1. What does Jehovah see when he looks at his people?
Well, Psalm 149: 4 tells us how Jehovah sees us "Who is delighted with his people", he does not look at our imperfections, but at our qualities.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
In John 6:44 he also makes it clear to us that Jehovah brought us his people, to benefit us from Christ's sacrifice, he has brought us individually, because he saw our potential, and thanks to that we can also be friends with him. In other words, look at our gifts and abilities that are not seen at first glance.
Jehovah sees all of our good qualities and is delighted with his people and the loyalty they demonstrate. He sees our full potential, our love for him and our effort to remain firm, and for this reason he gives us his friendship, always being close to us.
When Jehovah sees us, it is as if he were looking at this beautiful photo. See the good qualities of people, ours, a beautiful spiritual family loyal to God, where love is above all things.
2. Why is it difficult for some brothers to believe that Jehovah loves them?
Many of our brothers have found it difficult to believe that individually Jehovah loves each of his servants; They think that in general he loves them all, and this thought usually occurs when, as it is related to us in one of these experiences, it has sometimes been suffered since childhood.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
Sister Oksana relates that when she was baptized, she became a pioneer and had been very happy. But 15 years later, memories that were very painful for her came over her, and she concluded that Jehovah did not approve of her, and therefore did not deserve to be loved. This reasoning is what people who suffer come to have, and that as we see can emerge after a long time of serving God.
And another experience is that of another pioneer named Yua, she also relates that she had a difficult childhood; and she had dedicated her life to Jehovah because she wanted to make him happy, but she was convinced that Jehovah could never love her. Thus we see that the person who has suffered a lot, especially in childhood, finds it difficult to believe in the love that is offered, especially if it is from God, because perhaps he can come to think and where was God who did not help me?
To some siblings, due to their personal situations, the problems they have had or have, or how they have spent their childhood or certain facets of their lives that have marked them. They have a hard time believing that Jehovah loves them in particular, but he does. Jehovah loves us all equally when we show him the same love.
3. What questions will we answer in this article?
This article will answer two essential questions, to remain faithful in the service of God, and one of them is: Why must we convince ourselves that he really loves us? What can we do when negative feelings invade us?
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
Perhaps like these two sisters we saw in the previous paragraph, we find it hard to believe that Jehovah loves us, even though we love him deeply. That is why this article will be very helpful, so that we can correct that way of thinking.
It will be two questions: "why must we convince ourselves that he really loves us?" and "what can we do when negative feelings invade us?"
Doubting Jehovah's Love is Dangerous
4. Why is it dangerous to doubt Jehovah's love?
It is very dangerous to doubt that Jehovah loves us, because as Proverbs 24:10 says we may lack the strength to continue serving Jehovah, pessimism will rob us of the energy we need to improve the situation.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
That is why we must be convinced of Jehovah's love for us, because only in this way will we give him our best, even if we go through difficulties in our life, knowing that Jehovah loves us will make us strong to bear whatever comes.
If we are discouraged, and thinking that Jehovah does not love us, we will be vulnerable and defenseless to the attack of Satan, that is why there in the letter to the Ephesians we find Paul's advice; Ephesians 6:16: ´ "Take hold of the great shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the arrows of the Evil One." Our faith can protect us from doubting God's love.
It is dangerous because we will be without strength as Proverbs 24:10 tells us. Being weak and weak in faith makes us vulnerable to Satan's attacks and we can seriously stumble upon God, truly weakening our friendship with him. That is why, as Ephesians 6:16 says, we have to hold on to the great shield of faith at all times.
5. What has happened to some brothers who doubted God's love?
Some brothers who doubted God's love for them began to doubt that they really mattered to him and their faith weakened, so it happened to an old man named James, he tells us that even though he served in Bethel and was in a congregation of Another language in which he enjoyed preaching, he even wondered if Jehovah accepted his sacrifices, he even doubted that God heard his prayers.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
In addition, another sister named Eva, also a full-time pioneer, says that she began to doubt Jehovah's love, but realized that this was dangerous, because she no longer felt like doing things for God. and neither joy to serve him, he said that that was to enter as a vicious circle.
The same thing happened to another elder who is also a regular pioneer named Michael. He said, "If you don't believe that God cares about you, little by little you are moving away from him."
