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Formation Becomes Life – The Formed Future Becomes Now · Still, Here

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: This is still here, a quiet moment to remember what is true.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Listen to these words from the book of Ephesians, chapter 3, verses 16 and 17.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: May you be strengthened in your inner being with power through His Spirit,
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: and may Christ dwell in your hearts through faith.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: After 31 days of thinking about formation and the future,
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: it would be easy to ask, what should I do next?
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: But, formation is deeper than collecting another spiritual lesson or trying harder
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: to behave differently.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: A spiritual lesson gives us knowledge.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: Better behavior gives us action.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: Both matter.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Formation reaches beneath them.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: It works at the root of the soul, shaping the person who knows and the person who acts.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: That is why we may notice formation before we can explain it.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: We are less easily disturbed.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: We respond instead of react.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: We slow down long enough to experience the present.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: The questions about the future may still be there.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: But they no longer have unquestioned access to the center of our lives.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: Paul prays that we will be strengthened in our inner being and
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: that Christ will dwell in our hearts through faith.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: There is a presence within us stronger than the pressure around us.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: And that inner formation does not stay hidden.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: The patience Christ forms in you changes a relationship.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: The love you carry changes the atmosphere of the room.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: The courage to take one faithful step changes what becomes possible next.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: God in us begins affecting the future before we ever reach it.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: Perhaps the clearest evidence is not dramatic certainty but a more settled spirit.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: You may not have every answer, but you are not as easily tossed around.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Concern may still speak, but it does not make every decision.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: Over time, this is how formation becomes a life.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: What once required constant effort begins to become more natural.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: Presence becomes easier to return.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: Love becomes a more available response.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: Wisdom has a little more room before urgency takes over.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: The lesson has moved from something you know into someone you are becoming.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: So, for a moment, do not evaluate your progress.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Simply notice grace.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: Where are you more settled than you were?
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: Where are you responding from a deeper center?
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: Receive whatever you notice as evidence that Christ is forming a life within you.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: Take a moment for this prayer of presence.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Christ Jesus, dwell deeply within me.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Strengthen the center of my life through your Spirit.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: Let what you have formed within me become patience,
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: courage, As
• 3:46
  [music]
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: you take this message into your day, carry this prayer with you.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: Strengthen my center.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: Live your life through me.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: Strengthen my center.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: Live your life through me.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: Strengthen my center.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: Live your life through me.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: Strengthen my center.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: Live your life through me.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, stay steady, stay open, stay present.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: You are still here.