I began a journey over seven years ago dedicating the first part of everyday to sitting at the feet of the Beautiful One. I determined to find out what His Word says for myself.
The last three years have completely wrecked my preconceived ideologies and things that man taught me. As I read the Word directly and asked Holy Spirit to teach me I had no choice but to accept that I had been believing false things. Many of these things had been and still are taught from pulpits; and doctrines and denominations are built upon them.
Then, when faced with a crisis of belief I found I was standing on very shaky ground. This forced me into the Word, heart, and character of God for myself. It has begun to correct my perspective on so many things. There have been times I’ve been challenged or even “corrected” by pastors and teachers because they were fighting to protect a man made doctrine and just couldn’t believe that what I was sharing from the Word was correct. They were literally unwilling to even consider that what they grew to know might be wrong. This journey requires a great deal of humility and meekness, things I’m still growing in.
But I thank God for Holy Spirit who teaches me. I still have a ton of questions and I’m still learning new things and correct things daily. It’s absolutely liberating and very challenging, but so healthy!
I encourage you to put all the “Bible Studies” and commentaries away for a while and just read the Holy Scriptures. Ask Holy Spirit to teach you and guide you. Be willing to lay down previous ideas and understandings, no matter how good they feel or how comfortable they are. I am willing to say you’re going to be very pleasantly surprised and you likely will be greatly challenged. But it’s absolutely worth it!