Skip to content When God’s Instructions Don’t Make Sense | Stories From the Sea of Galilee Jul 21 · 20 min ...more
When God’s Instructions Don’t Make Sense | Stories From the Sea of Galilee
July 21, 2025 · 20 min
In this episode, Rabbi Schneider explains what to do when God’s instructions just don’t make sense.
Series Discovering The Jewish Jesus July 21, 2025 · 20 min · Discovering The Jewish Jesus
In this episode, Rabbi Schneider explains what to do when God’s instructions just don’t make sense. ...more Show the full description Show less In this episode, Rabbi Schneider explains what to do when God’s instructions just don’t make sense.
Series Discovering The Jewish Jesus Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Support this leader
Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Give
Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
468K followers
Rabbi Schneider is equipping the body of Christ, building the church, and evangelizing the world. From the Old and New Testament, learn the biblical roots of Christianity and Jesus' Jewish heritage.
468K followers
Comments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
Obedience Beyond Understanding 0:00 There'll be times when God's gonna tell you to do something that won't make sense. But if you don't obey him, you're gonna miss out on a blessing.0:16 Welcome back, my beloved friends, to the Sea of Galilee. We're gonna be looking at 2 very specific episodes recorded in God's word regarding the miracles that Yeshua did on0:28 this lake, and most importantly, I'm gonna be making application for your life and for my life today. I wanna begin by going with you to the book of Luke chapter number 5. Now as we come to Luke chapter0:39 5, Yeshua is teaching on Simon's boat from the lake. There's people on the shore. Yeshua had borrowed Simon's boat. He's teaching the people on the lake. And then afterwards,0:51 Yeshua tells Peter to cast the net over the boat. So let's pick up now where that episode begins. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, put out into deep1:03 water and let down your nets for a catch. Simon answered and said, master, we've worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but I will do as you say and let down the nets. So once1:15 again, this is against natural reasoning. Yeshua is telling, Simon to do something that didn't make sense to him in the natural. Simon had already been fishing all night. He hadn't caught anything. And Yeshua says, go1:26 out into the deep, let down the nets. And to Simon, that seemed like a waste of time in the natural. It seemed to make no sense. And the lesson there is that oftentimes in our lives, as we grow in grace1:39 and grow in faith, the Lord is gonna tell us to do something. He's gonna give us instructions to do something that don't make any sense in the natural. And if we don't obey, we're gonna1:51 miss out on a blessing. Remember the man of old recorded in the Hebrew scripture that got sick, and he, sent, he came to Elisha to get healed, and he thought that Elisha would2:03 come out from his residence and and and do some supernatural thing and and wave his hand over him and say a blessing, and then he'd be supernaturally healed that the man of God would do something2:14 spectacular and glorious. But instead, what happens, he gets to Elisha's house, and rather than Elijah coming out himself, Elijah2:26 sends his servant to come out. So the 1 that had come all this way to be healed by Elijah didn't even have the courtesy of meeting Elisha face to face, instead he meets the servant. And then2:38 Elisha's servant says to him, go wash in the Jordan. And the guy was furious. He said, I've come all this way. I expected God to do something and and wave Elisha to wave his hand over me that I'd2:50 be supernaturally and gloriously healed. Instead, he he doesn't respect me enough to see me himself and sends out a messenger and tells me to watch in the Jordan. I know I know rivers that are way bigger than that.3:03 But this servant, this this this 1 that had come for the healing, he had a servant himself. And his servant said to him, listen, if he would have told you to done some great thing,3:15 would you not have done it? We've come all this way. Now let's just go and do what he said to do. So the man probably is, you know, shaking his head. He's he's probably still frustrated, but he he he he3:27 agrees, okay. I'll I'll go to the Jordan and wash. So he goes to the Jordan, dips himself 7 times. He comes out. He's supernaturally healed. What's the point? God gave him3:38 instructions to do something that in the natural didn't make sense. And And that's the same situation we find right here with Simon. Simon had been fishing all all day, all3:50 night, had caught nothing. Now Jesus says, go back into the deep and let down your nets. And Simon's in the natural thinking, what's the use? I've already been here all day. But he humbles himself and submits to the4:02 Lord's word and does what God said. And so I just want to encourage you right now that there'll be times when God's gonna tell you to do something that won't make sense. But if you don't obey him, you're4:14 gonna miss out on a blessing. So let's pick up right now where we left off. