 53:4-5; I Pt 2:24). He forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases (Ps 103:3). Nothing is too hard for the Lord (Gn 18:14).  All things are possible when we believe (Mk 9:23). We are assured that God hears and answers us while we are still crying out to Him (Is 65:24). We know that the prayers of the righteous avails much (Ja 5:16). We have this confidence in Him, that if we ask any thing according to His will (III Jn 2), He hears us, and we know we have the petitions we desire of Him. (I Jn 5:14, 15). There are many who are sick and dying because of a breach in a relationship with God, themselves, or others. With the power of the Holy Spirit (Ac 1:8) and His gifts (I Co. 12:7-11), body, soul, spirit, mind, will, and emotions are healed by the power of God (  ) Jesus asked the impotent man at the Pool of Bethesda “Wilt thou be make whole? (Jn 5:6). The man was made whole. We are made whole by the same power. It is God's will to comfort, bless and heal His children (Lk 5:12c; Jn 5:1-9). Prayer Father, in the name of Jesus we are crying out to You in faith, believing You are not only hearing us but answering us while we yet speak, You are our Great Physician. You are the Lord who heals us, who forgives us all of our iniquities, all of our sins, and our transgressions. Come Lord and deliver us out of our destructions. Your Word is health to all our flesh. We receive Your Word and declare that in Him we move, and live, and have our being. We believe all things are possible with You Lord. We know that by the stripes Jesus bore upon His back we were healed. Thank you that when we ask You hear us, and answer us out of Your great mercy and loving kindness. We place our confidence in You, Lord, and in You alone. You are the God who heals us. We want to be made us whole. We ask You to make us whole in every area of our lives. Heal us oh Lord and we will be healed. That You Father that the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ courses through our bodies removing all uncleanness, all infirmity, all sickness, all disease, all effects of sin, all residue of our sinful nature. Cleanse us Lord as we submit and yield ourselves to you and resist the enemy. You and You alone are God, the One Who was, and is, and is to come. We thank You Lord, we bless your Holy name and give You praise for all honor, all glory and all praise belong to You. Amen. AUTHOR BIO  Cindy Hyde, MAEd specializes in soul care. She is an author, teacher, Ordained Minister, Pastoral Counselor, Professional Life Coach, wife, mother, grandmother and CEO/Founder of The East Texas Healing Center (a hospital for the soul).  Connect with her at cindyhyde.com, fb.me/cindylhyde, @cindyhyde, linkedin/in/cindyhyde, and her author site amazon.com/author/cindyhyde. Leave her a message!  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/thehealingword/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thehealingword/support

You were created by God. He made you to image Him. He made you for intimacy with Him. He loves you. He wants HIS best for you. And since He created you… Since He knows you better than you know yourself… The only way to fulfill you calling… The only way to image Him… Is to KNOW Him. He knows your personality. He knows the gifts He gave you. He knows the talents you have. He knows your worth. Your value. Your beauty. And He knows the best way for you to use all of it. He uniquely designed YOU to show forth an aspect of His glory. Here. On this earth. Right now. And the only way to know that purpose… The only way to fulfill that calling… The only way to step into your strength… Is to seek Him. To grow in intimacy with Him. To walk with Him. Today. I recently interviewed 31 women about their life stories. They shared their struggles… Their successes… They shared their weaknesses… They shared what God has redeemed them from… They shared what He has called them to… They shared their hearts. And they shared the beauty of stepping into their strength… The strength that HE supplies. God has given me SO much through these conversations… And I know that He has something for you. I’d love for you to listen in. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/createdforstrength/support

Have you lost your first love? For those that are followers of Jesus, do you remember what it was like when you first were introduced to Him? Is your love for Jesus different today than it was in the past? How do you know if you are living with the...

Have you ever wondered who God is? What is He like? Does He like what you like? How do you know about Him? Is it from something you have seen on television, something you heard or perhaps something you want to believe in your heart? How can you really know the truth about who God […]

Is it good enough to fear God and not follow Him? Is it acceptable to honor God but not know Him? We deal with that question today on Palm Sunday. 1 Samuel 6:1-7:2

There is no higher calling or greater privilege than partnering with Jesus to make all things new, by pointing those around us to Him.  23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. 24 So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. 25 And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. Matthew 4:23-25 ESV   There is no higher calling or greater privilege than partnering with Jesus to make all things new, by pointing those around us to Him.  Gospel Healers: How do people experience you? Does your personal desperation for Jesus produce mercy and empathy towards others? What does the way you see/treat others say about the Gospel you believe?  Gospel Proclaimers: Who in your life (who doesn't know Christ) has God placed on your heart? How are you involved in their journey toward Him? Is it time to invite them into community with us?  Will you be one who show those who join us; they are valuable to us and therefore to Him? Who knows...

To be a Christian is to follow Christ. To follow Christ is to increasingly find our identity, life, and purpose in Him.    18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”[a] 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. Matthew 4:18-22 ESV   To be a Christian is to follow Christ. To follow Christ is to increasingly find our identity, life, and purpose in Him.  The three progressive aspects of following Christ: 1. Seeing Christ through grace-filled eyes 2. Abiding in Christ by faith.  3. Dying to myself to truly live in Him.    How is Christ calling you to follow Him today? Have you begun a relationship with Christ by His grace? How is He calling you to abide in Him more fully? To realign your heart with His as you walk in surrendered obedience to Him? Is there a sin you need to forsake? A step of obedience you need to take, in His power, for His glory, and for your best?  How is Christ calling you to die to yourself that you might live more fully in Him? What are you clinging to more tightly than Jesus? How is He calling you to release that thing to Him, in order to hold Him more tightly?  

Responses to the Following Questions: 1. Please explain Isaiah 30:20 - “Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them." 2. According to 1 John 2:20 and2:27, I have received an anointing. What anointing did I receive? And who is the Him when it is “from Him”? Is this God the Father, God the Son, or God the Holy Spirit?

