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.

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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 Other Side of the Cross

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being born again, discerning the spirits, dying to self, encouragement, entering his rest, experience, eyes of the heart, faith, following Jesus, freedom, grace, Jesus Christ, joy, mind, peace, rest, suffering, the cross, the devil, The Holy Spirit, thought life, walking by the spirit

Before sitting down in front of my computer, I had no clue as to whether I would ever write and publish again, neither had I any idea about what to write at all. Hesitatingly, I had checked out my blog “Entering the Promised Land”. Jesus recently told me to delete those three drafts of blog posts I had started writing during the last six months. One might ask what has happened during this rather long period since February this year after I had published Speak My Words. Indeed, it was exactly THIS! Our Lord taught me to rather speak than to write. This particular lesson had begun with a close observation of my conversational and thought habits.

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!

Who are the 144,000?

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ambition, aspiration, desires, discerning the spirits, dying to self, emotions, encouragement, entering his rest, experience, eyes of the heart, following Jesus, God's love, joy, light, love, mind, Mount Zion, peace, soul, suffering, T.A. Sparks, the 144.000, the Lamb, the mind of Christ, the will, walking by the spirit

Several Christians over the last centuries have had thoughts and ideas about who these particular people mentioned in the Book of Revelation might be. One might ask whether there could be a single Christian denomination or belief system that would be able to comprise those 144,000 who seem to occupy a very special position, maybe, even the best position possible as to their closeness to God?  🙄

I saw in my last post where I mainly published longer excerpts from T. Austin Sparks that it does not make much sense to go on doing so. It seems I should offer some explanations combined with my own experiences or insights regarding all topics so that the whole article gets more vivid. Actually, I know myself how tedious the simple reading of facts without enlightening examples can be.  😉 So I decided to include only short excerpts by TAS where I thought it might be helpful and to also offer my own ideas as to the following Scriptures. As for these 144,000, the apostle John describes what he saw in the Book of Revelation.

“Redeeming Love.” by Patrick Maina

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adultery, being led by the Holy Spirit, discerning the spirits, experience, family, following Jesus, forgiveness, friends, God's guidance, God's love, grace, Patrick Maina, Reblog, sin

I really enjoyed reading Patrick Maina’s compassionate blog on how a friend of him became a tool to extend God’s love and grace to his wife. It is always encouraging for me to read about Christians who truly listen to Jesus’ voice!  🙂

Life beyond the walls

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. (John 15:13)

The moment I saw Josh walk through the gate, I knew there was something terribly wrong. It did not take him more than five steps before breaking down in tears , proving my suspicion right. I had to run to support him from his staggering walk. As awkward as it felt at first, I found myself providing a shoulder for him to cry on.

African men are not supposed to cry, but Josh was no typical man. He had his stack of stories for his atypical life. Even then, it was the first time to see him cry and I could only try and fill up for myself what could have happened – he just kept mumbling words in the line of, “ndugu yangu, kwa nini haya? (my brother, why these?)”

With…

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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…

Two Kinds of Rest

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bondage, burden, discerning the spirits, duties, encouragement, entering his rest, freedom, relief, rest, the new self, the old self

To be honest with you, sometimes I would rather write theoretically about any topic I have only heard of than always sharing what I have just experienced with God. If I could talk about another great revelation of sorts, okay, everybody would like to share or read such stories. But another lesson learned through worries, doubts, fears, stress, and suffering? Therefore, what I ask myself often is this, ‘Who really wants to read my testimonies about the latter anyway?’… Only those who can relate, I guess.

What Really Counts in Life

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aging, blessings, books, commandments, death, disaster, discerning the spirits, exhortation, experience, following Jesus, God's love, hurry, Judgment, mind, obedience, rest, restlessness, the fear of God, the Kingdom of God, the new self, the old self, this world, thought life, waiting, wisdom, youth

If someone nurtures soaring hopes and plans, we might tell them to stay more grounded or earthed instead. But have you ever heard someone suggest to you to get more ‘heavened’? 🙄 If you, like me, often times wonder about the seeming hopelessness of our existence as we cannot sense the presence of God while (sometimes ridiculous) everyday troubles keep preying on our minds, you might have also observed non-Christians who can seemingly live their lives confronted with less problems and difficulties than we can. Yet, in the long run, that is not the truth. The Book of Ecclesiastes tells us some sobering facts.