Sanctify - Clean Dishes

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Symbol: Clean dishes & glassware

Lesson: Appreciating the honor of our being invited to know God & Christ

Illustration: Consider the act of washing dishes and drinking glasses. Under regular activity you might be satisfied that you got the items cleaned, dried, and put back on the shelf. But now what happens when someone special comes to visit. Even though the daily plates are clean, most people I know take out their best china and glassware. Even though the water-stained daily glasses are indeed clean and usable, for most hosts I know, using those would be an embarrassment. And even though the china and glassware is clean, I’ve seen my wife wash them again even though they had been safely stored away. And she is not satisfied that they are clean and dry, she makes sure that there is no water stain, no crack, no blemish whatsoever.

That is the sense of the Greek words “sanctify” and “sanctification.” God is cleansing us not to be stuck on some shelf (sit in a church pew once a week), but to proudly display us as his finest dinnerware. We are being put to use to carry a specially prepared meal.

Notes: The word “sanctification” is/was a difficult one for me to wrap my mind around. While understanding Greek grammar has its benefits, what is more important is that we can extrapolate the impact of what is being said and apply it to our relationship with Jehovah and his Son, Jesus Christ. 

(This post as a result of reflecting on 1 Peter 1:2)

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Driving Laws

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Symbol: Driving rules

Lesson: Being narrow-minded only hurts you.

Illustration: So you are talking with a peace officer, lamenting that there are so many driving rules to remember. The officer, trying to be kind and put it into perspective, responds: “Look, just obey the traffic signs and signals and you are pretty much obeying safe driving rules, which is the intent of the motor vehicle code.”

But is that really all there is? For example, there are no signs saying “don’t drive on the sidewalk.” However any rational person should already know that is not safe. But say the next day you are at an intersection and it seems to be gridlocked. So you think to yourself, “Hey, I only need to make a right turn and there are no pedestrians around, I’ll just quickly go around the corner on the sidewalk—after all, there are no signs saying I can’t.” So you cautiously proceed on the sidewalk around the corner. Guess who’s there? Yep, a peace officer. He pulls you over and you sigh a breath of relief. Why? Well, it’s the same officer you spoke to yesterday. He’ll understand. You greet the officer with a big smile. He’s not smiling. When he starts to write up the ticket, you protest, “But officer, there were no signs saying I couldn’t do that. Remember what you told me yesterday?” The officer laughs and and says, “Haven't you ever heard of common sense?”

Notes: In Romans 13:8, Paul said, “Do not owe anything to anyone except to love one another; for whoever loves his fellow man has fulfilled the law.” There are some people that become so focused on one specific passage, they want to use that as an excuse to completely dismiss not only the rest of the scriptures, but even common sense. With regards scriptures, even Jesus himself expanded what the intent of “The Law” (Mosaic) was when he said at Matthew 22:36-40 “You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. The second, like it, is this: ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments the whole Law hangs, and the Prophets.” John, one of the apostles that actually walked with Jesus, said “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and carry out his commandments.  For this is what the love of God means, that we observe his commandments; and yet his commandments are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:2,3) Regarding common sense, anyone inclined to base their whole belief on one, two, or even a small handful of scriptures chosen to fit their preference needs to realize that God is not fooled. The only one such people are fooling are themselves.

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Real Gold

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Symbol: Gold Bracelets

Lesson: Don’t be fooled by supposed “value”

Illustration: You are in a jewelry store and are shown several bracelets. The first, you are told, is pure gold. It is completely free. Next to it are other bracelets, all of them shiny and beautifully crafted. They are made of fool’s gold and are priced at $5,000 each. Right away your mind starts racing with questions and confusion. Something is not right. How can a purportedly pure gold bracelet be free? How can mere fool’s gold trinkets be priced more than the pure, real gold item? Something is not right. Even though in reality you would lose nothing by taking a chance on accepting the pure gold item, instead of taking it and having it tested to ensure you have pure gold, you decide to buy the one of the fool’s gold items. After all, the design of the fool’s gold items are delicate and intricate where the supposed pure gold item is sort of plain.

Such is the case when people hear the good news of the Bible as freely declared by Jehovah’s Witnesses. The Witnesses claim their offering is the pure gold of God’s Word. To some, it is sort of plain because there is no ceremony, ritual or extravagant showiness. In fact, the Witnesses are known for their meetings being truly educational events without pomp and circumstance. If those hearing the message would only test what we preach against the measure of scripture, they’d find out that what is being offered is indeed pure, real gold of God’s truth. But instead, they want to accept the fool’s gold because it is so much more beautiful in their eyes. They love all the celebrations, all the ceremonies, all the music and while all of that may not be bad in and of itself, it is not what God wants of us.

