Rabbi Schneider - How to be Strengthened To Solve Problems
Hear the Word of God now from the book of Joshua, chapter number 1, verse number 9. Have I not commanded you? That's a strong word the Lord is using there. Commanded. Overcoming fear, beloved, is not an option. It's commanded. God hates fear. He hates it when his children fear. Because when we fear, we're choosing to believe in the devil rather than him. It's an insult to God when we fear. Have I not commanded you, saith the Lord. Be strong and courageous. The Hebrew word there for strong is chazaq. And courageous. The Hebrew word there is Amatz. Do not be dismayed, do not be afraid, the Lord says, for wherever you go, I will be with you.
Beloved, why are we to not fear? Because God is real. Listen, the Father is in the details of life with us. Our problem is that most of us that are watching this broadcast now, we believe in the Father, we believe in God, the problem is we believe in him in heaven rather than in his activity here on earth. Some of us, we're not afraid of dying and where we're going to go. Some of us are confident that when we die that our sins are forgiven, and we'll go to heaven. What we're more afraid of is what's going to happen on this earth, what's going to happen when I get old. Am I going to end up in a nursing home? Or am I going to be all alone in old age of life? Or am I going to have enough money to retire? Are my kids going to be all right? We're more concerned, beloved, as to whether we can trust God in this life. And that's why we fear.
You see, fearing is a lack of faith. It's not even so much that we fear as that we lack faith. Remember when Yeshua was in the boat with his disciples and the winds came and the waves came and the boat began to fill up with water, what did Jesus say? Where is your faith, he said to them. So fear is a lack of faith. Jesus said, Where is your faith, he said. Why were you timid? Why were you afraid? And so the problem is not that we fear. The problem is that we lack faith. And so the remedy to fear is to build ourself up in faith. Faith in what? Faith in, beloved, the Word of God. The Word of God is living.
Listen, you need to understand this. Jesus said, If my words abide in you. The Word of God is living. How are we going to know that we don't have to be afraid unless we hear God say to us I'm a shield to you, I'm going before you, I'll be with you even when your hairs are gray, I'll never leave you or forsake you. These are all Scriptures that I'm quoting. How are we going to know we don't have to fear? How are we going to come against fear? How are we going to harden ourself against fear? How are we going to become obstinate against fear, refusing to let it in unless we seize God's Word and anchor our heart in his truth? We must anchor our heart in the love, in the truth of God.
God likes you, and he hates fear, and you're his child, and he wants you to overcome it. He's given you the tools to overcome it, he's behind you to overcome it. You must declare war and I must declare war, beloved, on fear this day. The Bible tells us in Romans chapter 14 verse 23 that everything that is not of faith is sin. And fear is the opposite of faith. That's why Jesus said where is your faith? Why were you afraid? And so the Scripture says everything that's not of faith is sin. So we need to realize when we fear, we're in a foul spirit. When we're using our mind to imagine all type types of doom, our mind is foul, being polluted with evil spirits. We need to recognize today that we must tear the fetters of fear off our life, beloved, and we must get free.
Now, on last week's broadcast I was talking about some of the specific things that God's children deal with, and I was giving Scripture as to how to come against these specific things. I'm not going to take a lot of time for review. I simply talked about the fear of sickness, I talked about the fear of growing old, I talked, beloved, about things associated with growing old. Some of you are afraid of ending up in a nursing home. But you know, the Scripture says to us, the Lord promises us concerning growing old in the book of Isaiah chapter 46, verse 4, hear the Word of God. He says that even when you're old, he says, I will be with you. Even when your hair gets gray.
In other words, the same God, beloved, that was with you in your childhood and took care of you, isn't that an awesome thing? The same God that took care of you in your childhood, the same God that protected you and loved you and brought you this far in life, he's going to be with you even when you're old. He's not going to leave you or forsake you. Yeshua said I'll never leave you or forsake you. He's going to take care of you, beloved, until your last breath. Hear the Word of God. Isaiah chapter 46, verse number 4. Even to your old age, the Lord says. Listen again. Even to your old age, I will be the same. He's going to be just as kind as he's been in the past, just as trustworthy, just as real, just as present.
