Jesus Christ Abolished Death

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death, discerning the spirits, dying to self, eternal life, experience, faith, fellow-heirs with Christ, following Jesus, God's guidance, inheritance, Jesus Christ, Judgment, life, Overcomer, pain, redemption, repentance, Satan, soul and spirit, soul-life, spiritual power, suffering, T.A. Sparks, the cross, the devil, The Heritage, the throne, throne union, trials, tribulation, walking by the spirit

If you read and re-read the title, wondering about the truth of this seemingly simple statement, “Jesus Christ abolished… DEATH?”  🙄 you might feel the same way I did yesterday. I read an article by T. Austin-Sparks that left me both astonished and a bit bewildered at first. But then… No, I do not want to give away the ending yet. I am afraid, you need to read further if you want to know more.  😉 So, at first I am going to offer you this excerpt from one of TAS’ books that is called “Vocational Fellowship”. (1)

Balaam and the Angel or… The Danger of Compromise

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compromise, controlling spirits, discerning the spirits, disobedience, entering his rest, entering the Kingdom of God, evil spirits, experience, false spirits, following Jesus, God's voice, God's wrath, grace, honesty, manipulative spirits, obedience, Resisting the Devil, rest, Satan, the enemy, the fear of God, the whole armour of God, transparency, visions, walking after the flesh, walking by the spirit

Landscape with Balaam (Joseph Anton Koch 1832/36) – German National Museum, Nürnberg

With compromising here I meant the temptation to mix the spirits in order to please people or ourselves more than God. In other words, God has told us to do something, but we begin to wonder after some time whether He might have changed His mind regarding the commandment once given. If God has shown us a certain direction we should walk in, we can be sure that He had good reasons why He led us that way. Whether we understand His guidance or not, it is always also for our spiritual protection if He warns us and tells us not to move along a way we might have chosen on our own. We read in the Book of Numbers,

“God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?” (Num 23:19 ESV)

Who Really is Lord in our Lives?

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adamic nature, afflictions, ascendancy, being led by the Holy Spirit, demons, discerning the spirits, Division, experience, fears, fellowship, following Jesus, God's goodness, God's guidance, God's love, God's voice, Michael Clark, overcoming the world, prayer, rest, resurrection, soul, Soul Rest, T.A. Sparks, the cross, the fear of death, The Holy Spirit, the old self, the throne, trials, unity, waiting on the Lord, walking by the spirit

Yesterday in the evening I found myself mulling over problems other Christians close to me have been struggling with. Although I knew that the solution for our unsolvable problems could always only be found in the spiritual realm, I finally had to realize that the only thing I could do was to keep praying for their deliverance. And I have prayed for it already, even for a long time, for many, many years and decades. As I was just standing in front of the mirror in our bathroom, still thinking about this problem of the fear of death, this sting which exclusively in Christ and His victory is overcome (cf. 1 Cor 15:54-57), I heard the Holy Spirit speaking to my heart distinctively,

“God is good.”

The Secret of Spiritual Soul Rest in Christ

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abiding in Christ, death, discerning the spirits, eternal life, experience, joy, Lily, our cat, rest, resurrection power, soul, Soul Rest, T. Austin-Sparks, The Holy Spirit, the whole armour of God, walking by the spirit

This title I chose seems to be self-explaining because we could also say that our soul finds its rest in Christ alone. Does not sound like a secret, does it? But if we, after decades of believing in the Lord, have not entered His rest yet although we always wanted to, maybe, it is not that easy to get there? Perhaps there is ‘something’ that continually keeps us from entering God’s rest. But what could this ‘something’ be?  🙄 Before expounding a bit more on what I just hinted to, I want to share another experience with you.

Exposing the Enemy by Exercizing Authority in Christ

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authority, deception, discerning the spirits, entering his rest, experience, following Jesus, freedom, knowledge, Lily, peace, prayer, Resisting the Devil, rest, Satan, Submission to God, T.A. Sparks, Taking our Thoughts Captive, the angel of light, the devil, the enemy, The Holy Spirit, the Kingdom of God, the mind of Christ, the presence of God, the whole armour of God, thought life, walking by the spirit

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It was only today as I have started to see more clearly how Satan keeps our minds busy and worried all day long. Not that I had not heard about it before, however, the theory once learned has come alive now, so to say. What I am referring to is the simple pattern Satan always uses to pull us down on his level as soon as we have begun to relax in the presence of God. You know this pattern that starts telling us to distrust God by asking, “Hath God really said?”

