When and why the Holy Spirit moves or… Transfiguration Through Trials (T.A. Sparks)

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deception, discerning the spirits, exhortation, false spirits, Fellowship of His Sufferings, God's love, resisting temptation, spiritual power, spiritual transformation, suffering, T.A. Sparks, testing, the cross, the devil, trials, wilderness

I colori dell’infinito (The colors of infinity): Green standing for new life (through FAITH), white for purity (in HOPE), and red for God’s LOVE – freely adapted from John of the Cross
(Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

Today I want to make clear that being filled with the Holy Spirit has nothing to do with what we find as a common belief in some religious circles (Pentecostal and Charismatic in particular). When we receive the Holy Spirit through spiritual baptism, it is not primarily about getting power to preach the gospel, it is not about having some great spiritual gifts with which we could impress others, either, nor is it about beginning to shine like a radiant light bulb nobody could resist to look at. 😉 Just think about Jesus’ example we find described in the Bible. What happened after our Lord had been baptized with the Holy Spirit?

Counterfeit Spirits

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church, deception, demons, discerning the spirits, drawing boundaries, experience, false spirits, following Jesus, God's goodness, God's love, light, peace, Resisting the Devil, RHEMA movement, Satan, T.A. Sparks, Witchcraft, Word of Faith

The danger behind the fence… (Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

The following excerpt by T. Austin Sparks speaks bluntly about how evil spirits imitate God by letting people appear ‘holier’ than before they had come into touch with these cunning underlings of Satan. May we not think it is easy to discern the real Christian who is indwelt by Christ’s Spirit (cf. Rom 8:9) from the ‘Christian’ that is indwelt by these evil spirits that comport themselves as if they were beings of light. Sparks wrote,

Putting Christianity to the Acid Test

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discerning the spirits, dying to self, exhortation, false spirits, false teachers, God's love, Michael Clark, movements, peace, psychology, soul-life, Spiritual Life, T.A. Sparks, the cross, Truth in Love

Putting our Christian views to the test
(Picture credits http://i0.wp.com/mrvitaminsnews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/acid-alkaline.png)

This is another joint blog post Michael Clark and I wrote together. As always, it needs to be seen against the backdrop of our own religious history. We both have had many years of experience in different church groups that were not founded on Christ and see why Paul said, “For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” (1 Cor 2:2 ASV)

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Imagine you hear or read about a new branch of Christianity and you, of course, want to know whether what those people believe might be the truth or not. How can we quickly discern if we are dealing with real or only fake Christianity? To come straight to the point, without spiritual discernment received by God’s Spirit, the firmness of our conviction will be shaken again and again, depending on our moods, feelings, thoughts, and reasoning. T. Austin Sparks wrote the following about spiritual understanding.

On the Consistency of Thought and Deed

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agape, carnal mind, consistency, deeds, demons, discerning the spirits, ears of the heart, experience, false spirits, God's love, God's voice, Jesus Christ, Michael Clark, Satan's voice, The Truth, the Word of God, thought life, true faith, words, worldly spirits

Picture credits http://stores.jkmstore.org/spirits-that-hinder-the-flow-of-god-in-your-life-mp3/

Michael Clark and I wrote this blog post together, once again. As it has often been the case, I, Susanne, start with writing and share my thoughts on a certain topic with Michael and then God gives us a confirmation about writing another joint article.

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Can you force yourself to seemingly like what you basically do not like? What a strange question, Susanne! I need to admit that I can’t do it any longer although I tried. My heart won’t let me deceive myself anymore. Even if I like or love someone, I cannot like nor love what they do when their twisted thinking and doing contradicts the truth revealed in Christ. Not that I stop loving them, but my heart is grieved, often very deeply grieved. That hurts a lot indeed!  😦 In the past, I tried to do the impossible, that is, to encourage someone despite their wrong thinking and doing, simply because I liked these people. Well, God showed me how hypocritical that behavior was and how much I put myself in a state of bondage of the wrong spirits through that seemingly “kind” behavior. No, Susanne, that was not kind, it was only “nice.”

How to Detect False Spirits – The Spirit of False Unity and Fake Love

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church, deception, discerning the spirits, Ecumenism, evil spirits, exhortation, experience, fake love, false spirits, feeling, God's love, knowing God, love, Nicky Gumbel, obedience, Satan, sin, the devil

Picture source http://www.datekoupdatekar.com/blog/fake-world-fake-people

God knows how often since October last year I asked Him when this series about discerning the spirits finally would be over. However, I never got a direct response from Him. Instead, He taught me consistently new lessons about dangerous spirits that look so innocent and “holy” on the outside. If this kind of teaching was only a “mind thing”, that would be no problem at all. But God always lets me FEEL those evil spirits, meanwhile even before I meet them. Brothers and sisters, that is not fun!! Yet I believe it must be important to God that we learn to merely listen to His voice and to keep ignoring those other seducing spirits that approach us every day.

