Podcasts about him why

The Bible lists 333 miracles but that is not all of them. The word miracle has such a mystery that surrounds the word itself. There were so many Miracles documented in the Bible and even when they were witnessed by many, there were those that remained as non-believers. Why do we doubt Him? Why do question his motives as to who and when he touches a life? I do think as an adult our quest to want proof is normal? I do think many of us ask why things we want don’t go as planned? I have been just as guilty as many.. However, I identified many miracles in my lifetime. Starting with birth.. each one of us is a living breathing miracle. I have learned many things in my quest to know more about My Father, His Son, and the Holy Spirit. I confess I stand in awe 99.9 percent of the time. I hope once you listen you will see miracles really do happen. He is the one you praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes. Deuteronomy 10:21.https://triunelovesme.blogspot.comhttps://eliteorthopaedic.com/

Pastor Bruce asks the church, -what have you done with this Sovereign God who does all that He does for His own glory-- What is our attitude toward Him- Do we believe what scripture says about Him- Why not-

Fear of moral failure is the inability to rest in God’s grace, and it hinders growth, joy, and freedom. Past experiences with humans can negatively impact our ability to rest in God’s grace. When we mess up, often others cast us off. But not Jesus. He opened wide His arms and died in order to draw us close. Resources: Video: Receiving Grace Video: Becoming His Princess Week 7: Living in Grace Becoming His Princess Bible study: Grab the free ebook in PDF form: http://urlme.cc/2JlD Kindle form: http://urlme.cc/0zGj Buy the print copy: http://urlme.cc/GZGA Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning Contact Jennifer through her website HERE to have her speak at your next women’s event. Find Jennifer at: https://www.jenniferslatterylivesoutloud.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JenSlatte Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slatteryjennifer/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jenslattery Group Discussion Questions: 1. How do you normally respond when you sin? Does your sin normally drive you to God or push you from Him? Why do you think this is? 2. Why does God’s grace annihilate both guilt and self-condemnation? 3. What’s the difference between striving and yielding? 4. Think of some way you tend to sin. (Example, acting prideful, lying, etc.) When attempting to move past that sin, what might striving look like? 5. Again, think of some way you tend to sin. When attempting to move past that sin, what might yielding look like? 6. What are some ways you connect with your power source (Christ)?

"How to Have Intimacy with God" Have you ever wondered why God created mankind to begin with? Why would God create a creature who would turn on Him, reject Him, and try to live life without Him? Why bother?  God created us for one reason: to know Him, to love Him, and have fellowship with Him so that He might be glorified. Put another way, we are created in the image and likeness of God so that we can have an intimate relationship with Him forever. And that brings God glory. This sermon answers the question, “How can I have and intimate loving relationship with God?”

Loyally Support the Anointed King - and Be Mighty in Him and for Him-Why start with David as Anointed King- -C.f. 1 Samuel--All Israel supports the Anointed King -11-1-3, 12-23-40, Matt. 12-43-45--The King's army is mighty -11-4-47, Jn. 14-12--The King's army is loyal -11-15-19, 12-16-18, Jn. 14-15, ch. 18, 21-

Text: Acts 4:8-13 Truth: We continue to reject Jesus in our day. Why do we reject Him? Why is He so offensive? Primary text: 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is...

When we open the gospel of Luke, we not only read about the birth of Jesus, we are introduced to another baby named John.If Jesus was the Messiah, why doesn't the Christmas story just start with Him?Why must another be born to prepare the way for Christ?In the message, Luke talks about why preparation is important to the heart of God and what that means for each of us.

Since God is sovereign shouldn't it hold true that all our plans are from Him? Why then does He interrupt us at times? Rev. Patrick Kuchio considers this on 'When God Interrupts Our Plans'. #CITAMChurchOnline #ChurchEveryday

What does the bible say about judging others? If I truly, and whole heartedly seek Jesus will I find Him? Why is foundation so important? Check it out to find out more! God Bless You!

Why is it important to fill our atmosphere with His Presence? Why worship? Why praise Him? Why does it take so long? Why do things go awry while waiting for the blessing to come? Watch Shula Cohen with Michael Greenspan on YouTube to hear how the strength of El Shaddai helped her during WW2 as a spy who was captured after helping the Jews. Learn about her atmosphere she had to change in order to live to tell her miracle story. And find out how she was released from her captors. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rebecca-alderman/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/rebecca-alderman/support

He will never leave you or foresake you. But what happens when you leave Him? Why would someone walk away from the Father and the faith? To turn ones back on the fellowship of Christ is a decision unfortunately far too common as the road is littered with our fallen brethren. Our we doing our part as a body to be a refuge for them? Take a listen to Pastor Dorian’s take this week on a hotly debated topic.

Today’s episode is a deep one that I urge you not to skip over. Sexual exploitation is an issue so prevalent today. This horrific crisis feels too big and too awful and far too misunderstood to even begin to make a difference. (All show notes: dustyhegge.com/podcast/034) There is hope. HER Campaign’s mission is drenched in this hope. HER Campaign is a safe house in Billings, Montana helping woman to heal and find hope after sexual exploitation. They do this through bringing awareness, building community, and providing opportunity for restoration. “AWARENESS WITHOUT ACTION IS JUST EMPTY HOPE.” Today Britney Higgs founder of the HER Campaign and Anjali Smith Development Director of the HER Campaign join me to share about how HER campaign was founded and how we can begin to make an impact in such a large epidemic. We also talk about how to approach healing after trauma in all meanings of the word and how we can As heavy as this episode is it is laced with God’s truth, hope, and His beautiful redemption. You're not going to want to miss this one! (All show notes: dustyhegge.com/podcast/034) We talk about: - How Brittany Higgs founded HER Campaign - Trusting God in the midst of hardship and surrendering healing to Him - Why we should bring our kinds into our journey, they are made for this mission as much as we are - How we can actively love those around us and listen well - How we can help combat sexual exploitation - Some plant advice and how to pick the right houseplant for your home

Do we love Him? Why don't we keep His commands? Be filled with the Spirit.

