Bible Study Notes 1

From Loop Encounters by Jennifer Camp

“Psalm 23 - The Lord Is My Shepherd

Currently searching for a job, a part time one, trying to earn extra and also develop skills and garner experiences because that's what is expected right? It's what my sister did. It's my responsibility, not just to myself but to my family, and my future.

Then I'm going through my mails, and clearing out the unread ones, and as usual, I stop at this ‘Jennifer Camp - Loop Encounters’ mail and I get locked in as usual. It's tagged Loop Encounters No. 64 - “Why Abiding with God Shatters Our Timelines”.

She leads us in this exercise that just brings peace to my spirit and soul. It's beautiful. Then I stumble upon this verse:

John 15:4 (ESV) - “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me”. She says I should ask God what He'd like me to focus on, and I immediately just know He's talking about all the things I'm worrying about. Life. Meaning. Purpose. Being diligent with the work I have to do, His assignment. Being able to do basically. All I have to do is abide in Him. How do I abide in You, Lord? Help me abide in You and allow you abide in me, so I can produce fruits for You, Your Kingdom, Your People, and in essence in my life as a whole. Help me Lord.

The TPT version says “So you must remain in life-union with me, for I remain in life-union with you. For as a branch severed from the vine will not bear fruit, so your life will be fruitless unless you live your life intimately joined to mine” - John 15:4

God is before all things!!! And in Him all things hold together!! Everything we see, though falling apart, isn't completely destroyed because He holds all things.

Colossians 1:17 (Went back to read it in context)

Colossians 1:11 is a prayer Paul and Timothy prayed for the Church in Colosse. He prayed for the strength for endurance and patience and it hit me. We ask for strength to persevere because the journey we are on is a marathon and there is a need for the strength that helps us stay. The staying strength. The enduring strength. The patiently waiting strength. They recognise the importance of needing this strength, not to show off or appear a certain way, but to help us in this long race.

Colossians 1:15-16 - Who is Christ?!

The visible image of the invisible God. He existed before all of creation, and He is supreme over all of creation. Through Him all things are and were created. The things we see, and the ones we don't see.

He is the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end - Revelation 22:13

“In conversation with Him, I heard Him speak this to us:

Your life is not a timeline. There is no end in “the end.” I am the Beginning. I am the End. I frame you, I fill you. I substantiate you. I flow through you. Do not trust just in what you can see. Trust even more in what you cannot see. What you cannot see is timeless, lovely, perfect, and good. This is where you come from, where you can live now, and where you will return.” -

Loop Encounters”

***********************************

I wrote the above sometime ending of 2024, feeling like I needed to be on the right track at all times. Do the right things. Focus. I just travelled at that time and was so focused on what I felt I needed to do to ensure I also took responsibility for myself, like my sister did. Funny how we were both dealt different cards and I still placed a lot of pressure on myself to do the same things she did to secure myself as a new found independent gal lol.

This is me seeing this a good nine months after, I have the part time job I was worrying about, in fact, I’m applying for new jobs already sef. Looking for something more stable, but finally doing it from a place of rest, because I’ve had to learn that everything I have has been given to me by Him so why do I worry about situations He will still come through no matter what. I’ve had to learn that the only thing I can really do is do what I can and lean on Him and His plans for me. If it’s what He has prepared and planned for me then there’s nothing I can do or anybody that can withhold it from me, unless I decide myself that I want to go contrary by all means, because He can’t force things on me. But if I truly desire what He desires then what’s for me is for me no matter what I do or don’t do.

Let’s just say the journey was a very bumpy one but I eventually had to consciously and consistently let go and let God. And to stop trying to take the wheel of the ship of my life from Him all the time, as if I know anything about ships and steering them🫠.