Notes: (n/a)

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Air Mask - Comfort From God

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Symbol: Air masks in depressurized plane cabin

Lesson: Accept God’s help so you’ll know how to help others

Illustration: You are on a flight with your children flanking you. Suddenly there is an emergency—the cabin depressurizes and the air masks drop from the ceiling. Did you pay attention to the flight attendants when they briefed you before the flight? Who’s mask do you put on first—your own or your children’s? Parental instinct is to help your children first but unless you get air to yourself first, you may become unconscious before you’ll have time to help your children. The flight attendant was very clear on this matter—put the mast on yourself first.

Notes: We live in a world whose love has not only cooled off but grown absolutely cold! Even what was once considered natural human affection (kindly love for others), has depressurized within human society leaving a world of “me first.” In such a critical environment we need to first get ourselves situated, breathing in the life-saving word of God. But it is not a selfish act. In fact the scripture says that the reason we receive God’s comfort is for the purpose of comforting others. Details on how to help others is found in this article.

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Ripe Good Fruit

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"Goodness is moral excellence. It involves not just what we do but, more important, what we are. Picture a woman preparing fruit for her family, examining each piece as she slices it to make sure that it is sweet and ripe all the way through, without defect inside or out. Similarly, the goodness produced by holy spirit permeates a Christian’s entire way of life."—Eph. 5:8, 9. w11 4/15 (See paragraph numbered "9")

In other words, spiritual beauty is more than skin deep (what people see on the surface). It is in our hearts (which God can see.)

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Raw Meat

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Truth is like raw meat -- it needs to be cooked (with objectivity), seasoned (with gentle kindness), and presented with appealing sides (illustrations) in order to be palatable.

See "Naked Truth And Parable" here.

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Picture Puzzle

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Symbol: Putting together a large picture puzzle

Lesson: Becoming a well-balance, knowledgeable Christian takes time

Illustration: Have you ever tried to put together a large picture puzzle? Some have a very methodical approach--first they will study the cover; then they may start sorting the pieces by dominant colors. Let's say that the puzzle has both a blue sky and a blue Lake. Additionally, it had trees with leaves in autumn colors along with green and tan-colored grass. You can readily see there may be problems in accurately sorting.

However as you continually check the box cover for clues, you slowly start to make progress. Maybe one blue piece did end up in the wrong blue-colored pile. Maybe it even seemed to fit when you pieced it into the puzzle. But as time, diligence, and concentration progressed you discovered & fixed those errors.

The same goes for our learning to live the way God wants us to. When we first try to figure out the big picture of what is involved, we think we have clearly in mind how to make that picture part of our lives. Perhaps first we try to group major facets (colors) of pure worship--there is morality, doctrine, social requirements and more.

When we start to actually examine each piece in the group, we may realize that some things seem confusing and aren't piecing together quite right. As we make progress, we also study the box (Christ our exemplar) more closely. The more we correctly piece the puzzle together in our lives, the clearer the image of truly living a Christian life becomes. Being imperfect, it is very likely we will make misfits in that puzzle from time to time. But determination pays off.

As you approach the finish of the picture (your lifetime of service to God), putting the puzzle together gets easier and easier. Seeing as none of us are perfect, none will have that puzzle complete until the end of the thousand-year reign of Christ. At that time, our life will be a wonderful picture of a godly person.

Notes: Some may claim that "just believing" in God is sufficient. However, the writer James pointedly shows the error of that conclusion.

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Garden of Plants

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Symbol: Garden of plants

Lesson: Badness is easy. Goodness takes effort

Illustration: The mind and heart are like a garden. If you plant flowers in a garden, you get flowers. If you plant weeds, you get weeds. If you plant nothing, you get weeds anyway, because in the absence of productive gardening, weeds grow automatically. Therefore plant productive thoughts and enjoy the blossoms of a positive & godly character.

Notes: Heard this illustration but can't remember where/when. (Update)

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Parents Require Respect

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Symbol: Parents require respect

Lesson: Exodus 20:7 does not say to avoid using God’s name.

Illustration: Those that argue that the name of God (Jehovah) is too sacred and should not be pronounced (especially those that cite the 3rd commandment given to Moses cited at Exodus 20:7), might reflect on the following: If a parent told a child, "Don't you talk to me in that tone of voice!" is that parent saying they don't want their child to talk to them at all? Certainly not.

