{"id":7061,"date":"2022-05-21T08:48:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-21T12:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=7061"},"modified":"2022-05-19T20:52:07","modified_gmt":"2022-05-20T00:52:07","slug":"7061","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=7061","title":{"rendered":"Beginning of Evil"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/20191224_140553-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6945\" width=\"325\" height=\"244\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/20191224_140553-1024x768.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/20191224_140553-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/20191224_140553-768x576.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/20191224_140553-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/20191224_140553-2048x1536.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 325px) 100vw, 325px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prodigal:  This looks like a lot of temptation to my waistline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Me:  Yes, how could we deal with it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prodigal:  Maybe you could share from one of the books you have read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Me:  Good, starting point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is from the book The Imitation of Christ by Thomas Kempis<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The beginning of all evil temptations is inconstancy of mind, and small confidence in God.  For as a ship without a helm is tossed to and fro with the waves; so the man who is careless, and apt to leave his purpose, is many ways tempted.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The reason the temptation has grown is that you feel God&#8217;s way is not the best way. God is holding out on you.  How could this behavior really be a big deal?  Remember though God is not just looking at behavior.  He is looking at your spiritual, and emotional growth.  God also is trying to protect you.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The beginning of temptation means that you may not understand all the reasons to say no, but you trust God and say no.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Psalm 90:12<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jennifer Van Allen<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">www.theprodigalpig.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">www.faithincounseling.org<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Prodigal: This looks like a lot of temptation to my waistline. Me: Yes, how could we deal with it? Prodigal: Maybe you could share from one of the books you have read. Me: Good, starting point. This is from the book The Imitation of Christ by Thomas Kempis The beginning of all evil temptations is &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=7061\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/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-7061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Beginning of Evil - The Prodigal Pig<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This is a daily devotion with words from Thomas Kempis. He talks about how to avoid temptation and how to say no.\" \/>\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=7061\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Beginning of Evil - The Prodigal Pig\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This is a daily devotion with words from Thomas Kempis. He talks about how to avoid temptation and how to say no.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=7061\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Prodigal Pig\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-05-21T12:48:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/20191224_140553-1024x768.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=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=7061#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=7061\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jennifer Van Allen\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2274d6e5dc07c0258ba4ee1a19c917f4\"},\"headline\":\"Beginning of Evil\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-21T12:48:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=7061\"},\"wordCount\":202,\"commentCount\":2,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=7061#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/20191224_140553-1024x768.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=7061#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=7061\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=7061\",\"name\":\"Beginning of Evil - The Prodigal Pig\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=7061#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/?p=7061#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/20191224_140553-1024x768.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-21T12:48:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.theprodigalpig.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2274d6e5dc07c0258ba4ee1a19c917f4\"},\"description\":\"This is a daily devotion with words from Thomas Kempis. 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