How to Control Feelings

Dallas Willard surfaces an interesting fact.

"We cannot just choose our feelings"¹

But, he says,

"you can evoke and to some degree control feelings by directing your thoughts. Our power over our thoughts is of great and indispensable assistance in directing and controlling our feelings, which themselves are not directly under the guidance of our will."¹

Perhaps this is why the bible says

"whatsoever things are true, ... honest, ... just, ... pure, ... lovely, ... of good report; ... think on these things." - Philippians 4:8

- fritz

^{1 - Renovation of the Heart, by Dallas Willard, page 104}

Trust means Obey

The idea that you can trust Christ and not intend to obey him is an illusion generated by the prevalence of an unbelieving “Christian culture.” In fact, you can no more trust Jesus and not intend to obey him than you could trust your doctor and your auto mechanic and not intend to follow their advice. If you don’t intend to follow their advice, you simply don’t trust them. Period.

- Dallas Willard, Renovation Of The Heart, Pg. 95

Convinced of the Bargan

"Those who are not genuinely convinced that the only real bargain in life is surrendering ourselves to Jesus and his cause, abandoning all that we love to him and for him, cannot learn the other lessons Jesus has to teach us...

Not that he will not let us, but that we simply cannot succeed.

If I tell you that you cannot drive an automobile unless you can see, I am not saying I will not let you, but that you cannot succeed even if I do."¹

– Dallas Willard

^{1 - Renovation of the Heart, pg 71}

Understanding Western Life and Culture

Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body. And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power. - 1st Corinthians 6:13b-14

“THE HUMAN BODY is … created for spiritual life in the kingdom of God and to be honored—indeed, glorified—in that context. But when taken out of that context and made the central focus of human experience and endeavor, it is betrayed—robbed of the spiritual resources meant to sustain its life and proper functioning—and in turn it then betrays those who center their life on it.

The sense of this betrayal is what lies at the heart of youth worship in Western societies.

It also is the source of the fear, shame, disgust, and even the anger directed at fat, old age (or just aging), and death and dying that dominate our culture.

An outlook focused entirely on the body finds the body’s failure and cessation to be, of course, the ultimate insult from which there is no recovery.

You have to understand this if you want to understand Western life and culture” - Dallas Willard¹

- fritz


^{1 - Renovation of the Heart, NavPress, copyright 1992, page 184}

The Atheist's Prayer

"Multitudes of people have come to a full knowledge of God because in a moment of complete hopelessness they prayed “The Atheist’s Prayer” or something like it: “O God, if there is a God, save my soul if I have a soul.” When that is the true cry of the heart, of the inmost spirit of the individual, who has no longer any hope other than God, God hears and responds without fail.

- Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart, pg 161

Relevance of Jesus to Human Life

"Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." - Proverbs 4:23

"For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he" - Proverbs 23:7a

"Heart" doesn't just mean a blood pump, it means the core of one's being. We use the term similarly all the time. It refers to our motives and deep desires which are sometimes unknown even to ourselves.

This arena is not found with microscopes, stethoscopes, or telescopes. It is, in that sense, "spiritual" instead of "physical" though some say it is the result of our physical composition.

Also in that sense, everyone has a spiritual formation - be they preachers, businessmen, terrorists, world leaders, dictators or the unemployed - and it is here where change must, and can take place.

"Indeed, the only hope of humanity lies in the fact that, as our spiritual dimension has been formed, so it also can be transformed. Now and throughout the ages this has been acknowledged by everyone who has thought deeply about our condition—from Moses, Solomon, Socrates, and Spinoza, to Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Oprah, and current feminists and environmentalists. ... Disagreements have only to do with what in our spirit needs to be changed and how that change can be brought about.

AND ON THESE TWO points lies the inescapable relevance of Jesus to human life."¹

- fritz

^{1 - Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart, NavPress, pg. 14}

Confusion more from prejudice than logic

Evil men understand not judgment: but they that seek the LORD understand all things. - Proverbs 28:5

Confusion is caused more by prejudice than logic. Unwillingness to release precious ideas, pride, or action(inaction) prevent an honest assessment. That honest assessment is all God is asking.

Truth can be discovered by those who want to know and who are willing to act on what they learn.

"Anyone who wants to do the will of God will know whether my teaching is from God or is merely my own." - Jesus (John 7:17 New Living Translation)

Dallas Willard, in his book, "Renovation of the Heart" makes this point:

"[T]he confusion now publicly prevailing over the makeup of the human being may not be due to its inherent obscurity. Rather, it may be due to the fact that it is a field where strongly armed prejudices—assumptions about what must be the case, “don’t bother me with facts”—prevent even well-intended people from seeing what, at least in basic outline, is fairly obvious, simple, and straightforward".¹

- fritz

^{1 - Renovations of the Heart NavPress, Copyright 2002, pg 30}

Christ in me

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. - Galatians 2:20

I'm not just living "in Christ", he is living "in me". I am not trying to do what he did and to be like him, instead I am allowing him to guide my daily tasks as if he were living through me, which he is. I become more like him as a byproduct.

