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abiding in Christ, circumstances, faith, freedom, Jesus Christ, joy, peace, rest, the promised land, true faith
If I had not believed in the possibility of enjoying God’s joy and peace on a permanent basis, I would not have dared to write one word about it. Despite struggling with falling in and out of such a desirable spiritual condition, I could not help searching and knocking on Heaven’s door to, please, let me in and to give me what I wanted. If God had been a man, He would have certainly been stressed out by a woman who had asked Him almost daily – for two decades – to give her a certain blessing as we find it described in the Parable of Persistent Widow (cf. Lk 18:1-8). But thank God, He is not a man and loves to be asked until He gives us graciously what only He can give.
Paul in his letter to the Philippians writes several times about the capability to rejoice in the Lord in ALL circumstances. We might think here, for example, about Paul’s and Silas’ experiences of how the Philippian jailer had been converted as it is written in Acts.
“And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely: Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.” (Acts 16:23-25 ESV)
God brought Paul and Silas into a situation of which no human being would see a reason to be glad about. The natural mind would run from being beaten and thrown into prison – innocent at that! That was not “normal” how Paul and Silas reacted, was it…? But God shows His wisdom in doing exactly the opposite of what we as human beings would expect Him to do. Of course, there was also a miracle (the earthquake through which the prisoners were freed) that followed their nocturnal praise in prison, however, for me it is a greater miracle what God had done inside of those two Christians. Looking a bit closer to Paul’s letter to the Philippians, we read,
“Rejoice IN the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.” (Phil 4:4 KJV) [Emphasis in caps mine]
I want to offer to you now a longer excerpt from Alexander MacLaren’s exposition of the aforementioned verse and I do hope you might find his notes enlightening, too.
I. So, then, the first thought that suggests itself to me from these words is this, that close union with Jesus Christ is the foundation of real gladness.
Pray note that ‘the Lord’ here, as is usually the case in Paul’s Epistles, means, not the Divine Father, but Jesus Christ. And then observe, again, that the phrase ‘Rejoice in the Lord’ has a deeper meaning than we sometimes attach to it. We are accustomed to speak of rejoicing in a thing or a person, which, or who, is thereby represented as being the occasion or the object of our gladness. And though that is true, in reference to our Lord, it is not the whole sweep and depth of the Apostle’s meaning here. He is employing that phrase, ‘in the Lord,’ in the profound and comprehensive sense in which it generally appears in his letters, and especially in those almost contemporaneous with this Epistle to the Philippians. I need only refer you, in passing, without quoting passages, to the continual use of that phrase in the nearly contemporaneous letter to the Ephesians, in which you will find that ‘in Christ Jesus’ is the signature stamped upon all the gifts of God, and upon all the possible blessings of the Christian life. ‘In Him’ we have the inheritance; in Him we obtain redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins; in Him we are ‘blessed with all spiritual blessings.’ And the deepest description of the essential characteristic of a Christian life is, to Paul, that it is a life in Christ.
It is this close union which the Apostle here indicates as being the foundation and the source of all that gladness which he desires to see spreading its light over the Christian life. ‘Rejoice in the Lord’–being in Him be glad.
[…]
The man that knows where to get anything and everything that he needs, and to whom desires are but the prophets of instantaneous fruition; surely that man has in his possession the talismanic secret of perpetual gladness. They who thus dwell in Christ by faith, love, obedience, imitation, aspiration, and enjoyment, are like men housed in some strong fortress, who can look out over all the fields alive with enemies, and feel that they are safe. They who thus dwell in Christ gain command over themselves; and because they can bridle passions, and subdue hot and impossible desires, and keep themselves well in hand, have stanched one chief source of unrest and sadness, and have opened one pure and sparkling fountain of unfailing gladness. To rule myself because Christ rules me is no small part of the secret of blessedness. And they who thus dwell in Christ have the purest joy, the joy of self-forgetfulness. He that is absorbed in a great cause; he whose pitiful, personal individuality has passed out of his sight; he who is swallowed up by devotion to another, by aspiration after ‘something afar from the sphere of our sorrow,’ has found the secret of gladness. And the man who thus can say, ‘I live: yet not I, but Christ liveth in me,’ this is the man who will ever rejoice. The world may not call such a temper gladness. It is as unlike the sputtering, flaring, foul-smelling joys which it prizes–like those filthy but bright ‘Lucigens’ that they do night work by in great factories–it is as unlike the joy of the world as these are to the calm, pure moonlight which they insult. The one is of heaven, and the other is the foul product of earth, and smokes to extinction swiftly.