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.4:25 Simon answered and said, master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I'll do as you say and let down the nets. When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of4:37 fish and their nets began to break. And then they signaled to the partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats filled with fish so that4:49 they began to sink. Both boats now began to sink. There was so much of a quantity of fish, so much weight that the boats couldn't contain it. So when Simon5:01 Peter saw that he fell down at Yeshua's feet saying, go away from me, Lord, for I'm a sinful man. God is gonna do something spectacular with you, with your life, my friend, if you'll5:13 obey Him. If you and I will obey Him completely, God is gonna do great and wondrous things that we know not of. God is supernatural.5:25 And the Bible says, he's looking to and fro across the earth to show himself strong to the 1 that will be fully obedient to5:37 him. And so I just wanna say to you, if you sense the Lord telling you to do something, it doesn't make sense to you in the natural or it seems like a scary thing to do, if in fact it's God that5:49 you're sensing, if you'll obey him, he's gonna do above all that you can ask or think in your life. That's what happened to these fishermen. Right? That's what happened to Simon. There were so many fish that not only6:01 could his boat not contain them, but the other boat that he called alongside to help him, that boat couldn't contain all the fish either. Listen, god is wonderful. He's looking to show himself strong, but6:12 we have to be willing to let go of our own natural thinking. We have to surrender to him, let go of our own ways, and follow his spirit. And it'll do exceedingly above, the Lord said, that he's able to do6:25 exceedingly above all that we ask or think. I mean, I think about my life and and and where the Lord's brought me from, And I could have never gotten, my6:36 beloved friends, to where I am today in a million years on my own. I mean, the things that have brought me to where I am today, to be able to preach the gospel all over the world through6:48 television, radio, on the ground crusades. The amount of people that we're reaching, the people that we've met, the presidents that I've prayed for, the parliaments that I've spoken to, I could have never, in a million7:00 years, with all my effort, got myself to those places. But because the Lord humbled me and made me fully dependent on him, he was able then to go before me knowing that I would7:12 be faithful to him because of the way that he had broken me and remade me in him. And he'll do the same for everyone, beloved, that is submitted to himself and to the lordship of Yeshua in their life. He'll7:24 do the same for you. It doesn't have to be something big in the world. It doesn't mean that you have to have a world platform. That's not what satisfies. I don't I don't get satisfaction from preaching to hundreds of7:34 thousands of people. That that's not what gives me satisfaction. So it doesn't have to be something big in the world. What gives satisfaction is the things that god will do and confirm in our7:46 own souls when we obey him, the peace that we'll have from knowing that we know. Pay place of fellowship that will be brought into, that he'll7:58 become more intimate to us than the best friend that we've ever had in our life. That's what's gonna satisfy, and that's what we're gonna be brought into if we'll let go of our own ways and follow him, just like Simon8:08 did in this case. He said, lord, it doesn't make any sense to me. And it doesn't I don't think anything's gonna happen, but I'll do what you told me to do. And he did what God told him to do, and he had a supernatural8:17 harvest and increase as a result. I wanna go to 1 more incredible episode in the gospels that took place on the Sea of Galilee as we turn now to the Gospel of John chapter numberWalking on Water: A Spiritual Journey 8:29 6. And what I want to talk about is something that we're all familiar with, anybody that knows the gospel at all. We're talking about the incident where Yeshua walked on8:41 the water. You might say, you know, I've never seen anybody walk on water, and you might not have faith to believe that you can walk on water. But I'm gonna make an application for your life right now that is deep and8:53 will cut right to the core of your being if you'll receive it. So let's read the episode first. John chapter 6 beginning in verse number 15. So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come9:05 and take him by force to make him king, withdrew again to the mountain by himself alone. So Yeshua was aware that his popularity was getting out of control, that they were wanting to take him and, you know, they9:16 were idolizing him as they