219: Living from the Gospels with Cara Murphy (Part 1)

“The key then, to loving God is to see Jesus, to hold him before the mind with as much fullness and clarity as possible… First, we teach his beauty, truth, and power while he lived among us as one human being among others. The content of the Gospels should be explained and brought to life in such a way that the Gospels become a permanent presence and possession of the mind of the disciple.”

—Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy

Friends, we return to a simple question: Who and what is most shaping our becoming?

These are the evocative questions Professor Cara Murphy invites us to consider as we allow our hearts to be nourished ever more deeply through the four Gospels of the New Testament.

If we become what we behold, then there is no greater invitation than to keep Jesus before us—not merely as an idea to understand or a theology to master, but as the living Christ whose life continually forms our own.

In this conversation with Cara, we wonder together about the Gospels—not simply as books we read, but as the place where we learn to live with Jesus. We explore the distinct beauty of each Gospel writer, the way Jesus leans toward people with unhurried attention, and why returning to His life again and again is the steady work of apprenticeship.

What might change if the Gospels became less of a destination we occasionally visit and more of a home in which we daily dwell?

How might our relationships, our suffering, our pace, and even our imaginations be reshaped as we keep Jesus before the eyes of our hearts?

And what if, all along, we discovered that as we turn our gaze toward Him, He has already been lovingly turning His gaze toward us?

We are in this together.

It's all been prologue. The best is yet to come.

For the Kingdom,

Morgan & Cherie