Wanna be a Law-keeper?

Tags

Charlton Heston, conscience, flesh, following Jesus, freedom, Jesus Christ, justification, light, Martin Luther, sin

“The Ten Commandments” [Charlton Heston as Moses (1956)]

Let’s say someone were hell-bent on being a good person, which is not a bad thing in itself, that’s for sure. However, imagine whenever that person observes something evil or uncomfortable emerging from his heart, such as pride, hatred, wrath, jealousy, covetousness, aggressiveness, enmity against God, or grief over a great loss, such a one would either follow a ritual of sorts by confessing his sins to God in the hope of getting rid of them or he would try to take his mind off these things by devoting himself fully to something which does not cause these bad feelings.

Do we believe that this procedure will be successful?

Advertisement

Is prayer about chewing our cud?

Tags

fruit of the Spirit, God's love, Jesus Christ, mystical prayer, truth

Calves Chewing Cud
(Photo by Paul Schuberth)

Just before Jesus taught the Lord’s Prayer, He made some mysterious statements.

“But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (Mt 6:6-8 ESV)

Note that Jesus was not saying that we get a reward when we talk much while praying. What news, anyway, could surprise Him who is all-wise and all-knowing? However, Jesus promised a reward when we pray

(1) in our room
(2) shut the door and
(3) pray secretly

What is inspiration, then?

Tags

empty mind, experience, fun, humor, inspiration, love, spirit, thought life

An Uninspired Pic
(Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

This is one of those days when God directly has been showing me what divine inspiration is all about.

I awoke with wanting to write an article about “The Temptations of Spiritual Gurudom”. Thinking about that very issue for a certain time, I felt losing interest in it (yaaaaawn…..) and sensed God pointing me to another topic dealing with practical tips for deepening one’s prayer life.
After a few hours and some “normal” work I had to do, the prayer thing was completely gone and there was a strong rebuke on my mind regarding those who continually commit thought theft by processing ideas and spiritual content from others on the web.

And now?

True fellowship knows no death

Tags

Baptism in the Holy Spirit, being born again, ecstasy, experience, Jesus Christ, Johann Koller, John Wycliffe, life after death, light, love, spiritual power, the Kingdom of God

Johann Koller
Born: 2 Feb 1932
Died: 28 Apr 2010

In order to illustrate the statement I made in the headline, I decided to start with my testimony of how I met a man spiritually whom I never met personally before. Here is My Story #1.

His name was Johann Koller. He was an Austrian prelate in Vienna, appointed by John Paul II, who served in the Roman Catholic Church as a priest until his dying day on April 28 in 2010 at 12.55 pm. Let me tell you why I remember his time of death so precisely.

At that time I had never come to know anybody personally who knew Christ’s loving embraces (‘agape’ love) from their own experience. Not one, indeed. One day as I was writing down my spiritual experiences with God – which finally resulted in a fat book the RCC here in the archdiocese Bamberg in Bavaria didn’t want to publish – I randomly banged into an Austrian website.

Seeking the approval of Christ – only

Tags

God's wrath, heart, intellect, knowledge, Laodicea, light, love, lukewarmness, Martin Luther, mind, punishment, repentance, revelation, sin, spiritual power, trust, truth, warning

Cross and Fire
(Photo from http://cupandcross.com/)

As a foundation for my following deliberations, I’d like to adduce the following verses.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.” (Prv 3:5-8 ESV)

We may not believe that God always caresses His children. His permanent, perfect, and satisfying love is only for those who have repented of all their sins, that is, those who have “been perfected in love.” (1 Jn 4:18) In all other cases of not-yet-mature Christians, Jesus Christ is a chastener who also punishes sin if we remain in an unrepentant condition although He warned us to return to Him. For it is written,

Good morning, Church, are you still sleeping?

Tags

church, following Jesus, happiness, John Wesley, joy, light, love, peace, sin, spirit, spiritual power

Wrong Side Up
(Painting by Susanne Schuberth – watercolors)

“Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit. ” (Eph 5:14-18 KJV)

Could it be possible that we are still sleeping? And if so, how should we realize it if no one wakes us up by shining Christ’s light into our very hearts?

Does God hear all our prayers?

Tags

being born again, experience, John Wesley, justification, Martin Luther, redemption, sanctification, the new self, true faith

Butterfly Born Anew
(Photo by Paul Schuberth)

“What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (Js 4:1-4 ESV)

Phew! What kind of Scriptures to begin with. Honestly, I was hell-bent on writing a more pleasing article, yet right now I am not sure that this very thing will turn out as I had hoped before. In particular, I want to expand on the questions, “What might be the reason when God does not give us what we wanted from Him?” AND “Is it possible to ask wrongly and not to realize it?”

Let’s get real, friends!

Tags

darkness, flesh, good works, justification, light, Martin Luther, psychology, sanctification, true faith, unconscious mind

Straw Field (Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

I am fully aware that this article might offend some people. However, we should know that the truth almost always offends our flesh. Letting His light shine into our very heart is NEVER comfortable. It is painful!

So, only if you want to let the great heart surgeon have more than a casual glance into the dark cellar of your unconscious mind any time soon, you should go on reading. If not, it would be better to cling to the dangerous delusion of believing Jesus came to make you a better human being. In fact, He came to save sinners from perishing in their (unconscious) sinfulness by giving them the light to see their lostness and hopelessness without Him.

Putting on the new self – but how?

Tags

Baptism in the Holy Spirit, being born again, church, commandments, experience, following Jesus, love, promises, sanctification, Spirit-filled, spiritual power, the Kingdom of God, the new self

If someone has been used to reading through the Bible by distinguishing between commandments and promises, he will surely feel crushed, time and again, especially when he comes across a commandment which appears an impossible thing to be obeyed by us. Here are some examples.

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” (1 Jn 2:15-17 ESV)

“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (Mt 10:37 ESV)

“But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” (Col 3:8-10 ESV)

Have you ever tried to not love the world, or to love Jesus more than your family, or to kill the flesh which seems to be indestructible? Or have you ever felt jealous or angry but you didn’t want to feel those feelings any longer? And you prayed to God about it – a thousand times, and more – but He seemingly didn’t hear you?