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experience, feeling, God's voice, heart, listening, Martin Luther, Philipp Melanchthon, rest, Satan's voice, the new self, the old self
One day, Philipp Melanchthon told his friend Martin Luther, “Martin, this day we will discuss the governance of the universe.” Luther answered, “This day, you and I will go fishing and leave the governance of the universe to God.” What allowed Luther to respond in this way? His knowledge and belief that God could take care of things. As we move close to God, we realize that he will take care of things, and we can rest.
(Quote taken from http://www.pbc.org/system/message_files/10497/heb07.html)
Actually, I read quite a lot of commentaries as for that specific issue and every time while reading another exposition, I bent my brows because I saw that almost everything that was written referred to eternal life AFTER death. Certainly, it is not wrong to say that the rest we will experience after this life full of trials, suffering, and pain will be of another and deeper kind than that rest we might experience right now, BUT…
Suddenly I found a short explanation of Hebrews 4:10 in The Geneva Study Bible that really hit home.
4:10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God [did] from his.
(c) As God rested the seventh day, so must we rest from our works, that is, from those things that proceed from our corrupt nature.
Yay!! That was indeed what I was looking for! Not that I had not already guessed that my doing all day long has still been a mixture of listening to God’s leading and to those voices inside my head that still “urge” me to do this and that RIGHT NOW – and by no means later. 😛 However, despite having often been convinced that the Lord wanted me to rest from those works that sprang from my old you-must-do-it-now self, I simultaneously felt somehow “in bondage” of my old habits of thinking and doing. Although I was recently able to write about how important it is to feel God’s peace whenever we do something (cf. https://enteringthepromisedland.wordpress.com/2014/11/01/peace-be-unto-you/), I lost that peace time and again. And the worst of it all, I knew WHY!! 🙄
So, what to do when you know what is right, yet keep doing the wrong things because you think you ought to please others more than God and yourself who rests IN HIM? As an illustration I’ll give you now two examples which seem to be rather similar at first sight, yet one work was God’s doing in me and the other my old self that had listened to Satan.
Earlier this week I picked up my daughter Sarah in the city and we were heading home by foot. It was rather late and we were both hungry. Initially I had thought about buying some pizza so that we could eat earlier than we could have if I had cooked dinner that late. Alas, our Italian pizza baker who sells the best pizza in Fürth – as far as I know – had temporarily closed his shop because of some dusty demolition works from a large construction site nearby. Hmmm… disappointed….and hungry…
Suddenly, while we had been walking at a smart pace, a homeless man who looked rather sad stopped us and asked for a ridiculously small amount of money. At that very moment I only felt compassion and the inclination to weep. Actually, I felt free to give him any amount of money without regret (although I am neither rich nor wealthy), simply feeling deep thankfulness toward God that He had counted me worthy to do something for Him.
Well….not so some years ago.
I remember that it was a sunny summer day and I had gone on errands. Walking down the street while enjoying the presence of the Lord, I only had to buy a few things and there was not much money in my purse. Still in a good mood, I felt that an Indian or Pakistani woman (a fortune teller like many here) had been watching me and while doing so, she would approach me from the other side of the street. She was smiling, too, but I immediately felt that her smile was false.
Did I take heed of my first impression? Alas, no. 😦
Instead, as she stopped me and asked me in an undertone of aggressiveness and hatred – though still smiling – whether I would pay her for reading my aura, I answered, “No, I am a Christian and don’t believe that this is a good thing.” Her “smiling hatred” increased. Since I had not dared to leave her, she then began to take control of our rather one-sided conversation. The woman began to complain about how happy I had to be as a Christian who loved all people and who would be able to give to others what they needed. Yes, you can bet that at that very moment some Scriptures were running through my mind.
“But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.” (Mt 5:39-42 ESV)
Pheeeeew……
Everything in me screamed, “Susanne – RUN!!!” But Susanne seemed to stand riveted to the spot and kept listening to that woman’s lamenting and whining about her poor life (so many children, no money…blah blah blah) that would be so much worse than mine, while her eyes appeared to kill me.
Do I need to tell you that I felt both “convicted” by her words and the Scriptures I had been reminded of? 🙄 Well, finally as she “asked” me to give her money even though I had refused to accept her service offered, she knew that she wanted to receive at least 10 Euros (11.35 $). However, Susanne felt forced to give her 20 because IT IS WRITTEN.
