xjwsforChrist

This whole thread was extremely enlightening and helpful to me, made me cry. Thank you everyone for your comments and LQ for baring your heart and thoughts.
Shelby what a wonderful and loving explanation and example for us of God's love for us and how to perceive it. It is not about US, its about our creator and saviour and what we can do to prove our love to them. MUCH food for thought for me at least.
Thank you again so much!!

This thread is revitalising me and I needed that. I had become spiritually drowsy, even dozing. I am physically tired, feeling old, battling against the consequences age brings. Poor memory, less articulate than I used to be, feeling inadequate in so many ways. It's 25 years this year since my anointing. I felt so vibrant in those early years, so able to speak about spiritual things, so intense about learning more and more, almost unstoppable. Even I can now hear the pride I felt back then!

Did I take the credit for it? I hope not, I recall continually giving praise to Jah and thanking him....but in the WTBS world where it was all about hours, public speaking, bible studies etc PRIDE was given a place to grow I think. I'm sure mine did.

Shelby quoted the following scripture from Exodus 4 in her first post:

10 Moses said to the LORD, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” 11 The LORD said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” 13 But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.” 14 Then the LORD’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. 15 You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. 17 But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it.”


Now this is the same Moses who was spoken of in Acts 7 v 22, having been reared by the daughter of a pharoah in a palace, was described thus:
" Consequently Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. In fact he was powerful in his words and deeds."
But we know don't we that Moses had been 40 years in the desert tending sheep and resulted in him being called by far meekest man on the surface of the ground? Jahveh had taught him humility.

I can certainly relate to this.

Your servant & fellow slave of Christ

Loz x

_________________
"This is my son. LISTEN to Him!"

Wow Loz - I understand how we can lose our motivation and become tired. Thank you for sharing.


The scripture about Moses not being able to speak well yet he was helped by Jah was enlightening.

"If God is for us... who can be against us?"

One of our greatest fears is what others might think of us. Can be paralyzing, yes. Some time ago, our dear Lord directed me to post a thread, "Who do you love? Are You S
sure?"

We have SO many reminders. From, "Do not plan ahead what you will say for it will be given you," to "Love does not look out for its own interest."

To those of you who (please, dear Lord JaHeShua... let me say this right and with love)... are "struggling" with the challenges of life (husbands, wives, children, work, housing, health... whatever... I don't know what to say except that I don't understand. I'm sorry, I love you, I DO... but I don't understand.

Our dear Lord SAID:

"Come to ME... ALL you who a toiling and loaded down. Take MY yoke for MY yoke is KINDLY and MY load is light."

I don't understand... do you not believe him? How can that be??? Are we not told that "Without faith it is impossible to please [the Father] well?"

I don't understand why you toil. Even more, I don't understand why you don't TRUST him, have FAITH in him... faith that he will KEEP his word and if you just DO what he says... HE will take your load?

I don't understand. I put him to this test and he absolutely fulfilled his promise, as some here know. And so HE is "how" I do this, tirelessly... and with JOY. Because he KEPT HIS WORD TO ME ... which strengthens me and helps me keep MY word to HIM.

I am not saying anyone is bad or wrong... or must "be like" me. I am saying... honestly... I don't understand.

Please... please... LET HIM PROVE TO YOU THAT HIS WORDS ARE TRUE. Why? Three (3) simple reasons:

1. First and foremost... you WILL be utterly grateful and so give thanks and GLORIFY the Father... AND our dear, dear Lord;

2. Others might learn of it, turn to JAH and Christ, recive the same/similar blessings, and ALSO glorify the Father and our dear Lord; and

3. YOU WILL BENEFIT. You WILL. AND SO WILL YOUR HOUSEHOLD. Because HE will "work" your "load" FOR you. And if HE'S handling matters... how can things NOT get better?

I'm sorry, dear, dear ones. I am. But I truly don't understand.

I pray for you all. I don't say that to be thought well of. I say it because I love you and SO want you to realize the fulfillment... and joy... of switching loads with the Master. There really are no words... except all that I have shared with you over the years.

Peace... as our dear Lord, Master, and King, JAHESHUA, the Holy Spirit, Son, and Chosen One of our God and Father, JAH... who breathes armies of spirits... living beings... into existence.

Your servant, sister, and a slave of Christ,

Shel

Ecclesiastes 12:1 - May Christ strengthen and lead us all. Everyone one of us.

Peace to you, all!

You sound so frustrated and even disappointed in some of us Shelby. I don't blame you really, (well as regards me) I'm disappointed in myself also.

And frustrated that I needed to be humbled yet again (see my above post).

I have read your post and reread it, I've spoken to our Lord about it. Everything you say is correct. My spirit bears witness to the truths in it. I am grateful for it however uncomfortable it was to read, that is on me, not you. Hebrews 12:11.

