Approaching the Bible

Last night i had the privilege of teaching a group of precious saints from the Word of God. As a foundation prior to getting into my main topic, I listed some personal principles that I use when getting into the Bible- teaching, reading, studying etc. May they prove of benefit for you also
1. The Bible is the Word of God- inspired, inerrant (in the original manuscripts) and authoritative in the lives of followers of Christ
2. The Holy Spirit leads us into all truth (dual authorship) John 16:13 cf. 17:17
3. Themes and Patterns- If something is said once in the Bible I assume it is there for a reason, even if I don't know what the reason is. If something is said over and over,I believe we should take special note of it. This is one of the reasons why I advocate reading from Matthew to Revelation, or Genesis to Revelation.
4. There is an Old Covenant and a New Covenant, which is part of a larger theme of progressive revelation. I believe that we are in the New Covenant, and I see increasing importance in that.
5. Commands: Jesus associates our love for Him with obeying His commands. (John 14:15,21,23 i John 2:5) The greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God... Mark 12:30
6. Humility- I don't know everything
7. Seek Counsel- Peter tells us that the Scripture is not of private interpretation. (2 Peter 1:20) Seek out what godly people teach and believe.
8. Be teachable/ you can glean something from anyone in whom the Holy Spirit dwells. (2 Timothy 2:7)
9. Trust is the foundation of any good relationship but the Bereans were commended for searching out the Scriptures to see if what Paul said was true. (Acts 17:11, 2 Timothy 2:15)
10. Over-Analyzing We live in an age of scientific precision. We have had centuries of scholars subjecting the Bible to practically microscopic analysis. I wonder whether the original human authors ever anticipated this type of scrutiny. Do we miss the forest for a centimeter's worth of bark on one tree?
11. Eisegesis- Bringing our own ideas into the text and looking for support rather than going to the Bible to see what it teaches. Very difficult to avoid but worth the effort.