{"id":408,"date":"2011-09-22T23:48:10","date_gmt":"2011-09-22T23:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=408"},"modified":"2012-01-30T15:49:10","modified_gmt":"2012-01-30T15:49:10","slug":"your-personal-peniel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=408","title":{"rendered":"Your Personal Peniel"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\nAs you encounter larger trials in the Christian life, you must either decide to be ever vigilant and relentless in your self-protection or surrender that responsibility to God and trust in His oversight. There are no other choices, because inevitably, in your response to larger problems, you\u2019ll attempt to venture further and further into the Holy Spirit\u2019s supervision of your affairs. You must avoid restricting his activity, because at some point you will discover this is simply a thinly veiled measure to escape the crucifying influence of the spirit and circumcision of your heart.<\/p>\n

Do I want to shoulder a greater burden or a lesser one? Jesus said, \u201cFor my yoke is easy, my burden is light.\u201d Is God calling me into greater dependence or independence? \u201cTrust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, in all you ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.\u201d
\nWhose kingdom am I building, mine or his? John said it very well, \u201c He must become greater, I must become less.\u201d by Alan Smith<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As you encounter larger trials in the Christian life, you must either decide to be ever vigilant and relentless in your self-protection or surrender that responsibility to God and trust in His oversight. There are no other choices, because inevitably, in your response to larger problems, you\u2019ll attempt to venture further and further into the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":412,"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":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-surrender"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/jacob-wrestle1.jpg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2357,"url":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=2357","url_meta":{"origin":408,"position":0},"title":"Your Personal Peniel","author":"hollysmith","date":"June 25, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"As you encounter larger trials in the Christian life, you must either decide to be ever vigilant and relentless in your self-protection or surrender that responsibility to God and trust in His oversight. There are no other choices, because inevitably, in your response to larger problems, you\u2019ll attempt to venture\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?cat=18"},"img":{"alt_text":"jacob-wrestle2-300x199","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hollywsmith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/jacob-wrestle2-300x199.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1644,"url":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=1644","url_meta":{"origin":408,"position":1},"title":"Spencer’s Miracle","author":"hollysmith","date":"September 16, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The words kept echoing in my mind, \"Why do you honor your sons more than me?\" (I Sam. 2:29) I was listening to the lecture in Bible Study Fellowship about Eli and his sons taken from I Sam. 2. God had planned for Eli\u2019s family line to minister before Him\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?cat=18"},"img":{"alt_text":"2014_09_16_06_54_35 copy","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hollywsmith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/2014_09_16_06_54_35-copy-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":386,"url":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=386","url_meta":{"origin":408,"position":2},"title":"Letting Christ Live Through Us","author":"hollysmith","date":"August 22, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I watched a moving dvd the other night about some monks at a monastery in Bosnia. They were on a mission to this little village of poor people. They represented peace and defended the weak against the invading Islamic terrorists. Tension rose after the guerillas slaughtered some of the residents\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?cat=18"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hollywsmith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/images-2-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1725,"url":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=1725","url_meta":{"origin":408,"position":3},"title":"Lessons of the Desert-God’s Conditioning School","author":"hollysmith","date":"February 23, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Jesus rebuked Peter in Matthew 16:23, \u2026\"you do not have in mind the things of God but the things of men.\" Which do you have in mind? Are you prepared, equipped, toughened for the season ahead? Jesus never said we wouldn't endure a season of difficulty but that after a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?cat=18"},"img":{"alt_text":"desert road","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hollywsmith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/desert-road-300x202.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2558,"url":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=2558","url_meta":{"origin":408,"position":4},"title":"Spencer’s Miracle","author":"hollysmith","date":"July 31, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The words kept echoing in my mind, \"Why do you honor your sons more than me?\" (I Sam. 2:29) This was a question the Lord was asking Eli, a priest, about not being firm enough with his sons who didn\u2019t honor God. God had planned for Eli\u2019s family line to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?cat=18"},"img":{"alt_text":"dad and spence","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hollywsmith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/dad-and-spence-203x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2275,"url":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=2275","url_meta":{"origin":408,"position":5},"title":"Word in Due Season","author":"hollysmith","date":"February 12, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"God is expanding your territory in this season; you will be His mouthpiece. Get your testimony ready! Whatever can be shaken will be shaken and removed but whatever remains will be firm and steadfast in His kingdom. Those who have given their permission will receive their limp this year. Just\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","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":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=408"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":664,"href":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408\/revisions\/664"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}