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discerning the spirits, encouragement, entering his rest, experience, Flesh vs. Spirit, freedom, Jack Helser, joy, Michael Clark, peace, T.A. Sparks, thought life, thoughts, trust
This is another joint article Michael Clark and I wrote which springs from our own experiences and from what the Lord has been teaching us lately.
Paul signed off his letter to the Philippians saying,
Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you. (Phil 4:8-9, nrs)
How opposite this is to our human natures! We search the news looking for the latest terrorist attack or natural disaster. We even listen to gossip hoping to get some information that will make us feel superior to someone we know. Someone pointed out that Christians seem to have a vested interest in the misery of this world. We truly need new hearts and minds from God.
Have you ever observed how our moods quickly change when we think of good or bad events in life? Whether we mull over the past which we cannot change or we ponder the future which we cannot influence, there are influences going on in the spiritual realm around us we rarely are aware of. Just yesterday the Lord nudged me (Susanne) to watch my feelings when I had an exchange with someone about really bad things they wanted to talk about. Before this I had felt relaxed and joyful, but suddenly it was as if something began to pull me down as the talk went on. So I prayed for help and waited on God for an answer and God finally brought our conversation back in line with His will. Isaiah prophesied,
For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength…” (Is 30:15 ESV)
The word translated “returning,” the footnote defines as “repentance”, which means to turn about and go the opposite way. Indeed, if our minds keep going back to bad events, it will make us feel bad. Why can’t we change that? It seems that our fleshly minds do not like being inactive in God’s rest and will find some way, even an old wound or offense to grab onto, rather than remaining blank and obedient, trusting in His presence and strength. It is an amazing thing how our minds gravitate to negative things when they get a chance and God is not in them directing our thoughts. Along this same line Paul wrote,
Indeed, we live as human beings, but we do not wage war according to human standards; for the weapons of our warfare are not merely human, but they have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ. (2 Cor 10:3-5, nrs)
In other words, we as fleshly humans cannot beat this problem with human reasoning. We must rely on the Spirit and call upon Him to take dominion in our carnal minds which proudly desire to be in control at all times. We need His help to take every thought in our minds captive in obedience to Christ. We cannot do it by ourselves. Paul wrote,
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, (Phil 2:1-5, ESV2011)
The mind of Christ is one that seeks to edify all the saints in His love. If His mind is in us, we will be encouraging, comforting and loving one another in the Spirit. We will be of one mind, in humility seeking to always lift the other person up. Paul says that we can have this kind of mind among us if we are IN Christ. As for the opposite, the natural mind that cannot bring forth spiritual fruit, T. Austin-Sparks said,
“Our natural mind is a great obstacle in the race which we are running, cropping up all the time with its complexes, its arguments, its interests and its methods. When the Corinthians were brought into the Church they left behind their obvious sins, but they carried over into their new realm the old, natural ways of thinking and reasoning which belonged to the world and not to the Spirit of God. But the apostle remonstrated with them: “But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16), so urging them to allow the Cross to be planted between the natural mind and the spiritual. We shall only come to the fullness of Christ as we leave behind the mind of the natural man and move on more and more in the progress of the mind of Christ. On everything; every judgment, every conclusion, every analysis, every appraisal; we must ask the Lord: “Is that Your mind, Lord, or is it mine?” We may sometimes feel that we have the strongest ground for taking up a certain attitude or coming to a certain conclusion; we may feel that we have all the evidence and so are convinced; and yet we may be wrong.
“The man who wrote the letter to the Corinthians knew from deep and bitter experience that this was the case. “I verily thought… that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth,” he said (Acts 26:9). There was no man who had stronger convictions as to the rightness of his course than Saul of Tarsus. The great revolution which took place in him when he came to Christ was that he had to say: “I have been all wrong in my fundamental way of thinking.” After that confession he made good headway in the race because he was always ready to subject his thinking to the jurisdiction of his crucified Lord. This is the way of spiritual progress. We shall not get very far while we hold to our own opinions and our own conclusions, even though we may have the support of others; we have to learn to conquer our natural mind by submission to the mind of Christ. This is most important if we are concerned about spiritual progress. And spiritual progress is the increase of Christ – there is no other.”
