How To Rejoice in Suffering | Psalm 34 Season 2

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: We need to be prepared to go through hard times because when we realize it's a reality, it's going to be easier to go through hard times. But the Lord delivers us out of them all. We're more than conquerors. I want to pick up today where I left off last time. I was in verse number 18 from Psalm number 34 and I said this, "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." I went into great detail on that on the last episode, but I want to make some comments here to strengthen us from fearing hard times. Because David here is saying that when he found himself brokenhearted and when he found himself crushed in spirit, God was near to him. And you and I can and should expect the same. That when we belong to HaShem, when we belong to Father God, we are so immersed in His love that when we go through something in life that breaks our heart or crushes us in spirit, a broken relationship, the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, rejection, whatever it might be. When we're brokenhearted or feeling crushed in spirit, when we belong to HaShem, His love is going to minister to us in such a deep way that the brokenhearted experience will actually be bittersweet. What I mean by that is we're actually going to experience the love and the tenderness of HaShem, the tenderness of God for us in a way that is deeper and richer than we experience Him when things are going well. The Apostle Paul learned this in his own life. He was going through a season in his own life, we read in the book of Corinthians chapter 12, where he described that there was a tormentor of Satan that he was dealing with. We have no idea what this tormentor was. We know it was causing him great pain. And most of us know the story. He prayed three times to the Father to take it away. And after the third time, the Lord spoke to him and he said, "No, Paul. I'm not going to take this experience away from you. This experience that's wounding you and hurting you." So he says, "Paul, My power is going to be perfected in your life during this season and My grace will be sufficient to get you through it." And here's what Paul learned as a result of that experience. Paul said, "Therefore, in other words, because I learned when I asked Father to take this hard experience away from me, because I learned that He had a purpose in this hard experience, that He was going to perfect His power in me through this hard experience, that He was going to make me strong because I'm walking through this hard experience relying on Him." He said, "Because of that," Paul said, "I'm going to glory in hard experiences." He said, "Therefore," Paul said, "I'm going to glory in persecutions, in insults, in testings and in trials, because I know that in my weakness, His grace will be perfected in me. His power will be perfected in me, and I will be made strong by walking hand in hand with HaShem through the difficulty." Now, why am I stressing this to you right now, beloved one? It's because many of us were so afraid of going through hard times. But the truth is, we have to go through hard times. Everybody goes through hard times. I don't care who they are. Everybody experiences hard times. Why? Because we're in this world. It's the nature of the reality that we're living in. And we should not be afraid of hard times, because it's during those hard times that Father God in a very unusual, deep, rich way, it ministers His grace, His compassion and His love to us. And so David says here, "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted." He comforts them in a very supernatural way. And the grace that we receive from Him during hard times, it's so rich that it almost makes us desire the hard times. That's what Paul said. He said, "Therefore," Paul said, "I'm going to glory in the insults, the rejections, the trials, the testings and the persecutions." I know in my own life the times sometimes that I have felt closest to God, it's when I've been going through a time of being rejected, when my heart was broken. I remember there was an article that was written about me one time. And I remember, you know, that there was just this criticism that came at me from this article that had been written. And of course, whenever a journalist writes an article, you know, they've got to make it sensational in order to get people to read it, and, you know, it's not the full truth. But I remember just experiencing some of that rejection from many different sides, but I felt so loved by God. I remember driving to my studio this day when I had experienced this rejection because of the article. I felt so embraced by the love of the Father. I felt such fellowship with King Jesus that had also been rejected, misunderstood and persecuted. It was like I wouldn't trade that fellowship for anything, because it was so rich and so deep, so real and so beautiful. This is why, listen, listen, please. This is so important. Paul said in the book of Philippians that he had been a Hebrew of Hebrews. He said he was circumcised the eighth day. This is like, you know, this is like he's just talking about all his credentials as a Jew. Circumcised the eighth day, born from the tribe of Benjamin. He was educated under the leading Jewish sage of his day, Gamaliel. Paul said, "I was a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee, respected by the entire religious Jewish community." And in those days to be respected in the religious realm was to have the