Discerning true ministry and fellowship by T. Austin Sparks

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discerning the spirits, experience, fellowship, following Jesus, Growing in Christ, spiritual growth, T.A. Sparks, true ministry

This blog post should give some food for thought, I hope. Q: How can we discern true from false ministry? A: If we look closer at it, we should ask ourselves whether the ministry concerned is focused on a person or a group ministering to (mainly passive) believers or is the minister busy trying to change the audience, the human beings, instead of pointing to the Holy Spirit who alone can change us. Both ministries would represent a horizontal gospel of sorts while vertical gospel preaching usually looks first to God and then to man! If we have a true ministry, then we bring Christ to the believer, hoping and praying that everybody who hears us will discover the most intimate relationship possible – with God, our Father, and with Jesus Christ.

“That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that [y]our joy may be full.” (1 Jn 1:3-4 KJV)

The Importance of the Word of God

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being born again, discerning the spirits, experience, God's voice, Jesus Christ, Martin Luther, obedience, repentance, Satan, Temptation, the Bible, The Holy Spirit, the Word of God

I want to start with a quote from Martin Luther that expressed his view of the Bible he would translate from Greek into the German language. He said,

You can’t joke with God’s Word. If you cannot understand this, take off your hat in front of it. It’s not a joke, it’s serious and wants to be honored.

If you read my blog regularly, you might know that I am not someone who recommends to regularly study the Bible according to an unalterable time schedule. I could never suggest this as I feel that Spirit-led people might read the Bible as God nudges them to do so. However, I remember several times in my life when I somehow devoured the whole Bible for several months. You might know that there are times when God convicts us and calls us to turn from our old ways where we ignored His Word (repentance is just another word for finally turning to the Lord). When He in His grace forgave us and we sense His love, joy, and peace after having been restored to God, usually a hunger for His Word (the Bible) and for the presence of the Lord will follow, too, as we hunger and thirst for THE LIFE only He can give. Jesus told us,

Discerning Spirit and Soul

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being born again, deception, discerning the spirits, emotions, feelings, God's will, mind, reason, Satan, self-will power, T.A. Sparks, The Holy Spirit, The Soul, the will

Yesterday in the late evening after a phone call I suddenly felt or somehow “heard” inside me the title I chose above, “Discerning Spirit and Soul”. Immediately I wanted to start writing a blog article but it was late, almost midnight. Yet I could not get rid of this title inside my mind! It was as if it was strongly imprinted in my heart, too. As I felt no inclination to start writing so late and I had no idea what to write about this issue, either, I started a search on Google on this topic, adding T. A. Sparks. What I found there spoke to me, indeed. Although I have not read the whole article, I tried to keep it as short as possible and pasted what you can read further below.

Coronavirus – A Call For Repentance

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coronavirus, darkness, disaster, discerning the spirits, disobedience, dying in the wilderness, exhortation, God's love, God's voice, God's wrath, light, obedience, repentance, suffering, wisdom

This won’t be a long article as I just wanted to offer you a longer part from Scripture in which we see that God, though He is loving, never ignores ongoing sin in our lives. Whether we call it discipline or chastening, at times God’s hand might feel like punishing us. In such a case it is good to surrender all our negative feelings, our anger, our fears and our doubts to Him. There is no need to try to hide anything before God since He who knows everything knows our hearts also. Below you can read God’s call for repentance.

“I make peace and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.” (Isaiah 45:7 KJV)

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bad, coronavirus, disaster, discerning the spirits, drought, good, healing, locusts, pestilence, prayer, prophecy, repentance

I was just searching on the internet for the theologian who lately wrote about some Scriptures that truly hit me. However, I cannot find the website anymore. I recall it was a German or a Swiss theologian who quoted (inter alia) these verses from the Old Testament.

“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:13-14 ESV)

Does this sound familiar to you… somehow? 🙄

The Coronavirus Causing Chaos or… You Keep Him in Perfect Peace Whose Mind is Stayed on YOU

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coronavirus, discerning the spirits, encouragement, following Jesus, God's love, hope, Jesus Christ, joy, mind, Pandemia, peace, prayer, repentance, spiritual power, thought life

As I was just reading the whole chapter 26 from the prophet Isaiah, I began to wonder whether there might be a connection, a similarity to what the whole world is going through due to this pandemic coronavirus right now. Here in Bavaria after the case of disaster has been announced, everything has become chaotic. People have begun to act crazily, even insane at times. Dear brothers and sisters, even if we have to stay at home due to a ban on going out, I believe that God can help us out in everything. We won’t die of famine if we trust in Him, we won’t be ‘contaminated’ due to a lack of toilet paper or hand soap, and we will be able to experience joy and peace as the apostle Paul and Silas did when they were in prison (see Acts 16:25).

My Testimony – Part 2

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being born again, discerning the spirits, encouragement, experience, false teachers, following Jesus, Jesus Christ, joy, light, love, peace, prayer, rest, spiritual power

It was not my intention to write on the details about how I once came to Christ, but it somehow happened as I kept writing this blog post. So that’s why I chose this title. 😉 My purpose of writing today was showing you how easy it can be to get back under the law once we have been freed from it. I am not talking about Old Testament Law here. Instead, I want to describe my latest experiences on the internet, and then I am going to share another part of my spiritual journey with you. Btw, you can find the first part of my testimony here. Please note: I apologize to you for the bad quality of these old, darkened pictures I attached.  The camera my husband Paul used back then in 1995 did not have the same quality as the one he uses nowadays.

Mind Pollution vs. A Sound Mind

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discerning the spirits, encouragement, experience, feelings, following Jesus, God's love, Jesus Christ, peace, prayer, spiritual power, T.A. Sparks, the mind of Christ, thought life

I might be wrong but I imagine that the mind of Christ must be, and must have been as Jesus walked on the earth, like a deep, clear water that could not be moved by anything else but by the voice of His Father. We know that we as believers should be like-minded as we share the mind of Christ. Yet how often do we experience the opposite of clarity in our minds? Are we continually filled with good thoughts toward life, toward our neighbors (even our enemies!) and toward ourselves? 🙄

Resurrection Life vs. Resurrection Power … Reaching the Promised Land

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being born again, encouragement, following Jesus, Overcoming, resurrection power, spiritual power, T.A. Sparks, the promised land, Throne

In my latest article I quoted some statements from T. Austin Sparks regarding a life here on earth without being touched by the death all around us, something he called ‘a deathless life’. If that might be an amazing experience for us already, there is more God has had in mind He wants to share with us. It is even His own resurrection power! Again, here are some quotes from TAS.

A True Revival or… Living A Deathless Life

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being born again, darkness, encouragement, following Jesus, freedom, Jesus Christ, joy, light, spiritual power, T.A. Sparks, the new self, the promised land, true faith

T. Austin Sparks wrote,

What is the supreme evidence of the living God being amongst us? It is that we know Jesus Christ as triumphant over the power of death in our experience: for, having met death in its full power, its full force, its flood-tide, He triumphed. It was the flood-tide of death that was encountered at Calvary; death, in all that death means, something far beyond mere physical death, even all the terrible, wicked power of spiritual death. The Lord Jesus went into the flood of iniquitous death, and death’s power was taken from it, and it could not overflow. He broke the power of death and its curse, and made death stand back. “He tasted death in the behalf of every man“.