Rabbi Schneider - Know Your Destiny
I was watching a documentary last night on the phenomenon of what is happening to many young boys that are going from boyhood to manhood. Particularly young boys that are in their later years of high school and early years of college. There's an epidemic going on amongst young boys and young men in terms of being able to find purpose and meaning in life. It's a real problem. In terms of the increased suicide rate, increase of dropping out of school, increase of lack of the ability to connect with other people. And so in this documentary, they were investigating what could be done to help these boys that are really having a hard time finding purpose in life. And that's really what it boiled down to. These young men were having a difficult time finding purpose.
And here they were, you know, 17 18, 19 years old, already worrying that they were going to lead a life of purposelessness, having no real goal in mind. They isolated some of the causes of this. It was the breakdown of the family. And one of the other big causes was technology. That so many of us today are so addicted to technology, to our smartphones, our computers, to all the different apps that we've lost connection to real people. You know, we've got friends that are a mile wide, and an inch deep. But people were meant to belong to a community. It's a huge problem.
I share that with you because the primary thing that was in the hearts and souls of many of these young men, these boys that were coming man was a sense of purposelessness. But you and I, beloved, as believers in Yeshua, we have the ultimate purpose. We've been called into a relationship with the Living God. We've got a purpose and a destiny. The Bible says that we've been called to press on towards the upward goal of Christ Jesus. What is our purpose? To know God, to experience God, and to be able to be transformed into His likeness. And then to be a vessel that he can use to touch other people and bless the world, in this world, yes, but in the world to come as well.
The point is, beloved, that we're going somewhere. You and I are going somewhere. We're not as those that have no hope. We're not as those that have no purpose. This is why I begin every single day in the morning by reading from the scriptures, reading my devotionals, asking the Lord, did I dream anything last night? Does it mean anything? I'm setting my course for the day by bringing my focus to the Word of God. What's the purpose today? What's the goal today? What do I need to work on in my life? What attitudes do I need to overcome? What selfishness in my nature needs to be overcome? How can I treat this person better? How can I treat that person better? How can I overcome in your spirit today, Lord? How can I overcome so that there's fruit for you in my life, so that I become more and more of a fragrant aroma to you?
Beloved, we have a purpose. My question to you is, do you know your purpose? And if you brought yourself into alignment with your purpose. Before we can talk about breakthrough, we first have to know what it is that we're wanting to break through into? And if you don't have a purpose in your life, how will you have breakthrough? Because in order to get breakthrough, we have to be aiming a certain direction. Have you ever heard of a football team getting breakthrough of through the other team if they don't know what they're aiming towards? Now, when a football team gets on the field, the team with the ball is trying to break through the defense of their opponent and get that ball into the end zone. They have a definite pattern, a definite goal. They're going forward. They know exactly where they're going. And oftentimes, they're able to get break through that defensive line because there's enough power and enough focus, enough strength that they're able to pierce through that defensive line and get the break through ultimately to get that ball into the end zone.
Well, I want to ask you today. Let's be real for a moment. How many of us today are not experiencing much breakthrough, because we don't have enough focus? We don't have enough passion. We don't have a definitive goal in terms of what are we wanting? What do we want to achieve? And so I want to begin today, beloved one, by asking you to search your heart, so that you can recognize and bring your heart to the Lord and say, Lord, help me to become more focused on what my goal is. And what's the goal? To know God, to experience God, and to make Him known. And so, if that's your goal today, I'm here with some good news. If you'll apply some of the principles I'm about to share with you in your life, it will help you to get breakthrough in your life with God so that you can know Him more, experience Him more, be clothed with more power, increase in the love of God and become a greater blessing to other people in the earth.
Now, we've been looking at our primary text from the book of 2 Samuel 5. And I don't want to take too much time today, because this is now my fifth episode on this topic. I encourage you to go back and watch the complete Season 1. There are three episodes there. And this is now my second episode in Season 2 on spiritual breakthrough. But we've been studying the life of David and we've been teaching about the fact that as soon as David was anointed king, the first thing that happened was he was attacked by the Philistines that are symbolic of being attacked by the powers of darkness. Very similar to what happened when Yeshua was immersed by John the Baptist, Yochanan, we say in Hebrew, the Immerser in the Jordan River. As soon as Yeshua was immersed in the Jordan River, came out of the water, a dove came upon his head, John the Baptist saw it, and then the voice came from heaven, "You are My beloved Son and in you I'm well pleased".