highest place in society because it was a religious society. So Paul had everything in society. But Paul said, "But I gave all that up. I gave all those credentials up in order that I could gain Christ, being found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law, but the righteousness that comes through Messiah Jesus." And then Paul said this, "He gave all that up, all that standing he had in the Hebrew community." He said, "He gave it all up and considered it as nothing in comparison to knowing Messiah Jesus." Listen, "and experiencing the power of His resurrection and," Paul said, this is what I want you to get, "and the fellowship of His sufferings." Paul said, "I gave it all up. Everything I had in the traditional Jewish world. I gave it all up, and it isn't worthy to be compared with knowing Messiah, experiencing the power of His resurrection and the fellowship." Get it now. "The fellowship." What's fellowship? Fellowship is intimacy. It's closeness. And experiencing, Paul said, "The fellowship of His sufferings." There's something to be gained intimately through going through the sufferings that Jesus went through and experiencing some of the brokenheartedness that He experienced and that David experienced because of their walk with HaShem, because of their walk with God. All that desire to live godly in Christ Jesus shall be persecuted. And so once again, returning, beloved one, to our text. David said, "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted." Don't be afraid of being rejected for your faith, because when you are, you're going to experience the closeness of God in a way that you cannot experience any other way. He saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Dustin Roberts: You're listening to Discovering The Jewish Jesus and Rabbi Schneider will be right back, but first, I'd love for you to stay connected with us by signing up for Rabbi's Seeds of Revelation newsletter. Each week, you'll receive a powerful devotional direct from Rabbi, along with other ministry updates, including when Rabbi will be live. It's a simple way to stay uplifted and informed. Go to discoveringthejewishjesus.com and click Stay Connected today.
Rabbi K.A. Schneider: Deception is rising and many messages today, they're not the full gospel. But Rabbi's teachings come directly from scripture, declaring truth with boldness. He's uncompromising. And if this ministry has blessed you, would you consider becoming a monthly partner today? To continue reaching the world with God's Word, we need committed supporters just like you. So to become a monthly partner, call us at 800-777-7835. And now, back to Rabbi Schneider. Let's go to the next verse, verse number 19 from Psalm number 34. "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all." We're going to go through difficult times. It's the way it is. We shouldn't be afraid. It's going to happen. We shouldn't be caught off guard when we go through hard times. We need to be prepared to go through hard times because when we realize it's a reality that we can't escape from, it's going to be easier to go through hard times when we have to go through them. But the Lord delivers us out of them all. We're more than conquerors. The hard times will not define us. Listen, you've been raised and are now seated in the heavens with Messiah Jesus, Ephesians chapter 2. If you've been raised and are now seated with Messiah in heavenly places, that means that your calling, your destiny and who you are is bigger than any difficulty that you'll ever go through. You're going to outlive it. You're going to outgrow it. You're going to get over it and get on top of it. So baruch HaShem, praise the name of the Lord today. You are a victor and a conqueror forever in Christ Jesus. "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers you, you, beloved one. Every single one of you that are His, out of them all." You will have the last laugh and the last word. Let's go to the next line. "He keeps all his bones, none of them is broken." Jesus said, "Don't fear the world, don't fear man that can destroy your body, but fear the one that can destroy both soul and body and hell." At the end of the day, we'll be completely preserved. People that have had after life experiences, you know, life after death experiences, believers, you know, they've been able to go to heaven for a minute or whatever. They see their loved ones there, those that knew the Lord. They're young and they're in perfect health. The spirit of God within you is forever young, and you will be forever young because of Him in the deepest part of your nature. "Not so with the wicked." Verse 21, "Evil shall slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned." They may have a laugh for a while, but they will not endure. And finally, verse number 22, "The Lord redeems the soul of His servants, and none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned." Every single one of us is going to pass away out of this world. If Jesus doesn't come first, which He might, we will expire. Right? The things they say, "None of us can escape in the Western world, they're what? Death and taxes." We're going to die. But you know what? None of those that know Christ Jesus will be condemned. You see, when we come to the very end of the Word of God, we read about the judgments. The books are opened. And there's two sets of books. And the one book contains the names of those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. And we stand before Jesus, names