A Different Kind of Love

On the next day, I went to Sister Gao’s house, and happened to meet some of her friends. They all accepted the work of Almighty God in the last days and were in a gathering together fellowshiping to each other. We greeted each other, and Sister Li Min got right to the point by asking me: “Brother, what notions do you still hold? What aspects of God’s work in the last days do you still want to understand? We can fellowship together.” I said: “You mentioned that because the work of the Holy Spirit was moving forward in the last days, the church was made desolate. I can accept this, but we who believe in the Lord have already had our sins absolved, and the Lord does not see us as having sin. Why does God want to do a further step of the work of judgment? Aren’t we able to be raised into the heavenly kingdom without going through that step? When God judges a person, is that person not determined to be sinful? Mustn’t they all be punished? How can they still be raised into the heavenly kingdom?” Sister Li Min said: “As far as most people’s notions are concerned, the people whom the Lord returned to judge were those non-believers who did not believe in God. Because God judged people, people were determined as sinful and punished, and those who believed in God had their sins absolved. When the Lord comes, it is to raise them directly into the heavenly kingdom, not to judge them.

Seeing Through the Material Marriage, I No Longer Complains About My Poor Husband

By Zhang Jun

One morning, a ray of sunshine shined into the house and painted the floor a golden color. Qianhui opened her eyes and stretched, but just as she was about to get out of bed, the phone rang. She picked up and heard her friend Lili on the other end of the line. “Qianhui, I’m getting married next Sunday, you have to come! …”

When she heard the good news of her friend’s marriage, Qianhui was happy for her. She thought, “So many people tried to introduce a boyfriend for Lili, and all the men’s families had good backgrounds, but she was never satisfied. Now she’s getting married, so her husband’s family must be very well off.”

On the day of Lili’s wedding, Qianhui woke up early to get dressed and do her makeup. She arrived at Lili’s house around 10, and when she walked in the door, she was shocked at the new house she saw, its wide living room, beautiful decoration, and fashionable, luxurious furniture…. The house could only be described as “magnificent.” The seed of admiration was planted in her heart: No wonder Lili got married! Her husband must be incredibly rich!

Fortune and Misfortune

By Dujuan, Japan

I was born into a poor family in a Chinese rural village. Because my family was poor, I sometimes did not even know if I would have my next meal, let alone snacks and toys. And from a young age, I would wear what my older sister used to wear. Her clothes were usually too big for me. As a result, my classmates would laugh at me and they would not play with me. My childhood was very bitter. From that point on, I resolved to myself: Once I grow up, I will be somebody and make lots of money. I won’t let others look down on me again. Since my family had no money, I was forced to drop out before junior high school graduation. I went to the county town to work in a medicine factory. In order to earn more money, I would frequently work until 9 or 10 PM. However, the money I earned was little. Afterward, when I heard that my sister was able to earn in five days what I earned in a month selling vegetables, I quit my job at the medicine factory and went to sell vegetables. After a period of time, I found that I could make even more money selling fruits, so I decided to start a business selling fruits. After I married my husband, we started a restaurant business. I thought that now that I had a restaurant, I would be able to earn even more money. Once I could earn a considerable amount of income, naturally, I would win other’s admiration and regard. Other people would start looking up to me and at the same time, I would be able to live a better life. However, after managing the business for a while, I found that we couldn’t make much money running a restaurant. I started getting anxious. When would I be able to lead a life that others would admire?

The Storm Caused at Home by the May 28 Case of Zhaoyuan

Enhui, China

I’m an ordinary country woman, and I would often be weighed down by the strenuous burdens of the household. Because of this, my temperament became quite violent, and my husband and I were always at each other’s throats day in and day out. Our lives simply couldn’t go on like that. Whenever I was suffering, I would yell, “Heavens! Please save me!” In 2013, the work of Almighty God in the last days chanced upon me. Through reading the word of God and attending gatherings with brothers and sisters, I became certain that Almighty God had been the God whom I had cried out to in my suffering, and then gladly accepted Almighty God’s work in the last days.

