January 17, 2025 Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, Novelist and Story Coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Friday, January 17, 2025, and this is episode #1 in Series 2025. This episode is titled "The Truth about Healing—Part 2."Wherever we turn, people are sick. And, it seems, getting sicker. Perhaps you are one of them.If so, you need to listen to this podcast or read this blog post to the very end. It is the second in a series on healing I started last year.So, what's the deal with sickness? Where does it come from? Why does it come? And are we doomed just to live with it?Let's start with the first question: What's the deal with sickness? The deal is that it's a raw deal. A bad deal. Not a deal anyone wants to engage in. So why is there sickness?There's sickness because there's sin. Sickness has its roots in sin. This doesn't necessarily mean that the sick person has personally sinned. It means that when sin entered the world through the rebellion and fall of Adam and Eve, sickness was not far behind. Sickness is the offspring of sin, as is every evil thing in the world today. If Adam and Eve had not sinned, there would be no sickness. In fact, when God created them and placed them in the Garden of Eden, they were perfectly healthy in spirit, soul, and body. They were in perfect alignment with God.That's what health is, really. Alignment with God. When sin came into the world, this alignment was not only skewed; it was completely shattered. As descendants of Adam and Eve, we now share in that awful misalignment. You may ask why? Because we inherited Adam's sin nature. When Adam sinned, his nature became corrupted. Misaligned. Out of sync with God. So when Adam and Eve had children, that's all they could pass on to future generations. A sin nature. Adam and Eve's perfect, healthful nature had been destroyed by disobedience to God. All that was now left was a corrupted nature.So here we are today, still experiencing the consequences of Adam and Eve's sin. And sickness is one of those consequences.But lest you fall into despair, dear friend, let me now give you the good news. The good news is that Jesus Christ, through His death and resurrection, overcame the consequences of Adam's sin and restored to mankind Adam's original, uncorrupted nature. Is that something to shout about, or what? But, there's a catch. The only way man can now experience Adam's original, uncorrupted nature is by being born again. In other words, by accepting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. When you are born again, you instantly receive the nature of Christ which is incorruptible. The nature of Christ is also perfectly healthy. This new nature comes to reside on the inside of you and to make you what the Bible calls "a new creation." The born again person, therefore, has a new nature on the inside of him. The nature of Christ. And Christ is not sick!"Well, then, Dr. MaryAnn, "you may be asking, "why are so many Christians sick?" Fair question! The reason is found in the Bible in Hosea 4: 6 where God says, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." In other words, Christians are sick because they don't know they're supposed to be well!Now before you turn off this podcast or stop reading this blog post, do yourself a favor and get all the facts. Because God is God, He cannot lie. So when He says something in His Word, He means it, right? Okay. Let's look at some of the things God has said in the Bible about healing:___Exodus 15: 26 NIV - "I am the LORD, who heals you."___ Jeremiah 30: 17 NASB - "For I will restore you to health And I will heal you of your wounds,’ declares the LORD."___Psalm 41: 3 - "The LORD will sustain him upon his sickbed; In his illness, You restore him to health.___Matthew 12: 15 NASB - "Many followed Him, and He healed them all . . . ."___Matthew 8: 17 NLT - "“He took our sicknesses and remo...

