“Today, if you hear His voice…”

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authority, discerning the spirits, entering his rest, experience, eyes of the heart, fellowship, following Jesus, God's guidance, God's voice, hearing, obedience, resisting temptation, Satan, T.A. Sparks, the devil, the fear of God, The Holy Spirit, thought life, walking by the spirit, wisdom

I wonder what the Lord tries to tell you and me today. Actually, I believe God wants to help us in ALL things concerning our everyday life. He is eager to lead us into ALL the truth about everything through the Holy Spirit (cf. Jn 16:13). Since God rarely approaches us with a loud voice unless a severe warning is necessary, some of His messages go unnoticed. If our minds are busily occupied with the handling of appointments, schedules, and deadlines, His subtlety is easily ignored.

Everyone can hear the Voice of God

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dreams, encouragement, experience, God's love, Heaven and Hell, Jesus Christ, joy, light of life, ransom, redemption, righteousness by faith, salvation, sin, suffering, visions

As my closer walk with God through Jesus in 1995 had just begun, one of the first books He nudged me to read was the Book of Job, again and again. It was not ‘fun’ to read but important for me to know beforehand about these years of suffering and pain that were still ahead of me back then. I decided to copy and paste a longer Scripture that deals with the WHY and HOW God speaks to ALL people in this world through dreams, visions, and more often than not through adverse circumstances. To Job who would think he was a righteous man Elihu said,

Natural Life versus Kingdom Life or… How Do We Enter the Kingdom of God?

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being born again, church, deception, discerning the spirits, dying to self, exhortation, experience, eyes of the heart, Jesus Christ, joy, peace, Righteousness, T.A. Sparks, the Kingdom of God, the new self, the old self

Source http://www.lovethispic.com

We know what Jesus said about the Kingdom of God. So, just in case someone wants to convince us of already living IN the kingdom (although we do not really know what that might mean) or tells us that he himself lives there, we should remember Jesus’ words on how we can get there and on how the kingdom of God is NOT. We read,

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” (Jn 3:5-7 ESV)

Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” (Lk 17:21-22 ESV)

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.

Some Thoughts on Spiritual Sight – by Faith

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beauty, beholding God, experience, eyes of the heart, faith, God's love, John Gill, psychology, the Kingdom of God, the promised land

“Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.” (Isaiah 33:17 KJV) – Photo by Susanne Schuberth

On yesterday’s bike ride with the Lord the weather was not that fine. It would be pretty cold and looked as if it might rain sooner or later. Also, I was extremely tired and felt rather low because of a certain dizziness and some physical pain, too. As I was struggling to get ahead against the strong wind, I suddenly saw some lovely spots of color in an altogether gray and green picture that nature presented. I could not help but stop my bike and gather the colorful bouquet of flowers you can see in the photo I posted above.  😉

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.

Sanctification – our spiritual workout

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experience, faith, feeling, God's love, mountain top experiences, mystery, Oswald Chambers, rest, sanctification, seeing God, thought life

Just a Look from Above…
(Photo by Paul Schuberth)

Just imagine you were an experienced mountain climber and there was a particular mountain you know like the back of your hand. You have been at the summit several times, you even found different ways to climb up and down, your muscles are athletically trained, and your body knows how to deal with sudden pains and injuries too. Looking at the sky before you begin to climb, you know from your own experience without consulting the weather forecast which weather lies ahead of you and you know which clothing and how much food you will need.

Spiritual Gifts and Fellowship

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Body of Christ, experience, eyes of the heart, fellowship, God's love, Jesus Christ, knowing, natural talent, spiritual gifts

At the End of the Day … All Good Things Come from Above
(Photo by Sarah Schuberth)

Basically, the Body of Christ should consist of many different members with many different gifts and we should all submit to one another according to the gifts the others have been given. That is the way the church initially was meant to be when the first Christians had no Bible as we know it today. We read in 1 Corinthians chapter 12,

Some Thoughts on Reading… and Writing

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books, Christian books, head knowledge, heart knowledge, Jesus Christ, reading, the Bible, truth, writing

Snowflakes or Snowsticks? 😉
(Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

Today I have been wondering how to publish a new blog post despite a permanent headache, no inspiration, and ongoing dying pains of self in heart and mind. On the one hand, I thought I should write another article, but on the other hand I was truly too worn out. Finally, I laid it all back into God’s hands and after cooking dinner and tidying up the kitchen, He reminded me of a comment I wrote for another blog exactly 3 weeks ago, a comment which had not been approved because of that blog site’s incompatibility with my Google account. The topic on which I wrote was the pros and cons of reading, particularly Christian books, of course. Here’s my comment.

Sensual Experience versus Spiritual Experience

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baby, childhood, church, eyes of the heart, freedom, God's love, Jack Hayford, Jessica Leah Springer, Jesus Christ, John Wesley, Lamar Boschman, love, parents, psychology, quotes, sensual experience, spiritual experience, Tim Hughes, worship in spirit and truth

Woman at the Well
(Picture taken from http://catholicalcoholic.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/woman-at-the-well-5001.jpg)

As soon as a baby realizes that it was urged to leave the security and coziness of its mother’s womb, s/he tries to hold fast onto something that is tangible and offers security for the anxious heart. Similarly, if our eyes are not yet accustomed to the new light which spiritually shines on us, we urgently need something to cling to until we feel secure again and can let go of our pillars that are perceptible to the senses.

Today I was reminded of Jesus’ dialogue with the woman at the well. We read,

The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he. Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” (Jn 4:19-29 ESV)