II. So, secondly, notice that this joy is capable of being continuous.
‘Rejoice in the Lord always,’ says Paul. That is a hard nut to crack. I can fancy a man saying, ‘What is the use of giving me such exhortations as this? My gladness is largely a matter of temperament, and I cannot rule my moods. My gladness is largely a matter of circumstances, and I do not determine these. How vain it is to tell me, when my heart is bleeding, or beating like a sledge-hammer, to be glad!’ Yes! Temperament has a great deal to do with joy; and circumstances have a great deal to do with it; but is not the mission of the Gospel to make us masters of temperament, and independent of circumstances? Is not the possibility of living a life that has no dependence upon externals, and that may persist permanently through all varieties of mood, the very gift that Christ Himself has come to bestow upon us–bringing us into communion with Himself, and so making us lords of our own inward nature and of externals: so that ‘though the fig-tree shall not blossom, and there be no fruit in the vine,’ yet we may ‘rejoice in the Lord, and be glad in the God of our salvation.’ If a ship has plenty of water in its casks or tanks in its hold, it does not matter whether it is sailing through fresh water or salt. And if you and I have that union with Jesus Christ of which my text speaks, then we shall be, not wholly, but with indefinite increase of approximation towards the ideal, independent of circumstances and masters of our temperaments. And so it is possible, if not absolutely to reach this fair achievement of an unbroken continuity of gladness, at least to bring the lucent points so close to one another as that the intervals of darkness between shall be scarcely visible, and the whole will seem to form one continuous ring of light.
Brother, if you and I can keep near Jesus Christ always–and I suppose we can do that in sorrow as in joy–He will take care that our keeping near Him will not want its reward in that blessed continuity of felt repose which is very near the sunniness of gladness. For, if we in the Lord sorrow, we may, then, simultaneously, in the Lord rejoice. The two things may go together, if in the one mood and the other we are in union with Him. The bitterness of the bitterest calamity is taken away from it when it does not separate us from Jesus Christ. And just as the mother is specially tender with her sick child, and just as we have often found that the sympathy of friends comes to us, when need and grief are upon us, in a fashion that would have been incredible beforehand, so it is surely true that Jesus Christ can, and does, soften His tone, and select the tokens of His presence with especial tenderness for a wounded heart; so as that sorrow in the Lord passes into joy in the Lord. And if that be so, then the pillar which was cloud in the sunshine brightens into fire as night falls on the desert.
http://biblehub.com/commentaries/maclaren/philippians/4.htm
[Bold letter emphasis in flow content mine]
“Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” (Rom 15:13 KJV)
Beautiful! It is true, if we can learn to be content in all things, He will bless us with His peace. When we are in Christ, we are not our circumstance or what is going on around us. There are people who have everything and yet they are quite miserable and there are people who have nothing, who are filled with joy.
I have noticed that whenever I am miserable it is almost always too much of me and not enough of Him. If I can literally lay my own self down, He will take over and make things much more joyous.
Someone told me there were 189 instructions to “rejoice” in the bible. I don’t know, I haven’t counted them all, but I know there are many. That is usually the first step, to rejoice, because where your heart goes the rest of you will follow. Rejoicing in the midst of troubles is really counter intuitive, but helps to start bringing His peace closer to us. Sometimes I have managed to do this and discovered I haven’t got any troubles at all, they were all in my own imagination. 😉
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Thank you very much for your encouraging words, dear Gabrielle! 🙂
You wrote, “There are people who have everything and yet they are quite miserable and there are people who have nothing, who are filled with joy….I have noticed that whenever I am miserable it is almost always too much of me and not enough of Him. If I can literally lay my own self down, He will take over and make things much more joyous.”
