Rabbi Schneider - Unforgiveness, Woundedness and Trauma

God bless you, beloved ones; my name's Rabbi Schneider. Welcome today to today's edition of Discovering the Jewish Jesus. We're in the midst of a series that I'm calling Self Deliverance: Gaining Victory over the Powers of Darkness.

Father God, I ask you to release life right now into each and every child of yours that's watching this broadcast. Father, I ask for a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of you. Father, I ask you to give us understanding that we would understand the nature of the spiritual reality that we live in; Jesus, that you would help us to see beyond the visible world, to understand what's happening in the spiritual dimension, because you told us that our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against forces of spiritual darkness in heavenly places.

Beloved ones, if you're tuning in for the first time today to this series, I really want to encourage you to get the resources that are available to you at the end of this broadcast. This is such an important topic because we're never gonna be walking in the peace, and the fullness, and the Shalom, and love, and joy that's ours in Jesus unless we learn how to take authority over demonic power. As I began weeks ago teaching, people today hear that word demon, they think it's archaic. But the reality is almost 1/3 of Jesus's ministry in the New Testament involved setting people free that were in bondage and being afflicted with demons.

Those same demons that walked the earth during the day of Jesus, beloved, the like kind are still here today, and they're still intended on doing the same harm to people. But praise God, the Bible says that Jesus came to set us free, hear it now, and to destroy the works of the devil. The devil is real. Peter said that your adversary the devil is roaming around looking for someone to devour. And that we need, Paul said, to put on the full armor of God in Ephesians, 6. We're in a battle. We can't run from it. We can't hide from it. We must face it and subdue our enemy if we're gonna enter in, beloved, to the freedom that is ours in Jesus. If you're at school and someone is picking on you like I shared last week, and they're a bully, and they have no heart, they're not gonna go away until you turn around and face them and exert authority over them.

You know, sometimes we think that we can make all things right by being nice. But I want you to hear Jesus was more than just a Mr. Nice Guy. It is true, as children of God that have been filled with the Holy Spirit, there should be a quality about us that perhaps some would describe as nice. But that's just not the only dimension that reflects who Jesus is. He also is coming, beloved, on a white horse from heaven, with a sword coming out of his mouth, and the armies of heaven behind him. The Jesus that we believe in is the Jesus that walked into the temple and drove out the moneychangers from it. And even as the money changers, beloved, needed to forcefully be driven out of the temple by King Jesus, so too, beloved, spirits that have no right to be in our space, that are from the realm of darkness, need to be focused on, faced, and driven out just like Jesus focused on, faced, and drove out the money changers from the temple, which was God's space.

In this series, Self Deliverance, that I began weeks ago, we've been talking about how it is that demonic spirit can enter a believer's life. Now once again, I want you to understand, I do not believe a Christian can be possessed by a devil. But I believe that if you're worrying all the time, it's because of a demon. I believe if you're fearing all the time, it's because of a demon. I believe if you've got an addiction in some area of your life, it's because of a demon. You see, sometimes what starts out to be a physical problem, when we don't control it, it becomes more than a physical problem, it becomes a spiritual problem. The point I'm making, beloved, is that many Christians like to tell themselves that a Christian can't have a problem with a demon. But that's not what the Bible says. This is nothing to be afraid of. We have an enemy.

Let me ask you this question. Can a Christian get a virus? Can a Christian get a cold? Yes, the virus, or the cold, or the infection, they're just squatters. They're invading us when they have no right to be in us. And in the same way that a Christian can get a virus, an infection, or a cold, in the same way a demon can be occupying some of our space and it needs to be confronted and driven out. If you're constantly, beloved, fearing, it's because there's a demon that's occupying a space of your mind, and it needs to be focused on, confronted and driven out. And you can do that. But first we have to wake up and realize where the battle is.

We have to get the courage to be able to face the demon and call it what it is, just like Jesus said when he spoke to the demon and he said, what is your name? And then he cast out the spirits with a word. We need to get that same enlightenment, operate in the same courage, beloved, to be able to drive out enemies that are trespassing in our space from our own life.

And so last week I was talking about how spirits that are not of God can gain entrance into our life. And I had talked in the previous broadcast about spirits that are passed down from family trees. I'm not gonna go ahead and review that again. Get the previous broadcast. And I also talked about how when we sin, we take our self outside of God's protective covering and the enemy then can get a way in to our lives.

Today as I continue, I want to talk about the problem, get this now, of unforgiveness. I know as a young believer myself, I didn't realize how serious unforgiveness was. I mean, I knew that Jesus said in the Lord's Prayer, he said, you know, pray in this way, and then he talked about forgiveness. Father, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespassed against us. And then Jesus said, for if you don't forgive those that trespassed against you, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you. And I heard that but I didn't really comprehend how serious unforgiveness is.