As soon as that happened, you could say anointing happened, what happened next, the Spirit of the Lord led Jesus, this is review now, into the wilderness where He did battle against the devil for 40 days. And so this is the pattern that happened to David when he was anointed king, he was attacked by the Philistines. It happened to Yeshua. When He was coming out of the water and the Spirit of the Lord descended upon Him. And so, if this is the pattern, you and I need to get our head wrapped around the fact that spiritual warfare is real. We need to be ready for it. We need to anticipate it. And we need to know how to walk through it, my beloved friends, when it happens.
So let's read today again quickly, 2 Samuel 5 beginning in verse 17. "When the Philistines heard that they had anointed David King over Israel, all the Philistines went up to seek out David", to destroy him, to kill him, "and when David heard of it", so David realized he was under spiritual attack, "He went down to the stronghold". I spoke upon all that. He went down to a place and he sought God. "Now the Philistines came and spread themselves out in the valley of Rephaim". They were attacking David from many different angles. "Then David inquired of the Lord, saying, 'Shall I go up against the Philistines? What shall I do?' And he said, 'Will you give them into my hand?' And the Lord said to David, 'Go up, and I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand.'"
So let's bring this down to your and I level. Maybe there's something, beloved one, in your life that you're struggling with today. Maybe it's your marriage. Maybe it's your children or your grandchildren. Maybe it's just mental thoughts that are tormenting you and you don't even know why. What should you do? Well, the first thing we should do is do what David did. We need to get alone with God, see that this strong other was a secret place. It was like the prayer closet that Yeshua spoke of. We get alone with God and we talk to God. We open up to Him. We say, Lord help me. And we tell Him. He already knows but we open up our soul. Tell him what's going on, what we're struggling with. Totally honest and transparent, we say, "Lord, help me". And when we do that, God comes into our lives into our soul, because we've made room for Him and we've invited Him in.
You see, Jesus said, "Behold I stand at the door and knock, and anyone that opens the door, I'm going to come in and dine with him and he with Me". So the first thing that we need to do is get alone with God, call out to Him. And even if it seems that nothing is happening right away, I promise you this. If you are truly calling out to God, to the living God in spirit and in truth, though, the answer may tarry, I promise you, your weakness is being transformed into divine strength. You may not see the victory in a day. Because sometimes the Lord the Scripture says, drives out the enemy little by little, because if you drove out the enemy all at once, we wouldn't even know how to handle it. So the Lord said, "I will not drive out your enemy all at once, but little by little so that you might possess the land".
So my word to you, my friend is this: as you continue to do what I'm instructing, keep on calling out to God, being honest with Him, recognize you're under attack, ask Him for His help, Confess where you're falling, where you're failing, confess to Him where you may be coming into agreement with the enemy. In other words, if the enemy is tormenting you to be in a spirit of accusation or hatred toward somebody, and you know it's wrong but you're doing it, ask God for forgiveness. Tell Him that you doing it and calling Him for help. What I'm saying to you is if you will keep doing this and following this process eventually, you're going to be transformed. Sometimes the transformation doesn't happen just like that. It happens little by little because God's way of transforming us is causing us to continue to cry out to Him in our weakness, in our need for His help.
And as we continue to learn how to depend on Him, as we continue to learn how to become dependent on Him, His power is perfected in our life. This is what Paul was referring to in the book of second Corinthians 1. Shaul said there, "I would have you know, brethren, that I am burdened excessively, beyond strength, so that I despair," Paul said, "even of life". In other words, Paul was under such pressure. It felt so rotten, so terrible. Paul said that he despaired even of life. But then he went on to say this, "But this happens to me, that I would learn to trust in God that raises the dead".
Paul was going through an extreme time of crushing. But he said it was for a purpose, because in this place of him being crushed, as he was calling out to God, he was being imparted with resurrection power to come out of this thing in the power of God. And the transformation could only take place as he journeyed through this huge trial, clinging, depending, and calling out to God in the process. And so that's the first thing that David did. He went down into the stronghold. And that's what you and I need to continue to do. Cling to God, call out to Him, don't give up, and be assured and confident. That even if it seems like nothing's changing, you are being transformed, and you will come through this victorious.
