Red Fish Lake near Stanley, Idaho – Photo by Michael Clark
I recently got a comment on A Wilderness Voice blog from Susanne Schuberth of Germany. She said something that stirred me to consider its truth.
“I love it too [when two saints are of one mind], since it is very encouraging to see when we are on the same spiritual track IN Him.
I believe spiritual fellowship is meant to strengthen each member, but never to rule over them.”
What a joy it is when we hear another member of Christ’s body saying the very thing that His Spirit has been saying to us.
When I first came to Christ many years ago, He filled me with a deep desire to know Him and a hunger to read about Him in the scriptures. When I first met my wife about four years earlier, she remarked that I couldn’t even name the four gospels, much less Paul’s letters. Being raised a Catholic, I was totally ignorant of the Bible. But when the Spirit of God entered me in 1970, things changed rapidly (thank God for a praying wife and mother-in-law).
At first I read the gospels over and over until I found a center reference that pointed to His words and actions in the Old Testament. I found prophecies about Him and His very words all over the Psalms and then Isaiah and other prophets (See Luke 24:44). Eventually I read the whole Bible. It seems God had a plan for this–He often speaks to me with a portion of a verse, and when I look it up, it’s perfect for the situation or the person I am fellowshipping with. This often happens when He has me write an article or a reply on our bog. Over the last four years this has happened between Susanne and me and she has also spoken into my life, humbly showing me where I am weak and need a heart change. This can only work unto edification as we each humble ourselves before Christ. To “minister” to another out of pride destroys all true fellowship in the Spirit (See Gal. 6:1).
Paul had much to say about the unifying and edifying power of the Spirit of God and how He gifts each of us for the profit of the whole body of Christ. He wrote to the Corinthians on how the Spirit desires to function in the body of Christ.
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. (1Cor 12:4-7, ESV2011 – emphasis added) (See also: 1Cor 12:18-26 and 1Cor 14:12)
We are all one body, we have the same Spirit, and we have all been called to the same glorious future. There is only one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and there is only one God and Father, who is over us all and in us all and living through us all. However, he has given each one of us a special gift according to the generosity of Christ. That is why the Scriptures say, “When he ascended to the heights, he led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to his people.” (Eph 4:4-8, NLT- emphasis added)
God makes sure that each member of Christ’s body is empowered by the Spirit to function according to His eternal plan so that Christ might be manifest throughout the whole earth. But when one member rises up and lords over other members with His gift (see 1Peter 5:1-3 ESV), the rest of the body suffers and, like the parable of Jesus, he causes them to hide their talent [gift] in the dirt. They say to themselves, “I am only a lowly foot covered with dust, what good am I compared to this other brother who is the head with all the talents (seeing, hearing and speaking) this body needs.” Sad to say, this is how most modern churches function today. Yet Paul made it clear if we are members of one another and in Christ’s body, ALL members are equally necessary and gifted to edify one another in the Spirit, giving all glory to our Father. There is nothing more wonderful than a group of the saints of God flowing together in His Spirit. It’s like an angelic choir singing praises to the Lord.
Paul wrote this to the Romans:
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. (Rom 12:3-8, ESV2011)
The world’s hierarchic mindset of ruling over one another has no place in the body of Christ. Jesus said, “If any man would be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all.” (Mark 9:35, ASV- see also Matthew 20:25-28)
If we are ONE IN Christ, the ground where we stand before His throne is perfectly level. John saw this in his heavenly vision in Revelation.
And before the throne [of God] there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. (Rev 4:6, KJ2000)
And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. (Rev 15:2, KJ2000)
Some of the most beautiful photos I have ever taken have been of a body of water that is flat calm like a mirror, reflecting the far shoreline, the mountains behind it and the sky. A sea of glass is like a mirror because it is perfectly flat. We all stand with equal stature on a sea like this before the throne of God, reflecting the beauty of our Lord and His glory, not our own. We can do this only if we have entered into His rest and ceased from our own labors. There is no place for posturing, hierarchy or dead works as we abide together in the love of Christ before our heavenly Father.
May His Spirit drive this truth home in our hearts, Amen.
Picnic Bay Morning – Photo by Michael Clark
A Wilderness Voice 
A wonderful article and a terrific picture you once took, Michael! 🏆🏆🏆
It has been a joy to fellowship with you during these last four years. 😇💓😇 Thank you for having ears to hear 👂👂His still, small voice 💨🕊💭 AND to share what you have heard, too. ⭐ Isn’t it a heavenly experience to pray, to wait on God, and to finally be surprised, though, when He shows up in a moment we did not expect Him to do so? ⏰😊
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Thank you, Susanne, for your edifying comment.👍 😇🕊😇 And I thank our Father for the spiritual perception and ability to discern spirits that He has given you. He has used this gift of the Spirit to warn me when I was being led off in the wrong direction and used your prayers many times. Also, your blog articles have always given me much to contemplate and they often have confirmed something God was trying to show me. Ours is truly a unique relationship in the Spirit, though it has meant much suffering in body and soul. Through it all it has been a blessing from God as well as a witness of His “kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Yes, it truly is a wonderful experience to wait for Him to act in our lives in so many surprising ways, bearing witness that He is still with us after many long dry spells. I am so glad that Jesus promised, “I will never leave you nor forsake you, even to the end,” and kept that promise. Hmmmm… that has just taken on new meaning to me, “Even unto the end,” it seams that He always comes through when we are at the very end of ourselves. Without Him we are toast! 🍞🍞 😊 But each time we rest in Him and overcome, the experience makes our faith stronger and He stretches us so we can receive more of Him. It is just as Paul wrote,
“Oh, what fellowship, oh what glory divine, leaning on the everlasting arms…”
What shall we say if we neglect so great a salvation?!!!🤔
“O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” 🏆😇💓😇🏆
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You are most welcome, Michael.
