Lesson 60 Continue Making Progress

[Image:] A woman sitting on her balcony and reading the Bible. The book Draw Close to Jehovah is on a table beside her.

[Press play to hear the MP3 of the Lesson]

Throughout this Bible course, you have learned a lot about Jehovah. The things you have learned have made you love him so much that you probably dedicated yourself to him and got baptized. If not, perhaps you are thinking of doing this in the near future. But your progress does not end at baptism. You can keep drawing closer to Jehovah forever. How?

1. Why should you continue to strengthen your friendship with Jehovah?

We must work hard to continue strengthening our friendship with Jehovah. Why? “So that we never drift away” from him. (Hebrews 2:1)

[Quotation] Hebrews 2:1 That is why it is necessary for us to pay more than the usual attention to the things we have heard, so that we never drift away. [End Quotation]

What can help us to keep serving Jehovah faithfully? We can stay busy in the preaching work and look for other ways to serve our God more fully. (Read Philippians 3:16)

[Read scripture] Philippians 3:16: At any rate, to the extent we have made progress, let us go on walking orderly in this same course. [End of Read scripture]

Serving Jehovah is the best way of life!

[Quotation] Psalm 84:10 For a day in your courtyards is better than a thousand anywhere else! I choose to stand at the threshold of the house of my God Rather than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. [End Quotation]

2. What else should you continue to do?

Although this Bible course is now ending, your life as a Christian will continue. The Bible says we need to “put on the new personality.” ( Ephesians 4:23 and 24)

[Quotation] Ephesians 4:23 and 24 And you should continue to be made new in your dominant mental attitude, 24 and should put on the new personality that was created according to God’s will in true righteousness and loyalty. [End Quotation]

As you continue studying God’s Word and attending congregation meetings, you will learn new things about Jehovah and his qualities. Look for ways to imitate his personality more closely in your life. Continue making any changes necessary to make Jehovah happy.

3. How will Jehovah help you make progress?

The Bible says: “God . . . will himself finish your training. He will make you firm, he will make you strong, he will firmly ground you.” (1 Peter 5:10) All of us face temptations. But Jehovah gives us what we need in order to resist them. (Psalm 139:23 and 24)

[Quotation] Psalm 139:23 and 24: Search through me, O God, and know my heart. Examine me, and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See whether there is in me any harmful way, And lead me in the way of eternity. [End Quotation]

He promises to give you both the desire and the power to serve him faithfully. Read Philippians 2:13.

[Read scripture] Philippians 2:13: For God is the one who for the sake of his good pleasure energizes you, giving you both the desire and the power to act. [End of Read scripture]

Dig Deeper

Consider how you can continue to make progress and how Jehovah will bless you.

4. Keep communicating with your best Friend

Prayer and Bible study have helped you to become Jehovah’s friend. How can those activities help you draw even closer to him?

Read Psalm 62:8, and then discuss the question that follows:

[Read scripture] Psalm 62:8: Trust in him at all times, O people. Pour out your hearts before him. God is a refuge for us. [End of Read scripture]

To strengthen your friendship with Jehovah, how can you improve the quality of your prayers?

Read Psalm 1:2 and footnote, and then discuss the question that follows:

[Read scripture] Psalm 1:2: But his delight is in the law of Jehovah, And he reads His law in an undertone * day and night. [Footnote] Or “he meditates on His law.” [End of footnote] [End of Read scripture]

To strengthen your friendship with Jehovah, how can you improve your Bible reading?

How can you make your personal study more meaningful?

To see some ideas, play the video Improve Your Personal Study (5:22), and then discuss the questions that follow.

[Disclaimer: The following video is created by Watchtower Bible and Tract Society; however, the audio description has been added by independent blind and sighted volunteers to assist those who are blind or have low vision]