Peace to you dear Shelby

Your sister and fellow slave of Christ

Loz x

_________________
"This is my son. LISTEN to Him!"

Shelby thank you for the post, it makes so much sense and is the answer to our troubles yet I still do not have enough faith and love and trust. I must put your last post somewhere where I can read it often and remind myself to put all this to the test and trust the Lord. It becomes complicated because of all the junk in some of our minds, I have to clear that junk out to see this more clearly.

An example of how I can understand why you are frustrated with some of us dear Shelby. My daughter keeps calling me sometimes 5 or 6 times a day complaining and crying about her life and how bad it is. The man she is with is grumpy, mean and uncaring, there is no affection and he has sexual disfunction and they have never had sex. He lied about it to get her to move in and he has a porn addiction. She had 2 therapists who she sees every week also and she has lost friends because she calls them too much about her woes. Everyone including the therapists and me have told her that the only solution is to leave the guy she is with and rebuild her life. It is the only solution or else she just needs to cope with things they the way they are. There is nothing stopping her from leaving, he wants her to leave but she is to insecure to live alone and have no help with her children plus she would have to go back to work and she says she can't cope with that.
Well this has been going on for almost 2 years and its the same thing over and over and she does nothing but complain. The Christian therapist (the one that spoke in tongues) told her to pray and told her that she needed to leave as the situation was not in harmony with Christian living etc. She didn't like that and quit her, so I see that she does not want to hear what should be done. Its exasperating.

So I can see that my situation of always complaining but never hearing what you say will work is somewhat the same. No wonder you are saying what you said Shelby.

May you have peace!


Dear Loz and Zoe, I heard something a bit different in Shelby's 'voice'. I did not hear frustration. What I heard was a) that she feels exactly as she said. She does not understand why anyone continues to toil and fear and worry, when we have our Lord's words and promises and directions to the contrary. And b) I heard her PLEADING out of love... for anyone who is toiling... to stop toiling; to instead do as Christ said to do; to take HIS yoke; to trust Him and His word; to believe IN Him; to put faith IN Him.

Because He does keep His word. He does keep His promises. He does speak the TRUTH.



Peace to you,
your servant and sister, and fellow slave of Christ,
tammy

Yes Tammy, I don't think anyone could deny that, I certainly did hear what you heard as well. Shelby's post was motivated by love, I'm just sad that it became necessary.

Peace

Loz X

_________________
"This is my son. LISTEN to Him!"

I've had several days to ponder this and really get down to the crux of the matter with myself. It boils down to faith. Or lack thereof. I struggle with faith. For me, I just can't wrap my mind around what faith IS, versus what it isn't. Faith isn't belief. I believe, but so do the demons. Faith is more than that. It's about trust. But it's even more than that. It's about taking someone at their word. But I suspect it's even more than that.

For years, faith has been a fairly abstract concept, especially with the indoctrination of the WT org. Seemingly simple things that are written in the bible are made so complex by religion. Not just WT. Many religions twist what's written to make it all harder than it should be. (Conversely, many religions water things down, and that's also really bad.) How many times did WT say the exact opposite of what our Lord said? How many times they they say, "this applies to the anointed, and by extension to the other sheep." You know, being told all your life that the words of Christ don't apply to you is pretty much a faith killer. That didn't even dawn on me until right now. Instead of believing in those promises, most of us are made to feel that since those promises apply to someone else, we, instead, have to work really, really hard to be approved and then MAYBE at the end of the thousand years, MAYBE we'll make it. Faith required, sure, but just as important, if not more so, are the works. I gotta tell you, that works-based thinking is still present and is so, so, so hard to get rid of. I thought I had rid myself of that way of thinking, but I realize I haven't. I might not be "working" for WT anymore, but I still find myself in that mindset. "Strongly entrenching things," for sure.

Over the past few days, I've been reading several accounts where people were healed and there was nothing complex about it. I'm praying to understand this more. It's just not sinking in.

Peace to you, dear Tammy, Loz, and Zoe... and thank you dear sisters your kind, kind comments... and for understanding. Yes, dear Tams, that's exactly what I meant to convey, and I am grateful you stated it as you did and that you, dear, dear Loz, were able to see my intent also. And you for sharing your experience with your daughter, dear Zoe - it is like that sometimes, although not as challenging. Think of it like a (good) foster mother who only wants the children entrusted to her to know that they don't have to let their "bruises" from life hurt SO much, that there is soothing "salve" as well as a way to avoid of lot of the pain life brings altogether. You don't convey such with anger, but there are times when you truly don't understand "why" they make the choices the make once they [i][should] know better.[/i]

Again, thank you ALL!

