The Cost of Discipleship

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blessings, comfort, experience, following Jesus, Jesus Christ, joy, miracles, peace, spiritual power, suffering, T.A. Sparks, the cross

I need to admit that I am not gladly writing this new blog article. Nonetheless, it seems to be a recurring lesson in our life (with God) that we need to let go of so many things. In fact, we are not only to let go of ‘things’, but also of good or bad people, of opinions once dearly held, of our good old habits, of our bodily constitution, of what we ourselves would have called good health etc. I put ‘with God’ in parentheses as I think that all mankind has to go through similar trials whether they believe in God or not. However, if we see ourselves as followers of Jesus Christ, is there a particular reward, a blessing of sorts if we have become (partly) acquainted with grief and sorrow as our Lord had been?  🙄

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“.

Who really has an impact on this world?

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a holy life, blogging, discerning the spirits, exhortation, experience, false spirits, Flesh vs. Spirit, following Jesus, God's love, human love, Satan, spiritual power, T.A. Sparks, Testimony, the new self, the old self, walking by the spirit

I think many of you might know the temptation to give in to people who do not know God, people by whom you want to be appreciated, though, even despite their sometimes profane remarks. We may not always be able to really like what they say, but we do not want to offend other people, either, or do we? Granted, there is a species of human beings who love to offend others continually; it is like a sport to them. But I do not speak of such personalities. Instead, I refer to those believers who try to live a Christian life and know about the difficulties to obey God when our old nature rather wants to cave in to ‘other spirits’, esp. when such human beings habitually impose their (strong self-) will on others. Our constant struggle to decide between flesh and spirit, as you know, was perfectly described by Paul here.

Christianity does not equal the Kingdom of God

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being born again, blogging, Christianity, eternal life, experience, eyes of the heart, following Jesus, Jesus Christ, joy, knowing God, pain, peace, reading, spiritual power, sting of death, writing

Not that I was hell-bent on publishing another blog post. However, since I was housebound until craftsmen had done their work in our flat, I decided to read a bit on the internet which I had not done often lately. Still, it seems to me a pretty boring matter to get back on the internet after having experienced LIFE, real LIFE that is a gift from God, divine LIFE that cannot be conferred on anybody, esp. not in such an artificial place as the internet is. Presenting truths to people whom we most probably will never ever come to know personally in this life time has become a frustrating experience over the last months (years?) to me. Having said this, you might wonder why I keep writing, though.

How to find out another ‘Christian’ spirit

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common sense, courage, deception, discerning the spirits, duty, exhortation, experience, false spirits, following Jesus, God's guidance, Jesus Christ, light, Light and Darkness, obedience, Oswald Chambers, peace, resurrection power, spiritual power, Truth in Love, Walking in the Light

“For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts…” (Ps 95:7-8 ESV)

I have come to know several people who thought they were led by the Holy Spirit, who believed in Jesus as their Lord, and who prayed to God, their Father. Alas, the spirits they usually listen to are mostly the voices of their own soul’s desires, their own mind’s ideas, and their self’s pushing interests. Here the question arises whether it makes sense to try to correct someone who is absolutely convinced of being led by God? I am afraid it might be of little help to do so unless God tells us to open our mouths in His perfect time. But speaking up and telling them the truth might turn out a damaging experience if these people are too unstable to be confronted with their deception yet. Maybe, they are confused, maybe, they are mentally sick, maybe, they were led into error by the wrong people.

Trust in HIM – A Biblical Promise in Pictures

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experience, freedom, God's love, joy, light, peace, resurrection power, spiritual power, the Kingdom of God, the new self, the promised land

Instead of offering my readers another blog article with, perhaps, too many words, I decided to show you some of the pictures I took last Sunday as we celebrated my husband Paul’s 54th BD in the Bavarian Alps. The first picture above and the second below were taken three days earlier as I was walking alone on a not-so-high mountain after I had spent some time with my daughter on her first day of stay in a hospital nearby.

“Close your eyes and see!”

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darkness, dream life, experience, eyes of the heart, faith, God's love, heart, light, spiritual power, thought life

My companion on a prayer walk yesterday…
(Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

You might think I am crazy and, perhaps, you are right. 😊 Just now as I was randomly browsing my older blog posts on here, rereading what I could see up to the ‘read-more-tag’ (aka “Continue reading…”), I was hit by a Scripture I had copied and pasted beneath one of my pictures. What struck me was the following (highlighted) part of 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 which reads,

“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Cor 4:17-18 ESV)

We know that God’s truth is most often so simple that it can easily be ignored, or even laughed about by someone who does not know God and wants to have it a bit more sophisticated to please their intellectual mind. But not so with our humorous God who turns into ridicule what people say who think they got Him all figured out. We read,

I AM the Resurrection

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death, eternal life, experience, good works, grace, life after death, Life and Death, Martin Luther, Nicky Gumbel, Pippa Gumbel, salvation, true faith, truth

When time as we know it comes to an end, eternity in Christ begins.
(Picture taken from http://riverbankoftruth.com/)

Just lately I felt concerned about those who are grieved because they do not know whether their loved ones will be saved or not. Even looking closely at other people, we sometimes perceive no outward sign of faith in Jesus Christ. BUT that does not mean that they won’t be saved!

Knowing the Lord through the Fellowship of His Sufferings

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being born again, darkness, discerning the spirits, experience, following Jesus, heart, knowing God, suffering, T.A. Sparks, the cross, the dark night of the soul, the dark night of the spirit, the new self, the old self

The Visual Bible: Matthew
(Source http://hsbnoticias.com/cine/movies/148050-the-visual-bible-matthew)

All human beings suffer. It begins with being born when both mother and child must suffer until they have been fully separated from one another. Suffering continues when we grow up and see that this world is not what we hoped for or expected it to be. Neither are we perfect, nor is it our environment including the people we know. We may have had many wishes and desires in our lifetime of which only a few were fulfilled. Or worst case, even none of them! Furthermore, we suffer from diseases we would not have chosen if we had been asked before. We suffer from being rejected and misunderstood, from being hurt and offended, and so on and so on…