Tags
deceitfulness of the heart, deception, delusion, discerning the spirits, exhortation, experience, false spirits, false teachers, following Jesus, little lies, the devil
This article might turn out another entry on discerning the spirits which seems to be an ongoing theme I cannot, and meanwhile do not want to get rid of, either. Whether we want to know if Christians speak the truth when they share their experiences with God or if we want to discern a preacher’s sermon, it appears to me that we all need this discernment as little lies often creep in secretly. I do not want to give a theoretical approach here. Therefore, I am going to share my latest experiences with you on here.
For quite some time I have been watching a bunch of videos where people, not only Christians, share their experiences with God. Sometimes I like what I see and sometimes I don’t. Yet that does not mean it would always be easy to discern right from wrong. Quite the contrary! If a Bible verse comes to mind immediately when someone shares a (little) lie, then you are the happy one. However, most of the times. I sit here watching, praying, wondering, feeling revived or appalled, or I do not know what to think about IT at all. Basically, I like what I see, seem to have had similar experiences as described by these people, yet…. what remains is a sort of collywobbles, a skeptical question, “Jesus… have You REALLY been the author of THIS?” 🙄
Example 1)
A friendly middle-aged man had experienced a difficult childhood due to his violent father. He did not know how parental love looked like and therefore he turned out a both aggressive and violent man later, too. As a child he often pondered on committing suicide, yet a dream seemed to have saved him from doing so. In that dream, he explained, he saw an angel appearing in his room who told him that his life was precious to God. Later one of his sisters had come to Christ and prayed for his salvation. He eventually agreed on attending a church meeting with her and, touched by the gospel, he gave his life to Jesus. Actually, it was a woman preacher (cf. 1 Tim 2:12) who convinced him of being in need of Jesus. 🙄
I do believe that Jesus worked on his heart. And I too think that our Lord knows how difficult it is for us as “new” believers to screen incoming internal information as to whether it was from God or from His counterpart, the devil. But I also know the outcome of people who just came to Christ and think they heard a call to ministry, without being experienced and tested as to their faith for many years before. 😦 In his case, a strange occurrence happened soon afterwards. His father had three heart-attacks and that man went into the woods to pray. There he claimed to have heard Jesus’ voice telling him, “If you do not forgive your father now, he will die tonight!” OUCH!! 🙄 What?? Can this really be the voice of God?
To be honest with you, I only knew that there was something (very) wrong, but I could not name it yet. I prayed and prayed to God to reveal the truth to me. It was only one day later as I had begun to wonder whether Jesus Christ who alone has the keys of Death and Hades (see Rev 1:18) would EVER give His authority and power to a human being who, through granting or denying forgiveness, would be able to decide over the life and death of another human being?? I was shocked at this rogue image!! That man, already deluded, said that God explained to him that we would have the power to bind and to loose, on earth and in heaven (Mt 18:18). Alas, scripture taken out of context, that is always a big danger as these Scriptures here talk about restoring fellowship between Christians which is never a ‘one-way street’ as at least two believers must be involved. 
Soon afterwards his dad was healed and changed by God, he said. A few years later as he wanted to meet his father again, his sister called him and told him that his dad had just died. He could not believe it, but as he believed in the fact that God was able to raise the dead, he soon found himself in a “vision” in “heaven” where he could say somehow goodbye to his father. I need to admit that his story was very gripping to a casual observer. However, while watching this video, the spirit inside me was cringing again and again. That man became a pastor and still shares this story with many people. And understandably, they like his testimony as he is a friendly (though gullible) man. If he looked like a devil, nobody would believe him, ever. I got really sad as I read some of numerous enthusiastic comments on his story. It is so sad that as he shares this story, including at least three little lies, with more and more people who believe him every word, his audience over time gets a more and more distorted picture of God and Jesus, too. This is how deception always begins. Nobody of us wants to be deceived, yet it happens every day. 😦
Example 2)
Here we have an interview between a young and caring pastor and a teenager, or a very young woman, who claims to have seen Jesus and angels, not only once. At first sight both the pastor and the girl have a winsome sweet spirit. You cannot hear any critical word from any side, so all seems to be love, peace, and harmony. As the girl lengthily describes how she saw Jesus sitting and weeping beside another girl, a friend of hers, who was weeping due to much mental pain, I thought that sounded quite touching (although I, strangely enough, did not feel touched).
The pastor was very curious about how Jesus looked like and she described him as rather human although she could not discern his face properly. Then she went on to share that she also saw angels and a demon of sorts, a black shadow sitting on the other side of the other girl. As she had focused on that black being, she felt fear and anxiety. But then she added, as she glanced back to Jesus, He was so forgiving that she had forgotten about Him for a short time. Hmm… 🙄 It seems she had a pretty strict image of Jesus. However, she kept smiling and glowing all the time when she spoke about Jesus’ wonderful love and about these angels, whom she claimed to have seen continually when she needed help and support.
She also shared that she suffered from an unknown disease that cannot be healed yet. That was very touching, though. But again, my ‘feelings’ regarding her whole story gave me an internal ‘check’ I could not get rid of. “Lord, what is wrong here?” I asked. This pastor even admitted publicly that he was eagerly longing to see Jesus himself. Initially, that sounded pretty humble to me. He seemed to have been jealous of the girl’s experiences in a good way, I thought at first, yet the spirit inside me made me feel uncomfortable, even impatient and upset, as this girl kept delving into several tiring details like “Jesus did this, Jesus did that, He was so sweet, and then he moved, He got up, he hugged us….” Pheew!!! And her almost unnatural, glowing stare all the time, could this be a false spirit? 🙄
Nonetheless, as a woman and a mother I do understand that teenagers usually behave that way or other. However, we should know if we meet the real Jesus, beholding Him will not only leave us having a crush on Him, it will leave us standing speechless in awe as He is the real God!!! Furthermore, what would truly be a very important trait for us as Christians would be sober-mindedness. Yet in this case, of course, I would never blame the girl at all! However, her pastor by believing every word that came out of her mouth and by sharing her experiences as genuine with others, he is going to leave a deceptive trace in Christendom, too.
Dear brothers and sisters, there is a lot to pray for us, for ourselves and for others, as we are confronted with deception in different forms almost every day. Let’s take care as it’s so easy to overlook a snare.
All images by Susanne Schuberth 2021
Entering the Promised Land 
Yes, Susanne. I’ve been similarly deceived. My story resembles the first man’s story. I was deceived by bad voices, visions and nightmares since I was a little girl. Not deceived into thinking they were good, but intimidated by their threats. It’s a long story, and you know part of it, I think. I sought Jesus desperately for protection. I couldn’t trust God the Father. “Father” was a four-letter word to me, having been abused in almost every possible way. But Jesus was, I felt, my friend, and the reason I didn’t kill myself during my darkest nights. I didn’t hear Him or see Him, but the story of Him on the Cross and some of His words gave me hope that perhaps He loved me and perhaps He would intercede with His Father to forgive me for being such a horrible person. Now I know there’s perfect agreement in the Godhead, that it was always Abba’s heart to save me, but I didn’t understand it back then.
It’s been a long search for the truth that would set me free. I’m still seeking, because my grasp of God is still too myopic though I seem to have made some breakthroughs. I know Truth is Jesus. I want to know Jesus, the real Jesus. I don’t want to see Him or hear Him literally. I’d probably die if I did actually hear His voice or see Him, I’d be so scared and awed. So I’m glad God never answered my requests for actual sights of Him until I’m in heaven! I sometimes imagine Him hugging me and that gives me some comfort, but it’s mostly hearing the Scriptures made living Word in my spirit that brings direction and a sense of being known by Abba. But I pray daily for discernment, for wisdom, for sober-mindedness, against personal pride, and I pray those things not just for myself (oh, I definitely need them!) but for the whole, worldwide church, all of God’s chosen ones. We are clumsy sheep and there are many ditches. We are easily blindsided and caught by ravenous lions and wolves. We are so comfortable and unaware of so many dangers. Complacent when we should be more alert and prayerful than ever. That’s heartbreaking. Let’s keep praying for each other.
Thank you, sister.
LikeLiked by 4 people
You are very welcome, dear Carina.
Of course, I have prayed for you and I will keep doing so, my sister! ❤ It must be an impossible thing to do for a human being to trust in a Father-God when your own childhood experiences were so bad. 😦
What I also observed regarding this man’s story was that he was tempted to believe that God, here Jesus, would put such a big burden on him, the burden of “You MUST forgive. If not, your dad will die because you have not forgiven him.” This is both an extreme pressure when you have not yet been ready to really forgive and, on the other hand, it gives you a sort of power to refrain from forgiving and to, rather, ‘let someone you hate die instead’ (a sort of subconscious revenge, I believe). Satan is truly very clever as to his deceitful insinuations; they are individually tailor-made, so to speak.
But from my own experience I know that God never pressured me to forgive those guys who raped me as a teenager. Instead, He healed me during a very long and painful process where I could see and feel where all my triggers had come from. It was only in the end of this process as I could finally understand those guys. Therefore, I really wanted to forgive them myself. Being set free by Jesus often needs a long time, esp. when the pain runs deep.
I also pray almost daily for His wisdom as I am often at my wits’ end. 🙄 It seems to me that discernment increases through experience and sober-mindedness partly through suffering. We cannot jump around enthusiastically when God lets us suffer from several diseases, can we…? As for pride, it seems to me that pride belongs closely to our old nature and will not disappear until we leave this earth. Even the apostle Paul prayed several times that God might take away his ‘thorn in the flesh’ and we know it was not God’s will to set him free. We do not know whether it was a disease or continuous demonic attacks of the soul and/or of his spirit. Whatever it was, Paul wanted to get rid of it. But finally he accepted God’s decision to let him suffer in order to not be deceived through hubris anymore.
