,,, the text for June 5, 2020

During all their distress it was distressing to him. - Isa. 63:9

The "him" in this scripture is Jehovah, Himself. The comments for today say this:

Jehovah does more than just feel compassion for his servants who suffer.

When something you witness distresses you, you want to take action, some step to relieve the affliction. Jehovah is the same way. The comments point out how He heard the outcries and witnesses the suffereing of the Israelites under Egyptian slavery. (Ex. 3:7, 8)

He is our empathetic Father, the One who understands us. He is aware of what goes on, how we are treated by others. What a wonderful God!

Many paint Him as unknowable, distant, out of reach of us, but through the pages of the Bible, He proves otherwise. Judges is probably one of my favorite books to read, and there will be many posts about it.

Why do I like it? Because it describes how the nation of  Israel enjoyed blessings from Jehovah, then they sin against Him by following other gods. He withdraws his protection, and they suffer at the hands of other nations oppressing them. They cry out to Jehovah, repent of their wrong ways, and Jehovah forgives them, sending judges to save his people.

The funny thing is, it's a cycle of sorts. Everything is great, then they got sloppy in their worship, things go bad, they feel bad and repent, Jehovah forgives and helps, then the cycle repeats itself. Can't they just figure out that doing good is the best course.

But no, they're imperfect, so they make the same mistake over and over, never really learning it. But, the book of Judges shows Jehovah's ability to forgive and to show real compassion for his imperfect servants, even when they're repeat offenders. But His patience does run out. When Jesus was put to death, he gave up on the Israelites completely, establishing a covenant with a spiritual Israel.

Isn't that the same today? Yes. For me, I have repeated my mistakes only to experience pain, then I realize that Jehovah is the One to worship in truth. So, I change.

But, I change. I try to change. I make the effort to change. I'm not perfect, and it's a long road for me. But, that's the key. We read about Jehovah's mercy and forgiveness, but there is a point. It's not limitless. It's important to try to change. Jehovah does appreciate the effort we make in that regard, and he will provide the help necessary for us to be successful. And many are successful! (1 Cor. 6:9, 10) Believing that He will accept us for who we are is wrong thinking, because the scriptures indicate otherwise, that we have to "strip off  the old personality" (Col. 3:9) That brings to mind a person taking paint off of an automobile's fender. The paint is removed all the way to the bare metal, the imperfections and blemishes are repaired (sanded down, a new piece of metal welded in), then a new coat of paint is applied. This must be done, otherwise the new paint on top of the old paint will reveal imperfections and will not adhere. Eventually, it flakes off. So, we're taught to completely remove it. Eph. 4:22 says to "put away the old personality that conforms to your former course of conduct". It's not easy, but it needs to be done.

You can succeed in doing so. Our empathetic Father feels for us, understands us, knows everything about us, and will truly help us in his compassion that moves Him to action on our behalf.

... the text for June 4, 2020

As for the tree of the knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat from it. - Gen. 2:17

In the face of everything Adam and Eve had, this command seems like a simple directive. It ended up being a matter of life and death.

Think about it. Jehovah had provided super-abundantly to the first human pair. For example, there are 3,000 known varieties of pears in the world today. There are around 2,500 varieties of apples.

Did Adam and Eve have any needs that were unfulfilled? No!

As imperfect people, we are prone to test the forbidden. Have you seen a sign declaring "Wet Paint" and suddenly get the urge to test and see if the statement is true? Adam and Eve were perfect! Satan made it so appealing to Eve, that she harbored the desire for it, and took her own action, showing a lack of respect to her husband and Jehovah.

And so it goes. People in the world today don't realize that authority is in place with Jehovah's permission to provide order and structure. We have Stop signs at intersections, not to cramp our freedom, but to keep us from killing ourselves and others. The Bible states that husbands are considered heads of the family. That's Jehovah's direction and structure. So, imagine if a wife routinely disobeys her husband, doesn't follow his instructions, makes her own decisions with his input, lies to him or misleads him, shows him contempt, attempts to dominate and control her mate, what is she really doing?

