Transformation Blog

THE MAGNIFICENT JOURNEY by James Bryan Smith Chapter 5—Relaxing into Faith 1.  Opening Prayer, from a position of full pardon, full acceptance                                    ----------------------------------------------------- Great faith, like great strength in general, is revealed by the ease of its workings…Most of what we think we see as the struggle of faith is really the struggle to act as if we had faith when in fact we do not.  Dallas Willard 2.  Have you ever felt like Steve? Compartmentalising God Trying and striving—where does it get you? It’s all up to God—the Spirit within. 3.  Virtues of Surrender Faith, hope, love.  We can’t do them. Dependent on grace.   Theological (spiritual) virtues vs. natural virtues...

THE MAGNIFICENT JOURNEY by James Bryan Smith Chapter 4—Listening to God 1.    Opening Prayer, from a position of full pardon, full acceptance                                       ----------------------------------------------------- Why is it that when we speak to God we are said to be praying, but when God speaks to us we are said to be schizophrenic?    Lily Tomlin 2.    Has God ever spoken to you? ·        Did you share it with anyone?    Why? ·        Statistics p. 54 ·        Living from above leads to having the mind of Christ—here and now 3.    The Bible is full of stories about people who heard from God ·      ...

THE MAGNIFICENT JOURNEY by James Bryan Smith Chapter 3—Living from Above 1.  Opening Prayer, from a position of full pardon, full acceptance To be born “from above”, in New Testament language, means to be interactively joined with a dynamic, unseen system of divine reality in the midst of which all of humanity moves about—whether it knows it or not. Dallas Willard 2.  We live in a Sacred World Where God Is Near ·        God always hears us. He is closer to us than we are to ourselves. ·        Listening “from above” ·        John 3:3; John 8:23; Colossians 3:1-2 ·        What are some other ways to express “above” and “below”? (p. 43) 3.  Awakening Our Spiritual Senses ·        What are the differences between physical senses and spiritual senses? ·    ...