A Letter From a Recovered Cancer Patient to Her Sister

Little Sister:

Hello! I got your letter a few days ago and it made me really happy. We haven’t been in contact for a long time, so now that I know you’re all well and that you’re living the proper church life, my mind can rest easy. You asked why I hadn’t been in touch with you for such a long time; you must surely have been worried that something had happened to me, right? Actually, I’ve been going through a trial of illness during this time, and the doctor gave me a death sentence. But I miraculously survived under the guidance of God’s words, and now I’m completely fine. You probably want to know how God guided me through this trial of illness, don’t you? Let me take you through everything that’s happened.

Meeting the Lord Again

Jianding, USA

　I was born into a Catholic family, and from an early age my mother taught me to read the Bible. At the time, the Chinese Communist Party was re-building the nation after the civil war, and as the CCP was suppressing all religions, I was 20 years old before I finally got the chance to go to church and listen to sermons. The priest often said to us: “We Catholics must properly confess our sins and repent. We must do good, not evil, and always go to Mass. During the last days, the Lord is going to come and judge everyone and send people to heaven or to hell according to how they have acted and behaved on earth. The biggest sinners will be punished in hell eternally, whereas those who commit minor sins can still go to heaven as long as they confess their sins to the Lord and repent. Anyone who doesn’t believe in the Lord will never get to heaven, no matter how good they are.” Whenever I heard this, I always congratulated myself for having the good fortune to be a member of the Catholic congregation from birth. I’d always tell myself to pursue hard, attend Mass more, and confess sins and repent to the Lord more, and that way I’d go to heaven and not suffer in hell. So that’s when I developed the determination to go to church and participate in Mass regularly. At that time, the priest also told us that in 2000 the Lord would return, and this news made us all very excited. So we all began to pursue earnestly, waiting for the Lord’s return. But the year 2000 came and went and we didn’t see any sign of the Lord’s return. Many in our congregation lost their faith, and fewer and fewer people attended church for Mass. I also felt a sense of loss, but I still felt that my faith in the Lord wouldn’t be shaken, no matter what others did. That was mainly because there had been many times when I’d been in danger and the Lord had protected me and made the danger disappear. Without the Lord’s protection I’d have died long ago, so I wasn’t going to be so ungrateful as to lose faith in the Lord.

　

God Only Perfects the Person Who Has a Heart That Truly Loves God

Why Does God Perfect Those Who Love Him?

Why must the person that God perfects be one who loves Him? This is because man has a spirit, and there is a substantial difference between whether the spirit is that of a man or the devil. The spirit that is of man has love and he is able to love God. If a man loved God, he would obey God in all that he does and would care for God’s will. He would be able to bear with hardship and forsake everything in order to satisfy God. Such true love is very important to God. You see, when a woman chooses her partner, she would ask of the partner’s true love and a sincere heart. She would never choose the man if he did not have true love. Why is it so? This is because he would surely have hate if he did not have love. If he had hate in him, disputes would easily arise between them and they two would always be at daggers drawn. He would betray her readily. Such love and hate is thus too important. In the course of experiencing God’s work, as man is not able to penetrate the spiritual world directly, he is not able to understand God’s will. However, he would not begrudge God when he has love; he is able to understand God when he has love, and he would be able to treat all that God does in the right way. When he understands God’s love and that all that God does is the truth, his love for God would become stronger. Therefore, the man who loves God can be perfected more easily, and he would not betray God easily. It is very dangerous if he does not have love. He who does not have love would surely have hate, and he would begrudge easily. A man with hate makes enemies and betrays easily. We see that if a husband and a wife did not have true love between them, they would not understand each other easily. They will always doubt, suspect and complain about each other. They cannot get along with each other, and their conflicts deepen in the end. When the conflicts come to a boil, they would go their separate ways. Therefore, if a person has a heart that truly loves God, no matter what God does and no matter how much pain he goes through, he would not begrudge God. He believes firmly in one