Rabbi Schneider - Capture God's Attention
Today we're gonna be looking at one of the most exciting verses in the Hebrew Bible, Jeremiah, 33:3, where the Lord says, call upon me and I will answer thee, and show thee great and wondrous things that thou knowest not of. That Scripture just thrills me. But before we actually get there, I just want to re-cap where we're at and why we're calling this series Capturing God's Heart. I find that many people look to God to be like a magic genie. They don't really know God's character. They're not really seeking to know God's will. But rather, they're looking to God to just answer their selfish prayers.
Many people look to God the same way that they would look, beloved, to a magic genie, rubbing the lamp, expecting the genie to come out in a fairy tale of course. And then them just asking the genie for the three things they desire most in life, whatever those things are. But to walk with God, beloved ones, requires knowing his heart. It requires knowing what's important to him. It takes an understanding of his will. And only when we position ourselves in a way that we know God's will and his character can we really capture his heart. Jesus said that he had come to do the will of the Father. In fact, we hear him praying, not my will but thy will be done.
And do you know Yeshua warned us that in the last days before his return, there would be a great rise, he said, in false teachers. One of the ways, beloved ones, we know the false teachers is if the gospel that they're preaching is man centered. If it's all about man, if people are relating to God in a way that they're using God just to fulfill their American dream or they're using God just to be someone that will help them achieve all that they desire to in their life without first asking God what's your purpose for me, what do you want me to do with my life, knowing that they're created by him and for him. Beloved, unless we understand that it's first about God and not first about us, we don't understand the real Gospel.
And so in this series, Capturing God's Heart, we're looking at the things that move God's heart. And we're particularly examining prayers that we can prayer to God knowing that the prayers that we're praying are acceptable to him, because they're in accordance with his will and character. And then knowing, beloved one, that the prayers that we're praying please God because we see in Scripture that they resonate with his character, that they capture his heart, we can be confident as we're moving forward in his grace that not only are our prayers being heard, but that our prayers are being answered. So with that said, I want to go now to the Book of Jeremiah today, chapter number 33, and I'm gonna begin reading in verse number 2.
Hear the Word of God: Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it, the Lord is His name, Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know. I love the King James. The King James words it: Call to Me and I will answer thee and show thee great and marvelous things, that thou knowest not of. Of course I'm paraphrasing just a bit there, but the idea is that if we believe in God and call upon him, and if we're truly believing him to show us things that we're not able to perceive in the natural world, the Lord is gonna open up mysteries for us to be able to see what we can't see in the natural, to go where we couldn't go in the natural, to experience what we can never experience in the natural world.
And I don't know about you, beloved ones, but that excites me. You see, when we're children, we have a great sense of adventure, and everything is new. Some of you remember as a child, even being outdoors and how the animals were so, just exciting for you, and how going places and experiencing things for the first time, it was just so wondrous. And life was all an adventure as we were experiencing things for the first time. But some of you can relate that as we aged, the adventure of life began to diminish. It began to become more and more like, I've been there and I've done that.
And the things that so once captured our hearts, I remember for example, when I was a young person, I used to go looking for frogs, and snakes, and I would look at all the animals, and look at the grass, and smell the scents of outside. And every summer for me was like an endless summer, and it was all a brand new experience. But as I aged, I had experienced some of those things so many times that each year that went by, some of the wonder of it began to wear off. And so what do we do to get back that sense of wonder? What do we do to get back that sense of fascination, that drama? You know what we do, beloved? We go beyond the natural into the supernatural because in the supernatural it's always new.
And that's what I love so much, beloved ones, about these verses that we're looking at now in Jeremiah, chapter 33. The Lord said, call upon me and I will show thee great and wondrous things, marvelous things, fascinating things, things that you've not seen or heard before, that you know not of. And in the supernatural, in our walk with God, life always is new so that we're always experiencing new things, so that there's always a sense of wonder and a sense of adventure. And so I love this. And when I go to Papa, when I go to Daddy, when I go to Father God in the morning, I call out to him. I say, Lord, show me something marvelous, show me something new, reveal something to me that will fascinate me; because in the realm of the spirit, beloved ones, there is always more, there's always something more, there's always something new, always something exciting.
Many of you have heard me share this before. There's only two places in the entire Word of God where we find a threefold repetition of any of God's attributes. In other words, we find many of God's attributes throughout the Bible. We know, for example, that God is what we call omnipotent. He's all-powerful. But nowhere in the Bible do we hear repeated three times in a row that God is omnipotent, omnipotent, or omnipotent, and omnipotent. And we know that God is loving. But nowhere in the Bible do we see God referred to as all-loving, all-loving, all-loving.
Nowhere do we see him referred to as faithful, faithful, faithful, although we know he is faithful. There is only two times in the Bible where we see a threefold repetition of any of God's attributes and that revelation comes to us, beloved, in Isaiah, chapter 6, and in Revelation, chapter 4. It's really amazing. What happens in both instances is John and Isaiah see the Lord high and lifted up upon his throne. They actually see into the heavens. And as they see the Lord upon the throne they hear the angels. And the angels don't cease crying out, day and night, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.