“So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Cor 12:7-9 ESV)
Do not worry, dear Carina, God loves you!!! ❤ ❤ ❤
LikeLiked by 2 people
Oh, dear sister, I was so greatly encouraged by the compassion you reflect in your message! Indeed, same here with forgiveness. I haven’t fully forgiven my dad. He’s still extremely toxic. He recently threw a horrible insult at my 3-year-old (I don’t know what my boy did, surely some minor thing of a typical child of that age which any normal person would laugh at). Ezequiel has a sunny disposition and seems unaffected by such, but it hurts ME that there can be no real reconciliation when my natural father refuses to acknowledge his violence is absolutely unacceptable and very hurtful. And my oldest, Samuel, 11, is just like me, extremely sensitive and he felt outraged to see his little brother so disparaged for nothing! He wants nothing to do with grandpa. Grandma is good… but she has always been in denial and has only recently, after a lot of heart to heart conversations where I could share my experience, understand to what an extent I was torn apart by her decision to not split up with such a man or at least give him an ultimatum, get help or else here’s the door! She had this theory that his virtues balanced out his faults. I just had to tell her the balance came off extremely negative in my view. Getting it off my chest helped lots to get rid of the anger against her for not protecting me.
I totally agree with your analysis of this first man’s supposed revelations. Jesus was VERY patient with me. There are those who throw at you the verse “If you don’t forgive, God doesn’t forgive you. Period.” But in order to move forward with this process of forgiving, I had to spend weeks crying my heart out for God to show me how much He indeed does love me. I needed validation from my Father. I needed the spirit of adoption from the Holy Spirit. I cried and cried, kept crying and knocking. And things began to happen. I began to actually feel His voice speaking. No audible, supernatural, I-went-to-heaven stuff. Scriptures coming to mind all day long, reassuring me. Many songs of praise and worship, particularly the verses that I NEEDED to hear so desperately.
Thorn-in-the-flesh-wise, I feel so weak, so prone to pride (my middle name is Paula, oh, what a reminder God gave me of where He wants me!), so gifted in a sense but precisely the area of my gift is my thorn. So what I’ve been praying is, God, please! For Heaven’s sake, for the sake of what You want to do in me, the precious vessel you are trying to shape, do not let me run away from the fire! Don’t let me move when you are chiseling, moulding and breaking me! When the fire seems to get too hot, and the hammering seems too painful, please give me strength to stay right there until you’re done! Like Jacob at Peniel, give me the kick of my life, knock me out completely, but please, when you’re done, just know I desperately need your blessing! What I need the most is to be changed. I’m sick of me. I want you in me!
LikeLiked by 3 people
I am happy to hear I could encourage you, dear sister! 🙂
What a horrible history you had!! 😦 I imagine how much you have to “re-suffer” now that your father even attacks your son. We are so vulnerable regarding our children as we want to protect them and not see them being treated badly, esp. not by family members. 😦
Violence is anything but acceptable, Carina. What a horror, indeed! Even if we forgive, reconciliation is truly another thing as it needs two parties to shake hands. We cannot shake hands with ourselves, can we, even if we have forgiven them. The only thing we can do is pray that God changes your father’s heart. What we also need regarding such violent people, even family members, is drawing distinct boundaries, which can be a very hard thing to do. But it is necessary in order to protect yourself and even more your children. Also, I understand the anger you felt toward your mom for not protecting you better. 😦
We should never forget that we are to love God, our neighbors AND ourselves, Carina. ❤ You are precious in God’s sight and therefore you should be respected, even and particularly by your dad. We are not a doormat for others and their every whims, however, we are to do what God leads us to do, which can be hard at times, esp. when confronted with strong-willed people. Yet again, “We must obey God rather than men” as Peter and the other apostles said (cf. Acts 5:29 ESV).
May God give you the strength to resist this evil spirit that drives your dad. And may Jesus show you how you could care more for yourself. You are greatly loved, my sister! ❤ ❤ ❤
LikeLiked by 2 people
Very hard indeed! Yes, boundaries, I couldn’t agree more with everything you said, sister.
But all things work together for good. What God has done in the last year and a half is show me a magnified image of things I was doing “in seed form”. For instance, in a former pastor, manipulation, deceit, a self-righteous and critical spirit. The Holy Spirit brought the mirror back to me and said… Beware of this leaven. You have it in you, too. And I saw little things, the little foxes, you know. I had to repent of many instances of judgmentalism, legalism and many other isms. When that garbage was out, I was able to love much more compassionately people who are “on the other side” on many important issues, even those who are pro-abortion because they are hurting people who hurt and they have no clue what they are doing
I saw how many of those extremely violent attitudes from my father were also in my husband and me (my husband is also the son of a very toxic dad), a tiny percentage of that, but it was there. So I cried and cried, Oh wretched me! I’m so miserable! Please, God, I don’t want my boys to experience even one tiny bit of what I did!
Like you said, a little leaven. I don’t want leaven in my life. I don’t want to be a Pharisee, a Herodian, a Scribe. I want to be a true worshiper who loves God. Imperfect as I am, I cling to the hope that I am loves and God’s grace covers my many weaknesses.
Today I was thinking of the Scripture that saved me from suicide when I was around 11. It was a particularly tormenting night. The panic of unwanted presences I could feel in my room. I opened the New Testament I had, and read “If you abide in my word, you will truly be my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” I held on to that promise of freedom, and this has been my life verse. I was thinking today that the word I’ve had to abide in, for which I’ve had to fight the good battle of faith against all hell breaking loose on me, was the promise that Jesus is my Savior, my Redeemer, the Lover of my soul. When you’ve experienced so much unwarranted hatred, it’s very hard to believe that God is love and that He loves you personally, deeply and intimately. I cry out daily with many tears to be more deeply rooted in Him because I need Him so much. So thanks again for reminding me I am His beloved little daughter.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Oh my, Carina, what a difficult life you (have) had!! 🙄… 😔
But I am relieved to hear that God has been doing a lot to help you out of this mess. He even gave you hope as an eleven year old girl! 🕊️❤️🌸
May Jesus protect you and your family! 🙏🏼❤️👍🏼
LikeLiked by 2 people
Beauty for ashes. He’s doing something very beautiful in my family. Samuel and I are hugging a lot, he’s beginning to finally know how deeply he is loved by God and by us. Our tiny Ezequiel (actually I think he should have been named Miqueas Ezequiel, but I liked the other order better, foolish me, so we put Miqueas as a middle name) is a bundle of joy, he keeps saying “Soy muy feliz” and likes singing worship music that is a balm for my soul. The other day he was repeating “Aquí etás sanano mi coazón”, with his imperfect pronunciation but the message from God was clear: I’m healing your heart, daughter! I am awed with how much God teaches us with our little precious ones! Sometimes their theology is better than that of many adults! My little Micah who reminds me, who is like our God, who forgives, who heals, who gives us ever so generously? I hope this will encourage you that, though very painful, it is also very beautiful to see God in our midst, restoring our family to solid Christ-centered foundations.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Wow, what a sweet testimony, Carina! Love it!! ❤
Escuchar eso también me hace feliz! 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Susanne, you wrote, “It seems to me that discernment increases through experience and sober-mindedness partly through suffering.” I agree, dear sister. Paul wrote,
“Moreover [let us also be full of joy now!] let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance. And endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of character (approved faith and tried integrity). And character [of this sort] produces [the habit of joyful and confident hope of eternal salvation. Such hope never disappoints or deludes or shames us, for God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us.” (Rom 5:3-5, AMP)
As you know, I also suffer from many afflictions in my body and seem to be in constant pain. Knowing the above, I do not quickly reach for the medicine cabinet, rather I endure the pain as much as possible. We have both prayed that God would heal us and He has not seen fit to do so. If anything our afflictions seem to be getting worse. Yet, I have to believe that He is in it all for a greater heavenly goal and answering a higher prayer that we would be conformed into the image of His Son.
Love you in Him my dear sister,
Michael
LikeLiked by 2 people
Michael, I need to admit that I never liked reading this Scripture you quoted here as it seemed to be too negative to me. So I always skimmed it somehow. But meanwhile I can read it and I agree as I see it is true!
Yes, the greatest goal is to be conformed into his image, my brother. May He soothe your pains, esp. your back pains (!) and show you whether to take pain killers or not. I do not like taking drugs, either. But I also believe that Aspirin which God recommended more or less subtly about a year ago (as the doctors were still clueless) eventually saved my life from this COVID-19 blood clotting and related dangers (heart attack, stroke etc.)
Love in HIM 4ever!
Your sister Susanne ❤
LikeLiked by 2 people
Susanne, I did not mean that I exclude all medicines in my above comment, but I try to seek the Lord when it comes to pain killers as with others that doctors prescribe. I am glad that the Lord spoke to you about taking aspirin.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Sorry, Michael, sometimes I am so tired that I read something into the comments that is not really there. You wrote,
“Knowing the above, I do not quickly reach for the medicine cabinet, rather I endure the pain as much as possible.”
Not QUICKLY reach for medicine…. endure the pain AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE…. Just now I saw what you really meant!! So, it was a misunderstanding on my part. 😛 Indeed, I was already wondering why you had changed your mind about taking pain killers…. 🙄 But you did not as I see now! 🙂 I have been struggling with ill health during the last days myself also and through this fatigue related to it I just found several typos in my article, too. 😉
Yes, I started with taking aspirin again, just today as the heart pains recurred.
LikeLiked by 2 people
My doctors are always quick to offer opioids when I mention pain. I have found that Ibuprofen helps keep my inflammation down as well as relieve pain. I think that we need to always pray about taking prescription drugs. I have had some prescribed to me that ended up on a recall list. The DuPont company used to advertise, “Better living through chemistry.” I find that God does not always agree. 🙂
I am praying for your health issues, my dear sister. It saddens me to see you in so much pain and having these heart issues as well.