thing, that all that God does is love. He believes firmly that God is the truth. He believes firmly that all that God does is for the salvation of man and to perfect man. You can see that his heart is pure and that he would not have any conceptions on any matters. He has no misunderstandings about God, and is able to submit to God instead. He would conversely comfort God when he sees that God is suffering. He would spare no effort in satisfying God when He needs him. Such a person has a heart that truly loves God. He can be perfected by God easily because he understands God. He is a man with the greatest conscience and the most rationality before God. A person without conscience and rationality has no true love for God. If he does indeed show a little love for God, what do you think his love is built on? He would only show a little love for God when he really sees that God has benefited and blessed him in some ways, when he really sees that he has gained something from God and achieved his objectives. Such love is totally built on the basis of a transaction and can exist completely with the purpose of satisfying oneself. Such love is therefore neither pure nor true. The more conscience and rationality a person has, the truer his love is. A person without conscience and rationality has no love. God is thus willing to perfect the person who loves Him. … Why doesn’t He perfect those who do not love Him? Why is a person who does not love God not perfected by Him? Because such a person is inhuman and is without conscience and rationality. A person without conscience and rationality would not have a heart that loves God, and a person without a heart that loves God is one who does not have conscience and rationality. Such a person is not fit to be human. A person who does not have a heart of love for God has hatred for God. A person who has hatred for God is an enemy of God and is one whom He punishes. Can God perfect His enemy? A person who has a heart of hatred of God is an evil person. An evil person is an object of God’s punishment and destruction. A person who truly loves God is one who has conscience and is rational. He is one who is truly a human. Therefore, only a person who truly loves God can be perfected by Him. Those who do not love God are the evil ones, God’s enemies, people without conscience and rationality, and people who are inhuman. God thus does not perfect them. People without conscience and rationality have no love in them. They know only to seek their own interest and selfish gains and have never known what love is. Don’t you see that some people only seek their own selfish gains? They operate on the principle of doing something only if it benefits them in some ways. Can such people have love? Who can they love? They love whoever benefits them, and the love they show is not true at all. You benefit them today and they love you today. They will kick you aside tomorrow when you no longer benefit them. They love you for a day today when you are of use to them and kick you aside tomorrow when you are no longer of use to him. Such are mercenary people. Can such people have love? What is your basis for making friends? You have to base it on whether the person has conscience and rationality and whether he has humanity. This is key. Do not be acquainted with an inhuman person without conscience and rationality because he seeks only his own interest and selfish gains. He goes with whoever benefits him. Do any of you have such friends? Can you be friends with such people? It is of no use to be friends with such people as they cannot be a close friend. He has a transactional motive in making friends with people. He makes friends with you when you are of use to him and walks out on you when you are no longer of use to him and kicks you aside. He cares nothing about conscience and friendship and has even less credibility to speak of. All that he seeks is selfish gains. There are too many of such people around! Very few people care about conscience and rationality, and thus very few are perfected by God even though there are many who believe in Him. Why is this so? It is because very few have conscience, rationality and humanity. Most of the people who believe in God want to make use of Him and seek to gain something from Him. They seek to use God to achieve their objectives. Such a person leaves and forsakes God when he sees that God no longer blesses or perfects him. See, does such a person have a heart that truly loves God? God reveals this kind of person in His work and the person’s ugliness would be exposed. “So, he is such a person.” Therefore, a person who loves God is a man after His heart. God is pleased with him because he has humanity and has conscience and rationality. Those who cannot love God are inhuman because they have no conscience and rationality. A person who is inhuman is an evil person. An evil person is an object of God’s punishment rather than one of God’s salvation, much less an object of His perfection. This is the most crucial point.