written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Our sins are forgiven. Why? Because He paid the price. Yeshua HaMashiach that knew no sin, took our sin, you and I, He took our sin in His own body on the tree. And then He was put to death in our place. And because we've received God's free gift of life, because we've received Messiah Jesus, we've now been made the righteousness of God in Him. And when we expire and one day stand before the Lamb's Book of Life, beloved, we will stand before Him. We will not be condemned. Why? Not because we've never sinned. No, we've all sinned. But because Jesus paid the price for us. We are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Praise the name of the Lord. Let's give glory to God. Thank you, King Jesus. Blessed be the name of the Lord all the days of our life, through our last breath. Everyone who has ever lived, who is not recorded in the Lamb's Book of Life, will stand before what's called the White Throne of God. And they will pay the price for their sin because the soul that sins it shall die. There will be a final reckoning. The creator of all things will bring every man and woman to give an account. We will stand before our maker, and there will be, beloved, a judgment. Some to everlasting life, according to the book of Daniel, and others to everlasting contempt or death. But notice what David encourages the saints with here in his final verse in this Psalm. "The Lord redeems the soul of His servants. And get it, none." That means you and I. "None of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned." Father, we just want to thank you right now where we stand. To be able to look into the future, thanking You for Messiah Jesus. Thank You, King Jesus, for coming. Thank You, Father God, for sending Your Son. Thank You, Father, that You made the Word flesh to die in our place and that because of Your great love for us, because Messiah Jesus, of what You've done, we will not be condemned. Well, as I close today, beloved, with just a few minutes left, I just want to highlight a few of the spectacular verses that we hit on from Psalm number 34 through seasons 1 and 2. We started out with verse 1. "I will bless the name of the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth." I just think this is such a life declaration. I mean, this is a choice to wake up in the morning and to be accountable to the Lord and to ourselves to live a life of praise. "I will bless the Lord at all times." We have to make a decision to bless Him. Sure, the devil wants to come and get us to start cursing. He wants us to start complaining. He wants us to get into the negative. But we can make a choice to say, "Father, I thank you. Thank you that You created me. Thank you that I've got a choice to praise You right now. Thank You, Lord, for all the beautiful things that You've allowed me to experience, even such simple things as making food for me to eat that tastes good to my senses. For the beauty I see in creation, for being able to hear Your Word or to hear the beauty of music." And of course, there's so many different ways that God taught us so many of us and some of us, you know, are not able to see anymore. Some of us may not be able to hear anymore, but there are ways that God's goodness and His grace and His beauty touches every single one of us, and we have to make a decision to live a life of praise to Him. Because in reality, His entire creation is praising Him. Jesus said, "If you don't praise me, the rocks are going to cry out in your place." Let me ask you a question. Do you want to praise Him because He created you and gave you a life and He made you in His own image and you have a great future ahead of you in Messiah Jesus, if you'll put Him first? Do you want to choose to praise Him and give Him back the life that He's given you, thanking Him for His beauty and His love? Or do you want to let a stone cry out in your place? Jesus said, "If you don't praise Him, a rock's going to cry out in your place." How would you like to stand before God at the end of time with your mouth mute, stitched together, not saying a word and having a rock next to you praising God in your place, praising God on behalf of you? Here a rock crying out in your place because you wouldn't give Him praise. That's what Jesus said is going to happen. So David said, "I'm going to, I'm going to make a decision in my life. I know which way I'm going. As for me and my house," David said, "I'm going to serve the Lord. I will bless the Lord at all times. Good times and bad times." Job said, "The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. I will bless the Lord at all times, and His praise shall continually be in my mouth." You want to change the spiritual atmosphere, beloved? Live a life like that. Let everybody hear God's praise. God's hallelujah coming from your mouth. When people ask you how you're doing, say, "Praise God. I'm doing better than I deserve. Blessed be the name of the Lord." Always be talking about God's love. Always be talking about Jesus. Always be talking about what God's done for you. Beloved, the world needs you to do that. The world is dying. They're desperate for answers. They're desperate for hope. And you've got the answer because Jesus is the answer. So let's live like David lived. Let's wake up every day saying, "Father, thank You for this day. Thank You for my life. Thank You for the opportunity that You've given me today to grow in grace. And Father, I will bless You with my mouth and love You with my lips all the days of my life."