Love you dearly IN Christ,
Michael
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you so much for your prayers, Michael! ❤ ⭐
Better living through chemistry is surely wrong. If I had listened to the doctor last year who checked me as to my (not-yet-known as Covid-19 induced) heart pains, I would not have taken any pill. Of course, she could not know it at that time. Her advice was more about natural healing with which I usually do agree.
But God knew how I could be helped and I got the confirmation through you as you sent me a link to a study of the Ohio University. They had found out about the blood clotting problem so that God’s whisper to take aspirin (as a blood thinner!) made much sense to me at once. I took it and after two or three days I was without heart pains for the first time in almost three months. 🙂
Thank God, He is the best physician! And He leads us into all the truth, even through our fellowship.
Love you dearly in our Lord,
Susanne
LikeLiked by 2 people
It is such a blessing to hear that He used me to confirm anything He is doing in your life, Susanne. And so often you have shown His light on areas that need changing in me. What a precious fellowship we have IN Christ. ❤
LikeLiked by 2 people
I am happy to hear you were blessed, Michael. 🙂
Yes!! Our fellowship is indeed very precious as it has been God’s doing as we both know. Without Him it would have never worked as far as our flesh and its reactions (triggers) were concerned. God has worked miracles in our ❤ ❤ !
LikeLiked by 2 people
For sure, Susanne!
“Oh, what fellowship! Oh, what joy divine.
Leaning on the Everlasting Arms!”
LikeLiked by 2 people
Susanne, we have been warned that in these last days there will be many deceivers who come in many forms…
“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” (Col 2:8, ESV2011)
“Let no one defraud you by acting as an umpire and declaring you unworthy and disqualifying you for the prize, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, taking his stand on visions [he claims] he has seen, vainly puffed up by his sensuous notions and inflated by his unspiritual thoughts and fleshly conceit, And not holding fast to the Head…” (Col 2:18-19, AMP)
“Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared,” (1Tim 4:1-2, ESV2011)
“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self… having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions,always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.” (2Tim 3:1-7, ESV2011)
These deceivers devote themselves to false teachings and deceiving spirits so that they can gain power over gullible believers. People who get drawn into cults are often looking for a “fast track” on how to become “more spiritual” and often seek after visions and visitations from spirits so they can appear more spiritually mature than others. For this reason God has given us the gift of discerning of spirits, but if we do not embrace our daily cross which deals with our fleshly ways and follow Christ we will ignore the Spirit’s voice when deception comes and either fall victim to the lies or become an instrument of the devil in deceiving others. And these days the devil uses the internet more than any other way to “creep into households” and lead astray. Through it we see people “always learning, but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Jesus IS The Truth and the knowledge that God desires comes not with intellectual pursuit but it comes from having an intimate relationship with the Son. Father, please give us all who love you, the intimacy and unity that you share with Jesus. Amen.
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matt 6:33, ESV2011)
LikeLiked by 2 people
Excellent comment, Michael! ⭐
What you could not know, God showed me Matthew 6:33 several times lately and yesterday, or the day before, I read an article on CBN from a (former or still) charismatic guy who had some interesting insight in all this angelic stuff that has flooded the church since the prophetic movement began. We both heard about it a lot in our cults, right? J. Lee Grady wrote,
“Leaders of the prophetic movement often speak of angels that bring healing, wealth or special anointings. Some have described angels as tall as skyscrapers while others say they have seen tiny angels the size of insects. One prophet spoke of angels who are sleeping inside the walls of churches. Another segment of believers claim that the glowing circles of light that often show up on photographs are angels in the form of “orbs.”
“With such exotic teachings on the rise, we desperately need some biblical guidelines. If you believe everything you hear these days, angels can be huge, tiny, spherical, male, female, feathered or non-feathered. What’s next? Yipping dog angels? Mermaid angels with fins? Court jester angels with bells on their hats?
Since my earliest days in the charismatic movement I was always taught that the Bible is our guidebook for doctrine and practice, and that the early church’s experience in the Book of Acts should be a pattern for us. This would direct us to assume that if a spiritual experience is not in the Bible, then it should not be considered normative for us today.”
https://www1.cbn.com/biblestudy/angels%2C-deception-and-a-cry-for-biblical-truth
Your Scriptures from Colossians were a great confirmation for me here. I also wondered back then when we were still in that cult why a female pastor claimed to see huge angels between us. Made me REALLY wonder… 🙄 As a woman I saw that women are more often gullible than men, esp. regarding such things! 😛
And yes and Amen, we should AVOID such people, as un-Christian as it may sound at first. Or as Paul said,
6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?
7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—
10 not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.
11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one.
12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?
13 God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.” (1 Cor 5:6-13 ESV)
LikeLiked by 2 people
I remember back in the late 70’s we were going to a church that was charismatic and the pastor had the habit of inviting “special guest speakers” in to speak to the Sunday congregation. Well, one that He invited was a guy who supposedly had many regular visits from a particular angel that was large, yet friendly. This angel would meet with him in his basement and chat and scratch his dog on the head. So, he wrote a book titled, “Angels On Assignment” and became quite famous in charismatic circles. It was after that that a large number of people started seeking such visitations and also gleaned much attention to themselves. The above verse seems to apply, “Your boasting is not good, don’t you know that a little leavening leavens the whole lump?” Yes, as Jesus warned, “Beware of the leavening of the Pharisees.”
When we see angelic visitations in the Bible they were there to announce something very important that was about to happen or just happened, not to just sit around and chat and scratch someone’s dog. Many who were visited fell down with great fear as if they were dead.
Once again, Susanne, the Spirit was speaking the same thing to us both at the same time, Matt. 6:33. For some reason He had me add that verse on the end of my last comment. We must be careful what we seek for because it can quickly supersede the place of Jesus in our lives. There are so many delusions on the internet and even in “Christian” websites and fellowships. When we seek the kingdom of God and HIS righteousness there are so many counterfeits that Satan can throw at us. We must always remember that Jesus IS the King in God’s kingdom and not let a human or so-called “angel” slither into the place that belongs to Him. Churches are full of this kind of delusion, but it is not isolated to them alone.
You wrote, “As a woman I saw that women are more often gullible than men, esp. regarding such things!” This is especially true when someone who gives an emotional testimony or speaks of suffering in their lives and that motherly instinct kicks in.
Love you dearly, my sister. Thanks for all that you share.
Michael
LikeLiked by 2 people
STST as to Matthew six-three-three (that rhymes!) 🙂 Same time, same thought, indeed, Michael. It seemed to me that God told me to ALWAYS focus on His Kingdom above first and then ALL things I need will be added to me. I thought that makes sense. But it will only happen when Jesus overtakes completely, i.e., as soon as I stop trying to get there on my own, but rather step aside and let Him do what He sees fit – wherever and whenever. His leading, you know, my dear brother…
I just googled “Angels on Assignment” – Yuk, some people seem to like that as it is something that speaks to our sensual (old) nature.
Thank you for the warning as to my motherly instincts, Michael! I have known that problem for years as you pointed it out to me. Thank God, meanwhile I cannot ignore His Spirit moving inside me even when I feel empathy hearing about other people’s suffering. It feels a bit strange, though, this seeming contradiction of compassion plus spiritual unrest due to the presence of evil spirits.
You are welcome as to the sharing, my brother.
Love you, too, in Christ!
Susanne
LikeLiked by 2 people
Spot on, Michael and Susanne!
It’s always about Christ, not us!
Recently I saw a passage, I don’t remember if its in 2 Chronicles or exactly where, that stated that the king of Babylon took everyone “except the poorest in the land”.
Who gets deceived? The spiritually rich.
Who gets spared? The poor, the little, the children. Those who depend on God and Him alone. Those who want His face, not His hand. Those who want His identity burning within, not a “ministry”. Those who admit “in me there is NO good thing” and cry, cry, cry, day and night, “Wretched me! I am so miserable! I want to be humble but I look in the mirror and still see the lurking monster of pride! I can’t be like Christ. I need your Sword, God, please tear me apart if you must, as you did with Jacob at Peniel, but do not leave me unchanged! I want the blessing of having my limbs dislocated so I will never forget who I am and who YOU are!”
That’s the BLESSING I want today, I say this in earnest, with great trembling, knowing the sword hurts terribly and the fire burns very painfully. But I hate the “self life”. I don’t want gifts. I want GOD. More than “being used” I want to “be known”, not by man, heaven forbid! I want a noble, contrite, transparent, whole heart that worships in spirit and in truth! The price I will pay for not surrendering completely is much higher than the “sacrifice” of laying all of me on that altar.
Holocaust. Burnt offering. All the flesh gets burnt.
Thank you for confirming what the Holy Spirit has been teaching me. There was an old saying, “La letra con sangre entra”. (It takes blood, or bitter tears, for true knowledge to go deep enough). Another saying “Sangre, sudor y lágrimas” (blood, flesh and tears). I am no masochist, just the opposite. But in order to find true joy I had to go through the valley of many tears.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Amen. These are the kind of passages that make me tremble and cry my heart out. I’ve seen many fallen soldiers. “Good” Christians, whom I considered mature. Yet I’ve seen this happen once and again to many. I’ve been led astray too, I’m ashamed to say many many times.
It’s funny Michael that you mention the intellect because I’ve recently asked God to literally burn my brain (not all of it lest I die, just the parts that don’t subject to Him haha) if that’s what it takes to know Him in my inmost parts and be known by Him. I’ve increasingly grown sick to my stomach when I hear the “ivory-tower-theologian” teacher who impresses people with a lot of oratory and eloquence, who has an impeccable logic and persuasive and sound-doctrine concepts, but you sense no passion, no emotional connection with what he or she is saying. I don’t like the screaming preacher, either. But when someone has been with God, it shows. Not in great stories, visions and prophecies (though I don’t discard them without giving the person a fair hearing… which sometimes takes two minutes before I switch the channel), but in something I cannot quite describe, but it’s there. There are certain pastors/teachers you hear and their preaching can be very simple, and yet you feel encouraged, convicted (in the good sense, not guilt-tripped), edified, even if you haven’t “learned” anything you hadn’t heard before. Because it’s not about “knowledge” in the Greek sense of information, but in the Biblical sense of intimacy.
