How Deep Scripture Study Can Teach us How to Live Better Today
(Yep, slightly off my usual topics)
Happy Sunday!
It’s May 4th!
And I want to share what I’ve been learning.
It’s not the usual painting, marketing, and/or business.
In place of them, I’ve been doing a concentrated meditation and deep spiritual study accompanied by fasting.
And I’ve learned that it’s ALWAYS important to have these periodic retreats.
No matter how much we feel like we've discovered, there’s always so much more.
It’s incredible!
I don’t know if it’s the time of year, an era of enlightenment, a shift in the atmosphere, but something new is happening.
I could feel it 2 years ago when I decided to find a way to scale as an artist.
But absolutely, it’s nearly palpable now.
During this bible study, I’ve familiarized myself with passages from the Old Testament scripture (and some New Testament), and it’s as if I’m reading it for the first time.
(And it’s not new to me. I went to Christian schools, have taught bible studies, did a 2-year internship with a church, and toured with a Christian dance team for years.)
Below is a summary, explanation, and takeaway from a few of the study days.
I hope it enlightens you, too!
First, there is a theme of crossing into new territory.
The Lord leads his people on a specific journey.
The path is impossible unless He intervenes.
The passages are full of symbolism, imagery, the communication between God and man, and always a 3-part narrative of sacred purpose, failure in achieving that purpose, and redemption with symbolic action.
Joshua 3-5 describes how the waters of the Jordan River stopped while the people crossed it. When the ark of the covenant (what held God’s presence at that time) was at the center of the river, “the waters of the Jordan flowing from above shall be cut off; they shall stand in a single heap…until the entire nation finished crossing over the Jordan.”
Exodus 33 describes how God promises to go with them on the journey. He loves to be with His people and give them rest.
Genesis 12-13 Abram is directed where to go. He makes mistakes, but is still blessed. He also shows good judgment and wisdom. To him the Lord said, “Rise up, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.”
My takeaway is that the long, impossible journey is exactly what we need.
It tests character.
The act of saying, “yes, I will cross the river,” “I’ll believe,” “I’ll humble myself,” is what every person, in every field, and every generation goes through (these are also metaphors that can relate to everyone, even people who are not religious).
Is there an area in your life where you are crossing over to a place you’ve never experienced?
How does it feel?
Are you prepared to learn?
Are you celebrating the restful times?
.
.
Another theme is that ‘Our Land’ is critically important.
It matters how we establish ourselves.
It matters how we treat people.
And as for our ancestors, it mattered then too.
The story of Cain and Able… right from the beginning… how innocent blood shed on the land mattered to God. That’s in Genesis 4.
And the Lord said, “What have you done? Listen; your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground!”
In 2 Samuel 21, there is an account of a famine that came to the land because of someone breaking a promise. The whole region suffered because of the curse brought by one person.
But God says we can pray to Him, seek His will, and He will tell us how to redeem what was cursed.
A big part of our lives is to bring redemption into broken places.
And again, it doesn’t have to be religious.
For example, you might feel enraged about a certain topic.
That might be the area where you can help bring redemption.
I’m enraged that the arts have been abused, twisted, misaligned, shunned, misconstrued, and silenced. So, hence, I’m building what I can with what I have to bring some hope back to that ‘land’.
Do you have a deep passion to see change in a certain place, person, sect, field, or culture?
What is cursed? Do you know you can bring a blessing to that?
Do you believe the land can produce good fruit again?
As you read above, a picture or place might have come to mind.
I’d suggest journaling about it.
And finding truth or redemption to claim over it.
Here are some biblical blessings:
2 Samuel 22:31 “[The Lord] is a shield for all who take refuge in him.”
Ezekiel 34:16 “I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak…”
Joel 2:21-22 “Do not fear, O soil; be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done great things! Do not fear, you animals of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness are green; the tree bears its fruit, the fig tree and vine give their full yield.”
Have an outstanding week, my friend!
Blessings!
Jesse