God has proved his love for you

[kjw47]

Gods plan = mortals to live in an Eden( Paradise) knowing only good, never sick, never without. To live forever not aging like now. That is what Gods plan began, it is still his plan. He created all things with variety for us to enjoy. His word says, he knew us before our kidneys were formed, he knows the exact number of hairs on our heads. Think about that. God could easily see us as we see little ants scurrying about. The creator of all creation thinks about us individually and wants to be our friend. He sent his son to die on our behalf's. He asks us to use our free will out of love for him to listen to his advice. Which benefits us not him. He gave us his written word. Few have bothered to read it and learn about how merciful and loving he is. His son showed us that side while he was on earth. But he also stands for justice. And those who cant be bothered to learn about him and listen to him are choosing not to enter his kingdom and gain eternal life. His name is YHWH(Jehovah) the only true God.
Will you learn to be his friend?

[onewithhim]

"This is what Jehovah has said, your Repurchaser, the Holy One of Israel: 'I, Jehovah, am your God, the One teaching you to benefit yourself

That must be the JW version, It’s not at all in the Hebrew. Still no promise that God longs for friends. I am sure that those who claim for themselves the honor friendship with God can’t explain Him like real friends can explain each other.

That "must be the JW version"? Why don't you look it up in your Bible and see if your version disagrees. Before you make degrading accusations.

Why do you think I didn’t? I did. No match. looked in the Hebrew too.

Because I quoted from the NASB, not the New World Translation. If your Bible doesn't agree with the NASB, please quote from your Bible what those verses say. I will look forward to you clearing this up by quoting your Bible.

Exactly as I said JW Bible:
17 This is what Jehovah says, your Repurchaser, the Holy One of Israel:+
“I, Jehovah, am your God,
The One teaching you to benefit yourself,*+

This is not what the Hebrew says nor any translation I could find. The Lord never says that He teaches us to (selfishly) benefit YOURSELF. That was the tip off. I knew it was JW when I read that. And it is.

Otherwise you don’t get it. No where does God say He’s lonely and looking for a friend. Those He (not-any man) counted as friends were few and far between. It’s an honor no honest man takes upon himself.

I quoted from, as I said, NOT the New World Translation, but the New American Standard Bible, which has nothing to do with Jehovah's Witnesses. It is not what I wrote in post #41. I asked you to quote your version to show that the NASB doesn't agree with your version of the quotes in post #41.

No you didn’t.

New American Standard Bible
This is what the LORD says, He who is your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to benefit, Who leads you in the way you should go.

There’s the New American Standard and that is not what you quoted.

Look at my post #41. That is what I'm talking about. Compare THOSE verses with your own Bible. They are all from the NASB.

[Mae von H]

"This is what Jehovah has said, your Repurchaser, the Holy One of Israel: 'I, Jehovah, am your God, the One teaching you to benefit yourself

That must be the JW version, It’s not at all in the Hebrew. Still no promise that God longs for friends. I am sure that those who claim for themselves the honor friendship with God can’t explain Him like real friends can explain each other.

That "must be the JW version"? Why don't you look it up in your Bible and see if your version disagrees. Before you make degrading accusations.

Why do you think I didn’t? I did. No match. looked in the Hebrew too.

Because I quoted from the NASB, not the New World Translation. If your Bible doesn't agree with the NASB, please quote from your Bible what those verses say. I will look forward to you clearing this up by quoting your Bible.

Exactly as I said JW Bible:
17 This is what Jehovah says, your Repurchaser, the Holy One of Israel:+
“I, Jehovah, am your God,
The One teaching you to benefit yourself,*+

This is not what the Hebrew says nor any translation I could find. The Lord never says that He teaches us to (selfishly) benefit YOURSELF. That was the tip off. I knew it was JW when I read that. And it is.

Otherwise you don’t get it. No where does God say He’s lonely and looking for a friend. Those He (not-any man) counted as friends were few and far between. It’s an honor no honest man takes upon himself.

