David Takle > Quotes

“Focusing also involves a prayer for God to open our heart and mind to Him.”
― David Takle, Forming: A Work of Grace

“Quieting our mind and focusing on God are an important part of hearing well. We need to quiet and focus each time we approach having a conversation with God, and most of us will need to stop and refocus from time to time while we are engaged with Him.”
― David Takle, Forming: A Work of Grace

“What He wants is to restore us and have a relationship with us.”
― David Takle, Forming: A Work of Grace

“Often Christians are consumed with trying to do the right thing in order to get God to respond, or with attempting to give God something worth responding to.”
― David Takle, Forming: A Work of Grace

“Spiritual growth is the fruit of engaging with God, not something achieved by trying hard to do the right things.”
― David Takle, Forming: A Work of Grace

“So there is no reason why God would reject us or condemn us when we sin.”
― David Takle, Forming: A Work of Grace

“A major part of Christian formation is understanding the nature of our relationship with God and learning how to be with Him, not just think about Him or have correct theology about Him.”
― David Takle, Forming: A Work of Grace

“the Holy Spirit was not given to us to enable us to keep a new set of rules. That is one of the most persistent myths regarding His role in our lives, and it comes from not understanding His real ministry and from misunderstanding the process of spiritual formation.”
― David Takle, Forming: A Work of Grace

“Not so in the kingdom of God. Purity, wholeness, healing, and restoration of the ruined soul result directly from engaging with God –  not in traditional one-way prayer, but from dynamic tangible interaction in which we are involved both actively and consciously.”
― David Takle, Forming: A Work of Grace

“what God intended all along was a relationship with His people, a working relationship that has real substance to it.”
― David Takle, Forming: A Work of Grace

“Even if we are deeply committed to doing our utmost for Him, the reality is that our relationship to Him feels more like following in the footsteps of an historic figure than walking beside our dearest friend and mentor.”
― David Takle, Forming: A Work of Grace

“Second, the underlying presupposition of the average discipleship program is that with enough information and enough motivation, you can grow spiritually and make this Christian life work.”
― David Takle, Forming: A Work of Grace

“Maybe it is because we have so little sense of His presence with us that we have so much trouble believing He is actually here. But we need to come to terms with the truth that God is not only here, He is eager to engage with us in ways that are recognizable to us as real and substantive.”
― David Takle, Forming: A Work of Grace

“Instead of trying to do things right until we “get it,” our goal is to be changed at the core of our being to be more Christ-like.”
― David Takle, Forming: A Work of Grace

“Everywhere we look in the Bible we see God seeking a genuine connection with a people He can call His own.”
― David Takle, Forming: A Work of Grace

“To make this into something commonplace is to miss the fact that this is a radically different approach to life.”
― David Takle, Forming: A Work of Grace

“The truth is that God deliberately created our minds with the capacity to “see” things that are not in our immediate field of vision, and we use that ability constantly: every time we read a story; whenever we think of better ways of doing something; or whenever we rehearse possible outcomes before attempting a difficult task.”
― David Takle, Forming: A Work of Grace

“Focusing on God means that we set aside time to meet with Him and make every effort to honor that time as we would any meeting with a friend or sweetheart.”
― David Takle, Forming: A Work of Grace

“Our main task is to learn how to work with Him so that He can work on our heart and make it more like His.”
― David Takle, Forming: A Work of Grace

“Jesus gave them the Spirit to pick up where He left off, to continue the training that they would need throughout their lives.”
― David Takle, Forming: A Work of Grace

“Shocking as it may be, this approach to Christianity is a terrible mistake. Aiming for obedience this way actually makes the Christian life impossible. Now if that makes your head spin a bit, please take a few deep breaths before going on so that you do not miss this important point.”
― David Takle, Forming: A Work of Grace

“What we need to do is to stop trying to get there by direct effort, and instead become apprentices of life, learning how to be with this God who transforms, and to engage with Him for our restoration.”
― David Takle, Forming: A Work of Grace

“When He says that He would make His home with them, He is talking about a life together that is real; He is not just describing a theoretical model.”
― David Takle, Forming: A Work of Grace

“coming to Christ is not just about going to heaven.”
― David Takle, Forming: A Work of Grace

“Second, building a working relationship with an invisible God presents some interesting challenges all its own.”
― David Takle, Forming: A Work of Grace

“Isa.55:2-3. Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good; delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; listen so that you may live.”
― David Takle, Forming: A Work of Grace

“God's desire is for a renewed people who thoroughly enjoy giving away the goodness that God has woven into their heart and mind, people who rejoice by nature, who live in purity simply because they are being made pure, who pour out to others what is being poured into them.”
― David Takle, Forming: A Work of Grace

“we need to lay a foundation for what that relationship will look like and why it is so central and crucial to our spiritual development”
― David Takle, Forming: A Work of Grace

“my overarching objective was simply this – to help Christians develop an authentic relationship with God that is real enough and vibrant enough to change them from the inside out.”
― David Takle, Forming: A Work of Grace

“Dependence upon God is then no longer a euphemism that means relying on our grasp of doctrine, it is an everyday experience that is fleshed out in tangible interactions with Him. That is how we change and grow.”
― David Takle, Forming: A Work of Grace