That’s Teddy Roosevelt speaking at the Sorbonne a century ago in 1910.

Some truths are timeless: The critics, your critics, will always be there, lurking and worthless.

There’s no storybook about "The Boy Who Followed Somebody Else’s Dream", no movie rights sold for the tale of "It Wasn’t Within My Purview To Consider Alternatives", no Sinatra tune entitled "I Did It The Way My Critics Requested I Do It".

All the songs, all the movies, all the books say the same damn thing about you and your dream for a reason, because it’s true!

You’ll be on a stone slab someday too soon — far too soon — and your children will look at you and you’ll look at yourself, and you’re going to ask, and they’re going to ask, and wherever you are right now just do me a favor and… stop

…and listen to the wind.

And count the years between here and birth — your birth,  — and count the years between here and death.

And count the words of your loved ones, and your family, and your friends, and your kids, and your own words in your own head about who you are and who you want to be and who you always wanted to be. And realize that that is beautiful. And that is what you were made for.

And count the words of the critics and naysayers and the negative people in your life and the words they’ve piled up like stones for you with their wants and their desires and their demands of you.

Count the piles and feel their weight and add them up and ask yourself…
Which one do you want to carry with you to the end? Which one do you want to carry for the rest of your days?

Which one is worthy of you?

Genesis 32:22-32 NIV

²² That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. ²³ After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. ²⁴ So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. ²⁵ When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. ²⁶ Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”

But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

²⁷ The man asked him, “What is your name?”

“Jacob,” he answered.

²⁸ Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”

²⁹ Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”

But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.

³⁰ So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

³¹ The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. ³² Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.

I have read this many times but not until today have I tried to really think about, and understand what really happened here. To do that, look at the events leading up to this. We read about how at his birth he was holding the heel of his brother Esau. We read about his dealings with his brother and his conspiracy with his mother Rebekah to steal Isaac’s blessing to Esau. We followed Jacob as he went to his uncle Laban’s home and as he worked twenty years to gain his wives and children. We currently find Jacob headed home and facing a confrontation with his brother, Esau, after twenty years. Jacob is afraid. He reaches out, he asks God for help, and he seeks to make some kind of restitution. But in all of these things, Jacob is still resisting. He is still holding back, relying largely upon himself.

Jacob had sent his family on ahead of him and he spent the night alone. We have no idea why he did this. Did he want to think? To pray? To hide? We don’t know for sure but the only way we can get right with God, is to get alone with God. So Jacob is spending time alone and we can see from the text that he struggles with an angel. The Jewish Rabbis explain this “man” was the guardian angel of Esau (Rashi) in a human guise. What we do know is that “a man wrestled with him until daybreak”. The two wrestled all night and then suddenly Jacob’s opponent touches the socket of Jacob’s hip and his hip was wrenched or dislocated. Jacob still refused to give in and pleaded for a blessing from his opponent.

Let’s notice here that Jacob did not want to wrestle anybody. He had his Uncle Laban behind him and his brother Esau ahead of him. Jacob is no match for either one and is now caught between a rock and a hard place. He is no wrestler and that night he was alone because he wanted to be alone, and he wasn’t looking for a fight.

So, who was this man he wrestled? I think that this is none other than the preincarnate Christ. In verse 30 Jacob says, “He saw God face to face.” In the book of Hosea there is a reference to this incident, “In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel; as a man he struggled with God. He struggled with the angel and overcame him; he wept and begged for his favor.” (Hosea 12:3, 4) It was none other than Jehovah, the preincarnate Christ who wrestled with Jacob that night.

But why? Jacob was standing between his past struggle with Laban and the impending struggle with Esau. God comes at this time because he wants Jacob to realize that his real struggle all alone has been with God. Let’s go back to Hosea for the answer, in verse two: ² The LORD has a charge to bring against Judah; he will punish Jacob according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds. Jacob’s wrong in receiving his brother’s blessing by fraud was again brought forcibly before him, and he was afraid that God would permit Esau to take his life. In his distress he prayed to God all night. An angel appeared standing before Jacob, presenting his wrong before him in its true character. As the angel turns to leave him, Jacob lays hold of him, and will not let him go. He makes supplications with tears. He pleads that he has deeply repented of his sins and the wrongs against his brother, which had been the means of separating him from his father’s house for twenty years. He ventures to plead the promises of God and the tokens of His favor to him from time to time in his absence from his father’s house.

