In this episode of Discovering the Jewish Jesus, Rabbi Schneider explores the powerful lesson taught by the storm on the Sea of Galilee. Learn why Yeshua was able to remain peacefully asleep amidst the chaos, and discover how this profound story relates to the fears we encounter in our own lives. Rabbi Schneider delves into scriptural insights that reveal the nature of fear and the supernatural blanket of peace Yeshua experienced, urging us to choose faith over fear.
Fear doesn’t have to have a specific reason. So what do you do? You don’t receive it. The opposite of fear is faith.
SPEAKER 05 :
You know the storm on the Sea of Galilee where the disciples were sailing and they were afraid? That storm, it revealed an interesting truth about human nature. And today on Discovering the Jewish Jesus, Rabbi Schneider is going to explain why Jesus was able to remain peacefully asleep, yet his disciples were terrified for their lives. And if you want to learn more about Rabbi or this ministry, visit us online at discoveringthejewishjesus.com. And right now, let’s get started. Here’s Rabbi with a simple and powerful reminder of why fear and faith can’t coexist.
SPEAKER 02 :
Beloved, I feel like you’re with me in spirit here on the Sea of Galilee in Israel, where so many incredible things are recorded for us in Scripture regarding who Yeshua is and the power that He had. So we’re gonna go through the Gospels. I’m gonna begin with the book of Matthew, and we’re gonna recount some of the amazing stories that are recorded for us in the Word of God And we’re going to make application for our lights today. You’ll hear some background noise, nothing we can do about it. Just things kind of going on there. So thanks for your consideration and patience of that. Here we go. The grass withers and the flowers fade. The word of the Lord abides forever. Matthew chapter eight, beginning in verse number 23. When he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves, but Jesus himself was asleep.” Now, this is a story that is familiar to many of us. And I don’t know if you’ve ever been in a situation where you’ve been out on a large body of water and a storm came and the panic that you might’ve experienced. That happened to me about 20 years ago. I was on Lake Erie off of Ohio, and I had just gotten this little boat, and it seemed like it was a really calm day, and I was really eager to get out there on this little boat that I just got. So despite the forecast, I said, you know what, we’re just gonna go, we’re gonna take a risk. So I got a couple guys to go with me. We launched out of Port Clinton, Ohio, went about five miles out onto Lake Erie, and wouldn’t you know it, a storm came. And the storm came relatively quickly. By the time I saw that the waves were getting high, It was too late. When I headed the boat back towards shore, I began to hit those waves. And each time I hit a wave, the water piled in upon my boat. We were trying to get the water off the boat with buckets and I had the bilge pump on. No matter how much we tried to get the water out of the boat, more water was coming in every time we hit a wave. Bam! It wasn’t too long before the engine died and the boat was literally sinking. And I don’t have a great recollection of what happened that time, but I do know this. It was a scary situation. Baruch Hashem, fortunately, somebody saw we were in trouble. They came next to us. We tied a rope from their boat, which was a much larger vessel, onto our boat, and they towed us in. But I share that story because in this account that we’re looking at in Matthew 8, Yeshua’s disciples were out on the Sea of Galilee. They hit a storm and they panicked. And some of you also may know what that felt like. So let’s read on. When he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea so that the boat was being covered with the waves. But Jesus himself panicked. was asleep which is pretty amazing i mean he had such an incredible peace such a supernatural perspective that he was covered by the sovereignty of father god that he was able to sleep in what in the natural was a very dangerous situation i mean the thing that’s important for us to realize is that this was a dangerous situation And we have to really grasp that to understand the fullness of the implications of what this story is about to unfold for us. So the storm hits, it’s dangerous, the waves are coming on the boat, and Yeshua of Nazareth is somehow asleep i mean father god must have had such a supernatural blanket of peace over him to keep him asleep because you would think that in the natural you wouldn’t be able to sleep just because of the waste i mean the boat was bobbing up and down so you wonder how could he be sleeping doesn’t make sense but there must have been such a super natural blanket of holy ruach shalom on him that he just fell into the pocket of god’s heart sleeping and so perhaps you can relate to that a little bit maybe there’s something that’s going on all around you at some point in your life and all of a sudden you’re woken up because finally you’re woken from whatever is going on around that’s jarring and you can’t believe that you slept through that thing so that’s what’s going on here this is going on dangerous it’s real but yeshua is asleep And we pick up in verse 25, and they came to and woke him saying, save us, Lord, we’re perishing. He said to them, why are you afraid, you men of little faith? So this is, first