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Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, crucified with Christ, following Jesus, God's guidance, life, quotes, Salt and Light
Don’t just walk the smooth streets. Walk paths that no one has walked before, so that you can leave traces and not just dust.
(Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)
Following Jesus does not mean that we will share the same experiences He had as He walked the earth. However, since God created us as individuals, we as His children will leave a kind of divine imprint on this visible world and on people, especially on those who do not know God yet. This imprint will be of eternal value. It doesn’t matter whether people like us or not, whether they approve of what we do (or of what we prefer to rather not do according to their will!) or if they fully reject us, it doesn’t matter at all. In all these cases God comes through as we give Him increasingly free rein to do through us whatever He wants so that we can eventually join the apostle Paul who said,
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Gal 2:20 KJV)
Another Scripture tells us that Jesus Christ is the The Light of the World that even shines through His followers in whom He dwells. Jesus said,
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Mt 5:13-16 ESV)
All images by Susanne Schuberth 2021
Entering the Promised Land 
So beautiful, Susanne! Thank you for this encouraging, Spirit directed word and photographs! His light indeed…🥰Judi
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Wow, such a quick comment (so quick after publishing, I mean). 🙂 And so encouraging at that!
You are very welcome and thanks, Judi! ❤
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Galatians 2:20 has a powerful word: of. I live by the faith OF the son of God. Not my own faith, His. What does any other person’s opinion matter compared with that? I know other translations use a different word, but no other word has the same power. He was, and is, faithful. We live by Him.
Thank you for this post.
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You are very welcome, dear Louise. ❤
Indeed, if I had to live by my own little and always wavering faith, I’d be toast! Yes, this translation of Galatians 2:20 truly nails it. Thanks for sharing this, my sister. ⭐
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This is a great reminder, Susanne, as to who we are IN Christ Jesus. As I started reading it some scriptures came to mind. Paul also said, “For me to live is Christ…” It occurred to me that Jesus STILL lives and reacts with those around Him as He is allowed to live IN and Through US! 🙂 Truly, as we yield to His abiding Spirit in us, for us to live is Jesus living.
Another scripture that came to mind was “IN HIM we live and move and have our being.” Jesus prayed, “I in thee and thou in me, Father… that they might be one just as we are one.” So to walk by the Spirit is not only us living in Him, but He living IN us.
T. A. Sparks was speaking of this process of getting there in one of the latest “Open Windows” for April 27th starting out with this verse.
“I have refined you, but not like silver. I have tested you in the furnace of suffering.”
(Isaiah 48:10 GW)
Oh, yes… the suffering! Sparks went on to make it clear that this process was not done in us to make US pure, rather to get all the dross in us out of the way so HE can purely manifest HIS pure will and nature through us. He continued,
“The furnace of affliction is not for the removal of the bad out of us so as to leave the good that is in us, and secure it! Then what is its purpose? Is it to refine Christ in us? We need not discuss that! Christ needs no refining! What is it for? It is to divide between what is us in fallen nature, and what is Christ, and to get rid of the one in order to give full place to the other! The furnace of affliction is the application of the Cross to the getting rid of you and me, in order to leave the whole place for Christ. It is the measure of Christ that God is after, not to cut in between the good and bad in us, but to cut in between what is Christ, and what is ourselves. That is what the Lord is doing. He is after increasing Christ, and in order to do that He has to displace self, the old creation. It is all the measure of Christ in this realm. The realm of God is not going to be refined self, reformed self, or any kind of patching up of self. It is going to be none of self, and all of Christ.”
So, you see, we are “NOT like silver” which is refined where we get pure silver from the process, we being the crude oar He starts out with and we finally become pure… no, it is HE that is allowed to be manifest as He abides in us without the interference of all that dross we are born with (the old Adam nature). There is no room for any self-righteousness as if we become “something” as Christians, but it is ALL about Him in His wonderful purity in the Father where HE is allowed to be everything. As John the Baptist put it, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” We can’t make this happen. All we can do is yield to the process and realize that no matter what happens, we are in His loving hands and “When He appears we shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is.”