November 29, 2024 Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, Bible Teacher, Novelist, and Life Coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Friday, November 29, 2024, and this is episode #24 in Series 2024. This episode is titled, “HELL Is a Real Place."Thousands of people today think that Hell is only a figment of one's imagination. An imaginary place that doesn't really exist. After all, why would a good and loving God send people to Hell?While the question is valid, if one thinks this way, one does not understand the nature of God and the depravity of man. You see, my friend, God is both merciful and just. Mercy and justice are two sides of the same coin of the Being Who is called God. When God created man and woman—and yes, He created only two genders, male and female—God gave them free will and dominion over the earth. He placed two trees in the Garden of Eden--the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God warned Adam and Eve not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil but to eat only of the Tree of Life. If they ate of the Tree of Life, they would be blessed. But if they disobeyed God and ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they would be cursed.Why? Because God did not want them to experience evil, only good. If they rebelled against Him to obtain knowledge of evil, however, they would be cursed. Notice that God forbade them to eat of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God wanted to protect Adam and Eve—and all of us—from knowing evil and, as a result, from experiencing the curse of death.Let me ask you a question: Has it been of any benefit to you to learn about evil? Has knowing evil done you any good? If we're honest, none of us wants evil in our lives. Yet, we experience evil because Adam and Eve, the original parents of the entire human race, disobeyed God. So, how does all of this relate to Hell? Interestingly, all of this is closely related to Hell. When God warned Adam and Eve against rebelling and disobeying Him, He also warned them that disobedience would bring a curse. That curse was eternal separation from God. In other words, God said that if Adam and Eve disobeyed Him, they would open themselves up to His justice.What is God's justice? God's justice is His perspective on sin and His punishment for sin. God hates sin. He is holy, and sin cannot stand in His Presence. Moreover, God punishes sin because it violates His holiness and goodness. All who participate in sin place themselves under the verdict of God's judgment. And God's judgment for sin is eternal separation from Him in a place of everlasting torment. In other words, HELL. Hell is a real place, and you don't want to go there. When He was on earth, Jesus spoke more about Hell than He did about Heaven. Let's look at some verses on Hell:Romans 6: 23 - "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."Matthew 25: 41 - "Then he [God] will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." You see, my friend, Hell was not prepared for man, only for the devil and his angels. But the man who rejects God will go to Hell.Revelation 20: 15 - "And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."One of Satan's craftiest lies in our age has been to convince people there is no hell. After all, as the argument goes, why would a good God send people to Hell?To be clear, my friend, God does not send anyone to Hell. People send themselves to Hell. How? By rejecting Jesus Christ as the One Who died and rose from the dead to save them so that they could escape Hell and go to Heaven. If one rejects the very Savior Who could save him the only one who could save him, there i sno other way to save him. Don't make this same mistake.

November 23, 2024 Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, Bible Teacher, Novelist, and Life Coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Saturday, November 23, 2024, and this is episode #23 in Series 2024. This episode is titled, “Are You a Good Person?" If asked that question, most people today would say "Yes, I am a good person." Perhaps you are one of these people. Perhaps you consider yourself a good person because you've never killed anyone, nor ever punched anyone in the face, nor ever hurt an animal—or some such reason. Perhaps you would tell me that you're nice to people or that you let people be who they are. I would then reply, "Have you ever taken the Good Test?"What is the Good Test? The Good Test is a powerful test that identifies whether or not you are truly a good person. I've posted the link to the test in the show notes at the end of this podcast, and I urge you to take the test.Here are some of the questions you would be asked on the Good Test:__Have you ever lied?__Have you ever stolen anything, no matter how seemingly insignificant, like a paper clip from work?__Have you ever used God's name in vain?__Have you ever lusted sexually or otherwise?How would you answer these questions? If you're like the rest of humanity, you would have to answer "yes" to every question. Why? Because these questions reveal God's definition of "good," and every one of us has violated that definition. You see, my friend, God's standard for good is not the same as man's standard for good. Man creates his own standard for good based on his personal beliefs. Man makes the standard for good a subjective issue when, in reality, it is not at all subjective. It is objective. The standard for good is absolute and is determined by God and God alone. He alone is good. Therefore, He alone has the right and the ability to set the standard for what is good and what is not good.So, what is God's standard for good? We can find His standard for good in the Ten Commandments. If we don't meet the standard for good found in the Ten Commandments, then God does not consider us good. And God's opinion is the only one that matters.Why? Because when we die, we will face God, and He will determine whether we are good or not. If God determines that a person is not good, that person will go to Hell. But if God determines that a person is good, that person will go to Heaven.So how can we know what God will determine about us? How can we know if, when we stand before God—and every person will stand before God when he or she dies—how can we know if God will deem us good and bring us to