Thanks to you both. You help me keep pondering on these very hard topics. Not nice to have to consider all this… but very necessary.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Once again, you are so welcome, Carina. I can only imagine how hard it is for you to ponder on these topics. You are in my prayers. ❤
LikeLiked by 2 people
Carina, your comments and Susanne’s in this thread have been uplifting to read. We have seen a wonderful growth in you as you have communicated with us over the past few months. The sweetness of Christ is becoming more and more evident through your suffering.
We love you IN Christ, dear sister,
Michael
LikeLiked by 2 people
Oh, Michael! That’s really encouraging and sweet of you! Yes, indeed I have been through something quite similar to the wilderness experience you mentioned more than once. I’ve had so count as garbage a lot of things I consciously or unconsciously relied on… Not necessarily bad things. Some are gifts. But without the Holy Spirit at the core of my being, without His light piercing through many areas of darkness, without His sword penetrating and hurting me in order to heal me (oh, the cancer of pride! The deceit of riches, not just material riches, but anything we consider bright and great to have!), I would still be wandering around the same spots and half-backsliding as usual. This time, I sense Psalm 29 is becoming true in my life.
“The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.”
Beautiful, tall, imposing cedars, completely broken. Even uprooted.
“The voice of the Lord shakes the desert;
the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
The voice of the Lord twists the oaks
and strips the forests bare.”
My misery was bared. My twistedness, my not-so-good, half self-deceived intentions are still being exposed by the eternal Word of God. I find myself crying out, please, please, change this wretchedness! It’s awful!
It’s a process. A lot of ugliness is coming out and it doesn’t look pretty at all! But lest I despair, Jesus reassures me, “Behold, you are beautiful. I have begun a good work in you and I will carry it on until it’s finished and you can be fully Mine! So stand back and let me work.”
Ok, I’m at the Surgeon’s office. He has used some anaesthesia (talking about meds hahaha), but it still hurts to be at the operating table where I can’t move at all. And half-conscious, I see and feel the Doctor removing infected, (gangrened?) parts. Sorry, girl, this sin thing is definitely malignant, it’s cancerous. You definitely MUST wait until it’s all removed or else every living cell in your body will be killed.
I suppose like natural doctors provide chemotherapy and then allow you to rest for a while, or operate on you and then wait and see to check you up and continue treatment if cancer cells are left, Jesus will at one point finish His “strange operation” and say, OK for now! I’m fully confident He knows what He’s doing and will give me the needed relief and rest at just the right time.
I know I will only be perfect when I’m in Heaven (patience is not my forte hahaha), but I’ll keep resting in Him and trusting He will continue hurting me in order to heal me (which is a battle when you have an overactive, half-baked brain like mine, alas!). Not by might, not by human power, but by His Spirit. A reminder to keep on my desk and read like 1 zillion times per day.
But thank you, Michael for reminding at least some beauty has already come out of all of this extremely intensive therapy which is ongoing. I pray for you both, for Heavenly pain relief, which is much better than pharmaceutical meds, although we take them when it’s God’s will and they can be a blessing. I love you both!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Dear Carina, Thanks for your heart-felt reply. It seems that if we are to follow Jesus, it requires that we keep dying to everything that is important and dear to us in this life. I am reminded of the story of Abraham and his son of promise, Isaac. This same Isaac was the one by whom Abraham’s offspring would become in number like the sands of the sea. He was a miraculous gift from God in Abraham’s old age, yet God required him to offer the young man up as a human sacrifice! The son of his old age whom he loved dearly had to go! And Abraham obeyed. If that angel sent by God had not stopped Abraham, Isaac would have died on the altar that day.
As you might know, God used George Davis and I to write 13 books about the spiritual principles of His kingdom as opposed to the works of the flesh in Christendom. But when we finished the last book God told me it was the last one. We tried to write one more about the Gospel of John, but our attempts had no life in them. So we let our book writing ministry die. It seems that we can only write about those things we have grown into and God knows that we both have a long way to go until we are conformed into the image of Christ. John ch. 17:20-21 is still my heart’s desire.
Even those things that He gives us, those earthly relationships by which we are blessed and even God given talents and abilities by which we could serve Him in His kingdom, yes, sooner or later they too will be required of us to lay them at His feet. Jesus must increase and we must decrease. Sometimes, as it was with Isaac, He gives us back the thing he required of us with new life from above and sometimes He does not. When it makes no difference to us either way and obedience to His leading means more, God knows that progress is being made as it was with Abraham. It was THIS act of giving up his son, the culmination of all that God had require of him in calling him out of Ur and his people there, that later was written about, “Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” It is the work of the cross in our lives that brings forth that sweet smelling savor to our Father, not our works.
Jesus still asks us the same question He asked Peter that day on the shore of Galilee as he counted out their miraculous catch of fish, “Do you love me more than these?”
“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward.” (Rom 8:18, ERV)
Love you IN Him,
Michael
LikeLiked by 1 person
My dear sister in Christ, you have once again provided an instructive post and an engaging dialog.
First let me say that my heart goes out to you for your health issues, Susanne. I, like Michael, have infirmities that can be profoundly troubling at times. But when we are weak, He is strong. Whatever we accomplish is not through our own strength, in any case. All our strength is borrowed from God.
Your advice to Carina was both sensitive and biblical. Speaking as an abuse survivor, I can confirm a) that our view of God is skewed by abuse, and b) that forgiveness is a process. We must first express our anger/grief at the violations to which we were subjected. Only then can we can find genuine compassion in our hearts for our abusers. “Forced” forgiveness simply deepens our wounds.
Though I would not presume to predict the day or hour, we are truly living in the last days. As Scripture foretold, some hearts are growing cold (Matt. 24: 12), while others are giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons (1 Tim. 4: 1). We can view the growing darkness in two ways, either w/ discouragement — as I have been inclined to do — or w/ joy at Christ’s approaching return. Either way, we must cling all the more to Christ. He alone is the way, the truth, and the life.
I am so grateful to know you. May God keep you in His care, dear friend. And Happy Mother’s Day!
With love,
A. ❤ ❤ ❤
LikeLiked by 4 people
Thank you! 🤩
I am so grateful to know you, too, dear Anna. 🤗❤️👍🏼 Thank you for also reading through the comment section and providing wise words. 🕊️👌🏼
Yes, “forced” forgiveness can be a horror. It puts the blame back on the victim and makes the victim feel unworthy of being loved and cared for. 😥
I know you have had a lot of health issues as well. 😔 You are in my prayers, Anna. 🙏🏼🕊️🌸
Btw, I have been inclined to be easily discouraged, too. I think that is part of my personality as I cannot change it, overly sensitive as I am.
May God keep you in His strong grip, my dear friend! 🤗🕊️🙏🏼
With love,
Susanne ♥️♥️♥️
LikeLiked by 3 people
Dear Anna! I follow your blog too, though I don’t always have time to read your posts, let alone comment. Indeed, forced forgiveness, so emphasized by legalists who have zero idea of what we’ve really been through, is in a sense a revictimization. Any counsellor who wants to help us needs, first of all, to connect with our pain, to cry with us for a while in a sense, to connect with their own pathos and ask God for His empathy, compassion and pure, agape love.
Job’s friends started right, crying and staying with Job in absolute silence for a week, but then they opened their mouths and out of their lips came the accusations of Satan. I have had my share of “Job’s comforters”, giving empty recipes, just read four Bible chapters a day, pray for one hour and all will be well, or similar ideas which are not bad in an of themselves. BUT… Unless the comforter HAS empathy and compassion (and it’s ultimately obvious, pious words can be said but true compassion can’t be faked!), their words will be noise. So in the face of great pain, I beg for God to give me His words, and if I receive nothing, my answer is to hug, to look in the person’s eyes, and to cry, cry, cry to join my tears to theirs. What the person needs at times of great grief, the grief of death or that of abuse, is not a “solution” to the “problem”, but a person who truly cares! So I pray for my heart to never ever wax cold again. I was numb for years. I couldn’t handle my pain, let alone someone else’s. So I had my empathy crying deep down, because I didn’t cease to care but I felt so impotent.
Now that I’m being taken out of my years of wilderness, what God is emphasizing time after time is, “Comfort, comfort my people. Speak to their hearts. Tell them I love them. Tell them the time of suffering is nearing its end, that I’m coming with reward for those who have persevered, despite their little strength”. Anna, I feel that great promise is for you. I thank God for your courage, your strength, your resilience. I pray for more of God’s comfort embracing you, giving you reassurance every time you need it, that you are a greatly beloved daughter of a very good Father. I pray for your life. You will make it to the end because you are leaning on the Beloved of our souls. And you are a beautiful jewel He will continue to use to portray His great mercy to a world that desperately needs to hear the great news of the Gospel.
Song of Solomon reads, “How beautiful are your feet in sandals, noble lady.” You wear the shoes of the gospel. And again in Isaiah 52,
How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
“Your God reigns!”
The Lord will bless you and keep you because He is faithful and true, forever!
LikeLiked by 3 people
Argh, Carina, I almost deleted your reply to Anna accidentally as I found it in my spam folder which is usually flooded with countless ugly spams!
Therefore, as there are often so many, I delete them all at once daily. Not so today… However, often I find some comments of Anna or Michael in the WordPress trash folder, too, but that is not so much a problem as there are always only a few spams. Thank God, I found your response before my daily bulk edit action of permanent deletion!
