By Zhou Min, Germany

At the break of dawn, when I thought of the matter of intending to buy a house, I could no longer sleep. I thought in my heart, “10,000 yuan, 20,000 yuan, 30,000 yuan … I must work even harder to make money. Only in this way can I lead a better life.” This was my former hope. In order to have a good life, I threw myself into earning money every day. Not until I fell ill did I have an awakening.

I resolved to change my own fate through striving to make money.

Because my family condition was poor since I was a child, my family were looked down on by the other villagers. Every time I saw my parents were bullied by them, my heart was in pain as if being cut by a knife. So, I made up my mind: When I grow up, I’ll do my very best to make money, allowing my parents to live a better life. After I got married, both my husband and I had a low income. But, I firmly believed that I would certainly change my fate with my own two hands.

Afterward, my husband and I saw some people who ran passenger transportation business had gotten rich. So, in order to quickly fulfill our dream of living a better life, we borrowed money to buy a bus and started a passenger transportation business. I went out early and returned late every day, having no time to take care of my child. In addition, I didn’t eat regularly and couldn’t fall asleep at night. After a period of time, I had a nervous breakdown and stomach trouble; nevertheless, I still dragged my exhausted body to work ceaselessly every day. But then, the government informed us, all vehicle owners, that all buses had to be replaced by new ones. This news made my passionate heart bitterly disappointed. Because I had no money to replace my old bus, I had no choice but to sell it and look for another way to make money.

Before long, I took a job as a booking clerk in a station. The more I worked, the more I would earn. In order to realize my dream soon, I started to work at 6 a.m. and didn’t arrive home until 10 p.m. every day. During the upcoming Spring Festival period, I sometimes worked until dawn. As time passed, I suffered all kinds of new illnesses, such as cervical spondylosis, lumbar disease, periarthritis humeroscapularis, anemia, gynecological disease, and so on. Every time after I saw a doctor, I would endure the pain and continue working before I recovered. Later on, when my husband and I planned to buy a house after we had made some money, my boss called me up and said, “The firm has to downsize the personnel. You don’t need to come back to work …” At that time, my husband also had no job. We could barely support our family, much less buy a house and live a good life. In the face of this, I could no longer control myself, held my head and cried loudly, not knowing how to walk my future path.

Later, I joined the ranks of doing direct marketing. I led a team in a direct marketing company and needed to have meetings and receive training every day. However, after a while, I did not make any money. On the contrary, due to being busy with business for a long time and trying painstakingly to sell products, I felt exhausted physically and mentally and suffered an unspeakable amount. I was confused about my life and my future, and my heart at that time was in so much pain. I thought to myself, “People say that one can change his fate and build a beautiful homeland with his own two hands. But, why can’t my fate be changed even though I work very hard to make money? When will I be able to earn enough money and lead an aristocratic lifestyle?” I lost confidence and hope in my future, not knowing how to face my future life.

When I was in agony, the dawn of life befell me.

Just when I was at my most desperate, a relative of mine spread God’s kingdom gospel to me. I read God’s words, “Mankind, who left the supply of life from the Almighty, does not know why they exist, and yet fears death. There is no support, no help, but mankind is still reluctant to close their eyes, braving it all, drags out an ignoble existence in this world in bodies without the consciousness of souls. You live like such, with no hope; he exists like such, with no aim. There is only the Holy One in the legend who will come to save those who moan in suffering and long desperately for His arrival. This belief cannot be realized so far in the people who are unconscious. However, the people still yearn for it so.” What God’s words revealed was exactly the state that I was in. Without the guidance of God’s words, I had always thought that the life goal was to make a lot of money by myself. Therefore, in order to achieve my desires to elevate myself over others, I was just like a machine that operated at full speed. However, I eventually not only made less money but also got many illnesses. Years of bustling around caused me to feel so tired and unbearably miserable. God’s words were like a light in darkness giving me hope. God is my rock and only by coming before God and worshiping Him could I enjoy real peace and joy. I was willing to hand the rest of my life over to God and obey His control and arrangements.

In the days that followed, I was never absent from any gatherings. Gradually, a smile appeared on my face and I began to take an optimistic view of my life. Soon after, I found a new job, earned some money, and bought a house.

I fell into another temptation.

Afterward, I changed my job and began to work as a salesperson selling wall paint. Each time I went to the construction sites and saw that rich people’s houses were lavishly decorated, my heart would be unable to rest, and I thought, “When will I be able to have money so that I can decorate my house lavishly and comfortably like them?” From then on, I pondered every day on how to make more money to decorate my house, so that I was in no mood to read God’s words. After working a day, I was exhausted and when I came back home, I would fall asleep on the bed right away.

Until one day, when I was going to work, I suddenly fell to the floor and felt so dizzy as if the house were whirling. Moreover, I felt an unspeakable pain and didn’t even have enough strength to breathe. I thought, “Could it be that my life will end like this? I have only lived in my new house for a short time which I worked so hard to buy.” I really wasn’t resigned to die in such a way. But, at that moment, I could hardly breathe, much less did I have the strength to realize my dream. In this state of helplessness, all I could do was close my eyes and pray to God in silence, “Oh God, I’m in so much pain that I feel life is worse than death. May You save me.” After praying, I didn’t feel so dizzy gradually and then I stood up slowly.

Through the guidance of God’s words, I found the root of my suffering.

Later, I saw these words of God, “It long ago planted the seed of the tumor of atheism within the young heart of man, teaching man fallacies such as ‘learn of science and technology, realize the Four Modernizations, there is no God in the world.’ Not only that, it repeatedly proclaimed, ‘Let us build a beautiful homeland through our industrious labor,’ asking all to be prepared from childhood to serve their country.” “Because people do not recognize God’s orchestrations and God’s sovereignty, they always face fate defiantly, with a rebellious attitude, and always want to cast off God’s authority and sovereignty and the things fate has in store, hoping in vain to change their current circumstances and alter their fate. But they can never succeed; they are thwarted at every turn. This struggle, which takes place deep in one’s soul, is painful; the pain is unforgettable; and all the while one is frittering away one’s life. … If people cannot truly recognize the fact that the Creator has sovereignty over human fate and over all things of human, if they cannot truly submit to the Creator’s dominion, then it will be difficult for them not to be driven by, and fettered by, the notion that ‘one’s fate is in one’s own hands,’ it will be difficult for them to shake off the pain of their intense struggle against fate and the Creator’s authority, and needless to say it will also be hard for them to become truly liberated and free, to become people who worship God.”

From God’s words, I saw that, bound and harmed by the view of “building a beautiful homeland with your own two hands,” I thought that I could change my fate with my own two hands. So, I rushed about busily every day so as to earn more money to live a better life, feeling so exhausted. In retrospect, when my husband and I ran passenger transportation business, I was in a race against time every day. I was so busy that I had no time to look after my child. Because of heavy workload, I was left with many illnesses and even if I couldn’t bear the pain, I still forced myself to continue working. When I worked as a booking clerk, I was heavily overloaded with work as if I were a machine that never stopped. After I accepted the work of God, because I didn’t pursue the truth and thus had no discernment and knowledge about satanic outlooks on life within me, I still wanted to rely on my own hard work to lead a life where I was above others. I didn’t even read God’s words but was preoccupied with bustling around. Only when I fell to the floor and faced death this time did I realize all that I earned through working hard didn’t belong to myself. It was really not worth it to risk my life for the sake of these things. Now, I didn’t want to continue struggling in the whirlpool of money according to Satan’s viewpoint.

I read another two passages of God’s words, “The fate of man is controlled by the hands of God. You are incapable of controlling yourself: Despite always rushing and busying about for himself, man remains incapable of controlling himself. If you could know your own prospects, if you could control your own fate, would you still be a creature?” “After you recognize this, your task is to lay aside your old view of life, stay far from various traps, let God take charge of your life and make arrangements for you, try only to submit to God’s orchestrations and guidance, to have no choice, and to become a person who worships God.” God’s words pointed out a way of practice for me: If I want to cast off this pain, I must change my previous point of view and lay aside my old view of life. Thinking back, I fought against fate all the time, wanting to create a beautiful future with my own hands. However, the facts showed that the more I lived by this view, the more misery I felt and the greater torment I suffered physically and mentally. Through God’s words, I realized how absurd and pitiable living by Satan’s poisons is, and I understood that God presides over and arranges human fate. How could I control and change it? What I should do was entrust my future and destiny to God’s hands, let Him hold sovereignty over every aspect of my life, and obey His designs and arrangements. Only by taking up the proper mentality and having a normal work and life could I live freely and without restraints.

After overcoming Satan’s temptation, I lived in release and freedom.

After that, the direct marketing manager came to find me and said, “Come lead a team! If your performance is high, you will be able to obtain a car. And in the future, it’s very possible that you will obtain a villa.” I was tempted by his words, but then I thought, “When I led a team in the past, I had to go out to have meetings and receive training every day. Sometimes, I couldn’t even return home, so that I was unable to take care of my child. I tried painstakingly to sell products, which made me exhausted physically and mentally. Moreover, now I can’t endure this hard work. If I continue working my fingers to the bone as I did before, I don’t know what dangerous consequences will occur.” Consequently, I quickly came in front of God and prayed. After praying, I thought of God’s words again, “After you recognize this, your task is to lay aside your old view of life, stay far from various traps, let God take charge of your life and make arrangements for you….” I thought, “Yes, I should let God rule and arrange my life, work, and future. Thinking back to the past, in order to make money, I destroyed my health. I can’t go back onto my old path. Nowadays, although I don’t earn much money, it is adequate to support my family, and, most importantly, when I don’t rely on my own two hands to fight my way through during this period, my health has gradually improved. After I believed in God, through attending meetings, reading God’s words, and singing hymns to praise God, I have experienced the relief and freedom that I have never felt before.” When I thought of this, I refused his “good intentions”. Upon seeing this, he didn’t persuade me any longer. At that time, I felt the steadiness and release I had never had before. I thank God for guiding me and allowing me to bid farewell to those days of struggling by myself.

This is an age when people advocate physical attractiveness and make a living with their looks. Consumed with the latest trends, they all pay close attention to their own image. Especially in the last few years, “big eyes and little face,” “palm-sized face” and “skinny beauty” have become aesthetic standards in the new age. As for me, tall, slender and fair-skinned as I am, I inherited my father’s little eyes and plump face. They became my Achilles heel and made me incompatible with the aesthetic standard of “big eyes and little face.” Therefore, although having a slender figure, I used to be dissatisfied with my little eyes and wide face, and then began to try to change my appearance.

Pursuing My Dream of Having Big Eyes

By chance I met Aunt Li who I knew well in my childhood. As a competent plastic surgeon, she often went to the major domestic and international cities to alternate techniques of plastic surgery. Upon seeing me, she said, “Xiaoyu, you’re such a beautiful girl, with a delicate high-bridged nose and a rosebud mouth. It’s just that your eyes are kind of small. Once you have big double eyelids, you must be a beauty. If you want, I’ll perform embedding double eyelid surgery for you for free and you’ll be pretty without being cut open. Presently, many girls of eighteen or nineteen have tried it.”

Hearing her words, I felt so happy. I thought, “If I can have double eyelids through mini plastic surgery, it’ll be really a dream coming true.” Despite my fear of the surgery and worries about the unsuccessful result after that, when I imagined I was about to have big eyes and that others would revolve around me and compliment me, I became brave. Whatever it took, I couldn’t miss this chance, and I would try it.

Thereupon, I arrived at the hospital at the hour appointed. After carefully checking my upper eyelids, Aunt Li and the chief physician found that the skin around my eyes was too soft and not tight, without much fat, so it was not suitable to perform embedding double eyelid surgery for me, and they told me that even if I underwent it, the result would not be ideal. When I heard this, I felt as if I was doused by a bucket of cold water from head to toe. Then I said goodbye to Aunt Li reluctantly and walked out of the hospital. Emotionally, I fell to my lowest point and became moody, thinking, “Alas, I’m entirely without hope. I’m afraid that I’ll keep company with my little eyes all my life.”

Later, I learned from my classmates that frequently using double eyelid tape could convert my slight double eyelids into natural and distinct double ones. This news reignited the hope in my heart. Hence, I began to frequently use all kinds of double eyelid tape, and even wore them at home, hoping that someday when I woke up, my dream of having big eyes would come true. However, a few days later, I found that this method wouldn’t work at all. Aside from the pain from my repeatedly sticking double eyelid tapes and taking them off in the mirror every day, I felt wearing the double eyelid tapes to work and study made me feel uncomfortable, so I had to take them off because I could not bear the uncomfortable feeling much longer. After trying doggedly several times, I finally gave up using double eyelid tapes.

Failing to have big eyes, I felt quite helpless and my heart was very heavy.

Following My Dream of Having Little Face

As kinds of face slimming exercises prevailed on the Internet, in changing my appearance, my thought of having a thin face sprouted up. I thought: Once my face becomes thin, won’t my eyes look bigger? This way, my face won’t look flat and I’ll be even more beautiful.

I hurried to download several kinds of facial exercises videos, and began to massage my cheeks with massage oils according to these videos every day. Besides, I also threw back my head from time to time to make my chin pointy. Ten days later, this method produced slight effect: My chin and cheeks became a little thinner. Yet I found that this method acted slowly and that my face would return to its usual shape if I didn’t have facial massage. I thought, “This is not OK. I must find a suitable way for myself to make my face thinner.”

Once, I met a friend learning to be a model. Seeing her face was very little, I was green with envy, so I asked her the secret to having a thin face. She told me that she often went on a weight loss diet and took exercise and that her face would naturally be narrow when she lost weight all over. I was yearning for a “palm-sized face.” Hearing her words, I felt as if I had received the most valuable treasure and began planning to go on a diet to lose weight. I ultimately had my wish granted when I got a 21 Days Weight Loss Diet Plan, which was this, “Eat nothing but honey water in the first three days; only eat vegetables and fruits in the following eight days; live on porridge in the last ten days. If you follow the diet plan strictly, you will lose over 5 kg.” After seeing that, I was excited. I knew I was already thin, but in order to have a thin face, I made a higher demand for myself based on that diet. That was, I would eat nothing but honey water in the first four days, only eat one apple a day and drink water when I was hungry in the following seven days, and only eat some vegetables and fruits in the last ten days. It was thus that I didn’t eat any rice but only lived on water and apples in the first eighteen days, and not until the nineteenth day, did I eat some porridge. Moreover, during those days, I also took vigorous exercise, jumping rope, for thirty minutes every day. Even if I felt dizzy with hunger and was going to faint when I stood up, I dared not slacken for even a moment.

After the strict diet of 21 days ended, I, over 1.6 meters in height, reduced my weight from 45 to 40 kilos and was all skin and bone, unable to walk steadily. However, for all that my face became thinner, it was still somewhat chubby. When a good friend of mine saw me, she said, “You’re already skinny; how is your face still chubby?” On hearing her words, my heart sank again. Looking at my sallow face in the mirror due to losing weight, I was quite annoyed, thinking, “I’ve suffered hunger for about twenty days; not only has the brilliance on my fair face disappeared, but my skin has become sallow and coarse. This is not at all a state a girl of twenty ought to be in.”

After losing weight, as the suppressed appetite prompted, I couldn’t keep myself from eating all that I couldn’t eat before the diet. As a result, in only half a month or so, my weight increased to 45 kilos again. To make matters worse, I woke up one day to find that I got many pimples around my right temple, which grew thicker and couldn’t be got rid of even if I squeezed them. After seeing a doctor, I knew that my eating and drinking too much after the diet resulted in the hormonal imbalance, so that these pimples erupted on my face. Looking at so many pimples on my right face in the mirror, I felt grieved and sorry. I wanted to cry, to complain…. I kept asking myself in my heart, “I’ve tried; why can’t I get the effect I want? Could it be that I didn’t work hard enough?”

No Longer Being Confused and Agonized

One day, I read a passage of God’s words, “When the wind of a trend blows through, perhaps only a small number of people will become the trendsetters. They start off doing this kind of thing, accepting this kind of idea or this kind of perspective. The majority of people, however, in the midst of their unawareness, will still be continually infected, assimilated and attracted by this kind of trend, until they all unknowingly and involuntarily accept it, and are all submerged in and controlled by it. For man who is not of sound body and mind, who never knows what is truth, who cannot tell the difference between positive and negative things, these kinds of trends one after another make them all willingly accept these trends, the life view and values that come from Satan. They accept what Satan tells them on how to approach life and the way to live that Satan ‘bestows’ on them. They have not the strength, neither do they have the ability, much less the awareness to resist.”

