Be Courageous - Jehovah Is With You!

"Be courageous and strong. . . . Jehovah your God is with you." - JOSHUA 1:9.

JEHOVAH'S service brings us joy.  But we still have problems like everyone else. And we may suffer for doing what is right.  (1 Corinthians 10:13; 1 Peter 3:14; 5:8, 9) To endure these trials successfully, we need faith and courage.

What is faith? The apostle Paul wrote: "Faith is the assured expectation of things hoped for, the evident demonstration of realities though not beheld."  (Hebrews 11:1) Another translation reads: "Faith is the title-deed to the things we hope for. Faith is being sure of things we cannot see." (The Simple English Bible) A "title deed" is a document that proves that a  property belongs to us. Because we have faith that God always does what he promises, it is as if we have received a  valuable "title-deed." We are absolutely convinced that what has promised will happen and that everything he tells us in his Word is the truth, even  "things we cannot see."

Courage is the strength to speak and act without fear when we are in difficult and dangerous situations. To have courage is to be confident and brave, even willing to suffer for what we believe.

We may feel that we need more faith and courage. The Bible speaks of thousands of servants of God who were good examples of faith and courage. So one way to strengthen these qualities in us is to think carefully about some of those examples. 

Next time: Be Courageous - Jehovah is With You - JEHOVAH WAS WITH JOSHUA

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