What if subsequently the child reasoned in his own mind, "Fine! I won't speak to you at all," would that not be just as disrespectful as speaking in a disrespectful tone of voice? The answer is obvious--it is the child's disrespect the parent was trying to correct. For the child to retaliate with a different type of disrespect is STILL wrong.

The same is true with us. There is much evidence in scripture that God wants us to talk to him. He wants us to call him by name--otherwise he would never had revealed it. He wants us to praise him to others (don't we all naturally speak highly of those we care for?). Therefore those that refuse to use the name at all are really being just as disrespectful as those that use God's name "in vain" or a “worthless way.”

Notes: "Profaning God’s Name—By Not Using It" (Watchtower 1986 Issue:5/1 page:25)

JEHOVAH dealt mercifully with the people of Israel for the sake of his own name, that it might not be profaned among the nations. (Ezekiel 20:9, 13, 14, 22) In time, however, the Israelites refrained from using God’s name, so that eventually its pronunciation was lost. This disuse of God’s name was tantamount to profaning it.

Regarding this, R. Laird Harris remarked: “It is a most curious fact that the ancient pronunciation of the name of the God of Israel has been totally lost. Israel’s faith was the only worthy faith in antiquity. It was the world’s first monotheism and is the only ancient faith to have become truly a world religion. It was unique in being wholly spiritual and without a material representation of the deity. It was also unique, unfortunately, in its loss of the pronunciation of the deity’s name. The situation is strange indeed and would hardly have been forecast by those sincere men who felt that they dared not pronounce the ineffable name lest they should profane it. The result seems really to have been a profanation of a different kind. Not to use the name of God seems to profane it just as the coarse use of the Name would have done. But the facts are plain. The ancient Hebrews, naturally, pronounced and wrote the name of God.”—The Law and the Prophets, edited by John H. Skilton, Nutley, New Jersey, 1974, page 215.

The Israelites knew that should they forget Jehovah’s name, God himself would “search this out.” (Psalm 44:20, 21) Subsequently, when this happened, he “turned his attention to the nations to take out of them a people for his name.” (Acts 15:14) While we today do not know precisely how to pronounce the divine name in Hebrew, a suitable and an adequate rendering of the Tetragrammaton (the four Hebrew consonants representing the name) into English is Jehovah. Today, more than three million people are known as Jehovah’s Witnesses, and they are happy to bear the name of their God and to be identified with it.

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Pothole!

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Symbol: Pothole!

Lesson: Christ was speaking of significant events.

Illustration: If you look at any road close enough, you will find flaws, pits, and yes, even small pot holes that any car tire can go over without our notice. But now, what if you are driving along and suddenly a passenger shouts out “pothole!” What are you expecting? Something inconsequential? No, there is a reason for the warning-- it is because the pothole is big enough to cause concern. (And all of a sudden the car goes bump bump). The same goes for the foretold earthquakes, in magnitude; in frequency; in devastation.

Notes: Disbelievers rightly claim that there have always been earthquakes, famines and other problems on the earth. But the sign that Jesus gave was something of more significance than small earthquakes.

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Nail and Stone Carving

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Symbol: Nail & a stone carving

Lesson: Love is the biggest lesson we need to learn.

Illustration: On this the whole Law hangs & the prophets.

There was an impressive stone carving in an old town. It was a stone horse, rearing up like a majestic steed or a wild stallion. It was massive. It's details very intricate--even up close, the craftsmanship did not fail to impress. Yet the most impressive fact about this was not it's size or artistic value. You see, it was not a free-standing statue. It hung, yes hung on a single nail. For miles around people would come to see that lowly nail that supported that immense carving. The nail itself was a wonder all in its own right.

The "Law & the prophets" are the stone horse--Immense, extensive & impressive. The details that chronicle God's dealings with mankind & the fulfillment of how "the seed" would bring relief to humankind are beautiful to examine. But what of that humble nail? At Matthew 22:40 Jesus said it was "love.“ (Context here)

At first we might be inclined to think that this is God's love, especially his patience toward mankind. But that is not the context of this scripture. It speaks of our love--both toward God & toward our fellow humans. Indeed, for all the rules ("The Law") & all the messengers (prophets) God sent, it all boils to, it all "hangs" on the pivotal point that he (God) wants us to love him & our fellow man. That simple and humble nail makes the carving of the stone horse even more astounding.

Notes: For all the rules, all the ritual, all the hierarchy, the lesson is really very simple.

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Fully Trained

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Symbol: Complete training

Lesson: Limiting our spiritual growth can result in disappointment.

