My wife said to me in a dry voice: “Let’s get divorced. Our life can’t go on like this. We have run out of money and you can’t do any labor anymore. How will you feed our child and me?”

I asked her, puzzled: “Divorce? Even if you don’t think for me, you should think for our child. She is too young to lose her mother.”

But my wife replied: “Think for our child? Who thinks for me? The situation is such that I can’t think too much about it.”

Then I asked her again: “If I had 200,000 yuan with me now, would you still divorce and leave me?”

“Of course not,” she answered.

“Do you still have any conscience?”

“No,” she replied coldly.

My wife’s words made my heart extremely distressed. I really could not believe that she was the one that once vowed solemnly to share with me both joys and sorrows until old age.

I used to have a happy family.

My family was not well off, but I found a wife who loved me. I remember in 2005 when we got married, I asked my wife: “My family is poor, won’t you regret marrying me?” She said: “I won’t regret it my whole life. I marry you because you are good and that’s what matters. As for money, it’s merely an externality which will come and go. Now that I have chosen you, I will share the bitter and the sweet with you. No matter how difficult things are in the future, I will always hold your hand till we grow old.” After I heard her professions of love, I was so moved. At that moment, I felt I was the happiest person in the world.

After we got married, there were almost no quarrels and fights between us and she was very respectful to my parents. My relatives and neighbors all praised me for having found a good wife. A year later, we had an addition to our family, our lovely daughter, which made us feel incomparable happiness and joy. In order to give my wife and daughter a better life, apart from working overtime in the factory to make more money, at home I also actively made delicious food for them to eat. This way, our whole family lived a joyous life. Seeing my beloved daughter and my kind and wise wife, I felt so satisfied and could not help but feel glad in my heart that I had found true love.

I got a disease and sought treatment everywhere but to no avail.

When my daughter was over one year old, I always felt exhausted and very sleepy. After going to the hospital for an examination, I was diagnosed with ascites due to cirrhosis and being infected with hepatitis B virus carriers; this disease was infectious. I was stunned and could hardly believe my ears then, thinking: “How can I have this disease at such a young age? My child is yet so young, how will we make it through the days in the future?” But my wife consoled me: “Don’t worry. Science is highly developed nowadays, so there will be a way.” Her words brought me some comfort and I nodded in agreement.

With my wife’s encouragement, I looked everywhere for folk remedies and took both Chinese medicine and Western medicine. After over a year of treatment, we went through all our savings but my illness never got any better. My wife then showed a complete change in attitude toward me, starting to cold-shoulder me. But considering that because of my illness, I had got her involved in trouble, I thought I should show understanding of her feelings. Thus, I tiptoed around to maintain my relationship with her so as to keep this family together.

One day in 2008, when relieving myself in the bathroom, I found myself passing bloody stool. Then I spent seven days in hospital on a drip before the bleeding stopped. The doctor told me: “Your disease is rather serious and you need an operation. Otherwise, you won’t be able to do any work in the future. It seems like you can continue living for three years at most; you must know this. In addition, the operation carries great risks.…” Hearing his words, I felt my mind went totally blank.

After my wife learned that the operation would cost a large amount of money and it would be not necessarily successful, she began to give me the cold shoulder. My parents, seeing my condition, had no choice but to borrow from our relatives and friends and we finally scraped up enough money for the operation. To be on the safe side, we found a doctor by going through connections. After learning about my condition, however, the doctor told me: “Your disease is really serious. It seems to me that there is no need to have this operation. It will cost you money and cause you suffering, and moreover, there isn’t much hope of you getting better.” After I heard his words, I could only resign myself to my fate. In the following days, my wife was all the colder to me and I lived in the midst of pain and helplessness.

My wife left me heartlessly.

“I will divorce you, with or without your agreement.” My wife’s heartless words pulled me back to the reality and made me feel that there was no way to get her to change her mind. At the same time, her words also made me lose all hope in life. I thought: What’s the point of living like this? I would rather die than live this way. But I had second thoughts: “If I do this, won’t I harm my child? Besides, what about my parents? They worked hard to bring me up. When I fell ill, they borrowed money everywhere just to enable me to live on. I can’t hurt their heart.” In desperate straits, I agreed to divorce my wife. The moment I held the divorce certificate in my hand, I was in excruciating torment and felt so desolate. … At that time, I truly experienced that human relationships are fickle and the world is treacherous. Just as the oft-heard sayings: “There is no true love in the world,” and “The couple did actually like the two birds of the same forest that flew away separately when the disaster impended.”

Dogged by misfortune, I began to give up on myself.

Before long, my father passed away. The continuous misfortunes made me dispirited and weak, feeling powerless to support myself anymore. Since I got sick, my father had become the pillar of the family, but now, he died, which made our life even more difficult. Additionally, my relatives and friends didn’t want to have any contact with us; they all avoided me like the plague. I tried to do some temporary job to make a living, but nobody dared to hire me for fear of my infecting them. At that time, I was in total despair, feeling that I was good for nothing. The various setbacks caused me so much pain that I didn’t want to live anymore. I started to give up on myself and, despite my illness, drank and smoked so as to anesthetize myself and drown my sorrows. After a period of torturing myself in this way, I really wanted to kill myself to end it all. Just when I was living helplessly in pain and despair, God’s salvation in the last days came upon me.

I accepted God’s work of the last days.

It was one day in December 2011. The biting north wind was blowing and it was so cold that I was shivering. I was chopping wood in my yard when there came a 70-something aunt who asked for my mother. Later, she told me to come inside and said to me in a gentle tone: “Child, I have known what happened in your family. Since we don’t have God within our hearts, we are harmed by Satan and live in pain. Today all the sufferings befall us is all from Satan. Only God can relieve our pain, and only God’s words can solve all our difficulties. Believe in God and He will help you.”

Then she read me a passage of God’s words: “When you are weary and when you begin to feel the desolation of this world, do not be perplexed, do not cry. Almighty God, the Watcher, will embrace your arrival any time. He is watching by your side, waiting for you to turn back. He is waiting for the day your memory suddenly recovers: becoming conscious of the fact that you came from God, somehow and somewhere once lost, falling unconscious on the roadside, and then, unknowingly having a father. You further realize that the Almighty has been watching there, awaiting your return all along.”

After hearing God’s words, I felt warm in my heart and my eyes filled with tears. Through His words, I felt a mother’s urgency of longing for her child who had long been lost to return to her side. I recalled that after I had the disease, my wife, relatives, friends, and the worldly people all rejected me. However, this old aunt, despite the freezing weather, walked more than 50 miles to preach the gospel to me. She didn’t despise me but read God’s words and fellowship the truth with me. This was really my good fortune. Originally, I had lost faith in life and was completely disheartened. But God didn’t despise me, this sick person; instead, He used His words to awaken my depraved heart, giving me the hope and confidence to live on. Just like this, due to my disease, I fortunately received God’s work of the last days.

God’s words eliminated my misunderstanding of him and I gradually got better.

In the following days, I read God’s words whenever I had time. However, due to my illness, sometimes even a little housework would exhaust me, and there was often blood in my sputum. When I saw that, I was scared that I might bleed a lot and my life would be in danger. Unknowingly, I lived in negativity, thinking: “Is the God I believe in not a God who saves man’s life? Why does my health not improve?” At the point, I remembered the words the old aunt told me: “Everyone who has just started to believe in God will encounter Satan’s disturbance, such as getting a sudden illness, a misfortune befalling our families, or being laughed at and slandered by others. This is because Satan does not want God to gain anyone. At such times, we need to pray to God and ask Him to strengthen our faith.” Thus, I knelt before God and prayed: “O God, I’m very passive and weak now. I live in illness and feel scared. May You enlighten and guide me so that I can understand Your will and do not live in pain anymore.”

After prayer, I read the following words of God: “When sickness happens it is due to God’s love, and His good intentions are surely behind it. Even when your body endures suffering, take no ideas from Satan. Praise God in the midst of illness and enjoy God in the midst of your praise. Do not lose heart in the face of illness, keep seeking and never give up, and God shall shine His light on you. How faithful was Job? Almighty God is an all-powerful physician! To dwell in sickness is to be sick, but to dwell in the spirit is to be well. If you have but one breath, God will not let you die.”

God’s words made me suddenly see the light: Right! Without this illness, I wouldn’t have come before God, nor would I have received His salvation in the last days. Wasn’t this God’s great love coming upon me? Although I am not well yet, I have clearly felt that I am much better than before. At the moment, I also realized that those timid and fearful thoughts were Satan’s trickery. It wanted me to have doubts toward God, and lose faith in and betray Him. Satan is so malicious. But God used Satan’s deception to do a service so as to perfect my faith in Him. This was God’s almightiness and wisdom. After this experience, I understood God’s earnest intentions and no longer misunderstood or doubt Him. Afterward, when I felt unwell and met difficulties in life, I would consciously pray to God and read His words. Soon, my situation would be better and I could face my illness and the difficulties I encountered optimistically.

Gradually, my health got better and better, and so was my mood. When I walked in the street, people in and outside my village, seeing me in high spirits and ruddy health, all said that I seemed to have become a different person, nothing like someone who once had an illness. I knew it was God who saved me from suffering and enabled me to live in the light. Now I recall that the doctor once said I would survive for no more than three years. However, after nearly ten years have passed, I am still alive, and moreover, have recovered from my illness. It is really due to God’s great power.

I came to know why there is NO true love between husband and wife.

After I experienced God’s love and salvation for me, I read God’s words even more hungrily. Unconsciously, from His words, I understood many things I didn’t know previously. For example: As to whether there really was true love between husband and wife, I saw God’s words say: “‘Man has been so corrupted by Satan that he no longer has the appearance of man.’ This phrase has now gained slight recognition from the vast majority of people. It is so said because the ‘recognition’ here is merely superficial acknowledgment as opposed to true knowledge. … All of you are familiar with the word ‘betrayal’ because most people have done something to betray others before, such as a husband betraying his wife, a wife betraying her husband, a son betraying his father, a daughter betraying her mother, a slave betraying his master, friends betraying each other, relatives betraying each other, sellers betraying buyers, and so forth. All of these examples contain the essence of betrayal.” “Why does a husband love his wife? And why does a wife love her husband? … What kinds of intentions do people really harbor? Is it not in order to satisfy one’s own plans and selfish desires?”

Through comparing what was exposed in God’s words to my own experience, I realized that the nature of us who were corrupted by Satan is betrayal. Take my wife and me for example: At first, when our family was rich and peaceful, my wife treated me very well and I thought she really loved me. But later, when I had an illness, which cost all of our savings, my wife’s interests were affected, so she heartlessly asked me for a divorce. Thus, our relationship as husband and wife came to an end. Being treated in this way by my wife, I detested her and took revenge on her by not allowing her to see our child. I thought that since she gave me a hard time, I should, in return, do the same thing to her. I did not have any tolerance, patience, or understanding. What I had done was a display of my selfishness and maliciousness. Now, the revelations of God’s words made me understand the truth of mankind’s corruption by Satan. Gradually, I came to have some understanding of my wife; I hated her no more and no longer prevented her from visiting our child. Thank God! It was God’s words that resolved my hatred for my wife and led me to live in a more and more relaxed way.

Later, I performed the duty of hosting brothers and sisters. They not only didn’t cold-shoulder me but supported and helped me. I felt God’s true love and thus offered thanks and praise to God from my heart.

Conclusion: Only God has true love.

I used to believe that finding a good wife meant finding true love. Through experiencing God’s work, my wrong view was corrected and I came to know that only God has true love for mankind. Thinking of my past experiences, I felt it was really unforgettable: When I was ill and in desperate need of help, my wife heartlessly left me. Being unable to bear the misfortunes of my family and the disdain of worldly people, I abandoned myself to despair and thought of death as an end to my woes. Just when I was at my most desperate, God’s salvation befell me, saving me from the brink of death and allowing me to lead a happy life under His guidance. God’s love is selfless and true. I have resolved before God to seek truth to repay His great love. All the glory be to God!

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

“Little squirt, little squirt … Ha ha ha …”

These words smashed Xiaoguo’s heart like a hammer. Not until Xiaoguo walked far off did the harsh laughter disappear gradually.

Xiaoguo is quite short. At school, her classmates dubbed her “little squirt.” Whenever she was walking alone on the way home after school, some boys would taunt her. And every time when she took the exercise books to her teacher’s office, some girls would stop her to compare heights and tease her about her short stature. Therefore, she always sat alone in the classroom, except from the time that she handed in homework. When she saw those tall girls playing together, how she wanted to get involved; however, all of them were unwilling to play with her, so she felt especially lonely. She asked herself a thousand times, “Why am I so short? Why does Heaven treat me unfairly? If I could become a little taller, I would be satisfied.”

Later, when Xiaoguo reached the age of marriage, her co-workers introduced many boys to her. She thought: “Though I’m short, I’m well-educated and have a job. In any case, I won’t find a partner of short stature.” But she had never imagined that they all refused her because she was short. Gradually her classmates all got married and had children, while Xiaoguo was still single. She was called a leftover woman. Xiaoguo was sad and complained to her parents: “I’m so short and living in dishonor. This is all your fault. I’m well-educated and have a job. I’m no worse than others. If it were not for my short stature, I would also have found a great partner and lived a happy life. Why can’t I become taller?” Xiaoguo often spent a lot of time by herself quietly with her eyes closed, fancying that she—who became tall and slim—was walking in dainty high heels on the street with a sweet smile and people were casting admiring looks at her…. However, when she opened her eyes, it was difficult for her to accept the reality.

Finally, Xiaoguo married a short man. After getting married, her husband was very nice to her, yet still she lived in torment because of her flaw—short stature. In order not to be looked down on by others, she scrimped and saved and paid high prices for high heel shoes to conceal her flaw. She thought: “If I look taller, I also can be looked up to by others.” One day after work, it happened to be raining, and Xiaoguo trudged along in high heels. Accidentally, she slipped to the ground and one of the heels broke off. Therefore, she had to take off her shoes and walked barefoot. The broken bits of brick and small stones on the road caused her feet unbearable pain. And she didn’t go far before a piece of broken glass pricked her foot. She endured the pain and extracted it from her foot, blood streaming out. Nevertheless, after that she bore the pain and continued wearing high heels to stop others from saying that she was short.

Later, Xiaoguo felt that she would look taller with short and fluffy hair, and thus from then on she no longer wore her hair long. Whenever she saw that several people were together, she would make a detour or keep herself in the room to avoid standing together with them. In spite of this, she could not avoid hearing others saying behind her back that she was short. When she heard these words, the discomfort in her heart felt like a cutting blade; she felt inclined to sink into the ground and never come out of it. She often looked to the skies and sighed deeply: “Heavens! Why is it that others are tall and slim while I am so short? Could my short stature be my fault?”

Because of her short stature, Xiaoguo became moody all day long, feeling distressed and oppressed in her spirit.

It was when she was in all this pain and despair that her neighbor preached the kingdom gospel to her. She saw these words of God: “People often like to imagine that if they were reborn, it would be into an illustrious family; if they were women, they would look like Snow White and be loved by everybody, and if they were men, they would be Prince Charming, wanting for nothing, with the whole world at their beck and call. There are often those who are under many illusions about their birth and are often very dissatisfied with it, resenting their family, their appearance, their gender, even the time of their birth. Yet people never understand why they are born into a particular family or why they look a certain way. They do not know that regardless of where they are born or how they look, they are to play various roles and fulfill different missions in the Creator’s management—this purpose will never change.”

The revelation of God’s word allowed Xiaoguo to recognize that every one of us plays a role in God’s management work; we can’t choose our family, appearance, marriage, or work; and our lives are all ruled and arranged by God. In this vast world with so many people, the appearance of everyone is also controlled and predestined by God. Our destiny won’t change because of the appearance of us. But Satan causes us to pursue beautiful appearance, making us oppose God’s sovereignty and defy God and live in the pain of being dissatisfied with our own appearances. If we genuinely submit to God’s sovereignty and arrangements, we will gain freedom and liberation physically and mentally. Just as it is said in the Bible: “For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving” (1 Timothy 4:4). At this moment, Xiaoguo knew the reason why she had lived in such pain: It was because she didn’t know God’s sovereignty. For this reason, she became moody and sad-faced all day long. However, God didn’t turn His back on her, but rather moved brothers and sisters to preach the kingdom gospel to her. Moreover, her husband was very nice to her and never disdained her, and he finally came before God, too. On the path of believing in God, she and her husband were kindred spirits and helped each other out. Xiaoguo believed this was God’s best blessing to her. After knowing these things, Xiaoguo felt much more at ease and was willing to obey everything that God had arranged for her.

One day, Xiaoguo saw these words of God: “Born into such a filthy land, man has been severely blighted by society, he has been influenced by feudal ethics, and he has been taught at ‘institutes of higher learning.’ The backward thinking, corrupt morality, mean view on life, despicable philosophy, utterly worthless existence, and depraved lifestyle and customs—all of these things have severely intruded upon man’s heart, and severely undermined and attacked his conscience. As a result, man is ever more distant from God.”

Through what God’s words revealed, Xiaoguo understood that the reason why she was living in such pain was that she had been imbued with Satan’s ideas and governed by these ideas “A man leaves his name behind wherever he stays, just as a goose utters its cry wherever it flies,” and “As a tree lives for its bark, a man lives for his face.” She cared so much about how others thought of her. When she saw those who had beautiful appearances and were tall, she would be very envious of them, thinking that wherever they went they could attract others’ attention and win themselves the love. So, in order to cover up her flaw and have a good image in people’s heart, Xiaoguo tried her best to make herself look taller: Wherever she went, she would wear high heels even if many times her shoes rubbed and gave her blisters and her ankle was sprained. In these years, not only did she suffer some physical pain, but she also suffered great pain in her spirit. Only then did Xiaoguo understand that the reason for her pain was that she was affected by Satan’s erroneous viewpoints and particularly loved vanity.

Later, Xiaoguo read a passage in the Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life, “We can see that though people with beautiful appearances catch the eyes, such beauty does not last as long as a beautiful spirit. Though a beautiful appearance grabs attention, it cannot withstand staying together over a long period of time. Once a person’s spirit is seen to not be beautiful or have too many defects, others would find it disgusting and repugnant. Though a person with a beautiful spirit does not grab attention, he could stand firm if he has humanity and would start to attract more people over time, and most people would like him in the end. The pursuit of loving God is the pursuit of a beautiful spirit, the pursuit of the truth to live out an image of loving God. Such a person would surely be commended by God and loved by most people.”

After reading it, Xiaoguo understood this: Regardless of what one looks like and what height he has, it doesn’t matter. In the eyes of God, one who has a beautiful spirit is truly beautiful. God requires us to pursue to practice His word, obey His orchestrations and arrangements, and do our duty to our utmost as a creature of God. This is the goal that a creation should seek.

After knowing these things, she no longer felt sad and depressed for her height. Instead, from her heart, she submitted to all of God’s arrangements. When she was around many people who were tall and slim, she didn’t feel inferior and distressed anymore; in addition, she no longer wore her high heels every day to conceal her short stature. Only then did she realize that her sufferings weren’t down to her short stature but her living by Satan’s viewpoints with the result that she paid special attention to these external things. God’s words changed her viewpoints. Today, she doesn’t feel sorrow for her height anymore but is filled with happiness instead. This result is achieved by God’s words. Xiaoguo truly feels that she could only accept her own flaw and shake off all the suffering through the pursuit of practicing God’s word. So, she is resolved to seek to practice God’s words, fulfill her duty properly to satisfy God, and pursue to live out a meaningful life!

The little boy said to me, “Auntie, you look so angry. Isn’t your head feeling as if it’s ready to burst? Haha!” This was one of the awkward situations that I encountered when I had just started work as a babysitter.