“And He Healed Them!” Matthew 21:12-17“5/26/19”This Week’s Core Practice: Worship I worship God for who He is and what He has done for me.Psalm 95:1-7 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! 2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! 3 For the Lord is a great God and a great King above all gods. 4 In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. 5 The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. 6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! 7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.Scripture: Matthew 21:12-17And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 13 He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” 14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, 16 and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “ ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?” 17 And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.The Message of this Passage:From the Ligonier Ministries: “Messianic expectations were at a fever pitch after Jesus came into Jerusalem on a donkey, and the next action He performed only added fuel to the fire. We will today look at our Lord’s cleansing of the temple and examine what it teaches us about Christ.Of Herod’s building projects, none were greater than the Jerusalem temple, which he expanded. It sat on what we now call the Temple Mount, an area of some thirty-five acres. Only priests could enter the temple itself, which took up a small part of the mount and was surrounded by three courts: Israelite men could enter the court closest to the temple. Israelite men and women could occupy the next court. But the Court of the Gentiles, which was the court farthest from the temple, was the closest any non-Jew could get to the sanctuary.From around the world, first-century Jews came to the temple at Passover to sacrifice to the Lord. It was impractical to bring sacrificial animals long distances; so, they were available in Jerusalem — for a price. Most Jews also paid the temple tax at Passover, and money-changers were there to convert Roman coinage into appropriate currency: pagan mottos on Roman money made it unacceptable for Yahweh’s house. Though not inherently evil, these practices became occasions for sin. Pilgrims paid exorbitant rates to change money, and sellers exploited those in poverty, overcharging for the poor man’s offering of pigeons and doves (Lev. 5:7). To make things worse, these merchants set up shop in the Court of the Gentiles, making it useless as a place of prayer due to the hustle and bustle the buying and selling created.Therefore Jesus drove out the sellers. These merchants, and the priests who allowed their presence, cared nothing for true worship as long as they could make money and keep up the rituals. Our Savior hated this sacrilege, which kept the nations from learning about the living God in His sanctuary.We cannot underestimate the importance of this act. It showed Jesus as having authority to purify and take charge of the temple, a messianic task that only put Him more at odds with the Sanhedrin.”For Personal Reflection and Discussion:What was Jesus’ point as He refers to Scripture? What had they gotten terribly wrong?Why didn’t Jesus heal the blind and lame before He cleared the temple?What does “Hosanna” mean? What does the name “Son of David” refer to? What were the children announcing as they shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David?” Why were the priests and teachers of the law indignant?If you had been in the temple then, what do you think would have caused a bigger reaction: the healings, or the shouting children? What do you think the priests and teachers were thinking when they asked Jesus about the children?Why do you suppose Matthew ends the conversation so abruptly? What might Jesus have been thinking about as He went back to Bethany? What might the priests and teachers have been thinking? What does Jesus leave you thinking?What aspects of following Jesus have made you feel indignant and how will you ask God to transform that which is terribly wrong into something wonderfully right?How would you define true worship?How do we open ourselves to see the surprises of God?Our Lord had a habit of saying hard things to people and then leaving them. Here in verses 16 and 17 is another instance of that. Some of us in our difficult conversations trying to persuade people that Jesus is King tend to explain from our own reasoning and then badger them until they get it. What can we learn from the Lord's approach here?Does Jesus wielding a whip fit your image of Him? Why is it crucial to know Jesus as the Bible reveals Him, not necessarily as we might want Him to be?Jesus’ cleansing of the temple at the very least, illustrates how concerned He is with the purity of worship. Our corporate praise and prayer is something that is always in need of reformation. Consider the importance of pure worship from a devoted heart when you praise the Lord in private and corporate worship.

Of all the resurrection appearances of Jesus, His appearance to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:13-32 is the most puzzling. Why did they not recognize Him? Why did He not immediately reveal Himself to them?

Are you having the WRONG type of sex? Why your wife doesn't LOVE intimacy Why sex feels carnal Why sex feels like it's just for HIM Why sex isn't fulfilling (EVEN if you orgasm) I argue that there is a very legitimate reason... You guys haven't made feminine sex....ever Have you ever even been exposed to what feminine sex is? Let me give you a description and then the tools on how to get started! Go to www.delightyourmarriage.com/type for further explanation and a step-by-step guide to feminine sex    Resources referenced:  Miss Representation documentary If you want to know more about our sexualized culture and how men have defined those you can check this own My very serious warning is there's a ton of very negative visuals--sexually-explicit music videos, movies with very provocative clothing... but they have really educational good content What I would suggest is turning it on your phone and then turning your phone over so you can hear the content without being exposed to the crude and sinful visuals...or just trust that somehow I gleaned what would be helpful for you! A great TED talk which explains how our movies are lacking female influence, thus the feminine values and sexual desires: The Data Behind Hollywood's Sexism   FREE (Potentially Life-Changing) Opportunity I am doing a limited amount of FREE Clarity Calls to help wives go deep and truly understand and get clear on what is prohibiting them from getting to the intimacy and marriage God wants for them. The catch? IF I think I can help you (and I don't think I can help every woman I speak with) I may invite you to be one of the few women I coach this month. But if not, you'll definitely get a ton of value from the call, so get on my calendar soon -- right I believe my next Clarity Call is available in 3 weeks from now... so get on the calendar as soon as you can so your marriage can blossom as God wants it to!! www.dym.as.me

In this portion of the commentary of Surah al-Waqiyah in which we review verses 81 to 82, God speaks to us and asks us that with all that is in existence, how can humanity still deny Him? Why do people deny the existence of God?