Illustration: Two men are preparing for bicycle race, but the weather was rainy most of the time. So one of them decided he didn't want to deal with the inclement weather and opted to ride a stationary bike indoors. He reasoned that he could still build muscle & endurance and be fully prepared for the race. The second rider decided to ride in the rain every day. The first one constantly teased the second for being "such a dummy."  However, on the day of the race, the first one didn't know the turns, the potholes, the soft-shoulder and/or sandy areas or any of the other numerous road conditions. So what good was strength & endurance to him when he neglected other practical training?

Likewise studying & going to meetings are of no value if you neglect practical application.

(1 Corinthians 13:1-4) If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but do not have love, I have become a sounding [piece of] brass or a clashing cymbal. 2 And if I have the gift of prophesying and am acquainted with all the sacred secrets and all knowledge, and if I have all the faith so as to transplant mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I give all my belongings to feed others, and if I hand over my body, that I may boast, but do not have love, I am not profited at all. 4 Love is long-suffering and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, does not get puffed up,

(Matthew 23:23) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you give the tenth of the mint and the dill and the cumin, but you have disregarded the weightier matters of the Law, namely, justice and mercy and faithfulness. These things it was binding to do, yet not to disregard the other things.

Notes: At times we are criticized for our public ministry. Yet this ministry builds character and knowledge in ways that others have no understanding of.

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Health Insurance

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Symbol: Health Insurance coverage with pre-existing condition

Lesson: God’s forgiveness doesn’t mean we are sinless.

Illustration: Our exercising faith can be likened to a health insurance policy. The insurer's willingness to offer coverage when we have a preexisting condition doesn't mean we are cured, it means they are willing to work with us as one qualified for coverage. We still have the preexisting condition, but their expectation is that we will make efforts to keep ourselves as healthy as possible.

It is the same with God’s forgiveness. Some wrongly conclude that because the Bible speaks of believers being “declared righteous,” they assume that they can do nothing wrong. The Bible pointedly debunks that wrong reasoning. Romans 11:17-24; 2 Peter 2:20-22

Notes: Those promoting the “once saved, always saved” belief are adamant that they can sin with impunity and God will overlook it.

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Bird On Head

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“It is one thing to have a bird unexpectedly land on your head. It is quite another to allow it to build a nest.” I recently heard this illustration, passed on through word-of-mouth. I have no idea of it’s origin; it may be a modification of another quote attributed to both an “ancient Chinese proverb” and to Martin Luther. It says: “You cannot prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building nests in your hair.”

The first one was told to me in reference to “bad thoughts” that may cross our minds. Especially regarding vices the proverb is very true. On a daily basis we are flooded over from the media (radio, TV, internet, magazines, etc.) with images that can, like an unwelcome bird, momentarily light on our head. But what do we do in cases when we are surprised by literally feeling something on our head? The normal response is to take our hand and whisk it quickly off our heads. We instinctively try to get rid of whatever it is. Is that not also the way we should handle things that, through our eyes and ears, try to land on our brains and entice our hearts? We should learn to immediately instinctively dismiss it. But for many, instead of doing that, they contemplate and ponder it. It begins to build a nest on our head. Pretty soon, that “bird” is building a condo where he invites others.

Instead of allowing that to happen, scripture recommends a much more worthy activity. (Philippians 4:8,9)

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Instruction Manual

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Illustrating the failure of human governments to orchestrate providing fairly for the needs of all subjects, have you ever tried to figure out how to use a new device without first reading the instructions and then ended up frustrated? Many of us have probably done that at least once in our life. Once we finally resign ourselves to reading the instructions, we finally realize progress.

Likewise, mankind has tried to ignore the instruction manual for life, turning their backs on God’s guidance for them. Due to this stubborn insistence on figuring it out their own way, mankind experiences injustice, inconsistencies, blunders, and even cruelties of self-rule. But like the person who finally humbly admits need for direction, so those who seek God as their ruler find true peace.

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Nauseous Gases

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Natural gas and carbon monoxide are two invisible, unscented gases that can kill us. In fact, the utility company actually puts a scent into natural gas so that we are warned when there is a leak. This is also the reason that in our modern world, we have carbon monoxide detectors to sound a warning for us. So invisible gases, undetectable to any of our senses, can actually kill us.

What about Satan’s “spirit of the sons of disobedience”? Many will claim that they will not believe in anything they can’t see. Yet as was just mentioned in the first paragraph, that is a very unwise choice. As much as people do not want to accept it, Satan is very real and his poison is just as dangerous. Just as rescue teams will only enter the area wearing gas masks, we need to protect ourselves from Satan’s nauseous gases with the gas mask that God’s word provides.

