How God meets man… or what does it mean to be IN Christ?

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being born again, darkness, experience, God's love, joy, light, living water, pain, the dark night of the soul, The Holy Spirit, the new self, the old self, the promised land

The River of No Return…
(Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

I just had an interesting picture on my mind. Imagine all people in this world initially walk through barren and desolate land for the most part of their lifetime. But sometimes some of them suddenly see an oasis before their eyes. They can hardly believe that they now can leave the wilderness they were in for a very long time and sparks of hope begin to take root inside their hearts. However, alas, as they come closer and closer, they realize that what they had seen within their reach seemed to be only a Fata Morgana since it was gone as soon as they wanted to take possession of it. Grievously disappointed and discouraged they find themselves forced to continue on their journey through the desert, but they cannot forget the beauty of the place they would see before being able to arrive there.

Becoming Like Little Children

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childlike faith, experience, healing, little children, Oswald Chambers, peace, rest, spiritual power, surprises, the promised land, triggers, trusting God, vacation

Moving on to pastures new…
(Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

Imagine God asked you to go on vacation with Him. Not next year, not tomorrow, no, right now. You would not know where you’d go to, how it looked like, and what might happen to you, however, you could be sure that God would care for everything you might ever need and that He would give you perfect peace 24/7 if you trust in Him (Is 26:3). Furthermore, God told you that you could stay there with Him, even forever. “Pipe dreams,” one might say, “Interesting,” might add another. These two responses certainly came from adults who not only lost their illusions, which might be a good thing, but maybe, they also lost their hope and dreams. Now imagine God asked a little child this very same question. How would he or she react? I think we know the answer…

Can we see God in this life already?

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Baptism in the Holy Spirit, being born again, experience, eyes of the heart, faith, glory, Holy Spirit, John of the Cross, Martha Jesus, presence of God, seeing God, the dark night of the senses, the dark night of the soul, the dark night of the spirit, the new self, the old self, the promised land

SEEING GOD means a shift in perspective… 😉
(Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

It seems to me that there are at least five different stages of perceiving the presence of God. Our perception, or even sight of Him, increases and improves when we have reached the next stage. All happens by the grace o God, of course. What I did not include here are dreams and visions which are something that can happen anytime whether we find our selves in stage 1, 2, 3, or 4. However, they are not as important as being led by God continuously. In fact, from my own experience I know that an immense amount of dreams and visions have their origin in the dark realm of Satan who loves to appear as the Angel of Light. Stage 5, finally, is the fully enlightened and perfected saint who can see God directly and does not need dreams or visions any longer (regarding dreams and visions I was just paraphrasing John of the Cross). Here is my biblical approach on these five various, progressively blessed conditions of heart, mind, and soul.

What is the Kingdom of God about?

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being born again, entering the Kingdom of God, experience, God's love, seeing God, the new self, the promised land

Take your time and think about it…
( St. Paul’s Church in Fürth – Photo by Paul Schuberth )

Here are just a few thoughts of mine.

We only need His power of love and the rest will fall into its place. It is so simple the kingdom of God: First He makes us see it and later He lets us enter. Eventually, when we have entered the Kingdom of God, He teaches all of us so that we can stop teaching each other.

Jumping into the Unknown

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Augustine of Hippo, following Jesus, freedom, joy, justification, rest, sanctification, silence, spiritual power, the new self, the old self, the promised land

God’s Hand keeps us secure – always
(Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

What is the goal we will reach after a comparatively short justification process and very long sanctification process? Actually, I want to offer you some food for thought here.
Although I believe that only a handful of people experienced that blissful condition of having died to self completely, it might be interesting to read Augustine of Hippo’s thoughts about how our whole inner life will have changed as soon as we have entered the invisible kingdom of God.

