Discovering The Jewish Jesus

Guest (Male): When we have confidence in the future that it's going to be a good day because Jesus is always going to be in our future tomorrow, we're going to have joy. And you know what, beloved one? Jesus prayed that you and I would have joy.

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: Father God, we want to thank you that we learn so much through your word, that your word is spirit and life. Father, by your word we're being changed into the likeness of your Son. So, Father, we ask you today to come and change us by your word. Come and wash us and conform us to your image by your word today in Jesus' name we ask this, Father. Amen.

We're in a series that we're calling The Prayer Life of Jesus. We're continuing today in John chapter 17 in a portion of scripture that is often identified as the High Priestly Prayer. This is Jesus' great prayer before he goes to the cross. Jesus is exposing the inner dimension of his heart. Beloved ones, when we see into the heart of Jesus, we're going to become like Jesus as we yield to the Holy Spirit.

Father God, once again, I ask you to move over our hearts today by your word in power and conform us to the image of your Son as we look into the heart of your Son as he opens up his heart to you before going to the cross. Beloved ones, even though this prayer was prayed in terms of it being recorded 2,000 years ago, it's still alive today. The words of Jesus are spirit and life, and the words that are revealed from the heart of Jesus in this prayer are operative portions of the Holy Spirit in terms of the way God's kingdom operates upon us and in us right now.

With all that said, I'm going to pick up in this prayer in verse number 13 today. Hear what Jesus said. John 17:13 says, "But now I come to you, and these things I speak in the world that my joy might be made full in themselves." Do you know what Jesus is asking the Father for here? Do you know what he's saying? He wants his joy to be made full in you and in me. Jesus wants us to be inside happy.

Jesus' joy is not of the world. Jesus said the joy and the peace I give to you are not as the world gives. The joy and the peace that the world gives are rooted in circumstance. The joy and the peace in the world is rooted to something that's outside ourself. In other words, we get a new house, we're happy. We get a new car, we're happy. We go swimming at a pool, we're happy. We go on vacation, we're happy. We get a new boyfriend or girlfriend, we're happy. We succeed at something, we're happy. It's all rooted in externals.

The problem is the external form of peace and happiness is temporary, it's superficial, and it can never last because the circumstances always change. There's nothing wrong with being blessed by the things of the world. Thank God for all the blessings that you give us in our circumstances. This is something to rejoice about and to be truly thankful about, but there's something deeper and there's something more. It's the joy and the peace that come from the internal working and operation of the Holy Spirit in our heart.

The joy that Jesus gives is not of the world. Jesus said, "Father, I've spoken your word to them that my joy may be in them and that it might be full." Jesus said so that they may have my joy made full in themselves. You see, Jesus' first miracle in the beginning of the Gospel of John, he turned the water to wine. Why would Jesus' first miracle be turning the water to wine? Wine in scripture is a symbol of earthly celebration. At the wedding, you serve wine because the wine is symbolic of celebration.

Isn't it interesting that Jesus' first miracle was at a place where the focus was on celebration, on joy from the world's perspective? But many of us lack revelation that God wants us to be a happy people. We've been so beaten down by preaching on the consequences of sin and judgment. One of the most famous sermons that was preached back hundreds of years ago was entitled Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. We hear so much about this type of message going forth.

Message: sinners in the hands of an angry God. I believe it was preached by Jonathan Edwards, a great revivalist. It brought great revival. But at the end of the day, if the only thing that's motivating us, if the only thing that moves us is fear of punishment and fear of judgment, our joy will never be made full. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, but there's something greater, and that's a revelation of the love of God. When we have a revelation of the love of God, which is what Jesus came to bring in addition to the revelation of the fear of God, we're going to have joy.