I have read in the word of God: “Since the creation of the world I have begun to predestine and select this group of people, namely, you today. Your temperament, caliber, appearance, stature, family in which you were born, your job and your marriage, the entirety of you, even the color of your hair and your skin, and the time of your birth were all arranged by My hands. Even the things you do and the people you meet every single day are arranged by My hands, not to mention the fact that bringing you into My presence today is actually My arrangement. Do not throw yourself into disorder; you should proceed calmly” (“The Seventy-fourth Utterance” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). It was only from the word of God that I came to know that all things are in God’s hands, and recognize that I had the fortune to come before the throne of God and accept God’s salvation in the last days and obtain the watering and supply of the word of God. All this was foreordained by God before the ages, and my husband and family were both predestined by God. I should accept and submit to what God has brought about and arranged. From then on, whenever things would happen that were other than what I wanted, I would no longer complain as I had before. Rather, I would have faith that those things had been arranged by God, and I would wish to continue obeying God in order to let Him guide me and learn to live with my family harmoniously. Gradually, I no longer quarreled with my husband. After he saw the changes that had taken place since I began to believe in God, my husband was also very supportive of my faith. When the brothers and sisters came to my house to attend gatherings, he was very polite to them, and would sometimes chat with them and ask how they were doing. At that time, I read God’s word every day, and would frequently attend gatherings and share experiences with the brothers and sisters. I felt enriched in my spirit and enjoyed the peace and joy that I had never had before, and felt how great it is to believe in God!

But all good things must come to an end, and on May 28, 2014, the case of Zhaoyuan, Shandong broke out. Those harmonious and tranquil days in our household were no more. At its root, this was an ordinary criminal case, but it changed fundamentally after three days when it was determined by the Chinese Communist Party government to have been perpetrated out of religious motivation. On this pretext, the CCP made The Church of Almighty God its focal point, and used the news media to plant false evidence, make false charges, and defame The Church of Almighty God in an unbridled and wanton manner. In an instant, people were inundated with every kind of rumor imaginable about The Church of Almighty God. After my husband saw something in connection with this reported on the news, he was misled by the CCP’s propaganda and it was as if he changed instantaneously. He began to do everything he could to oppose my faith in Almighty God.

One evening, my husband returned home fuming with rage, and loudly reproached me: “What is it, really, that you believe in?” Confronted with his unusual attitude, I thought it completely unfathomable. I answered, “I believe in the returned Lord Jesus—Almighty God, who we used to call ‘Heaven.’” He said, “You believe in Almighty God! Look what they’re saying on television!” As he spoke, he turned on the TV, and the news was broadcasting the May 28 Murder Case in Zhaoyuan, Shandong. It said many accusatory things about The Church of Almighty God. It went on to say that those who believe in Almighty God were disturbing social tranquility, and the Public Security Bureau in Shandong prepared to attack forcefully and to round them up with great severity. Seeing this, I was filled with righteous indignation, and right away said to my husband, “All this is slander and rumors. This murderer absolutely is not a believer in Almighty God! In spreading the gospel, The Church of Almighty God follows a certain principle, which is to only transmit it to good people who believe in God and who are kind-hearted. They do not transmit it to wicked people. As the evil Zhang Lidong does not conform whatsoever to this principle of The Church of Almighty God in transmitting the gospel, he certainly can’t be someone who believes in Almighty God. Another thing—when Zhang Lidong asked the other person for their phone number and they didn’t give it, it was out of humiliation that Zhang flew into a rage and committed the homicide. We brothers and sisters of The Church of Almighty God never try to force people to accept the work of God when spreading the gospel, because God clearly stipulated in ‘The Ten Administrative Decrees That Must Be Obeyed by God’s Chosen People in the Age of Kingdom’ that ‘Kin who are not of the faith (your children, your husband or wife, your sisters or your parents, and so on) should not be forced into the church. God’s household is not short of members, and there is no need to make up its numbers with people who have no use. All those who do not believe gladly must not be led into the church. This decree is directed at all people. In this matter you should check, monitor and remind each other, and no one may violate it.’ When the brothers and sisters of The Church of Almighty God spread the gospel, they never drag people to it against their will, and this is something no one can violate. This news is just slander and falsehood. It’s nothing more than lies and defamation of The Church of Almighty God at the hands of the CCP.” Who would have guessed that after hearing this, my husband opened his eyes wide and roared at me, “It doesn’t matter if it’s true or not. As long as the CCP is opposed to it, you can’t believe in this! I don’t want the government to come and ransack our house. My son still hasn’t even got married yet!” Seeing those rumors and lies created out of whole cloth on the TV and my husband who had been deceived by these false words, my heart was full of hatred: The CCP was doing everything in its power in repressing and persecuting The Church of Almighty God for the sake of suppressing religious belief! It was using the case of Zhaoyuan to frame and make false charges against The Church of Almighty God, and what a cruel and wicked means it is!

