Rabbi Schneider - Strengthened in Our Inner Man
Ah, it feels so good out here. Again, I'm in the fall season here in the Columbus, Ohio area. It's so gorgeous. Fall day, blue skies, warm temperature. You can smell the leaves in the atmosphere. Really rare day here. And it really reminds us how God is a God that created us to experience pleasure. I mean, think about it. He didn't have to make the sun feel good on our body. He didn't have to make nature beautiful to our eyes to take in. I'm smelling the beautiful leaves right now. He didn't have to give us senses and our ability to smell that, you know, bring just joy to us.
So it's good to be reminded that God is a God that loves us and He wants us to experience pleasure. The Scripture says "At His right hand are pleasures forevermore". Good to be reminded of that, who God really is. Last time I talked about a scripture from the Book of Isaiah chapter 26, verse three. I want to make a few more comments on it. Hear the Word of God. "The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace because he trusts in You".
I want to dwell on this word for a moment: steadfast. The steadfast of mind. How many of you struggle with what you would describe as a mind that is kind of not stable? You know, the Bible tells us that if we doubt, that we become like a ship tossed by the waves of a sea, we're all over the place. Well, the truth is, I think many of us, we can attest that our mind isn't as stable as we would like it to be. Sometimes our thoughts are good and we have harmony in our thoughts. But other times a thought comes and for some reason, we're vulnerable in that moment and the enemy comes in somehow. And he twists things, and he messes up our perception of relationships or circumstances or reality and we feel off balance.
So how many of you would agree with me that we want to appeal to Father in Yeshua's name that He would strengthen you and I, that we would be, you and I, my dear beloved friend, my beloved brother and sister, that we would be more steadfast of mind? That we'd be stable, that we'd be solid, that we'd be rooted, that we'd be grounded, that we wouldn't be tossed about from this hour to that hour, this day to that day, but that we could be confident that we're grounded, that we're steadfast, that we're stable. And then no matter what we face tomorrow, we're still going to be steadfast and stable.
Don't we need that? You know, I could teach these things, but sometimes the only thing I know how to do is to ask God, to ask Him to strengthen us in our groundedness, and in our steadfastness. Once again, Isaiah said, The steadfast of mind, You will keep, he's saying to to the Lord, You will keep in perfect peace.
So, Father, once again today we come to You as brothers and sisters and as Your children, appealing to You, asking You, Father God, to pour out Your grace and favor on us, to strengthen us in our inner man, that we would become more steadfast in our mind, that we'd become unmovable, unshakable in You. And Lord, Your Word says that this is the result of trusting in You. So, Father, we know that, really, trust can't be built with someone without forming an intimate relationship with that person. Father, before we can trust You, we need to know You. You said that perfect love casteth out all fear. So, Father, we ask You to strengthen us today. We ask You to give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation to know You so we can trust You and have perfect peace.