Join Rabbi Schneider on an enlightening journey as he delves into the essence of spiritual breakthroughs and how they shape our lives. Drawing from his personal experiences as a wrestler, Rabbi Schneider illustrates the parallels between physical and spiritual battles, emphasizing the importance of perseverance and faith. Discover how keeping your eyes on Jesus can lead to significant breakthroughs and ultimate victory over life’s challenges.
Welcome to Discovering the Jewish Jesus. I’m your host, Dustin Roberts. And today, Rabbi Schneider dives into a transformative message about why you were made for breakthrough, no matter what kind of challenge you may seem to face. In our world, it’s really easy to get overwhelmed and distracted by our circumstances. But today, Rabbi Schneider reminds us of a profound truth that if we want to succeed in life, we’re going to have to keep our eyes on the prize, and that’s Jesus. And today’s message, it’s going to show you some practical ways that you can do just that. So to learn more about our ministry, visit us online at discoveringthejewishjesus.com. But right now, here’s Rabbi Schneider with today’s words of wisdom and truth.
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spiritual breakthrough. This is so important because if we’ve got the heart of Yeshua in us, we’ve got the heart of a champion. And the heart of a champion is always pushing. Paul said this, he said, I forget what lies behind and I press on toward the upward call of God in Christ Jesus, towards the prize. So those of us that have our sights set on Hashem, of entering into a greater concept of His presence, a greater experience of His reality with us, a greater experience of His power and glory in our lives, we’re continuing to press on for breakthrough. And if you think about it, as human beings, we were made for breakthrough. Think about us for a second, even as infants. Remember, we came out of our mother’s womb and we learned how to stretch our bodies. And in a sense, we were getting breakthroughs. We learned how to move our arms. And then one day, our mom or dad put us on the ground and slowly we learned how to crawl. But then the great day came when one day we were able to get up from crawling, stand up as infants, and take our first baby step. And our mom got on the phone and she called the relatives and she called her friends and said, my daughter, my son, he took his first step today. I saw my child take their first step. It was a great day of breakthrough. And the truth is that if we’re once again growing in the Lord, we are continually breaking through to do something or experience something that we had not yet done before. Breakthrough involves having opposition. In other words, when we took that first baby step, we were coming against or breaking through the lack of body coordination that we were experiencing before that first step. And so breakthrough means coming against something that before had hindered us. We think about Paul’s words in the book of Ephesians. He speaks about spiritual warfare. He speaks about the fact that we have an opponent. We have an enemy. We have someone that’s resisting us. He called the enemy Satan. Spiritual forces, Paul said, of heavenly wickedness, darkness in high places. And he said our fight, is not against flesh and blood, but against principal powers and forces of spiritual wickedness in heavenly places. And he said that this fight that we’re in is a wrestling match and that by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can win this wrestling match. Many of you know that I was a very committed athlete in my high school days, and I wrestled the same type of wrestling physically that Paul talked about spiritually in the book of Ephesians. But I was stuck. I had such high goals for myself. My goal as a wrestler was to be state champ in Ohio where I went to school. And I lived it. I ate it. I drank it. I was so committed. I was so disciplined. I was like a professional athlete with the level of discipline that I had in my life. I mean, running every single day. I trained so vigorously. Wrestling at the time came before everything for me. I didn’t yet know Jesus. But yet when I came into my 11th grade year, even though I had much success earlier on, I did not achieve my goals. And as I look back on it, what the problem was is that I wanted to win so bad, I needed to win so bad that what I would do is I would get out into the wrestling match. Each week we had tournaments and matches and I would get an early lead. Almost every single time I was ahead at the end of the second. There are three periods in wrestling, each one two minutes each in high school. So I would come out wrestling to win, very focused on winning, and I would get a big early lead. And then once I got that early lead, I would stop wrestling aggressively, and instead I would just think, okay, I’m gonna win now, I’ve got a lead. Now just hang on to your win. So I would stop wrestling to win, and instead I would start wrestling defensively, just trying to hang on to the lead that I already had. And doing that cost me many matches. At the time, I didn’t realize all this. It was only afterwards