Dear, dear, dear brother LQ... peace to you, dear brother... and I have been give the following from our dear Lord to share with you IF you truly want things to change:



Finally, I am exhort you to put away ALL anger, and remind you of the "path" of Cain:

"Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to JaHVeH. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. JaHVeH looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but not on Cain and his offering. So Cain was very angry, and dejected.

"JaHVeH said to Cain, “Are you rightly angry? Why do you feel dejected? If you do well, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do well, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”

Well, we know how that turned, who eventually "ruled".

Our dear Lord said that this isn't about Cain killing his brother, though, but about that act being the direct result of Cain NOT DOING "WELL". "Well" in what way? Well, in that Cain only gave some fruit from his fields; Abel... gave a better offering: fatty pieces of the firstborn of his flock. It was better... because of its value... and because Abel gave to JAH first. Cain gave what he didn't really want, what he could spare. He cared more for himself and what HE wanted... than for JAH.

Note, JAH asked NEITHER of these for offerings... of flock OR field. It wasn't about the actual offering: it was about the heart of the one making the offering. And so, he gave me the following to remind those who wish it to understand what was going on in Cain's heart... his (lack of) love and respect FOR JAH:

“A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’

“But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’

“He was made king, however, and returned home.

He then sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it.

“The first one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned ten more.’

“‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’

“The second came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned five more.’

“His master answered, ‘You take charge of five cities.’

“Then another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.’

“His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?’

“Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’

“‘Sir,’ they said, ‘he already has ten!’

“He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away.’”


I have shared these things with you, just as I received them from our dear Lord, the Holy One of Israel and Holy Spirit, JAHESHUA, the Chosen One of JAH (MischaJAH). I would encourage any of you who are... "struggling"... with your faith, though, to hear my dear Lord's words to dear LQ here... and encourage you to LISTEN to what the "king" SAID. I would also encourage you to maybe read the letters to the spirits of the "seven" congregations, as perhaps one of those will "tell" you exactly where you "are"... and what you might need to "do" in order to shore up the "walls" of your "houses"... if you indeed (still) need to.

Regardless, I hope this helps, truly... and that those with ears to hear do so and get the sense of these things. I cannot say "the time is short." Many have been saying that for some time. I can say... we don't KNOW the time, but we don't want to be caught sleeping without "oil" in our lamps if the time IS short.

As always, the greatest of love and peace to you ALL... and to your dear, dear households!

Your servant, sister, and a slave of Christ,

Shel

I feel like Nicodemus when told he must be born again, when he said: "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"

I am pleased that the Lord is WILLING to teach me. I just don't know how to go about steps 1, 2 and 3. You don't know how many times I have wished I could just "start over". But in a practical sense, I just don't know HOW to tear down this house and HOW to empty myself. One can't simply "forget". Don't take this as a complaint... I'm looking for whatever advice you all have as to HOW to tear down my house and HOW to empty myself. Not something I've done before, so I don't know how to "unlearn" in order to "relearn".

Absolutely NOT true, dear brother (peace to you!). One can do whatever one chooses. For me, when I learned what the WTBTS truly was... I didn't want ANY part of it or what it "taught." Not one iota. Because if they lied to me on, what 98% of what they teach (even if 20% of that are lies they were told by those who came before them)... I considered the whole thing "tainted". I felt that if I (allowed myself to) touch even the tiniest part of it, I would open myself up to contamination by ANY of it. Because if a LITTLE leaven ferments the entire lump... surely a whole barrel of leaven renders the lump poisoned and entirely unconsumable... right?

So, I let it ALL go. I mean, I HAD to... right? Why keep ANY of it, if I KNOW some... most... of it is false? And you can do the same... if you want to. If you truly want to let go of that unclean thing.

I am reminded, though, of the following account, sharing of which might be of some help:

"A young man came up to [Jesus] and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”

“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”

“Which ones?” he inquired.

[Jesus] replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”

“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”

Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because...."

Because he could do what Christ asked of him, what he knew what right... but could not DO.

We have that example for a reason, dear brother. So that we know: there were... and are... some who won't do. Can't do. Thing is, are we among them? No judgment; just something to think about. Because we know there were... and are... some who can... will... and do.

YOU have decide what you "want"... and then "do" accordingly.

I hope that helps, truly... and may JAH continue to bless you and your dear household.

Peace to you!

Your servant, sister, and a slave of Christ,

Shel

As a software developer by trade, I get hung up on semantics. So, when I was saying, one can't simply "forget", I meant that literally, as in, remove the neurological pathways in the brain so that it wouldn't be possible to remember any further. The way you describe "forget" is more like, "put it completely out of your mind". Those are a bit different. My mother always called me "Mr. Technical". It's been a flaw of mine my entire life. Serves me well in my work, but is really a downfall otherwise.

