He hugged Jehovah!

[BenGo]

In todays talk, the brother shared a personal experience of his. It touched me really deep and I had tears in my eyes.

The brother was a foster child, when coming to the truth. Often he felt very lonely. He had a little birdy in his room, which he put on his cheek and cuddle it. One day he prayed to Jehovah: „Jehovah, I feel so lonely, I want to hug you“. Later that week, he was in service with an anointed brother. That brother was a construction worker, not very emotional and avoiding physical contact. But when they met, the anointed brother said: „J. I can‘t help myself but I have to hug you now“

Imagine, because Jehovah could not hug the brother himself, nor could send an angel, he hugged the brother through that anointed brother

[rbrown1205]

Wow, that's beautiful.   Reminds me of that scripture about Jehovah grasping your right hand, and how Jesus embraced the children who came to him. 

 

Hugging is not something that every Witness feels comfortable with, because of culture and upbringing, or sadly because of negative life experiences.  But I am glad about our having periodic conventions, when most of us can feel good about embracing friends who we haven't seen in a while.  And visiting shut in Witnesses after service is also a heart warming activity, which is usually accompanied by hugs.

 

The lonely brother certainly had the right attitude to solve his problem at least partly, because most friends find that going out in service with others can get them out of their own problems for a while, and it makes them think about other people. In this way Jehovah is hugging all of us there. 

[Tcvancoops]

How incredibly sweet!  I emailed this story to my CO.  I'm sure he'll love it.  I've had moments where Jehovah showed he was listening and brought me comfort through one of the friends, as I'm sure we all have our experiences.  I recently went for a jog, and along the path was a giant boulder.  I climbed it and sat down on top, and prayed for about 15 minutes.  Even though things have been good with me, I still have my moments where I don't feel loved; mostly because of the bad mistakes I've made.  How can anyone love me after that, especially Jehovah.  I asked Jehovah if there was a way he could show me he still loves me.  I haven't gotten my answer yet, but I'll keep you all posted when he does.  I did feel more calm after my prayer, so that's a good sign.  Regardless, Jehovah IS love.  We must all remember that no matter what

[MizPeg]

2 hours ago, Tcvancoops said:

How incredibly sweet!  I emailed this story to my CO.  I'm sure he'll love it.  I've had moments where Jehovah showed he was listening and brought me comfort through one of the friends, as I'm sure we all have our experiences.  I recently went for a jog, and along the path was a giant boulder.  I climbed it and sat down on top, and prayed for about 15 minutes.  Even though things have been good with me, I still have my moments where I don't feel loved; mostly because of the bad mistakes I've made.  How can anyone love me after that, especially Jehovah.  I asked Jehovah if there was a way he could show me he still loves me.  I haven't gotten my answer yet, but I'll keep you all posted when he does.  I did feel more calm after my prayer, so that's a good sign.  Regardless, Jehovah IS love.  We must all remember that no matter what

Oh, Van! You must not judge yourself,  That is not our responsibility, and it just hinders your spiritual growth.

That very thought sequence is what kept me from my dedication, for more time than I like to think about. So many wasted hours, better spent in service to the Almighty.

Take care, keep well, and hang in there, as our time in this world is very, very short!

Agape'

[Tcvancoops]

23 minutes ago, MizPeg said:

Oh, Van! You must not judge yourself,  That is not our responsibility, and it just hinders your spiritual growth.

That very thought sequence is what kept me from my dedication, for more time than I like to think about. So many wasted hours, better spent in service to the Almighty.

Take care, keep well, and hang in there, as our time in this world is very, very short!

Agape'

Thank you.  I have times when I feel forgiven and can move on.  But when my depression kicks in I go back to those negative thoughts.  The elders remind me about King Manassah, and how he did everything wrong in Jehovah's eyes.  Yet, he was forgiven and loved by Jehovah when he repented.  I try to remember that when my negative thoughts happen.

[hatcheckgirl]

That's a good reminder, Van.  I doubt anyone has been as bad as King Manassah, and look how Jehovah forgave and accepted him.  And why? Jehovah is very merciful and tender to those who repent, and it's the bruised reed Jesus came to save - Matt 12:20

 

Proverbs 24:16 For the righteous one may fall seven times, and he will get up again.  This is something also to help in fighting negativity. Is it the fall, or is it the getting up again that Jehovah looks for?  