I want to read you a portion of Scripture now that perhaps some of you have read before. And you didn't quite understand it, just like I didn't understand it until God eventually gave me revelation. I'm going now, beloved ones, to the Gospel of John, and I'm going to verse number 21; chapter 20 of John's Gospel, beginning in verse number 21. Hear the Word of God: And Jesus said to them again, peace, or Shalom. And that Hebrew word, Shalom, it is a blessing of complete wholeness. The word Shalom means wholeness.

So Jesus is speaking complete wholeness onto those he was blessing, spirit, soul, mind and body. So Jesus said, peace be with you, Shalom, wholeness be with you. As the Father has sent Me, I also send you. And when He had said this, get this now, He breathed on them and said to them, get it, receive the Ruach HaKodesh, receive, he said, the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them. If you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.

Now if you've read that before, perhaps like me you thought, why would Jesus say receive the Holy Spirit and then the very next word that he said was if you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them. If you retain the sins of any, their sins will be retained. Why would he say that in connection with peace I give you, receive the Holy Spirit? And what's going on here, beloved, is that Jesus is teaching that if we hold onto a grudge against somebody, it's gonna block the peace of God and the Holy Spirit from being able to fully enter our lives. You see, when we don't forgive somebody else, we let poison have a hold in our own heart. As many have said before, unforgiveness is the poison that we think we're giving somebody else and without realizing it, we're actually drinking it our self.

Unforgiveness keeps people in bondage and it gives Satan a legal right to torment. Remember the story that Jesus told about the one that had been forgiven so much. But then after the one that had been forgiven so much had been forgiven, he was walking down the road. And somebody that owed him money came up to him and said, please forgive me this debt that I owe you. But after having been forgiven so much, the one that had been forgiven refused to show grace and forgiveness to one that owed them. And Jesus, when he saw that, in the parable Jesus said, you wouldn't forgive after you were forgiven so much. Jesus said, I'm gonna turn you over to the tormenters now. That because this one would not forgive, Jesus said, I'm gonna turn you over to the tormenters.

What does this mean? When we don't forgive, once again, we take our self outside the Holy Spirit, outside of abiding in the Holy Spirit, and outside of the Holy Spirit is a place, beloved, where demons can attack. That's why Jesus said we must forgive. The Lord really brought this home to me in a very personal way, again in a dream not so many years ago. And in this dream, beloved one, I found myself in a house. And I was running in the house because there was a tormenter that was pursuing me. I couldn't see the tormenter. I just knew that these people that were tormenters were like pursuing me and I kept on running through the house from one room to another room, to another room trying to escape the tormenters. But wherever I went, the tormenters followed me. And I couldn't escape.

And finally after this went on for some time in the dream, me running from these tormenters, but being unable to get away from them, finally in the dream, I felt the gaze of God, like a beam of light lock down upon me. I felt God looking at me as a beam of light in the dream. And then I heard the Spirit of the Lord speak to me in the dream. And when he spoke to me in the dream, he directed my attention to somebody in my life that I had not forgiven, somebody that I was holding a grudge against. And then I heard the Lord say to me as he caused me to see this person that I was holding unforgiveness against, then the Lord said to me, listen, he said, release them.

And when I made a conscious decision in my heart in the midst of the dream to release that person that I was holding like an I.O.U. over their life; like you owe me, I'm gonna hurt you now. When I released that person, instantly what happened, beloved ones, instantly what happened, folks, in the dream was the tormenters were gone. And the Lord revealed to me in that dream that when I hold on to unforgiveness, I am opening up a channel for tormenters from the realm of darkness to torment me and harass me. And you know what, the Word of God teaches the same thing about you. Unforgiveness keeps a door open for demons to enter into our space and to torment us.

I want to give you an opportunity right now. I wanna let the Holy Spirit speak to us right now. I'm gonna ask Father, I'm gonna ask Jesus to cause his Holy Spirit to speak to us right now. If there's people in your life, if there's someone or more than one person in your life that you are just holding a grudge against. You just have a vengeful spirit towards, and you're holding onto this thing, and you're locked on to this vengeance, I want you to know, that is hurting you. And Jesus is gonna give us an opportunity right now to let that person go, to bless them, so that we can recover, beloved one, and get free from the torment of darkness. So, I'm gonna bow right now and I'm gonna ask you to kind of join me. And I'm gonna ask the Holy Spirit right now to reveal to you. Perhaps you'd like to get on your knee if you can, and just be open before the Lord. Let's ask the Lord to show you who in your life you need to let go of, who you need to release.

Father God, in Jesus's name, I ask you right now, Father, because of your great love that you have for us, to show your people that are joining me in their hearts right now as we're looking to you, to show each one of us, Father God, who in our life we need to release; who we're holding unforgiveness against; and who we need to bless; who we need, Father God, to, to position ourselves with above the natural realm in the supernatural realm of releasing forgiveness towards them despite the fact, Lord, that they've done us wrong.

