Tags
authority, discerning the spirits, dreams, experience, fear of the Lord, feeling, God's guidance, God's love, God's voice, inspiration, Jesus Christ, joy, Martin Luther, Michael Clark, pain, prayer, rest, resurrection, spiritual power, suffering, visions
Well, basically, I had a day full of back pains and toothaches, but at the end of that day I dare say, “It was a pretty good day, though…” Originally I wanted to go to bed earlier than usual and I told my family about it one hour ago. As I thought about what to do in the following half hour before going to bed, I would ask God if He had any ideas or what HE wanted to do. At first I reflected on reading a bit… or on making a Sudoku puzzle… or not… however, I began with tidying up our flat as Jesus answered my question. “I want to spend time with you!” Wow! That came across pretty forcefully, even passionately. I immediately knew our Lord had spoken and my heart began to flutter in joyful anticipation.
Dear brothers and sisters, I cannot tell you how much I love this fact about Jesus Christ: He has an authority no human being on earth apart from Him has ever had on their own. I love His authority since it makes me feel totally secure. I know I am protected under His wings and I can trust Him to govern this whole universe without needing help from anyone to do so. We should be cautious to not over-emphasize His humanity and to neglect His divinity. He does not think like we do because He is God. And He does not react like we do since He is without sin. He does not reveal His plans to us, only these parts He wants us to know beforehand (aka prophetic insights through dreams or visions that refer to our own life). For all these reasons, I want to caution against letting Jesus ‘speak’ words that sprung from our own imagination and reasoning. If God really speaks (and most of the time He does not use many words), His words have an effect on us that cannot be denied. Whether we shrink back from Him in fear or if our hearts leap with joy, we KNOW when God has spoken. For instance, confer how the people reacted to Jesus’ words after the Sermon on the Mount.
And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes. (Mt 7:28-29 ESV)
I know I wrote about this Scripture before, however, I wanted to share with you, once again, that Martin Luther in the 16th century translated the verb “astonished” with “terrified”. This wording is much more appropriate, I believe, since it describes the very effect of God’s speaking to my heart I have often experienced over the years. It is not a terror that makes you fear man and what he could do to you, instead, it is a fear that shows you that there is only One Who is in Charge. Every other human being and their influence on you is eclipsed when Jesus reveals Himself as being the Christ, the Son of God, who rules with an inviolable authority in heaven and on the earth.
Back on topic. As I was still tidying up, I got some inspiration regarding two or three questions that had been on my mind during the last week. I had asked God to share His wisdom with me since I was pretty insecure about how to deal with several people. God even gave me a revelation of sorts. But not the way I expected, it was much better than this. With all these inspiring thoughts on my mind, I thought I should perhaps boot up the computer again and begin to write in the middle of the night. In fact, my back pains seemed to be almost gone. And the toothaches… not that bad, either. Thank God! 🙂
But since Jesus wanted to spend time with me, I pondered, certainly not with me while I was writing on the computer. A silent prayer time was what I was thinking of as I was shaking the carpet on the balcony where countless tiny snowflakes were fluttering down from the dark night sky. Oops! What was this?? Right beneath our apartment in the street I could read what you can also see when you look closely at the photo I posted above: “I U” written in the snow before our driveway. I had to laugh out loud. Long-winded speech is something our old nature might be inclined to, but God does not need to prove anything. He is God, a Man of few words, as Michael Clark often says. 😉
Many hours later, after a not so long night’s sleep I awoke with a headache and then some, BUT also in the presence of God. Dear brothers and sisters, by His grace we might experience that it is truly not so much about our circumstances, it is ALL about HIM. We were created to live in God’s Presence 24/7. May God help us to enjoy this heavenly condition, even during our life on earth. Amen.
Ken Dawson said:
Thats beautiful Sue and so very true–Thats also been my experiences with Father–He always speaks to me with only few words and what He speaks brings joy and comfort in the painful situations.
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Susanne Schuberth (Germany) said:
Thank you so much, once again, dear Ken, both for your encouraging words and another confirmation by you within 15 hours. 🙂
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Ken Dawson said:
Yea I went back and looked at that picture of the carsparked in the snow and saw that writing in the snow of–I love you–that is incredible!