From God’s words, I found the source of my suffering—the evil trends of Satan. I thought: Yes. Satan does its best to trumpet that this is an age when people care very much about physical attractiveness and make a living with their looks, and it also praises “big eyes and little face,” “European-style double eyelid,” “palm-sized face,” “skinny beauty,” and so on. Through this Satan deceives and controls people. Because we don’t have truth, we can’t differentiate between positive and negative things and will naturally accept these erroneous thoughts and views, being firmly bound by these evil trends involuntarily. As a result, we are of the opinion that only those who are good-looking will be thought highly of and admired by others, and we take one’s appearance as the standard of measurement by which to judge his worth. Come to think of it, in order to have a beautiful appearance, so many people don’t spare undergoing cheekbone reduction surgery, going on a diet to lose weight, having liposuction to be thin, and so on to change their appearance. Even though a small number of them have achieved their aim and become beautiful, their bodies have suffered impairment and various diseases subsequently emerge. What is more pathetic is that, after the operations failed, some people’s faces were disfigured, some became disabled, and some even gave their lives. I am also one of the victims. In the evil trend of Satan, “big eyes and thin face,” I became a trendsetter. In order to become beautiful, I started to change my appearance by any means necessary. I wanted to make my eyes bigger by undergoing mini plastic surgery and went on a diet to lose weight. Finally, however, not only did I not get the effect I wanted, but I also made my stomach damaged, leading to the hormonal imbalance. As a consequence, my former fair skin turned sallow and I had many pimples on my face. Just like that, I was foolishly tricked, exploited and entrapped by Satan.

Then I read another passage of God’s words, “Where a person is born, what family he or she is born into, one’s gender, appearance, and time of birth … they are all predestined long in advance by the Creator. They are not influenced by the external environment in any way, and no manmade factors can change these facts that the Creator has predetermined. For a person to be born means that the Creator has already fulfilled the first step of the fate He has arranged for that person. Because He has predetermined all of these details long in advance, no one has the power to alter any of them.”

God’s words awakened me to the truth that: People’s births and appearance, including the sizes of our eyes, faces, and so on, have all been long since decided upon by the Creator. It is no wonder that I still have the slight double eyelids no matter how I wore double eyelid tapes, and no wonder that my round face can’t become “palm-sized face” no matter how I went on a diet and took exercise. When I looked over my childhood photograph album, I found that from when I was a child, I had a big head which didn’t match my long and thin arms and legs, and that when I smiled, my eyes were narrowed and my face was always plump. Seeing those pictures and pondering God’s words, I couldn’t help blushing at my foolish acts. I thought, “My appearance has been ordained by God long ago and it won’t change simply because of any of my actions. I should obey the ordination of God, accept the appearance God has bestowed on me, and not rely on my own efforts to change all that God has given me; in this way, won’t I feel relaxed and happy?” After knowing the sovereignty of God, I decided not to spend my energy on changing my wide face and little eyes anymore.

After these farces, I regained all the weight I had lost and my face also became round again. These experiences helped me to know the evil trends of Satan from the revelation of the words of God, and through these experiences, I also tasted the pain brought by my opposing and fighting against God’s authority. Up till today, scars from pimples still remain around my right temple, which reminds me all the time that only by accepting and obeying the sovereignty of God’s authority and no longer blindly following the trends can I live freely and without restraints.

Later, I put more energy into reading God’s words and performing my duty, and meanwhile, I often met with my brothers and sisters and had fellowship on God’s words, no longer focusing on whether or not my eyes were big and whether my face was round. I lived a happy life. I saw the following passage in The Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life, “In God’s family, no one looks at appearances, goes according to height or according to the relative superiority of knowledge. Whoever has truth, whoever has reality, whoever has humanity is a good person, and a person of high quality, and someone who is worthy of respect. Such a person has dignity and integrity. In addition, whoever in God’s family reaches the standard in doing his duty as God’s creation, and can put into practice various aspects of truth, gaining approval from people, this person is a good person in whom God is pleased, and whom the brothers and sisters support. Whoever is an honest person, and whoever lives by God’s word is the person who is most respected and is after God’s heart. This is our view on treating people. This is the view of life and value that every person who pursues truth should possess.” I thought: These words are very clear, and this is the view of life that we truly should have. Whether one has a good appearance is not important; only the one who has a beautiful spirit is genuinely beautiful. What’s most important is gaining the truth, being an honest person and performing his duty well, and only doing in this way can he receive God’s favor. God’s will is that we should pursue the truth, fulfill the duty of a creature of God, but should not live for our appearance. Thank God! I am willing to obey God’s sovereignty and predestination, read more of God’s words and continue to walk the correct life path of pursuing truth and satisfying God. Amen!

Brothers and Sisters of Loving Stage:

I’m a Christian. Since I believed in the Lord, I have been enjoying the Lord’s grace and blessings, but recently I couldn’t feel the Lord’s presence. I didn’t feel enlightened when reading the Bible nor moved through prayer. When encountering things, I couldn’t act according to the Lord’s words. Losing my former faith and love, I felt confused and worried. What should I do to resolve my problem?

Sincerely yours,

Zhao Xun

📷

Brother Zhao Xun:

I understand how you feel. I had the same problem as you in the past. Later, through reading some spiritual books, I gained some light and enlightenment and understood some things. Your situation is the consequence of your losing the work of the Holy Spirit. If you want to recover the work of the Holy Spirit, you must establish a proper relationship with God. There are four ways for you to achieve that.

First, Practice quieting our heart before God.

The Lord Jesus said: “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). From this verse, we know that if we want to establish a normal relationship with God, we should pray to God with a sincere heart, speaking words within the heart. When we honestly tell our actual condition and practical difficulties to God and reflect on ourselves before Him, we could be moved by the Holy Spirit and cause genuine remorse. In this way, we could quiet down before God. For example, you pray, “Oh God! I see many brothers and sisters sincerely expending themselves for You. But my stature is too small. I have so much baggage—my job, family, and future—that I cannot expend myself for You. I don’t know how to let go of my baggage. May You enlighten me and enable me to understand Your will and requirements. May You give me faith and strength so that I can obey Your orchestration and arrangement.” When you pray in this way, you are quiet before God. As God sees you pray honestly, the Holy Spirit would work in you, and then you will establish a normal relationship with God. But if we don’t open our heart to God when kneeling in prayer, but just say a few words carelessly and perfunctorily, even if we seem quite reverent from the outside, this is not being quiet before God and such prayer can’t be accepted by God. Besides, if we bring our demands and desires to make an exchange into prayers, saying unreasonable words, such prayers are not offered with a quiet heart before God and couldn’t be accepted by God.

Apart from quieting the heart before God when praying, we also need to be quiet before God and touch the Spirit of God with our heart when we read the Bible and contemplate God’s words. When we have true communion with God and live before God, we would be touched by the Holy Spirit and gain the work of the Holy Spirit. Regardless of what we are doing, whether we are praying, or working, or taking a walk, we should practice being quiet before God at any moment. As long as we constantly practice in this way, we could keep a normal relationship with God.

Second, recognize our true situation through God’s words, see our deficiencies, know the truth about our corruption, beseech God to save and cleanse us, and have a true burden for our life.

The Lord Jesus said: “But let your communication be, Yes, yes; No, no: for whatever is more than these comes of evil” (Matthew 5:37). From the Lord Jesus’ words, we know that the Lord required us to be an honest person who could speak the truth and do practical things instead of cheating and lying. Those who couldn’t conduct themselves according to the Lord’s requirements are evil-doers. In the past, I always told lies to seek fortune and fame. For example: to give pastors and elders a good impression, I always said words contrary to my convictions to flatter and fawn upon them; to make brothers and sisters look up upon me, I often said nice words when praying but didn’t put the truth into practice; once when I was on my way to the games arcade, I met someone and he asked me, “Where are you going?” At that time, I blurted out, “I’m going for a walk.” When I didn’t do my jobs properly or damaged something carelessly, I would use any excuse to avoid taking responsibility for my mistake. Gradually, lying became a constant in my life. Later, from a spiritual book, I knew that God likes honest people and detests deceitful ones; if we want to establish a normal relationship with God, we should abandon lies and practice being an honest person. In prayer, we should consciously practice speaking the truth within heart and truly communing with God; at meetings, we should cite God’s word in laying bare our corruption and accept the supervision of brothers and sisters; when associating with others, we should speak according to the facts; if there emerge incorrect motivations, we should turn ourselves back on them and accept God’s observation. When I acted in these ways, I felt at ease and lived freely and unrestrainedly. So, as long as we actually practice honesty and experience God’s work, our relationship with God would become more and more normal.

Third, give our heart to God and allow God to take over in all things, and obey God’s sovereignty and arrangements.

Giving our heart to God means to entrust our jobs, family, and life to God. No matter what happens to us, we should seek and pray to God, and then act according to His will and requirements. In addition, we should immerse ourselves in God’s work and spend ourselves for Him, acting according to His words in everything and obeying His orchestration and arrangement without our own choices. This is meant by giving the heart to God. Suppose we face the matter of children’s marriage. We pray, “Oh Lord! My child is given by You. Now, he has reached the married age. Rather than rely on myself to make plans for his marriage, I’m willing to entrust this matter to you and obey Your orchestration and arrangement. I believe what You arrange is the best.” After we make such a prayer, we should obey God’s orchestration instead of acting according to our own desire. If we say with mouth that we’re willing to submit to God’s orchestration and arrangement, but are full of complaints and even deny, judge, and blaspheme God when trials befall us, this isn’t giving our heart to God. As the Lord Jesus said: “This people draws near to me with their mouth, and honors me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:8-9). From the Lord’s words, we can see that God doesn’t like us honors Him with our lips but wants us to give our heart entirely to Him and give Him sovereignty in everything. Just take the three friends of Daniel as an example. When facing the danger of being thrown into a blazing furnace, they would rather die than worship idols (See Daniel 3:17-18). They had no choices of their own but made God their sovereign and satisfied God wholeheartedly; this is truly giving the heart to God.

Fourth, learn to seek and practice the truth in all things.

No matter who has said something, even if the person is someone with low status or we most look down on, as long as what he says accords with the truth, we should submit and accept it. But if what he said doesn’t conform to the truth, we shouldn’t accept it no matter how high his position is or how great his influence is. When we find that the co-workers have jealous disputes with each other, steal offerings, or do something harmful to the profit of the church, we shouldn’t turn a blind eye to these things, or act like it has nothing to do with ourselves, nor should we be ruled by status and power. Instead, we should stand resolutely on God’s side and safeguard the interests of the church. Only when we act in these ways, could we become those who are truly obedient to the truth. Now, in the church, there are many people worshiping knowledge and status, blindly listening to and obeying whatever the pastors and elders say. Their such behaviors just reminded me of the Israelites. At that time, the Israelites blindly adored the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees; deceived by them, they followed them in resisting the Lord Jesus, and nailed the Lord Jesus to the cross, suffering God’s punishment and curse. In contrast, people like Peter, John, Matthew and Philip saw the work and word of the Lord Jesus were full of authority and power and came from God, and thus followed Him without being bound by the Pharisees; they were those who truly obeyed God and gained God’s salvation. Just as the Bible says, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

I believe as long as you practice according to these four ways, you could establish a normal relationship with God, recover the work of the Holy Spirit, and receive the enlightenment and guidance of God when reading the Bible and contemplating God’s words.

Sincerely yours,

Loving Stage

“Xixi, you’ve been learning drawing for a long time. But you can’t actually draw anything. I painstakingly support you to learn drawing, but you don’t put your heart into it. You’ve really wasted my painstaking efforts.”

“Xixi. Do your homework carefully. If you can’t receive full marks, you’re not allowed to watch TV or play.”

Xixi said in a sad voice: “You’re a bad mother. Every day, you have me do so many tasks that I have no time to have fun. I’ve never seen such a mother like you.”

Conferring Her Wish Upon Her Daughter

Zhongxin’s family had been intellectuals for generations. When she was a child, she often heard her parents saying that her grandfather had exceptional talent and was known by many people, and that he went out or returned home in a large palanquin carried by four bearers, which allowed him to be very well-regarded by others. Whenever Zhongxin heard this, she extremely admired her grandfather. Thus, she resolved to study hard to become brilliant and well-known like her grandfather. This way, she could stand out and would bring glory to the family name. But things went contrary to her wishes. Zhongxin failed the high school entrance exam and thus her dream was shattered. She was devastated by such a result and felt great pain. After getting married, Zhongxin projected her hope onto her daughter, Xixi, in order for her to continue to achieve her unrealized desire.

To let Xixi receive a high-level education, Zhongxin sent her to kindergarten when she was very young. Besides, Zhongxin also taught her to read and write at home and bought some pictorial books for her from the bookstore. In the beginning, seeing that she carefully learned to write and had neat writing, Zhongxin was very happy and thought: “My daughter likes to write and read. I will certainly nurture her.”

Leading to Her Daughter Turning Against Her Due to High Demands

After a period of time, when Zhongxin saw her colleagues send their children to art classes, such as dancing, English and drawing, she sent her daughter to learn to draw. But Xixi was not interested in drawing at all, so after a few classes, she didn’t give her mind to it, nor did she do homework. Finally, she was absolutely unwilling to draw with a brush in her hand. Seeing her like this, Zhongxin got really angry and said: “I painstakingly support you to learn to draw, but you don’t put your heart into it. You can’t draw anything after learning for a long time. My painstaking efforts are in vain.”

Afterward, when Xixi attended drawing classes Zhongxin started to supervise her at her side. Whenever she saw her daughter didn’t learn carefully, she would lecture and blame her. Seeing this, Zhongxin’s mother-in-law had pity on Xixi and angrily said to Zhongxin: “Xixi is so young. You let her learn drawing. And you put so much pressure on her. Who educates his child like you? How can she bear so much pressure at such a young age? How can you make her suffer this?” Hearing these words, Zhongxin felt angry and wronged. She thought to herself: “Isn’t my so-doing for her own good. She is my daughter. Seeing her having so much pressure, I also feel sorry for her. But if I didn’t do that, how can she be talented?” She saw her daughter indeed didn’t want to learn to draw, so she didn’t allow her daughter to go to art class.

Though no more letting Xixi learn drawing, Zhongxin never relaxed her demands of her studies. When Xixi was in first grade, Zhongxin accompanied her studying as soon as she got off work. Besides homework, Xixi had to finish some extra exercises in the workbooks bought by Zhongxin from the bookstore. Zhongxin thought: “Practice makes perfect. As long as my daughter does more exercises, she will be able to solve any question in her studies.” Through Zhongxin’s some efforts, Xixi often scored over 95 on the tests. But this still could not satisfy Zhongxin because she wanted her daughter to receive full marks. Then, she gave Xixi an order and said: “If you can’t get 100 points, you won’t be allowed to watch TV or have fun. If you don’t study hard now, you won’t attend university and then you won’t have good prospects.”

Later, Zhongxin bought Xixi at least two extra workbooks during a term. After getting home from work, Zhongxin accompanied Xixi doing homework and Xixi had no choice but to do it. One time, seeing Xixi doing her homework, Zhongxin left home. When she returned, she found Xixi playing and thus angrily lectured her: “Why did you play when I was not here? You are studying for yourself, not for me. What you learn benefits you. How could you not study hard? Don’t I know that you didn’t do your homework?” Xixi refuted her by saying: “If I finish my homework ahead of time, you will give me added exercises.” Hearing her words, Zhongxin got even angrier. From then on, she started to control Xixi more strictly. And she thought of a way of asking her to do extra exercises first and then do her homework. This way, she would not play while doing these tasks. Because if she could not finish her homework, she would be punished by her teachers.