Imagine someone all of a sudden makes you angry by doing something of which you had thought they should know you hate it. Our fleshly tendency is to always seek revenge in some way or other. Our carnal mind keeps revolving about the wound received and on how to avoid such offenses in the future. Indeed, our futile old Adam nature permanently projects our bad experiences into the future and looks for a way to escape from something we both have not yet experienced and of which we do not know whether it might happen at all. Crazy, isn’t it? But that is not the way it should be. Actually, if we want to experience the joy of the Lord on a daily basis, we must be enabled by Him to live in the HERE and NOW, not in the past and future. God as the Eternal ‘I AM’ wants to draw us into His continued PRESENCE. Yes, God lives in the present tense, not in the past or future tenses. Our old mind that has been used to its thought habits for years and decades is neither able to live in the here and now nor can it take our bad thoughts captive – ever. How so? The answer is quite simple. Our carnal nature never wants to think or do what God wants. Therefore God is not pleased with us when we walk after the flesh as the apostle Paul described it,
“For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Rom 8:6-8 ESV)
So, it is not difficult to find out whether our thoughts and deeds are pleasing to God. If we follow the nudges of His Spirit, we will experience life and peace in our own spirit. But if we follow the desires of our flesh instead, we are even DEAD to God’s life. Ouch!! Who wants that? 🙄 Oh, may God enable us to eventually do what He wants to be done! Brothers and sisters, you may believe that He will do it, “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Phil 2:13 ESV) As we perceive that we really yearn to do His will, we can be sure that we will be working for His good pleasure soon… 🙂
By the way, the inspiration about the ‘I AM’ issue has begun to flow with the following comment by Jack Helser on Michael Clarks’s “A Wilderness Voice Blog”:
https://awildernessvoice.wordpress.com/2016/01/23/for-our-god-is-a-consuming-fire/#comment-3882
Thank you, Jack!
(1) http://www.austin-sparks.net/english/openwindows/003004.html
“In keeping with T. Austin-Sparks’ wishes that what was freely received should be freely given and not sold for profit, and that his messages be reproduced word for word, we ask if you choose to share these messages with others, to please respect his wishes and offer them freely – free of any changes, free of any charge (except necessary distribution costs) and with this statement included.”
Becky Johnson said:
This may be a bit off topic, and if so I apologize. But just the other evening I was having a conversation with my husband regarding a dark part of our past that some friends are currently walking through. We were not rehashing, but remembering certain aspects as it pertains to the other couple, as we’ve been walking with them, encouraging them onward and not to separate,etc. Of course there is much we can’t recall ten years later, and so I said I couldn’t be sure of a certain thing and then I thought about it and told my husband, “I was a liar. And I would do anything to keep from being found out.” And those words stung, of course. But I knew them to be true. The place in which I currently stand right now, where the shame has been lifted by the blood of Jesus is the only way I believe I could even make a statement like that and not feel the full brunt of its consequences (though I very much have before) because He removed the weight that I could not carry. Anyway…soon, I was over the sink washing dishes and I felt the Spirit say, ‘You are free.’ Yes. For He knew I could very easy take on that identity again and become burdened by the old me. But she was crucified with Christ and no longer lives, but Christ in me does and He is not a liar. Hallelujah!
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Susanne Schuberth (Germany) said:
Not off topic at all, Becky. I am so glad you feel free now and that you got the confirmation from God too. He speaks to us in some strange places, doesn’t He? Even while washing the dishes… 😉 He is indeed everywhere with us.
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Becky Johnson said:
He most certainly is!
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Pingback: The Power of Our Thoughts « A Wilderness Voice
Susanne Schuberth (Germany) said:
Thank you for the reblog on AWV, Michael. Much appreciated by your co-authoress! 😉
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Michael said:
Susanne, I was just thinking about all the times that Jesus use the sacred phrase, “I AM.” I say “sacred” for to the Jews it was the name of God for when Moses asked God, “Who shall I say sent me?” God answered “I Am that I Am.” He is the ever present God in our lives.