When we know how much God loves us, how special we are to him, how Jesus' blood was meant to purchase us to be his bride, we're going to have joy. When we have confidence in the future that it's going to be a good day because Jesus is always going to be in our future tomorrow, we're going to have joy. Listen to me. Jesus prayed that you and I would have joy. Jesus said, "I spoke your word to them, Father, that my joy would be in them and that their joy would be made full."

Jesus came to give you life and to give it more abundantly. I want you to know God wants you to have joy. God wants you to be happy, not because of what the world has to offer, but because of his spirit in your life, because of who he is to you, because of understanding how much he loves you and I. Begin to declare things of happiness and joy. Begin to declare when you go to bed at night, Father God, today was a good day and tomorrow's going to be a good day because you're going to be with me tomorrow. You told me, Father, that goodness and lovingkindness would follow me all the days of my life, according to Psalm 23.

God wants us to be confident in his future for us. He wants us to be confident in the fact that tomorrow in our future's going to be good and bright. The book of Ephesians tells us in chapter 1 and chapter 2 that God saved us in order that he might show his goodness towards us. He saved us so that he might show his kindness and goodness towards us for the rest of eternity. God saved you so that he could keep showing his kindness and goodness towards you forever and ever and ever. Really believing this makes us happy.

This is what the word tells us. That's why Jesus is saying, "I spoke to them that they would understand this, so that they would have joy and be happy." I want to encourage you, beloved one, if you've been operating under a spirit of doom and gloom, if you grew up in a home of sadness and depression, if your personality is flat and you can never get excited about anything, I want you to know God loves you so much. He has something better and something more for you. Jesus said, "I have come to give life more abundantly."

Step out into joy. I want to pray for you right now. In Jesus' name, Father God, we want to thank you for the revelation, Jesus, that you gave us in John 17 that you want us to have joy. Jesus, we say yes to your joy. We're sick of sadness. We cast off spirits of depression, spirits of loneliness and isolation, spirits of doom and rejection and gloom. Jesus, we cast it all off. We tear down every demonic spiritual stronghold of darkness, and we say Jesus, on you is the oil of gladness according to your word. You're a happy God, not a sad God. You're in us and we're in you. From now on, we declare, Jesus, that as we move forward in life, we're going to practice having a spirit of joy and practice having a spirit of celebration and thankfulness. We declare, Lord Jesus, that because we're your people, we should be a happy people. We should be a people of joy and confidence. Jesus, we declare right now that we're going to move into a new realm of joy in our lives. In your name and for your glory, Jesus, we're going to do this. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Discovering the Jewish Jesus with Rabbi Schneider, and he'll be right back. But first, did you know that this program is available in Hebrew, Russian, and Spanish? If you know somebody who speaks one of these languages, now's your chance to share the blessing. To access the language version that's right for them, just go to discoveringthejewishjesus.com and click the Watch/Listen tab and choose an available alternate language channel right there.

Guest (Male): Do you want to be an instrument for God's work on the earth? Join us as a new monthly partner and receive a handcrafted shofar that's made in Israel. This instrument will announce Jesus' second coming one day, and by supporting these teachings, you're helping prepare the way for his return. So would you prayerfully consider joining us? Visit discoveringthejewishjesus.com or partner with us by calling 800-777-7835. And now, back to Rabbi Schneider.

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: Let's continue on. Jesus said in verse number 14, "I have given them your word." Amen. We receive the word of God. The word of God is living and active. The word of God is spirit and life. We live by the word. Jesus said, "I've given them your word." The way to get strong, the way to be happy is focusing on God's word and coming into agreement with this word. We reject the world. We reject the message of the world, and what we do instead is we seize God's word. I'm going to seize God's word. I want you to say it with me. I'm going to seize your word, God, and I'm not going to let anything else in. Will you say it with me? Father God, I make up my mind by your grace right now, by the spirit of Jesus, I'm going to seize your word like Jesus does and not let anything else in. Amen and amen.