All night Jacob wrestled with the angel, making supplication for a blessing. The angel seemed to be resisting his prayer, by continually calling his sins to his remembrance, at the same time endeavoring to break away from him. Jacob was determined to hold the angel, not by physical strength, but by the power of living faith. Jacob is just holding on; he is not wrestling. He is just holding on because he found out that the only way you get anywhere with God is by yielding and just holding on to Him.

I can picture Jacob just holding on to this Angel and the picture I see is like he is leaning on Him. Only a leaning man discovers himself. Only when we lean on God can we find what we need. And Jacob, while he was leaning asked for a blessing. The Angel might have exercised his supernatural power and forced himself from Jacob’s grasp, but he did not choose to do this.

But when he saw that he prevailed not against Jacob, to convince him of his supernatural power, he touched his thigh, which was immediately out of joint. But Jacob would not give up his earnest efforts for bodily pain. His object was to obtain a blessing, and pain was not sufficient to make him forget this. His determination was stronger in the last moments of the conflict than at the beginning. His faith grew more earnest and persevering until the very last, even till the breaking of the day. He would not let go his hold of the angel until he blessed him.

“And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.” The angel then inquired, “What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.” My Hebrew Bible explains the name Yisrael as a combination of yisrah, “to prevail,” over El “the Divine” i.e., the Angel.

But why did He ask him his name? Shouldn’t he already know the man’s name without having to ask it? God’s purpose in raising this question contains a lesson for all of us, too profound to ignore. In asking for the blessing from God, Jacob was compelled by God’s question to relive the last time he had asked for a blessing, the one he had stolen from his brother.

The last time Jacob was asked for his name, the question had come from his earthly father. Jacob had lied on that occasion and said, “I am Esau,” and stole the blessing. Now he found himself, after many wasted years of running through life looking over his shoulder, before an all-knowing, all-seeing heavenly Father, once more seeking a blessing, Jacob fully understood the reason and the indictment behind God’s question and he answered, “My name is Jacob.” “You have spoken the truth,” God said, “and you know very well what your name signifies. You have been a duplicitous man, deceiving everyone everywhere you went. But now that you acknowledge the real you, I can change you, and I will make a great nation out of you.”

And the lesson here is that Jacob and Esau represent two classes: Jacob, the righteous, and Esau, the wicked. Jacob’s distress when he learned that Esau was marching against him with four hundred men represents the troubles we face. Just like Jacob we can be filled with anguish, and see no escape. The angel placed himself before Jacob, and he took hold of the angel and held him and wrestled with him all night. So also should we, in our time of trouble and anguish, wrestle in prayer with God, as Jacob wrestled with the angel. Jacob in his distress prayed all night for deliverance from the hand of Esau. We should do no less. All who desire the blessing of God, as Jacob, and will lay hold of the promises, and be as earnest and persevering as he was, will succeed as he succeeded.

There is so little exercise of true faith and so little of the weight of truth resting upon many professed believers because they are weak in spiritual things. They are unwilling to make exertions, to deny self, to agonize before God, to pray long and earnestly for the blessing, and therefore they do not obtain it. Faith that will live through the time of trouble must be daily exercised now. Those who do not make strong efforts now to exercise persevering faith, will be wholly unprepared to exercise that faith which will enable them to stand in the day of trouble.

The mountain smoldered and quaked. Thunder and lightning rent the skies. The Jewish people in their great multitudes stood transfixed at the foot of the mountain, awestruck by the spectacle of the revelation of the Divine Presence on the mountaintop and the knowledge that they were about to receive the divine Torah. But what did they actually receive at Mount Sinai? In fact, it was only a small percentage of the entire Torah – the Ten Commandments. These were the instructions God chose to pronounce on that unforgettable occasion. These were the instructions He chose to inscribe on the Tablets that Moses carried down from the mountaintop.

Clearly, these ten pronouncements are the most fundamental of all the Bible’s commandments, the very bedrock of Judaism. They define the relationship of the Jewish people to the Creator and to their fellow man. Have faith in God. Do not worship idols. Do not blaspheme. Keep the Sabbath. Honor your father and mother. Do not commit murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not rob. Do not bear false witness. Do not covet another’s property or wife.

Do not covet? How did this commandment find its way into this august group? Is coveting in the secrecy of one’s heart an abomination against God or society comparable to the other commandments?
The commentators explain that the tenth commandment is actually the key to all the others. Let us reflect for a moment. How can we control a feeling? How can a wretched person see his neighbor’s prosperity without yearning for the same good fortune? Isn’t it only natural for him to be overcome by a strong desire to enjoy those gifts of life that have been denied to him? How then does the Torah command him not to covet? What is he supposed to do?

