Rabbi Schneider - Relying on the Knower
Hear me when I say to you this: To walk in freedom, we must learn to abide in our Knower. What do I mean by that? Because our society today in the Western world is so affected by their intellect, many people, believers included, are more affected by their intellect than they are with being in touch and being led by their knower inside them. Some of you have heard me share the story before, I'll never forget it, how years ago I was on my way to a certain destination. I stopped at a little 7-Eleven shop to get something to eat. And I got back in my car. When I got back in my car to continue down the route, I sensed just a knowing in my knower. I didn't hear a voice. I just had a knowing in my Knower, it was saying to me, "Don't go that way. Don't go the normal way that you go".
It was so strong that I literally said, "God, that makes no sense. I'm just sensing inside me that I'm not supposed to go that way". But it makes no sense to me because that's the fastest way by far. But I said to the Lord... I literally was in my car and I said this to Him, I said, "But this is so strong". I said, "Father, please forgive me, I'm going to go the way I normally go. I'm going to ignore this knowing I have in my knower, if you will. I'm going to ignore what I'm feeling I'm supposed to do and I'm going to, instead, rely on my intellect because what I'm feeling I'm supposed to do makes no sense. And if when I go the way that I normally go, I run into a problem, then I'm gonna know that I knew and I'm gonna mark that I can know you in a way that's deep, deep down inside me. Because this thing that I'm knowing in me now, it doesn't make any sense. It contradicts my mind, it contradicts what's logical. I'm gonna go the logical way and if I find out that this was in fact you that was speaking to me deep down inside, from now on, I'm going to know and I'm going to follow that".
Sure enough, I get back in my car, I go the usual route. What happens? Big accident. I'm stuck in traffic there for 25 minutes, a half hour. I'm sitting in my car apologizing to Father God, saying, "Father, forgive me. You spoke to me, I just knew. I didn't hear a voice but I knew. I didn't mind the witness in my heart, I just relied on my intellect, I relied on what made sense. And I see now that I can trust you. When you speak to me, I can trust that I know, I can trust the knowing in my knower".
If we're going to walk into freedom, if we're going to walk in Revelation that's going to set us free, we need to come to the place, beloved, that we're in touch with what I'm calling our knower inside us that's not dependent on intellect, it's not dependent on circumstances, it's not dependent on society's norms. It's simply being in touch with Hashem, with the witness of the Holy Spirit inside the believer, inside you and me. You see today many people deny there's a God. Of course, we all know people that are atheists-Well, there is no God. Or agnostics-I'm not sure if there's a God. But the Bible tells us that all men know there's a God.
The scripture tells us that God's invisible attributes, His eternal glory is clearly seen in His creation. That when we look at the sky, we know there's a God. When we look at the beautiful plants and butterflies and the rainbow and the rivers, we know there's a God because beauty comes from God. But yet today, people say there is no God. How is that possible? I believe, beloved, it happens for two primary reasons.
I believe, number one, it happens when people have been hurt in life, and to get back at God, they claim that there is no God. Secondly, I believe that it happens when people are so affected by their intellect they lose track of their knower. In other words, somebody experiences something, for example, the death of a parent, some horrendous situation occurs in their life. And because that situation happened, they get mad at God. And in order to hurt God back because they've been hurt and they blame God for it, they deny God exist, hoping to hurt Him back without even realizing what they're doing. The other thing that happens, once again, is that people are so drawn into the realm of intellectualization, there's so much living in their mind that they lose track of what they know deep down inside.
I'll never forget the story of what happened to me in Uganda years ago. I was ministering in Uganda. I woke up one morning, we were eating outside for breakfast. It was an all open area outside with tables and stuff set out. And there was another individual there. She was a Caucasian individual like myself. We were just a few Caucasians that were at this hotel. And she came up to the table where I was eating, and my team was with me, and she introduced herself. And she sat down and she began to tell us that she was a scientist, and she was doing medical research there for humanitarian aid. We told her what we were doing and she said, "I don't believe in God". I said, "Well, that's a problem".