I quoted from, as I said, NOT the New World Translation, but the New American Standard Bible, which has nothing to do with Jehovah's Witnesses. It is not what I wrote in post #41. I asked you to quote your version to show that the NASB doesn't agree with your version of the quotes in post #41.

No you didn’t.

New American Standard Bible
This is what the LORD says, He who is your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to benefit, Who leads you in the way you should go.

There’s the New American Standard and that is not what you quoted.

Look at my post #41. That is what I'm talking about. Compare THOSE verses with your own Bible. They are all from the NASB.

The one I pointed out was definitely and only the JW version. I checked. No translation would have so changed the Hebrew. That’s how I knew it was JW. This you deny. That you switched to OTHER versions for OTHER verses doesn’t matter.

[onewithhim]

"This is what Jehovah has said, your Repurchaser, the Holy One of Israel: 'I, Jehovah, am your God, the One teaching you to benefit yourself

That must be the JW version, It’s not at all in the Hebrew. Still no promise that God longs for friends. I am sure that those who claim for themselves the honor friendship with God can’t explain Him like real friends can explain each other.

That "must be the JW version"? Why don't you look it up in your Bible and see if your version disagrees. Before you make degrading accusations.

Why do you think I didn’t? I did. No match. looked in the Hebrew too.

Because I quoted from the NASB, not the New World Translation. If your Bible doesn't agree with the NASB, please quote from your Bible what those verses say. I will look forward to you clearing this up by quoting your Bible.

Exactly as I said JW Bible:
17 This is what Jehovah says, your Repurchaser, the Holy One of Israel:+
“I, Jehovah, am your God,
The One teaching you to benefit yourself,*+

This is not what the Hebrew says nor any translation I could find. The Lord never says that He teaches us to (selfishly) benefit YOURSELF. That was the tip off. I knew it was JW when I read that. And it is.

Otherwise you don’t get it. No where does God say He’s lonely and looking for a friend. Those He (not-any man) counted as friends were few and far between. It’s an honor no honest man takes upon himself.

I quoted from, as I said, NOT the New World Translation, but the New American Standard Bible, which has nothing to do with Jehovah's Witnesses. It is not what I wrote in post #41. I asked you to quote your version to show that the NASB doesn't agree with your version of the quotes in post #41.

No you didn’t.

New American Standard Bible
This is what the LORD says, He who is your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to benefit, Who leads you in the way you should go.

There’s the New American Standard and that is not what you quoted.

Look at my post #41. That is what I'm talking about. Compare THOSE verses with your own Bible. They are all from the NASB.

The one I pointed out was definitely and only the JW version. I checked. No translation would have so changed the Hebrew. That’s how I knew it was JW. This you deny. That you switched to OTHER versions for OTHER verses doesn’t matter.

I did not deny. I put that verse in from the NWT to just set forth a pleading from God to His beloved human creation. That was AFTER my posting of three verses from the NASB in post #41. I asked you to look at your version of the Bible and compare to what the NASB says because you said that I am quoting from the NWT concerning those three verses. I told you I quoted from the NASB and you are lying about what I said or did. You make accusations, not nicely, and yet you expect me not to defend my posts. If you would do as I asked and compare the three verses in post #41 with your Bible, I'm sure you will see that they are essentially the same. They are not, as you say, from the NWT.

[onewithhim]

[Replying to kjw47 in post #25]

Has He ever told you personally that He loves you or do you just read JW doctrine about it?

Not one of us would think that we know God loves us only because of JW doctrine. That is a peculiar question.

That’s pretty much the OP says. Read this doctrine and you’ll know God loves you. But it is a peculiar view.

That is not what the OP says. It says to read the Bible, which we all should do, not listen to anyone's doctrine and dogma. We can find the truth through the pages of God's thoughts in the Bible. The OP also says that God wants to be our friend, and is cognizant of each one of us, individually. How can you find fault with that?