The answer lies in our total acceptance of God’s will and a profound faith in His absolute and total goodness. The world is one vast interconnected organism, and every single person, every tree, every blade of grass has its designated role in the grand scheme of things. In guiding this great caldron with pure benevolence, God pays meticulous care to even the minutest element so that all together the purpose of creation will be fulfilled. He assigns each of us a specific role in life that will help our purpose become a reality, a personalized mission for each of us to accomplish. If we acknowledge these truths, if we realize there can be no greater fulfillment in life than accomplishing this divine mission, all else becomes trivial. If a wretched person truly believes his mission in life is to shine in his state of wretchedness, he will not covet another person’s good fortune. The tenth commandment enjoins us to bow to the divine wisdom, to accept His guidance in every aspect of our lives and not to covet that which God has chosen not to give us.

This then is the most fundamental of all the commandments, and the extent to which we fulfill it colors and characterizes our fulfillment of all the others. Why do we refrain from idolatry, murder and robbery? Why do we honor our parents and observe the Sabbath? Is it mere obedience, the grudging submission to the powerful Being who has commanded us to do so? Or is it something that resonates in the very depths of our hearts? If we have learned not to covet, if we are focused on our divinely ordained mission in life, then we will undoubtedly view the fulfillment of all the commandments as a joyous privilege that will help us reach the transcendent goals towards which we strive.

Thanks and Legacy, Copyright  2011 by Rabbi Naftali Reich and Torah.org.

I’m going to be writing my way through Proverbs so I thought I would share some here. This first chapter gives us strong warnings to listen to instruction and teaching. How many times do we hear good instruction but it goes in one ear and out the other. When you are dealing with life and death it is best to pay attention. Look at the benefits of attaining wisdom and discipline.

Prologue: Purpose and Theme

1 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
2 for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight;
3 for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair;
4 for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young-
5 let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance-
6 for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools [1] despise wisdom
and discipline.
Exhortations to Embrace Wisdom

Do you pay attention to warning signs when you are driving? How about crossing the street, cooking meat, washing your hands? What about the simple warnings regarding how we are to live?

Warning Against Enticement
8 Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
9 They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.
10 My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them.
11 If they say, "Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for someone’s blood, let’s waylay some harmless soul;
12 let’s swallow them alive, like the grave, [2] and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
13 we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder;
14 throw in your lot with us, and we will share a common purse"-
15 my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths;
16 for their feet rush into sin, they are swift to shed blood.
17 How useless to spread a net in full view of all the birds!
18 These men lie in wait for their own blood; they waylay only themselves!
19 Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain; it takes away the lives of those who get it.

Go ahead and reject wisdom and see what you have in store. It is laid out pretty plain and simple.

Warning Against Rejecting Wisdom
20 Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares;
21 at the head of the noisy streets [3] she cries out, in the gateways of the city she
makes her speech:
22 "How long will you simple ones [4] love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?
23 If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you.
24 But since you rejected me when I called and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand,
25 since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke,
26 I in turn will laugh at your disaster; I will mock when calamity overtakes you-
27 when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,
when distress and trouble overwhelm you.
28 "Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me.
29 Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord ,
30 since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke,
31 they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.
32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm."

Footnotes
1:7 The Hebrew words rendered fool in Proverbs, and often elsewhere in the Old Testament, denote one who is morally deficient.
1:12 Hebrew Sheol
1:21 Hebrew; Septuagint / on the tops of the walls
1:22 The Hebrew word rendered simple in Proverbs generally denotes one without moral direction and inclined to evil.

5. Finally, this book shows clearly God is the God of gentiles as well as a great book on missions and world vision.

1. This book of Jonah sets forth the resurrection as you can see if you study it. When the “wicked and adulterous generation where looking for a sign”, Jesus referred them here. “Jonah… so Jesus” is the fine comparison made by our Lord.

2. Salvation is not by works. Jonah 2:9 – “Salvation is of the Lord”

3. Gods purpose of Grace can not be frustrated. If Jonah had refused to go to Nineveh the second time, would God have destroyed the city? God would not have been limited by Jonah’s refusal. This book shows Gods determination to those who will hear and accept it.

God will not cast us aside for faithlessness. “And the Word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time.” Lets pray that the Word of the Lord comes to us a second time.

(what, you did not know there is more information about Nineveh?)

Ephesians 6:12 says “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm.”