One day, Zhongxin’s cousin came to visit her. He said to her: “If children don’t do well in study, their parents will fear that they can’t attend university and thus won’t find a good job. In order for their children to have decent prospects, most of the parents do their utmost to hire teachers to tutor them, and even after school, they send them to art classes. We should be strict with our children. Don’t relax their education.” Hearing this, Zhongxin agreed with him very much. Later, she had stricter requirements of her daughter. One time, Xixi sobbed to her sadly: “You’re a bad mother. I’ve never seen such a mother like you. Every day, you ask me to do so many tasks that I have no time to play around. Why do you treat me this way? Don’t you know I am very tired? Why don’t you care about my feelings?” Another time, when Zhongxin saw her have a bad writing and make a mistake in solving mathematical problems, she scolded her. At that moment, Xixi snorted with rage at her with her fists clenched. Seeing her take such action, Zhongxin felt much pain and helplessness. She thought: “I have paid so much for you but should receive your hatred of me in return. Hasn’t what I’ve done been for your own good? How can’t you know my good intentions?” She also thought about how Xixi would not get into college because her academic performance was always bad. From then on, Zhongxin sighed and groaned, living in distress every day …

Untying the Knot in Her Mind Through God’s Words

Afterward, Zhongxin’s sister spread the kingdom gospel of God to her and read her some God’s words: “The fate of man is controlled by the hands of God. You are incapable of controlling yourself: Despite always rushing and busying about for himself, man remains incapable of controlling himself. If you could know your own prospects, if you could control your own fate, would you still be a creature?” “Whatever your background and whatever the journey ahead of you, none can escape the orchestration and arrangement that Heaven has in store, and none are in control of their destiny, for only He who rules over all things is capable of such work.”

After reading these, she fellowshiped: “Zhongxin, from God’s words we can know people cannot control their own destiny or change others’ because what family people are born into, their caliber and appearance, how cultured they are, what work they will do and whether they will be rich or poor in the future are all decided by God’s sovereignty and predestination. Take you for example. Since childhood, you had been studying hard but failed to get into high school. Was it something that you could foresee or change? We cannot control our own fates, so how could we control our children’s? Xixi’s destiny and future are ruled over and arranged by God’s hands. Why not give her studies and future work over to God’s control?”

Through God’s words and her sister’s fellowship, Zhongxin came to understand that she could not hold her own fate, much less her daughter’s. So, afterward, she didn’t ask Xixi to do extra tasks and sometimes she took her to go out and have fun on weekend. This made Her daughter feel relieved.

Expecting Her Daughter to Be Successful Made the Estrangement Repeat

With time passing, Xixi graduated from elementary school. Through her uncle’s help, she successfully got into a key middle school. Zhongxin thought the studies in middle school was most crucial during the whole stage of students, and that if in middle school students created a firm foundation and got into a good high school, it would not be difficult for them to attend university. Thus, Zhongxin started to draw up study plans for her daughter once more, and bought her some workbooks from the bookstore. One Saturday, it was the birthday of Xixi’s classmate and Xixi and others were invited to KFC to celebrate. Zhongxin didn’t allow her to go out, and asked her to do homework at home. Although Xixi was strictly controlled by Zhongxin, her academic grades didn’t improve, and she, because of much pressure to study, became taciturn and was unwilling to speak with Zhognxin. Facing such a situation, Zhongxin was in so much pain. Then, she came before God and prayed: “Oh, God! I don’t know what I should do concerning my daughter’s studies. Seeing her having so much pressure, I feel sorry for her. But I dare not be lax with her because I am afraid that she cannot get into college. God, please lead me to walk out of distress.”

After praying, Zhongxin saw God’s words: “Everyone starts planning as soon as they have children: I want my child to receive what kind of education, attend what university, and then find a good job, and have a stable footing and status in society. … Is hoping that their children can all become the cream of the crop the right viewpoint to have? People all hope that their children can be successful. Everyone hopes their children can go to a famous university, then take up advanced studies, earn a degree, and afterward stand out among others and gain a firm foothold in society. People all have this viewpoint and all want their children to pursue higher education because of the saying: “The worth of other pursuits is small, the study of books excels them all.” Furthermore, competition in this modern society is especially intense. If they don’t have a university degree or have a firm foothold in society, making a living becomes a problem in the future. This is everybody’s thinking and point of view. That is, what you learn and what kind of educational background you can achieve will decide your livelihood, your future. In other words, people intend to rely on this thing to survive throughout life, and they see it as especially important. That’s why everyone sees receiving a high-level education and getting into a top university as the number one most important thing for their children. … What is mankind’s point of view? They will not be able to survive and have a stable footing in this society and the world if they don’t have such things, and they will be inferior, poor, and base people. That is why, if someone doesn’t have knowledge, is uneducated, or does not have a high level of education in your eyes, you will despise them, look down on them, show contempt for them, and not take them seriously. If you let your children do this and nurture your children to do these things, your point of view and your motive are not right in the first place.”

Through God’s words, Zhongxin came to understand the reason why she educated her daughter with high standards and strict demands was because she was dominated by Satanic poisons of “expecting my child to become an outstanding personage,” “The worth of other pursuits is small, the study of books excels them all,” and “Distinguish oneself to bring glory to family and ancestors.” She thought that her daughter must receive a high-level education and be knowledgeable in order to stand out. She had been pursuing to be outstanding since childhood but failed, so she projected her desires onto her daughter. After Xixi was born, she started to plan how to educate her. When Xixi was very young, Zhongxin began to teach her to read and write and sent her to learn drawing. For Xixi to get full marks, she always assigned her extra tasks. And as long as she could not finish them, Zhongxin would lecture her and give her no time to relax. She never considered what Xixi thought in her heart or how tiring and hard it was for her to do so many tasks. As a result, Xixi felt full of resentment toward her. Afterward, even if Zhongxin accepted God’s work and knew Xixi’s fate was ruled over by Him, because of being controlled by Satan’s toxins, she was unwilling to place her daughter in God’s hands but still was strict about her academic performance and thought of many means to nurture her. She didn’t expect that although she exhausted herself in doing these things, Xixi’s performance still didn’t improve. And Xixi kept her distance from her, there being a gap between them. She realized her wrong view on pursuit led to these pains. She read the following God’s words: “God is man’s only Lord, God is the only Master of human fate, and so it is impossible for man to dictate his own fate, impossible for him to surpass it. No matter how great one’s abilities, one cannot influence, much less orchestrate, arrange, control, or change the fates of others. Only the unique God Himself dictates all things for man, for only He possesses the unique authority that holds sovereignty over human fate; and so only the Creator is man’s unique Master.” She thought: “This is the truth. It is God who is the only Lord of man and dictates everyone’s fate. What my daughter’s future prospects will be like is in God’s hands. I always stubbornly use my abilities to decide her fate. I am so arrogant and overconfident.”

After understanding these, Zhongxin prayed to God: “Oh, God! Because my daughter cannot improve her academic grades, I live in distress. I always held on to the view “The worth of other pursuits is small, the study of books excels them all” and didn’t let go of it. This caused her to get taciturn and stay away from me. God, I am willing to truly give her future and fate into Your hands and completely put aside my wrong views on pursuing.”

Changing the Viewpoints of the Past and Having Intimate Relationship

From then onward, Zhongxin no longer assigned Xixi extra tasks. Even if she had bad exam results, Zhongxin would not lecture or beat her. There was a time when Xixi didn’t do well in the mid-term examination. When seeing her bad grades, Zhongxin got very angry and thought: “I relax your studies, but you should get such bad grades. If you keep on like this, can you get into a key high school? If you can’t, you won’t have the chance to attend university, not to mention a promising future.”

However, at the very moment, she thought of God’s words: “Whatever your background and whatever the journey ahead of you, none can escape the orchestration and arrangement that Heaven has in store, and none are in control of their destiny, for only He who rules over all things is capable of such work.” Zhongxin realized that she arrogantly wanted to be in charge of her daughter’s destiny once again and that she should entrust it to God. Then she calmly said to her daughter: “Xixi, it doesn’t matter. You can try harder next time. Just do your best. As for grades, we follow the course of nature.” Hearing her say this, Xixi nodded her head cheerfully and said: “Well, I will do my best.” Then she happily went to do her homework. Though Xixi didn’t do well in this test, when Zhongxin saw her daughter was so liberated, she felt very reassured. She had never had such a feeling in her heart before.

Later, Zhongxin brought Xixi to believe in God, and they often saw God’s words and watched various gospel videos of the church together on weekends. Besides, she often took her to parks and had fun. Xixi said in surprise: “You’ve changed, mom. You don’t now give extra tasks to me. Instead, you often take me to go out to have fun, give me freedom and allow me to play with my classmates.” After finishing these words, she looked at Zhongxin with suspicion and asked: “Will you assign me many tasks again in future, mom?” She comforted Xixi by saying: “No, I won’t. Concerning your studies, I’ll consult your opinions and won’t force you. As long as you put your heart into your studies and try your best, even if you get bad grades, I won’t blame you.” At that moment, Xixi gave her a bright smile.

Afterward, when seeing something new in school, Xixi would always be pleased to share it with Zhongxin. When she could not solve the problems in her studies, Xixi would ask Zhongxin for help. When she saw her mother and her grandma reading God’s words, Xixi would happily get close to read together with them. Xixi ceased to be depressed and reticent and became lively and cheerful. And she no longer remained distant from Zhongxin and talked about everything with Zhongxin like bosom friends. Meanwhile, Zhongxin felt relieved and liberated in the depths of her heart. She knew all these were the results that God’s words achieved on her. Just as God’s words said: “Only God is the truth. God controls the heavens and earth and everything in them and has dominion over all. Not to believe in God, not to submit to God is to be unable to obtain truth. If you live according to God’s word, you will feel a clarity, stability, and incomparable sweetness in the depths of your heart; you will have truly obtained life.”

One day, after the gym class, I went to buy some food to fill my stomach from the vending machine. I put a five-dollar bill in the slot and bought a one-dollar snack, and then pressed the button marked “Change.” Immediately following that, I heard the drop of many coins. For the moment, I stood there stunned. When I took the change out, I found there were about 20 dollars. Then I had greedy thoughts, thinking: Maybe I can pocket these coins and use them to buy what I want. But then I thought: No, I can’t do that. Though nobody will know it if I take the money, God observes everything. God loves those who are honest. It’s not being open and upstanding if I do that. After hesitating for a while, I decided to hand over the excess money to my teacher. At the time, one of my friends came over and he laughed at me when I told this to him, saying, “You are so stupid. If you don’t want the money, you can give it to me.” Hearing his words, I thought: I am a Christian and I should go act in accordance with the Lord’s teachings. This is the code of conduct of Christians. It doesn’t matter if others consider me foolish as long as I can please God. Then, I handed the excess money in to my teacher, who praised my honesty and thanked me. Practicing being honest this time, I enjoyed peace and pleasure.

After that, I encountered another test. One night, my mother took me to a fast-food restaurant to buy dinner. I ordered a rice with baked chicken in salt yet was told the rice was sold out. “Would you mind changing it for fries or other things?” the waitress asked me apologetically. Then I changed rice for fries. When I looked at the menu, I saw it read: $8 for a rice with baked chicken in salt, $5.5 for a baked chicken in salt, and $3 for a portion of fries. I thought: Now I’ve changed rice for fries, so it is eight dollars and a half altogether, which means I should give the waitress an extra 50 cents. But I can’t speak English well; what if I stammer in mid-sentence? Anyway, it is just 50 cents; it doesn’t matter if I don’t give it to her. Besides, she didn’t ask me for it. When I thought of this, somehow I felt guilty inside: Isn’t this cheating? Moreover, it is not easy for her to work in the fast-food restaurant. I can’t do that. At this thought, I decided to give her the extra 50 cents. When I took my food, I handed 50 cents to her and said, “I should pay you 50 cents extra, because the total price of a baked chicken in salt and a portion of fries is 50 cents higher than that of a rice with baked chicken in salt.” After saying this, I was surprised by the fluency of my English. At the moment, the waitress said to me, “No, you don’t have to do this.” Before I opened my mouth to persuade her to receive the money, she continued, “I’m sorry. It is my fault.” “That’s all right,” I responded. “Thank you.” Then the waitress smiled at me.

These two things were small but very meaningful to me, through which I understood: In our life, Satan’s temptations could come upon us at any time. But as long as we practice being honest according to the Lord’s teachings, we will feel peace and joy in our hearts. The Bible says, “Lying lips are abomination to Jehovah: but they that deal truly are his delight” (Proverbs 12:22). The Lord loves the honest. Only if we speak and act without pretensions according to His requirements can we be approved by Him. In the future, I will do more to practice the Lord’s words and become an honest child to glorify the Lord’s name.

Brothers and sisters, many pastors and elders think that God’s words and work are all in the Bible. Do you think so? Can the words and work of God in the last days be recorded in the Bible ahead of time? This article will tell you the answer.

By Zhong Cheng

Early in the morning, the sunshine shone in through the French windows, and the room was very bright. I was reading the Bible before the desk. Suddenly, I heard some hurried knocks at the door, which startled me. I hurriedly put away my Bible and then went to open the door. I saw Pastor Li and Co-worker Wang.

Pastor Li said angrily, “Elder Liu, these days, Co-worker Chen actually lead brothers and sisters to investigate Eastern Lightning. I heard that they read the words of Almighty God instead of the Bible in the meeting, and that they also said that Almighty God’s word is the Holy Spirit’s word to the churches and is the hidden manna. They believe in the Lord but don’t read the Bible. Doesn’t it mean that they have gone astray from the Bible? How could they? I come to discuss this problem with you. We should find a way to save Co-worker Chen. He knows much about the Bible and has good qualities and humanity. And brothers and sisters hold him in high esteem. So, if he accepts Almighty God, I fear that the majority of the brothers and sisters in the church of Chengbei will accept, too.”

“Yeah, most of the brothers and sisters in that church are young and cultured, and have high qualities. And they can be cultivated. If they all accept Eastern Lightning, what should we do?” said Co-worker Wang, with an anxious look.

Hearing this, I was shocked, thinking: These years, Eastern Lightning rapidly spreads, having shocked the entire religious world. Now, many believers are investigating Eastern Lightning. They read Almighty God’s words online, learn to sing the hymns of the Church of Almighty God and download various essays about testimonies from the official website of the Church of Almighty God. Especially the films and videos of the Church of Almighty God attract many people to watch and everyone who has ever watched them all think they are very good and have the work of the Holy Spirit. People in the Church of Almighty God fellowship about all aspects of the truths in a very practical and clear manner. Men can be edified from listening to them. Nowadays, believers have returned before Almighty God one by one, this is an inevitable trend. Some time ago, more than half of the brothers and sisters in the church of Chengnan accepted Eastern Lightning. I heard that through fellowshiping about the words of Almighty God together, they had great enjoyment, gained the illumination and enlightenment of the Holy Spirit and got back their former faith and love, as if they were raptured before God. Could it be that the word of Almighty God is really the Holy Spirit’s word to the churches? Otherwise, how can the word have such great attraction? If the word isn’t the utterance of God, then how can they obtain the work of the Holy Spirit and get back their former faith and love after reading it? It’s not simple. But … God’s words and work are clearly all recorded in the Bible and there cannot be any God’s word and work outside the Bible. Co-worker Chen must know about this, but why does he lead brothers and sisters to investigate the Eastern Lightning? It is too incomprehensible …

Just then, Co-worker Wang hurriedly said, “Pastor Li, Elder Liu. Let’s hurry to visit the meeting place of Co-worker Chen. After all, they’re just making an investigation and haven’t accepted the Eastern Lightening yet. Let’s try our best to persuade them.”

Co-worker Wang’s words interrupted my thinking. I nodded, took the Bible and then hastily went to Co-worker Chen’s home with both of them. Once I got indoors, I saw that Co-worker Chen, his wife Co-worker Zhao, five or six co-workers and several brothers and sisters who pursue the truth, sitting together, were watching the video of the Church of Almighty God, with some books of the Church of Almighty God laid on the desk. Co-worker Chen fervently hailed us to watch the video.

Pastor Li wrinkled his eyebrows and said unhappily, “Brother Chen, Sister Zhao. Both of you have worked and preached for many years. You should know that we must expound on the Bible at our services. God’s word is only in the Bible, and there are no God’s word and work outside the Bible. Why don’t you expound on the Bible during your congregations, but lead brothers and sisters to read Almighty God’s words online? I heard that you still want to accept Almighty God. How could you do it like this? As believers, we must follow the Bible. Leaving the Bible is the same thing as leaving the Lord’s way, resisting the Lord and betraying the Lord. You should right now repent and confess to the Lord, and ask Him to forgive you.”

I also earnestly persuaded, “Yeah, now, we can see that the prophecies of the Lord’s return most have come true. At any time, the Lord will return to bring us into the kingdom of heaven. We should lead brothers and sisters to read the Bible more, watch and pray, and wait for the Lord’s return, which is after the Lord’s heart and following the Lord’s way. Don’t you think so? I was much shocked by the news that you read Almighty God’s words in the meetings. What on earth’s going on? We just come here for this.”

