Prison weekly November 20th 2004

Va-Yeze For the week of November 20, 2004 / 7 Kislev 5765 Torah: Bereshit / Genesis 28:10 - 32:3 Haftarah: Hosea 12:13 - 14:10 (English: 12:12 – 14:9) Testing God "Then Jacob made a vow, saying, 'If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father's house, then the LORD will be my God'" (Bereshit / Genesis 28:20,21). This week's portion begins with Jacob's journey to his mother's household in far away Mesopotamia. He is running away from his twin brother Esau, who was waiting for the opportune time to murder him, due to Jacob's deceitful and successful scheme to steal away from their father the blessing of the first born, which by right belonged to Esau. That was not the first time that Jacob strove after Esau's place in the family. In fact this striving began in their mother's womb (Bereshit / Genesis 21:22), was illustrated through how Jacob was clutching at Esau's heel at birth, which is how Jacob got his name (25:26), and was evident in his purchasing of Esau's birthright for a bowl of stew (25:29-34). Getting what he wanted no matter what it took was a way of life for Jacob. This is seen later in his business dealings with his uncle, and years after that when it all comes to a head in his encounter with God as he anticipated his reunion with his brother. Jacob's approach to life is also evident in an earlier recorded encounter with God that prompted his vow quoted above. Jacob was a person who took nothing for granted. He knew what he wanted and strove after it. He didn't seem to be aware of the fact that God has already decided to give him many of the things that he desired. I don't know if his parents ever told him what God had said, or if he didn't believe what they told him. What he knew prior to this encounter we don't know, but it is clear that he did not fully accept what God said to him. Note that he has no doubt that it was indeed God who had spoken to him: "When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, 'Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.' He was afraid and said, 'How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven'" (28:16,17). Yet this clear revelation was not sufficient for Jacob to enter into the kind of relationship with God that both his father, Isaac and his grandfather Abraham had. As quoted above, he vowed that if God was true to his word to bring him safely back to Canaan, then God would be his God. It might be strange to think that someone could truly believe in the reality of God and not be in right relationship with him. But, in fact, this is far more common that we would care to admit. Many people believe that God exists, while at the same time they neglect to follow him. It is too bad that we tend to lump all so-called believers together by accepting simple acknowledgements of God as true faith. Knowing God is more than accepting his existence, appreciating his attributes, and engaging in spiritual activities such as worship, prayer, and good deeds. Jacob understood that. He was no atheist or agnostic. Though being a self seeking deceptive striver, there was something very real about him. He didn't pretend to be a follower of God. When God himself spoke to him Jacob didn't pretend to have confidence in God when he didn't. But what he did do was promise that if God would really do what he said he would do, then Jacob in turn would give himself wholeheartedly to God. I wonder how many people claim faith in God without ever really testing his reality. I am not referring to cynical challenges from those who have no real desire to know him. I am not suggesting we ask God to bend spoons, send lightening or to perform other kinds of carnival-like spectacular displays to prove himself. What I do mean is that maybe we should be a little more like Jacob. If you are uncertain about who God is, then ask him. He is not trying to hide himself from you. If he answers prayer at all, then certainly that is a prayer he will answer. As he reveals himself, respond with an honest heart. Don't pretend to believe him when you don't. Grapple with what he is saying, until it becomes real to you. Then as he and his word become real, live as if it is real. Only then will he truly be your God. TorahBytes Vayetzei (Genesis 28:10-32:3) Family Parsha Vayetzei 5765 How should we react when things don't go the way we want them to? In this week's Torah portion, our forefather Jacob carefully planned and worked very hard to marry the beautiful Rachel. Despite all this, he ended up getting tricked into first marrying her older sister, Leah. Despite his disappointment, Jacob accepted what happened as being God's will, and though it seemed bad, it ended up being very good, as Leah became the mother of six out of Jacob's 12 sons and played a big part in helping him reach his life's goal of building the Jewish people. We can learn from here a valuable lesson: We should do what we can to make things work out the way we would like them to, but if they don't, we should know that it isn't just a 'bad break,' but rather it is God's way of giving us something good that we didn't even realize we needed. In our story some kids discover that sometimes what seems like a disaster is really a blessing in disguise. "SILVER LININGS" What a disaster! We had been planning this thing for weeks, and now I felt like I was watching all my hard work and careful plans going up in smoke before my very eyes. Unlike a lot of kids I knew, I never went on vacations or did anything exciting during school break. I was so tired of watching all my friends flying off to here and there and coming back all tanned, and full of stories and souvenirs about their great times, when usually all I had at the end of school break was a couple of boring novels under my belt, and maybe a few extra pounds I gained from all the ice cream I ate while reading them. But this year was