Actually, after I had eventually dared to leave her, I felt worn out, robbed, and had not enough money to buy everything I needed. I was so sad about not being able to do what God wanted me to do – in my opinion and according to the written Word (!) – that I simply felt like a failure. Of course, another Scripture that made me feel even more “convicted” came to mind,
“…and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.” (Heb 10:34 ESV)
I think it’s not necessary to tell anyone which work was the one God had prepared beforehand for me (my new self) and which one was a work that had been imposed on me (my old self) through Satan’s deceitful tricks he had instilled into my mind.
So, not every work is a good work in the eyes of God. I believe it is necessary to get more and more accustomed to His still and small voice that is always there to tell us what to do and what to omit. It is His peace and the whole fruit of the Spirit that makes the difference, the difference of entering His rest through obedience toward His voice (cf. Heb 4:7) or losing His rest again by listening to Satan.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Eph 2:8-10 ESV)
God’s Holy Spirit does not give us rule books or principles we ought to act upon without asking Him before, instead, He challenges us to leave our old ways of thinking and doing and to first rest in Him, exclusively doing these works He planned for us so that we might never leave His rest again and enjoy Him in an ever increasing measure, day by day.
God bless,
Susanne
Entering the Promised Land 
Thank you for these examples! There is a verse that I sometimes use to determine what the Lord wants me to do in certain circumstances. Romans 8:6, “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” So, when trying to determine the Lord’s will, in a particular course of action, I think, “Do I have peace in doing such and such? Is there Life in that?” Then, that’s the go-ahead for me. But if I feel “death” in it, or pressure or a sense of being rushed, then I have to back off. I don’t always hear the voice of the Lord, clearly, and then I get myself into trouble! I’m still learning, after all ;-). But when I do follow this guideline, it seems to work.
That woman that accosted you in the street brings to mind a message from a man named, Devern Fromke. He used to speak of “The Tyranny of the Urgent”. Whenever we are pressured to “do it now!”, with a sense of hurry, being rushed, being forced…that’s not the Lord’s way. I often think back to his message when I’m in those circumstances. Of course, it’s always easier to look back in hindsight to see what the Lord was trying to tell us!
I rejoice with you for the work that the Lord has done in your heart towards those who are homeless and living in poverty! A person who lived on the streets of Toronto once told me that, although the money they received from strangers was important, what mattered more to them was being looked in the eyes by someone. Most passersby do just that–pass quickly by and ignore the person. To meet them in the eye, with compassion, understanding, and even a smile, validates them and shows some respect for them as a person! As Christians, we want to love homeless people and others in poverty with the LOVE of the Lord. He is full of compassion toward those who are humble, but He resists the proud. May His Life and Love rise up in us and overflow to others, in an ever-increasing measure! Dear Susanne, thank you, once again, for sharing what the Lord has taught you, so we can all learn ♥.
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Dear Brenda,
Romans 8:6 is a great Scripture, indeed. Thank so much for the reminder, my sister!
Yes, “it’s always easier to look back in hindsight to see what the Lord was trying to tell us!”
Feeeeew, it really is, you nailed it! And what you wrote about poor and/or homeless people is so true, too.
“To meet them in the eye, with compassion, understanding, and even a smile, validates them and shows some respect for them as a person!”
Amen to that! Sometimes a heartfelt hug is actually better than a bill.
Love ❤
Susanne
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Susanne, here is one of the best descriptions of what it means to do works from our old natures and to do works that are born from God (rest).
Jesus said, “…Apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24) “It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing…” (John 6:63)
“The Cross simply says that an order, though it be religious, well-motivated, or good-intentioned, but nevertheless proceeding from man in his natural state (not necessarily in defiance of God or in conscious rebellion against Him, but just the expression of man’s natural state as he is), the Cross says that this entire order is set aside. God has judicially judged it and put a ban upon it. In the Cross of the Lord Jesus God has said finally: ‘You in your natural state cannot serve Me, and cannot bear any fruit to My glory! It is possible to go out and work, labor, and die of the strain of trying to serve Me and yet it still remains true that you cannot, out from yourself, by any natural resources whatever, bear fruit unto Me.’ The only thing that can ever get through to God’s end, and that can be in Life – eternal, Divine, heavenly Life – is that which proceeds from the Holy Spirit.”