of all, a great application for you and I, because I think as human beings, one of the greatest tendencies we have is to fear. And I don’t think there’s anybody that’s listening right now that can’t relate to that. I mean, there are so many things that we’re surrounded by that are bigger than we are. I mean, you think about these disciples on the boat, that storm was bigger than they were. The waves were coming on the boat. Many vessels had sunk in the Sea of Galilee. It was real danger. And you and I are surrounded all our lives, as we get older, we realize it more and more, by danger. whether it’s the fear of getting an achara, whether it’s the fear of getting sick, whether it’s the fear of growing old, all these things are real. I mean, we see people around us, they get old and they begin to get a lot of pain and a lot of sickness. And it’s scary to think about that. Some of us are concerned about our finances. Will we run out of money? Will inflation go sky high? Will all the money that I’ve accumulated disappear because the stock market crashes or because inflation goes too high? So these are real fears just as the disciples were facing on the sea. And yet what did Jesus do? He had complete peace in the midst of the very real natural danger. And then He rebuked the disciples and He said to them, why are you afraid, you men of little faith? So two things. Number one, we need to realize that fear is not to be embraced. Yeshua rebuked it. He rejected it. Jesus hates fear. And I want you to think about this. The opposite of fear is faith. Think about that for a second. If you’re in fear, you’re not in faith. And if you’re in faith, you’re not in fear. Because listen, Yeshua rebuked the fear, and then he told us what the remedy was. He said, why are you afraid, you men of Israel? Little faith. And so when we find ourselves being afraid, we realize what the remedy is. The remedy is faith. So how do you get faith, listen to this now, over specific fears? Sometimes fear is just a spirit that’s so general, you don’t even know what it is. You just feel afraid. And in that situation, the thing to do is just to rise up. It’s a foul spirit. Take authority over it. In the name of Yeshua, say, I reject you. Father, I realize this is a satanic demon of fear. I reject it. Father, help me to shut the gates of my heart, to not let it in, and to rise up in the power of your spirit and the truth of your word. So we warfare against fear. We warfare against fear. We can’t receive it. We can’t just start confessing, I’m afraid, I’m afraid, I’m afraid, I’m afraid. It’s okay to confess at once to your friend or to your wife or husband. It’s okay to confess at once, but then to repent of it and to move into sanctification and be cleansed of it. And then what we do is, in addition to rising up against general fear, just recognizing it’s a spirit. Think about this for a second. It’s a spirit. Fear doesn’t have to have a specific reason. Have you ever just felt a spirit of dread and you didn’t even know why? You just felt afraid like something ominous, something really bad was gonna happen and you didn’t even know what it was. It’s a spirit. So what do you do? You don’t receive it. You stand up and reject it and say, Father, in Yeshua’s name, I stand up by the power of the resurrection of the Son of God that lives in me. I cast off this spirit of fear. Satan, I reject you and I crush every demon of fear under my feet right now. Yeshua, I will praise you and believe in you and trust you and rejoice in you. I will not be afraid. I will rejoice and will not be afraid. I will trust and will not be afraid. For the Lord my God is my strength and my song. He also has become my salvation.
The Lord my God is my strength and my song. He also has become my salvation. So you just rise up and you reject the spirit of fear. When it’s just general, you can’t even put a name to it. It’s just there. Okay, number two. Oftentimes we get hit by very specific fears. For example, the fear of growing old. Many people are not so much afraid to die, they’re just afraid of aging. You’re getting older and you’re looking at some of the suffering that older people that you grew up with or know are going through and that makes you afraid. So how do you combat the fear of aging? You look for specific scriptures in God’s word that deal with that exact fear. So one of the scriptures that I love regarding combating the fear of aging is what David Melech, what King David said. He said, thou will not forsake me even when my hairs grow. are gray so david had a confidence that even when he was aging when his hair was gray that the loving kindness of the father would still be with him and there would be no reason there is no reason to be afraid so if you’re going through right now that exact same dilemma my beloved brother or sister i just want to speak over your life confidence and faith yeshua said i will never leave you forsake you even when you’re old and your hairs are gray the same one that’s been with you through your earlier years of life will be with you in your latter years of life and although we can’t stop the decaying of our body we can still trust in the loving-kindness of God that he will continue to prove himself to us and be our portion there is nothing to fear
SPEAKER 05 :
You’re listening to Discovering the Jewish Jesus and Rabbi will be right back. But first, we have a special book announcement. Let’s check it out.