Question: Why did Hashem create us and put in a physical world if the goal is just to be close to Him? Why not just create us in a different realm where we are already elevated?

ALast week I talked about the New Horizons we face as a church, so today I want to drill down into that and look at how we as individuals can make a difference in this world this year, and see true fruit that lasts in our ministries, church and lives.   As I started my Bible Reading Plan last week, I read Psalm 1, and it refers to the man blessed like this:   Psalms 1:3 (ESV Strong's) He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.   Wouldn’t you love to see that as a description out your own life, and this church? So how can we prosper in everything we do, and yield huge amounts of high quality fruit that lasts?   John 15:1-10 (ESV Strong's)  “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.   ABIDE WITH ME   The word translated abide in John 15 is the Greek word menō which means to stay, endure or remain in a given place, state, relation or expectancy. It means to wait and remain attached to the vine. So what was Jesus saying?   The image of a vine was often used for the nation of Israel, but in this case, Jesus clearly identifies Himself as the true vine, and us, you and I, His church as the branches. To summarise the chapter, Jesus is saying stay attached to Him, don’t separate and go it alone, and that you either bear fruit, or get prune off and destroyed. Does this mean I grow apples out of my ears?   Jesus was talking about living a fruitful life, but what does He mean by fruitful?   Galatians 5:22-23 (ESV Strong's) the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.   Living a fruitful and prosperous life is about producing those qualities, what we might call positive, active attitudes on a daily basis in our lives. And Ignite Church’s fruitfulness is the sum of all of us producing said fruit in our lives personally.   John Maxwell in his book, “Be All You Can Be,” suggests that when we abide 5 PRs appear…   POSITIVE RESULTS: When you begin to inject these fruitful attitudes into your society, you’re going to see constructive, tangible and positive results.   POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS: You will begin to develop fruitful relationships with others, and people will love being around you.   POSITIVE REACTIONS: When your attitude is positive, even if things go badly or someone unjustly attacks you, your reaction is going to be positive, and before you know it, other’s reactions to you will be positive also.   POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT: Life is like a mirror; what you show is what you see; what you put in is what you get out. When you encourage others, you’ll find that they will encourage you. Attitudes are contagious.   POSITIVE REJOICING: Jesus said in John 15:11. “These things I have spoken to you that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.”   HAPPY TO BE FRUITY?   Christians often tell me they’re not really happy; they say they’re unfulfilled. They talk about not having joy in their lives. I get the impression that seeking joy has become their main purpose in life. But here’s the thing… joy (or happiness or fulfilment) comes to us not when we seek it, but when we put the right principles into practice in our lives. Joy and happiness and not ends in themselves, they are by-product of doing what is right, of abiding in Him and seeking first His Kingdom and His righteousness!   So how do we as the branches know we can be fruitful, and sustain our fruitfulness? Here’s 7 things about the vine…   1.      OUR POWER SOURCE   We need to realise that our potential for fruitful living is unlimited because of our power source. Jesus says in John 15:1 that He is the power source, He is the vine.   Galatians 2:20 (ESV Strong's) I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.   Many of us try to live a good life, but we have it all wrong, because we cannot do this in our own strength. It’s not my resources, but Christ’s resources in and through me!   I remember on one rare occasion I vacuumed the house, that I stretched the cord and then found my appliance died. I thought, “Oh great, now the vacuum is dead,” but then I realised that it works better if plugged in, and I had accidentally unplugged it. My vacuum became a broom because it was disconnected. Unplug from the power source, and you cannot produce the fruit you want to produce in your own strength.   2.      OUR PROPRIETOR   In John 15:1, Jesus says that He is the vine, but God the Father is the vinedresser. But God is more than an employee, He is the actual owner of the vineyard.   Ever heard the term, “Skin in the game?” It means you have ownership, and suddenly when you own it, the results become very important, because you’re invested! No one washes or services a rental car before they return it, but if you own a car, especially if you’re a rev head and cars are important to you, you service and clean it regularly.   Some Christians fear connecting to God  because think that if they abide in the vine then God will make them endure pain, adversity and strife instead of joy. They forget that God says,   Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV Strong's) For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.   Ownership makes a difference. God owns us, so when he looks at our lives, he looks at them not as a casual observer but as an investor, and He is invested in us prospering and producing quality fruit!   3.      OUR PRUNING   Our potential for fruitful living is unlimited because Jesus is our source. The fact that God is our owner or proprietor adds to that potential. One of the things God does as skilful and knowledgeable vinedresser is to prune or purge us. He knows that pruning, while it might be painful at the time, greatly increases our potential for fruitful living.   John 15:2 (ESV Strong's) Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.   The Greek word for prune is kathairō;  meaning to cleanse, to prune; to purge of filth impurity, or to prune trees and vines from useless shoots. Your Father as the vinedresser, removes everything that hinders your usefulness. He knows that if he doesn’t cut back the deadwood, all of our resources will go toward producing more wood and we won’t be fruit producers.   I have found that fruitful, productive people are continually being pruned, going through whatever God the experts sees fit to make them more fruitful.   And God knows exactly what to prune from our lives. He might even now be placing His finger on a persistent sin in your life, or a destructive relationship that always stops you being fruitful. It might be a dependency, it might be a comfort zone, but whatever it is, let Him prune it away, however painful, because that is how God produces fruit and that is the end game!   4.      OUR PARTNERSHIP   Our potential for fruitfulness is also tremendous because of our partnership. We do not sit idly by watching the fruit appear, we are an active part of it and we too need to be fully invested!   I am a terrible gardner, and I stand in awe of people like Betty who seem to have a green thumb. I’m not a bad gardener because I lack intelligence, and with google and garden centres, none of us really lack the knowledge. I’m terrible because I just don’t care! I stick something in the ground, and it’s Gods problem from there.   A pastor one time looked at a beautiful garden and commented to the gardner how awesome God was creating all that. The gardener replied that he had a part in it too, and you should have seen the mess when God had it to Himself!   John 15:4 (ESV Strong's) Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.   Ten times in verses 4–10 we see the word abide. Basically Jesus is saying, “Connect with the vine, and everything will be fine.” It is our privilege to partner with God in bearing fruit.   This should affect how we see everything. The growth in this church… it’s all His, not mine or yours. Your family, your job, your home, your finances, you must realise that it’s not all about you, it’s your willingness to partner with Him that bears the fruit. Don’t take all the credit!   