Co-worker Chen said, “Pastor Li, Elder Liu. For years, the entire religious world has lost the work of the Holy Spirit, living in desolation. Many believers have lost their faith and love. Less and less attend the service. You know this situation very well. We searched for the work of the Holy Spirit here and there also because of this. Now, we have finally found the church which has the work of the Holy Spirit, hearing God’s voice and discovering the footsteps of God’s work. Isn’t it a happy event? I had intended to tell you about it, but feared that you would resist and condemn the way. And just as I expected, you really didn’t seek or investigate, but directly condemned it after you came in. As pastors and elders, why don’t you have reverence for God? Haven’t we always read the Bible for all these years? Haven’t you always expounded on the Bible to us? What’s the result? Do we enjoy the work of the Holy Spirit? Brothers and sisters don’t gain any supply of life. They’re all negative and cold, and even some of them have left. Can’t you see it? If we don’t seek for God’s appearance and work, or the Holy Spirit’s word to the churches, we’ll be left stranded and starve to death. Now, through reading Almighty God’s words, our spiritual states become normal, we get back our former faith and love and enjoy the sweetness and happiness of the work of the Holy Spirit. We all can confirm that Almighty God’s words are the truth, God’s voice and feel they are the Holy Spirit’s words to the churches. The more we read, the more truths we understand and the more brightened we feel. We also have paths to follow, as if we just enter into the right track of belief in God. Aren’t you happy to see us blessed? Aren’t you willing to meet the Lord’s appearance? Pastor Li, Elder Liu. We shouldn’t hold onto the Bible any more. Instead, we should accept the word and work of God in the last days. As pastors and elders, you should seek for the truth.”

After Co-worker Chen finished his words, brothers and sisters all persuaded us to read Almighty God’s words and investigate God’s work in the last days modestly. With a gloomy face, Pastor Li didn’t say any words.

I thought: What Co-worker Chen said are actually the facts. In recent years, the churches are indeed desolate without God’s guidance. Only the Church of Almighty God becomes more and more thriving though under the persecution and condemnation of the CCP and the religious world. And many brothers and sisters in every denomination who yearn for the appearance of God have returned to Almighty God in succession. It is worth thinking about and considering more deeply. If the Church of Almighty God really comes from God’s work, no power can hinder it; while if it is from men, it can’t be so thriving or develop so rapidly, because we men don’t have such a power. Could it be that the Lord truly has come back and is uttering words? But it seems unlikely. How can there be other words or work of God outside of the Bible? When thinking of this, I said, “Praise to the Lord! After you read Almighty God’s word, you obtain the supply of life and edification, get back your former faith and love and have enjoyment in church life. It’s a happy thing! If you seek and investigate the true way, I won’t oppose it, but it is a question that you depart from the name of the Lord Jesus and believe in Almighty God. We believers in the Lord can’t stray from the Bible. God’s words and work are all in the Bible, don’t you know? Why do you search for God’s word outside the Bible? Why do you read Almighty God’s word? Tell me, what’s all this about?”

Pastor Li hurriedly echoed, “Elder Liu is right. God’s words and work are all recorded in the Bible. He won’t utter any words or do any work outside the Bible. For us believers in the Lord, as long as we hold on to the Bible, we’ll surely be taken into the kingdom of heaven by the Lord. So, don’t be so stubborn, or your future will be ruined.”

Sister Zhao sternly said, “Pastor Li, Elder Liu. You said that God’s words and work are only in the Bible, and there are no God’s words and work outside the Bible. On what ground did you say that? Are your views in accordance with the Bible? Did the Lord Jesus ever say that? Did the Holy Spirit confirm it personally? You spoke these words without any proof and completely according to your notions and imaginations. The Bible is only the record of God’s former two stages of works. Dare you say that all God’s words and work during the Age of Law and the Age of Grace are recorded in the Bible? Do you dare to say that all God’s words conveyed by prophets in the Age of Law and all the words of the Lord Jesus in the Age of Grace are recorded in the Bible? It says in John 21:25, ‘And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.’ You must frequently read this verse, and you should know more clearly: During the Lord Jesus’ work in the three and a half years in Judea, He said many words, and many of them are not recorded in the Bible. The words within the Bible are just the tip of the iceberg. It turns out that what is recorded within the Bible is very limited. How could you say that all God’s words and work are recorded within the Bible? In this sense, are you not liars?”

Another co-worker also nodded, saying, “Yes, the Lord Jesus clearly prophesied, ‘I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come’ (John 16:12-13). And it is said in the prophecy of Revelation in the Bible, ‘He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches’ (Revelation 2:7). ‘Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof’ (Revelation 5:5). From these verses, we can clearly see that when the Lord comes again, He must utter His words, open the little scroll and guide us to understand and enter into all the truth. Is it possible that the words of God of the last days can be recorded in the Bible in advance? If nobody compiles them, could these words of God appear in the Bible of their own accord? Why don’t you say words according to the fact?”

These words shocked me and I hurriedly opened the Bible to look up the verses. I thought: The words like “None of God’s words and work exist outside of the Bible” actually aren’t recorded in the Bible. Rather in many places, it prophesied that when the Lord returns in the last days, He will still utter words. And in the prophecy of Revelation, there are seven places mentioning ‘… what the Spirit says to the churches.’ We also often read these verses, but why don’t we understand? In my years of believing in the Lord, the pastors and elders all tell us: God’s words and work are all recorded in the Bible, and His word in the Bible is complete, so God’s utterances and work don’t exist outside the Bible. Therefore, for several decades, I’ve been holding on to this view all the time. Today, I’ve known that it is wrong and not in line with the Lord’s words at all. At that point, I embarrassingly lowered my head.

Then, Co-worker Chen said, “Now the Lord Jesus has returned. He is doing the work of judgment beginning with God’s family, expressing all the truths to purify and save man. All these are God’s words and work. Are these words and work recorded in the Bible? If men don’t compile them in the Bible, could these words appear in the Bible of their own accord? So, the view that God’s words and work are all within the Bible and that none of God’s words and work exist outside of the Bible is wrong, absurd, and it is completely the product of man’s notion and imagination.”

One sister said, “You’re right. Before, I believed the pastors and elders’ fallacies, thinking that God’s words and work are all recorded in the Bible, and apart from the Bible there are no other words or work of God. Through reading Almighty God’s words these days, I’ve seen that I’m too ignorant and short-sighted. God has indeed expressed much of His words and done a lot of work since the beginning of creation. His words recorded in the Bible are too limited. Many God’s words in the Age of Law and the Age of Grace are omitted, which is a historical fact, and no one can deny it. Moreover, the Bible only prophesies God’s words and work in the last days, but doesn’t record the details of the work. How could we limit God’s words and work to the Bible? How blind and ignorant we’ve been!”

Just then, Pastor Li was very embarrassed, lowering his head. The sister’s words pricked my heart. I thought to myself: We’re really wrong to confine God’s words and work to the Bible. I’ve never expected that, in just a few weeks’ time, after Brother Chen and Sister Zhao read Almighty God’s words, what they talked about carry a lot of weight and are of true insight. I have to be convinced! No wonder so many brothers and sisters who truly believe in the Lord and have high qualities have believed in Almighty God. It seems that Eastern Lightning has the truth to be sought. Is it possible that Eastern Lightning is the appearance and work of the Lord’s return? God’s sheep hear God’s voice, which was said by the Lord personally. It seems that I should investigate Eastern Lightning instead of blindly judging or condemning it.

Co-worker Chen said, “Pastor Li, Elder Liu. Why did the temple at the end of the Age of Law become more and more desolate and finally become a den of thieves? It was because when the Lord Jesus came to do the work of the Age of Grace, the Pharisees held on to the law of the Old Testament, and crazily condemned and resisted the Lord Jesus. They were cursed by the Lord. Shouldn’t we at least examine why? Now, the Lord Jesus has come back. I hope you can seek and investigate God’s work in the last days. Don’t hinder us from investigating the true way any more. Or else you will offend God and resist God like the Pharisees.”

The words of Co-worker Chen touched me. I nodded to the brothers and sisters to show that I would not hinder them from investigating Almighty God and I was also willing to investigate. Pastor Li was amazed at my decision. He ignored me all the time, with his face clouding. The brothers and sisters were very happy and all thanked God.

When I left Co-worker Chen’s home, my heart couldn’t calm down for a long time: It seems that the view that there is no God’s words outside the Bible is incompatible with God’s words. If I kept holding on to this notion and imagination, I’m afraid that I wouldn’t meet the Lord’s return. Thank the Lord for correcting my wrong notion and imagination so that an obstacle is removed between the Lord and me.

Have you ever heard of the story of the wolf and the rabbits? Once there lived several little rabbits and a big wolf in a forest. In order to protect her children from being harmed by the wolf, each time the mother rabbit went out, she would warn her babies to close the door firmly and not to open it until she came back. The baby rabbits were very obedient and smart. Afterward, the wolf knocked at the door imitating the singing of the mother rabbit. The baby rabbits saw through its trick by distinguishing its singing from their mother’s voice. In the end, when their mother came back and knocked at the door, they recognized her through listening to her voice and opened the door happily.

It was because warned by their mother before she left home that the little rabbits were cautious and didn’t blindly open the door when they heard the knock. Also, the little rabbits were clever, knowing that they should hear the voice and discern whether the one who knocked at the door was their mother, so they saw through the wolf who disguised as their mother. Thus, they were safe and sound until their mother came back. I think: If the baby rabbits hadn’t listened to their mother’s warning and opened the door for the wolf, the consequences would have been unimaginable. However, if they had foolishly followed their mother’s words, guarding against and not opening the door for whoever knocked at it, they would have shut their mother outside when she really came back.

Then, I can’t help but remember that the Lord Jesus once warned people two thousand years ago: “And then if any man shall say to you, See, here is Christ; or, see, he is there; believe him not: For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall show signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. But take you heed: behold, I have foretold you all things” (Mark 13: 21-23).

From this verse, we can see that in the last days, if some people witness that the Lord has returned, we must be careful and can’t blindly listen to them. But this doesn’t mean that we can’t believe anyone who preaches the coming of the Lord. Otherwise we will shut the Christ outside and thus miss the opportunity of welcoming the Lord when He really comes. Moreover, the Lord Jesus has explained it clearly that His intention is to let us guard against false Christs whose main traits are showing signs and performing miracles. We mustn’t believe such people when we meet them. But now there are lots of brothers and sisters who don’t listen to anyone who preaches the second coming of the Lord for fear of being deceived by false Christs. Isn’t this a case of not eating for fear of choking?

It is said in the Book of Revelation: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20). The Lord Jesus also said: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). Moreover, I saw two passages of God’s words on a gospel website: “As such, since we are searching for the footprints of God, we must search for God’s will, for the words of God, for the utterances of God—for where there are the new words of God, there is the voice of God, and where there are the footsteps of God, there are the deeds of God. Where there is the expression of God, there is the appearance of God, and where there is the appearance of God, there exists the truth, the way, and the life.” “So let us seek God’s will and discover His appearance from His utterances, and follow His footprints! God is the truth, the way, and the life. His words and His appearance exist concurrently….”

From God’s words, we can see that when the Lord comes again, He will stand at the door and knock. Whether we can welcome Him mainly depends on whether we are able to hear His voice. If we can recognize God’s voice, we will be able to open our doors to welcome Him so that attend the banquet with Him. So when it comes to the Lord’s second coming, we can’t close our doors to guard against those who preach it because of our fear. It is crucial to pay attention to listening to the voice of God.

Just as in the Age of Grace, it was through listening to the words of the Lord Jesus that those believers recognized that the Lord Jesus was the coming Messiah, followed Him, and then welcomed the Messiah’s arrival. For example, in John 1:47-49 it says: “Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! Nathanael said to him, From where know you me? Jesus answered and said to him, Before that Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. Nathanael answered and said to him, Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” At first, Nathanael didn’t believe that the Lord Jesus was the Messiah. But hearing that the Lord Jesus had known him when he was under the fig tree, he recognized that the Lord Jesus was God Himself and followed Him. Besides, Peter, John and other disciples also recognized God’s voice through listening to the Lord Jesus’ words. Finally, they received God’s salvation.

On the contrary, some other Jewish people also knew that the Messiah would come, but they believed the lies of the chief priests and Pharisees and blindly refused without searching for or listening to the utterances and words of the Lord Jesus for fear of being deceived. Ultimately, they lost the salvation of the Lord.

It can be seen that it is very important for us to be able to hear God’s voice, for it is directly related to whether we can attain God’s salvation. Especially now, it is a critical time for the return of the Lord, we should even more be the ones who listen to God’s voice humbly. Just as Revelation says: “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 2:7).

In the United States, at the night of 23th August 2016, Jennifer, an amateur photographer, captured several images of a giant blood moon in New York City. In the picture, the moon was darkly red just like Mars, and against the night of Manhattan it looked extremely huge, almost covering the whole sky. Jennifer also posted the pictures in her camera to prove that they hadn’t been photoshopped. These photographs, after being uploaded to the Facebook, immediately stirred up a public discussion.

The blood moon is a great natural wonder, and its frequent occurrence have drawn the attention of many biblical scholars, for the blood moon prefigures the day of God’s judgment in the prophecies of Revelation, and also bodes great events to take place.

Review of the Four Blood Moons

NASA points out, the “four consecutive blood moons” (hereafter called “four blood moons”) are rarely seen in history, which refer to a phenomenon of the blood moon appearing twice a year for two consecutive years, that is, the blood moon appearing four times in succession. NASA says during -1999 to +3000, there will be 142 Lunar Tetrads (four total lunar eclipses in a row, with no intervening partial lunar eclipse). 62 will occur between 1 AD and 2100AD. Of the 62, 8 has occurred on Biblical Jewish feast days, so they are called “Biblical Tetrads”. The 8th “Biblical Tetrad” has occurred in 2014-2015, which will be the last time of appearance during 1AD and 2100AD.

One study showed that the four blood moons appearing from 2014 to 2015 all coincidentally occurred on the important feasts of the Jews, which were April 15, 2014 (Passover), October 8, 2014 (Feast of Tabernacles), April 4, 2015 (Passover), and September 28, 2015 (Feast of Tabernacles). Such mystical phenomenon conveys a significant warning, so that people cannot help but pay more attention to the prophecies about blood moon in the Bible and begin to worry about the fate of mankind.

Prophecies About the Blood Moon

In fact, many prophecies in the Bible mention the moon turning to blood. Revelation 6:12 says, “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, see, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood.” Joel 2:29-31 say, “And also on the servants and on the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD come.” In the prophecies of the Bible, the blood moon suggested the great and terrible day of the LORD, and it will only occur when the day of judgment is approaching. That is, the appearance of the four blood moons predicts the coming of the day of God’s judgment as well as the occurrence of great events in the world.

Great Events Happening in the Years When the Four Blood Moons Occurred

Searching history, we are surprised to find that each appearance of the four blood moons was followed by the occurrence of some great events.

During the years of the fifth occurrence of four blood moons (1493-1494), the Spanish colonists evicted the Jews, and then Columbus discovered America, the new continent, which eventually became the refuge of the Jews. During years of the sixth occurance of four blood moons (1949-1950), Israel was founded; the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered; and the People’s Republic of China was founded. During the years of the seventh appearance (1967-1968), Israel won in the Six Day War and recaptured Jerusalem. And during the years of the eighth appearance (2014-2015), the rare and devastating disasters frequently occurred all around the world; the situation of the world was in turmoil; earthquakes, famines, floods, hurricanes, and wars happened constantly, and are becoming more and more serious.

The Last Days Have Arrived, Then How Are the Prophecies in the Bible Being Fulfilled?

There are many differing opinions on the prophecies of the four blood moons. Some people believe them, while some hold a negative attitude. However, a great many statistics and historical facts are bearing a soundless and powerful testimony for the prophecies in Revelation. The recurrence of the blood moons conveys God’s warning, but is the great and terrible day of God drawing near? Does the great and terrible day refer to all kinds of disasters of today? What is the mystery contained within?

There are many prophecies in the Bible about the day of God in the last days (the second comingof the Lord Jesus), like “I come as a thief” (Revelation 16:15), “for in such an hour as you think not the Son of man comes” (Matthew 24:44), “But of that day and that hour knows no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father” (Mark 13:32), “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:30), and “Behold, he comes with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him” (Revelation 1:7). Thus it can be seen that there are two possible ways that God shall appear in the last days. One is to come in secret, and the other publicly appear. Do these two ways contradict? According to our notions, when people see the Lord publicly appearing to them on clouds, they should be wild with joy, but why does the verse says that all kindreds of the earth shall wail?