SPEAKER 01 :
Most have accepted the lie that fear is something we have to live with. But a clarion call from scripture remains. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid. In Rabbi K.A. Schneider’s book, Rabbi shares through riveting experience how he struck struggled with, and experienced victory over fear in Do Not Be Afraid. You’ll learn to resist the devil’s traps, walk in Jesus’ supernatural freedom, and fearlessly step into your destiny. Do Not Be Afraid by Messianic Rabbi K.A. Schneider. Call 800-777-7835 or visit discoveringthejewishjesus.com to order now.
SPEAKER 05 :
We are truly so excited for you to get this life-changing book. So pick up a copy today. And now here is Rabbi with the rest of today’s message.
SPEAKER 02 :
So what did Yeshua say to His disciples that were terrified of the dilemma they were in when the waves were coming aboard the boat, a very real danger? What did Yeshua say? Why are you afraid? It doesn’t matter what your fear is. He’s saying the same thing to you and me. Why are you afraid? Why are you afraid? You men of little faith. And so let’s just right now, let’s just put our hand over our heart. You’re struggling with fear right now. And let’s just confess out loud before the Father, before Yeshua. Father, I believe in your love for me And I choose to believe and trust in your love. And in Yeshua’s name, I reject fear and the spirit of fear. And I cancel every assault of the enemy by the blood of Yeshua that has aligned itself against my heart. Father, I will trust in you. I will believe in your loving kindness and in your goodness all the days of my life. I love the Psalmist in Psalm 23. Think about this word, surely, loving kindness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life surely goodness and mercy the psalmist said will follow me all the days of my life so for those of us that were afraid of the future or something in the future let’s remember the words of the psalmist king david surely goodness and loving kindness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. You see, oftentimes the way fear gets in is when we begin to imagine something that’s gonna happen in the future. We imagine running out of money. We imagine getting sick. We imagine whatever it is. We have all these vain imaginations. We imagine something going wrong in the lives of our children. But notice this, the things that make us afraid are always thoughts about what’s gonna happen in the future. but God is the God of the now. God’s God of the past, present, and future, but God is present in the now. You see, when you have thoughts about the future, if there’s something that you’re thinking about right now, maybe you’re afraid of losing your job, Maybe you’re afraid of losing your husband, your wife. Maybe you’re afraid of one of your loved ones getting sick. Whatever it might be, think about it. It’s always a projection of what’s going to be happening in the future. But remember what I just said. It’s a vain imagination. God is the God of the now. Some of you may have heard me tell this story before, but it’s a true story about a girl And she began to get terrified about getting fired. And it was almost debilitating to her. I mean, she was having trouble sleeping at night. She was obsessing about it. It went on for months. She was terrified about getting fired. Then lo and behold, what happened? One day after struggling with this fear for several months, the boss called her into the office and he fired her. you know what she said when she was actually in the boss’s office and he fired her she had no fear at all she had perfect peace while it was happening and when she left the office she had perfect peace why because god is always going to meet you in the now he hasn’t promised to meet you in your vain imaginations that’s fear he commanded us to reject fear In fact, fear is commanded to be rejected over a hundred times in the Word of God. And if we want to take possession of the peace of the Lord, we have to reject fear. Remember what the Lord said to Joshua. He said, I have commanded you to go in and possess the land. He said, but be not fearful. And be not discouraged, but be strong and courageous. You shall possess the land, only be very strong and courageous. And it’s the same thing for you and I. To walk in that inheritance, to walk in the promised land of Yeshua’s shalom, his wholeness, we can’t be afraid. But instead we have to believe that what God says is ours is ours. And what did he say is ours? I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. He will meet all our needs according to his riches in glory. So God is with you. I will trust, the Psalmist said, and will not be afraid. So let’s just, again, just sing that together because song is a beautiful thing. So we sing together this song. I will trust and will not be afraid. For the Lord my God is my strength and my song. He also has become my salvation.
