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…

Getting Old Ain’t for Sissies…. BUT GOD

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aging, blogging, diseases, dying to self, experience, faith, family, following Jesus, God's love, hope, love, marriage, my grandparents, my parents, the old self, World War II

My parents in the 1970s

I know it’s been a while since I published the last blog article (five months, oh well). Even just yesterday I was wondering whether I would be done with writing publicly as I have felt NO inclination to jot down my experiences with God for a rather long time. No time and no interest in blogging at all! Furthermore, I have experienced a very dry spiritual “blah time”. You know, these times when everything seems to be so “normal”, so arduous and boring that you might wonder whether you had known God at all.  🙄

Self under Arrest

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anointing, being born again, deliverance, discerning the spirits, entering his rest, esoteric movements, experience, faith, introspection, Jesus Christ, self-analysis, T.A. Sparks, the new self, the old self

Imagine you keep meeting your loved ones not only today but also… yesterday… and tomorrow. This is both grammatically wrong and seems to be a ridiculous statement, right? Yet how often our thoughts keep strolling about situations that happened in the past (and cannot be repeated!) and about what might take place in the days ahead (although solely God knows the future). Of course, we know that we should live in the moment right now, but can we? If you ever tried earnestly, you know that it is hard work to simply experience a few seconds without your mind trying to run away through space and time, so to say. The apostle Paul said, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” (cf. Gal 2:20 ESV) What does that mean?

“The Rest of Faith” by T. Austin Sparks

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anxiety, doubts, entering his rest, faith, fret, Jesus Christ, life, rest, T.A. Sparks, true faith, unrest, worries

The following text has been made up of some excerpts from a longer article by T. Austin Sparks which is called The Rest And The Courage Of Faith.

“Many of us have not really entered into Christianity yet. What do I mean? Well, for one thing, the very door into true Christianity is the door of rest, the rest of faith. The very simple way in which the Lord put it in His appeal was – “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28 – emphasis added).” 

Good works pleasing to God

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commandments, confidence, dead works, discerning the spirits, experience, faith, following Jesus, good works, heart, joy, Martin Luther, pleasing God, sin

Today I want to offer you an excerpt from a long treatise on REALLY good works by Martin Luther (not King). Sometimes we might have preconceptions and wrong ideas about how BIG good works must be or rather ‘look like’. However, our good works can be pretty small. They might even take place without anyone noticing them… but God. Now here is the part I chose of Martin Luther’s treatise (emphasis in bold letters has been added by me). If you want to read more, follow the link beneath the excerpt.