Great observation! As for me, I find it is anything but easy to lay my self down; even here I need His help to do so. However, with God all things are possible, indeed. 🙂
I have not counted the number of instructions to rejoice in the Bible, either, but I recall there were a lot in the OT. From hence, it seems to be important. Counter intuitive? Oh yes, so true. Somehow all things God creates anew inside us are counterintuitive, aren’t they? Just tell your neighbor that God would change your thinking so that all those figments of the imagination disappear into nirvana, they would (at the very least) most certainly shake their head in disbelief. 😉
Love,
Susanne
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Dearest Susanne, the power and presence of Christ to the believer is the most powerful thing we have. We have His Person within us at all times no matter what the circumstances. Needless to say I found myself in a cell for over 12 hours at the instigation of my last Christian husband. It was very traumatic it took me five years to get over this betrayal but I can remember singing on the floor of the cell and remembering Paul doing so. With all the cameras I’m sure the police wondered why I was singing …. well in truth there were many tears too and the Lord met me again physically in that prison which I shall never forget and the kindness of one particular policeman made me compare with the judgment of the Christians and I was shunned by the whole community mainly Christian for the next two years. One of the leaders of the church whose ministry was to visit those in prison refused to come to see me. It was my daughter and her boyfriend [not Christian] who took care of me as I had a breakdown yet again over the persecution of the church in this town.
If it were not for Christ well I wouldn’t be here and that is the truth so ill was I Susanne. But through this time God showed me more His Presence despite the persecution or rather because of it. Yes I rejoice, even now in my illness which today is very draining, I rejoice because I am in Christ and He is in me. This is the power of God from on high and I can now see how the Christians of old managed to get through even the lions coming for them. Praise God! jacqui xx
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I have no words, my dearest Jacqui. 😦
There are so many horrible things you had to go through and the Lord held you up, that is for sure, but you are a very, very brave woman, too. Regarding your current illness that is so draining, I will keep praying that the Lord might restore your health.
As for always rejoicing, I do know many times where I couldn’t do it at all and I believe it is always the Lord’s Spirit IN us who enables us to rejoice in adverse circumstances. On our own we would never be able to do it. Indeed, ALL good things, finally, come from Him…
Much love to you,
Susanne xx
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One thing I have come to trust and know of a certainty, that no matter what trial I am passing through at the time; no matter what mental, physical pain or suffering, Christ is always there for me, watching over and caring for me. No matter what crisis…. and there have been plenty, I will never lay anything to the Lord’s charge. Should I blame him for neglecting me: He who gave His ALL for me; He who saved and delivered me from my horrible state of sin and darkness? No, never! I have learned I can trust him in any crisis or situation. A crisis may not seem like a happy thing to rejoice in at the time, but when you know all things work to the good if you’re loving and serving the Lord Jesus, then you know it will have a good outcome one way or the other. He will see to it, for your good. Amen!
Thanks sis Suzanne for always lifting up the Lord Jesus. He is so worthy of praise and adoration.
Scarlett
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You’re very welcome, dear Scarlett. Actually, I was not aware of lifting our Lord up, but I hoped I did it.
You said, “I have learned I can trust him in any crisis or situation. A crisis may not seem like a happy thing to rejoice in at the time, but when you know all things work to the good if you’re loving and serving the Lord Jesus, then you know it will have a good outcome one way or the other. He will see to it, for your good. Amen!”
AMEN. Very, very well said, my sister. 🙂
Every blessing imaginable to you!
Susanne
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Thank you for the post, dear Susanne.
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You’re most welcome, dear Pat! ❤
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Thank you, as always, for your insights, Susanne. Habakkuk 3: 17-19 is a favorite of mine.
