Rabbi Schneider - God's Desire to Dwell
So, I believe the physical realities that we see in the Hebrew Bible in which the Lord is stepping in and doing things, are shadows beloved of what is accomplished for us in the Spirit in Messiah Jesus. And so this Scripture that we just read and Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him; I believe this is a shadow beloved, of you and I in a parallel, of you and I walking arm and arm in harmony and fellowship with the Lord, and ascending up with him in the Spirit as we do. Even as Enoch Father, beloved, was taken up and seated with the Father in the heavenly places. You see the Book of Ephesians tells us we've been raised with Messiah and are seated with him there in the heavenly realm, just like Enoch walked with God and voop, was taken and was no more.
So what we're doing is we're contemplating how can you and I ascend in the Spirit in our walk with God. I encourage you to get this entire series beloved. It's one of the fullest series in terms of biblical revelation and Spirit-filled knowledge that I've ever been able to share with people, and I give God all the glory, because it all comes, hallelujah, from him. To God be the glory from him, and to him, and through him, hallelujah, are all things in Jesus' name and for Jesus fame. Glory to God. Jesus loves you today. He's got more for us beloved than we believed. Yeshua said my joy I give to you. Jesus said, if the Son shall make you free, you'll be free indeed. Jesus beloved, has an abundant life for us. He said I've come to give life and to give it more abundantly.
But remember he also said that life consisteth not in the abundance of things. So that life is not on the outside. True life beloved, is found on the inside and issues forth from the indwelling Holy Spirit whom Jesus said, those who receive, would find themselves when they believe rivers of living water, John 7, that would flow forth from our innermost being. Love, joy, peace, fullness, power, relationship; as Enoch walked with God beloved, so you and I are being brought into this tangible reality of experiencing Jesus and walking with God. Even as Moses did, and the Lord called Moses a friend to whom he spoke, hallelujah, face to face.
I wanna pick up today and talk about what are some action steps that you and I can do, what are some things that we need to think about and develop in order to increase our ability to walk with God and in so doing, ascend in, hallelujah, his Spirit. Remember, I was sharing on last week's broadcast, the Lord wants to dwell with you; he wants to dwell in you and he wants to be at peace dwelling in you. And as the Father can be at peace dwelling in you, when that happens, when the Father can dwell in us in peace; then we're going to begin to experience him in a whole new way. That's why Jesus said in John 14:23: When you love me, and put me first, and make me preeminent he said, I'm gonna come to you, disclose myself to you and make my home with you. Jesus says that when we're living in harmony with him, when we're choosing him in oneness, when we're saying to him: I wanna do your will Jesus, I wanna be obedience, be an obedience to you, and because I love you so much, because I want you so much, because I crave fellowship with you, and intimacy with you, and your reality so greatly; I'm willing to obey you, whatever it takes. As long as you give the grace to do it Lord, I wanna do it.
Jesus says when we do that, he's gonna release the revelation to us of how much the Father loves us, and he said I'm gonna make my home with you. In other words, when we think about where home is, we're gonna come to an experience in life where we're gonna truly feel that our home is Jesus. In other words, some people say I can't wait to get home, and get in my bed, and lay my head upon a pillow. Well that's great, but wouldn't it be even better if you could always feel like that because you're at home in Jesus. That Jesus' presence so surrounds you and you so come to experience his indwelling reality in you that you're always in him experiencing the reality of being in him. And being in him and experiencing that reality, you have a conscious awareness of love, of comfort and of a sound mind.
That's what Jesus wants to do for us, that's what he said he would do for us when we make it all about him. That's why he said listen, if you want me, you can have me, but you got a forsake everything else. You've got a make me first; you've got a make it all about me, because I can't accept the lukewarm. I spit them all out of my mouth, because I'm too magnified, I'm too, I'm too holy, I'm too preeminent to be able to give myself to people that don't really want me. That's why I said, he said he'll cast the lukewarm out of his mouth and he want give what's holy to dogs. And so if you're willing to come to him on his terms, and say Jesus, the world is not what I want. Cause Jesus said what does a man profit if he gains the whole world, but loses his own soul? If you come to the place and say Jesus, it doesn't matter what I have to give up, it doesn't matter what it takes, it doesn't matter what I have to lose, it doesn't matter what I have to part with; all I want my Jesus, is you. Then Jesus is saying: you qualify for eternal life, and this is eternal life he said in John 17:3, that you might know God. And in God's presence beloved, there are treasures and fullness of joy forevermore.