Heaven or deem us not good and send us to Hell? You may be thinking, "Why would a good God send anyone to hell?"Great question! Here is the answer. Would a good judge let the guilty go free? Of course not! Only a corrupt judge would let the guilty go free? Since God is a good Judge, He has to punish the guilty. He has to punish sin. He cannot look the other way. And He won't.But in addition to being a good Judge, God is also a merciful Judge. Scripture says in 2 Peter 3: 9 that God is not willing for anyone to perish, but for all to come to repentance. Because God knew that man could never pay the price for his sin, God chose to pay the price for man. What amazing love! God loved us so much that He chose to become a man himself so that He could take our place in going to the Cross.You see, my friend, by rights, each one of us should have gone to the Cross ourselves. Each one of us should have been killed for our sin. But not only killed. Each one of us should have gone to Hell for all eternity. But Jesus did all that for us. Why? Because He loved us.When we look at the Ten Commandments, we realize that it is impossible to keep all of them all the time. In fact, the Ten Commandments were given to us to show us how impossible it is for us to keep them,

November 16, 2024Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, Bible Teacher, Novelist, and Life Coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Saturday, November 16, 2024, and this is episode #22 in Series 2024. This episode is titled, “The Truth about Healing."Recently, I was severely criticized for my position on healing. Interestingly, the criticism came not from non-Christians who don't believe in Jesus Christ, but from born-again, Christ-Followers who do. While the criticism troubled me, it troubled me for a reason other than what you might think. I wasn't at all troubled because I was criticized. Jesus warned us believers that criticism would come, and I have certainly had my share over the years. The criticism troubled me because the critics, for whatever reason, were missing out on one of the greatest blessings Jesus Christ died to give all of us. The blessing of healing and health. Whenever a question comes up about a topic, we should go first to the Word of God. The Word of God is like a referee. It alone determines the truth or error of a particular belief or belief system.So let's take a close look at what Jesus Himself said about healing. First, God makes clear in His Word that healing is in the Atonement. The Atonement is the reconciliation between God and humanity that Jesus brought about by dying on the Cross and rising from the dead. Through the Atonement, Jesus paid the price for the forgiveness of our sin and the healing of our bodies. We acknowledge this truth every time we take Holy Communion. The wine represents the Blood of Jesus that earned for us the forgiveness of our sin. The Bread represents the Body of Jesus that paid for our physical healing. Jesus died to save the whole person, not just the spiritual person. Now, God is not only able to heal us; He wants to heal us. And even more than that, He has already healed us. When Jesus took the 39 lashes on His back just before being crucified, He paid for our healing. He took our sickness and disease and, in exchange, gave us His health. Let’s look closely at some Scripture verses that reveal this truth: __Matthew 8: 17 NLT - "This fulfilled the word of the Lord through the prophet Isaiah, who said, 'He took our sicknesses and removed our diseases.'” Notice Jesus “took our infirmities” —our sicknesses—and “bare [or "bore" in modern English] our sicknesses” so that we would not have to bear them. __Psalm 103: 2-3 NLT - "Let all that I am praise the LORD; may I never forget the good things He does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases." Notice: God heals ALL our diseases; not some, but ALL. Just as He forgives all of our sins, He heals all of our diseases. Imagine if we believed that God forgives only some of our sins or that He forgives the sins of only some people, but not the sins of all people. I don't know of anyone who believes in that kind of partial forgiveness of sin by God. Yet, that is exactly what we believe about healing. Why would the God Who forgives all sin heal only some sickness?We Christians sometimes don't think straight. We don't carry our thinking to its logical conclusion but we hold on to tradition or wrong teaching without ever questioning it.Here is another Scripture verse on healing: —-Mark 11: 24 NJKV - "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them."Notice: This verse instructs us to believe when we pray, not when we receive the answer to our prayer. If we believe when we pray, then we receive what we prayed for the instant we pray for it. But, the manifestation—or the showing up—of what we prayed for usually comes later. For example, I believe that I receive healing the instant I pray for it,

November 4, 2024Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, Bible Teacher, Novelist, and Life Coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Monday, November 4, 2024, and this is episode #20 in Series 2024. This episode is titled, "Why Marriages Fail." A little over a week ago, my husband and I celebrated 55 blessed years of marriage. I call those years "blessed" because during our growth as a couple, we discovered the fundamental secret of a fulfilling marriage. If you listen until the end of this podcast, you will learn what that secret is.Young people frequently tell me that they are afraid to get married. When I ask them why, their responses always reveal an underlying fear. Here are some of those fears:1__Fear of marrying the wrong person.2__Fear of divorce.3__Fear of commitment.4__Fear of the unknown.5__Fear of interference with one's career.I could go on and on with other reasons, but the five I named above are the most common.Interestingly, all of the reasons these precious young people give me include the word fear. When young people observe the marriages of their parents or their friends' parents, they generally do not like what they see. And, in my opinion—and perhaps in yours as well—this is a sad situation, indeed.So what's going on?Here are some reasons I've discovered from 55 years of marriage and 25 years as a Life Coach helping others in