What a strange way to get inspired…

Tags

dying to self, inspiration, Life and Death, suffering, T.A. Sparks, the old self, trials, wilderness

Rosenheim/Inn 

April 30^th, 2017

Basically, I wanted to go to bed early. However, before I checked the internet as I sometimes do and there I read in the news that someone had died today. Not knowing who this man would be, I felt nudged to read more about him. Wikipedia told me that he was a Swiss man who passed away at the age of only forty years in the exercise of his favorite occupation which had been rock climbing and mountaineering. As I checked out his website, I clicked on some beautiful pictures I really marveled at. Not completely sure which photo I liked the most, I eventually chose one of them for my blog and began to write on here. Only a few minutes later I returned to this man’s website in order to insert this and, perhaps, another picture into my blog article, as I wondered again. Good pictures, yes. Even very good pictures, taken by a professional, no doubt about this. But where was this very first amazement I had felt? This awe and wonder, this joy about I-do-not-know-what-it-is as John of the Cross once called it (am paraphrasing him here). They were completely gone! I was no longer interested in these pictures that seemed to be normal, even ‘dead’ to me now and I decided to delete what I had just written, all at once. Well, God’s leading, you know, is truly a strange thing at times…

Endurance… despite it all

Tags

authority, discerning the spirits, dying to self, exhortation, experience, faith, glory, John of the Cross, resurrection power, self-will power, spiritual power, suffering, surrender, T.A. Sparks, the dark night of the soul, the dark night of the spirit

Germany’s highest church: Wendelstein Church/Upper Bavaria
(Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

I recall that someone once told me that they would continue to write and publish when they were through with their trials and everything was clearer to them. Well, as much as I have been tempted to share this point of view, more and more it appears to me that there ist no end of trials in this life, or is it? Sometimes God keeps us covered by His both unseen and unfelt protection in a deeply dark condition where all good things seem to have come to their very end. The stage of testing where mere and naked faith in God puts us through may last for a few days, for some weeks, for several months or even for many, many years. The length of that period is dependent on what God has in mind regarding our personal spiritual growth. It was John of the Cross who realized that the deeper the night, the higher the glory and divine authority we will be able to share afterwards (whenever afterwards is experienced).

Leaving the Security of the Shore Behind or… Following HIM Wherever HE Goes

Tags

dying to self, experience, faith, following Jesus, God's love, Jesus Christ, rest, the dark night of the soul, the dark night of the spirit

Gstad/Chiemsee (Upper Bavaria)

Having not much to say at the moment, I decided once again to simply publish some of my pictures and Scriptures in the hope that they might communicate that which I cannot share currently [Note: If you click on a pic, you will see it full screen].

When and why the Holy Spirit moves or… Transfiguration Through Trials (T.A. Sparks)

Tags

deception, discerning the spirits, exhortation, false spirits, Fellowship of His Sufferings, God's love, resisting temptation, spiritual power, spiritual transformation, suffering, T.A. Sparks, testing, the cross, the devil, trials, wilderness

I colori dell’infinito (The colors of infinity): Green standing for new life (through FAITH), white for purity (in HOPE), and red for God’s LOVE – freely adapted from John of the Cross
(Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

Today I want to make clear that being filled with the Holy Spirit has nothing to do with what we find as a common belief in some religious circles (Pentecostal and Charismatic in particular). When we receive the Holy Spirit through spiritual baptism, it is not primarily about getting power to preach the gospel, it is not about having some great spiritual gifts with which we could impress others, either, nor is it about beginning to shine like a radiant light bulb nobody could resist to look at. 😉 Just think about Jesus’ example we find described in the Bible. What happened after our Lord had been baptized with the Holy Spirit?

Beware of Job’s false friends

Tags

Christianity, compassion, dogs, fellowship, foxes, friends, God's voice, heart, Joseph Benson, Michael Clark, Satan, shepherd, swine, the new self, the old self, true faith, vipers, wickedness, wolves

“Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.” (Phil 3:8-12 KJV) – Photo by Susanne Schuberth

I have often pondered the thought to close the comments section completely and to remove the LIKE buttons, too. The reason why I have not done it until now was that I appreciate feedback on what I write and that I have learned a lot from commenters as well. However, it has become clear to me that this continued struggle to moderate or to not moderate responses, or to eventually delete replies I had moderated before as another hidden evil spirit finally manifested in a longer comment thread, this struggle is quite exhausting for me and it is very distracting at that. I sooo love and long to hear God’s voice through commenters and, dear reader, sometimes it really happens! There is a handful of faithful commenters who only weigh in when they have something encouraging to contribute. They act cautiously and lovingly, pondering on what God might have to say. As for these, I paste a quote I found today on my daily Catholic kitchen calendar. It reads,

“A friend is someone who takes your hand and touches your heart.” (Author unknown)

A Hard Lesson to Learn

Tags

circumcision of the heart, darkness, dying to self, experience, Fellowship of His Sufferings, following Jesus, God's love, joy, Morning Star, pain, Sickness, suffering, T.A. Sparks, the dark night of the soul, the mind of Christ

Wendelstein/Upper Bavaria
(Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

This will be a rather short blog post since I am not doing that well at the moment. Before sharing with you what I have learned lately, inspired by an exchange with a sister, I offer you two quotes from Francis of Sales who said,

“The indifferent heart is like a ball of wax in God’s hands, ready to accept all the impressions of his eternal good pleasure. It does not place its love in the things God wills, but in the will of God who wills them.”

