What Really Counts in Life

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aging, blessings, books, commandments, death, disaster, discerning the spirits, exhortation, experience, following Jesus, God's love, hurry, Judgment, mind, obedience, rest, restlessness, the fear of God, the Kingdom of God, the new self, the old self, this world, thought life, waiting, wisdom, youth

If someone nurtures soaring hopes and plans, we might tell them to stay more grounded or earthed instead. But have you ever heard someone suggest to you to get more ‘heavened’? 🙄 If you, like me, often times wonder about the seeming hopelessness of our existence as we cannot sense the presence of God while (sometimes ridiculous) everyday troubles keep preying on our minds, you might have also observed non-Christians who can seemingly live their lives confronted with less problems and difficulties than we can. Yet, in the long run, that is not the truth. The Book of Ecclesiastes tells us some sobering facts.

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How to find out another ‘Christian’ spirit

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common sense, courage, deception, discerning the spirits, duty, exhortation, experience, false spirits, following Jesus, God's guidance, Jesus Christ, light, Light and Darkness, obedience, Oswald Chambers, peace, resurrection power, spiritual power, Truth in Love, Walking in the Light

“For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts…” (Ps 95:7-8 ESV)

I have come to know several people who thought they were led by the Holy Spirit, who believed in Jesus as their Lord, and who prayed to God, their Father. Alas, the spirits they usually listen to are mostly the voices of their own soul’s desires, their own mind’s ideas, and their self’s pushing interests. Here the question arises whether it makes sense to try to correct someone who is absolutely convinced of being led by God? I am afraid it might be of little help to do so unless God tells us to open our mouths in His perfect time. But speaking up and telling them the truth might turn out a damaging experience if these people are too unstable to be confronted with their deception yet. Maybe, they are confused, maybe, they are mentally sick, maybe, they were led into error by the wrong people.

Sharpening our conscience

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blessings, commandments, curses, discerning the spirits, exhortation, experience, faith, God's love, God's voice, heart, love, obedience, T.A. Sparks

“For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.” (Is 44:3 ESV)
Photo by Susanne Schuberth

Do we want to get to know God better? Do we want to receive a deep(er) revelation of Christ’s intimate love for us? I do not know about you, but as for me, I know I want these things. If we find ourselves somehow stuck in our spiritual situation, it might be that we have failed to see the most obvious things by ignoring God’s still small voice of warning regarding those matters that are really important to Him. So, what is important to God? If we carefully read chapter 28 in the Book of Deuteronomy, we might see to what extent obedience to God’s commandments is blessed and how far disobedience is cursed. I only chose to take the two respective verses of introduction so that we can see the consequences of our (un)readiness to listen to and to finally follow our Shepherd’s voice. We read,

A Spirit-led Life

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authority, desires, discerning the spirits, dying to self, exhortation, experience, following Jesus, God's guidance, heart, joy, obedience, passions, peace, Satan, T.A. Sparks, The Anointing, the old self

Photo by Susanne Schuberth

Let’s say, we find ourselves in a situation of which we are not sure how we got there and how we might come out of it (alive), either. I am not necessarily speaking of big things here. Just take an everyday situation. For instance, you meet someone who asks you to do something for them and you spontaneously offer your help. How can we discern here whether our reaction was led by the Holy Spirit or not? Are we always to help everyone or are we to say no to them, too? And if so, when? If we meet ten persons who need our help and we only have time for two or three, we will know that we ought to listen to the Holy Spirit’s guidance, right?

How to Become ONE

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becoming one, discerning the spirits, exhortation, experience, faith, feelings, God's love, heart, love, obedience, Oneness, sanctification, Satan, sin, soul-life, the valley of the shadow of death

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. (1 Jn 4:20 ESV)
– Photo by Susanne Schuberth

We have an easy time dealing with people who perfectly agree with us and always understand what we mean. Ahem, ahem, seriously… do such people really exist??  😉 Is there anyone but God who understands everything we might tell them and knows these dark and hidden areas inside our hearts we do not even know ourselves? I assume we all might feel more comfortable with those people who agree with us or who appreciate us even if we disagree. Yet it appears to be more difficult when we have to do with human beings who like to debate or fight over who is right. God who knows our problems created a heavenly condition of which Jesus spoke as He prayed,