Hashem’s Bitter MedicineIT’S TIME TO GO HOME!InParshas Va’eirathe seeds of our redemption fromMitzrayimfinally begin to take root and sprout. The time has come for the tenmakkos, the great retribution upon Pharaoh and his slavemaster people, and for theAm Yisroelto finally make their exit from the long and arduous servitude in the ארץ לא להם, the land not their own. Thegeulahof theAm Yisroel,the fulfillment of ואחרי כן יצאו ברכוש גדול, had finally arrived.And on what basis was theAm Yisroelgoing to be taken out ofMitzrayimnow? That we all know; it was thebris bein hab’sarim,the famous covenant that Hashem had made with Avraham centuries earlier. You remember when Avraham asked Hakodosh Boruch Hu: במה אדע כי אירשנה – “How do I know that the land will be mine”? (Bereishis 15:8). “Give me some guarantee,” begged Avraham, “a guarantee that I’m going to receive the land; that my progeny will one day inherit this land.” Avraham was worried; “Who knows? Maybe our merit won’t be sufficient. Maybe someday You’ll be unpleased with us. I want an unbreakable covenant with You!” So Hakadosh Baruch Hu told him then, “Take three calves, three goats and three rams, so that you and I can enter into a covenant.” And what did Avraham do? He took these animals and cut them in half and set the parts opposite each other.That was the practice in those days. It says that in Yirmiyahu (34:19). When you wanted to enter a covenant, when you wanted to commit yourself to a course of action with an unbreakable promise, you would divide an animal and pass between its pieces as a sign of your commitment to uphold the deal.HAKODOSH BORUCH HU SEALS THE DEALSo what happened? Hakadosh Baruch Hu sent down His Presence, His glory, in the form of a fiery furnace to “seal the deal.” Suddenly a greatdread and a darkness fell upon the scene. And Avraham witnessed how this fiery furnace – it was the Presence of Hashem – marched between the offerings. והנה תנור עשן ולפיד אש אשר עבר בין הגזרים האלה – “And behold, a smoking furnace and a torch of fire passed through the pieces” (ibid. 15:17).That was thebris bein hab’sarim, when Hakodosh Boruch Hu came down and entered into a covenant with Avraham. ביום ההוא כרת השם את אברהם ברית – “On that day Hashem made a covenant with Avraham” (ibid. 15:18). It’s something unequaled in the history of our people, even among the greatest prophets, that such a covenant was made. That Hakodosh Boruch Hu should come down and “shake hands” to close the deal?! It’s unheard of in all of history.And what did Hakodosh Boruch Hu tell Avraham at that moment? ידע תדע כי גר יהיה זרעך בארץ לא להם – “Know with certainty that your offspring will be sojourners in a land not their own, ועבדום וענו אותם… ואחרי כן יצאו ברכוש גדול- “And they will enslave them, and oppress them… and afterwards they shall leave with great possessions… to your descendants I have given this land” (ibid. 15:13-18). So it was an imperishable promise that Hakadosh Baruch Hu had made, that He would stand by His people and that He would eventually take them out ofMitzrayimand bring them to the land that He had promised to them.THE TIME FINALLY COMESAnd now, in the beginning of ourparsha, Hakodosh Boruch Hu is telling Moshe to let His people know that the time has come. Hakadosh Baruch Hu is invoking that great promise He had made centuries before. וגם הקימותי את בריתי איתם לתת להם את ארץ כנען – “I am upholding My covenant that I made for them to give them Eretz Canaan” (Va’eira 6:4). “The time has come for Me to fulfill My promise to the Bnei Yisroel,” says Hashem, והבאתי אתכם אל הארץ אשר נשאתי את ידי לתת אותה – “And I will bring you to the land which I raised up My hand to give it to you” (ibid. 6:8).But it’s very important that we should listen to the next verse, thepossukafter Hashem invokes the great promise:וגם הקימותי את בריתי – “And not only am I upholding the covenant I made with Avraham,” but also – now listen to these words: וגם אני שמעתי את נאקת בני ישראל אשר מצרים מעבידים אותם – and I also heard the outcry of the Bnei Yisroel, ואזכור את בריתי – “And therefore, I am now reminded of My promise to them” (ibid. 6:5). What do we see here? That despite the covenant, despite the oath that had to be fulfilled – it’s the word of Hashem after all so there’s no way that He would fail to fulfill it –despite all that, Hakodosh Boruch Huwaiteduntil he heard their outcry.THE GREAT OUTCRYAnd not just one outcry; they cried out for a long time. It’s repeated again and again: “I have heard their crying out” (ibid. 3:7), “Their crying out has come before Me” (ibid. 3:9), “I have heard the groaning outcry ofBnei Yisroel.” And it was only when He heard enough outcries from them, וגם שמעתי את נאקת בני ישראל, it was only then that finally Hakodosh Boruch Hu decided to fulfill His covenant with them.And that’s something we say every day in thesiddurועונה לעמו ישראל בעת שועםאליו – “Hashemanswers His people Yisroel, at the time that they cry out to Him.” It doesn’t say merely that He hastens to their succor; thatHe is at hand to help them. It doesn’t say that. It saysv’oneh, “He is ready to answer them.” When?B’eis shav’ameilav, at the time that they cry out.Shav’ammeans “a great outcry.” ואת שועתם ישמע – “He hears their outcries,” ויושיעם – “AndthenHe rescues them” (Tehillim 145:19). So we see that it’s not sufficient merely to mumble a little prayer. And even to cry out once or twice is not enough. It’s important to make a big outcry to Hashem, and to do it again and again.DID WE MISS THE FINE PRINT?And actually that’s a very big question. Because whydidHashem need our outcry? He had already raised His hand and swore that He would take us out fromMitzrayim! So why is the crying out to Him for help under the heavy weight of oppression so important? And even more remarkable, the words of thepossukimply that our redemption wasdependenton our crying out: ועתה הנה צעקת בני ישראל באה אלי…ועתה לכה ואשלחך אל פרעה והוצא את עמי בני ישראל ממצרים – “The outcry ofBneiYisroelhas come to Me…AndnowI will send you to Pharaoh and take out My nation fromMitzrayim” (ibid. 3:9-10). Even the great covenant of thebris bein hab’sarim,the inviolate word of Hashem wasdependenton theAm Yisroel’sentreaties, on their crying out to Hashem. And that’s very strange because that wasn’t part of thebris bein hab’sarim;“crying out” wasn’t part of the deal that we “signed!”But first, there’s a fundamental question we have to ask about the entire subject oftefillah, of praying for something. We introduce many of our prayers with the wordsyehi ratzon– “May it be Your will, Hashem…” For instance, suppose somebody is in the midst ofshemonah esreiand he remembers there’s somebody ill,chalilah, in the family. Or it’s a person he knows and he wants to pray for him. So he adds these words:יהי רצון מלפניךהשם אלוקינו ואלוקי אבותינו שתשלח מהרה רפואה שלימה מן השמים רפואת הנפש ורפואת הגוף – “It should be Your will Hashem, our G-d and the G-d of our fathers, that You should send speedily a complete recovery from heaven, a recovery of the soul and recovery of the body,” that means mentally and physically. And we mention the person, his name, so that he should be healed among all the othercholeiYisroel. Now, we are sayingyehi ratzon, it should be Your will. That’s how we introduce thetefillah.ILLNESS IS ALSO CHESSED HASHEMNow we have to know that whatever “happens” to a person is Hashem’s will. Nobody is sick because of accident. It’s always Hashem’s will. Of course, sometimes a man can induce the illness by his own carelessness, but nevertheless it’s Hashem’s will. That’s his punishment for being negligent with his care, with his health, or his safety. If a man is careless, he’s being punishedby Hashem. No matter what, it’s Hashem’s will that decreed that this man should be ill.And when Hakadosh Baruch Hu makes a decree like that, we have a principle, a fundamental principle calledkol orchos Hashem chesed v’emes –all the ways of Hashem are kindliness and truth (Tehillim 25:10).צדיק השם בכל דרכיו – “Hashem is righteous in all His ways,” וחסיד בכל מעשיו –”And He is kindly in all His acts.” (Ibid. 145:17) Now, when you come in here you have to divest yourself of outside attitudes. Because here we want to studyTorah attitudes; and the truth of the matter is thatHakadosh Baruch Hu does everything for kindly purposes. Everything! And if it was His will that this man should be ill, then it must be for this man’s benefit. What the most important benefit is, we’ll study soon, but it’s out of the question that it shouldn’t be a kindliness. Itcertainlyis for the person’s benefit.“HASHEM, CAN I GET A SECOND OPINION?”So here it was Hakadosh Baruch Hu’sratzonto give this man the benefit of becoming sick. So the question arises, where do we get the audacity to ask Hashem to change His will? Suppose a man goes to a physician and the physician writes a prescription for some medication, let’s say it’s a foul tasting medication. Would the man say to the physician, יהי רצון מלפניך – “It should be your willnotto give me this prescription. I want to get along without the prescription.”? Only ameshugenehwould say such a thing! The doctor studied for years and years, his profession is medicine, his knowledge and experience is medicine. He’s the expert here. And you’re just an obstinate fellow, maybe ignorant too. Either the expense is too much for you, or maybe you don’t like the taste of the medicine. So you don’t want to bother with it. It’s ameshugasto even ask such a thing!And here is Hakadosh Baruch Hu, the great Healer, and He’s prescribing for a man certain pills – whether the pills are troubles, or headaches, or pains, or illness – big and small. Whatever it is, it’s certainlypills. There’s no question that Hashem is benefitting the man by giving him these troubles, these misfortunes, pains or illnesses. So how can a man say to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, “I beg of you,yehi ratzon, that You should change the prescription, or not give me the prescription at all?” That’s a big question that needs to be answered. And actually that’s what all ourbakashosseem to be – an attempt to change the will of Hashem.WHY ALL THE TURBULENCE?And another question – just as important and maybe even more perplexing: What’s Hashem’s purpose in causing any disturbance, either in a man’s health or in his family life or in his business? It’s a question we want to ask of Him: “Why do You send anything to ruffle the tranquility of our lives?” After all, like we just said, Hashem’s ways are perfect, and He is kindly in all of His deeds. That’s a truism. So why is it that we see sometimes that Hashem does things that seem to be contradictory to these principles of kindliness?Actually it’s a question that all thinking men ask one time or another. Because chalilahsomething happens; sometimes it happens. Here’s a man who’s successful, and all of a sudden a freak misfortune happens to him and unfortunately he’s in the hospital. It’s not an accident, it’s Hashem! So he’s thinking, “Why did this happen to me? Before everything was going smoothly with me;boruch HashemI was a good frum Jew more or less. Why did Hashem do this?”THE GREATEST CHESED!And the answer is as follows: There is a great kindliness that’s most paramount, more important than all thechassodimin the world – more important thanparnasah, more important thanshalom bayis, and good health. And that’s the kindliness calledyiras Hashem.Yiras Hashem– which means to be Aware of Hashem, that’s the most important thing in your life. Now, this might sound queer to the ears of those who live with materialism, but it’s a fundamental principle that we must get into our heads.We are here to gain Awareness of Hashem.Now, if that’s the purpose, then what a tragedy it is when people let their lives go by and fail to utilize the opportunities to recognize Hashem. You forgot about Him?! To forget Hashem is the worst ruinationin life! To live without awareness is not a life worth living!So Hashem sees that you’re wasting your life – of course you’re afrumperson – you’re doingmitzvos,you’re ultra-ultra Orthodox.But that’s not enough for Hashem. He doesn’t want “Orthodox;” He wants to squeezegreatnessout of you! He wants to save you so that your life shouldn’t be wasted. Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants to give you the gift of being Aware of Him.HASHEM: A ONE DAY HEADACHE FOR CHAIMSo what does Hashem do? He orders a prescription; one headache. Prescribed: Chaim ben Dovid,one headache, for one day. It’s a pill. And so one morningyou wake up with a headache. And what’s the purpose of that prescription?The purpose of the headache is so that you should call out to Him and achieve the perfection of even a little more awareness of Hashem.And when you do that, you’re turning your migraine into diamonds!All the events in a man’s life are being manipulated by Hakadosh Boruch Hu; He puts disturbances in your life so you’ll call out to Him. And that is the chief purpose of every mishap in your life; to cause you to cry out for aid from Hashem and to thereby become more aware of Him. The outcry that comes from desperation, from unrequited needs and from anguished hopes for the future, causes Awareness of Hashem’s Presence, and it is that Awareness that is the true achievement, the chief purpose of Man’s existence in this life.“BETTER ANGER THAN LAUGHTER”And now we have an answer to the age old question of why “bad” things happen to good people: Because Awareness of Hashem is the greatestchesedthat Hashem can give man, and most often it is thetzaros,and the crying out to Hashem it encourages, that brings this Awareness. When you’re subject to adversity, that’s the great opportunity to bemakirHakodosh Boruch Hu, to recognize Hashem. When a man finds himself subject to mishaps and misfortunes – he needs things, so it’s much easier for him to raise his eyes to Hakadosh Boruch Hu and ask for it; and that is the great gift of Awareness of Hashem.And therefore, טוב כעס משחוק – Better anger than laughter” (Koheles 7:3). Now we know that’s not true. Anger is no good; it’s a very big mistake to get angry. But there isoneanger that is good – and that’s Hashem’s anger. טוב כעס שכועס הקדוש ברוך הוא על הצדיקים – That’s good. When Hashem gets angry at you, that’stov, that’s good for you. Don’t ask for it though. You ask for good times. הרחב פיך ואמלאהו, ask Him for good times and appreciate what He’s giving you. But still, “when Hashem shows his anger to thetzadikim, that’s better than the smiling Hashem does on thereshaim.” (Shabbos 30b) If there ever happened that atzadik,chalilahhad a setback, a misfortune, so you must know, and he must know, that it’s a stroke of good fortune. Now I know that it’s very hard to accept, but we have to learn that and understand that it’s achesed gadolwhen that happens to him.Tov, it’s better, it’s a greaterhatzlachathan had Hashem smiled.ברוע פנים ייטב לב, When the face is sad then the heart becomes better (ibid.). Now it doesn’t mean you should be sad and sour faced. On the contrary – if you’re sad faced it shows that you don’t appreciate what Hashem is doing for you. You don’t appreciate that things aretov. But sometimes a man against his will is sad because some misfortune has happened to him, so he should know however that ייטב לב, hisneshamais improving.DON’T TAKE THE WRONG MEDICINESo when Hashem sends you a headache, you have to know that it was for a great purpose. And if you take an aspirin, and after one day the headache goes away,and you never cried out to Hashem, so you wasted the prescription. You’ve wasted an opportunity! The purpose was for you to become Aware of Hashem, and you wasted the glorious opportunity.And so when we ask Hashem “Yehiratzon, let it be Your will that I be healed,” we are not telling Hakadosh Baruch Hu tochange His will.Yehi ratzonmeans this: “Hashem, I know that what You want from me is that I should become more Aware of You. And that’s what I’m doing now; I’m calling out to you. Let it be Your will that I can get better now – or mytzaarshould be removed, whatever it is you’re asking for –becauseI’m calling out to You. I’m becoming more aware of You. Whatever trouble You gave me, can go away now because I’ve achieved the purpose.”WHEN HASHEM DOESN’T ANSWERNow the truth is that sometimes you cry out to Hashem and He doesn’t answer. A man called me on the telephone and he tells me: He’s crying out and crying out, and there’s no answer. He wants to know what he’s supposed to think.He’s supposed to think thatHakadosh Boruch Huwants him to cry out even more. And suppose he cries out even more – let’s say a man is on his deathbed, he’s an old man, 119 years old, he can’t expect to live much more. But still he cries out on his deathbed. Did he waste his time? No! He achieved maybe in his last minutes more than he did in his whole life.119 YEARS IS NOT ENOUGH?!An old man is crying out on his deathbed, he says “Oh, Hashem, heal me!” “Oh it’s silly,” you’ll say. The bystanders think it’s ridiculous. “You want to be healed?! How long do you want to hang around here?! The children want to take over the business already, they want the “old man” out of the way already. 