LikeLiked by 1 person
No worries, Susanne! I have accidentally deleted important email when trashing away my usually gigantic unread email list. I currently have around 10,000 unread email in my three accounts. No, that’s not hyperbole! When I have the scarce “me” time and my mind can actually focus (my stress levels have been in the red alert zone or in the nearabouts due to my hectic life for around 2 years, so good, relaxed focus is a luxury and, besides as I have said, my overthinking mind IS my thorn in the flesh for which I cry out constantly) I like spending a couple of hours to review just the subjects, read what I sense may be edifying or useful, and trash all the rest. I occasionally make bad blunders with a too quick click and lose important work email or some other email I should definitely NOT delete. 😦 So I totally understand.
Anyway, if you felt this comment to Anna might be comforting to her, thank you for rescuing it from the trash. BTW, on a humorous note, I have rescued countless non-trash from the literal trash can, including accessories from my brand-new food processor. My littlest bundle of joy likes helping out with the cleaning. 😉
LikeLiked by 3 people
🙂
I know it’s not hyberbole, Carina, as I have seen thousands of emails in this WP folder on a daily basis before. Currently it’s not thaaat bad anymore, but you can only check 20 emails on a page and then you need to turn over to the next page. You know, most of them, if not ads, simply read,
“Muchas gracias. ?Como puedo iniciar sesion?”
😛
And again, I found this comment by you, and Michael’s, just now in the trash folder again. Oh my… 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am speechless w/ gratitude. This encouragement brings tears to my eyes. ❤
LikeLiked by 2 people
Anna, I’m overjoyed with gratitude for having received words from Abba to share with you and give you a big hug in the form of words of support and affirmation. What else can I add? To God be ALL the glory for ALL He does in us and through us. It’s all grace. Grace ever more abundant, overflowing, restoring us, healing us from the inside out and giving us the privilege of sharing with Christ this beautiful gift of healing others with His love. Thanks again for being such a precious vessel.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Susanne, in my view your faculty of discernment is functioning quite well… and my heart was warmed by your heart for the undiscerning.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thanks for your edifying words, Allan. 👍🏼
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hoy leí el devocional de Austin Sparks y tiene que ver con lo que decía Susanne, acerca de que el sufrimiento nos entrena en el discernimiento, Austin habló de la madurez.
You must learn to endure everything, so that you will be completely mature and not lacking in anything. (James 1:4 CEV)
We can take one of two attitudes toward the ways of God with us; we can get bitter, sour, hard; or we can have the enlargement by exercise, development by exercise, to develop capacity, to bring us into the large place that we may be intelligently His instrument for governing under His Headship in ages to come. Things that enter into our history we cannot always fathom, but the explanation which we can give is that, whatever there may be as second causes, the Lord is Sovereign and He thinks it worthwhile sometimes to allow what the world would call the most terrible thing to overtake for the time being, and it would seem that His Name and interests suffer through that thing, but through that thing He brings His people to a place of maturity and they get to know the Lord for themselves. Through these terrible things we find the Lord produces something that is very much more worthy of Himself in the life of His children. That is His justification, His vindication; if He could do it in any other way He would.
In the long run He does get spiritual maturity among His people, where they know Him. He would get us to a place where we know the Lord and we have our senses exercised to know. The Lord give us grace to accept all His dealings with us in the light of His great purpose.
Y el sufrimiento es tan necesario para esto, el enemigo pone en nuestros ojos vendas para que no veamos y el Señor tiene que quitarlas muchas veces a través del sufrimiento, esto ha sido tan real en mi vida, cuántas veces fui engañada por aquellos que decían ser hijos de Dios y no lo son. Podemos ser engañados por nosotros mismos, la carne es muy sutil y tramposa, ella se mete tan sigilosamente que nos engaña. Que el Señor nos ayude.
Y la historia de Carina es tan similar a la mía, pero en mi caso, mi madre es una mujer tóxica, llena de resentimientos y amarguras, y mi relación con ella es tan difícil, hoy puedo decir que la amo con el amor del Señor y que el proceso de perdonarla y de sanar me ha llevado mucho tiempo.
Algún día escuché de un predicador que debíamos perdonar a nuestros padres no importa lo que nos hubieran hecho y que la culpa era nuestra no de ellos, eso me llenó de un sentimiento profundo de culpa, hasta que tuve que entender que aunque debo perdonar, cada dolor lleva su proceso para ser sanado y poder perdonar.
Solo el Señor ha sido mi soporte y más cuando mi madre sigue siendo la misma. Pero, a Él le debo todo, mi alegría, el ser restaurada y el tener un motivo para vivir.
Con amor, Patricia
Patricia wrote,
“Today I read the Austin Sparks devotional and it has to do with what Susanne said, about suffering trains us in discernment, Austin spoke of maturity.”
[TAS devotional]
“You must learn to endure everything, so that you will be completely mature and not lacking in anything. (James 1:4 CEV)
We can take one of two attitudes toward the ways of God with us; we can get bitter, sour, hard; or we can have the enlargement by exercise, development by exercise, to develop capacity, to bring us into the large place that we may be intelligently His instrument for governing under His Headship in ages to come. Things that enter into our history we cannot always fathom, but the explanation which we can give is that, whatever there may be as second causes, the Lord is Sovereign and He thinks it worthwhile sometimes to allow what the world would call the most terrible thing to overtake for the time being, and it would seem that His Name and interests suffer through that thing, but through that thing He brings His people to a place of maturity and they get to know the Lord for themselves. Through these terrible things we find the Lord produces something that is very much more worthy of Himself in the life of His children. That is His justification, His vindication; if He could do it in any other way He would.
In the long run He does get spiritual maturity among His people, where they know Him. He would get us to a place where we know the Lord and we have our senses exercised to know. The Lord give us grace to accept all His dealings with us in the light of His great purpose.”
Patricia added,
“And suffering is so necessary for this, the enemy puts blindfolds on our eyes so that we cannot see and the Lord has to remove them many times through suffering, this has been so real in my life, how many times was I deceived by those who said they were children of God and they are not. We can be fooled by ourselves, the flesh is very subtle and tricky, it sneaks in so stealthily that it deceives us. May the Lord help us.
And Carina’s story is so similar to mine, but in my case, my mother is a toxic woman, full of resentments and bitterness, and my relationship with her is so difficult, today I can say that I love her with the love of the Lord and that the process of forgiving her and healing has taken me a long time.
One day I heard from a preacher that we should forgive our parents no matter what they did to us and that it was our fault, not theirs, that filled me with a deep sense of guilt, until I had to understand that although I must forgive, each pain takes its process to be healed and to be able to forgive.
Only the Lord has been my support and more when my mother remains the same. But, to Him I owe everything, my joy, being restored and having a reason to live.
With love, Patricia”
LikeLiked by 2 people
Dear Patricia,
I embrace you in your sufferings. Everything you have said, I could have written. I’ve also had a very difficult relationship with my mum, because she loved my dad so blindly that she allowed the most horrible abuses thinking it was not that terrible. I ended up with a serious mental condition that could have killed me at 21. I know see it as it was, “complex traumatic stress disorder”. I didn’t quite understand why I resented her so much if she was a good mother who provided words of affirmation and hugs. But I hated her hugging me and I felt guilty for it.
When I became a devout Catholic (which ended up with me a bit like Peter hurting Malco except I yielded a sword for the Pope in Rome), hatred became self-hatred. I saw my guilt. I had done horrible things, said horrible things to my parents, my grandma, my sister and brother. But because this cult teaches you very little about grace, all the verses talking about grace which I heard in the +30 spiritual retreats I went to in my desperate need for change, they weren’t clear revelation. They seemed beautiful promises… for someone else. Forgiveness is impossible when you are SO hurt, when your sense of identity, your very core has been utterly shattered.
Honestly, the process which began when I was born (even before, my mum received countless negative words from her ob-gyn because she was risking her life by deciding to have a third child and almost died when giving birth to me), has taken +40 years to really begin to blossom.
In order to really heal me, Jesus had to open my mouth, and drill every single tooth of mine because they were all putrid. He had to have me on an operating room, totally motionless, anesthetized, sleeping in what looked like the death of Lazarus, tear my guts apart and then deliver me from a cancerous wound that was tearing my soul apart and utterly destroying me.
I had two literal operations with general anesthesia. One, a nose operation because of a synus infection which has come back and I should at one point come back unless Jesus cleans my secretions that got hardened inside because they couldn’t get out (what a parable!)
My second was worse and a stronger warning. I was pregnant with my third child. The first ultrasound showed something that was not a baby. It was called “embarazo molar” or “enfermedad trofoblástica gestacional”. Something very bad happened when the male and female cell joined. The result was a totally “aborted” baby project, a “tissue” that HAD to be removed lest it became actual cancer. Hearing the doctors words was so scary and shocking.
I went through a “legrado” less than week later. No time to prepare mentally or spiritually. But it was God’s mercy because coming to meet my third baby I met “potential cancer which needs urgent removal”. God knew my fear of dying, of leaving my 2-year-old without a mother was too much for my weak faith. So He acted quickly. The tissue was fully removed, no complications. But it was another parable of “undealt issues” that can destroy us if we don’t act.
Our Doctor is quick to heal us. Literal general anesthesia causes fear because you never know if the dose given will be right and if your body will react well to it. You “die” and don’t know if you’ll wake up. Much the same happens when we sit totally still at our Doctor’s surgery room. It is scary! But our Doctor makes NO mistakes, either with the dose of anesthesia, with His healing hands, with the parts He needs to remove or clean. Sometimes, as with cancer, it’s some chemo sessions, then rest, then more chemo, then surgery… His dealings are different depending on our disease but if we will stop striving and allow Him to work, the end result will be a “WHOLE” (fully healthy) person. We are full of “HOLES”. We need a W added hahaha.