Rabbi K.A. Schneider: Beloved ones, not only are thousands of people getting saved through this ministry, but often times when I travel around the world, the Lord will open up doors for me to minister to political leaders and people in high places. I want you to know, when you send me through television and on the ground crusades, there's fruit that's being won for the Kingdom of God, and you that are supporting me, beloved, are having a part to play. You're going to have a reward for all this fruit that's being wrought through this ministry. You see, beloved, Paul says, "How shall they hear without a preacher, and how shall the preacher go unless somebody sends him?" You're the ones that are sending me, and together, beloved, we're going to be rewarded. I want to encourage you right now, if the Lord is speaking to your heart about supporting me and supporting this ministry, just be obedient to Him, and you're going to be blessed.
Dustin Roberts: Amen, Rabbi. I love that perspective. And friends, if God is stirring your heart to become part of that mission today, we'd be honored to have you stand with us. Give online at discoveringthejewishjesus.com or call us at 800-777-7835. You can also mail your gift to Discovering The Jewish Jesus, P.O. Box 777, Blissfield, Michigan 49228. And if Discovering The Jewish Jesus has made a difference in your life, we would love to hear your story. Your testimony, it means more to our team than you may realize. Hearing how God has used Rabbi Schneider in this ministry to encourage your faith, it reminds us why this work matters and it's honestly just really encouraging to hear. So you can share your testimony by visiting discoveringthejewishjesus.com and click on the Ministry tab and submit your testimony. We may even share your testimony on this program. So not only are you encouraging us, but you're bringing hope to people who have also been in your situation. And you know what, if you want to go further with your support of this ministry, I do want to ask you, prayerfully consider sending a financial gift today. And when you do, you'll play a part in changing someone's eternity. You know, most of us really probably never think of it that way, but when you give and that gift causes an outreach that impacts someone's life for the gospel, that is a gift of storing up treasures in heaven. That's exactly what the Bible's talking about when we give and we support kingdom impact in the earth. So I want to thank you for transforming lives for the sake of the Kingdom of God. Thank you for supporting this ministry. If you haven't and you would like to, give online at discoveringthejewishjesus.com. We love you. And now here's Rabbi Schneider to speak God's sacred blessing over your life.
Rabbi K.A. Schneider: What I love about the Aaronic blessing is that it did not originate with man. The words actually proceeded from the very essence of God Himself. The blessing comes from the book of Numbers chapter 6. So listen to these words and receive the blessing of the Lord into your life today. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift you up with His countenance, and the Lord give you, beloved one, His peace. And now, in Hebrew. Y'varekhekhah Adonai v'yishmerekha. Ya'er Adonai panav eleikha v'yikhuneka. Yisa Adonai panav eleikha v'yasem l'kha Shalom. God bless you and shalom.
Dustin Roberts: I'm your host Dustin Roberts, and this program is produced and sponsored by Discovering The Jewish Jesus. Join us tomorrow and ask yourself if you've gotten too comfortable with where you are spiritually. Rabbi Schneider reveals why dissatisfaction may be exactly where breakthrough begins right here on Discovering The Jewish Jesus.