Jesus said, “I AM the way, the truth and the life. No man can come to the Father, but by Me.” And He told Philip, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” God sent His Son to be the I AM before all men, showing them the way, teaching them the truth and giving them LIFE more abundantly. And all these wonderful things are sewn up into THE PRESENT as we walk by faith IN Christ. HE is the Word that speaks to us daily. HE is Truth as we walk out lives that show forth who He is.
Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Heb 4:16, nrs)
May He constantly draw us into HIS presence in our lives moment by moment in sweet fellowship together IN Him. Amen!
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Susanne Schuberth (Germany) said:
Yes and amen to your prayer, my brother. I second your thoughts on the ‘I AM’, Michael. Well said!
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Fred Thoren said:
This was great. After my conversion I have had to battle bad thoughts in my head. Even now, started recently I thought something that I felt was not pleasing to the lord so I felt really guilty about it. How ever the oddest thing kept happening. I was feeling guilty about it but also at peace at the same time. I don’t know why.
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Susanne Schuberth (Germany) said:
Fred, I can only say, God convicts of sin, but Satan accuses and condemns. Jesus did not come to condemn the world. Instead, He is the Savior of the whole world. And if you feel peace, the author was God, for sure, since Satan cannot give us peace at all.
Also, not all feelings of “guilt” are truly guilt in God’s view… it needs a long time of knowing Him until we hear Him more and more perfectly. But I can tell you that we have a very gracious God who allows every thought that is rooted in our hearts to come up again and again. He is not easily offended by our “bad” thoughts. But it is our very problem when we find ourselves captured in our bad thoughts. However, there is a promise that might be comforting.
“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (Jn 8:36 ESV)
We are set free by Jesus more and more every day. Sometimes we might not FEEL anything about that freedom as yet, but in hindsight, later, it will get clearer and clearer. It is a process, indeed…
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totellthetruth1962 said:
Thank you for sharing this. It seems to me for my own experience from 2 years ago I need to forgive something that happened which came up in a dream a few nights ago. First time I shared it with someone I noticed the anger well up in me and had to ask God to forgive me for being angry about this since I “thought” I let it go. The second time I shared it with another the anger wasn’t so bad but still lingering. Again I asked the Lord to please forgive me. I really hope it is gone because I can’t change what happened. Nor do I want to dwell on that past. Another thing, I noticed having a conversation with someone that I thought I wanted to encourage but as the conversation went along it seemed like it turned competitive in which I wasn’t trying to be that way. But I felt agitated because of all that I had been learning that we cannot change the world this individual was how can I say? Wanting to be right and lord over me that we have to do this and that. I didn’t feel the same way. So I was thankful the conversation came to an end.
In any case, thank you for the reminder that that I have much yet to bring my mind to the present and not dwell. I don’t worry so much about the future as much as I dwell on the past. And lately I too been feeling let it go. Just let it go.
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Michael said:
Stacey, one of my favorite verses is, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you: because he trusts in you.” (Isa 26:3, KJ2000). We are in HIS present 7th day rest and peace as we keep our minds focused on Him alone, knowing that HE cares for us.
Bless you, dear sister.
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Susanne Schuberth (Germany) said:
Hey, that is one of my favorite verses, too, Michael. 😉
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Michael said:
Susanne, Why am I not surprised? 🙂 We have been through so many of the same trials and testings as our Father conforms us into the image of His Son. What a wonderful thing it is to dwell together in the unity of the Lord,
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life forevermore. (Ps 133:1-3, KJ2000)
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Susanne Schuberth (Germany) said:
I knew you would not be surprised! XD
Yes, it is wonderful what God gave us, this oneness in Him that keeps growing every day.
Thank you for this beautiful Scripture, too!
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totellthetruth1962 said:
Thank you Michael.