Jesus said, "I have given them your word." And then he prayed in verse number 17, he said to the Father, "Sanctify them. Sanctify them in thy truth. Thy word is truth." Father God, right now I just speak a spirit of washing over your people. Father, that we would be sanctified. That you would wash us of all the defilement, that you would wash us of every lie as we receive your word. Jesus said, "Sanctify them in thy truth. Your word is truth." Then Jesus continued. He said, "As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world."

We've got work to do, and we can't separate our love for God from doing the work of God. We need to be his witnesses. We need to tell the world that we love him. We need to tell our friends and neighbors and work associates that Jesus is alive and answers our prayers. We need to start a Bible study in our home. Just start. You can't get experience unless you start. You can't get proficient unless you begin. Come on, who's going to do it? I want someone to say, "Lord, I hear your spirit speaking to me. I feel you speaking to me, Father. I'm supposed to start a Bible study in my home." Commit to the Lord that you're going to do this if you feel him touching your soul right now. Yield to him.

Father God, yes, you sent me into the world to preach the gospel to all creation, to make disciples of all nations. I'm going to walk around my neighborhood with a flyer and I'm going to start a Bible study in my home. Now just go ahead and do it. Just start at the Book of Romans. You don't have to be a theologian. You just have to have a willingness. You see, God doesn't call the qualified, but he qualifies the called. You're called, so just step out in faith and he's going to give you what you need. Just start. God will be blessed, and you'll get better and better as you get experience. But how are you going to get experience unless you start? How are you going to get better unless you begin? God bless you. Don't worry about falling on your face. You're going to succeed just because you did it. You're a success just for stepping out. Let's start some Bible studies in our home. In fact, start a Bible study around Discovering the Jewish Jesus. My teaching notes from every episode you can get right on our website for free. Just go to discoveringthejewishjesus.com. You can download the teaching notes from every episode. All you need to do is watch the broadcast together, even if you just record it, and then pass out the teaching notes and discuss them. So many different ways you can do it. Go through the Book of Romans, go line by line. Let's just step out and do it. Let's be movers and shakers for the kingdom of God. You can do it.

Jesus continues on. He prays that we would be one. He says that they may be one even as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us so that the world might believe that you sent me. So Jesus is praying here now for the unity of the body, that we would walk in oneness. A lot of people start attending a congregation somewhere and as soon as they have a disagreement with the pastor or the rabbi or somebody in the congregation, they leave and they run. But we're never going to grow if we run from a relationship every time we have a conflict.

I have grown so much in my life from working through problems in relationships. I think about how much maturity the Father has built into me by working through relationships, by accepting my responsibility where any division in relationship is a result of my immaturity or wrong perception about the situation or some type of sin in my heart. And then I express and communicate to the other person, not in such a way that says you did this and that made me mad, which just puts a person on a defense, but rather saying it hurt me when you did this, so that they can hear what I have to say and then we can dialogue and work through it together rather than running from it.

Let me back up and say this again. Jesus is praying here for unity in the body. John 17:21 says, "That they may all be one, even as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us so that the world might believe that you sent me." Jesus is praying for oneness in his people, in the body. But too many of us, when we have a problem in a relationship, we immediately close the door on the relationship and block the person out of our life. While sometimes that's the right thing to do, usually the right thing to do is to continue to love and to reach out and to try to find a way through the breach in the relationship.

One of the primary ways that we can get past difficult situations in relationships, and there's always going to be difficulties in any relationship, the way we continue to grow together in love and in oneness is through communication rather than running and separating ourselves. Rather than going from church to church, from husband to husband, from wife to wife, from job to job, instead we make a commitment to work through things so that we can grow up in maturity and love. If there's something that happened in a relationship, the best way I found to handle it is to not go to a person all steamed up and angry and point our finger at them and say you did that, but to basically say this is what I perceive happened and this is the way it made me feel and it hurt me. When people hear us expressing that what happened hurt us, rather than hearing us saying to them you did this and I'm angry and blaming them, if they hear that we're hurt and that we're trying to work through it, then they're going to have ears to try to understand our heart. There's going to be a foundation for us to talk it through together and to work through it and to get over it.

