Discovering The Jewish Jesus

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: Biblical faith affirms that everything that the Creator is doing, everything that our God and Father is doing through the Lord Jesus Christ, His rulership, listen now, is for the good.

The Bible says that the word of God is living and active and sharper than a two-edged sword. So this is the word of God that's coming at God's people like a sword to strengthen us, cleanse us, and cause us to become complete in Yeshua HaMashiach, the Messiah. We are in a series today that I'm calling Principles of Emunah. Now, Emunah is the Hebrew word for faith. Before I begin to talk about the principles, I want to lay a foundation today.

First of all, biblical faith is not simply agreeing or even affirming certain points of doctrine. In fact, that's one of the differences between Judaism and some people that claim to represent the Christian faith. Some people think that they're Christians just because they give mental assent to certain facts. They say, "Yes, I believe that the Bible's true." It's an intellectual assent to them. They're affirming certain points of doctrine, but biblical faith, biblical Emunah, is not just about affirming certain things as being true.

Biblical faith is active trust and active clinging to God. It's one thing to say you believe a certain doctrine; it's another thing to truly trust God. You see, trust brings us into relationship. So biblical Emunah carries with it both belief and trust. Furthermore, biblical Emunah carries with it the concept, listen now, of clinging. Those that truly believe in God in a way that brings them into relationship, listen, cling to Him.

We have to cling to Him. Psalm number 91 talks about those that take refuge under the shadow of His wings. People can believe God is who He says He is, but if they're not leading their lives depending on Him, clinging to Him moment by moment, they're not walking in trust and they're not walking in relationship. They're simply walking in a mental assent. And so this is why Jesus said, "You say you believe in God? Even the demons believe in God." So Emunah is personal, taking Him into our life and trusting Him and clinging to Him.

Furthermore, biblical Emunah is a gift of the Spirit. The Bible tells us in Ephesians chapter two, verse eight, that by grace we've been saved through faith, and the faith that we've received that saved us, the scripture says, is a gift from God. Have you ever experienced something in your life that you just had a faith suddenly come upon you that something was going to happen? You just all of a sudden received an ability to believe for something. You don't even know why you were suddenly able to believe it, and sure enough, what you believed for happened.

Where'd you get that from? Beloved, that faith was imparted to you by the Spirit. And faith that saves is imparted by the Spirit. It's a spiritual thing. That's why the scripture says that faith is a substance. Faith is literally an impartation of the Ruach HaKodesh that causes life to come into our hearts and it connects us to God. It connects us to relationship. It makes us alive. And so faith is a substance. It's an impartation that we receive through the Spirit to connect with God in relationship and it affects our mind and it affects our actions. We are now in something called faith, and this faith that we're in is literally the substance of the Holy Spirit.

I want to talk now about certain aspects or precepts of what happens in our minds and in the way we walk when we're brought into this relationship with God through faith and therefore our thoughts are affected. How are our thoughts affected by the substance of faith? Number one, we have a supernatural ability to believe, listen now, that God rules the world. You see, people that are stuck in darkness, they can't see that God rules the world. Often times what they see in the larger picture is chaos. They look at all the negative things that happen in the world and they focus on those things and they say, "God's not ruling the world. Look at all the chaos."

But the truth is biblical Emunah affirms that yes, Hashem is ruling the world. He hasn't taken His hands off of His creation. He's not far off somewhere. He's intimately involved with His creation and He's ruling the earth. When you look into the Torah, you see how responsible God is for so many of the things that happen, not just the good things, but the bad things. Who opened up the earth in an earthquake to swallow Korach and his sons? God did.

When the children of Israel were bit by the serpents in the wilderness for their unfaithfulness to their God, who caused the serpents to bite them? The Torah tells us God did. We read over and over again that even David when he sinned against God by taking a census of Israel, and as a result of his sinning against God, what happened? God caused a plague to come upon Israel and thousands of them died. You see we read, if we truly believe that the whole Bible is the word of God, not just the New Testament, we see that when we study the Torah and the Tanakh that God is responsible for many of the crises that happen. Many of the curses that came upon the people in the land.

Again, when God drowned the world in a flood because of their sin, who was responsible for the flood? The scripture said that God covered the earth with the waters. Why? Because He was cleansing the world of filth. And so biblical Emunah affirms God is ruling the world. We may not understand everything, but we have to affirm He is in fact Hashem, He's the Creator and He's ruling the world.

Number two, biblical faith affirms that everything that the Creator is doing, everything that our God and Father is doing through the Lord Jesus Christ, His rulership, listen now, is for the good. We have to believe that what God is doing even though it may look bad, it's for the good. When we look again at the example of God covering the earth with water and drowning everything on the planet except for Noah and his family and the animals he took into the ark, some would say how could that possibly be good? If they had no vision, if they only saw it in the moment, all they would see was a natural disaster.

But when we take a step back, we say it was good because it was God's way of cleansing the earth of sin and violence and starting over with Noah and his family. I use the illustration that if you, for example, go to the airport and you go to get your airline ticket and you check in there and they say the flight is booked, and you get so upset because you're going to miss your appointment in the city that you were flying to and you think how could this be good? All you can feel is frustration and anger.