John Maxwell tells the story of the mouse who crossed a bridge over a deep ravine with an elephant.  As the elephant and the mouse crossed the bridge, the bridge shook.  When they reached the other side, the mouse said to the elephant, “Boy, we really shook that bridge, didn’t we?”  Of course a mouse can’t shake a bridge, but when it teams up with an elephant, yes it can.   5.      OUR PROMISE   John 15:7 (ESV Strong's) If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.   Notice two things, first that the promise is conditional: if we abide in him. Second, our asking needs to be according to his Word.   What Jesus is really saying is that if we abide in him, then our delight will be in him, so much so that we will ask all things according to his will. This verse is not, as some will tell you, a formula for getting what we want from God. I’m so sick of hearing people trying to manipulate God into doing their will instead of them abiding in Him and doing His will!   God is not your celestial Santa Clause. He does not have to bring you what you want, and all your prayers, good behaviour or manipulation does not make Him your servant!   Psalms 37:4 (ESV Strong's) Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.   I get up every morning and have a quiet time. I spend the first hour or so with the Lord almost every day, and I do this because I want to abide in Him! I am reading through the Bible plan. I cannot tell you how many times something I read in my quiet time comes out in my day somewhere. I just delight in God and His Word every morning, and He leads and guides me through the day, and my desires merge with His!   6.      OUR PURPOSE   John 15:8 (ESV Strong's) By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.   Our purpose in life is not to pursue happiness but to bear fruit and thus bring God glory. In the same chapter Jesus says,   John 15:16 (ESV Strong's) You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.   We must not be floundering around trying to be rich or famous, or just trying to survive the day and get through life. No, we have been chosen, appointed by God, for fruitful living. Those active, positive attitudes, like love, joy, peace, etc, ought to be becoming a part of our lives. Then others notice and want them too!  The problem so often with us Christians is that we do not show these positive attitudes that can make us salt and light in our world. Christians should be like tea bags… our true colour comes out in hot water. We don’t bear the fruit God wants us to, because we are missing our purpose!   Billy Sunday said, "More men fail through lack of purpose than lack of talent."   7.      OUR PRIORITISING OBEDIENCE   No Christian becomes fruitful without obedience. Our potential for fruitfulness is tremendous only when we prioritise obedience.      John 15:5-7 (ESV Strong's) I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.   Clearly God is pretty serious about obedience, and that little word “if” is disturbing. Jesus doesn’t say, “If I do not abide in you.” He’s promised He is there for us. His question is, “Are you going to be connected to me? Jesus has the power; He has the strength; He has the wisdom to implant in us; He has all the resources that we need to become fruitful, and he’s ready to deliver. All we need to do is to stay connected him. It takes effort, and it takes obedience!   THE COST OF CONNECTIVITY   Why don’t we always abide in Him? Why do we disconnect? Pure lack of obedience!   We think that we can do it on our own; we begin to have an unhealthy self-confidence instead of confidence in Christ.  When we do not have active, positive, fruitful attitudes, it is because we aren’t plugged into the vine. Christians should not have to psych themselves up every day or get inspired once a week at church, we should stay connected every day and develop active, positive, fruitful attitudes… every single day!   If we prioritise obedience, becoming fruitful will be as natural as breathing because  the relationship is right, and the connection is right.   Why should God lead you into a full productive life if you refuse to obey Him? If you think you can achieve everything God wants for you in your own strength, go ahead, knock yourself out! You will quickly understand that, if you are disconnected from the vine that is Christ, if you are not obedient in spending time with Him, spending time with His people and obeying Him, then you are destined for disaster. And even if you achieve success, you will discover the prize worthless ultimately!   Listen I know that connectivity costs, but we must not focus on the cost, but focus on the fruit, the destiny God has for you. Nothing is achieved by anyone without cost.   FORMULA FOR FRUITFULNESS   Jesus gives us a three-word formula for fruitfulness in John 15. These three words are the ones I want you to remember, because they are the key to fruitful living.   REMAIN: The first word is remain.   John 15:4-5 (ESV Strong's) Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.   Throughout John 15, Jesus tells us to remain. “Remain in Me,” Jesus says.   What is Jesus referring to? He’s talking about our willingness to take time with him in prayer and in study of the Word. We need to let Him begin to be part of our lives and work on our lives. If you really want to live a fruitful life, there is no short cut. Come, join us in the Bible Reading Plan, start it and determine in your heart to not stop, even if you get discouraged. I promise you, no, God promises you that your life will never be the same if you read His Word and pray daily.   RECEIVE: The second word in the formula is receive.   Jesus says in John 15 that if we remain in him, we will begin to receive certain things. What we’ll receive is good, fruitful and yes, prosperous living.   Jeremiah 29:11-13 (ESV Strong's) For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.   When you seek Him, when you remain or abide in Him, then you prosper, and not just financially, but in every way right through your life, relationships, destiny and everything!   REPRODUCE: The third word is reproduce.   If we remain in him, we’re going to receive what he has for us; then and only then will we begin to reproduce such fruit in our lives. When we obey and remain in Him, others will see the difference and want what we have. We begin to reproduce fruit in the lives of others, and Ignite Church is the sum of all of our fruitfulness. We can and will grow and produce fruit in the lives of our community if we all learn to abide in Him.   THE 30, 60, 100 FOLD FOLLOW UP   I often hear Christians asking God for fruitfulness, and claiming the promise Jesus talks about in the parable of the sower…   Matthew 13:23 (ESV Strong's) As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”   God sows His Word into our hearts, that is what the parable is about, and He wants to see fruit. So if you want to make a difference in this world, if you want to see spiritual fruit which lasts for eternity, long after your job, your business, your success and everything else, then here’s what you must do…   COMMIT TO A PRODUCTIVE LIFESTYLE   Step out in faith, try something different, something scary. Climb out on the limb; that’s where the fruit is. All great accomplishments have to begin with an initial decision, so join me now and make up your mind that you’re going to be a fruitful Christian, that you’re going to begin to reproduce for Christ.   COMMIT TO THE WORD   Last week I challenged you to commit, with me, to Reading our Bible Reading Plan every day. Today I repeat that challenge… if you want to truly start abiding in Him, the first, tangible step is to commit to spending time with Him. So join us in our Reading Plan, if you don’t already have one?   What you plant determines the fruit, so plant the right thing. Plant Gods Word into your heart, starting right now, and let’s commit together to growing fruit here at a Ignite, in our homes, in our businesses, in our relationships and in our eternities.   John 15:8 (ESV Strong's) By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.   What promise are you asking God for this year? What fruit are you seeking to bear, and what are you planting?

