Bible Study and Art

I am never happier than when the two things that bring me great joy and pleasure converge. Creating art that comes out of my time spent studying the Word of God helps me both take in the Word more deeply, and it helps me pull together and express what I have studied. My art time then becomes both a way of meditation and an expression of creativity.

A few recent examples:

This year I have been studying 2 Corinthians with a friend. We are doing a slow study and following rabbit trails that come up as we study. I did the above page to walk through 2 Corinthians 4:7-12 and gain a better understanding of what Paul means when he says, "We have this treasure in jars of clay...". (To understand how I "walk through" a passage in study, see this page from the Bible Study Tips and Techniques page.)

This phrase I wrote stuck out for me: We live for Christ.

And that led me on a rabbit-trail study to explore what is said about "living for Christ". I then compiled and visualized what I found.

Next I broke down a passage that keeps popping up in my studies. I have been memorizing it over the past few months.

However, it feels too busy, so I may do it over.  Since I meditate on the Word as I make it visual, it won't have  been wasted time if I choose to do it over.

What do you do to help you take God's Word into your heart and mind in a deeper way?

 Who Should I Be?

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about spirtual transformation and the call on us to become more like Christ. You can read it here . I wrote about how a question in a book by Jen Wilkin was impacting me. Here is a bit from my blog post:

The study of God's Word must transform us into the people God wants us to be. It must enable us in becoming Christ-like. I started reading a book by Jen Wilkin called "In His Image" this summer. I have not, in all honesty, made it much past the introduction because of one question she puts forth.

"For the believer wanting to know God's will for her life, the first question to pose is not "What should I do?" but "Who should I be?" "

This is our highest calling, to grow into the person God calls us to be, to become. Jen Wilkin goes on to say, "Of course, the questions "What should I do?" and "Who should I be?" are not unrelated. But the order in which we ask them matters. If we focus on actions without addressing our hearts, we may end up merely as better behaved lovers of self." 

Who do you look to to answer that question, Who should I be? Do we look to other people - maybe our parents or spouse? Do we look to culture - maybe our national identity or our affinity groups or our job?That question has led me into quite a bit of Bible study, for as Christ followers, it is in Scripture that we must, first and foremost, find the answer to that question. And, in all honesty, the answer to that question is the same for all of us who call ourselves Christ-followers. Who should I be? Be like Christ. Imitate Him.

Who should I be? Be like Christ. Imitate Him.

The Longings of My Heart

The Longings of My Heart

I haven't been blogging much this summer. I've been making art and posting it on Instagram and, for the most part, I've been rather introspective and contemplative over the summer. A lot is weighing on my mind and on my heart. So, I've been reading and making art and praying and digging deeper into the Bible...a lot! 

As I have struggled over the months with concerns about the pandemic, about how divisive things are, and how there seems to be less and less compassion toward one another, I have dug deeper and deeper into Bible study. God's Word guides us to His ways and His heart.

As Christ-followers we have God's Word to guide us, to show us who we are to be and how we are to live. The work of every Christ-follower is to grow in their knowledge of God's Word. But it does not end there. We need to know the text, but we also, just as improtantly, need to live out the text. A quote from Augustine captures this well:

“So anyone who thinks that he has understood the divine scriptures or any part of them, but cannot by his understanding build up this double love of God and neighbor, has not yet succeeded in understanding them.”

The study of God's Word must transform us into the people God wants us to be. It must enable us in becoming Christ-like. I started reading a book by Jen Wilkin called "In His Image" this summer. I have not, in all honesty, made it much past the introduction because of one question she puts forth.

"For the believer wanting to know God's will for her life, the first question to pose is not "What should I do?" but "Who should I be?" "

This is our highest calling, to grow into the person God calls us to be, to become. Jen Wilkin goes on to say, "Of course, the questions "What should I do?" and "Who should I be?" are not unrelated. But the order in which we ask them matters. If we focus on actions without addressing our hearts, we may end up merely as better behaved lovers of self." 

For a number of years we have had a saying at our church that "doing flows out of being". When we focus on who we are to be in Christ, we will then make the decisions that enable us to do the right things, the things we are called by God to do.

As I was trying to pull together the different things I was studying this summer I started trying to narrow the thoughts and Scripture passages down to conclusions. And I tried to make sense of them by jotting them in a kind of mind map type of manner. I have put them together in a journal, cuz making my notes artistic is another way for me to pull things together!

Bottomline: Who should I be? Be like Christ.

Some more photos from my spiritual formation journal:

 

My favorite quote to start a new journal with is:

This quote aptly fits my spiritual formation journal which will fill with quotes and Bible study notes and the "longings of my heart".