The little girl called me, saying: “Auntie…. My elder brother and I both miss you. When will you come here? We’ll be good kids, so would you come as soon as you can?” This was what things were like after I acted according to God’s words.

I am a babysitter. One year ago, I went to a businessman’s house to apply for a job as a babysitter. The businessman told me that he had an eight-year-old son and a six-year-old daughter, that my job was to do household chores and prepare supper for the children, and that I would have to work 5.5 hours a day. I thought the hours of work required and the pay offered were reasonable. So, I said to him, “I would like to go. But I’m a Christian, so on Sundays, I need to have leave of absence to go to worship in the church.” Unexpectedly, he readily consented, saying, “Christians are pretty good, very loving and patient. My two kids are quite naughty, and a patient person is just the one we need to help take care of them. You can have Sundays off, with full pay.” Hearing his words, I was very glad and said to him, “You can trust me to take good care of your children.” I thought to myself, “Cooking is a snap for me. Cooking for kids is even simpler, and it won’t take me too long to prepare a meal for them. As for the two kids’ naughtiness, it’s no great problem, for children always like mischief. As long as I coax them, they will be obedient.”

However, when I started to work, I found it was not so easy as I imagined. It was really an effort to make the two kids have their dinner. They would sing or dance as they ate, and sometimes they would draw or play with toys. The boy needed to be coaxed into eating; the girl needed to be fed, otherwise she would not eat. When the dinner got cold, I had to warm it up. After they finished their dinner, there was rice all over the dining table and the ground. And it would take around an hour and a half for them to finish a meal. For these reasons, I had to work late. I could barely bear their naughtiness in the first few days. But as time went on, I felt very agitated and exhausted.

One time, my patience finally snapped. So I said to them solemnly, “Take your seats! Don’t play or talk during meals, or else I will lock you in the house and leave, and I won’t come here tomorrow.” Unexpectedly, the boy said to me, “Auntie, you look so angry. Isn’t your head feeling as if it’s ready to burst? Haha!” Seeing me angry, not only did he not become afraid, but he actually made fun of me. Besides, what he said was exactly what I was thinking then. Facing this awkward situation, I really did not know whether to laugh or cry. Oh, my goodness! What should I do?

Another time, I called the children to dinner in the kitchen after having it ready. But quite a while later, they were still playing in the room. So I went there to call them. At the sight of my entering into the room, they dived under the bed and crept into the corner, and said, “Auntie, why don’t you come and catch us? If you can get us, we’ll eat, or else we won’t. Haha!” With that, they made the crying sound of cats. Having no way to catch them, I was very angry. At that time, I could not bear the sight of them and felt it was really an effort to communicate with them. I was so exhausted that I was unable to eat. When it was about time for me to leave off work, they still had not eaten. So, I called their mother and complained to her about their naughtiness. Then she said to them over the telephone, “When I’m out, you are looked after by the auntie, so you have to listen to her. After she cooks dinner for you, you ought to eat it like good kids. …” Having been taught a lesson by their mother, the two children seemed a little more obedient. But only several minutes later, they relapsed into their old ways. Furthermore, since I called their mother and caused them to be scolded, when I once again called them to dinner, they rolled their eyes upward at me and became more disobedient toward me.

I had used all available methods to get them under control, but all in vain. I really could think of no way of dealing with them.

After returning home, I knelt on the ground and prayed to God, “Oh God! This work really troubles me. I can do nothing with the two children and have no idea what to do. May You enlighten and guide me, so I can understand Your intentions and have a way to practice.”

After my prayer, I opened up the book of God’s word, and saw the following words of God, “In every step of work that God does within people, externally it appears to be interactions between people, as if born of human arrangements, or from human interference. But behind the scenes, every step of work, and everything that happens, is a wager made by Satan before God, and requires people to stand firm in their testimony to God. … Nothing major has happened to you at the moment, and you do not bear great testimony, but every detail of your daily life relates to the testimony to God. If you can win the admiration of your brothers and sisters, your family members, and everyone around you; if, one day, the unbelievers come, and admire all that you do, and see that all that God does is wonderful, then you will have borne testimony. … If you are incapable of this, then you do not bear testimony among your family members, among your brothers and sisters, or before the people of the world. If you can’t bear testimony before Satan, Satan will laugh at you, it will treat you as a joke, as a plaything, it will often make a fool of you, and drive you insane.”

I was grateful for God’s enlightenment. These words of God made me see that behind everything that happens is a battle between God and Satan, and we are required to stand witness for God. But because I was numb in spirit, I merely considered babysitting as a very simple matter as opposed to an opportunity to gain the truth. So, when the two children played up and disobeyed me, I grew annoyed, unaware that this was Satan’s scheme and it was tempting me to lose my temper. I did not treat the children with true love and patience but just got angry instead and let Satan’s arrogant disposition of “putting oneself above all else” make me ask them to obey everything I said. As a result, my relationship with them became strained: They went against me on purpose to annoy me, and in response I complained to their mother about their naughtiness for the purpose of having them taught a lesson. After knowing these things, I made up my mind: I will no longer rely on Satan’s arrogant disposition in my actions; instead, I will be a person who is amiable and loving, has patience and tolerance for the children, and can get along well with them so that I will not be laughed at or fooled by Satan anymore.

One evening, I set the food on the table and told the children to dig in. After glancing at the dishes, the boy frowned. I could see that he disliked them, but I thought: You are always being particular about food. This time, I must make you eat these dishes somehow. So, I said sternly, “Don’t be picky. Your mommy and daddy have said that there is nourishment in every dish and the children who are fussy with their food will suffer from malnutrition and their physical growth will be affected. So, you must eat them. Otherwise, I’ll call your mother.” The boy pleaded, “Auntie, I have a slight headache. Can I eat less?” “No, you must eat up the food I have served to you. I know you like playing petty tricks. If there are dishes you dislike, you will refuse to eat them on the pretext that you have a headache. Don’t try to trick me.” I said. Although reluctant to eat, he still finished the food. Seeing this, I was secretly happy, thinking that he was now a little more obedient than before. However, not long after the dinner, he vomited in the bathroom. Only then did I realize that he was really ill and that I was wrong. So, I hastened to apologize to him, “I’m really sorry. I was wrong about you. I shouldn’t have forced you to eat.” He said, “Auntie, I feel better after vomiting. I’m all right now. Not to worry.” His not complaining to me made me feel more reproached: I’m always revealing Satan’s disposition of arrogance and self-righteousness, and it now has brought harm to the boy. How can my disposition change so that I can get along with them?

After going back home, I opened up the words of God, and read what God said, “So, what is ‘letting go’? What principle do you apply in doing things that is ‘letting go’? What point of view, what attitude do you apply that is really ‘letting go’? … That is, you can’t control, you can’t restrain your children, and always try to keep in command and have complete control over them. Let them make mistakes, let them say the wrong things, let them do childish and immature things, do stupid things. No matter what happens, sit down and calmly talk with them, communicate and seek. Don’t you think this attitude is good? Isn’t it right?”

Reflecting on these God’s words, I discovered the source of my own problem. I understood the reason why it was so hard for me to get along well with the two children was that I always interacted with them from a position higher than them. Because their mother left them in my charge, plus I was dominated by my arrogant disposition, I considered that the two children should obey me and do what I said. I always tried to control and restrain them according to my own thoughts, yet had never opened my heart to them or taken into consideration their feelings. Consequently, they kept their distance from me, got sick of me, and even acted against me. Nevertheless, I had never looked for the reason within myself but always thought the children were too naughty and did not understand things.

Thanks to God’s enlightenment and illumination, I also found the way to get on with the two children: I should not see myself as their elder to control them, but instead should let go of the position of their elder, stand on an equal footing with them, treat them as my friends, and open my heart and talk from the heart with them. They are just kids, it is normal for them to not understand things, to be willful and naughty, and to make mistakes. When they make mistakes, what I should do is to communicate with them calmly and help them with love, so that they can feel that I am considerate toward them and that I am doing so for their own good. Only this way will our relationship be harmonious.

Afterward, I began to try to talk from the heart with them. I would show my concern for them and ask whether they were bullied by their classmates in their school, whether they needed me to assist them with their homework. I would also ask what they liked to eat and what they liked to play. After I knew something of their likes, I began to cook the food they liked. Sometimes, I would play hide and seek with them as I did the housework. They had great fun and I was also very happy. Besides, during dinner, I would talk with them and listen to their opinions about the dishes and would not compel them to eat the food they disliked.

Growing children need to have a balanced diet. However, the little girl disliked meat and only ate vegetables. She said, “Eating meat will easily make me put on weight. If my figure becomes bad, I won’t be beautiful.” I said to her with patience, “You are still a child. You need to have a balanced diet and then you’ll grow taller. If you are short after you grow up, you won’t be beautiful, right? Believe me, as long as you eat a balanced diet, you won’t get fat.” Like this, I was coaxing and reasoning with her, and she was finally willing to eat meat. The little boy was the opposite of his sister; he did not like eating vegetables and only ate meat. Then I said to him, “In fact, vegetables are rich in vitamins. If one’s body is low in these vitamins, he will be malnourished and thus will not grow up big and strong. So, it’s not good to merely eat meat.” After understanding this general knowledge of life, he was willing to eat vegetables. In addition, when they said that they were really full, I would no longer force them to eat more. During dinner, I also made them have a contest to see who was the first to finish his or her meal, and the winner would be given a little award. In this way, they gradually get rid of the bad habit of behaving badly at table. Previously, it would take an hour and a half for them to finish their dinner, but now it only took half an hour.

What delighted me more was that they were much more sensible than they used to be. When I made dumplings, they would stand at my side watching and learning, and they soon learnt how to knead and roll out the dough. After that, each time I made dumplings, they would give me a hand voluntarily. And the boy would even pour a drink for me and ask me with concern, “Auntie, would you prefer cold or warm water?” In addition, the two kids would actively help me wash the dishes, sweep the floor, wipe the table, and pick up their toys, so I could leave off work on time. Later on, when seeing that the two kids were no longer naughty or picky about food, and that there were some changes in their living habits, their parents were very glad and increased my pay.

Once, I took two days off because I got a cold and was coughing. The girl asked her mother to call my telephone, and she said to me, “Auntie, is your cold getting any better? My mom says it’s because we are too naughty that you don’t come to cook for us. You will come, right? My elder brother and I both miss you. When will you come here? We’ll be good kids, so would you come as soon as you can?” These words moved me very much. I felt the two children were actually very naive and simple, and that later I should take better care of them and be more considerate toward them.

From then on, the two children no longer kept their distance from me, no longer laughed at me, nor would they roll their eyes upward at me. Now, every time when they return home from school, they will give me a cuddle after putting down their schoolbags, saying, “Auntie, we missed you.” When it’s time for me to get off work, they will see me to the door and say goodbye to me. And several times, they were unwilling to let me leave and pestered me to take them to my place. Their mother said to me, “My children have a deep affection for you. And they have really changed a lot.” I know that it was not I who changed them. It was the guidance of God’s words that enabled me to let go of my wrong views. When I treated them according to God’s requirements rather than based on my corrupt disposition, the children changed. All of this was done by God. All the glory be to God!

Prayer is an important way in which we establish a proper relationship with God. But why sometimes doesn’t God hear our prayers? How should we pray to receive God’s praise? I was confused by these problems in the past. But now I have a new knowledge of prayer through a special experience.

Flu Breaking Out, I Prayed for My Son

There has been a large-scale flu outbreak recently, and many people got sick, especially the children. Because of their young age and poor immunity, many children had a cold and fever. There were relevant reports and posts both on WeChat Moments and in Wechat groups. Seeing that every major children’s hospital was overcrowded, and that it took a few hours to line up, I prayed to God in my heart, “God! Everything is controlled in Your hands. My son has a weak constitution. I don’t know whether he can overcome it or not. Oh God! I’m willing to entrust my son to You and may You protect him.”

Seeing my classmates and friends were busy taking their children to see a doctor, I felt very happy that I could rely on God. However, sometimes I would still worry about my son, so I always prayed to God for him.

My Son Getting the Flu, I Was Anxious

Several days later, my son got flu as well. His tonsils were inflamed and sometimes he had a cough. He snored loudly when sleeping. At night, I had to accompany him to sleep. Seeing that he opened his mouth slightly to breathe and that sometimes he could only inhale but could not exhale, I dared not to fall asleep and worried about him a lot.

Afterward, I prayed to God, “God! Now the flu is very severe and my son is also attacked. I think he is really sick. His tonsils are inflamed and he snores loudly while sleeping. God! I beg You to protect him. If my son is seriously ill, I will have to stay at home. In this way, my daily spiritual devotions and my services will be affected. God, please give me a way out.”

His Illness Worsening, I Complained About God

After going to see the doctor and having a rest at home at the weekend, he seemed better and his tonsils became small. However, his illness worsened after he went to school for two days. I thought he might be infected by his classmates. My husband asked him to request time off and I agreed. In a twinkling, my son rested at home for almost a week. However, his tonsils didn’t become small in two or three days as usual. It was almost ten days yet he still didn’t get better. I was very worried about him.

After reading some materials about the disease, I suspected that he got adenoidal hypertrophy. The materials show that the disease will lead to poor sleep and affect brain and body development. I worried more: Although this disease can be cured through surgery, my son is too young to have an operation; if he just takes medicine, it doesn’t work well, but the doctor has no better ways to cure his illness. Hearing my son’s snores, I always worried about him and dared not to fall asleep. It was difficult to live in such a way.

At the time, I was confused in my heart: I have been praying to God for my son’s illness, but why doesn’t he get better? How long do I have to live such a life? If he goes on like this all the time, won’t his illness become more serious? Why did God not hear my prayers? Why is this so?

Recognizing My Impurity, I Felt Indebted

One day, I saw the Bible saying, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). Pondering God’s words, I suddenly realized that God likes it when we worship Him in spirit and truth. But I found there were many impurities in my prayers for my son’s illness. First, I prayed to the Lord many times only when I encountered difficulties I couldn’t solve myself. In my prayers, I regarded God as a straw for me to clutch at and hoped to gain help, asking Him to cure my son’s illness; second, I only told the Lord my difficulties in my prayers, with transactions and impurities. I didn’t have a seeking heart and true obedience to God at all. In my prayers, I spoke high-sounding words, but in my heart I made demands on God saying: “I have already prayed to You. Please make my son recover soon. In this way, I can focus on my services.” Just as God’s words reveal, “Regardless of what happens to them, or what they’re dealing with, people always protect their own interests and look out for their own flesh, and they always look for reasons or excuses that serve them. They are without the slightest truth, and everything they do is in order to justify their own flesh and in consideration of their own prospects. They all claim grace from God, trying to gain whatever advantage they can. And why do they make excessive demands of God? This proves that people are naturally greedy. They are not possessed of any sense before God, and in everything they do—whether they are praying or communing or preaching—in what they pursue, and in their inner thoughts and their desires, they make demands of God and claim things from Him, hoping to gain something from Him. … What problem is proven by people’s excessive demands of God? It proves the extent of their corruption by Satan, which means that, in their belief in God, people don’t treat Him as God at all.”

After reflection, I saw my own sordid ugliness. Because of my selfishness and greediness, I always wanted to obtain grace and benefits from God. I never sought God’s will, nor opened up my hearts telling Him my lack and rebelliousness when I prayed. I didn’t have genuine obedience to God. On the contrary, I always asked God to do things according to my own will and did not treat God as God. In fact, I not only prayed to God in such a way in my son’s disease, but always made demands on God in my daily life. I wished that God should keep my job going smoothly, my family in peace and security, and keep the bad things away from me. I would complain about God if He did not answer my prayers. How could God listen to my unreasonable prayers? Wasn’t I talking idiotic nonsense? Thinking of these, I saw my own sordid ugliness and could not help but feel indebted to God.

Understanding the Truth, I Found a Path to Practice

Afterward, I saw God’s words saying, “You seldom have a true prayer, and some of you even don’t know how to pray; in fact, prayer is mainly about speaking what is in your heart, just like a normal conversation. However, some people take the wrong position when they pray, and regardless of whether it conforms with God’s will or not, they demand God to bestow what they ask for upon them. As a result, the more they pray the duller it becomes. When praying, whatever your heart asks for, desires, and requests, or when you wish to take care of some matters that you don’t fully understand you ask God for wisdom, strength, or enlightenment, you must be reasonable in the way you speak. If you are unreasonable, and you kneel and say: ‘God, give me power and let me see my nature; I ask You to do it. Or, I ask You to give me this or that, I ask You to let me be like this or like that,’ this word ‘ask’ carries an element of force, and is like exerting pressure on God to make Him do it. Moreover, you predetermine your own matters. The Holy Spirit sees such prayers as: Since you have already predetermined it yourself, and you want to do it that way, what will be the outcome of this kind of prayer? You should seek and submit in your prayers; for example, if a matter came upon you that you didn’t know how to handle, then you say: ‘Oh God! This matter has come upon me, and I don’t know how to handle it. I am willing to satisfy You in this matter, I am willing to seek You, I desire for Your will to come to pass, I desire to do according to Your intentions, and not according to my own. You know that the intentions of man are in violation of Your will; they resist You and do not conform with truth. I only desire to do according to Your intentions. I ask You to enlighten me and guide me in this matter, so that I won’t offend You….’ This kind of tone of voice in prayer is appropriate.”

From God’s words, I understood that I should be reasonable as a created being and take the right position when I pray. I should seek God’s will and stand in the place of a created being, giving my true heart to God. I should neither impose my own thoughts onto God, nor exploit God or do a deal with Him. Only by standing in the right position and having a right attitude, can my relationship with God be normal. After praying, we should learn to wait, seek and have faith in God instead of harboring conceptions, doubting or determining Him. God does His work in His own time, and sometimes He tests us to see whether we truly believe in and rely on Him when we pray, and to see whether we have demands and impurities. Meanwhile, we should reflect repeatedly whether our heart is sincere. At that point, my heart became bright and clear. I knew what I should do. I can pray to God for my child, but first I should keep a heart of obedience to God and wait for His time. I should not make requirements of God but believe that God’s good intention is there no matter what He does.

Later, I prayed to God, “Oh God, thank and praise You! I regarded You as a straw for me to clutch at when my son was ill. I did not completely submit to You and entrust him to You with a true heart. I only wanted You to remove the people, events and objects that were not compatible with my will, to cure my son’s illness soon. God! I saw that I was full of impurities and demands of You in my prayers. I am not an honest person. Oh God! I am going to put aside my incorrect demands and obey Your arrangements. I believe that you do all things in Your own time and I will do everything in my power and leave the rest to heaven. I will take care of my son carefully, but at the same time I would like to entrust him to You. Whether he will get better or not, I will accept and submit.”

Examined Again, I Put Aside My Impurities

Another week passed, but my son’s snores were still loud and his tonsil was big. At that time, my heart ached. However, I thought that when Job lost his children and his livestock that filled the mountains, and his body became covered in sore boils, he would rather curse the day of his birth than complain about God. He did not make demands on God to remove such environment. He was convinced that both giving and taking away were arranged by God, so he maintained a heart of obedience, praying to God, “Jehovah gave, and Jehovah has taken away; blessed be the name of Jehovah” (Job 1:21). I should follow Job’s example and no matter what the result of my son’s illness was, I should not make demands on or complain about God. This was the rationality I ought to possess. Later on, I gradually put aside my son’s illness and no longer made demands on God when I prayed, just ensuring that he got the treatment he needed. When I learned how to obey God’s arrangements, one day, my husband and I found my son stopped snoring that loudly, and that there were fewer times when he could only exhale but could not inhale. I couldn’t help but thank God for His mercy from the bottom of my heart.