So we're talking about coming into this real living hallelujah, experience, hallelujah, with Jesus. Well we need to understand then as we're developing this that God wants to be with us in such a way beloved, that there's not this tension all the time. Remember David, and what was David's heart? King David, David Melech, the King of Israel. We sing an old Jewish song: "David Melech, Melech Israel. David Melech, Melech Israel. David Melech, Melech Israel". Well David Melech means King David, and remember what Yeshua said in the last chapter of the Book of Revelation? He said I am the offspring of David. And in the prophets, when it talks about Jesus reigning during millennial period; Jesus is identified beloved, as the fulfillment of King David. There'll be one King David, speaking of Yeshua, who will shepherd all my people.
Remember David, the King of Israel's heart, though what did he say? David's heart was he wanted to build God a temple, because the Ark of the Covenant wasn't in a temple, it was being housed in these temporary shelters. The Ark of the Covenant, the most holy object on earth; beloved, there was no dwelling place for it, it was being pitched under a tent, it was taking up residence in somebody's house, and King David said, is it right that I should live in this palace, and there's no resting place for my God? And so David said, I will not give sleep to my eyes; I will not slumber in my bed until I make a resting place for my God. David's number one passion was to build a temple for the Lord where the Ark of the Covenant could rest. He wanted a resting place for God, so that the Ark of the Covenant didn't always have to be moved from here, be under a tent, be temporary lodged in somebody's house; he wanted it to be in a resting place.
Well we know the story, David wasn't able to build a temple, because he had been in too many wars, but the Lord said, your son Solomon will build it. And we know that Solomon built the temple and when it was built, the glory of the Lord so filled it that the priest couldn't stand, it was God ordained, and God was pleased with it: A resting place for his presence, the Ark of the Covenant symbolizing it. Well beloved, the reason I share that story is even as David wanted to build a resting place for the Lord, for the Ark of the Covenant; you and I beloved, also should desire to build a resting place for God within us. That we should wanna have a heart by saying: Lord, I want you to be at rest in me. I don't want you to be in me, always having to strive with me, that I wanna go this way, but you wanna go this way. I don't want there to be any contention anymore. I wanna so come under your authority. I wanna so die to my flesh. I wanna so die to self initiative and self will. I wanna so did die by living by own, to live by my own, by living by my own natural strengths. I wanna so crucify all these things that you can be at rest in me, to be like Jesus that said: I do nothing by my own initiative.
Jesus beloved, was at a place where the Spirit of the Father, the power of God was at rest in him, because Jesus wasn't going his own way, it wasn't like the Lord was always having to pull him back. It wasn't like the Lord was always having to push him forward, because Jesus beloved, had built a resting place inside em for the Father. Jesus said, it's the Father in me and I do nothing by my own initiative. And this is Father, what we're after. We wanna so be crucified in the natural, in the flesh to our own ambitions, are own desires, our soulish energies, our demonic addictions, all these things that keep us from you; we wanna have these things so crucified that your Spirit Lord can be at rest in us, living through us, and being who you want to be through us in Jesus' name, hallelujah and Amen.
And beloved, this is a painful process. It's a painful process to allow the Spirit of God, to allow the Father to crucify the flesh. That's why the Bible says that the Father disciplines every son that he receives. But no discipline, the Scripture says, is pleasant while we're going through it, but the end result is the peaceful fruit of righteousness. In other words, this disciplining process where we're allowing the Lord to tame us; we're for always the type of people that are pushing all the time, we're always the type of people that are making things happen. We're all the, we're the type of people that are always, we're always knocking the door down, driving ahead, but we're realizing you know what? This isn't God, this is me, this is a soulish energy, this is a fleshly energy; I need to stop, I need to learn how just to wait on God.
