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being born again, entering the Kingdom of God, experience, God's love, seeing God, the new self, the promised land
Take your time and think about it…
( St. Paul’s Church in Fürth – Photo by Paul Schuberth )
Here are just a few thoughts of mine.
We only need His power of love and the rest will fall into its place. It is so simple the kingdom of God: First He makes us see it and later He lets us enter. Eventually, when we have entered the Kingdom of God, He teaches all of us so that we can stop teaching each other.
Do you think that description is way too easy, not doctrinal enough, or simply an offense? Since if it were true, all religious struggles and countless writings would run danger to get superfluous. I suggest if someone has really entered the Kingdom of God, he will surely never go back, neither into the wilderness, nor to Egypt. But he will live the life God lives through him – on earth. After having died to the old self, to our old Adam and Eve, we can live a completely new life, gospel life, resurrection life, however you might call it. This new life has nothing to do with the life we knew before although it subtly shone through at times. Yet one day God takes the veil away and we can see Him everywhere. The apostle Paul confirmed to have known this kind of life here:
For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Gal 2:19-20 ESV)
And here’s finally the Biblical confirmation for my statement above.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. (Jn 3:3-5 ESV)
Amen! God is the best teacher, much better than what man can teach/explain. He knows our tendencies and learning style.
Dying to the self can be a painful process and as we go through it, we can either chose to look back/hold onto old ways or keep going forward knowing that we cannot go back to old way of life. For Jesus gave His life for us out of His abundance love, we are called to give ours to Him. Praise God!
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Thank you, Joseph! 🙂
That was a precious thought you expressed here. You wrote,
“Dying to the self can be a painful process and as we go through it, we can either chose to look back/hold onto old ways or keep going forward knowing that we cannot go back to old way of life.”
Exactly my thoughts today. 😉 Although the old self is in bondage and cannot free itself, neither from sin nor from its old habits, fears, and worries, God always respects our free will and lets us choose whether we want to get out of our rut or if we still prefer to remain stuck in our old way of life. He never imposes something on us, instead, He unties our invisible chains and we are to decide to throw them away in order to enter an unknown country, i.e., the Kingdom of God.
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Susanne, This was a great exchange you had with Joseph. I was reading T.A. Sparks this morning and he said something very profound that fits in quite well with what you are writing here on your blog about the love of God being all we need …
We can be held back by the chains of our flesh or we can be confined by the strength of His love for us. May He capture and keep us constrained in His love.
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Amen, Michael, and thank you!
That was a great quote by TAS, it really fits perfectly. Thank God, natural enthusiastic emotions aka human love regarding God are completely gone in my case (am as powerless as can be 😛 ). Hopefully, He will capture me once again and keep me constrained in HIS love as you so strikingly expressed it, my brother.
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Like Paul wrote, “He takes away the first so He can establish the second.” This applies in so many areas as He grows us up in His love. Yes, Susanne, He will capture you and constrain you in His loving embrace again. That is a fact! You are in my heart and prayers, dear sister.
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Thanks a bunch for your prayers, Michael. You may know that you are in mine as well.
I know He will do it since it is promised in the Bible, too.
Meanwhile, being stripped off the first is not as painful as it was before. I really want to die to my old feelings and habits since they make no sense to me any longer. Sigh…. The old self cannot really love ….oops…. I think I already wrote a blog post about that…. Yes, here it is https://enteringthepromisedland.wordpress.com/2015/01/05/the-old-self-cannot-really-love/
😀
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Susanne, Thanks for another challenging word that has made me look at what I believe more closely. You wrote, “We only need His power of love and the rest will fall into its place. It is so simple the kingdom of God: First He makes us see it and later He lets us enter. Eventually, when we have entered the Kingdom of God, He teaches all of us so that we can stop teaching each other.”
As for the completeness of the power of love, John wrote that “God is love”. It stands to reason that all we need is the power of God to be complete in our lives and that power is His love. John also wrote, “And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love; and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him.” (1 John 4:16 KJ2000). John’s constant appeal was that the saints would dwell in God and in His love. Yes, the kingdom of God is where God reigns and if we dwell in His love we dwell in Him and His reign is made perfect in us for against love there is no law (see Romans 13:10).
As for teaching one another, this is a good point. If we each have the Spirit of God in us we have THE Teacher abiding in us and John made it clear that under His unction we have no need that any man teach us for He will teach us everything we need (See 1 John 2:26-27 and John 14:26 & 16:13). As for all of us who love to teach our fellow saints, if we are not teaching THIS lesson and working ourselves out of a job, we better check our motives for why we teach. Yes, dear sister, “He teaches all of us so that we can stop teaching each other.” Too many of us are still looking for a man to mentor us when everything we need to be properly “mentored” is already in us if we have Christ and His Spirit living in us.
And when he was demanded by the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, “The kingdom of God comes not with outward observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” (Luke 17:20-21 KJ2000)
Do we dare to believe it and live accordingly?