different. It wasn't easy, but I had convinced my parents to let my sister, Jenny, and I to fly down south and spend the break with our cousins, the Silvers, who lived by a beautiful beach. After about a hundred phone calls and arrangements, Jenny and I finally worked out all the details. I could hardly wait for the school semester to end, to say good-bye to the boring winter blues and trade them in for ten full days of fun in the sun. Everything was going along as planned, until about a week before the trip, when my aunt called. She was so apologetic and said when she told us we could stay with them, she hadn't realized my uncle had already invited friends to come for the very same days. Boy was I disappointed! What rotten luck! I started tearfully unpacking, and I didn't know how I would possibly break the bad news to Jenny. She had worked even harder on arranging the trip and was even more excited than I was. With my own tears barely dry, I slowly walked into Jenny's room, carrying a box of Kleenex. I figured she would need them for her tears once I told her the bad news. But I couldn't believe it the way she took it. Though I could tell she was disappointed, she just took it all in stride and said it must be for the best, and if we were meant to get there, we would. That was the last thing I expected, or wanted to hear. I'm embarrassed to say it, but I kind of got into a big fit and accused her of not being normal - after all, wouldn't any normal person be as upset as I was over something like this? Not wanting to give up, we racked our brains to come up with another plan, and sure enough Jenny came up with a brilliant idea. She remembered from the time we visited our cousins when we were little kids that there was a small motel literally across the street from their condominium complex. The words had barely left her mouth when I jumped on the phone to ask my aunt about it. Success! My aunt thought it was a great idea and said we could sleep at the motel, but spend our days and eat all of our meals with them. She even offered to pay for part of the motel since she felt so bad about the mix up. I teased Jenny about her take-it-or-leave-it attitude, and told her that if you wanted something to happen, you had to make it happen. (I guess I sort of conveniently forgot that the motel was her idea and not mine.) My sister just smiled and said, "Paula, if God wants us to get there, we will. And if not, there is a good reason for that too." I thought she was all wet, but had too much re-packing to do to even bother arguing with her. Things were looking up - until a couple of hours later when my aunt called back. It seemed the motel was all booked up! I was sure this time Jenny would get as down about it as I was, but again she just shrugged and said, "If God isn't letting us take this vacation after trying so hard, there must be a good reason." I just rolled my eyes and went back to my room to have a good cry. Winter break arrived and I was getting ready for ten days of absolute boredom - all my friends had packed up and gone south to the sun, and here we were, stuck at home again. A couple of days later Jenny and I were sitting in the kitchen having lunch, and I was in the middle of telling her how all wet she and her 'everything's for the best' philosophy was, when the phone rang. Jenny picked it up. It was Tanya, one of the kids in our class who had taken off on vacation. I assumed she was calling from down south to gloat about how good a time she was having. "Really?" Jenny said. "That's too bad." My ears perked up. "Hurricane warning... Airport was closed?" Hey what was going on? Jenny hung up the phone and shook her head. "You're not going to believe it," she said. Turns out that a big unexpected storm had totally closed up that part of the southern coast. All our friends who flew there just had to turn around and fly right back home - if they were lucky. If they couldn't fly back in time, they got stuck spending their break far away from home in the middle of a hurricane! Talk about being 'all wet!' Boy, I never felt happier to be home, safe and dry in my life. I looked at Jenny and she at me with a look that said it all. She had really been right all along; the whole time I thought God was trying to stop us from having a good time, He was really stopping us from getting into an annoying and maybe even dangerous mess! I think from now on I'm going to try to be a little more like my smart sister, and not get upset so fast if things don't turn out the way I think they should, because you really never know. Aish.com Mission Updates:Greetings Saints in His Perfect Peace, We have been waiting for this for well...9 months...Sarina is now our needs minister. She takes care of clothing, getting donuts and many other things.. She has been a very quick work with the Lord as she came out of an abusive marriage..The baby is from her husband...But all children come from the Lord! So got any baby things you wish to send? She could also use newborn on up in diapers. Sarina works but is taking off 3 months with her new baby so things are very tight for her and her new BOY..Oh His Name is Josiah. Mom can tell you all about it.....in her update this week.. We are still trying to get Thanksgiving together. More bills. Now the gas company says because we moved next door we need a $200 deposit..We never had one before. Pray that either the money comes to pay this or mom can talk them out of it.....But I am sure most all the Mission bills are due but rent......Blankets I have 10 and that's it. They will go I am sure tomorrow. We also need coats, hats, gloves, and cold remedies...Also stuff like sutifed? you know head cold stuff.....Tooth brushes, tooth paste, soaps, razor's..etc. We have blessed many people with big print Bibles...what a blessing these leatherflex covered Bibles KJV are...We can buy them KJV at Sam's Warehouse for $13 I