Who Hath Believed Our Message?

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death, discerning the spirits, eternal life, exhortation, experience, following Jesus, freedom, head knowledge, heart knowledge, Jesus Christ, life, revelation, spiritual blessings, T.A. Sparks, The Holy Spirit, true faith, unbelief

This time I want to be rather silent and offer you an interpretation of Isaiah, chapter 53, verses 1-12, by T. Austin-Sparks. I guess most of us are familiar with this chapter that describes the suffering Messiah. But have we ever pondered on the possibility that we might reject our Savior Jesus Christ, not as the One who has died for our sins, but as the One who has revealed Himself to us personally because He wanted to lead us further into the truth… than we were willing to accept?

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A Testimony That Counts

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dying to self, experience, following Jesus, God our Father, heart, joy, legalism, light, Lord Jesus Christ, mind, rest, spiritual power, Spiritual Warfare, T.A. Sparks, Testimony, the cross, the light of the world, throne union, true faith, trusting God, walking by the spirit

To start off with, the title I chose was part of a sentence from T. Austin-Sparks whose article I will be referring to further below. As for me, dear brothers and sisters, actually, it is getting more and more difficult to write a blog. Not that I do not have experiences with God I could share with you. I could. But either I do not have the time to write (for mainly private reasons) or I do not sense the Spirit’s ‘nudge’ to publish what He has shown me. Often times I think it could not help anyone if I described my struggles in the heavenlies. This continous warfare in the dark spiritual realm can be very exhausting, esp. when faith is lacking. Christ is always beside me, but do I fully trust Him? Alas, not yet.

Then again I may gain new spiritual (!) experiences, things I cannot even describe properly as they are completely new to me, too. For instance, have you ever you walked on air, without any visible fundament to tread on?  🙄 In the beginning it was a joy and even fun to walk or stand with Jesus to my right side way above the earth where no path, no mountain, no landscape beneath was needed. I take it that He should be the only fundament we need. He wants us to be completely dependent on Him so that He can release His power and spiritual blessings in and through us. Jesus said,

Crucified with Christ, the Power of God

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being led by the Holy Spirit, entering his rest, experience, faith, God's love, grace, Jesus Christ, Liberty, Michael Clark, new life, peace, resurrection power, spiritual blessings, spiritual power, surrender, T.A. Sparks, the cross, walking by the spirit

Do we want more spiritual power, authority and persuasiveness in our lives? If so, then we ought to let go of trying to produce these with self-effort of any kind. Michael Clark lately said to me, “It is amazing what God can do as soon as we get out of the picture.” Being crucified with Christ, conformed to His death, and risen to a completely new life with Him, means we have resolved to get out of the picture every day so that HE can live HIS LIFE through us.

The Secret of Heart Rest

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being born again, experience, faith, following Jesus, God's love, grace, new life, peace, prayer, quietness of heart, rest, T.A. Sparks, the cross, The Lord's Prayer, thought life, walking by the spirit

I could have chosen another title also. But I guess the following, at first sight, might have had a slightly discouraging connotation. Nevertheless, the other title would have signified the same. I was thinking about the heading ‘Getting LIFE through the Cross.’ As you can see in the picture I posted above, there is a sort of summit cross, standing on a rock (!), out of which leaves have started to grow on all four sides which are to represent the whole world. Green leaves symbolize life as we know from Noah’s story, for instance.

The Simplicity that is ours IN CHRIST

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beholding God, discerning the spirits, dying to self, encouragement, entering his rest, experience, faith, following Jesus, freedom, Jesus Christ, mind, new life, purity, revelation, simplicity, spiritual power, T.A. Sparks, the cross, The Holy Spirit, the mind of Christ, walking by the spirit

The simplicity that is ours in Christ is not the exact wording Scripture offers since the apostle Paul voiced his misgivings when he said the following,

“But I am afraid that, even as the serpent beguiled Eve by his cunning, your minds may be corrupted and led away from the simplicity of [your sincere and] pure devotion to Christ.” (2 Cor 11:3 AMP)

If our Christian life does not always appear to be that easy or simple, maybe, there is a reason why we sometimes struggle so much. This Bible verse above suggests that our focus might turn out to be the root cause of our conflicts. As an illustration, let us think for a moment about a small baby that has just started to explore the life in which it was born. During their first year on earth, babies seem to be intrigued by everything and everyone that comes into view. With big round eyes they gaze at whomever and whatever could be looked at. And how very long they can stare at the object observed! If they watch a human being keeping eye contact with them, they will often start to smile in an irresistible way at that.  😊

The Unknown Door or …What Fellowship with the Lord Provides

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discerning the spirits, dreams, encouragement, experience, faith, Fellowship with God, following Jesus, freedom, God's guidance, God's Promises, God's voice, healing, joy, prayer, reasoning with God, suffering, T.A. Sparks, The Holy Spirit, true faith, visions, walking by the spirit

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I do not want to anticipate the result of my latest struggles yet, however, I can tell you that I started to see that getting to know God’s thoughts on everything often comes from listening to the Holy Spirit during our more silent times of the day. I got a confirmation of my deliberations from T. Austin Sparks whose article on prayer I am going to mention further below again. (1) Alas, it is so easy to get sucked into the busyness and distractions of our everyday life that we usually only feel a bit uneasy when we are confronted with some unexpected “thing” or an unexpected “someone” in the middle of the day. We might not know where this discomfort has come from, but God knows. Whether He shows us the reason for IT through Scriptures, in dreams, or visions – as I have said before, that is not important. What is important, though, is that God wants to tell us something in order to set us free.

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)

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)

On how to not “Walk by the Spirit”

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discerning the spirits, encouragement, experience, faith, following Jesus, gospel, grace, knowing God, sanctification, T.A. Sparks, the heavenlies, thought life, walking after the flesh, walking by the spirit

It was only yesterday in the evening as I was occupied with tidying up the living room when I asked myself this question, “When should I walk in the Spirit?” to which God’s immediate response was, “Now!” Honestly, that gave me a pause.  🙄 Although I recalled having prayed quick prayers when I was busy with similar mundane activities before, I rather thought about walking by the spirit whenever I was confronted with decisions of any kind as to what and how to do something. That means in particular, when I left the house I asked God about leading me. When I had to write emails or to do some phone calls, I asked Him to show me what to say and to give me His wisdom in all things. And I really thought that was enough. But no, it was not!

Misconceptions of God

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commandments, cults, discerning the spirits, encouragement, exhortation, experience, faith, false spirits, God's love, Holiness, image of God, Jesus Christ, obedience, prayer, Righteousness, Seeking God, sin, the Bible, the fear of God, the Word of God

More than 20 years ago after having left the Christian cult we were in, I felt that God was not half as judgmental as it had been suggested there in that missionary congregation. My own experiences with God and Jesus made me think that HE was quite the opposite of what I had heard back then. It would seem to me that God’s grace revealed in Christ did not judge anyone at all. From hence, for quite some time I was convinced that God was love, and only love. However, what about all this evil in the world and what about evil people? No judgment? No condemnation? Only forgiveness for everyone without any consequences? So many questions which I, sooner or later, could not ignore any longer…