{"id":5217,"date":"2011-08-24T05:09:16","date_gmt":"2011-08-24T13:09:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wordpress\/?p=5217"},"modified":"2011-08-24T07:06:48","modified_gmt":"2011-08-24T15:06:48","slug":"the-spiritual-search","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=5217","title":{"rendered":"The Spiritual Search"},"content":{"rendered":"
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August\u00a024, \u00a02011<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
What man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? \u2014Matthew 7:9<\/div>\n
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The illustration of prayer that our Lord used here is one of a good child who is asking for something good. We talk about prayer as if God hears us regardless of what our relationship is to Him (see Matthew 5:45<\/a>). Never say that it is not God\u2019s will to give you what you ask. Don\u2019t faint and give up, but find out the reason you have not received; increase the intensity of your search and examine the evidence. Is your relationship right with your spouse, your children, and your fellow students? Are you a \u201cgood child\u201d in those relationships? Do you have to say to the Lord, \u201cI have been irritable and cross, but I still want spiritual blessings\u201d? You cannot receive and will have to do without them until you have the attitude of a \u201cgood child.\u201d\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We mistake defiance for devotion, arguing with God instead of surrendering. We refuse to look at the evidence that clearly indicates where we are wrong. Have I been asking God to give me money for something I want, while refusing to pay someone what I owe him? Have I been asking God for liberty while I am withholding it from someone who belongs to me? Have I refused to forgive someone, and have I been unkind to that person? Have I been living as God\u2019s child among my relatives and friends? (see Matthew 7:12<\/a>).\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I am a child of God only by being born again, and as His child I am good only as I \u201cwalk in the light\u201d (1 John 1:7<\/a>). For most of us, prayer simply becomes some trivial religious expression, a matter of mystical and emotional fellowship with God. We are all good at producing spiritual fog that blinds our sight. But if we will search out and examine the evidence, we will see very clearly what is wrong\u2014 a friendship, an unpaid debt, or an improper attitude. There is no use praying unless we are living as children of God. Then Jesus says, regarding His children, \u201cEveryone who asks receives . . .\u201d (Matthew 7:8<\/a>).\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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August 24, 2011<\/p>\n

Journal Entry for Today-JDV<\/p>\n

Lord, every once in a while Oswald Chambers writes a devotional that confuses me.\u00a0 This one tells us that God will answer our prayers if we are \u201cgood children\u201d and unless we are \u201cgood\u201d, You have no obligation to keep Your promise to meet our needs. \u00a0I chose this song because it tells us that You love us anyway, regardless of the fact that we lie, have been Judas and the man from the crowd shouting, \u201ccrucify.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

And God says\u2026\u201dSome believe that you come to me in faith, but right after your decision to surrender to Me, you must \u00a0clean yourself up and be \u201cgood\u201d enough. It is not the way. As Paul said in his letter to the Romans\u2026 5..<\/em> 1-2<\/sup><\/em><\/strong>By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us\u2014set us right with him, make us fit for him\u2014we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that’s not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. 6-8<\/sup><\/strong>Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYou will never be \u201cgood enough\u201d to receive my blessings. However Jesus is always \u201cgood enough\u201d. I \u00a0answer your prayers always, with one of three blessings; 1) \u00a0yes, right now\u2026 or 2) be patient and wait for a time, and\u00a0 finally 3) \u00a0I have something much better in mind. My blessings are based on the sacrifice of Jesus, and the grace and mercy that accompanies your surrender to Him\u201d.\"\"<\/a>
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Aug 24th \u00a0DJR Journal<\/sup><\/p>\n

Good Morning Lord,<\/p>\n

I agree with my brother, the idea that we will have to do without (blessings) until we become a good child \u2026 does not square with my experience. \u00a0 I have recieved many blessings as a huge sinner or while in a prodigal phase. \u00a0 As a matter of fact, the blessings while prodigal, are an impetus to surrender and return to better acting, being a good child, as Oswald says.\u00a0 \u00a0 So I dont know how exactly to reconcile the different truths\u2026\u00a0 It is also true that there is sowing and reaping \u2026 I have seen that.\u00a0 \u00a0 But I have also seen blessing come on top of not-so-good sowing. \u00a0 And sometimes there has been what I thought was some pretty good seed sown that didn\u2019t produce that great a harvest. \u00a0 I\u2019m glad I dont have to have this all sorted out. \u00a0 It could give me a headache like a French Existential Philosopher.\u00a0 \u00a0 I am happy to rest in my brothers bottom\u00a0 line \u2026. Paraphrased \u2026. If we have 2 ingredients:\u00a0 The sacrifice of Jesus and our surrender \u2026\u00a0 We will be OK and dont have to have all the other questions figured out.<\/p>\n

I would like to learn more about this, how the universal truths superimpose, one over another \u2026..<\/p>\n

You are right, there are truths that are in place, like gravity, that I put the Universe together with. \u00a0 But they I can over ride one concept with another \u2026 My ways are higher than your ways.\u00a0 Even the physical laws can supercede one another like magnetism can supersede gravity etc. \u00a0 A couple of trump cards that I have that regularly over ride lower truths are my love for you – as proved by Jesus sacrifice, and my hate for sin – as proved by Jesus sacrifice.\u00a0 \u00a0 If you read the new testament you will see that unworthy people were actually the only ones that got the blessings. \u00a0 The worthy ones, the Pharisees, \u00a0 got nothing. \u00a0 The only blessing that a person good and perfect in their own eyes can get is the blessing of Surrender, which my Holy Spirit can aid in achieving. \u00a0 \u00a0 The problem is that perfect people rarely pray for that particular gift. \u00a0 \u00a0 Remember, even Surrender is a gift. \u00a0 Seek it.<\/em><\/p>\n

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August\u00a024, \u00a02011 What man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? \u2014Matthew 7:9 The illustration of prayer that our Lord used here is one of a good child who is asking for something good. We talk about prayer as if God hears us regardless of what […]<\/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":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5217"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5217"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5230,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5217\/revisions\/5230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}