Love you IN Him, my dear sister! ❤
Michael
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Very good, though painful read by Sparks. Yes, Michael, it is all true… yet sometimes it seems this furnace of suffering knows no end, ever. As one trial appears to be over, two or three new ones pop up out of nowhere. Yielding to this process and waiting until it is over…one day…. this has been my continous struggle over the years, whatever the trial! 😛 So, regarding rest FROM our trials and affliction, there seems to be no hope on this side of life. But spiritual rest for our souls can eventually be found IN Him – and there even forever.
Thanks for sharing your insights, my dear brother.
Your sister in His ❤ 4ever
Susanne
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Susanne, I think that the more Father has worked into us (or should I say “out of us”) through these many visits to the “furnace of affliction,” the more we come into agreement with His will when we see another one coming on… though it seems to take a long time to start seeing things from His perspective. Never the less, “Faithful is HE who has called us and HE will do it.” Like Louise pointed out, thank God it is HIS faith that keeps us through it all.
Michael
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Yes, indeed, Michael, it has only been a few minutes ago as I had come to a similar conclusion. Before reading your reply just now, I heard this guy who is terminally ill (23) say in an interview, “It is no longer about whether Jesus wants to heal me here on earth or only afterwards, it is simply about letting Him do His will according to his plan.” 👍🏼
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STST once again. I can see why you relate to this young man that has suffered so much.
“… Suffering… Afterwards it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who are exercised thereby.”
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Yup, STST, my brother ! 😇🕊️🙏🏼🕊️😇👍🏼
I would have loved to share some of these particular experiences Philipp Mickenbecker has had with Jesus with you and others on here by adding some links to his videos. But alas, they are all in German and English subtitles have not been activated so far. 😐 The only article about Philipp’s story I found in English was this one (which appears to be a not-so-good translation from the German language):
https://www.de24.news/en/2020/12/youtube-star-philipp-mickenbecker-cancer-in-the-terminal-stage-domestic-news.html
Awaiting the peaceable fruit of righteousness…. me too!! 🙏🏼🕊️😇👍🏼
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Amén a esta bella palabra y a estos comentarios. Yo creo que más que desear quitarnos los sufrimientos, el Señor quiere darse a sí mismo en ellos. El Señor en cada horno quiere ganarnos para Él, cautivarnos y hacer que Él sea nuestro deleite en medio de la fuerza de las circunstancias, como dijo ayer Chip Brogden en su devocional, es en ese horno de fuego que el Señor mostrará su preeminencia y demostrará su fidelidad.
Es lo que he visto en mi vida, el Señor escarba más y más en mí, y encuentra que necesito ser más y más disminuida y envía otra prueba y otra y otra, y me da descanso y luego vuelve otra y otra y creo que esto será hasta el día de nuestra muerte. Eso es lo que vemos en la vida de Jacob, cuánto le costó al Señor tratar su vida hasta el final de sus días.
Cuánto más fructíferos son nuestros tiempos de prueba y tribulación, más limpia será nuestra comunión con nuestro Señor. Al final de esos tiempos ya no desearemos
poseer nada del exterior, ya no anhelaremos atesorar cosas para nosotros mismos, pues entenderemos que nuestra única heredad maravillosa es nuestro Dios. Él es nuestra tierra prometida.
Pienso que por eso el Señor nos calienta el horno siete veces más.
Muchos abrazos a ti mi bella Susanne y a Michael, los amo en el amor de nuestro Señor.