She's doing it to Jehovah, the God, the One who established the marriage arrangement, and set how it's supposed to work. Oh, but my mom acted that way and everything was okay. Well, sorry but the Bible is the better example to follow. Everything goes up and down the hierarchy.

If I disrespect the elders, it's the same as disrespect to Jehovah; if the elders disrespect the Governing Body, or ignores Branch instructions, they're doing the same to Jehovah; if children disobey their parents, it goes up the chain and everyone up the line is disrespected. Everyone is accountable to Jehovah. (Rom. 14:12)

The world doesn't care about that. That's why they protest and complain about everything, without realizing the God who provided everything for man to live is figaratively jabbed and poked and reproached.

He is getting ready to act soon, and He will, He promises. We need to examine ourselves and think about why we act the way we do, stop blaming other people, and accept the counsel and discipline Jehovah provides through his Word, the Bible and the organization he uses to take care of His servants.

... the text for June 3, 2020

Be courageous and strong. Do not be struck with terror or fear; for Jehovah your God is with you wherever you go. - Josh. 1:9

Upon first reflection of this scripture, I thought of how the Examining the Scriptures Daily is produced. During this year, there are ones busy compiling the daily texts for 2021.

Yet, today's scripture is so timely! It's at the perfect moment that we're reading this! In my area, there is looting and violence. People are protesting and lashing out at anything. Others are scared and paranoid about what's going on, and then we get the words of Joshua to the nation of Israel, at the beginning of their conquest of Canaan.

And yes, we as Jehovah's Witnesses, do see that Jehovah has been with us every step of the way. We don't need to quake with fear, or be shocked at what we see around us. As this week begins, we are encouraged to strength and encourage one another, knowing that Jehovah is with us and is guiding us through His organization on earth to make our way to the new system, where His Kingdom will rid the earth of those who are wicked. Gone will be disease, anger, hate, prejudice, famine, pollution, war and many other things, to be replaced by unity and true love for God and neighbor

Hold your heads up, and look straight ahead.

... the text for June 2, 2020

Let us [encourage] one another and all the more so as you see the day drawing near. - Heb. 10:24, 25

Recently, our congregation started doing morning worship via Zoom, where the elders and others assigned to discuss either the daily text or something encouraging such as good experiences. They do this because of the need to encourage one another, not forsaking gathering together but joining together in unity in serving Jehovah.

We are all isolated now. Stay-at-home orders, lockdowns, quarantines really make it a challenge. The ability to use Zoom, or Skype or FaceTime allows us to see each other and see their smiles.

The common goal of the command above given by Jehovah is to build up each other's faith. As the scripture notes, the "day drawing near" means that things will get worse. There will be more diseases, more protest, more insanity. So, while the world is acting out their frustration by looting and burning, we sit calmy in our living rooms and talk with one another and provide strength and positivity.

We are grateful to Jehovah for the provision he provides through the Governing Body, to have meetings and regular schedule to meeting together to discuss Bible-related topics. Don't let anything get in the way of that, it's too important in this moment of time we are passing through.

... the text for June 1, 2020

No matter what you ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you. - John 15:16

We truly can't ask Jehovah for anything. How do we know? The comments have this to say:

Jehovah was ready to answer their prayers for any help they needed to carry out the command to preach the Kingdom message.

So, today, we ask Jehovah for help in doing his will, not ask for our own desires, such as preyers for a good paying job, financial security and other things of that nature.

We can see Jehovah's answers to our prayers when we read the Bible and receive needed counsel. We humbly ask for guidance and direction on  making wise decisions so that we can be in a position to serve him more fully. We can pray for our brothers and sisters and He will respond with holy spirit and support for them.

When I get irritated or frustrated by something, I pray to Jehovah to help me to contain my  anger, help in not being bitter or to hold grudges, to consign my propblems to God for Him to take care of. He answers by calming me down, helping me to reflect on what He promises through his Word, the Bible.

