Scripture of the Day:

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[Jehovah] will not leave his loyal ones.—Psalms 37:28.

Many modern-day examples prove that older ones can “keep on thriving.” (Ps. 92:13, 14) But the challenges of illness and old age can be daunting, even for those who have caring and committed family members to help them. Caregivers too may become worn-out. The congregation has the privilege and responsibility to put their love into action in behalf of older ones and those who care for them. (Gal. 6:10) Such help shows that we are not, in effect, telling such ones to go and “keep warm and well fed” without assisting them in practical ways. (Jas. 2:15-17) Advancing age may change a Christian’s activities somewhat, but time does not diminish Jehovah’s love for his loyal older servants. On the contrary, all of these faithful Christians are precious in his eyes, and he will never leave them. (Isa. 46:4) Jehovah will sustain and guide them throughout old age.—Ps. 48:14.

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can you say that the one whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said, "I am God's Son'? John 10:36


The Father sent Yehoshua into the world. How can the Father send his son into the world if he was from only the world? It is clear Yehoshua was in heaven with the Father as his own individual. The Father sent his Son to the world to lead us to righteousness and to die for us, and many other reasons.

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We must obey God as ruler rather than men.—Acts 5:29.

As Christians, our view of authority is different from that of the world. It is not that we blindly do whatever we are told. On the contrary, at times we must refuse to submit to the will of others even if they have positions of authority. This was also true of first-century Christians. For instance, when the apostles were ordered to stop preaching, they did not cave in to the high priest and other authority figures who were part of the Sanhedrin. They did not abandon right conduct in order to conform to human authority. (Acts 5:27-29) Our courageous stand is not to be confused with mere stubbornness; nor are we like some who rebel just to make a political point. Rather, we are determined to accept Jehovah’s authority over that of any human. When man’s law conflicts with God’s law, the decision as to what we will do is not difficult. We obey God as ruler rather than men.

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A name is better than good oil, and the day of death than the day of one’s being born.—Ecclesiastes 7:1.

Nothing illustrates this better than the life of Jesus. He surely made an outstanding name with Jehovah. When Jesus died faithful, he vindicated his Father’s sovereignty and provided the ransom sacrifice, which opened the way for our salvation. (Matt. 20:28) During his brief time on earth, Jesus provided the perfect example—one that we strive to imitate—of a truly worthwhile life. (1 Cor. 11:1; 1 Pet. 2:21) We too can establish a good name with God. Having a good reputation in Jehovah’s eyes is for us far more valuable than having riches. (Matt. 6:19-21) Every day, we can find ways to do things that are good in Jehovah’s eyes and that will enrich our lives. For example, we can share the good news with others, strengthen our marriage and our family, and deepen our spirituality by personal study and meeting attendance.—Eccl. 11:6; Heb. 13:16.

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Make sure of the more important things, so that you may be flawless and not be stumbling others up to the day of Christ.—Philemon 1:10.

Being inordinately concerned about our health could lead to our becoming self-centered. Paul warned against this danger when he urged the Philippians to be “keeping an eye, not in personal interest upon just [their] own matters, but also in personal interest upon those of the others.” (Phil. 2:4) It is proper to take reasonable care of ourselves, but the keen interest we show in our brothers and in the people to whom we bring “this good news of the kingdom” will prevent us from being preoccupied with our physical well-being. (Matt. 24:14) The danger exists that a Christian might let health concerns push Kingdom interests into the background. Obsession with health care could also lead us to try to impose on others our personal opinions regarding the value of some diet, therapy, or food supplement.

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They began calling out: “Jehovah’s sword and Gideon’s!”—Judges 7:20.

About ten miles across the valley from Megiddo lies the hill of Moreh where in the days of Judge Gideon, the combined troops of Midianites, Amalekites, and Easterners gathered to wage war. (Judg. 7:1, 12) Gideon’s small force finally numbered only 300 men, but with Jehovah’s help, they routed the large enemy force. How? Following God’s direction, they surrounded the enemy camp at night holding jars that concealed flaming torches. When Gideon gave the signal, his men smashed the jars and the hidden torches were suddenly revealed. At the same time, they blew their horns and shouted: “Jehovah’s sword and Gideon’s!” The enemy were thrown into confusion, and they turned to killing one another; survivors fled across the Jordan River. Meanwhile, more Israelites joined in pursuit of the enemy. Altogether, 120,000 enemy soldiers were slaughtered.—Judg. 7:19-25; 8:10

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Deaden . . . your body members . . . as respects fornication, uncleanness, [and] sexual appetite.—Colossians 3:5.