But what happens a few hours later if you find out that that plane that you were booked on gets in a plane crash and all the people on the plane get killed? Then what would you do? You'd give thanks to God and you'd give Him credit for keeping you from getting on that plane. You'd say He was the one that kept you from getting on the plane. The point is, beloved, we don't always see the full picture. So let's not get caught up in pride. Let's recognize that God is ruling the world, that He's a good God and that it's all for the good. Let's take a step back and affirm that even when we don't understand it.

In fact, oftentimes people that are trapped in the powers of darkness, they see more evil in the world than they do good in the world. They watch the news every day, all they do is hear about the killings and the murders, and day after day they are fed that diet of negativism, destruction, killing and suffering, and they begin to walk around thinking the world is a bad place. But the truth is, beloved, when you look in the world, 99 percent of what's going on in the world is good. We see God in all the different people that we meet, beloved, that we have connection with, that we have relationship with, that we can smile at.

The ability to experience God's goodness, to be able to wake up in the morning and see the sun shining, to see the beautiful plants and animals, the flowers and the butterflies. If we'll take the blinders off and see with God's eyes, we'll see that the vast majority of what we see in the world is good. God, beloved, is causing everything to happen for the good.

Dustin Roberts: You're listening to Discovering the Jewish Jesus, and Rabbi Schneider will be right back. But first, I'd love for you to stay connected with us by signing up for Rabbi's Seeds of Revelation newsletter. Each week you'll receive a powerful devotional direct from Rabbi, along with other ministry updates, including when Rabbi will be live. It's a simple way to stay uplifted and informed. Go to discoveringthejewishjesus.com and click stay connected today. Deception is rising and many messages today, they're not the full gospel, but Rabbi's teachings come directly from scripture, declaring truth with boldness. He's uncompromising, and if this ministry has blessed you, would you consider becoming a monthly partner today? To continue reaching the world with God's word, we need committed supporters just like you. So to become a monthly partner, call us at 800-777-7835. And now back to Rabbi Schneider.

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: So we've seen that the first principle of Emunah is that God is ruling the world. We have to believe that. It's not just happening; things are not just randomly happening. No, God is ruling the earth. Number two, we saw not only is He ruling the earth, but He's doing something good. What He's doing has a good purpose even if we can't see it at the time.

Take for example a plant. If a plant loses a branch, let's say that there's a hailstorm that happens and it causes part of the plant to be cut off, what will often happen is the plant will be spurred to new growth because that part of the plant was trimmed off. And so too it is with us. Sometimes something bad happens, and if we just focus on the bad thing that happened, we'll think it's a bad thing. How could this be for good? But the reality is most of you will look back at your life and see that so many of the things that you thought were the bad things that happened ended up launching you into something much better than what you had.

In other words, difficulty is the mother of invention. And so a lot of times once again, God is pruning us. It might look like something bad is happening, but God is just getting ready to launch something good. Every time that the Jewish people suffer persecution, you know what the result was? They came out stronger. God is doing something good. Don't misunderstand, I don't mean to seem insensitive. I know that things happen in life that are very hurtful and painful, and I'm not minimizing that at all. I'm simply trying to affirm our belief that Hashem, that God's ruling the world and that He's got a good plan, that He's doing something good.

And then thirdly and finally, in terms of these three principles, I want to state that God has a purpose in what He's doing. Again, those that claim to be atheists in the world say that there's no purpose, that life is random. In fact, that's a new hip word that many of our millennials use now in conversation. "What happened? It was just random." It's the new word, random. But life is not random, because God is ruling the world. He's doing everything for the good and He's got a purpose.

You see the scripture actually tells us, Paul tells us beloved ones in the word of God, that God is causing all things to work together for good to those that love Him and are called according to His purpose, that we might be conformed to the image of His Son. Do you see the principles that I'm teaching rooted in the word of God, even in that one simple statement that Paul made? That God is causing all things to work together for good and that the purpose of these things that He's doing is to cause us, listen now, to be conformed to the image of Yeshua HaMashiach, of Jesus His Son.

So what does that mean for you and I? It means we have to have a different approach to life. It means we need to first of all wake up every day and not be afraid. Not be afraid of anything. Fear nothing but God. Let me say it again. Fear nothing but God. Fear nothing but God. Why? Because God is ruling the world. You're not at the vulnerable hands of randomness. You're not in a vulnerable position in life. Why? Because God loves you and He's ruling the world.

Secondly, you can wake up every day and fear nothing because no matter what happens, listen now, it's all for the good. If you lose your job, guess what? It's for the good. If something happens today that causes a little bit of pain, you know what? Give thanks and believe it's for the good because God is causing all things to work together for good. God takes everything that happens in the lives of His godly ones, in the lives of His elect, and He causes it all to work for good. Nothing's wasted and nothing's lost.