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Susanne Schuberth (Germany) said:
I am sorry the ‘I ❤ U’ was not so easy to see at first, Ken. It was an incredible experience for me, indeed. It struck me right in the heart, knowing it was God speaking! 🙂
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Michael said:
Dear Susanne,
There is no need to link to my blog when you quote me. 🙂 That is wonderful that Jesus told you that He wanted to spend time with you. Besides showing you in the snow how much He loves you, I hope you also felt His warmth in your heart. I was hoping to hear more about your time with him in your blog, but He can be very personal.
You are right that all too often He is presented by writers as “Gentle Jesus, meek and mild.” My experience in Catholic churches was the same. The icons depicted Him either as an infant or a man dying on His way to the cross or on it dead. You never saw Him in resurrection power, victorious over the devil, death and hell. I think that we could all stand to understand from personal experience that “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God.” If the 14 years imposed on me in His wilderness did anything, it taught me that.
I looked up the Greek word for “astonished” and Luther was right. It literally means to inflict or strike with astonishment. When we hear Him speak to us it leaves no room for debate on our part.
I hope to hear more about “all the inspiring thoughts He shared with you.”
Your brother and friend,
Michael
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Susanne Schuberth (Germany) said:
Dear Michael,
I will keep trying to insert the link to your About Page, though. 😉 Yes, there would be more I could write about my time with Him, however, I do not want to cross the thin line of revealing my intimate relationship with God publicly since the sensual, carnal believer might get it all wrong. The spiritual believer, instead, might know what I have experienced.
Ha! Thank you so much for the confirmation about Luther’s translation, my dear brother. That means a lot to me!! ❤
You are right about the church depicting Jesus; it was pretty one-sided, wasn’t it. I only remember Jesus plus a halo and His disciples around, too. Not that thrilling, either.
Your eternal sister and friend,
Susanne 🐱
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Pat Orr said:
God is not long winded with me either. However, I get very excited when He does speak. Usually He speaks when I am not expecting Him to do so. As Eli told young Samuel to say, ” Speak, Lord for your servant is listening”, may I say to the Lord.
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Susanne Schuberth (Germany) said:
Pat, I am so happy to hear that you get very excited when God speaks to you, too. 🙂
You are right, my dear sister, when we are expecting Him to speak, nothing happens. And when we are not thinking about it, He might surprise us.
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Anna Waldherr said:
Loved the post. Loved the photo! ❤
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Susanne Schuberth (Germany) said:
Mmmhhhh….. Thank you so much, dear Anna! ❤ You made my day!!! XD
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dimple said:
Thanks Sue, I love reading about intimate moments like this. You were blessed to be a blessing!
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Susanne Schuberth (Germany) said:
Oh, that was sooo sweet by you, dear Louise! ❤ I am melting like snow in the sunshine right now… 🙂
You are a treasure, my sister! ❤ ❤ ❤
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Susanne Schuberth (Germany) said:
Since you said you love reading about intimate moments, Louise, I wondered whether you have ever seen, for example, these two posts below?
Susanne Schuberth’s Spiritual Diary (Part 3) – Borders between this world and beyond becoming blurred
My Testimony
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Michael said:
Thank you for the link to my “About” page, Susanne. 🙂
Michael 🐻
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Susanne Schuberth (Germany) said:
You are ‘mostest’ welcome, Michael. 🙂
Susanne 🐱
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Michael said:
Oh, BTW Susanne, I went to your “Borders…” article and read it again and was so blessed by this story of the romance that you have with Jesus and how He responds to your loving heart. I must admit that your relationship with Him is contagious. I have not felt so much love flowing into and through me for all as I have in the last three years that I have known you and been inspired by your words and life. Truly the borders between this world and heaven become blurred at times when His love and peace flood my heart. I just want to close my eyes and lay back and let Him love on me and me on Him. Truly, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him.” ❤
Michael
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Susanne Schuberth (Germany) said:
It has been so wonderful for me to hear that you have been blessed by God as you reread this revelation our Divine Daddy gave me on that very day back then in 2005.
Ha! That MUST have been God’s doing as you have got ‘infected’ with His love flowing into and through you the way you described it, my dear brother. Thank You, Daddy!!! 🙂
Much love ❤ ❤ ❤
Susanne
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