{"id":13992,"date":"2016-02-03T09:36:54","date_gmt":"2016-02-03T14:36:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=13992"},"modified":"2016-02-03T13:18:27","modified_gmt":"2016-02-03T18:18:27","slug":"becoming-the-filth-of-the-world-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=13992","title":{"rendered":"Becoming the \u201cFilth of the World\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>\u00a0We have been made as the filth of the world\u2026 \u2014<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?version=31&amp;search=1+Corinthians+4%3A13\" target=\"_blank\">1 Corinthians 4:13<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"col-sm-4\"><\/div>\n<section class=\"entry-content\">\n<div class=\"post-content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yutmTFtalKs\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nThese words are not an exaggeration. The only reason they may not be true of us who call ourselves ministers of the gospel is not that Paul forgot or misunderstood the exact truth of them, but that we are too cautious and concerned about our own desires to allow ourselves to become the refuse or \u201cfilth of the world.\u201d \u201cFill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ\u2026\u201d (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Colossians+1:24\">Colossians 1:24<\/a>) is not the result of the holiness of sanctification, but the evidence of consecration\u2014 being \u201cseparated to the gospel of God\u2026\u201d (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Romans+1:1\">Romans 1:1<\/a>).<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<p>\u201cBeloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you\u2026\u201d (1 Peter 4:12). If we do think the things we encounter are strange, it is because we are fearful and cowardly. We pay such close attention to our own interests and desires that we stay out of the mire and say, \u201cI won\u2019t submit; I won\u2019t bow or bend.\u201d And you don\u2019t have to\u2014 you can be saved by the \u201cskin of your teeth\u201d if you like. You can refuse to let God count you as one who is \u201cseparated to the gospel\u2026.\u201d Or you can say, \u201cI don\u2019t care if I am treated like \u2018the filth of the world\u2019 as long as the gospel is proclaimed.\u201dA true servant of Jesus Christ is one who is willing to experience martyrdom for the reality of the gospel of God.<\/p>\n<p>When a moral person is confronted with contempt, immorality, disloyalty, or dishonesty, he is so repulsed by the offense that he turns away and in despair closes his heart to the offender. But the miracle of the redemptive reality of God is that the worst and the vilest offender can never exhaust the depths of His love. Paul did not say that God separated him to show what a wonderful man He could make of him, but \u201c<em>to reveal His Son in me<\/em>\u2026\u201d (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Galatians+1:16\">Galatians 1:16<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>______________________________________________________________<\/p>\n<p>February 3, 2016<\/p>\n<p>Journal Entry for Today-JDV<\/p>\n<p>Good morning God and thank you for this lesson and Your leading today. David and I saw this lesson as one more extension of the: surrender, connection, and curiosity process You have been teaching us. You have been leading us to an awareness that in reality there is no difference between the calls to preach, or to simply live out the Gospel and love our neighbors. We are to be surrendered to You and allow You to live through us. We are to expect You to do things Your way, not our ways. We can expect to have peace and the abundant life right inside our trials, even though or perhaps especially when they have not been removed. And we believe we understand that it is \u201cwoe is me\u201d if we are not surrendered, regardless of the calling You have or will give us.<\/p>\n<p>And God says\u2026\u201d<em>Yes. That is the lesson. When you are surrendered, connected, and curious about how I am going to deal with you or some trial in your life or the lives of those you love; and you have let go of your desired outcomes, allowing Me to be the God of your life, I can give you the desires of your heart. When you are willing to \u201cbe the filth of the world\u201d that is, when your standing or status or circumstances in the world do not matter, because you trust Me to be God and provide you with every good thing, you are free to live an amazing and fruitful adventure. When your mind and heart are truly synchronized around the belief that \u201call things work together for the good of those that love the Lord\u201d; your ministry can then grow beyond your wildest expectations. And you may even use words on occasion.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0We have been made as the filth of the world\u2026 \u20141 Corinthians 4:13 These words are not an exaggeration. The only reason they may not be true of us who call ourselves ministers of the gospel is not that Paul forgot or misunderstood the exact truth of them, but that we are too cautious and [&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\/13992"}],"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=13992"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14003,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13992\/revisions\/14003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}