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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.
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What are “Followers” of Christ to Do? — Dallas Willard

What are “followers of Christ” to do?

The task of followers of Christ is to know Christ and, in knowing him, to make knowledge of God and of life in God available to those around them. That is what responsible people do with knowledge of any important subject. If you have knowledge on any matter of great importance to human beings, it is your duty to make that knowledge available to others.If you know the house is on fire, you must share your knowledge with others. If you know where the bargains are, you tell your friends. If you know how to stop global warming or cure cancer, you have a duty to share that knowledge. Not so of your mere opinions, feelings, or decisions about such matters.

From Knowing Christ Today: Why We Can Trust Spiritual Knowledge. Copyright © 2009 by Dallas Willard. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
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5 Prayers for Peace and Protection as Children Return to School

It is that time of year again for a new school year, and with all of the recent violence that has occurred in school settings, it is hard for many parents to not be anxious for their kids. But here are some scriptural reminders and prayers to focus on God rather than the world.. From Crosswalk.com………..

https://www.crosswalk.com/family/parenting/-prayers-for-peace-as-children-return-to-school.html

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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.
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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.
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What the Church Today Needs to Hear from the Book of Revelation

This is a fine article from author and Bible teacher Nancy Guthrie on the relevance of the Book of Revelation for all believers today. From Crossway.org………..

https://www.crossway.org/articles/what-the-church-today-needs-to-hear-from-the-book-of-revelation/?utm_source=Crossway+Marketing&utm_campaign=a52865f7c4-20220801+Demo+-+Introducing+Songs+of+Suffering&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0275bcaa4b-a52865f7c4-291179349

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Renew Your Mind With the Word of God

This neat little article provides an example of the type of biblical prayers to be found in the book Prayers That Avail Much by Germaine Copeland. My wife and I have used versions of this book many times over the years. This excerpt is a prayer asking God to renew our minds from the ugliness and despair of the world. From Harrison House Publishers……….

https://harrisonhouse.com/blog/germaine-copeland-renew-your-mind-with-the-word-of-god

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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

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Knowing God is Intimate and Personal—Dallas Willard

“Knowing” God is intimate and personal

Accordingly, the only description of eternal life found in the words we have from Jesus is “This is eternal life, that they [his disciples] may know you, the only real God, and Jesus the anointed, whom you have sent” (John 17:3). This may sound to us like “mere head knowledge.” But the biblical “know” always refers to an intimate, personal, interactive relationship.

From The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God. Copyright © 1997 by Dallas Willard. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers.

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3 Questions to Ask if You Doubt Your Salvation

This: “The fundamental truth about our salvation is this: salvation is not about what we do. We never earn our salvation. Eternal life is a gift of God in Christ Jesus. This is a biblical fact, not written in ink, but written in the very blood of Christ. We are forgiven because Christ chooses to forgive us, plain and simple. Jesus went to the cross, not to condemn us, but save us. Jesus loves us because love is the foundation of who Jesus is and what he does in our lives.” From Crosswalk.com………

https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/questions-to-ask-if-you-doubt-your-salvation.html