This is a painful process, but the Lord said after you've been trained by my discipline, the Lord said you will then have the peaceful fruit of righteousness. And for those of you that you're always hesitating; you feel like the Holy Spirit is telling you to do something. You feel like the Holy Spirit is telling you to speak up. You're feeling like the Holy Spirit is telling you to get up. You feel like the Holy Spirit is telling you to stand up, but you're always holding back. You have a timid spirit and the Lord is saying: I haven't given you a spirit of fear or timidity, but of love, and of power, and a sound mind. When you allow the Holy Spirit to discipline you, and train you, and you begin to respond to him, and move with him when he's moving; you also will be led, Yedeed, beloved one, into the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
So God wants to bring us to a place beloved, where we're enveloped in his peace, because he is in us, being who he is, through us. And this is beloved, the purpose of God's creation creating us; he wants Jesus beloved, to be manifest through us. We're the body, hallelujah of Jesus so that his Spirit beloved, can have free reign, hallelujah, through our lives. And when that happens, when there's that harmony going on that we're being led by him, cause as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. When we've been trained by righteousness beloved, then we'll be like Enoch, walking arm in arm, shoulder to shoulder, locked with God and we'll ascend beloved, in the Spirit, just as Enoch ascended into God and was no more. And we will beloved, enjoy his bliss and his presence forevermore.
As we're continuing now, talking about walking with God as Enoch did; I wanna talk about the subject of peace, because having peace and seeking peace, and cultivating the peace of the Holy Spirit is fundamental in walking with God. Remember, when Yeshua spoke about the Holy Spirit, he said, my peace I give to you. He was speaking about the gift of the Holy Spirit, and as he was speaking about the gift of the Holy Spirit, he said in the same breath, my peace I give to you. And remember in the gospel of John, after Yeshua had been crucified, and the disciples in fear fell away. Remember they thought, wow, the one that we believed was the Messiah, the one that we left everything for, the one who we gave our identity over; we thought he was the Messiah, and what happened? They crucified him and he's gone. And they were terrified; they felt like the world had been pulled out from underneath their feet. Their entire foundation had collapsed. They lost their identity, they lost their purpose, and no wonder, we find em in the gospel of John, hiding in a room.
And as they're hiding in the room; Yeshua had been crucified. He had not yet ascended to the Father. He enters in through the room where they're hiding in fear, and anxiety, and insecurity, and suddenly the Scripture says: Yeshua enters the room; he comes right through the wall and manifest himself to them. And he says don't be afraid. And then he says to them, receive the Ruach Hako'desh. Receive the Holy Spirit, and then he breathes on them. Whoooo. And he says, shalom, my peace I give to you. So as soon as the Holy Spirit enters the room with Jesus, and breathes on the disciples, he follows up with the word, my peace, my shalom I give to you.
So walking with God involves being harnessed by the reality of the peace of the Ruach Hako'desh of the Holy Spirit. If we're gonna walk with God beloved, if we're gonna walk in authority. We're gonna need to walk with peace and in peace, because peace precedes authority. There is no authority without peace. You know before the throne of the Lord, we read in the Book of Revelation, we find before the throne of the Lord, there's a sea of glass. Why is there a sea of glass before the throne of the Lord? Think about a sea of glass, what's a sea of glass like? A sea of glass, there's no ripples on it, right? It's calm, a sea of glass is perfectly calm, no ripples on it, flat as flat can be. Why is there a sea of glass before the throne of God? What does it symbolically represent? It represents beloved, the stillness of God's peace: no ripples, no waves, no turmoil, no fear, just flat, still as glass, that's how the peace of God is.