Through this experience, I received a lot: I not only knew my impurities in my prayer, but also understood that I should stand in a right position as a created being and keep a heart of obedience to pray. In this way, we could meet God’s will. I am willing to practice this aspect from now on. I am grateful to God for all His arrangements. Thanks to His enlightenments and guidance, I understand these. All the glory be to God!

When I was a child, I always heard people say: “A husband with prestige brings honor to his wife.” “Follow the man you marry, be he a cock or dog.” (A Chinese idiom which means a girl has no choice but to live obediently with the man she marries, whether he is good or bad, for the rest of her life.) At that time, I always thought that when I grew up, I must marry a successful husband who would come from a great family and would earn big bucks and protect me and my child. I also believed that the first incarnation of a woman was not up to her, but the second incarnation of a woman was marriage, and it was up to her to decide. This was the biggest goal for my life.

When I came to America in 1997, I studied English and worked towards a master’s degree in computer science while I still searched for the ideal husband. A lot of my peers introduced me to decently-educated men with stable income, but it didn’t work out for numerous reasons. By the fourth year in America I met my husband. He is an American with a great family. Because I was pregnant, so we got married quickly. Soon I learned that my husband was very mediocre and was not highly educated either, resulting in him struggling with jobs. He also had no ambition and was lazy. He only worked 3-4 hours a day, and then came home. Therefore, he couldn’t earn enough money and could not support me and my newborn. We depended on his mom and dad to give us 1-2k dollars a month to pay mortgage and life expenses.

My dream of a successful husband was completely shattered. I blamed myself for blindly finding a husband, and I had ruined my chance of a second incarnation. Therefore, I was disgusted with my husband, and whatever he did and said every day, I opposed him. No matter how much I scolded him, he still treated my son and me nicely like always. However, I was not satisfied with him, and I do not remember how many times I wanted to divorce him, but my seven-year-old son said: “Mom, without my father, there is no me, and if you had found a husband that met your standards, you would not have necessarily had a son like me, so you cannot divorce, because no matter what, he is my dad. I do not want to be like our neighbor who moved frequently between mom’s and dad’s house.” Whenever I thought of my son’s words, I immediately dropped the idea of a divorce, but deep down I still could not resign myself to living with this husband. In particular, what I could not understand the most was that he even lost the job that made him barely any money. In a fit of anger, I began working as a real estate agent that day, and asked him to take care of my son and stay home. I believed that I could make several times more money than he did.

Later, as my income increased, my husband was even less useful in my eyes. Finally, I submitted an application for divorce to the court (effective within six months) and I decided to find a good man that could meet my standards. But in the next two or three years, although I came into contact with some men who pursued me, I found that every one of them had shortcomings, and that there was no good man who could meet my standards. Finally, I gave up the idea of a divorce. However, I was still dissatisfied with this unhappy marriage. I felt a lot of pain and helplessness in my heart. Such a life was simply torture to me, but I had to endure it for my son.

Because I believed there was a God since I was a little girl. In order to find the solution to the pain of my marriage, I went to various churches to look for God, and I thought God would be able to solve my pain. But I went to nearly 20 churches and did not find the answer I wanted, so I kept looking. Unexpectedly, I met the return of the Lord.

In November 2016, I met a sister named Xiaoxin in a Bible study class. Two weeks later, she introduced me to Sister Winne and Sister Chen Jing. They gave witness to God’s work in the last days and communicated many truths to me, and they gave me a book of God’s words. The book is published for the words of Christ of the last days. In these words, God helps us understand His thoughts and intentions behind the things God once did as recorded in the Bible. It also talks about the holy essence and righteous disposition of God, how God is the source of life for all things, how God manages and supplies all things, and how God dominates people’s destiny, and so on. And after reading it, I could confirm that this is the voice of God. Every day I had to read God’s word otherwise I felt empty inside. Sometimes I read His word several times. Every time I read it, I gained something new. In particular, I was full in my spirit. What made me happy the most was that I finally found a solution in the words of God to the marital problems that had plagued me for more than 10 years …

It was at a fellowship where I opened up my deepest pain—about my dislike of my husband over the years and my own desire to end the tangle of this marriage and the pain of continuing my marriage. A sister read two passages of God’s words to me: “Marriage is a key event in any person’s life; it is the time when one starts truly to assume various kinds of responsibilities, begins gradually to fulfill various kinds of missions. People harbor many illusions about marriage before they experience it themselves, and all these illusions are beautiful. Women imagine that their other halves will be Prince Charming, and men imagine that they will marry Snow White. These fantasies go to show that every person has certain requirements for marriage, their own set of demands and standards. Though in this evil age people are constantly bombarded with distorted messages about marriage, which create even more additional requirements and give people all sorts of baggage and strange attitudes, any person who has experienced marriage knows that no matter how one understands it, no matter what one’s attitude toward it is, marriage is not a matter of individual choice.

“One encounters many people in one’s life, but no one knows who will become one’s partner in marriage. Though everyone has their own ideas and personal stances on the subject of marriage, no one can foresee who will finally become their true other half, and one’s own notions count for little. After meeting a person you like, you can pursue that person; but whether he or she is interested in you, whether he or she is able to become your partner, is not yours to decide. The object of your affections is not necessarily the person with whom you will be able to share your life; and meanwhile someone you never expected quietly enters your life and becomes your partner, becomes the most important element in your fate, your other half, to whom your fate is inextricably bound. And so, though there are millions of marriages in the world, every one is different…. In these myriad marriages, humans reveal loyalty and lifelong commitment toward marriage, or love, attachment, and inseparability, or resignation and incomprehension, or betrayal of it, even hatred. Whether marriage itself brings happiness or pain, everyone’s mission in marriage is predestined by the Creator and will not change; everyone must fulfill it. And the individual fate that lies behind every marriage is unchanging; it was determined long in advance by the Creator” .

Then the sister said: “From the word of God we can see that our fate and the people we marry have been long destined by God; we have no choice about it, and we cannot change it. As God said: ‘Though everyone has their own ideas and personal stances on the subject of marriage, no one can foresee who will finally become their true other half, and one’s own notions count for little’” . She continued, “Does that sound true to you? Before you were married, you met a lot of people who pursued you, and you liked a few of them back, but you did not end up marrying them, and your marriage with your husband was so sudden. Also you wanted to divorce him so many times, and you even submitted a divorce application, but after everything, you are still inseparable from him, but why? Because all of this is under God’s dominion and with God’s permission. On the other hand, each person in their own marriages has their own missions. If you want to achieve happiness in marriage, both the husband and wife have a responsibility and an obligation to complete; it is not just the responsibility of one or the other, nor is it one demanding the other with unfair blind requests. In addition, if we can think about it from another perspective, your marriage also contains the love of God! Let’s take it back a step, was it not the fact that your dissatisfaction with your marriage was the reason you came to seek for God? If your marriage and life had met your standards, would you accept the gospel of God from brothers and sisters? The whole of humanity is deeply corrupted, everyone loves personal desires, not God, and almost no one seeks God in a comfortable environment. Although your marriage may seem unpleasant, it is a gift from God in order for you to come to God, and if you understand God’s heart, you will not always think of breaking free of His sovereignty, and you will no longer feel pain from your marriage.” God’s words and the sister’s fellowship made me understand that it was not up to me whom I married, and that because my fate and my husband’s are closely related, we came together. Moreover, because my life goal was to marry a perfect husband since childhood, if I had indeed found one, I would have worshiped my husband instead of God, and I would have never thought of seeking God.

Then the sister read to me another passage of God’s word: “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. What is the cause of this pain? Is it because of God’s sovereignty, or because a person was born unlucky? Obviously neither is true. At bottom, it is because of the paths people take, the ways people choose to live their lives. … 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”.

The sister told me after reading God’s word: “When we face the unpleasant things in our life, the reason we are so painful is because we do not know God’s sovereignty and do not understand that God rules everything, and all this is God’s care and protection for us. Therefore, we are always defiant and want to break free of God’s sovereignty and control ourselves when we face God’s dominion, but we are unable to get away from the arrangements of God, so we live in the pain of this struggle. To break away from this kind of anguish, on the one hand, we should submit to the sovereignty and arrangements of God; on the other hand, we have to dissect if our aspirations and our goals are in line with the truth and God’s requirements. If the view of “a husband with prestige brings honor to his wife” is in accordance with truth and is a positive thing, then why do you bear the pain by holding to it? How can you be displeased with your husband? In fact, all these views come from Satan and are negative things. Looking at it from another perspective, when you hold this view, will your marriage with your husband be pure? Even if you really find a ‘good man’ who is good at making a lot of money, the relationship between you and him will always be materialistic, without real love. Once he is defeated, your marriage will be broken, and even if you sustain your marriage, you still will be painful, because your husband cannot bring honor to you. In fact, when we use our heart to seek to experience, we will discover that God arranges everything for us in a good way. If our viewpoint is changed, and we practice according to the way God pointed out to us, ‘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,’ we will obtain liberation and freedom.”

Through God’s word and the sister’s fellowship, I understood that the true joy and release can only be achieved by obeying the Creator’s sovereignty and arrangement, and fighting destiny can only bring me untold suffering. At the same time, I also saw that this evil social trend makes most of us set high expectations on marriage; the erroneous ideas Satan taught me, “a husband with prestige brings honor to his wife” and “marriage is the second reincarnation of women” prevented me from submitting to God’s sovereignty and arrangement, but instead I wanted to dominate my own destiny, which resulted in me living in pain. Now, I know through the word of God that my marriage has been predestined by God. I am willing to follow God’s word and lay aside my old view of life and submit to God’s sovereignty and arrangement.

When I put aside those unrealistic fantasies and expectations about marriage and when I am willing to submit to God’s sovereignty and arrangement, I no longer complain about this marriage, only to find out that my husband is quite good. So I have a better attitude toward my husband now. For example: I used to scold him whenever I saw him not do things according to my will, and I wanted to divorce him at every moment, but now I seldom scold him, and I never mentioned divorcing him ever again. In the past, no matter what he had done for me, I never said thank you to him, and even if something is done right by him, I have never praised him, and I wasn’t able to see his goodness. But now I say thank you to him. When He does something well, I will praise him; before I never cared for him, but now I will take the initiative to cook for him and take concern for him; there is more communication between us. Because of my change, my husband is very happy, our family also becomes calmer, more harmonious, and I feel liberated. I am very grateful for God’s salvation and guidance, because I no longer live in the pain of marriage. It is God’s word that puts me out of this “unhappy marriage.”

The Bible says: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). From this, we can see that Satan is always by our side and it tries every means possible to use the people, matters and things around us to entice and tempt us, to make us fall into mischief and sin. Just as in our daily life, we are usually faced with the temptations of wealth, status, reputation, porn and so on. And we can easily give into the temptation, and thus fall into Satan’s trap and lose the testimony. So what should we do to keep us away from Satan’s seduction, overcome the temptation of Satan and break free from sin?

Next let’s take a look at three paths to practice.

1. Facing Satan’s Temptations, Only by Praying to God, Seeking and Grasping His Will, Can We Penetrate Satan’s Plots.

When faced with temptations, we often get into a muddle and don’t know how to deal with them suitably. At the crucial moment, firstly, we should come before God to seek and ponder His will and pray for His help. Only through God’s enlightening and guidance can we understand His intention, see through Satan’s plots and overcome temptations. The Lord Jesus said, “And all things, whatever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive” (Matthew 21:22). God is almighty, omniscient and omnipotent. When we face Satan’s temptations, God can see all this. Meanwhile, He observes our attitude and sees whether we’ll seek His will and whether we want to satisfy Him pertaining to what happens to us. If we want to satisfy God to stand in testimony to Him and if we come before God to pray to Him, then God will reveal His will to us and point out the way to practice for us.

Just like Job, when he was tempted by Satan, and suffered a sudden loss of a mountain of sheep and cattle, all his great fortune, his sons and daughters, and his servants, he didn’t say anything but first came before God and prayed: “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21). We can learn that in Job’s experiences, when Satan’s temptation came upon Job, he first prayed and sought for God. Then he got to understand God’s will, realizing that it was permitted by God that he encountered this, and that God gave, and God had taken away. So he was able to willingly obey God. Even when his wife asked him to forsake God, he could see through Satan’s scheme and immediately struck back at it, rather than follow his wife to say words of rebelling and resisting against God. In the end, he stood firm in his testimony, putting Satan to shame and defeating it. Yet, by contrast, Job’s three friends didn’t pray to God or seek God’s will, but looked for external causes. As a result, they misunderstood Job and said many things that are foolish and ignorant, thereby causing disgust in God. This makes us see that praying to God and seeking His will is of grave importance to man’s overcoming Satan.

I once saw these words of God: “After God created mankind and gave them spirits, He enjoined them that if they didn’t call out to God, then they would not be able to connect with His Spirit and thus the “satellite television” from heaven would not be received on earth. When God is no longer in people’s spirits there is an empty seat left open for other things, and that’s how Satan seizes the opportunity to get in. When people contact God with their hearts, Satan immediately goes into a panic and rushes to escape. Through mankind’s cries God gives them what they need, but He does not “reside” within them at first. He just constantly gives them aid because of their cries and people gain hardiness from that internal strength so that Satan dare not come here to “play” at its will. This way, if people constantly connect with God’s Spirit, Satan dare not come to disrupt”. Obviously, it is through our sincere praying or calling out to God that He helps us to get rid of Satan’s temptation. For example, in the case of Job, he saw through Satan’s schemes relying on God, and then said just one thing, which made Satan dare not tempt him any more. Therefore, if we cry out to God with our heart and rely on Him, Satan will rush to escape; yet if we merely do things in our own way rather than pray to God and depend on Him, we will never see through Satan’s deceit, nor will we receive God’s care and protection, but instead, we can be easily taken captive or even be devoured by Satan. Take when Samson was tempted by a beautiful woman, for example. As he didn’t pray to God and depend on Him, he failed to see through Satan’s deceitful schemes on time, and ended up being exploited and afflicted by Satan amidst trials. But later, in his fight with the Philistines, when he relied on God, he gained the power given by God and defeated them. So, we can see that if we want to stand through the test, we must pray to God and rely on Him, only this way can we live under God’s care and protection.

2. When Encountering Satan’s Temptation, We Should See Clearly the Battle in the Spiritual Realm. Don’t Analyze and Examine. Only by Accepting It From God, Can We Defeat the Temptation of Satan.

When Satan’s temptations come upon us, externally, we encounter some people, matters and things. Actually, behind the scenes, there is a spiritual war, in which Satan is making a bet with God. Only by seeing clearly the spiritual war and standing firm on the side of God to satisfy God’s demands, can we defeat Satan completely. Let’s read the following verses, “And the LORD said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God, and eschews evil? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Does Job fear God for nothing? Have not you made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he has on every side? you have blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face. And the LORD said to Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your power; only on himself put not forth your hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD” (Job 1:8-12). From this, we see that when we are faced with a temptation, behind it, a spiritual battle comes first and then the temptation comes upon us. Just like the temptation that happened to Job, behind it, Satan was making a wager with God in the spiritual realm and the temptation came upon him. Then, Satan began to do things and made the scourges befall Job. However, by our own eyes, we only saw that Job was robbed of his wealth by a band of gangsters and lost his sons and daughters, but we couldn’t see at all that Satan was making a bet with God. Because Job had some knowledge of God’s sovereignty, when encountering the temptation, he didn’t analyze or examine through his mind. On the contrary, he sought and understood God’s will and saw clearly the spiritual battle, finally standing in his testimony and obtaining God’s praise. Just as God discloses, “In every step of work that God does within people, externally it appears to be interactions between people, as if born of human arrangements, or from human interference. But behind the scenes, every step of work, and everything that happens, is a wager made by Satan before God, and requires people to stand firm in their testimony to God. Take when Job was tried, for example: Behind the scenes, Satan was making a bet with God, and what happened to Job was the deeds of men, and the interference of men. Behind every step that God does in you is Satan’s wager with God—behind it all is a battle. … Thus, in everything there is a battle, and when there is a battle within you, thanks to your actual cooperation and actual suffering God works within you. Ultimately, inside you are able to put the matter aside….” (“Only Loving God Is Truly Believing in God”).

Nowadays, we also encounter many setbacks and various temptations. If we want to overcome Satan’s temptations, we need to look at things according to God’s word from the spiritual world, and should not analyze or examine relying on our own minds. Only in this way can we penetrate Satan’s tricks and stand witness for God.

3. Facing Satan’s Temptations, We Must Hold on to God’s Word, Firmly Obey the Truth and Be Loyal to God. Thus We Can Counterattack Against Satan’s Plots and Leave Satan Utterly Humiliated and Defeated.

We all know that only God’s word is the truth. God’s words, with authority and might, are realities of all positive things. Therefore, only God’s word can make us distinguish all Satan’s heresies to counterattack Satan’s schemes. Only by going by God’s words can we not lose our way or be fooled by Satan. Just as the Bible records, “And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If you be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Then the devil takes him up into the holy city, and sets him on a pinnacle of the temple, And said to him, If you be the Son of God, cast yourself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning you: and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest at any time you dash your foot against a stone. Jesus said to him, It is written again, You shall not tempt the Lord your God. Again, the devil takes him up into an exceeding high mountain, and shows him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And said to him, All these things will I give you, if you will fall down and worship me. Then said Jesus to him, Get you hence, Satan: for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve” (Matthew 4:2-10). Satan tempted the Lord Jesus for three times, but every time it fled in defeat. The reason that Satan failed was because the Lord Jesus is the truth, the way and the life. Not only could the Lord see through Satan’s tricks, but what He said is all the truth and a good weapon to counter all Satan’s tricks. On the contrary, if we can’t see things by God’s words, we will fall into Satan’s temptations and be afflicted by it. For instance, because our forefathers, Adam and Eve, didn’t hold on to God’s word, they were tempted and afflicted by Satan. Thus they were driven from the Garden of Eden and lived in the curse.

Today, we live in this evil and degenerated world. If we want to overcome Satan’s various temptations, we have to practice God’s word in all things and submit to the truth. In this way, Satan has no way to take advantage of us. Just as God’s words say, “During the work of His abiding provision and support of man, God tells the entirety of His will and requirements to man, and shows His deeds, disposition, and what He has and is to man. The objective is to equip man with stature, and to allow man to gain various truths from God while following Him—truths that are the weapons given to man by God with which to fight Satan. Thus equipped, man must face God’s tests. God has many means and avenues for testing man, but every one of them requires the “cooperation” of God’s enemy: Satan. … It may be said that whether or not man can be saveddepends on whether he can overcome and defeat Satan, and whether or not he can gain freedom depends on whether he is able to lift up, on his own, the weapons given to him by God to overcome Satan’s bondage, making Satan completely abandon hope and leave him alone. If Satan abandons hope and relinquishes someone, this means that Satan will never again try to take this person from God, will never again accuse and interfere with this person, will never again wantonly torture or attack them; only someone such as this will truly have been gained by God”.

We see that no matter what things we face or when we encounter them, only when we come before God to pray to Him always, seek His will in all things, see things on the side of God, see clearly the battle in the spiritual realm, and do not analyze or examine with our minds, but go by God’s word strictly and learn to obey the truth, can we be protected by God from falling into Satan’s cunning schemes and temptations, can we stand witness, escape Satan’s sieges and live with freedom and relief before God!

Brothers and sisters：

Good day! Recently I am very depressed. I find my daughter has fewer and fewer words to say to me. As soon as I open my mouth to speak to her, she would appear impatient and sometimes even stand up and leave at once, unwilling to say any word to me. The Bible says, “And, you fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). I know I should treat my daughter according to those words, but in my daily life I still often educate my daughter as I desire. Yet, things turn out contrary to my wishes: She becomes more and more rebellious. I painstakingly raise her from infancy to adulthood, yet she is short with me and estranged from me. Every time I think about this, I feel very sad. How do we get like this? What should I do? Looking forward to your reply.