Este espacio es como mi rincón favorito de mi casa, donde huyo cuando los ruidos exteriores ensordecen, escuchar a los cristianos con su teorías de conspiración y su lucha política me cansa, y este espacio para mí es un refrigerio, tanto el blog de Michael, como el de Susanne, así estemos a kilómetros de distancia y el idioma sea distinto. Gracias.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Su hermana y amiga, Patricia
Patricia wrote,
“Amen to this beautiful word and these comments. I believe that more than wanting to take away our sufferings, the Lord wants to give himself to [in?] them. The Lord in each furnace wants to win us over to Him, captivate us and make Him our delight in the midst of the force of circumstances, as Chip Brogden said yesterday in his devotional, it is in that furnace of fire that the Lord will show his preeminence and demonstrate his fidelity.
It’s what I’ve seen in my life, the Lord digs deeper and deeper into me, and finds that I need to be more and more diminished and sends another trial and another and another, and gives me rest and then comes another and another and I believe this will be until the day of our death. That is what we see in Jacob’s life, how much it cost the Lord to deal with his life until the end of his days.
The more fruitful our times of trial and tribulation are, the cleaner will be our fellowship with our Lord. At the end of those times we will no longer wish to
possess anything from the outside, we will no longer long to treasure up things for ourselves for we will understand that our only wonderful inheritance is our God. He is our promised land.
I think that is why the Lord heats the oven for us seven times more.
Many hugs to you, my beautiful Susanne and Michael, I love you in the love of our Lord.
This space is like my favorite corner of my house, where I flee when the outside noises deafen, listening to Christians with their conspiracy theories and their political struggle tires me, and this space for me is a refreshment, both Michael’s blog, like Susanne’s, even if we are miles apart and the language is different. Thanks.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Your sister and friend, Patricia”
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Querida Patricia,
Estas son maravillosas y sabias palabras que comparte con nosotros aquí. ¡¡¡Muchas gracias!!! ¡Mucho para reflexionar ya que su escritura es muy profunda!
Tu escribiste,
“Este espacio es como mi rincón favorito de mi casa, donde huyo cuando los ruidos exteriores ensordecen, escuchar a los cristianos con su teorías de conspiración y su lucha política me cansa, y este espacio para mí es un refrigerio, tanto el blog de Michael, como el de Susanne, así estemos a kilómetros de distancia y el idioma sea distinto. Gracias.”
¡Esto realmente calentó mi corazón, mi querida hermana! ❤ ¡Aprecio mucho su tierno amor y compasión! Es tan triste que aparentemente la mayoría de los cristianos están ocupados con todo excepto con el Señor. 😦 Parece que hay mucho que orar por ellos.
Gracias por ser tú, Patricia. ¡¡¡Yo también te amo en el Señor !!! ❤ ❤ ❤
Tu hermana y amiga,
Susanne
XOXOXOXOXOXOXO
I answered her,
“Dear Patricia,
These are wonderful wise words you share with us on here. Thank you so much!!! A lot to mull over as your writing is very profound!
You wrote,
“This space is like my favorite corner of my house, where I flee when the outside noises deafen, listening to Christians with their conspiracy theories and their political struggle tires me, and this space for me is a refreshment, both Michael’s blog, like Susanne’s, even if we are miles apart and the language is different. Thanks.”
This really warmed my heart, my dear sister! ❤ I appreciate your tender love and compassion very much! It is so sad that seemingly most Christians are busily occupied with everything except for the Lord. 😦 It seems there is a lot to pray for them.
Thank you for being you, Patricia. I love you in the Lord, too!!! ❤ ❤ ❤
Your sister and friend,
Susanne
XOXOXOXOXOXOXO”
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Patricia, I read your comment above and it makes me quiver to think that God has put us in such a place to be a “safe place” for you as we write and post in our two blogs. What a responsibility this would be the moment we think that WE must come up with something to share and post! Impossible, in fact. Only as He works out His cross in us, dividing soul from spirit, can any of His resurrection life come through in these writings. Oh how necessary the furnace of affliction is in our lives! Yes, “… He rebukes and disciplines those whom He loves.”
