The Voice you love… is God’s Voice

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discerning the spirits, encouragement, experience, following Jesus, God's love, God's voice, Michael Clark, rest

Bavarian Sunset
(Picture by Susanne Schuberth, colors enhanced by Michael Clark)

Today I dare to point you to an article I wrote just before I began my meanwhile rather long series on discerning the spirits. Although I need to admit that those tormenting experiences I had to endure during the last weeks in order to learn more about evil spirits and how the work their way into our minds and hearts and to eventually write about it (which also meant more offenses by other Christians who did not get what I was talking of because of their unhealed triggers), I am glad I was allowed to learn these lessons and to get more and more confirmation from our loving God and Jesus that the very first voice we always perceive in our heart and mind is indeed the voice of God. His voice is so subtle, so loving, and He never forcefully tells us what to do. But Satan does! Sometimes he even uses brothers and sisters who contradict God’s voice we have sensed before and tries to get us under his control through them.

If I cannot have YOU…

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dying to self, experience, faith, struggling with God, suffering, the dark night of the soul, the dark night of the spirit, the new self, the old self, the presence of God

Source http://utmost.org/where-the-battle-is-won-or-lost/

Instead of writing another long blog post of my own, I decided to share Oswald Chambers’ devotional from today which describes my current struggles perfectly. Actually, I see more and more clearly that I cannot count on anyone or anything in this world any longer. When the circumstances get tough and you see that you have no influence to change anything whatsoever and that your prayers are not answered, somehow, it seems you have lost the game. Trying to change myself did not work, trying to change my circumstances did not really work, either, and having lost connection and direction from God for quite some time now, made me despair of life itself. Today I had to admit that if I cannot have God, I do not want anything else. Whether it is our families, our careers, our internet presence, our fame and riches (or lack thereof), nothing compares to a continued life in the presence of God. And if He won’t give it to me, then that was it.
Finally, here is the devotional I announced above.

Beware of the Snare in the Air

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church, deception, discerning the spirits, exhortation, experience, eyes of the heart, false spirits, fellowship, Michael Clark, Satan, sin, true faith, worldly spirits

Marienkirche Hof/Bavaria (St. Mary’s Church)
Photo by Susanne Schuberth

“What a strange headline,” one might say here. Leaving aside the fact that I love rhymes, I put the heading that way in order to hint to the possibility that not all snares by the devil can be recognized immediately. The Prince of the Air works in an unseen realm and he is very crafty in manipulating our thought life, which cannot be seen, either. Just recently I read an interesting quote from a man who was finally freed from the bondage of a destructive Christian cult. I took that quote out of a longer testimony which Michael Clark had shared with me. After having left the cult, Tom Murray realized,

No one can consider themselves above the possibility  of deception.

Let’s choose the easy yoke of obeying Christ instead of submitting to men

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check, devil, discerning the spirits, drawing boundaries, evil spirits, experience, following Jesus, freedom, God's guidance, heart, inspiration, loving your enemies, Oswald Chambers, restraint, thought life, wisdom

Well, God’s leading is never predictable…
Yesterday I had begun to write a longer blog article in which I described one of three dreams I had two days ago, as I felt this morning that God did not want me to publish these things. Maybe later? Only He knows. 🙄 Instead, He began to explain them to me on a deeper level than before, however, since God’s Spirit always shows us the things to come (cf. Jn 16:13), I cannot say when and how these events will finally happen. But lately God often told me one thing in a dream and the very next day, or only two days later, it really happened. Not that He ever shows me literally about whom or about what He is talking to me in pictures. No, without interpretation no dream ever makes sense. The worst thing we can do is trying to interpret dreams from our own (carnal) understanding and reason since God alone knows what He wants to reveal to us. The apostle Paul told us a lot about the difference between the spiritual and the carnal mind, for example here.

