Rabbi Schneider continues his enlightening series on the mystery of revelation and the human journey of faith. He explores the fascinating idea that while the rest of creation was deemed good upon its completion, humanity is seen as an evolving masterpiece. By overcoming personal challenges and imperfections, each person has the potential to achieve greatness. Rabbi shares the story of a man overcoming addiction, which serves as a powerful reminder that our struggles are what qualify us for greatness. Tune in to discover how spiritual persistence and divine choice shape our relationship with God and lead us to a
Don’t beat yourself up. Just commit yourself to following the Lord, to overcoming, to doing your best, and you will overcome, and your reward will reflect how much you’ve overcome. Today, I’ve got a word from the Lord for you. I brought up the point of how Yeshua said to his disciples, who do they say that I am? And Peter said, well, some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah. Yeshua said to him, but who do you say I am? And Peter said, you’re the Messiah, you’re the Messiah, you’re the Christ, the anointed one, the son of the living God. Listen carefully what Jesus said next to him. He said, “‘Blessed art thou, Simon, son of John, for flesh and blood has not,’ listen, “‘revealed this to you.'” And then Jesus went on to say, “‘And on this rock,’ I will build my church. Peter said, you’re the Messiah, you’re the Christ. Jesus said, blessed art thou, Simon, son of John. Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven and on this rock, I will build my church. That scripture is an extremely important scripture in the whole world of Christendom. In fact, the Protestant church and the Catholic church interpret that scripture two very different ways. You see, the Catholic church believes that the rock that Jesus was speaking of there, when Jesus said, Simon, Peter, on this rock I’ll build my church, the Catholic church believes that the rock that Yeshua was speaking of was the rock of the papacy and that Peter was the first pope. The Protestant church, on the other hand, believes that the rock that Jesus was speaking of was Peter’s confession of faith, that through the confession of faith that Jesus is the Christ, it’s on that rock the church is being built. I want to suggest to you that there’s another interpretation. The interpretation that most resonates with me is that the rock that Yeshua was referring to upon which He would build His church was the rock of revelation. You see, Jesus said, everyone that hears… and learns from the Father comes to me. Listen again, Peter said, you’re the Messiah. Jesus said, you’re blessed. Flesh and blood didn’t reveal that to you, but my Father who is in heaven and on this rock, I’ll build my church. I believe, beloved, that the rock that Jesus was speaking of there is the rock of revelation. You see, we can’t know God. We can’t enter into a relationship with Him except we receive the gift of revelation. This is why Paul prayed in the book of Ephesians that Father would give you and I a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. We can’t know God through our natural senses. We can only know Him through the Spirit. And the Spirit imparts to us eyes to see and a heart to understand. It’s called revelation. You see, a mystery is something that’s concealed. But when God reveals that thing that’s concealed to us, we then have revelation. And in order for you and I to be set free, We need revelation. I want you to understand how important it is for you and I to seek. Jesus said, knock and the door will be open. Ask and you’ll receive. Seek and you shall find. It’s not enough just to confess some doctrine with our mind. We have to seek deep into the mysteries of God. Jesus said that if we would continue to follow him, if we would continue to seek, he said, you will know the truth. And the truth will make you free in John chapter 8. What we’re doing, beloved one, in this series is we’re looking at mysteries that can be revealed to our inner man by the Spirit that will set us free. I launched on this journey and I talked about the fact that you and I are in God because all of His creation exists within Him. The scripture tells us in Him. We live and move and have our