July 4, 2021 The Great Omission

"At the center of care for the heart is the love of God. This must 

Be the joyful aim of our life. That is why Jesus, underlining the deep understanding of life worked out through the Jewish experience, stated that the first 

Commandment is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). This is a Command." p. 122

Discipleship as an essential issue disappeared from the churches, and with it there also disappeared realistic plans and programs for the transformation of the inmost self into Christ-likeness. p. 133

Ephesians 3:16–19 Paul prays that the Ephesians would be “strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith,…so that you may be

“Filled with all the fullness of God” p. 132

God looks to those who are humble and contrite of spirit and who tremble when he speaks. Isaiah 66:2

He resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble 1 Peter 5:5.

“If you seek me with all your heart”

Jeremiah 29:13

King David gives us the secret of his life: “I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved” Psalm 16:8.

“Knowledge” in the biblical understanding is interactive relationship. It is the redeeming relationship of disciple to master, in which unmerited favor is received from the earliest stages of repentance and forgiveness to the most advanced gifts of vision, character, service, and power (Acts 6:8). p.135

Keep your heart with all vigilance, For from it flow the springs of life. Proverbs 4:23

Love of God, and only the love of God, secures the vision of God, keeps God constantly before our mind." p. 122

Most of the activities commonly identified as “religious” activities can be a part of the process of spiritual formation, and should be. p. 129

No formula can be written for spiritual formation, for it is a dynamic relationship and one that is highly individualized. 

Other less commonly practiced activities, such as fasting, solitude, silence, listening prayer, scripture memorization, frugal living, confession, journaling, submission to the will of others as appropriate, and well-used spiritual direction, are in fact more foundational for spiritual formation in Christ-likeness than the better-known religious practices and are essential for their profitable use. One can be sure, however, that any God-blessed undertaking of spiritual formation will include much of what has just been mentioned here.

"...Question is, will we take time to do what is necessary for an abundant life and an abundant ministry, or will we try to get by without it?" p. 157

Personal walk with Jesus himself as our constant Savior and Teacher. Public and private worship, study of scripture, nature, and God’s acts in human history, prayer, giving to godly causes, and service to others can all be highly effective elements in spiritual formation. But they must be thoughtfully and resolutely approached for that purpose, or they will have little or no effect in promoting it. 

Remember, grace means God is acting in our lives.

 

Spiritual disciplines (consciously undertaken or chosen activities that enable us to do what we cannot do by direct effort) specifically relevant to growth and attainment in the spiritual life.

Thomas Watson tells us that “the first fruit of love is the musing of the mind upon God. He who is in love, his thoughts are ever upon the object. He who loves God is ravished and transported with the contemplation of God…. God is the treasure, and where the treasure is, there is the heart.” p. 122

"...Unshakable source of joy (abiding in God’s love)... the source of peace. All is based in the reality of God’s grace and goodness. Faith, hope, love, joy, and peace—the “magnificent five” p. 155

Vision of God secures humility. Seeing God for who He is enables us to see ourselves for who we are. This makes us bold, for we see clearly what great good and evil are at issue, and we see that it is not up to us to accomplish it, but up to God—who is more than able.

We are delivered from pretending, from being presumptuous about ourselves, and from pushing as if the outcome depended on us. We persist without frustration, and we practice calm and joyful noncompliance with evil of any kind.

"eXperiencing God through the practice of connecting with Him via this discipline [Solitude and Silence] brings rich rewards." p. 159

"You have to take your whole life into discipleship to Jesus Christ, if that’s what you mean by works. But on the other hand, nothing works like genuine faith or trust in God." p.78

"Zen spirituality is one form of idolatry of the human self." p. 63