Many in the world develop improper sexual desires and succumb to them. Hence, we Christians need to pray for God’s help and holy spirit so that unclean sexual desires do not control us. In addition, studying the Bible, attending Christian meetings, and sharing the good news with our neighbors will help us to “keep walking by spirit.” Thus we “will carry out no fleshly desire at all.” (Gal. 5:16) Certainly, if we view pornography, we will not be “walking by spirit.” Similarly, every Christian needs to guard against reading, watching, or listening to sexually arousing material. Paralleling that, it is wrong for God’s “holy people” to find any pleasure in joking about such matters or discussing them among themselves. (Eph. 5:3, 4) We thereby show our loving Father that we really want to live in the righteous new world.

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All the people should shout a great war cry.—Joshua 6:5.

What developments are yet in store for the preaching work? The siege of Jericho, recorded in the book of Joshua, provides an illustration. Recall that just before God destroyed Jericho, the Israelites were instructed to march around the city once a day for six days. On the seventh day, however, there was to be a marked increase in their activity. Jehovah told Joshua: “You should march round the city seven times and the priests should blow the horns. And it must occur that when they sound with the horn of the ram, . . . all the people should shout a great war cry; and the wall of the city must fall down flat.” (Josh. 6:2-5) It is possible that there will be a similar expansion of our preaching activity. No doubt, by the time of the destruction of the present system of things, we will have seen the greatest witness to God’s name and Kingdom in the history of this world.

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A valueless thing and the trickiness of their heart they are speaking.—Jeremiah 14:14.

Do we hear valueless things being uttered today? Yes. For example, some scientists say that evolutionary theory and scientific discoveries in other fields demonstrate that there is no longer any need to believe in God, that everything can be explained by natural processes. Should such proud statements concern us? Of course not! Human wisdom differs from divine wisdom. (1 Cor. 2:6, 7) However, we know that when human teachings contradict what God has revealed, it is always the human teachings that are wrong. (Rom. 3:4) Despite the progress of science in some fields, the Bible’s assessment of human wisdom remains true: “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.” Compared with the infinite wisdom of God, human reasoning is futile. (1 Cor. 3:18-20) May we always repudiate valueless words and cling to valuable words of truth.

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Flee from fornication.—1 Corinthians 6:18.

We know that God’s Word forbids fornication. However, it is easy to let an obedient spirit lapse into a permissive one. For instance, some youths have engaged in oral or anal sex or mutual masturbation, rationalizing that these acts are not so bad because they think they are technically not “having sex.” Such youths forget—or may choose to ignore—that the Bible word for fornication includes all those practices. Worse, though, they ignore the need for integrity. Since we are striving to keep our integrity, we do not look for loopholes. We do not try to get as close as we can to sin without being punished. We do not focus solely on the judicial consequences that an act of wrongdoing might bring. Rather, we focus on doing what will please Jehovah, avoiding what will hurt his feelings. Rather than seeing how close we can get to sin, we keep far away from it.

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John 7:29 I know him; because I am from him, and he sent me. (The American Standard Version; ASV).

Here Jesus (Yeshua) straightforward states that he had been sent, and when someone is sent there must be a sender that is separate and distinct from him who he sent. The sender being the superior one and sendee being the subordinate. To understand who sent Jesus (Yeshua) we need to look at the scriptures immediately prior to this one, John 7:25-28, "Some therefore of them of Jerusalem said, Is not this he whom they seek to kill? 26 And lo, he speaketh openly, and they say nothing unto him. Can it be that the rulers indeed know that this is the Christ? 27 Howbeit we know this man whence he is: but when the Christ cometh, no one knoweth whence he is. 28 Jesus therefore cried in the temple, teaching and saying, Ye both know me, and know whence I am: and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not." (ASV). So we see here that the Son of God (YHWH), Jesus (Yeshua) had been sent by his Father, Almighty God (YHWH).

In fact, the old law covenant was only to last until God (YHWH) sent his Son, the Son of God, Jesus (Yeshua) to redeem mankind as clearly testified to at Galatians 3:19, "Well then, why were the laws given? They were added after the promise was given, to show men how guilty they are of breaking God's laws. But this system of law was to last only until the coming of Christ, the Child to whom God's promise was made. (And there is this further difference: God gave His laws to angels to give to Moses, who then gave them to the peo;le:" (Living New Testament; LNT). In fact, this was said of Jesus (Yeshua) with respect to his pre-human activity, Acts 7:38, "This is he who in the assembly in the wilderness (desert) was the go-between for the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and our forefathers; and he received to be handed down to us living oracles-words that still live [Exodus 19]." (The Amplified Bible; AMP). So we can see his Father (YHWH) has used him as an obedient Son for a very long time, before the world was created. We shall now see, he sought glory for his Father (YHWH), and not for himself.