Beware of the Snare in the Air

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church, deception, discerning the spirits, exhortation, experience, eyes of the heart, false spirits, fellowship, Michael Clark, Satan, sin, true faith, worldly spirits

Marienkirche Hof/Bavaria (St. Mary’s Church)
Photo by Susanne Schuberth

“What a strange headline,” one might say here. Leaving aside the fact that I love rhymes, I put the heading that way in order to hint to the possibility that not all snares by the devil can be recognized immediately. The Prince of the Air works in an unseen realm and he is very crafty in manipulating our thought life, which cannot be seen, either. Just recently I read an interesting quote from a man who was finally freed from the bondage of a destructive Christian cult. I took that quote out of a longer testimony which Michael Clark had shared with me. After having left the cult, Tom Murray realized,

No one can consider themselves above the possibility  of deception.

Instead of Sanctification: The crossless gospel spirit

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discerning the spirits, exhortation, experience, false gospel, false spirits, following Jesus, God, Jesus Christ, justification, pain, peace, sanctification, Satan, sin

Every gospel that focuses on man instead of focusing on Christ is anti-Christian by nature.
(Picture taken from https://thepropheticnews.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/antichrist.jpg)

I am sure there are more versions of that kind of gospel today and I presume there will pop up more and more of them in these last confusing days where Satan appears as an angel of light. However, I want to merely focus on two different manifestations of the crossless gospel I have met particularly on the internet since I began to write online comments in English on December 1, 2011. I would like to refer to these two confusing sub-categories as Spiritless Salvation of the Sinner and Spiritual Self-Salvation.

The Secret of How to Obey God in every situation

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chastening, controlling spirit, discerning the spirits, disciplining, evil spirits, exhortation, experience, false spirits, following Jesus, God's love, Jesus Christ, Michael Clark, obedience, prayer, sin, the fear of God, the new self, the old self

Obeying God means everything will fall into its place…
(Photo by Paul Schuberth)

Having got acquainted with being disciplined by God for a long time, I always feel a mixture of cautious compassion and silent awe when I observe that God chastens someone whom I have known personally. While the love of God draws us ever closer to His heart, the fear of God causes fear and trembling in our souls since we realize that our God truly is a consuming fire. He loves us so much that He does not accept ongoing sin in our lives. In fact, God does not take sin lightly.

A severe warning against confusing the Holy Spirit’s work with manifestations of mere soul-life

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confusion, discerning the spirits, emotions, evil spirits, experience, false spirits, immaturity, mind, salvation, Satan, soul-life, T.A. Sparks, thought life, will

Confusion of the mind…
(Picture taken from http://robertbsloan.com/2015/01/26/dont-be-distracted-by-false-teachers/)

Here is another part of my series as to discerning the spirits with which we have to do every day. I observed many different evil spirits that guide other Christians who seem to be convinced they are led by the Holy Spirit of God. For almost four years now I only watched this saddening development particularly on the internet. However, lately I felt that I need to speak up more often about the reality behind the scenes. I know that the truth hurts at times, but if we let God do His work in our hearts and minds, there is nothing to fear for us. On the other hand, if we think have no need for correction because we have arrived at a certain (perfected) point of no return, we can be sure that Satan was the author of such a proud conviction. The humble mind of Christ is all we need and looking to Him for advice as to anything we might say or do, that would be enough for the true believer.

There is confusion ahead or… Some other strange spirits you might know

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becoming one, confusion, controlling spirit, demons, discerning the spirits, end time spirit, evil spirits, experience, false spirits, God's voice, light, listening, prayer, Satan, sin, the devil, wisdom

And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. (Is 30:21 ESV)
Picture taken from https://confessionsslp.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/shutterstock_106645070.jpg

Do we know how easy it is to confuse Satan’s lies with what God has been telling us? I do know how often that happened to me in the past and I am glad to have received continued access to the heart of God so that I immediately sense another spirit in whatever someone tells me. Without even thinking about it, I immediately feel a sort of uneasiness, even a strong feeling of disgust at times, depending on how evil the spirit was who talked to me through others.

Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” (Jn 8:42-47 ESV)