being. But it’s not just that we exist in Him. We also have to have an understanding that although we’re in Him, we’re unique individuals. We’re persons with a separateness. And this is what makes love dynamic. In order for real love to exist, two unique, separate persons with unique personalities, unique taste, Two unique persons need to choose to become one with each other in love. And yet in that union of love, they still remain in their separateness. In other words, when I kiss my wife, Cynthia, I’m not just kissing a picture of myself. If that’s all it was, I could look at a mirror and kiss the mirror. No, when I kiss my wife, Cynthia, I’m kissing someone that is a unique individual. She has a unique temperament. She’s built differently than I. And yet together we come together. And through that union, there’s a oneness that’s created. And that is a type of relationship that Hashem, that Father God is looking for from you and I. We don’t ever just become so in union with God that we cease to exist with our own personality. with our own will, with our own temperament. No, we’re brought into union with Him, but even when we’re united to Him in oneness, we’re still unique. And the only person that can choose to love God is you. God isn’t making you love Him. You have to choose to love him. You’re always going to be separate. You’re always going to have your own will. It’s always going to be up to you to give God your heart. No one can give your heart to God but you. And understanding this puts a weight of responsibility on us. When we wake up in the morning, God’s not going to make us love him. And love is not a feeling, love is a choice. When we wake up in the morning, you and I have to realize that it’s our responsibility to put him first. It’s our responsibility to control what we say so that we’re always placing ourselves in a position under his authority and under his word, watching what comes out of our mouth because we wanna love him. We have to choose to come under his authority because we love him. We have to choose to be obedient. Jesus said, if you love me, you’ll obey me. But this is our choice. When I was a very young Christian, I couldn’t handle the fact that any of it had to do with me because I had no confidence in myself. I just said, Lord, it’s all up to you. If you don’t save me, I’ll be lost. If you don’t save me, I’ll perish. If it depends on me, I’ll fail. So all I could do is trust God in his sovereignty to complete in me what he began. And that’s the right thing to do. But as I got older, I realized that God’s not going to force me to love him. I have a call and only I can do it. I want to move on today on the second revelation to set you and I free. And to do that, I went to the book of Beersheet, the book of beginnings, the book of Genesis. After every form of life that God created, the plants, the fish, the birds, the animals and the cattle, after each one of those creations, he said it was good. There’s only one being that God created that didn’t end it with saying, it is good. And that’s the creation of mankind. Let’s take a look into this now. We’re going to Genesis chapter one. First of all, I’m gonna go to verse number 10. God called the dry land, he separates the waters from the dry land. God called the dry land earth and the gathering of the waters, he called seas. And God saw, notice the next phrase there, it was good.
SPEAKER 01 :
You’re listening to Discovering the Jewish Jesus and Rabbi will be right back in a moment. It’s our prayer that today’s message has been a blessing to you so far and we hope that it enriches your walk with Yeshua. If you have a prayer request, we invite you to submit it online at discoveringthejewishjesus.com. Our team lifts up every individual request before the Lord and it would be our pleasure, privilege and honor to pray for you and your family. At Discovering the Jewish Jesus, we are looking for like-minded people who are ready to partner with us. If you’re sensing the Lord leading you to offer a financial gift of support, would you please contact us today? Become a monthly partner. Go to discoveringthejewishjesus.com. or to give a gift of any amount today, just call 800-777-7835. That’s 800-777-7835. And now here’s Rabbi Schneider with the rest of today’s message.