their marriages:Reason #1. Selfishness. When we get married, we usually think, first and foremost, what's in it for me. Sure, we say we want the best for our spouse—and we do—but when the rubber meets the road, and we find ourselves in a situation where we have to sacrifice what we want for the good of our spouse, we often sing a different tune. Reason #2. A Misunderstanding of the Meaning of True Love. Few people understand the true meaning of love. If asked, most would define love as a feeling. But the truth is that love, in its essence, is not a feeling. It is a Person, and that Person is Jesus Christ. Moreover, treating our spouse with love is a decision, not a feeling. When we use feelings as the arbiter of love, we will always come up short. How many times have you heard a spouse say, "I don't love him anymore. I don't love her anymore." The truth is that spouse does not want to love his or her mate. That spouse wants to love only himself or herself.3. Failure to prioritize your marriage relationship. We live in a culture of wrong priorities. We focus on the least important things rather than on the most important ones. For a marriage to succeed, we must put our relationship with our spouse above every other relationship except our relationship with God. This includes children. Far too many wives put their children above their husbands, and far too many husbands put their jobs above their wives. Both attitudes lead to failure in marriage.Failure is not only defined as divorce. Failure in marriage can be displayed in a growing distance between husband and wife, in poor communication, and, worst of all, in apathy. Remember this: No relationship, especially the marriage relationship, is static. It will either move forward or backward. The choice is up to you. Marriage is a crucible in which we discover who we really are at the core of our being. It is the place where we learn what our true character is like. Marriage exposes those dark places of our hearts that reveal, bottomline, that we want our own way. God gives us our spouse to polish us, to remove the dross, and to make His purpose in our lives shine through. On the other side of the coin, marriage is also the place where we discover depths of love and sacrifice that we never knew we were capable of. When a man and a woman join hearts and minds in marriage, they can do anything. They become a force for good in an evil world. Well, I promised to tell you the secret of a fulfilling marriage. So here it is.

October 21, 2024 Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, Bible Teacher, Novelist, and Life Coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Monday, October 21, 2024, and this is episode #19 in Series 2024. This episode is titled, “Why Jesus Is the Only Way to Heaven.”Recently, Pope Francis told the world that there is more than one way to Heaven. Well, with all due respect, the pope is wrong.The Holy Scriptures make very clear that there is only one way to Heaven, and that one and only way is through Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself said as much.Let's look at the Gospel of John, chapter 14, verse 6: Jesus was talking with his disciples and was explaining that He would be leaving them soon to prepare a place for them and that He would one day return to take them with Him. He added that they knew the way to the place where He was going. Thomas, one of the twelve Apostles, questioned Jesus: "Lord, we do not know where You are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered Thomas' question with these words: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me." To say that there are many ways to Heaven is to believe a lie. And believing that lie is sending countless numbers of people to Hell. So, I want to set the record straight in this blog post and podcast by explaining why Jesus is the only way to Heaven and why believing in Him is the only way to be saved.In order for Jesus to be able to save us, He had to be two things:1) He had to be God.2) He had to be a man.Jesus Christ was both.But why did the Savior of humanity have to be both God and man?1) The Savior of humanity had to be God because only God could satisfy the wrath of God. Sin is an offense against a perfect, infinite God and demands the payment of a perfect, infinite price. Only someone who was perfect and infinite was qualified to pay that price. Jesus alone was qualified. No other human being fit the bill because no other human being was perfect. Not Buddha. Not Mohammed. Not Hare Krishna. Not anyone but Jesus. 2) The Savior of humanity also had to be man. He had to be human because He had to represent the human race He was saving. In order to represent them, He had to be one of them in order to stand in their place. No other so-called god gave his life to save his followers. Only Jesus Christ did.So, let's put our heads together and do a little reasoning together, shall we? In other words, let's have a rational discussion about why believing in Jesus is the only way for anyone to be saved.In an outstanding article titled "3 Reasons Why Jesus is the Only Way," Dr. Tim Stratton says this: "There are three fundamental Laws of Logic that are always required in rational discussion." We will use these laws of logic in our discussion. These laws are:1) The Law of Identity2) The Law of the Excluded Middle3) The Law of Non-Contradiction.The Law of Identity states that a thing is what it is. In other words, a thing has specific qualities that make it what it is. For example, a square is a square because it has four equal sides. If it had three equal sides, it would not be a square. It would be a triangle.The Law of the Excluded Middle, attributed to the Greek philosopher Aristotle, explains that a a statement that asserts or denies something is either true or its negation is true, thereby eliminating a third option. In other words, either a statement is true or its negation is true. There is no third option, no middle ground. For example, I can say that water is wet or water is not wet. Water is wet is a statement that asserts, and water is not wet is a statement that denies or negates. It has to be one or the other. There is no middle ground because water cannot be half wet and half dry.Applied to Jesus, we could say that He either rose from the dead or He didn't. There is no middle ground.

