Susanne Schuberth’s Spiritual Diary (Part 6) – On how to resist the devil… in difficult cases

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controlling spirits, discerning the spirits, experience, family, fellowship, Fellowship of His Sufferings, following Jesus, Jesus Christ, manipulative spirits, Michael Clark, Resisting the Devil, resurrection power, spiritual experience, spiritual power, Testimony, the law

Maybe, you like me, have come to know difficult people. Maybe, even VERY difficult people. Perhaps, these people were not only strangers, neighbors or friends. Well, you might have had to deal with difficult loved ones for years or even decades. As much as we should love our enemies when they attack us, speak evil of us, yeah, persecute us because we follow Christ, in the same way we ought to be cautious to listen to God’s leading when we are confronted with such persons.

It is not helpful to always blame ourselves for not being able to love them as we think we should. Sometimes, instead, we need to take a stand and resist the devil who drives them. If we submit to a controlling and manipulative spirit in others, we cannot follow the Lord just the same. In such cases Satan is allowed to make us angry, upset, resentful and… we are hurting at that! Yet, is all this pain really necessary, i.e., has it all been part of God’s plan for us? Or was it rather the devil who knows the full range of how to destroy our God-given peace through any kind of dead works of the flesh? 🤔

Sensual Experience versus Spiritual Experience

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baby, childhood, church, eyes of the heart, freedom, God's love, Jack Hayford, Jessica Leah Springer, Jesus Christ, John Wesley, Lamar Boschman, love, parents, psychology, quotes, sensual experience, spiritual experience, Tim Hughes, worship in spirit and truth

Woman at the Well
(Picture taken from http://catholicalcoholic.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/woman-at-the-well-5001.jpg)

As soon as a baby realizes that it was urged to leave the security and coziness of its mother’s womb, s/he tries to hold fast onto something that is tangible and offers security for the anxious heart. Similarly, if our eyes are not yet accustomed to the new light which spiritually shines on us, we urgently need something to cling to until we feel secure again and can let go of our pillars that are perceptible to the senses.

Today I was reminded of Jesus’ dialogue with the woman at the well. We read,

The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he. Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” (Jn 4:19-29 ESV)