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Susanne, as usual as I started to meditate on what you wrote and more inspiration came to me. What started out as another comment on your blog article ended up being longer than your article! Sooooo, I decided I had better make it an article and put it on my own blog. Anyway, here is what would have been my comment 🙂
https://awildernessvoice.wordpress.com/2015/07/17/its-time-but-are-we-ready-to-follow/
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Michael, I am happy to hear you were inspired once again. Thanks for ther link and for those kind words in your article, too. 🙂
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You’re so welcome, Michael.
Yes and amen to all the Scriptures you quoted, my brother.
I am glad you mentioned these verses from Luke where Jesus clearly said HOW the kingdom of God comes. Indeed, without outward observation! I think that means primarily that others cannot see whether we have already entered that invisible realm, but also, that we ourselves cannot find it outside of us unless we have found it initially inside ourselves: In our hearts and minds and even in our whole body! When the light of God is poured into the human soul, the one who receives His light sees and feels it and is more and more drawn into a realm he could not perceive before.
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THANKS, SO MUCH FOR ALL THIS INFORMATION! IT IS SO GOOD THAT I WANT TO BEGIN MEDITATION ON SOME OF IT. I THINK THAT I WILL READ IT OVER AND OVER, TO GET MORE. PLEASE TELL ME WHEN THIS INFORMATION WILL BE REMOVED FOR MORE OF YOUR MESSAGES.
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I am happy to hear that you found helpful information on here to meditate upon, dear Bernie. Nonetheless, I am not sure what you meant by removing this information for more of my messages? Did you think of me publishing new articles or of deleting something? 🙄
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Yes, good point… His kingdom can’t be see with worldly eyes, not like it is today with a church building on every high hill and almost every street corner in some towns. It should be obvious to anyone who knows the New Covenant, these monoliths are not an honor to God and they will all be brought down before it is over just as it happened with the Jerusalem temple 2000 years ago. Imagine the billions of wasted dollars that have been invested into this structures and their upkeep while pure “religion” as James described it has been ignored, “To visit the widows and orphans in their plight.”
The internal presence of God is what counts and once in a while I meet a dear saint with a shining face that lets me know that Jesus is living within them, but even this comes through having spiritual eyes to see with.
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Thank you, Michael! 🙂
“The internal presence of God is what counts and once in a while I meet a dear saint with a shining face that lets me know that Jesus is living within them, but even this comes through having spiritual eyes to see with.”
Yes and amen, my dear brother!
By the way, without a church building I would have never had such a “golden” kitchen clock as in the pic I posted for this blog. 😉 I admit that I still love church buildings, though not all of them. Just the day before yesterday I took pics of a castle, a monastery, and of churches (RC), too. I really felt the Lord nudging me to do so. Why?
I don’t know…but I felt great peace and joy while taking my 180 pics (!). 😀
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As you so clearly put it, Susanne, “We only need His love and the rest will fall into its place.”
I have always been deeply moved by Christ’s statement about the fallen woman, ” ‘…her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much…’ ” (Luke 7: 47). All too often, Christians seem to latch onto legalism or some obscure dogma, and forget love entirely.
It grieves me to no end when Christians (or supposed Christians) seek to exorcise demons from children. This can leave deep and lasting scars on children who may already have been abused.
Depending on the denomination, we glorify physical healing, speaking in tongues, and “prophecy” that is little more than manipulation or delusion. This has led many astray, and does not begin to touch on the cults which practice outright sexual perversion under the guise of honoring a false “prophet” or emotionally maul believers brave enough to voice disagreement with the group.
Don’t get me started on self-righteousness…
Obviously, the Lord has a great deal of work left to do on me!
With love,
Your sister Anna ❤
PS. I only occasionally foam at the mouth (LOL).
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Anna, I am with you! I have also seen and been a victim of this “charismainia” of which you speak as was the rest of my family. Love is not always warm and fuzzy. Sometimes Jesus nailed the religious abusers of 2000 years ago, too, but He loved all men and women and if these self-righteous (and unforgiving) ones had only known the day of their visitation from God’s loving Son, their house would not have been left unto them desolate. A contemplative read of Matthew chapter 23 would be good for all who think they stand.
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Thanks for your kind (and partly very humorous) response, Anna! 😀
As for Jesus’ words about the fallen woman, I fully agree with you. And this false kind of religion that uses “exorcizing demons” by yelling at people and threaten them with Bible verses, it is real abuse!!! How saddening and destructive especially in the case of children. 😦 Like Michael, I came to know such practice in my religious past too. Some “Christians” are unknowingly Satan’s instruments that torment and torture human souls instead of pointing them to the ONLY ONE who wants to set us free and give us rest.
Also, most things I heard or read about “prophecy”, even on the net, did not come from Jesus, either. It was Satan who both confused the minds of those who “prophesied” and of those who listened. How saddening, again, that only a few people really know God and speak His words instead of their man-made pipe dreams!