For example, Brother James, who served at Bethel, preached in another language and enjoyed very much his service that he was giving to God, he came to think at one point that Jehovah was not listening to his prayers.
Sister Eva, who also serves full time, is another example of how dangerous it is to doubt that God loves us, because that causes you to do less for him and draw closer to a worldly vicious circle where Jehovah is not in the first place in lives, you also lose the joy of serving him. Just like what Brother Michael says, you can gradually move away from him.
6. What should we do when negative feelings invade us?
Analyzing the comments of these brothers should help us not to doubt the love of God, because it is very dangerous
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
Something we must do, when those negative feelings come to us, is to quickly get them out of our head, and pray that Jehovah gives us his Peace as Philippians 4: 6, 7 says and we are freed from "disturbing thoughts" as the note on the Psalm 139: 23.
Many faithful brothers today struggle with these kinds of negative thoughts, and they feel identified with the experiences of these brothers who tell us how they felt at certain times, and something that has comforted them is knowing that even Jehovah's servants in the past thought So.
It may be very easy to say and not so easy to do. But what we must do is immediately eliminate these types of thoughts. To do this, we may have to know how because it may not always be easy. That is why we have many things that help us, Jehovah himself through our prayers and the examples of other brothers who also fight against negative feelings and are an example of overcoming difficult situations.
Psalm 139: 23 urges us to be thoroughly examined by Jehovah. It is good that we do these examinations thoroughly from time to time, so we will see what the situation of our heart is and we can see what things are disturbing us and we must change with the help of God and our spiritual family.
The text quoted from Philippians 4: 6,7 is very clear. Although we think that how can we have feelings or thoughts like that if we are Christians, that we are completely failing God ... we have to remember that we are imperfect and that Satan is very clever at entrapment people ... with this in mind, let's do as the text says, no Let us become distressed and convey our requests and requests in prayer to Jehovah for help.
What we learn from Paul's example
7. What problems did Paul have?
Paul is a clear example that at times he could feel discouraged, because he carried many responsibilities, 2 Corinthians 11: 23-28 tells us that not only one congregation was his concern; "But by all the congregations."
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
Paul also felt very frustrated because, as 2 Corinthians 12: 7-10 tells us, he had a "Thorn in the flesh" from which he could not get rid, a Watchtower from the year 84/15/12 14, says that "Probably It was referring to some difficulty in relation to the eyes. He asked in prayer that this difficulty be removed from him but his request was not granted ”. Nevertheless, Paul had in mind his goal, despite his physical illness, and he continued on, without thinking that God did not love him.
For everything that has just been related to us about the apostle Paul, if sometimes we feel discouraged, let us remember that Paul must have felt this way too, and sometimes he felt unhappy because it was a constant struggle to want to do the right thing, as Romans 7:21 says -24. Trust in Jehovah helped him to continue with his problems, thus perfecting his weaknesses.
Pablo had many things on him, perhaps more than a single person should face. He cares not for one congregation, but for all of them. This is already a great weight that also combined with others, possibly with some disease and also constantly struggled with disappointment, I had to always be fighting to do what is right.
Surely we feel identified with Pablo in many ways. There are many problems that we have today, and although we may not be in charge of one congregation or several. We have many responsibilities and people in our charge to care for and protect, along with the current material and health problems and the pressure of this system, we see ourselves reflected in the same extreme situation as Pablo.
8. What helped Paul to continue serving Jehovah despite the problems?
What helped Paul to continue in his service to God was: his unwavering Faith in the ransom, and because he knew of Jesus' promise that EVERYONE who shows faith in him; you will have eternal life. As John 3:16 says.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
We can say that despite having problems similar to ours and despite his imperfection, Paul was convinced that Jehovah is always “ready to forgive,” as Psalm 86: 5 says.
Despite his problems, Paul did not feel useless, he knew that Jehovah saw his sufferings, and that they were unimportant compared to the glory he would receive as a reward for his faithfulness. a great example for us so that we are never overwhelmed by problems, but rather continue like Paul focused on our reward.
Paul overcame all his human fears and shortcomings by his great faith in what John 3:16 says: "Let no one who shows faith in him be destroyed." Yes, Pablo had an unshakable faith in the Ransom. Paul knew his limitations and defects but his faith was even stronger than these fears, and Jehovah is willing to forgive everyone who has this faith and repents from the heart, let us imitate this faith of Paul.