Former pastor and author, Dallas Willard, puts it this way:

[H]e is, in any case, interested in my life, that very existence that is me. There lies my need. I need to be able to lead my life as he would lead it if he were I. So as his disciple I am not necessarily learning how to do special religious things, either as a part of “full-time service” or as a part of “part-time service.” My discipleship to Jesus is, within clearly definable limits, not a matter of what I do, but of how I do it. And it covers everything, “religious” or not

-fritz

^{1 - The Divine Conspiracy, by Dallas Willard, pg.276}

Freedom from sin even if not free of it.

"And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin." - 1st John 3:5

"For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace." - Romans 6:14

Sin is the real culprit in our failed relationships and broken lives; most understand this but find it impossible to avoid.

Jesus brings forgiveness and the ability to refuse to obey sin's call - he gives the ability to say, "No". That fact is not diminished even when we still sometimes say, "Yes".

Dallas Willard has a helpful way to look at this; take a moment to think about what he wrote.

"The psychological condition established in us by the influx of Christ's life--a psychological reality--allows us to rise above our "old person" for the motivation, organization, and direction of our physical existence.

Even if we waver and turn back to the "old person"" upon occasion, we still are able to do otherwise. People without the new life have no choice. but we have a new force within us that gives us choice. In this sense we are free from sin even if not yet free from it. Doing what is good and right becomes increasingly easy, sweet, sensible to us as grace grows in us."¹

-fritz

^{1 - Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines (HarperCollins 1998) by Dallas Willard (emphasis is mine)}

Written for me

"For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." - Romans 15:4

The biblical viewpoint has always been that the scriptures were written not just for their penman's times but for us, and written in such a way normal people could understand and be encouraged.

I was impressed by what philosophy professor Dallas Willard wrote concerning his own assumptions about the Bible:

"I assume that it was produced and preserved by competent human beings who were at least as intelligent and devout as we are today."

"I assume that [God] did not and would not leave his message to humankind in a form that can only be understood by a handful of late-twentieth-century professional scholars, who cannot even agree among themselves on the theories that they assume to determine what the message is."¹

- fritz

^{1 - Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy (HarperCollins, 1998) 13.}

Considering alternatives?

Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors is hard. - Proverbs 13:15

Following Christ can be hard but, considering the alternatives, life without Christ is harder and has no future.

"To depart from righteousness is to choose a life of crushing burdens, failures, and disappointments, a life caught in the toils of endless problems that are never resolved...The "cost of discipleship," though it make take all we have, is small when compared to the lot of those who don't accept Christ's invitation to be a part of his company in The Way of life.¹

- fritz

^{1 - The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard}

Where are God's blessings?

They will name him Emmanuel (Hebrew for "God is with us") - Matthew 1:23 (Message)

In Christ God is with us in our life's situation now. This is very hard to realize when the car breaks down, the children are sick, the job is floundering, and more sometimes all at once.

The fact is we must see our lives and circumstances as the place of God's blessing, the place of service, and the place of our current calling. The Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul said,

"we know that all things work together for good to them that love God ... called according to his purpose." - Romans 8:28

We must hold tight (in spite of opposite feelings) to the knowledge that God is at work through the good and difficult - not that all things we experience are good things but that God is using all things, even the unwanted, for our good.¹

"God has yet to bless anyone except where they actually are, and if we faithlessly discard situation after situation, moment after moment, as not being “right,” we will simply have no place to receive his kingdom into our life. For those situations and moments are our life."²

- fritz


^{1 - see also: "Escapism in the Bible" (June 4, 2010)
2 - The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard, published by HarperCollins, copyright 1998}

What is Full-time Christian Service?

We are all called to "Full-time Christian Service". No, not as a pastor, missionary, or "Evangelist" but to be fully engaged with Christ in the roles we have.

We are conditioned to think service to Christ means doing "religious" things and we find those things increasingly irrelevant. We are not called to live his life, we are to allow him to live ours. Recognizing his presence to help us do our lives his way is very relevant, even essential.

Dallas Willard, a university professor, put it this way,

"As Jesus' apprentice ... I constantly have before me the question of how he would deal with students and colleagues ... How would he design a course ... How would he compose a test, administer it, and grade it? What would his research projects be, and why?¹

Begin by asking, "Would Jesus do this line of work?" If not ask him to lead you to something else but if, "Yes", ask him do it through you his way.

Butchers and bakers, homemakers and pastors, missionaries and factory workers, if serving Christ, are all in Full-Time Christian Service.

- fritz

^{1 - The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard, Published by HarperCollins e-books, Copyright 1998}

The Unchangeable One Changes!

