Of course, all of the Word is good and enlightening. But this article provides reasons why these 10 books should be visited and pondered repeatedly. From Crosswalk.com…………
10 Books of the Bible You Should Read Over and Over Again
Spiritual Formation Requires Practice and Discipline – – – Dallas Willard
Spiritual formation requires practice and discipline
Solitude and silence, fasting and frugality, study and worship, service and submission—and other practices that serve in the same way (there is no complete list)—are therefore integral parts of any reliable program of spiritual formation. They should be a substantial part of our private lives and of our associations with others in the body of Christ. They do not earn merit, but they do allow us to receive from God what will not be passively bestowed. They are not righteousness but wisdom.
From The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus’s Essential Teachings on Discipleship. Copyright © 2006 by Dallas Willard. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
The Value of Silence – – – Dallas Willard
| The value of silence As with all disciplines, we should approach the practice of silence in a prayerful, experimental attitude, confident that we shall be led into its right use for us. It is a powerful and essential discipline. Only silence will allow us life-transforming concentration upon God. It allows us to hear the gentle God whose only Son “shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice above the street noise” (Matt. 12:19). It is this God who tells us that “in quietness and trust is your strength”(Isaiah 30:15, NAS). But we must also practice the silence of not speaking. James, in his Epistle, tells us that those who seem religious but are unable to bridle their tongues are self-deceived and have a religion that amounts to little (James 1:26). He states that those who do no harm by what they say are perfect and able to direct their whole bodies to do what is right (James 3:2). From The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives. Copyright © 1988 by Dallas Willard. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers. |
Seeking What Cannot Be Earned — Dallas Willard
| Seeking what cannot be earned We must stop using the fact that we cannot earn grace (whether for justification or for sanctification) as an excuse for not energetically seeking to receive grace. Having been found by God, we then become seekers of ever-fuller life in him. Grace is opposed to earning, but not to effort. The realities of Christian spiritual formation are that we will not be transformed “into his likeness” by more information, or by infusions, ispirations, or ministrations alone. Though all of these have an important place, they never suffice, and reliance upon them alone explains the now-common failure of committed Christians to rise much above a certain level of decency. From The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus’s Essential Teachings on Discipleship. Copyright © 2006 by Dallas Willard. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers. |
Spiritual Transformation Must Also be Physical — Dallas Willard
| Spiritual transformation must also be physical The preparation for all of life’s actions including the spiritual essentially involves bodily behaviors. Watching or vigil, for example, is a bodily behavior. Of course it is not only a bodily behavior, but the point we are in greatest danger of missing in our contemporary culture is that it also is not purely “spiritual” or “mental,” and that whatever is purely mental cannot transform the self. One of the greatest deceptions in the practice of the Christian religion is the idea that all that really matters is our internal feelings, ideas, beliefs, and intentions. It is this mistake about the psychology of the human being that more than anything else divorces salvation from life, leaving us a headful of vital truths about God and a body unable to fend off sin. From The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives. Copyright © 1988 by Dallas Willard. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers. |
Benefits of Practicing Solitude — Dallas Willard
Benefits of Practicing Solitude
Solitude well practiced will break the power of busyness, haste, isolation, and loneliness. You will see that the world is not on your shoulders after all. You will find yourself, and God will find you in new ways. Joy and peace will begin to bubble up within you and arrive from things and events around you. Praise and prayer will come to you and from within you. With practice, the “soul anchor” established in solitude will remain solid when you return to your ordinary life with others.
From The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus’s Essential Teachings on Discipleship. Copyright © 2006 by Dallas Willard. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
The Benefits of Practicing Solitude — Dallas Willard
Benefits of Practicing Solitude
Solitude well practiced will break the power of busyness, haste, isolation, and loneliness. You will see that the world is not on your shoulders after all. You will find yourself, and God will find you in new ways. Joy and peace will begin to bubble up within you and arrive from things and events around you. Praise and prayer will come to you and from within you. With practice, the “soul anchor” established in solitude will remain solid when you return to your ordinary life with others.
From The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus’s Essential Teachings on Discipleship. Copyright © 2006 by Dallas Willard. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
The Gentle Tug of Spiritual Disciplines
This article will hit home with those of us who are pet owners. How’s that? Read it and see! From CriagThompson.org………………..
Solitude and Silence — Dallas Willard
Practicing Solitude and Silence
To put off the old person and put on the new we need only follow Jesus into the activities that he engaged in to nurture his own life in relation to the Father. Of course, his calling and mission were out of all proportion to ours, and he never had our weaknesses. Still, what he practiced is, roughly, what we must practice, in order to enter into his heart and character. For example, solitude had a huge place in his life, as the gospel records show.
By solitude we mean being out of human contact, being alone, and being so for lengthy periods of time. To get out of human contact is not something that can be done in a short while, for such contact lingers long after it is, in one sense, over. Silence, a gift of many dimensions, is a natural part of solitude and essential to its fullness. Most noise involves human contact. Silence means to escape from sounds and noises, other than perhaps the gentle sounds of nature. But it also means not talking, and the effects of not talking on our soul are different from those of simple quietness. Both dimensions of silence are crucial for the breaking of old habits and the formation of Christ’s character in us. Silence well practiced is like the wind of eternity blowing upon us.
From Renewing the Christian Mind: Essays, Interviews, and Talks. Copyright © 2016 by Willard Family Trust. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
BOOK REVIEW: 30 DAYS TO GROWING IN YOUR FAITH — Enrich Your Life in 15 Minutes a Day by Max Anders ( Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2021)
The well-known author and Bible scholar Max Anders has produced another helpful and encouraging resource for Christians with 30 Days to Growing in Your Faith. Using the same format he used in the classic work, 30 Days to Understanding Your Bible, this present book consists of 30 short chapters meant to be read in 15 minutes or less and to read one chapter each day for better retention of the material.
Anders directs this book to both newer believers and more seasoned disciples of Jesus, who might feel that their spiritual lives have stagnated or lack passion and energy. This volume builds its knowledge base for the reader in three parts: First, the person has certain fundamental truths they must know to be a Christian. Second, the person takes this knowledge they have gained about God and themselves to be the person God wants them to be. Third, the person is then in the position to live out God’s plan and do the things He has called them to do.
As a skilled seminary professor, Anders uses many tools such as repetition, fill-in-the-blanks, and thought-provoking questions to help the reader more fully engage with the content covered in the book. And he covers a wide range of issues that every Christian faces in their spiritual growth, such as the battle between the inner man and the outer man, renewing the mind, trials and suffering, self-discipline, prayer, trusting God, and discerning God’s will. This resource is one that a reader will actively work with and will want to return to multiple times. Highly recommended!
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