A Quick Test of Spirits

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A Christ-Centered Life, Angelic Hosts, Cloud of Witnesses, death, deception, discerning the spirits, encouragement, eternal life, experience, following Jesus, Jesus Christ, life, prayer, Principalities and Powers, Satan, T.A. Sparks, the devil, the Word of God, walking by the spirit, wisdom

Every human being can talk about God, Christ, and the Bible as long as they have been enabled to speak. The more educated they are, the more convincing such people seem to be, esp. to those who cannot figure out Satan’s elaborate strategies. T. Austin-Sparks said,

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The Greatest of These is LOVE – by Michael Clark and Susanne Schuberth

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church, discerning the spirits, experience, fellowship, Fellowship with God, following Jesus, freedom, God's love, joy, love, maturity, Michael Clark, peace, pride, Satan, spiritual gifts, Spiritual Warfare, Spiritual Weapons, Susanne Schuberth, T.A. Sparks, the devil, the enemy, the heavenlies, the mind of Christ, unity, walking by the spirit, worries

It has been a very long time since Michael Clark and I wrote our last joint article. As we are both dependent on God’s leading and inspiration, we know that we cannot ‘produce’ any blog post unless the Holy Spirit nudges us to write and publish. We are also aware of the fact that Satan has tried to destroy our spiritual fellowship more than once during the last nine years. These continuous onslaughts by the enemy are something we cannot fight against unless we use spiritual weapons since the devil is a spirit, too. It seems when you and I, dear brothers and sisters, are seeking fellowship with someone who is like-minded with us, the devil is instantly ready to fire. T. Austin-Sparks in his article “Spiritual Warfare” (1) wrote,

How can we discern God’s Voice more clearly?

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confusion, deception, discerning the spirits, dying to self, ears of the heart, experience, following Jesus, God's guidance, God's voice, hearing, Light and Darkness, mind, prayer, quietness of heart, Satan, the body of Christ, the devil, The Good Shepherd, visions, walking by the spirit, wisdom

Before suggesting a more detailed explanation, I want to first offer you this follow-up vision on the one I posted on the 25^th October in 2022 (full particulars here). If you do not want to follow the link, here’s a short summary of the surroundings in that vision.

The Weakness of the Soul vs. The Power of the Spirit

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Body of Christ, darkness, demons, discerning the spirits, encouragement, experience, feelings, Fellowship with God, following Jesus, freedom, pain, peace, Principalities and Powers, Satan, spiritual power, Spiritual Warfare, T.A. Sparks, the heavenlies, The Holy Spirit, thought life, throne union, Victory, visions, walking by the spirit, World Rulers

In order to illustrate the contrasting pair I chose in this title, I will give you an example. Just think about someone who has been hurt deeply by another person. The pain they feel can neither be forgotten nor does it seem that it will ever be healed. Since we as human beings do not want to feel pain at all, we might choose different ways to protect ourselves in the future. Some people suppress all their negative feelings, others tend to talk about it often, and others again seek revenge up to a certain extent. There might be even more ways to deal with such suffering on a permanent level, yet none of these methods will ever set us free. Quite the contrary.

Speak My Words

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Beholding Christ, discerning the spirits, experience, eyes of the heart, fear of, following Jesus, God's guidance, God's voice, Jesus Christ, Michael Clark, natural life, new life, obedience, Satan, T.A. Sparks, The Fear of the Lord, the flesh, visions, walking by the spirit

This time I am going to share a short vision with you on here, though only further below. Nonetheless, this vision was so impressive that I was left with the fear of the Lord in my heart afterwards. For a better understanding I want to clarify again that beholding the Lord or God Himself cannot be compared with looking at a real photograph or with watching a movie or else with our natural eyes. When we look at a picture or at someone who is in front of us, as long as our eyes allow we can explore what we want to see, even in details. However, that is not the case in the spiritual realm.