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You’re very welcome, as always, dear Anna. ❤
Oh, the Scripture you mentioned is very appropriate:
17 Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:
18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
19 The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments. (Hb 3:17-19 KJV)
What hit me there was the YET part of verse 18. YET…I will rejoice in the LORD. That is very good! Thanks so much for sharing one of your favorites Scriptures with me! 🙂
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Dear Susanne, thank you for sharing this! I have never seen another Christian author bring this out before! Alexander MacLaren nailed it! IN Christ!!! Oh how my attitude changed once I saw that we believe INTO Christ in our initial act of salvation! We do NOT just believe in Him or upon Him or “unto salvation” as those mistranslated verses indicate. For the Greek actually says, “Believe INTO [grk. eis not en] the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.” Father gives us the faith we need by His great grace to transport us out of the miseries and sufferings of this world and places us IN His Son where “we live and move and have our being.” “Though our outward man perishes, our inward man is being renewed day by day!” Praise His wonderful name!
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My pleasure, dear Michael. 🙂
Indeed, I believe there were some authors who wrote about “being in Christ” and “believing into Him”, however, I did not search for them as it was the case with Alexander MacLaren.
You know that I have not read a single book since 2008 although I had been a bookworm before. Indeed, I both lost interest and in a certain sense the “ability” to focus on intellectual deliberations any longer. If someone tried to force me to read this or that, I know I’d only begin with the utmost reluctance to do so and that I’d stop reading ASAP!!! I know that nobody who has not yet been IN Christ can understand what I am talking of here. The Spirit’s wind is not predictable and that makes it even difficult for others to deal with me at times since I rarely fit anyone’s plan. If the Lord’s shows me to go into another direction, Susanne MUST listen in order to not lose His peace and His pleasure in watching her do what He wills. Honestly, that is not always that easy for me. 😦
Yet I think seeking the approval of Christ in all things has become crucial for me, more crucial than meeting the desires of others UNLESS they express God’s will with their requests.
Having been freed from reading, watching films, TV, movies, even my love for writing is gone (that was the last “love” I lost recently), I am more able today to listen to His nudgings than ever. I would have never thought that such an “empty” human being as I am now could be so full of God. But it seems this is the way of decreasing (my self) so that He can increase IN me.
To cut a long story short, 😉 therefore I just post excerpts of writings on here which the Lord has shown me. Sometimes I take them from books I once read, often in German and rather long ago, and sometimes I post excerpts from authors I have not known at all. It is all His doing. Praise our lovely Lord!!! ❤ ❤ ❤
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Well, dear Susanne, you might not be predictable, but it has been a joy to watch the wind billowing in your sails and see your sleek bow cutting through the troubled waters of this world. You have made me want to take up sailing for the first time in my life! Sail on and I will do my best with my little skiff to keep up. 🙂
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What a lovely and picturesque comment! Thank you very much, my brother. 🙂
I am relieved to hear that you got used to my unpredictable ways of thinking and acting which is anything but easy, I believe. 😛 Well, I do not think that you only call a little skiff your own. Didn’t you work on a huge Navy ship in the past?
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Yes, Susanne, the U.S.S. Enterprise, CVN-65. It was over 1200 feet long and I was on it for nine months, working in one of the most dangerous environments in the world, the flight deck of a aircraft carrier at war, BUT God got me home safely and then put me IN Christ afterwards and it doesn’t get any safer than that! 🙂
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It doesn’t get any safer than being in Christ… I love that, Michael! 😀
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Thanks for this, Susanne. I appreciated the Acts connection with the Philippians passage. Paul practiced what he preached!
Also appreciated the significance of “in the Lord” as brought out by Alexander MacLaren. That is such a vital truth. I have read that “in Christ” was almost Paul’s signature. It is critical that we understand that there are two men in the earth–just two: the old man Adam, and the new man Christ. We cannot be in both of them at the same time. If we are “in Adam,” all that is in Adam is ours. If we are “in Christ,” all that is in Christ is ours– including His joy.