I hope some of it makes sense. Jesus knows. He feels our pain. He is right next to us. He weeps for us. He prays for us. He will make sure to carry us through the pain to perfection.
¡Te mando una oración de mis entrañas y amor agape!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Querida Patricia,
Leí este devocional y también habló a mi. De hecho, tienes razón, es una confirmación de lo que escribí sobre cómo agudizar a nuestros discernidores a través del sufrimiento. ¡Gracias por señalarme esto ya que todavía no había visto la conexión aquí! ⭐
¡¡Oh, hermana mía, lamento mucho oír hablar de tu relación difícil con tu propia madre !! :-(Supongo que debe haber sido una lucha casi diaria para ti ya que has vivido con ella o cerca de ella, por lo que recuerdo. 🙄
Como no podemos esperar que nuestros padres cambien, a menos que Dios toque sus corazones, debemos ir a Cristo cada vez que nos sintamos agobiados, ofendidos y dolidos por sus comentarios y comportamiento.
Con amor,
Susanne ❤
I answered her,
“Dear Patricia,
I read this devotional and it spoke to me as well. Indeed, you are right, it is a confirmation of what I wrote as to sharpening our discerners through suffering. Thank you for pointing this out to me as I had not seen the connection here yet! ⭐
Oh, my sister, I am so very sorry to hear about your troubling relationship with your own mom!! 😦 I guess it must have been an almost daily struggle for you as you have lived with her or close to her, as far as I remember. 🙄
As we cannot expect our parents to change, unless God touches their hearts, we need to go to Christ whenever we feel burdened, triggered and are hurting because of their remarks and behavior.
With love,
Susanne ❤ ”
LikeLiked by 1 person
It took a lot of breaking by God to get me to let go of my anger against my parents. Before my father died in 1994, God did a miracle in my life and got me to see and admit to myself that I hated him. It was then that I was able to repent of my anger (which had been wearing a “Christian mask”) and repent to God for it. After that I was able to accept my dad for the way he was and see that he had been wounded the same way by his father. All our communications from then on were different and I could love him. God changed me and my father could see and feel it. We were restored before he died.
The same thing happened later with my mother who died last year in a nursing home from Covid 19. Us kids all met around her bed the year before she died and it was a pleasant time of loving one another.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am glad God helped you the way He did, Michael. 🙏🏼🕊️👍🏼
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow, Michael no sabía lo de tu madre, cuánto lo siento, Dios mío cuánto ha pasado en nuestras vidas.
Ahora puedo decir que amo a mi madre con el amor de mi Señor, la sanación no ha sido fácil y ha sido todo un proceso, pero el Señor ha sido fiel. Y lo que dices es cierto, mi madre también viene de un pasado difícil y creo que eso hizo que ella transmitiera todo eso a nuestra relación, ella es muy especial, tiene sus cosas hermosas y eso es lo que el Señor me ha hecho ver, que ame esas cosas que ella tiene y que le deje a Él obrar en su corazón, pero no es fácil. Si ella dejara obrar al Señor, más hermosa sería. Pero, confío en el Señor, algún día nuestra relación estará restaurada por completo y espero que sea en esta vida y si no llega aquí, será en la eternidad.
Hoy corrí a los brazos de Jesús y sentí su abrazo a mi corazón, así que estoy reconfortada. Él es fiel y Verdadero, Su bandera sobre mí es amor.
Abrazos mil, los amo.
Patricia wrote,
“Wow, Michael, I didn’t know about your mother, how sorry I am, my God how much has happened in our lives.
Now I can say that I love my mother with the love of my Lord, the healing has not been easy and it has been a whole process, but the Lord has been faithful. And what you say is true, my mother also comes from a difficult past and I think that made her transmit all that to our relationship, she is very special, she has her beautiful things and that is what the Lord has made me see, to love those things that she has and to let Him work in her heart, but it is not easy. If she let the Lord work, she would be more beautiful. But, I trust the Lord, one day our relationship will be completely restored and I hope it will be in this life and if it doesn’t get here, it will be in eternity.
Today I ran into the arms of Jesus and felt his hug to my heart, so I am comforted. He is faithful and True, His banner over me is love.
Hugs a thousand, I love you.”
LikeLiked by 2 people
“Pero, confío en el Señor, algún día nuestra relación estará restaurada por completo y espero que sea en esta vida y si no llega aquí, será en la eternidad.”
Guau, Patricia, eres la primera persona que escribiste lo que he creído todo el tiempo. 😃👍🏼 Porque Jesús es el mismo ayer, hoy Y MAÑANA, todo es posible con Él, incluso en la eternidad! 😇🙏🏼🕊️♥️
I wrote (quoting Patricia),
“But, I trust the Lord, one day our relationship will be completely restored and I hope it will be in this life and if it doesn’t get here, it will be in eternity.”
Wow, Patricia, you are the first person who wrote about what I have believed all along. 😃👍🏼 Since Jesus is the same yesterday, today AND TOMORROW, everything is possible with Him, even in eternity! 😇🙏🏼🕊️♥️
LikeLiked by 1 person
Amén Susanne, a tu comentario anterior, si no es aquí, lo será en la eternidad, esto lo creo y es mi esperanza en el Señor, Él es nuestra esperanza de Gloria y para Él todo es posible, si no aquí, en la era por venir.
Espero haya quedado guardado el mensaje para Carina.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Patricia
TRANSLATION:
“Amen Susanne, to your previous comment, if it is not here, it will be in eternity, this I believe and it is my hope in the Lord, He is our hope of Glory and for Him everything is possible, if not here, [then] in the era to come.
I hope the message has been saved for Carina.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Patricia “
LikeLiked by 2 people
Patricia, espero que encuentres tu mensaje para Carina más abajo, ya que ya no puedo vincularlo por ti. ¡WordPress realmente se ha convertido en un WordMESS (un DESASTRE con las palabras)!
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Tu hermana,
Susanne ❤
In English,
Patricia, I hope you find your message for Carina further below as I cannot link it for you anymore. WordPress has really become a WordMESS!
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Your sister,
Susanne” ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mmmm, Susanne, I had written a response to Patricia but I think it got to your Junk folder because I didn’t get a “Your post will be moderated, etc.” My writing just disappeared. I think it’s because I still find it hard to “summarize” hahaha.
Anyways, if it was lost, it was lost. But the Lord has spoken to Patricia, Michael, and you, and I certainly rejoiced at reading your exchange. You are beautiful, each in your own way.
Patricia, you gave me hope as regards my father. I pray for his salvation. His heart is VERY hard. He’s so proud. With man, it is impossible, but all things are possible with God. I don’t want to lose him forever when he dies. It would be very painful for me to see him condemned, fair as it would be because he hurt me so, so much.
I used to have to refrain from praying, God, give him his just desserts… But really wanted him chastened so he would understand. He got a lot of chastening and still doesn’t understand. He’s gotten more hardened. And he’s very sick with asthma, which became COPD because he smoked for +40 years. He’s really scared… but still doesn’t seem to be willing to turn to the Healer. He turns against the family in anger because his impotence at his disease causes him to be in such a bad mood. 😦
I can only pray for a miracle like what Michael experienced. My mum HAS changed. She has seen at least in part. My sister is being awakened to some spiritual truth. But dad… It’s sad. And I honestly don’t know how much time we have left because when his sister, a passive smoker, developed COPD she died within a year.
Please help me pray for him. His name is Roberto. Only God knows how to brings His light to a person who is in such darkness. Please help.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I was so sad to read this news about your dad, my sweet sister. 😦 I have no words I can offer, only a little prayer.
“Jesus, please, soften Roberto’s heart and let him be reconciled to You and his family during his lifetime. AMEN.”
Dear Carina, I do not think your response to Patricia was lost. It seems to me that you posted your reply exactly eight minutes before mine. However, I found your comment only hours later in my trash folder!
Just yesterday I got so many reponses of which almost ALL were in the trash! I also wrote many replies here and elsewhere (esp. on Michael’s blog) so that I got pretty confuzzled later. 😛
If a comment comes in the normal way I, like you, get a notification in my emails. “Please moderate a comment on Entering the Promised Land….” If WordPress aka WordMess decides to throw such comments into trash or spam, I get no notifications at all. Yet I have been warned and checked every comment there lately as well. I believe your response to Patricia was this one above https://enteringthepromisedland.wordpress.com/2021/05/08/a-little-leaven-leavens-the-whole-lump/#comment-335199.
Much love,
Susanne ❤ ❤ ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Acabo de escribir a Carina, pero no se ve mi mensaje Susanne. “Compañeros de lágrimas” y como dices Susanne, algún día serán secadas y nunca más habrá llanto. Claro que en estos días le dije al Señor que de tanto que he llorado ya no tengo lágrimas.
Las amo.
Patricia.
TRANSLATION:
“I just wrote to Carina, but I can’t see my message Susanne. “Companions of tears” and as you say Susanne, one day they will be dried up and there will never be crying again. Of course, these days I told the Lord that since I have cried so much I no longer have tears.
I love you [two].
Patricia.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Querida Patricia,
¿Es este el comentario que no puedes ver?
Oh, veo lo que quieres decir con estos problemas de Internet, ni siquiera puedo vincular el comentario adecuado aquí para ti tampoco. De hecho, mi querida hermana, ¡todo este Internet es realmente desconcertante!
TRANSLATION:
Dear Patricia,
Is this the comment you can’t see?
Oh my, I see what you mean by these internet problems, I cannot even link the proper comment on here for you, either. Indeed, my dear sister, this whole internet is really unnerving!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hola Carina, hasta ahora puedo leer tu mensaje. Claro que oraré por tu padre Roberto, es fácil de recordar su nombre, así se llama un tío cercano a mi corazón.
La verdad las relaciones con nuestros padres “tóxicos” por así decirlo, es difícil.