Dependent on HIM

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childlike faith, children, earthly parents, entering the Kingdom of God, faith, freedom, God's love, hope, peace, the promised land, trust, trusting God

Blackbird Baby Enjoying the Sun on a Bicycle Pedal
(Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

What does a baby know about tomorrow? Is it really necessary that children who have reliable parents care about their own wellbeing?
I do know that not all earthly parents can be good parents because some have had a bad childhood that made them incapable of perceiving the needs of their own children. And some of you who read this blog even lost your parents when you would be little children yourselves. But you might have become parents of your own and thus you know that parents usually are able to give good gifts to their children as Jesus confirmed,

“What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Lk 11:11-13 ESV)

Within the Stillness of our Being… (updated November 14, 2016)

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city, desert, discerning the spirits, ears of the heart, God's voice, Michael Clark, Michael Fishbane, Mother Theresa, peace, Philo of Alexandria, quietness of heart, Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel, seek and find, wilderness

Fresh Cucumber Leaf
(Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

November 14, 2016

I thought I could repost this article from 2015 as a featured post in front of all others because I hope that others might be helped, too, when they are reminded of how we can more clearly perceive God’s still and small voice in our restless and noisy times. May God bless you all who still drop by on here!  

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I think it got more and more obvious to some lately that I spend less time on the internet, both on my blogs, on other blogs and on social media. Not that it had been my initial intention to do so, yet there were some incidents in my family that were like a real “wake-up call” for me. Writing blog posts and comments should not be a burden, right? If I was all alone and had no widely ramified kinship and other tasks apart from the net, I would perhaps go on with writing and reading other blogs as I did before. Although I tried several times during the last year (yes, my blogs will have their first anniversary in June) to step back a bit, I needed to be freed by God recently to really do so, finally. As a dear brother, Michael Clark, often says, “In Him we live and move and have our being, NOT our doing.” I truly love the wisdom of these few words. As long as I cannot rest in Him, I cannot really do a “good” thing for God, either. That’s for sure, since disturbance and a peaceful loving heart rarely go together.

A Life Redeemed, now……or later?

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circumstances, eternal life, experience, joy, life after death, new life, Oswald Chambers, seeing God, spiritual power, spiritual transformation, wilderness

The desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus…
(Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God.
Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.”
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.

Getting a New Perspective on Life

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Allegory of the Cave, being born again, experience, Glaucon, Jesus Christ, light, other religions, philosophy, Plato, Socrates, the Kingdom of God

The (B)right Sight of Life…
(Source http://www.pinterest.com/pin/258816309809364763/)

Identification problems? 😉 Looking at that pic above, I can tell you that before Christ I was like one of these four girls on the left who listen to a human teacher and try to do what he or she tells them. However, since I have come to know God better and better, I find myself seemingly alone like the girl on the right side that watches the world from a completely new perspective. As I got that photo attached to an email recently, I had to laugh out loud since below the pic I could read,”Susanne in Ballet Class,” and that is indeed the way I feel when I am confronted with traditional religion or normal human reasoning which wants to figure out who God is and how He leads us human beings.

The Dawning of the New Creation…

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being born again, dark night of the soul, darkness, eyes of the heart, God's love, joy, new creation, pain, the new self, the old self, the promised land, true faith

The Dawning of Wisdom
(Source http://www.theosophytrust.org)

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Cor 5:17 ESV)

Have you ever realized that the new creation we are to be can only be found IN Him? I read that passage and others which speak about being IN Him over and over, but I felt there was still something missing regarding my interpretation of these Scriptures so that I could write about it more clearly. Although I have been feeling Christ IN me since 2008 without interruption – and sometimes before too – those periods of having been IN Him were always transient in nature. However, I hoped and believed that one day my life would be changed into a “24/7 experience” of being IN Him as well. Or in other words, what I am speaking of here is entering into His rest, entering the promised land, that means, being able to see the kingdom of God everywhere, having our spiritual senses that belong to our new heart completely opened. Being IN Christ is a condition where our perception of God and the world is completely changed. We perceive everything around us in a new light that can be both seen inside of us and outside of us in every created thing. To put it briefly, we are enabled to see God wherever we might be and whatever we might look at.