Today, we begin to trace the Master Story revealed in the Bible. Looking at things from a high view, we will see how the Bible answers some of our fundamental life questions: Where have we come from? Where are things headed? Why are we here?
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Meaning is one of the greatest needs in human life, one of our deepest hungers —perhaps it is, in the final analysis, the most basic need in the realm of the human experience.”
~ Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart ~
This week, we begin with a review and overview. We review what we shared last week and we give a brief preview of our readings for this week.
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…the greatest need you and I have—the greatest need of collective humanity—is renovation of our heart. That spiritual place within us from which outlook, choices, and actions come has been formed by a world away from God. Now it must be transformed.
[Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart, 14]
Today, we look a little closer at the Heart and the Mind. Often, people are confused about the “psychology” – the teaching about our “inner selves” – of the Bible. We are going to try and clarify some of the key ideas that help us understand what is going on within ourselves – in our thoughts, desires and emotions. These things are important to understand because these are the places where Father God does His work within us.
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Yesterday we introduced an illustration using circles to represent who we are as humans created in the image of God. Today we are going to introduce a few more key ideas that we will develop as we go along. What does it mean that we were created in the “Image” and “Likeness” of the Lord God?
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The week, we get to work. As with any creative project, the first thing we need to do is get to know our tools and how to use them. We are going to begin with two basic “tools” that we will be applying throughout this whole study: 1) a way to visualize who we are as humans, and 2) a reliable pattern of transformation. We will start with seeking to understand who we are and how we are designed as human beings.
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