Life with God: Reading the Bible for Spiritual Transformation

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Manufacturer: HarperOne

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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 248.4
EAN: 9780060836979
ISBN: 0060836970
Label: HarperOne
Manufacturer: HarperOne
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 240
Publication Date: 2008-05-01
Publisher: HarperOne
Release Date: 2008-05-13
Studio: HarperOne

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Editorial Reviews:

Too often, our study of the Bible focuses on searching for specific information or some formula that will solve our pressing needs of the moment. But what if we approached the Bible differently, and instead of transforming the text to meet our needs, allowed it to transform us?

That's exactly the idea behind Life with God, Richard J. Foster's much-anticipated book on the Bible. Foster, bestselling author of Celebration of Discipline and general editor of The Renovaré Spiritual Formation Bible, claims that God has superintended the writing of Scripture so that it serves as the most reliable guide for Christian spiritual formation. According to Foster, the Bible is all about human life "with God." As we read Scripture, we should consider how exactly God is with us in each story and allow ourselves to be spiritually transformed. By opening our whole selves—mind, body, spirit, thoughts, behavior, and will—to the page before us, we begin to grasp all the Bible has to teach about prayer, obedience, compassion, virtue, and grace and apply it to our everyday lives to achieve a deeper relationship with God.

With a wealth of examples and simple yet crucial insights, Life with God is an indispensable guide to approaching the Bible through the lens of Christian spiritual formation, revealing that reading the Bible for interior transformation is a far different endeavor than reading the Bible for historical knowledge, literary appreciation, or religious instruction.

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Summary: I am with you, will you be with me?
Comment: Foster condenses the whole of the Bible into the above simple phrase, and with the simple stroke of a pen it comes clear. God is with us! From beginning to end God is with us! Do we desire to be with him? Anyone who has read Foster before knows the gentle and almost poetic nature of his writing. He is not negative or judgmental but always calling us to a way of life that is with God.
In this work Foster gives us the vision of what vision of what a life immersed in the scriptures can bring to us, the intention of our hearts, minds and community to do our part, and the means to begin the process.
People who have read any of Foster's previous works will see a common theme running through them - discipline, and this book is no exception. It does a fine job of reviewing the highlights of his past work and clarifying the spiritual disciplines again to ward us away from both `legalism' and `cheap grace' and guide us toward a life where we do what we can do and allow God to do what we cannot do.

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Summary: Reading the Bible for Transformation
Comment: Richard Foster has provided us with yet another treasure. I found this book an encouraging guide to the reading of the Scriptures. Foster invites his readers to enter the world of the Bible and find a God who is intimately and personally involved with his creation. This God has invited us into relationship, and Foster directs his reader how they might be transformed by this relationship through the reading of the Bible. A common refrain in Foster's account is that God is continually found in the Scriptures as being with his people, yet God asks us, "Are you with me?" God is present with us. Foster challenges us to learn how to pay attention.

The book includes instruction on how to read the Bible with the heart, the mind, and within the context of the community. Foster, drawing from the work of Dallas Willard, wants to encourage his readers to take up the reading of the Bible in a way that one's character is transformed. He believes that the Bible, by God's grace, can help us to be disciplined people who "do the right thing at the right time for the right reason." Foster's final section instructs the reader on how they might be disciplined in relationships, discover freedom in Christ, and walk by God's grace.

This book is a good read with a number of examples drawn from Foster's experience and his extensive readings from classic devotional works. I would recommend this book for anyone who wants to further refine their approach to reading the Bible.

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