[Click for Transcript]|[Improve Your Personal Study]
[A finger carefully scans each line in an open Bible. Turning his hands in a circular motion, a brother explains]
Brother 1: The more you study, the more you understand Jehovah. The more you understand Jehovah, the more you love him.
[On a tablet]
Sister 1: Jehovah clearly tells us: My thoughts are not your thoughts. So, if we want to understand Jehovah’s thinking better, we need to dig deep in our study, and then we share those thoughts with others.
[Teaching a Bible student]
Sister 2: Personal study is like fuel that keeps you going.
[She jots notes during Bible reading]
Brother 2: Personally, I’m not a good student, but I really learned how to study the Bible. The Bible came alive during Gilead.
[He reads outside]
Sister 2: Self-discipline is involved, very much.
Sister 3: I overcome the tiredness aspect of Bible study by not doing it at a time of day when I know I’m going to be tired. I can be tired for other things later on, but not for that.
[Sitting on a sofa, she reads]
Brother 1: Each session of my Bible study begins with a prayer, ‘Please help me recognize it is counsel for me, and then give me the strength to work on it.’
[Colored tabs]
Sister 4: I have a color-coded system, so I know what certain things stand for.
Brother 1: I have a particular color for Jehovah’s good hand in people’s lives; I have another color for warning examples; I have another for fine examples to imitate.
[He highlights digitally]
Brother 3: Study and meditation work together. Study helps us to acquire information. And meditation empowers us to put that information into practice.
[He shows a scripture to a store clerk]
Brother 2: You have to get behind the information, not just focus on one verse or one chapter. See who’s involved, the time, the conditions, how many people are there, and then you’ll get the true meaning of the verse.
[Surrounded by study aids, he reads]
Sister 3: John 1:1, who is the Word?
[She taps around on her tablet]
We can go to verse 18. Begotten meant he had a beginning, a time when he started, when he began, in heaven with his Father. That’s where he was.
Sister 4: Philippians 4:6, 7 is a scripture that I’ve read many times over. The peace of God that excels all thought. OK, how do you get that?
[She meditates]
It’s from having a good relationship with Jehovah. How is it that God’s peace ‘guards your heart’? By means of Christ Jesus our Lord. And I said: Why by Jesus? Because Jesus paid the ransom; that ransom is what makes possible a relationship with Jehovah. So, it almost goes full circle.
[She writes notes at a desk]
Brother 3: During my personal study, I tried to identify principles. To do this, I tried to look behind the commandment. For instance, at Matthew 28:19, 20, Jesus commanded us to go and make disciples. Behind this commandment, I find this principle of loving our neighbor. Using this principle helped me to preach to all sorts of people, regardless of their gender, race, or nationality.
[Preaching to an African woman.]
Brother 4: I attended a School for Congregation Elders that had Gilead graduates as instructors.
[In a classroom, Gilead students raised their hands]
One of the methods is to analyse a certain Bible account from different perspectives. We can’t see the whole picture from one angle.
Sister 3: I share my research results with Bible students, and that helps them to know Jehovah better, and it helps them to see that what they’re studying is of practical value.
[She explains to a student]
Brother 1: I had studied up on Jacob; he wrestled all night with an angel. And I wanted to share it with some of my friends.
[Painting of Jacob]
One of the brothers that happened to sit around when this discussion was going on came back to me, and he said to me: ‘I had concluded my arrangements to quit full-time service. But after listening to that discussion, I’ve decided that I’m no longer stopping.’
[The brother confides in him]
And that was such a wonderful moment for me.
[With a wide smile]
I thanked Jehovah.
Sister 4: When I learned that I was going to become a mom, I said, Jehovah, if this little one could love you, then I’ll get to keep him forever. Then I began to teach everything I was learning to him.
[Studies with her young son]
Sister 2: So, it’s a matter of keeping my faith strong, and there’s no shortcut.
Preaching to two men]
Brother 1: Every session of study that is properly done with good meditation adds a new pillar to the strength of our faith.
[Contemplating, he looks up]
Sister 4: I look forward to those times when I can, you know, run upstairs by myself, and just shut everything off, and it’s just me and Jehovah.
[The sister prays in her room]
Sister 1: Life today is very unpredictable, but I’ve come to see that as long as I keep a tight grip on God’s Word, nothing can separate [me] from God’s love.
[The sister walks with two women in an African village]
(Logo: Black capital letters JW.ORG inside a white box. Copyright 2018 Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania) [Click to close]

Which of the suggestions in the video could you apply?

What topics would you like to study?

5. Set spiritual goals

Having goals in Jehovah’s service will help you to continue making progress. Play the video The Best Life Ever (3:31), and then discuss the question that follows.