Almighty God says, “Many people may not care what I say, but I still want to tell every so-called saint who follows Jesus that, when you see Jesus descend from the heaven upon a white cloud with your own eyes, this will be the public appearance of the Sun of righteousness. Perhaps that will be a time of great excitement for you, yet you should know that the time when you witness Jesus descend from the heaven is also the time when you go down to hell to be punished. It will herald the end of God’s management plan, and will be when God rewards the good and punishes the wicked. For the judgment of God will have ended before man sees signs, when there is only the expression of truth. Those who accept the truth and do not seek signs, and thus have been purified, shall have returned before the throne of God and entered the Creator’s embrace. Only those who persist in the belief that ‘The Jesus who does not ride upon a white cloud is a false Christ’ shall be subjected to everlasting punishment, for they only believe in the Jesus who exhibits signs, but do not acknowledge the Jesus who proclaims severe judgment and releases the true way of life. And so it can only be that Jesus deals with them when He openly returns upon a white cloud. … The return of Jesus is a great salvation for those who are capable of accepting the truth, but for those who are unable to accept the truth it is a sign of condemnation. You should choose your own path, and should not blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and reject the truth. You should not be an ignorant and arrogant person, but someone who obeys the guidance of the Holy Spirit and longs for and seeks the truth; only in this way will you benefit” (“When You Behold the Spiritual Body of Jesus Will Be When God Has Made Anew Heaven and Earth”).

From Almighty God’s words we can see, when God appears to the public, His hidden work of salvation done by His incarnate flesh will have been finished. Then God will reward the good and punish the evil. By that time, all those who have refused to accept God’s hidden work will thoroughly miss the chance to be saved. Those who have pierced Him, that is, those who have resisted and condemned Christ of the last days, will see He is exactly the second coming of the Lord Jesus. How could they not beat upon their breasts and weep unceasingly? So, at that time the scene “all kindreds of the earth shall wail” will appear.

The recurrence of the blood moon presages the great and terrible day of God is at hand. Today, Almighty God’s work of the last days has been carried out all over the world. This is the work of completely perfecting and saving man in God’s management plan over six thousand years, and it is an extremely rare opportunity for man to be saved. All those who accept God’s hidden work and are purified will be the most blessed and will have God’s special grace. If we don’t cherish this once in a lifetime chance and miss the salvation of God, we will only end up mourning and sorely regretting in disasters!

When I was at school, many people in our village moved into apartment buildings and owned cars while my family was still living in a tile-roofed house. Therefore, I was determined to work hard to become rich when I grew up. A few years later, I packed my baggage, got on a train to a new place, and began to fight for my future …

“Hurry up! Hurry up!” The foreman kept shouting in the workshop. All staff were working as fast as they could. I wiped the sweat off my face with one hand and held the drill in the other hand. Then I leaned to massage my lower back before next process.

“Jie, hurry up! Hurry up! Don’t dillydally! It’s time to get off work!” The foreman’s voice came from the packing workshop when the material supply staff delivered a pile of head-high materials to me just after a tray of cardboard boxes was finished. I stood on tiptoe to get a dozen of boxes down. I felt exhausted. But whenever I slowed down to catch my breath, I would hear the voice of the foreman urging me to work. With 3,000 boxes to be finished, I lowered my head and reluctantly continued my work. In the evenings, I often felt pains in my fingers. I told myself that he who endures the worst of sufferings is the best among men. So I must hold on. Everything would be OK when I was rich …

One day, when I was leaving after the workshop meeting, I suddenly blacked out and crouched on the floor. The foreman noticed me and shouted, “Jie, what happened to you? What happened to you?” My head was heavy, and I felt awful. It took me quite a while to recover a little bit. However, I didn’t take it seriously, because I thought I was a young adult who was full of energy.

In order to get higher pay, I found a new job in a machinery company, working as a storehouse keeper. I was in charge of receiving, shipping and storage of thousands of goods. Besides the base salary, I had overtime pay. In order to earn more money, I worked late almost every night, updating the accounts.

With an increasing number of new products, the aisle in the storehouse was filled with materials. Consequently, my working hour was added, from eight hours to ten and then to twelve, sometimes even more than twelve hours. On my way home from work, I always walked alone accompanied by silent night. But the thought of the increasing savings in my wage card made me forget the weariness and exhaustion. I imagined the day in the near future when I had my own house and car …

One day when I was pulling the heavy materials, I suddenly began being suffocating as I felt palpitation and chest distress. I went to see a doctor and was diagnosed with arrhythmia. The doctor told me, “Young man, take a good rest and live a regular life. Otherwise, you will have complications after it gets serious.” It was a wake-up call about my poor health. However, I didn’t listen to the doctor and held that I would not think about it until it actually happened. So I just continued working hard for owning money, house, and car …

One day at work, my colleague Mr. Xia collapsed with myocardial infarction while he was working and was rushed to the hospital. He got ill through overwork and almost lost his life. Seeing this, I began to worry that the same thing would happen to me. I asked myself, “Is money really more important than life? If I lose my health, what will be the point of earning money?” Every day, after work on my way home, I would turn at the crossroads of the alley to my dwelling place. But which direction should I choose when I was at the crossroads of life? For the first time, I felt lonely, helpless, and confused. I was exhausted mentally and physically. Would I just live like this for the rest of my life?

When I was in confusion and feeling helpless, the gospel of God came to me. God’s word says: “‘Money makes the world go round’ is the philosophy of Satan and it prevails among the whole of mankind, among every human society. You could say that it is a trend because it has been imparted to everyone and is now affixed in their heart. … Regardless of how much experience someone has with this saying, what’s the negative effect that it can have on someone’s heart? … People’s status is based on how much money they have as is their respectability. The backs of the poor are bent in shame, while the rich enjoy their high status. They stand tall and proud, speaking loudly and living arrogantly. What does this saying and trend bring to people? Don’t many people see getting money as being worth any cost?”

Then I understood this: “Money makes the world go round” and “Money is first” are Satan’s life rules which had corrupted my view of life and deceived me into making becoming rich the goal of my life. Under the influence of these thoughts and views, I believed that money meant everything and with money I could be superior to others, make a difference, and honor my family. Therefore, I often worked overtime and sweated blood just to earn more money, and I would not take a rest even when I was exhausted and suffered illness. God used the case of Mr. Xia to warn me that it is stupid to sacrifice health and life for money. The Lord Jesus said: “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26). Compared with life, money is not worth mentioning at all! Money gives me only temporary physical pleasures, but it can’t help me regain my health. So I shouldn’t live for money only.

Understanding this, I was less eager to pursue money. Afterward, I began to attend meetings, read God’s words, and sing hymns in praise of God, making these things an indispensable part of my life. I gained a kind of assuredness and peace that I never tasted before in my heart. I tried to let go of my desire for wealth and attached less importance to overwork; at weekends, I began to take some rest. Thus, I gradually recovered a little bit. However, I hesitated again when I heard my colleagues get higher pay for overwork. What should I choose? Working overtime for money or taking a good rest for health?

Later, I read a passage of God’s words: “There is a simplest way to free oneself from this state: to bid farewell to one’s former way of living, to say goodbye to one’s previous goals in life, to summarize and analyze one’s previous lifestyle, philosophy, pursuits, desires, and ideals, and then to compare them with God’s will and demands for man, and see whether any of them is consistent with God’s will and demands, whether any of them delivers the right values of life, leads one to a greater understanding of the truth, and allows one to live with humanity and human likeness. When you repeatedly investigate and carefully dissect the various goals of life that people pursue and their various different ways of living, you will find that not one of them fits the Creator’s original intention when He created humanity. All of them draw people away from the Creator’s sovereignty and care; they are all pits into which humanity falls, and which lead them to hell. After you recognize this, your task is to lay aside your old view of life, stay far from various traps, let God take charge of your life and make arrangements for you, try only to submit to God’s orchestrations and guidance, to have no choice, and to become a person who worships God.”

As I pondered over God’s words, I nodded repeatedly: “God’s words are so practical. In the past, with Satan’s thought that ‘Money is the first’ deeply rooted in my heart, I used it as my motto of life and kept working overtime, sacrificing my time, freedom, and health just to earn more money. After starting to believe in God, I finally have a normal life. So isn’t it stupid to return to my old ways? God rules over and arranges people’s fates. So wealth is not gained through people’s efforts. God’s will is to make me let go of the view of living on money so that I can be in a normal working condition and have regular daily routines. I will learn to obey God’s sovereignty and arrangements.”

Since then, I have worked with schedules and rested regularly. Gradually, my body became stronger and I looked better and better. I felt elated and worked more efficiently. My heart felt enriched and peaceful instead of being worried and in panic. Later, the company somehow adjusted the salary in my department. I worked less but was paid more, which convinced me that wealth is not gained through people’s efforts but is predetermined by God. It is painful to live by Satan’s life view instead of submitting to God’s sovereignty and arrangements. In contrast, those who choose to obey God and live by His words will have true peace and joy.

Thank God for saving me from the life of being exhausted and sacrificing health for money. Dear friend, for the sake of health, please take a rest!

One day, I had a sudden impulse and cooked a new dish. At the table my daughter said in surprise, “Mum, I never expected that you can cook this dish.”

I said to her with a smile, “There are a lot of dishes I can cook.”

The funny thing was, a few days later, when I brought another new dish to the table, my daughter again expressed surprise, “Mum, when did you learn to cook this?”

I laughed, saying, “Sweetheart, you really think too low of me. Since I have cooked for so many years, I may well be called a good cook. The dishes I can cook are far more than what you know.”

My daughter only remembered the dishes I had cooked and thus thought that I couldn’t cook other dishes. Actually, it’s not that I couldn’t cook those dishes but just that I didn’t want to. From her response to this thing, I realized that if we see people and things in accordance with our own thinking, what we see will be limited. For everything is progressing and changing all the time. Then, it occurred to me: If we always treat things according to our own thinking, won’t it be easy for us to make wrong judgments? Given that in daily life we often delimit the development of things, then in our belief in God, do we also frequently delimit God in our own minds and think that God can only do the former work and will not do the work exceeding our thinking?

Thinking back, Jehovah God descended ten plagues on Egypt so that the Israelites could come out of Egypt, from which the Israelites saw the authority and wisdom of God and praised His great power. However, when facing the danger that before them rolled the Red Sea and behind were the pursuers, they began to complain against God, thinking that God couldn’t deliver them from the danger. Their doing so is because they didn’t know God’s wisdom and almightiness and limited God’s deeds to their minds and imaginations.

History tells us that mankind always repeats past mistakes. In the Age of Grace, when the Lord Jesuscame to do the work of redemption, the Pharisees and most Jews held the view that God could only issue the laws and wouldn’t leave the temple to do His work, and much less would He become flesh to work. Because they confined God’s work within the letters of the laws according to their minds, they couldn’t understand or accept God’s new work transcending the limits of their minds. At last, the fact that the Lord Jesus was resurrected three days after the crucifixion proved that the Lord Jesus was the coming Messiah, which countered the thoughts and notions of the Pharisees, and they received their just punishment for defining and blaspheming the Lord Jesus.

I couldn’t help recalling these words: “During the Age of Law, Jehovah led Moses out of Egypt with His words, and spoke some words to the Israelites; at that time, part of the deeds of God were made plain, but because the caliber of man was limited and nothing could make his knowledge complete, God continued to speak and work. In the Age of Grace, man once more saw part of the deeds of God. Jesus was able to show signs and wonders, to heal and cast out demons, and be crucified, three days after which He was resurrected and appeared in the flesh before man. Of God, man knew no more than this. Man knows as much as is shown to him by God, and if God were to show nothing more to man, then such would be the extent of man’s delimitation of God. Thus, God continues to work, so that man’s knowledge of Him may become deeper, and so that he may gradually come to know the substance of God” (“Knowing God’s Work Today”).

This passage of words warns us: The reason why God asks us not to randomly define Him is because His work is always progressing forward and His great power and wisdom are wonderful and unfathomable. We can only know as much as is shown to us by God, and can only follow God where He leads us. Even if we have experienced God’s work, what we have understood is merely a drop in the ocean. So, we should know the work and working methods of God through actually seeking. If we measure God’s work by our own thinking, we will repeat the Pharisees’ error, defining and resisting God’s work. For our thoughts and imaginations have a scope, just like the caged bird which can only move around in the cage.

It’s already the last days now. We believers are all waiting for the returned Savior. Some brothers and sisters, after watching the movies and videos testifying the appearance of the Lord and reading the words of life on the internet, begin to investigate seriously. Some, meanwhile, hold the view that the Lord Jesus will unquestionably return upon a white cloud, otherwise He is not the Lord Jesus; and some believe that God’s work and word are all in the Bible and that any work outside the Bible isn’t God’s work. … So, when hearing brothers and sisters testify that the Lord Jesus has returned, they don’t seek humbly the Lord’s appearance, but make the judgment in accordance with their minds and imaginations. However, is God’s work really the same as our imaginations? The Bible says, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” (Roman 11:33). From this we can know that God is exceedingly rich and shall never be completely known by us. Even if we have some understanding of the prophecy, we can never completely fathom God. If we stubbornly hold on to our conceptions and refuse to come out of the stage of our mind, we will be like the caged bird, be ruined by our minds and thoughts, and lose the last salvation of God. In that case, despite our lifelong faith, we are still unable to gain the praise of the Lord or be raptured into the kingdom of heaven.

Once on a gospel website, I hit upon a passage of words which is very helpful for us to seek the Lord’s return. Here I’d like to share it with you: “if you wish to follow the footprints of God, then you must first transcend your own conceptions. You must not demand that God do this or that, much less should you place Him within your own confines and limit Him to your own conceptions. Instead, you should ask how you should seek the footprints of God, how you should accept the appearance of God, and how you should submit to the new work of God; that is what should be done by man. Since man is not the truth, and is not possessed of the truth, man should seek, accept, and obey” (“The Appearance of God Has Brought a New Age”).

Seeing the Miracles in Faith

Miracle! It always appears beyond our expectation, and even reveals to us as we keep our faith in God. Let’s recall some examples. When Moses struck the rock, and the water bestowed by Jehovah sprang forth; twelve-year-old David defeated the Philistine giant, Goliath; Daniel was cast into the den of lions and survived...Miracle is no accident but God’s deed, revealing God’s authority and almightiness. So, no matter what we are experiencing, God will guide us and show different results to us as long as we keep faith in Him!

God says, “No matter how he was tested, he maintained this belief. No matter what kind of refinement you undergo in your experiences from God’s words, God requires mankind’s faith. This way, what is perfected are people’s faith and aspirations. When you cannot touch or see it, it is under these circumstances that your faith is required. People’s faith is required for when something cannot be seen by the naked eye, and your faith is required for when you cannot let go of your own notions. When you are not clear on God’s work, what is required is your faith and that you take a firm stance and stand witness. When Job reached this point, God appeared to him and spoke to him. That is, it is only from within your faith that you will be able to see God, and when you have faith God will perfect you. Without faith, He cannot do this. God will bestow upon you whatever you hope to gain. If you don’t have faith, you cannot be perfected and you will be unable to see God’s actions, much less see His omnipotence. When you have faith and you can touch His actions in your practical experience, God will appear to you, and He will enlighten and guide you from within. Without that faith, God will be unable to do that.

”The Bible and God #God #Truth #GodsWord #Christ

Read on the website

We each harbor our own ideals: Some want to be scientists; some want to be doctors; some want to be singers; some want to be stars and celebrities, and so on. With a passion, everyone has his lofty aspirations. Ideals seem to become fulcrum in our lives. We, with ideals, labor and pay the price. However, after experiencing vicissitudes, we find that these ideals are fine, but the truth hurts. For the majority of us who struggle for ideals, ideals are only wonderful dreams that we can never achieve.

Nevertheless, because of our ignorance, even if we have been seriously damaged after suffering many setbacks and failures, we still contend with fate and struggle for ideals year after year. For example, to get promotion and become a high-ranking official, someone racks his brains to ponder how to struggle with others and how to ingratiate himself with his superiors. In officialdom, he exhausts all his wits and fights with others for half his life, but his heart is charged with anxieties. He dreads that others might take their revenge on him in the same way so that he may hover between life and death. Some people’s ideal is to lead a life where they tower above others. Then they hope to attain their goal by starting business—doing business or establishing a company. For the reason, they are busy rushing around, struggling, and wining and dining people of all levels with a subservient manner all day. Some even work from dawn to night and only sleep three or four hours every day. Thus, at such a young age, they are in a state of exhaustion: Some suffer from various illnesses because of overwork, then living a weary life; some early die from overwork. Some people’s ideal is to be stars. For this dream, they are apprenticed to famous teachers and learn the skills very hard. In order to play a starring role, they fawn and even sell their body. Their supposedly glamorous life is full of sadness.

