Followers of the Messiah - the Lessons
Introduction - The journey begins
I may have covered some of this in previous teachings, so I hope the revision will help.
Isn’t it true that we are all on a spiritual journey ? The following points are commonly experienced as we journey towards Yahweh’s Truth – please consider them in this lesson.
At some point on that journey, Yahweh disturbs our shalom, our peace ! You probably don’t know why, & most likely, you may sense that something is wrong, or that something is missing in your life, or both.
Once you are aware of this “uncomfortability”, you may begin to ask questions, & to seek answers. You do this in an attempt to restore your shalom.
To assist you with this attempt to restore your shalom, I have prepared a series of activities, (some with questions for you to answer, & others for you to read & digest), that hopefully, will guide you. I encourage you to either create a computer file for your responses, or write them in an exercise book. Writing a date can also be helpful when you examine your progress at some future time.
1: Make a list of as many of your questions as you can – leave a space between them for any answers you may have found. Please focus on your own questions before you refer to the possible questions I have provided below.
Possible questions might include :
Q: What was it that caused me to be unsettled in Church, or why did I leave Church ?
Q: How well do I understand what I read in the Bible ?
Q: Why haven’t we been taught in my Church how to really study the Bible, instead of being told what verses mean by my pastor or minister ?
2: Once we realised that our shalom (peace), has been seriously disturbed, we begin to Ask, Seek, Knock in an effort to restore our shalom. Verses like Matt 7:1-14, & Isa 55:1-11 may come to mind.
~ Mat 7:1-14 “Ask and it shall be given you… knock & it will be opened to you
~ Isa 55:1-11 “Seek Yahweh while He is to be found…”
We might ask questions like :
Q: Who is “God” ?
Q: What is the Bible, & what does it tell us about God & His Messiah ?
Q: Why did God create the universe & us ?
Q: What does God want us to do & be ?
Q: How do I know, that what I’ve been taught & have believed is true ?
Q: What is the Creator’s name ? Are names important ?
Q: Who is the Messiah (Christ) ? Is the Messiah’s name Jesus ?
Q: Have we been taught what the Messiah believed & did ?
Q: When did the Church begin ?
Q: Who are God’s chosen people ?
Q: Where can I find a group to learn from, & fellowship with ?
Q: How can I know which group I should join ?
Depending on how much asking, seeking & knocking you have done so far, you may have considered several of these, or most likely, many questions of your own.
Write a list of any questions you may have considered so far on your journey, with any responses you may have found. It is perfectly OK, if you haven’t started this step yet.
3: In this process of asking, seeking & knocking, it is important to realise that we have to discern what to let go of, & what to embrace.
We also need to understand that this is an expedition into Yahweh’s truth, one out of confusion into clarity. It can be very difficult without a guide, because we are going somewhere we haven’t been before. Hopefully, this series of lessons can lead you, with Yahweh’s Ruach, to where He wants you to be.
Please be aware of not falling for the lie, “the Ruach will teach me”, without remembering that He disturbed your peace in the first place, & it doesn’t mean that the Ruach will give you an instant download, with all the answers. There will be a lot of personal work to be done.
We need to realise that this procedure produces a lot of change, & that any kind of change is stressful.
We also come to realise that we were made to go through a process of knocking, & asking, seeking, & journeying, because it allows us to find others, who are also knocking, asking, seeking & journeying.
One very important question you may ask is, “who am I”, & this usually results into a search for your real identity (see later)
4: It is about this point on our journey, that we personally come to understand, that the biblical names of the Creator, & His Messiah are very important.
Q: If you haven’t come to this understanding yet, I encourage you to ask, are names important, & why are the personal names of the Creator, & His Messiah, especially important ?
We may begin using Their Hebrew names – Yahweh is the heavenly Father’s name, yod-hey-vav-hey in Hebrew, translated as LORD, & Yahushua, is His Messiah’s Hebrew name. You may know Him as Jesus.
If you have arrived at this point on your journey, I encourage you to write down some personal comments on your attempts to use these very important Sacred names.
We realized that “God” was not a name, but a description, or a title.
We may also start to appreciate, & understand more about our Saviour, Yahushua.
Isn’t it true that Yahweh only made His covenant with one group of people ? Doesn’t Exod 19:3-6 tell us that this covenant was with Israel ?
5: In this process of searching for Yahweh's truth, we usually start to evaluate a lot of things that you we need to add to our walk.
Isn’t it true that Father Yahweh is developing a “forever community”, where He wants us to be able to live with each other, & to support each other now, so that in the “forever community”, we will also be able to live with, & support each other.
Q: Is everyone you know going to be in that “forever kingdom” ?
Q: Would you like to live in the “forever kingdom”, with everyone you know ? Why or why not ?
6: At some stage, we come to appreciate that we are looking for, and desiring, “the TRUTH”. When we do this, our understanding of what TRUTH is, may be vague, & so we go searching Yahweh’s Word for answers.
A quick search using free software such as e-Sword, reveals that the Hebrew word translated as “truth” is emet, which can mean stability, certainty, truth or trustworthiness.
7: As we are continue asking, seeking & knocking, we are beginning to recognize that we don’t know, what we don’t know (stage 1 of learning anything) !
At this point, it is very important to realise that some of those people who are teaching, don’t understand that there are lots of things that they really don’t know – they really don’t know what needs to be re-learned.
~ We are making a “conscious” choice or decision to accept Yah as He is, over our own version of Him, which has been shaped by our personal preferences (self-sovereignty, cultural influences, “Babylon” influences, etc.)
~ We realize that this is not easy because of the battle that is taking place in our minds and hearts .
~ We accept that we must “LET” the mind of Yahushua be in us, (Phil 2:5), so that we can be transformed, and conformed to His image.
9: So, how do we find YHWH’s Truth ?
1 John 2:4 explains :
“The one who says “I know Him”, and does not guard His commandments, is a liar, and the TRUTH is not in him”.
Q: If we are to “know Him” (Messiah Yahushua), shouldn’t we, as 1 John 2:6 tells us, “WALK as He WALKED” ?
Q: Shouldn’t we live our lives, by doing what He, & the first century believers believe & did ?
Q: So what did Messiah Yahushua believe, & do ?
In order to find the answers to these questions, shouldn’t we search the Renewed Covenant Scriptures (NT), rather than simply rely on, & accept, what we have been taught in the Church ?
Did our denomination teach us how to really study YHWH’s Word, or did they teach us to come to their pastors, ministers or priests, their experts, for the answers to our questions ? Wasn’t this one of the reasons we stopped going to Church ?
Very Important
Isn’t it true, that if we haven’t studied Yahweh’s Word for ourselves (in the original languages), then we have NO opinion ! This statement is saying that if we have not studied His Word, then we can’t have an opinion about that Word, because we really don’t know what it actually says. All we really know, is someone else’s opinion - in other words, our opinion is based on “hearsay” !
Very Important Question – am I willing to accept the opinions of others, for my eternal salvation, & walk of faith ?
There is much, much more to learn, & I invite you to examine the next lesson in this series.