The Requirements Those Who Serve God Must Meet and How to Serve in Accordance With God’s Will

The Requirements Those Who Serve God Must Meet

What must those who serve God possess so that their service of God is in accordance with God’s requirements? Let’s take a look at what the words of God say. In “How to Serve in Harmony With God’s Will,” God says, “Everyone who has resolved to can serve God—but it must be that only those who give every care to God’s will and understand God’s will are qualified and entitled to serve God.” All those who have resolve can serve God. The meaning of this is that God allows all those who are willing to expend for Him and cast everything aside to serve Him. However, to truly conform to the criteria, one must be considerate of God’s intentions and understand God’s intentions. Only then would one be qualified and entitled to serve God. This is a condition that absolutely must be met. Perhaps there are some people who understand and others that do not when it comes to being considerate of God’s intentions. Accurately speaking, to be considerate of God’s intentions means understanding what God intends to do in His chosen people. It means to understand what God intends to accomplish in His chosen people and what results He intends to achieve in them. If someone understands this matter, it means they have an understanding of God’s work, they know how God saves mankind and they know how to help God’s chosen people understand and enter all the truths and words that God expresses. This kind of person understands God’s intentions and they also know what God is most anxious about. This person knows what God most wants to do at this moment. This person also knows what kind of people God needs to cooperate with Him and how to do work that would achieve the desired results. Only those who feel God’s eager intentions, know what God intends to accomplish in His chosen people and know what kind of people God needs to cooperate with Him are genuinely considerate of God’s intentions. Since those who are considerate of God’s intentions understand God’s intentions, they know how to lead God’s chosen people to enter into God’s words, understand the truth and step onto the right track of faith so that they can attain salvation. That is why their leadership, their fellowship and their sermons are capable of guiding God’s chosen people into God’s word—it is effective. As such, their service is capable of fulfilling God’s intentions. Learning to be considerate of God’s intentions must be built upon a foundation of understanding God’s work. To understand God’s work, of course this person must first have a genuine experience of it. First, he must obtain the Holy Spirit’s work and have an understanding of God’s word and the truth that God expresses. Only then can this person be able to understand and be considerate of God’s intentions. That is why, in God’s work, those who are genuinely considerate of God’s intentions and who truly understand God’s intentions are in the minority. These are all people who pursue the truth and who have the Holy Spirit’s work. That is why they are able to achieve these results. Within the church, we can see there are many people that are passionate and who are willing to fulfill their duties and serve God. However, since their understanding of the truth of God’s word is inadequate, they are unable to understand God’s intentions. They do not understand God’s intentions and they do not know what aspects of truths God’s chosen people should enter into. They also do not know what God intends to complete in man and what fruits He wants to achieve in man. They do not understand these matters. These are people that do not understand God’s intentions. Those who do not understand God’s intentions, regardless of how passionate and faithful they are, they will only be able to fulfill a few duties. They are incapable of serving God. Those who serve God must understand the truth and they must be considerate of God’s intentions. This is a condition that one who serves God must meet. Another selection of God’s word mentions that the people who serve God must be God’s intimates and bosom friends. We should be able to understand just who God’s close friends are. We should know what kind of people can become God’s close friends. This is a crucial subject. When it comes to our interactions with other people, even though we know a lot of friends, there are very few who are close friends. What makes a close friend? A close friend is one who knows your heart. What is the meaning of “knowing your heart?” This means that you and this person in question have the same heart. This person knows what is going on inside your heart. He knows what your heart is after and knows your earnest intentions. This person knows what your heart is anxious about and they know why your heart is worried or in pain. Such a person is your intimate. If you are to be one of God’s close friends, you need to know God’s heart. If we are to know God’s heart, how would we go about doing so? Many people fulfill their duties outside their home. They can see that the work that God does is not easy. It is not easy for God to obtain people. Each stage of God’s work of saving mankind is considerably difficult because the corruption of mankind is particularly deep. Since mankind’s corruption is very deep, man’s resistance, misunderstanding, judgment and complaints when it comes to God are numerous. No matter what God does, it is difficult for man’s heart to accept. That is why, out of the entire corrupt human race, there are only but a few who truly know God’s heart, God’s pain and God’s distress. Therefore, it can be said that there are a very few people that are of the same mind with God. As humans, when we suffer, what is it that we most need at that moment? We all know that what we most need is to be comforted. Now, when God suffers, what does He most need? He also needs to be comforted. Man can comfort man by saying a few caring and intimate words. However, when it comes to man comforting God’s suffering heart, it is insufficient for us to say a few sentences. This would not resolve the matter. Instead, we must do a few concrete things. What kind of concrete things must we do? We must best fulfill our duties to satisfy God. In order to satisfy God, we must stand resolutely and bear witness. We must pursue the truth and achieve an understanding of God. If we do these things, then we will be able to truly comfort God’s heart. If we do not have some actual living out or testimonies to comfort God’s heart and instead we only praise God and give thanks to God with our lips, this is truly insufficient. All those who are able to really bear witness to satisfy God are God’s close and intimate friends. Thus, all those who pursue the truth, who fulfill their duties for God with devotion, and who can stand firm in their testimony when facing all kinds of trials, are people who are truly able to satisfy God’s intentions and comfort God. God also chooses these people to serve Him. God will call those who are devoted, obedient and bear witness to Him to serve Him. The Holy Spirit will touch these people’s hearts and move them to serve God. Since these people are qualified to serve God, the Holy Spirit specifically chooses these kinds of people to serve God. After someone has entered onto the right track of faith and has some actual understanding of God, they will be able to start to understand a bit of the truth and they will be able to talk a bit about some real and practical experiences. After someone has achieved this kind of spiritual stature, God’s chosen people will be able to benefit from this person’s work and they will be able to enter life in a practical manner. That is why those who have the reality of the truth, their sermons, their communications, their provision and the way they help and sustain people are all done with the Holy Spirit’s guidance and leadership. This kind of person will be able to serve God. This kind of person is qualified to serve God. While serving God, if this kind of person has a genuine understanding of God, then they will have a heart that reveres God. If a person has a heart that reveres God, then they will be qualified to serve God. Therefore, those who serve God are also those who genuinely obey the work of God. They are also those who have a true experience of the words that God expresses and who enter the reality of the truth. Since these are people that pursue the truth, they are people who have the Holy Spirit’s work. After they have attained the Holy Spirit’s work, they are able to gradually understand God’s intentions. They have a genuine understanding of God’s disposition and they have a heart that reveres God. This is why these kinds of people are those that the Holy Spirit targets for perfection. They are people that the Holy Spirit guides.