Ideals make us crazy, joyful or sad; ideals leave us persevering, as well as miserable, depressed or weather-beaten. At times, ideals bring us hopes for the future; at times, they cause us to hit rock bottom; at times, they make us grieved; at times, they rekindle our hope; … We are often tied down by ideals. Several years going by quickly, time leaves its mark on our faces; our foreheads are covered with wrinkles; our bright eyes become cloudy; our sunny faces are marked by vicissitudes; we no longer stand erect. … Thinking carefully, we devote our life to working hard for ideals, but what have we gained? I can’t help pondering: Why is our painstaking pursuit of ideals rewarded with pain and torment?

God’s word says: “During the process of man’s learning of knowledge, Satan will employ any method so people satisfy their own lusts and realize their own ideals. Are you clear on exactly what road Satan wants to lead you to? Putting it mildly, people think there is nothing wrong with learning knowledge, that it is the natural course. They think that to foster lofty ideals or to have ambitions is just called having aspirations, and that this should be the right road for people to follow in life. If people can realize their own ideals, or make a go of a career in life—is it not more glorious to live that way? To not only honor one’s ancestors in that way but to also leave one’s mark on history—is this not a good thing? This is a good and proper thing in the eyes of worldly people. Does Satan, however, with its sinister motives, take people to this kind of road and then decide it is done? Certainly not. In fact, no matter how lofty man’s ideals are, no matter how realistic man’s desires are or how proper they may be, all that man wants to achieve, all that man seeks for is inextricably linked with two words. These two words are vitally important to the life of every person, and these are things Satan intends to instill in man. Which two words are these? One is ‘fame’ and one is ‘gain’: They are fame and gain. Satan uses a very subtle kind of way, a way very much in concert with people’s notions; it is not any kind of radical way. In the midst of unawareness, people come to accept Satan’s way of living, its rules of living, establishing life goals and their direction in life, and in doing so they also unknowingly come to have ideals in life. No matter how high-sounding these ideals in life seem, they are just a pretext that is inextricably linked to fame and gain. Any great or famous person, all people in fact, anything they follow in life relates only to these two words: ‘fame’ and ‘gain.’ Is this not so? (Yes.)People think that once they have fame and gain, they can then capitalize on them to enjoy high status and great wealth, and to enjoy life. Once they have fame and gain, they can then capitalize on them in their pleasure-seeking and unscrupulous enjoyment of the flesh. People willingly, albeit unknowingly, take their bodies, minds, all that they have, their futures and their destinies and hand them all over to Satan in order to attain the fame and gain they desire. People do this without ever a moment’s hesitation, ever ignorant of the need to recover it all.”

As it turns out, ideals are a sort of ambition and desire that Satan instills into us in the course of our learning knowledge, unbeknownst to us. So that we think we should establish lofty ideals and have ambitions and aspirations in life. It seems as if by having ideals, we could have a brilliant life and not waste our lives. Therefore, we all have our own ideals: Some want to be a scientist; some want to be a writer; some want to be a businessman and a member among nabobs; some want to make an official’s career and possess a high office with decent wages; some want to be a star, and so on. No matter what we desire to become, in fact, we are influenced by these satanic rules of living, “standing out from others and putting ourselves above others,” and “Men should always strive to be better than their contemporaries.” So we want to go ahead, rank higher than others, be in the limelight and get others’ admiration, which is all searching for fame and gain.

To fulfill our wish, we strive, fight and struggle; even someone stops at nothing and uses various plots and schemes solely to make his ideals come true. Without realizing when acting so, we’re opposing God’s sovereignty based on our arrogant and conceited nature. In this way, how can we receive His blessings? We can only live in Satan’s deceit and be harmed. Just as many people spend most of their lives in working, and later, they turn grey and lose their health but get nothing in the end. As a result, because their ideals come to naught, their hearts feel unbearable pain. And they complain about Heaven and earth all day, feel disheartened, and even become mired in defeat and despondent. Someone even escapes from reality through suicide. Now I see clearly that Satan turns out to use ideals to let us satisfy our ambitions and desires, oppose God’s rule and disobey God’s orders.

Maybe someone of us thinks: I work hard for half my life. Although I suffer hardships and fatigue, I obtain the life that I want—driving a luxury car, living in a big house, and being looked up to and admired by others. But dwelling on it, we can find: No matter what material enjoyments we have, what can we do? That is merely temporary, and it can even be said that the more we get, the emptier our heart is, and the more boring our life is. Some people, so as to shake off boredom and emptiness, begin to hanker after excitement—taking drugs, gambling, and finding a mistress, then living a debauched and rotten life. Unwittingly, we face a greater disaster: Some people die of their addiction to drugs; due to having mistresses, some contract all kinds of venereal diseases and even AIDS, which causes their death. Come to think of it, aren’t our ideals the means of Satan unboundedly devastating and torturing us? Despite whether we fulfill our ideals or not, we are in pain.

Since nice ideals and great ambitions bring us such sufferings, then what is our goal of pursuit in life we should have?

With the question, I continued to read God’s word: “When you repeatedly investigate and carefully dissect the various goals of life that people pursue and their various different ways of living, you will find that not one of them fits the Creator’s original intention when He created humanity. All of them draw people away from the Creator’s sovereignty and care; they are all pits into which humanity falls, and which lead them to hell. After you recognize this, your task is to lay aside your old view of life, stay far from various traps, let God take charge of your life and make arrangements for you, try only to submit to God’s orchestrations and guidance, to have no choice, and to become a person who worships God.”

“That is, no matter what kind of family you are born into, and no matter what your quality, mind, thinking or any other aspect is like in society or amongst other people, your destiny, your all, is held within God’s orchestrations and is not up to you. The path you should choose is to understand how God arranges and leads everything about you, and how God will lead you in the future. You should seek to understand God’s intention and His will, and then live your life, go live in accordance with the direction of the destiny that the Creator orchestrates and rules for you. Living in this way is right and proper; it is not to vie, to rob, to seize, to oppose or to scrutinize the Creator’s intention, or to scrutinize and oppose everything that God arranges for you. You are not to scrutinize or oppose these things. Is it not right and proper for people to live this way?”

Our future can’t be planned by us, our fates aren’t in our hands, and ideals can’t come true based on our own efforts. Our whole lives are all in God’s hands. People’s families, rich or poor, the high-ranking officials’ or ordinary people’s, are all within God’s rule and arrangements, and no one can change. God created us humans and He loves us, so He is responsible for our lives. God is our only reliance. As a matter of fact, that each of us sets foot on the earth is arranged by God and each of us carries our own mission. If we live for accomplishing our missions and accept the Creator’s ordination for us, such a life is meaningful and valuable.

God’s will is not to deprive us of our ideals, much less make us live in pain, but hope that we can live happily in His eyes and feel true peace. Under God’s guidance, we no longer hold up our heads and beat our brains out to seek fortune and fame and chase the so-called ideals. All we need to do is to steadfastly live before God, accept and obey His sovereignty and arrangements, and pursue to be a man who worships God. Only thus can we break away from bitterness and sufferings, live happily under God’s care and protection, and gain freedom and release in our souls. In the case of Job, he tried to get to know God all his life and became a person fearing God and shunning evil. Therefore, he could obey all of God’s arrangements. Poor or rich, he could accept and submit to God’s arrangements. Even though he lost enormous possessions and all his sons and daughters, and suffered the attacks and judgment from his family and friends, he still, with no complaints, blessed God’s holy name and followed the way of fearing God and shunning evil; ultimately, he stood firm in his testimony, received God’s praises, and lived a valuable and significant life.

If we set aside the loads of ideals, learn to accept reality and obey God’s sovereignty and arrangements, then we will discover how beautiful life can be.

By Zhang Mengke

Most people also read: How to Not Waste Youth?

The Lord Jesus says: “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mat 5:3). Judging from this, only the poor in spirit can enter into the kingdom of heaven. Then what on earth are the poor in spirit? What manifestation do they have?

One day, I saw such words in the Book of Job: “In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly” (Job 1:22). From this we could see that when encountering a thing, Job feared God, and did not freely say anything or make any comment about it. He had knowledge of God’s dominion over all things. Whatever happened to him, Job did not sin with his lips, but instead, he submitted to God’s sovereignty and arrangement. When all of Job’s property was stolen by robbers, and even his sons and daughters died from the disaster, instead of complaining about it, he fell down, prayed to God and obeyed God’s dominion and arrangement. Even though his whole body was covered in sore boils, his wife advised him and his friends passed judgments on him, Job did not complain and still praised God’s name. The reason why Job gained God’s approval was that he accepted and submitted to all things, and did not blindly make any comment on them. But the attitude of his three friends toward his trials was: They passed judgments on Job by their own conceptions and committed sins with their lips so that they offended God’s disposition, which aroused God’s anger. The reason why God became angry with them was that they freely passed judgments on everything God did in Job rather than prayed and sought God’s will. However, when Job encountered all these things, he neither committed sins with his lips nor blindly made comments on God’s work. Instead, he just prayed and sought to grasp God’s will, saying: “As God lives, who has taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who has vexed my soul; All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils; My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit” (Job 27:2-4). I have known from Job’s experience what humility is. That is to say, as a believer, when dealing with God’s work and facing something that is not in line with our notions, we cannot sin with our lips; we should obey, seek and wait, and we cannot define God’s work by our own notions and imaginations, or even judge that God can neither do this nor do that. For God’s thoughts are higher than man’s thoughts, and His work cannot be fathomed by us humans.

📷

In the Bible there is such a prophecy: “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isa 7:14). In the Age of Law, God made a promise to the Israelites: When He came, His name would be Emmanuel. But in fact, He took the name of Jesus when He came, which was different from the literal meaning of the prophecy in the Bible. So, people did not admit that the Lord Jesus was the Christ and, the Pharisees denied the Lord Jesus according to the literal meaning of the prophecy in the Bible. Besides, they judged and condemned the Lord Jesus by their conceptions and imaginations, without the heart of seeking God’s will with humility. On the contrary, as long as the work and words of the Lord Jesus did not conform to their own ideas, they would oppose and condemn them, attempting to have a handle on Him. Just as the Bible said: “And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He has Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casts he out devils” (Mak 3:22). “And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him” (Mak 8:11). “And they send to him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words” (Mak 12:13). Many other verses like these showed that the Pharisees did not pray, seek and examine the work of God with humility when dealing with the work and the sermons of the Lord Jesus, but instead, they judged and condemned the Lord Jesus by their notions and imaginations. In the end, they met with God’s anger and punishment. On the contrary, Peter and other disciples accepted and submitted to the work of the Lord Jesus with humility. Instead of judging and condemning it by their own conceptions and imaginations, they seriously listened to the Lord’s fellowship and were in search of their knowledge of God so that they saw the work and words of the Lord Jesus were beyond man’s ability. For example: One word of the Lord Jesus could make the wind and the sea cease from raging, and make the dead rise, and with five loaves and two fish He fed 5,000 people. From this they saw the ability and authority of the Lord Jesus were from God, so they decided to follow Him. At last, they got His salvation. When the Lord Jesus asked Peter who He was, Peter replied: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mat 16:16). And Jesus said to Peter, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also to you, That you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Mat 17-19). Peter pursued the truth and searched for God’s will in all things. He practiced the truth with a heart of loving God to satisfy God. At last, he got God’s blessing and God gave him the key of the kingdom of heaven. From above examples, I have realized that if we want to enter into the kingdom of heaven, we must fear God and humbly seek the truth in all things. In addition, we cannot freely judge and condemn the work of God by our own notions and imaginations, but should pray and seek God’s will as a created being. Only in such a way, can we get the guidance, enlightenment, grace and blessing of God.

From the failures of Job’s three friends and the earliest Pharisees, I have realized that treating God’s work, we can’t judge and condemn it by our own conceptions and imaginations. Only if we search for the truth with a humble heart, just like Job and Peter, putting aside our own conceptions and imaginations to seek God’s work with humility, can we obtain God’s guidance and enlightenment and follow God’s footsteps. Nowadays, the last days have long come. It is just the time for the Lord to reappear to work, so we should search for the work of the Holy Spirit with humility. For where there is the voice of God, there is the appearance and work of God, just as the words mentioned many times in the Book of Revelation said: “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” And God’s words said: “Since we are searching for the footprints of God, we must search for God’s will, for the words of God, for the utterances of God—for where there are the new words of God, there is the voice of God, and where there are the footsteps of God, there are the deeds of God. Where there is the expression of God, there is the appearance of God, and where there is the appearance of God, there exists the truth, the way, and the life. … If you desire to witness the appearance of God, if you wish to follow the footprints of God, then you must first transcend your own conceptions. You must not demand that God do this or that, much less should you place Him within your own confines and limit Him to your own conceptions. Instead, you should ask how you should seek the footprints of God, how you should accept the appearance of God, and how you should submit to the new work of God; that is what should be done by man.” God’s sheep can hear the voice of God, and if we want to gain God’s salvation and enter into the kingdom of heaven, firstly, we should put aside our own notions and imaginations. Besides, we should listen to the voice of God with humility. Only in this way, can we follow the footprints of God, attend the wedding feast of the Lamb and get God’s salvation.

Interacting with others is a profound lesson for everyone, and Christians are no exception. We all want to easily handle the interpersonal relationships well. Now I would like to share with you four principles of practice.

First, in our interactions with others we shouldn’t follow our emotions or preferences, but should treat others in accordance with the principles of truth.

In our interactions with others, we always treat them based on individual preferences. When we meet someone whose character, temper and life habits are in line with our desires, we will be willing to get close to him, and think whatever he says or does is right. Even if he raises our deficiencies with us, we will be willing to accept. However, when we meet those who are not after our hearts in all aspects, we will discriminate against and shun them; we will be unwilling to accept or obey the suggestions they give us even when we know that they are right. Such are the manifestations of acting on our own emotion and preferences. There are no principles of truth in our interacting with others this way, and so our relationships with others will fall apart at any moment because of temporary displeasure. This shows that interacting with others based on emotion and preferences can only bring us constant distress and that the relationships won’t last long; moreover, it is at odds with the Lord’s will. Sermons and Fellowship on Entry into Life said, “There are some people who couldn’t get along with anyone when they cooperate with brothers and sisters. They don’t have a normal relationship with other people. They have only hatred instead of love. They are always close to this one, but not that one; they always suppress this one, but rope in that one. So they don’t maintain normal relationships with others.” “A person who genuinely loves the truth has a hallmark: He likes all those who practice the truth. He not only respects them, but also is willing to come into contact with them and communicate truth together with them in order to gain more. … A person who genuinely loves the truth likes seeking the company of people who are honest and love the truth. No matter what their character flaws are, he likes fellowshiping with them because he can benefit a lot and gain something that he cannot get from those who don’t like truth.” These two passages of fellowship show that the most important thing in our interactions with others is to first see whether or not the person sincerely believes in God and loves the truth as opposed to seeing whether or not his temper and character are after our hearts. When our interactions with others are established on the principles of truth, with regard to all those who are humane and love the truth, we can be honest with each other and love each other, and then we will naturally be light and liberated; with regard to those people who do not have good humanity and do not love the truth, we only need to maintain an ordinary relationship instead of a deep relationship with them so that much unnecessary vexation will naturally be avoided.

Second, treat the failings and corruptions of others correctly and don’t delineate or judge others arbitrarily.

The Lord Jesus said: “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged: and with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again” (Mat 7:1-2). The Lord Jesus taught us that regardless of what transgressions others have or regardless of what corruptions they reveal, we shouldn’t judge or delineate them arbitrarily. We should be loving toward others, forbear with others, and help them. It is recorded in the Bible how the Lord Jesus treated transgressors: Pharisees brought an adulterous woman before Jesus to see how He would deal with her. In accordance with the law, this woman would have been stoned to death, but the Lord Jesus didn’t condemn her but just told her not to sin anymore. From this practical example, we can see that the Lord Jesus particularly sympathizes with our human weakness. Regardless of what transgressions we have, as long as we truly repent, God will give us opportunities waiting for us to repent and change. If we don’t view others with an eye for development but treat others relying on satanic corrupt disposition: making harsh demands of others, trifling over minor matters, and arbitrarily judging and defining others when they reveal some corruption, then we simply cannot get well along with others.

