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.

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God’s humorous guidance

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authority, discerning the spirits, dreams, experience, fear of the Lord, feeling, God's guidance, God's love, God's voice, inspiration, Jesus Christ, joy, Martin Luther, Michael Clark, pain, prayer, rest, resurrection, spiritual power, suffering, visions

What a nice surprise…
(Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

Well, basically, I had a day full of back pains and toothaches, but at the end of that day I dare say, “It was a pretty good day, though…” Originally I wanted to go to bed earlier than usual and I told my family about it one hour ago. As I thought about what to do in the following half hour before going to bed, I would ask God if He had any ideas or what HE wanted to do. At first I reflected on reading a bit… or on making a Sudoku puzzle… or not… however, I began with tidying up our flat as Jesus answered my question. “I want to spend time with you!” Wow! That came across pretty forcefully, even passionately. I immediately knew our Lord had spoken and my heart began to flutter in joyful anticipation.

Prayerlessness profits nothing

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darkness, discerning the spirits, exhortation, experience, following Jesus, God's love, Jesus Christ, light, Martin Luther, Michael Clark, prayer, Satan, T.A. Sparks, walking by the spirit

Impressions from snowless Fürth/Bavaria in December 2016
(Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

After midnight and just before going to bed I often read T. Austin Sparks’ daily devotional. Sometimes his words strike me so that I need to copy and paste them, knowing that might turn out another blog article, although I rarely know what I am going to write about in detail. From my own experiences, I can confirm that these days when I am hindered through people, pain or problems to spend more time alone with God than usual (i.e., two or three times a day), my mental condition is not the best. I am more vulnerable, impatient, more easily discouraged and I am easily stressed out as well. Also, it is more difficult for me to discern God’s voice from others AND to finally obey His leading, too.

I AM the Resurrection

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death, eternal life, experience, good works, grace, life after death, Life and Death, Martin Luther, Nicky Gumbel, Pippa Gumbel, salvation, true faith, truth

When time as we know it comes to an end, eternity in Christ begins.
(Picture taken from http://riverbankoftruth.com/)

Just lately I felt concerned about those who are grieved because they do not know whether their loved ones will be saved or not. Even looking closely at other people, we sometimes perceive no outward sign of faith in Jesus Christ. BUT that does not mean that they won’t be saved!

Life IN Christ… or the cost of discipleship

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discipleship, Dorothy L. Sayers, dying to self, experience, faith, following Jesus, freedom, God, Jesus Christ, Martin Luther, T.A. Sparks, the cross, the dark night of the soul, the dark night of the spirit, the Kingdom of God, thought life

“And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.” (Mt 19:29 ESV)
Picture by Susanne Schuberth

As I thought about describing the difference between our life inside and outside of God, I thought I could share my own experiences with you on here. Just for clarification, I do not speak about the experience of Christ IN us, that is, about feeling his love, joy and peace merely from the inside. Rather, I refer to a life IN God and His kingdom as a completely new experience that approaches us from the outside by simultaneously filling us up from the inside, too. Sounds complicated, doesn’t it…? We might have received some foretaste of such a life beforehand when we all of a sudden were hit by an awareness of ‘I-do-not-know-what-it-is… but-it-is-wonderful’ as we were watching the sun rise or going down, when we saw nature unfolding its beauty in springtime or fall, or when we shared some self-forgetfulness of any kind, be that with children who played peacefully in a sort of innocence that could almost be “touched” or when we felt a very deep and unconditional love for someone who had treated us badly.

Let’s pray…

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being born again, encouragement, experience, God's guidance, God's love, God's voice, inspiration, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther, Michael Clark, prayer, rest, Søren Kierkegaard, Teresa of Ávila, The Lord's Prayer

Entering the Promised Haven
(Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

This is another entry Michael Clark and I wrote together which springs from our own experiences with prayer and its effects on our soul and spirit.

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It has been for three days now that I, Susanne, wanted to write a blog post about prayer. But since I had neither time nor inspiration to do so, I only gathered a few quotes on prayer yesterday in the late evening. Afterwards I shared these quotes with Michael and we prayed about writing together about how our times alone with God affect us. We realized that be both usually wake up in the flesh and urgently need to pray in order to feel God’s presence in our life again. Michael made an observation I really liked. He said, “I need to pray first thing or my day is trashed.” Yes, indeed! Here are the quotes that sprang somehow out on me. 😉

Some Thoughts on the First Commandment

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darkness, experience, first commandment, following Jesus, heart, idolatry, Jesus Christ, light, Martin Luther, mind, other gods, the cross

Rose Hips above the Rhine-Main-Danube-Canal
(Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

Actually, I do not want to convey the impression I was into law keeping here since we live in New Covenantal times. Instead, I think we could use the OT law at times as a mirror that shows us what might be still wrong in our hearts and minds.
It appears to me that keeping the first commandment that says we should have no other gods beside our God tells us to somehow look through everything of which we think it is good around us as being blessing from God only. As soon as we cling to a person or a blessing they gave us as if he, she, or it represented the ultimate good that could make us happy or unhappy if we lost it, we have another god. I just thought I could share some thoughts on this topic from my fellow countryman Martin Luther with you on here.

There are mysteries we can’t read about in the Bible

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experience, God, God's love, Holy Spirit, Jay Ferris, Jesus Christ, love, marriage, Martin Luther, mystery, revelation, secrets, The Holy Spirit, worship in spirit and truth

When His Light Shines Forth…
(Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

JESUS:
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” (Jn 16:12-13 ESV)

PAUL:
“But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” (1 2:7-10 ESV)

What does it mean to be spiritual?

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being born again, carnal mind, children of God, faith, Martin Luther, Oswald Chambers, sanctification, spiritual mind, the new self, the old self, true faith

Crocuses in the City Park (Stadtpark Fürth, March 2015)
Photo by Susanne Schuberth

In the past I read rather often that Christians tried hard to be “more spiritual” because they had observed others who seemed to have arrived at a more mature level of spirituality than they themselves. And at that point as insecurity set in, they began to ask, “How do we get there? How to become spiritual at all or even more spiritual?”
The apostle Paul defined Christian spirituality for us. He wrote in his letter to the Romans,

My House Shall Be a House of Prayer

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agape, becoming one, church, ecstasy, eros, experience, God's love, heart, homosexuality, intimacy, love, Martin Luther, Michael Clark, Michael Lazio, prayer, prayer of love, resisting temptation, spiritual power

Abiding in His Love…
(Picture taken from http://www.scatterthestones.co.uk/flourish-in-gods-love-for-you/)

If we still lived in Old Covenantal times, we could easily enter God’s house of prayer today by attending a church meeting in a visible building. Of course, I do not deny that Christians in churches do pray, too, but I want to clarify which prayer our prayer life should mainly consist of in New Covenantal times.
As Jesus cleansed the temple by driving out the merchants who sold animals and those who changed money, He surely made them angry. Shortly afterwards, the Jews certainly thought that Jesus was insane when they asked Him,

“What sign do you show us for doing these things?” (Jn 2:18 ESV)
and He only answered,
“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” (Jn 2:19 ESV)
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