How to Pray in Accordance With God’s Will

The Outcomes and the Content of Prayer

What can be effected through prayer? We have to be clear on this. First of all, prayer can enable man to understand God’s word, to understand the truth of His word. This is the first outcome. Secondly, prayer can enable us to understand God’s will, to understand what He requires of us. Thirdly, prayer can increase our faith; in times of trial and tribulation, in particular, prayer enables us to confidently walk the road ahead. Fourthly, prayer enables us to feel God as dear and beloved, and to grow a heart that loves God and satisfies Him. Finally, prayer enables us to truly know God, especially His disposition, His loveliness, and His wondrous works. The more we pray, the more we sense the wonder of God, the more we touch Him. Hence, the more we pray, the more we come to know God. Prayer is the only way for man to come into contact with God’s Spirit. Without prayer, you have no means to contact God’s Spirit. God sees into man’s heart, yet man cannot see Him. But through prayer we touch the work of the Holy Spirit, we understand the work of the Holy Spirit and know what the Holy Spirit does upon us and with what effects. This produces real knowledge of God. Prayer can effect so many outcomes upon us, and has then an immeasurable effect on our salvation through belief in God, on our entering the truth to our final perfection by God. A heart that truly loves God is won through prayer. When man does not pray or prays little, he does not know God, and even should he wish to love God he will fail. Through prayer we are able to know something of how God’s Spirit acts, what it is to be moved by God’s Spirit; we are able to know something of God. In this way, we can see His wondrousness, and a heart is born within us that loves Him. Thus, contacting God’s Spirit through prayer results in a genuine knowledge of God. Now, many people know how to pray, and have some experience of it. It is through this experience that they have learned how to have their prayers heard, and what kind of prayers God will not answer. I believe all of us have some experience and knowledge of this. What is the nature of prayers that God hears? It must be a prayer that accords with His will. If we pray to God to understand the truth, do you think this accords with His will? If we pray for guidance of the Holy Spirit, does this accord with His will? Such prayers are all in accordance with His will. Praying to seek out God’s will, to seek out what He requires of us, accords too with His will. Praying for God to deal with real difficulties within our family accords with His will: When we seek to entrust the unbelievers in our family to God for Him to save them, that accords too with His will. When we pray for our brothers and sisters, when we pray for those religious people to return to God, this all accords with God’s will. When we meet with persecution, with adversity or are faced with all kinds of disasters and we pray for God’s deliverance, this too accords with His will. You can say that all prayers that accord with His will, will be heard. Then what might you pray for that does not accord with His will? Some pray to be rich; do you think that accords with God’s will? Some pray for their children to get into university; does that accord with His will? Some pray for God to find them a good job with more money; does that accord with His will? Or some pray for God to find them a suitable spouse; does that accord with His will? None of these prayers accord with God’s will. It is clear now too what kind of prayers do not accord with His will, isn’t it? How should we then distinguish between those things we pray for that are in accordance with God’s will and those that are not? We must be able to distinguish. We have to figure out in our own hearts the things we encounter that can be brought before God in prayer. Since the work of God is to save man, if what we pray for is in contradiction to our seeking salvation from God, if it conflicts with that, and is not beneficial to our salvation, then we need not pray for such a thing. For example, if you wish to go among the unbelievers to get rich, is this not rebellion? Does praying for this accord with God’s will? For certain, it does not. Do not pray or ask for anything that betrays God, or that offends Him. So, we have to distinguish which things accord with God’s will and should be put in our prayers, and which things do not. Furthermore, there are times we encounter something, and we are faced with a choice: Do we choose to care for God’s will or care for and submit to the flesh? These are times when man is tested, and we see which road man will take; this is temptation coming upon us. Therefore, in praying we must make distinction; we should pray for whatever things we ought to. How do we judge which things we should pray for, according to what do we ascertain them? We discern them on the basis of God’s work, on the basis of His word. Judging from what the work is that God does, do the things we pray for conflict with God’s work? Do they interrupt His work, are they beneficial to our seeking salvation? We ascertain the things we should pray for on these grounds. And what problem does this touch upon? In praying before God man must possess conscience and reason, he must possess a pure and open, an honest heart; you cannot be deceitful with God, you must be pure and open. You must possess a heart that seeks the truth, a heart that thirsts for the truth. Most importantly, you must possess a heart that genuinely loves God, a heart obedient to God. Only in this way, when coming before Him to pray, are we pleasing to God. If the heart you bear within does not love God, is not obedient to Him, and yet you pray, saying “God, what am I to do in this matter?”, and you are not willing to obey, then you are seeking God’s agreement to your rebelling against Him, to contravening Him. Is this not an expression of blasphemy? Such prayer will not be pleasing to God, and He will say, “When you pray you still are disobeying Me, you still are going against Me, you are not seeking the truth at all, you have not an iota of obedience in you.” So, there are prayers that do not accord with God’s will, that go against God, that disobey Him, prayers that you must not pray to Him. If you pray thus, you are going against God; to put it seriously, this is blasphemy. What we bring before God to pray for must accord with His will; we must be genuinely seeking truth, and not testing God. There are some whose prayers are testing in nature; they are only too eager for God to fulfill their wishes, to satisfy their needs of the flesh, to satisfy their extravagant desires. If man comes before God to pray with such a heart, this is utterly unacceptable to Him for this is an expression of going against Him, of opposing Him. In addition, there are some meaningless things we need not pray for. What are the meaningless things? Some will pray to God as to whether they should read His word, or whether they should meet together; there are even some who will pray to Him as to whether they should eat, or whether they should go shopping. They ask God whether He agrees, whether He permits. I ask you, does such prayer have any meaning? Such people appear a little crazy; they’re not too normal. I have observed that some people who are afflicted by evil spirits pray much this way: They even pray to God about going to the restroom, about whether they’re allowed; when they go to eat, they ask Him whether they’re allowed. Even more absurd are those who when they go to do any little thing, have God do it for them: When they go out the door, they have God watch over their home, protect their property and keep thieves away. Don’t you think praying for these kinds of things is absurd? What kind of prayers a person puts before God proves what kind of person they are. What someone absurd prays for is also absurd.

From Classic Selections From Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life

