What Selflessness Is Like

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feelings, God our Father, God's love, happiness, Jesus Christ, joy, prayer, salvation, Satan, self-forgetfulness, self-will, selflessness, suffering, T.A. Sparks, The Holy Spirit, the new self, the old self, trials, true faith

Picture credits https://www.happywholehuman.com/help-people-rise/

I just bumped into a blog where someone was praised to the skies for being able to do gymnastics at an advanced age. There is nothing wrong about such a laudation in itself since this and similar things are that which our fallen world can exclusively look at. Whatever is visible, audible, tangible, countable, measurable, yes, everything that is perceptible by our senses will be praised if it promises pleasure to people. As I skimmed through the comments section of this blog post, the longest response there caught my eye. The commenter, of course, was still older than the aforementioned person who would receive rave reviews, and he, outrageously, won this and that competition at an even higher age. Dear reader, it was almost impossible for me to finish reading their self-praise by which I felt greatly repelled. What about those people who cannot behave as they would want? What about those who are sick and cannot move their bodies any longer as they would love to? I doubt you will find any writing on the internet where these people are praised… BUT…

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Being Perfectly Balanced

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balance, discerning the spirits, emotions, experience, feelings, following Jesus, God's guidance, God's voice, heart, intellect, mind, Oswald Chambers, reason, self-will, T.A. Sparks, The Holy Spirit

“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.” (Mt 7:19-20 ESV)
Photo by Susanne Schuberth

As I lately took the picture I posted above, I was sure I would use it for a blog article. Nonetheless, I had no clue about what to write as yet. A few days later I added Scripture and, still, I had no idea and no desire to write at all. Just today as I was meditating on this Scripture from Matthew chapter seven again, I wondered what this ‘good fruit’ Jesus spoke of might be and how we could recognize it immediately. It seems to me that all things God is allowed (!) to work in us and through us automatically produce good fruit. Good works, however, we do apart from being led by Him have not sprung from this tree which is rooted in Christ and, therefore, they are not really good in God’s sight. They are even bad! That reminds of the following Scripture where Jesus told us,

Death and Resurrection or… “I NEED A SAVIOR!”

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A.W. Tozer, being born again, death, dying to self, experience, following Jesus, joy, killing sin, love, pain, resurrection, spiritual power, suffering, T.A. Sparks, The Holy Spirit, the new self, the old self

Empty Tomb
(Source http://www.answering-christianity.com/empty-tomb.jpg)

In this article I want to make clear that death and resurrection are two very different things. Regarding Jesus’ death on the cross and His supernatural resurrection, and what that should imply for us today, you will find a longer excerpt taken from one of T. Austin Sparks’ sermons following my deliberations on dying to self.

Having the Mind of Christ

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Christlikeness, discerning the spirits, experience, eyes of the heart, God, heart, Jesus Christ, marriage, mind, new creation, old creation, relationships, Satan, spiritual power, T.A. Sparks, the devil, The Holy Spirit, the mind of Christ, the new self, the old self, thought life, true faith

“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.” (Heb 10:22 KJV)
Photo by Susanne Schuberth

We all might have heard about the difference between the male mind that works rather ‘left-brained’ (logical, purpose-oriented, and goal-focused) and the female mind which is said to be quite ‘right-brained’ (emotional, empathic, and all-round perceptive). Since women and men are pretty different as to how their thought life and feelings proceed, a lot of misunderstandings between them are inevitable… unless they have the mind of Christ! What I mean by that is that our old and fallen nature thinks it knows it all better than the opposite sex. How many marriages and relationships fall apart because men and women have given up on trying to relate to what the other one is really saying! The bad news is that there is not much hope as long as we cling to our old nature which, whether we realize it or not, usually submits to Satan. In fact, our thought habits that spring from the self-centered old creation are filled with suspicion, doubts, fears, worries and all other negative tendencies you might think of. Just trying to watch one’s own thoughts for one or two minutes only and counting how often negativity pops up might leave you completely discouraged.

Another Fake Revival or… how Christianity is being deceived

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Baptism in the Holy Spirit, deception, delusion, discerning the spirits, exhortation, Jesus Christ, The Holy Spirit, the old self

For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.” (Lk 8:17-18 ESV)
Picture from http://hosts.blogtalkradio.com/talkteachtestify/2015/04/29/the-counterfeit-christianity-unfolded-the-great-deception-of-satan

A dear brother shared a link with me today which led to an article that describes the latest alleged “outpouring” of a spirit – I do not dare to call this spirit the Holy Spirit of God since I really cringe in my heart and soul about this blend of truth and lies we are offered there. Alas, I found a very uncritical entry by a Christian magazine as I followed the link.  😦 If you want to read the whole thing, below is the link. It could serve as a training to sharpen the ability of discerning the spirits in us.

