*Our natural tendency is to assume that our particular way of reading the Scripture is the most accurate way, and everyone else is still in need of enlightenment. Learning to bear with one another in love means learning to allow one another the freedom to follow the leading of the Spirit.
*Reading the Bible for spiritual transformation is not a one-sided endeavor: it is a dialogue of human spirit and Holy Spirit
*Jesus proclaimed the good news ro people who were use to endless rules and hard-to-keep requirements as the means of acceptance by God.The simplicity of his message that for some, it was impossible to accept.
*"Spiritual formation" is the process of transforming the inner reality of the self in such a way that the overall life with God seen in the Bible naturally and freely comes to pass in us. Our inner world (the secret heart) becomes the home of Jesus, by his initiative and our response. As a result, our interior world becomes increasingly like the inner self of Jesus, and, therefore, the natural source of the words and deeds that are characteristic of him.
*If we want to receive from the Bible the life "with God" that is portrayed in the Bible, we must be prepared to have our dearest and most fundamental assumptions about ourselves and our associations called into question. We must read humbly and in a constant attitude of repentance. only in this way can we gain a thorough and practical grasp of the spiritual riches that God has made available to all humanity in His written Word.
*Spiritual discipline is an intentionally directed action by which we do what we can do in order to receive from God the ability (or power) to do what we cannot do by direct effort.
*When we read the Bible in the context of redemptive history, it is no dry, academic exercise in a massing knowledge, but a dramatic plunge into a journey of understanding that is both edifying and disturbing. Our human reference points no longer applies.
*We come to the Scriptures predisposed to understanding them based upon our surface contexts of familiarity. This is why it is so important to breath a prayer of the Spirit's immersing of our mind and heart into the life of God in our reading. God can speak to us through a passage we previously overlooked, or through a familiar passage in a way we have never seen before, because our ears are prepared to hear it in a new and deeper way.
*We invest our little opportunities for control in turning over ultimate control. We do not have ultimate control anyway - just the illusion of it, at times. We engaged in spiritual practices as we choose to do the right thing at the right time for the right reason. God envelops our little practices in sovereign and loving power. That is why we can rest in grace. We do not directly control over who we become - Christlikeness is a gift of grace. only God can bring about the progressive transformation of our human spirit into the image of the One who gave us life.
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