{"id":13863,"date":"2016-01-04T09:31:19","date_gmt":"2016-01-04T14:31:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=13863"},"modified":"2016-01-04T11:12:08","modified_gmt":"2016-01-04T16:12:08","slug":"why-can-i-not-follow-you-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=13863","title":{"rendered":"Why Can I Not Follow You Now?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"key-verse-box\">\n<p>Peter said to Him, &#8220;Lord, why can I not follow You now?&#8221; \u2014<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?version=31&amp;search=John+13%3A37\" target=\"_blank\">John 13:37<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong><!-- .entry-meta --><\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"top-rule\"><\/div>\n<section class=\"entry-content\">\n<div class=\"post-content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2ODe4sGCKxc\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nThere are times when you can\u2019t understand why you cannot do what you want to do. When God brings a time of waiting, and appears to be unresponsive, don\u2019t fill it with busyness, just wait. The time of waiting may come to teach you the meaning of sanctification\u2014 to be set apart from sin and made holy\u2014 or it may come after the process of sanctification has begun to teach you what service means. Never run before God gives you His direction. If you have the slightest doubt, then He is not guiding. Whenever there is doubt\u2014 wait.At first you may see clearly what God\u2019s will is\u2014 the severance of a friendship, the breaking off of a business relationship, or something else you feel is distinctly God\u2019s will for you to do. But never act on the impulse of that feeling. If you do, you will cause difficult situations to arise which will take years to untangle. Wait for God\u2019s timing and He will do it without any heartache or disappointment. When it is a question of the providential will of God, wait for God to move.Peter did not wait for God. He predicted in his own mind where the test would come, and it came where he did not expect it. \u201cI will lay down my life for Your sake.\u201d Peter\u2019s statement was honest but ignorant. \u201cJesus answered him, \u2018\u2026the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times\u2019 \u201d (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=John+13:38\">John 13:38<\/a>). This was said with a deeper knowledge of Peter than Peter had of himself. He could not follow Jesus because he did not know himself or his own capabilities well enough. Natural devotion may be enough to attract us to Jesus, to make us feel His irresistible charm, but it will never make us disciples. Natural devotion will deny Jesus, always falling short of what it means to truly follow Him.<\/p>\n<p>__________________________________________________________<\/p>\n<p>January 4 2016<\/p>\n<p>Journal Entry for Today-JDV<\/p>\n<p>Good morning Lord. This devotional reminded me that in my own strength I am not capable of following You. In my own strength, I seem to always follow the path to the \u201cBig Four\u201d: to look good, feel good, to be right and to be in control. How do I let go of this tendency and seek to follow You in all things?<\/p>\n<p>And God says\u2026\u201d<em>Apart from Me you can do nothing. When you try to muster up the discipline, persistence and personal power to follow Me you will always fail. I require perfection. And you cannot achieve perfection this side of heaven. However your surrender to Jesus allows Me to see His perfection in you, and you to live in the mercy and grace provided by His sacrifice. Seek first the kingdom of God, which is Jesus, and I will provide everything else you need, including the perfection I require. Acknowledge Me in all your ways and I will make your paths straight. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cSurrender your \u201cBig Four\u201d to me daily, hourly and minute by minute. This is the way to pray without ceasing. Simply see yourself placing all your requests, needs, needs of your family and friends, visions hopes, dreams, success and failures at the foot of the cross every day. And if you feel that you cannot muster enough faith to believe that I will meet all your needs, according to My riches in heaven, do as the father did when speaking with Jesus (Mark 9:24). Simply say, \u201cI believe, help me in my unbelief\u201d. I will always meet you at the very point of your need as you seek to follow Me. Seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened. \u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Peter said to Him, &#8220;Lord, why can I not follow You now?&#8221; \u2014John 13:37 There are times when you can\u2019t understand why you cannot do what you want to do. When God brings a time of waiting, and appears to be unresponsive, don\u2019t fill it with busyness, just wait. The time of waiting may come [&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\/13863"}],"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=13863"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13868,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13863\/revisions\/13868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}