119 years is not enough?! No, for him it’s not enough. When you’re on your deathbed it’s never enough. He wants to live a thousand years. Why shouldn’t he? He has a great grandfather who lived almost a thousand years. Mesushelach lived almost a thousand years so why can’t he?So he’s crying out to Hashem. Why not? He has the right to cry out. And when he finally takes his last breath don’t think he didn’t accomplish with the crying out. He accomplished plenty.The crying out is the purpose.That’s the biggest achievement there is. So nobody is ever frustrated in hisdavenenwhen he’s not answered – because he has gained the most important thing, more Awareness of Hashem.DISCOVERING WINEMAKINGIt’s like a man who has a very good vineyard. He has blue-blooded grapes, good quality grapes “with ayichus, with a pedigree.” So when he takes his grapes to the wine press and he presses out the wine, it’s a pity to take that mash, the residue, and throw it away.So he decides to press it a little more; he takes that mash and presses it some more. He puts them on the wine press and gives akvetch. And a little more good wine squirts out. But it’s not enough for him. He says, “I can’t leaveanywine inside the peel. Maybe there’s some more good wine in there. So he puts it under the press again and puts some more pressure to get out the last drop.Now you have to know thatweare the good grapes and Hashem wants to press from usall the yiras Hashemthat He could get– for our own benefit. He wants to squeeze out some more “good wine of Awareness” from us because from good grapes you try to squeeze out all that you can.THE SOUL OF GOOD GRAPESAnd so Hakodosh Boruch Hu is pressing us with all kinds of pressure. One pressure might be trouble withparnasa, another might be trouble with your children, or trouble having children,chas v’shalom. And when you cry out to Hashem, that’s the good wine, the good wine of Awareness of Hashem dripping from the good grapes of yourneshamah. When your heart is torn with anguish, and you turn to Hashem for His help; you weep and you pour out your heart intefillah,that’sthe good wine that Hakodosh Boruch Hu wants from you. And sometimes He might press you again and again, and the good grapes will keep on giving good wine.Until finally Hashem will say, “Enough! You achieved exactly what I wanted from you.” And now רצון יראיו יעשה ואת שועתם ישמע ויושיעם – it means that Hakodosh Boruch Hu does the will of those who continue to grow in Awareness of Him, but first they have to cry out to Him.Shavasammeans that they cry out. They cry out! “Oh,” says Hashem, “If that’s the case, if you’re crying out to Me, so you’re becoming Aware of Me. So now, ויושיעם- “Now I’ll help you. Once you cried out, once you perfected yourself in Awareness of Hashem, so now I’ll answer you.”SO IT WASN’T FINE PRINT AFTER ALL!And that leads us to the answer that we were searching for in the beginning of our talk. Hakodosh Boruch Hu had given us His word at thebris bein hab’sarim; He caused Hisshechinato pass through thebesarim, the halves of the animals, and swore to Avraham that He would take us out of Mitzrayim. So how is it that now He could he make our geulahdependenton our crying out to Him? Is not the word of Hashem imperishable?!דבר אלוקינו יקום לעולם – “The word of Hashem stands forever” (Yeshayah 40:8).And so we’ll study again the words of Hashem to Avraham Avinu. ועבדום וענו אותם – “And they will enslave them, and oppress them” (Bereishis 15:13) The word וענו, “and they will oppress,” you must know actually means “and they will cause you to cry out.” The wordani, a poor or afflicted man, actually means “the man that cries out,” from the rootanah, “to speak up.” Thegemara(Bava Basra 10a) tells us that “the poor man is beloved by Hashem,” becausehe cries outto Hashem in his affliction, and he therefore becomes more Aware of Him.And so we have to say that the וענו אותם that Hashem promised us, thetzarosthat Hashem foretold would come upon us in Mitzrayim,were intended specifically for the Bnei Yisroel to reach greater and greater heights of Awareness of Hashem. That was its purpose. And how? By means of the עינוי, by means of them calling out to Him and thereby becoming more Aware of Him and of their dependence on Him.PREPARING US TO BECOME HASHEM’S PEOPLEHashem had brought the afflictions on the Am Yisroelfor the purposeof causing them to cry out to Him. He was preparing us inMitzrayimto become “My people,” and the oppression was His plan of conferring upon us the perfection of crying out to Him. The heavy affliction caused a great and unceasing outcry, which resulted in a heightened Awareness of Hashem. It was this keen Awareness which made them My people,and now the covenant with the Avos could be triggered, and become effective, in causing their deliverance from Mitzrayim.And until they would reach those heights, that achievement of Awareness, then the ועבדום might have been fulfilled, but the וענו אותם – “And I will cause them to oppress you until you cry out to Me,” would still be missing.In reality the entire bondage and affliction were intended to be stimulation towards the outcry to Hashem, and toward the achievement of a greater Awareness of Hashem, which would be demonstrated by their outcry to Him.PHARAOH, HASHEM’S WINEMAKERAnd if we wouldn’t have cried out to Hashem we would have remained there forever. Absolutely we wouldn’t have come out ofMitzrayim.Hashem said, “You have to cry out to Me if you want to get the salvation.” And that’s why Hashem applied pressure. When He saw that they were not crying enough so He told Pharaoh, “Get busy and apply a little more pressure to the wine press.” So all of a sudden Pharaoh comes out with a new decree: “Up till now you were making bricks and I supplied the hay, the straw. Now you go look for the straw by yourself.” That’s a double job. In addition to making bricks all day long, in your lunch hour, in your three minute lunch hour, go and look for straw too. Because את מתכונת הלבנים, the same amount of bricks has to be supplied, the same count of bricks you must continue to give.Now that’s putting pressure on the wine press with a vengeance!Even when they cried out, Hashem pressed more on the good grapes. So the Bnei Yisroel cried out more. And that’s what Hakadosh Boruch Hu wanted. “Ahh, my children. You remember Me now. You’re aware that I’m in existence – you know about Me now.” It’s like a man who is carrying his child on his shoulders – and this child was so happy riding on high; he thoughthewas the tall one. So he started kicking with his feet, kicking his father in the chest with his feet, he was so happy.So the father saw now that his son was not aware of him anymore, his child was riding on high. So when the father saw a dog coming, he put the child down near the dog, “Oh, Poppy, Poppy, save me.” “Oh,” the father said, “So I’m a Poppy now.”And so even after Hakodosh Boruch Hu took the Bnei Yisroel out from Mitzrayim, He was afraid –afraidfor them-that they might forget about Him. He took them out of Egypt, so it’s all over now. Now they can stop crying. So ויבוא עמלק – And Amalek came (Shemos 17:8). So they cried out to Hashem. “Oh,” Hashem said, “I’m still around, huh?!” Because that’s the arrangement of Hakodosh Boruch Hu in this world. It wasn’t a one-time event, in Mitzrayim. Forever and ever the plan of Hashem is to press the good grapes of the Am Yisroel a little bit more. And our job is to always utilize the opportunities and not make it necessary for the wine press to be pressed even harder.BE SMART AND DON’T WAITLet’s remember always that there aremadreigosandmadreigosin persecution – and wise is the man who will use all of them, even the smallest misfortune, to improve, by calling out to Hashem and becoming more Aware of Him.So you’re standing in your store and no customers are coming in. Why are you wasting the great opportunity?! You have to cry out to Hashem, “Ribono Shel Olam!Please give me some customers!” And those opportunities are endless, because all day long there are bumps in the road. Just because there’s no taskmaster standing over you with a whip, doesn’t mean you can’t use the opportunities oftza’arin your life – the smallest things and the biggest things – to call out to Hashem.YOU ARE STANDING IN A GOLD MINE!I’ll tell you something else. Don’t let yourshemonah esreigo to waste! You mean to say you’re going to spend your years just mumbling yourtefillosevery day by rote and not thinking about Hakadosh Baruch Hu?!?Shemonah esreiis a gold mine. And when you’re standing in a gold mine, even if you grab only one handful you’re already a wealthy man. But you have to know how to grab! כל שאינו אומרה בלשון תחנונים – “If you’re not begging Hashem for mercy, if you’re not crying out and begging, so your tefillah is not a tefillah” (Brachos 29b). When you daven, you have to daven כרש המבקש בפתח, like a poor man begging at the door of a rich man (Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 89:3). He’s talking here about a man without shoes, he’s hungry and cold, and he’s begging for something to eat. That’s a man who knows how to cry out! And that’s howwe’resupposed to daven.Now we can’t ask too much of you, but when you standshemonah esreiat least onebrachahfrom the gold mine you can choose to sayb’tachanunim. For one thing at least you can cry out to Hashem instead of running through the words. You have a cold? “R’faeinu Hashem, v’neirafei!”Cry out! Trouble withparnasah? Cry out, “Bareich aleinu!” There’s fighting in the house, machlokes with the neighbor?Sim shalom! Don’t just mumble the words to yourself; cry out to Hashem! At least in your mind you should be crying out; it should be a cry of the mind up to Hashem.And sometimes things get even more difficult. And what that means is that Hashem wants even more Awareness from you. When things are going hard withparnasah, so you get desperate – you were hoping this job would work out, or maybe this deal would go through – but nothing is going, you’re at your wit’s end! So what happens? בלית ברירה, you have no choice – your rich uncle won’t take your phone calls, the bank won’t lend you any more money, and welfare won’t pay the bills. So you have to cry out to Hashem. Ohh, that’s ahatzlacha– that’s more important than yourparnasah!LET’S LEARN FROM IYOV’S MISTAKENow, I want to expand this subject a little more. Because once we understand that the purpose of tefillah is Awareness of Hashem, so you’ll see that we’re not talking only abouttefillahwhen somethingalreadyhappened; I’m also talking abouttefillahthat itshouldn’thappen.Tefillah koidem l’tzarah, how important that is! When you falltachanun, you fall on your arm aftershemonahesrei, so it’stachanunim, you’re entreating Hashem for mercy.Rachum v’Chanun– “Hashem, You’re the Merciful One.”השם אל באפך תוכיחני – “Please Hashem, don’t rebuke me in Your anger,” ואל בחמתך תיסרני – Please don’t chastise me in Your wrath.” So you might think that thiskepitelis for Dovid maybe; he was in trouble so he was calling out, that’s why he said those words. No, don’t make that mistake; it’s for us! And we’re saying itso there shouldn’t come trouble. We want to be wise enough to call out to Hashem before thetzaraheven comes.Why waitchalilah? Maybe it’ll be too late then. You remember howIyovwas in trouble,gehokte tzaros. He lost his sons; he lost his daughters. He lost everything; he even lost his health. And he was sitting on a garbage pile; this wealthy man now didn’t have a home at all – he was sitting on the dunghill of the city and he was scratching his wounds. The puss was dripping from his wounds and he was scratching the itching wounds with a piece of broken pottery. Imagine the scene. It’sIyov, the “great richIyov,” sitting on a dunghill, with a piece of a broken pot scratching his itching wounds. He couldn’t even afford a salve to heal himself!So his friends came to visit him, hischaveirimwho knew him in his good days. And one of them said to him as follows: היערוך שועך ולא בצר – Did you set forth your outcrybeforeyou were in distress?” You hear that?! היערוך, “Did you set forth your outcry to Hashem, did you arrange yourtefillos, לא בצר,beforethe trouble came upon you?” (Iyov 36:19).That’s what he said toIyov: “Did you cry out to Hashembeforeyou were in trouble?” It was the good old days, when you could criticize a man who was suffering and he’d listen.THINK AHEADNow, I don’t know what the answer is; we don’t know whatIyovanswered his friends. Maybe he did. But we see what thegemarasays about that:לעולם יקדים אדם תפילה לצרה – “A man should always say his prayersbeforehe needs something, before the troubles set in” (Sanhedrin 44b). That’s a real sign ofyiras Hashem. The real sign of Awareness of Hashem is when you are always aware ofwhat could be– so many things could go wrong in a man’s life – and you cry out to Hashem so that He should save you from them all. Because that’s the system that Hakadosh Baruch Hu set up for mankind. That’s His prescription for the world. So if a man says to Hashem “Hakadosh Baruch Hu, I’m going to cry out to You even when there’s no trouble,” so that man is filling his prescription ofyiras Hashemin the best way possible.And Hashem says, “I’m satisfied – as long as you cry out. But to not cry out at all? I might have to give you a reason to cry out.The last year of his life, tragedy struck. His beloved grandson, Reb Yisroel Miller, was killed when his car collided with a bus while on the way to the Kosel with his bar mitzvah son. The news hit Rav Miller like a hammer blow. Living as he did in close proximity to his grandfather, Sruly had the opportunity to serve hiszeidein various ways and became close to him. From his youngest years, Sruly had learned privately with him. At theshivah, Rav Miller expressed his pain, telling the family, “I feel I should be sittingshivahhere along with you.” When his daughter asked him for a practical lesson the family could derive from the tragedy, Rav Miller responded that he felt that his dailytefillosfor his children and grandchildren were becoming habitual, so he needed to add more fervor when he beseeched Hashem to protect them. He suggested to his children to add morekavanahwhen they recited theberachahofHashkiveinu. (Rav Avigdor Miller – His Life and His Revolution p. 253)And so we say to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, “Hashem, please don’t give me any headaches. And from now on I’m going to ask You as much as I can to save me from headaches.” “Oh,” Hashem says. “That’s a deal that I like. As long as you’re aware of Me; as long as you ask Me every day to protect you from illness, then I don’t have to give you any illness. Of course if you’ll let down your side of the bargain, if you start saying the words only out of habit, so sometimes I’ll have to remind you. Sometimes a little headache I’ll send again so that you should call out to Me with more sincerity.”THE BEST TIME FOR PRAYERAnd so we are never telling Hakadosh Baruch Hu to change His will. Who are we to tell Hashem what’s good for us?! Let’s say, He prescribed a person should have to be in a hospital. Maybe He prescribed a person should have to lose his jobchalilahor have trouble with one of his childrenchasv’shalom. So we say to Hakadosh Baruch Hu beforehand, before he fills the prescription, “May it be Your will that I shouldn’t have to ever go into a hospital – except to visit my wife when she has a baby.”