That evening, neither my husband nor I was able to sleep like a log. My husband urged me to go into hiding and to put the book of the word of God in a good hiding place, or if not that then to return it to the church. Otherwise, when the CCP finds it one day, they would raid our home. After hearing what my husband said, I thought of the experiences of the brothers and sisters in the past I had heard of who had been seized, been fined, and been imprisoned, and whose houses had been raided, and I also thought of my own cousin. He got into a dispute with the chief of the local police station because he couldn’t bear the sight of the man always obnoxiously bullying the common people, and was sentenced to a year of reeducation through labor. The whole house suffered, young and old. The CCP is a demon that can’t be reasoned with. If I were arrested and imprisoned because of my faith, and if our house was raided, would that be fair to my husband and child? I tossed and turned restlessly and had trouble falling asleep, constantly imagining myself in a scenario where I was being taken away and my house was raided by the CCP, and my husband and child were implicated…. I couldn’t help but feel a wave of desolation and fear in my heart. I felt how difficult it was in China to believe in God, be a good person, and follow the right path, and that my life is in danger at any time. But if I were to betray God out of fear of the CCP, my conscience would be condemned for the rest of my life. Even if I were drifting along in life without purpose, I would be essentially a walking corpse. If I died I would also be barred from seeing God again. At that time, I was confused and pained in my heart, was totally powerless, and had reached an extreme in being negative and weak.

Just when I was suffering, I recalled the words of the Lord Jesus: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Mat 10:28). “For whoever will save his life shall lose it: and whoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it” (Mat 16:25). The words of the Lord Jesus gave me faith and strength, and dispelled anxiety and fear from my heart. I thought: “God is sovereign over all things and living creatures, and my life and household are also under God’s control. All that I have come from God, and I cannot betray God at this crucial time.” At this time, I thought about Job’s circumstances when his household was plundered and his children were killed, and he was left with nothing, yet he was still able to maintain his loyalty to God. He praised the holy name of Jehovah and stood witness to God. And yet, merely in the face of the rumors and disturbances manufactured by the CCP government, and not even having been arrested or raided at home, I was weak and negative. I saw that my stature was in fact pathetically low, and that I had not one iota of true faith in God. Thinking of this, my heart was filled with shame before God. I silently made the resolution: No matter what, I must not betray God, and I would keep my faith no matter how much suffering or difficulty I faced!

At noon on the following day, my husband came back home, and threw down the newspaper in his hand in front of me. He said, “Take a good look! It says in the newspaper that they can be arrested as long as one is discovered to believe in Almighty God. Prison is not a place you want to spend any time at all. Not only are people beaten, but dozens of them are crammed together in a single cell. If someone goes to the bathroom in the middle of the night, they have nowhere to sleep when they get back. If you’re arrested, I’ll have no money to bail you out. If you’re arrested and sentenced for several years, you’ll be submissive!” Listening to my husband’s merciless talk, I was deeply pained in my heart. Even more than that, I hated the demonic CCP. If not for them creating confusion through rumors, their compulsion, and their persecution, my husband would support me in my faith in God. He wouldn’t be compelling me like he was at the time. For lack of any better option, I just implored God in my heart: “Almighty God! I know that everything the CCP is disseminating is just rumor and slander, libel, and blasphemy against You. The CCP is none other than Satan, Your enemy. But now, I am experiencing some weakness in my heart, and I wish that God would protect me, give me more wisdom, allow me to be able to see through the tricks and craftiness of Satan and to be able to stand resolutely with God and not be intimidated by the evil forces of the CCP….” After I prayed, I had no desire at all in my heart to shun God, and thought of the word of Almighty God: “When the Lord Jesus did something such as bringing Lazarus back from the dead, His goal was to give proof for humans and for Satan to see, and to let humans and Satan know that mankind’s everything, mankind’s life and death are determined by God, and that even though He had become flesh, as always, He remained in command of the physical world that can be seen as well as the spiritual world humans cannot see. This was to let humans and Satan know that mankind’s everything is not under the command of Satan. This was a revealing and a demonstration of God’s authority, and it was also a way for God to send a message to all things that mankind’s life and death is in God’s hands. The Lord Jesus’ resurrection of Lazarus—this type of approach was one of the ways for the Creator to teach and instruct mankind. It was a concrete action in which He used His ability and authority to instruct mankind, and to provide for humans. It was a way without words for the Creator to allow mankind to see the truth of Him being in command of all things. It was a way for Him to tell mankind through practical actions that there is no salvation other than through Him. This type of silent means of His instructing mankind lasts forever—it is indelible, and it brought to human hearts a shock and enlightenment that can never fade. The resurrection of Lazarus glorified God—this has a deep impact on every single one of God’s followers. It firmly fixes in every person who deeply understands this event the understanding, the vision that only God can command mankind’s life and death” (“God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself III” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). This fact of God allowing Lazarus to rise from the dead deeply encouraged me, and I had strength again in my heart, and I rose up again unyielding: Yes! God controls all things in the universe, and people’s life and death are in the palm of God’s hand. No person can be in charge of it, and whether or not I am arrested is also in God’s hands. The word of God once again protected me, and the faith in my heart in God was once again increased. The panic and fear in my heart was also greatly settled.