Love is Obedience, not Feelings

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anger, anxiety, darkness, doubts, encouragement, experience, faith, fears, feelings, God's Humor, God's love, heart, joy, love, mind, obedience, peace, self-will, thought life, true faith, worries

After the Sunset…
(Photo by Susanne Schuberth, colors enhanced by Michael Clark)

Just for clarification, having chosen this particular title, I did not want to suggest that God’s love would not provide a wide range of wonderful feelings, both for our soul and body, that are intrinsic features of an abundant life in Christ (cf. Jn 10:10). Rather, my intention was to point to the fact that our walk with God is often characterized by a lack of good feelings when we find ourselves in another trial where we suffer according to His will. We might also call our walk with Him in these times a mere walk of faith. It is in these times where we learn to trust in what we cannot see (yet) and in what we cannot understand (yet).

Ha! While writing I just had an interesting experience with God I want to share with you.

How do we recognize if we are guided by the Holy Spirit?

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death, discerning the spirits, dream life, experience, following Jesus, God, God's guidance, obedience, Oswald Chambers, quickening of the spirit, T.A. Sparks, walking by the spirit

Stairs under water (Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

If you and I want to be led by the Holy Spirit 24/7 and we are insecure about whether we have been led by Him or not, the following excerpt from one of T. Austin Sparks’ articles might be helpful to read. What I did not copy and paste were Sparks’ implementations on how and when Jesus refused to do what others told Him (whether his mother, his siblings, or other people were concerned) because that would have been too long an article on here. Nonetheless, if someone has time and wants to read the whole thing, you will find the link beneath the excerpt, as always.

Is Spiritual Growth a Miracle?

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discerning the spirits, exhortation, experience, immaturity, love, maturity, obedience, spiritual growth, T.A. Sparks

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (Jn 15:5 ESV)
Photo by Susanne Schuberth

Today I want to present you a thought-provoking article by T. Austin Sparks that deals with our (in)ability to grow spiritually. Actually, if we do not grow, we will wither since if it is not the Holy Spirit inside us that causes us to grow in Christ, it is Satan to whom we listen and who pulls us away from God. Brothers and sisters, this may happen to anyone. Don’t we think that such a temptation could always be easily discovered by our spiritual antennas. Indeed, there are people who due to their bad experiences in life project a distorted image of man onto God and call this image God or Jesus although these ‘pictures’ are, in fact, of satanic origin. If someone cannot discern which spirit they are of, they will be completely lost unless they dare to trust other Christians who could help them see when they are wrong. Regarding such errors, it got quite clear to me why we should be part of the Body of Christ. A finger apart from the body is useless; it must be connected to the hand and the hand must be connected to the arm which belongs to the body so that this finger can work properly (cf. 1 Cor 12:12-27). Furthermore, the whole body must be connected to the head which is Christ in us. Without Him we would be a body without spiritual guidance and an easy prey for any deception, spiritual confusion, and eventually delusion.

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 Fear of God?

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Albert Barnes, condemnation, curses, discerning the spirits, exhortation, experience, freedom, God's love, joy, judging others, love, obedience, peace, spiritual blessings, spiritual power, T.A. Sparks, true faith

“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (Jn 15:10-11 ESV) – Picture credits http://deeperwaters.us/the-joy-of-obedience/

Although this article springs from my own experiences with the fear of God, I did not describe here how it really feels to be struck all of a sudden by this special spirit of Him who rules the universe. If you like to read more about that, though, click here. In this entry you will rather find a definition by T. Austin Sparks’ of the fear of the Lord and some implications of what it means to truly belong to God’s people. Contrasting the evil of fear imposed on us by Satan in order to torment and paralyze us, TAS wrote regarding the fear of God,

But this fear is a holy fear. Let no one think for a moment that this fear of the Lord is death, bondage, stultification and repression. Not at all. Wherever you find this fear of the Lord you find joy, love, peace and liberty. People are not afraid of the Lord. But they are careful not to grieve the Lord. They do not take liberties with the Lord. They do not think of spiritual liberty as spiritual licence. They do not cast off restraint, they do not ride rough-shod over all sacred things, calling it liberty. No, there is holy fear which restrains and in restraining keeps things pure and keeps things clear and makes a straight way for the Lord. The true fear of the Lord is not dread. It is a very blessed and precious thing.