Now I want you to consider this for a second, if you just heard somebody in the natural saying the same word over and over and over again, it would become monotonous. But that's not what's happening in Isaiah, 6, and Revelation, 4. What is happening is that the glory of God is continuing to be manifest in greater and greater wonders, in a higher and more glorious fashion so that each time a new revelation of God's glory is released from him, the angels are so totally overwhelmed and taken back that they respond to each new wave of God's glory by saying, holy, holy, holy.
So every time a new revelation of who God is springs forth from within him because God is effervescently alive, there is always new bubbling up from him, and every new bubble of revelation of who he is that comes up from him, that the angels experience each time a new wave of glory emanates from the Father, the Son and the Spirit, the angels go holy, holy. It's like they're continually overwhelmed by each new revelation of the wonder of who God is. And it's always fresh and it's always new.
So when the Lord tells us in Jeremiah, 33:2 and 3, call upon Me and I will answer thee, and show thee great and marvelous things that thou knowest not of, or I will tell you great and marvelous things that thou knowest now of. What this means is that you and I can continue to be fascinated with life and captured by adventure and wonder as we move forward into the depths of eternal life as God continues to give us fresh revelation of who he is.
So this saying in the Book of Jeremiah is one of my favorite portions of Scripture in the entire Bible 'cause I want to be fascinated with God. And you know what? If our relationship with God is real, if it's vital, God is always gonna be doing something fresh and something new in our life. Now I will grant that it doesn't, it doesn't seem at least for me personally that every day there's a new revelation, or every day there's something new. But I look at it more like going through seasons. God is continually bringing me into fresh seasons of revelation. He is continually doing fresh things in my life, even though some days I have to just keep putting one foot in front of the other foot and walking it out, and just practicing what he's shown me to practice, being obedient in what he's asked me to be obedient to.
There's seasons when it's just putting one foot in front of the other and obeying. There are days when it doesn't seem like anything's new. But overall, if we take a step back, if we're really pursuing God, we'll be able to see that God is continually bringing us in to the new thing. And so once again, I want to encourage you to believe God for continually bringing something new, to continually bring something fresh into your life. And so the Lord said to Jeremiah, call upon me and I will tell thee great and marvelous things that you know not of.
We're talking about, beloved, connecting with God's heart. We're talking about Capturing God's Heart. And when we look to him as our source, when we believe God to do for us what his Word said he would do, and what does his Word say that he'll do? His Word tells us that he will continually fascinate us, that he'll continually make our life an adventure; that our journey will continue to bring forth new things if we'll look to God and call upon him to do new things and to show us new things.
So I want to encourage you right now, maybe you're in a place right now in your life that you're just feeling stagnant. Maybe, beloved one, you're at a place in your lift right now where you just feel that nothing is new anymore. You just feel that there's nothing that excites you anymore. You're having a hard time being motivated. I want to just join hearts with you right now. And we're gonna ask the Father together that he would show us according to his Word and tell us great and wonderful things that we know not of. Let's believe God now to do for us what he said he would do.
Father God, I just unite my heart with these, Father God, that are agreeing with me in prayer. Father, for these that have heard the Word preached through me today, and Father, as they've heard the Word preached, you've captured their heart. And faith has arisen. And they're now believing you, Father God, to do something new for them. Father, I want to thank you that in Christ Jesus and Yeshua HaMashiach old things pass away, and all things become new. I want to thank you, Father, that we are new creations in Christ Jesus. Father, I want to thank you that you're a God that's alive. And as a God that's alive, Father, you're always new. Jesus, thank you for giving us eternal life, a life that's always new.
And right now I just speak Lord, to those that are in agreement with this prayer, especially those, Father God, that are just perhaps living in a state of depression right now, those Father God, that just have been where they're at for a long time and they just kinda feel stuck; Father, right now in Jesus's name, Yeshua HaMashiach, in your name, I declare and decree over their life freshness in the Holy Spirit. Father, I just speak over their life now something new in you. Holy Spirit, I ask you to open their hearts and fascinate them with the wonders of God. Jesus, I ask you to touch each heart right now that is bowing before you in humility and in trust. I ask you, King Jesus, to touch every heart that's in agreement with me right now and bring them into something new.
I pray, Lord, that you would re-capture their heart. Father, I ask you to ignite their passion for you. Father, I ask you to push them forward deeper into the realm of eternal life, in Jesus's name and for Yeshua's fame. Father, we praise you that you're a God that's alive, that you're always new, and that there's always more. So Father, we ask you to fascinate us and show us great and marvelous things that we know not of, in Yeshua's name and for Yeshua's fame, Amen and Amen.