Even to your old age, I shall be the same. I just really sense an anointing on this right now, that there's some that God is really ministering to. You've really been just afraid of growing old and being sick and getting in a nursing home and not having anyone coming to see you and having nurses maybe that don't even like you. Listen, those are all demonic fears from the devil. God's going to be with you. He's going to take care of you. He's going to make his presence, beloved, more real than ever as you need him more. It's going to all be fine. It's going to be okay. Jesus said, Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
In the world you'll have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world. Even to your old age, I shall be the same. Even to your graying years, I shall bear you. God's going to carry us, beloved, through our 60's and 70's and 80's and 90's, some of us maybe into our 100's. I will carry you. I think of that word, he says even to your old age, I shall be the same, even to your graying years he said I shall bear you. What does this mean when he says I will bear you? It reminds me, beloved, years ago as a Jewish believer it created a lot of turmoil in my home, it was very hard and difficult for my parents. I mean, to them, it was just a total insult to them that I as their Jewish son, bar Mitzvah'd in a Jewish synagogue would receive Jesus. It just felt like a slap in the face to them. I certainly didn't mean it to be, because I came to faith in Jesus not to offend anybody, but because Jesus revealed himself to me. But they were very, very, very distressed and upset and angry about this. And they ended up throwing me out of the house.
And I remember the first day after they had thrown me out of the house. This was in my low 20's, my very early 20's. Thrown me out of my house for my faith in Jesus. And I remember I got an apartment. And I remember walking out of that apartment the first day. Never before had I been through something like this, thrown out of my home by my own parents because of my faith in Jesus. And I remember that next day after being thrown out of my home. It was like, listen, beloved, when I say this to you. It was like the whole world was bathed in the soft peace and presence of God. I can't even explain it. It was like everything that I looked at that day through my eyes was just surrounded with the peace of God. I can't even explain it. It was like everything was just in total shalom. There was such a tangible peace that day, such a tangible softness that day.
Why is that? I believe, beloved, because it was probably so traumatic for me that I was thrown out of my home that God's peace came to me in such a sufficient way that day that he was bearing me up in an extremely supernatural way that day. That's what the Lord is saying here. He said even in your old age, the Lord said, I'm going to bear you up. In other words, he's going to do for you and do for me what he did for me that day after I got thrown out of my home. He's going to carry us in such a supernatural peace, beloved, because we're his and because we need him even more.
So let me read it again. Isaiah chapter 46, verse number 4. Even to your old age I shall be the same. And even to your graying years I shall bear you up. I have done it, and I will carry you. I shall bear you and I shall deliver you. Beloved, we don't have to be afraid of growing old. God's going to be the same. God does not want us to grow old. I said it on last week's broadcast. A coward dies a thousand deaths, but a brave man only dies once. You don't have to die every day because you're being afraid of growing old tomorrow. All that does is rob you of today. It doesn't add anything to your life.
So beloved, let's take the Word of God, let's practice taking God at his word, let's let these fears become a challenge for us to seize God's Word, to love God, to say yes to him. Beloved, if we love God, we must declare war on fear. Because once again, when we're fearing, what we're doing is we're letting the devil take the throne in our heart. The Scripture tells us that to overcome fear, we need to magnify the Lord. The Scripture says that we need to cultivate Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus, as Lord in our heart. What does it mean to magnify the Lord? God said to Jacob, when Jacob was afraid, God said to Jacob, God said, I am God. I am God. God was delivering Jacob from fear by letting Jacob know that I'm God. I'm bigger than all the things that you're afraid of. So one of the things that we do to overcome fear, beloved, is we magnify God. What does that mean? We begin in our mind to say:
God, you're bigger than my old age. Your power, Father God, your presence, your love for me will go with me in my old age. You're bigger than the earth. You're bigger than sickness. You're bigger than pain. You're bigger than a nursing home. You're bigger and more sufficient than all these things. I will not be afraid. I will trust in you. I will have shalom.