“Yehi ratzon m’lifanechahthat I shouldn’t have any problems with my boss, and that I should have my job for as long as I want it.” “Ribono Shel Olam, please keep my children on thederech hayashar, thederech hatorah.”The best time to cry out to be saved is when everything is well! It’s important for you young people to think about that. You’re healthy?! Cry out to Hakodosh Boruch Hu that you should stay well! Your children are well?! Cry out to Hashem, “Ribono Shel Olam, please! It shouldn’t come upon me or anyone in my family what happened to that man in shul!”Parnasahis good? Cry out to Hakodosh Boruch Hu! Suddenly things couldchas v’shalomhappen. Out of nowhere things happen!When you say ושמור צאתינו ובואינו לחיים טובים ולשלום – “Hashem, guard our going out and our coming back, for good life and peace” (Birkas Kriyas Shema – Maariv) you should be saying it with an outcry. At least in your mind it should be ותעל שועתם אל האלוקים. Who knows what could happen on the road once you walk outside?! On the streets, people are speeding in cars through the streets. And sometimes the car jumps the curb onto the sidewalk where people walk. Who knows what could happen?! You cross by a building and suddenly a facade of the building, it’s been hanging on for twenty-five, thirty years, a big chunk of cement falls loose and starts coming down. It’s very important that you should be a few inches out of the way. And that’s what yourtefillahcan accomplish.I DON’T WANT ANY SPECIALISTSWhen you walk down Ocean Avenue so you see signs. A doctor specializing in this, a different doctor specializing in this, a doctor specializing in something else. It’s no accident that you saw those signs today. Look how many things they specialize in! It’s a reminder to cry out! Look how many problemscould happen. Even one thing wrong and you have to go to a big specialistchas v’shalom.Sometimes you have to go to Manhattan and it costs a load of money. And then some people get a diagnosis, the dreaded diagnosis.Ay yah yay, the terrible news. And now thetzarosbegin. And there are so many things that could go wrong, it’s endless. So cry out nowkoideml’tzarah: “Ribono Shel Olam, please save me from that dreaded disease” – I don’t want to say it, it starts with a C.And when you pass by the shingle hanging on the next building, let it be a reminder of anothertzarahthat you don’t want to come upon you. I recommend that – walk by one of these fancy streets where there are a lot of doctor signs and practice up on crying out to Hashembefore the troubles come!You pass by a big drug store – all kinds of medicines, creams, drops, with long names for different problems. Bargain prices! So cry out, “Hashem, please I should never need this type of medicine for kidney failure.” You know what it means tonothave a working kidney? It’sgehenim! Cry out to Hashem, “Ribono Shel Olam, please keep my kidneys working. I don’t want to be hooked up to a kidney machine; I want to be able to empty my bladder on my own, in my own bathroom, not in a hospital room.”THERE’S NO CHESS IN THIS HOMEEven when you pass a funeral parlor, you should cry out. You know, if you’ll take a walk with me down Ocean Avenue, we’ll pass three separate funeral parlors. Funeral “homes” they call it. They want you to think maybe that they’re inside there playing chess, or reading the newspapers!No, he’s laying in a plain wooden box, that’s all. So every time you pass by the funeral parlor, you can cry out to Hashem, “Please keep me alive. Please give me good health andarichas yomim; I want to stay for a long time outside of this home.” You have to cry out to Hashem with intensity!You know what a tragedy it is when people have to beg Hakodosh Boruch Hu for peaceafterthe war has already begun? I’m talking about domestic peace, peace in the home. You should be crying out to Hashem all the time, during the times of peace – especially when there’s peace. There shouldn’t be any “war” in your household. And that there should be peace in the households of your sons and daughters. You ask Hashem, “Please don’t let my telephone ring with bad news.”Sometimes a daughter calls up,chalilah, she’s having a fight with her husband. She wants to leave him.Ay yah yay,the tragedy of a broken home. Don’t wait! When it’s quiet on all fronts, your daughters are quiet with their husbands. Nobody’s complaining – maybe they are, but not to you. You hear nothing from your children. That’s wonderful, thegreat peace ofshalombayis. And that’s when you should cry out to Hashem, that He should continue to keep peace in your home and the homes of your children.HASHEM, SAVE ME FROM BLINKING TOO MUCHAnd if you don’t have any litigation with your neighbors, that’s the best time todaven. If you never went through that, you’re a lucky man, and you want to keep it that way. Troublewith neighbors, fighting and recriminations, going to court; it’s alltzaros. A man used to come in here. He used to come here and he was blinking all the time. I saw that the man was very nervous. And so I spoke to him and he told me he has constant legal trouble with neighbors. Jewish neighbors. About the driveway, about this and about that,and it got so acute that he was dragged into the court again and again. That’stzaros.And so we ask Hakadosh Baruch Hu,שלום רב על ישראלעמך תשים – “Great peace in every area of our lives you should put upon us.”“Please Hashem. There should be peace inside of our stomachs. Our stomach shouldn’t complain, shouldn’t growl, shouldn’t groan. Our nerves shouldn’t complain, our head shouldn’t complain.” The body has a lot to say, and when the body is quiet and it’s peace all throughout the body, people aren’t grateful. You don’t realize how lucky you are. Your brain is getting good messages from all parts of the body. Constantly. You’re not aware of the messages. When do you become aware? When even once the messages are not good. Even if one pinprick somewhere on your skin is taking place, it’s relayed to your brain and you’re acutely aware of it. And so, when nothing is happening, it’sshalom. It’s complete tranquility on all fronts. From your toes to the scalp of your head, it’s quiet on all fronts.And when all is quiet, that’s the best opportunity to cry out to Hashem that it should remain quiet.THINK ABOUT WHAT COULD HAPPEN TO YOUOnly that when you call out to Hashem before thetzarah,it has to be with the same intensity as during atzarah. The same Awareness of Hashem you have to accomplish in the good times! If you would think even a little bit about whattzarosdoes to a person, hospitals, and bills, and litigation, and so much pain and anguish! Cry out to Hakodosh Boruch Hu that it shouldn’t happen! At all times you should be crying out.And don’t think it’s excessive what I’m telling you now. You can never ask enough for Hashem to help you, becauseyou can never be too Aware of Hashem! Because what we’ve learned from ourparshais thatwe’re in this world primarily to become Aware of Hashem.That’s our perfection! The more we call out to Him the more ourneshamosare being purified.And therefore, usually we have two choices: You can become Aware of Him while He’s still giving you good things – while you’re healthy, while your wife and children are healthy, while you still haveparnasah, and so on and so forth – by crying out to Him and entreating Him that everything should remain as is; that’s the best way to squeeze out from the good grapes the wine of Awareness of Hashem.THANK YOU FOR ALL THE TROUBLES!However, in this world, Hakodosh Boruch Hu will always press the good grapes of theAm Yisroellike He did inMitzrayim; there’s always some more wine of Awareness to squeeze from you that you haven’tkvetchedout on your own. And so Hashem says, “It pays to give you trouble because the gain, the benefit for you when you’re thinking about Me, is the greatest of benefits. And when you come to the Next World, you’ll say, אודך השם כי אנפת בי – “I thank You Hashem for causing me that pain, for giving me thistza’aror thattza’ar, because it made me call out to You. And it was the crying out in that world that gave me the greatest success, Awareness of You, Hashem, so that I can bask forever in the Presence of Yourshechinah.” HAVE A WONDERFUL SHABBOS See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hashem’s Bitter MedicineIT’S TIME TO GO HOME!In Parshas Va’eira the seeds of our redemption from Mitzrayimfinally begin to take root and sprout. The time has come for the ten makkos, the great retribution upon Pharaoh and his slavemaster people, and for the Am Yisroel to finally make their exit from the long and arduous servitude in the ארץ לא להם, the land not their own. The geulah of the Am Yisroel, the fulfillment of ואחרי כן יצאו ברכוש גדול, had finally arrived.And on what basis was the Am Yisroel going to be taken out of Mitzrayim now? That we all know; it was the bris bein hab’sarim, the famous covenant that Hashem had made with Avraham centuries earlier. You remember when Avraham asked Hakodosh Boruch Hu: במה אדע כי אירשנה – “How do I know that the land will be mine”? (Bereishis 15:8). “Give me some guarantee,” begged Avraham, “a guarantee that I’m going to receive the land; that my progeny will one day inherit this land.” Avraham was worried; “Who knows? Maybe our merit won’t be sufficient. Maybe someday You’ll be unpleased with us. I want an unbreakable covenant with You!” So Hakadosh Baruch Hu told him then, “Take three calves, three goats and three rams, so that you and I can enter into a covenant.” And what did Avraham do? He took these animals and cut them in half and set the parts opposite each other.That was the practice in those days. It says that in Yirmiyahu (34:19). When you wanted to enter a covenant, when you wanted to commit yourself to a course of action with an unbreakable promise, you would divide an animal and pass between its pieces as a sign of your commitment to uphold the deal.HAKODOSH BORUCH HU SEALS THE DEALSo what happened? Hakadosh Baruch Hu sent down His Presence, His glory, in the form of a fiery furnace to “seal the deal.” Suddenly a great dread and a darkness fell upon the scene. And Avraham witnessed how this fiery furnace – it was the Presence of Hashem – marched between the offerings. והנה תנור עשן ולפיד אש אשר עבר בין הגזרים האלה – “And behold, a smoking furnace and a torch of fire passed through the pieces” (ibid. 15:17).That was the bris bein hab’sarim, when Hakodosh Boruch Hu came down and entered into a covenant with Avraham. ביום ההוא כרת השם את אברהם ברית – “On that day Hashem made a covenant with Avraham” (ibid. 15:18). It’s something unequaled in the history of our people, even among the greatest prophets, that such a covenant was made. That Hakodosh Boruch Hu should come down and “shake hands” to close the deal?! It’s unheard of in all of history.And what did Hakodosh Boruch Hu tell Avraham at that moment? ידע תדע כי גר יהיה זרעך בארץ לא להם – “Know with certainty that your offspring will be sojourners in a land not their own, ועבדום וענו אותם… ואחרי כן יצאו ברכוש גדול- “And they will enslave them, and oppress them… and afterwards they shall leave with great possessions… to your descendants I have given this land” (ibid. 15:13-18). So it was an imperishable promise that Hakadosh Baruch Hu had made, that He would stand by His people and that He would eventually take them out of Mitzrayim and bring them to the land that He had promised to them.THE TIME FINALLY COMESAnd now, in the beginning of our parsha, Hakodosh Boruch Hu is telling Moshe to let His people know that the time has come. Hakadosh Baruch Hu is invoking that great promise He had made centuries before. וגם הקימותי את בריתי איתם לתת להם את ארץ כנען – “I am upholding My covenant that I made for them to give them Eretz Canaan” (Va’eira 6:4). “The time has come for Me to fulfill My promise to the Bnei Yisroel,” says Hashem, והבאתי אתכם אל הארץ אשר נשאתי את ידי לתת אותה – “And I will bring you to the land which I raised up My hand to give it to you” (ibid. 6:8).But it’s very important that we should listen to the next verse, the possuk after Hashem invokes the great promise: וגם הקימותי את בריתי – “And not only am I upholding the covenant I made with Avraham,” but also – now listen to these words: וגם אני שמעתי את נאקת בני ישראל אשר מצרים מעבידים אותם – and I also heard the outcry of the Bnei Yisroel, ואזכור את בריתי – “And therefore, I am now reminded of My promise to them” (ibid. 6:5). What do we see here? That despite the covenant, despite the oath that had to be fulfilled – it’s the word of Hashem after all so there’s no way that He would fail to fulfill it – despite all that, Hakodosh Boruch Hu waiteduntil he heard their outcry.THE GREAT OUTCRYAnd not just one outcry; they cried out for a long time. It’s repeated again and again: “I have heard their crying out” (ibid. 3:7), “Their crying out has come before Me” (ibid. 3:9), “I have heard the groaning outcry of Bnei Yisroel.” And it was only when He heard enough outcries from them, וגם שמעתי את נאקת בני ישראל, it was only then that finally Hakodosh Boruch Hu decided to fulfill His covenant with them. And that’s something we say every day in the siddur ועונה לעמו ישראל בעת שועם אליו – “Hashem answers His people Yisroel, at the time that they cry out to Him.” It doesn’t say merely that He hastens to their succor; that He is at hand to help them. It doesn’t say that. It says v’oneh, “He is ready to answer them.” When?B’eis shav’ameilav, at the time that they cry out. Shav’am means “a great outcry.” ואת שועתם ישמע – “He hears their outcries,” ויושיעם – “And then He rescues them” (Tehillim 145:19). So we see that it’s not sufficient merely to mumble a little prayer. And even to cry out once or twice is not enough. It’s important to make a big outcry to Hashem, and to do it again and again.DID WE MISS THE FINE PRINT?And actually that’s a very big question. Because why didHashem need our outcry? He had already raised His hand and swore that He would take us out from Mitzrayim! So why is the crying out to Him for help under the heavy weight of oppression so important? And even more remarkable, the words of the possuk imply that our redemption was dependent on our crying out: ועתה הנה צעקת בני ישראל באה אלי…ועתה לכה ואשלחך אל פרעה והוצא את עמי בני ישראל ממצרים – “The outcry of BneiYisroel has come to Me…And now I will send you to Pharaoh and take out My nation from Mitzrayim” (ibid. 3:9-10). Even the great covenant of the bris bein hab’sarim, the inviolate word of Hashem was dependenton the Am Yisroel’s entreaties, on their crying out to Hashem. And that’s very strange because that wasn’t part of the bris bein hab’sarim; “crying out” wasn’t part of the deal that we “signed!”But first, there’s a fundamental question we have to ask about the entire subject of tefillah, of praying for something. We introduce many of our prayers with the words yehi ratzon – “May it be Your will, Hashem…” For instance, suppose somebody is in the midst of shemonah esrei and he remembers there’s somebody ill, chalilah, in the family. Or it’s a person he knows and he wants to pray for him. So he adds these words: יהי רצון מלפניך השם אלוקינו ואלוקי אבותינו שתשלח מהרה רפואה שלימה מן השמים רפואת הנפש ורפואת הגוף – “It should be Your will Hashem, our G-d and the G-d of our fathers, that You should send speedily a complete recovery from heaven, a recovery of the soul and recovery of the body,” that means mentally and physically. And we mention the person, his name, so that he should be healed among all the other cholei Yisroel. Now, we are saying yehi ratzon, it should be Your will. That’s how we introduce the tefillah.ILLNESS IS ALSO CHESSED HASHEMNow we have to know that whatever “happens” to a person is Hashem’s will. Nobody is sick because of accident. It’s always Hashem’s will. Of course, sometimes a man can induce the illness by his own carelessness, but nevertheless it’s Hashem’s will. That’s his punishment for being negligent with his care, with his health, or his safety. If a man is careless, he’s being punished by Hashem. No matter what, it’s Hashem’s will that decreed that this man should be ill.And when Hakadosh Baruch Hu makes a decree like that, we have a principle, a fundamental principle called kol orchos Hashem chesed v’emes – all the ways of Hashem are kindliness and truth (Tehillim 25:10). צדיק השם בכל דרכיו – “Hashem is righteous in all His ways,” וחסיד בכל מעשיו – ”And He is kindly in all His acts.” (Ibid. 145:17) Now, when you come in here you have to divest yourself of outside attitudes. Because here we want to study Torah attitudes; and the truth of the matter is that Hakadosh Baruch Hu does everything for kindly purposes. Everything! And if it was His will that this man should be ill, then it must be for this man’s benefit. What the most important benefit is, we’ll study soon, but it’s out of the question that it shouldn’t be a kindliness. It certainly is for the person’s benefit.