Jesus, quoted above, was talking about the preaching work. He was going to die soon, so he wanted to comfort his disciples by letting them know they were not left in the lurch, to figure things out for themselves, but Jehovah would provide what is necessary to assist them in accomplishign His will.

We have the same assurance today, even when our preaching is limited by the pandemic, and many have found ways to still preach, with letter writing and focusing on their Bible studies. That is wonderful to see and hear.

... the Bible reading for week of June 1-7, 2020 (Gen. 44-45)

Genesis 44-45

The scriptures I liked this week were:

Gen. 44:13

Then they ripped their garments apart...

This action was a strong emotion caused by despair, grief, humiliation, indignity or mourning. While this isn't practiced today, we can still apply this. Do we figuratively "rip our garments" in the sense of feeling true remose for things we have done? If we do so, we demonstrate to Jehovah how sorry we truly are, and can receive forgiveness from Him, along with any discipline that's needed, even being disfellowshipped? It's important to think about, if we are truly humble

Gen. 45:5

...do not repraoch one another because you sold me here; because God has sent me ahead of you for the preservation of life.

 Joseph may not have understood Jehovah's purpose in giving him the dreams, but it was clear to him now. He clearly had no grudge againt them, even during the time from when he was sold until he revealed himself to them. Can we do the same today? When circumstances arise, or we may have experienced something, we can have confidence that Jehovah knows exactly what's going on and everything will be revealed when He is ready to reveal it. Joseph is a good example of maintaining focus on Jehovah and His will, not dwelling on our own situation, and being forgiving to one another, which is all the more important in this stream of time.

Gen. 45:20

Do not worry about your belongings, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.

 The brothers were given wagons to transport their father, theire wives and children. They weren't required to bring anything other than their flocks. What a nice display of good will from Pharaoh.

... a walk in the park

Today, we decided to go to our local park, to walk the dog and also feed the squirrels, my wife's favorite activity. She's an animal lover and even made a bird feeder, which she hangs at the rear of our apartment building, the the birdies. One day, a peacock showed up and helped himself. There were some squirrels in the area, living in the huge tree that sits in the middle of an empty field behind our place. So, they were raiding the bird feeder.

So, my wife took an old plastic water bottle, cut a big hole and put peanuts into it for the squirrels, so we have a bird feeer and a squirrel feeder.

anyway, so we went to this park, where there are many squirrels. She had a bag of peanuts in the car, slightly aged. So, as we walked through the park, the dog sniffing and digging in the layer of pine needels that covered the ground. She would grab some peanuts and drop them at the base of one or two trees.

The squirrels scurried down and took some. The dog barked. There was a gentle breeze. My hearing aid is broken at the moment, so the volume is very low, but I could hear the sound of sirens as police cars and fire trucks rushed by on the way to somewhere, Code-3, lights and siren blaring.

As we walked around, my wife grew agitated. She told me, there were strange people in the park (all this in sign language), I respondend, "What made them strange?" She did the sign for sick and tapped the side of her head.

Yes, acrooss the street there was a halfway house for those who were mentally ill. At that time of the day, a group of them were in the park. They weren't bothering us, we were quite a distance away.

She signed that one woman, her pants were off. I asked her if she had underwear on, and she shook her head. So, there was a woman running around naked from the waist down. I didn't look, and I couldn't see that well anyway. She wanted to go. Her facial expression was distraught, she shielded her eyes as from a bright light, and looked away. "Let's go now," She said, so we cut our park sojourn short.

There are two types of mentally ill people I've found: those who are obviously ill; the other have managed to keep it covered up, making it through life appearing a little eccentric., they don't readily admit that they have problems, they sometimes deny it. But, they get by.

There is a future, Isaish 33:24 says, where no one will be sick. That is such an amazing hope, that even those who end up homeless because of their mental state, or they're dealing with schizophrenia, multiple personalities, manic depression, mania, psychosis will be cured. it will be a thing of the past. None of that will exist under God's wonderful Kingdom. If you or someone you know and love is dealing with mental illness, there is hope. And it isn't a plethora of drugs, it's true healing by Jesus Christ, our Lord amd King.