~ By T. Austin-Sparks from: The Battle For Life – Chapter 3
http://www.austin-sparks.net/english/books/000704.html
Hebrews defines entering into God’s rest by ceasing from our own labors as He did from His. Man was created to walk in the rest of God for God made him at the end of the sixth day and He rested. Paul wrote, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God– not because of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10 RSVA). It is all about abiding in Christ in HIS rest, not our works. So many of these works that are done in Christendom are of self-effort, based on law (both Old and New Testament). In the eyes of God we are doing nothing (See John 15:5). And they will protest before Him at the judgment, “But Lord! We cast out demons, healed the sick and did many wonderful works in your name!” And He will say to them, “Depart from me, you workers of iniquity.”
The works of God can not come from us reading the Bible and then conjuring up some “good works” we must do based on our own conceptions of righteousness. Only as we rest in Christ will we hear our Father’s voice as to what work HE would have us do which HE has prepared before hand, before HE rested from the foundation of the word! If Paul is correct that Jesus was crucified from the foundation of the world and that WE are crucified in Christs, what works can WE do? All our works must be done IN the resurrected Christ, not the old un-crucifed Adam. Jesus said,
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:4-5 RSVA)
Great article, my sister! I loved your two examples. You definitely have been “laboring” to enter into His rest and I have seen great progress in the short time I have known you. ⭐ ❤
Michael
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Once again I have been blessed by your encouraging and appreciative comment, Michael.
Your exposition on how to enter His rest was really impressive! Thanks so much for sharing, my brother. 🙂
Love ❤
Susanne
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Dear Susanne, your blog title pretty much says it all. We enter the Promised Land of peace, rest, joy, by walking in the Spirit. The problem is, most of the time we don’t rely on His help but do things our own way, even things that seem good in our eyes. My husband and I recently experienced a somewhat similar situation. We got a visit from the father of one of my son’s former classmates and he broke into tears and told us a very heartbreaking story. He didn’t come boldly asking for money like a gipsy, but the fact that he was crying, expressing despair, etc., led us to give him perhaps more than we should have (it had happened previously). At the time I felt sure it was the Lord telling me to help, but after the guy left lots of things didn’t ring true in his tale of misfortune after misfortune. My husband had given him his best pair of pants and good shoes to attend a job interview, and the guy hasn’t come back in a couple of weeks. Well, so be it… I don’t regret having a tender heart, but in the future I will seek the Lord’s counsel regarding everything, including who I help and why. Not only money, but some people rob us of precious time we could be using in better ways. And this brings me to the main point: Have we noticed that Jesus NEVER allowed people to set His agenda? When He needed to rest, He did. When He needed to leave a place, He did. When He needed to say NO, He felt no undue guilt about it. Why? Because His actions were never self-directed or soul-directed. He was always following in His Father’s footsteps. He never did ANYTHING or even say a word of His own initiative. He only did and said what He saw His Father doing. And that’s exactly what we should do. If we are His disciples, we should follow Him and surrender our lives to the Father as completely as He did. We can only rest when we are dead. Dead to our own desires, dreams, projects, wholly surrendered to seek God’s perfect will for our lives.
Believe me, I have several dreams that I’ve had to lay at the altar like Abraham did with his precious son. The second child who has never come, the novel I haven’t yet and will perhaps never write… But what’s the point? If God is not the one who has inspired those dreams, it’s better that they don’t come true even if it breaks my heart and I don’t understand, because my petty personal projects can only deviate me from God’s eternal purpose for my life, which is unspeakably higher and better than mine even if my flesh doesn’t believe that. And if I live a “good” life and do good deeds but they are not the works prepared beforehand by the Father, they will have no eternal value.