So if you and I are gonna learn to walk with God, we're gonna have to cultivate peace in our life, the peace that the Holy Spirit gives. Jesus said again, I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you, I will send you the Holy Spirit: my peace I give to you. Remember when the disciples were on the boat, and the waves came, and the winds came; Yeshua woke up and he said, Woe you of little faith, and he breathed on the sea, and he spoke to it and said: Peace, be still. So this involves becoming aware of our self and self aware so that when we feel our self moving in to unpeace, we pull our self back and we harness that nervous energy. We say I feel myself being pulled into nervousness, I feel myself being pushed by fear, and we pull ourselves back by the indwelling Holy Spirit and say I will stay in peace. I will abide in peace. One of the names of the Lord is the Sar Shalom, the Prince of Peace. God is peace. The Bible says in the Book of Romans that the God of peace will crush Satan under our feet, hallelujah.
I take authority right now Father, over Satan as an activity in the lives of those that are watching, and I crush you Satan, and every demon that's causing turmoil in the lives of God's elect. And I render you to be still in Jesus' name, peace even as a river. So Father God, we ask you to develop peace in us. Strengthen us I pray Father God, to abide in your peace. Strengthen us Spirit of God, Spirit of Elohim, to abide in peace. And I pray Father, for these that are watching right now, that you'll help them become aware of their energy. That you'll help them become aware of themselves. That you'll help them become aware of their body; that they'll be able Father God, when they sense themselves being moved into dis-settlement and into anxiety; Father that they'll be able to recognize it and immediately begin to pull themselves back to abide hallelujah Jesus, in your shalom.
So walking with God involves beloved, being self aware so that we can feel when we're moving in to being dissettled. You see what fear would do; it would push us out of being settled. When people get afraid, they're pushed out of peace. So a lot of times when people get afraid, you can see it even in their body movements. A lot of times when people are afraid, they want people to stand still. They'll begin to look around; they'll begin to give a nervous laugh. No, when you feel that happening to yourself, reject it and say I refuse to be pushed by fear, I refuse to be pushed by anxiety, I refuse Jesus, to be pushed out of my place in you; I will abide by your authority Lord Jesus, hallelujah, in your peace. And how do we become aware of this and how do we come to the place where we can all bring ourselves into peace and abiding in peace?
We often times beloved, do it through practicing what I call in Hebrew "Lees Pog" (לספוג) which is the Hebrew word meaning soak up. It just means to sit before the Lord. You see David said that he had stilled his soul like a child at rest, leaning on his mother. Developing peace with God and developing a clear mind beloved, takes the cultivation of just soaking in God's presence. It means that we're gonna need to be still before the Lord. The Lord says be still and know that I am God. And through practicing this discipline of just being still before God, just waiting on God, just soaking in the Holy Spirit beloved, we begin by osmosis to absorb the presence of the Prince of Peace.
Just by sitting before Jesus, just like I described in my dream on last week's broadcast, just by sitting before him and saying, "Lord I want you. I wanna receive you, saturate me Father, I wanna just soak in your Spirit, in your peace". We begin Lord, we begin beloved, to absorb the Lord's peace, his power, his presence, his strength into our lives. And so we have talked about a number of things over the last several weeks in terms of walking with God. We've talked about conviction and how conviction is actually a gift of God, because it gives us the ability to say "yes", to the Lord, "that's wrong Father, I wanna repent of that, I want you to cleanse me of it so that I could be closer to you, so that nothing will be able to be separating me from you".
We've talked beloved, about learning how to be still before the Lord, to sit before him so can get a greater grip of the fact that his Spirit is inside us. We've talked today about peace and how we need to keep our self in peace, and in God's authority by pulling our self back from anxiety and from insecurity and fear when we feel the devil pushing us into these areas, and saying no, I refuse. I pull myself back to abide in you Lord Jesus. And we've talked about that we can gain a greater ability to do this by spending time simply sitting in God's presence. Just relaxing before him, like David leaned his soul against his mother, and became at rest and secure in that relationship.
So Father, I pray that you'll bless these beloved right now that are hungry for you, that are hungry for truth, and that you'll lead us Father God into intimacy, and fullness in the Holy Spirit. Father we love you and thank you for your chilling, in Jesus name.