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.

Verses:Job 42:1-6 / Genesis 32:24-28 / Matthew 11:1-6 / Romans 10:17Discussion Questions:Did you ever play-wrestle with your Dad? If so (or if not), what effect did that have on your relationship?If you could ask God one question right now, what would it be?What have you been taught throughout your life in regards to questioning God?Read Matthew 11:1-6. How else could Jesus have responded to such a blunt question from John? What does Jesus’ response reveal about Him?Read Romans 10:17. How does understanding the “hearing” through the courtroom perspective help you learn more about growing your “faith”?Do you think it’s possible to balance the view that God is in complete control… and that it’s OK to “wrestle/struggle with” and question Him? Why or why not? How does this affect how you view & develop your relationship with Him?How do these concepts help you grow as a disciple who loves God, loves people & serves the world?

Message #344 "The Love Which Passes Knowledge" - Acts 19:11-20 Sunday, October 7 2018 Previously, we studied in Acts 10:1-10, and examined Paul's perseverance in the challenging city of Ephesus. This week we'll dig into a challenging portion of Scripture, where God works miraculously through the Apostle Paul, and address the following: Why does God at times choose to use unusual miracles in response to man's faith in Him? Why is it critical we understand biblically the nature of the battle we entered when the Lord saved us? What should accompany salvation and what is an evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit in my life? James 1:22 encouragement- This study will help believers develop a biblical understanding and expectation of miracles and the purpose of God displaying His power in this manner. Need encouragement for the tests and challenges you are facing? Study with us to better understand the spiritual aspect of the battles we endure, and invest time to equip yourself in the word of God to help you stand your ground in Christ. Need help in how to beat the old patterns of sin in your life? Then grow with us as we learn how to not only turn away from temptation and sin, but also turn towards the Lord; replacing the old life with the new life we have in Jesus. Related verses: 2 Corinthians 1:8-11 1 Corinthians 15:32 1 Corinthians 16:9 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 Matthew 9:20-22 John 5:36 Mark 16:20 Romans 15:18-19 Hebrews 2:1-4 2 Corinthians 12:12 Ephesians 6:10-12, 13-20 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 Luke 10:2, 17-20 Ephesians 2:1-3, 11-12 John 16 Ephesians 4:17-32 Ephesians 3:14-21 Calvary Chapel Reston Station 1950 Isaac Newton Sq. Reston, VA 20195 (703) 834-8100 http://www.calvaryreston.org/

Was it or wasn’t it Jesus’ time? Why didn’t His brothers believe in Him? Why was Jerusalem so different from Galilee? This week Steve gives us lots to chew on from John chapter 7. This week’s episode is brought to you by the Impact Nations Facebook page. Impact Nations has the privilege of seeing the Kingdom of God at work in nations all over the globe. We’d like to tell you about thousands of people getting clean water, communities being transformed, and lives being rescued. You can catch regular updates on this sort of thing every day on Facebook. You will also find Steve’s writings. For the next few Tuesdays, you’ll find some short articles from Steve answering common questions about healing. So head to facebook.com/impactnationsministries to get your daily dose of encouragement.

In this third chapter of our Sure. series we come to Jesus. Who is He? How do we know what we know about Him? Why do we believe it to be true? What are the critiques of the Christian belief in Jesus as a historical figure and what are the rational arguments in favor of the orthodox view of Jesus as Lord? In this message Greg explores these questions and others while explaining what it means to "give the reason for the hope that you have".

In this third chapter of our Sure. series we come to Jesus. Who is He? How do we know what we know about Him? Why do we believe it to be true? What are the critiques of the Christian belief in Jesus as a historical figure and what are the rational arguments in favor of the orthodox view of Jesus as Lord? In this message Greg explores these questions and others while explaining what it means to "give the reason for the hope that you have".

In this third chapter of our Sure. series we come to Jesus. Who is He? How do we know what we know about Him? Why do we believe it to be true? What are the critiques of the Christian belief in Jesus as a historical figure and what are the rational arguments in favor of the orthodox view of Jesus as Lord? In this message Greg explores these questions and others while explaining what it means to "give the reason for the hope that you have".

