Discovering The Jewish Jesus

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: Careless words will bring destruction into your life and into the lives of others. People are sometimes careless with their words because they're letting their emotions control them rather than being controlled by truth.

Father God, we worship you today. We bless you today. We pray that your word would make entrance into our hearts and change our lives. Father, we ask you to wash us and sanctify us, transform us by your truth today in the name of Yeshua HaMashiach. For Jesus' name and Father for your fame, amen and amen.

I want to begin today with a foundational scripture. I'm reading from the book of James, chapter number three. Hear the word of God. For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well. Now if we put the bits into the horses' mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well.

What James is doing here is he's talking about how we have this animal, the horse, such a strong animal, and yet we can control the horse by putting the bridle in the horse's mouth. By controlling the horse's mouth with the bridle and the reins, we can control the direction that the horse goes.

He's about to tell us that the same thing is true for your life and my life. If we control what comes out of our mouth, if we will control our tongue and our mouth, it will determine the direction that our lives will go, the trajectory of our spiritual progress, even as a bridle in a horse's mouth controls the direction that the horse travels.

Let's continue on. Again, he picks up and speaks about putting a bit in a horse's mouth. Then he says in verse number four, "Look at ships also. Though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, they are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires."

These are really two incredible examples. He talks about one of the biggest, strongest animals, a horse, being directed by its mouth. Then he speaks about a ship. As big as a ship is, and no matter how big the ship is, the direction that the ship travels is determined by the little rudder, which James compares to our mouth, at the back of the ship.

The point he's about to make is if we will control our tongue, if we will control the words that we release from our mouths, we will determine through that the direction that we're going to go in life. Let's continue on here. So also, the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire.

Now James is saying your whole life is determined by what comes out of your mouth. But then he speaks about how prone we are to release things from our mouth that destroy. He speaks about a little flame that can destroy a whole forest by a forest fire. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire.

We think that the things that we say don't mean much. We think that a little criticism there, a little cursing here, a little lying here, a little gossip here, a little complaining here, or a little negativity here doesn't matter. It's just a small thing. But James says no, the whole forest is set ablaze by a small flame.

We need to be conscious of the fact that the little things that we think don't matter that come out of our mouth are actually poisoning us and bringing destruction into our life, hindering our spiritual progress, and connecting us to forces of darkness. This is so important and it's so practical.

Let's continue in verse six. "And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity. The tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. For every species of beast and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race.

But no one can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men who have been made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, my son, my daughter, these things ought not to be."

Now that we've established how the tongue and the words that come out of our mouth are so important and determine our spiritual trajectory, I want to talk to you today about four types of things that come from our mouth that bring defilement to us.

Problem number one is the abundance of words or talking too much. I remember not long ago, my brother and I were going fishing somewhere and somebody was taking us. This person didn't stop talking for two hours. Afterwards, my brother said to me, "He had diarrhea of the mouth." It wasn't that he was speaking about something that was so inappropriate. He just wouldn't stop talking.

The words that were coming out of his mouth were so meaningless. They were so non-essential. There was no weight in them. There was no transformative power in them. They were just words talking, talking, talking. The first thing that I want you to be conscious of is that if you're talking too much, by the very nature of the abundance of your words, you bring defilement to yourself.

Listen to what we read, for example, in the book of Proverbs. "When there are many words transgression is unavoidable, but he who restrains his tongue is wise." People that can't stop talking automatically are defiling themselves because when you're talking too much, you're delivering words that are at best empty, and that emptiness will defile.

The scripture says we will be judged by every idle word that comes out of our mouth. What does idle mean? Idle means it's just not going anywhere. So I want to encourage you, especially those of you that are nervous or have been raised in cultures where everyone's talking all the time. If you're going to have power in your life, we need to control our words.

Think about this mystery. When the children of Israel were about to enter the Promised Land, God gave them a supernatural strategy. The children of Israel were commanded to remain silent for seven days. They marched around the city of Jericho, which was the entrance into the Promised Land, for seven days and no one was to speak a word.

Then on the seventh day, the priest blew the shofar, and the people that had been silent for seven days let out a great shout and the walls fell down. I believe that the reason that the Lord commanded them to be silent for seven days before shouting, which brought the wall down, is because by silence they were building up power.