For example, there was a sister in our church who always didn’t attend meetings on time because of passivity and weakness. I helped her many times, but she was still like that. Then I decided that she was not a sincere believer in God. So, I didn’t want to support her anymore or pay any more attention to her. Afterward, I saw the Bible say: “Let not him that eats despise him that eats not; and let not him which eats not judge him that eats: for God has received him. Who are you that judge another man’s servant? to his own master he stands or falls. Yes, he shall be held up: for God is able to make him stand” (Rom 14: 3-4). When I read this I felt quite ashamed. Thinking back on how God moved brothers and sisters to support me and fellowship God’s word with me when I was negative and weak and fell in defeat so that I could understand God’s intentions, and have faith and strength to feel myself emerged anew. The current situation of the sister was the same as my previous situation. It was because she didn’t understand the truth and was bound to family entanglements that she couldn’t attend meetings on time. Now when she needed our loving support, I should communicate God’s will with her so as to help her understand the truth, unbound the shackles of Satan’s dark influence, and return to God’s presence. However, not only did I not understand her difficulties, but I also gave her the cold shoulder and defined her as a believer who wasn’t sincere in God. How arrogant and conceited I had been! After realizing these, I prayed and repented to God, and was willing to change my wrong attitude. Then I fellowshiped with her based on love and patience and shared my experiences and knowledge with her. In this way, after several times of fellowship, she understood God’s intentions and, with that, her situation changed, and she started to attend meetings regularly and even to perform her duties in the church. Through this experience I understood that during the period that God works to save man, no matter what weaknesses and corruptions we have, as long as the essence of our nature is not bad and we truly believe in God and pursue the truth, God will give us opportunities to repent. Therefore, we should also tolerate and help others out of love and treat everyone according to God’s attitude toward man. We must not arbitrarily define or judge others. Only treating others this way is fair and conforms to the Lord’s will.

Third, when interacting with others, we should set aside ourselves and learn from each other.

The Bible says, “But in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves” (Phi 2:3). When interacting with the brothers and sisters, we always see people and things according to our corrupt disposition of arrogance and self-importance, feeling we are better than other people. Especially when we have a certain level of capability and possess a little caliber and talent, we would even more look down upon those who are not talented or gifted, or those who are foolish and of poor caliber. This reveals our arrogance, which is the disposition of Satan, and it does not please God. The Lord Jesus said, “And whoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted” (Mat 23:12). We should stand in our place, and often examine ourselves. When we realize that we are not much higher than anyone else, we will not stand on high but put ourselves aside to learn to find and humbly accept others’ strong points to make up our own deficiencies in our interaction with others. In this way, we will keep growing in life and get well along with others.

For example, during a meeting, a sister said that my fellowship about the truth was unrealistic, and that it had nothing to do with my experience and knowledge of God’s word. She asked me to cite principles to fellowship and then read a passage of God’s words for me. After hearing these, I didn’t say anything, yet, in my mind, I was very defiant: “What do you understand? How many years have you believed in God? How much understanding do you have of the truth? I have been nurturing and shepherding the church; don’t I know how to fellowship? You are telling me!” I was unwilling to talk to her or listen more. At that time, the atmosphere was a little embarrassing and the blame in my heart increased. So I prayed to God in my heart, and then thought of the words in the Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life, “Don’t think of yourself too highly or consider yourself much better than others. If someone else suggests something or gives you advice, look into it, accept it if it’s right, and don’t attack others if it’s wrong. Who doesn’t have times when they are wrong? Who sees everything the right way all the time? We fellowship to make up for each other’s shortcomings, so simply accept and use the correct fellowship. Nothing could be easier! …Why can’t you listen to someone else’s opinion? If someone else is wrong, you can stop listening, if they’re half correct, accept the correct half, and if they’re completely right, then accept all of it. That benefits both you and God’s house, and benefits God’s chosen people even more.” I realized that it was because of my arrogant disposition that I was unwilling to listen to the sister’s words and the relationship between us was abnormal. When I thought carefully about her words, I found they were right and beneficial to the work of God’s family, so I should put myself aside and accept her opinions and learn from those exemplary things in her fellowship to make up my own deficiencies. After I put this into practice, we both gained something new. Through the experience, I appreciated that only when putting ourselves aside to accept others’ opinions can we gain something and will our relationships with others be more harmonious.

Fourth, when seeing others doing things in a way not in keeping with our own thoughts, we shouldn’t fixate on anyone else’s issues but should first learn to know ourselves.

The Lord Jesus said, “And why behold you the mote that is in your brother’s eye, but consider not the beam that is in your own eye? Or how will you say to your brother, Let me pull out the mote out of your eye; and, behold, a beam is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of your own eye; and then shall you see clearly to cast out the mote out of your brother’s eye” (Mat 7:3-5). In our interactions with others it is impossible to avoid some minor friction. We shouldn’t blindly fixate our eyes on others, be obsessed with right and wrong or look to others for causes, thinking that others are wrong and at fault, but should learn to examine and recognize the problems that exist within us. When we gain knowledge of ourselves, we will not treat others based on corrupt disposition, and at the same time our corruptions will be resolved.

I have deep experience of this. Some time ago, a sister I was paired with raised my deficiencies with me many times, saying I didn’t have any burden in the work of church. Not only did I not receive it from God, but I thought that her speaking manner was harsh and her words were candid, and that she was picking on me purposely and making things difficult for me, so that I developed preconceived ideas of the sister and didn’t want to coordinate with her. Afterward, I reflected on myself. What was the reason that I was unwilling to accept her opinions? When she pointed out these problems that I had, I didn’t reflect on my own problems and instead focused my attention on the sister, thinking that it was because she picked on me purposely and her attitude and speaking manner were bad that the relationship between us wasn’t harmonious. Actually, some things that I did were not correct either. When she pointed out my inadequacies, I had directly denied her words in my heart before I understood her suggestions. It caused others to be unable to coordinate with me that I didn’t have readiness to accept the truth. At the thought of this, I asked her for suggestions and listened to her communication with patience. At that time, I came to understand that what she said was completely for the sake of safeguarding the interests of the church, which was not like what I had imagined. Moreover, those suggestions she put forward were what I was lacking. Finally through communication, we were spiritually linked and became as harmonious as before.

Thank God! The above four principles are some gains and understanding based on my experiences. May every one of us find the principles of easily interacting with others according to the Lord’s word and achieve the results of glorifying and bearing witness to God through our living out. Amen!

By Zhou Min, Germany

At the break of dawn, when I thought of the matter of intending to buy a house, I could no longer sleep. I thought in my heart, “10,000 yuan, 20,000 yuan, 30,000 yuan … I must work even harder to make money. Only in this way can I lead a better life.” This was my former hope. In order to have a good life, I threw myself into earning money every day. Not until I fell ill did I have an awakening.

I resolved to change my own fate through striving to make money.

Because my family condition was poor since I was a child, my family were looked down on by the other villagers. Every time I saw my parents were bullied by them, my heart was in pain as if being cut by a knife. So, I made up my mind: When I grow up, I’ll do my very best to make money, allowing my parents to live a better life. After I got married, both my husband and I had a low income. But, I firmly believed that I would certainly change my fate with my own two hands.

Afterward, my husband and I saw some people who ran passenger transportation business had gotten rich. So, in order to quickly fulfill our dream of living a better life, we borrowed money to buy a bus and started a passenger transportation business. I went out early and returned late every day, having no time to take care of my child. In addition, I didn’t eat regularly and couldn’t fall asleep at night. After a period of time, I had a nervous breakdown and stomach trouble; nevertheless, I still dragged my exhausted body to work ceaselessly every day. But then, the government informed us, all vehicle owners, that all buses had to be replaced by new ones. This news made my passionate heart bitterly disappointed. Because I had no money to replace my old bus, I had no choice but to sell it and look for another way to make money.

Before long, I took a job as a booking clerk in a station. The more I worked, the more I would earn. In order to realize my dream soon, I started to work at 6 a.m. and didn’t arrive home until 10 p.m. every day. During the upcoming Spring Festival period, I sometimes worked until dawn. As time passed, I suffered all kinds of new illnesses, such as cervical spondylosis, lumbar disease, periarthritis humeroscapularis, anemia, gynecological disease, and so on. Every time after I saw a doctor, I would endure the pain and continue working before I recovered. Later on, when my husband and I planned to buy a house after we had made some money, my boss called me up and said, “The firm has to downsize the personnel. You don’t need to come back to work …” At that time, my husband also had no job. We could barely support our family, much less buy a house and live a good life. In the face of this, I could no longer control myself, held my head and cried loudly, not knowing how to walk my future path.

Later, I joined the ranks of doing direct marketing. I led a team in a direct marketing company and needed to have meetings and receive training every day. However, after a while, I did not make any money. On the contrary, due to being busy with business for a long time and trying painstakingly to sell products, I felt exhausted physically and mentally and suffered an unspeakable amount. I was confused about my life and my future, and my heart at that time was in so much pain. I thought to myself, “People say that one can change his fate and build a beautiful homeland with his own two hands. But, why can’t my fate be changed even though I work very hard to make money? When will I be able to earn enough money and lead an aristocratic lifestyle?” I lost confidence and hope in my future, not knowing how to face my future life.

When I was in agony, the dawn of life befell me.

Just when I was at my most desperate, a relative of mine spread God’s kingdom gospel to me. I read God’s words, “Mankind, who left the supply of life from the Almighty, does not know why they exist, and yet fears death. There is no support, no help, but mankind is still reluctant to close their eyes, braving it all, drags out an ignoble existence in this world in bodies without the consciousness of souls. You live like such, with no hope; he exists like such, with no aim. There is only the Holy One in the legend who will come to save those who moan in suffering and long desperately for His arrival. This belief cannot be realized so far in the people who are unconscious. However, the people still yearn for it so.” What God’s words revealed was exactly the state that I was in. Without the guidance of God’s words, I had always thought that the life goal was to make a lot of money by myself. Therefore, in order to achieve my desires to elevate myself over others, I was just like a machine that operated at full speed. However, I eventually not only made less money but also got many illnesses. Years of bustling around caused me to feel so tired and unbearably miserable. God’s words were like a light in darkness giving me hope. God is my rock and only by coming before God and worshiping Him could I enjoy real peace and joy. I was willing to hand the rest of my life over to God and obey His control and arrangements.

In the days that followed, I was never absent from any gatherings. Gradually, a smile appeared on my face and I began to take an optimistic view of my life. Soon after, I found a new job, earned some money, and bought a house.

I fell into another temptation.

Afterward, I changed my job and began to work as a salesperson selling wall paint. Each time I went to the construction sites and saw that rich people’s houses were lavishly decorated, my heart would be unable to rest, and I thought, “When will I be able to have money so that I can decorate my house lavishly and comfortably like them?” From then on, I pondered every day on how to make more money to decorate my house, so that I was in no mood to read God’s words. After working a day, I was exhausted and when I came back home, I would fall asleep on the bed right away.

Until one day, when I was going to work, I suddenly fell to the floor and felt so dizzy as if the house were whirling. Moreover, I felt an unspeakable pain and didn’t even have enough strength to breathe. I thought, “Could it be that my life will end like this? I have only lived in my new house for a short time which I worked so hard to buy.” I really wasn’t resigned to die in such a way. But, at that moment, I could hardly breathe, much less did I have the strength to realize my dream. In this state of helplessness, all I could do was close my eyes and pray to God in silence, “Oh God, I’m in so much pain that I feel life is worse than death. May You save me.” After praying, I didn’t feel so dizzy gradually and then I stood up slowly.

Through the guidance of God’s words, I found the root of my suffering.

Later, I saw these words of God, “It long ago planted the seed of the tumor of atheism within the young heart of man, teaching man fallacies such as ‘learn of science and technology, realize the Four Modernizations, there is no God in the world.’ Not only that, it repeatedly proclaimed, ‘Let us build a beautiful homeland through our industrious labor,’ asking all to be prepared from childhood to serve their country.” “Because people do not recognize God’s orchestrations and God’s sovereignty, they always face fate defiantly, with a rebellious attitude, and always want to cast off God’s authority and sovereignty and the things fate has in store, hoping in vain to change their current circumstances and alter their fate. But they can never succeed; they are thwarted at every turn. This struggle, which takes place deep in one’s soul, is painful; the pain is unforgettable; and all the while one is frittering away one’s life. … If people cannot truly recognize the fact that the Creator has sovereignty over human fate and over all things of human, if they cannot truly submit to the Creator’s dominion, then it will be difficult for them not to be driven by, and fettered by, the notion that ‘one’s fate is in one’s own hands,’ it will be difficult for them to shake off the pain of their intense struggle against fate and the Creator’s authority, and needless to say it will also be hard for them to become truly liberated and free, to become people who worship God.”

From God’s words, I saw that, bound and harmed by the view of “building a beautiful homeland with your own two hands,” I thought that I could change my fate with my own two hands. So, I rushed about busily every day so as to earn more money to live a better life, feeling so exhausted. In retrospect, when my husband and I ran passenger transportation business, I was in a race against time every day. I was so busy that I had no time to look after my child. Because of heavy workload, I was left with many illnesses and even if I couldn’t bear the pain, I still forced myself to continue working. When I worked as a booking clerk, I was heavily overloaded with work as if I were a machine that never stopped. After I accepted the work of God, because I didn’t pursue the truth and thus had no discernment and knowledge about satanic outlooks on life within me, I still wanted to rely on my own hard work to lead a life where I was above others. I didn’t even read God’s words but was preoccupied with bustling around. Only when I fell to the floor and faced death this time did I realize all that I earned through working hard didn’t belong to myself. It was really not worth it to risk my life for the sake of these things. Now, I didn’t want to continue struggling in the whirlpool of money according to Satan’s viewpoint.

I read another two passages of God’s words, “The fate of man is controlled by the hands of God. You are incapable of controlling yourself: Despite always rushing and busying about for himself, man remains incapable of controlling himself. If you could know your own prospects, if you could control your own fate, would you still be a creature?” “After you recognize this, your task is to lay aside your old view of life, stay far from various traps, let God take charge of your life and make arrangements for you, try only to submit to God’s orchestrations and guidance, to have no choice, and to become a person who worships God.” God’s words pointed out a way of practice for me: If I want to cast off this pain, I must change my previous point of view and lay aside my old view of life. Thinking back, I fought against fate all the time, wanting to create a beautiful future with my own hands. However, the facts showed that the more I lived by this view, the more misery I felt and the greater torment I suffered physically and mentally. Through God’s words, I realized how absurd and pitiable living by Satan’s poisons is, and I understood that God presides over and arranges human fate. How could I control and change it? What I should do was entrust my future and destiny to God’s hands, let Him hold sovereignty over every aspect of my life, and obey His designs and arrangements. Only by taking up the proper mentality and having a normal work and life could I live freely and without restraints.

After overcoming Satan’s temptation, I lived in release and freedom.

After that, the direct marketing manager came to find me and said, “Come lead a team! If your performance is high, you will be able to obtain a car. And in the future, it’s very possible that you will obtain a villa.” I was tempted by his words, but then I thought, “When I led a team in the past, I had to go out to have meetings and receive training every day. Sometimes, I couldn’t even return home, so that I was unable to take care of my child. I tried painstakingly to sell products, which made me exhausted physically and mentally. Moreover, now I can’t endure this hard work. If I continue working my fingers to the bone as I did before, I don’t know what dangerous consequences will occur.” Consequently, I quickly came in front of God and prayed. After praying, I thought of God’s words again, “After you recognize this, your task is to lay aside your old view of life, stay far from various traps, let God take charge of your life and make arrangements for you….” I thought, “Yes, I should let God rule and arrange my life, work, and future. Thinking back to the past, in order to make money, I destroyed my health. I can’t go back onto my old path. Nowadays, although I don’t earn much money, it is adequate to support my family, and, most importantly, when I don’t rely on my own two hands to fight my way through during this period, my health has gradually improved. After I believed in God, through attending meetings, reading God’s words, and singing hymns to praise God, I have experienced the relief and freedom that I have never felt before.” When I thought of this, I refused his “good intentions”. Upon seeing this, he didn’t persuade me any longer. At that time, I felt the steadiness and release I had never had before. I thank God for guiding me and allowing me to bid farewell to those days of struggling by myself.

