Over the years of following Jesus, I've begun to discern a pattern of cyclical learning in the life of being His disciple. There are things that He teaches me and speaks to me and I "get it" to a certain degree, so I begin to "live it" to that degree of understanding.
The mistake I have made in the past is to think my first (or even second or third) exposure to a truth is the arrival point in my life for that truth. Not so. I realize now that when I think I "get it," often, I'm only ankle deep and my understanding is yet merely shallow. Jesus patiently revisits the revelation/truth with me and He takes me to a deeper understanding, and therefore a deeper practical outworking of it in my life. We revisit the same truths over and over in a cyclical pattern, just going deeper each time. From ankle deep to waist deep, and hopefully to complete immersion.
So the life of the disciple never ceases to include a steep learning curve, as the learning is cyclical (rather than linear). For me, Jesus is taking me deeper now in the area of Hellenistic dualism vs. Hebraic holism in how I approach life with God. He is challenging me to the core, and I love that. I embrace His correction as I know it only draws me deeper into Him.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Cyclical Learning
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6 comments:
That is a super cool way of thinking about it, And a lot less depressing too. Sometimes if we think it's about going "to the next level" we just hit ourselves over the head.
Cheers.
Totally. Going 'to the next level' in the kingdom of God usually entails going lower - which is also deeper. :)
Going lower = going deeper ... great comment Sarah!
I think that life is designed to consistently humble us ... just when we think we have arrived on truth mountain we discover that we have only come to an ant hill of truth :)
Happy Thursday!
Lol! That's such a funny image... Thanks for the laugh!
Exactly as I see it too. The Lord showed me the same things about the Greek vs Hebrew thinking some years ago. Just a year ago, He showed me again, but in much more depth, and it was so much more exciting. It's like the lessons (and I don't mean the cerebral units that we've been programmed to imbibe) just keep getting more and more thrilling.
Bless you
Frances, thanks for the encouraging comments! And I'm really excited to see someone from Germany on my blog. (One of my dearest friends lives in Hamburg. And I've been inspired by some of the prophetic leadership in your nation as well [like Michael Schiffman]. I am learning much from what God is doing in Europe). Anyway, welcome! I hope you continue to share your thoughts... :)
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