So, by tearing down and completely emptying, what is really meant is letting it all go. Well, I'm part way there. I've let a lot go already. I have a ways to go, though. My issue is that I want to be sure that whatever I'm taught is correct, so I question everything, and I look at things from multiple angles. Sounds like I need to stop that, too. If Jaheshua is to teach me, I should not question so much. Just accept.

That should be an issue for us ALL and as we should ALL want, dear brother (peace to you!), yes?



Here's where it might get tricky, though. Because while we certainly would INITIALLY question "everything"... even with Christ... at SOME point we learn, do we not, that HE doesn't lie (as men do)... that what he says of himself at Proverbs 8:6-8 IS true?

"Listen, for I have trustworthy things to say;
I open my lips to speak what is right.
My mouth speaks what is true,
for my lips detest wickedness.
All the words of my mouth are just;
none of them is crooked or perverse."

The issue is... does one BELIEVE that... BELIEVE him... does one have FAITH in him that what he is saying here... what he SAYS... IS true? I do. I absolutely do... because he has NEVER lied to me, thus far, and given that, I have absolutely NO reason to believe he will at ANY point.

Now, I am not that naive and so I understand, of course, that when one is ensconced in [a] religion, and particularly one like the WTBTS, one might say, "Yes, well, I believed THEY were [speaking] the truth, too! And then I find out...". BUT... c'mon, let's be absolutely HONEST here: did we not ALL have SOME point where we KNEW something they "said" was NOT true... but excused it away? A time when we were told to "wait on 'Jehovah'" after hearing something utterly ridiculous, yet we let others tell us something was "wrong" with us, that we were being rebellious or "disobedient" (NOT to God/Christ, but "to the Society")?? Had a verse "interpreted" and KNEW it could not mean what the speaker said it did... yet, allowed ourselves to overlook it, let it go? SAW something... someone... that we KNEW was totally unkind, unloving, HAD to be "against" 'Jehovah' and Christ... and yet, looked the other way and/or said nothing... if not perhaps even took part in it?????

Excluding dear Tams (peace, luv!)... and perhaps dear Zoe (peace to you, as well) we ALL absolutely did. Even though we were given UNDENIABLE SIGNS that the WTBTS was NOT the "truth"... nor HAD the truth IN it... we ALL went alone with it, to some degree. Or copied their habits and patterns in our lives and treated others as we learned to do from them. Yes?

So, why didn't we "get it", then? Because we missed the part where he said FIRST:

“To you, O people, I call out;
I raise my voice to all mankind.
You who are simple, gain prudence;
you who are foolish, set your hearts on it. Proverbs 8:4, 5


Our HEARTS were not SET on TRUTH. Because we thought we were already SMART, not simple... and already WISE, not foolish. I mean, isn't that what the WTBTS taught us? But... were we? OR were we as he also said:

"You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’"

Did we NOT think WE were "spiritually rich"? Were we not TOLD we were?? Indeed, we were. Bombarded with that lie:

https://www.jw.org/en/search/?l=en&q=%2 ... sortBy=rel

But... were we? Or... were we as Christ SAID:

"But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. Revelation 3:17


We now know THEY are such... but were we not also, when we were among them (or fully touching them)?




Only you know what it "sounds" like to you, dear brother. But he did say, did he not:

"I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white robes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see." Revelation 3:18

Would not one need to TRUST the "seller" here, though? But how can one do so? Well, one would have to believe the "seller" HAS gold, yes? And HAS "white robes" to sell. And not only HAS eyesalve... but salve that CAN heal so that the one using it CAN see... yes?

But can one trust one... he doesn't love? I would say that that is a pretty hard thing to do... especially after learning one can't trust the one(s) one SHOULD love and (be able to trust). Rather, what would one have? Is it not FEAR?

Fear, dear, dear LQ... is what stands in the way... of the "Way." Because fear OVERSHADOWS love. You have fear of being misled again. But if you KNEW Christ... you would know there is nothing TO fear - HE DOES NOT LIE.

Unfortunately, I don't know how to get YOU to believe that... to put FAITH in that... so as to put faith in HIM. Only you, he, and the Father know what is standing in your "way." What fear is REALLY enslaving you. It can be a fear of a fear of losing one's family... a fear of losing one's companions... a fear of losing one's livelihood... and fear of losing one's popularity... and fear of losing one's very life. But one really can't follow Christ TRULY... and do so in fear, can one? Because he said:

"What does a man profit... if he gains the WHOLE world... but LOSES his spirit (eternal life)?"

So, all of those "fears"... are of what benefit?

Just some things to think about. Again, none of US can change your mind... or heart. That is something that YOU must do... and CAN do, with Christ's help. Alone... well... I don't think the odds are that even.

As always, the greatest of love and peace to you... and may JAH bless!

Your servant, sister, and a slave of Christ,

Shel