OTD's BSSM Weekly - Triple Dose
Weeks 8,9 & 10 at the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry
Hello friend!
I know! Three weeks without an update! I am a good manager of the gift of my time in Jesus’ name!
With the exception of a book report that I will submit later tonight and three short activations, I am back on track and fully connected with school again.
I'll give a triple dose today, highlighting key things that stood out for me in each of the last three weeks. There is so much I would like to share. But I do hope that what I do share inspires you to dig for more in your personal time.
Here we go.
Week 8
The responsibilities of free (powerful) people.
This class by Danny Silk marked a major turning point in my thinking process. It was also well-timed because the book of the month for February was Keep Your Love On by the same person. I felt like months and years of mind renewal came to a head and I came to a clearing in a forest where the paths were clear enough for me to make a choice.
Will you embrace the responsibility of the freedom you have been given?
I know that I have begun to do this before now. However, this is one of those aha moments that both confirms some steps you've taken while giving you more clarity on new steps to take.
I'll begin sharing a few thoughts from this class with the verse from 2 Corinthians 3:17.
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
We all clamour for freedom but what does freedom really mean and how well do we know how to live in freedom?
Being free is having the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants. - Oxford Dictionary
This in turn means that the responsibility to make a choice is upon the person who is free. The consequences for the choices made also rests upon the person who is free. However, many of us live our lives passing the buck off to other people, situations, or even to God.
You don't believe you do this, right? Well, let's just run through a few notes I made from the class. You can check out more on the subject from Danny Silk's YouTube or his books. You may begin with Keep Your Love On.
The first thing that made me stop and think was the examples he gave of powerless and powerful languages. It is so interesting how we live in a negative pattern that becomes a part of who we are. We hardly even notice them anymore or think that there is anything wrong. Here are a few examples.
I will try.
He/she/they/it made me do this.
If this/that didn't happen, I would be...
That fun prayer, "Jesus, Holy Spirit, make me do it or make me not want to do it"
We have been given the power to do what is right. Peter says to us in 2 Peter 1:3 that we have been given everything we need to live a godly life through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence. The snag is usually that we don't want to spend time in the knowledge or understanding what we have been called to. Our language must reflect who and whose we are if we are to walk in power and dominion.
Next, I’ll highlight the roles that people play in the powerless cycle.
The victim - These are people who play the blame game. Life would be great if someone or something hadn't come to rain on their parade. I could definitely pick some subtle moments that I have played the victim in my life.
The bad guy - This is the person who has done the bad thing, and very often, the victim also becomes the bad guy at some point as well. The bad guy is just as powerless in the way he interacts with the world as the victim is.
The good guy - This is the fun one and the one I could most relate to. This is the person who wants to have an answer to everyone's problem, especially the victim. This is a tricky one because you actually do look like you are doing good. But in essence, you are jumping in to take on responsibilities that are not yours, while also enabling the powerless stance of the victim.
The response of a powerful person that breaks this cycle is to give the 'victim' the choice to confront the bad person with brave communication.
I control myself. I do not control other people. This means that I cannot fix another person's problem or character issue for them. I am only responsible for my boundaries and my decisions and I don't need to tell others what to do. I realized that I do have this bad habit of trying to fix people and situations. It is subtle and not necessarily malicious. But this is just an ego trip that produces stress and misery. The truth is that people who do this either do so to feel like they have their own life together and can now focus on others or are just avoiding their own issues. Focus on your own life first (note to me). The healthy thing is to give people the chance to make their own decisions, not try to control their actions.
This lesson is also coming at the perfect time because I am currently studying Ephesians with my community. There is something incredible that knowing your identity and the freedom and responsibilities accrued to that does to your mind. This is the renewal of the mind. We are continually growing into thinking God's thoughts and doing as He will in every area of our lives.
Love (God) offers lots of freedom. But this freedom will soon turn to bondage if we are not working on the character of our thinking and responsibility. People who cannot handle freedom end up in a cage. Think of how the prison system works. With God, freedom gives us the choice to either do as He wills or do as we will. One keeps us in Eden. The other sends us out. Freedom gives us the power to make that choice. Which one do you make daily?
I have only highlighted some notes here to whet your appetite. The real meat is in knowing the responsibilities of a powerful person. One of these is in the decision to learn and grow. So I shall leave you with this link to a video on the topic from Danny Silk. I hope you find it as transformative as I have.
Week 9 - Adventure over Instruction
I'll make this short and sweet, even though the week was as packed as all of the others.