So I want to encourage us today. Let's grow up as a people. Let's grow up as a bride. Let's learn how to walk through difficulties in relationships: marriages, jobs, et cetera. Let's talk them through without blame, without anger as much as possible, looking for a way to resolve situations and grow together and stay unified because this shows a maturity in our lives. It shows a maturity in the body. This is what Jesus prayed for because he said that when people remain unified, it shows the love of the Father.

I thank God that God in my marriage, it's all the grace of God, I've been married now for 31 years. It's all the grace of God. But when people see a marriage that has sustained 31 years, they say there's something to be respected there. There's something beautiful there. There's something mature. It makes them more open to hear about Jesus from our lives and to see Jesus in our lives. But it's not that my marriage has been without conflict or struggle. My wife and I have worked together all these years to become one. We've worked through things, we've prayed together, we've talked together. It's been hard. It's been a struggle. But through it all, there's been such a unity that's been developed over time. This is what God wants to develop in your life, in each one of our lives. He wants the world to see unity in the church and in our relationships.

And then Jesus speaks about the fact that he has given us his glory. Look at verse 22. He says, "The glory which you have given me, I have given to them." Wow. Jesus has given you and I his glory. Think about the fact that Jesus wants you and I to participate in his glory. Do you know what this means? God has got a supernatural plan for your life. God wants to reveal his glory to you. He wants you to be a partaker of it. Let me tell you, that's something to shout about to know that eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and never has it entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those that love him, and that includes you.

Beloved, I've got a lot of joy in my heart right now because of this revelation that I've been able to bring you through this series. I know that receiving the truth that I've been proclaiming, it revolutionized my life. It gave me such a confidence in God, such a boldness to be a witness, and I'm convinced that those of you that receive the truth that I've been sharing in this series, the same thing will happen in some measure for you. I want to ask you, if you believe in me, if you believe that I'm an authentic preacher of the word of God, I want to ask you to financially support me in this ministry. It costs us thousands and thousands of dollars to broadcast and to reach the world with the gospel through Discovering the Jewish Jesus, and we can only do it when God's people like you respond. The Bible says that we should financially support those ministries that are feeding us. I want to thank you today for your love and for your prayers and for your financial support. Thank you, God bless you, and shalom.

Guest (Male): Amen. And as the Lord leads you to support Discovering the Jewish Jesus with a donation today, would you give online at discoveringthejewishjesus.com? You can also send your financial donations to us at Discovering the Jewish Jesus, PO Box 777, Blissfield, Michigan, 49228. We truly couldn't reach people around the world that are exploring scripture with us each and every day without you. Friends, last month, during the Israel campaign, we put up billboards in Israel. We digitally advertised. But do you know what? One of the billboards was torn down. This is the reality of sharing the gospel with Jewish people. It's resisted and often opposed in ways most never see. Yet the gospel, it needs to go forth and it can't be stopped because your support plays a vital role to keep the message going. So I want to ask you today, prayerfully consider partnering with us. You can become a monthly partner. Give us a call at 800-777-7835 or go online to discoveringthejewishjesus.com or send your gift in the mail. Our address is PO Box 777, Blissfield, Michigan, 49228. Thanks so much for supporting us and for listening today. Now here's Rabbi with God's special blessing.

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: 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.

Yevarechecha Yahweh veyishmerecha.

Ya'er Yahweh panav eleycha viychuneka.

Yisa Yahweh panav eleycha veyasem lecha shalom.

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.

Dustin Roberts: I'm your host, Dustin Roberts, and this program is produced and sponsored by Discovering the Jewish Jesus. Join us again when Rabbi Schneider reveals why God loves us just as much as he loves Jesus. That's Tuesday on Discovering the Jewish Jesus.