God’s Timing

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agape, anger, charity, discerning the spirits, encouragement, experience, family, following Jesus, God's guidance, God's love, God's Provision, God's timing, God's voice, grace, joy, obedience, peace, prayer, Resisting the Devil, rest, Satan, Submission to God, T. Austin-Sparks, the devil, the flesh, truth, Valentine's Day, visions, walking by the spirit

February 15, 2022

In fact, walking in the Spirit can be enjoyable at times. Today I want to share my latest experiences with you on here. It was only yesterday on Valentine’s Day that God helped me see how much He even cares about the little things of our lives.

The Will of God or… The Spiritual Nature of an Overcomer

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abiding in Christ, ascendancy, ask and receive, authority, being born again, discerning the spirits, dying to self, experience, Flesh vs. Spirit, following Jesus, God's love, God's will, grateful, inheritance, joy, obedience, Oneness, Overcomer, prayer, resurrection power, Satan, self-will, suffering, T.A. Sparks, the cross, the enemy, the Lamb, Victory, walking by the spirit

As much as the overcomer position, that is, being seated with Christ on His very throne, seems to be an attractive prospect for many of us, as difficult it appears to ever get there. What I mean by this is not that overcoming would be something God had not provided in his plan for every child being born from above. However, we might know that there is a cost related to the whole issue, which is entailed taking up our crosses daily and following the Lamb wherever He goes (cf. Rev 14:4). We read that Paul told the Corinthians that “flesh and blood cannot not inherit the kingdom of God” (see 1 Cor 15:50 ESV). Some have taken that to mean that only in the hereafter we will get to know whether we would be heirs with Christ, seated with Him on His throne, or not. Yet sometimes Scripture seems to be simpler than our intellect might realize at first sight. This scriptural statement implies that only the spirit can inherit the kingdom of God, right?  🙄

Hinds’ Feet on High Places or… The Only Way Out is Up

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Allan Halton, discerning the spirits, earth, encouragement, evil spirits, experience, following Jesus, God's guidance, Hannah Hurnard, heaven, hinds' feet, Jesus Christ, joy, Michael Clark, pain, pandemic, peace, prayer, Resisting the Devil, rest, Satan, spiritual power, suffering, T.A. Sparks, Taking our Thoughts Captive, the devil, the enemy, the heavenlies, thought life, unrest, visions, walking by the spirit

As a preliminary note before delving deeper into my latest experiences with God, “Hinds’ Feet on High Places” here bears no relation to Hannah Hurnard’s novel with the same title. Although I never read her book, I heard from a few readers of my blog how much they liked it as they shared part of its content with me in the past. I have just read the plot introduction of this book on Wikipedia and I realized that there might really be a lot of similarities between Hurnard’s description and my own experiences with God as to suffering and sorrow. However, I want to go a step further now and to rather focus on a positive prospect of our life with God than on the difficulties of endurance.

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)

Balaam and the Angel or… The Danger of Compromise

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compromise, controlling spirits, discerning the spirits, disobedience, entering his rest, entering the Kingdom of God, evil spirits, experience, false spirits, following Jesus, God's voice, God's wrath, grace, honesty, manipulative spirits, obedience, Resisting the Devil, rest, Satan, the enemy, the fear of God, the whole armour of God, transparency, visions, walking after the flesh, walking by the spirit

Landscape with Balaam (Joseph Anton Koch 1832/36) – German National Museum, Nürnberg

With compromising here I meant the temptation to mix the spirits in order to please people or ourselves more than God. In other words, God has told us to do something, but we begin to wonder after some time whether He might have changed His mind regarding the commandment once given. If God has shown us a certain direction we should walk in, we can be sure that He had good reasons why He led us that way. Whether we understand His guidance or not, it is always also for our spiritual protection if He warns us and tells us not to move along a way we might have chosen on our own. We read in the Book of Numbers,

“God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?” (Num 23:19 ESV)