The Testimony of a Christian | How to Know Oneself

The Fruits That Come of Knowing Oneself

　　Salvation is what we are after today, the salvation by God. And those who seek it must know themselves. It is necessary to know what fruits one must ultimately attain in order to live up to God’s standards. This is an absolute must. So what are the spiritual fruits one must achieve to finally measure up to God’s expectations? Only when man realizes that he is the son of hell will God finally be satisfied—His word is very clear about this fact. Much of it reveals to us that man is the descendant of Satan, and when God judges and chastises us He says that we are indeed children of the great red dragon, and that we are the offspring of Satan. From this we can see the benchmark we need to meet in order to know ourselves. Beyond that, we see from the word of God the deep corruption of mankind on account of Satan. And though many people are believers, God has no place in their heart, and very few people have a genuine fear of God. Corrupt mankind is just like Satan; man is a worshipper of Satan, a follower of Satan, and even the servant of Satan with a similar disposition. However Satan resists God, so corrupt mankind also resists; however Satan judges God, so does corrupt mankind judges; however Satan betrays God, corrupt mankind also betrays God. Human beings have become the descendants of Satan, and those born of Satan are most certainly identical to it in their nature. Now we see that all the philosophies, points of view, and knowledge within man are filled with Satan’s poison, that humans have become dominated by Satan’s poison, meaning that corrupt mankind’s nature is the same as that of Satan, Satan’s nature is mankind’s nature, the essence of Satan has become corrupt mankind’s nature. Mankind has a satanic disposition, and so he is born to be at odds with God. Evil is in his deeds, words and thoughts, and all the day it is wicked thoughts that come into his mind. In other words, mankind has been deeply corrupted by Satan. This is a necessary fruit you must gain in knowing yourself. There will come a day when you realize that you absolutely do not have any conscience or reason, and as a created being, you simply cannot worship God in a normal way. Besides, no matter how much of God’s grace and love you have enjoyed in your life, you do not know how to repay that love. In the service of God you show no consideration for His will. You only know how to satisfy yourself, to make sure your needs are met, and to achieve your own desires. At that very moment you will see that you yourself have been deeply and utterly corrupted by Satan, without the least bit of normal humanity, and with a nature that is resistant and hostile to God. Why does God wish to perfect man? Because only the perfected can serve Him, and only the saved can truly worship Him. Without the salvation of God incarnate, not one of corrupt mankind could be a true worshiper of God; they would just be using God, praying to Him like beggars daily, and doing so only for the sake of this or that personal gain; begging for help for our own selfish purposes, and treating God as nothing but the object of exploitation. So is this true worship? No, it is not. Thus, man’s prayers are highly exploitative, man is just looking to God for help, and is not truly worshiping Him. When God has answered his prayer, he isn’t even thankful, and doesn’t even think to return God’s love, which is just how senseless man’s behavior toward God is—he is absolutely conscienceless. He’s simply an animal in human attire. So, in knowing yourself it is imperative to realize just how lacking you are in humanity, and how before God you have no conscience and no reason, how you are ungrateful and even requite kindness with enmity. God indulges you ninety-nine times, and you’re all amens and hallelujahs, and He doesn’t satisfy you just that one time and suddenly you’re all grumbles and groans; you actually complain about Him. Isn’t this what’s called being an ingrate? When God does not meet man’s demands just once, they become indignant and consider God as an enemy; this is just how man is toward God. You must realize just how corrupt you are—you must be absolutely clear about this. The first precept is, understanding that man’s nature is Satan’s nature, which betrays God. This is the first part of knowing yourself, the first fruit to be achieved. The second precept is, knowing the life you live is a mirror image of Satan, with no resemblance to true humanity. The third precept is, realizing that you are most definitely Satan’s offspring, you are a child of the great red dragon, that you have sold out to the enemy by regarding Satan as a father. You treat the great red dragon as your father and you rebel against God. You see how the great red dragon persecutes God, you see its nature and its deeds, then look again to see if the substantial things of the great red dragon exist in mankind. We can see how maliciously and brutally the great red dragon and Satan exercise power to persecute and murder people. If corrupt men seize power and impose dictatorship, would they act like the great red dragon? Would they slaughter countless scores of people? Just look at the emperors of ancient China, which one took fewer lives? They were all the same. Therefore, if corrupt men seize power, they would be much like the emperors of old and the great red dragon; the only difference would be how many people they would slaughter. No single emperor could ever lead his subjects to worship God. They were all just like Satan the betrayer of God, only desiring to dominate their own people, disallowing them from worshiping God and finding the true way of God’s salvation; their nature was no different than that of the great red dragon. And part four of knowing yourself is, that you must realize the fact that corrupt mankind belongs to Satan, is dominated by Satan, follows Satan, and worships Satan. The whole human race follows the trend of the world. But what is the trend of the world? It is following Satan, which is definitely not what God desires. The trend of the world is the diametric opposite of the mind of God, it runs us faster on the road toward evil, it moves us further away from God and drags us deeper into the trap. If all human beings follow Satan, and if man has a satanic nature and lives in the image of Satan, then who is it that corrupt humankind belongs to? Some people believe in God, but their nature, essence and heart are completely given over to Satan. Although some people believe in God and are willing to pursue the truth and receive salvation, their nature always takes over, they often go against God, rebelling against Him, drifting away from Him, and frequently bemoaning and making complaints to Him in spite of themselves. If mankind’s heart has not been corrupted by Satan, if he is not controlled by Satan, then why can’t he act according to his own will? Why does he do what he would not? This just goes to show that man has a satanic nature, and that his very nature is one that will surely betray God. So God has said that there is always a chance that man will betray Him—a one hundred percent chance. Today we see some brothers and sisters in fervent search of the true way, and you see them in high spirits. Then you ask them if they are truly ready to accept Almighty God, and their answer is “yes.” And then you ask about a guarantee that they can follow God to the end. They answer back that they can absolutely guarantee it! Yet you never know when there will come a day that they are tempted or tried but cannot overcome it, and then they fall away from God. They can’t help it. For the moment there is no adversity, there are no tribulations, so people always think positive and feel willing to follow God to the very end, so that they can be saved and perfected and become eventual survivors. But willingness is meaningless; mankind doesn’t have his nature in his own hands, he just cannot control himself, so when encountering some unexpected adversity, or simply being tested like Job, people are likely to blame God, then rebel against Him and go to follow Satan, which they do in spite of themselves. But how come man does these things in spite of himself? It is because he has no control over his nature, he is not in charge of himself. Therefore, God has said that man will betray Him at any time, and the chances of that betrayal are one hundred percent. This is absolutely true, for God is the Creator and the Creator knows perfectly the extent of man’s corruption. These are the four results that you must achieve in knowing yourself and are the requirements and standards of God that you should live up to. If you can meet His standards, then that just goes to show that you truly know yourself, and that you are truly clear about your own nature, and your own corrupt essence, as well as who you truly belong to and the final destination and ending that you deserve.

There Is a Way to Resolve the Generation Gap

　Brothers and sisters,

　Good day!