that I realized that getting ahead and then just trying to hang on to my lead, in other words, from wrestling offensively and then switching to wrestling defensively, it cost me a lot of matches, but I didn’t really realize what I was doing until later. And so what was happening was once again, I had this high goal to be state champ. And yet I found myself losing as many matches as I was winning. And one day I wrestled this kid that I knew that I could beat. And the reason I knew that I could beat him is because we used to scrimmage this school. In other words, we were going into an official meet against a school that my school had practiced against many times. And every time when I wrestled this kid that I was about to face in the real meet in a practice when we were practicing with this kid’s school, I literally, I don’t wanna say this boastfully, but I literally manhandled this kid. I mean, this kid was like a noodle to me. I beat him that easily. But all of a sudden we have a real match and I go into the real match, and what happens? I do the same thing. I go in, I get a huge early lead, and now I start thinking subconsciously, okay, you’re ahead now, don’t do anything to blow it, just hang on to your lead and you’re gonna win. And when I went into that defensive mindset, just wanting to hang on to my lead, you know what happened? I ended up losing that match, to this kid I manhandled every single time I practiced with him. And when that happened, I became so fed up of losing to people that I should have been beating that I said to myself, no more. And it just so happened that the very next day, we were wrestling a school and I was wrestling a kid that was one of the better wrestlers in the state of Ohio. And I went out and I beat that kid. That day, was a great breakthrough for me because I’d broken out of this kind of losing pattern that I’d got into because I would go from wrestling offensively to win and then just trying to hang on to my lead once I got the lead. I got so disgusted with myself that that had happened to me that I lost because of doing that, that I said, I’m never gonna do that again. I’m gonna go out there from now on and I’m gonna wrestle aggressively the entire match. And that day, beloved, After I lost to this kid that I knew I should have beat, that day I had a great breakthrough. And for the rest of that season, I consistently was winning. And it was such a marked time in my life. I remember that next day after I lost to the kid I should have beat and then wrestling a really high level athlete the next day and beating him. I remember getting out of the school bus that day. We were driving back as a team from the school. where the match was and the coach announced on the bus to all the wrestlers that day that I was given the prize for the best wrestler of the night and he gave me a coupon for a free pizza. I remember getting out of that bus when we got back to our school, getting into my car and I turned the music on and it was like, I can’t even explain what happened. Even though I didn’t know God through Jesus at the time, it felt like a God moment to me. I was like translated in to a state of bliss, a state of release, a state of freedom. I had just experienced great breakthrough. Breakthroughs are real. And I had a great breakthrough that day in a physical wrestling match. But you and I, beloved, are no longer wrestling physically, most of us today. Maybe you’re a teenager and you wrestle, but the vast majority of us today, we’re not wrestling physical wrestling matches. We’re wrestling spiritual matches, like Paul spoke about in the book of Ephesians. And I want to talk to you again today about how we can have breakthrough as we’re wrestling powers of spiritual darkness. Our primary text has come from the book of 2 Samuel 5, where we’ve been looking at the life of King David, David Melech, the king of Israel, and how as soon as he was anointed king, the powers of darkness came to attack him. The powers of darkness in 2 Samuel were manifest through a group called the Philistines, because the powers of darkness manifest through flesh and blood. And what we’ve been doing is we’ve looked at what David did when he was attacked and how he got breakthrough.
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You’re listening to Discovering the Jewish Jesus and Rabbi will be right back. But first, did you know that you can receive real-time encouragement straight from Rabbi through text message? Visit discoveringthejewishjesus.com and click on the link that says Rabbi Text Me. Or you can text the keyword Rabbi to the number 88777. Rabbi sends these special text messages as the Holy Spirit leads and he looks forward to connecting with you real soon. Thank you for remembering that Discovering the Jewish Jesus is a listener-supported ministry. Rabbi Schneider’s teachings are made possible through the generous gifts from people like you who understand the importance of sharing the good news of Jesus’ return. Because of you, we are changing lives all over the world. Give online by visiting DiscoveringTheJewishJesus.com or call 800-777-7835. That’s 800-777-7835. And now let’s get back to Rabbi’s message.
