OTD's BSSM Weekly: Our Journey of many turns
Week 5 in the Bethel School of Supernatural ministry
Hello friend!
I hope the past week was fantastic for you. Have you been incorporating the Lectio Divina into your prayer life? If you haven’t, well, you can get to it now. I wrote about it in last week’s update.
This week had some things that require my rumination. There were also moments of profound encounters and wild beautiful sobbing. Sweet stuff. It was a big invitation to dive into more of the scripture, prayer, and conversations with God.
In this newsletter, I’d like to share a few things I am experiencing in this process (season, whew! We use this word a lot) of learning. It will help with the study of the Bible and getting to know God and yourself better.
Before that, a statement I absolutely loved from Kris Vallotton:
God is love is not the same as love is God.
Selah.
Here goes:
Confusion is not one of the things we like to experience on our walk with God or study of the Bible. But I have found it to be one of the doorways to clarity. Confusion is an element of the curious mind. It means that new information is not sitting well with your preconceived notions and knowledge and you have a choice to seek understanding. I have found this to be vital for learning.
This is how I’d describe the past week for me. I experienced some disorientation while listening to some of the teachings and got confused while reading scripture. It felt like I was scattering an almost finished puzzle because a few pieces just weren’t sitting right. Some things are just weird and sound like polar opposites. Yet, they work so well together. (Did it also matter that I binged on Avatar: The Last Airbender during the week? You know, the opposing elements and all that. Oh well)
It is a blessing to enter a season of learning with an open mind. If you open your Bible with the aim of proving something you already know or just to learn something new, you may not find it as enriching. An open heart gives room for surprises, questions, and for new thoughts that challenge the things you thought you knew.
An open heart will allow you to spot old beliefs that were born from perversion and misinterpretation of the Scripture. This will allow revelatory insight to battle with your current knowledge and strengthen your conviction of who Jesus is and who you are in Him.
You won’t be truly transformed if Bible study is only about things that resonate, support a prayer point, or serve a cause. Much like any relationship, not every conversation will have a set agenda or be exciting all the time. We go into the word to learn about our God. The Bible is a doorway into the heart of a Lover who wants to share His story with you. In doing so, He will be revealing your own story to you.
Initially, I had thought that it was important to explore the Bible with a firm understanding that God is good and that He loves us. But what about people who do not have that opportunity to be assured of this yet? What about Job? His story was about his honest questions about God’s goodness and fairness. Yet, God didn’t turn Him away. Basically, enjoy getting to know God.
To help along the journey is something Bill Johnson referred to as ‘the momentum created by the believers before you’. Beyond the momentum created by those whose stories we read in the Bible, we have those we’ve tagged, God’s Generals. We also have teachers and bible scholars who have gone ahead in their study of Scripture and their walk with God. Then, we have our brothers and sisters (friends and fellow believers) here with us now.
There is hardly any question you’d have about the Bible or a revelation you’ll get that hasn’t been or isn’t being explored by another believer. Getting into conversations about the word is vital. Be it conversations with friends who are still with you or through the rich materials those who have gone left behind. This also underscores the importance of finding teachers who can challenge your understanding of the word and also, teach you how to study the word. This is why I enjoy the Bible Project. I had to go back to re-read 2 Corinthians after watching the video summary they created. This made my class on Bible Foundations even more interesting.
In that class, Dann Farrelly highlighted some factors you’ll need to take note of while reading the Bible. What’s the context? Who’s the audience? What’s the culture? Was it a universal principle or was it directed at the particular situation or people?
Learning is fun and can be wild too. Remember to pray always and invite the Holy Spirit into your study time.
There is always more. Go for it.
Love and love,
OTDamilola
For King and Kingdom