From BibleStudyTools.com……..
“Study to Shew Thyself Approved unto God” – 2 Timothy 2:15 Meaning Explained
Spiritual Formation is Essential – – – Dallas Willard
Spiritual formation is essential
It must be said that, at present, one of the great dangers to authentically Christian spiritual formation comes from sole reliance upon psychological teachings and practices that simply omit the realities of Christian spiritual formation, or else substitute for them processes that do not do justice to life in the Kingdom of God. The transformation of the inner self into Christ-likeness cannot be achieved by anything other than the life of God in the soul, and anything short of this, however good and proper it may be in its place, will not be enough to meet the deepest needs of the human heart or satisfy the mind and the emotions. It will leave life adrift.
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 Fruit of the Spirit – – – Dallas Willard
The fruit of the Spirit
The fruit of the Spirit simply is the inner character of Jesus himself that is brought about in us through the process of Christian spiritual formation. It is the outcome of spiritual formation. It is “Christ formed in us.” It is called “fruit” because, like the fruit of trees or vines, it is an outgrowth of what we have become, not the result of a special effort to bear fruit. And we have become “fruitful” in this way because we have received the presence of Christ’s Spirit through the process of spiritual formation, and now that Spirit, interacting with us, fills us with love, joy, peace. . . .
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.
https://link.biblegateway.com/view/5ef563cdde770e7b86421930hdfav.cbs/b8a0ffaf
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.
6 Ways God Helps When You’re Tempted
The Bible does not leave us to our own devices when we face temptations — and we face some type of temptation every day. Rather, the Scriptures recognize this fact of life and offers real help and hope. From Crosswalk.com……….
https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/6-ways-god-helps-when-youre-tempted.html
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. |
Do You Live as If the Next World Is Your Home?
The older I get, the more I think about the New Heaven and the New Earth —- even though I am about as old as dirt! But for even young people who are focusing more on how to be successful and blessed in this world, this article encourages everyone to put more of their thoughts and hopes and prayers in the next life. From Eternal Perspectives Ministries…………..
https://www.epm.org/blog/2021/Aug/20/do-you-live-if-next-world-your-home
From Flimsy to Firm: The Process of Theological Ossification
This “ossification” that the article discusses is the hardening of the theological skeleton. Confused? Then take a look!
Averagechristiannet 