"Fear not, For I am with you."

"Fear not, For I have redeemed you. I have called you by My name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you.
When you walk through the fire you shall not be burned
and the flame shall not consume you.
(Isaiah 43: verses 1-2)

My new book, "The Promise: We will meet again," is a living testimony to this incredible promise of God.
Hannah and Rachel are two young Jewish girls growing up in the Warsaw Ghetto during the German occupation. Their lives are turned upside down by the cruelty, hatred and murderous acts of Nazis. The Nazis invade their city, build a wall around it and begin a cruel campaign of starvation, murder and oppression of the Jewish inhabitants. Realizing their only hope for survival is escape, Hannah's family decides to go into hiding. Hannah must now say a tearful goodbye to her best friend Rachel. They meet together at the ruins of a synagogue and make a pledge to each other that if they survive the holocaust, that they will search for each other after the war is over.
The Promise is about the incredible providence of God guiding Hannah and Rachel's lives in the midst of the Nazi extermination of the Jewish race. It is a book of hope and survival and love. In every situation Hannah resists the cruelty and hatred of the Germans by trusting in Hashem(Hebrew word for God) . She does not stand by and watch her people suffer but courageously becomes involved to protect them from the oppression of the Nazis.

This book will take the reader on an nonstop adventure of survival, hiding from the nazis, and enduring the harsh and brutal circumstances of the Auschwitz death camp. Hannah gives us all hope and determination to survive and overcome in the darkest of circumstances, trusting in the promises of God. God has promised to  be with His people in every circumstance and tells us not to fear. Hashem was with Hannah in her every circumstance and kept his promise. There is a very happy ending to my book, "The Promise." The ending will demonstrate that God is with us through our suffering and pain and that he truly does keep his promise.

Christianity is a love relationship with God

                "God is Love" (1 John 4:16)
           
  This short little affirmation tucked into the 16th verse of John's first epistle sums ups the nature of God. God is loving, compassionate, merciful and forgiving. The God of the Bible pursues us with his irresistible love. The length, width, height and depth of His love cannot be measured. It is unfathomable!

  The Scriptures declare that, "God demonstrated his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us," (Romans 5:8)  God put His love on display two thousand years ago. His love was not mere words or sentimental feelings, but an open display on a wooden cross where He gave his life so that we might live.

   The Bible is filled with pictures of God's irresistible love. The tender care of a shepherd for his sheep. And when he loses one, He searches everywhere until He finds the lost sheep and then rejoices. The picture of a Merciful father who pursues his wayward prodigal son and when he finally finds him, he runs to him and throws his arms of love around him in forgiveness.

   These are pictures and illustrations wonderfully painted in the teachings of Scripture. Jesus, the master storyteller loved to paint pictures of God's love in his teachings. He was grieved by the heavy burdens of the law put on the Jewish people by the religious scribes and Pharisees. They painted the picture of a stern and demanding God expecting his people to live up to an endless list of standards. Instead of putting more religious demands on people, Jesus held out his arms of compassion, inviting sinners to himself, saying, "Come to me, you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)

    Are your resting and trusting in the perfect righteousness of God as a gift or are you trapped on a performance treadmill trying to earn the love and grace of God? On the Day of Judgment God will not ask you how many times that you prayed or fasted. Instead he will ask, what did you do with My Son?

   Christianity is a love relationship with God. It is based on an invitation to rest in the love and forgiveness of Jesus. Religion or relationship. Which will you choose?