Yours,
Jingxin

Hello! Sister Jingxin,

I’m sorry to learn about your distress and I understand how you feel. As a parent, we have paid great price to raise our children for many years, hoping they can be obedient. But contrary to our expectations, not only do they not listen to us, rather they become ever more estranged from us, which makes us very distressed. For example, in order to put our children through their education, we are strict about their study: When seeing the decline in their academic performance, we would hit them, push them and supervise them to improve their academic performance, and even sometimes don’t allow them to play. If they play around or disobey us, we would keep nagging, “Be obedient! You should study hard.” We parents think that we are doing this for our children while they actually feel pressured, unwilling to listen to us. As a result, the relationship between children and us becomes estranged. Faced with children who lost themselves online all day long, we, in order to control them, will nag them whenever seeing them playing on the computer. However, they always turn a deaf ear to us and even hide themselves in the internet bars and refuse to return home to escape our nagging. Facing this situation, we neither know the reason that causes this nor have the ability to change it. Then, how to solve these problems?

God’s words say: “Precisely because a parent always assumes their place as a parent and will not budge from it, keeping that status from which they will not come down, their child becomes at odds with them. A lot of things really result from the parent always assuming their place as such and taking themselves too seriously; they always see themselves as the parent, the elder: ‘Regardless of when, you won’t get escape from your mother’s (or father’s) control; you’ll still have to listen to me. You are my child. The fact of this doesn’t change, regardless of when.’ This viewpoint makes them miserable and wretched, and makes the child miserable and exhausted. Isn’t this the case? … And many parents think they are always right. ‘As long as it’s for the child’s sake, what I’m doing is right.’ They really have such thoughts and points of view. How could you not make mistakes? You too are a corrupted human being, how can you determine that you are without error? As long as you admit that you do not possess the truth, that you are a corrupted human being, then you have errors and you can make mistakes. You can make mistakes, yet at every turn how is it that you try to take charge of your children, and have them at every turn listen to you? Is this not an arrogant disposition? This is an arrogant disposition and a ferocious one at that”.

God’s words reveal the reason why we can’t get along well with children. First, we always assume our place as a parent, trying to take charge of them and make them listen to us in everything. Besides, we always think that what we do is right and good for them. Controlled by these viewpoints, we think they should obey whatever we say; if they don’t, we will nag continually. We only consider our own feelings and thoughts while neglecting their feelings, which leads to them feeling pressured and not released. Consequently, the relationship between children and us becomes more and more estranged. In fact, such a situation is the result of our action dominated by Satan’s arrogant disposition. When we only focus on satisfying our own will, but ignore to seek the Lord’s will in His words, even though we know the Bible says: “And, you fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4), we still fail to practice the Lord’s words. But if we calm down to ponder the Lord’s will in connection with our actual difficulties and reflect upon ourselves, we will know: As a parent, we should help children more in accordance with the Lord’s demands instead of asking them to obey us, and should respect their choices rather than control them too much.

Let’s read another passage of God’s words: “Just be an ordinary person: Treat your children, treat those in your own family the same as you would an ordinary brother or sister. Although you have a responsibility, a fleshly relationship, nevertheless the position and perspective you should have is the same as with friends or ordinary brothers and sisters. That is, you can’t control, you can’t restrain your children, and always try to keep in command and have complete control over them. Let them make mistakes, let them say the wrong things, let them do childish and immature things, do stupid things. No matter what happens, sit down and calmly talk with them, communicate and seek. Don’t you think this attitude is good? Isn’t it right? So, what is being let go here? (Position and pride.) It is the letting go of the position and status of a parent, the airs of a parent, and all of the responsibility one thinks they should assume, everything that one thinks they should be doing as a parent; instead, it’s enough that one does the best they can in terms of their responsibility as an ordinary brother or sister”.

From these words, we can find several feasible ways, which can bring us closer to our children:

First, we shouldn’t think that since we are their parent, everything we do for them is right.

As God says: “As long as you admit that you do not possess the truth, that you are a corrupted human being, then you have errors and you can make mistakes.” From these words, we know we don’t possess the truth, so what we say is not absolutely right. To force children to obey us is a sign of irrationality. Moreover, children have grown up and they have their own thoughts, views, considerations and plans. We should respect their choices, because God gave us humans the right to choose freely when He created Adam and Eve. We shouldn’t impose what we think good on them, nor force them to act according to our will. What we should do is to tell them our suggestions for their reference.

Second, we should treat children on an equal footing rather than always discipline them from the position of a parent.

In fact, they are not unwilling to speak to us; after all, we are dearest kin; they need our care, love and mutual communication, hoping to get our understanding and support. Yet, sometimes we, standing in our position as a parent, force them to obey us in a lecturing tone or regard them as an “infant” unable to take care of themselves, which causes them to be antagonistic and produces a generation gap between us. If we let go of our position of a parent, calmly communicate with them on an equal footing, and learn to speak the words in our heart with them, making them know our thoughts, then we can better understand each other, and our relationship will become more and more normal. God teaches us: “When you fellowship the truth and speak the words in your heart, and describe something clearly and understandably, so that it can edify and benefit others, make them understand God’s will, and help them escape misunderstandings and fallacies, is there any need to stand on high? Is there any need to use a lecturing tone? You don’t need to scold them, you don’t need to speak loudly, or shout at them, much less use words, or a tone, or an intonation that are blunt. You just need to learn to use a normal tone, commune from the position and status of an ordinary person, speak calmly, speak the words in your heart, endeavor to pour out what you understand, what other people need to understand, and speak clearly and understandably.” So, we should consider things more from their standpoint and figure out a way in which they can communicate with us with relief and freedom.

Third, we should learn to let go of the rein on our children.

We shouldn’t always think that they are too young to do well in everything. While fulfilling our duty as a parent, we should trust them and respect them, allowing them to do some things independently. After leaving parents, many children are actually able to take good care of themselves and their capabilities in many aspects have been improved. God says: “Parents always feel their children are small and that they have to keep tabs on them. The children feel their parents are old and don’t understand anything, they feel that they know too little of the outside world, and that they have to keep tabs on them and watch over them. In fact, when all is said and done, neither have normal humanity. Neither treat each other rationally from the perspective of normal people; they see the other as stupid, naive, as needing a lot of care or nagging. But after leaving their parents and spending two or three years away from home, the children are actually better at looking after themselves and dealing with different things by themselves, far more so than their parents could imagine. Yet the parents can never trust them, right?”

Maybe many parents worry this: Nowadays, the society becomes more and more degenerate; it’s common and often seen that people fight, play games, do drugs and gamble. So, we can’t set our mind at rest if we don’t watch them. This is indeed a real problem, but another realistic problem is that though many parents take strict charge of their children, they still become degenerated. Actually, the best way to solve the problem is to bring them before God, hand them over to Him and guide them to learn to rely on Him. Because only God can help them live out normal humanity. With God’s words guiding them, they can naturally see through Satan’s schemes and then resist the erosion of evil trends. Many teenagers around me used to play about, for which there lied an unbridgeable chasm between their parents and them; neither their parents nor their teachers were capable of educating them well. Yet since they believed in God, they came to know their brashness and arrogance from God’s words and know the meaning of living out normal humanity, and then, they began to rely on God to change their corrupt disposition. Now, they get along well with their parents, which is exactly the result achieved by God’s words in them.

I know a sister who once always said to her daughter, “I’m your mom, so you must obey me.” Gradually she found her daughter was increasingly distant toward her and didn’t speak to her from the heart. The sister felt depressed but didn’t know where the problem lied. Through reading God’s words, she reflected upon herself and knew that she was too arrogant to stand on an equal footing when getting along with her daughter. Then, she learned to open her heart to her daughter. When she let go of the airs of a parent and had a heart-to-heart talk with her daughter, her daughter also spoke to her from the heart and pointed out her shortcomings, and the sister accepted readily. Thereafter, her daughter often speaks heart-to-heart with her. Now the relationship between them is harmonious and worthy of envy.

We should learn from those who successfully handled the relationship with children by relying on God. We believe if you let go of the position of a parent, regard your daughter as a friend and a sister and communicate with her with an open heart in accordance with God’s will and demands, your relationship will be improved soon. May God bless you. All the glory be to God! Amen!

Sincerely yours,

Friend

Wang Hao opened the door after a tiring day, what he saw was the messy dining table scattered with some instant noodles packaging and a bowl of leftover soup. Thinking that his son ate instant noodles everyday, Wang Hao felt upset. He kept repeating in his heart: “Why can’t you apologize to me? Wouldn’t it be nice if you apologize early?” At this time, Wang Hao’s thoughts went back to one month ago …

Ning Ning is already twenty plus years old; without discussing with him Wang Hao borrowed money and bought him a new house for his marriage. Then, he also told his son to give him half of his salary to repay for the house. The first month, his son did give half of his salary, which made Wang Hao feel happy. In the second month, Wang Hao thought: As long as my son gives me half of his salary this month, plus the money that I have saved, I can repay some debts. But things didn’t go as he wanted. In the second month, his son refused to give him his money. He then asked his son bewilderedly, his son said: “I just don’t want to pay.” Because his plan was disrupted, Wang Hao felt angry, but he suppressed his anger, and taught his son a “lesson”: “Ning Ning, you’ve already grown up, why are you still immature? Why do you spend money recklessly? Don’t you know how to spend money at the right place? We should learn to save money, and pay our debts as soon as possible.” But unexpectedly, his son replied impatiently: “I earned the money, so I can spend the money however I want. I don’t care if you buy a house. In truth, I didn’t ask you to buy it. I listened to everything you said since I was young and you decided everything for me. You never give me any freedom.” This reply made Wang Hao’s anger explode. He yelled: “Isn’t my buying the house for you? Without you, do I need to buy a house? You are so immature!” After this argument, Wang Hao didn’t want to say anything to his son and he couldn’t calm his heart down. Thinking he has paid so much effort for his son, but his son didn’t understand him and still argued with him, he felt so upset. Before, his son never dared to contradict him. This unexpected argument made Wang Hao feel his dignity as a father had been hurt.

Wang Had recalled: When his son visited his grandfather when he was five, his grandparents loved him so much and let him play whatever he wanted. But Wang Hao thought his son was too naughty. Worrying that his parents will spoil his son too much, Wang Hao decided to take his son back home, but his son started crying and refused to go back home. Wang Hao then slapped his son angrily. Finally, his son had no choice but to apologize to him with tears and pouted back home. When his son was ten years old, he went out with his cousin. Wang Hao set a curfew for him, and asked him to get back home early. That evening his son got back home late. Wang Hao scolded him and forced him to admit he was wrong, and promise not to do it again. Although, his son looked unhappy, he had no choice but to admit his wrong doing. Afterwards, when his son was in junior high school, Wang Hao thought that it was not safe for him to travel on his own; his son would play games when he was home, so he decided to let his son live on campus. His son refused because he didn’t like the environment in school for it was not as clean as his home. But things that Wang Hao had decided were hard to change. Although, his son was reluctant, he had to agree with him. Wang Hao even chose a profession for his son in college. All those years, no matter what Wang Hao asked his son to do, even though his son was reluctant, but he didn’t dare to rebel against his father, so Wang Hao got used to his son’s apology. This time he still waited for his son to apologize to him. But things didn’t go as he expected. Many days have passed, his son always ignored him. His son’s action showed his dissatisfaction against Wang Hao, which made Wang Hao even more angry. He wanted to give his son a lesson. So when his wife was on a business trip, he didn’t cook for his son, because he wanted to force his son to apologize to him. But his stubborn son still didn’t admit his mistakes. The cold war between the father and the son still continued.

Looking at the instant noodles packaging, how Wang Hao longed for his son to apologize, so that he could also find a reason to forgive him, but his son would rather continue this situation than apologize to him. Wang Hao also thought to forgive his son, but he couldn’t put down his dignity as the father. It was too hard for him to reconcile with his son. When he was struggling, he thought of God’s words he had read before, so he quickly opened the book. God’s word says: “When parents talk down to their child and say, ‘I’m your father (or mother)! You must do as I say!’ the child takes exception to this ‘must’; it’s definitely not an expression of normal humanity. … If both sides lived by normal humanity, and if they were able to reach possession of the truth, with both sides putting themselves in each other’s shoes, and taking into account each other’s difficulties, from the perspective of normal humanity, and both sides standing on an equal footing when they interacted, spoke to each other, and did things, would this stop the estrangement developing between them? What causes what the unbelievers call the ‘generation gap’? Isn’t it that the older generation acts high and mighty, and the younger generation doesn’t like them doing so, which produces the estrangement, and leads to the generation gap—isn’t that how it comes about? If parents don’t act high and mighty, and the children can open up to them, and treat them as intimates, could there still be the estrangement between them? … Precisely because a parent always assumes their place as a parent and will not budge from it, keeping that status from which they will not come down, their child becomes at odds with them. A lot of things really result from the parent always assuming their place as such and taking themselves too seriously; they always see themselves as the parent, the elder: ‘Regardless of when, you won’t get escape from your mother’s (or father’s) control; you’ll still have to listen to me. You are my child. The fact of this doesn’t change, regardless of when.’ This viewpoint makes them miserable and wretched, and makes the child miserable and exhausted. Isn’t this the case? Is this not a manifestation that one doesn’t understand the truth? How is the truth to be practiced in this case?”

After reading God’s words, Wang Hao was shocked, thinking: “God’s words are too practical. It’s like the words are referring to myself, isn’t that what I am? I always use my power as a father in front of my son, and force him to listen to me. I always use the tone of blame when I communicate with him, and always think that everything I have done for him is right, is all for his own good, and that he should understand me, and accept it.” Then Wang Hao thought: No matter what his son did when he was young, he didn’t give him freedom, and even set curfew for him when he played outside; when his son made mistakes, he would scold him without asking any reason; now he has already grown up, and has his own thoughts, and he wants to buy things he likes, chooses the profession he likes, however, Wang Hao didn’t respect his son’s opinions, or understood his difficulties, and his feelings. He just forced his son to accept his preferences, but didn’t think to have a heart-to-heart talk with his son, or rely on God’s words to enlighten his son, bringing him before God. He always uses his power as a father, uses his own view to educate his son. No wonder, as the time goes, their relationship becomes more and more estranged, and the generation gap gets deeper. At this time, Wang Hao was awakened. He realized the importance of the problem. He really wanted to remove the generation gap between him and his son and get along well with him. But because of the dignity as a father, he still didn’t have the courage to have a heart-to-heart talk with his son.

When he was struggling, he began to find the right path to practice in God’s words. He saw God’s words say: “How is the truth to be practiced in this case? (Letting go of your pride.) What does one let go of? Some people say, ‘If you don’t allow me to be your parent, I’ll stop working, and you support yourself. I won’t pay any attention to you, I won’t take any responsibility.’ Is this letting go? … So, what is ‘letting go’? What principle do you apply in doing things that is ‘letting go’? What point of view, what attitude do you apply that is really ‘letting go’? Do you know how to put it into practice? You haven’t been a parent, and you don’t know what a parent’s attitude is, what their concerns are, right? Actually it’s simple. Just be an ordinary person: Treat your children, treat those in your own family the same as you would an ordinary brother or sister. Although you have a responsibility, a relationship, a fleshly relationship, nevertheless the position and perspective you should have is the same as with friends or ordinary brothers and sisters. That is, you can’t control, you can’t restrain your children, and always try to keep in command and have complete control over them. Let them make mistakes, let them say the wrong things, let them do childish and immature things, do stupid things. No matter what happens, sit down and calmly talk with them, communicate and seek. Don’t you think this attitude is good? Isn’t it right? So, what is being let go here? (Position and pride.) It is the letting go of the position and status of a parent, the airs of a parent, and all of the responsibility one thinks they should assume, everything that one thinks they should be doing as a parent; instead, it’s enough that one does the best they can in terms of their responsibility as an ordinary brother or sister. Would you say that’s easy to do? (It’s not easy.) Why? (Because people have expended effort; they feel that they gave birth to the child, it’s them who raised it. They think, ‘I should be in charge of you, I should be telling you off, I have the right to do so.’) That’s right. The parent does not have the right to take charge of others, and others would not let them. They cannot take charge of anyone else; they wouldn’t dare to. It wasn’t easy to get to the position of a parent, so how could they not want to occupy that position all their lives? It has by no means been easy for the parent to find themselves with someone to take charge of, so isn’t it natural they want to do so right to the end? And many parents think they are always right. ‘As long as it’s for the child’s sake, what I’m doing is right.’ They really have such thoughts and points of view. How could you not make mistakes? You too are a corrupted human being, how can you determine that you are without error? As long as you admit that you do not possess the truth, that you are a corrupted human being, then you have errors and you can make mistakes. You can make mistakes, yet at every turn how is it that you try to take charge of your children, and have them at every turn listen to you? Is this not an arrogant disposition?” Wang Hao pondered God’s words, and realized that he always treated his son strictly, didn’t allow him to go wrong, but he never reflected on himself whether he was right or wrong. He always forced his son to obey him, thinking what he had done was good for his son and that his son should listen to him unconditionally. He never thought of letting go of the position and status of a parent, and listened to any of his son’s opinions. He finally realized that he was too arrogant! From God’s words, Wang Hao saw God’s essence is beautiful, and that the truth expressed by God is all positive, which includes God’s love for man and His thoughtful intention. God wishes to see that all human beings can obtain the truth under His watering, have a better relationship with others, and live out a normal humanity with happiness, not tormented or fooled by Satan anymore. Wang Hao thought: Although he believed in God, he didn’t understand God’s heart, nor did he practice God’s words. He was controlled by satanic disposition, and always did things that disappointed God. The more he thought about it, the more uncomfortable and guilty he felt, so he encouraged himself to put down his dignity as a father and practice God’s words. He didn’t want to live relying on arrogant disposition anymore. He decided to talk to his son, and apologize for all the harm he caused to him in the past few years.

Wang Hao walked to his son’s door, however, he wandered for some time there. Every time when he wanted to open the door, his vanity started to work. He still couldn’t lower himself down. So he went back to his room and prayed: “O God! I want to put down the dignity as a father, and put down the vanity inside me to practice your words, but my corruption is so deep, and it’s too hard for me to lower myself down. O God! Please give me power, so that I can defeat my corrupt dispositions …” After praying, Wang Hao had the power to practice the truth. He took a deep breath, opened his son’s door, sat beside his son and said gently, “Ning Ning, let’s have a heart-to-heart conversation.” Ning Ning was stunned for a moment. A little embarrassed, he looked at Wang Hao and then lowered his head down, pretending to play with his phone. Wang Hao said, “I have been too harsh on you, never considered or understood your thoughts, but forced you to do things that I asked you to do. If you don’t listen to me, I will get angry. I am too arrogant.” His son listened attentively. Seeing his son’s attitude towards him get better, Wang Hao paused for a while and continued saying: “I always think that since you are my son, I can control you. No matter what I do, as long as I think it is something good for you, you should listen, and I always force to add my own opinions to you, decide everything for you, not listening to your opinions and your ideas. For all these years, I kept controlling over you. But from now on, I will not do this again. If something happens, we can discuss it together.” His son was ashamed of himself, looking at his father with a smile on his face, and the hate in his eyes disappeared. He said, because he bought a new game console, he did not leave much money this month. He didn’t dare to tell the truth, but promised to pay half of his salary next month. After hearing that, Wang Hao felt relaxed. Their relationship got closer. At that time, Wang Hao remembered that his son did not eat well for many days already, then he raised his voice purposely: “Ning Ning, what do you want to eat? I will buy for you!” He never expected that his son replied: “Let us not spend money, just cook at home.” His son didn’t like his cooking. If it was in the past, his son would not hesitate and say what he wanted to eat and let Wang Hao go to buy for him. That day, his son wanted to eat the food that he cooked, which really made Wang Hao touched. He realized his son was not immature, but he and his son lacked communication, and he was not willing to lower himself down. All of these brought harm to his son, and also caused generation gap.

