“Don‘t panic, it‘s only infodemic!“

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coronavirus, discerning the spirits, encouragement, experience, infodemic, Jesus Christ, pandemic, peace, Satan, spam mails, thought life

Sometimes I wonder about God’s inexplicable leading. Really, I cannot understand His way of thinking at all! Just lately He began to teach me about something that has been very unnerving for me. For several weeks, even months, I detected in my spam and trash folder on WordPress many, many spam mails. During the last weeks even about one thousand every day! These mails come from different email addresses; however, the common thing is that they are written in Spanish and that their message consists of only one question.

The Importance of the Word of God

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being born again, discerning the spirits, experience, God's voice, Jesus Christ, Martin Luther, obedience, repentance, Satan, Temptation, the Bible, The Holy Spirit, the Word of God

I want to start with a quote from Martin Luther that expressed his view of the Bible he would translate from Greek into the German language. He said,

You can’t joke with God’s Word. If you cannot understand this, take off your hat in front of it. It’s not a joke, it’s serious and wants to be honored.

If you read my blog regularly, you might know that I am not someone who recommends to regularly study the Bible according to an unalterable time schedule. I could never suggest this as I feel that Spirit-led people might read the Bible as God nudges them to do so. However, I remember several times in my life when I somehow devoured the whole Bible for several months. You might know that there are times when God convicts us and calls us to turn from our old ways where we ignored His Word (repentance is just another word for finally turning to the Lord). When He in His grace forgave us and we sense His love, joy, and peace after having been restored to God, usually a hunger for His Word (the Bible) and for the presence of the Lord will follow, too, as we hunger and thirst for THE LIFE only He can give. Jesus told us,

Discerning Spirit and Soul

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being born again, deception, discerning the spirits, emotions, feelings, God's will, mind, reason, Satan, self-will power, T.A. Sparks, The Holy Spirit, The Soul, the will

Yesterday in the late evening after a phone call I suddenly felt or somehow “heard” inside me the title I chose above, “Discerning Spirit and Soul”. Immediately I wanted to start writing a blog article but it was late, almost midnight. Yet I could not get rid of this title inside my mind! It was as if it was strongly imprinted in my heart, too. As I felt no inclination to start writing so late and I had no idea what to write about this issue, either, I started a search on Google on this topic, adding T. A. Sparks. What I found there spoke to me, indeed. Although I have not read the whole article, I tried to keep it as short as possible and pasted what you can read further below.

A Pact with the Devil

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Charles G. Finney, cults, deception, discerning the spirits, exhortation, following Jesus, Freemasonry, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Lions Clubs International, oaths, Rotary International, Satan, Sects, sin, the devil, true faith, warning

This time you might wonder at the topic I chose to write about. Like the charismatic issue that has bothered me for some time and eventually led to my last article, today I felt I should start to illustrate the possible dangers that might approach us in our every day life through people who are not necessarily Christians although they sometimes claim to believe in God. I am referring to ‘noble’, well-deemed people (mostly men) who might work as university professors, physicians, judges, notaries or bank directors. This list is anything but exhaustive. It might only serve to point you to the credibility their profession normally lends to them. What they all have in common is that they are (very) successful. Most of the times they are rich at that. Sometimes they become famous, too, sooner or later. However, they had to do something in order to get there. As German author and poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in his work “Faust” described, “The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures.” (1)

… but you are dead

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charismatic movement, church, cults, death, deception, discerning the spirits, exhortation, experience, false revival, following Jesus, heart, leadership, life, mind, RCC, Satan

Just lately I have been preoccupied with a specific religious orientation of Christianity. Not that I had chosen to focus once again on what I had known myself a quarter of a century ago. However, a few people I have known for years were more and more drawn into this kind of charismatic church. It is a modern branch of Christendom that more often than not appeals to younger people who do not like to sit in a pew without moving their body for a long time. If you enter such a church, you will surely meet a group of kind people who extend a warm welcome to you (the welcome team). There is also a variety of modern music presented by what is called the worship team. The bigger the church, the more qualified musicians you will find there. They and the majority of the church members who serve in any kind of ministry don’t work for money, no. Whether it is the welcome team, the kitchen team, the worship team, the child care team, whatever. All these people work for charity’s sake. But this does not apply to the pastor and the whole leadership; they usually live from what the congregation offers up. You know, from tithes and donations…