should have, but the thing was getting out of control. They were gonna come and take him by force and make him king. And it says, now when evening came, his disciples went down to the sea. And9:28 after getting into a boat, they started to cross the sea to Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. So Jesus is alone. He withdrew into a lonely place, and the disciples set out on the9:39 Sea of Galilee on a boat, and Jesus had not yet come to him. This the eighteenth verse. The sea began to be stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. Then when they had rowed about 3 or 4 miles9:51 out, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat, and they were frightened. But he said to them, it is I. Do not be afraid.10:03 So they were willing to receive him into the boat, and immediately the boat was on land, on the land to which they were going. So I just wanna talk about this concept of walking on water. Do you know that10:15 you and I literally, in the spirit realm, walk on water in our lives when we subject every thought that comes into our10:27 mind to the lordship of Messiah? You see, the battleground for us is in the realm of the spirit, and the realm of the spirit is the realm of thought.10:39 And when you and I are empowered enough to cast down every thought that comes to us that exalts itself above the lordship of Messiah Yeshua, and that reality when we10:51 cast every thought down under him, thoughts of fear, thoughts of anxiety, thoughts of disobedience, thoughts of lust, thoughts of selfishness, every thought11:03 that enters our mind that is not in harmony with the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit, when we take those thoughts and subject them to the law of Christ, we are in the spirit world, listen to this11:15 now, walking on water. When we're no longer living by the natural, living by the course of the natural mind, by the course of the eyes, or by the11:26 course of the world, when we're subjecting all that to the living word of God, taking every thought captive to the obedient of Christ, we then ascend up11:38 in the realm of the spirit in that place where we're seated at the right hand of God according to the book of Ephesians. And just like Jesus, we are walking on water in the realm of the11:50 spirit world. And this, my beloved friend, is what God has called us to. This is a fight that we wage every day. Every day from the time that we wake up, we're making choices.12:03 You and I are making choices all day long. The choices that we're making are mostly in the realm of thought. We're choosing what we're gonna let in and what we're gonna focus12:15 on. We're choosing what thought we're gonna act on. We're choosing what we're gonna say and what we're not gonna say. And when we become master in that realm, when we become12:27 master over our speech, over our thoughts, and as a result, over our actions, we will find the truth that is revealed to us in the book of Colossians12:39 chapter 3, that our lives are hidden with God in Christ. In Ephesians chapter 2, we've been raised up with Christ in12:51 the present tense and are seated with him in the heavenly realm. You and I can reign in life in the spirit through Messiah Jesus. We can literally walk on13:03 water in the realm of the spirit. But in order to get to this place, we need to be strengthened with power from the Ruach HaKodesh. And how do we do that? We do this13:14 by clinging to God in our weakness. See, the Bible tells us that his power is perfected in our weakness. So when you begin to talk to God all13:26 day long, it doesn't have to be out loud. Sometimes you talk to God out loud. Sometimes you talk to God in your heart. Sometimes you talk to God with your mind, but you talk to God all day long. You13:38 cling to him. Devukut, it's called in Hebrew. We cling to God as we cling to God through everything. Like Moses had said to the Lord, when the Lord commissioned him to lead Israel13:51 to the promised land, Moses was terrified of the task. And he said, Lord, unless you go with me, I'm not gonna go. He was terrified to move out in life on his14:02 own. And if you and I are gonna made strong be made strong enough to ascend in the spirit world, to take every thought captive and to subject every thought that Satan tries to put into our14:14 mind and heart, if we're able to subject every thought under the feet of Jesus through the power that has been wrought within us, if we can do that, we will find ourself ascending in the spirit and literally14:26 reigning in life through Christ Jesus. And so I wanna try to bring this story that we read about in the gospels of Yeshua walking on the water14:38 to something that's applicable to your life. 7 times, the book of Revelation, chapter 2 and chapter 3, Yeshua said, he that overcomes.14:50 He that overcomes will inherit these things. He that overcomes will be with me in the paradise of God. So what is it that we have to overcome? We have to overcome, beloved, in the thought realm.15:03 And so I want to encourage you to recognize