00:00:04 The more you study,
00:00:06 the more you understand Jehovah.
00:00:08 The more you understand Jehovah,
00:00:10 the more you love him.
00:00:12 Jehovah clearly tells us:
00:00:14 “My thoughts are not your thoughts.”
00:00:16 So if we want to understand Jehovah’s thinking better,
00:00:18 we need to dig deep in our study,
00:00:20 and then we share those thoughts with others.
00:00:24 Personal study is like fuel
00:00:26 that keeps you going.
00:00:29 Personally, I’m not a good student,
00:00:32 but I really learned how to study the Bible.
00:00:35 The Bible came alive during Gilead.
00:00:37 Self-discipline is involved —very much.
00:00:44 I overcome the tiredness aspect
00:00:49 of Bible study by not doing it
00:00:51 at a time of day when I know I’m going to be tired.
00:00:53 I can be tired for other things later on —but not for that.
00:00:59 Each session of my Bible study begins with a prayer,
00:01:02 “Please help me recognize it is counsel for me,
00:01:06 and then give me the strength to work on it.”
00:01:10 I have a color-coded system,
00:01:11 so I know what certain things stand for.
00:01:15 I have a particular color
00:01:17 for Jehovah’s good hand in people’s lives;
00:01:22 I have another color for warning examples;
00:01:26 I have another for fine examples to imitate.
00:01:42 You have to get behind the information,
00:01:45 not just focus on one verse or one chapter.
00:01:49 See who’s involved, the time,
00:01:51 the conditions, how many people are there,
00:01:55 and then you’ll get the true meaning of the verse.
00:01:58 John 1:1,
00:02:00 who is “the Word”?
00:02:03 We can go to verse 18.
00:02:05 “Begotten” meant
00:02:07 he had a beginning, a time when he started
00:02:10 —when he began—
00:02:12 in heaven with his Father.
00:02:14 That’s where he was.
00:02:18 Philippians 4:6, 7 is a scripture that I’ve read many times over.
00:02:22 “The peace of God that excels all thought.”
00:02:24 OK, how do you get that?
00:02:26 It’s from having a good relationship with Jehovah.
00:02:30 How is it that God’s peace ‘guards your heart’?
00:02:34 “By means of Christ Jesus” our Lord.
00:02:37 And I said: “Why by Jesus?
00:02:41 “Because Jesus paid the ransom;
00:02:44 that ransom is what makes possible a relationship with Jehovah.”
00:02:49 So it almost goes full circle.
00:03:16 I attended a School for Congregation Elders
00:03:19 that had Gilead graduates as instructors.
00:03:24 One of the methods is to analyze
00:03:26 a certain Bible account from different perspectives.
00:03:30 We can’t see the whole picture from one angle.
00:03:35 I share my research results with Bible students,
00:03:37 and that helps them to know Jehovah better,
00:03:39 and it helps them to see that what they’re studying
00:03:41 is of practical value.
00:03:44 I had studied up on Jacob;
00:03:46 he wrestled all night
00:03:49 with an angel.
00:03:51 And I wanted to share it with some of my friends.
00:03:55 One of the brothers that happened to sit around
00:03:59 when this discussion was going on came back to me, and he said to me:
00:04:04 “I had concluded my arrangements
00:04:08 “to quit full-time service.
00:04:10 “But after listening to that discussion,
00:04:12 I’ve decided that I’m no longer stopping.”
00:04:15 And that was such a wonderful moment for me.
00:04:19 I thanked Jehovah.
00:04:23 When I learned that I was going to become a mom,
00:04:26 I said, “Jehovah, if this little one
00:04:29 could love you, then I’ll get to keep him forever.”
00:04:32 And I began to teach everything I was learning to him.
00:04:36 So it’s a matter
00:04:39 of keeping my faith strong,
00:04:41 and there’s no shortcut.
00:04:43 Every session of study that is properly done with good meditation
00:04:47 adds a new pillar
00:04:49 to the strength of our faith.
00:04:54 I look forward to those times when I can, you know,
00:04:56 run upstairs by myself and just shut everything off,
00:04:59 and it’s just me and Jehovah.
00:05:03 Life today is very unpredictable,
00:05:05 but I’ve come to see that as long as I keep a tight grip on God’s Word,
00:05:09 nothing can “separate [me] from God’s love.”