There was a time in my life where I was developing a sore throat and strained my vocal cord. My doctor told me, "You need to stop talking and stop preaching for two months." So for two months, I didn't talk. I communicated only by writing.

When I began to speak after the two months, I went to the doctor and he released me to speak. There was such power in my voice. I had such authority and it came from being wise with my words and not talking too much. People that are talking too much bring defilement into their life. If you know that you're perhaps someone that's nervous and you release your nervous energy by talking all the time, stop. Pull yourself back and learn to be wise with your words.

Problem number two is careless words. Listen to what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 12, verse 36 and 37. "But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an account for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

Careless words are words that perhaps are damaging. They injure. The emotion released in the words is not right because you're not thinking about what you're saying. Careless words are hasty words. They're reckless words. They're words that people are speaking without being sensitive to what they're saying, without being fully conscious of what they're saying and what they're releasing into the atmosphere.

Be careful what you say. Begin to pay attention to what you say. You and I need to put a rein on the words that come from our mouth. Careless words will bring destruction into your life and into the lives of others. People are sometimes careless with their words because they're letting their emotions control them rather than being controlled by truth.

Be careful what you say. May your words and my words line up with the word of God.

Dustin Roberts: You're listening to Discovering the Jewish Jesus with Rabbi Schneider and he'll be right back. I want to share with you that in the rush of everyday life, sometimes it's a challenge to connect with God. That's why Rabbi Schneider launched a one-minute audio devotional that's here to help you. You can start each morning with a powerful message, and I believe it'll give you spiritual insight and strength for your day ahead. Just search for "A Minute with Rabbi" on your favorite podcasting platform or visit discoveringthejewishjesus.com.

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Rabbi K.A. Schneider: Problem number three, going from careless words to becoming more specific, words that defile. Problem number three are negative and complaining words. This is one of the easiest things to be like a laser examining our words and asking ourselves, "Are the words that we're speaking negative or complaining?"

You know people that are negative. They're always looking at the glass as being half empty rather than half full. Let's listen to a scripture that will help us to understand what a negative or complaining word looks like. I'm reading now from the book of Philippians, chapter four, verse eight and nine.

Our words need to match up with what Philippians 4:8-9 teaches. Hear the word of God. Paul says here, "Finally brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is anything excellent, if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." In other words, dwell on those things that are good and beautiful and of good report.

Paul continues, "The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things and the God of peace will be with you." So we have to ask ourselves, when we're speaking, is it bringing goodness into the atmosphere? Are we speaking things in which we're speaking of a good report? Are we looking for the good things in life?

Are we looking for the good things in people? Are we looking for that which is beautiful, that which is lovely, that which is excellent, that which has hope, that which gives life? We need to be speaking forth positive things rather than allowing ourselves to be drawn down by the powers of darkness and begin to grumble and speak negative things.

Your life trajectory, the motion that you're traveling in, is going to be determined by what you release from your mouth. This is why the word of God always ties together what we believe and what we say. The scripture says if we believe in our heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and then confess it with our mouth, we'll be saved.

See how the two work together? First, we believe with our heart, then we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord. Jesus said if you believe and say to that mountain "be moved," it will be moved. So it's very important what we say. There's power that's released into the spiritual atmosphere that surrounds our lives and affects other people. There's power that's released into the atmosphere by what we say.

Lastly today, words that defile, problem number four, words through which we can criticize or judge others. Let me say it again. How many of us are guilty of being habitually criticizing, complaining about, and judging other people? This is so dangerous and it only brings destruction.

Remember the analogy that James used in the beginning of the message today. He said a little flame destroys the whole forest. This is what happens when you and I get into a habit of criticizing people and being negative. It destroys our whole spiritual life. We're stuck in darkness.

Hear the word of God as I read now from the book of Matthew, chapter number seven, verse number two. "For in the way you judge you will be judged, and by your standard of measure, it will be measured back to you." James says the same thing once again in James 3:9 and 10. He says that what we speak concerning God should be the same type of spirit through which we speak about other people. In other words, James says you bless God, and yet with your same mouth, you curse people. This ought not to be.