And right now I just speak Lord, to those that are in agreement with this prayer, especially those, Father God, that are just perhaps living in a state of depression right now, those Father God, that just have been where they're at for a long time and they just kinda feel stuck; Father, right now in Jesus's name, Yeshua HaMashiach, in your name, I declare and decree over their life freshness in the Holy Spirit. Father, I just speak over their life now something new in you. Holy Spirit, I ask you to open their hearts and fascinate them with the wonders of God. Jesus, I ask you to touch each heart right now that is bowing before you in humility and in trust. I ask you, King Jesus, to touch every heart that's in agreement with me right now and bring them into something new.
I pray, Lord, that you would re-capture their heart. Father, I ask you to ignite their passion for you. Father, I ask you to push them forward deeper into the realm of eternal life, in Jesus's name and for Yeshua's fame. Father, we praise you that you're a God that's alive, that you're always new, and that there's always more. So Father, we ask you to fascinate us and show us great and marvelous things that we know not of, in Yeshua's name and for Yeshua's fame, Amen and Amen.
You know, Jesus said, seek and ye shall find. Knock, he said, and the door would be opened. Ask, he said, and you'll receive. And in the Greek, in the language that the Scriptures were given to us, the context is, keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking. In other words, don't just do it one time, but press in, press in for more; keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking. And beloved, as you keep asking, and keep seeking, and keep knocking, God is gonna release to you fresh waves of his Spirit and there'll be a continual momentum in your life.
You see, some of us say we desire God. But you know what? If we really desire him, we're gonna do something about it. If we really mean what we say, if we really say that we desire God, if our confession is sincere, then we're gonna do something, beloved, about that desire. If we're really hungry, we're gonna pray. We're gonna ask. We're gonna seek. We're gonna knock. We're gonna repent of sin. We're gonna fast by denying ourselves things in the natural so that we can receive more of the supernatural. So I'm telling you and encouraging you now, if your desire is really passionate, so that you're actually taking action to seek God, God's gonna do something new for you. The Lord said, draw near to me and I will draw near to you. Call upon me and I will tell thee great and marvelous things that thou knowest not of.
Father, we take ahold of you right now by faith. Father, I believe for those that really have faith, for those that really have a hunger, for those that are really thirsty, for those that are taking action as they take ahold and reach out by faith, and truly have a faith that's backed up by action to reach out and lay hold of you, thank you, Father God, right now for releasing a new wave of revelation of your glory into their life. Father, I decree and declare even as they sleep at night, Father, you're gonna be ministering to them new things.
Father, I declare that you're gonna be bringing new people and new revelation into their life that will re-ignite their passion to discover new things in you. Father, I believe that their journey is gonna be moving forward, that they're gonna continue to ascend up the mountain; Father, that you're gonna bring new resources into their life, expose them to new information, bring new books into their life; Father, bring new speakers and teachers and preachers into their life that will, Father God, bring them to the next level that they might continue, Father, on the journey, and forever go up the mountain as they stay fascinated, Abba Father God, with you in Jesus's name, Amen and Amen.
Father, I declare that you're gonna be bringing new people and new revelation into their life that will re-ignite their passion to discover new things in you. Father, I believe that their journey is gonna be moving forward, that they're gonna continue to ascend up the mountain; Father, that you're gonna bring new resources into their life, expose them to new information, bring new books into their life; Father, bring new speakers and teachers and preachers into their life that will, Father God, bring them to the next level that they might continue, Father, on the journey, and forever go up the mountain as they stay fascinated, Abba Father God, with you in Jesus's name, Amen and Amen.
I want you to know our God is alive. He is a living God and the kingdom of heaven is an adventure, and it's meant to be discovered. That's why Jesus spoke in many parables. You know the Bible tells us that Jesus spoke in parables, and without a parable it says, he did not speak. We think, for example, of the sower and the seed. Jesus went out and he talks about the parable of the sower sowing the seed. And some seed fell on rocky ground, and some seed fell on dry ground, and he elaborates on the parable. And the Bible says that later when they were in private the disciples said to him, Lord, tell us the meaning of the parable. And Jesus said this. He said, to you it's been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God. And then he explained the parable to them. But in order for them to understand the parable, think about it now, they had to ask. They had to seek.
And so this is why Jesus speaks in parables. This is why he speaks in dreams at night because he wants to involve us, beloved, in the adventure of discovery. And those that really wanted to know the meaning of the parable asked him and he told them. Those that really seek him, beloved, find him. I want to bless you today and share with you that God loves you and he's got so much more for your life and my life than we realize. And all we need to do is put him first and pursue him. And I promise you as you do, your life is gonna forever be new.
I have a friend that's 84 years old and she's like a teenager 'cause she's so hungry for God that God is continually doing something new in her life. And she's been a believer, beloved ones, for 40 years. God is real. God's promises are sure. And you know what? Your God is for you. Listen, let's not be passive Christians. Let's not just wait around waiting for something to happen. If we really believe God the way that we say we believe God, we're gonna do something to seek him. We're gonna do something to lay ahold of him. We're gonna draw near to him. And as we do, he's gonna draw near to us.