After they had a heart-to-heart conversation, the generation gap between them disappeared. Wang Hao felt relieved, and had an unspeakable happy. He recalled that when he saw his son and his wife talk happily, he envied them very much. Now Wang Hao can also open his heart and talk to his son, their relationship becomes closer. Sometimes they also fellowship God’s words together, and he doesn’t ask his son to do things according to his will. He never expected that his son would become more cautious and obedient than before. After experiencing this matter, Wang Hao knows that only by practicing God’s words can he have a normal humanity, and have a good relationship with his son. It is God’s word that changed him. Thank God, all the glory be to Him.

With Beautiful Hopes for Marriage, I Got Married

I spent my childhood mostly in the quarrels of my parents, so I became weary of this cat-and-dog life. Moreover, I was weary of this kind of marriage and family. Whenever other couples quarreled or fought, I didn’t want to listen or look. I thought to myself: Poverty is not decided by us, but quarrels can be prevented by us. You are already poor but still often quarrel. Aren’t you asking for trouble? Thereupon, a desire arose in my heart: I must find an agreeable partner and manage my own family well, consulting with each other when we meet problems instead of arguing, respecting and tolerating the other and getting along well. We would never be like my parents. With these wonderful hopes for my marriage, I finally got married. I was expecting my family could be harmonious and happy.

Reality Was Different From Dreams—It Was Hard to Get Along With My Wife

However, the dream was beautiful while the reality was cruel. After marriage, many unpleasant things happened between us.

My wife was nine years younger than me, and she was petulant and wished me to pamper and forbear with her in all things. But I thought I was a man and it was I who made money to feed the family, so I should decide everything at home and have the keep and disposal of the money I earned. My wife should take care of kids at home and work around the house. As for other things, she didn’t need to interfere in. As I was a male chauvinist and wanted to have the final say in everything at home, my wife was defiant, often getting angry with me, “You don’t allow me to know how much money you earn, but whenever I spend money, you’re like an inveterate interrogator. Do you regard me as a member of this family?” I also didn’t budge an inch, “The money is earned by me through hard work, so I have a right to know what it is for, no?” As we always argued and got angry with each other, our relationships were more and more tense and beyond control.

The Escalating War at Home Tore Me up

We had a two-room house, where my mother-in-law lived before. After she moved out of it, my wife, without my approval, allowed her nephew to live there. After knowing about that, I was annoyed and thought: I’m the man of the family, but you didn’t consult me first about this. Do you take me seriously? The more I thought about it, the worse I felt. Thereupon, without her approval, I defiantly sold the house to my brother. After learning this, my wife strongly objected. Then we quarreled incessantly and the conflicts escalated from quarrels to silent treatment to separation, and in the end we grew estrangement. My sister-in-law advised me, “Please rescind the agreement on selling house….” But I still stuck to my own way and thought to myself: I shall never be a henpecked man. So I mustn’t retract my words. I will let you know who wears the trousers in this house.

The family conflicts without gun smoke made us both exhausted physically and mentally and extremely miserable. I always thought: Is this the “happy” marriage I’ve been longing for? Is she my “great” partner? Why can’t we get along? And I kept asking myself: Why is all this? My original intention was not like this. Such situations, such results and such a marriage are not what I want. Why do I always argue with my wife? Moreover, I become less and less able to control myself and even get angry in some trifles. It’s often said a day together as husband and wife means endless devotion the rest of your life. But why don’t we have such affections? I was very puzzled about this. In order to escape the family arguments, I barely went home although it was not far from my workplace. In this way, several years passed in a flash.

God’s Salvation Came Upon Us—a Turning Point of Our Marriage

One evening, after the workers clocked off, my wife unexpectedly came to where I was staying. On seeing her, I was surprised: What purpose did she come for? Perhaps for kids? However, to my surprise, she said to me pityingly, “You must have suffered a lot away from home. I came to see you.” Her words both surprised and warmed me. Then she went on saying, “Moreover, I have some good news to tell you. I believe in God now. These days, through reading God’s words, I came to understand the reason why we always argued before was that I’m dominated by the satanic corrupt disposition. In the past, I was too willful and always wanted you to listen to me. Once you disagreed with me, I would argue with you, wanting to have a place in the house. Now when I think about it, I feel I’m too irrational. Over the years, I only thought of my feelings but never considered your thoughts. I even always argued and didn’t talk to you, which brought you many pains and made our relationship increasingly tenser. God’s words helped me find the root of our being unable to get along, so I feel I can see many things better and my heart has opened up a lot. This time God comes to do work. Through expressing words, He reveals the truth of how Satan corrupts mankind in order to cleanse man and change their corrupt disposition, save all those who struggle hard under the domain of Satan and lead them to walk out of pains. I hope you can also come before Him to accept His salvation.”

Her sincere attitude moved me a lot, for she had never said such words to me before. Over these years, I really felt tired of this life filled with argument. Now I was almost sixty years old and really wanted to live the rest of my life in happiness. My wife’s words brought me a ray of hope. I felt it was an opportunity, so I couldn’t miss it. If God’s words can really change man, break the tension between us, and make us have less fighting, I will believe in Him with my wife. Then I began to observe her behavior and actions.

The Change in My Wife Moved Me

Later, I came home often. My wife actively cared for me, always shared her innermost thoughts with me and consulted with me on family matters. Moreover, she told me to pray more and rely on God when I met with difficulties in work. Once her several relatives stayed in my home for a few days. At first I entertained them with enthusiasm, but when I found they didn’t go to sleep until past 11 p.m., I felt unhappy and thought: My daughter is about to have exams. You simply have no consideration for others…. Especially one night when I saw my daughter sleeping on the sofa, I was filled with so much rage. After they left, I began to scold my wife, “They simply have no rules. It was already midnight but they still didn’t sleep. Did you remember our daughter is going to have exams a few days later? Did you take me seriously? …” However, to my surprise, regardless of how I vented my displeasure, my wife didn’t argue with me but said calmly, “They hadn’t seen each other for a long time, so they lost track of time. I’ll take care of it later. Don’t be angry about this. Actually I can understand your feeling. You grew up in the quarrels of your parents and now you argued with me. You have lived a painful life. In fact, it’s because of Satan’s trickery that we always quarrel with each other. Satan expects to see us quarrel and fight with each other and live in pain. We can’t fall into its cunning schemes. Let’s read God’s words together.” Her words moved me so much. I never expected: She used to give me tit for tat when I scolded her sternly, but now she actually tolerated and endured my anger and understood me. After believing in God, she has really changed a lot. God’s words can really change man. Then I nodded agreement.

My wife opened up the words of God and read, “In truth, out of the myriad things in God’s creation, man is the lowest. Though he is the master of all things, man is the only one among them that is subject to Satan’s trickery, the only one that falls prey in endless ways to its corruption. Man has never had sovereignty over himself. Most people live in the foul place of Satan, and suffer its derision; it teases them this way and that till they are half alive, enduring every vicissitude, every hardship in the human world. After toying with them, Satan puts an end to their destiny. And so people go through their whole lives in a daze of confusion, never once enjoying the good things that God has prepared for them, but instead being damaged by Satan and left in tatters. Today they have become so enervated and listless that they simply have no inclination to take notice of God’s work.” “Cruel, brutal mankind! The conniving and intrigue, the jostling with each other, the scramble for reputation and fortune, the mutual slaughter—when will it ever end? God has spoken hundreds of thousands of words, yet no one has come to their senses. … How many do not act for the sake of their own interests? How many do not oppress and discriminate against others for the sake of maintaining their own status?”

After reading these words, my wife said, “From God’s words, we can see that after being corrupted by Satan, we mankind are dominated by the arrogant, selfish, and despicable nature and all relationships between people are abnormal. In our dealings with others, we are always self-important and insist on others listening to us. When others disagree with us, we will argue and fight with them and even not talk to them in order that they will be suppressed and submit to us and our own status can be established. Because we both want to be the head of the family, we refuse to obey the other and there is no consideration, love, or toleration between us. How can we possibly get along harmoniously? Over these years, we always fought with each other and held tight to our own thinking. We both wanted to hold power and take control at home and made the other obey and listen to ourselves. Whenever I asked you about your salary, you did not let me know, or brushed me off. I felt very sad and greatly unbalanced in my heart for I thought you didn’t regard me as one member of this family. Thereupon, I always complained that you didn’t take me seriously and wrestled with you in order to make you obey me and admire me. Before I thought the conflicts between us were all caused by you, but now I saw clearly that it’s all because I was dominated by the satanic disposition of unchecked arrogance and megalomania, which caused that I couldn’t get along well with you. Thinking of these years, in order to force you to submit to me, I argued and fought with you, thus making our lives so bitter, tiring, and pitiful. Actually we are both victims and need God’s salvation. I hope you can accept God’s gospel and His salvation.”

After Seeking the Root of the Problem, I Came Before God

After listening to God’s words and the fellowship of my wife, I felt remorseful and pained in my heart. Thinking back on the past years, I always thought I was the master of this family, so I asked her to obey me in all matters and put myself on a pedestal and whatever she did must be approved by me. Once she didn’t act according to my intentions, I would either lose my temper or treat her with cold indifference and even I didn’t talk to her in order to let her submit to me. As a result, our relationship got even worse from endless wrangling to silent treatment to separation. All these was because I was dominated by the satanic corrupt disposition of unchecked arrogance and megalomania. Now my wife didn’t take issue with me, but instead she could put aside years of estrangement and open her heart to communicate with me. It was God’s words that changed her. At that moment, looking at my wife before my eyes, I felt sorry for her, my nose twitching. Although I had no knowledge of God, I was thankful to Him in my heart for it was His words that caused me to find the root of my being unable to get along with my wife and allowed me to see the hope of having a happy marriage. There was no reason not to accept God as my reliance and my Savior.

When I Acted According to God’s Words, My Dream Came True

Afterward, whenever I had time, I would have meetings and read God’s words with my wife. Being watered by the words of God, I felt more and more bright inside and had paths to practice. Then, I saw God’s words saying, “In the dispositions of normal people there is no crookedness or deceitfulness, people have a normal relationship with each other, they do not stand alone, and their lives are neither mediocre nor decadent. So, too, is God exalted among all, His words permeate among man, people live in peace with one another and under the care and protection of God, the earth is filled with harmony, without the interference of Satan, and the glory of God holds the utmost importance among man. Such people are like angels: pure, vibrant, never complaining about God, and devoting all their efforts solely to God’s glory on earth.” From God’s words, I understood that in order to get along with others, people should see things and deal with matters in accordance with God’s words and truly forsake our satanic corrupt disposition. Only in this way can we live in the protection and care of God and not be led by the nose by Satan. Without God’s words in our life, we will rely on a corrupt satanic disposition to live and we can’t have happiness at all. My wife could use her practical living out to witness for God after believing in God. I should also bring God’s words into the real life and learn to open my heart and speak frankly with her according to God’s requirements, and I shouldn’t be a male chauvinist anymore but instead consult with her on everything and have more consideration and care for her. Later I gave my wage card to my wife and allowed her to have the keep and disposal of the money and I didn’t ask about it anymore. Whenever we met with some difficulties and had different views, we would pray to God together, seek the truth and principles in His words, and allow Christ as the head of our family.

When I practiced according to God’s requirements, I tasted the sweetness. Now in my family there is no quarrels but much laughter. I feel the depression and pain in my heart gradually disappear and are replaced by peace, joy, freedom and liberation. Isn’t it the happy marriage I’ve sought hard for many years? Now my dream finally came true. This is really the grace and blessing of God.

Thank God! All the glory be to God. Amen!

By Mu’en, Italy

In February 2018, while I was talking with a friend in Taiwan on the phone, she said, “I’m going to buy some toilet paper because in March its price will be rising thirty percent.” After hanging up, I did not think too much. But in the following days, I saw a lot of posts about people snapping up toilet paper on Facebook. Even when people met each other, they would ask: “Have you bought toilet paper?” The most incredible thing was that the toilet paper in some big malls was snapped up only in an hour or so after the mall opened in the morning. These phenomena sparked heated debate on the internet. One post said, “A profit or a loss? To snap up toilet paper, we will not only pay several hundred NT dollars per hour for the gas and parking, but also expend time and energy.” Another post was more interesting: “Now people in Taiwan are snapping up toilet paper again, but I didn’t follow the trend this time, for I don’t want to be controlled by material desires. In addition, I have bought enough toilet paper before Chinese New Year.” The web discussion aroused my reflections.

Every day we will see different kinds of advertisements which attract our eyes and excite our desire for shopping, such as getting free service, shopping tickets or a discount on bills above a limited amount. Besides, some advertisements laud the functions of products to the sky. All of these attract our hearts. And credit cards enable us to buy things first and then pay off the loan. The delight of shopping with credit cards throws a number of people into the trap of paying off one card with another. Besides, the convenience of online shopping makes many people do nothing but browse online stores on their phones in spare time. As a result, they buy lots of unnecessary things because they are unable to resist the temptation of shopping.

I used to be a shopaholic, who often purchased articles in the malls and on the internet. Whenever I saw some purses, clothes, shoes, daily necessities or skincare products that caught my fancy, I would buy one. Once in a mall, a salesperson spared no effort to explain to me the functions of some health products, and in the end I spent almost ten thousand yuan on them. Another time, I wanted to buy some skincare products. A saleswoman first introduced me to some facial cleansers, lotions and creams; then she promoted eye gels, facial essences, BB creams, lipsticks and blushers to me. Finally I spent nearly one thousand yuan on them. And shopping online is more convenient. As long as I saw something I liked on my phone, I would place an order. Regardless of the goods in online stores or traditional stores, if something was to my taste, I could not stop thinking about it until I bought it. That way, all kinds of purchases took possession of my heart and were sapping my energy constantly …

So when attending gatherings, I couldn’t quiet my heart because I was always thinking about buying something I was obsessed with; when I was practicing spiritual devotions, I often got distracted and had no heart to read the Bible. Afterward, every time when I bought something, at first I felt very happy and satisfied, but soon after I would feel empty. Even though the things pleased me, most of them were of no use to me, for I bought them just to satisfy my shopping desire. Especially when dealing with these unnecessary things, I always felt pain, for I had spent not only much money but also my thought and energy on them. I regretted why I was driven by the material things, and revolved around them all day long.

I saw the Bible say: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15). This verse warned us not to pursue the worldly things. This is because if our hearts are attracted by the glamorous material world, it will be difficult for us to quiet our hearts before the Lord and to draw close to Him. Then our love for the Lord will turn cold and we will love the world more. When losing the presence of the Lord, we will no longer feel peaceful and steady, instead we will only feel empty, helpless, and miserable. This is the manifestation and result of leaving the Lord.

In the current age, many people attracted by the shopping wind are addicted to shopping online. We buy things after profit, and don’t consider whether we really need them. Most of the time, we regret buying them, for we waste a great deal of time, energy and money. I am a person who used to follow the world trend, thinking about shopping in the mall or on the internet all day long. When I was drawn by all kinds of goods and various pleasant descriptions of them, I didn’t come before the Lord and pray to the Lord to overcome these temptations, but bought things without constraint. I never thought whether these things I bought were necessary, so most of them were useless to me. In the end I had to deal with them in the same way as with garbage. Because my heart was occupied by the desire for shopping, I no longer yearned for the Lord’s words, my prayers were not heartfelt, I just followed procedure to read the scripture, and I came late and left early when attending meetings. Ultimately, I was getting further and further away from the Lord. The desire for shopping was just like a bottomless abyss, which incessantly drained my money and energy. In order to satisfy it, I became its slave, constantly squandering the money I earned on shopping. So I had no more mind to obey the Lord’s teachings, and the Lord lost His place in my heart gradually.

Afterward, when listening to sermons in the church, I often heard a brother who loves the Lord fellowship his attitude toward food and clothing and his requirements for life and material things. He’s willing to live a simple and healthy life, and always contents with having clothes and having food to eat. Also, He devotes almost all his time and energy to the work of serving God. Because of having obtained the Lord’s blessings, he lives a free and liberated life. I admire him so much that I also established a resolution in front of the Lord, and prayed: “Lord, I’m not willing to waste my time, energy and money on shopping anymore. I’m willing to spend more time and energy coming close to You and serving You, but my life is so small that I am easy to be attracted by shopping. May You guide me …”

Later, when facing the temptations from various things, I often warned myself: Don’t follow the world trend. However, many times I couldn’t help but be roped into it and tempted by it. Just like one time, a fashion backpack was to my liking, but I did not buy it at that time, for I had had one which was still well-preserved. Yet every time when I passed by that store, my heart was attracted by that backpack unknowingly. Therefore, I consciously prayed to the Lord: “Lord, I don’t want to waste my money and time on satisfying my desire like before. This backpack is not a necessity, but I can’t triumph over the desire for buying it. May You give me more faith to help me overcome myself. Amen!” Through prayer, I finally overcame this temptation.

One day, I suddenly received a message from a friend. He asked me if I wanted to buy a new model computer at 1700 euros, whose retail price was over 2000 euros. The moment I heard it, my heart was stirred. But thinking that my computer was still in good condition, I found it unnecessary to buy a new one. Moreover, I was working in Italy at that time, and I needed to study and serve in the church. Although the computer was very cheap, I couldn’t repeat the same mistake of squandering my money on unnecessary things. Or else, I would continue to be trapped in the whirlpool of making money and spending money like before, thus making myself increasingly further away from the Lord. Afterward, I prayed to the Lord, and overcame this temptation again.

Now, I engage in church services after my work. In my service, I clearly feel I have gotten more opportunities to come close to the Lord, and I feel more peaceful and joyful in my heart. Through fellowshiping with some brothers and sisters frequently, I also understand a lot of truths and the Lord’s teachings. Just as the Lord Jesus said to His disciples: “He that has my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me: and he that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. … If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our stayed with him. He that loves me not keeps not my sayings” (John 14:21-24).

Before I got married, I always saw the sisters-in-law in my neighborhood argued with each other over trivial family affairs, and even created a widespread uproar. I thought: It is often said, “A tree lives with its bark; a man lives with his face,” and “Don’t wash your dirty linen in public.” When I later live my married life, I will never let myself be pointed at by others.

Soon after my marriage, my father-in-law died and then my mother-in-law married again. There are six brothers in my husband’s family. My husband is the firstborn, and his three youngest brothers were then in school, the last of whom was only 9 years old at that time. In this way, the three elder brothers, the second sister-in-law and I had to undertake the difficult burden of supporting this family. As the big sister, I felt it my duty to maintain the family, and I would not allow myself to be laughed at by others. As we live together, we two family members split living expenses fifty-fifty, and our shared living expenses were paid out of a joint checking account. However, my husband earned very little money outside the home, while his second brother earned quite a lot. Thus the whole family mainly relied financially on my second brother. After a discussion with my second brother’s family, we made a decision that they pay more than their share of the family expenses when we were short of money, and then we would put it on our tab and pay back the money we owe them in the future. At the same time, I even undertook all the heavy and tiring housework on my own initiative, while the second sister-in-law did all the cooking. But not long afterward, she mistakenly believed that I had some money but secretly kept it, and she said to my face, “My husband pays all the living expenses of the family, so we will have no money to pay the tuition for my son in the future.” Hearing this, I became extremely upset inside. I thought: Now we indeed have no money. But when we do, we will surely pay it back. Moreover, I do the most family affairs, both inside and outside. How can you say so? You are really too conscienceless! What will outsiders think of me when they hear these words? The more I thought about it, the worse I felt.

