ACCOMPANIED BY GOD'S WORD

Scripture:
They are a garland to grace your headand a chain
to adorn your neck. — Proverbs 1:9

This verse from Proverbs teaches us that we are never
alone with the Bible by our side. Its words are our
companion. Its teachings are our guide. Its messages,
a source of love. When there is no one to show us the
way, God’s Word will direct us. When there is no one to
help us maneuver through the dangers of life, the Bible
will protect us. Just as a garland surrounds a head, let
God’s Word surround our soul. Then, we will walk
protected, directed, and loved.

With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein

MEMBER OF OUR COMMUNITY

If there is among you anyone in need, a member of
your community in any of your towns within the land
that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-
hearted or tight-fisted toward your needy neighbor.
You should rather open your hand, willingly lending
enough to meet the need, whatever it may be.
Deuteronomy 15:7-8
Voice
Generosity is also an act of freedom, a casting off of
the constraints of prudence and self-interest.
Marilynne Robinson
Prayer
Holy God, friend of the poor, help us to see your image
in the face of all who ask for our help, that we might
open wide our hand unto them.
(Verse & Voice from Sojourners. sojo.net)

TAKE CARE OF THE CHILDREN

A wise son heeds his father’s instruction,
but a mocker does not respond to rebukes.
Proverbs 13:1

Our childhood experiences help shape and form who
we are as adults. Some amazing people are able to
take a terrible childhood and become fantastic adults
anyway, but for the most part, children who are raised
well are the ones who turn out well.

We need to take this concept and expand it beyond
our own families. While it is true and necessary that
we must work hard to give our own children positive
experiences in childhood, consequences for
inappropriate behavior when necessary, and provide
them with opportunities that will help them thrive, we
also need to do what we can to help all children around
the world. Not just because it is the moral thing to do,
but also because it is the best thing we can do to
ensure a better future for everyone.

Today, consider contributing to a charity that helps
children. No child should be hungry, hurt, or afraid. As
we take care of all God’s children, we pave the way for
a brighter future – not just for our own children, but for
all children of the world.

With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein

GOD KNOWS

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His
mercies never come to an end; they are new every
morning; great is Your faithfulness. "The LORD is
my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in
Him." The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one
should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
Lamentations 3:22-26
The book of Lamentations beautifully reminds us
of how God's graces are new every morning
Looking at so many frightening situations, all too
often believers conclude they are alone, or they
may soon find themselves in a position from which
there is no escape and which can never be resolved.
You can understand why with people being martyred
every day, how some of the Savior's followers might
think their personal future -- as well as that of
Christianity -- must be very dark indeed.
This is why we need to constantly be reminded that
God's compassion will not fail us.The book of
Lamentations beautifully reminds us of how God's
graces are new every morning
I encourage you, when you are facing hard times, to
let God know how you feel, and let Him know you are
counting on His help.
Maybe we can expand that to read that you are
counting on and patiently waiting for the Lord's
assistance and intervention. Yes, you can do those
things with confidence because God has heard your
prayer. Because of Jesus' sacrifice and victory, the
Lord promises He will respond. That's why Psalm
27:14 gives us this encouragement: "Wait on the Lord:
be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart:
wait, I say, on the Lord."
THE PRAYER:
Dear Lord, no matter what type of problem or
persecution we meet, may we trust in You. Because
of the sacrifice of the Savior, we can be at peace and
know that Your faithful people may be persecuted, but
they will also be preserved. This I ask in Jesus' Name.
Amen.

TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF

Those who are kind benefit themselves,
but the cruel bring ruin on themselves.
Proverbs 11:17

Often, the greatest way to serve others is by first giving
ourselves what others need to be given.
It says in Proverbs: “Those who are kind benefit
themselves, but the cruel bring ruin on themselves.” A
kind person is one who benefits himself. If we neglect
ourselves and hurt our bodies or souls, we end up
lashing out at others and becoming a cruel person.
An interesting story is told about Hillel the Elder (first
century BCE) who, upon leaving his students, told them
that he was on his way to fulfill a Divine commandment.
The students asked Hillel which commandment in
particular he intended to perform. To his surprised
students, Hillel answered that he was going to the
bathhouse. Hillel was teaching his students that it is a
great service to God to take care of one’s own body.
In another story, Hillel announced to his students that
he was on his way to do a kindness for a guest in his
home. The students asked, “Do you always have a guest
in your home?” Hillel replied that his soul was a guest in
his body – here today, but gone one day – and that by
eating, he was being kind to his guest.

Let’s all resolve to be extra kind and loving to the guest
in our home. Let’s take care of ourselves so that we may
care for others. When we are strong and loved, we have
the strength and love to give to others.

With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein

YOU CAN BE READY

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so
that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in
the body, whether good or evil. 2 Corinthians 5:10

There is a God, and He loves us.
You can, of course, deny Him, but that will not make Him less real.
You can reject Him, but that will not make the judgment at which
you must appear, less valid. The time is coming when we will
appear before the Savior.
Will you be ready? Do not be numbered with those who maintain
that "God is great, God is good, and He is too kind to judge anyone.
And, if He does judge anyone, I'm okay, because I lead a pretty good life."
Well, my friends, you can hold that position, but it's not one that comes
from Scripture. When you face Jesus, the only position which is satisfactory
is to have Him as your Judge and your Savior.
And the most wonderful thing is this: that is what God wants too. It is for
that reason Jesus lived, died and rose. And it was done for you, so your
day of judgment will be worry and condemnation free.