9. What do Paul's words recorded in Galatians 2:20 teach us?
These words of Galatians 2:20 teach us that Jehovah's actions show that he loves us, and Paul understood this clearly because there he said: "The son of God loved me and gave himself up for me." At no time did he think that God had limits in his love, as if he loved other brothers more and less himself.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
Paul knew that it was God who had sent his son to die for him, because he knew that Jehovah loved him very much and this he felt in a very personal way, that is why he was able to say these words said to the Galatians.
In Romans 5: 8 Paul says "While we were still sinners, Christ died FOR US." Thus Jehovah showed his love in the face of man's sin, and gave the life of his son also FOR ALL PEOPLE, the God of love arranged what was necessary for us to believe in his love, even the life of his beloved son.
As we read in Romans 5: 8. Christ died for us. Jehovah's love is for each of us, and they have no limits. There is no greater demonstration of love in the world than that of our heavenly Father for each of his servants, no matter how many imperfections and defects they may have, as long as we strive and have faith in the ransom and all that Jehovah does for us.
10. What does Romans 8:38, 39 teach us?
These words teach us that just as Paul was convinced of the power of God's love, so we must individually be convinced that "nothing can separate us from God's love."
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
Paul knew that Jehovah had been patient with Israel and also with him, for he had shown them mercy; He knew that God's love does not fail, of that Paul was convinced, and when Paul said - that nothing can separate us - he included all of us who serve God with loyalty, but it depends on each one of us first, to be convinced that nothing separate us from God's love, let no doubt cool or quench our love for Jehovah, because Jehovah will not quench his love for us.
For this reason, like Paul, let us make the words of Romans 8:32 our own: "If Jehovah sent his son to die FOR ME, I have no reason to doubt that he loves me." Jehovah will never stop loving his worshipers, especially after giving them the life of his beloved son.
It teaches us that there is nothing that can separate us from Jehovah's love for us that is in Christ Jesus because of the sacrifice he made for us all. There is nothing that can break our Father's love for us.
Sometimes we find it hard to think like that, perhaps because of the imperfect love that people feel. It has happened to many of us that we have fallen in love with a person, and we thought that it was the love of our lives that we would marry and suddenly it ended up breaking up. This insecurity does not occur with Jehovah's love for us, because unlike imperfect human love, God's is perfect.
11. Although Paul had committed sins, such as those mentioned in 1 Timothy 1: 12-15, why was he sure that God loved him?
Although Paul acknowledges in this letter to Timothy that he had committed serious sins and declared “to be the worst of sinners,” still he could feel that Jehovah loved him; because he himself later said to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 15:10 "By the undeserved kindness of God I am what I am" thus recognizing that the goodness of God showed him that he loved him.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
In Acts 26:10, 11 Paul continues relating what were those things that he had committed as sins, giving punishments to true Christians and locking them in prison to renounce their faith, he had been extremely furious with Christians, to the point to chase them in remote cities. Surely he regretted that past of his, but he knew that Christ had died for him. He also said in 1 Corinthians 15: 3 "Christ died for our sins."
We note that Paul was convinced that Jehovah loved him despite all his mistakes and because he recognized that Jesus had died for him. But what about us? We also have to recognize that Christ died for us and that thanks to that sacrifice today we can be friends of God because as Acts 3:19 says "We have repented and our sins are blotted out" because God has made our sins "White as snow" according to Isaiah 1:18. Therefore, just like Paul, let us learn to serve God without the weight of guilt and never doubt the love of God.
Paul was not perfect, in fact he said he was the worst of sinners, we know what he did in the past with Christians. He deeply regretted his mistakes, and was convinced that Christ had died for him, for each one of us. And that is why, despite the stumbling blocks we may have, our friendship with Jehovah will never be broken and he always loves us.
Pablo did not live in the past, and this is very important to bear in mind. Although sometimes it is very difficult to leave it behind or we even think that it haunts us, we must strive to continue serving God. Because for Jehovah what matters is what we are doing now and what we do in the future to serve and love him, not that we live with remorse for the past that prevents us from doing our best in our service.
12. According to 1 John 3:19, 20, what should we do if we feel that we are worthless or do not deserve to be loved?
If ever these feelings of feeling that we do not deserve to be loved and our imperfect heart persists in this negativity invade us, let us remember this text that was just read, which reminds us that God "is greater than our heart and knows everything."