I want to say to you today, this is so serious. We need to stop gossiping about people. We need to stop talking about their faults. I realize that at times it's necessary to evaluate people's behavior and try to understand what's going on and look for understanding so that we can navigate relationships. I'm not talking about words that are spoken for the benefit of ascending in a relationship so that we have peace. I'm talking about people that are just criticizing because they're in darkness.

Listen, if you and I are criticizing other people, it's going to hurt us. The Bible tells us, as we began today, that what comes out of our mouth will determine the direction of our life. We've looked today at different types of things that come out of our mouth that defile us.

We've looked at careless words. We've looked at the fact that we need to be paying attention to what we're saying. We examined the problem of talking too much, and by very definition, people that are always talking defile themselves. We examined today the tendency that some people have of always complaining.

No matter what's going on, they always gravitate towards finding something bad about what's going on, always focusing on the problem, always looking for the negative. They're stuck in darkness. We need to avoid such men as this. We need to be careful that we're focusing on looking for the positive, looking for the excellent, speaking about what has a good report, dwelling and speaking on that which is lovely, and releasing Jesus's beauty into the atmosphere.

Then lastly today, we spoke about the extreme danger of being critical and judgmental of other people. Perhaps this is the biggest one because there's a tendency within the human heart, because the scripture says that the heart is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things, to criticize people.

We have to understand that a lot of times when we feel judged, maybe we were reared in an environment where our mom or dad judged us, for some reason, maybe there's a spirit of accusation in our own life. One of the natural things that people do that feel criticized or feel judged is they pass that spirit on to others around their life.

In other words, if there's a person that grew up in an abusive home, their mom or dad abused them psychologically, verbally, whatever it is, those people, unless they get radically changed, will repeat that same pattern in their own life as parents. Even as they were judged and abused by their parents verbally, these same parents now have children and they begin to abuse their children.

But you know what? By Jesus Christ, we can break the cycle of being negative with our words. I want you to hear me today. If you control what you say, if you'll avoid excessive talking, if you'll be conscious of the words that are coming out of your mouth so that you're not speaking carelessly, if you'll focus on speaking about positive things, and if you'll avoid criticizing and judging other people, you will build up God's power in your spirit and it will cause you to ascend out of darkness into your life.

By practicing these disciplines, your whole life is going to be transformed. It's just that simple. It's like James said: even as a small rudder controls the whole ship, so too, if you'll focus on what comes out of your mouth and control it, it's going to determine the spiritual trajectory of your life. You're going to grow up in God's spirit and walk into peace.

By the grace of God, Cynthia and I together are a really strong team. Our anointing and gifting is almost opposite of each other. I'm really good up in the air, a visionary, big-concept person. Cynthia is really gifted on the ground. For example, if we're traveling somewhere in our automobile, I'll be completely lost, but Cynthia has a great sense of direction and can navigate us to get wherever we're going.

I say that to say I'm a big-concept person. One of the things that I realize is that in the spirit, in order to grow and to be released in the goodness of God, we need to stretch ourselves and do what feels unnatural. This is why Jesus said even sinners love their friends. He said I'm calling you to go beyond that. I'm calling you to stretch yourself and love your enemies.

This pertains even to our finances. We need to stretch ourselves and honor the Lord with our finances. We need to let go and let God. Will you do that in your life?

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And now, here's Rabbi Schneider. He's going to close out our time with a very special blessing. We wrap up each and every program this way because we want to bless you and send you off hearing the sacred and heartfelt words that God said that he wanted his priest to share over his people. So now here's Rabbi with the Aaronic blessing.

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: Blessings trump curses. In the book of Numbers chapter six, we find the Aaronic blessing that God commanded Moses's brother Aaron, the high priest, to speak over the children of Israel. There's power in blessing, beloved ones. So take part in receiving Father's blessing upon your life today.

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.

Yevarekhekha Yahweh veyishmerekha. Yaer Yahweh panav eleykha veyikhunekha. Yissa Yahweh panav eleykha veyasem lekha shalom.

God bless you and shalom.

Dustin Roberts: This program is produced and sponsored by Discovering the Jewish Jesus and I'm your host, Dustin Roberts. Come back tomorrow when Rabbi Schneider explains how to respond to God with our talents and gifts. That's Thursday on Discovering the Jewish Jesus.