“HASHEM, CAN I GET A SECOND OPINION?”So here it was Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s ratzon to give this man the benefit of becoming sick. So the question arises, where do we get the audacity to ask Hashem to change His will? Suppose a man goes to a physician and the physician writes a prescription for some medication, let’s say it’s a foul tasting medication. Would the man say to the physician, יהי רצון מלפניך – “It should be your will not to give me this prescription. I want to get along without the prescription.”? Only a meshugeneh would say such a thing! The doctor studied for years and years, his profession is medicine, his knowledge and experience is medicine. He’s the expert here. And you’re just an obstinate fellow, maybe ignorant too. Either the expense is too much for you, or maybe you don’t like the taste of the medicine. So you don’t want to bother with it. It’s a meshugas to even ask such a thing!And here is Hakadosh Baruch Hu, the great Healer, and He’s prescribing for a man certain pills – whether the pills are troubles, or headaches, or pains, or illness – big and small. Whatever it is, it’s certainly pills. There’s no question that Hashem is benefitting the man by giving him these troubles, these misfortunes, pains or illnesses. So how can a man say to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, “I beg of you, yehi ratzon, that You should change the prescription, or not give me the prescription at all?” That’s a big question that needs to be answered. And actually that’s what all our bakashosseem to be – an attempt to change the will of Hashem.WHY ALL THE TURBULENCE?And another question – just as important and maybe even more perplexing: What’s Hashem’s purpose in causing any disturbance, either in a man’s health or in his family life or in his business? It’s a question we want to ask of Him: “Why do You send anything to ruffle the tranquility of our lives?” After all, like we just said, Hashem’s ways are perfect, and He is kindly in all of His deeds. That’s a truism. So why is it that we see sometimes that Hashem does things that seem to be contradictory to these principles of kindliness?Actually it’s a question that all thinking men ask one time or another. Because chalilahsomething happens; sometimes it happens. Here’s a man who’s successful, and all of a sudden a freak misfortune happens to him and unfortunately he’s in the hospital. It’s not an accident, it’s Hashem! So he’s thinking, “Why did this happen to me? Before everything was going smoothly with me; boruch Hashem I was a good frum Jew more or less. Why did Hashem do this?”THE GREATEST CHESED!And the answer is as follows: There is a great kindliness that’s most paramount, more important than all the chassodim in the world – more important than parnasah, more important than shalom bayis, and good health. And that’s the kindliness called yiras Hashem. Yiras Hashem – which means to be Aware of Hashem, that’s the most important thing in your life. Now, this might sound queer to the ears of those who live with materialism, but it’s a fundamental principle that we must get into our heads. We are here to gain Awareness of Hashem.Now, if that’s the purpose, then what a tragedy it is when people let their lives go by and fail to utilize the opportunities to recognize Hashem. You forgot about Him?! To forget Hashem is the worst ruination in life! To live without awareness is not a life worth living!So Hashem sees that you’re wasting your life – of course you’re a frum person – you’re doing mitzvos, you’re ultra-ultra Orthodox. But that’s not enough for Hashem. He doesn’t want “Orthodox;” He wants to squeeze greatness out of you! He wants to save you so that your life shouldn’t be wasted. Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants to give you the gift of being Aware of Him.HASHEM: A ONE DAY HEADACHE FOR CHAIMSo what does Hashem do? He orders a prescription; one headache. Prescribed: Chaim ben Dovid, one headache, for one day. It’s a pill. And so one morning you wake up with a headache. And what’s the purpose of that prescription? The purpose of the headache is so that you should call out to Him and achieve the perfection of even a little more awareness of Hashem. And when you do that, you’re turning your migraine into diamonds!All the events in a man’s life are being manipulated by Hakadosh Boruch Hu; He puts disturbances in your life so you’ll call out to Him. And that is the chief purpose of every mishap in your life; to cause you to cry out for aid from Hashem and to thereby become more aware of Him. The outcry that comes from desperation, from unrequited needs and from anguished hopes for the future, causes Awareness of Hashem’s Presence, and it is that Awareness that is the true achievement, the chief purpose of Man’s existence in this life.“BETTER ANGER THAN LAUGHTER”And now we have an answer to the age old question of why “bad” things happen to good people: Because Awareness of Hashem is the greatest chesedthat Hashem can give man, and most often it is the tzaros, and the crying out to Hashem it encourages, that brings this Awareness. When you’re subject to adversity, that’s the great opportunity to be makirHakodosh Boruch Hu, to recognize Hashem. When a man finds himself subject to mishaps and misfortunes – he needs things, so it’s much easier for him to raise his eyes to Hakadosh Boruch Hu and ask for it; and that is the great gift of Awareness of Hashem.And therefore, טוב כעס משחוק – Better anger than laughter” (Koheles 7:3). Now we know that’s not true. Anger is no good; it’s a very big mistake to get angry. But there is one anger that is good – and that’s Hashem’s anger. טוב כעס שכועס הקדוש ברוך הוא על הצדיקים – That’s good. When Hashem gets angry at you, that’s tov, that’s good for you. Don’t ask for it though. You ask for good times. הרחב פיך ואמלאהו, ask Him for good times and appreciate what He’s giving you. But still, “when Hashem shows his anger to the tzadikim, that’s better than the smiling Hashem does on the reshaim.” (Shabbos 30b) If there ever happened that a tzadik, chalilah had a setback, a misfortune, so you must know, and he must know, that it’s a stroke of good fortune. Now I know that it’s very hard to accept, but we have to learn that and understand that it’s a chesed gadol when that happens to him. Tov, it’s better, it’s a greater hatzlacha than had Hashem smiled.ברוע פנים ייטב לב, When the face is sad then the heart becomes better (ibid.). Now it doesn’t mean you should be sad and sour faced. On the contrary – if you’re sad faced it shows that you don’t appreciate what Hashem is doing for you. You don’t appreciate that things are tov. But sometimes a man against his will is sad because some misfortune has happened to him, so he should know however that ייטב לב, his neshama is improving.DON’T TAKE THE WRONG MEDICINESo when Hashem sends you a headache, you have to know that it was for a great purpose. And if you take an aspirin, and after one day the headache goes away, and you never cried out to Hashem, so you wasted the prescription. You’ve wasted an opportunity! The purpose was for you to become Aware of Hashem, and you wasted the glorious opportunity.And so when we ask Hashem “Yehi ratzon, let it be Your will that I be healed,” we are not telling Hakadosh Baruch Hu to change His will. Yehi ratzonmeans this: “Hashem, I know that what You want from me is that I should become more Aware of You. And that’s what I’m doing now; I’m calling out to you. Let it be Your will that I can get better now – or my tzaarshould be removed, whatever it is you’re asking for – becauseI’m calling out to You. I’m becoming more aware of You. Whatever trouble You gave me, can go away now because I’ve achieved the purpose.”WHEN HASHEM DOESN’T ANSWERNow the truth is that sometimes you cry out to Hashem and He doesn’t answer. A man called me on the telephone and he tells me: He’s crying out and crying out, and there’s no answer. He wants to know what he’s supposed to think.He’s supposed to think that Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants him to cry out even more. And suppose he cries out even more – let’s say a man is on his deathbed, he’s an old man, 119 years old, he can’t expect to live much more. But still he cries out on his deathbed. Did he waste his time? No! He achieved maybe in his last minutes more than he did in his whole life.119 YEARS IS NOT ENOUGH?!An old man is crying out on his deathbed, he says “Oh, Hashem, heal me!” “Oh it’s silly,” you’ll say. The bystanders think it’s ridiculous. “You want to be healed?! How long do you want to hang around here?! The children want to take over the business already, they want the “old man” out of the way already. 119 years is not enough?! No, for him it’s not enough. When you’re on your deathbed it’s never enough. He wants to live a thousand years. Why shouldn’t he? He has a great grandfather who lived almost a thousand years. Mesushelach lived almost a thousand years so why can’t he?So he’s crying out to Hashem. Why not? He has the right to cry out. And when he finally takes his last breath don’t think he didn’t accomplish with the crying out. He accomplished plenty. The crying out is the purpose.That’s the biggest achievement there is. So nobody is ever frustrated in his davenen when he’s not answered – because he has gained the most important thing, more Awareness of Hashem.DISCOVERING WINEMAKINGIt’s like a man who has a very good vineyard. He has blue-blooded grapes, good quality grapes “with a yichus, with a pedigree.” So when he takes his grapes to the wine press and he presses out the wine, it’s a pity to take that mash, the residue, and throw it away.So he decides to press it a little more; he takes that mash and presses it some more. He puts them on the wine press and gives a kvetch. And a little more good wine squirts out. But it’s not enough for him. He says, “I can’t leave any wine inside the peel. Maybe there’s some more good wine in there. So he puts it under the press again and puts some more pressure to get out the last drop.Now you have to know that weare the good grapes and Hashem wants to press from us all the yiras Hashem that He could get – for our own benefit. He wants to squeeze out some more “good wine of Awareness” from us because from good grapes you try to squeeze out all that you can.THE SOUL OF GOOD GRAPESAnd so Hakodosh Boruch Hu is pressing us with all kinds of pressure. One pressure might be trouble with parnasa, another might be trouble with your children, or trouble having children, chas v’shalom. And when you cry out to Hashem, that’s the good wine, the good wine of Awareness of Hashem dripping from the good grapes of your neshamah. When your heart is torn with anguish, and you turn to Hashem for His help; you weep and you pour out your heart in tefillah, that’s the good wine that Hakodosh Boruch Hu wants from you. And sometimes He might press you again and again, and the good grapes will keep on giving good wine.Until finally Hashem will say, “Enough! You achieved exactly what I wanted from you.” And now רצון יראיו יעשה ואת שועתם ישמע ויושיעם – it means that Hakodosh Boruch Hu does the will of those who continue to grow in Awareness of Him, but first they have to cry out to Him. Shavasam means that they cry out. They cry out! “Oh,” says Hashem, “If that’s the case, if you’re crying out to Me, so you’re becoming Aware of Me. So now, ויושיעם- “Now I’ll help you. Once you cried out, once you perfected yourself in Awareness of Hashem, so now I’ll answer you.”SO IT WASN’T FINE PRINT AFTER ALL!And that leads us to the answer that we were searching for in the beginning of our talk. Hakodosh Boruch Hu had given us His word at the bris bein hab’sarim; He caused His shechina to pass through the besarim, the halves of the animals, and swore to Avraham that He would take us out of Mitzrayim. So how is it that now He could he make our geulah dependent on our crying out to Him? Is not the word of Hashem imperishable?!דבר אלוקינו יקום לעולם – “The word of Hashem stands forever” (Yeshayah 40:8).And so we’ll study again the words of Hashem to Avraham Avinu. ועבדום וענו אותם – “And they will enslave them, and oppress them” (Bereishis 15:13) The word וענו, “and they will oppress,” you must know actually means “and they will cause you to cry out.” The word ani, a poor or afflicted man, actually means “the man that cries out,” from the root anah, “to speak up.” The gemara (Bava Basra 10a) tells us that “the poor man is beloved by Hashem,” because he cries out to Hashem in his affliction, and he therefore becomes more Aware of Him.And so we have to say that the וענו אותם that Hashem promised us, the tzaros that Hashem foretold would come upon us in Mitzrayim, were intended specifically for the Bnei Yisroel to reach greater and greater heights of Awareness of Hashem. That was its purpose. And how? By means of the עינוי, by means of them calling out to Him and thereby becoming more Aware of Him and of their dependence on Him.PREPARING US TO BECOME HASHEM’S PEOPLEHashem had brought the afflictions on the Am Yisroel for the purpose of causing them to cry out to Him. He was preparing us in Mitzrayim to become “My people,” and the oppression was His plan of conferring upon us the perfection of crying out to Him. The heavy affliction caused a great and unceasing outcry, which resulted in a heightened Awareness of Hashem. It was this keen Awareness which made them My people, and now the covenant with the Avos could be triggered, and become effective, in causing their deliverance from Mitzrayim.And until they would reach those heights, that achievement of Awareness, then the ועבדום might have been fulfilled, but the וענו אותם – “And I will cause them to oppress you until you cry out to Me,” would still be missing. In reality the entire bondage and affliction were intended to be stimulation towards the outcry to Hashem, and toward the achievement of a greater Awareness of Hashem, which would be demonstrated by their outcry to Him.PHARAOH, HASHEM’S WINEMAKERAnd if we wouldn’t have cried out to Hashem we would have remained there forever. Absolutely we wouldn’t have come out of Mitzrayim. Hashem said, “You have to cry out to Me if you want to get the salvation.” And that’s why Hashem applied pressure. When He saw that they were not crying enough so He told Pharaoh, “Get busy and apply a little more pressure to the wine press.” So all of a sudden Pharaoh comes out with a new decree: “Up till now you were making bricks and I supplied the hay, the straw. Now you go look for the straw by yourself.” That’s a double job. In addition to making bricks all day long, in your lunch hour, in your three minute lunch hour, go and look for straw too. Because את מתכונת הלבנים, the same amount of bricks has to be supplied, the same count of bricks you must continue to give.Now that’s putting pressure on the wine press with a vengeance! Even when they cried out, Hashem pressed more on the good grapes. So the Bnei Yisroel cried out more. And that’s what Hakadosh Boruch Hu wanted. “Ahh, my children. You remember Me now. You’re aware that I’m in existence – you know about Me now.” It’s like a man who is carrying his child on his shoulders – and this child was so happy riding on high; he thought he was the tall one. So he started kicking with his feet, kicking his father in the chest with his feet, he was so happy.So the father saw now that his son was not aware of him anymore, his child was riding on high. So when the father saw a dog coming, he put the child down near the dog, “Oh, Poppy, Poppy, save me.” “Oh,” the father said, “So I’m a Poppy now.”And so even after Hakodosh Boruch Hu took the Bnei Yisroel out from Mitzrayim, He was afraid – afraid for them -that they might forget about Him. He took them out of Egypt, so it’s all over now. Now they can stop crying. So ויבוא עמלק – And Amalek came (Shemos 17:8). So they cried out to Hashem. “Oh,” Hashem said, “I’m still around, huh?!” Because that’s the arrangement of Hakodosh Boruch Hu in this world. It wasn’t a one-time event, in Mitzrayim. Forever and ever the plan of Hashem is to press the good grapes of the Am Yisroel a little bit more. And our job is to always utilize the opportunities and not make it necessary for the wine press to be pressed even harder.BE SMART AND DON’T WAITLet’s remember always that there are madreigos and madreigos in persecution – and wise is the man who will use all of them, even