I don’t think that God has a lot of work to do with you, my dear Anna, neither now nor in the days ahead.
Much love ❤
Your sister Susanne
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Hmmm, interesting. I think there are some really fascinating things going on with the Lord’s prayer, “Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven.” So the Kingdom is both here and there and within us and outside of us. I think that is kind of what Paul is describing.
This made me laugh, “Since if it were true, all religious struggles and countless writings would run danger to get superfluous” LOL, they are already, are they not? Don’t get me wrong, many of them can be quite helpful and there is wisdom in other people’s words and experiences, it is just that if the kingdom is within us, if we are truly in a relationship with Christ, than He will show us all we need to know. He will lead us and guide us. Something I find really fascinating, many of us grew up with non believers, but recognizing Christ when we were very young. So we weren’t taught about Him at all, He taught us, and He taught us all very similar things, things we have all had confirmed later in life by reading religious writings. So, we may all have come from different places, but this walk of faith has some very consistent teachings going on.
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Thanks for your thought-provoking comment, dear Gabrielle. 🙂
I agree with you that the Kingdom of God is everywhere, even in the whole universe. But who can really see it? All the world, yes, everyone will be able to perceive God’s essence as soon as His Spirit has touched the human heart and has opened man’s eyes.
Your hint to what you have been taught by Christ before coming to know Him later made me quite curious. Sounds like the beginning of a testimony…? 😉
Referring to religious struggles and countless writings, I thought primarily of numerous doctrinal fights which make no sense as long as those who “fight” have no love in their hearts for one another. As for other writings, not teachings, I am with you, we can learn a lot and we should learn a lot, especially to discern God’s voice from others that only sound similar to His.
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Yes I do know that the kingdom of God is simple–when we enter into His kingdom its His essence that we enter into and He is the only being in this universe that can live His life–we then learn over time that we can not live His divine life so we stop striving to live it–He then takes over and starts to work on us to regulate our lives and manifest His life out of our actions–its a struggle for us dirt bags to yield over to Him but in time we see how easy it is for Him to function right by His own essence and we get the joy and peace of His life being expressed out of us.
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Wow! Great comment, Ken. Impressive!! ⭐
“Dirt bags” – that was new to me. 😀
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Dear Suzanne,
Your description of what the Kingdom of God is about is not “way too easy.” If we, “take our time and think about it,” we may begin to see some of the many facets of this “gem” and realize that, because God is LOVE, although complex __ the Kingdom is not complicated.
In His Love,
Tom & Lois
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Mmmhhhh…. ❤
Dear Tom & Lois – that was VERY encouraging to read for me! 🙂
Thanks so much for your edifying contribution. I really needed that today.
In His love,
Susanne
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Pingback: It’s Time, But Are We Ready to Follow? « A Wilderness Voice
Thank you for the word, and you who have commented.
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You’re very welcome, dear Pat. 🙂
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I GOT THE INFORMATION I WAS LOOKING FOR AND TOOK NOTES:
#1 “CHRIST’S LOVE CONSTRAINS US.” THIS WORKS FOR ME AS I MEDITATED ON 1ST JOHN 4 V 18. “PERFECT LOVE CASTS OUT FEAR” SINCE I AM CONTINUING TO LIVE BY MARK 10 V 15. I. LIKE A CHILD COMPLETELY DEPENDENT ON GOD TO STAY IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD. SO, LIKE A NATURAL CHILD IS SO DEPENDENT ON THE LOVE OF THE FATHER (THIS INCLUDES PROTECTION FROM HARM) THAT HE OR SHE HAS NO NEED TO FEAR! LIKE SO WITH MY HEAVENLY FATHER.
#2 YOUR STATEMENT:” LIGHT OF GOD IS POURED OUT INTO THE HUMAN SOUL: SEE IT, FEELS IT AND IS DRAWN INTO IT.”TO ME, THIS IS IN DETAIL THE FOLLOWING TRUTH: “THE EYE IS THE LAMP OF GOD”
LUKE 11 V 34. SO, GOD’S LIGHT INTO ME THRU MY EYES. FULFILLS THE ABOVE.
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Yes, very good, Bernie! ⭐ “Perfect love casts out fear”. Every kind of fear, I guess, although that Scripture mainly refers to the fear of being judged by God, as far as I know.
As for Luke 11:34, our eye is the lamp of the body, and indeed, if someone has lost all hope and faith, you will see it in their eyes, too. Empty eyes with no light behind them…
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Pingback: The Kingdom of God – Now or Later? | Done with Religion
Thank you very much for the pingback to my blog, Mike. 🙂
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Pingback: Creation of the earth and man #8 Of the Sabbath day #6 If it be necessary to keep Sunday – Messiah For All
Thank you so much for linking to my blog from yours, Marcus. 🙂
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