Faith is not free.  In fact, faith costs everyone associated with it something.  No, I'm not talking about saving faith or salvation.  But even then, salvation has a cost.  It costs Christ His life and the Father His only Son.  And it costs each of us who embrace saving faith the one thing we hold most dear.  Us.  Salvation costs each of us who we are. But the faith we are talking about is the Hebrews 11 kind of faith.  It's the faith defined as the "substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Heb. 11:1).  It's the faith that made the notable men of the Scripture, notable. And it's the faith that helps us answer the why questions in life. The Why Questions Why does God allow bad things to happen to people who love Him? Why does God allow innocent babies to die? Why does God allow drug addiction and abortion and rape and child abuse and starvation and disease? Why, oh why, oh why? Get the point?  But having the faith to trust God's answer to these questions will cost you something.  Why?  Because it costs Abraham and Noah and Jacob and Moses and many, many others what it will cost you to know the truth.  Are you willing to understand the cost of faith?  Do you want to know the answer to the most troubling questions in the Christian life?  If so, then keep listening. The following is a study on the cost of faith.

One more thought regarding our experience of deep change through God's drawing action. He draws us to Him with cords of kindness. What does that mean? Why does He use kindness to draw us to Him? Why does it sometimes feel He is not using kindness? These very important questions, and more, are engaged as we transition into the next path to happiness.

A daily devotional through the recorded words Jesus spoke while He walked alongside us. Our website http://alittlewalkwithgod.com. Thanks for joining me today for "A Little Walk with God." I'm your host Richard Agee. I've always liked logic puzzles. Like this one, for instance. There are three boxes. One is labeled "APPLES" another is labeled "ORANGES". The last one is labeled "APPLES AND ORANGES". You know that each is labeled incorrectly. You may ask me to pick one fruit from one box which you choose. How can you label the boxes correctly? Scripture John 7:33-34 Jesus: I am going to be with you for a little while longer; then I will return to the One who sent Me. You will look for Me, but you will not be able to find Me. Where I am, you are unable to come. Devotional If you're like me, you haven't heard anything since I gave you the puzzle because you've been thinking about how to label those boxes. The answer isn't too difficult since you know all the labels are wrong. Pick a fruit from the box labelled Apples and Oranges. The box will be full of only one kind of fruit since the label is incorrect. So if you pick an orange, label the box, Oranges. Then you know that the box labelled Apples and Oranges must contain only apples since that label is also wrong. So label that box Apples. Finally, the only box left with the wrong label must have the apples in it, so change the box labelled Oranges to Apples and Oranges. And there's the answer. Why give you a logic puzzle to start the podcast and associate it with Jesus' words today? Because I'm sure those who heard His words were just as puzzled as we can get when we hear those logic puzzles I'll be with you But only for a little while Then I'll return to the One who sent Me You'll look for Me, like hide-and-seek You won't find Me You can't go where I'm going What does all this mean? The disciples were confused First part was easy Second part not too hard, maybe He was going on a trip by Himself Third got a little more difficult, but not unlike returning to the country that issued His diplomatic credentials Fourth, if they knew where He was going or that He was returning to a specific place, why would they spend time looking for Him Why wouldn't they be able to find Him, this didn't make sense Why couldn't they go to the same place He went, what special pass did He have that they didn't have? Did they need some special password and how could they get it? We stand on this side of the cross and the answer is easy Like the puzzle at the beginning. If you didn't think of the answer right away, you probably slapped your forehead and said, “Duh! Why didn't I think of that!” Looking back, it's so simple. Looking back in time, Jesus' words are so simple, too. So are His words, “Follow Me.” So why do we have so much trouble understanding and doing those? If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don't, tell me. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow for "A Little Walk with God."  