the smallest misfortune, to improve, by calling out to Hashem and becoming more Aware of Him.So you’re standing in your store and no customers are coming in. Why are you wasting the great opportunity?! You have to cry out to Hashem, “Ribono Shel Olam!Please give me some customers!” And those opportunities are endless, because all day long there are bumps in the road. Just because there’s no taskmaster standing over you with a whip, doesn’t mean you can’t use the opportunities of tza’ar in your life – the smallest things and the biggest things – to call out to Hashem.YOU ARE STANDING IN A GOLD MINE!I’ll tell you something else. Don’t let your shemonah esrei go to waste! You mean to say you’re going to spend your years just mumbling your tefillos every day by rote and not thinking about Hakadosh Baruch Hu?!? Shemonah esrei is a gold mine. And when you’re standing in a gold mine, even if you grab only one handful you’re already a wealthy man. But you have to know how to grab! כל שאינו אומרה בלשון תחנונים – “If you’re not begging Hashem for mercy, if you’re not crying out and begging, so your tefillah is not a tefillah” (Brachos 29b). When you daven, you have to daven כרש המבקש בפתח, like a poor man begging at the door of a rich man (Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 89:3). He’s talking here about a man without shoes, he’s hungry and cold, and he’s begging for something to eat. That’s a man who knows how to cry out! And that’s how we’resupposed to daven.Now we can’t ask too much of you, but when you stand shemonah esrei at least one brachah from the gold mine you can choose to say b’tachanunim. For one thing at least you can cry out to Hashem instead of running through the words. You have a cold? “R’faeinu Hashem, v’neirafei!” Cry out! Trouble with parnasah? Cry out, “Bareich aleinu!” There’s fighting in the house, machlokes with the neighbor? Sim shalom! Don’t just mumble the words to yourself; cry out to Hashem! At least in your mind you should be crying out; it should be a cry of the mind up to Hashem.And sometimes things get even more difficult. And what that means is that Hashem wants even more Awareness from you. When things are going hard with parnasah, so you get desperate – you were hoping this job would work out, or maybe this deal would go through – but nothing is going, you’re at your wit’s end! So what happens? בלית ברירה, you have no choice – your rich uncle won’t take your phone calls, the bank won’t lend you any more money, and welfare won’t pay the bills. So you have to cry out to Hashem. Ohh, that’s a hatzlacha – that’s more important than your parnasah!LET’S LEARN FROM IYOV’S MISTAKENow, I want to expand this subject a little more. Because once we understand that the purpose of tefillah is Awareness of Hashem, so you’ll see that we’re not talking only about tefillah when something alreadyhappened; I’m also talking about tefillah that it shouldn’t happen. Tefillah koidem l’tzarah, how important that is! When you fall tachanun, you fall on your arm after shemonah esrei, so it’s tachanunim, you’re entreating Hashem for mercy. Rachum v’Chanun – “Hashem, You’re the Merciful One.” השם אל באפך תוכיחני – “Please Hashem, don’t rebuke me in Your anger,” ואל בחמתך תיסרני – Please don’t chastise me in Your wrath.” So you might think that this kepitel is for Dovid maybe; he was in trouble so he was calling out, that’s why he said those words. No, don’t make that mistake; it’s for us! And we’re saying it so there shouldn’t come trouble. We want to be wise enough to call out to Hashem before the tzaraheven comes.Why wait chalilah? Maybe it’ll be too late then. You remember how Iyov was in trouble, gehokte tzaros. He lost his sons; he lost his daughters. He lost everything; he even lost his health. And he was sitting on a garbage pile; this wealthy man now didn’t have a home at all – he was sitting on the dunghill of the city and he was scratching his wounds. The puss was dripping from his wounds and he was scratching the itching wounds with a piece of broken pottery. Imagine the scene. It’s Iyov, the “great rich Iyov,” sitting on a dunghill, with a piece of a broken pot scratching his itching wounds. He couldn’t even afford a salve to heal himself!So his friends came to visit him, his chaveirim who knew him in his good days. And one of them said to him as follows: היערוך שועך ולא בצר – Did you set forth your outcry before you were in distress?” You hear that?! היערוך, “Did you set forth your outcry to Hashem, did you arrange your tefillos, לא בצר, before the trouble came upon you?” (Iyov 36:19).That’s what he said to Iyov: “Did you cry out to Hashem before you were in trouble?” It was the good old days, when you could criticize a man who was suffering and he’d listen.THINK AHEADNow, I don’t know what the answer is; we don’t know what Iyov answered his friends. Maybe he did. But we see what the gemara says about that: לעולם יקדים אדם תפילה לצרה – “A man should always say his prayers before he needs something, before the troubles set in” (Sanhedrin 44b). That’s a real sign of yiras Hashem. The real sign of Awareness of Hashem is when you are always aware of what could be – so many things could go wrong in a man’s life – and you cry out to Hashem so that He should save you from them all. Because that’s the system that Hakadosh Baruch Hu set up for mankind. That’s His prescription for the world. So if a man says to Hashem “Hakadosh Baruch Hu, I’m going to cry out to You even when there’s no trouble,” so that man is filling his prescription of yiras Hashem in the best way possible. And Hashem says, “I’m satisfied – as long as you cry out. But to not cry out at all? I might have to give you a reason to cry out.The last year of his life, tragedy struck. His beloved grandson, Reb Yisroel Miller, was killed when his car collided with a bus while on the way to the Kosel with his bar mitzvah son. The news hit Rav Miller like a hammer blow. Living as he did in close proximity to his grandfather, Sruly had the opportunity to serve his zeide in various ways and became close to him. From his youngest years, Sruly had learned privately with him. At the shivah, Rav Miller expressed his pain, telling the family, “I feel I should be sitting shivah here along with you.” When his daughter asked him for a practical lesson the family could derive from the tragedy, Rav Miller responded that he felt that his daily tefillos for his children and grandchildren were becoming habitual, so he needed to add more fervor when he beseeched Hashem to protect them. He suggested to his children to add more kavanah when they recited the berachah of Hashkiveinu. (Rav Avigdor Miller – His Life and His Revolution p. 253)And so we say to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, “Hashem, please don’t give me any headaches. And from now on I’m going to ask You as much as I can to save me from headaches.” “Oh,” Hashem says. “That’s a deal that I like. As long as you’re aware of Me; as long as you ask Me every day to protect you from illness, then I don’t have to give you any illness. Of course if you’ll let down your side of the bargain, if you start saying the words only out of habit, so sometimes I’ll have to remind you. Sometimes a little headache I’ll send again so that you should call out to Me with more sincerity.”THE BEST TIME FOR PRAYERAnd so we are never telling Hakadosh Baruch Hu to change His will. Who are we to tell Hashem what’s good for us?! Let’s say, He prescribed a person should have to be in a hospital. Maybe He prescribed a person should have to lose his job chalilah or have trouble with one of his children chasv’shalom. So we say to Hakadosh Baruch Hu beforehand, before he fills the prescription, “May it be Your will that I shouldn’t have to ever go into a hospital – except to visit my wife when she has a baby.” “Yehi ratzon m’lifanechah that I shouldn’t have any problems with my boss, and that I should have my job for as long as I want it.” “Ribono Shel Olam, please keep my children on the derech hayashar, the derech hatorah.”The best time to cry out to be saved is when everything is well ! It’s important for you young people to think about that. You’re healthy?! Cry out to Hakodosh Boruch Hu that you should stay well! Your children are well?! Cry out to Hashem, “Ribono Shel Olam, please! It shouldn’t come upon me or anyone in my family what happened to that man in shul!” Parnasah is good? Cry out to Hakodosh Boruch Hu! Suddenly things could chas v’shalom happen. Out of nowhere things happen!When you say ושמור צאתינו ובואינו לחיים טובים ולשלום – “Hashem, guard our going out and our coming back, for good life and peace” (Birkas Kriyas Shema – Maariv) you should be saying it with an outcry. At least in your mind it should be ותעל שועתם אל האלוקים. Who knows what could happen on the road once you walk outside?! On the streets, people are speeding in cars through the streets. And sometimes the car jumps the curb onto the sidewalk where people walk. Who knows what could happen?! You cross by a building and suddenly a facade of the building, it’s been hanging on for twenty-five, thirty years, a big chunk of cement falls loose and starts coming down. It’s very important that you should be a few inches out of the way. And that’s what your tefillah can accomplish.I DON’T WANT ANY SPECIALISTSWhen you walk down Ocean Avenue so you see signs. A doctor specializing in this, a different doctor specializing in this, a doctor specializing in something else. It’s no accident that you saw those signs today. Look how many things they specialize in! It’s a reminder to cry out! Look how many problems could happen. Even one thing wrong and you have to go to a big specialist chas v’shalom. Sometimes you have to go to Manhattan and it costs a load of money. And then some people get a diagnosis, the dreaded diagnosis. Ay yah yay, the terrible news. And now the tzaros begin. And there are so many things that could go wrong, it’s endless. So cry out now koidem l’tzarah: “Ribono Shel Olam, please save me from that dreaded disease” – I don’t want to say it, it starts with a C.And when you pass by the shingle hanging on the next building, let it be a reminder of another tzarah that you don’t want to come upon you. I recommend that – walk by one of these fancy streets where there are a lot of doctor signs and practice up on crying out to Hashem before the troubles come!You pass by a big drug store – all kinds of medicines, creams, drops, with long names for different problems. Bargain prices! So cry out, “Hashem, please I should never need this type of medicine for kidney failure.” You know what it means to not have a working kidney? It’s gehenim! Cry out to Hashem, “Ribono Shel Olam, please keep my kidneys working. I don’t want to be hooked up to a kidney machine; I want to be able to empty my bladder on my own, in my own bathroom, not in a hospital room.”THERE’S NO CHESS IN THIS HOMEEven when you pass a funeral parlor, you should cry out. You know, if you’ll take a walk with me down Ocean Avenue, we’ll pass three separate funeral parlors. Funeral “homes” they call it. They want you to think maybe that they’re inside there playing chess, or reading the newspapers! No, he’s laying in a plain wooden box, that’s all. So every time you pass by the funeral parlor, you can cry out to Hashem, “Please keep me alive. Please give me good health and arichas yomim; I want to stay for a long time outside of this home.” You have to cry out to Hashem with intensity!You know what a tragedy it is when people have to beg Hakodosh Boruch Hu for peace after the war has already begun? I’m talking about domestic peace, peace in the home. You should be crying out to Hashem all the time, during the times of peace – especially when there’s peace. There shouldn’t be any “war” in your household. And that there should be peace in the households of your sons and daughters. You ask Hashem, “Please don’t let my telephone ring with bad news.” Sometimes a daughter calls up, chalilah, she’s having a fight with her husband. She wants to leave him. Ay yah yay, the tragedy of a broken home. Don’t wait! When it’s quiet on all fronts, your daughters are quiet with their husbands. Nobody’s complaining – maybe they are, but not to you. You hear nothing from your children. That’s wonderful, the great peace of shalom bayis. And that’s when you should cry out to Hashem, that He should continue to keep peace in your home and the homes of your children.HASHEM, SAVE ME FROM BLINKING TOO MUCHAnd if you don’t have any litigation with your neighbors, that’s the best time to daven. If you never went through that, you’re a lucky man, and you want to keep it that way. Trouble with neighbors, fighting and recriminations, going to court; it’s all tzaros. A man used to come in here. He used to come here and he was blinking all the time. I saw that the man was very nervous. And so I spoke to him and he told me he has constant legal trouble with neighbors. Jewish neighbors. About the driveway, about this and about that, and it got so acute that he was dragged into the court again and again. That’s tzaros.And so we ask Hakadosh Baruch Hu, שלום רב על ישראל עמך תשים – “Great peace in every area of our lives you should put upon us.” “Please Hashem. There should be peace inside of our stomachs. Our stomach shouldn’t complain, shouldn’t growl, shouldn’t groan. Our nerves shouldn’t complain, our head shouldn’t complain.” The body has a lot to say, and when the body is quiet and it’s peace all throughout the body, people aren’t grateful. You don’t realize how lucky you are. Your brain is getting good messages from all parts of the body. Constantly. You’re not aware of the messages. When do you become aware? When even once the messages are not good. Even if one pinprick somewhere on your skin is taking place, it’s relayed to your brain and you’re acutely aware of it. And so, when nothing is happening, it’s shalom. It’s complete tranquility on all fronts. From your toes to the scalp of your head, it’s quiet on all fronts. And when all is quiet, that’s the best opportunity to cry out to Hashem that it should remain quiet.THINK ABOUT WHAT COULD HAPPEN TO YOUOnly that when you call out to Hashem before the tzarah, it has to be with the same intensity as during a tzarah. The same Awareness of Hashem you have to accomplish in the good times! If you would think even a little bit about what tzaros does to a person, hospitals, and bills, and litigation, and so much pain and anguish! Cry out to Hakodosh Boruch Hu that it shouldn’t happen! At all times you should be crying out.And don’t think it’s excessive what I’m telling you now. You can never ask enough for Hashem to help you, because you can never be too Aware of Hashem! Because what we’ve learned from our parsha is that we’re in this world primarily to become Aware of Hashem. That’s our perfection! The more we call out to Him the more our neshamosare being purified.And therefore, usually we have two choices: You can become Aware of Him while He’s still giving you good things – while you’re healthy, while your wife and children are healthy, while you still have parnasah, and so on and so forth – by crying out to Him and entreating Him that everything should remain as is; that’s the best way to squeeze out from the good grapes the wine of Awareness of Hashem.THANK YOU FOR ALL THE TROUBLES!However, in this world, Hakodosh Boruch Hu will always press the good grapes of the Am Yisroel like He did in Mitzrayim; there’s always some more wine of Awareness to squeeze from you that you haven’t kvetchedout on your own. And so Hashem says, “It pays to give you trouble because the gain, the benefit for you when you’re thinking about Me, is the greatest of benefits. And when you come to the Next World, you’ll say, אודך השם כי אנפת בי – “I thank You Hashem for causing me that pain, for giving me this tza’ar or thattza’ar, because it made me call out to You. And it was the crying out in that world that gave me the greatest success, Awareness of You, Hashem, so that I can bask forever in the Presence of Your shechinah.” HAVE A WONDERFUL SHABBOS See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense Nick Esch, 12/24/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church Have you ever wondered why we give each other gifts at Christmas? Is it because it’s Jesus’ birthday, and for some reason we give other people presents instead of Him? Is it because of the life and pattern of Saint Nicholas? Or what? Why […]