Godly suspicion or… A not so nice but honest blog post

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darkness, delusion, discerning the spirits, evil spirits, exhortation, experience, eyes of the heart, false prophets, light, Michael Clark, prophecy, T.A. Sparks, the devil

The Evil Lurks at Every Corner
(Source Pinterest)

This is another joint article Michael Clark and I wrote which springs from our experiences with controlling spirits in family, friends and even commenters that have found our blogs as of late. It has been a steep learning curve as to what is the voice of the Lord and what is from the carnal desires of people.

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If I (Susanne) was still after gathering as many followers, “likers”, and commenters as possible, I would never write such an open letter as I am now doing. 😉 First of all, as I had begun to moderate comments recently, completely splitting up with commenters and email contacts on the net, trashing comments that seemed to be very nice at first, unfollowing many blogs and unfriending a large percentage of people on Facebook… this was very difficult for me in the beginning. It was like a new habit that did not yet fit nor sit well with me. But of course, it has not become a real “habit” since God follows no hard and fast rules – ever! His leading is as unpredictable as can be. Sometimes it has simply been listening to the Lord’s gentle nudgings right at the outset and at other times I felt the urgent insistence of the Holy Spirit when He warned me about very dangerous spirits that tried to primarily influence me and then those people around me, including my readers.

Instead of Sanctification: The crossless gospel spirit

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discerning the spirits, exhortation, experience, false gospel, false spirits, following Jesus, God, Jesus Christ, justification, pain, peace, sanctification, Satan, sin

Every gospel that focuses on man instead of focusing on Christ is anti-Christian by nature.
(Picture taken from https://thepropheticnews.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/antichrist.jpg)

I am sure there are more versions of that kind of gospel today and I presume there will pop up more and more of them in these last confusing days where Satan appears as an angel of light. However, I want to merely focus on two different manifestations of the crossless gospel I have met particularly on the internet since I began to write online comments in English on December 1, 2011. I would like to refer to these two confusing sub-categories as Spiritless Salvation of the Sinner and Spiritual Self-Salvation.

Instead of Christ: The social gospel spirit

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charity, darkness, demons, discerning the spirits, dream, entering his rest, finished works, following Jesus, joy, light, Michael Clark, peace, serving others, social gospel, spiritual power, thought life

The most obvious thing to do is not always what is right – in God’s sight
(Picture credits to http://dianawaring.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/iStock_000011493906Small.jpg)

The night before last I had a really strange dream in which I found myself standing on a sandy beach, knowing that the ocean was right behind me. I did not look back since what I saw in front of me was more interesting and quite amazing, so to say. Just a few meters before me a huge sand wall rose; actually, it appeared to me it was about 300 meters high (i.e., almost 1,000 foot). What was so stunning about this wall was that it looked like a mountain, but there was no way to ever climb it at the front side because all I could see was smooth. No rock overhang, no plants, merely smooth and hardened sand it seemed. Only at what I saw as the top of the mountain there was a sandy overhang of which I immediately knew it would be a lethal experience to step out on it since it was already cracking. Since we do not have such natural phenomena in Germany, I told Michael Clark about my dream and he said that there are sandstone cliffs in Western Washington that might look that way.

Was Jesus a nice guy?

Tags

discerning the spirits, exhortation, experience, flattery, following Jesus, Jesus Christ, knowing God, Michael Clark, people pleaser, Satan, the new self, the old self, truth

Jesus cleanses the temple…
(Source http://thinktheology.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Jesus_temple.jpg)

Wikipedia offers the following description of a nice guy. It reads,

“A nice guy is an informal term for a teenage or adult male who is gentle, compassionate, sensitive and/or vulnerable.[1] The term is used both positively and negatively.[2] When used positively, and particularly when used as a self-descriptor, it is intended to imply a male who puts the needs of others before his own, avoids confrontations, does favors, gives emotional support, tries to stay out of trouble, and generally acts nicely towards others.[3] In the context of a relationship, it may also refer to traits of honesty, loyalty, romanticism, courtesy and respect. When used negatively, a nice guy implies a male who is unassertive, does not express his true feelings…”