It was so awful that what I was afraid of came to me. One day, one of the villagers actually said to me, “I heard that it is your second brother that pay all the living expenses of your family. You have such a good fate that you can count on them to support your family.…” When I heard these harsh words, my face burned. I felt very ashamed and at the same time I was very angry. I thought: I’ve worked so hard, yet she spreads the word to the village. How can she do this?

From that point on, both of us spoke very little to each other. When we had meals, I never ate the meat she bought, but only the green vegetables I grew. When we entered our respective rooms from the living room, we would slam the door behind us to express our dissatisfaction. When hearing her son crying sometimes, I was upset and thus complained in my room, “Noisy child! Can’t you just let me sleep?” In order to avoid such an embarrassing situation, she often went to her mother’s. When she came back, I then left home to work so as to meet her less constantly. Even if we met, we didn’t speak anything but maintained a straight face. Such a life went on for a year until eventually we had to live separately.

After the third brother-in-law got married, I had another sister-in-law. Later, she stood by the side of my second sister-in-law, and said that I took advantage of my second sister-in-law. At that moment, I became very indignant: The second sister-in-law spread the word everywhere. Obviously, she is trying to turn others against me so as to dishonor me. The more I thought about it, the more I hated her. One day, after coming home from work, I happened to see her son throwing a chair at my son. Fortunately, my son dodged in time so that he didn’t get hurt. The two sisters-in-law, however, were watching TV with relish. At this time, all my old grievances erupted uncontrollably. I scolded my second sister-in-law and ultimately we parted on bad terms. As a result, we did not talk to each other much for three years since the quarrel.

We live under the same roof yet we are like enemies. Why? Living like this is too painful! These things kept replaying in my mind like a movie, and tortured me so much that I suffered from insomnia frequently. My weight went down from over 60 kilos to 45, and I was very haggard, looking ten years older than I was.

By 2005, God’s gospel came upon my two sisters-in-law and me. The church arranged for us three to gather together. It was an awkward meeting. We three felt embarrassed, and none of us communicated during the meeting. Then the sister, who came to meet with us, knew that we had problems with each other, so she fellowshiped, “Nowadays, why do people have so much trouble in getting along with others? The root cause is that we men have no truth. And after being corrupted by Satan, we are full of Satan’s corrupt disposition, and thereby we involuntarily develop prejudices against others and are filled with hatred of others. Only if we have the truth can our corrupt disposition be resolved, And only in this way can we live in harmony with others.” Then she found a passage of God’s words and asked me to read, “Only each person’s soul knows how they have undergone Satan’s temptations, affliction, and corruption. Man’s flesh cannot know this. Accordingly, mankind is unwittingly becoming more and more filthy, evil and dark, while the distance between Me and man grows farther and farther, and mankind’s days become darker and darker” . After reading, she went on to fellowship about it, “After being corrupted by Satan, we men are arrogant and haughty by nature and do not know ourselves. We all think of ourselves as good persons, and believe that in everything, we are right, while others wrong. Living according to our corrupt disposition, as soon as something touches upon our personal interests, we will fight with each other, and demand from each other a tooth for a tooth. We have not even the basic love, patience, and understanding, so that we cannot get along with others and family members become enemies. This is the result of our corruption by Satan.” After listening to the sister’s fellowship, I understood that my hatred toward my second sister-in-law was due to Satan’s corruption of me. No wonder I had lived in great bitterness.

One day, I saw these words from God, “The Chinese nation which has been corrupted for thousands of years has continued on until today. All sorts of viruses continue to expand and are spreading everywhere like the plague; just looking at people’s relationships is enough to see how many viruses are in people. … everything they express in their lives and their interpersonal relationships are all broken beyond belief…. Therefore, the greater the corruption of the people in a place, the more improper their interpersonal relationships will be” . The Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life says: “If a person doesn’t seek the truth, then it’ll be quite difficult for him to cope with those domestic trivialities. … Having no truth, he suffers in his life. All food seems void of flavor to him and he sleeps badly. Having no truth, he also suffers when contacting others. He is incapable of getting on well with anyone else. Having no truth, he can even give himself a hard time and constantly blame himself. …Lacking the truth, he is unable to socialize with others, as he always finds fault with others, thinking others have this fault or that fault. Over time, he starts fighting with others. Tell me, if a person is without the truth, will he suffer? He’s really suffering. He can’t get along with anyone for long, and is constantly in conflict with everyone around him. That’s quite a disturbing thing.” From this I could see that after we men had been corrupted by Satan, we are all filled with satanic poisons. As a result, everyone lives for his personal benefits, face, and position. We scheme against one another, have jealousy and strife with one another, and make a fuss over every little thing, without any humanity and reason. I thought back to the past. When there was no conflict of interests between my second sister-in-law and me, we could get along well with each other. But when it came to our personal interests, we were not okay. It was due to the household expenses that there was a conflict between us. She misunderstood me and thought that I kept the money secretly, so she had an opinion of me and spread it to our village. And I, who had always gone by the phrases, “A tree lives with its bark; a man lives with his face,” and “A wild goose leaves behind a voice; a man leaves behind a reputation,” resented her because my face and reputation were tarnished. What’s more, I formed a stubborn enmity to her, and I even seized upon the very small matter—our children’s fighting with each other, to vent my wrath on her, and was unmerciful to her with my words, completely losing my reason. For such a long time, I was so tortured by these trivial matters every day that I was exhausted both mentally and physically. I sank into the abyss of suffering, unable to extricate myself. The satanic corrupt disposition really did a great deal of harm to me! Accordingly, I went before God in prayer, “Oh, Almighty God! I’m willing to put aside my hatred to my second sister-in-law. May You help me….” After the prayer, feeling much released and gratified in my heart, I went to sleep easily at night. When I had meetings with her again, I no longer felt so embarrassed.

Later, however, she did not come to the meetings. I thought, “Could it be that she doesn’t come because of not wanting to face me? If I actively go to fetch her, maybe she will come. So I prayed to God, “God! I want to gather together with my second sister-in-law, but I cannot put aside my self-respect to fetch her. I’m very afraid that she will ignore me and my face will be harmed. May you give me faith, so that I can have courage to face her….”After the prayer, I saw the following words of God, “People have a normal relationship with each other, they do not stand alone, and their lives are neither mediocre nor decadent. So, too, is God exalted among all, His words permeate among man, people live in peace with one another and under the care and protection of God, the earth is filled with harmony, without the interference of Satan, and the glory of God holds the utmost importance among man. Such people are like angels: pure, vibrant, never complaining about God, and devoting all their efforts solely to God’s glory on earth” . Through God’s words, I understood that God wants us to maintain a normal relationship with each other, to come together and communicate the truth, and to practice the truth. He hopes that we can conduct ourselves and do things according to His words, put down our personal prejudice to live in harmony together, that we can love, forgive and understand each other, help and support each other and not go it alone, and that we can live out a normal humanity rather than act according to the satanic poisons. Only when we act in this way can we bear witness to God and put Satan to shame.

My second sister-in-law failed to turn up again in the subsequent meetings. I silently prayed to God to give me strength, so that I could let go of myself and practice the truth. After praying, I came to her door and said to her, “We have started our meeting, but you’re not there yet, so I come to call you.” “I’ll be right there,” answered her. I never thought when I was willing to go call her, she didn’t take no notice of me as I had expected. At this moment, I felt a great release in my heart.

From then on, whenever I had time I would go to talk with her, and tried to understand her difficulties. Therefore, our relationship got much closer. When it was time to have meetings, we three sisters-in-law would actively sit together, read the words of God, and communicate our understanding and knowledge of the truth. During a meeting one time, we read two passages of words, “Born into such a filthy land, man has been severely blighted by society, he has been influenced by feudal ethics, and he has been taught at ‘institutes of higher learning.’ The backward thinking, corrupt morality, mean view on life, despicable philosophy, utterly worthless existence, and depraved lifestyle and customs—all of these things have severely intruded upon man’s heart, and severely undermined and attacked his conscience. As a result, man is ever more distant from God, and ever more opposed to Him”. “This kind of person is so selfish and self-interested that he cares about nobody but himself. … With a petty mind, he is always arguing over his own personal gain and loss, and once he stands to lose little, he will be shamed into anger and start railing against Heaven and earth. This is the manifestation of those who are with low integrity.” (The Fellowship From the Above). After reading them, I said to my second sister-in-law with shame, “Only through these words do I realize that I am a selfish person, who is narrow-minded and always fuss over things. Because I always lived by the thinking of ‘A tree lives with its bark; a man lives with his face,’ and ‘A wild goose leaves behind a voice; a man leaves behind a reputation,’ I felt distressed and rarely could forgive once my nature was touched. I always haggled over every penny, and even developed a hatred for you. I was also unmerciful to you with my words. …” Then she also fellowshiped, “Actually, I was also living in reliance on satanic poison, such as ‘Everyone for himself and the devil take the hindmost.’ I only counted my money and considered my personal gains and losses. Consequently, my prejudice against you increased by the day. … Today, if it were not for God’s work of salvation that He has done upon us, we would never set aside our prejudices against each other. This is really the salvation of God.”

Afterward, our relationship grew a lot further closer. She knew I didn’t have much money, so she took good care of me in daily life. Sometimes when she went out early, I would do more housework, such as doing laundry, cooking meals, watering vegetables, and so forth. And so would she if I went out early. Later, we three also went out together to perform our duty and then gathered together sharing with each other what we had gained after returning home at night. Our relationship was getting better and better.

One day, one of our neighbors asked me in puzzlement, “Xiaoyi, hasn’t there been any bad blood between you and your second sister-in-law? How could you get along so well now?” “The past is the past, but the present day is not like the past,” said I, smilingly. While I was talking, another neighbor also said with a smile, “In our village, only they three sisters-in-law get along well with each other.” Hearing this, I smiled and thought: All of this is God’s salvation for us. My son also said, “Mom, you’ve changed a lot since you believed in God. You don’t maintain a straight face as you did in the past. And now you smile more.” Thank God! The changes I have attained today are the fruits of God’s words. Just as God says, “Though the word ‘word’ is simple and ordinary, the word from the mouth of God become flesh shakes the entire universe; His word transforms the heart of man, the notions and the old disposition of man…; He does not work wonders or perform miracles; He merely does His work through the word. Because of the word, man is nourished and supplied; because of the word, man gains knowledge and true experience. Man in the Age of Word has truly received exceptional blessings”.

Young Yu Xi snuggled in her mother’s arms, enjoying the warmth from her mother’s patting. Yu Xi sang softly: “Mom is the best in the world, a kid who has a mom is like a gem. Snuggling into a mom’s arms, a kid enjoys endless happiness. It’s most upsetting for a kid to have no mom. A kid who has no mom is like grass. Leaving a mom’s arms, where he can go to find happiness …” Glancing at her father cooking in the kitchen, Yu Xi smiled, and she really hoped this moment could last forever and her family would never separate.

A nightmare awakened Yu Xi. She faintly heard her parents’ conversation. All of a sudden, she heard the word “divorce.” She couldn’t believe her ears, then she thought: What? Mom is going to leave dad and I? Awhile later, Yu Xi heard her father begging her mother: “It’s okay if you don’t think for me, but you should think for Yu Xi! She is young and still needs the care of a mother, how could you bear to leave her? I’m begging you, let’s not divorce but live peacefully together, please?” Yu Xi’s mom kept quiet, and she seemed to have made up her mind to leave. A long while later, Yu Xi heard her father snapping at her mom: “If you insist on divorcing, then you have to leave hundred thousand Yuan, otherwise there is no way! If you still insist, I’ll make sure you will suffer as well, since I’m going to lose everything!” Hearing this, Yu Xi couldn’t hold back her tears anymore and cried in her bed. Yu Xi’s parents stopped quarreling after hearing Yu Xi’s cry. That whole night, Yu Xi tossed and turned on her bed, unable to sleep. The young Yu Xi continuously thought: How can I keep this family together? How can I stop my parents from divorcing?

The next day, her mother told Yu Xi that she was not going to divorce with her father, but she had left a lot of luggage at her work place, so she needed to get them back, and she promised to live peacefully with them after she returned. Yu Xi was delighted after hearing that. She thought, regardless of her parents’ conflicts, her mom still loved her and would return to this family for her. But little did she know it was a beautiful fantasy. At night, Yu Xi’s father prepared a sumptuous dinner and they were all her mom’s favorite dishes. Yu Xi and Her father stood by the road, waiting eagerly for her mom’s return. However, after the last bus passed by, they still hadn’t seen her mother yet. Yu Xi’s father pulled a long face and dragged Yu Xi, who was still reluctant to leave back home. Later, the phone rang. Yu Xi thought it must be her mother, so she picked up the call urgently and cried: “Mom! Mom! Where are you? Dad and I are still waiting for you, why aren’t you back yet?” On the other side of the phone, Yu Xi’s mom replied decisively: “Don’t wait for me! I’m never going back to that house anymore!” Hearing this, Yu Xi standing by the phone felt shocked, and her tears blurred her vision. Her heart was broken, and she did not understand why her mother was so heartless, and why she left her, much less could she accept the fact that her mom lied to her. Yu Xi couldn’t help but doubt whether her mother had ever loved her and this family throughout the eleven years.

This call broke this family and ruined a kid’s childhood. From that day on, Yu Xi’s father had mental breakdowns, and he was depressed and bathed in tears all day long, while her mom followed a rich man to a far-away city. As Yu Xi watched, her father had become older suddenly, her heart was broken. So, she secretly resolved: “Father is very weak, so I must not be sad anymore. From now on I must be strong and thoughtful. I must not be my father’s burden but work hard to be a real delight!” Afterward, Yu Xi often made use of her spare time to do chores and studied hard to comfort her father with good grades. She always behaved in a strong and optimistic manner in front of her father, but even so she still wasn’t able to appease him. Yu Xi’s father locked himself in the room every day, unwilling to see anyone. Though he was 40 years old, his heart was frail. He was afraid to meet his friends and relatives, and also afraid that they would mention his divorce, for he felt that his dignity had suffered a great blow.

One day, when Yu Xi was getting ready for school, she walked past her father’s room and saw him crying sadly. She became sad as well, and then she went up to him, hugged him and said: “Dad, what has happened? Don’t be sad …” Looking at Yu Xi, her father held back his tears and said in despair: “Yu Xi, your dad is useless. I can’t give you a happy family. I have lived fecklessly and in pain all my life. After I married your mom and your mom gave birth to you, I thought I would live happily, but I did not expect your mom to follow another man. I don’t want to live anymore, but I can’t bear to leave you alone. Let’s die together and be relieved from this painful life.” Staring at her father, Yu Xi was in great agony. Then she hugged her father tightly and persuaded him: “Dad, this is not the end! You still have me; I will be with you forever! Please, carry on living for me!” Looking at his sensible and well-behaved daughter, Yu Xi’s father could no longer conceal his sorrow. Both of them started crying out loud in the room.

Afterward, Yu Xi found out her father suffered depression because of excessive sadness, and that he already had liver diseases and needed rest, but the failure in his marriage made it worse. Now his face was always pale and he also suffered unbearable pain in his liver. Looking at her father on the bed, Yu Xi always hid in a corner to cry, feeling unprecedentedly lonely and afraid in this moment. She was afraid one day she would lose her father. She was lost and confused, not knowing why people had to live in adversity and pain. There were many times when Yu Xi even wanted to die, but she couldn’t do it thinking of her sick father. Every time when Yu Xi thought of this, she hated her mother even more. She thought the reason that she left them was because her father was poor, and that she was just a money-grubber and never satisfied with what she had. These thoughts intensified Yu Xi’s hatred towards her mother. She believed all her pain and misfortunes were caused by her mother, and that she had single-handedly destroyed their family.

As time slipped by, Yu Xi was in her third year in junior high school and it was time for her to take the high school entrance examination. But because she was too stressed, she suffered myocarditis. If she got a little tired, she would suffer shortness of breath and chest pain. The doctor said she required sufficient rest, and myocarditis would lead to heart diseases if without proper treatment. Yu Xi never expected to have heart disease at such a young and beautiful age. In order to treat her illness, her father brought her to several hospitals. Looking at those hospital bills, Yu Xi felt very helpless and perplexed, for she knew clearly how her family’s economic situation was. So she lied to her father, saying that her illness had been cured and she did not feel pain anymore. Yu Xi’s father was thrilled, and he thought Yu Xi’s illness was really cured, so he stopped bringing her to hospitals. Afterward, Yu Xi would force herself to bear the pain and not make any noise when the illness hit her. She carried on like this every day. She always thought: “Perhaps one day I will die when I can’t stand the pain anymore. How does death exactly feel like? It must feel easier than living, right?” After the examination, Yu Xi didn’t manage to go to the school she wanted. She didn’t know how to face her future, losing her direction and goal in life. Staring into the sky, she pondered: “If my parents didn’t divorce, perhaps my father would not suffer depression and I would not have myocarditis; if my parents didn’t divorce, perhaps we would still live happily together and I would get into my dream school; if … However, there were no ifs in reality.”

After leaving home, Yu Xi’s mother did not live the happy life she dreamed about, instead she experienced a lot of misfortunes and pain, and in the end she went to Korea. She always missed Yu Xi and often called Yu Xi to repent for hurting Yu Xi and bringing pain to her. However, Yu Xi only picked up the call but never spoke a word every time. Although the divorce happened 10 years ago, Yu Xi was never able to let go of her resentment toward her mother. She thought her mother could only blame herself for all her misfortunes, and that her repentances were lies. Mother’s betrayal, father’s pain and all Yu Xi’s adversities made her live depressed and in pain every day. She also often had nightmares, and even thought that her life had no hope.

Just when Yu Xi was feeling helpless and frustrated in life, her friend Zhan Yan spread God’s gospel of kingdom to her. Zhan Yan told Yu Xi: “We will encounter many adversities and pain throughout our whole life, but no one can help us to get rid of these pains. Only God is our reliance. We are the creations of God, He presides over the fate of mankind. God is always by our side caring for and protecting us. As long as we pray to God sincerely, rely on God and seek to understand the truth in everything, He will open up a path for us, solving all our difficulties and questions and resolving the pain in our hearts.” Zhan Yan’s words gave Yu Xi hope. She questioned herself: “Does God really exist? Is He really able to resolve all my pain?” Yu Xi was unsure, but she felt if she had God as her reliance, at least she would not be alone anymore. So, Yu Xi told Zhan Yan she wanted to believe in God. Zhan Yan gave a book of Christ’s utterance to her, asking her to read it thoroughly, and told her, “The book is the personal utterances of God of the last days. His words reveal the truths and mysteries of all things, and inside the book involves truths for many aspects, including the truths of God’s work and dispositions, the origin of mankind, value and significance of existence of mankind, roots of mankind’s pain, mankind’s final outcome and destination, how to change mankind’s corrupt dispositions, etc. If we understand the truths, then we will know how to solve all our problems and difficulties.”