Yo tuve que ser sincera con el Señor y un día decirle: Padre, no puedo más, no puedo amar a mi madre como tú quieres, ella me hace la vida imposible”. El Señor me llevó a escribir en un diario las cosas que me dolían de ella y las cosas que me hirieron, fue liberador.
Después cerré ese diario y nunca más lo volví a leer, fue como dejar ir, desde esa oración y después de escribir el diario, el Señor comenzó a hacer una obra en mi corazón. Jesús puso su amor, su compasión por mi madre, todavía me duelen ciertas cosas que hace o ciertos comentarios, pero veo que su amor se ha instalado en mi vida para ella, veo su obra en mí.
Ella ha cambiado un poco y Dios ha tratado con ella, pero veo su obra en mi corazón y me regocijo. Amar a los difíciles de amar es el reto del Señor en nosotros, porque no es con nuestro amor natural, es con su amor que rompe toda barrera, que llega hasta donde nadie más puede, su amor vence todo odio, todo dolor, todo resentimiento, toda rabia guardada en el corazón, yo he podido verlo en mí y sé que puede hacerlo en ti.
Nuestros padres están en sus manos, Él los corregirá a su manera y hará su obra en ellos tarde que temprano, su amor los alcanzará y ellos verán la misericordia de Dios al final. Pero, por el momento, su amor se forjará en nosotros para amarlos y verlos con los ojos del Señor, esa es la única manera y es mi oración cada día.
Hay personas que son difíciles de amar y no nos hacen la vida nada fácil y realmente nos han herido en la profundidad de nuestro corazón, pero su amor es suficiente cuando el nuestro es insuficiente, todo lo podemos en Cristo porque Él nos fortalece. Nuestro amor por Él no nos permitirá renunciar a ellos porque Dios los ama y son
de Él.
Ánimo amada Carina, el Señor hará en ellos y en nosotras, lo que es imposible.
Abrazos desde la distancia, Patricia
TRANSLATION:
“Hi Carina, so far I can read your message. Of course I will pray for your father Roberto, it is easy to remember his name, that is the name of an uncle close to my heart.
The truth is, relationships with our “toxic” parents so to speak, are difficult.
I had to be honest with the Lord and one day tell him: Father, I can’t take it anymore, I can’t love my mother as you want, she makes life impossible for me ”. The Lord led me to write in a journal the things that hurt about her and the things that hurt me, it was liberating.
Then I closed that diary and never read it again, it was like letting go, from that prayer and after writing the diary, the Lord began to do a work in my heart. Jesus put his love, his compassion for my mother, certain things she does or certain comments still hurt me, but I see that his love has been installed in my life for her, I see his work in me .
She has changed a little and God has dealt with her, but I see his work in my heart and I rejoice. Loving those who are difficult to love is the Lord’s challenge in us, because it is not with our natural love, it is with his love that he breaks every barrier, that goes as far as no one else can, his love conquers all hatred, all pain, all resentment. , all anger stored in the heart, I have been able to see it in me and I know that it can do it in you.
Our parents are in his hands, he will correct them in his way and do his work in them sooner or later, his love will reach them and they will see God’s mercy in the end. But, for the moment, his love will be forged in us to love them and see them with the eyes of the Lord, that is the only way and it is my prayer every day.
There are people who are difficult to love and do not make life easy for us and have really hurt us in the depth of our hearts, but his love is enough when ours is insufficient, we can do everything in Christ because He strengthens us. Our love for Him will not allow us to renounce them because God loves them and they are of Him.
Courage beloved Carina, the Lord will do in them and in us, what is impossible.
Hugs from a distance, Patricia”
LikeLiked by 2 people
Patricia, tu respuesta a Carina también me ministró. ¡Muy oportuno hoy! ¡¡Gracias!! ❤
In English,
“Patricia, your reply to Carina ministered to me, too. Very timely today! Thanks!!” ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Amén, amada Patricia. Hermoso lo que escribiste. Justo ayer fui a casa de mis padres, que hacía tiempo no los visitaba por las restricciones del Covid. Estuve un buen rato conversando con mi madre de todo un poco, sobre todo cosas del Señor. En este tiempo Dios hizo una obra maravillosa en ella, ha comprendido muchas cosas. Y sobre mi padre, fue un día muy lindo. De vez en cuando él está de buen humor, me muestra las cosas que hace para participarme de ellas. Otras veces me mostró arreglos que hizo en la casa, que de la casa casi destruida que pudieron comprar en su momento, hoy la tienen casi impecable, y los últimos arreglos de pintura los hizo él solito con más de 75 años. Eso a pesar de la artrosis y el asma. Pero como ya no puede hacer arreglos, ahora le ha dado por la jardinería, y me mostró todas sus plantitas.
Sentí compasión por él. El patio delantero y el trasero llenos de macetas de todos los tamaños. Yo le pido al Señor que por fin su vida pueda florecer, porque hasta ahora todo lo que ha hecho en la vida, lo ha hecho en sus fuerzas, con el empuje de su propia voluntad. “Espinas y cardos te dará la tierra” es la palabra del Señor para los que siembran así, ¡porque sin fe es imposible agradarle! Es muy triste que todavía no pueda entenderlo, porque en definitiva es él mismo que se da cabezazos contra la pared. Pero bueno, lo que quería contarte es que me regaló una macetita con un pequeño cactus, me despidió con un abrazo, al menos ayer no hubo ninguna discusión ni interferencias. Dios está trabajando en mi corazón para que pueda comprenderlo y amarlo a pesar de todo lo que me ha herido.
Y he comprendido también que en definitiva, fui herida por la mano de Dios. Todas esas cosas que me ocurrieron, de la primera a la última, si bien por supuesto podemos decir “un enemigo hizo esto” (sembrar cizaña), también Dios soberanamente decidió permitirlo, así como con Job. He visto al León de la tribu de Judá, que de alguna manera me ha devorado, para librarme así del orgullo, para asegurarse de que yo, cuando creciera, no fuera como mi padre natural, sino todo lo contrario. Porque la gran diferencia entre mi padre y yo es que yo tengo fe y él no. Y esa fe que subió como renuevo en tierra seca se la debo en parte a mi madre y a mi abuela, que dentro de la ignorancia de su catolicismo de origen siempre me hablaron de Dios, algo así como con Timoteo. Me costó años diferenciar la verdad entre tantas mentiras que ellas me inculcaron… Pero siempre tuve claro (incluso cuando mi mente lo olvidaba o lo perdía en el nivel consciente) que Jesús era mi Salvador personal. Por eso agradezco… Porque incluso cuando me enseñaron cosas que no eran correctas, eso me terminó llevando a una búsqueda mucho más profunda, y a una comprensión de que a veces las personas nos dicen mentiras porque están engañadas, y que tenemos que tener misericordia de ellos. “Porque Dios ha encerrado a todos en desobediencia para mostrar misericordia a todos”. Doy gracias a Dios de que comprendí el verdadero evangelio justo unos meses antes de que partiera mi abuela, y pude hablarle de Cristo. Y con mi madre también. A pesar de que le cuesta sacarse de encima sus estatuitas y estampitas que tienen tanto valor emocional para ella, veo que Dios ha estado trabajando mucho en su corazón para que de a poco vaya entendiendo… Y en definitiva tampoco puedo juzgarla, porque cuando Dios me apunta con la lámpara de la Palabra y la lupa, me muestra “terafines” en mi corazón, ídolos domésticos mucho más sutiles. La egolatría, ay, qué ídolo tan peligroso es ese…
Carina answered Patricia,
“Amen, dear Patricia. Beautiful what you wrote. Just yesterday I went to my parents’ house whom I had not visited for a long time due to Covid restrictions. I spent a long time talking to my mother about everything a little, especially things about the Lord. In this time God did a wonderful work in her, she has understood many things. And about my father, it was a very nice day. From time to time he is in a good mood, he shows me the things that he does to participate in them. Other times he showed me repairs that he made in the house, that once almost destroyed house they could buy at the time, today they have it almost impeccable, and the last painting repairs were made by himself with more than 75 years. That despite osteoarthritis and asthma. But since he can no longer make arrangements, now he has taken to gardening, and he showed me all his little plants.
I felt compassion for him. The front yard and backyard are filled with pots of all sizes. I ask the Lord that finally his life can flourish, because up to now everything he has done in life, he has done in his strength, with the push of his own will. “Thorns and thistles the land will give you” is the word of the Lord for those who sow like this, because without faith it is impossible to please him! It is very sad that he still cannot understand it, because ultimately it is he himself who is banging his head against the wall. But hey, what I wanted to tell you is that he gave me a pot with a small cactus, he said goodbye to me with a hug, at least yesterday there was no discussion or interference. God is working on my heart so that I can understand and love him despite everything that has hurt me.
And I have also understood that ultimately, I was wounded by the hand of God. All those things that happened to me, from the first to the last, although of course we can say “an enemy did this” (sowing tares), God also sovereignly decided to allow it, as well as with Job. I have seen the Lion of the tribe of Judah, who has somehow devoured me, thus to rid me of pride, to make sure that I, when I grew up, would not be like my natural father, but quite the opposite. Because the big difference between me and my father is that I have faith and he does not. And that faith that rose like a branch on dry land I owe in part to my mother and my grandmother, who, in ignorance of her Catholicism of origin, always spoke to me about God, something like with Timothy. It took me years to differentiate the truth between so many lies they instilled in me… But it was always clear to me (even when my mind forgot or lost it on the conscious level) that Jesus was my personal Savior. For that I am grateful … Because even when they taught me things that were not correct, that ended up leading me to a much deeper search, and to an understanding that sometimes people tell us lies because they are deceived, and that we have to have mercy on them. . “Because God has locked everyone up in disobedience to show mercy to everyone.” I thank God that I understood the true gospel just a few months before my grandmother left, and was able to tell her about Christ. And with my mother too. Despite the fact that it is difficult for her to get rid of her statues and pictures that have so much emotional value for her, I see that God has been working hard in her heart so that little by little she will understand … And ultimately I cannot judge her either, because when God points with the lamp of the Word and the magnifying glass, he shows me “teraphim” in my heart, much more subtle domestic idols. Egolatry, oh, what a dangerous idol is that …”
LikeLiked by 2 people
Dear Carina,
You wrote,
“Because even when they taught me things that were not correct, that ended up leading me to a much deeper search, and to an understanding that sometimes people tell us lies because they are deceived, and that we have to have mercy on them.”