Please give me the Bible quote that says, "God wants to be your friend."

God was always looking for a person to be a friend. That is evident from the following scriptures.

"But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, descendant of Abraham my friend." (Isaiah 41:8, NASB)

"There exist companions disposed to break one another to pieces, but there exists a friend sticking closer than a brother." (Proverbs 18:24) Would you say that this "friend" is God Himself?

"And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, 'And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness, and he was called the friend of God.'" (James 2:23, NASB)

Post #41.

[Mae von H]

"This is what Jehovah has said, your Repurchaser, the Holy One of Israel: 'I, Jehovah, am your God, the One teaching you to benefit yourself

That must be the JW version, It’s not at all in the Hebrew. Still no promise that God longs for friends. I am sure that those who claim for themselves the honor friendship with God can’t explain Him like real friends can explain each other.

That "must be the JW version"? Why don't you look it up in your Bible and see if your version disagrees. Before you make degrading accusations.

Why do you think I didn’t? I did. No match. looked in the Hebrew too.

Because I quoted from the NASB, not the New World Translation. If your Bible doesn't agree with the NASB, please quote from your Bible what those verses say. I will look forward to you clearing this up by quoting your Bible.

Exactly as I said JW Bible:
17 This is what Jehovah says, your Repurchaser, the Holy One of Israel:+
“I, Jehovah, am your God,
The One teaching you to benefit yourself,*+

This is not what the Hebrew says nor any translation I could find. The Lord never says that He teaches us to (selfishly) benefit YOURSELF. That was the tip off. I knew it was JW when I read that. And it is.

Otherwise you don’t get it. No where does God say He’s lonely and looking for a friend. Those He (not-any man) counted as friends were few and far between. It’s an honor no honest man takes upon himself.

I quoted from, as I said, NOT the New World Translation, but the New American Standard Bible, which has nothing to do with Jehovah's Witnesses. It is not what I wrote in post #41. I asked you to quote your version to show that the NASB doesn't agree with your version of the quotes in post #41.

No you didn’t.

New American Standard Bible
This is what the LORD says, He who is your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to benefit, Who leads you in the way you should go.

There’s the New American Standard and that is not what you quoted.

Look at my post #41. That is what I'm talking about. Compare THOSE verses with your own Bible. They are all from the NASB.

The one I pointed out was definitely and only the JW version. I checked. No translation would have so changed the Hebrew. That’s how I knew it was JW. This you deny. That you switched to OTHER versions for OTHER verses doesn’t matter.

I did not deny. I put that verse in from the NWT to just set forth a pleading from God to His beloved human creation. That was AFTER my posting of three verses from the NASB in post #41. I asked you to look at your version of the Bible and compare to what the NASB says because you said that I am quoting from the NWT concerning those three verses. I told you I quoted from the NASB and you are lying about what I said or did. You make accusations, not nicely, and yet you expect me not to defend my posts. If you would do as I asked and compare the three verses in post #41 with your Bible, I'm sure you will see that they are essentially the same. They are not, as you say, from the NWT.

Ok, you finally admit you used the JW version for the verse I pinpointed. That thought is NO WHERE in scripture which is how I knew JWs wrote it. I know the history of their production and deviations. Let’s move on.

[onewithhim]

"This is what Jehovah has said, your Repurchaser, the Holy One of Israel: 'I, Jehovah, am your God, the One teaching you to benefit yourself

That must be the JW version, It’s not at all in the Hebrew. Still no promise that God longs for friends. I am sure that those who claim for themselves the honor friendship with God can’t explain Him like real friends can explain each other.

That "must be the JW version"? Why don't you look it up in your Bible and see if your version disagrees. Before you make degrading accusations.

Why do you think I didn’t? I did. No match. looked in the Hebrew too.