I’ve strayed and gone really far… and, honestly, it’s been getting harder and harder to hear the Shepherd’s voice. The still, small voice of the Holy Spirit has been drowned among a sea of screams from the world, the devil and my own soul. I’ve done lots of things that felt right but later actually felt guilty and stupid for doing them (like helping this man) so I’m kind of confused and not quite sure how to come back to the Father’s house. A part of me cries out like David, Why are you cast down oh my soul? Hope in God for you shall yet praise Him! A part of me dreads the encounter, because I have to come to terms with so many painful things that I feel it will be too much. But one thing I know, and it’s that my life without fellowship with God is completely pointless. Yes, I’m blessed with a wonderful family, a decent job, but when I remember the times when I was really connected to the Vine and actually thriving and being fruitful, it breaks my heart to have lost that zeal. I was truly alive back then. Anyway, I understand, at least a part of me understands, that the only way we can be true disciples who experience the peace that goes beyond understanding is to say with Christ, not my will, but yours. If we refuse the cup of suffering, we won’t drink the cup of glory. If we don’t reckon ourselves as sheep to be sacrificed and yield to God allowing Him to tell us what we need to die to every single moment, we will still be frustrated like a child who doesn’t get the toy he wants. We need to be content in whatever circumstance.
A psalm just came to mind which pretty much captures what I’m trying to say. I like how Young’s literal translation expresses this:
131 A Song of the Ascents, by David. Jehovah, my heart hath not been haughty, Nor have mine eyes been high, Nor have I walked in great things, And in things too wonderful for me.
2 Have I not compared, and kept silent my soul, As a weaned one by its mother? As a weaned one by me [is] my soul.
3 Israel doth wait on Jehovah, From henceforth, and unto the age!
Interesting, verse 2 says, “kept silent my soul”. How many times would we do well to tell our soul to shut up and listen to God? We let our emotions, concepts, and self-will rule us, and our heart can be so deceptive and devious! Let us rather, wait on the Lord to guide us through His Spirit. Let us pray for great wisdom and discernment on how He would have us live, not only in the major decisions, but even to the tiniest details! That way, even if things don’t work out the way WE plan, at least we’ll know God meant it for God.
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Dear Carina,
What you wrote was so wonderful that I want to post it once again as a quote.
“And this brings me to the main point: Have we noticed that Jesus NEVER allowed people to set His agenda? When He needed to rest, He did. When He needed to leave a place, He did. When He needed to say NO, He felt no undue guilt about it. Why? Because His actions were never self-directed or soul-directed. He was always following in His Father’s footsteps. He never did ANYTHING or even say a word of His own initiative. He only did and said what He saw His Father doing. And that’s exactly what we should do. If we are His disciples, we should follow Him and surrender our lives to the Father as completely as He did. We can only rest when we are dead. Dead to our own desires, dreams, projects, wholly surrendered to seek God’s perfect will for our lives.”
Very, very well said, dear sister! 🙂
What you mentioned about dreams, Carina, oh yes, sound familiar…..Our second child died (miscarriage) and the book I wanted to publish (I wrote four, deleted three) is still awaiting the Lord’s ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ (since 2011)…..
As for drowning out the Shepherd’s voice, sometimes we indeed MUST shut out everyone and everything that might disturb our time ALONE with Him. The problem for me is often that people seem to have the best intentions to draw me away from Him. I am still learning, but from day to day I dare to say more often, “No!”
Actually, others will feel hurt in the beginning, however, they must learn that we all have our human boundaries and it is good to point to them if they tend to neglect our needs.
Thanks so much for your great comment, Carina! ❤
Love you in Him,
Susanne
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Meant to say God meant it for good. But it’s also true that when we live the way He wants us to, He gets all the glory. When we live self-ruled lives, don’t we want to retain part of that glory for ourselves? Like, we do good deeds and we feel so proud of ourselves? I see that also in the psalm. When the flesh rules, even the good things we do are ultimately impure in motive. WE want to be great. But if we rest in Him and understand that we’re loved by God like a child is loved by his mother (only infinitely more), and if we’ve drunk enough of the unadulterated milk of His Word (and I don’t only mean the Bible but the very presence of Jesus) to be satisfied and can actually be weaned and start eating solid meat, then there’s no need to prove anything to ourselves or others. When you KNOW without a doubt that you’re accepted in the Beloved (and I used to have that unshakeable conviction back in the good ol’ days) it doesn’t matter where He takes you… No request from Him seems grievous. Pouring out your alabaster jar is just the natural thing to do. I pray we’ll all get there, to the point that it’s the anointing in US that teaches us all things and reminds us of everything the Lord once said to us and we’ve forgotten because we heard so many voices of strangers. May the deaf find their ears opened and the blind begin to see.
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Carina,
I will be praying that you’ll get that unshakeable conviction of being fully accepted in the Beloved BACK – as soon as possible!!!