October 14, 2024Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, Novelist and Story Coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Monday, October 14, 2024, and this is episode #18 in Series 2024. This episode is titled, "Are You Broken-Hearted?"A few months ago, I thought that the Lord was finished with this blog and podcast, but He had other plans. So here we are, happy to be back with all of our wonderful readers and listeners. Today I want to discuss the topic of broken-heartedness. Have you noticed that not many people are smiling these days? As I go about my daily life, I am struck with the looks of fear, hopelessness, and despair on the faces of those who cross my path. My heart goes out to them, because I know from personal experience that life does not have to be this way. You see, my friend, I used to be there myself. There was a time in my life when everything looked bleak. I felt stuck in a rut, with no way to get out. Nothing was going right. Not my job. Not my finances. Not my relationships. I was what you would call a "sorry case."So, what changed? Thanks for asking. I'd love to tell you. :)What happened was that I had a personal encounter with Jesus Christ.Now, before you stop reading or listening hear me out, please. Since you asked to know what changed, it's the polite thing to do on your part to wait for the answer to your question. After all, I'm taking the time to answer you. And to answer you gladly, I might add. :)Yes, I had a personal encounter with Jesus Christ. Okay, Dr. MaryAnn. What exactly do you mean? Are you telling me that You met Jesus in person? I mean, did you bump into Him on the sidewalk? Did you run into Him at the library? At the grocery storet? What exactly do you mean?I mean that I met Jesus in a spiritual encounter that took place inside me for the first time in my life. And I have never been the same.Where did I meet Jesus?I met Him in the family room at a moment when I was at the end of my rope emotionally. How did I meet Jesus?Through a TV show being broadcast by Billy Graham.Holding the remote in my hand that night, I flipped through channels and found nothing that interested me. When I came upon Billy Graham, I decided to watch him because there was nothing better to watch, frankly. Plus, I had a certain respect for Billy Graham and thought it wouldn't hurt to watch and listen.Little did I know that during that TV program, I would meet Jesus Christ Himself.So, how did it happen?It happened when Mr. Graham looked right at me through the TV camera and spoke to my broken heart. He said words about me that He could not possibly know unless God had revealed them to him. He described exactly how I was feeling and the situation I was in. He saw my broken heart.Then Mr. Graham said something amazing. He said that Jesus was the answer to a broken heart. Since Jesus made the human heart, He was the only one who could fix it. Was I willing to have Jesus fix my broken heart?That pivotal night, almost 55 years ago, I told Jesus I was willing for Him to fix my broken heart. And do you know what?He did! So, if your heart is broken today, let Jesus Christ fix it. He is the only one who can. And how do you do that? By inviting Him into your life and receiving Him as your personal Savior and Lord. Pray this simple prayer with me now:Lord Jesus, I come to You just as I am. I admit that I am a sinner in need of Your mercy and grace. I repent of my sin, and I ask You to come into my life to be my Savior and Lord and to fix my broken heart. Thank You, Lord. I pray this prayer in Your Name. Amen.If you prayed this prayer sincerely from your heart, you are now a born-again child of God. Write to me at [email protected], and I will send you a free booklet titled After You're Born Again.In case you are not aware, I write heart-mending fiction that deals with the deepest issues of life. In my stories you will find characters just like you who struggle with what loo...

