Trusting God in Times of Trouble

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being led by the Holy Spirit, discerning the spirits, Endurance, entering his rest, experience, Fellowship of His Sufferings, following Jesus, glory, God's guidance, God's wrath, obedience, prayer, The Sons of God, trials, trusting God, walking by the spirit

How can we go on with God and follow Jesus when our perception of God’s presence appears to be eclipsed for some time due to a number of trials?  🙄 When we are pressed from every side by unexpected twists of fate, by a stringent necessity to do something we would have rather avoided, and, as a result of these, by a deteriorating physical and mental health condition?  🙄

The Secret of Power and Ascendancy by T. Austin Sparks

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ambition, Ananias and Sapphira, ascendancy, aspiration, Baptism in the Holy Spirit, following Jesus, God's guidance, Holiness, joy, Judgment, Life and Death, Light and Darkness, Overcoming, overcoming the world, peace, Pentecost, rest, Satan, self, spiritual power, T.A. Sparks, the cross, the devil, The Holy Spirit, the Kingdom of God, The Kingdom of Heaven, unholy, walking by the spirit

Today I want to offer you some food for thought by T. Austin Sparks, a man of God of whom I am certain that he really knew what he was talking about from his own experiences in the kingdom of God. Regarding spiritual ascendancy and power Sparks meant that we should follow God’s “inward and upward call” (my words) to overcome, in particular the devil. TAS said that Satan cannot tempt anyone whom he finds poor in spirit. Indeed, if we are fully dependent on our Lord in all things, the enemy is helpless while we are being drawn higher and higher on this spiritual mountain called “Zion”. In that which follows you will find two excerpts from two different articles by TAS.

Where Does (Self-)Deception Lead To?

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A Wilderness Voice Website, church, deception, discerning the spirits, encouragement, experience, following Jesus, George Davis, God's guidance, God's love, Humility, Jesus Christ, love, mental sickness, Michael Clark, Oneness, Satan, Self-Deception, spiritual gifts, T.A. Sparks, the devil, the god of this age, The Holy Spirit, the mind of Christ

Sometimes I have been wondering why I am often misunderstood. No, I am not referring to my private life here. Instead, I have encountered this strange occurrence when I share spiritual insights with other Christians. Even if I try hard to explain what I have been talking or writing about, I am confronted with either silence or another misunderstanding. It was only today that it began to dawn on me where this conflict might come from. What helped me out here were the following Scriptures below. Let us just look at what had happened on Pentecost.

“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.

Obedient to the Light Given

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authority, blogging, controlling spirits, darkness, discerning the spirits, disobedience, entering his rest, experience, following Jesus, God's guidance, Jesus Christ, joy, life, light of life, obedience, overcoming the world, peace, reasoning, self-control, suffering, the devil, the flaming darts of the evil one, thought life, walking by the spirit

None of us would expect a baby to test-drive a car, nor would anyone assume that children, on the whole, go to university, give guest lectures, and teach students lessons they really need to hear (exceptions confirm the rule). As much as this world admires geniuses, in spiritual life there is no shortcut to heaven. We have to go through every more or less painful lesson our Lord puts us through. However, we may know that every lesson learned and accepted makes us see more of Him in our lives.

No more theory here. Instead, I want to go on with sharing my recent spiritual experiences with you. If you read some of my latest blog articles, you might remember that God has begun to set me free from many ‘legalistic’ things. Whether inflexible internal obligations, i.e., measuring up to the expectations from neighbors, friends, or even loved ones were concerned or if He changed my thought-life, for me it has been a sort of rollercoaster as this process has developed so quickly. Actually, I have not been used to observing the Lord to set me free on a daily basis at such an accelerated speed before!

Overcoming the World as the Requirement of Christian Authority

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authority, condemnation, discerning the spirits, experience, fellowship, following Jesus, freedom, God's guidance, Jesus Christ, life, Michael Clark, overcoming the world, peace, the body of Christ, the Kingdom of God, thought life, walking after the flesh, walking by the spirit

If you read the following Scripture, your thoughts might be like mine. Jesus Christ promised us,

“To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. (Rev 3:21-22 KJV)

Usually, I was not so interested in this and similar Scriptures of the Book of Revelation as I thought our Lord spoke there about our eternal life AFTER leaving the earth. So to me, all His promises there appeared to be fulfilled in the future far ahead of us. Well, it was only lately as I started wondering that I might have been completely wrong…  🙄 As I described in my latest blog posts before this one, Jesus has begun to set me free daily from habitual internal ‘laws’, from family traditions, from rigid to-do lists and from some old thought patterns as well. Isn’t it quite humorous that He started this process on June 3rd, which was a Roman Catholic feast day in Germany, called “Corpus Christi”?  😉

Entering His Rest

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controlling spirits, destruction, discerning the spirits, entering his rest, eternal life, experience, following Jesus, God's guidance, Jesus Christ, life, Resisting the Devil, spiritual power, the hard way, The Kingdom of Heaven, the narrow gate

Instead of writing another long-winded article in which I decribe my latest experiences with God, I am going to offer you a link to an older entry, see further below (*), which I just reread and edited a bit. As I described lengthily in my last blog, Jesus has started to set me free from all bondage that kept me from closely following His lead on a moment-by-moment basis. With ‘bondage’ I mean old habits, human tradition, and obligations of all kinds. You can hardly imagine how often I find another seemingly good work I have been used to, of which I now see that that has not been God’s will for me at all.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Quote

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Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, crucified with Christ, following Jesus, God's guidance, life, quotes, Salt and Light

Don’t just walk the smooth streets. Walk paths that no one has walked before, so that you can leave traces and not just dust.

(Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)

The Common Misconception of Christian Authority

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authority, Christianity, deception, discerning the spirits, experience, God's guidance, God's love, God's voice, Jesus Christ, Resisting the Devil, temptations, the Bible, the devil, the Word of God, YouTube

Have you ever heard about Christians having been given a special kind of authority on the grounds of calling themselves a Christian? You know this kind of supernatural ‘power’ that is to enable us to share our testimony wherever and whenever or to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  and teaching them to obey everything” (Mt 28:19-20 NIV) that Jesus has said? Others might have been taught that as soon as the devil attacks us, we should put on the whole armor of God (Eph 6:11-18) so that we can resist him. Hmm…  🙄 If you ever tried this and that and you failed, I am afraid you were not the only one. Me too!  🙂 In fact, I thank God for letting us know that simply following the written word is not necessarily walking in the Spirit of truth also.

“Redeeming Love.” by Patrick Maina

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adultery, being led by the Holy Spirit, discerning the spirits, experience, family, following Jesus, forgiveness, friends, God's guidance, God's love, grace, Patrick Maina, Reblog, sin

I really enjoyed reading Patrick Maina’s compassionate blog on how a friend of him became a tool to extend God’s love and grace to his wife. It is always encouraging for me to read about Christians who truly listen to Jesus’ voice!  🙂

Life beyond the walls

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. (John 15:13)

The moment I saw Josh walk through the gate, I knew there was something terribly wrong. It did not take him more than five steps before breaking down in tears , proving my suspicion right. I had to run to support him from his staggering walk. As awkward as it felt at first, I found myself providing a shoulder for him to cry on.

African men are not supposed to cry, but Josh was no typical man. He had his stack of stories for his atypical life. Even then, it was the first time to see him cry and I could only try and fill up for myself what could have happened – he just kept mumbling words in the line of, “ndugu yangu, kwa nini haya? (my brother, why these?)”

With…

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