Much love,
Susanne
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Spot-on, Michael! Or in other words,
If we want to enter His rest
We need to “say NO to the rest”
Which God had not in view
For all AND me and you
😉
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Thank you and your repliers for the informative words. I’m convinced that I need to strive to enter His Rest. My birth into the Kingdom was not restful. However, the scripture is encouraging for it says, “If we harden not our heart, that we can enter His rest- even today.”
Love and gratitude in Him, Pat Orr
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You’re so welcome, dear Pat. 🙂
I have noticed that this “striving to enter His Rest” turns out rather a “more and more letting go of my thoughts and imaginations of how things should be”. Actually, the more I was striving to enter into His Rest – in the sense of wanting to immediately find it – the less I felt peaceful. That made me first angry and then helpless. Finally, I gave up and said, “God, if you don’t give me that rest, I‘ll be eternally without it.” And BOOM, I found myself enwrapped in His peace.
To be honest, I have just been speaking of a walk I made this afternoon. Before I felt fine, but suddenly something happened that was disturbing for my mind and I couldn’t get rid of my thoughts. I felt attacked by the enemy and rather sad. I struggled and struggled to re-enter His Rest until I eventually had to confess,
“My God, I CAN’T!!! I even do not know HOW. I just wrote a post on that very issue and suddenly that rest is gone, again. That is not really funny. Please, help me!!!”
And shortly afterwards, I suddenly felt peace and joy; I was laughing at my own efforts to do what only God can do. However, as long as we find ourselves in that restless condition, it might seem impossible to get out of it ever again. Only in hindsight we might see that all good things come to us from above. Even TODAY, my sister, as you pointed out so well. ⭐
Love ❤
Susanne
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yes Sue that’s what those two trees were in the garden–one was rest and the other was work–we got infected–ok so now we get birthed into Gods life but we still are infected–so we have to be schooled on how to experience rest–welcome to the school.
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Interesting thoughts about the two trees, Kenneth. Never thought about that the way you did, yet it makes sense. Thank you for sharing! 🙂
Yes, it’s an everyday struggle to find out when to say YES or NO to other people at any given moment. But His Spirit helps a lot…
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Hi dear Jacqui,
I am happy to hear from you again. 🙂 Thanks for letting me know about your new blog, my sister.
Yes, entering His rest IS a struggle and I am still learning too – PHEEEEEEW! 😛
Love,
Susanne xx
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Amen, we need boundaries, Michael. And although I still feel often insecure as I test out that very thing called ‘freedom IN Christ’, it really feels good to run away from my Martha concerns back into His arms and to recover and regain spiritual strength in His presence in order to get back to my ‘Martha works” afterwards, again, so that my whole life becomes more and more spiritually balanced. Meister Eckhardt once preached about these two women in the 13th century and I thought I could share a quote about that sermon on here with you. It reads,
“Sermon 9 is his famous and controversial sermon on Martha and Mary, which has for its heroine not the contemplative Mary who only wanted to sit at the feet of Jesus but the overworked Martha, whom St Luke tells us was ‘distracted by her many tasks’ [10:41]. Drawing not only on his highly personal reading of the story of Martha and Mary but on his past theologising and doubtless his own experience, he argues that it is possible for a spirituality substantially rooted in an active life to be of even greater value than the traditional life of the contemplative. This is completely contrary to the opinion of St Augustine, St Gregory and St Bernard. He abandons the long-prevailing conviction that there is an irreconcilable tension between the contemplative life and the active life. For the first time since Christianity’s early days we have a spirituality of the active life – an achievement of enormous significance almost forgotten after Eckhart was brought for trial in Avignon. It is now clear that, in spite of his emphasis upon the importance of inwardness and of abandoning materiality, Eckhart’s mysticism is (to quote Bernard McGinn’s phrase) ‘a mysticism of everyday life’.
(Quote taken from http://www.eckhartsociety.org/eckhart/his-teachings)
May God bless you, my brother!
Susanne
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“Mystic of everyday life”.. .not some holy hermit… I like that! Watchman Nee in his book “Sit, Walk, Stand” (a study on Ephesians I recommend) said we cant walk in Christ until we learn to REST IN Christ. I agree. Our activity must be born from above every bit as much as WE must be! Like Jesus said, “I only do the works I see my Father doing.” Thanks for sharing this, dear Susanne!
