{"id":4690,"date":"2020-04-17T08:04:56","date_gmt":"2020-04-17T12:04:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=4690"},"modified":"2020-04-15T16:53:18","modified_gmt":"2020-04-15T20:53:18","slug":"spiritual-growth-from-the-inside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=4690","title":{"rendered":"What’s on the Inside"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Prodigal:  Just dropped off my present.<\/p>\n

Me:  It must have been big to have to carry it in that wagon.<\/p>\n

Prodigal:  It was, and I hope it is enjoyable.<\/p>\n

This is from the book Life Essentials:  Knowing God better, Experiencing God deeper and Loving God more by Tony Evans<\/p>\n

When it’s all said and done, then, spiritual growth does not primarily depend on what is happening around you, but on what is happening inside of you.  Growth comes from the inside out, which is the way God designed all of His creation to function.  Full-grown oak trees don’t just appear.  Neither do full-grown Christians.  But all the requirements for growth are there.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Spiritual growth is the process of expanding and releasing what is on the inside so that it becomes visible on the outside.  What God often does is apply the heat and the pressure to bring about this release.  That’s why our greatest times of spiritual growth are almost always our times of greatest trial.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We cannot see the growth that is taking place day by day as we lean on Christ, and as we pray more, and more.  A habit is growing one that says I must turn to Him if I am to make it through this at all.  What a great habit that is to learn even if it seems difficult at the moment.<\/p>\n

The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat.  “Be careful,”  Jesus warned them.  “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”<\/p>\n

Jennifer Van Allen<\/p>\n

www.theprodigalpig.com<\/p>\n

www.faithincounseling.org<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prodigal:  Just dropped off my present. Me:  It must have been big to have to carry it in that wagon. Prodigal:  It was, and I hope it is enjoyable. This is from the book Life Essentials:  Knowing God better, Experiencing God deeper and Loving God more by Tony Evans When it’s all said and done, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat's on the Inside - The Prodigal Pig<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Spiritual growth is about what happens on the inside. Here is a great explanation from Tony Evans.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=4690\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What's on the Inside - The Prodigal Pig\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Spiritual growth is about what happens on the inside. Here is a great explanation from Tony Evans.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=4690\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Prodigal Pig\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-04-17T12:04:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/12-30-15-092-300x225.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jennifer Van Allen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jennifer Van Allen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=4690#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=4690\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jennifer Van Allen\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2274d6e5dc07c0258ba4ee1a19c917f4\"},\"headline\":\"What’s on the Inside\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-17T12:04:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=4690\"},\"wordCount\":291,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=4690#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/12\\\/12-30-15-092-300x225.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=4690#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=4690\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=4690\",\"name\":\"What's on the Inside - The Prodigal Pig\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=4690#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=4690#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/12\\\/12-30-15-092-300x225.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-17T12:04:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2274d6e5dc07c0258ba4ee1a19c917f4\"},\"description\":\"Spiritual growth is about what happens on the inside. Here is a great explanation from Tony Evans.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=4690#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=4690\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=4690#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/12\\\/12-30-15-092.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/12\\\/12-30-15-092.jpg\",\"width\":3264,\"height\":2448},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=4690#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What’s on the Inside\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Prodigal Pig\",\"description\":\"Encouraging Your Walk With God\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2274d6e5dc07c0258ba4ee1a19c917f4\",\"name\":\"Jennifer Van Allen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/96bdf0e859688cf2db2193ba18b2b49b508ba88c6fb504e5d1c44784dd9fbd60?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/96bdf0e859688cf2db2193ba18b2b49b508ba88c6fb504e5d1c44784dd9fbd60?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/96bdf0e859688cf2db2193ba18b2b49b508ba88c6fb504e5d1c44784dd9fbd60?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jennifer Van Allen\"},\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What's on the Inside - The Prodigal Pig","description":"Spiritual growth is about what happens on the inside. Here is a great explanation from Tony Evans.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=4690","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What's on the Inside - The Prodigal Pig","og_description":"Spiritual growth is about what happens on the inside. Here is a great explanation from Tony Evans.","og_url":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=4690","og_site_name":"The Prodigal Pig","article_published_time":"2020-04-17T12:04:56+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/12-30-15-092-300x225.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Jennifer Van Allen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jennifer Van Allen","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=4690#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=4690"},"author":{"name":"Jennifer Van Allen","@id":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2274d6e5dc07c0258ba4ee1a19c917f4"},"headline":"What’s on the Inside","datePublished":"2020-04-17T12:04:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=4690"},"wordCount":291,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=4690#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/12-30-15-092-300x225.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=4690#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=4690","url":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=4690","name":"What's on the Inside - The Prodigal Pig","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=4690#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=4690#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/12-30-15-092-300x225.jpg","datePublished":"2020-04-17T12:04:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2274d6e5dc07c0258ba4ee1a19c917f4"},"description":"Spiritual growth is about what happens on the inside. Here is a great explanation from Tony Evans.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=4690#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=4690"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=4690#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/12-30-15-092.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/12-30-15-092.jpg","width":3264,"height":2448},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=4690#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What’s on the Inside"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/#website","url":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/","name":"The Prodigal Pig","description":"Encouraging Your Walk With God","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2274d6e5dc07c0258ba4ee1a19c917f4","name":"Jennifer Van Allen","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/96bdf0e859688cf2db2193ba18b2b49b508ba88c6fb504e5d1c44784dd9fbd60?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/96bdf0e859688cf2db2193ba18b2b49b508ba88c6fb504e5d1c44784dd9fbd60?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/96bdf0e859688cf2db2193ba18b2b49b508ba88c6fb504e5d1c44784dd9fbd60?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jennifer Van Allen"},"url":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?author=1"}]}},"views":903,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4690"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4690\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7208,"href":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4690\/revisions\/7208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}