Who is Jesus and how do you see Him? Is it from a view from a pew, an "all about me" standpoint, or through the eyes and words of Jesus Himself? Listen to our latest sermon to see what God says about who you are! Visit us at https://www.freedomchurch.sc/ for more information.

"For the wages of sin is death." Romans 6:23a Why are the wages of sin death? Is it simply God punishing us for our debt to Him? Is it simply transactional? Or is it relational Join us as we uncover the trauma of sin, and see how we are all living with PTSD (Post Traumatic Sin Disorder). We will dig into sin's desire to control us through by abuse (identity), addiction (will) and disease (body/mind). We will show how death isn't God's punishment for our debt, but death is the natural conclusion of sin's abuse, addiction, and disease.  Romans 7:13-24 www.restoremtown.com www.facebook.com/restoremtown www.instagram.com/restoremtown  www.restoremtown.wordpress.com   

Jesus has every answer and solution we need or want. And in every sphere—personal, family, finances, business, community, society. Is there something in your life that is screaming for the extreme mastery of Jesus? ----more---- What information do you need from Him? Is there something in your life or sphere of influence that requires the brilliance and mastery of Jesus? See the show notes page for this episode on JesusSmart.com   JESUS SMART: THE PODCAST Click to receive the Jesus Smart eLetter and keep current with podcast episode releases We’re resolved that Jesus Christ is the most brilliant person to walk the planet! He knows how life works best. And the future belongs to him ... and those who follow him. Stellar guests are on the docket. And we’ll be questing after Kingdom themes -- what Jesus taught and modeled. Be smart. Subscribe and stay connected with your favorite podcast platform. Visit JesusSmart.com.