“A truly loving heart loves God’s good pleasure, not only in consolations, but also in afflictions….”

Preaching the Cross without letting it kill us or… on Plagiarism, once again

Tags

blogging, discerning the spirits, disobedience, dying to self, experience, honesty, inspiration, killing sin, plagiarism, resisting temptation, sin, the cross, writing

Walking in the Light as He is in the Light…
(Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

It was not my intention to write a new blog post today and I hoped this would turn out a short one, but I thought I should share my recent experiences on the internet with you. In fact, I was simply searching for ANY other blog that deals with the cross of Christ on a personal basis. I truly wondered whether there might be a handful of such blogs nowadays. Here’s what I found out.

Before the thunderstorm…

Tags

circumcision of the heart, discerning the spirits, dying to self, experience, following Jesus, Michael Clark, pain, resurrection, Satan, the cross, the new self, the old self

Yesterday, before the thunderstorm…
(Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

Let me provoke you here a bit. I argue that Satan has ruled the Institutional Church (IC) from her early beginnings and I also believe he did not stop there. The devil even goes so far to draw those into his spider web of lies again who once would leave the institutional church system because they saw its serious shortcomings. And it does not seem to me that he has had great difficulties in doing so. Whoever does not preach the true gospel of Christ, but a mixed version that is more pleasing to the listener’s ear, has become deceived whether they know it or not. But alas, they do not know it. If they did, they would not be deceived, right? They could repent if God gave them eyes to see the truth. It is so saddening to observe when they are confronted with the truth, instead of repentance, false spirits rise up and manifest the spirit of antichrist aka the ‘instead-of-Christ-spirit’ as Michael Clark told me several times in the past. There is our old self’s nature, our fallen human nature, the flesh that always wants to be like God without obeying Him and His Spirit’s leading (cf. Gal 5:14). In his recent recent article Michael wrote,

Man loves to try to do the works of God, accumulate knowledge, know with his own mind, and imitate God instead of knowing God intimately with his heart and allowing God to conform him into the image of Christ by the plan and design of the Father. The fleshly state of fallen man still loves to eat the fruit of that same forbidden tree instead of Jesus, the Tree of Life (See John 6:51).

Religious man loves to collect Bible knowledge and knowledge of doctrines so he can decide for himself what is good and what is evil. He loves to heap to himself teachers that tickle his religious ears and to garner to himself degrees in theology. Yet, when the New Testament speaks of “knowing the Lord,” it speaks of an intimate knowing that goes much deeper than a mere accumulation of facts.

A Spirit-led Life

Tags

authority, desires, discerning the spirits, dying to self, exhortation, experience, following Jesus, God's guidance, heart, joy, obedience, passions, peace, Satan, T.A. Sparks, The Anointing, the old self

Photo by Susanne Schuberth

Let’s say, we find ourselves in a situation of which we are not sure how we got there and how we might come out of it (alive), either. I am not necessarily speaking of big things here. Just take an everyday situation. For instance, you meet someone who asks you to do something for them and you spontaneously offer your help. How can we discern here whether our reaction was led by the Holy Spirit or not? Are we always to help everyone or are we to say no to them, too? And if so, when? If we meet ten persons who need our help and we only have time for two or three, we will know that we ought to listen to the Holy Spirit’s guidance, right?

Small things and big things or… How to meet God in everyday life

Tags

Benedict of Nursia, Christianity, contemplation, deception, discerning the spirits, dying to self, experience, false gospel, false teachers, fame, following Jesus, Francis of Assisi, Jesus Christ, Joel Osteen, John of the Cross, Joyce Meyer, Lester Sumrall, mediation, Michael Clark, mystics, Resisting the Devil, riches, sacraments, Satan, success, Teresa of Ávila, the cross, worldly spirits, ZEN, Zig Ziglar

Photo by Susanne Schuberth

I just did a short research on the internet that left me quite frustrated, at least regarding the Christian notion of small things and big things. It has been quite obvious to me that this world is all about recognition, fame, money, fulfilling all your dreams and the pursuit of happiness through sensual pleasures. However, reading the views of famous and successful Christians (aha!), you could find several instructions and to-do lists on how to ”pray for the big things” (Joel Osteen) or the advice that ”spending time with God through prayer and His Word is a prerequisite for having a great life and fulfilling your purpose” (Joyce Meyer). The latter also said that, “I can tell you from experience that God’s help and presence in our lives is vital. He is the Author of all true success and everything that is good-without Him, we can do nothing of true value.” The problem with what these famous Christian preach and teach is that they sometimes offer a great deal of truth mixed with a tiny amount of lies. That can be really tricky at times as you might see when you read Joel Osteen’s whole quote that says, “I don’t think you should spend your life praying for things, but I do believe you should thank God for what He’s given you… but I think the scripture teaches us that we can pray for our dreams, pray for the big things… he’s not a small God; this God is incredible” (Emphasis in red is my suggestion of the little lies in these two quotes here).