How God meets man… or what does it mean to be IN Christ?

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being born again, darkness, experience, God's love, joy, light, living water, pain, the dark night of the soul, The Holy Spirit, the new self, the old self, the promised land

The River of No Return…
(Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

I just had an interesting picture on my mind. Imagine all people in this world initially walk through barren and desolate land for the most part of their lifetime. But sometimes some of them suddenly see an oasis before their eyes. They can hardly believe that they now can leave the wilderness they were in for a very long time and sparks of hope begin to take root inside their hearts. However, alas, as they come closer and closer, they realize that what they had seen within their reach seemed to be only a Fata Morgana since it was gone as soon as they wanted to take possession of it. Grievously disappointed and discouraged they find themselves forced to continue on their journey through the desert, but they cannot forget the beauty of the place they would see before being able to arrive there.

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Discerning the Spirits

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Christlikeness, discerning the spirits, evil spirits, experience, false teachers, prayer, self-forgetfulness, self-will power, selflessness, the devil, true faith, wisdom

Listening to God’s Voice Ensures 100% Quality. 😉
(Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

Let’s say someone invited you to join a gathering of people who call themselves Christians. That does not necessarily mean that you attend a church, a home church, a conference or a similar thing. Just imagine that you are going to meet people you have never met before and you want to find out whether they are honest and upright Christians – or not. The most common mistake we tend to make in such cases is the conviction that everyone who is friendly must be indwelt by God’s Spirit. Dear brothers and sisters, nothing could be further from the truth, since Satan usually “disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Cor 11:14 ESV). Satan tends to be the nice guy who feeds the bunny a carrot first, but later he whips the stick out of his pocket. As wonderful as it is to meet friendly Christians who really radiate the light and love of God, as painful were my own experiences in the past when I had to deal with those other, in the long run, harmful encounters. Today I rather ask God for His wisdom to show me the truth so that I can more easily perceive who is ‘the real thing’ and who is not (cf. Js 1:5). Love bombing to win me does not work anymore as long as I sense the Lord’s gentle voice inside me saying, “Take care, Susanne!” and I simultaneously feel repelled by the presence of false spirits in those persons I am confronted with.

My Sheep Hear My Voice

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discerning the spirits, ears of the heart, following Jesus, God's love, listening, Oswald Chambers, sheep, shepherd

My Sheep Hear My Voice
(Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

If we have ever been in love, we know that hearing the voice of the one whom we love can make our heart flutter with anticipation. Well, one might object here that this is a common human experience, however, does it apply to our experience of hearing God just the same? Jesus said,

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” (Jn 10:27 ESV)

This is a promise, a statement that assures us that His sheep can discern His voice from others. Jesus “knows” them, i.e., He loves them, and we might assume as well that their love causes them to follow Him eventually. Although there might be many voices every day that talk to us without interruptions, there must be something special about the voice of the One who created us. In order to illustrate what I just tried to explain, I will share my latest “sheep experience” with you. 😉

“What is Christianity about?” by Michael and Susanne

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charity, Christianity, doing good, experience, following Jesus, God's love, justice, love, Michael Clark, Oswald Chambers, partiality, taking a stand, wisdom

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8 NASB) – Photo by Susanne Schuberth

Good grief, that is a strange question, don’t you think?
Okay, okay, if someone said Christianity was all about Christ, then we would wholeheartedly agree and could stop writing at this point. Nonetheless, that was not what we wanted to talk about here. Instead, we have often wondered whether we as Christians are more known for what we stand against than for what we stand for.

Can we be deceived?

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carnal mind, deception, experience, God's love, mysticism, Oswald Chambers, salvation, spiritual mind, spiritual power

“Can our eyes deceive us?”
(Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

I recalled having read a certain quote by Oswald Chambers quite some time ago. However, whenever I tried to find it again, I failed, since I could not remember the exact wording. Just today as I was searching the net for mystical experiences by Christians, I would find some criticism about the very word “mysticism” by T.A. Sparks and A.W. Tozer instead. Of course, there has been false mysticism in Christianity, too, but not all mystical experiences were wrong. As long as one gets closer and closer to the Living God, I would never dare to say that mysticism was a bad thing. The false mystical experience might get obvious to us when we realize that it has caused the believer to get more and more focused on his own person and “ministry” than on the person of Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. Pride about knowing more than others, arrogance toward not-so-spiritual believers, and sometimes even a sort of megalomania (about what God would be able to do through the little “ME”) go hand in hand with Satan’s spiritual suggestions.