Love you in Christ,
Michael
Michael wrote,
“Patricia, yo leí tu comentario anterior y me estremece pensar que Dios nos ha puesto en tal lugar para ser un “lugar seguro” para ti mientras escribimos y publicamos en nuestros dos blogs. ¡Qué responsabilidad sería este el momento en que pensamos que NOSOTROS debemos pensar en algo para compartir y publicar! Imposible, de hecho. Solo cuando Él obra Su cruz en nosotros, dividiendo el alma del espíritu, se puede manifestar algo de Su vida de resurrección en estos escritos. ¡Oh, cuán necesario es el horno de la aflicción en nuestras vidas! Sí, “… Él reprende y disciplina a los que ama”.
Te amo en Cristo,
Michael”
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Bueno no quise decir que ustedes fueran mi lugar seguro, porque nuestro lugar seguro es nuestro Señor Jesús, quise decir que el blog tanto de Michael como de Susanne, es como un lugar de refrigerio en medio de tantas voces llenas de odio, de mentiras, de teorías de la conspiración, de pensamientos de izquierda o de derecha y de todo lo demás.
Leer lo que el Señor les inspira es para mí de mucha bendición y es escuchar el eco de la voz de Dios que me confirma todo aquello que Él está hablando a mi espíritu.
Realmente ustedes son para mí de mucha bendición y me hace feliz tenerlos como mis hermanos y me gozo en pensar que algún día nos conoceremos.
Les envío mil abrazos.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Patricia
Patricia answered Michael,
“Well I did not mean that you were my safe place, because our safe place is our Lord Jesus, I wanted to say that the blog of both Michael and Susanne, is like a place of refreshment in the midst of so many voices full of hatred, of lies, conspiracy theories, left or right thinking and everything else.
Reading what the Lord inspires in them is a great blessing for me and it is listening to the echo of God’s voice that confirms everything that He is speaking to my spirit.
You really are a great blessing for me and it makes me happy to have you as my brothers and I am happy to think that one day we will meet.
I send you a thousand hugs.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Patricia”
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Patricia, thanks for your edifying reply. It is good to know that God is using us to bless and confirm you IN Christ, my sister. We are also looking forward to the day we can meet you face to face.
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Gracias Susanne por abrir este espacio para mí, por todo lo que compartes desde el fondo de tu corazón.
El camino con el Señor es costoso, pero caminar junto a otros hijos de Dios, hace ese camino más suave y que esos hijos de Dios se conviertan en tus amigos, mucho mejor es ese camino. Y eso eres para mí, tú y Michael, más que hermanos, amigos en el Señor. Gracias a ti por tu amor, porque solo el Señor nos une y lo que une el Señor ningún hombre lo puede desunir.
Y si, debemos orar por estos hermanos que andan ocupados en todo, menos en el Señor. Que el Señor abra sus ojos.
Besos y abrazos mil.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Tu amiga y hermana en Cristo, Patricia
Patricia wrote,
“Thank you Susanne for opening this space for me, for all that you share from the bottom of your heart.
The path with the Lord is costly, but walking together with other children of God makes that path smoother and when those children of God become your friends, that path is much better. And that is for me, you and Michael, more than brothers, friends in the Lord. Thank you for your love, because only the Lord unites us and what the Lord unites no man can separate.
And yes, we must pray for these brothers who are busy in everything except for the Lord. May the Lord open their eyes.
Kisses and a thousand hugs.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Your friend and sister in Christ, Patricia”
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Mi hermana, tu dijiste, “Solo el Señor nos une y lo que une el Señor ningún hombre lo puede desunir.”
Amén, Patricia! ❤
Un abrazo gigante,
Susanne
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
I answered her,
“My sister, you said, “Only the Lord unites us and what the Lord unites no man can separate.”
Amen, Patricia! ❤
A giant hug,
Susanne
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO”
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Envié una respuesta, pero no aparece mi querida Susanne, no sé porqué e ingresé mi otro correo, pero mi correo es fue**del****amen*o@gmail.com, se me fue el otro.
