{"id":11600,"date":"2014-08-18T09:35:16","date_gmt":"2014-08-18T13:35:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=11600"},"modified":"2014-08-18T11:29:21","modified_gmt":"2014-08-18T15:29:21","slug":"have-you-ever-been-speechless-with-sorrow-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=11600","title":{"rendered":"Have You Ever Been Speechless with Sorrow?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>When he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich \u2014<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?version=31&amp;search=Luke+18%3A23\" target=\"_blank\">Luke 18:23<\/a><\/h1>\n<p><!-- .entry-meta --> <!-- .entry-header --><\/p>\n<section>\n<div><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zC1MgLr2LqE\" height=\"315\" width=\"560\" allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nThe rich young ruler went away from Jesus speechless with sorrow, having nothing to say in response to Jesus\u2019 words. He had no doubt about what Jesus had said or what it meant, and it produced in him a sorrow with no words with which to respond. Have you ever been there? Has God\u2019s Word ever come to you, pointing out an area of your life, requiring you to yield it to Him? Maybe He has pointed out certain personal qualities, desires, and interests, or possibly relationships of your heart and mind. If so, then you have often been speechless with sorrow. The Lord will not go after you, and He will not plead with you. But every time He meets you at the place where He has pointed, He will simply repeat His words, saying, \u201cIf you really mean what you say, these are the conditions.\u201d\u201cSell all that you have . . .\u201d (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Luke+18:22\">Luke 18:22<\/a>). In other words, rid yourself before God of everything that might be considered a possession until you are a mere conscious human being standing before Him, and then give God that. That is where the battle is truly fought\u2014 in the realm of your will before God. Are you more devoted to your idea of what Jesus wants than to Jesus Himself? If so, you are likely to hear one of His harsh and unyielding statements that will produce sorrow in you. What Jesus says <em>is<\/em> difficult\u2014 it is only easy when it is heard by those who have His nature in them. Beware of allowing anything to soften the hard words of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n<p>I can be so rich in my own poverty, or in the awareness of the fact that I am nobody, that I will never be a disciple of Jesus. Or I can be so rich in the awareness that I am somebody that I will never be a disciple. Am I willing to be destitute and poor even in my sense of awareness of my destitution and poverty? If not, that is why I become discouraged. Discouragement is disillusioned self-love, and self-love may be love for my devotion to Jesus\u2014 not love for Jesus Himself.<\/p>\n<p>__________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">August 18, 2014<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">Journal Entry for Today-JDV<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">Lord, it seems that every devotional lately is conditional. I can follow you if\u2026or if I really mean what I say then I will do this to prove it to You.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">I am already concerned about my inability to stay continually connected to You. I stray, say the wrong thing (s), and I am often selfish and self-centered. <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">How is it that You love me unconditionally, and then offer up conditional devotionals like this one?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">And God says\u2026\u201d<\/span><i><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">My love is never conditional. Your connection to my love, is conditional in that you can be connected to many other things. <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">You can surrender portions of your life, and hold back other areas of your life. This lesson is about holding back nothing; about giving your life to Me. If you are willing and able to do that, then you are connected. Very often you are willing to surrender the portions of your life that are broken, but are you willing to give me the areas of your life that (in your mind) are not? Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own understanding and I will make your paths straight. And if you find that you cannot surrender what you hold dear, simply ask my help and direction.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\">I know you believe, and I will help you in your unbelief.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich \u2014Luke 18:23 The rich young ruler went away from Jesus speechless with sorrow, having nothing to say in response to Jesus\u2019 words. He had no doubt about what Jesus had said or what it meant, and it produced in him a sorrow [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11600"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11600"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11606,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11600\/revisions\/11606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}