Even When You Think You Have Nothing Left To Give

[Timl1980]

I just wanted to sit down and write a few words of encouragement to everyone on this site. Satan is working on us all...harder than ever.

 

He is determined to take as many of us with him as he can into everlasting destruction...and if he cannot seduce us...he will use the world as a club...to hit us, kick us...to bruise and batter us into a pathetic resemblance of a human. He will use fellow humans, situations...even set traps for us. He has no concept of love or mercy...his goal is simple...proving to Jehovah that each of us is wearing a mask...praising Jehovah for selfish reasons. 

 

He cannot kill us...so he sets about making our lives so unbearable...so incredibly harsh and cold that we eventually will simply give up...and he is insatiable...he will never get enough...until Jesus throws him into the Abyss.

 

Many of us...I daresay most of us...are running on empty. We are out of gas...exhausted...fatigued...our mental faculties are drooping...growing weaker and weaker each day. How do we keep going...day after day...week after week...year after year? We've given our all...we are broke...we are broken...we have nothing of value left to offer Jehovah. We feel pathetic, low...worthless and weak...ashamed...and even drowning. 

 

Friends...please allow Jehovah's words...as given to us via the Faithful Slave...to show you the one thing that each of us DOES have...and please allow the understanding of this one single thing to penetrate each of our hearts...because no matter what else Satan takes from us...no matter what else we have lost...as long as we are alive...we still have this:

 

 Satan is responsible not only for many of the world’s sorrows but also for the opposition that God’s people experience. He is determined to put us to the test. Jesus Christ told the apostle Peter: “Simon, Simon, look! Satan has demanded to have you men to sift you as wheat.” (Luke 22:31) Similarly, each of us who follows in Jesus’ footsteps will experience trials in some way or other. Peter compared the Devil to “a roaring lion, seeking to devour someone.” And Paul said: “All those desiring to live with godly devotion in association with Christ Jesus will also be persecuted.”—1 Pet. 5:8; 2 Tim. 3:12.

 

7 How can we show that we keep the real enemy in mind when a tragedy befalls a fellow believer? Instead of distancing ourselves from the affected brother, we act like Elihu of old, who spoke to Job as a true friend. We join our brother in the struggle against our common enemy, Satan. (Prov. 3:27; 1 Thess. 5:25) Our goal is to help our fellow servant to maintain his integrity, come what may, and thus make Jehovah’s heart rejoice.

 

8. Why did Satan not succeed in getting Job to stop honoring Jehovah?

8 The first asset that Satan caused Job to lose was his livestock. Those animals were valuable, likely his livelihood. But Job also used them in worship. After Job had sanctified his children, “he got up early in the morning and offered up burnt sacrifices according to the number of all of them; for, said Job, ‘maybe my sons have sinned and have cursed God in their heart.’ That is the way Job would do always.” (Job 1:4, 5) Thus, Job sacrificed animals to Jehovah on a regular basis. Once the trials began, that was no longer possible. Job had no “valuable things” with which to honor Jehovah. (Prov. 3:9) But he could—and did—honor Jehovah with his lips!

 

Your Integrity Makes Jehovah’s Heart Rejoice — Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY (jw.org)

 

We have the ability to open our mouths, my dear brothers and sisters...and praise our wonderful heavenly father with our speech. 

 

Who among us doesn't get excited when presented with the opportunity to tell others about the truth?  The fire it ignites in our blood invigorates our whole body...and don't let there be a couple more of us standing nearby when we are in the midst of telling others about Jehovah!! The person who is getting the witness is usually in awe as we start chiming in... adding bits and pieces to the conversation as our spiritual juices start to flow. 

 

We start quoting scriptures and showing true personal interest in the one standing before us...and suddenly...we are alive!! Electrified...an hour can pass like a few minutes...and soon we have inundated the poor person with a Genesis to Revelation rendition of the Bible...and we're just getting warmed up.

 

Where is Satan now? Is he there...watching us...stomping around and trying to stir up trouble as the air around us vibrates with electrifying bible truths?

 

Do we even care? In that moment...would it matter if him and every demon with him were there...surrounding us...trying to intimidate us?

 

Of course not...we have holy spirit thundering through our bodies...angels above us...watching closely and clapping...the heavens are open...Jehovah and his Son are observing us...smiles lighting up their faces!! Our words are blending with those of our brothers and sisters...the person listening is mesmerized as we talk of Paradise and meeting Daniel and Moses and Aaron...as we speak of greeting our dead loved ones...as we allow Jehovah's words to rise off the pages of the device or bible in front of us and rise into the air...dancing around them. We could care less about our problems in that moment...all that matters is breaking through...dropping those scales over their eyes and allowing Jehovah's word to come flooding into their hearts and minds...

 

And that, friends...is why the slave has removed the hour requirements. They want us to concentrate on that feeling...they want each and every one of us to concentrate on the hearts and emotions of others...to give others a piece of our heart...not just our literature. (I stole that from the Governing Body Update)

 

May each of us continue to walk alongside Jehovah...walk shoulder to shoulder with each other...and do our best to give Jehovah the one thing left over when we feel we have nothing left to give...the praise and honor he deserves...from our lips!