Panic is Satanic

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anxiety, deception, discerning the spirits, ears of the heart, encouragement, experience, fears, feelings, panic, Satan, spiritual power, thought life

The other day as I was half awake in the morning, still dwelling on some thoughts that could have turned into real worries sooner or later, I suddenly heard a voice that emphatically told me, “Panic is satanic!” Although I knew it was the Holy Spirit speaking to me, I wondered why His voice was not as still and subtle as it often is when God nudges me tenderly to open my ears toward Him. It dawned on me that God wanted to teach me something. Therefore, I would not be that surprised later that day as a black truck passed me by when I was on a prayer walk in the afternoon. On this truck you could read a big-lettered yellow label that said, “Don’t panic!” Aha!  🙂

Who really has an impact on this world?

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a holy life, blogging, discerning the spirits, exhortation, experience, false spirits, Flesh vs. Spirit, following Jesus, God's love, human love, Satan, spiritual power, T.A. Sparks, Testimony, the new self, the old self, walking by the spirit

I think many of you might know the temptation to give in to people who do not know God, people by whom you want to be appreciated, though, even despite their sometimes profane remarks. We may not always be able to really like what they say, but we do not want to offend other people, either, or do we? Granted, there is a species of human beings who love to offend others continually; it is like a sport to them. But I do not speak of such personalities. Instead, I refer to those believers who try to live a Christian life and know about the difficulties to obey God when our old nature rather wants to cave in to ‘other spirits’, esp. when such human beings habitually impose their (strong self-) will on others. Our constant struggle to decide between flesh and spirit, as you know, was perfectly described by Paul here.

Through Whom Does God speak Today?

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angels, ears of the heart, eternal life, experience, eyes of the heart, following Jesus, God's voice, God's wrath, Joseph Benson, Satan, the body of Christ, the cross, the flesh, The World

Like me you might know a few gracious people with whom it is always easy to have dealings with. At other times, we might be confronted with some rude persons who unexpectedly utter words of truth.  🙄 Nonetheless, neither the gracious nor the veracious person must necessarily be a Christian. There are pleasant-natured people who are able to enjoy life and to be thankful for that, too. However, if you start to wonder whom they might owe their blessings in life, they remain silent or they evade the issue. Maybe, they tell you they were thankful toward life itself, toward Mother Nature, toward the universe or they believe in angels, instead.

How to water dry land spiritually

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deception, discerning the spirits, exhortation, experience, fellowship, Fellowship with God, following Jesus, God's voice, knowing God, prayer, Satan, Seeking God, sheep, T.A. Sparks, wilderness

Spiritual wildernesses do exist. Dry spells where you are tempted to believe you pray to a wall as nobody seems to hear your requests, they are real to the one who gets closer and closer to God. As illogical as it might seem, people who do not really seek more from God have less problems with prayer as they do not really expect God to answer them, either, when they keep clinging to pre-formulated prayers and hymns. However, can our relationship with our Creator ever be business as usual…?  🙄 In fact, if we truly want to feed on the living God, we must quit our comfort zone and cherished traditions because seeking God is always an adventure! An adventure that can be both exhausting and rewarding, unnerving and intriguing. Or as T. Austin Sparks put it so well,

Under A Foreign Yoke

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darkness, deception, discerning the spirits, dying to self, experience, God's goodness, heart, light, mind, prayer, Satan, sin, spiritual attacks, temptations, the, the cross, thoughts

Have you ever felt an increasing uneasiness as you pondered on the possibility to cave in to somebody’s pleading because you knew in your heart it would be the wrong thing to do? I do not know whether this is only a people pleaser problem, but I assume I am not the only one who is struggling with these thoughts and temptations.