Wow!! 😃 Precious insights, very helpful. Thank you, my sister. ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, Susanne, you’re right! The comment was “rescued” hahaha. Thank you for posting it and I hope it was somewhat helpful.
It seems all of us have quite a bit in common. Not like “party buddies”, but a bit like Jeremiahs who have a lot to cry about and, despite it all, have found hope in Christ, who is our joy!
I love you all!
LikeLiked by 2 people
You are very welcome, dear Carina. 🙂
Oh yes, all those tears over so many years … cannot count them anymore!! But one day God will wipe them ALL away. That’s my hope for all of us who keep crying our eyes out!
I love you, too! ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Gracias Susanne por rescatar el comentario a Carina, he orado por su padre.
Dios envía personas difíciles a nuestras vidas para salvarnos de nosotros mismos, el Señor expone a través de esos tratos las cosas que debe desarraigar de nuestro corazón, como tú dices Carina: “terafines, ídolos domésticos”.
Dios ha expuesto mi corazón una y otra vez cuando disgusto con mi madre y Él ha podido mostrarme lo que no es de Cristo en mí. Así que, somos limas los unos para los otros; así se pulen y se redondean las piedras de los ríos, rozándose
unas con otras. Tenemos que aceptarlo como parte del entrenamiento del Señor, algún día daremos las gracias por todas las espinas que nos hicieron sangrar porque nos llevaron más profundo en Él.
Pero, me alegra el regalo de tu padre, Dios tiene primero que trabajar en nuestro corazón para llenarnos de Su amor, para luego hacerlo en ellos, participar en lo que a tu padre le gusta es una forma de amarlo.
Todos fuimos ciegos y el Señor tuvo misericordia y en su momento nos abrió los ojos, los católicos están engañados, pero son amados por Él, solo debemos mostrarles a Cristo y el Señor hará Su obra en ellos. Yo estudié en un colegio católico y Dios me permitió darles testimonio de la verdad del Señor y hoy muchas de mis compañeras de estudio están caminando con el Señor, así que, Dios hará también la obra en tu madre tarde que que temprano.
Abrazos gigantes para ti, para Susanne y para Michael.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Translation:
“Thanks Susanne for rescuing the comment to Carina, I have prayed for her father.
God sends difficult people into our lives to save us from ourselves, the Lord exposes through these deals the things that must be uprooted from our hearts, as you say Carina: “teraphim, domestic idols”.
God has exposed my heart over and over again when I am upset with my mother and He has been able to show me what is not Christ’s in me. So, we are files to each other; thus the stones of the rivers are polished and rounded, rubbing
with each other. We have to accept it as part of the Lord’s training, one day we will give thanks for all the thorns that made us bleed because they took us deeper into Him.
But, I am happy about your father’s gift, God has first to work in our hearts to fill us with His love, and then to do it in them, participating in what your father likes is a way of loving him.
We were all blind and the Lord had mercy and in his moment he opened our eyes, Catholics are deceived, but they are loved by Him, we only have to show them Christ and the Lord will do His work in them. I studied in a Catholic school and God allowed me to bear witness to the truth of the Lord and today many of my fellow students are walking with the Lord, so God will also do the work on your mother sooner than later.
Giant hugs for you, for Susanne and for Michael.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXO”
LikeLike
You are very welcome, dear Patricia.
🤗♥️😘
LikeLike
Me gustó mucho tu comentario, Patricia. Cuánta razón tienes sobre las espinas y limas que usa el Señor con nosotros. Leerte hoy me habló al corazón sobre otra situación que me tenía un tanto “enroscada”.
Y justamente lo que venía pensando es esto: Realmente tenemos que aprender a vivir para adorar y servir a UNO. Solo a Dios. Entiendo que muchas cosas que me han ocurrido durante toda mi vida apuntaron justamente a eso: a dejar de poner los ojos en el “qué dirán” las personas, y poner la mirada en Jesucristo. Porque la única opinión que verdaderamente importa es la de Él. Aun dentro de la iglesia (sea la institucional o la iglesia “no visible”), ocurren muchas cosas que no son ideales. Esa “unanimidad” de la que hablan las Escrituras muchas veces no la vemos en la práctica. Incluso entre apóstoles, como Pablo y Bernabé, como Pablo y Pedro, hubo diferencias de opinión y desencuentros importantes. Vemos en parte. Profetizamos en parte. ¡Y no somos infalibles! A veces creemos discernir al Espíritu Santo y con el tiempo nos damos cuenta de que nos equivocamos y juzgamos según la carne, según un “fuerte sentir” que creímos era de Dios. Y podemos estar “cortando orejas” en nuestro fanatismo, y, tristemente, ser usados por el acusador de los hermanos. 😦
Podemos cometer errores en el discernimiento y hacernos daño sin querer aun siendo espirituales. Ni hablar de los “cristianos carnales”, que si nuestro testimonio de vida es diferente de la manera habitual de entender la relación con Cristo, su mentalidad religiosa tenderá a aborrecernos. Ni hablar de las personas que no conocen al Señor en absoluto.
En definitiva… Vamos a encontrarnos muchas veces con un trato injusto, ciertamente de no creyentes, ciertamente de hermanos muy inmaduros, pero también de un hermano que puede ser muy bueno pero justo se levantó con el pie izquierdo o entendió mal una situación y dice cualquier cosa. Entonces, ¿qué haremos cuando nos tratan mal de manera inmerecida? ¡Ir a Cristo! “Señor, si lo que dijo el hermano es correcto, confírmalo y lima cualquier aspereza por una manera tal vez un tanto hiriente de decir las cosas. Si no lo es, ayúdame a perdonarlo y si es necesario, dame valor para confrontar este pecado”.
Y entender que estamos en proceso, justamente. No somos descartados por equivocarnos. Tampoco nosotros tenemos que descartar a otros, aun en casos muy graves como el de mi papá… Salvo que Dios me diga, no ores más por él, honrar a mi padre y a mi madre significa orar por ellos. Aunque a veces cuesta mucho.
Así que finalmente comprendo que, por excelente que sea el concepto que tengo de algunos hermanos que son una bendición para mí, su opinión cuenta sin duda pero ninguno me puede dar esa “valoración final”, ese testimonio de adopción que solo me da el Espíritu Santo. La comunión con los santos es una gran bendición. En ese remanente veo destellos de gracia que me apuntan al Padre de las luces. Pero siempre me invitan a mirar más arriba, porque en definitiva hay un Padre, un Señor, una fe, un bautismo para todos nosotros, Cristo sobre todos y en todos, y Él es nuestra esperanza de gloria. Así que solo espero cada día arraigarme y cimentarme un poquito más en Él, porque todo lo demás, se sacude y se termina cayendo.
TRANSLATION:
“I really liked your comment, Patricia. How right you are about the thorns and files that the Lord uses with us. Reading you today spoke to my heart about another situation that had me somewhat “twisted.”
And just what I’ve been thinking is this: We really have to learn to live to worship and serve ONE. Just goodbye. I understand that many things that have happened to me throughout my life pointed to just that: to stop looking at “what will people say”, and to look at Jesus Christ. Because the only opinion that really matters is His. Even within the church (be it the institutional or the “not visible” church), many things happen that are not ideal. That “unanimity” of which the Scriptures speak many times we do not see in practice. Even between apostles, like Paul and Barnabas, like Paul and Peter, there were differences of opinion and important disagreements. We see in part. We prophesy in part. And we are not infallible! Sometimes we believe we discern the Holy Spirit and over time we realize that we are wrong and judge according to the flesh, according to a “strong feeling” that we believed was from God. And we can be “cutting ears” in our fanaticism, and sadly, being used by the accuser of the brothers. 😦
We can make mistakes in discernment and hurt ourselves unintentionally even though we are spiritual. Not to mention the “carnal Christians”, that if our life testimony is different from the usual way of understanding the relationship with Christ, their religious mentality will tend to hate us. Not to mention the people who don’t know the Lord at all.
In short … We are going to find ourselves many times with unfair treatment, certainly from non-believers, certainly from very immature brothers, but also from a brother who can be very good but just got up on the wrong foot or misunderstood a situation and says whatever thing. So what will we do when we are treated badly in an undeserved way? Go to Christ! “Sir, if what the brother said is correct, confirm it and file away any harshness by a perhaps somewhat hurtful way of saying things. If he is not, help me to forgive him and if necessary, give me courage to confront this sin ”.
And understand that we are in the process, precisely. We are not discarded for being wrong. Nor do we have to rule out others, even in very serious cases like my dad’s … Unless God tells me, don’t pray for him anymore, honoring my father and my mother means praying for them. Although sometimes it costs a lot.
So I finally understand that, no matter how excellent the concept I have of some brothers who are a blessing to me, their opinion counts without a doubt but none can give me that “final assessment”, that testimony of adoption that only the Holy Spirit gives me. Communion with the saints is a great blessing. In that remnant I see flashes of grace that point me to the Father of lights. But they always invite me to look higher, because ultimately there is a Father, a Lord, a faith, a baptism for all of us, Christ above all and in all, and He is our hope of glory. So I just hope every day to root myself and cement myself a little more in Him, because everything else shakes and ends up falling.”
LikeLiked by 1 person