Michael
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You are so welcome, dear Michael! 🙂
I particularly like this,
“Our activity must be born from above every bit as much as WE must be!”
Yes and amen, my brother.
In HIM,
Susanne
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Another scripture like “LET US EXALT HIS NAME (TOGETHER). (MY EMPHASIS) Ps 133: BEHOLD, HOW GOOD IT IS TO DWELL (TOGETHER) IN UNITY! It is like precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard. Coming down upon the edge of his robe. I…..FOR THERE GOD COMMANDED THE BLESSING, (LIFE FOREVER)!
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Thanks so much for your encouragement and for sharing your deep insights on here, Lloyd.
Just thinking back….well, I think it really seems to depend on age too whether I felt nudged to seek more or less stress in my life. Did I feel a longing to rest when I was young? Certainly not. Instead, I wanted to feel REAL LIFE – whatever that was. But getting older and with more and more boundaries set through bad mental and physical health beginning in my 30s, God gave me a kind of wake-up call to not seek life in what can be seen on the outside, but only in Him who reigns in the invisible kingdom of God. Not that I would have chosen this narrow path to life through suffering on my own. Never! But even spiritual pain, which is the worst of all, finally enables us to share more and more of His glory as well (cf. Rom 8:17) and to also experience His rest deeper and deeper (the more we share God’s heart, that is).
I remember that my BIL and his wife once went bungee jumping and Jimmy said afterwards, “I will NEVER do such a crazy thing again!” He said that it felt as if his body would burst, esp. his head, and it was more torment than fun for him. Paying money for even being (almost) put to death that does not really make sense, does it… I fully agree with your thoughts above. Nonetheless, I understand young people’s longing for FEELING a bit more than normal life can offer. Actually, God made us in His image and He created man and woman to share His walk which should be both restful and ecstatic. Seeking a kind of ecstasy, this world has many possibilites to offer to young people. Yet none of these possibilites can fully satisfy a human being that was created with a void in his heart which can only be filled by the Creator of the universe Himself.
Thanks again for your thoughtful comment. I really enjoyed reading your response, Lloyd. 🙂
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Oh, I am so sorry to hear what you had to endure in your life, Lloyd, even the painful loss of your dear wife! 😦
But you are right, when we love, nothing we do feels like sacrifice. It is as if God pours out His strength as soon as we realize that we have none. I like what you said here,
“Everything I did was an expression of love; it was absolutely the best use of my time during that period. I have never felt the presence of God so strongly before or since. It was as if He was sharing the same sofa with me. it was my seven-year wake-up call!!
Sharing the same sofa with God… I will memorize that, sounds fine.
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Lloyd, thanks for sharing your touching story from your own life. Death comes in many forms and it seems that if we are Christ’s, each one of them is designed to take us deeper into a richer realization and inward reality of the Kingdom of God so that He can use us to reach out to others in Spirit and in Truth. God bless you, brother.
Michael
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Hi Susanne, thank you for sharing your insights on this particular topic. (And I apologize for coming in rather late on this one.) Wow, I can relate so much to the second experience you had with the fortune teller woman. There are so many times that I have found myself obligated to give (because of the “it is written!”) and because of the power of persuasion of the person asking and making me feel guilty, that I gave in to that pressure. But afterwards I felt so grieved and violated in my heart, like I had been scammed. I did not like that feeling and I asked the Lord what was wrong with this giving, because I certainly was not that cheerful giver He so desires. How can a seemingly good thing as giving be so BAD???
I struggled through quite a few more episodes of this, to the end of where I had to set a boundary for myself just to maintain some sanity. So, I made up a rule (and no, legalism isn’t the answer, either) to help me pass the time until I would learn to discern His voice more clearly and learn to be led by His peace. I would actually ignore the scriptures for a while and told the Lord, that I would not be giving anything to those who directly asked (begged of) me, and only give where He would lay it on my heart. As I said, this worked for a while and I learned His promptings for giving, and those always resulted in joy and peace.
I have to make a confession here as well, maybe I am seeing this not in the right light but here goes… there is this thought in my mind, that a child of God should never have to beg for anything and they should not be asking anyone but the Father for whatever they need. As a child of God, to beg is shameful and takes away the opportunity for the Father to bless them in the most glorious and unexpected way. I have had a lot of experience in this regard too, and it also leaves my heart in pain at how much these precious ones miss out, when they by-pass the heavenly Father and go begging for the crumbs from under someone else’s table.