SPEAKER 02 :
Next the Lord creates the vegetation. Let’s go to verse number 12. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them after their kind. And God saw, listen now beloved one, that it was good. Continue when we go to verse number 18 with the creation of the planets, the sun and the moon and stars. And so let’s begin actually there, 16. God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He made stars also. God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth and to govern the day and the night and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And then he made the fish and the birds in verse number 21. And again, you’re going to find after creating the fish and the birds, he said the same thing. It was good. God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves with which the water swarmed after their kind and every winged bird after its kind. And God saw that it was good. was good. And finally, the cattle and the animals in verse number 25. God made the beast of the earth after their kind and the cattle after their kind and everything that creeped on the ground after its kind. And God saw, beloved ones, that it was good. In all these examples, God created something. It was finished. And then he said it was good. But let’s look what happened when God created man. Verse number 27. God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. God blessed them and said to them, be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. Then God said, behold, I’ve given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth. and every tree which has fruit yielding seed. It shall be food to you, and to every beast of the earth, and every bird of the sky, and to everything that moves on the earth which has life. I have given every green plant for food, and it was so. But you know what we’re missing? No, it was good. God gave man a mission and He gave man authority, but after He completed man, He didn’t say it was good. Now, it’s true that in the next verse, when the Lord looked at the entire creation, He said it was very good, speaking of the whole creation. But only after the creation of man Was there no phrase, it was good? Why is that so? The reason is, beloved, when God created the vegetation, the plants, after He created it, it was done. In other words, the vegetables weren’t going to continue to evolve. They were finished. When God created the animals, it was done. His creation was complete. When God created the sun and the moon and the stars, it was over. And so God said it was good. But after God created man, know it was good was spoken because man was not done being created yet. You see, you and I are still in the process of becoming. The cattle are done. The plants are done. They’re serving the purpose for which they were created. Their completion was done when God created them, when He spoke that first word. But you and I, beloved, we’re in the process of still becoming. We’re still evolving into all that God has called us to be. We’re changing. We’re being changed, the scripture says, from glory to glory. We’re growing from faith to faith. We’re being transformed. Even still, we’re being recreated into the image of God’s son. You and I are on the journey of becoming. You see, it’s important to understand that you’re not done yet. In fact, hear me now. Your imperfections… are what qualify you for greatness. Even the sin in your life that must be overcome is what makes you great. Why? Because your imperfections, even your sin, is the starting point from which you journey. Jesus said seven times in the book of Revelation, chapter two and three, he that overcomes will inherit these things. You see, God made it this way. God made it this way because he wanted you and I to evolve in such a way that we participated with him by the Holy Spirit in overcoming evil, in overcoming sin. You see, goodness is not truly good if there’s no choice involved. In other words, if God created you and I without giving us the freedom to sin, without giving us the freedom to choose between good and bad, that our goodness would not really be goodness in the fullest sense of the word. In order for goodness to be fully good, in order for love to really shine, there has to be a choice. There has to be an option involved. That’s why the Lord said in the Torah, behold, I put before you life and death. Choose life that you may live. This same concept is illustrated when Jesus said this, what good is it if you love only your friends? Even sinners love their friends. It’s just the natural thing to do. Jesus said, I’m calling you to love your enemies. You see, Jesus has called us to overcome. And it’s when we have to strive to overcome, when we’ve got a sin in our life that we’re really struggling with and we’re clinging to God and we’re praying and we’re praying and we start moving forward and then maybe we stumble, but we get up again and we go a little further and then we get up again and we go a little further until finally we master it. That’s what brings Hashem joy. That’s what makes us great. I remember years ago, I was in a pastor’s office and someone had started attending his congregation that was a cocaine addict. And this person really gave their life to the Lord. They really fell in love with God. and they were coming to services all the time. I mean, it was such a beautiful thing to see this person coming right out of the world that was a drug addict, coming to Jesus and seeking to follow Him. But after about six weeks, this man came to the pastor who just broke and crying because he had lapsed back in to taking the cocaine. And the pastor said to him, listen, You used to do the cocaine every day. Now look what you did for six weeks. You didn’t do it. Now pick yourself back up and let’s keep moving forward. You know what happened? The man went three months now, never did cocaine for three months. And then after approximately three months, again, he had a relapse. He was so