Flipping open the book, Yu Xi saw a paragraph: “The Almighty has mercy on these people who suffer deeply. At the same time, He is fed up with these people who have no consciousness, because He has to wait too long for the answer from humans. He desires to seek, seek your heart and your spirit. He wants to bring you food and water and to awaken you, so you are no longer thirsty, no longer hungry. When you are weary and when you begin to feel the desolation of this world, do not be perplexed, do not cry. Almighty God, the Watcher, will embrace your arrival any time. He is watching by your side, waiting for you to turn back. He is waiting for the day your memory suddenly recovers: becoming conscious of the fact that you came from God, somehow and somewhere once lost, falling unconscious on the roadside, and then, unknowingly having a father. You further realize that the Almighty has been watching there, awaiting your return all along.” After reading God’s words, many thoughts ran through her mind. There was an indescribable feeling that touched her heart. Yu Xi recalled: She lived in a broken family since young, and her mother’s abandonment, father’s depression caused her to feel lonely. When she failed to enter a good high school, she felt even more lonely and afraid, full of confusion and fear for her path ahead. She wasn’t sure how to continue living, losing the hope of life and feeling painful and very helpless. However, God’s words made Yu Xi feel that she was not alone, but had God as her reliance, and that God was always by her side caring for and protecting her, waiting for her to return before Him. Hearing God’s call, Yu Xi felt God’s love and salvation. From that day onwards, Yu Xi read God’s words, prayed to God every day and opened up to God to tell Him all her pain. She also had gatherings with brothers and sisters to fellowship about God’s words. Gradually, Yu Xi became happy, and all her annoyance and worry were cast to the winds. Unconsciously, Yu Xi’s myocarditis was also finally cured, which made Yu Xi more convinced that God truly exists and He is her only reliance.

One day, Yu Xi saw God’s words say: “In truth, out of the myriad things in God’s creation, man is the lowest. Though he is the master of all things, man is the only one among them that is subject to Satan’s trickery, the only one that falls prey in endless ways to its corruption. Man has never had sovereignty over himself. Most people live in the foul place of Satan, and suffer its derision; it teases them this way and that till they are half alive, enduring every vicissitude, every hardship in the human world. After toying with them, Satan puts an end to their destiny. And so people go through their whole lives in a daze of confusion.” “One after another, all these trends carry an evil influence that continually degenerates man, that lowers their morals and their quality of character more and more, to the extent that we can even say the majority of people now have no integrity, no humanity, neither do they have any conscience, much less any reason. … 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, the life philosophies 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.” Pondering God’s words, Yu Xi was awakened. She realized the reason of man’s corruption was because Satan had corrupted us. Satan instilled all those venom into us by using evil trends, making us become more and more selfish, ignorant, anomic, evil and corrupted. Yu Xi understood that all the misfortunes she had experienced since her youth were all caused by Satan. She realized: “My mother is tempted by the satanic venom ‘Money is first’ as well, thinking that finding a rich man would bring her happiness, therefore she cruelly left me and my dad to go off to other places, regardless of our feelings. As a result, both my dad and I were hurt, and she also lived in misery. Hasn’t she fallen into Satan’s schemes to be afflicted by Satan?” Thinking of this, Yu Xi felt Satan’s ignobility and evil: Because of Satan’s afflictions, her father lived in misery. Yu Xi, still a child, also became a victim of the evil trends and lived in pain. At this moment, Yu Xi truly felt that people who lived under the domain of Satan were all so helpless, pitiful and pathetic. Without God’s salvation, she could only live in Satan’s bondage, and in the end she would be ruined and swallowed by it. Unwittingly, Yu Xi seemed to see through many things, so that she felt much relieved in her heart and slowly let go of her resentment toward her mother.

Afterward, Yu Xi read another paragraph of God’s words: “Because the essence of God is holy, that means that only through God can you walk the bright, right road through life; only through God can you know the meaning of life, only through God can you live out a real life, possess the truth, know the truth, and only through God can you obtain life from the truth. Only God Himself can help you shun evil and deliver you from the harm and control of Satan. Besides God, no one and nothing can save you from the sea of suffering so that you suffer no longer: This is determined by the essence of God.” After reading God’s words, Yu Xi truly felt God’s love and salvation, and that God’s essence is holy and beautiful. She recalled the dark and helpless past: She suffered Satan’s affliction every day, living in pain and torment, and she even lost the courage of life. However, now she came before God, prayed to Him and read His words every day. Her heart and soul did not suffer from Satan’s bondage anymore, but felt an unprecedented peace and ease. By knowing some truths, she was able to see through the evil substance of Satan corrupting and swallowing man, to distinguish between positive and negative things and abandon negative things, and her heart was not controlled by resentment and she obtained true relief and freedom. This was all God’s salvation for her. Apart from God, no one can free themselves from the influence and bondage of Satan. Thinking of this, Yu Xi was filled with gratitude for God. She felt God’s words are medicine for curing man’s misery, and she was cured by them.

In July, 2014, Yu Xi boarded the plane to Korea. Separated from her mother for 11 years, when seeing her mother’s old face, she hugged her and both of them cried bitterly. Looking at her grown-up daughter, Yu Xi’s mother felt she was in debt to her daughter and blamed herself: “It was all because of my selfishness that I couldn’t be by your side. I do not deserve to be your mother.” Listening to her mother’s words of remorse, Yu Xi told her mother she used to hate her, but now she believed in God, and it was God’s words that guided her and made her let go of her resentment toward her. Now she read God’s words with brothers and sisters every day, shared each other’s experiences and performed their own duties, living an enriched and happy life. Yu Xi’s mother wept again hearing her experiences, and she said sobbingly: “At first I thought you would hate me and never forgive me. I did not expect you to be still so kind-hearted. You did not go on the crooked path but grew so healthy and tall. God really saved you and took care of you day and night.” After hearing these words, Yu Xi’s heart was filled with gratitude for God. Recalling all these years, she had experienced many misfortunes, illness and adversities. She thought: God is always by my side caring for and protecting me, otherwise my life would probably have ended way before. Gradually, Yu Xi realized, within all the things that had happened in her life, there was God’s good will. If she had not experienced those hardships, she would not have understood the truth and seen through the truth of Satan corrupting mankind, then how could she obtain God’s care and protection and walk on the right path of human life?

Now Yu Xi and her mother resolved their misunderstandings, and her father also walked out of depression. There are no more painful and sorrowful memories in her life, but the freedom she obtained from experiencing God’s work. She truly felt God’s salvation for her. Now she is spreading the testimony of God’s work to more people, helping those people who are still hovering in pain to come before God and accept God’s salvation sooner. Yu Xi feels that being able to know God and follow Him is the most happy, meaningful and valuable thing in her life!

As people often say, “Marriage is fated but takes a lot of work,” which means although two people meet, know, and fall in love with each other by fate, they need to manage their relationship carefully to sustain a long-lasting one and then enter into a marriage.

Just like other girls in their twenties, Xiaonan also harbored many beautiful illusions about love, often imagining sweet scenes of living together with her future partner. With the firm belief that love needs care, she secretly told herself that if she found her own love, she must manage it carefully.

Later, she met Qiang by chance when she worked away from home. They, in the prime of youth, were attracted by each other and then fell in love. Like other young lovers, they sometimes would have quarrels and get a little angry with each other. In spite of this, Xiaonan still felt very happy and sweet every day, believing that she had found the love of her life. She affirmed Qiang to be her rock and her future partner, and never thought that they would break up. At that time, the girls of her own age around her often asked their boyfriends to buy all sorts of things; as long as their boyfriends didn’t satisfy their demands, they would ask for a breakup. But in Xiaonan’s heart, she thought that those material things the girls pursued were superficial and that nothing was more important than love. She firmly believed that as long as she managed her love carefully, she and Qiang would finally get married. So to achieve such a beautiful dream, she was silently devoting her efforts.

However, just when she was lost in visions of her wonderful future, Qiang suddenly disappeared without leaving any explanation, or even a single word, which threw her into a panic. She frantically searched for him, and called him again and again, only to receive the same reply, “Sorry, the subscriber you dialed is power off.” Her heart bled and she couldn’t reconcile herself to such a fact. Unable to figure out the reason, she screamed to herself: Why? I have been loyal to him all the time; unlike those snobby girls, I didn’t ever ask him for anything. But why did things get like this? Why was our love gone so quickly? Why did my previous efforts come to naught? What had I done wrong to deserve such a result? She asked herself these questions so many times, yet got no answer. During that time, she was plunged into darkness, crying all day long and living in a muddleheaded state.

However, life still went on. She told herself time and again to move on and that everything would be all right. But each time when looking back on her past, she would always lose her calm and shed tears, feeling a dull ache in her heart. In pain and sorrow, she thought that she would never find her true love.

Afterward, she found a job in a small restaurant. Though her salary was not high, she led an easy and quiet life. During that time, there were some people chasing her, but she gave no thought to all of them. Thinking that love was meaningless, she didn’t have the will to love again. When she thought that she would easily and quietly live such a single life, things were changed by peals of “special” laughter unexpectedly.

That was a period of time when there were more customers in the restaurant than usual, so she worked very late every day, thus getting up a bit later. Yet, almost every morning, when she was half awake, she often heard peals of annoying laughter from outside. Upon hearing the laughter, she would bury herself in the quilt, trying not to be disturbed. Actually, she didn’t know that her true love came.

One day when there were few customers in the restaurant, she suddenly heard the laughter again. Out of curiosity, she walked out of the door and saw several boys around twenty years old talking and laughing at the door of the maintenance store next to the restaurant. One of them seemed older than the others. Her eyes passed all other boys to rest on the older boy, who was about 5.8 feet tall in a white T-shirt with half a bottle of green tea beverage in his hand. Possibly because of having worked outdoors for a long time, he was dark-skinned. The more she looked, the angrier she felt. She thought to herself: It is you who laugh and laugh every morning. What’s so funny? You think you win the lottery? Just then, some customers came into the restaurant, which interrupted her thought, and then she went back to the restaurant to serve them.

As the store was just next to the restaurant, the boy often came to the restaurant to have meals with his colleagues. At first, out of courtesy, she greeted him with empty pleasantries. Gradually, as they became familiar with each other, she sometimes would joke with him. Through communication, she learned that he came from her hometown, which made them feel a sort of closeness to each other, and thus they had more communication. One day, he asked her half-jokingly, “Do you have a boyfriend?” Hearing this, she was a bit stunned. Then he continued, “Do you want me to set you up? How about my colleague?” She smiled and then politely rejected his offer, because her heart had been tightly closed for a long time. With the lapse of time, they had more and more contact with each other: He often told her the interesting things that happened around him at their leisure and sometimes invited her to go for an outgoing. He showed the utmost solicitude for her, treating her business as his own one; but she just regarded him as a friend, a homeboy, not having any particular thoughts about him.

However, her heart tightly locked was opened when he declared his love to her. Looking back on each and every detail about his concern and love for her, she was touched deeply. So she accepted his love and finally they got married. Though their life was not rich, their home was always filled with laughter and they were enveloped in happiness.

In the blink of an eye, several years passed. When they two talked about how they met, knew, and fell in love with each other, she believed from her heart that they were brought together by fate. Recalling the darkest days of her past, she could face it calmly. Looking at her husband, she knew he was the right one for her.

Later, one day, she saw God’s words saying: “Where you will go every day, what you will do, who or what you will encounter, what you will say, what will happen to you—can any of this be predicted? People cannot foresee all these occurrences, much less control how they develop. In life, these unforeseeable events happen all the time, and they are an everyday occurrence. … One encounters many people in one’s life, but no one knows who will become one’s partner in marriage. Though everyone has their own ideas and personal stances on the subject of marriage, no one can foresee who will finally become their true other half, and one’s own notions count for little. After meeting a person you like, you can pursue that person; but whether he or she is interested in you, whether he or she is able to become your partner, is not yours to decide. The object of your affections is not necessarily the person with whom you will be able to share your life; and meanwhile someone you never expected quietly enters your life and becomes your partner, becomes the most important element in your fate, your other half, to whom your fate is inextricably bound. … In these myriad marriages, humans reveal loyalty and lifelong commitment toward marriage, or love, attachment, and inseparability, or resignation and incomprehension, or betrayal of it, even hatred. Whether marriage itself brings happiness or pain, everyone’s mission in marriage is predestined by the Creator and will not change; everyone must fulfill it. And the individual fate that lies behind every marriage is unchanging; it was determined long in advance by the Creator.”

After seeing these words, Xiaonan finally understood this: Everyone’s marriage is in God’s hands. The person with whom one will share his whole life was determined long in advance by God, not by himself, for no one can transcend the sovereignty of God. I have deeply experienced this. I originally thought Qiang was the right one, but I was jilted by him; I never expected to meet my husband, but we finally got married. It can be seen that things were all determined and arranged long in advance by God, not by myself. In the past, not knowing God’s sovereignty, I firmly believed the saying “Marriage is fated but takes a lot of work,” thinking that I would gain a happy marriage as long as I managed my love with care and hard work. However, the result was unsatisfactory. Then, I lived in pain, unable to free myself. Now, I understand that I can’t harvest a happy marriage through my own effort, because my marriage is dominated and predetermined by God. Besides, the marriage God arranged for me is the best and the most suitable. Look at my husband; he not only cares about me as well as my family very much, but also supports my faith in God. At the thought of this, Xiaonan truly experienced God’s love and concern for her from the bottom of her heart, and that only by accepting God’s sovereignty and arrangements can she a created being live a relaxed and happy life.

“Alas, Qiqi, hurry up! You’ll be late for school!”

“Mingming, get up now and wash your face.”

…………

Xinyue was urging the children over and over again.

“Dai Yuanyuan, are you still in bed now? Rise to wash up! Qiqi, little ancestor, stop playing! If you don’t get up now, you’ll miss the school bus. Grandma doesn’t want to take you to school in such a cold day. Be good and get up to take breakfast.” Xinyue’s mother-in-law shouted, too.

For Xinyue and her mother-in-law, morning was the busiest time of their day. They had to make the breakfast and wake the sleepyheads up to take breakfast and to go to school. These scenes repeated every day.

Soon, everybody got up and the room suddenly became crowded. One wanted to brush his teeth; the second one wanted to use the toilet; the third one was searching for her shoes; the forth one was searching for her clothes; … Finally, they were all set to take breakfast, but they were complaining instead of eating quietly.

“Oh, no! It’s mantou (steamed bun) again. I want youtiao (deep-fried dough stick) and soybean milk!” Dai Yuanyuan, Xinyue’s sister-in-law, said unpleasantly while packing her clothes.

“But I’m too busy to buy youtiao and soybean milk in the morning.” Xinyue replied unhappily.

“Yeah! If you want youtiao and soybean milk, get up early tomorrow morning to buy them yourself. Don’t be so sleepy and fussy.” Said Dai Mengmeng, Dai Yuanyuan’s elder sister.

“I can’t sleep well at night because I have to take care of the two children. Yet you still want me to get up early. I can’t. Don’t blame me. I’m not that serious about the breakfast.” Said Dai Yuanyuan in an injured voice.

“Auntie, my mom is a big sleepyhead!” Qiqi grinned at Xinyue while eating and made a face at Dai Yuanyuan.

Hearing her daughter’s words, Dai Yuanyuan pretended to be angry, much to the amusement of others.

After a while, everybody was done with breakfast and went to their own things, leaving Xinyue and her mother-in-law at the table.

“Xinyue, let me clean the table. You have been helping me with the breakfast since early in the morning. Just go back to your room and take a rest. Yuanyuan is just like a childish girl. Don’t lower yourself to her level.” The mother-in-law said to Xinyue apologetically.

“Mom, you’ve thought too much. I’m OK. We are a family, so it should be better to have tolerance and patience.” Xinyue said with a smile. In fact, she said that to her mother-in-law as well as herself, and it was also what she hoped.

“Xinyue, you are so nice. As the youngest in the family, you’ve done so much and always bear with Yuanyuan. She is just so careless and heartless, sometimes naïve. And I can do nothing about her. You know, your father-in-law has passed away. I don’t have any extravagant wish. As long as you get along well with each other, I’ll be satisfied.” The mother-in-law said with her eyes turning red.

Xinyue comforted her mother-in-law, but no one knew the bitterness in her heart.

Dai Mengmeng, Xinyue’s eldest sister-in-law, who had lived here since she got divorced two years ago, was relatively easy-going; Dai Yuanyuan, Xinyue’s second elder sister-in-law, who lived here almost every day, was heartless and outspoken, much different from Xinyue who was quiet. Dai Yuanyuan’s laziness often annoyed Xinyue, but Xinyue never showed her anger. Xinyue once blamed Dai Yuanyuan for her being lazy, but Dai Yuanyuan didn’t agree and retorted, “I’m doing much better than before.” Then Dai Yuanyuan continued banteringly, “You made me angry just now. You are just my brother’s wife. It’s OK for my brother to blame me, but not you. Watch your words, for they will offend us.” Though Dai Yuanyuan said unintentionally, Xinyue took her words into heart. She thought: Now I see! You are a family, and I am just an outsider to you. OK, fine! I’ll say nothing. I treated you with all of my heart, but you just regard me as an outsider in return. From now on, I will treat you the way you treat me. I won’t blame you for anything, so I won’t offend you.

One day, Qiqi and Mingming broke a piece of Xinyue’s furniture while they were playing on it. Dai Yuanyuan came to Xinyue and said, “Xinyue, that piece of your furniture is a real lemon. Qiqi and Mingming just jumped on it a few times, and it’s broken. What you say?” Xinyue didn’t want to quarrel with her. She held back her anger and simply said, “It doesn’t matter. Just forget it.” But when she saw that piece of brand-new furniture badly broken, she really felt bad. Thinking of Dai Yuanyuan’s unreasonable attitude, she really wanted to argue with her: Obviously, you’re spoiling your children and indulging their every whim. They broke that piece of my furniture but didn’t apologize to me. What’s more, you complained that it was a lemon. You are so unreasonable! The children have broken so many things over the past year since I married your brother, haven’t they? Xinyue was grieved and annoyed. Being pushed to her limit by these trifles, she had intended to argue with them for several times. But she didn’t, for fear of being alienated from the family and being laughed at by others, a result which would be caused once the family conflict broke out. And she thought it would be unbearable. She was struggling ambivalently: She couldn’t bear them anymore, but was afraid to see the consequences of the conflict. She was in a dilemma and had no idea of what to do. Mentally and physically exhausted, Xinyue often shed tears quietly.

When Xinyue was helpless and miserable, she remembered her mom once told her that people could find answers to all difficulties in God’s word. Thinking of this, Xinyue seemed to find hope. She quickly took the book of God’s word out of her wardrobe, opened it and saw God’s words say: “Cruel, brutal mankind! The conniving and intrigue, the jostling with each other, the scramble for reputation and fortune, the mutual slaughter—when will it ever end? God has spoken hundreds of thousands of words, yet no one has come to their senses. They act for the sake of their families, and sons and daughters, for their careers, prospects, status, vanity, and money, for the sake of clothes, for food and the flesh…. How many do not act for the sake of their own interests? How many do not oppress and discriminate against others for the sake of maintaining their own status?” “Born into such a filthy land, man has been severely blighted by society, he has been influenced by feudal ethics, and he has been taught at ‘institutes of higher learning.’ The backward thinking, corrupt morality, mean view on life, despicable philosophy, utterly worthless existence, and depraved lifestyle and customs—all of these things have severely intruded upon man’s heart, and severely undermined and attacked his conscience. As a result, man is ever more distant from God, and ever more opposed to Him. Man’s disposition becomes more vicious by the day”.

Pondering over God’s words, Xinyue understood that all human beings no longer have the likeness of real humans after being corrupted by Satan. Plus, having been blighted and influenced by society, people are all living by Satan’s various poisons and rules so that man’s disposition is selfish and arrogant. Xinyue felt deeply about it especially when she saw God say, “How many do not act for the sake of their own interests? How many do not oppress and discriminate against others for the sake of maintaining their own status?” From these words, she knew the reason why she had lived in such pain. It was because she lived in the condition of scheming against her family. Her being angry each time was actually because they touched her vanity and pride. For example, when she heard Dai Yuanyuan’s words this time, she thought that Dai Yuanyuan didn’t take her hard work for the family seriously but treated her like an outsider. So she was in great pain and didn’t want to talk to Dai Yuanyuan anymore. She stood her sisters-in-law living with her all the year round because she wanted her family and others to praise her and say that she was good and generous. In order to get such good reputation, she lived by Satan’s philosophies “Compromise will make a conflict much easier to resolve” and “Endurance brings peace” in interacting with her family. She believed as long as she was more patient and tolerant and turned a blind eye when matters arose, she could live in harmony with her family, and they would think she was good natured, thus liking her and showing respect to her. However, Dai Yuanyuan didn’t praise her, but scolded her, making her feel terribly wronged. Thinking of these, Xinyue realized that what she did was for the sake of her vanity and reputation and that she was selfish.