Un abrazo
Patricia wrote,
“I sent an answer, but it does not appear, my dear Susanne. I do not know why and I entered my other email, but my email is “fue**del****amen*o@gmail.com, the other one left me ‘outside’.
A hug
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Querida Patricia,
No sé lo que pasó. Pero por lo que puedo ver, se publicaron tus comentarios de diferentes correos electrónicos. Aunque uno de ellos estaba en mi carpeta de basura de WordPress. Lo que vi hace unas 20 horas, sin embargo, fue que comenzaste a seguir mi blog nuevamente con tu otro correo electrónico.
¡Abrazos! ❤
PD
Decidí hacer que tu dirección de correo electrónico fuera irreconocible para el público.
I answered her,
Dear Patricia,
I do not know what happened. But as far as I can see I got both your comments from different email adresses published. Although one of them was in my WordPress trash folder. What I saw about 20 hours ago, though, was that you started following my blog again with your other email address.
Hugs! ❤
PS
I decided to make your email address unrecognizable for the public.
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Es que me equivoqué Susanne, el otro correo, es como para cosas de salud, de bancos y ese tipo de cosas del día a día, pero el de fuedelamen***o@gmail.com, es para los blog y la comunicación con mis hermanos.
Abrazos mil.
Patricia wrote,
“It is that I was wrong Susanne, the other email, is for health things, banks and that kind of day-to-day things, but the one from fuedelamen***o@gmail.com, is for blogs and communication with my brothers.
Hugs a thousand.”
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No hay problema, mi hermana. ❤
Un abrazo gigante para ti!
In English,
“No problem, my sister. ❤
A giant hug for you!”
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Qué gran gozo será conocernos y qué gran bendición que sean mis hermanos, hace unos días comprobé lo que escribí más arriba.
Encontrar hermanos como ustedes es un oasis en el desierto, en estos días aquí en mi país los cristianos andan como locos, hay una batalla política tremenda, unos de derecha, otros de izquierda, deseando ser gobernados por “hombres justos”, según ellos, que los cristianos estén en la política y demás. Es asqueroso ver como el mundo se infiltró en los que dicen ser hijos de Dios.
Les pido mucha oración por mi país, las cosas aquí no están bien.
Los amo en el amor del Señor.
P:D: Y sin mencionar las pruebas que diariamente tenemos con miembros de nuestra familia de sangre. Gloria a Dios por todo esto, toda obra el poder de Su vida en nosotros.
Patricia.
Patricia wrote,
“What a great joy it will be to meet and what a great blessing that you are my brothers, a few days ago I checked what I wrote above.
Finding brothers like you is an oasis in the desert, these days, here in my country, Christians walk like crazy, there is a tremendous political battle, some from the right, others from the left, wanting to be governed by “just men”, according to them, that Christians are in politics and so on. It is disgusting to see how the world infiltrated those who claim to be children of God.
I ask a lot of prayers for my country, things are not good here.
I love you in the love of the Lord.
P: D: And not to mention the daily tests we have with members of our blood family. Glory to God for all this, all the power of his life works in us.
Patricia.”
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Querida Patricia, escribiste:
“Es asqueroso ver como el mundo se infiltró en los que dicen ser hijos de Dios.”
Amén, bien dicho. Las cosas tampoco van bien aquí. De hecho, hay mucho por lo que orar, por todos nosotros y nuestros países.
¡Te quiero, mi hermana! ❤
Susanne XOXO
I answered her,
Dear Patricia, you wrote,
“It is disgusting to see how the world infiltrated those who claim to be children of God.”
Amen, well said. Things are not good here, either. There is indeed a lot to pray for, for all of us and our countries.
Love you, my sister! ❤
Susanne XOXO
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Si Susanne hay mucho por orar y más por los que dicen ser nuestros hermanos.
También te quiero XOXOXOXOXOXOXO
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🤗♥️😘💐
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