Jesus, we want to thank you that when you were on the cross, you looked at those that crucified you and you looked up to the Father and said, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. And we want to be like you, Jesus. So we look at you, Jesus, on the cross right now, and we see you saying to the Father about those that crucified you, about those that plucked out your beard, about those that put the spear in your side, we see you right now saying to the Father, Jesus, Father forgive them for they know not what they do. And now Jesus, as we're still looking at you, we say to those that have hurt us and wounded us, I release you. I bless you. We love you, Jesus.

Now some of you have been wounded so gravely, you've been so violated that you just start crying when you think about the hurt and the pain that's been inflicted on you by the one that's wounded you. And here's what I want to encourage you to do. Don't look at the person that hurt you. Don't look at the person that wounded you. Just look at Jesus on the cross. Just see him saying, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. And as you look at Jesus on the cross, just out of the side, just out of your peripheral, just say to those people, I forgive you. I release you. I bless you. Don't look at the person 'cause if you look too much at the person and focus too much on the person, what's gonna happen is all that old hurt's gonna come back and you're gonna be overwhelmed by the pain again and find it difficult to forgive.

So don't look at the person, look at Jesus. And then just release the person and speak blessing over them as you keep your eyes focused on Jesus; just as Peter was able to walk on water when he kept his focus on Jesus rather than looking at the sea. Beloved ones, if we're gonna get victory over the realm of darkness, we're gonna have to learn, beloved one, how to walk in grace and in forgiveness. Now moving on, I want to share with you how another entry point of demonic influence in our life can come from trauma.

We don't realize, beloved, that when we have been severely traumatized by something, there is an emotional break that takes place in our life. If could be physical. It could be emotional, spiritual. But when we go through very, very significant trauma, it's like our armor, our protective coating can be broken. And through that brokenness, through that trauma, sometimes what happens is a spirit of torment can enter in and begin to bring affliction. Remember, Jesus rose from the dead to give us victory over all these things. I'm just scientifically sharing with you how spirits get in. There's nothing to be afraid of, but in order to get victory over our enemy, we have to understand who he is and how he operates.

So this is sometimes like if a person's ever been robbed, if a person's ever been raped, if a person's been abused; sometimes war veterans, sometimes someone that goes through extreme trauma through an illness. During that time of trauma there can be a vulnerability that takes place that a demon could take advantage of. You see, Peter said, once again, I've quoted this several times, that your enemy the devil, Peter said; and notice that he said, church, your enemy. He wasn't talking to the unbeliever. He was talking to the church. He was talking to you and I. He said, your enemy the devil roams about looking for someone to devour.

Who is he looking to devour? He's looking, beloved one, hear me now, he's looking for somebody that's weak. Just like when you look into the animal kingdom you see perhaps a lion and they're going to attack, and who do they look for in the flock? They look for the weakest member of the flock. And so if we go through a trauma, we can get severely weakened in that state. And in that state we can become vulnerable to attack from the enemy spirits. Now Jesus, when he came, he said he came to bind up the brokenhearted.

And so Father, right now in Jesus's name, I speak to souls, Father God, that right now you want to heal. And Father, in Jesus's name, by the authority that you've given me, I release healing into each and every one right now, King Jesus, whom you're working in. I speak the healing of the Holy Spirit, Father God, into their soul, over their soul, into their hearts, Lord, into their mind, over their mind. Release Shalom, Jesus. Release healing to your church right now, to your body, to your beloved ones in Jesus's name. By Jesus's stripes, beloved, we've been healed. I speak healing now to the broken hearted. Jesus, right now, breathe life and power into your beloved ones, Amen. Amen and Amen and Amen.

And so we've talked about entry points of how demons can gain access into the believer's life. They don't possess us, but they can occupy space. And we talked about recognizing that this is not some far off, archaic, superstitious problem, but the problems, beloved, that you and I deal with often times are originating from the realm of darkness. Inordinate fears, inordinate anxiety, addictions to things like alcohol, drugs, pornography, being angry all the time, these are actually spiritual problems.

We talked about how these spirits can enter our lives. They enter through our family tree. The sins of the parents are passed down from one generation to the next. We read about that in the Torah and Exodus, 20, as well as the fact that even in the Gospel of John, chapter 9, Jesus's disciples recognized this principle. We talked about demons entering through personal sin. We talked about demons entering, beloved ones, through unforgiveness. And finally today we concluded by talking about how demons can enter through brokenness and trauma.

I'm just so happy to tell you today that Jesus loves you. All we're doing is looking at the problem, but the problem is this big, and Jesus is so, so, so, so, so, so, so big. And all we have to do, beloved, is face the problem in Jesus, continue to move forward in him. And what's gonna happen is the problem's gonna get smaller, and smaller, and your awareness of Jesus's presence in your life is gonna get bigger and bigger. I bless you right now, and I release an apostolic blessing over your life. I release, church, a blessing of love and of unity. I release the blessing of vision over you. And I release the blessing of increase over you. God bless you. I love in, in Jesus's name, and Shalom.