Because I quoted from the NASB, not the New World Translation. If your Bible doesn't agree with the NASB, please quote from your Bible what those verses say. I will look forward to you clearing this up by quoting your Bible.

Exactly as I said JW Bible:
17 This is what Jehovah says, your Repurchaser, the Holy One of Israel:+
“I, Jehovah, am your God,
The One teaching you to benefit yourself,*+

This is not what the Hebrew says nor any translation I could find. The Lord never says that He teaches us to (selfishly) benefit YOURSELF. That was the tip off. I knew it was JW when I read that. And it is.

Otherwise you don’t get it. No where does God say He’s lonely and looking for a friend. Those He (not-any man) counted as friends were few and far between. It’s an honor no honest man takes upon himself.

I quoted from, as I said, NOT the New World Translation, but the New American Standard Bible, which has nothing to do with Jehovah's Witnesses. It is not what I wrote in post #41. I asked you to quote your version to show that the NASB doesn't agree with your version of the quotes in post #41.

No you didn’t.

New American Standard Bible
This is what the LORD says, He who is your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to benefit, Who leads you in the way you should go.

There’s the New American Standard and that is not what you quoted.

Look at my post #41. That is what I'm talking about. Compare THOSE verses with your own Bible. They are all from the NASB.

The one I pointed out was definitely and only the JW version. I checked. No translation would have so changed the Hebrew. That’s how I knew it was JW. This you deny. That you switched to OTHER versions for OTHER verses doesn’t matter.

I did not deny. I put that verse in from the NWT to just set forth a pleading from God to His beloved human creation. That was AFTER my posting of three verses from the NASB in post #41. I asked you to look at your version of the Bible and compare to what the NASB says because you said that I am quoting from the NWT concerning those three verses. I told you I quoted from the NASB and you are lying about what I said or did. You make accusations, not nicely, and yet you expect me not to defend my posts. If you would do as I asked and compare the three verses in post #41 with your Bible, I'm sure you will see that they are essentially the same. They are not, as you say, from the NWT.

Ok, you finally admit you used the JW version for the verse I pinpointed. That thought is NO WHERE in scripture which is how I knew JWs wrote it. I know the history of their production and deviations. Let’s move on.

This isn't about the verse from the NWT. Why won't you compare the three verses in post #41 with your version? You had said that they didn't match any other version, thinking that I had posted them from the NWT. You didn't understand that I had quoted them from the NASB. I simply asked you to compare your Bible with those three verses in post #41. You don't want to do that. Why?

[Mae von H]

[Replying to onewithhim in post #56]

You want to think God really really desires your friendship despite no verses saying so. That some men and women were called his friend (by Him, not them) doesn’t mean that’s you.

It’s a popular untruth that flatters people and makes them feel important without having to do anything associated with being a friend. Talk about taking an honor upon yourself. Doesn’t get much worse.

[Mae von H]

"This is what Jehovah has said, your Repurchaser, the Holy One of Israel: 'I, Jehovah, am your God, the One teaching you to benefit yourself

That must be the JW version, It’s not at all in the Hebrew. Still no promise that God longs for friends. I am sure that those who claim for themselves the honor friendship with God can’t explain Him like real friends can explain each other.

That "must be the JW version"? Why don't you look it up in your Bible and see if your version disagrees. Before you make degrading accusations.

Why do you think I didn’t? I did. No match. looked in the Hebrew too.

Because I quoted from the NASB, not the New World Translation. If your Bible doesn't agree with the NASB, please quote from your Bible what those verses say. I will look forward to you clearing this up by quoting your Bible.

Exactly as I said JW Bible:
17 This is what Jehovah says, your Repurchaser, the Holy One of Israel:+
“I, Jehovah, am your God,
The One teaching you to benefit yourself,*+

This is not what the Hebrew says nor any translation I could find. The Lord never says that He teaches us to (selfishly) benefit YOURSELF. That was the tip off. I knew it was JW when I read that. And it is.

