Prepare Now for Persecution - Conclusion of HOW TO STRENGTHEN YOUR BOND WITH JEHOVAH

Regularly attend Christian meeting.  Meetings help us to draw closer to Jehovah.  Our attitude toward attending meetings is a good indicator of how successful we will be at dealing with persecution in the future. (Hebrews 10:24, 25)  Why so? If we allow small obstacles to keep us from attending meetings now, what will happen in the future if we have to risk  our safety to meeting with fellow believers?  On the other hand, if we develop a firm resolve to attend meetings, we will not give in when opposers try to stop us from gathering together.  Now is the time to develop for our meetings.  When we love to attend meetings, no opposition , no even a government ban, will stop us from obeying God rather than men. - ACTS 5:29.

Memorize your favorite scriptures. (Matthew 13:52)  Your memory may not be perfect, but Jehovah can use his powerful holy spirit to bring those scriptures back to your mind.  (John 14:26)   Note what one brother who was imprisoned in East Germany and put in solitary confinement said:  "What a blessing it was that by then I had learned several hundred scriptures  by heart I could fill those empty days by meditating on a variety of Bible subjects."  Those scriptures helped our brother to stay close to Jehovah-and to endure faithfully. 

Memorize and sing songs that praise Jehovah.  When imprisoned in Philippi, Paul and Saul sang spiritual songs that they knew from memory.  (Acts 16:25)  Similarly, when our brothers in the former Soviet Union were exiled to Siberia, how did they strengthen themselves? Sister Mariya Fedun recalled: "We sang all the songs that we knew, the songs from the songbook." She said that those songs encourage all of them and helped them to feel closer to Jehovah.  Do you feel strengthened when you sing your favorite songs?  Then memorize those songs now! 

"GIVE ME COURAGE"

The 2018 regional convention program concluded with a powerful new song entitled "Give Me Courage."  After the convention, an eight-year-old girl named Lumia wrote:  "I would like to thank you for the new song. It touched my heart!  During the song, I decided that when I go to the second grade, I will tell my classmates that I am one of Jehovah's Witnesses. I am sure that Jehovah is with me." 

Next time: Prepare Now for Persecution - HOW TO BUILD UP YOUR COURAGE

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