broke and he felt so bad. He came to the pastor once again, crying. The pastor said, listen, just a few months ago you were doing cocaine every day you just went without doing cocaine for three months and this went on for a little bit of time and eventually after a year and a half this guy was completely clean he was completely free you see his cocaine addiction is what qualified him for greatness because he had something to overcome and in overcoming he was made great and the victory that you’ll receive is dependent on how much you overcome He that overcomes, Yeshua said, will inherit these things. So don’t beat yourself up because maybe you have a bad temper. Don’t beat yourself up because maybe you have a problem in your life in this area. Some people are good people, and yet they keep catching themselves lying. Don’t beat yourself up. Just commit yourself to following the Lord, to overcoming, to doing your best, and you will overcome, and your reward will reflect how much you’ve overcome. I believe that when we get to heaven, the amount of reward we receive will be based on how much we overcome. Jesus said, many that are last will be first. Many that are first will be last. We’re going to be really surprised. And some of the people that you thought were the most moral, righteous people in the earth will not have as big of a reward as somebody that you might know that they seem to have some problems in their life. And what you’re going to find is, is that the person that had problems in their life, but had to struggle and strive so hard to overcome. Maybe they came from a broken home. Maybe their mom or dad was a drug addict or in jail. And it was so hard for them to get to where they were, even though they might not look as righteous as this person that maybe was raised in church their whole life, you’re going to find that some of these people that don’t look like elders in the church, they’re going to have the highest reward because they struggled and tried so hard. And the distance they traveled in sanctification was so far. They’re going to have the greatest reward. Mystery number two revealed, beloved, is don’t beat yourself up. Your imperfections, your sin, the part of your personality that needs to be changed, it doesn’t disqualify you, but rather it qualifies you to enter into something great. And the more you overcome, the greater will be your reward. Beloved, love yourself where you’re at. God loves you where you’re at. but he’s not going to leave you where you’re at. Accept who you are. Recognize once again that those things in you that need to be overcome, that’s what makes you great. Because in overcoming those things, you’re going to find yourself transformed into the image of Yeshua, shining like the stars, the scripture says, forever and ever. In the Gospel of John chapter 6, we read the story of how the 5,000 that had followed Jesus were hungry and needed something to eat. They began to ask, well, what do we have to feed so many? One of the disciples said, well, one young lad here has five loaves and two fish. Jesus said, bring them to me. Yeshua blessed the five loaves and the two fish. Supernaturally, all 5,000 were fed and there was even food left over. Beloved, I believe that when you and I give to Jesus what we have, He supernaturally multiplies it. Let’s be faithful to Him with our finances. He has promised that what we give to Him would come back to us pressed down good measure and running over into our lives. If the Lord is feeding you through discovering the Jewish Jesus, I would encourage you, present a financial offering to him through this ministry. I am confident, beloved, by the faith of God’s word that you’re going to be blessed as a result of obedience to him.
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Amen. And you can give a meaningful financial contribution today in a few simple ways. First, you can visit us online at discoveringthejewishjesus.com, or you can give by calling us at 800-777-7835. And another unique way to give is through the Rabbi Schneider mobile app on your favorite smartphone or device. And we want you to know that Each and every gift we receive is a huge blessing, and we really appreciate your faithfulness to God by sowing into this ministry. As our way of saying thanks when you give, we’ll send you our current newsletter. It’s filled with updates, special announcements, and exclusive offers. Plus, you’ll get Rabbi’s exclusive monthly teaching booklet, and each one has new insights into Scripture that are bound to help you grow in your faith. And then before we close today, we’ve been telling you, but don’t forget, you can find Rabbi on Roku TV. All of his messages are right there, available 24 seven on demand. And best of all, it’s absolutely free. Just search for Discovering the Jewish Jesus on your Roku TV to experience Rabbi in a whole new way. And these programs, they’re made possible because of faithful friends just like you who support us each and every month. So if you’d like to join the team and give a generous gift today, again, please give us a call or reach out right now. Our website is discoveringthejewishjesus.com. And now here’s Rabbi Schneider once again to speak God’s sacred and special blessing over your life. Rabbi?
SPEAKER 02 :
The Aaronic blessing in the book of Numbers chapter 6 is not a blessing that comes from an impersonal being out there somewhere in the heavens. This special blessing comes from a person, Yahweh God Almighty, our creator and maker. So receive God’s blessing into your life right now.
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift you up with His countenance. And the Lord give you, beloved one, His peace. God bless you and shalom.
SPEAKER 01 :
I’m your host, Dustin Roberts, and this program is produced and sponsored by Discovering the Jewish Jesus. Join us again next time when Rabbi Schneider shares a special Passover message. That’s Friday on Discovering the Jewish Jesus.
