Tuesday, May 11 It is enough! Now, O Jehovah, take my life away. —1 Ki. 19:4. Elijah became afraid when Queen Jezebel threatened to kill him. So he fled to the area of Beer-sheba. He became so discouraged that “he asked that he might die.” What made him feel that way? Elijah was an imperfect man, “a man with feelings like ours.” (Jas. 5:17) Perhaps he felt overwhelmed [...]
Monday, May 10 Look out that no one takes you captive by means of the philosophy and empty deception according to human tradition. —Col. 2:8. Satan wants to turn us against Jehovah. To achieve his goal, he tries to influence our thinking, in effect, to bring our mind into captivity and make it obedient to him. He tries to persuade or to deceive us into following [...]
Saturday, May 8 Watch that among you there is no one who is sexually immoral. —Heb. 12:16. Jehovah God hates all forms of wickedness. (Ps. 5:4-6) How he must hate child sexual abuse —an especially repugnant wicked deed! In imitation of Jehovah, we as his Witnesses abhor child abuse and do not tolerate it in the Christian congregation. (Rom. 12:9) Any act of child abuse is [...]
Friday, May 7 Satan . . . is misleading the entire inhabited earth. —Rev. 12:9. A major way in which Satan and the demons try to mislead people is through spiritism. Those who practice spiritism claim to know or control things that humans cannot normally know or control. For example, some claim to be able to know the future by using divination or astrology. Others may act as though [...]
Wednesday, May 5 Let no one lead you astray. —2 Thess. 2:3. Satan blurs people’s view of Jehovah. After the death of Jesus’ apostles, some who claimed to be Christians began to spread false teachings. (Acts 20:29, 30) These apostates started to blur the identity of the only true God. For example, they stopped using the divine name in their copies of the Bible and preferred such expressions as [...]
Tuesday, May 4 If anyone wants to come after me, let him disown himself. —Matt. 16:24. When you make a dedication, you approach Jehovah in earnest prayer and tell him that you will use your life to serve him forever. When you dedicate yourself to God, you “disown” yourself. You now belong to Jehovah, which is a great privilege. (Rom. 14:8) You are telling him that from [...]
Friday, April 23 The one who endures to the end will be saved. —Matt. 24:13, ftn. Our endurance does not depend on favorable circumstances. We can strengthen our endurance by relying on Jehovah. (Rom. 12:12) Jesus’ promise in today’s text means that we must remain faithful despite any challenges we face. By enduring each trial now, we can become stronger before the outbreak of the great tribulation. [...]
Thursday, April 22 Know this, that in the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here. —2 Tim. 3:1. Were you born after the year 1914? If so, you have lived your entire life during “the last days” of the present system of things. All of us have heard about the events that Jesus foretold for this time. These include wars, food shortages, earthquakes, pestilences, [...]
Monday, April 19 I will show you the judgment on the great prostitute. —Rev. 17:1. Babylon the Great, the world empire of false religion, has brought much reproach on God’s name. She has taught lies about God. She has prostituted herself spiritually by forming alliances with earth’s rulers. She has used her power and influence to exploit her flocks. And she has spilled much blood, including the [...]
Thursday, April 15 We are [not] the masters over your faith, but we are fellow workers for your joy, for it is by your faith that you are standing. —2 Cor. 1:24. Jehovah has not given us authority to make personal decisions for others. Someone who makes needless rules is not protecting his brother’s safety —he is trying to become the master of his brother’s faith. Satan the Devil will [...]
Daily commentary on examining the Scriptures.