thing it is...... Now I am in need of a system to set up at the Mission......computer or laptop ( laptop would help with outside ministry needs other than the mission )....printer...scanner... Anyway keep us in your prayers. Please pray for the people we minister to as this is the front line as Bro. David Eells said. You can catch Sunday's replay tomorrow at 6 PM central if you choose or wait for it to go to the archives..The Program is with Bro. David a man of Faith. Just tune go to our radio page...... The FATHER bless thee and keep thee;The FATHER make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee;The FATHER lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee shalom. (peace)Bemidbar (Numbers) 6:24-26 In Yeshua's Name, Bro. Dan, Pastor of Messiah's Branch Shalom in Yeshua Our Messiah, Kathy only had to made one dozen egg-n- cheese sandwhiches Friday as we had a family bring in some turkey salad and there was also some Turkey balogna in the fridge that she served. Together we made chili served over mexican sphagetti that was very good served with bread-n- butter. We managed to get a reguler fan in our kitchen but we really need an exhaust fan. All the bills are paid for now but new one will be coming in the next two weeks. For the Mission we will have two of everything our final bills from 803 and our new bills for 801. Westar our electric company called yesterday an left a message saying they will charge our account a 200 dollar deposite i called and they said because it was a new account and commercial they had to charge a deposite. i told the lady we had been there four years and they never charged us a deposite at 803 why now and why so much. A supervisor is suppose to call me back but you know how they are we will more than likely have to pay it. Sarina had her (our) baby Sunday @ 4:55 PM I posted a few pics to this email if you don't get them and would like to see our Beautiful Newest Member of Messiah's Branch email me I will send them to you as attachments. The one of the baby he was only twenty minutes old and as I started talking to him he looked right at me an smiled it was awesome. Sarina named him Josiah Lauren Lemay (not sure of the spelling) he wieght 7 lbs 14 ozs and was 21 inches long such a BEAUTIFUL baby looks just like his mommy. We are in need of all warm things, blankets, sleeping bags etc.... we could use more monthly supporters as everything seems to keep going up (except wages). Thanks to everyone who helped out this month and I'm still needing HELP WITH THANKSGIVING more on the Mission next update Last weeks answer:Luke 6:6-10 6 And it came to pass also on another sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught: and there was a man whose right hand was withered. 7 And the scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath day; that they might find an accusation against him. 8 But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth. 9 Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it? 10 And looking round about upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other. Find this Passage:The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, And saying, Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate. Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her. And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth. Carnival Cruise We at Carnival Cruise Lines are not forgetting that a lot of entertainers promised to leave the country if George W. Bush were to be reelected President.With that in mind, we have a Special Offer for those who still want to keep their promise!Attention: Alec Baldwin, Rosie O'Donnell and her "wife", Ed Asner, Janneane Garafalo, Whoopi Goldberg, Al Franken, Michael Moore, Cher, Phil Donahue, Rob Reiner(apparently still a "meathead"), Barbara Streisand, Jane Fonda, and the entire staffs of the LA and NY Times and anyone else who made that promise, please dispose of all US assets and report to Florida for the sailing of the Funship Cruise, "Elation," which has been commissioned to take you to your new vacation homes in Afghanistan.You may opt to be dropped off in Somalia or Iraq or some similar sunny location.The Florida Supreme Court will sponsor a Farewell Parade in your honor through Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties prior to your cruise. Please pack for an extended stay... at least FOUR MORE YEARS. Note: Since you advocate strict gun control, you may not bring any.Staffing your voyage is Bill Clinton as captain, John Edwards as cruise director, and Gray Davis, as Purser (the guy in charge of managing the money). "Teh-RAY-sah" Heinz Kerry hopefully will be shoved somewhere below decks away from the media.Monica Lewinsky will be the "Cigar and Cigarette Girl". Entertainment will be provided by the Dixie Chicks and Bruce Springsteen, and movies will be shown each evening by Michael Moore. John Kerry will be our Life Guard based on his past experience of pulling people out of the water. He is also in charge of games and has eliminated "shuffleboard" in favor of his new game he calls "waffleboard". Be sure to pack your flip flops as you will need them while playing. Ted Kennedy will double as Bartender and back-up Life Guard. He only qualifies as back-up Life Guard since his experience in rescuing people from drowning has not been too successful. Revs. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson will provide inspirational services, and Al Franken will give inspirational talks each afternoon.If you have any questions about making arrangements for your homes, friends and loved ones, please contact Senator Hillary Clinton. Her "village" can raise your children while you're gone, and she can watch over all your money and your furnishings until you return."Bon Voyage!" Is this a great country or what? It's called Freedom of Speech.

Shalom sisterlinda Messiah's Branch Mark 9:23,10:27