“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).
There is nothing that can separate us from His love. In fact, Father designed the whole world for us. And our ultimate purpose and destiny in life is to love Him back.
God is self-existent. He is the beginning and is eternal. He has always been. The Divine Creator of all does not need anything. But somehow, God has humbled Himself to love and need us. Incredibly – He is drawn to you and me.
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If this was not so, would He have sent His Son to experience such agony and even die for us? God’s Son was whipped, His beard was pulled out, He had nails put through His hands and feet, and a spear thrust in His side. He was spat on, mocked, and cursed. If God did not truly love us, would He have put His only begotten Son through such horrendous torment? No. That is how attached to us He is. That is how much He is committed to us. We are His most precious possession of all of His creation! We are unique. He created us in His likeness so that we could receive His love and authentically and truly choose to love Him back. In fact, we are destined to what the Bible calls “The Marriage Supper of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:9).
Despite this, we often feel that God is far away. The real issue is not that God is off in the distance, and does not see or care. Rather, our real predicament is that we are hesitant to fully open up and completely let Him in.
I remember years ago, as a new believer, I had been praying to experience the Lord more deeply. I had already come to faith in Yeshua. I started devotedly reading the Scriptures. I read about the Holy Spirit and had started praying to fully experience Him. One day, I was lying on my bed and praying for the Holy Spirit, when suddenly I encountered the literal and powerful presence of the Ruach HaKodesh. I felt His Person, presence, and manifest power. But you know what happened next? Even though I was praying for Him to come, something in me pushed Him away when He came. When the Holy Spirit came so close and near to me, involuntarily, something in me rose up, and I rejected Him. Why? Because He was too close.
You see, we are often afraid to fully let God in to be as close to us as He wants to be – because we feel so vulnerable. We are not comfortable with that type of intimacy. We want a relationship with God but, believe it or not, sometimes we prefer Him to be somebody who lives a few doors down. We do not want Him moving into our own bedrooms. We want to partition our lives. We want God to have access to some areas, but then isolate Him out of having full possession of us. We do not want Him having free access into our whole lives – so close, so personal. We say we want Him, but the truth is, we do not want Him to be as imminent as He wants to be. It makes us feel too exposed, and the familiarity can frightens us.
Furthermore, we are reluctant to fully open up and let God in to have absolute control. We are hesitant to be that accountable. We want our own freedom. And to let Him into the very center of our being would mean that we would have to fully surrender control of our lives to Him. Some of us are not fully ready to do. There is something in our flesh and nature that resists it.
Beloved, we have to recognize and surrender to the reality of how close God is. We need to remove any barriers that we have established that hinder His love and involvement in our lives.
Father, right now, in Yeshua’s name, I pray that you would soften and open our hearts so that we would create a place of intimacy for you within us that is deeper than we have ever experienced before. Father, I pray that you would expand our hearts. Help us to embrace that You are not somewhere else; You are right here with us. Father, I ask You to open up every heart now that wants You in a deeper way. We ask You for the grace to not be afraid of You, and to trust You enough to give You control. Unlock the door of our heart to not fear intimacy, to not push You back. Help us receive You into the depths of our souls so that You can fully make Your home within us (John 14:23). In Yeshua’s name.
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“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20).
Rabbi Schneider hosts the impactful television program, Discovering The Jewish Jesus, which is available in more than one hundred million homes in the United States and nearly two hundred nations worldwide. In 2021 he began broadcasting on radio and now airs across America. Rabbi Schneider imparts revelation of Jesus’ Jewish heritage and His fulfillment of Messianic prophecy. Questions of how the Old and New Testaments tie together, and how Yeshua completes the unfolding plan of The Almighty Yahweh, are answered with exceptional clarity.
www.discoveringthejewishjesus.com/about-2/rabbi-schneider/