　Recently my relationship with my son has been particularly strained. As he has grown older, the generation gap between us has got deeper and deeper. My son is now in junior high school and I am worried that he will play games online and put off studying. I am also worried about him experiencing puppy love and learning bad ways and so I often watch him. To prevent him picking up bad habits, I check whether there is anything bad on his cell phone. Unexpectedly, he was particularly angry and disgusted after he found out and even asked why I controlled him. My son’s words made me extremely sad. I am his mother. If I do not care for him who will? Isn’t my so-doing for his own good? How come he cannot understand me. He has not spoken to me for several days because of this. I feel so distressed that I can only pray to the Lord. But no matter how much I pray I cannot feel the Lord’s presence. Now I do not know what to do. A sister told me that brothers and sisters of The Church of Almighty God often help her overcome difficulties, so I am sending you this letter in the hope that you can help me.

Distressed XX

　Sister XX,

　Hello! Thank you for putting your trust in us. Actually, it is God’s words that can truly solve our difficulties. We hope that through our meager power we can spread more of God’s words to enable brothers and sisters to get help from God’s words.

A Different Kind of Love

Chengxin, Brazil

　　By a chance opportunity in 2011, I came to Brazil from China. When I had just arrived, my eyes were overflowing with fresh and new experiences, curiosity, and I had a beautiful feeling about the future. But after a short time, this fresh and new feeling was quickly replaced by the loneliness and pain of finding myself in a far-off foreign land. Every day I went back home all alone, ate by myself, looking at the walls around me every day without anyone even to talk to, and I felt especially lonely in my heart, often crying all alone. When I felt the most pain and helpless, the Lord Jesus brought me into a gathering by means of a friend. Through reading the word of the Lord, singing hymns, and praying in gatherings, my lonely heart received the consolation of the Lord. I learned from the Bible that heavens, earth, and all things were created by God, and man too is God’s creation. The Lord Jesus was crucified for the redemption of mankind, and it was the Lord Jesus who redeemed us from sin, and He is the only Redeemer of mankind. In the face of the Lord’s salvation, which is greater than all else, I felt deeply moved and resolved to follow the Lord for the rest of my life. Because of this I was baptized on Thanksgiving to become a Christian not just in name but in reality. Because I liked singing hymns, especially those in praise of God, after I was baptized I took the initiative to join the choir and work as part of it. Through God’s guidance and blessings, I lived in peace and happiness. Every time I went to a gathering or praised God in worship, I felt suffused with energy.

　　

Source: (Fotolia)

　　But a good situation didn’t last forever, and as I entered the ranks of the church ministry, I gradually saw that in the concern and care the brothers and sisters in the church showed to each other on the surface they were all seemingly harmonious, but that in their speech and actions they were all actually acting out of self-interest. They didn’t want to suffer any personal loss while working in the ministry of the church, and often gossiped behind others’ backs about who was doing more and who was doing less. Even the pastor was extremely snobby. He treated people based on the amounts of their donations, and when preaching always talked about donations. Every time he came to a gathering, the thing the pastor put the most emphasis on was whether or not people were giving donations and how much they had given, and he didn’t want to hear anything about the lives of the brothers and sisters. He talked about love, but didn’t show a single genuine action. When the brothers and sisters had difficulties, the pastor wouldn’t help them, but what made people even more indignant was that he would still criticize them and that he looked down on those powerless and penniless brothers and sisters…. When I saw this environment of the church, I was disappointed but also confused: How had the church changed so that it was no different than society? Slowly, I lost the love and faith I had had before, and on Sunday when I would go to the church I felt much less invigorated. I didn’t even want to sing. Every week when I went to church, I was either standing outside drinking coffee or taking a quick nap in the pews. When the sermon was over, I’d toss in my donation and head out. There was always a feeling of grief or helplessness in my heart.

The Testimony of a Christian | The Tabernacle of God Is With Men

Chen Bo, China

One day, I went to my sister’s house to check on our mom. Before leaving, my sister gave me a book, urging me to be sure to read it carefully. I thought to myself: This book that my sister gave me is certainly a spiritual work. It just so happens that my spirit feels quite parched right now, it does not feel like the Lord is with me, and I do not feel illuminated from reading the Bible. When I get back, I ought to read this book carefully. Perhaps it will give me something. After returning home, I opened the book and started reading, and before I knew it I was sucked in by the words in the book. The more I read it the more I enjoyed it, the more I read it the more I felt there was light in these words, that they were enlightened by the Holy Spirit, that there was no way that these words could be spoken by a normal person. Since reading this book, I’ve come to understand some truths that I did not understand before from reading the Bible, and in my mind I feel clarity and joy. I’m willing to pray to get close to the Lord, and my faith has grown. My spiritual condition has gotten better and better. I thought: Only the work of the Holy Spirit can provide man with faith and strength, and provide for and nourish man’s spirit. The words in this book certainly come from the Holy Spirit. As a result, the first thing I do every morning when I wake up is read this book.

God Didn’t Have the Heart to Let Me Fall Into the Underworld (Audio Essay)

How a Public Security Bureau Local Station Chief Was Conquered by God’s Words

Zhang Jun, Sichuan Province

　Almighty God says: “Look back to the time of Noah’s ark: Mankind was deeply corrupt, had strayed from the blessing of God, was no longer cared for by God, and had lost the promises of God. They lived in darkness, without the light of God. Thus they became licentious by nature, abandoned themselves to hideous depravity. Such men could no longer receive the promise of God; they were unfit to witness the face of God, nor to hear the voice of God, for they had abandoned God, had cast aside all that He had bestowed upon them, and had forgotten the teachings of God. Their heart strayed farther and farther from God, and as it did, they became depraved beyond all reason and humanity, and became increasingly evil. Thus they came ever closer to death, and fell under the wrath and punishment of God. Only Noah worshiped God and shunned evil, and so he was able to hear the voice of God, and hear the instructions of God. He built the ark according to the instructions of God’s word, and assembled all manner of living creatures. And in this way, once everything had been prepared, God unleashed His destruction upon the world. Only Noah and the seven members of his family survived the destruction, for Noah worshiped Jehovah and shunned evil” (“God Presides Over the Fate of All Mankind” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). After reading this passage of God’s words I fell into a state of deep contemplation …

How I Nearly Became a Foolish Virgin

Harvest after reading:

God's word is the guide that leads us to walk on the right way of life. When facing temptations and seducement of Satan, we should use the truth to overcome Satan!