The Lord my God is my strength and my song. He also has become my salvation.
SPEAKER 03 :
Sing it with me now. Lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie. Lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie. Lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie. Lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie.
SPEAKER 02 :
So let’s continue on here. So the text continues in verse 26, then he got up, then Yeshua got up and rebuked the winds and the sea and it became perfectly calm. Now think about this. We’ve heard this story before, many of us, but I want you to really bring this down to the nuts and bolts of your reality. So Yeshua rebukes them, why are you afraid, men of little faith? And then it says, then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea and it became perfectly calm. Now let me ask you this question. How many times have you worried, feared, and fretted about something in the future, and what you worried and feared about, it never happened? It was a complete lie. An absolute lie. What you worried about never happened. Those disciples were terrified. Those waves were going to come on the boat. That boat was going to capsize. They were going to sink and they were going to drown. You and I, beloved, the things that we worry about, Jesus is going to reign over every single one of them. And he’s saying to you and I today, Shalom. Do not be afraid. Have faith. Have confidence. Be courageous. I am with you even until the end of the age. Many of us have heard the principle of throwing out the baby with the bathwater. And of course, what that means is we throw out the whole thing rather than keeping what’s good. The reason I’m bringing this up is that some of us have forsaken honoring the Lord with our tithes and our offerings because we feel there’s been those in the past that have tried to manipulate us for money. i simply want to say this beloved let’s not throw out the baby with the bath water honoring the lord with our tithes and offerings goes all the way back to the book of genesis and today the scripture tells us if there are ministries that are blessing us and feeding us we ought to support those ministries with our finances number one to show thankfulness Number two, to honor the Lord. And number three, so they can continue to be a blessing to the world. And those of you that sow your finances into ministries that are blessed in the world, you’re going to be rewarded for it. Beloved, I want to ask you for your help and I want to thank you in advance for your love and sacrificial support. Now, Dustin, could you share with our listeners how they can support us and give?
SPEAKER 05 :
I’d be happy to, Rabbi. As the Lord leads you to support Discovering the Jewish Jesus today, would you go to our website? It’s discoveringthejewishjesus.com. And you can also give by calling us at 800-777-7835. Or you can send your financial donation of any amount in the mail. And our address is discoveringthejewishjesuspobox777. blissfield michigan 49228 and we really appreciate it when you give having been with this ministry and working for rabbi for over 10 years now i can tell you firsthand what an impact our team has made all around the world there are so many people’s lives who are being changed And there are so many more people who still need to hear the gospel. So thank you so much for supporting us and helping us bring the word of Jesus to those in need. And I’d also like to take a moment today to tell you about our special partnership with Freewill. This is a will and estate planning tool that’s absolutely free, and it ensures that your commitment to sharing the good news of Messiah Jesus, it lives on after you’re gone. And, you know, creating a will, it doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. So if you want to take this life-changing step, I encourage you to set up your free will today. All you have to do to learn more about this opportunity is go to discoveringthejewishjesus.com. and click on the resources tab and then click need a will. And whether you choose to leave a gift for this ministry or not, it’s still absolutely free for you. So check it out today. And now let’s wrap up with God’s sacred and special blessing. Rabbi.
SPEAKER 02 :
In the book of Numbers, chapter six, we find a personal blessing from God our Father. This blessing should touch our hearts because it’s so personal. Father God wants to intimately bless you, so receive his blessing into your life today with gladness and an open heart.
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. God bless you and shalom.
SPEAKER 05 :
I’m Dustin Roberts, and this program is produced and sponsored by Discovering the Jewish Jesus. Do you know what happens when Jesus shows up in power? Well, find out when Rabbi talks about an encounter Yeshua had with demons. That’s Wednesday on Discovering the Jewish Jesus.
