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experience, feeding on Him, freedom, peace, prayer, rest, spiritual power, the Kingdom of God, the promised land, true faith
Coming Home to You (Photo taken from http://blogs.jcvi.org/2010/09/10-days-of-italian-sampling-coming-to-a-close/ionian-sea-sunrise-008/)
Do you know how it feels to fall in and out of peace? I do. Have you ever struggled to find that peaceful condition you were enjoying so effortlessly once again after you have found yourself in the same old struggles of thinking and doing? I have. However, here’s some Good News… 😉
“For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” (Heb 4:1 0-11 KJV)
Actually, my most recent experience is this:
There is nothing outside of us that hinders us to enter His rest. The obstacle is located in our own hearts or it is nowhere else to find.
When I urgently need His rest and peace, I know that I ought to seek Him more than anything else. And if I don’t do it, then I must accept my restless condition until I wholeheartedly return to Him. Although it always appeared to me that the Scripture above would somehow contradict itself by saying, “Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest…”, I realized its truth by giving it a more than honest Spirit-driven try. 😉
Well, what happened to me most recently was the following.
It was a bit more than a week ago as I felt that God had something new for me up His sleeve, a completely new condition, a continued peaceful state of mind I have longed for, for years – no, for decades, actually.
One morning I awoke as I did so often in the past with countless disturbing thoughts on my mind (dreams, sorrows, plans, fears, etc.). From my own experience I know that everything that distracts me eventually disappears as soon as I feel His presence stronger and deeper than before. That is the very reason why I keep seeking Him at least two times daily. However, on that very morning, I sensed a new kind of faith in me that made me even ask God for hours to give me that continued peace I spoke about before. I have always believed that such peace does exist, yet I know how often my emotional life was rather redolent of a rollercoaster of feelings than of a balanced and joyful state.
While praying I was really wondering about that unfamiliar strength inside me to not stop begging God for what I wanted. Although I had not received it yet, I dared to say after a few hours, “My God, I won’t stop asking You for continued peace until You give it to me!!!”
If God had been a human being, I am sure that person would have been annoyed about my insolent and impertinent behavior. Nonetheless, at the same time as I was knocking on Heaven’s door, I was reminded of the woman Jesus spoke of.
““In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”” (Lk 18:2-8 ESV)
Hey!! Such faith is always God given – I know it now! We cannot achieve it on our own. The only thing we can do is ask God to give us what we need and to wait on Him who never withholds anything from His beloved children that is good in His sight.
” Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (Js 1:17 ESV)
“Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Heb 13:20-21 ESV)
Finally, God heard my prayer and drew me into a new, peaceful inner condition where I can feed on His nourishing Spirit day and night. Whenever I turn to Him in prayer, He is there. No need for those painful up and down struggles I had before and without such long interruptions between two “not so peaceful” conditions in which I was so easy distractible and emotionally vulnerable.
By the way, I wrote my new experience down in a poem. If you might check it out, see http://susanneschuberth.wordpress.com/2014/10/27/in-your-arms.
“Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.” (2 Thes 2:16 ESV)
Much love ❤ ❤ ❤
Susanne
Entering the Promised Land 
Sue-that is a very encouraging experience you shared and I feel encouraged to be more persistent in my asking the father for his peace–im a lot like Scarlet-I get the experience on occasions-but I want it all the time–thanks for your advice.
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You are so welcome, my dear brother.
I am glad you have been encouraged, Kenneth, and I can tell you that my persistence in that case was actually God’s gift. I felt somehow that He had poured the faith I needed to pray without ceasing directly into my heart and mind. And thus I was able to pray until I received what I wanted.
May God bless you and keep you in His perfect peace!
Love to you,
Susanne
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Dear Susanne,
Thanks for sharing your experience on coming into His peace. Paul wrote, “Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7 RSVA).
I am finding out that as we truly enter into God’s eternal rest (in the here and now, not pie in the sky by and by), we find a number of marvelous things to be ours in this state. We first of all have peace for our souls like you said. We also have a wonderful sense of our Daddy’s great love for us. And in this we find such great faith that He will do and IS doing everything for us we need as we abide in His Son. We also have this great hope, “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. FAITHFUL IS HE WHO CALLS YOU, WHO ALSO WILL DO IT.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 KJ2000).
As we look at the fruit of the Spirit that Paul wrote about we find that ALL of these things are ours because we are resting IN the very Spirit of Christ Himself once we have been ushered into the REST of our Father. Nothing good is held back from us as we abide in His house with the Son. Our whole perspective of where we are in time and space changes and the things that used to upset us in this world grow strangely dim.
Thanks for continuing to share your heart and your relationship with our Daddy with us, dear sister. You are a blessing to us all as you abide in His rest and love.
Your brother and friend in Christ,
Michael
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You are so welcome, my brother and friend. Thank you for your encouraging words!! 🙂
Yes, I try to share what I experience with God and Jesus as often as I can. But sometimes it is so difficult to describe what happens in a realm that cannot be seen with our natural eyes. Thus I write about the deeper things usually in poems. However, I hope and pray that God grants me the opportunity to write about it in future articles as well.
You wrote, “Our whole perspective of where we are in time and space changes and the things that used to upset us in this world grow strangely dim.”
I love especially that sentence because it matches completely my own experience. I have become so forgetful as for many things that once were important to me. Very often I forget the year we live in, the place where I live – even the country unless I hear someone speaking German 😉 . Plans, dates, appointments, birthdays – even people I have known for years who die suddenly…nothing is as important as it once was. Our Daddy in Heaven, indeed, has become my “Wraparound Troubleshooter”. He cares for everything we could ever need as Jesus promised here,
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”(Mt 6:33 ESV)
Love,
Susanne
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Susanne, I like that, “Our Daddy in Heaven, indeed, has become my “Wraparound Troubleshooter”. He cares for everything we could ever need…”
I spent most of my life troubleshooting systems; everything from computer circuits to 13,700 volt electrical transmission systems as well as a spectrum of machines that men have built. I was the “go to guy” when other technicians and tradesmen couldn’t figure it out. So, I understand this term “wraparound troubleshooter.” He has promised to meet all our needs from HIS riches in glory. “Cast all your cares upon Him for He cares for you.” All we need to do is fix our hearts on HIM!
Thanks for your insight, encouragement and loving kindness, dear sister,
Michael
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My pleasure, Michael!
Yup, let’s go and fix our ❤ ❤ ❤ on HIM! Now it's no longer necessary to be the “go-to guy” or the “go-to girl”, but simply “GO TO GOD!!!” 🙂
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