Li Fang, China

In the fall of 2002, Sister Zhao from my denomination, the Church of Truth, brought her niece, Sister Wang, to my home to tell me some great news that the Lord has come back. After a few days of reading the words of Almighty God and listening to the sister’s detailed fellowship, I understood that from the creation of the world until now God has performed three stages of work in order to save mankind. Other truths that I also came to know were God’s adoption of a different name during each stage of the work, the significance of God’s name for each age, and the mystery of God’s incarnation, etc. These truths really allowed me to open my eyes wide and see my fill. I said to myself: “It all sounds crystal clear, and Almighty God very probably is the returned Lord Jesus so I’d better make sure I grasp this chance and read more of Almighty God’s words.” Before leaving, Sister Wang left some books of God’s words for me. Whenever I had time during the day, I read God’s words. The more I read the more I loved reading them and the more I felt that they were the words of God. After three days I became anxious. I thought: “My son, who is also a believer, and many brothers and sisters in our church still don’t know this great news about the return of the Lord. I’d better hurry up and tell them.”

To Be an Honest Person Is Truly Great!

Wu Ming, China

　One day in 2004 a friend said to me: “Every day you get up early and are busy all day cutting cloth, you exhaust yourself, yet you still don’t make money. Today’s society relies on the tongue to make money, like the popular saying goes: ‘It is better to have a slick tongue than to have strong arms and legs.’ You know that I’m now engaging in the direct sales business selling makeup products, not only does it make me beautiful, I also don’t need to exert too much effort each day, I just need to speak a few words with my customers and sell my products in order to make a lot of money. Why don’t you change jobs and come sell makeup products with me?” I looked my friend over, she really was prettier than before, and then I thought about how I had been a dressmaker for over 10 years, how I hadn’t really made any money at it, and how I wasn’t getting any younger. If it really was like what my friend was saying, if by switching to a job where I sold makeup products I could make easy money, and could even become younger and prettier and win the high praises of others, then that would be much better! As I thought about this, I told her right then and there that I was willing to become a part of the company. Later, after my inspection, I ordered over 3,000 yuan worth of products, and I started my job in the cosmetics industry as a beauty consultant for this company.

　A coworker told me that after becoming a beauty consultant, if we are able to develop between 8 to 12 other beauty consultants then we can be promoted to work as a seller. But if we want to be a seller then we must have more customers ordering products as a condition of good performance. After this, I started to rack my brains to think of a way to increase my performance. I consulted other people, and studied marketing methods; frequently invited customers to our store to try out our products, and persuaded them to buy the products that I showed them; when I had time I would practice speaking in front of the mirror to raise the level of speech I used to express myself, so that I could interact with the customers better. Through my constant hard work I gradually got more customers. In order to stabilize the customer base, I had to keep up with the promotional sales activities at the company and make phone calls to invite customers to attend our workshops, where they could experience the effectiveness of our products for themselves, and at the same time I could introduce company products and our rewards system, sales promotions, etc., thereby attracting customers. I often would talk constantly for over an hour, not stopping until the customers were satisfied enough with buying the products. Looking down at the money in my hands that I had earned so easily made me feel so happy: Relying on my mouth to make money really was a lot more effortless compared to making money in my previous honest manual labor job, and I figured that so long as I continued working hard, then becoming a seller was just around the corner for me.

How Will the Lord Knock at Door When He Comes Again?

Harvest after reading:

God's sheep hear God's voice. When they hear God's voice, they'll see God's appearance. God does nothing meaningless. Though some things don't match our conceptions, there is God's good intention. Just these things can show whether we truly listen to God's word, and whether we have true obedience of God.

By Zhenxi

　　Xiangyang has believed in the Lord for many years. Like all brothers and sisters who truly believe in the Lord, he keeps vigilantly waiting for His return so that he can be raptured into the kingdom of heaven.

　　After breakfast, he was sitting in front of the desk, feeling in a really good mood. It was sunny outside the window, through which the bright sunshine was shining down on him. He once again opened up the book of hymn and began to sing with deep emotion along with the familiar melody: “The Beloved is urgently knocking on the door outside. His locks are filled with the drops of the night dew. Come on, get up to open the door for Him; don’t let our beloved walk away. …” (“Canaan Hymns”). He repeated the hymn and imagined that he should be a wise virgin, and that he could hear the voice of the Beloved and welcome Him when He came to knock at the door, which was his only wish for so many years. Every time when he was weak, he read the verses and sang this hymn so as to inspire himself. He firmly believed that the Lord is faithful and His promise will not be made in vain…. With the beautiful singing resounding through the room, he was lost in the thought, thinking of the prophecy in chapter 1, verse 7 of the Revelation: “Behold, he comes with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.” The Lord Jesus will return with the clouds and all people will behold Him. If everyone beholds Him, will it be necessary for Him to knock at the door? Then how on earth does He knock?