Otherwise you don’t get it. No where does God say He’s lonely and looking for a friend. Those He (not-any man) counted as friends were few and far between. It’s an honor no honest man takes upon himself.

I quoted from, as I said, NOT the New World Translation, but the New American Standard Bible, which has nothing to do with Jehovah's Witnesses. It is not what I wrote in post #41. I asked you to quote your version to show that the NASB doesn't agree with your version of the quotes in post #41.

No you didn’t.

New American Standard Bible
This is what the LORD says, He who is your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to benefit, Who leads you in the way you should go.

There’s the New American Standard and that is not what you quoted.

Look at my post #41. That is what I'm talking about. Compare THOSE verses with your own Bible. They are all from the NASB.

The one I pointed out was definitely and only the JW version. I checked. No translation would have so changed the Hebrew. That’s how I knew it was JW. This you deny. That you switched to OTHER versions for OTHER verses doesn’t matter.

I did not deny. I put that verse in from the NWT to just set forth a pleading from God to His beloved human creation. That was AFTER my posting of three verses from the NASB in post #41. I asked you to look at your version of the Bible and compare to what the NASB says because you said that I am quoting from the NWT concerning those three verses. I told you I quoted from the NASB and you are lying about what I said or did. You make accusations, not nicely, and yet you expect me not to defend my posts. If you would do as I asked and compare the three verses in post #41 with your Bible, I'm sure you will see that they are essentially the same. They are not, as you say, from the NWT.

Ok, you finally admit you used the JW version for the verse I pinpointed. That thought is NO WHERE in scripture which is how I knew JWs wrote it. I know the history of their production and deviations. Let’s move on.

This isn't about the verse from the NWT. Why won't you compare the three verses in post #41 with your version? You had said that they didn't match any other version, thinking that I had posted them from the NWT. You didn't understand that I had quoted them from the NASB. I simply asked you to compare your Bible with those three verses in post #41. You don't want to do that. Why?

I never said the three verses don’t match. But stay away from the JW book. It’s way off and anyone who knows the Bible sees it instantly. There’s always a few verses that are the same. Rat poison has some nutrition in it.

[Difflugia]

Why do you think I didn’t? I did. No match. looked in the Hebrew too.

Exactly as I said JW Bible:
17 This is what Jehovah says, your Repurchaser, the Holy One of Israel:+
“I, Jehovah, am your God,
The One teaching you to benefit yourself,*+

This is not what the Hebrew says nor any translation I could find. The Lord never says that He teaches us to (selfishly) benefit YOURSELF. That was the tip off. I knew it was JW when I read that. And it is.

What about the Hebrew makes you think that the implied object of the verb isn't "yourself?" In both Hebrew and English, the corresponding verbs are reflexive if there's no object. The phrase "benefit yourself" is awkward and a bit unnecessary, but not meaningfully different. There are plenty of problems with the NWT, but this isn't one of them.

[Mae von H]

Why do you think I didn’t? I did. No match. looked in the Hebrew too.

Exactly as I said JW Bible:
17 This is what Jehovah says, your Repurchaser, the Holy One of Israel:+
“I, Jehovah, am your God,
The One teaching you to benefit yourself,*+

This is not what the Hebrew says nor any translation I could find. The Lord never says that He teaches us to (selfishly) benefit YOURSELF. That was the tip off. I knew it was JW when I read that. And it is.

What about the Hebrew makes you think that the implied object of the verb isn't "yourself?" In both Hebrew and English, the corresponding verbs are reflexive if there's no object. The phrase "benefit yourself" is awkward and a bit unnecessary, but not meaningfully different. There are plenty of problems with the NWT, but this isn't one of them.

God never ever teaches us to benefit ourself and our self alone. The entire focus of Jesus’ teaching is to deny the self, the opposite of benefitting yourself. Saying “yourself” is in no translation of that verse…none.