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church, experience, eyes of the heart, feelings, healing, light, Michael Clark, mind, pain, peace, prayer, sanctification, sin, soul, the body of Christ, triggers
“And we are writing this that our joy may be complete. This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not live according to the truth; but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:4-7 RSVA)
Susanne wrote, “Meanwhile I believe that God only shows us that there is no good thing coming from the old man in order to bring forth those genuinely good things that spring from a new God-given heart. But the process until we are through with all these “ouch-experiences” and our natural tendency to run from pain and/or to attack the one who offended us is indeed PAINFUL.”
Yes, it is very painful, indeed, and we are not used to walking in complete honesty with one another as Christians. How many times did I hear while in the Sunday churches, “Well, I didn’t want to say anything for fear I would hurt their feelings”? In the first place the building up of the Kingdom of God is not all about protecting our feelings. A cursory reading of Hebrews 12:5-11 will pop that bubble.
Yet, true fellowship is found as we walk in the light of Christ together… and His Light exposes our darkness. When we react to something that a brother or sister says to us, it is a clue that there is something down in our hearts that has not been healed yet by HIS Light. So, God in His wisdom has put the members of Christ’s body in close proximity, not so that we can have a warm and fuzzy time together and call it “fellowship,” but rather so His Light, the Light of His Son, can first reveal to us that something is still in darkness in us and then to bring us with His great love into allowing Him to do the deep surgery on our hearts that is needed so we can fully walk together in the light of His love! Our old unhealed wounds impede the free flow of His love through us to others and God has so much love He wants to give to others through us. As long as we run from one another or even attack one another, that love is not able to do its perfect work.
So, you see it is in walking together in HIS truth (speaking the truth in love) with one another that builds up the body of Christ and allows the blood of Jesus to cleanse us from all sin (areas in which we are falling short of the glory of God being manifest in us).
The author of Hebrews gives us another great piece of advice. He says,
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2 RSVA)
When we feel triggered, it is like a weight on the heart and mind and no peace can be found, neither inside nor outside. If we cling to that condition, sooner or later, sin comes in since we want to get rid of these negative feelings. As soon as we have found a “victim”, we will treat them badly because we ourselves have felt so bad in the darkness. Instead of running from the pain and to God’s light so that we might be healed, we then upload our burden on another innocent human being. Now the weight has even increased since two people suffer! If we continue to do so with more people, we may easily anticipate what might happen: The evil spreads as we can see it in the world today, in this world that does not know God yet. It is like an infectious disease and eventually the former victim becomes the victimizer aka sinner. Only walking in the light constantly (!) makes us stay clear of sin.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, to avoid such negative consequences, we need to endure the cross like Christ and suffer the pain He exposes so that we might get healed. By the way, if we do so, the pain we might have felt over and over again can disappear in the wink of an eye when we pray for His light to open up the eyes of our heart. Don’t you wonder when you suddenly see that God still works miracles in our midst. 😉
Michael said:
Reblogged this on A Wilderness Voice and commented:
Susanne Schuberth and I conspired on this together as God has been speaking to us about the depth of what it means to “walk in the light as HE is in the light.”
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Susanne Schuberth (Germany) said:
Thank you very much for the reblog of our joint (ad)venture, dear Michael. 🙂
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Michael said:
You are so welcome! I enjoyed it very much. God really touched my heart as we wrote on this. ⭐ ⭐
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Susanne Schuberth (Germany) said:
I enjoyed it too, very much, Michael, and I am glad to hear your ❤ has been touched by Him. 🙂
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Anna Waldherr said:
Thank you, Susanne and Michael! Hebrews 12: 1-2 is one of my favorite verses.
Your sister in Christ,
Anna ❤
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Michael said:
Thank you, Anna. It is good to hear from you again, and thank you for all the “likes,” too! ❤
Michael
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Anna Waldherr said:
I apologize for my absence. I’ve just moved to a rural setting, and am up to my eyeballs in packing peanuts. Since the move was out of state, I’ve had to replace my license, vehicle registration, home insurance, health insurance, utilities, TV, phone, and internet. I now own a mobile hotspot. But the internet can still go out, if it rains or the moon is in the wrong phase. It’s been an adventure. I may have to strap an antenna on a cow (LOL). Did I mention I hate technology nearly as much as bureaucracy?
Your sister,
A. :0)
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Susanne Schuberth (Germany) said:
Oh girl, I imagine you must have been VERY busy lately with all these things to do! 🙄 Nonetheless, you were so quickly back on the net, that is amazing to me!! I do hope you can get some rest in the days ahead, though.
Well, Anna, to be honest, I am no technology or bureaucracy fan, either. 😛
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Michael said:
Wow, Anna! What a radical change for a city girl! I hope you enjoy the peace and quiet of country living. I am looking forward to hearing more about your new digs. ⭐
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Susanne Schuberth (Germany) said:
Dear Anna,
You’re most welcome, my sister.
Thank you too for those countless likes of posts and comments, even on both of my blogs. That was sooo encouraging! 🙂
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Renee said:
This is an eye opener for me. I copied and pasted the part that spoke to my heart:
(When we react to something that a brother or sister says to us, it is a clue that there is something down in our hearts that has not been healed yet by HIS Light)
This is a serous epidemic in the body of Christ. There are so many wounded believers, both men and women. Wow, even in myself I have to constantly ask God to heal areas in my life that I am not aware of are there. May his light shine and heal every broken place!
Thank you Michael and Susanne, very good article!
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Michael said:
Dear Renee, many of us have grown up in homes with abusive parents, even parents that claimed to be “Christians.” We are in an age when the love of many is waxing cold and thus the offenses are many (see Matt. 24:12). Parents lack natural affection for their children and spouses for their mates (see 2 Tim. 3:1-5) and Paul warns that these same people will have a form of godliness but deny the life changing power thereof.
What does this have to do with what we wrote about? It sets us up for many wounds that when someone comes along and does or says something that reminds us of what happened to us in the past, we react in such a way that we become the new wounder in that relationship, ourselves! This shows that we have not been healed as of yet and still need a new heart that only God can provide, the very heart of Christ in us. Peter wrote about this quite well saying,
Dear Father, please do what you must to break this cycle of offense and offender, of wounded and wounder. Let your kingdom come HERE on earth, our part of it, as it is in your heaven. Let you kingdom be in OUR midst. Amen
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Susanne Schuberth (Germany) said:
You’re very welcome, dear Renee.
Thank you so much for your honest reply and your edifying words! 🙂 The part you copied and pasted was from Michael and I was glad to hear that his (HIS) words spoke to your heart, my sweet sister. ❤
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Renee said:
Wow, ok. I’m glad Michael shared that. It spoke to me!!!
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Susanne Schuberth (Germany) said:
Great! 😀
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Michael said:
Thanks, Renee! It is always good to hear the the Spirit uses something we write to encourage or enlighten others. God bless you, sweet sister!
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