{"id":5019,"date":"2011-07-18T05:16:17","date_gmt":"2011-07-18T13:16:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wordpress\/?p=5019"},"modified":"2011-07-18T05:33:09","modified_gmt":"2011-07-18T13:33:09","slug":"the-mystery-of-believing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=5019","title":{"rendered":"The Mystery of Believing"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div id=\"post-901\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><strong>July\u00a018.\u00a02011<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><strong> <\/strong><\/div>\n<div><strong> <\/strong><\/div>\n<div><strong> <\/strong><\/div>\n<div><strong> <\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"key-verse-box\"><strong>He said, &#8220;Who are You, Lord? \u2014Acts 9:5<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><strong> <\/strong><\/div>\n<div><object classid=\"clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000\" width=\"575\" height=\"300\" codebase=\"http:\/\/download.macromedia.com\/pub\/shockwave\/cabs\/flash\/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0\"><param name=\"src\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/ZSrWwW_QLmw\" \/><embed type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"575\" height=\"300\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/ZSrWwW_QLmw\"><\/embed><\/object><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Through the miracle of redemption, Saul of Tarsus was instantly changed from a strong-willed and forceful Pharisee into a humble and devoted bondservant of the Lord Jesus.<\/p>\n<p>There is nothing miraculous or mysterious about the things we can explain. We control what we are able to explain, consequently it is only natural to seek an explanation for everything. It is not natural to obey, yet it is not necessarily sinful to disobey. There can be no real disobedience, nor any moral virtue in obedience, unless a person recognizes the higher authority of the one giving the orders. If this recognition does not exist, even the one giving the orders may view the other person\u2019s disobedience as freedom. If one rules another by saying, \u201cYou must do this,\u201d and, \u201cYou will do that,\u201d he breaks the human spirit, making it unfit for God. A person is simply a slave for obeying, unless behind his obedience is the recognition of a holy God.<\/p>\n<p>Many people begin coming to God once they stop being religious, because there is only one master of the human heart\u2014 Jesus Christ, not religion. But \u201cWoe is me\u201d if after seeing <em>Him<\/em> I still <em>will not<\/em> obey (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Isaiah+6:5\">Isaiah 6:5<\/a> , also see <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Isaiah+6:5\">Isaiah 6:1<\/a>). Jesus will never insist that I obey, but if I don\u2019t,I have already begun to sign the death certificate of the Son of God in my soul. When I stand face to face with Jesus Christ and say, \u201cI will not obey,\u201d He will never insist. But when I do this, I am backing away from the recreating power of His redemption. It makes no difference to God\u2019s grace what an abomination I am, if I will only come to the light. But \u201cWoe is me\u201d if I refuse the light (see<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=John+3:19-21\">John 3:19-21<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>___________________________________________________<\/p>\n<p>July 18, 2011<\/p>\n<p>Journal Entry for Today-JDV<\/p>\n<p>Lord the song struck me like the lesson about Saul of Tarsus&#8230;.. <em>being struck<\/em> by your love and grace. I have often been concerned about \u2026\u201dwhat must I do\u201d. How must I live, react, study, obey, trust\u2026I am often concerned about my role in our relationship; what are my responsibilities. This song and lesson seem to attack that notion.<\/p>\n<p><em>And God says\u2026\u201dAll the work for and in the believer is for Me to accomplish. Yours is but to surrender. And there are times when you are unable to surrender, and your salvation must be \u201cworked out\u201d. Inside the stages of your life trust in Me with all your heart, and when you cannot and there will be times when you cannot, \u00a0simply stay connected. I have begun a good work in you and I will complete it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>July\u00a018.\u00a02011 He said, &#8220;Who are You, Lord? \u2014Acts 9:5 Through the miracle of redemption, Saul of Tarsus was instantly changed from a strong-willed and forceful Pharisee into a humble and devoted bondservant of the Lord Jesus. There is nothing miraculous or mysterious about the things we can explain. We control what we are able to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5019"}],"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=5019"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5027,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5019\/revisions\/5027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}