How God meets man… or what does it mean to be IN Christ?

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being born again, darkness, experience, God's love, joy, light, living water, pain, the dark night of the soul, The Holy Spirit, the new self, the old self, the promised land

The River of No Return…
(Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

I just had an interesting picture on my mind. Imagine all people in this world initially walk through barren and desolate land for the most part of their lifetime. But sometimes some of them suddenly see an oasis before their eyes. They can hardly believe that they now can leave the wilderness they were in for a very long time and sparks of hope begin to take root inside their hearts. However, alas, as they come closer and closer, they realize that what they had seen within their reach seemed to be only a Fata Morgana since it was gone as soon as they wanted to take possession of it. Grievously disappointed and discouraged they find themselves forced to continue on their journey through the desert, but they cannot forget the beauty of the place they would see before being able to arrive there.

There are mysteries we can’t read about in the Bible

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experience, God, God's love, Holy Spirit, Jay Ferris, Jesus Christ, love, marriage, Martin Luther, mystery, revelation, secrets, The Holy Spirit, worship in spirit and truth

When His Light Shines Forth…
(Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

JESUS:
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” (Jn 16:12-13 ESV)

PAUL:
“But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” (1 2:7-10 ESV)

Mercy Triumphs over Judgment

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darkness, enlightened, experience, eyes of the heart, God's love, Jesus Christ, life, light, living water, love, sin, spiritual power, T.A. Sparks, The Holy Spirit, the woman at the well

This is not the Fountain of Living Water, it is just Lily’s favorite “water bowl” on the balconies 😉
(Photo by Susanne Schuberth)

It is not ours to judge anyone, even though everything might tell against them. We can merely see how people look like, what they do and how they behave. And if they talk a lot, we will come to know a certain part of their hearts too. However, it is God alone who knows the depths of our hearts, the WHY of what we did and, maybe, still do. Therefore, we must be cautious to not quickly say, “Oh, I know, I know, been there, done that, such kind of persons I have come to know so often!”

“Love Personified” by Michael Clark and Susanne Schuberth

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freedom, God's love, Jesus Christ, living water, spiritual power, The Holy Spirit, 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)

Susanne (aka me 😉 ) wrote,“I was just pondering on the fact why we as human beings are not always the same. I mean, there are people with whom we dare to be more open than with others. People of whom we know that they love us and that they will forgive us whatever we might say or do. But there are other people we do not know that intimately and therefore we are a still bit cautious of how to deal with them.” (https://enteringthepromisedland.wordpress.com/2014/12/08/be-who-you-are-since-there-is-no-other-you/)

There is something that the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well felt about Jesus that made her dare to be totally open with Him. When we hear the story about her preached, many like to say that Jesus confronted her with her sins. Susanne and I hold that this was not the case, but rather she was confronted with how much Jesus loved and respected her in spite of knowing what her past history was. She was shocked that He was even talking with her and asked her for a drink, knowing that Jews did not have anything to do with Samaritans, much less a Jewish man with a Samaritan woman! She was the dog of dogs in the mind of an orthodox Jewish Rabbi.

What is the Baptism in the Holy Spirit?

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anointing, assurance, Baptism in the Holy Spirit, Charles G. Finney, experience, Jesus Christ, justification, light, love, repentance, spiritual power, The Holy Spirit

God’s Eternal Light from Above
(Picture taken from http://www.simplyheavenlyfood.com/2013/12/word-of-day-december-292013.html)

John the Baptist said,

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Mt 3:11 ESV)

Although I had heard about the Baptism in the Holy Spirit in the Pentecostal camp before and I had indeed found some hints in John of the Cross’s autobiographic entries as well, yet as IT would happen to me, I had no clue what THIS could be. Therefore I asked God to help me grasp that overwhelming experience that finished my justification process, during which I had been feeling my own sinfulness to an increased degree as a very painful fire burning in my heart for many weeks in 2008.
Our God was so gracious to point me to Charles G. Finney’s autobiography where I found my own experiences confirmed. Finney who was an American Presbyterian minister and leader in the in the United States in the 19th century offered a very helpful narrative that answered many of the questions I had at that time.