 

Ben's post about the hug is just extraordinary, but that's just how our Father loves us. In our own personal experiences with him, we can find that moment and cling to that too.

[Tbs77]

How incredibly sweet!  I emailed this story to my CO.  I'm sure he'll love it.  I've had moments where Jehovah showed he was listening and brought me comfort through one of the friends, as I'm sure we all have our experiences.  I recently went for a jog, and along the path was a giant boulder.  I climbed it and sat down on top, and prayed for about 15 minutes.  Even though things have been good with me, I still have my moments where I don't feel loved; mostly because of the bad mistakes I've made.  How can anyone love me after that, especially Jehovah.  I asked Jehovah if there was a way he could show me he still loves me.  I haven't gotten my answer yet, but I'll keep you all posted when he does.  I did feel more calm after my prayer, so that's a good sign.  Regardless, Jehovah IS love.  We must all remember that no matter what

Suggestion: Please take your time and review last week.treasures from God’s word Reflect on David bending down to let the dust run through his fingers... PSALM 103..., put there to comfort and reassure us of God's loyal love to us as individuals.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[rbrown1205]

I want to mention something that sometimes some brothers and sisters may assume, although it is not scriptural. A special point was made in this experience that the brother who hugged the lonely brother was of the anointed.  This point may feed into the idea that anointed brothers and sisters are somehow closer to Jehovah than those of the other sheep. However, the truth is that we are all held to the same standards, and the anointed are simply given a different assignment.  In other words, Jehovah uses all of his dedicated servants to speak and act on his behalf, and  we all have ro make ourselves more sensitive to his spirit's leading, while maintaining the humility that Jesus displayed. Whenever we get a lesson on the anointed, that point has been made, hasn't it?

[shali]

On 8/21/2016 at 4:54 PM, Tcvancoops said:

How incredibly sweet!  I emailed this story to my CO.  I'm sure he'll love it.  I've had moments where Jehovah showed he was listening and brought me comfort through one of the friends, as I'm sure we all have our experiences.  I recently went for a jog, and along the path was a giant boulder.  I climbed it and sat down on top, and prayed for about 15 minutes.  Even though things have been good with me, I still have my moments where I don't feel loved; mostly because of the bad mistakes I've made.  How can anyone love me after that, especially Jehovah.  I asked Jehovah if there was a way he could show me he still loves me.  I haven't gotten my answer yet, but I'll keep you all posted when he does.  I did feel more calm after my prayer, so that's a good sign.  Regardless, Jehovah IS love.  We must all remember that no matter what

This post really got to me Van.  I've been where you are and know exactly how you feel.  I remember once being so distraught over something that I thought had been handled by the elders (but it apparently not all details had come to light yet) and then finding out there was more that had to be dealt with, that I went home and shut myself in my bedroom and just sobbed and poured out my heart to Jehovah for what seemed close to an hour.  When I was done, I couldn't breath and my top was soaked with tears.  The last thing I said in my prayer to Jehovah was "Please, just show me somehow that you still love me".  As soon as I said "Amen" and got off my knees, a knock came at the door.  An elder from my congregation was there.  He said he was in the area and just wanted to stop by and see how I was (even though I was at the meeting that morning!) 

 

You see in my case - I'm not a very discerning person.  You gotta hit me over the head with a rock for me to figure it out.  I told Jehovah that too in my prayer.  He made sure to let me know he loved me as soon as I made the request because of how "thick" I am in discerning things - if any time had passed, I may not of picked up on it being Jehovah's way of answering my prayer. 

 

So if you need to know Jehovah loves you (and the fact that you are still alive and he welcomes you into his home and a loving brotherhood and gave his son so that you could live forever in paradise without ever crying in sorrow again isn't enough -because, let's face it, sometimes we feel it's truly not) then be specific and tell Jehovah you REALLY need to feel it and help you to discern it when he shows you.

 

There is no doubt in my heart that Jehovah loves you Van.  But I don't expect you to take my word for it (although I wish you would!)