Listen next, so David inquired of the Lord saying, "Shall I go up against the Philistines? David looked for a strategy, what should I do"? God will give us specific direction. Sometimes He even speak to you in a dream. "And the Lord said to him, 'Yes, I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand.' So David came to Baal-perazim and defeated them there; and he said, 'The Lord has broken through my enemies before me like the breakthrough of waters...'" Let's take it apart for a second. David is under attack. He goes to the stronghold, he cries out to God. He was like Moses. When God called Moses to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, Moses said to Hashem, he said, "God, unless you go with me I'm not going to go. I'm not going to try to do this on my own. If you don't give me assurance that you're going to be with me in this, I'm not doing it". David was kind of have that same heart. He wasn't going to do anything until he knew that God was going to be with him and act. And so David once again said, "Will you give them (the Philistines) into my hand?' And the Lord said to David, 'Go up, for I certainly will give the Philistines into your hand.'"
And so we need to come to a place where we are afraid to live life outside of God. You see, the Bible says, "Don't say you're going to do this tomorrow or that tomorrow. But rather say, if the Lord wills you're going to do this or that tomorrow, because you don't know what tomorrow is going to bring". In other words, the Scripture writer, under the inspiration of the Spirit, by the word of God that's living, and active and sharper than a two edged sword, piercing through their vision of soul and spirit, was saying, Don't think you're just going to go do this thing tomorrow. You don't have the power to do that thing tomorrow. You might not be here tomorrow. You don't know what's going to happen to you between now and tomorrow. You might get in a car wreck. Anything could happen. Anything could go wrong. Your heart could stop beating. Don't say you're going to do this tomorrow. Rather say, "If the Lord wills, this is what's going to happen tomorrow".
See, this is the type of mindset that Moses had. "I'm not going to go, Lord, unless you go with me. I need to know your favors on me". This was the heart that David had here. Lord, what should I do? Are you going to give them into my hand? Should I go against them? See, there's a difference between faith and presumption. And sometimes you and I don't know the difference. Faith is when we're cleaving to God and receiving an impartation of His Spirit that gives us confidence and the confidence that we're receiving is coming directly from the essence of His substance. That's faith. Presumption is when we think we're going to do so and so out of our own self-confidence. And that will end in severe failure and defeat.
David wasn't operating here out of presumption. When he attacked the Philistines, he was operating out of faith, because he heard from the Lord, "Yes, David go, and I'm going to give them into your hand". Let's see what happens in the next verse. "So David," in verse number 20 "came to Baal-perazim and defeated them there". You see, true faith will produce results, victory. David said this after he defeated them: "The Lord has broken through my enemies before me like the breakthrough of waters". So David said here, 2 Samuel 5:20, "The Lord has gone before me like the breakthrough of waters". So David says, "The Lord went before me and gave me victory like the breakthrough of waters".
Now notice, beloved one, the corresponding verse to this. We find it in the book of 1 Chronicles where the same story is told. And in 1 Chronicles 14, the writer of Scripture referring to the same incident, says David said this. "David defeated them there". We're talking about the same exact thing that. We're looking at in 2 Samuel. But in 1 Chronicles 14, we are in the 11th verse, "And David defeated them there. And David said, 'God has broken through my enemies". That's what we just got done reading in 2 Samuel. "God has broken through my enemies". But David has some additional things that he said that we read about in 1 Chronicles. "God has broken through my enemies by my hand". Get that "by my hand".
So once again, in 2 Samuel 5, we just hear David saying the Lord has broken through my enemies like the breakthrough of waters. But in the corresponding scripture, in 1 Chronicles few words that's added. The additional words are David says, "by my hand". So it wasn't just a God broke through the enemies apart from David. But God broke through David's enemies, listen now, by David's own hand. Listen to it. "David said, 'God has broken through my enemies by my hand, like the breakthrough of waters".
What do I love about this? That God, beloved, doesn't work independently of us oftentimes. He works through us. You yourself will experience the victory of God through your own life. Partnering together with Him, you will see victory, and you will be a partner with God in that victory, you will see a breakthrough in your life by your hand. And the breakthrough that you're going to experience by your hand is going to be because the Spirit of God, the Ruach HaKodesh is breaking through you, making a way before you, bringing you in to ever increasing depths of God's love, and into the experience of his light, His power, His glory, His joy, His presence, and His Spirit. Beloved, you and I have a destiny. We're going somewhere. We're going from glory to glory, getting breakthrough after breakthrough. Let's keep our eyes on Hashem. Let's keep putting one foot in front of the other, pressing forward into the light.