Balaam and the Angel or… The Danger of Compromise

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compromise, controlling spirits, discerning the spirits, disobedience, entering his rest, entering the Kingdom of God, evil spirits, experience, false spirits, following Jesus, God's voice, God's wrath, grace, honesty, manipulative spirits, obedience, Resisting the Devil, rest, Satan, the enemy, the fear of God, the whole armour of God, transparency, visions, walking after the flesh, walking by the spirit

Landscape with Balaam (Joseph Anton Koch 1832/36) – German National Museum, Nürnberg

With compromising here I meant the temptation to mix the spirits in order to please people or ourselves more than God. In other words, God has told us to do something, but we begin to wonder after some time whether He might have changed His mind regarding the commandment once given. If God has shown us a certain direction we should walk in, we can be sure that He had good reasons why He led us that way. Whether we understand His guidance or not, it is always also for our spiritual protection if He warns us and tells us not to move along a way we might have chosen on our own. We read in the Book of Numbers,

“God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?” (Num 23:19 ESV)

Walking in the Spirit by Switching from One Kingdom to Another

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discerning the spirits, dying to self, encouragement, entering his rest, entering the Kingdom of God, experience, following Jesus, fruit of the Spirit, God's love, joy, love, patience, peace, rest, soul, spirit, spiritual power, the devil, the Kingdom of God, the new self, the old self, thought life, walking by the spirit

Dear brothers and sisters, I would have never expected that Jesus Christ would really enable us to move from the burden of self-life with all its stress and unsolvable problems to His restful life in the Kingdom of God. Actually, I always hoped that the possibility existed but I had almost given up on waiting for the enjoyment of continuous love, joy, peace, or even patience (something I NEVER knew before!). Apostle Paul encouraged the Philippians several times to “Rejoice IN the Lord always….. Indeed, I still ‘hear’ myself doubting this possibility a few months ago. However, it is true!

Life in the Spirit

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being born again, darkness, discerning the spirits, dreams, entering his rest, entering the Kingdom of God, evil spirits, experience, following Jesus, God's guidance, grace, prayer, Salt and Light, Satan, spirit and life, T.A. Sparks, the devil, the heavenlies, The Holy Spirit, the promised land, the whole armour of God, walking by the spirit

During the last weeks and months I published several articles on walking in the spirit. The connection between walking by the spirit and living in the spirit seems to be quite simple. Paul in his letter to the Galatians put it this way,

“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”  (Gal 5:25 KJV)

In THAT Day…

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becoming one, encouragement, entering his rest, entering the Kingdom of God, eternal life, experience, God our Father, God's love, Jesus Christ, joy, Oneness, prayer, promises, The Holy Spirit, the new self, the promised land

It was only lately that our Lord made me aware of numerous Scriptures, both in the Old and in the New Testament, that point us to a specific moment in time. It seems I usually read over this wording, thinking “in that day” would mean in the majority of cases a date far ahead of us in the future. I decided to focus on only three Scriptures from the Gospel of John here. What they have in common is that they all present God’s promises having been fulfilled in us.

What No Eye Has Seen…

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entering his rest, entering the Kingdom of God, eternal life, experience, Fellowship of His Sufferings, God our Father, God's love, Jesus Christ, joy, new life, peace, poem, revelation, suffering, the dawning of a new day, the promised land, trials, visions, walking by the spirit, Walking in the Light

You might remember what the apostle Paul said about his overwhelming spiritual experiences, his visions and his thorn that kept him from being conceited. Paul wrote,

1 I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.
2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows.
3 And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—
4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.
5 On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses—
6 though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me.
7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.
8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.
9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Cor 12:1-10 ESV)

What does a real saint look like? You might wonder… 😉

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being born again, called by God, devotion, entering the Kingdom of God, experience, fame, family, following Jesus, friends, Humility, humor, Jesus Christ, miracles, Ordinary Life, Oswald Chambers, relationships, revelation, sanctification, servanthood, success, the new self, the old self, walking by the spirit

Just reading Oswald Chambers’ devotional from tomorrow, I was truly hit by what he had to say. I need to admit that it does not happen very often that I appreciate his devotionals because I do not like his sometimes accusatory style of writing (preaching). I am paraphrasing him here a bit, “Do you think you have already arrived? Are you sure you belong to the Lord Jesus? You should not do this … you should not do that… you [seem to do it all wrong – the latter were my words].” This posture reminds me of preachers on the pulpit who seemingly dwell in another, higher spiritual region than their more or less attentive audience does. If we compare such accusations with how often the apostle Paul humbled himself before other, less mature Christians, we might know where and when we must be cautious about believing what we hear or read from other people. Nonetheless, I can tell you whenever Chambers goes over to including himself into what he has to say, I am happy! Lo and behold… below. 😊

It’s High Time to leave…

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discerning the spirits, entering the Kingdom of God, experience, following Jesus, light, walking by the spirit

My new bike tail light
(Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

As you might have already assumed, dear reader, this blog is dying. After almost five years on the internet, I sensed more and more that God drew me closer to Himself and away from this world. In fact, Christian blogs today are for the most part worldly blogs and bloggers who are truly Spirit-led are a rare find nowadays. It is no different in my private life, dear brothers and sisters. Here in Germany there is nobody but me who knows the Lord and I cannot say I like that. However, it seems to be God’s plan for my life to walk with Him now, once again, in secrecy. That means, that I more and more realized that I cannot share, neither privately nor publicly, what I have experienced with Him anymore. One reason is that I feel a delicacy about sharing God’s mysteries, particularly on the internet which is, in my humble opinion, a shark pool where all kinds of evil spirits drown out the small and subtle voice of God. The other one is that “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor 2:9 ESV) cannot be expressed in mere human words. Also, apostle Paul told us,

Trust and obey or… On how to walk after the spirit

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discerning the spirits, entering his rest, entering the Kingdom of God, experience, feelings, heart, inner man, intuition, joy, mind, new life, obedience, outer man, pain, soul, spirit, the dawning of a new day, the new self, the promised land, thought life, walking by the spirit, Watchman Nee

“Blessings to those who are doing his Commandments; their authority shall be over The Tree of Life, and they shall enter The City by the gates.” (Rev 22:14 Aramaic Bible in Plain English)
Photo by Susanne Schuberth

Just lately God both nudged and even urged me to do several things which, to my own reason and habits, did not make any sense to me at that time. I saw no real danger, I only felt uneasy in my belly region about certain people and their way of thinking and believing. However, more and more every day, I felt that God wanted me to obey Him without understanding in advance WHY I should follow Him. In order to make me do so He caused great pains in my heart, severe sorrow and deep grief so that I thought I could not endure it any longer. As I eventually gave up on my own ideas of how life should turn out, how people should be, and on my own habits of dealing with and thinking about people, God gave me the strength to obey Him in a way that was not possible for me before. As I finally did several things He wanted me to do, my heart was all of a sudden flooded with such an intense supernatural joy that I even had to cry out loudly. “Wow!!!” 🙂 Oh, how quickly heartfelt obedience that seeks the approval of God and no longer the approval of man is rewarded by our Father in heaven who is ALWAYS pleased when His children ask Him for His wisdom and guidance in all things! In order to bring my joy home to you too, I posted  that photograph above. I would see that beautiful tree on my prayer walk yesterday and I KNEW I had to take a picture.  😉

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.

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)