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You’re so welcome, Allan. 🙂
Yes indeed, Paul certainly never preached anything he did not know from his own experience, having been IN Christ (signature sounds good). I love what you wrote here,
“It is critical that we understand that there are two men in the earth–just two: the old man Adam, and the new man Christ. We cannot be in both of them at the same time. If we are “in Adam,” all that is in Adam is ours. If we are “in Christ,” all that is in Christ is ours– including His joy.”
So true! Thank you very much for sharing your wisdom on here, dear Allan.
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Susanne and Alan — this is such a wonderful discussion! Whenever I think of being “in Christ” I think of John 14-17 because John introduces it to the disciples (and then, of course Paul is the one who explains it). I don’t think I’ve ever read anything about this, but there is a verse that I can’t get out of my heart whenever I hear “in Christ.” It is John 16:26. Jesus seems obsessed (can I say that about Him? I don’t mean it in a bad way) with communicating His Father to the disciples in these chapters. There is a lot in John’s and Paul’s writing about Jesus as the “Son of the Father’s love.” (Colossians 1 for example). And Jesus anticipates His going back to the Father after His resurrection, and talks about it. So, when I read “In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father” I just get goosebumps! He’s saying that because we love the Son, the Father allows us (is thrilled to have us) pray directly to Him! I think we miss the significance of this because we don’t see that previous to Jesus coming to show us the Father, NO ONE prayed to the Father (God yes, Father no). This was not part of Jewish religion — this was new! It’s one of the amazing benefits of being in Christ! When we pray in Jesus name, we are not asking Jesus to go to the Father for us, we are going directly to the Father — and He is delighted to hear from anyone who loves His dear Son. I did a study many years ago on the “Son of His love” and was astounded at how it peeled back layers of meaning concerning the love of the Father and the Son for us — because the love of the Father for His Son INCLUDES us!!! Not sure I explained this very well. But I had to try.
I also want to say that understanding about the two “Adams” is probably one of the most crucial things to apprehend in the Scriptures!!! So glad to see people talking about it!!
Lori
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That was a lot of good stuff you shared on here again, dear Lori, and you explained it very well! I agree with you, John 14-17 is very important as to being IN Christ. Thank you so much for your comment! 🙂
Well, indeed, if I want a particular thing from God, I will always ask our heavenly Daddy to do so. If I want something special from Jesus, I am going to ask Jesus. Being in Christ means being one with Jesus, and, since Jesus has always been one with God, we eventually become one with God as well (Jn 17:21-26). Actually, it is a process of becoming one with God. The more our old Adam has been killed, the more we can see God (dimly, cf. 1 Cor 13:12) and hear God talking to us as well. Being one with God and Jesus because of being IN Christ is one of the greatest gifts Jesus bestowed on us through His death, resurrection, and ascension. Without the Holy Spirit given to us, it would not be possible at all.
I am glad to hear that you get goosebumps while reading about asking our Father directly… May He reveal Himself to you more and more, my dear sister! ❤
As far as I remember, the Jews also believed that God was their Father, but you were right that they approached God in prayer differently, that is, not yet having been enabled to draw near to Him who is Lord and God through a tender relationship in which we can be how and who we really are without trying to display a sort of artificial religious “behavior”.
By the way, our Canadian brother Allan Halton with who I talked above writes his own blog posts at http://amendingfeast.org/.
Love,
Susanne
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Dear Lori,
Here is another excerpt about being IN Christ from John Gill who was a (strict 😉 ) Calvinist. He explains the meaning of 2 Cor 5:17.