For the children of the world, it is another story…. they do not know the heavenly Father and they must beg anyone who can help. God in His infinite mercy allows us to meet their needs and to show them His love – so that they too, might become children of the Most High.
But in summary, there is no hard and fast rule to approaching this issue… except to learn to walk by the leading of His Spirit more and more… confirmed by His peace and rest.
Thank you for your insightful blog, and sharing your heart. 🙂
Elli (formerly aus der Eifel)
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Wow, wow, wow – what a great comment by you, dear Elli! ⭐ Formerly “aus der Eifel”? Really?? Do you have German roots? 🙄
First, thank you very much for your edifying words on this post. And you are not too late. It is always the proper moment if someone was nudged by God to write a response which was Spirit-led. I am glad to hear you can relate to my annoying experiences. It is indeed very difficult to discern His voice from others here, most notably if Satan uses Scriptures to convince us of the opposite to be true. But our hearts felt the truth, didn’t they? 😦
Second, I thought about the issue you mentioned above lately too and I believe you are absolutely right regarding the children of God who should not be in the “begging position”. The children of this world, of course, do not know that we can ask our Heavenly Father at first if we are in need.
You’re very welcome as to sharing my heart in this blog article, my sister. 🙂
Love ❤
Susanne
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Yes, I was born in Germany to very german parents, and we emigrated to Canada 33 years ago. 🙂 What is your heritage, are you german or just stationed there?
But I was just reading your reply above and had a light-bulb (Holy Spirit) moment with what you said most notably if Satan uses Scriptures to convince us – wow, I had totally forgotten that aspect of it. He did TEMPT our Lord with SCRIPTURE to try and get Jesus to do the wrong thing.
Again, another facet of “the letter kills, but the spirit gives life” – amazing! So following scripture is not always the right response, but following the Holy Spirit always is.
E.
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Oh, 33 years – sooo long ago already, dear Elli! Amazing! As for me, I am a real German, though with some French roots.
“Light-bulb moment”… that wording was new to me, but I like it. 🙂 It just reminded me of a WordPress emoticon with the very same thing on its head, namely this one: 💡
Yes and amen. Very well put! ⭐
Love,
Susanne
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Elli wrote, “So following scripture is not always the right response, but following the Holy Spirit always is.” Well, this one will get you tossed out of most “Bible believing” churches. BUT if they truly believed in the Bible, they would see the truth in this. They wanted to kill Jesus because He did not follow the Bible and the traditions of the elders and hung out with sinners and people they considered unclean. They wanted to kill Paul for daring to preach that the Old Covenant had been replaced by a NEW dispensation that was no longer under the law. They DID kill Stephen for saying that by clinging to their temple system they did ALWAYS resist God’s Holy Spirit. “HELLO? ANYBODY HOME?” The same system prevails today under the name “Christian.” Then we have Peter calling Jesus His Lord while He argues with Him about eating unclean things and not eating with Gentiles. Of course Jesus rebuked him for being an Oxy-Moron! 🙂
Yes, Elli, you might get in trouble with the self-righteous Bible thumpers, but you do well to listen to the Spirit of God who does not operate inside the theological boxes of men. I love your comments as you share from your heart.
Love in Christ,
Michael
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Oxy-Moron! Hahahaha… XD
You are so funny, Michael.
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Haha, you never know with me, I just make up words and phrases as I go 😉 But you know, in german we would say, “da ging mir das Licht auf”! I am not sure how to use WP emoticons. That little light bulb almost looks like a halo. grin
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Also gut, damit Dir noch ein paar Lichter aufgehen, liebe Elli, zeige ich Dir nun eine Seite auf der die gebräuchlichsten WP Smileys aufgelistet sind. 🙂
[ From German ➡ English: All right, then. In order to increase the light(s) dawning on you, dear Elli, I am going to show you a page now where the most common WP emoticons are listed. 🙂 ]
https://en.support.wordpress.com/smilies/
Regarding the little light bulb, you only need to insert two spaces instead of the opening and closing quotation mark when you write “:idea:”. 💡 Ha! Indeed, the little light bulb reminds me of a halo too. XD
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Cute! I am happy you two sisters have connected. You are both a blessing to me. 💡 ⭐
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Thank you, Michael. You are a treasure! ⭐
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