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Fabric

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Imagine two pieces of cloth. One with a sewn border, the other borderless. Each cloth represents a government. The threads of both cloths are the individuals of the government. The weave is the social rule in that government. Human governments are like the cloth with the sewn boarders. They are limited in the extent of their rule, not only geographically, but eventually in time as well—for all human governments eventually change oversight and methods. However, the borderless cloth represents God’s rulership. God’s rule is universal. God is not restricted by area, limited by time, or threatened with potential extinction. The threads in his government are always open to accepting more to be woven in. The weave displays a beautiful pattern of cooperative love based on the two greatest commandments.

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Are You A Chair?

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Are you a chair? A chair has arms, but it will never raise them at the meeting to make a comment. A chair has legs, but it will never walk around and greet others at the meeting. Chairs at our meeting place just sit there, offering nothing. How about us?

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Brushstrokes and Painting

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The brushstrokes and pigments of the spoken word can be compared to the various speech development and delivery techniques in a speaker’s manual (such as the book Jehovah’s Witnesses use in their Theocratic School meeting). How well we combine those techniques becomes our personal signature in the painting of our speech. Indeed, public speaking is an art form.

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Geode

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Like the outside of geode, truth is raw fact—typically hard, plain and unappealing by itself. Developing artful skill in explaining those facts so that the audience can see the value, make personal application, and enjoy the learning process is to crack open that geode, exposing the beautifully intriguing crystalline formations inside.

Just as King Solomon expressed that he “sought to find the delightful words and … the correct words of truth,” we should also seek the crystal clarity of expression that glistens and sparkles with spiritual light so that our audience comes to appreciate the beauty of God’s word.

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Bubbles

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Bubbles are a beautiful thing to watch. Their color and graceful elasticity enthralls us. No matter how small our how elongated they become, the visual story they tell captivates us.

A writer’s/speaker’s attempt to copy the bubble by stretching and gingerly moving his story along, without popping the interest of the audience, is a challenge met by those who truly know how to drive home the importance of a subject. And how is that done? Rather than rigidly relaying facts, incorporate illustrations, contrasts, intrigue. Speak to the audience in a friendly, calm, and happy manner.

(Regarding adding "intrigue": Certain reality medical and police programs on TV employ a technique of setting up the situation in the introduction so that the audience is curious. They will typically ask a number of questions that "just make" the audience want to stay tuned and find the answers to. This technique of setting up the audience's curiosity can and should be used to keep the interest of our audience. One small way of doing this is, before reading a scripture you plan on sharing, pose two different answers and ask which the audience thinks the Bible would give. For example: "Some people believe that when a person dies, they actually go off into another life-form, whether that be reincarnation or "going to heaven." But what does the Bible say about this?" Then read the scripture for the answer. Also, you could use a method Satan used by asking your audience, "Is it really so that...." But unlike Satan, our goal is not to mislead but rather direct people to the truth of God's word.)

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Campfire Experiences

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Have you ever been around a campfire with a group of friends? Each takes turns excitedly recounting their activities throughout the day. What happens if someone forgets what they were about to say or makes a mistake about some detail? Usually it is handled in good-natured fun and everyone laughs, even the person relating their experience—it may not even phase them. Even if it does, they quickly gets over it and continue.

In contrast, what happens when you are in front of the congregation giving a speech (talk, discourse)? When you stumble over your words, do you get embarrassed, apologetic, maybe even freeze?

Why should the second scenario be any different than the first? Maybe you are the only one placing such formal importance on the second scenario. The congregation surely is not reacting so critically. You are surrounded by friends that care.

That is the message/lesson I’d like you to take away from this. Dismiss the perceived formality from you mind when you are speaking publically. Instead, view it as friends around a campfire and everyone enjoying the interaction. This is actually one of the secrets of great speakers. Although they may have butterflies the same as the next person, they know that the more at ease they present themselves, the more at ease the audience will be. So yes, view your speeches in the congregation as if you are in a campfire setting, enthusiastically relating the information to friends that love your company. One way to carry this out is to turn your speeches into story-telling sessions by using appropriate illustrations that help your audience to visualize the information.

Longer article here

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Binoculars and Microscopes

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The first publication we study with a person may be likened to binoculars. Through it, the student can view the layout of the land—what is required to know and serve God. The second publication we cover with them is more like a microscope—helping them to look inside themselves and address the inner person of the heart.

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Our Tuning Fork

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A tuning fork is a true standard, unvaried by time, circumstance or environment. Being made of metal, it will give many years of trustworthy tuning. So whether tuning a piano indoors or tuning a guitar outside, it will provide accurate tuning. When multiple pieces in a band or orchestra all use the same tuning, then they will sound harmonious.

