{"id":2486,"date":"2019-02-18T01:34:24","date_gmt":"2019-02-18T01:34:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=2486"},"modified":"2019-02-18T01:34:53","modified_gmt":"2019-02-18T01:34:53","slug":"dying-to-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=2486","title":{"rendered":"Dying to Performance"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ps. 147:10-11 \u201cGod takes no pleasure in the strength of the horse, nor does he delight in the legs of a man, but the Lord delights in those that fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Romans 11:22 \u201cConsider the kindness and sternness of God\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>God does not create anyone to achieve things in their own strength. On the contrary, at some point, he must demonstrate the total inadequacy of our efforts to please him by performance. <\/p>\n<p>This is what is meant by the sternness of God: every disciple of Christ must, at some point, experience the sense of bitter failure that results as we try to please God, yet fail miserably. Our destiny is resurrection from dead works, which must by definition include the burial of a single seed in the dirt, a solitary death march to Golgatha, far from the applause of the multitudes. <\/p>\n<p>Those three days in the tomb are the catalyst by which all people find the answers they so desperately sought as they petitioned God. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf it dies, it produces many seeds.\u201d submitted by <a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hollywsmith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/lane-3797149__340.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hollywsmith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/lane-3797149__340.jpg?resize=300%2C200&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"lane-3797149__340\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-2429\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hollywsmith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/lane-3797149__340.jpg?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hollywsmith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/lane-3797149__340.jpg?w=509&amp;ssl=1 509w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>alan smith<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ps. 147:10-11 \u201cGod takes no pleasure in the strength of the horse, nor does he delight in the legs of a man, but the Lord delights in those that fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.\u201d Romans 11:22 \u201cConsider the kindness and sternness of God\u2026\u201d God does not create anyone to achieve [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":450,"url":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=450","url_meta":{"origin":2486,"position":0},"title":"Renewal 2012","author":"hollysmith","date":"December 28, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Mary DeMuth had an idea to ask God for a picture, not just a word, for 2012 in your life. She invited all of us to do the same. I got a picture of an eagle molting. The funny thing is I have had a dream that I ran a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Transforming Your Thinking&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Transforming Your Thinking","link":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hollywsmith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/images-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1060,"url":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=1060","url_meta":{"origin":2486,"position":1},"title":"Are you a Broken Pot?","author":"hollysmith","date":"April 7, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Are you a broken pot? Here are a few helpful facts to be aware of. The devil wants to make you think you are a failure and shamefully inadequate. God recognizes brokenness as an essential ingredient on your resume' to qualify you for ministry. 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(Contemporary English\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Featured&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?cat=18"},"img":{"alt_text":"sunset-field-poppy-sun-priroda","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hollywsmith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/sunset-field-poppy-sun-priroda-300x198.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2399,"url":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=2399","url_meta":{"origin":2486,"position":3},"title":"Faith Without Works is Dead","author":"hollysmith","date":"September 28, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"God is about building character. He gives us a model or example to follow in the stories of the Bible. Sometimes the Patriarch\u2019s mistakes can be the greatest lessons to know what not to do. 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