God tells king Hezekiah to get his house in order because he is going to die. But Hezekiah prays and God changes his verdict saying,

"Thus saith the LORD, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years." (Isaiah 38:5)

Fifteen years later a new king reigns, at age 12, who would not have even been born had God followed through with His original pronouncement. History for a nation was changed by answer to prayer.

We sometimes think since God already knows what we need, why ask? We secretly wonder if He acts on His sovereignty, benevolence, and wisdom; not our asking. It may sound spiritual but that idea kills one's prayer life.

Jesus throughout the gospels tells us to pray and not quit. Bible stories like this remind us God is affected by sincere prayer. His greatness is shown in sometimes changing decisions when asked.

It is not inherently "greater" to be inflexible. That is an unfortunate human idea of greatness, ... it is far greater to be flexible and yet able to achieve the good goals one has set. And that is an essential part of the Divine Personality shown in the Bible"¹

- fritz

^{1. The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard, Published by HarperCollins e-books, Copyright 1998, page 251}

New Take on Pearls and Swine

"...neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you." - Matthew 7:6 (KJV)¹

We sometimes get things so backwards, with our arrogance and propensity for self justification. Look at the Pearls and Swine directive from a better perspective

Jesus is not suggesting that certain classes of people are to be viewed as pigs or dogs ... Anyone who has ever had serious responsibilities of caring for animals will understand immediately ... The problem with pearls for pigs is not that the pigs are not worthy. It is not worthiness that is in question here at all, but helpfulness. Pigs cannot digest pearls.²

Jesus isn't offering an insult to those who don't accept our "pearls" of wisdom, he is chiding us who push things on others that they can't use!

[T]he point is not the waste of the "pearl" but that the person given the pearl is not helped...Our children or others do not know what else to do with us pearl pushers. And even though they love us--as parent or friend, for example--they simply cannot take any more of our "pushy irrelevance," as they see it, or possibly our stubborn blindness.²

- fritz

^{1 - Matthew 7:6
2 - The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard, published by HarperCollins, copyright 1998, page 229
Related Post: An Armload of Zucchini}

Taping Fruit onto a Tree

"Pursue Love..."¹

Trying to be loving doesn't work!

We are taught that to be a good Christian we must act like Christ but when we try we find it difficult indeed! I am never so angry, selfish, and miserable as when I try to not get mad, put others first, and be happy.

Dallas Willard tells of a different approach. Referring to the Beatitudes and 1^st Corinthians 13, the Bible's "Love" chapter, he wrote:

People... are taught to read it, as telling them to be patient, kind, free of jealousy, and so on...But Paul is plainly saying -- look at his words -- that it is love that does these things, not us, and that what we are to do is to "pursue love" (1 Cor. 14:1). As we "catch" love, we then find that these things are after all actually being done by us."²

Trying to not get angry, to put others first, or to be happy is like trying to produce fruit by taping it onto a tree. Fruit is produced by making sure the tree the kind wanted and that it is healthy - good fruit is the byproduct.

As we pursue Love, Himself³, our nature changes and we act accordingly.

- fritz

^{1 - 1st Corinthians 14:1a (New King James)
2 - The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard, published by HarperCollins, copyright 1998, pg.187
3 - 1st John 4:16}

Reading the Beatitudes Correctly...

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled...
- Matthew 5:3-6

Many read the beatitudes thinking Jesus is recommending these as ideals to strive towards. This being contrary to logic we try redefining them into something more palatable like recognizing our spiritual poorness", mourning our sins, "controlled strength" (meek), always seeking righteousness.

Dallas Willard has a different take it:

"Those poor in spirit are called "blessed" by Jesus, not because they are in a meritorious condition, but because, precisely in spite of and in the midst of their ever so deplorable condition, the rule of the heavens has moved redemptively upon and through them by the grace of Christ."¹

In this view Jesus is not recommending a spiritual goal, but offering wonderful opportunity even to the most disadvantaged!

- fritz

¹ The Divine Conspiracy, pg.102, published by HarperCollins, copyright 1998 by Dallas Willard

"Be cute or die"

Dallas Willard wrote something profound in the "Smothered By Slogans" section of his book, The Divine Conspiracy, on page 12:

... popular sayings attract because people are haunted by the idea from the intellectual heights that life is, in reality, absurd. Thus the only acceptable relief is to be cute or clever. In homes and on public buildings of the past, words of serious and unselfconscious exhortation, invocation, and blessing were hung or carved in stone and wood. But that world has past. Now the law is "Be cute or die."... the particular "message" doesn't matter.

In the next section he adds:

Jesus offers himself as God's doorway into the life that is truly life. Confidence in him leads us ... to become his apprentices in eternal living. "Those who come through me will be safe," he said. "They will go in and out and find all they need. I have come into their world that they may have life, and life to the limit."

Take a moment to think about the wonderful invitation and reality in Christ of living a truly meanfulul life.