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Susanne Schuberth (Germany) said:
You’re welcome, Stacey. Anger is a normal human feeling and there is no need to ask God’s forgiveness because He knows our very hearts and loves us unconditionally. The Bible even allows us to get angry but admonishes us at the same time to let go of these feelings as soon as possible before they turn into “bad behavior” aka sin. The apostle Paul said,
“Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.” (Eph 4:26-27 ESV)
Giving no opportunity to the devil would be exactly what Michael suggested in his reply to you: focusing on God again ASAP so that we can enjoy His peace again! I know from my own BAD experiences, the longer I wait to turn to Him, the more difficult it gets. 😛
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totellthetruth1962 said:
Amen. Certainly do not want the anger to turn into bitterness for sure. Yes I went straight to God for sure! Love you all!!!
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Patrick Maina said:
Thank you Susan and Michael,
This article touches the core of our daily struggle, abiding in the Vine, keeping our hearts and minds stayed on Him, which keeps in perfect peace.
My experience has been that the old man in partnership with the enemy will want me to think about the good/bad old days, good/bad future, instead of the present victory in Christ.
The same is the case when it comes to our circumstances (good or bad). Our natural mind would want to focus on the circumstances, to take responsibility and glory in the outcome, while the way of the Spirit is focusing on Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. Peter’s experience walking on water sheds some light in this regard.
It is comforting to know that others around the world are experiencing the very same struggles we are, but better still to know that Jesus is always there to pull us up when we refocus on Him.
Patrick
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Susanne Schuberth (Germany) said:
You’re very welcome, Patrick.
I love your description of how our old man works together with Satan. So very true!
Oh yes, our natural mind keeps trying to draw us back and to cause us to look at the circumstances instead of looking to Christ in whom we may have peace and joy even NOW. What a daily struggly indeed! But is it good to see that we are not alone in these struggles as you so rightly said above.
Thank you, dear brother!
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Michael said:
John wrote an amazing thing in these verses,
“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1John 1:5-9, nrs)
There seem to be different states of being we can find ourselves in as we follow Christ. John first speaks of God as being Light and in Him there is no darkness at all. Then he speaks of those who walk in darkness who are not in Him at all, yet claim to be in fellowship with Him and are deceived. Then he says that we who walk in His light can have fellowship with one another in that light but darkness destroys fellowship. He goes on to say that these who have hearts toward HIM, even these can be found to have sin [to fall short of the glory of God] in their lives, but walking in the Light of Christ exposes sin in each of us where we have not been made whole as yet. This a good thing for how can we repent if we cannot see where we are missing it? The real crux of the matter is, what do we do when He has revealed our sin to us? IF WE CONFESS OUR SINS to Him HE is faithful to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness by the blood of Jesus Christ. The trick of the enemy is to get us to cling to our sin when it is exposed so he can pull us back down into his darkness. If there is any pride in our hearts he can use this as we insist on our own righteousness and refuse to repent in Christ’s light.
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Ps 139:23-24, nrs)
“Father, please purify our hearts and make us whole in the love of your Son and do what has to be done to get us there, Amen.”
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Susanne Schuberth (Germany) said:
Amen, Michael.
Truly, a Spirit-led reply! I could feel the confirmation in my own spirit and in my heart which still keeps burning.
Thank You, Daddy in Heaven, for Your wonderful Spirit!
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Anna Waldherr said:
FYI, I spent the better part of this week working on a post re: the harsh self-criticism abuse victims often direct at themselves. Condemnation, in the form of this internal dialog, is a tool the adversary uses to confuse and discourage victims. My thanks to the two of you, Michael and Susanne, for laying out the Scriptures on this topic. You have a gift for making complex issues clear. And your timing (God’s timing) is perfect! God bless you both. ❤
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Susanne Schuberth (Germany) said:
Thank you sooo very much for your encouraging and confirming words, dear Anna. They did me a power of good today! May God bless you immensely!! ❤
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Michael said:
Thank you, Anna. I hope that what we shared will help those you reach out to as well. God bless you, too! ❤
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