So every day you can wake up saying, "I will fear nothing but God," knowing that He's ruling your life, He's ruling the world, everything that's happening in the earth and everything that's happening in your life He's using for the good. And number three, it's all got a purpose and nothing is being wasted. So let's practice Emunah. Let's practice faith. Let's walk in joy. Let's walk in thanksgiving. Let's walk in a positive attitude, because you know what? When we have biblical faith, when we have true Emunah, our general disposition is that we're going to be happy.

We're going to have joy. I'm not saying we're going to be like laughing all the time, but I'm going to say there's going to be a joy within our hearts because we know that God is accomplishing His purpose in us and for us and all the circumstances that we walk through He's using for good to bless us. This produces joy. This produces freedom and it's part of saving faith. Jesus loves you, beloved. Jesus was afraid of nothing and nobody, and He wants you and I to live the same way. He wants us to be like He was, afraid of nothing with full confidence that His Father was overseeing His life and involved in all the minutiae, in all the details. If you and I can rise to this place, beloved, we're going to walk in victory and we're going to be light to the world. People are looking for somebody to follow and God wants to use you to be His light. So walk in Emunah, walk in faith. You're going to be blessed and you're going to bless others.

Dustin Roberts: What a great teaching and now here's Rabbi and his wife, Miss Cynthia, from the studio to share a little more today on this teaching.

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: I think there's several principles we can take away from today's broadcast, but the principle I want to focus on to kind of throw back to our listeners is this concept of why we need to cling to God. Remember, trusting is clinging to Him, it's believing Him in such a way that we're truly depending on Him. Cynthia, maybe there's something in your life that would help our viewers to be able to relate in a real flesh and blood way to this concept.

Cynthia Schneider: Yeah, even as I've spoken before, He's training us up in this. He says our faith starts like a size of a mustard seed, and as we go in this journey with Him, He trains us up in faith to trust Him, to know that He is trustworthy, that our faith can grow as we cling to Him.

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: You know, that's the concept when James says that we go through various trials that our faith would be refined as gold in the fire. So what Father is doing is He's training us up in faith, again, not just intellectually agreeing with doctrines, but clinging to the living God who's a person and wants us to know Him through trust. We don't have control over our environment often times, but through trusting in God, beloved, we can have peace because He reigns and He's always good and looking out for you.

Discovering the Jewish Jesus has some very specific strategies about how we're going to be reaching Jewish people living in the land of Israel in the years ahead. I want to ask you to financially sow into this ministry so that I can accomplish all that God has given me to do. It's always cost money, beloved ones, to spread the gospel. When the Lord told Moses to build the Tabernacle, the first thing the Lord told Moses to do was to raise a contribution from amongst the people so that Moses would have the resources that he needed to build the Mishkan, which is the Hebrew word for Tabernacle.

The same truth holds today. It costs money, beloved, to spread the gospel, whether it's through television, radio, even social media costs money. I can't do it without you. I want to ask you, would you partner with God? Would you partner with me? Would you partner with Discovering the Jewish Jesus and make a significant, the best you can, financial contribution to this ministry? Through your financial help and prayers, we're going to continue to reach Jewish people with the gospel both in Israel and all over the globe. I'm asking you now, would you help us, beloved, continue to do what we're doing and spread the gospel to the ends of the earth?

Dustin Roberts: Amen, and to give a donation right now visit discoveringthejewishjesus.com or call 800-777-7835. As Rabbi mentioned, we're in countries all over the world. We're also in Israel. We have a series of billboards that are strategically placed throughout the land that are designed to lead people to Yeshua. And guess what? They're in Hebrew, their own language, and they send them to a website that tells them that Jesus is the Messiah they've been looking for. Imagine a Jewish person who's never heard about Jesus as their Messiah having their life changed through this campaign.

We have people who write in and say, "Do you have a synagogue we can attend? How can I learn more information?" It's an amazing outreach. And yes, the billboards are effective, but what's really amazing is the digital campaigns that we're running right there in the land where people can click on the ads and immediately go straight to the website. It sure is a fulfillment of what God spoke to Rabbi when He told him Acts 2:22, which says, "Hear, oh men of Israel." That's right, God challenged Rabbi to challenge Israel with the gospel, and we're fulfilling that calling. And you know, it's in part because of generous listeners like you. So would you join with us today?

Call 800-777-7835 or send your donation in the mail to Discovering the Jewish Jesus, P.O. Box 777, Blissfield, Michigan, 49228. And now, here's Rabbi to first sing God's sacred blessing in Hebrew and then speak it in English.

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: In the Book of Numbers, chapter six, we find a personal blessing from God our Father. This blessing should touch our hearts because it's so personal. Father God wants to intimately bless you. So receive His blessing into your life today with gladness and an open heart.

(Singing the Aaronic Blessing)

Yevarechecha Yahweh veyishmerecha

Ya'er Yahweh panav elecha vichunecha

Yissa Yahweh panav elecha 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 ones, 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 shows us that you're not just called to follow God, you're invited to know Him as a friend. That's Wednesday on Discovering the Jewish Jesus.