Yes, my dear brother, our fellowship is a very precious and unique thing! I do not know of anyone else who keeps in touch with someone else with whom they could share such ever-growing depth of spiritual experience and understanding God has given us as we fellowshipped in His Spirit over the years.
It is always amazing to me when I tell you about another situation I have been struggling with, a dream or a vision I had, and you – in less than two shakes of a dog’s tail 😉 – come up with the proper Scriptures. Listening to you, I can hear His voice then and rejoice! 😊
Indeed, if we are not yet at the end of ourselves, we need to suffer until we realize our helplessness and utter weakness without Him. Would we ever cry out to God if we could do it all on our own? I guess not. Out of our old nature’s habits and out of pride we’d avoid praying for God’s support and provision. But God longs to help us in ALL situations since He is our Father!! Therefore, as much as we might hate it, all this suffering makes sense. We should learn to be obedient as Jesus was [there] through all our trials and afflictions.
Btw, my brother, I like these toast emoticons you posted. Very cute! XD
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Susanne, it occurred to me as I read your response that if we are truly IN Christ and He has knit us together in the Spirit, Christ in each of us still is saying through the other,
“I will never leave you, nor forsake you even to the end.” Human love will always fail, but His love in us endures forever. Two people who abide together IN Him becomes a very practical thing.
I had been praying for months before we met that I would come to understand and experience Jesus’ final prayer about unity and then He sent you so He could teach me this reality in a very practical way,
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Michael,
going back to an earlier conversation [see https://awildernessvoice.wordpress.com/2017/12/10/we-have-been-given-the-mind-of-christ/#comment-5659] do you have any thoughts on why Paul says in Eph 4:23 “be renewed in the spirit of your mind”.
Why is it inadequate to merely say be renewed in your mind or be renewed in spirit, why combine the ideas of spirit and mind in the context of renewal?
Any thoughts?
My guess is that mind and spirit in Paul’s language do not mean the same things it does in our language, thus it doesn’t follow our logic. Nobody today speaks about the spirit of someone’s mind. If you were to ask a typical person as to what is the spirit of their mind, my guess is that they would suspect you are talking abut their mood, or attitude or temperament, or something like this.
What is the spirit/breath of the mind?
Al
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Alan, while I was praying about your question regarding Ephesians 4:23, the Lord spoke to me once again through the scriptures. When that Samaritan village would not let Jesus and the disciples pass through it because they were going to Jerusalem, a couple of the disciple wanted to call down fire from heaven to destroy them all (see Luke 9:51-56). After all, didn’t Elijah do this in 2 kings 1:10-14? Jesus rebuked them and said, “You know not what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” Like many Christians today, they did not know which Covenant they were of much less which spirit was working in them.
There are two spirits that vie for preeminence in our minds, the Holy Spirit and the evil spirit[s] of Satan. The flesh of the natural man is in league with the evil spirit and is drawn away easily to do his will. There is no neutral ground in this war. Our minds are a spiritual battle ground. This is why Jesus said, “the flesh profits nothing.” Paul wrote,
The spirit of the carnal mind is at enmity with God and brings death (see Gal. 5:17). The spirit of the mind that abides IN Christ, the Holy Spirit, gives life and peace (see Romans 8:6).
So, my brother, we are back to what it means to have the mind of Christ…
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Patricia wrote,
Muy buena enseñanza Michael, gracias. Esto mismo el Señor ha estado enseñándome. Precisamente ayer mientras esperaba un transporte para llegar a casa, me acordaba de mis días en una de las congregaciones más grandes de aquí en Bogotá (Colombia) y me acordaba de lo asfixiada que me sentía. No tenía libertad, siempre tenía que pedir permiso para todo, no podía hacer nada que el pastor no aprobara, manipulada y llena de sentimientos de culpa.
Ayer mientras estaba allí con un sol radiante y una brisa suave, le daba gracias al Señor por la libertad que me había otorgado, libertad para hacer Su voluntad y seguirlo a Él a pesar del costo, libertad para Reposar en Sus tiempos y escuchar Su voz sin las manipulaciones de los lideres religiosos.
Y hoy el Señor en mi tiempo devocional me hablaba en Gálatas capítulo 5 acerca de este yugo de servidumbre. Daba gracias a Dios porque Él rompió el yugo de la religión en mi vida y rompió ese activismo religioso que mata la vida de Dios en nosotros y me llevó a una verdadera comunión con mis hermanos bajo Su gobierno.
¡Gloria al Señor por esto!
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Beautifully said, my precious sister IN Christ!
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of [religious] slavery. (Gal 5:1, NIV)
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Brothers and Sisters, what joy to read on this blog, the writings of Michael and Susanne, and also the others. My brother, Michael, thank you for the rich truth in the writing.
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Yes, as we must lay our heads on Jesus’ breast and listen to His heart and speak and write from that relationship, that will make all the difference for we will be unified in HIS great love and tuned into Him and one another. You are welcome, Pat.
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A beautiful post, Michael. I apologize for my delay in reading it. I do not always scan the WordPress Reader, but rather go directly to my posts and work on them. I am supposed to be notified of new posts of yours, but for some reason that is not always the case. Just did not want you to think I had intentionally overlooked you.
Have a blessed Christmas!
Much love, your sister in Christ,
Anna ❤
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Anna, thank you for your note. I have had problems with getting my notifications from followed blogs on here as well. It is good to hear from you again.
I hope your Christmas is blessed as well. ❤
Michael
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