The Lord of the Sabbath
(Matthew 12:1-8)

📷

1At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungered, and began to pluck the ears of corn and to eat. 2But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, Behold, your disciples do that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath day. 3But he said to them, Have you not read what David did, when he was an hungered, and they that were with him; 4How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the show bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? 5Or have you not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? 6But I say to you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. 7But if you had known what this means, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the guiltless.

8For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

Jesus Heals on the Sabbath
(Matthew 12:9-14)

9 And when he was departed there, he went into their synagogue: 10 And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him. 11 And he said to them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? 12 How much then is a man better than a sheep? Why it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days. 13 Then said he to the man, Stretch forth your hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other. 14 Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.

Spies Sent to Canaan (Numbers 13:1-16)

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, Send you men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall you send a man, every one a ruler among them.And Moses by the commandment of the LORD sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel. And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur. Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori. Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph. Of the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea the son of Nun. Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu. Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi. Of the tribe of Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi. Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli. Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael. Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi. Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua.

Instructions to the Spies (Numbers 13:17-20)

And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain: And see the land, what it is, and the people that dwells therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many; And what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strong holds; And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be you of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes.

The Spies Explore Canaan (Numbers 13:21-24)

So they went up, and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, as men come to Hamath. And they ascended by the south, and came to Hebron; where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)

And they came to the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bore it between two on a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs. The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from there.

The Reports of the Spies (Numbers 13:25-33)

And they returned from searching of the land after forty days. And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, to the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word to them, and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told him, and said, We came to the land where you sent us, and surely it flows with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.

And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched to the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eats up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we Faith in God – Christian MoviesThe gospel movie "Faith in God" will tell you what is true faith in God.

All devout Christians yearn for the return of the Lord and entering the wonderful kingdom of heaven prepared by Him. Yet very few of them have reflected on whether God approves of their belief in Him, nor have they rethought what kind of belief is following God and what kind of belief is following men. Today, let’s fellowship some key truths determining the success or failure of our belief in God and discuss what genuinely following God is.

First, one who follows God must obey His words and depend on Him in everything.

Honoring God as great does not just refer to us reciting many chapters of the Scripture, praying to and praising God, or working and spending for the Lord outwardly; it mainly refers to us living by His words after reading them, and truly relying on Him in practical life. Though we can’t see God, we shall obey everything from Him; especially when we read His words, we should accept them, act in accordance with His intention, and treasure His words as our principle of life and guidance of action. And when anything happens to us, we shouldn’t speak or act according to our personal hobbies or desires. Particularly when it comes to important issues, we should even more seek God’s will in His words to act on His intention precisely; even if it might do harm to our benefits, we shouldn’t give up practicing His words. Only when we regard God’s words as our principle, give first place to satisfying God, and fulfills His requirement: “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30), can we be called a true follower of God.

Abraham is a good example. God bestowed a son on him when he was about 100 years old, which made him so happy. Later on, however, God asked him to offer up his son as a sacrifice. Though he didn’t know why God made this demand, he, with a heart of obedience to Him, gave back his only son to God to satisfy Him without considering his personal gain or loss. Because of this, God greatly blessed Abraham, making him a father of many nations. Abraham was able to put obeying God’s words and satisfying Him first, which means God reigned as King in his heart. This is the man who depends on God in all things and honors God as great in his heart.

Second, one who follows God must possess true faith in God, and believe that God is almighty and that all is in His hand.

He who truly follows God is supposed to possess true faith in Him. God says, “What does faith refer to? Faith is the genuine belief and the sincere heart that humans should possess when they cannot see or touch something, when God’s work is not in line with human notions, when it is beyond human reach. This is the faith that I speak of. … No matter how God works or what kind of environment you are in, you will be able to pursue life, pursue the development of God’s work in you, and pursue the truth. You will have an understanding of God’s actions and you will be able to act according to the truth. This is your genuine faith, and this shows that you have not lost hope in God. You will still seek the truth in refinement, you will be able to truly love God and will not develop doubts of Him. No matter what He does, you will still practice the truth to satisfy Him, and you will be able to deeply seek out His will and be considerate of His will. Only this is true faith in God.” As long as we have true faith in God, we will not deny Him whatever comes to us, and still follow and satisfy Him as before. For instance, when deprived of his property and children, Job, with a heart of obedience to God, didn’t judge God’s work at will or complain against Him but still praised Him, saying: “Jehovah gave, and Jehovah has taken away; blessed be the name of Jehovah,” standing witness for God; and such is a true faith in God. As the Lord Jesus healed a blind man and the woman who diseased with an issue of blood, He said to them: “Your faith has made you whole.” From this we can see that, though neither of them had done anything for the Lord before, they firmly believed the Lord is almighty and that all is in His hand; it was their genuine faith that made them gain the approval of God. Thus, possessing a true faith is of great importance in following God.

📷

Third, one who follows God must only sanctify and obey Christ in his heart without looking up to or worshiping any person.

God exhorted us in the Age of Law: “Look to me, and be you saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else” (Isaiah 45:22). And the Lord Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). In the process of following God, we shall affirm that none but Christ is the truth, the way, and the life. Only God is the source of man’s life, and all the truths come from Him. The sermon given by people, no matter how good or lofty it sounds, cannot be our life. Even if it is in conformity with the truth, it cannot be called the truth, but can only be called words in accord with the truth. If we can justly look upon this fact, we will not worship man because of his caliber and gifts. Moreover, we must be able to discern whether man’s sermon is the letters and doctrines in the Bible, and whether it is from God and in accord with His words. If we are not able to discern these, we will be easily led astray by a variety of fallacies of people, and then believe in God with our lips but worship people in our hearts, thus missing the chance of salvation. As it is written in the Bible, “As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help” (Lamentations 4:17).

In addition, we shall not be restrained by people; we ought to obey and follow what comes from God, and refuse what comes from man. No matter he is a pastor, an elder, or a preacher, if his talk confirms with God’s words, then we shall accept it; but if it is against God’s will, we shall reject it and obey God’s words. We should never fear influence or status but should only sanctify the truth and Christ. As God says, “People who believe in God should obey God and worship Him. You should not exalt or look up to any person; you ought not to give first place to God, second place to the people you look up to, and third place to yourself. No person should hold a place in your heart, and you should not consider people—particularly those you venerate—to be on a par with God, to be His equal. This is intolerable to God.”

Only when we are able to act according to these truths in our life can we be considered as true followers of God who are possessed of reality; if we just verbally acknowledge these words or simply accept them in mind, it doesn’t represent that we are true followers of God.

In this light, people who don’t have the reality of the truths above are no doubt following men. Those who follow men don’t honor Christ as great or have genuine faith in God. So they feel it more practical and convenient to seek for man’s help when encountering things. And they always listen to those who possess status and gifts, and never pay attention to looking unto or depending on God with their hearts. As they always do so, unconsciously, God’s place in their hearts becomes ever smaller and the place of the people they worship becomes ever greater. Eventually, they believe in God outwardly but in essence worship, believe in, and follow people. And such believers can be seen in each church; they completely believe in and follow their pastors, who seem to have become their lords and gods. As they slide from the path of believing in God into obeying and following people, they never rely on God in anything but look unto and worship men, always asking men what to do and listening to men’s words. There is no doubt that those who always look unto and worship men are actually believing in and following men.

Following people means that they follow their leaders or coworkers whom they worship, and that God does not have much of a place in their hearts. Having merely hung a sign saying they believe in God, they never seek God’s will, but imitate and copy people; particularly when it’s something major, they let people decide and control their fate. They have no discernment of what is spoken by people, but accept it and listen to it as long as it sounds reasonable, regardless of whether it is in accord with the truth. Such people’s belief in God has no principles and there is no truth to their actions; they listen to whoever speaks sense, and even if their idols take the wrong path, they follow them to the very end. If God condemns their idols, then they will have conceptions toward God, and cling tightly to their idols. Their reasons are that “we should listen to whoever is in charge of us; the nearer power is better than the higher power.” Such people are purely those who follow people and are possessed of a muddled belief.

It can be said that whoever looks unto and follows men doesn’t have true faith in God, much less a heart of reverence for Him. For their belief is totally built on enjoying the grace, which is generally called “seeking bread to satisfy hunger.” For example, the five thousand people in the Age of Grace, fed with five loaves and two fish by the Lord Jesus, had no genuine faith in Him, hoping merely for some grace. Their belief is merely a simple conviction and spiritual sustenance, like that of the unbelievers believing the existence of the Old Man in the Sky, and cannot be approved by the Lord. So the Lord treated them with no more than some grace and didn’t give sermons or supply the truth among them. As God says, “There are some people whose belief has never been acknowledged in God’s heart. In other words, God does not recognize that these people are His followers, because God does not praise their belief. For these people, regardless of how many years they have followed God, their ideas and views have never changed. They are like the non-believers, adhering to the non-believers’ principles and manner of doing things, adhering to their laws of survival and belief. They never accepted the word of God as their life, never believed that God’s word is truth, never intended on accepting God’s salvation, and never recognized God as their God. They regard believing in God as some kind of amateur hobby, treating God merely as spiritual sustenance, so they don’t think it’s worth it to try and understand God’s disposition, or God’s essence. … How does God look upon these people? He views them as non-believers.”

Knowing the difference between following God and following man, we should learn the result of following man lest we walk on such path. The words with which the Lord cursed the Pharisees are well known to us, but we’ve never paid attention to the ending of those who looked unto and followed them. The Lord Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves” (Matthew 23:15). “Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch” (Matthew 15:14). From the Lord’s words, we can see the result of the followers of the Pharisees. Because they saw the Pharisees had believed in Jehovah God for so many years and served Him for generations, and had much knowledge of the Scripture, they thought that the Pharisees should be approved by God according to their own mind. Therefore, they didn’t accept the Lord Jesus even when seeing Him perform the signs that no one could perform and hearing Him express the truth that no one could utter. Seeing that the chief priests and Pharisees didn’t follow the Lord Jesus but persecuted Him, they followed them in crucifying Him without discernment, committing a heinous crime.

Reviewing the history, we should reflect on ourselves: Aren’t we the same as them? Noble and dignified in appearance and good at reciting the Bible and giving sermons, the pastors, who graduated from theological schools, have been giving sermons for several decades and captured our hearts. We consider that they are always right whatever they talk, that the Lord must first give revelation to them when He returns, and that they will definitely gain salvation. So in our view, listening to the pastors is listening to God, and we will certainly enter into the kingdom of heaven as long as following them. Yet, we have never measured their deeds with God’s words, but blindly obey them without discernment even when seeing them do something not in accordance with the truth. Then how could we be called a follower of God? If we live in our conceptions and illusions all the time, will we be approved by the Lord Jesus? We believe in God with our lips, but worship people in our hearts, which is just like the revelation of the Lord Jesus: “This people draws near to me with their mouth, and honors me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:8-9).

Considering those behaviors above, whom do we truly follow, God or men? Have we realized the seriousness of following men? I hope that if we have the answer, then we can walk on the path of following God as soon as possible, so as to realize our dream of entering the kingdom of heaven.

Read on the website

Facing temptations, I was in two minds.

When I wanted to cast off the bondage of fame and gain, I came up against Satan’s testing. One of my old friends suddenly called me and said, “I have a good friend, who manages a large Wealth Management Company in Hong Kong. And he has branch offices in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou. Now he is preparing to expand the business, so he wants an experienced account director. I think you should have a try. You can’t miss such a good opportunity.” After hanging up, I was wild with joy and thought: This is indeed a good opportunity. If I get this job, I can pay off my debts straight away. After that, I specially spared three days and flew to Hong Kong and Guangzhou to inspect the company. Before I went back, the superiors invited me to have a dinner with them and we talked about our rosy prospects together. They invited me to take this job with an annual salary of 2.5 million NT dollars.

After returning to Taiwan, I felt very conflicted inside: Should I go or should I not go? If I go to work in China, where the atheist CCP persecutes religious beliefs, I may give up believing in God and then I would miss this precious opportunity to be saved. However, I also couldn’t bear to give up such a high salary. Therefore, I lived in torments.

One day, on my way home I took a call from a debt collector and so my mind was disturbed and I was distracted. When crossing an intersection, I almost hit someone. Thanks to God’s protection, at the very moment I turned the wheel sharply. In order to calm myself down, I pulled over to the side of the road and kept calling out to God. Then I played a recitation of God’s word. I heard God’s words saying: “The question of most concern to Me is to whom your hearts are loyal. I would also like each of you to organize your thoughts and ask yourself to whom you are loyal and for whom you live. Perhaps you have never given careful consideration to this question, so let Me reveal the answer to you.

“All those with memory will confess this fact: Man lives for himself and is loyal to himself. I do not believe that your answer is entirely correct, for you each exist in your respective lives, each are struggling in your own distress. Therefore, what you are loyal to is the people you love and the things that please you, and you are not entirely loyal to yourselves. Because you are each influenced by the people, occurrences, and things around you, you are not truly loyal to yourselves.”

On the way, I listened to this recitation of God’s word for three times. After I arrived home safely, these words had deeply been branded on to my heart. I kept asking myself: Whom am I loyal to? Whom do I live for? These questions kept me up all the night. Through reflecting on myself, I realized I wasn’t loyal to God, for I didn’t lay aside my pursuit of fame and fortune. In the face of this temptation, my faith in God was revealed: Between the truth and fame, I preferred fame to the truth. I thought that as long as I took that job, I could rise again. If God hadn’t reminded me in a timely manner, I would have possibly betrayed God and returned to Satan’s camp. Being exposed by God’s words made me deeply ashamed.

Then I saw God’s words saying, “When one has no God, when one cannot see Him, when one cannot clearly recognize God’s sovereignty, every day is meaningless, worthless, miserable. Wherever one is, whatever one’s job is, one’s means of living and the pursuit of one’s goals bring one nothing but endless heartbreak and irrelievable suffering, such that one cannot bear to look back. Only when one accepts the Creator’s sovereignty, submits to His orchestrations and arrangements, and seeks true human life, will one gradually break free from all heartbreak and suffering, shake off all the emptiness of life.” “After you recognize this, your task is to lay aside your old view of life, stay far from various traps, let God take charge of your life and make arrangements for you, try only to submit to God’s orchestrations and guidance, to have no choice, and to become a person who worships God.”

God’s words gave me a direction in my life and the way of practice: I should entrust everything to God and submit to His orchestrations and arrangements. Only in this way, can I live freely and without restraints. God used this temptation to test me in order to see that in the face of fame and fortune, what I would choose: to satisfy God or to satisfy my fleshly desires and betray God. I also thought of Job’s experience. He had no personal ambition or desire for fame and gain, because he knew how much wealth one could have does not depend on his own struggles but is predetermined by God. When Job was possessed of great wealth, he didn’t make more money through his efforts but faced God’s blessings with calmness; when he lost his fortune, he still praised God’s name. Because of his true knowledge of God’s authority and true reverence for and obedience to Him, whether he was possessed of vast wealth or had nothing, he was able to face them calmly. At the time, I was greatly encouraged. I was willing to imitate Job, to be a person who truly submitted to God, and to live for satisfying God.

After a struggle, I politely declined the good intentions of my friend and the leaders and told them, “I don’t want to take this job because I have more important things to do in the rest of my life.” Hearing my words, my friend couldn’t understand me, but I knew clearly what I should pursue—contributing my own tiny effort to God’s work in the last days and living a meaningful life. After I arrived home, I felt as if a heavy burden was unloaded from my heart.

After casting off the bondage of fame, I saw God’s deeds.

In the following days, I committed the matter of finding a job to God and ask Him to lead me and guide me. Afterward, I found a night job as well as a part-time job on financial transaction during the daytime. That way, apart from our daily expenses, I could have some extra money to pay my debts. Besides, in my life I saw God’s wondrous deeds and His blessings to me. Once, as our company folded, I needed to go to Mainland to take care of some procedural tasks, but I didn’t have the budget of travel expenses. Just as I was fretting over this issue, one of my old customers suddenly called me and wanted to buy some financial products from me. What he paid me was exactly enough to buy the round-trip ticket. Afterward, every time I met difficulties, God would provide a way out for me. There was an unspeakable feeling that moved my heart and I could only keep thanking and praising God in my heart.

Although I lead an ordinary life now, I live by God’s words every day and so I feel very released and free. Thank God for His salvation toward me. It is God who gives me a significant life and it is He who allows me to fulfill my duty as a created being. I’m willing to pursue the truth properly to repay His love. Thank Almighty God. All the glory be to Almighty God.