Stuck in the Soul or… Governed by God

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blogging, death, deception, discerning the spirits, experience, fellowship, Flesh vs. Spirit, following Jesus, God's guidance, habits, life, love, loving your enemies, overcoming the world, P.W. Faunch, peace, prayer, rituals, Satan, soul, soul-life, spiritual power, T.A. Sparks, the cross, the devil, the heavenlies, the old self, the throne, the whole armour of God, thought life, walking by the spirit

Just lately I have begun to see that a continuous life in the Spirit has to be governed by the Lord alone. Anything else I chose according to my old fleshly habits led to death, even my own thought life. Before going further by giving you another example, I decided to paste one of two short excerpts from T. Austin Sparks which clearly revealed the truth of my experiences afterwards to me. TAS said,

Walking in the Spirit by Switching from One Kingdom to Another

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discerning the spirits, dying to self, encouragement, entering his rest, entering the Kingdom of God, experience, following Jesus, fruit of the Spirit, God's love, joy, love, patience, peace, rest, soul, spirit, spiritual power, the devil, the Kingdom of God, the new self, the old self, thought life, walking by the spirit

Dear brothers and sisters, I would have never expected that Jesus Christ would really enable us to move from the burden of self-life with all its stress and unsolvable problems to His restful life in the Kingdom of God. Actually, I always hoped that the possibility existed but I had almost given up on waiting for the enjoyment of continuous love, joy, peace, or even patience (something I NEVER knew before!). Apostle Paul encouraged the Philippians several times to “Rejoice IN the Lord always….. Indeed, I still ‘hear’ myself doubting this possibility a few months ago. However, it is true!

If God speaks…

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abundance of life, authority, discerning the spirits, encouragement, entering his rest, experience, following Jesus, freedom, God's love, God's voice, Jesus Christ, joy, libery, life, mind, peace, rest, spiritual power, the Kingdom of God, walking by the spirit

For some time I have been wondering whether the existence of the Kingdom of God might mean more immediate proximity to our everyday life than we might have ever thought or believed possible. It was only yesterday as I had another surprising experience with our Lord Jesus Christ. In a certain sense I was reminded of another occurrence about four months ago when Christ pulled me out of a very depressive state by the simple question, “Do you believe that I am the life?” (1) After that question back then I felt that the spiritual power of His words triggered several dead or sick ‘spots’ inside me so that a healing process, both spiritual and mental, could set in. Although my physical diseases have not disappeared by now, I sense God must have his reasons why He has not fully healed me yet.

Life in the Spirit

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being born again, darkness, discerning the spirits, dreams, entering his rest, entering the Kingdom of God, evil spirits, experience, following Jesus, God's guidance, grace, prayer, Salt and Light, Satan, spirit and life, T.A. Sparks, the devil, the heavenlies, The Holy Spirit, the promised land, the whole armour of God, walking by the spirit

During the last weeks and months I published several articles on walking in the spirit. The connection between walking by the spirit and living in the spirit seems to be quite simple. Paul in his letter to the Galatians put it this way,

“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”  (Gal 5:25 KJV)

Knowing God… and Being Known by Him

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being born again, commandments, dying to self, eternal life, experience, faith, following Jesus, God's love, heart, heart knowledge, intimacy, Jesus Christ, Judgment, knowing God, overcoming the world, spiritual growth, T.A. Sparks, the body of Christ, the cross

I chose the subtitle of my poetry blog that once sprang from 1 Corinthians, chapter 8, verse 3 also as the headline for this article because I believe that the most important thing for us Christians is to really get to know (read ‘love’) the Lord. If we have an intimate relationship with God Who is the Creator of everything, then there is no need for us to worry about anything anymore. Jesus Christ promised eternal life NOW to everyone who, by the grace of God, has been given an intimate knowledge of God in the Spirit. He said,

“And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (Jn 17:3 ESV)