that life's a battle. A lot of God's people are just looking to how they can experience pleasure, and they're trying to avoid the battle. But you can't avoid the15:15 battle. You've gotta run into the battle. You've gotta come to the realization and and and accept the fact you're in a battle. Satan is constantly bombarding you15:27 with lies, And he's constantly trying to appeal to our flesh, to do that which feeds the flesh but makes the spirit and keeps the spirit weak. He's trying to appeal to our15:39 selfishness. He's trying to appeal to, thinking in a way that is not conformed to the law of the spirit. So we have to recognize that we're having to choose every day whether we're gonna15:50 we're gonna sow to the spirit or sow to the flesh, whether they're gonna be whether we're gonna be led by the law of the spirit or whether we're gonna be led by our own selfishness and16:02 our own lust. And if we're willing to accept that battle and fight this fight and realize there's a choice that we're making all day long every single day, what's gonna happen is we're gonna realize that we're in a a a16:14 war for the full sanctification of our soul. And in this war, we're gonna find ourselves constantly crying out to god for help. And as we're crying out to the lord for help, we're16:26 gonna be strengthened by the same power that raised Messiah Yeshua from the dead. His power is gonna be perfected in our weakness as we continue to cry out to him from the middle of the16:38 war when we're fighting the lust of the eyes, when we're fighting the lust of the flesh, when we're fighting anger, when we're fighting bitterness, when we're fighting frustration, when we're fighting16:50 fear, all these things, when we're fighting emptiness, when we're continually asking god, help me, lord. Help me, lord. Sometimes the strongest the strongest prayer that you can pray and the17:02 most effective prayer that you can pray is what? Help me, lord. When the disciples were sinking, what did they say? Save us. Save us. That was the most powerful17:13 prayer that they could have prayed. So you just continue to reach out to Hashem, to reach out to God in the spirit from your heart. Fight the fight of faith. Resist17:25 every thought, beloved, that's selfish. Resist every thought that's jealous. Resist every thought that is trying to make you accusatory against someone. Come against every thought of17:37 hatred. Resist hatred. Resist resist selfishness. Resist small mindedness. And overcome with the love of God, with the17:49 spirit of generosity, with the spirit of love towards all mankind, even loving those, Jesus said, that hate you, overcoming by the power of the Holy18:00 Spirit. And as you overcome, my beloved friend, you're gonna find yourself ascending in the resurrection in the spirit. You see, Yeshua said, I am the resurrection of18:12 life. You're gonna find yourself being strengthened, being raised up in the spirit. And as you are, you're gonna find yourself walking on water in the realm of the spirit.18:25 This is the heritage of the of the of the servants of the Lord. This is our heritage, beloved children, of those that are born again. He that's born of God overcomes the18:36 world. Yeshua said if the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed. Do you believe it? Will you receive it? If you do, beloved, then continue to fight this18:48 fight. Continue to fight the fight of faith, bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Messiah. And as you do once again, you will ascend in the resurrection strength of18:59 Messiah. Your mind is gonna become freer and freer. Your love is gonna become greater and greater. You're gonna live in more and more peace, and you're gonna realize, just like Jesus, you too are walking19:12 on water, walking on the waters of the spiritual realm. Stories from the Galilee. Wow. To be honest with you, when I think right now the19:23 Galilee, it brings me back to when I recorded this episode that you've just got done seeing in Israel and was there when just a few days later, the war broke out. And we experienced the bombs,19:35 blowing up overhead and, wow, a memory that I'm sure will stay with Cynthia and I for the rest of our lives. But, you know, even as Jesus calm the storms on19:47 Galilee, he can calm every storm that you and I will ever find ourself in or go through, and I speak that peace over your life right now. I want to19:59 encourage you, if God is using Discovering the Jewish Jesus to help you in your life, would you consider Discovering the Jewish Jesus to help you in your life, would you consider prayerfully to financially support us? It20:08 does take a lot of money, my beloved friends, to do what we're doing. I can't do it without you. Cynthia can't do it without you. We love you. We thank you for your financial support and we appreciate your20:20 prayers. God bless you my friends and thank you very much. Shalom.In this video 0:00 Obedience Beyond Understanding8:25 Walking on Water: A Spiritual Journey
Comments
Keep it kind. Comments are public.