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We find that David, first of all, he realized he was under attack. As soon as the Philistines came, he knew what was going on. He heard about it. And so we talked about in earlier episodes that you and I need to gain a greater sense of the fact that spiritual warfare is real. You know, many of you can quote the scripture that I quoted earlier. Our fight is not against flesh and blood. We wrestle not, Paul said, against flesh and blood, but against powers of spiritual wickedness in heavenly places. Many of us have heard that scripture and we quote it. But the truth is, even though we know it by heart, some of us, we don’t really have revelation about it. We don’t really believe we’re under spiritual attack. We don’t really believe that when things are bombarding us, when thoughts are coming to our mind that are tormenting us or temptations are happening that we don’t know why the temptation is so strong. We don’t really have comprehension that we’re under spiritual attack. We think that everything is in the physical world. I’m talking to you right now. We say we believe it, but if you look at your life, perhaps you’ll be able to ascertain that you don’t really believe it because you blame your problems on circumstances, on people, rather than understanding that our real problems are not the circumstances and they’re not the people. Our fight is not against flesh and blood. Our real problem is the thoughts that we’re having and thoughts come from the realm of the spirit. We’re in a spiritual battle. It’s not what’s happening that’s the problem. It’s the way we perceive what’s happening that’s the problem. And the way we perceive what’s happening is a spiritual problem. And the thoughts that we’re having are either coming from the spirit of light and life, coming from the spirit of God, or they’re coming from the powers of the enemy. Think about it. Jesus stood before Pilate. He was completely calm, completely at peace, filled with confidence, filled with a sense of triumph. He knew he was about to be crucified. And Pilate was amazed and said to Him, Don’t You know I have the power to crucify You? Many of us would have been terrified, shaking in our bootstraps. Some would have given up their faith because they were so afraid. But Jesus said calmly to Pilate, you would have no power over me unless it was given you from above. You see, it wasn’t the circumstance that was the enemy. Jesus wasn’t afraid of the circumstance. He wasn’t reacting to the circumstance. Yeshua had higher revelation. He lived above it. And he had breakthrough. And we can look at many examples. Think of Paul, for example, in scripture. He’s in prison. And yet rather than having a bad attitude in prison, Paul said that his imprisonment was for our good because the gospel was coming forth through his writings while he was in prison. And because the word was being spread that he was in prison, it bonded the saints together. And so I’m trying to help us understand today that we are in a wrestling match. We need to get breakthrough. And we need greater revelation to understand that our fight is not against flesh and blood and people and circumstances and the government and our employer. No, the real fight is in our mind, in the thoughts that we’re having. And these are spiritual things. And we need how to get in touch with the spirit of the Lord within us. See, the Bible says that when David heard the Philistines were attacking him, when he realized he was under attack, he went down, the scripture says, into the stronghold. For us, the stronghold is going into the center of ourselves where Jesus is. He’s within us. And becoming secure in that and confident in that and knowing that the I am is in us and that we’re more than sufficient and conquerors of anything that we’re going to face, we can overcome. and that the key is to be grounded in peace, we go into the stronghold. That’s what David did, first of all. And then after that, David looked to the Lord for what should he do? And God said to go against the enemy. So David arose from being still before the Lord. He arose from just abiding in God and being at peace and receiving in that secret place in the stronghold. He went from that place where he stood up, he went against the Philistines, and then when he went against the Philistines, he defeated them. And after defeating them, he said, the Lord has broken through my enemies before me like the breakthrough of waters. In the same account in the book of Chronicles, we read that David said, God has broken through my enemies by my hand like the breakthrough of waters. In both instances, it’s the same event, it’s the same thing, but in the book of Chronicles, we find that the writer has given us some additional information that David said, God has broken through my enemies. But we find in Chronicles that David also said, God has broken through my enemies by my hand. In other words, the Holy Spirit in David was what gave David the power to break through the Philistine, to break through his enemy. How do we understand this? That on the one hand, in the book of 2 Samuel, David doesn’t say that it was by his hand. He just said it was, the Lord did it. The Lord has broken through my enemies, David said in 2 Samuel, like the breakthrough of waters. He didn’t say it had anything to do with himself. He just said, the Lord has broken through my enemies like the breakthrough of waters. And yet once again in Chronicles, David said, the Lord has broken through my enemies by my hand like the breakthrough of waters. How do we understand it? I like to think of Ezekiel’s vision. Remember Ezekiel’s vision? Ezekiel said he saw a wheel. And he said, there was an inner wheel and outside of the inner wheel was an outer wheel. So Ezekiel, beloved one, had this vision. He saw two wheels. There was an inner wheel and then another wheel around the inner wheel. And Ezekiel said, whenever the inner wheel moved, the outer wheels moved. But