Followers of the Messiah - Introduction to my Bible Study Principles
Although I’ve been around this walk since 2003 - I have been a devout, diligent Follower of the Messiah since 2006.
During that time, I’ve made several serious mistakes about what I had believed, & learned.
Over time, I realised that I had done this because :
1: I did not know the Scriptures - I did not know how to study them well enough, &
2: I did not know the power of Yahweh (Mark 12:24)
From these mistakes, I learned that if I haven't studied Yahweh's Word, His Scriptures, for myself, then I had no opinion !
As well, I came to understand that even if I have studied a matter carefully before, if someone presents information that contradicts or challenges what I currently believe is true, re-examining it, will either strengthen that belief, or expose an error I may have made.
I choose not to take offence when someone disagrees with what I have discovered.
Over the years, I became aware of some beliefs about which I had been deceived, but, when I was being deceived, I was totally unaware of the deception.
Once I realised that I had been deceived, the deception was obvious, & I decided that :
1: I do not want to disbelieve the Truth.
2: I certainly do not want to believe a lie.
3: I must know precisely what I believe, and more importantly, why I believe it,
4: I must be very careful what I really believe, because, it will totally control the way I think, and what I do.
5: I must be careful not to be deceived because I have found that it is easy to produce a very convincing study, that is partially or totally wrong – I must be very aware of the unsubstantiated statements that people make !
I also came to appreciate that the only real drawback to finding Yahweh’s Truth, is to believe that I already have it !
Q: That led me to the question – how do I really, really know, that what I have believed, have been taught, have viewed, have read, or have heard, is accurate, true & correct ?
A: I have discovered that there is only one answer, namely, consider ALL the EVIDENCE !
May I explain the strategy that I usually follow when analyzing Scriptures, videos, studies or teachings ?
I like to pray to Yahweh, & ask that He guides me in finding only HIS TRUTH, & to reject anything that is not of Him.
My goal is to always do Yahweh’s will, His way !
I decide to have an open, teachable mind. In doing this, I choose to put my previous ideas aside, & start with a blank page. This allows me to receive, & examine what a teacher or author is presenting and/or offering. After all, what if I am wrong about what I currently understand & believe !