Some Thoughts on Reading… and Writing

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books, Christian books, head knowledge, heart knowledge, Jesus Christ, reading, the Bible, truth, writing

Snowflakes or Snowsticks? 😉
(Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

Today I have been wondering how to publish a new blog post despite a permanent headache, no inspiration, and ongoing dying pains of self in heart and mind. On the one hand, I thought I should write another article, but on the other hand I was truly too worn out. Finally, I laid it all back into God’s hands and after cooking dinner and tidying up the kitchen, He reminded me of a comment I wrote for another blog exactly 3 weeks ago, a comment which had not been approved because of that blog site’s incompatibility with my Google account. The topic on which I wrote was the pros and cons of reading, particularly Christian books, of course. Here’s my comment.

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Susanne Schuberth’s Spiritual Diary (Part 2) – “When I was biking…”

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darkness, doubts, experience, eyes of the heart, faith, fun, God, healing, humor, miracles, pain, true faith

CYCLING COME WHAT MAY
(Photo Credits http://www.theguardian.com/environment/bike-blog/2012/oct/26/winter-cycling-tactics-alaska)

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December 23, 2014 (Tuesday)

In the afternoon when I was biking, I suddenly got a strange tooth ache caused by an inflammation of the nerves which normally lasts for a few days (at least). Since I was frustrated with God today more than once, I was not in the mood of a humble prayer. Instead I tried to ignore Him. However, I got more and more mad at God because of the pain while riding and I had to talk with someone about it.

Outside of the city and even beyond the bounds of smaller villages, there were only God and me. So, with whom could I have talked about my anger? But the only thing I told Him was, “Oh, another pain? Not only in my heart as almost always – okay… You are God, You can do as you wish and can I do nothing about it.”
Shortly afterwards I thought about praying for healing, but NO – that was not a good idea, and it was certainly not mine as I declared by turning to Him again, “You know that I have no faith in such things any longer.” Actually, there was a time when I had this kind of faith, but that was long ago. So I kept on riding.

Growing up into Him with Heart and Mind

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charity, following Jesus, God's love, head knowledge, heart, heart knowledge, love, mind, repentance, spiritual power, truth

Source Pinterest

“Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” (Eph 4:15-16 ESV)

Here are two excerpted commentaries on Ephesians chapter 4 which describe more detailed how Christian growth should look like.

Sensual Experience versus Spiritual Experience

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baby, childhood, church, eyes of the heart, freedom, God's love, Jack Hayford, Jessica Leah Springer, Jesus Christ, John Wesley, Lamar Boschman, love, parents, psychology, quotes, sensual experience, spiritual experience, Tim Hughes, worship in spirit and truth

Woman at the Well
(Picture taken from http://catholicalcoholic.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/woman-at-the-well-5001.jpg)

As soon as a baby realizes that it was urged to leave the security and coziness of its mother’s womb, s/he tries to hold fast onto something that is tangible and offers security for the anxious heart. Similarly, if our eyes are not yet accustomed to the new light which spiritually shines on us, we urgently need something to cling to until we feel secure again and can let go of our pillars that are perceptible to the senses.

Today I was reminded of Jesus’ dialogue with the woman at the well. We read,

The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he. Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” (Jn 4:19-29 ESV)

How to Persevere in Faith

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believing, discipline, experience, fear, following Jesus, healing power, Jesus Christ, knowing God, maturity, Oswald Chambers, pain, small faith, spiritual power, true faith

Picture taken from
http://christianitymalaysia.com/wp/heart-cry-discipleship/)

Blank mind, blank heart, blank sheet – aka FAITH. 😉 Or in other words, our faith may have no other basis than……….the power of God, as our friend and brother Paul said here,

“And I, when I came to you, brothers,1 did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” (1 Cor 2:1-5 ESV)

How do we get there?

Be Who You Are … Since There Is No Other You

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anger, experience, frustration, God's love, heart, honesty, relationship with God

GOD’S LOVE NEVER FAILS
(Photo Credits http://www.thepowerofoneness.com/blog/what-is-the-difference-between-conditional-love-and-unconditional-love/)

I was just pondering on the fact why we as human beings are not always the same. I mean, there are people with whom we dare to be more open than with others. People of whom we know that they love us and that they will forgive us whatever we might say or do. But there are other people we do not know that intimately and therefore we are a still bit cautious of how to deal with them.

Be that as it may, my latest lesson learned might be called, “Susanne, take off your holy mask and show more of what is hidden behind!” 😉 Although I learned a few painful lessons this week before that one, I just want to describe what I experienced last night as to my more and more honest relationship with God.

Making Sense of Suffering

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being born again, dark night of the soul, darkness, Donald W. Ekstrand, experience, faith, following Jesus, God's love, pain

Hope in the Darkness
(Photo Credits http://abstract.desktopnexus.com/wallpaper/562557/)

Since our all-knowing and sovereign God decided to usher me into deep darkness which is accompanied by much pain and suffering, I thought it would be a good idea to provide an excerpt from Dr. Donald W. Ekstrand that deals with the Hows and Whys of dark times in our lives.

God never lets us suffer because He likes to do that. However, in His great love He alone sees what kind of circumstances, afflictions or trials will be helpful for us to finally give up on ourselves and to only trust in Him. Despite serious pains in my heart and soul for some time now, I sense that a new form of faith which is no longer grounded on something that I could find in myself – since there is nothing that could ever make me jump for joy again – has begun to come to light right out of the darkness. I do not understand how it works, yet I have realized that faith, indeed, exclusively comes from God. We could never achieve true faith on our own.

All Good Things Come From Above

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divine inspiration, empty mind, experience, following Jesus, fruit of the Spirit, God, God's love, inspiration, Jesus Christ, peace, spirit, thought life

Blessed by Divine Inspiration
(Source https://500px.com/photo/3328126/hunting-by-sasi-smit)

Here’s another lesson regarding divine inspiration for me.
Even the day before yesterday I wanted to write a new blog article and yesterday it dawned on me that there might be a topic on which God perhaps wants me to write. So I was waiting for more information from His Spirit. However, another day passed and God remained silent.