The Awakening of a Deceived Spirit

Harvest after reading:   🙏📖💖🐑🐐🐑

"God's ""Good Intention""
For many times, when the things different from our conceptions come upon, we tend to misunderstand and complain, and even jump to an conclusion of right and wrong on this matter. Actually, there is God's good intention behind everything that comes upon us, which is beyond our imaginations ..." Amen! This article gives us the guidance of knowing God.

Yuanzhi, Brazil

I was born in a small city in Northern China. In 2010, I followed my relatives to Brazil. In Brazil, I got acquainted with a Christian friend. He brought me to church to listen to sermons. But though I went three times, I never absorbed it. Afterward, because my job was keeping me busy, I didn’t go to church again until one day in June, 2015, when my friend brought me to church once more. This time, through what brothers and sisters shared, I had some understanding that the Lord Jesus is the Redeemer. Especially, when I first read Genesis, I understood that man was actually created by God and that God had created all things, and I felt that the Creator is truly wondrous. In school, the textbooks had taught me that man evolved from apes and monkeys and all the things in the world were formed naturally. Suddenly, I felt that, for more than twenty years, I had been deceived. Only after reading the Bible did I completely awaken. From that point on, I believed in the Lord Jesus.

How Do You Have a Relationship With God? 4 Ways

By Jin Qiu

Brothers and Sisters of Find the Shepherd:

　　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.

The Testimony of a Christian | The Road to Purification

Christopher, Philippines

　　My name is Christopher and I am a pastor from a family church in the Philippines. In 1987, I was baptized and returned to the Lord Jesus. By the Lord’s grace, in 1996 I became a pastor of the local church. At that time, apart from preaching in many places around the Philippines, I also preached in places like Hong Kong and Malaysia. Because of the work and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, I felt that I had inexhaustible energy in my work for the Lord and an unceasing flow of words in my sermons. I would often go to support brothers and sisters when they were negative and weak. Sometimes members of their family who did not believe in the Lord were unfriendly toward me, yet I could be tolerant and patient and not lose faith in the Lord and I believed that the Lord could change them. So I felt like I had changed a great deal since believing in the Lord. However, since 2011, I have not felt the work of the Holy Spirit as strongly as before. Slowly, I have had no new enlightenment for my sermons and have not had the strength to break free from living in sin. I could not help getting angry at my wife and daughter and teaching them a lesson through my temper when I saw that they were not doing as I desired. I knew that this was not in keeping with the will of the Lord, but often I could not help myself. I felt particularly distressed about this. In order to free myself from a life of sin and confession, I put more effort into reading the Bible, fasting and praying and found spiritual pastors everywhere to seek and explore this together. But all of my efforts were useless and made no difference to me living in sin and to the darkness in my soul.

　　Then one evening in spring 2016, my wife asked me, “Christopher, I’ve noticed you’ve been very troubled recently. What is on your mind?” After hearing my wife ask this, I told her what was troubling me, “I’ve been wondering these last few years why I cannot break free from living in sin despite being a pastor and having believed in the Lord for many years. I cannot touch the Lord now. It is as if the Lord has forsaken me. Although I preach everywhere, as soon as I have free time, especially in the dead of night, I always feel a kind of emptiness and anxiety and this feeling just gets stronger and stronger. I think about how I have believed in the Lord for many years and how I have read the Bible a great deal and often resolved to bear the cross and conquer myself, but yet I am always bound by sins and am capable of telling lies and not abiding by ‘And in their mouth was found no guile’ (Revelation 14:5) in order to protect my own interests and face. When facing tribulations and refinement, although I know I have the Lord’s consent, I still cannot stop myself from complaining to the Lord and misunderstanding Him and I am completely unable to willingly deny myself. I am afraid that when the Lord comes, I will not be able to enter the kingdom of heaven because of living in sin like this!”

Who Was It That Rescued Her Marriage?

Feeling after reading:

 　I thought of God's words, "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." "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. Some people may not have realized these things. But when you truly know, when you truly come to recognize that God has sovereignty over human fate, when you truly understand that everything God has planned for and decided for you is a great benefit, and is a great protection, then you feel your pain gradually lighten, and the whole of you become relaxed, free, liberated."

Yang Zi, China

　She had just turned twenty, she had a graceful figure and appeared as pretty as a flower, and there were many suitors pursuing her. But she didn’t pay this any mind until one day when her friend invited her to come out and she by chance met Lin. Lin was almost 6 feet tall, he was tall and handsome, with a dignified bearing. He spoke with humor and with wit, and was able to attract her in an instant. And Lin too was quite interested in her. The two of them started seeing each other very soon, and after a few months they got married. Before long they had a child of their own, and this made her feel very blessed. But good things don’t last forever. Just when she was starting to enjoy everything and long for a beautiful future, she discovered that Lin was not engaging in honest work every day. All day long he was idling about, and he would even go out often and get in fights and gamble. When he returned home, he would pick out faults with her no matter if there was something going on or not. He simply did not care for her or their child. She did not understand why Lin was acting this way. Many times with eyes full of tears she would urge Lin to walk the correct path, but not only did Lin not listen, he would even lash out at her, and one time he even went so far as to nearly choke her to death. She had lost all hope in Lin. Before long, Lin got sentenced to prison for breaking the law, and she had to support herself and their one-and-a-half-year-old child on her own. Her life was full of hardships and dashed hopes. It wasn’t until 2003, when Lin completed his prison sentence and was released, that she was finished with this painful marriage.