“[…] the Arabic version reads it, “he that is in the faith of Christ is a new creature”. All such who are secretly in Christ from everlasting, though as yet some of them may not be new creatures, yet they shall be sooner or later; and those who are openly in him, or are converted persons, are actually so; they are a new “creation”, as the words may be rendered: , “a new creation”, is a phrase often used by the Jewish (h) doctors, and is applied by the apostle to converted persons; and designs not an outward reformation of life and manners, but an inward principle of grace, which is a creature, a creation work, and so not man’s, but God’s; and in which man is purely passive, as he was in his first creation; and this is a new creature, or a new man, in opposition to, and distinction from the old man, the corruption of nature; and because it is something anew implanted in the soul, which never was there before; it is not a working upon, and an improvement of the old principles of nature, but an implantation of new principles of grace and holiness; here is a new heart, and a new spirit, and in them new light and life, new affections and desires, new delights and joys; here are new eyes to see with, new ears to hear with, new feet to walk, and new hands to work and act with:
old things are passed away: the old course of living, the old way of serving God, whether among Jews or Gentiles; the old legal righteousness, old companions and acquaintance are dropped; and all external things, as riches, honours, learning, knowledge, former sentiments of religion, are relinquished:
behold, all things are become new; there is a new course of life, both of faith and holiness; a new way of serving God through Christ by the Spirit, and from principles of grace; a new, another, and better righteousness is received and embraced; new companions are sought after, and delighted in; new riches, honours, glory, a new Jerusalem, yea, new heavens, and a new earth, are expected by new creatures: or the sense of the whole may be this, if any man is entered into the kingdom of God, into the Gospel dispensation, into a Gospel church state, which seems to be the sense of the phrase “in Christ […]”
If you like, read more here http://biblehub.com/2_corinthians/5-17.htm.
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Lori, that whole passage (John Ch. 14 to 17) gives me “goosebumps.” In this whole passage Jesus is talking of the coming of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. And He says, “In that day ye shall know that I am in the Father, and ye in Me, and I in You.” What day? The day in which the Comforter comes to abide. And He says, “In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father.” It means, as you said, that we do not need to ask Jesus to ask for us, but because of the Comforter– the Spirit of Christ– may ask the Father ourselves, and it is just as if Christ Himself were asking. The question remains, to what extent have we actually apprehended this truth?
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Wow Susanne — that about covers “new creation!” Pretty comprehensive!
Allan — apprehension, that is always the question isn’t it. I find that apprehending the Lord’s truths comes in layers. Peeling, always peeling — one layer after another. I don’t know, it kind of seems like life isn’t like a box of chocolates (you never know what you will get – per Forrest Gump) it’s like an onion. You always know there are more layers!! I love the layers (in knowing the Scriptures and in knowing Him — not so much in onions)!
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Thanks so much for your emphatic reaction, dear Lori. 🙂
Indeed, afterwards I felt “nudged” to write a short poem about the new creation in Christ. If you have time and are interested, here’s the link to my other blog https://susanneschuberth.wordpress.com/2015/04/04/behold-the-new-has-come/.
By the way, the onions layer thing was part of the introduction to my German book about my experiences with God (not published as you know 😉 ).
Ha! I do like that Forrest Gump quote that much, too!!! 😀
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I love your poem, Susanne!
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Thank you, Lori, so much!!! 🙂
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Wow such great comments–I love your posts Sue and your comments section is just as profitable–don’t loose your love for writing–I love it and would deeply miss it–happy easter time to all–with Christs love ruling.
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Happy Easter to you, too, dear Kenneth! 🙂
I am glad to hear that you both love the comments and my posts. And don’t you worry, if the Lord wants me to write something, He will keep on nudging me to do so, for sure. 😉
What I meant above is only that my former love for writing itself vanished completely as many other things did before (like going on vacation, doing a lot of sports, and reading an enormous amount of books). I wrote about these changes in my life before. If you like, see https://enteringthepromisedland.wordpress.com/2014/07/05/putting-on-the-new-self-but-how/.
Be blessed, my brother, with every diving blessing imaginable!
Susanne
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Same here, Kenneth. I think I like Susanne’s blog better than MINE!!! As the saying goes, “The heart of the home is in the kitchen,” I am with you, we also have some great commenters on here.
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Ha ha ha ha, Michael! BIG GRIN 😀
Thank you sooo much, my dear brother! However, I love your blog, too, very much! 😉
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