Bible Study ESV
Why am I Writing a Bible Study Blog?
I remember going to a friend’s house a few times to have bible study back in 1990, and after reading the scripture, no one had much to say about it. I remember asking my pastor about what certain passages meant, and if he had an answer, then I had an answer. As I read the bible today, I remember reading those same passages in 1990 and having the same questions then as I do today about what they mean. Over the years, since 1990, I learned that I like to write and that writing helps me to understand things. With my interest in writing and with greater access to information on the internet, I am able to answer my questions. As I study the bible, I want to share what I learn with anyone interested. If I am able, to provide answers that I didn’t have back in 1990 to anyone interested.
Another reason why I am writing a bible study blog is because in 1990, I became serious about my belief in Jesus, but after a few months, I fell away. I had been a believer before 1990, maybe when I was 12 years old. Maybe younger. I’m just not sure, but in 1990, for a few months, it was the most important thing in my life. Now as I look back, I am puzzled by what happened because I truly believed. But there are a number of choices I made that made a difference in why I fell away. One of them was after I finished reading the New Testament, I thought to myself, “I’m done with reading, now I will go look to others to teach me.” I decided to not read the Old Testament and I believed that one reading of the New Testament was enough. I started to visit different churches and talked with many people. People would often say things that I knew didn’t quite fit with what I had read in the New Testament, but I wanted more to be accepted by them. I knew that I was new to Christianity and I believed that other people were more knowledgeable and that they would lead me in the right direction. After a few months, the fire I had inside for Jesus was gone and instead of blaming myself, I blamed Jesus for leaving me. My thoughts went back to the worries of this life, and I began to slowly construct within my mind the type of god I wanted from what I would hear other people say over the course of many years.
It is my goal to stay immersed in God’s word and this bible study blog will be a part of that goal. As I now study the bible, I see there is so much more to know than one simple read through will offer. I also see from my past experience that to stop reading the bible is to fall back into the ways of this world and into the teachings of other people. The word of God is protective and instructive and will keep us from falling away. Paul writes of this to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:14-17, telling him, “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” Paul tells Timothy to “continue in what you have learned and firmly believed.” And since Timothy was “acquainted with the sacred writings” from his childhood, he had many years of study. I thought I could do it in a few months back in 1990. I wasn’t “acquainted” with scripture and I didn’t “continue” in faith because of the little I had learned.
Additionally, it is my goal with this bible study blog to encourage believers to follow Jesus, and to witness to nonbelievers who may be searching for answers, and to point out false teachings. It is my goal to follow Jesus’ command in Matthew 28:19-20, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” I want to be a part of making disciples as I learn to be a disciple myself.
As I approach the age of 60, I want to shift my life away from serving myself to serving others. This bible study blog will be a part of that goal. This bible study blog and the posts on my Facebook are not something I ever would have done myself. I was comfortable living my life for myself, isolating myself, and doing my own thing. I didn’t want to speak or to write to anyone. I just wanted to be left alone, but my life has taken a sudden change and I don’t understand why considering there was a time when I rejected Jesus for many years of my life. I dare say, that the way I lived my life was like spitting in Jesus’ face because I was a believer at one time. Then, I fell into believing in a god of my own thinking for many years, until I became an atheist. Now, I am back with Jesus because he has brought me back. He never left me, even though I was miles away from him. What do you say to Jesus, who died for you, and you spit in his face, but he still wants to spend eternity with you? For me it began with knowing what I had done and asking for forgiveness.
I also want to say that I am nothing. There is nothing special about me. I think Paul describes it well in 1 Corinthians 3:4-9, “For when one says, ‘I follow Paul,’ and another, ‘I follow Apollos,’ are you not being merely human? What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.”
I am grateful if you find encouragement, or if you learn something along with me, or if you decide to look into what I say, or if you just decide to read the bible. I am not looking for likes. I am looking that you may strengthen your faith or that you may look to and believe in the Son, Jesus. What I am doing, you can do.
