{"id":428,"date":"2011-10-08T20:37:15","date_gmt":"2011-10-08T20:37:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=428"},"modified":"2012-01-23T21:46:27","modified_gmt":"2012-01-23T21:46:27","slug":"passing-the-torch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=428","title":{"rendered":"Passing the Torch"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\nMy spiritual role is evolving from keeper of the flame to passing the torch. This process requires me to subordinate my own interests to the interests of my sons as well as the next generation. It is a circumcision of sorts; a process God has designated to maintain parity between my spirit and my aging body. God wants me to mature. I am going to age. I need to clarify my purpose and attitude to keep in step with God\u2019s expectation and hope that I move into an expanded spiritual role. It requires me to willingly endure the reduction of self-gratification in my life, in order to inherit an expanded fathering and oversight role in my family and community.<\/p>\n

I am beginning to look at aging people differently as I become one. I realize as a fellow sojourner that the pain, tribulation, and turmoil of living in a fallen race, one under assault by an invisible enemy, has taken its toll on me and others. I am beginning to empathize genuinely with those faceless disaster victims on the news. I am beginning to look people in the eyes when they talk to me-all people. I am beginning to hear things in conversations of others, that incredibly I was previously oblivious to. I can say, in all sincerity, I am coming to a point where, when someone is doing well, my competitive nature is no longer aroused. After enough personal difficulty, you are truly grateful when something GOOD happens to anyone, anywhere.<\/p>\n

When I see others who carry brokenness well, I am strengthened by it. The only permanent contribution that can be achieved by a man is spiritual. We need to remind each other of that truth we so casually confess. LIFE is found in a single activity, building the KINGDOM of GOD .\u00a0 Every other endeavor is simply building a sand castle.<\/p>\n

If, at this point, you have failed to accurately discern what is real, what is eternal, what is important\u00a0-STOP ; REPENT. I need (your) help to midwife our family and church into an unwavering resolve to participate in God\u2019s eternal process-the cross, especially at this time in history. I want to meet more of those men of Issachar,\u00a0(1Chron. 12:32, who understood the times, and knew what Israel must do), to help strengthen my own convictions in this hour. I want to be united with people who understand they must surrender their claim on upward mobility and personal achievement to spend the only valuable currency they possess, \u00a0TIME. I want to participate in building the only indestructible kingdom I will ever encounter, The Kingdom of God.
\nAlan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My spiritual role is evolving from keeper of the flame to passing the torch. This process requires me to subordinate my own interests to the interests of my sons as well as the next generation. It is a circumcision of sorts; a process God has designated to maintain parity between my spirit and my aging […]<\/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":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-persevering-faith"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2270,"url":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=2270","url_meta":{"origin":428,"position":0},"title":"Let God Speak Through You","author":"hollysmith","date":"February 6, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Western civilization tries to process everything mentally instead of waiting for the Holy Spirit to reveal it to the heart and show us mysteries of God in the unseen realm. If it\u2019s in the heart, we will know it. If it\u2019s in the head, we will only know about it.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?cat=18"},"img":{"alt_text":"IMG_0462","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hollywsmith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/IMG_0462-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2490,"url":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=2490","url_meta":{"origin":428,"position":1},"title":"Hope-My Breakthrough by Alan Smith","author":"hollysmith","date":"March 4, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Our pastor spoke at a service and concluded by praying that the Holy Spirit might reveal to each of us in attendance where we needed a breakthrough. What I \u201cheard\u201d (perceived intuitively) however was vastly different and somewhat revelatory to me; \u201cHOPE\u201d. I was instantly able to identify with the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?cat=18"},"img":{"alt_text":"autumn-3753910__340","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hollywsmith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/autumn-3753910__340-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2244,"url":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=2244","url_meta":{"origin":428,"position":2},"title":"Covenant Transport","author":"hollysmith","date":"October 7, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles. Is. 42:6 I was 34 years old, a mother of two young boys, when I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?cat=18"},"img":{"alt_text":"truck picture","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hollywsmith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/truck-picture-300x147.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1934,"url":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=1934","url_meta":{"origin":428,"position":3},"title":"King of Hearts-Word in Due Season","author":"hollysmith","date":"April 30, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The old has gone. The new has come. You are a new creation. However, as a result of the fall of man, sin separated us from God. Jesus came to reconnect us through salvation but there are still bents and iniquities of ancestors to be prayed off for a clean\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?cat=18"},"img":{"alt_text":"images-1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hollywsmith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/images-11.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":139,"url":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=139","url_meta":{"origin":428,"position":4},"title":"Judy Woodliff by Alan Smith","author":"admin","date":"February 9, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"My first real encounter with Judy was during a personal trial I was enduring: 71 days on the floor of my house, fighting a back ailment. She appeared suddenly, a march wind of possibility thinking on steroids, determined to vanquish my physical and spiritual torment by the sheer determination of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Dedications to Special Friends Lost"","block_context":{"text":"Dedications to Special Friends Lost","link":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?cat=14"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2250,"url":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=2250","url_meta":{"origin":428,"position":5},"title":"Words in Due Season-Get Ready","author":"hollysmith","date":"October 18, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"When you don't know what I am doing, recall what I have done.I am waiting on you to get your testimonies and teachings together because I want to open a door no man can shut and shut a door no man can open. 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