[Click for Transcript]|[The Best Life Ever]
[In a wooded area, two young women wearing life vests walk towards a canoe on the bank of a river]
Cameron: When we’re growing up, we all have to make decisions.
[In a canoe, they start down the river]
We all have to choose which path we will take.
[One of the women, Cameron, joyfully smiles. Text: What your peers say. The best life ever. Photos of the little blonde girl with her parents]
My parents raised me as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
[In the ministry]
Our ministry, teaching others about the Bible, has always been an important part of my life. When I was a teenager, I wanted to expand my ministry, to take it to the next level.
[She eats with her service partner]
There are friends in my local congregation who had gone to foreign countries and helped teach people the Bible.
[She reads a yearbook]
Reading experiences from the Yearbook motivated me that that was a goal that I wanted to set for myself.
[She pins up a map]
After a few years of careful planning and saving,
[An airplane]
I was finally able to travel to Malawi.
[On the map, she pins a string from the U.S. to Africa. Zebras are shown]
The people there had such a high respect for the Bible. You could talk to someone walking down the street or living in a small house, or even a mansion. And all were interested in what the Bible had to say.
[Five children are shown gathered around a Bible publication]
This one time in Malawi, one of the workers invited us in.
[They enter the large home]
Then the head of the house invited all the workers and family members, came into the living room, sat down, and he said, OK, what would you like to tell us from the Bible? And I’m just sitting there like, Wow! This is incredible.
[A woman splits wood with an axe. Cameron shares a scripture with a woman by a clothesline]
It was so encouraging to be able to share Bible truths.
[They nod and laugh as the woman holds the open Bible]
Some days you’d be out for 12 hours, riding home on the bus,
[She pays the driver]
dust coming in the windows, sharing a seat with four people,
[Dusty road]
even sometimes a chicken would be on your lap. You’d get off the bus, and you’d have to walk two miles home, and you’re just exhausted, but you couldn’t help but have a grin on your face because you felt like you accomplished something that day and that you were doing the best work you could possibly do.
[She walks down the road as the sun sets. Back in the US she walks across a creek with her friends]
It wasn’t easy leaving home, learning a new language, or even a new culture. But because of those experiences, it taught me to rely more on Jehovah.
[Sun shines over the Rocky Creek. Cameron emerges with her friends from the woods to a clearing]
Sometimes when we’re younger, we kind of get really involved in whatever environment we’re in.
[Laughing she hugs and greets friends. Friends fix plates of burgers and veggies]
When you step outside of that box and you experience something that you’ve never handled before,
[Throwing a soccer ball]
it helps you to grow as a person and serve Jehovah in ways you never thought were possible.
[Friends in Malawi throwing a soccer ball. Thousands of young Jehovah's Witnesses have volunteered to teach the Bible in distant lands]
My name is Cameron. I’m one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. And I have the best life ever.
[Cameron peacefully smiles, as she stands at a bridge looking out at nature. Then she adjusts her backpack strap over her shoulder and walks into the distance]
(Logo: Black capital letters JW.ORG inside a white box. Copyright 2014 Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania) [Click to close]

In this video, how did Cameron benefit from setting spiritual goals?

Not everyone can move to preach in another land. However, we can all set reasonable goals. Read Proverbs 21:5, and then consider what goals you would like to set ...

in the congregation.

in the field ministry.

[Read scripture] Proverbs 21:5: The plans of the diligent surely lead to success, But all who are hasty surely head for poverty. [End of Read scripture]

How can the principle in the verse help you to reach your goals?

[Box] Goals to Consider

Improve the quality of your prayers.

Read the entire Bible.

Get to know everyone in your congregation.

Start and conduct a Bible study.

Serve as an auxiliary pioneer or a regular pioneer.

If you are a brother, reach out to become a ministerial servant. [End of box]

6. Enjoy life forever!

Read Psalm 22:26, and then discuss the question that follows:

[Read scripture] Psalm 22:26: The meek will eat and be satisfied; Those seeking Jehovah will praise him. May you enjoy life forever. [End of Read scripture]

What can you do to enjoy life now and forever?

[Image:] People living on a paradise earth.

Summary

Continue to strengthen your friendship with Jehovah and to set spiritual goals. Then you can enjoy life forever!

Review

Why can you be confident that Jehovah will help you to serve him faithfully?

How can you strengthen your friendship with Jehovah?

How can spiritual goals help you to progress?

Long-Term Goal.

Read the books Draw Close to Jehovah and “Come Be My Follower.” These publications will help you to continue making progress and drawing closer to your heavenly Father and his Son.

Explore

What does Jehovah value more, one dramatic act of devotion or a lifetime of faithfulness to him? Be Faithful Like Abraham (9:20)

[Click for transcript]|[Coming soon] [Click to close]

Even a faithful servant of Jehovah may lose joy. See how to regain it. Regain Joy Through Study and Meditation (5:25)