And I pointed to a beautiful flower right close to her about three feet away. I said, "How do you explain the beauty of that flower? How can you explain beauty from a test tube"? I said, "And how can you explain the fact that you have a conscious awareness of yourself and of life right now"? And I said, "Honey, how can you explain the fact that you have a capacity to love? That doesn't come from a big bang alone, or from a test tube". I said, "That only comes because there's a Creator". Well, lo and behold, that precious young lady came to the crusade where I was preaching that night and she felt the power of God. She saw Hashem, she saw God do miracles.
And two days later, when she was about to leave, I was once again eating breakfast and she came up to me and she said to me very humbly and sweetly, she said to me, "Thank you, for your wisdom". That was an example of somebody that was so drawn into science. Not that science is bad. Science could be a good thing. But when people are brought into science in such a way that the science that they're learning denies God and they begin to dwell on their intellect rather than their knower, they get to a place where they really have convinced themselves there is no God, not because they don't know but because they've been separated from their knower, they've been separated from their inside because they're dwelling in the intellect that's connected to the outer world.
So today, I say to you, beloved one, if you're struggling because you're not connected to what you know inside, return to your maker. Like myself, I learned the lesson. When the Lord was telling me to go one way but it didn't make sense to me because I was rolling in my intellect. And intellectually, it didn't make sense to me to do what I knew I was supposed to do. I learned that when I went the way of my intellect, I went into a dead end and I realized I could really trust that I know. If you're going to enter into fullness, and if I'm going to walk in the fullness of life that God has for us, we have to be in touch with what we know deep down inside us.
Listen to what Jesus said in the Gospel of John 11. Jesus here was about to raise Lazarus from the dead. And as He was about to raise Lazarus from the dead, He looked up to the Father, and here's what he said. He said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I know that you always hear me". Listen once again. Jesus has said, "I knew..." We're talking about the knower. Jesus said, "I knew that You always hear me; but because of the people standing around I said it..." You see, Jesus knew that God knew. And because He knew that God knew, He knew. Be aware God is alive, He's watching you, His eyes are upon you. He's alive. He's all over existence. He's all over creation.
And you can trust His Spirit to know for you so that as you enter into this deeper realm of walking with Him, not just relying on head knowledge, but by relying on the witness of the Holy Spirit, of the Ruach HaKodesh, inside you. You can follow Him and be led in Him in a way that's going to far exceed where you could be led if you're just relying on your own mind. "Be still," the Lord said, "and know that I am God". Know inside you the witness of His Holy Spirit. As you just spend time with Him every day just being still, you will more and more get in touch with the inner witness of the Ruach HaKodesh, of the Holy Spirit in you. And as you get in touch with the witness of the Holy Spirit in you, you'll sense, yes, I feel like I'm supposed to do that. I just feel it. Or you know what? I don't feel like I'm supposed to do that. And so you don't do it.
As you abide in what you know-it's not thinking, it's what you know inside-you're going to enter into deeper and deeper rivers of living water. And if you're like me, you're gonna find that oftentimes, deep inside you knew you weren't supposed to do something, you weren't supposed to say something but you said it anyway. Somehow your impulses just got the best of you. And then afterwards, you just felt it ended terribly. It ended badly you know. You walked away from the conversation and felt like there was death and separation. And you said yourself, "I knew that I wasn't supposed to say anything to that person. I knew I wasn't supposed to mention that. Why did I do that"?
Beloved, that happens to me all the time. God is still training me. But more and more, I'm walking in deeper places by abiding in what I know and not relying on my thoughts or my intellect. As we conclude today, I just want to briefly review with you the areas that we've covered in this series called Revelations to set you free walking in a deeper path. Number one, we began by talking about the fact that everything is within Hashem. I'm not saying God is everything, but I'm saying His entire creation is in Him. He is upholding everything by His power. The book of Acts tells us in chapter 17, in Him, we live and move and have our being. Everything the, scripture says, is being upheld by His power. We're in Him and yet, beloved ones, we're separate from Him.
You and I have been created in His own image with unique personalities, with a freewill, with unique temperaments. And God designed it so that we could be real individual people that are choosing to love Him. And when you accept the fact that you're in Him, His eyes are always on you, and yet you're separate from Him. And it's up to you and me to choose to love Him with our will, we're going to enter into true dynamic living love. You see, we're not robots. God doesn't force us to love Him. He has given us a free will and we need to choose to love Him. When we wake up in the morning, it's up to us to say, you know what, Lord? I'm going to spend the first part of my day with you, just sitting before you, listening to beautiful worship music, reading the scriptures, reading your devotional.
