Living in Christ's Presence by Dallas Willard

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"As you go, make disciples." Immerse them together in the presence of the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Yes, baptize them in the name, but, dear friends, that doesn’t just mean getting them wet while you say those names. It means to immerse them in the Reality. After you have done that, teach them in a way that they actually do what Jesus said. That is the process of spiritual formation. And what comes out at the end is the joy of living in the easy yoke, for you find that to do what Jesus said is the easy and strong way to live forever and in time." ~ Dallas Willard

Be the light. Bring the kingdom to people. Biblically, the heart is the will or the spirit. ~ Dallas Willard

 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

"a Disciple is someone who is learning by going through the process of change. All the things that we moan about... are things that can be dealt with effectively only by bringing change into the mind and the spirit, into the will, into the body and into the fellowship of the person." ~ Dallas Willard

"Eternal life is the life we have now, because our life is caught up in God’s life. It is not later. What Jesus is doing is a part of what we are doing, and what we are doing is a part of what he is doing." ~ Dallas Willard

"Faith is never meant to exist apart from knowledge, where knowledge is possible. What is possible through the Scriptures and the actions of God in history is knowledge—knowledge of God, knowledge of human life—and that dignity has to be restored." ~ Dallas Willard Living in Christ's Presence

Golden thread that runs through all of Dallas Willard's primary writing: it is possible to know the Trinity intimately and to step into their glorious kingdom. used with permission. 

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Hosea 4:6 doesn’t say, “My people perish for lack of faith.” It says, “My people perish for lack of knowledge.” as qtd. by Dallas Willard p. 15 of Scribd version Living in Christ's Presence: Final Words on Heaven and the Kingdom of God 

In life, some things that can be pulled cannot be pushed, and some things that can be pushed cannot be pulled. Making disciples is a matter of pulling people, of drawing them in through who we are and what we say... I must have that." p. 21 (Scribd) Living in Christ's Presence: Final Words on Heaven and the Kingdom of God

 "Joy of living in the easy yoke" of walking side by side with Jesus in every moment of every day.

photo by me, lyrics by Matt Maher

“Knowing Christ Today” was the theme around which the conference this book reflects was written and as a way to present the golden thread that runs through all of Dallas Willard's primary writing: it is possible to know the Trinity intimately and to step into their glorious Kingdom.

Listening to: "Lord I'm Ready Now" by Plumb

May you experience grace—God acting in your life, in your thoughts, in your feelings, in your rest. May his face shine upon you. May his shining face lift up over you as you lie down, as you sleep, and give you the thoughts you need to have. The blessing of the Trinity rest upon you and everything you are and do. Let it be so. Amen. Dallas Willard

NEEDTOBREATHE - “Who Am I” [Lyric Video]

"Only as we do that do we begin to draw the strength and direction that straightens out everything that is wrong in human existence. It does sometimes lead to a battle with a world gone wrong around us, but that world needs that battle, and they need us to stand steady in the easy yoke with Christ." ~ Dallas Willard

"Put His words into practice and find them to be true." ~ Dallas Willard

Question 'Who has mastered life? Who is worthy of being the teacher that I sit under?' Many people think of Jesus as Savior... the disciples, began with 'Have I accepted  Jesus as my teacher?'

"Rethink your thinking. Repent, as Jesus commanded in Matthew 4:17. Repent just means to turn back on how you are thinking about things and to Reconsider. Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens is now available to you. That was his message." ~ Dallas Willard

"Spiritual formation doesn’t run with the orthodoxy of a position. Jesus is saying:

 “Take my yoke.” Take the yoke of official religion off your neck. Then you can go back and redeem that, but first you have to learn from him how to live in the yoke of the kingdom of God." 

Until we go through discipleship, we can’t bring people together in trinitarian fellowship, because a commitment to God, to Christ and to the Holy Spirit is not adequate to allow people to come together in the intimate form of relationship that is life transforming."

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"What is the yoke of Christ?" ... this language referred to oxen in Jesus’ day ... It speaks of two animals being yoked together to pull a load. To be in the yoke with Christ is to pull his load with him. What is his load? It is to bring the reign of God into ordinary human life. That is why he came the way he did, lived the way he did and died the way he did. In the midst of a world of ordinary human life he was pulling the load of bringing the kingdom of God into ordinary human life. That was his message. And his message was to everyone." ~ Dallas Willard

who are the eXperts on life transformation in our day? Who really knows what life can be and how we can pursue it?” Human beings are creatures that have to learn. Whether or not we want to, we are just that kind of a being. So we will always search for teachers..."

“You grow your roses on my barren soul.” ~ "Who Am I" by NEEDTOBREATH

Zephaniah 3:17 "The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."