Jehovah is for us a true standard giver, unvarying in time (millenniums of ages), circumstance (regional customs), or environment (good or bad periods in our life). Those adjusted by it are harmonious with not only their creator (the tuning fork) but with each other (the orchestra).

A single musician may be an accomplished player but it is only by playing with a group of musicians that he can tell if he can cooperatively harmonize with others. Similarly, we may be a knowledgeable Christian but by attending meetings together with others of like faith, we learn to harmoniously work with Jehovah’s orchestra of fellow worshippers.

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Rock or Sponge

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Are we a rock or a sponge? If you were to put both into a large bowl of water, it would be true that they are both “in” the water. But if you take the rock out, how much water does it hold? A couple drops at best, and nothing that was actually inside the rock. On the other hand, the sponge is not only “in” the water, but the water is “in” the sponge.

Similarly, we often speak of being “in” the truth. However, for some this merely means that they are part of the congregation. When these are tested by trials, they demonstrate that the truth really was not “in” them. However, those that absorb the truth and make it a living part of their lives can truly say not only that they are “in” the truth, but that the truth is “in” them.

(Originally, this was a object lesson performed from the podium in front of a congregation meeting. Besides the bowl of water, rock and sponge, I had a small cup and held it under the rock and then the sponge. I indicated that the cup represented what God asked from us—not overwhelmingly a lot, just that we love him with every fiber of our being and that we have compassionate love for our fellow man. The rock indicates the hardened disposition of those that refuse to be molded by godly principles. The sponge indicates those who truly apply what they learn. Finally, the water in bowl represents all the counsel of God through the Bible.)

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Race For Life

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Training: We need to train ourselves in godly devotion, which includes strengthening our conscience, our deductive reasoning and our perceptive powers.

Maintain the Regimen: Endurance training for long-distance and marathon contestants is vital.

Adhere to the Rules: In order to qualify, runners must adhere to the rules. If we are assigned to a certain lane or path, we need to stay on it, not veering off. If we try to cheat or other wrong things, that lack of integrity will impact our honor.

Watch Your Diet: Nourishing and healthy food is necessary. Distracting “junk foods” may entice us, but we should not give in.

Maintain Your Focus: Do not look backwards, that will only slow you down and take you off course. Look forward to the goal.

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Gossip

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You are cooking over a stove when, in a seeming instant, the oil you were using to fry with catches fire! Would you grab a can of lighter fluid and add more fuel to the fire? “Of course not!,” you exclaim. “That would be just plain stupid.” And you would be right.

Yes, we all agree we should never “encourage” a bad fire by adding more fuel to it. Likewise, let us never add more fuel to the fire of gossip.

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Food Intolerance

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Food intolerance has been a topic of increasing concern among the medical profession. This is not a psychological (all in your head) issue but a physiological (physical) one. One particular disease prevents the body from metabolizing and processing the food at all. Severe cases cause a person to vomit the moment they eat. If these people do not get nourishment, the outlook is grim—death can be a very real outcome.

Similarly, if we do not “absorb” spiritual lessons and discipline, we run the risk of spiritual death.

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New Paint

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When a person gets ready to repaint, do they paint over cracked or bubbled paint? No. To do so would cause the new paint to chip off with the old. The old paint should first be scraped off so that the new paint adheres to a clean surface.

Similarly, we do not try to hide old personality traits, ignoring the need to remove them from our mind and heart. Instead, we make the effort to rid ourselves of our old fleshly ways so that we can apply the new coat of Christian personality and have it really cling to us.

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Faith By Action

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Would you ask a lion tamer who’s head in the lion: “are you sure you can trust the lion?” Would you ask a farmer who just spent all day in the field sowing his seeds if he is confident something will grow? Would you ask a sky diver in free fall if he is firmly persuaded that gravity works? “Of course not!” you exclaim. And why not? Because their actions already demonstrate their convictions.

But now, what if someone claimed they were a skydiver and then confided that the last time they jumped was over 10 years ago? Or what if you noticed that the supposed lion tamer got nervous around your house cat? Would you have good reason to question the validity of these people’s claims? Yes, and again, the reason is the evidence of their actions.

Now what of someone that claims to be “a person of faith”? The Bible says that “faith, if it does not have works, is dead.” For instance, when Abraham was instructed to sacrifice his son as a demonstration of faith and obedience, can you imagine him responding: “Well, Jehovah, you know I trust you BUT… sacrificing my son?! I could not do that.” Indeed, that is not how Abraham reacted at all. He willingly demonstrated his faith.