"Some things in the kingdom can never be learned through instruction. They can only be discovered through adventure" - Bill Johnson
Everything you've read above and will read below will just fly over your head if you don't take time to find out more and put it into practice.
Selah.
Week 10 - The New City
This is from our Kingdom Foundation class in week 10. We studied the truth of 'Heaven and Earth'. There was a question there that required meditating on Revelations 21 to 22. My close friends know this. If I were asked for a spiritual experience that I get excited about, it is to be in the new city described in these chapters.
My main attraction and affection are simple. We will be in LOVE. We'll be so JESUS that we'll love with no iota of hesitation or pretence. Our entire being and focus will be fixed on Jesus. How incredible is that?!
Here are some thoughts and questions that this chapter raised for me.
God has planned the new earth and new heaven from the beginning of time. Some of the things that John hears and records in Revelations were also recorded by the old testament prophets. For example, Isaiah also talked about getting water without cost and how nations will walk by the light of the city. Ezekiel talked about the evergreen trees whose leaves are healing for the nation. We are part of a beautiful grand plan set in motion long before we existed.
Isn't it interesting how Matthias will be one of the names on the twelve foundations of the city instead of Judas? He wasn't in the core crew when Jesus was there but he stayed close enough to be a potential replacement immediately there was room for another apostle.
The glory of God gives the city its light. What about now? The Lord dwells in me. Can I be the city that carries His glory and light everywhere I go? Not just in knowledge and in confession. Not sporadically. But consistently stewarding His glory and shining His light everywhere I go with the evidence of His love and power.
This is amazing! The gates will never be shut. Yet, nothing impure will ever enter it. This is so grand and amazing to my brain. Do you see how incredible this is? Drawing from week 8 and the fact that where the Spirit of God is, there is freedom, this means there will be freedom in this city. That our growth and transformation from here adds up. This tells me that it is the sum of the choices I make here and how I daily submit to Jesus that will groom me to live in that city where my choice is naturally to love because of how much I look and act like Jesus. Our time on earth is not a waste or a stop-gap until heaven comes. It is preparation for this beautiful new place.
Wow. The twelve trees bore twelve different fruits all year round. It wasn't one fruit per month. The nations will always have these 12 types of fruit every single month and the evergreen leaves will be for their healing. This, like everything else, is something wonderful to ponder.
. I still wonder about the timing and season of all these. The angel said 'these things that must soon take place.’ What does that mean?
All that gold and pearls and jewels everywhere, this city has a whole different value system. I love it! I want to live like that even now. It reminds me of how my general attitude to money was challenged last year and I almost elevated it to a position it had no right to be. Wealth is normal and natural in heaven. It isn't something to be stressed about or to use as a value point. It is important, especially in this temporary place, but we need a different orientation of it. It is the same way that we have access to God's face and presence. There is no poverty of any kind in this new city! Be it of material things or of love and life. I love, love, love it! There is nothing intangible or limited in the new city.
It's all about Jesus! That new city, heaven, is all about Jesus and the Father and the Spirit. God is the temple and God is the light. God is the system and the complete source of all that we and the city is. If I would continue the thought from number 7, I’d say, God, is the value.
Here’s a bonus thought from Matthew 25:21 - He says that because we are faithful with little, we will be entrusted with more and it will be inside our master's happiness. This is interesting. Does this mean we'll still have 'work' in heaven but it will all be done with happiness or only produce happiness?
Finally, my brethren, (haha) I shall leave you with this from Papa Bill.
"Sometimes, what you think you know can keep you from what you need to know. If we analyze a move of God by the manifestations or symptoms, we will always be restricted to only repeat what we've already experienced. But when we learn to recognize the move of God by Presence, then we are willing to follow Presence into unknown areas. The Presence entrusts that we are willing to take risks."
The more you know about God and the Kingdom, the more you will (should) hunger for more of His Presence and more of the mystery.
Have a blessed week ahead.
Love and love,
OTDamilola,
For King and Kingdom
Oh, wait!! It's been three weeks and I haven't shared this Tuition testimony! I'll have the full one at the end of the session in May but I received $1000 towards my tuition two weeks ago!! It was and is incredible! This leaves only $945 to go. From $4,800 to $945! I am so thrilled and grateful. God is so good. Thank you all so much for your prayers, contribution, comments and feedback. You are so blessed.
Yes! You can still give. Just send me an email otdamilola@gmail.com! Thank you.