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
Perhaps we think that our sins are not covered by the sacrifice of Jesus, but it is not so, Jehovah if he loves us, and forgives us through his son, it is our heart that we must convince of that truth, we can achieve it If we study the Bible every day, praying regularly, spending time with our beloved brothers, as we do today via Zoom, we will never forget that Jehovah loves us individually.
1 John 3: 19,20 tells us that our hearts can condemn us and therefore think this, that we are worth nothing. But it also says that God is bigger than our hearts and knows everything. It is true that it is not easy, but we must make our hearts accept it, and for this we must pray regularly and edify ourselves with our brothers.
Each and every one of us is very valuable to Jehovah and to many people in this world. Even if we go through a moment of emotional downturn or depression, we have to be aware that there will always be people who will love us and will be there with us, and that Jehovah is above all things, accompanying us in every step we take.
How Study, Prayer, and Our Brothers Help Us
13. How does studying God's Word help us?
By studying God's word every day, we will learn more and more about Jehovah's personality, and we can see how much he loves us. Well, meditation on what is in the Bible, gives us the guarantee that it is written as 2 Timothy 3:16 says to “rectify things” in our minds and hearts.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
An elderly brother named Kevin, managed to overcome his low self-esteem when he began to read the Bible and read Psalm 103, which was the one that helped him to see things as they are and to understand what Jehovah thought of him, this Psalm written by David, has an affectionate feeling of gratitude towards Jehovah, surely David recognized that Jehovah loved him because he had forgiven his mistakes, as we see there are passages of the Bible that can help us to understand how great is God's love for us.
Studying the Word of God in the Bible allows us to know even better and more deeply the personality of Jehovah and how much he values and loves us. It helps us to think more clearly and rectify things in our minds and hearts that are not healthy.
As we see in the box, maintaining a good routine of daily Bible study and meditation helps us in many areas. It gives us tranquility, peace, allows us to better know Jehovah and his personality, to see how he values us and to value ourselves, it helps us in self-esteem. Psalm 103 helped Kevin a lot, Oksana the 27th, if we meditate and study the Bible every day it will surely help us a lot.
14 How does prayer help us?
1 Thessalonians 5:17 says “Pray constantly”, this text invites us to converse with God, to tell him what we feel or think or perhaps we are worried about, thus we let him know that we trust him because we know that he loves us.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
Sister Yua who was mentioned in the second paragraph tells us that when she prays to God, she not only tells her what she has done that day, but also opens her heart and tells her what she feels, she does not see Jehovah as a President of a company, now she has learned to see him as a father, who truly loves his children. Here in the box Have you read it? It is suggested that we see the book “Let's Draw Close to Jehovah” for our personal study, and to be able to feel the same as a reader from California, USA felt “That now her relationship with Jehovah has been enriched and that she feels Jehovah as her friend, and she loves Jehovah because of this book. "
All these experiences teach us an encouraging lesson: We must study the word of God, with the manual aids that Jehovah has provided us, and do it under prayer, surely we will also benefit as many brothers have done, and we will strengthen our relationship with Jehovah, understanding that he really loves us.
Prayer is a great gift that God has given us, it is the means we have to strengthen our relationship with him because it allows sincere and frequent communication. Let us pray constantly as 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, it is the only way we have to get close to Jehovah, know him deeply and love him.
15. How does Jehovah show that he cares about each one of us?
Jehovah's interest in us is that he gave us a wonderful gift, that they are our beloved brothers in faith, they are spiritual gifts, they are complete, they lack nothing as the disciple James expressed it well in James 1:17. Therefore our brothers become our spiritual family that we can always count on.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
Paul also noticed Jehovah's interest in giving him Christian brothers to help him, in fact he mentions them there in Colossians 4:10, 11 to “Aristarchus, Mark and Barnabas, who became collaborators in favor of the Kingdom and had become a source of great comfort to him ”. And surely many of us have also had very nice experiences with brothers who have also been a gift in times of distress, as Proverbs 17:17 says “this spiritual family loves at all times.