So, eagerly talk about your God and the Bible. It is only natural. Demonstrate the trust of a lion tamer, the persuasion of a farmer, and the confidence of a skydiver. Really, demonstrate faith by works.

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Aerobic Exercise

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Being healthy in our faith can be likened to aerobic exercise. It does not work just one muscle or muscle-group, it moves all muscles in various ways. True faith is the same way—it does not just exercise the mind, it affects our thinking (mind), our feelings (heart), strength and very being (the whole “soul”). Exercises can include prayer, meeting attendance and participation, personal study, reaching others with the Bible message (preaching & teaching) and association with fellow believers.

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Trophy Case

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Look into any trophy case and you will notice three things about the prized possessions:

     1.    The items are displayed proudly, given a prominent location.

     2.    The items are safeguarded, protected from the environment and thieves.

     3.    The owner enthusiastically and readily speaks about how he won those things.

Do we view the truth of the Bible the same way?

     1.    Does it possess a prominent position in our life—giving it number one priority?

     2.    Do we safeguard our faith from the corrosive of immoral desires and worldly thinking?

     3.    Are we as invigorated to talk about the truth as we are vacations and personal hobbies?

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Faithful Course

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Like a ship at sea using navigational equipment, we Christians need to appreciate readjustments from our navigational equipment—the Bible and “the faithful & discreet slave.” Why? Because there are winds of constant change on the worldly scene trying to blow us off course. Then there is also the rudder of personal imperfection that needs constant and strong handling. In fact, there may even be mutiny from our hearts—trying to get us to abandon a faithful course.

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Improving Eyesight

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When you go to have your eyes examined, the optician will have you look through a machine that can combine various lenses to find the best combination for your unique viewing needs. As the optician switches the lenses, you may have felt that one view as very good—that is, until he shows you another combination. After flipping back and forth through the combinations, both you and the optician are able to decide the best and clearest lens prescription to buy.

It is the same with refinements to our understanding of scripture. Though the differences in articles we read or the understanding we had may only contain minor differences, we are aided to see the truth of scripture more clearly.

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Lighthouse vs Flashlight

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Listening to apostates is like seeing a dim glow of a flashlight off on an alternate shore and someone screaming, “I’m the lighthouse, I’m the lighthouse!” But it is obvious they offer no true course heading nor beacon of real light. In fact, compared to their flashlight, the true lighthouse near the real port, has a much brighter light.

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Trace Elements

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“In biochemistry, a trace element is a dietary mineral that is needed in very minute quantities for the proper growth, development, and physiology of the organism.” (Wikipedia)

Jesus, at Luke 16:10, said: The person faithful in what is least is faithful also in much, and the person unrighteous in what is least is unrighteous also in much.

As noted in the quote above, trace elements are necessary for living organisms (including humans). The same goes for spiritual “trace elements,” the little things (“faithful in what is least”) are necessary for our spiritual survival.

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How Should A Conscience Work?

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What is the starter motor in a car used for? (Answer: To start the car.) Once the car is started what takes over? (Answer: the engine). If the starter motor would continue to run, what effect would it have on the overall health of the engine systems? (Answer: Could damage major components, leaving the whole car un-drivable.)

Consider the common home coffee brewer. The water pump delivers water to the coffee beans in order to extract the oils and flavor. Once all the water is pumped out, the pump turns off. What would happen if the pump kept running? It would ruin the coffee maker as a whole so that not only is the pump ruined, but the whole coffee maker is useless.

The God-given conscience is like the starter and pump. Both are designed to work until it has fulfilled it goal. What do you understand to be the goal of the conscience? The goal is to turn us away from even considering badness. But what if, even after it has accomplished it goal and we are doing good, it continues to torture us? Then, not only has the conscience become defective, but the very well-being of our whole self begins to break down. Instead of serving the “happy God”, we become sullen and weighed down in guilt—definitely not a good basis to build faith and love on. Yet God wants us to feel loved and wanted.

Consider this further relationship illustration:
A mother of twin boys was watching them play outside. They were just common kids--while generally obedient and respectful, they were imperfect humans like the rest of humanity. The boys started playfully “roughing it up,” tumbling, laughing and having a great time. But as the energy continued to grow, the boys went from playing in the grass to rolling and jumping in their mother’s flower and vegetable gardens. All of a sudden the mother shouted from the kitchen window, “Boys! Get out of the garden, you’re ruining my plants.”