Just giving that first part of your day to God because you love Him, because you want to put Him first in your life. He sees you doing that whether you feel like with your emotions or not. He sees that you're choosing to love Him. And He's a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him. Be aware. You're unique individual. Nobody can give your heart to God but you. Only you can give Him your love. And so recognize that there's a responsibility and a call on your life. You and I need to choose to love Him every day. We're in Him, but we're separate from Him. And it's up to us to use our lives in a way that chooses to love Him.
Secondly, we had talked about the fact that when God created the world in Genesis 1, after He created the plants and the vegetables, He said and it was good. After He created the fish and the birds, He said it was good. After God created the cattle and the animals, He said, it was good. It was only after He created man that that phrase "it was good" is left out. Why? Because the other parts of God's creation were finished when He spoke them into being. But when God created man, the creation wasn't finished yet because you and I are still in the process of becoming all that God created us to be. So whether you're from Africa, India, or China, from Israel, or America, it doesn't matter. Our destination is the same. We're on the journey of transformation.
All of us together as our eyes are on Hashem, being transformed the image of Christ, we're not done yet. But when we see Him, we'll be like Him. Beloved, we're in the process of becoming. The rest of creation is finished; you and I are still evolving to become all that God has called us and destined us to be. And then I talked about the fact that God is self-sufficient. He self-existing. We all know this. And yet He's chosen to need you and me. I know that almost sounds, What are you saying, Rabbi? God does not need us in the sense that He wouldn't be fine without us. He's always been. He existed before He created us. But God chose to love us. And because He chose to love us. In a sense, He needs us. If God didn't need us because of His choice to love us, He wants to send His only begotten Son to the cross to have His beard plucked out, to be beaten, spit on and laughed at and blasphemed and mocked, to have the nails go through His hands and His feet and the spear on His side.
If God didn't need us because of His choice to love us, beloved, Jesus wouldn't have come. God loves you so much. And then we continued on. And I talked about the fact that your imperfections, even the sinful traits that you're in the process of overcoming, is what qualifies you to make you great because Jesus has called us to overcome. He didn't create us without any capacity to sin. He didn't create us with a disposition that's only good. He gave us a choice. The Torah tells us, "I've put before you life and death. Choose life that you might live". And so your imperfections, even your sinful habits, even, beloved, those things in your life that you feel disqualify you, those things that you feel disqualify you are actually your potential for greatness because God has called us to overcome. And if God didn't want us to be engaged in this battle against sin, against the flesh, against the devil in the world, He would have made creation differently.
Don't beat yourself up. God loves you just the way you are. But He loves you and I too much, beloved, to leave us where we're at. God does not disqualify you. Don't disqualify yourself because of your imperfection. It's just your starting point, you're on the journey of perfection and you're overcoming. And then I talked about the fact that sometimes we think the problem is God is so far away. But the problem for many of us is not that God is so far away we can't get to Him. It's not that He's in heaven and we can't reach to Him. The real problem is He's so close, closer than your next heartbeat, closer than your next breath. He knows your next thought before you'll think it. He's so close. Our challenge is to be open enough to Him to let Him in. Jesus, I stand at the door of your heart and I'm knocking. If you'll open up, I'll come in with you and have communion with you and you with me.
And closely related to that as the mistake we make of thinking that God is somewhere over there or God is somewhere over there. He's in this place. But Jesus said, "Lo, the kingdom of God is neither here nor there. The kingdom of God is within you". God fills space and He fills time but He's beyond space and He's beyond time. He is right here. He's not someplace else, beloved. He is right here and right now. And today, we talked about living life from the inside out, rather than the outside in. I encourage you to go back and watch those episodes. So important to get in touch with your inner reality and live your life from the inside rather than always looking at yourself from the outside thinking about what other people think about you, rather than living your life with your eyes in your own head. And then beloved, as I spoke on today, you need to live in a place where you're living out of what you know, not on your intellect, but living through your knower within you.