whenever the inner wheel stopped, the outer wheel stopped. And so the outer wheels got their life from the inner wheel. The inner wheel possessed the outer wheel. And it was this inner wheel that gave life and movement to the outer wheel. That’s what happened here with David. David said, I broke through my enemies. The Lord broke through my enemies by my hand. What does this mean? It was God’s working in David’s heart and through David’s life that gave him the victory. It was God that gave him the victory, but God was possessing David and empowering David. And so David said, it’s by my hand. This is what you and I are after in breakthrough. We’re wanting to become so in touch with, so possessed by the living Spirit of God that resides within us that when He moves, we move. And because we’re being possessed and motivated and filled with the Spirit, everything we do becomes effective when we get breakthrough. If we just try to do it in ourself, in the flesh, there’s no real power there. It’s just flesh. But if we’re moving by the power of the Ruach HaKadosh like David did, we’re going to experience true breakthrough. See, Paul said, it’s no longer I that live, but Christ, he said, lives in me. When you and I can die to our outer impulses, we can pull ourself back from being so connected to the things on the outside to instead become one with the spirit of the Lord that’s in us. through the dying process of dying to the flesh, dying to our own impulses, to instead pull ourselves back to learn how to get in touch with the Holy Spirit that’s in our soul, what’s gonna happen is we’re gonna be like that outer wheel. And whenever the inner wheel moves, the Holy Spirit, we’re gonna move. And because we’re moving by the Spirit, we’re gonna have breakthrough in our lives. You see, Jesus said, He that abides in me bears much fruit. Yeshua said this, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. What does this mean? When you and I die to living by the flesh, When you and I die to living by our own abilities, when you and I die to being connected to the things of the world, like Paul said, he was crucified to the world and the world was crucified to him. And instead, we pull ourself back and get in touch with the Holy Spirit within us, learning how to be led by him, we will experience significant, powerful breakthrough in our lives. The Bible says, all that are led by the Spirit, these are the sons of God. Beloved, there’s breakthrough in store for you. As you and I depend on the Spirit, rely on the Spirit, die to ourselves and are moved by Him alone, we’re going to enter in to more and more glory. And we’re going to experience the presence of King Jesus in our life in ever fuller ways. I know some of you are like me. There’s things that we purpose to do in our heart, but because we’re busy, at times we just don’t do them. It’s human nature, we just sometimes procrastinate. I wanna ask you, as we’ve now come to the end of the year, this is your last chance. If it’s been in your heart to present a special love offering to the Lord for discovering the Jewish Jesus, beloved ones, we truly are coming to the very end. This is our last chance. If the Holy Spirit is touching you right now and you know that you’re being called to honor the Lord with your finances through this ministry, now is the time. This is the last chance to present your special love offering to the Lord in 2024 through DJJ. I want to thank those of you that are advanced that are supporting this ministry. Without you, beloved, millions of people in the world would not be being reached with the good news of the gospel of Messiah Jesus. Thank you for your love. And I wish you the very best as we’re going in now to 2025.
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Wow, 2025. Friends, if you want to give a special end of your gift before it’s too late, visit discoveringthejewishjesus.com. Or you can also support this ministry next year and become a monthly partner. You can do that online or you can give us a call today at 800-777-7835. And as you know, as a token of our appreciation back to you, when you give, we’ll send you our latest newsletter in the mail. It’s an exclusive letter and it includes additional resources and materials from Rabbi and also a letter from his wife, Cynthia, and some testimonies. They come to us from people who’ve been touched because of listeners like you who financially support us. It’s delivered to my house each and every month. And I know it’s really encouraging to myself and to my family to know that what we’re doing with Discovering the Jewish Jesus, it makes a difference. By the way, I support this ministry. Even as someone who works for the ministry, I support the ministry because I believe in it. So I want to encourage you Get connected with the ministry in a greater way this coming year. Visit us at discoveringthejewishjesus.com. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your generous support. And listen, today is the last day of the year. So I just want to say, we love you. We’ve enjoyed 2024 and now onward and upward to more breakthrough in 2025. Now here’s Rabbi Schneider with a special blessing. And I pray that these words… leave you feeling so loved and refreshed for this coming year. Rabbi?
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In the Old Testament book of Numbers, we find a blessing God speaks over His children through Moses and Aaron. It carries the idea of favor and expression. Open your heart to the Spirit and the Word today and receive Father’s goodness into your life with confidence.
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.
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This program is produced and sponsored by Discovering the Jewish Jesus. Be sure to join us again next time when Rabbi Schneider shows us how to overcome the struggles and strife you face. That’s Wednesday in 2025 on Discovering the Jewish Jesus.
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