THE PRAYER:

Dear Lord, for a Savior who made the sacrifice to transform my day of
judgment into a Day of Thanksgiving, I rejoice. May others know and
acknowledge this great gift of grace. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.
(in part from Lutheran Hour Ministries)

WAY OF PEACE

Then Jesus said to [Peter], “Put your sword back into its
place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.”
Matthew 26:52
I love America more than any other country in the world
and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize
her perpetually.
James Baldwin
Prayer
Prince of Peace, your radical gift of self has disarmed us.
Train us in the way of peace.
(Verse & Voice from Sojourners. sojo.net)

EVEN IN DARKNESS

“Be strong and bold; have no fear or dread of them,
because it is the Lord your God who goes with you;
[the Lord] will not fail you or forsake you.”
Deuteronomy 31:6
I prayed a prayer and I prayed out loud that night. I
said, “Lord, I’m down here trying to do what’s right.
I think I’m right. I think the cause we represent is
right. But Lord I must confess that I’m weak now.
I’m faltering. I’m losing my courage.”
 ... And it seemed at that moment that I could
hear an inner voice saying to me, “Martin Luther,
stand up for justice, stand up for truth. And lo I will
be with you, even to the end of the world.”
- Martin Luther King Jr.
Prayer
God, you are with us. Even in the darkness, you
draw closer to us than our own breath.
(Verse & Voice from Sojourners. sojo.net)

ELIE WIESEL A MAN NOT SILENT

There are people who instill in us such a sense of
humility, who bear themselves with such dignity
despite the suffering they have endured, whose
witness to history is so powerful, that we know their
influence will be felt down through the generations.
Elie Wiesel – author, human rights activist, and
Nobel Peace Prize laureate – who died Saturday,
July 2 at the age of 87, was such a man. One of the
true prophets of our day, it was through his
unflinching courage in chronicling the atrocities he
experienced during the Holocaust, and his honesty
in confronting his own crisis of faith that resulted from
those experiences, that millions of people who came
after have come to better understand not just the
terrifying facts of this dark chapter in history, but its
effects on the collective memory of the Jewish people.
In his 1986 Nobel Prize acceptance speech,
Elie Wiesel said that after experiencing the
unimaginable suffering of the Nazi death camps,
“I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever
human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We
must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never
the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never
the tormented.”

Indeed, he was not silent. Elie Wiesel dedicated his
life to Holocaust education. He was an outspoken
advocate for the rights of oppressed people around the
world. He was tireless in his fight against intolerance
and injustice. His death is a blow not just to the Jewish
world, but to all who believe in the cause of liberty and
justice.

It was my privilege to know Elie Wiesel. In 2014 I was
honored to receive the American Jewish Joint
Distribution Committee’s highest honor, the Raoul
Wallenberg Award, an honor that had been bestowed
upon Wiesel. While we mourn his death, we give thanks
to God for his life, and his example – an example that,
with God’s help, we pray we will be able to carry on.

May his memory be a blessing.
With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein

(These loving words by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein I
present in the memory of Dr. Burton Nelson
of North Park Seminary, my teacher in life and my
friend for eternity. God Bless his memory)

THE GIFT OF CRITICISIM

Listen to advice and accept discipline,
and at the end you will be counted among
the wise.     Proverbs 19:20
“accept discipline” as referring to God-given
discipline. Oftentimes, God sends us unpleasant
circumstances in order to teach us something.
Sometimes, God gives us challenges simply so
that we might grow from them. When God sends
a lesson our way, we must accept it unconditionally.
God’s discipline will make us wiser and better.
Next time someone offers us advice, instead of
running from it, let’s embrace it. When we feel the
hand of God teaching us difficult lessons, let’s be
grateful for them. As it is often said, we are here to
“live and learn,” and when we do, we will live more
powerfully, make better decisions, and enjoy the
fruits of our labor.
With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
Founder and President

FREEDOM

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm,
then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by
a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1

Did you know that the person who said, "Give me
liberty or give me death," didn't think that our individual
freedoms, as important as they are, were the most
important thing in life,

In his Last Will & Testament, filed in the Brookneal
County Courthouse in Virginia, Patrick Henry noted
something especially interesting.
He wrote, "I have now given everything I own to my
children. There is one more thing I wish I could give
them and that is Christ. Because if they have everything
I gave them and don't have Christ, they have nothing.
" I would say that Patrick Henry understood what Paul
was talking about in Galatians 5. . He knew that there
is one thing in life that is the key to all of life: Jesus
Christ. Indeed, faith in Jesus Christ alone is that key.
Jesus says, "So if the Son sets you free, you will be
free indeed" (John 8:36).
ARE YOU FREE?

Dear Jesus, give us clarity of thinking to see that the
things of this life -- no matter how valuable they might
seem -- they are nothing compared to knowing and
believing in You by grace through faith. Amen!
(excerpts from Lutheran Hour Ministry)