It is made clear at John 5:41-47, that Jesus (Yeshua) sought not His own glory, but that of the supreme one, His Father (YHWH), who had sent him, "I do not receive glory from men. 42 But I know that you have not the love of God within you. 43 I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive. 44 How can you believe, who receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? 45 Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; it is Moses who accuses you, on whom you set your hope. 46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings how will you believe my words?" (Revised Standard Version; RSV). Clearly Jesus (Yeshua) himself stated that he did NOT COME IN HIS NAME, but, "I have come in my Father's name," thereby, showing He, Jesus (Yeshua), who came in his Father's (YHWH's) name was a separate and distinct individual from himself and superior to him. Likewise, Jesus (Yeshua) stated, "the glory that comes from the only God?" showing that His Father (YHWH) was the SOURCE of all glory and not himself; To emphasize that glory should ONLY BE GIVEN TO HIS FATHER (YHWH), Jesus (Yeshua) stated, "I do not receive glory from men." Now we all know that Jesus (yeshua) was not a liar so His words MUST BE TRUE. This same fact is repeated at John 8:50, "Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it and he will be the judge." (RSV).

So in summary, there is only one Almighty God (YHWH), and only one Son of God, Jesus (Yeshua); And the Son of God does NOT seek glory for himself but only for his superior, His Father (YHWH). They are clearly two distinct individuals even if some wrongly try and contend that they are one and the same on the basis of a mistranslated scripture, mistranslated obviously due to bias, but many translations translate John 1:1 differently so its harmonizes with the contest it is in and the remainder of the Bible. Let's look at how it is translated in a fairly unbiased translation, The New English Bible, "When all things began, the Word already was, The Word dwelt with God, and what God was, the Word was." (The New English Bible; NEB). This rendering, one of nine possible without violating any rule of Greek grammar clearly harmonizes with John 1:2, "The Word, then, was with God at the beginning, and through him all things came to be" (NEB). This also harmonizes with the over forty (40) times the Word is called the Son of God, and NOT God the Son as would be required if they were one and the same; in fact NOWHERE does God the Son appear in the Bible, and neither does either of the words by which such a mythical concept of different manifestations of one god is called by, the Trinity or the Duality appear in the Bible, look as you may, you will find NEITHER. Therefore, let's see what the scriptures say at 1 John 2:22, "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son." (Authorized King James Bible; AV). Let's get a deeper understanding of this fact!

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This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day. John 6:40


The will of the Father is to see and believe in the Son. Again two individuals.

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Go away, Satan! For it is written, “It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.”—Matthew 4:10.

One temptation that the Devil used in the wilderness involved an offer to give Jesus political power. Satan showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and their glory and said: “All these things I will give you if you fall down and do an act of worship to me.” (Matt. 4:8, 9) What an unscrupulous attempt to get the worship belonging to Jehovah and to induce Jesus to prove unfaithful to God! By meditating on the desire to be worshipped, that once loyal angel had become the sinful, covetous, and grossly evil tempter Satan the Devil. (Jas. 1:14, 15) In stark contrast, however, Jesus was determined to remain faithful to his heavenly Father and replied with the words of today’s text. God’s Son wanted no part of Satan’s world and would never worship that wicked one!—Deut. 6:13; 10:20.

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I am Jehovah; I have not changed.—Malachi 3:6.

If you do not feel the same love for God and the truth that you once felt, this is not because anything has changed on his part. Jehovah never changes. (Jas. 1:17) He was interested in you back then, and he is as interested in you today as he ever was. So what, if anything, might have changed in your relationship with Jehovah? Could it be that you feel that you are under more pressure, more preoccupied with anxieties? Perhaps in the past you prayed more earnestly, studied more diligently, meditated more often. Were you more zealous in the ministry and regular at congregation meetings than you are now? (2 Cor. 13:5) You may not recognize any such tendencies in yourself, but if you do, what led to them? Could legitimate concerns, such as providing adequately for your family, caring for your health, or the like, have blunted your sense of urgency as to the nearness of Jehovah’s day?

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[Keep] an eye, not in personal interest upon just your own matters, but also in personal interest upon those of the others.—Philippians 2:4.

Raising a child involves years of self-sacrifice. It is a big investment in time and energy. A Christian husband needs to understand that for several years after a baby is born, his wife is likely to be distracted during meetings and she may have fewer opportunities for personal Bible study and meditation. This could have a debilitating effect on her spiritual health. Responsible parenthood requires that the husband does all he reasonably can to help to look after the child. He could try to compensate for what his wife may miss at the meetings by later discussing some of the program points with her at home. He may also share in caring for the baby to give his wife an opportunity to have a meaningful share in Kingdom preaching.