Speaker or Performer: Pr. Mark D. Lovett Scripture Passage(s): Luke 1:39-55 Date of Delivery: August 14, 2016 In the name of the FATHER and of the +SON and of the HOLY SPIRITThe Church’s calendar is chalked full of saints’ days and days of commemoration and we would do well to recognize them and learn from them. They are our ancestors of the faith. They are our family tree in Christ. And if it’s important to us for our kids to know their grandparents and aunts and uncles, to know the important events in our family’s history, how much more important is it for them to know the history of the Family of God which shares our faith; who can encourage and strengthen us in our faith which is of far greater value than where the homestead was or who came over on what boat and settled where and married whom. The saints of God – living and at rest – fulfill the law of Christ and “bear [our] burdens,” (Galatians 6:2) and encourage us in the faith. We would do well to learn about the saints of God.And although it raises the heckles of us Lutherans, not to mention the wider group call “Protestants”, the chief saint from whom we should learn is the Ever-Virgin Mother, St. Mary. Whom Dr. Luther – after he has roundly rejected the popery – called the greatest teacher of theology. It’s a wonder that she is so widely ignored by us since her words are actually recorded in Scripture and it is said of her that all generations shall called her blessed, while the so-called Christian talks and books we hear and read, not to mention what passes for Christian music on the radio, rarely quote Scripture in its proper context and are little more than self-help, life-coach dialogues that are no different than secular ones – and often worse since they are so often found to be misrepresenting God. We would do better to sit for five or ten minutes a day meditating on the Lord’s Supper and learning life from it – or rather, from Him who is our Lord – than to listen to most of what passes for Christian teaching on the airwaves and between book covers.Tomorrow is August 15th. August 15th is the Dormition of St. Mary, Theokotos – which means “God bearer”. You’ll recall that the Blessed Virgin is prophesied in Holy Scripture right alongside her Son at the earliest prophesy of Christ and His redemptive work, recorded in Genesis chapter 3: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” This “woman” isn’t Eve, whose son was a murderer; this woman was the Blessed Virgin whose Son is the giver of life.So why honor Mary? Beyond mentioning her at Christmas and having our little ones portray her in Christmas pageants and in coloring books? What role does Mary play in our faith, if any?Well first of all, she is Jesus’ mother. She is Theokotos, the God-bearer, even as the Ark of the Covenant was the bearer of the Mercy Seat and the Tabernacle was the bear of God’s name, and the burning bush bore God. God never works without means. He never engages humanity without means. And though we like to think of it like this – mostly due to the Protestant history of early America – God is not more fully active or more fully revealed or engaged with His people in the Old Testament than in the New. Quite the opposite, actually. God is not more fully engaged in humanity than He was before Jesus because in Jesus God actually joined Himself to humanity. Or rather, He joined humanity to Himself.And He did this through the Virgin Mary.No, we don’t worship Mary. She is not the co-redemptress with Her Son. But that doesn’t mean she is nothing. We like to say that while, yes, God used her as the vehicle of the Virgin Birth, He could have used anyone; that there’s nothing special about Mary. We say this partly to defend against such heresies as the co-redemptress teachings of Rome. But we also say itbecause of our own heresy. Our heresy that allows us to devalue and ignore the saints of God, the Church of God, really, is the heresy that nothing really matters as long as you love Jesus. Our heresy is the belief we operate with that pretty much everything recorded in the Bible is not the way things had to go but simply the way God decided to do things. We even treat the Cross this way.It didn’t have to happen that way, but God chose this way, and then we give some reasons why this is the best way. It’s no wonder there are people who accuse God of abusing His Son. If Jesus didn’t have to suffer and die, then why would an all-loving God let Him? Why not deal with sin another way? And that’s how our heresy leads us down rabbit holes that lead to faithlessness and unbelief.Our chief heresy is that we believe that the narrative given is one possibility of many rather than the will of God, even though the Scriptures everywhere say otherwise. So, yes, Mary is necessary. So is the cross. So are you.In football both the end-zone and the football are necessary, but they don’t do the same thing. In baking, both flour and water are necessary, but they are wholly different. It was necessary that the Christ suffer and die. And it was necessary that He be born of the Blessed Virgin. And it was necessary that it be Mary just like it was necessary that your children have you as their mom and dad.Our question of what is necessary is the heresy of the lowest common denominator. What’s absolutely necessary? This heresy has led countless millions, a whole generation or two, away from the Church and away from the Lord’s gathering. Why? Because someone asked the question, “Is it necessary to go to church?” And some well-meaning but misguided person said, “No, all that is necessary is to love Jesus.”But who loves Jesus and then doesn’t want to learn from Him? Who loves Jesus and then doesn’t want to eat what He has given to eat and drink what He has given to drink? Who loves Jesus but rejects His messengers because they don’t jive with our opinions? Who loves Jesus and then doesn’t bring their children to Him to be blessed by Him because they won’t sit still? Who loves Jesus and then gives the little ones to whom belongs the kingdom of God a nasty look because they’re too loud or they move too much?Who loves Jesus and ignores His mother?And there, I think, is perhaps the best lesson that the Blessed Mother can teach us today: to be saved is to be in communion with God. And to be in communion with God is to be in communion with His Son Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary. She teaches us, despite ourselves, that we can’t reduce the Christian faith down to a bunch of truth statements and dogmas. We can’t limit the power and work of our Lord with memorized Bible verses of which we don’t know the context. John 3:16 is not the Gospel in a nutshell because the Gospel can’t be put in a nutshell. Though it was once put into the womb of a virgin.You need the whole Bible. You need the whole Church, including Mary. You need the whole of salvation wrought by Christ. You need the Lord’s Supper. You need Baptism. You need to hear the word of God and keep it. You need Jesus, and He comes with all of this and much, much more.And He comes to commune with you because you matter; because you are necessary.+ In Nomine Iesu +

This week we unpack the story of the three wise men. Who did they think Jesus was, and why did they make the long travel to see Him? Why would they bring gifts to a child who was too young to appreciate them?

Pastor Chuck Eastman asks, "Did Jesus really say that it's possible to seek him and not find Him?" Why did Jesus say that; and if he meant it, then how do genuine seekers encounter God and come to know Him? John 8:21-30 attempts to work through this tension and point us to God's beautiful plan for redemption. This message was presented at Mosaic's Little Rock campus on August 9, 2015.