Remember when Daniel was about to face the lions' den. How could Daniel, beloved, go into the lions' den, terrifying, these man-eating beasts, how could Daniel go into the lions' den and yet not be afraid? Because he had magnified God in his heart. To him, God was bigger than the lions. And how about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? How could they go into the fiery furnace? I mean, being burned to death is one of the most painful ways imaginable to die. How could Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego face the fiery furnace without fear? They said, Our God is able to deliver us. But even if he doesn't, we will not bow down, oh king. How could they do that? Because they had magnified, beloved, God in their heart. God was bigger, beloved, than their problem. And that's what we need to do. Whatever we're afraid of, we need to magnify God as being bigger than the problem. If you're facing a sickness, if you're afraid for your children, what you do:
God, you're bigger than the sickness that I'm dealing with right now. Your healing power, Lord Jesus, is so big, this sickness is nothing for you. I praise you, Jesus. Thank you that you took my infirmity and my sickness in our body on the tree, and thank you, Jesus, that I'm healed. Thank you for your healing power, that there's no sickness or disease that is in any way standing in your ability to heal me. Thank you for the greatness of your healing love.
If we're afraid for our loved ones, what do we do? We magnify in your heart that God is bigger than the problems that we're concerned with for our loved ones. If you have loved ones in jail, if you have loved ones that are on drugs, if you have loved ones that you're afraid of when they're driving on the road in their automobile, how do you escape those fears?
Thank you, God, that you're bigger than these problems my loved ones have. Thank you, Father God, that you're able to be with them when they're in prison and to bring them to yourself. Thank you, Father God, that you're protecting my children on the road. Thank you for the angels that are around, Father, their automobile. That one of yours, that daughter that perhaps is pregnant and disconnected from the family and doesn't have a husband, Father, thank you that you're a Father to the fatherless, thank you, Lord, that you're bigger than my daughter's problems, thank you, Lord, that you're able to bring them to faith.
We overcome fear, beloved, by magnifying the Lord, hallelujah, in our hearts. Hallelujah, hallelujah, and amen. Some of you, when you think about it, as we're continuing on this theme of aging, or you're afraid of being alone. Some of our ladies right now perhaps that are watching, maybe your husband has recently passed away, or maybe your husband is not well, or maybe you're just afraid that your husband's going to pass away because you're afraid of being alone. I want you to know, beloved, you'll never be alone. Think about the apostle Paul. He didn't even want to get married. He said, "I don't want to get married because I think I can be closer to God when I'm not married".
Marriage is a great thing. I'm just saying if you end up being alone, praise God, you can experience Jesus in a whole new level that can more than compensate for the loss of your best friend and your lover. Jesus, hallelujah, beloved, is our best friend. He's the friend that sticks closer than a brother. So we magnify Jesus, hallelujah, over the problems. We face the fear, beloved, with the truth of the Word of God. We must refuse to be afraid if we're going to please God. If we will overcome fear, and we must overcome fear, and in the process of overcoming fear, we will, hallelujah, Yedidim, beloved ones, be pleasing the Lord.
Well, another thing that we do as we're overcoming in this journey is we encourage ourself, this is similar to what we've been talking about, but we encourage ourself, beloved, in the Lord. When David was facing great difficulties in life, one of the things that he did in response to these difficulties, beloved, was he encouraged himself, hallelujah, in the Lord. I'm going to turn in the Scriptures now to the book of 1 Samuel chapter number 30. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the Word of the Lord abides forever. This is similar to seizing God's Word, to letting his Word dwell in us, to cultivating, hallelujah, his Word in our heart. But I want you to hear this, because this is important.
Beloved, some of you have heard these things taught on before. This is nothing new that I'm teaching on. But beloved, I pray that there's energy, that the electric energy of the Holy Spirit is seizing your heart and that you'll take ahold of this by the power of God through his grace and make this yours. Let this truth be planted in you. Now you can overcome fear by the Word of God. Hear the Word of God. 1 Samuel chapter number 30, verse number 6. David was distressed. It says, Moreover David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him. That would be something to be distressed over, wouldn't it? How would you like even some of you go to work, and all of a sudden you go to work, and you find out everybody there is talking about you and they're talking about how you're going to get fired and they're just talking all kinds of bad about you. You' be distressed. You might be tempted to let fear get in, right?