https://media.blubrry.com/winning_with_the_word/content.blubrry.com/winning_with_the_word/2024_05_25_How_to_Get_on_God_s_Bad_Side.mp3 May 25, 2024Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, Novelist and Life Coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Saturday, May 25, 2024, and this is episode #15 in series 2024. This episode is titled, “How to Get On God’s Bad Side.” If you want to get on God’s bad side, oppose Israel. When one opposes Israel, one opposes God Himself.To oppose Israel is not to avoid honest discussions about her people, her policies, and her purpose. It is not to refrain from asking questions about her past or her future. To oppose Israel is to speak against what God has spoken about her.On the other side of the coin, supporting Israel does not mean supporting everything she does or stands for. To support Israel simply means to agree with what God says about Israel. Nothing more. Nothing less.So, to put it succinctly, opposing Israel means to oppose whatever God says about Israel, and supporting Israel means supporting whatever God says about Israel.So, what does God say about Israel? To find out, we need to go to the Bible. In that great, best-selling book of all time, God does the following:1) He makes it very clear that Israel belongs to Him. For example, in the Book of Joel 1: 6, God says this about Israel: "For a nation has invaded My land, powerful and without number; its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and its fangs are the fangs of a lioness." And in Genesis 35: 10-12, we read this: "And God said to him, 'Though your name is Jacob, you will no longer be called Jacob. Instead, your name will be Israel.' So God named him Israel. And God told him, 'I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation—even a company of nations—shall come from you, and kings shall descend from you. The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.'"2) God makes it very clear that those who try to destroy Israel will themselves be destroyed.Joel 3: 2 gives us the following warning: "I will gather the armies of the world into the valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will judge them for harming my people, my special possession, for scattering my people among the nations, and for dividing up my land." This event is known as the Battle of Armageddon and will occur in the not-too-distant future, at the end of the seven-year Tribulation. When God speaks about dividing up His land, He is referring to the dangerous attempts of this present day to create a two-state solution to the problems in the Middle East. A two-state solution flies in the face of God's promise to Israel. A two-state solution will result in a dividing of the land of every nation that promotes a two-state solution.Here in the United States, we have a major fault line right down the middle of our country. Tremors have been increasing in that region, to the point that geologists are concerned about a major earthquake that will destroy America's heartland. If this happens—and I believe it will—America's land will be divided in two. As long as our nation supports a two-state solution, we are in danger.A little research will reveal that every time America pushed for a two-state solution, that push was followed by major disasters. I have attached a PDF file titled Land-for-Peace Disasters, compiled by my husband, that lists the disasters that occurred here in America after each push by a United States administration toward a two-state solution. It is eye-opening. Hebrews 10: 31 warns us that “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” To go against God is to seal your own destruction. Those who seek to destroy Israel will one day fall into the hands of the living God unless they repent.

https://media.blubrry.com/winning_with_the_word/content.blubrry.com/winning_with_the_word/2024_05_18_Israel_God_s_Alarm_Clock.mp3 May 18, 2024 Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, Novelist and Life Coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Saturday, May 18, 2024, and this is episode #14 in series 2024. This episode is titled, "Israel: God's Alarm Clock."For the past several months, the eyes of the world have been on the Middle East, and, in particular, Israel. For those of us who follow Jesus Christ and are students of the Bible, this is not a surprise. The Lord predicted that this would be the case shortly before His return to remove His Church from the earth in the soon-to-come, cataclysmic event called the Rapture.If we do not understand the events transpiring in Israel, we will not understand what God is doing in these last days. As one writer said, "Israel is God's program for what He is doing in the world."For example, in Zechariah 12: 1-9, the Bible says this: "This message concerning the fate of Israel came from the LORD: 'This message is from the LORD, who stretched out the heavens, laid the foundations of the earth, and formed the human spirit. I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nations stagger when they send their armies to besiege Jerusalem and Judah. On that day I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock. All the nations will gather against it to try to move it, but they will only hurt themselves. "On that day,' says the LORD, 'I will cause every horse to panic and every rider to lose his nerve. I will watch over the people of Judah, but I will blind all the horses of their enemies. And the clans of Judah will say to themselves, "The people of Jerusalem have found strength in the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, their God." "On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a flame that sets a woodpile ablaze or like a burning torch among sheaves of grain. They will burn up all the neighboring nations right and left, while the people living in Jerusalem remain secure. "The LORD will give victory to the rest of Judah first, before Jerusalem, so that the people of Jerusalem and the royal line of David will not have greater honor than the rest of Judah. On that day the LORD will defend the people of Jerusalem; the weakest among them will be as mighty as King David! And the royal descendants will be like God, like the angel of the LORD who goes before them! For on that day I will begin to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. “Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on the people of Jerusalem.'" Jerusalem is still "like an intoxicating drink" in our day, or, as one translation calls her, "a stumbling block." A move is afoot to divide the city of Jerusalem—and Israel itself—in two in what is commonly called a two-state solution. This is a disastrous move as it is completely contrary to God's will. In the Book of Joel, chapter 3, verses 1 and 2, the Lord pronounces this serious warning to the nations of the earth:"At the time of those events,” says the LORD, “when I restore the prosperity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather the armies of the world into the valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will judge them for harming my people, my special possession, for scattering my people among the nations, and for dividing up my land." God warns the nations of the earth that if they divide up His land, He will divide up theirs.This warning has ominous implications for the United States. The current administration is supporting and pushing for a two-state solution. God is not pleased. Have you noticed the serious storms that we have been experiencing since that decision?