Both the boys felt very badly about what they had done. They knew how much the garden meant to their mom. Both boys offered to help fix the problem and the mother readily accepted. David, the first brother, felt good about having been forgiven and having helped his mom fix his mess. The other brother, James, continued to have a tortured conscience. For several days he went up to mom profusely apologizing for his part in messing up the garden. Each time, the mother reassured James that she had forgiven  him and that he needed to “let it go.” However, it continued eating at James and soon his whole demeanor changed. He was no longer happy, but depressed. He felt overwhelmed with guilt for having stomped on some of his mother’s favorite flowers.

You see, just like the starter on a car or the water pump in the coffee maker, if our conscience doesn’t turn off after having accomplished it’s goal, it can ruin the general spiritual health of a person. We worship the “happy God” and he wants us to be like him, happy. We can do that if we learn to accept that as much as we’d like to, none of us will be perfect prior to the end of the thousand year reign of Christ. So in order to be happy, we must accept that we will need to seek forgiveness from Jehovah and then, after having received it, put the event behind us, once again happily determined to be obedient. In this system it is the only solution that will work and sadly it will be a repeating cycle. But as you continue to mature spiritually, the events will become spaced further apart. It is like a child learning to walk. At first, they fall and stumble many times. But over time, they walk farther and regain faster from setbacks. Whereas at the beginning they may have completely fallen down, now it is just a momentary unsteadiness that they quickly compensate for by pausing and concentrating.


So when you find yourself on the rough edges of imperfection, let your conscience kick into gear. But after you’ve corrected the issue, let your conscience rest regarding that event.

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Tall People See Farther

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If you search images on the web for “tall person in crowd,” you will see several where an individual towers over the crowd, whereas most in the crowd would be as tall as the tall man’s stomach.

What immediately struck me about the advantage the tall person has is his farsightedness compared to everyone else who, for the most part, couldn’t see past the back of the head of the person (people) in front of them. For the sake of illustration, imagine you are with a group traveling with that tall person. You are all headed to a tourist attraction that you can see in the distance. Maybe it is a circus, a castle, or a some other site. You can readily see that you need to veer right from where you are and then make a beeline. However, the tall person heads to the left, seemingly in the wrong direction. He doesn’t explain himself, but just keeps reassuring you, “I know what I’m doing, just follow me.”

As he continues to weave in and out of the crowd, you are certain that he does not know what he is doing. You begin to doubt him and want to break off and head in what seems “the right direction.” Still, he is your friend and just maybe he can see something that you cannot see. After a while, you do indeed arrive at the attraction and you marvel at his insight. You ask him, “How did you know?” He replies: “I saw there was something blocking the path of the direct approach. It seemed everyone was stopped and the crowd was getting bigger but they were not approaching the attraction we wanted to visit. I took us around the congestion and here we are!”

This well illustrates Jehovah’s farsightedness. We may not always understand why his word the Bible directs us to live in a particular moral and ethical code of conduct; we may not understand why he reacted to certain situations as they are recounted in the Bible. Nevertheless, the wisest course is to trust that his farsighted perspective is better than anything any man can offer.

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Untrained Senses

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A city slicker (city dweller) in the forest has the same senses as one raised in woods. But the city dweller has not trained those senses to discern the import of what he sees, hears, smells and feels. For example: Why are those bushes rustling around him? It could be that he is being stalked by predatory animal, or it could be just the wind. Are the footprints & droppings of any significance? It may be that a large animal is in near proximity. But he may barely notice these because he hasn’t been trained to watch for them. He may casually observe them but then fail to link what he sees to the potential warning this impends. He may even know that wild animals are in the forest and know what harm they can cause but, due to lack of training, he fails to see the whole picture.

The same goes for those not alert spiritually – they see what is happening but do not see the potential harm or benefit. If such a person does not train their spiritual perceptive powers, he endangers himself. For example, he may recognize the dangers of drinking to excess (being a danger to their own health and that of others) but due to the “environment” of peer pressure (being caught up in the “fun” of things), they lose sight of the danger because it all appears to be in fun and jesting.

On a grander scale, because of becoming so wrapped up in daily living, apathy, or stubbornly clinging to their own viewpoints, people lose sight of times we are living in.

But for Christians, this goes beyond avoiding dangers. It includes an “astute” ability to learn from life’s lessons. Jesus spoke of this in his time that not only didn’t understand his simple illustrations, but showed no interest beyond hearing a story Jesus was telling. Since they weren’t curious enough (like the 12 disciples were), they never learned deep spiritual lessons.

Scriptures used:

Matthew 13:10-15,36

Matthew 24:37-39

Mark 4:34

Romans 10:3

Hebrews 5:14

2 Peter 3:3-4

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