To believe deeply means to remember deeply.
God constantly asks us to remember. He was always reminding Israel of what he'd done for them, especially the Passover scenario and the events surrounding that.
My recent posts suggest there's a "pre-history" that's been off-limits to our brains...until now. I'd like to add the heaven/me/Lucifer scenario as something worth remembering. It makes the Cross more meaningful than ever.
It also sheds light on what "dying to self" means.
Without our even trying, we manage to make "dying to self" an act of the will...a work, if you will.
We typically take a deep breath, while resigning ourselves to pain, tightening our gut, holding our breath, gripping our chair, hunkering down, sweating profusely, slogging through...and finally, whew, emerging on the other side victorious as we wipe our brow and pat ourselves on the back for a job well done.
Yes, we did it. It was our effort that dodged the bullet.
Nowhere was God present. Obviously something's fundamentally wrong with this picture.

I believe there's a "flow" that happens when we're "in the moment" and God's Spirit is operating through us.
Looking at it from a quantum mechanics point of view, we're constantly presented with parallel universes. In alternate universe #1 we're doing God's will under God's power. In alternate universe #2 we're trying to do God's will under our power. In one case, it's effortless as we ride God's wave. In the other, it's a valiant struggle that's solely dependent on how strong or weak I am.

We need to figure out how to get "in the flow."