There is a spiritual battle on the go. Acknowledge that Satan, who is the Father of all lies, wants you to believe that you are worthless. He drops in these thoughts of you being worthless etc. These thoughts do not come from our loving heavenly Father. Satan gains power when you believe the lie of being worthless, as you will act accordingly.

Peter 5:8 says “Be self-controlled, and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith.”
A lion always targets the weak in a herd because the weak are easy prey. Likewise Satan knows our weaknesses and he is looking for easy prey. “Stand firm in the faith”  Keep connected to other Christians, studying the Word so that you learn the truth.

2 Corinthians 10:3 “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

Our weapons are the Word of God and this is why it is so important to know the Word of God and to know Scripture as this contains the Truth. Holding your own thoughts in higher regard to that of God is “a pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God” and is a sin.

Romans 12:2 says “do not be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

In other words replace the thinking that the world has given you to what scripture says. You renew your mind with scripture, with what God says. If what you believe does not line up with the Word of God you are believing a lie and the only way of knowing what lines up with the Word is studying what it says in the Word. When you believe that you are unlovable just remember whose description of yourself you believe. It is a lie and does not come from our heavenly Father. You won’t find that kind of description of yourself in the Bible. When someone doesn’t like you brush it off with the knowledge of how important you are to God and how deeply he loves you.

I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to believe scripture and fill your mind with scripture as it is with the Word of God that you ward off the enemy’s darts. Write out scripture verses and stick them around your house until they become part of your thinking. If you are bombarded with negative thoughts, get yourself a Walkman and listen to upbeat choruses that contain the Word of God. It”s often better to hear these than some of your own thoughts!

God wants you to have the freedom that He can give and He can use all situations for our good. In Luke 22:31 Jesus said to Peter “Simon Simon, Satan has asked to sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

This verse had personal significance for me because I knew that if my loving Heavenly Father was allowing me to go through this process of being sifted, it must be for the purpose of having something better in the end – He did. When I had “turned back” I did “strengthen my brothers” through “overcoming depression” groups that I ran. We are often able to help others through what we have learnt in our own difficult times.

Also, always remember how much God loves you. You are in the palm of His hand. Isaiah 43:1-3 reads “Fear not, for I have redeemed you, I have summoned you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour. You are precious and honoured in my sight."
I find it quite awesome that the creator of the universe cares for each one of us, cares for all the details of our loves and that He knows you and me by name.

   How joyful are those who fear the Lord
      and delight in obeying his commands.
² Their children will be successful everywhere;
      an entire generation of godly people will be blessed.
³ They themselves will be wealthy,
      and their good deeds will last forever.
⁴ Light shines in the darkness for the godly.
      They are generous, compassionate, and righteous.
⁵ Good comes to those who lend money generously
      and conduct their business fairly.
⁶ Such people will not be overcome by evil.
      Those who are righteous will be long remembered.
⁷ They do not fear bad news;
      they confidently trust the Lord to care for them.
⁸ They are confident and fearless
      and can face their foes triumphantly.
⁹ They share freely and give generously to those in need.
      Their good deeds will be remembered forever.
      They will have influence and honor.
¹⁰ The wicked will see this and be infuriated.
      They will grind their teeth in anger;
      they will slink away, their hopes thwarted.

Proverbs 27:17

¹⁷ As iron sharpens iron,
      so a friend sharpens a friend.

I hope, I would do that for you, and you would do that for me. We sharpen each other, that is so profound if you take a moment to think about it.  Hebrews continues with the theme of faith; but it draws into complete focus the fact that we are God’s children, and that he looks upon us as a Father, and  that is a difficult thing to accept, at the heart level sometimes, even though we are Christians and we know this. We have been taught to understand that God, the one God of all, is our Father, and that he is guiding us and teaching us and disciplining us as a Father.

The scripture clearly shows us that God is a loving Father so He may thwart something that we are trying to do out of love for us, and we need to be sensitive to what He is doing in our lives.  He loves us; His heart is good towards us; and what He is after is our freedom, and so sometimes the discipline can be painful.  But it’s to free us of something that is binding us.

Blessed is the one who finds wisdom,
and the one who gets understanding,
for the gain from her is better than gain from silver
and her profit better than gold.
She is more precious than jewels,
and nothing you desire can compare with her.
Long life is in her right hand;
in her left hand are riches and honor.
Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
and all her paths are peace.
She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her;
those who hold her fast are called blessed.

Let us find her, and let us tell everyone how precious and rich she is indeed.