A Testimony That Counts

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dying to self, experience, following Jesus, God our Father, heart, joy, legalism, light, Lord Jesus Christ, mind, rest, spiritual power, Spiritual Warfare, T.A. Sparks, Testimony, the cross, the light of the world, throne union, true faith, trusting God, walking by the spirit

To start off with, the title I chose was part of a sentence from T. Austin-Sparks whose article I will be referring to further below. As for me, dear brothers and sisters, actually, it is getting more and more difficult to write a blog. Not that I do not have experiences with God I could share with you. I could. But either I do not have the time to write (for mainly private reasons) or I do not sense the Spirit’s ‘nudge’ to publish what He has shown me. Often times I think it could not help anyone if I described my struggles in the heavenlies. This continous warfare in the dark spiritual realm can be very exhausting, esp. when faith is lacking. Christ is always beside me, but do I fully trust Him? Alas, not yet.

Then again I may gain new spiritual (!) experiences, things I cannot even describe properly as they are completely new to me, too. For instance, have you ever you walked on air, without any visible fundament to tread on?  🙄 In the beginning it was a joy and even fun to walk or stand with Jesus to my right side way above the earth where no path, no mountain, no landscape beneath was needed. I take it that He should be the only fundament we need. He wants us to be completely dependent on Him so that He can release His power and spiritual blessings in and through us. Jesus said,

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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? 🤔

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.