YHVH calls His people to be set-apart to Him. What does living set-apart look like? How can you live set-apart to Him? Is it even possible to live set-apart in this world?

Do you love God? Simple question. But what if you took out the answers that would have to do with what you do that shows that you love Him? Is there a love that is still more foundational than anything we can do? If so, what is it? That answer to that, is astounding…

We all would like to think that we are special in some way before God. We want to be sure of His love for us and His guiding hand in our lives. For most of us, being special translates into a feeling – an emotional response that produces a sense of security. But is that all there is to being special? For the Christian at least there is much more to it. We know that everyone is not called to follow Jesus and we also know that according to the Bible, God does specifically call some to follow. How does this work? How does God get your attention and touch your heart and mind? What makes us want to respond to God and what might make us shy away from responding to Him? Is it easy to recognize when God is seeking us out and trying to touch our heart? I would love to be able to enthusiastically say, yes, it is easy to recognize! When God wants your attention the message will come with power, persistence and persuasiveness! While this can be the case, most often it is not, for God’s ways of drawing us to Him in this age are filled with subtlety and searching. In this podcast our guest Todd Alexander laid out for us a pretty distinct process of how God finds us and draws us to Him. It turns out this process has five steps. You'd think the first step in God drawing us to Him would have everything to do with some kind of emotional awakening. You'd think it would be one of those epiphany moments in our lives when the stars align, our emotions are high and our hearts are primed and open. You’d think. Actually, the first step in God drawing us to Him is simply being able to perceive truth. This means coming to a knowledge of God, His sovereignty, His handiwork and His attributes. Simple. You might think – but where are the bells and whistles? Where is the dramatic unveiling? The fact is, God does not use emotion to initially draw us to Him, because he knows emotions come go and change at the whim of our perceptions. God draws us based upon things that are unchangeable. He draws us based upon the rock solid truth of His very existence! Look at the miracle of human life, the weather cycles that sustain all living things, the incomprehensible vastness of the universe or the delicate balance of flowers, bees and pollination. God begins to draw us based on the very essence of life as He created it! To perceive truth is just an introduction as it only whets one's appetite for understanding. Perception and understanding of truth are the first two steps in this five-step process. The bottom line here is that God knows how to draw us to Him in such a way as to afford us an opportunity to genuinely respond. Listen to this podcast to hear just how this works. You never know, God may be seeking you out!

It’s one thing to know of the concept of God, but how do you know you have encountered Him? Is it possible? What does that feel like? In this new series, we’ll look at 4 different people who actually encountered God and draw the lesson as to what it means for us today. Speaker: Sam Haddon Reading: Genesis 32:22-32

Welcome to FGGAM radio! Good Morning! Please pray for Darlene Quiring, Clara Nelson and Pat Fisher. Where is God when we suffer? He is where the pain is! “He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him” Is. 53:5. God does not pick up and leave us when the hard times come, instead, He is right there with us, ever mindful of the pain we endure. Please pull out your Bibles and also read Romans 8:20, 21; 2 Cor. 4:10, 11, Phil. 3:7-11 and Is. 64:8. Please now listen to my podcast for this day that the Lord has given me to share with you! I am pictured here with Clara Nelson of Windom, Minnesota

At the end of the podcast there are a few Urdu words, loose translation: Tarek: Go find your (future) kids a 'white school' - oh but all schools here (in Canada) are white Me: Oh yeah ... all schools here are white... whatever should i do now (sarcasm) Him: Is there anything left? (to talk about) Me: Whats left? Nothing. Tell me, do you at least now believe i'm a Pakistani woman? Him: Yes, yes I believe that. Me: Excellent. [Hopefully that will put all my, "Eiynah is probably a white man" trolls to rest] Anyhoo, if its possible, i think this convo is more bizarre than the last. We discuss Tarek self Id-ing as muslim, whether Pakistanis are comparable to racists and nazis, how my parents and Ali Rizvi's parents are supposedly genocide supporters (because Pakistani). His pro India/Hinduism bias....and... beef. link to Part 1: https://soundcloud.com/politeconversations/episode-12-part-1-tarek-fatah ---sorry there were some tech difficulties with the sound.. first ten minutes u might hear a slight echo in places. My apologies. If you want to help this podcast grow, please consider supporting via patreon https://www.patreon.com/nicemangos (or PayPal)

God calls the people together to declare that He alone is God. There is no other God before Him and there will be no other God after Him (Is. 43:10b) He says in Is. 43 12b "I Am God" What does that mean for us today?

A question came in from someone practicing A Course in Miracles. She writes: "My ACIM teacher keeps emphasizing that God does not know that we are here. As a result I find myself confused about talking to Him. Can someone please "enlighten" me." Great question!! This ACIM teacher is correct! God does not know that we are here! Come join Max and Lisa as they answer this question from their own personal experience of What God Is, and the realization that God doesn't know about problems, depression, difficulties, or pain. A Course in Miracles talks a lot about prayer and the final workbook lessons from Lesson 221 to 365 have prayers with the word "Father" in them, inviting us to communicate with God, so if God doesn't even know that we are here, if He doesn't know about our difficulties, why do we pray to Him? Is it necessary? Tune in as Max and Lisa share their personal stories of finding the peace of God, the strength of God, the Love of God. To learn more about A Course in Miracles and the Teachers of God Foundation, please visit teachersofgod.org.

In Deuteronomy Chapter 6 Moses is calling the Israelite's to make a wholehearted commitment to the Lord. A call for obedience to the Living God...a call to love the Lord with all of your heart. Obedience also requires patience...something most of us need a serious dose of, right? On your purity journey towards the Promised Land, how often are you doubting that the Lord is with you? Why? Is it because you have become impatient...impatient that He hasn’t taken away your struggle with sexual sin? We've all seen the two year old child kicking and screaming in the grocery store check out line because his parents won't allow him to have another piece of candy. Children have no sense of time or patience, so their parents must teach them. Just as our earthly parents teach us patience with earthly things, our Heavenly Father teaches us patience with eternal things. Is it possible that the Lord won't take away your struggle because He knows that it's the struggle that will bring you closer to Him? Is it possible that your sexual temptation's are the thorn in your flesh to trust and rely on His strength...not yours? In part two of today's show we an answer an email asking what it looks like to deny yourself.

Being a man after God's own heart, King David understood what it meant to be hungry for God. It was one of the things that characterized who he was. But what about us? Are we hungry after Him? Is it Him and nothing else? If not, it's what we need more than anything. Lord, help us that we might hunger and thirst after you.

Being a man after God's own heart, King David understood what it meant to be hungry for God. It was one of the things that characterized who he was. But what about us? Are we hungry after Him? Is it Him and nothing else? If not, it's what we need more than anything. Lord, help us that we might hunger and thirst after you.

Few possibilities terrify parents more than the kidnapping of a child. Guilt, grief, helplessness, anger, and immobilizing fear mingle to create an emotional stew with a mix of ingredients that varies just enough from person to person to reveal the cracks in once-solid relationships, leaving individuals struggling alone–and often against each other. If the parents are, in addition, early twentieth-century missionaries in a great and ancient land hidden from them as much by their own cultural arrogance and misperceptions as by the unfamiliarity of the terrain, such a crisis raises additional questions: Has my God forsaken me? Have I sinned against Him? Is the husband I considered the master of my soul capable of guidance, or does he in fact require my assistance to find his way home? Virginia Pye in her luminous debut novel, River of Dust (Unbridled Books, 2013), explores these questions and more through the reactions of Grace Watson and her husband, the Reverend John Wesley Watson, to the abduction of their son by Mongolian nomads in northwest China in 1910. Grace and her husband are committed to their separate missions–he to converting the Chinese to Christianity, and she to supporting him. Yet the prejudices of their time and station bind them, even as their differing responses to the loss of Wesley drive them apart–until, in a dusty, drought-ridden land as barren as their lives have become, Grace finds the courage to change. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Few possibilities terrify parents more than the kidnapping of a child. Guilt, grief, helplessness, anger, and immobilizing fear mingle to create an emotional stew with a mix of ingredients that varies just enough from person to person to reveal the cracks in once-solid relationships, leaving individuals struggling alone–and often against each other. If the parents are, in addition, early twentieth-century missionaries in a great and ancient land hidden from them as much by their own cultural arrogance and misperceptions as by the unfamiliarity of the terrain, such a crisis raises additional questions: Has my God forsaken me? Have I sinned against Him? Is the husband I considered the master of my soul capable of guidance, or does he in fact require my assistance to find his way home? Virginia Pye in her luminous debut novel, River of Dust (Unbridled Books, 2013), explores these questions and more through the reactions of Grace Watson and her husband, the Reverend John Wesley Watson, to the abduction of their son by Mongolian nomads in northwest China in 1910. Grace and her husband are committed to their separate missions–he to converting the Chinese to Christianity, and she to supporting him. Yet the prejudices of their time and station bind them, even as their differing responses to the loss of Wesley drive them apart–until, in a dusty, drought-ridden land as barren as their lives have become, Grace finds the courage to change. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is it wrong to be frustrated with God? Does God understand if are frustrated with Him? Is having frustration towards God a sin?

Part 3 of 4 in our Exodus Series. We don't think of Moses being a songwriter, but that was exactly what he did when God delivered them from Pharaoh at the red Sea. When God delivers you, what is your first response to Him? Is it worship? Can it be worship?

Knowing He loves you is all that you need! Ignoring the Opposition "Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked Him: 'Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" Mt 12:10 Jesus sets a tremendous example for us this morning in our scriptures, by 'ignoring the opposition'. He refuses to let it intimadate Him, stop Him or influence Him in any way; and-read the passage!-there was plenty of it! You and I need to be just like Him. Sermon by:Pastor Rod SchorrSermon Series: 'Rise of the Serant King' 

Knowing He loves you is all that you need! Ignoring the Opposition  "Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked Him: 'Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" Mt 12:10  Jesus sets a tremendous example for us this morning in our scriptures, by 'ignoring the opposition'. He refuses to let it intimadate Him, stop Him or influence Him in any way; and-read the passage!-there was plenty of it! You and I need to be just like Him. Sermon by:Pastor Rod SchorrSermon Series: 'Rise of the Serant King' 

Is it wrong to be angry with God? Does God understand if are angry at Him? Is having anger towards God a sin?

Is it wrong to feel disappointment with God? Does God understand if are disappointed at Him? Is having disappointment towards God a sin?