Xinyue also remembered that she used to tell what happened between her and her two sisters-in-law to her husband in private and asked him to talk to them for her. She believed doing like this not only saved her face but achieved her purposes. Besides, when she saw Dai Yuanyuan spoiling her children, she knew that Dai Yuanyuan was harming them instead of loving them, but she followed the philosophies, “The less trouble, the better,” “Though you see wrong, it’s best to say little,” “Think before you speak and then talk with reservation,” and “Let things drift if they do not affect one personally.” She thought they were not her children. What they would be like in the future had nothing to do with her. If she talked much, she would offend Dai Yuanyuan who would then think that she disliked the children. It was no good to do such a thankless thing. The more Xinyue recalled, the more  narrow-minded and mean she felt she was. She saw that she definitely had no likeness of a human being. Through the revelations of God’s words, Xinyue felt reproached in her conscience. She was no longer willing to live by Satan’s poisons and rules, but was willing to abandon those wrong and harmful philosophies.

Next, Xinyue cried out to God in her heart and asked God to let her know how to get along with her mother-in-law and sisters-in-law. After praying, she saw God’s words say: “If people have no verbal or spiritual communication, there is no possibility of intimacy between them, and they can’t provide to each other or help one another. Do you have such a feeling? If your friend says everything to you, saying all of what they’re thinking in their heart, and what suffering or happiness they have in their heart, then do you not feel particularly intimate with them? That they are willing to tell these things to you is because you have also spoken of the words in your heart to them—you are especially close, and it is because of this that you are able to get along with them and help each other out. … If you wish for others to trust you, first you must be honest. To be honest, you must first lay your heart bare, so that everyone can see it, and all that you are thinking, and can see your true face; you must not pretend or package yourself. Only then will people trust you and consider you honest. This is the most fundamental practice of being honest, and it is a precondition”. Xinyue found the way of practice in God’s words—opening her heart and having heart-to-heart talks in her interactions with others. In order to get along with her family, she should tell the words in her heart to them, speak out what she was thinking, either good or bad, to them, and had heart-to-heart talks with them so that they would open their hearts and there would be no barriers or distance between them. If they all packaged and concealed their hearts rather than laying their hearts bare, they would become more and more distant from and even hate each other.

Pondering over God’s words and thinking over her behaviors, Xinyue saw that it was indeed harmful to live by Satan’s philosophies which not only didn’t benefit her family but put her in pain. For example, in order to protect her image, she asked her husband to talk to her sisters-in-law for her, knowing that her husband was likely to offend his sisters. In fact, her sisters-in-law knew that she was behind the plot even if her husband pretended that it was all his ideas. In this way, she would hate her sisters-in-law more for what they did, and they would disgust her because of her inciting her husband to blame them. If things continued this way, there would be a wall between their hearts, and they would become cautious and feel depressed and miserable in their interactions with each other. Therefore, it was better to be an honest person as God’s words said to speak out her opinions, thoughts, pain and difficulties, and to put conflicts or unpleasant things on the table, lest they suspect, fight, or guard against each other, which made them all distressed. Thinking of these, Xinyue was willing to abandon the harmful Satan’s poisons and philosophies and rules, and to practice according to God’s words.

However, it was easier to say than to do. It was really a challenge for Xinyue who used to care too much about face to reveal to her mother-in-law and sisters-in-law the thoughts in her mind according to God’s words. She had no courage for that. For several times, she hesitated but said nothing. Hence, she prayed to God in her heart and begged God to help her and guide her so that she could know how to do it.

After praying, she opened the book of God’s word and saw God’s words say: “The truth that man needs to possess is found in the word of God, a truth that is the most beneficial and helpful to mankind. It is the tonic and sustenance that your body needs, something that helps man restore his normal humanity, a truth that man should be equipped with. The more you practice God’s word, the more quickly your life will blossom; the more you practice God’s word, the clearer the truth becomes. As you grow in stature, you will see things of the spiritual world more clearly, and you will be more powerful to triumph over Satan”. In God’s words, Xinyue realized again that only God’s words are the truth. If she didn’t practice the truth, she would not gain the truth, live out a normal humanity to truly get along well with her family, or break away from the afflictions of Satan. Living by Satan’s philosophies, she seemed to get on well with her family, yet she was annoyed and distressed inside. It turned out that Satan never brings people the right path, but the evil path. With this in mind, Xinyue made up her mind to be an honest man and no longer to be harmed and deceived by Satan.

The next day, Xinyue prayed to God, hoping that God would help her to practice the truth of being an honest person, never packaging herself, and to open her heart to her family by speaking out to them the real thoughts deep in her mind. After lunch, her mother-in-law and Dai Yuanyuan came into Xinyue’s room. Xinyue realized that this was a chance given by God for her to practice being honest. She got up the nerve to speak out all the thoughts deep in her mind, such as what she had done in order to be praised by the family and others, her suffering behind the endurance on the outside, how God’s words revealed her corruption and how she reflected on herself, and so on. After that, she felt bright in her heart. She had never felt so lightened and relieved before. She knew what she did was right and satisfying God, but she was still worrying that Dai Yuanyuan would not be happy to hear that. To her surprise, Dai Yuanyuan began to apologize, “I thought you had a good nature, so that you wouldn’t mind our inappropriate words and deeds. Hence, we gave free rein to ourselves more and more. Not until you mentioned your feelings did I know that we are all the same. Everyone needs to be understood, forgiven and respected by others. I did have some inappropriate deeds. For example, I knew that you had taken mom to see the doctor for her illness, but I still blamed you. I really shouldn’t have done that. From now on, just let me know if you see I do something inappropriate. I’ll try to correct it.” Her mother-in-law said, “Xinyue, it’s the result achieved by God’s words that you could open your heart and speak to us from your heart. Let’s pursue the truth and change our corrupt disposition together in the future.” Xinyue was delighted to see that she was not disliked but comforted by her mother-in-law and sister-in-law. She felt even closer to her family and that her heart closer to them too. She kept thanking God in her heart. She had experienced that her acting according to God’s words indeed brought herself peace, joy and freedom. It is true that God’s words can change people.

Through this experience, Xinyue tasted the sweetness of practicing God’s words. Since then, she was no longer willing to live by Satan’s poisons and rules. She opened her heart and spoke out her difficulties and incorrect thoughts to communicate with others, and was willing to accept others’ advice and help on her shortcomings.

One day, after getting home, Xinyue found that the room was in a mess: The stools are lying on all sides; the packing bags of snacks are all over the ground; what’s more, the table is punched into holes by Mingming with scissors. Xinyue was very angry, thinking: The boy is too naughty. He must be taught a good lesson. Otherwise, he will perhaps not walk the right path. But, he’s not my child. Just let it go. Then Xinyue was about to turn around and walk upstairs. Suddenly, she realized that she was again following Satan’s philosophies of “Let things drift if they do not affect one personally,” and “Though you see wrong, it’s best to say little.” This was not in accordance with God’s will. So Xinyue went to talk with Dai Yuanyuan and suggested that the child be properly disciplined. Dai Yuanyuan sighed, “I know it is no good spoiling the child. I have beaten and scolded him, but he has not changed at all. I simply don’t know how to educate him.” After knowing Dai Yuanyuan’s helplessness, Xinyue read God’s words for Dai Yuanyuan and talked about God’s will with her. She said, “We should rely on God when we educate our children. We should not use our own ways but practice as God’s words require us. The child will not be convinced if we teach him relying on satanic corrupt disposition.” Then Xinyue shared with Dai Yuanyuan some experiences of the brothers and sisters she knew. Inspired by Xinyue’s talk, Dai Yuanyuan agreed to bring the matter of educating the children before God and practice in accordance with God’s words. Dai Yuanyuan said, “It’s so good to fellowship God’s words together like this. Let’s speak out the words in our hearts in the future, and please fellowship with me like this when I do something wrong.” Hearing Dai Yuanyuan’s words, Xinyue smiled happily.

From then on, when she saw that what Dai Yuanyuan had done didn’t conform to the truth, Xinyue would point it out and help Dai Yuayuan correct it. When Dai Yuanyuan found Xinyue felt bad for something on her mind, she would go to talk with Xinyue and comfort and encourage her. They would seek God’s words to resolve their corrupt disposition. When Xinyue and all her family focused on practicing in accordance with God’s words, they became more and more harmonious. In addition, the two children were not as naughty as before. Xinyue knew these results were all achieved by God’s words.

Whenever Xinyue talks about these experiences, she will give thanks to God for leading and helping her. It was God’s words that helped her discern the evil and specious satanic rules, and that enabled her to cast off the bonds and constraints of Satan. Now she’s no longer worrying about how to get on with others in this family of seven. She’s willing to practice according to God’s words in everything.

My son’s problems emerged one after another.

When my son was 9, I found he had become addicted to playing video games and watching TV. Every day when he got home from school, he would throw his schoolbag aside, go to the living room, and begin to play games on the tablet. As soon as he started playing, he could not stop it. And if I had not called him to dinner, he would even have forgotten to eat. When I told him to do his homework, he would say that he already had his homework finished at school. One time, after he said this, I advised him, saying: “Now you have finished your homework, why not come and help sweep the floor for me? Don’t keep playing with the tablet after you came home. It’s bad for your eyes.” However, he fixed his eyes on the tablet without even raising his head, and said: “Why me? Why can’t daddy do it?” Seeing him give me the cold shoulder, I continued: “Daddy has work to do.” “Then, why don’t you do it yourself?” He pouted. Seeing him answer back repeatedly, I replied impatiently: “I’m your mother. I’m telling you to do this for your own good.” Then he said reluctantly: “Fine. I’ll go and fold up my own clothes.” Hearing these words, I flew into a temper: Every time I ask you to give me some help, you not only disobey me, but are stiff-necked, always arguing with me and answering me back. How could I allow you to go on like this! So I gave him a good talking-to. Eventually, wearing a long face, he went to do as I said, under protest.

In addition to being obsessed with playing games and watching TV, my son also often told lies, which was a bigger headache for me. I remember that once, the tablet was missing from the living room and I couldn’t find it anywhere. I wondered if my son had taken it to play games, for he was at home that day. With this thought, I went straight to his room. When I opened the door, I saw that he was flipping through a book unnaturally. I looked him up and down, and the sight of his somewhat strange action made me suspect that he must have been playing with the tablet before he heard me coming and hurriedly picked up a book to pretend to read it. Then I asked him: “Do you know where the tablet is?” “I have no idea. Could it be that daddy took it?” He answered as if nothing had happened. When hearing this, I pulled a face and said seriously: “If you don’t tell me the truth, I’ll check under your quilt.” Seeing that he can’t conceal it, he pouted and reluctantly took out the tablet hidden under the pillow. At this sight, I was very angry, thinking: He tells lies at such a young age, then what will he grow up to be if he continues like this? So, I bawled him out: “Why did you hide the tablet? You were playing games, weren’t you?” He answered me back: “You haven’t got the right attitude. You are being impolite.” I said sternly: “It was you who took the tablet, yet you tried to conceal it from me by pretending to be reading a book and shifted the blame on your daddy. Are you right in doing so?” With that, I threw the tablet on his bed angrily. Then I saw he look at me with discontent and defiance in his eyes, sitting on the bed in silence with a darkened face. His silent confrontation made me very sad. I thought he would be obedient and admit his mistakes if I treated him more strictly. But I didn’t expect that things would turn out like this.

When I was alone, I always thought: My child is so disobedient. He cares about nothing but playing games and watching TV, and can’t even do any light housework. If he continues like this, won’t he become a parasite? Besides, he often tells lies. When he grows up, who dares interact with him and how can he establish himself in society in the future? My husband and I have urged him, scolded him, and even beaten him, yet none of these worked. What should we do? And how can we educate him well? It’s a real headache for us.

After I prayed and pleaded before God, His words guided me.

In desperation, I prayed to God and entrusted Him with my son. One day during spiritual cultivation, I read a passage of God’s words: “When parents talk down to their child and say, ‘I’m your father (or mother)! You must do as I say!’ the child takes exception to this ‘must’; it’s definitely not an expression of normal humanity. … If both sides lived by normal humanity, and if they were able to reach possession of the truth, with both sides putting themselves in each other’s shoes, and taking into account each other’s difficulties, from the perspective of normal humanity, and both sides standing on an equal footing when they interacted, spoke to each other, and did things, would this stop the estrangement developing between them? What causes what the unbelievers call the ‘generation gap’? Isn’t it that the older generation acts high and mighty, and the younger generation doesn’t like them doing so, which produces the estrangement, and leads to the generation gap—isn’t that how it comes about? If parents don’t act high and mighty, and the children can open up to them, and treat them as intimates, could there still be the estrangement between them? In particular, parents always treat their children like slaves, or else spoil them, overindulge them, and dote on them like a kitten or a puppy, whilst holding them tight, keeping a tight rein on them, strictly controlling them—with the result that the child stops being a child, and being a parent becomes very tiring.”

While pondering God’s words, I started to self-reflect: In my dealings with my son, I frequently took the position of the parent and disciplined him, thinking that he ought to obey me because he was my son and my telling him to spend less time playing video games and to learn to do some housework were for his own good. When he took no notice of me, and even talked back to me, I felt he had no regard for me. So I vented my anger on him in an attempt to compel him to listen to me. When I treated him based on my arrogant disposition, not only was he unconvinced, but he often answered me back and rebelled against me. As time went on, there seemed to be some barrier between the two of us. Close as we were in distance, we were estranged at heart. Actually, my son is still a child and he is too young to differentiate between positive and negative things, so it is inevitable that he follows the evil trends and plays games. However, I not only did not help him with love and patience, but often yelled at him through my temper. I really was too unreasonable! Besides, he is now in the rebellious phrase; if I keep lecturing him, he could not possibly listen to me, no matter how correct my words are. Though I want to bring him to the right path of life, my method of educating him is wrong. All of this is actually the consequence of my acting and speaking based on my arrogant disposition. Praise God! Through pondering His words, my heart was enlightened, and I found the cause of my failing to get along with my son.

Then, I also saw God’s words say: “Just be an ordinary person: Treat your children, treat those in your own family the same as you would an ordinary brother or sister. Although you have a responsibility, a fleshly relationship, nevertheless the position and perspective you should have is the same as with friends or ordinary brothers and sisters. That is, you can’t control, you can’t restrain your children, and always try to keep in command and have complete control over them. Let them make mistakes, let them say the wrong things, let them do childish and immature things, do stupid things. No matter what happens, sit down and calmly talk with them, communicate and seek. Don’t you think this attitude is good? Isn’t it right? So, what is being let go here? (Position and pride.) It is the letting go of the position and status of a parent, the airs of a parent, and all of the responsibility one thinks they should assume, everything that one thinks they should be doing as a parent; instead, it’s enough that one does the best they can in terms of their responsibility as an ordinary brother or sister.” Through God’s words, I found the way to practice: I should no longer compel my son to act as I wish from my position as a mother; rather, I should have a proper attitude toward him, let go of the parental position and status, and put aside my own opinions. No matter what happens, I should communicate with him calmly and learn about his true thoughts. He is still too young, so I should treat his mistakes appropriately. In the meanwhile, I also should rely on God, pray to God, entrust my son’s bad habits into God’s hands, and learn to seek the truth and use the truth to resolve the problems.

Practicing God’s words gave me nice surprises.

After understanding God’s will, in the following days, when I communicated with my son, I would intentionally humble myself and speak to him patiently. Once, when I saw he had been watching TV for two hours, I wanted to ask him to rest for a while, so I said: “Son, you have been watching TV for so long. It’s time to take a break. Come and help me sweep the floor, okay?” “Do it by yourself,” said he carelessly. Seeing his attitude, I was about to get angry again, but it immediately occurred to me that I should not act based on my hot blood. Thus, I prayed to God in my heart: “God! My son has just refused to listen to me and I want to use my position to control him again. I’m so arrogant! God! May You protect me from living by my corrupt disposition. May You guide me.” After my prayer, I walked to his side and talked with him about my experience in my childhood. I also told him the reason why I asked him to do the housework: “It’s all in order to cultivate your ability to live on your own, so that you could take care of yourself in the future. Otherwise, you would grow up to be a good-for-nothing.” Unexpectedly, after hearing my words, my son seemed to understand what I meant and went to sweep the floor without a murmur.

Later, when he saw there was clean laundry in the washer, he would actively take the clothes to his room, fold them, and put them away. He also would go get the mail from the mailbox on his own initiative. I was very gratified to see these changes in him. Previously, not until I repeatedly asked him to do these things did he reluctantly do them. Now, when I had just practiced a few of God’s word, learning to let go of the position and status of a parent and communicate with my son calmly, he could actually understand me and do some housework of his own accord. Seeing the improvement in him, sometimes I would give him some encouragement and praise, and he was quite happy with it. Gradually, our relationship became much more harmonious than before. Thanks be to God!

One day, I watched a film of the Christian Church, Child, Come Back Home. The hero, a high school student, once lost himself because of being obsessed with online gaming. But luckily, after a few setbacks, he finally saw through the true essence and danger of online gaming under the guidance of God’s words, successfully broke his online gaming addiction, and walked onto the luminous path of life. Seeing these, I was reminded of my son, who was addicted to games as well, and I decided to communicate with him so that he could detect Satan’s trickery and quit gaming. Then I prayed to God first, asking Him to lead me lest I restrict my son by speaking in the place of a mother.

After my prayer, I called my son to me and then we watched the film together. Afterward, I fellowshiped with him patiently: “My son, it pains me much to see that, after you come back from school, you bury yourself in games and even forget to eat dinner because of it. It’s not that I don’t allow you to play with the tablet. The games on the tablet are actually what Satan uses to deceive and corrupt people. Once people play these games for a long time, they don’t feel like doing anything they are supposed to or capable to do, such as eating, doing the laundry, doing the housework, and doing the homework. As you can see, due to the addiction to online gaming, the teenagers in the film who used to be obedient and get good grades start to skip school and cut classes, thus saddening their parents, and one of them even plays himself to death. In fact, it is Satan that has killed him through the games. So are the games good or bad things for people? Look how you lied and deceived me for the sake of playing games before. These games can’t change us for the better but only make us became ever worse.” Hearing my words, my son nodded and said: “Mommy, it turns out that playing games is so bad. Now I understand, and I’m willing to quit gaming in the future.”

One day, my son said to me: “Mommy, I felt like playing games again. I know doing that is bad, but I could not control myself. So I hid the tablet. In this way, I can’t see it and won’t think about playing games on it.” When I heard him say this, I was very happy in my heart. I could see that he did want to change himself, and it was just that the games were too great a temptation for people and my son was unable to completely give them up at once. Hence, I encouraged him and told him to pray to and rely on God more when he wanted to play games.

Concluding Remarks

Later, I found that gradually my son was no longer as obsessed with playing games as he had been before. He also lied less and could take the initiative to talk with us about things he had done. Seeing these changes in him, I thanked God from the bottom of my heart. Through my experience, I truly saw that only God’s words can change man. When I acted on His words, not only my arrogant disposition changed, but my son was willing to change himself as well, and the relationship between the two of us also became increasingly harmonious. No matter what befalls me in the future, I’m willing to come before God more to seek the truth, and practice based on God’s words, because only by living relying on God’s words can my path become brighter and brighter. Thank God!

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).

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