Speaker or Performer: Pr. Mark D. Lovett Scripture Passage(s): John 8:46-59 Date of Delivery: April 6, 2014 In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit.Idolatry is looking for God – even claiming to have found God – where God has not promised that you will find Him.The atheist, the poorest of all thinkers, says that he has looked for God and has not found Him. But that is because the atheist is looking for God in all the wrong places. He looks in nature; he looks in humanity; he looks to himself, to his own reason and abilities. Everywhere he searches for God and cannot find Him. That is no surprise to us, because the one place no one looks for God is on the cross. So much so that now most of our cross do not have a corpus on it; no one wants a God on the cross. But we preach Christ crucified.The word “atheist” really means “without God”. So an atheist is one without God. Now the term can be broad, meaning one without a god; that one doesn’t believe in any sort of god. But as Christians, I think we must be much narrower in our application of the word, which, in turn broadens the category of those that fit it. First of all we should understand that there is no one that does not believe in some god. Everyone looks outside of him or herself for life and daily bread. Whatever they look to for those things is their god. So that’s the first thing: there’s no such thing as a person that does not have a god – be it a spiritual god or a god of gold, everyone has a god.Secondly, we should consider that anyone without the one true God is truly an atheist. Those without the one true God are atheists – they are those without God. So the Muslim is an atheist. He is without God. The Mormon is an atheist. He is without God. The Buddhist, the Taoist, the Zoroastrian, the Orthodox Jew, the Jehovah Witness, the immoral and the self-worshipers, and of course all those self-proclaimed Christians who never gather to the Lord and receive His blessings and benediction, they are all without God. They are all atheists. Those that do not gather to Christ are all atheists, no matter what label they put on their manmade religion. No matter if they offer sacrifices to a god or pray to another god, because they do not have God, the true God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – they are atheists.No longer can we afford to simply call those who say they don’t believe in the existence of God “atheists”. No, we must be much more direct than that. All who do not have and know the one true God are atheists. They are without God.But they are not without the desire for God. That is why they build religions and temples. They have in them the need for God, the desire to know God and be known by Him. All people do. It’s in our DNA. Science even bowed the knee to this years ago when they wondered if humanity had the so-called “God-gene”. Of course, there is no “God-gene” but science can’t deny that humanity is predisposed to need and want and even to find God.So why haven’t they found Him? Why are there atheists if everyone, Christian and pagan, need, want, and even desire to have God? It is because they are looking for Him in the wrong places. Which is what it means to have an idol: to look for God where He has not promised to be.And where is God? He has hidden Himself from the teaming masses. He has hidden Himself so that those who do not hear His word cannot find Him. He has hidden Himself in His word. So that many call upon God, but since they do not hear the Word of the Son of God they do not call rightly upon God. Since they do not hear the word of Jesus they cannot know or worship the Father.Those who do not hear cannot know. Those that refuse to hear cannot know. Therefore the word is everything. It is how God reveals Himself to us and to our children. It is how God makes His will known. It is how God brings us to salvation and comforts us in our affliction: the word of God.And this word is specific. It is concrete. This word is the good news – the gospel – that the eternal God from whom and through whom and for whom all things were made came down from heaven and was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary; that He suffered and died on the cross for the forgiveness of sin, and that He is risen from the dead; risen to bring life and immortality to all men.This is the true God; the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the God of Noah and Samuel and King David. This is the God of the martyrs. This is the God who does not hide Himself from those that call upon Him, but makes Himself known in the breaking of the bread. This is the God who promises you life and resurrection, for you share in His Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life. This is the God who calls you by name and welcomes you into His Father’s kingdom; who keeps faith forever.Behold, O man, your God; who is Christ Jesus, crucified and risen and now before you in His mysteries by His word.+ In Nomine Iesu +

We all have questions. Is there a God? If so, does He love me? Why do I have to live for Him? Why do bad things happen to good people? What is this whole baptism thing? We could go on for a life time with our questions. But, what if instead of simply sitting with our questions, we began to explore them? Are there answers to these questions? What does the Bible have to say about this? We'll tackle your questions in a real, unfiltered way in this series, "Q&A."

We all have questions. Is there a God? If so, does He love me? Why do I have to live for Him? Why do bad things happen to good people? What is this whole baptism thing? We could go on for a life time with our questions. But, what if instead of simply sitting with our questions, we began to explore them? Are there answers to these questions? What does the Bible have to say about this? We'll tackle your questions in a real, unfiltered way in this series, "Q&A."

We all have questions. Is there a God? If so, does He love me? Why do I have to live for Him? Why do bad things happen to good people? What is this whole baptism thing? We could go on for a life time with our questions. But, what if instead of simply sitting with our questions, we began to explore them? Are there answers to these questions? What does the Bible have to say about this? We'll tackle your questions in a real, unfiltered way in this series, "Q&A."

We all have questions. Is there a God? If so, does He love me? Why do I have to live for Him? Why do bad things happen to good people? What is this whole baptism thing? We could go on for a life time with our questions. But, what if instead of simply sitting with our questions, we began to explore them? Are there answers to these questions? What does the Bible have to say about this? We'll tackle your questions in a real, unfiltered way in this series, "Q&A."

We all have questions. Is there a God? If so, does He love me? Why do I have to live for Him? Why do bad things happen to good people? What is this whole baptism thing? We could go on for a life time with our questions. But, what if instead of simply sitting with our questions, we began to explore them? Are there answers to these questions? What does the Bible have to say about this? We'll tackle your questions in a real, unfiltered way in this series, "Q&A."

We all have questions. Is there a God? If so, does He love me? Why do I have to live for Him? Why do bad things happen to good people? What is this whole baptism thing? We could go on for a life time with our questions. But, what if instead of simply sitting with our questions, we began to explore them? Are there answers to these questions? What does the Bible have to say about this? We'll tackle your questions in a real, unfiltered way in this series, "Q&A."

We all have questions. Is there a God? If so, does He love me? Why do I have to live for Him? Why do bad things happen to good people? What is this whole baptism thing? We could go on for a life time with our questions. But, what if instead of simply sitting with our questions, we began to explore them? Are there answers to these questions? What does the Bible have to say about this? We'll tackle your questions in a real, unfiltered way in this series, "Q&A."

We know that as Christians we are called to worship the Lord our God faithfully and truly. However, what about those who are not Christians? What are they called to do? Why are they supposed to worship the living God? What proof has God given to non Christians for them to worship Him? Why should […] The post From Unknown to Known (Acts 17:29-31; HC LD 35) | 2008-2009 Catechism Sermons appeared first on Covenant United Reformed Church.

After His resurrection, why did Jesus tell Mary not to touch Him, but later tell Thomas to touch Him? Why was Mary Magdalene told not to touch Jesus, but Thomas told the opposite?

2007-02-11-1830 Pastor Loran Livingston talks this evening February 11th, 2007 in the 6:30 service about fear.Scripture Ref: Matthew 28:9-20Topic: FearNotes:- Scripture quoted by Anna & Elana- Jesus after resurrection: Rejoice, Do not be afraid, Go tell my brethren,- When you're born again, you receive spirit of Jesus, no fear- Who’s report will you believe?- God  wants his children to be certain where they stand with Him- Why do people stay out of church when things get difficult?- Fear gets between you and God; insulated with fear