Well, David was facing something even worse. The people were thinking of stoning him. So it says, Moreover David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were embittered each one because of his sons and daughters. But listen. Here's what I wanted to get to. But David strengthened himself. Many translations read encouraged himself in the Lord. How did he do that? He didn't look at the people. He didn't feed himself on what the people were saying. He didn't feed his imaginations on thoughts of being stoned to death. But he encouraged himself in the Lord. He said, "God, you love me. God, you love me. You love me, you like me, you've always been with me. God, you're my friend. So Father God, I'm trusting you, God, to deliver me and to protect me and to vindicate me, and I'm believing you".
David said when I am afraid, then he said, I will put, hallelujah, my trust in you. David encouraged himself, Yedidim, beloved ones, in the Lord. And that's what we need to do. And it's all rooted in the Word of God. And we need to attack with it, beloved. The Bible says that violent men take the kingdom can of God by force. We're not talking about violent men as we think of in a criminal system. We're talking about being violent with the Word of God. I'm talking about the type of spirit that rose up in Jesus when he was so enraged with the profaning that had taken place in God's temple that he drove out those money changers with a whip. That's how we need to go after fear, beloved, with the Word of God. We declare war on you, Satan. We declare war on you with the Word of God.
Before I move into the next section of the ultimate fear on this broadcast, beloved, I want to talk about another aspect that is very, very important. It has to do with the Scripture that we read about in the book of 1 John, where John tells us, beloved, that perfect love, I'm going to the book of 1 John now, chapter number 4. 1 John chapter 4. John tells us there that perfect love casteth out all fear. Some of you have heard that Scripture before. I've wondered exactly what does the Lord mean by this? I've been praying about this for a long time, "What do you mean, Father, when you say perfect love casteth out all fear"? Because the reality is that this is mankind's greatest enemy. Satan uses fear to torment.
That's why Hebrews chapter 2 tells us that Yeshua came to destroy the works of the devil who held men by captive through fear all their life. He held them in captive through fear all their life. And yet the remedy to be freed from this fear is love. So the book of 1 John chapter 4, we read these Words, beginning in verse number 11 here. I'm going to read, Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No one has beheld God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is perfected in us. It's all about love. But listen to this. By this we know that we abide in him and that he is in us and that his Spirit is in us, beloved, as we continue on here in verse 17. By this love is perfected with us, that we may have confidence in the day of judgment. There is no fear, verse 18, in love. Here we go. But perfect love casts out fear.
Let's read verse 18 again. This is what I want you to hear. But perfect love casts out fear. How does this apply to us? What exactly is being said? What exactly does John mean here? Yohanan is his Hebrew name. What does he mean when he tells us that perfect love casts out fear? Perfect love, beloved, is associated with the realization that our God is not just in heaven, that the Father's not just in heaven, that Jesus is not just in heaven, but that he's here with us right now. Jesus said, "Lo, I am with you always". When we develop confidence, beloved, in a God that's not just in heaven, but a God that is here with us on earth, and listen to this now, and is in the details of our life, and that we can trust him with the details of our life right now, we become perfected in his love.
We begin to be able to trust him with our children. When we begin to trust God's love, beloved, with our finances, when we begin to trust God, beloved, for our future in this life, we'll be set free from fear. So what it means is that we so have come into the experience of God's love, that it's perfect right now, that it's real and activated on earth in our lives right now, we're going to be set free from fear because the confidence that we need, beloved, is the confidence in God's love that lets us know that he's going before us, that he's going to take care of the details, that he's fighting on our behalf, that he's a shield to us, that he's going to do everything that he said he was going to do.
So Father God, we ask you right now to strengthen us in the love of God. Father, I ask you to impart to us with power the knowledge of your perfect love that drives out all fear for your glory.