In the early days of my walk with God, I was so in love with Him and His Word (and I still am today, even more!). I would read of all the incredible promises in the Scriptures. They motivated me, inspired me, and gave me such hope and vision for my life. One of the promises that really impacted me was when Jesus said,
“Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36, KJV).
I considered the highest moments of my life. I thought about the times when I had experienced the most bliss, the high moments of joy, the times in my life that were the most fulfilling.
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I would reflect upon the memories of when I was a committed athlete in the sport of wrestling. I would lay in my bed at night and imagine myself becoming state champ. I would picture myself with the referee holding up my hand, and chills ran through my body. Such an incredible feeling came over me of achieving that goal, of climbing that mountain, and getting to the top!
Now, as a believer, I believed that Jesus was going to raise me up to a place of victory in the Spirit, where I would have complete peace and freedom in Him. “If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed,”
Unfortunately, when I looked at the lives of so many people that proclaimed the name of Jesus, I did not see this victory that I was looking for reflected in them. In other words, they did not seem free. They did not look like they were living victoriously. But rather, they appeared to be beaten down. Many seemed like they were continually walking in defeat. Now all of us struggle and go through challenges. There are seasons when we experience a time of testing and refining. But it seemed like so many believers were not experiencing what the Bible calls an “abundant life.” What God’s Word says should be the certainty of our lives, was not the reality that I was seeing in so many people.
Eventually I resolved in my spirit that I would wait on God until I had an answer. It was not like I was giving up my faith. I did not consider that at all. But I just said, “Lord, I cannot go forward any deeper in You until I have an answer to this inconsistency between Your Word and the everyday experience of so many of Your children.”
This went on for several days. I was just waiting on God, sad in my heart, but knowing that God was going to answer me. And He did! As I was driving out of a parking lot, after waiting on Him for several days, the Holy Spirit suddenly spoke to me clearly and distinctly,
“The reason you are seeing what you are seeing is because My people are not trusting me.”
When He said the words “trusting me,” it was bursting with a meaning that I had never considered before regarding the word “trust.” By “trusting,” the Lord meant “clinging.” God was saying, ‘If you trust Me, then you will cling to Me and not let go.’ I knew I had the answer I was looking for – we need to cling to God!
God may be a part of our lives, but are we clinging to Him? Often, we are going into the world by ourselves. We are relying on our own ability. We are trusting in our own security blankets. But God is saying, ‘If you do not cling to Me, if you do not depend on Me – your life will lack the freedom and victory that I desire for you.’ If we are not clinging to God, we will not have the supernatural power to overcome the devil. Beloved, unless you and I cling to God, we are going to fall on our face and miss out on the lives Father has intended for us.
“For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope” (Jer. 29:11, Amplified).
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We need to stop depending on ourselves and instead look to God for our guidance and discernment of what is right and wrong. We need to be like Moses who said to the Lord, “If Your presence does not go with me, I will not go.” Moses was afraid to move ahead on his own. We too should be afraid of living without God. We need to wait, sit still before God, and cling to Him.
Jesus said, “If you remain in Me, and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7).
Beloved, we need to be grounded in the spirit. We need to be established in the Word. We cannot just try to navigate life on our own. Determine today to make Messiah Jesus the Lord of your heart and your thoughts. Rely on Him. Cling to Him. Trust Him. Go to Him first in all situations. Commit to daily putting yourself in the bosom of God, His Word, and His Spirit.
We must cling to God as if our lives depended on it! They do!
Cling:
• to hold together
• to adhere as if glued firmly
• to hold on tightly or tenaciously
• to have a strong emotional attachment or dependence (Merriam Webster)
Rabbi Schneider hosts the impactful television program, Discovering The Jewish Jesus, which is available in more than 100 million homes in the United States and nearly 200 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. His new book, Decoding the Torah, is available on amazon.com now. Learn more at his website, www.discoveringthejewishjesus.com/about-2/rabbi-schneider/