Even Jesus himself had his friends, on the night of his last Passover his faithful apostles could say in Luke 22:28 “You are the ones who in my trials have remained by my side”. And Jehovah showed his great interest in his son in another circumstance as well, sending “angels to strengthen him,” as verse 43 says.
There are many ways in which Jehovah shows his love for us and cares for each of his servants. One of the ways, is that no one is ever alone, a great spiritual family has provided us dressed in the new personality, totally different from the world. The Christian congregation is a great gift that Jehovah has given us and shows that he cares for our well-being.
16. How do our brothers help us draw closer to Jehovah?
Our mature siblings can also help us when we have negative feelings, which is not to say that this is a sign of weakness, but rather it can be even a protection to seek their help.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
The case of James that was mentioned in paragraph 5 says that “Having good friendships with mature Christians has been a lifesaver for him, because when negative feelings invade him, those dear friends listen to him patiently and remind him that they love him, and thus he can perceive that Jehovah loves him and cares for him. " It is very important to have good friends in the congregation! We count on their unconditional love, reflecting the same concern as Jehovah.
As Brother James says, our brothers are like lifeboats when we go through difficulties. They help us in a healthy way and through the Bible, they are our dear friends that we always have them there and we can count on them for whatever it is, they will listen to us patiently and advise us through the Bible, giving us the encouragement we need. .
Remain in Jehovah's Love
17,18 Who should we listen to, and why?
We must listen to Jehovah because he loves us and values us very much, because here the only one who wants us to think otherwise is Satan, so that we surrender and do not do the right thing, this enemy wants us to think that God does not love us because he does not consider us good enough to save us, but that's not the reality.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
We must also pay attention to Jehovah because only if we obey as John 15:10 says "We will remain in his love" just as Jesus remained in the love of his father. Let us not give place to the devil by paying attention to him, and less to our imperfect heart, that nothing convinces us that God does not love us.
Let us listen to Jehovah, who never sees our failures, because he only looks at the good in each one, and internally convince ourselves that God loves his people and is delighted with them, and in this he includes us all.
To Jehovah, always to him, because whatever happens, his love is perfect for us. Satan just wants to deceive us and sometimes he does it through our hearts and feelings. But Jehovah always looks at our good things and forgives us for past mistakes. He wants us to always be close, to have a good friendship, to love him, because he loves each one of us.
What would you answer?
Why should we resolve any doubt that Jehovah loves us?
Because doubting the love of God is dangerous for us, as Proverbs 24:10 says "We may lack the strength" to continue rendering full service and faith can be weakened, as was well related in the experiences we analyze in this study Therefore, we must not allow negative feelings to invade us, asking Jehovah for help to protect our hearts and to give us his peace.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
Because if we don't, it can happen to us like the examples we have seen of the brothers. Little by little we can lose the joy and happiness that we feel in serving him and this will cause us to move away from Jehovah, entering a vicious circle where God is not in the first place in our lives.
What do we learn from the Apostle Paul and many of Jehovah's servants today?
Paul was convinced that nothing could separate him from the love of God, as he very well expressed in his letter to Romans 8:38, 39, he knew that God had shown him mercy, thanks to Jesus' rescue, as Romans 8 says: 32. And today we must also be convinced in our hearts that nothing will separate us from the love of God, let us not let our hearts make us feel that we are useless, or that we do not deserve to be loved.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
We must strive to serve God no matter what mistakes we have made in the past. We must continue to fight because Jehovah values what we do today and what we will do in the future in our service to him. He gave his son for each of us, so that we can have forgiveness for our past mistakes and continue to love Jehovah's side. Let's not live in the past, let's work in the now to be better servants of God.
How do Bible study, prayer, and our brothers help us?
Studying the Bible will help us to meditate and see clearly that Jehovah does love us. Prayer leads us to trust in Jehovah, because we talk with him, and we can tell him everything, what we feel, think, or worry about, 1 John 5: 14,15 clearly says “that we can ask for anything that agrees with his will ”and listen to us. And our brothers in the faith are a gift from God, they help us when negativity assails us, it is very important to have mature friends in the congregation, who make us see that Jehovah loves us.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
Meditating on the Bible helps us to know even better and more deeply the personality of Jehovah and all that values us, loves us and cares about us. He has given us both prayer and our spiritual family, he has given us the means to communicate with him and strengthen our friendship, and he cares for each one of us through his brothers and sisters so that we are never alone.
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