The rumors of the CCP destroyed the peace and happiness that we once had in our household. In order to avoid any further disturbance at home, I had to be very cautious and careful in attending meetings and doing my duty, and I felt very oppressed by this. Later, after my father heard about the May 28 Case of Zhaoyuan, he began to oppose me. He said, “Believe whatever you want, but you may not transmit the gospel to anyone else or go out to attend gatherings. At such an old age I won't be able to handle any trouble. You have to think about the whole family, young and old! Believing in God is good, but you weren’t born in a country with freedom of belief. The weak can’t contend with the strong, and the CCP treats people who believe in God as political prisoners. You know all this, so don’t make us feel the same level of anxiety as you.” My own family compelling me against my will and their lack of understanding made me feel deeply tormented. In that time, my heart was in worry and suspense all day, living in fear that I myself would be arrested by the CCP and would bring trouble to my family at the first slip-up. So whenever I would go out, I would carefully conceal the books of the word of God and anything that had to do with believing in God. When I attended gatherings, I was afraid that I would be reported by someone, and that I would cause my family to be implicated. For this reason, my mind was constantly in a state of high alert and defensiveness, and whenever I saw a police car or an officer my heart would involuntarily jump into my throat. This was indescribable suffering, and I felt that believing in God in China was like living one’s life on the edge of a knife blade. I couldn’t help but feel even greater hatred for this evil atheist CCP: What was it that was bad about us following the correct path? Why don’t they let people believe in God? Why do they frantically oppress, seize, and persecute people whom they see believing in God? Why do they hate it so much when people believe in God? It’s so evil!

Afterward, I finally understood the truth of the matter when I read the word of Almighty God. The word of God says: “God works, God cares for a person, looks upon a person, and Satan dogs His every step. Whoever God favors, Satan also watches, trailing along behind. If God wants this person, Satan would do everything in its power to obstruct God, using various evil ways to tempt, harass and wreck the work God does in order to achieve its hidden objective. What is its objective? It does not want God to have anyone; it wants all those that God wants, to possess them, control them, to take charge of them so they worship it, so they commit evil acts alongside it. Is this not Satan’s sinister motive? … This issue has made Satan’s hideous countenance and its essence very clear. Satan is at war with God, trailing along behind Him. Its objective is to demolish all the work God wants to do, to possess and control those whom God wants, to completely extinguish those whom God wants. If they are not extinguished, then they come to Satan’s possession to be used by it—this is its objective” (“God Himself, the Unique IV” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). The word of God allowed everything to become clear to me: Looking at it from the outside, it was the CCP government forcing us not to believe in God, but behind the scenes it was a spiritual battle taking place. It was God and Satan battling with each other over mankind. Because Satan is the arch enemy of God and is the demon which betrays and resists God, it has wanted ever since it corrupted mankind to take control of them, as well as not to allow people to worship God or to allow God to obtain mankind who God created. So since the beginning of God’s work in saving mankind all the way up to the present, Satan has been doing its utmost in causing disturbances and trying to tear down God’s work. Satan makes use of every kind of despicable means for obstructing us from returning to God. Today, in order to obstruct me from believing in God, Satan uses rumors to incite disharmony among me and my family members. It uses affections and psychological tactics to threaten, entice, menace, and attack me. Its goal in doing all of this is to cause me to shun, deny, betray God, and to attempt to control me in its hands and make me its slave, and ultimately to cause me to be destroyed alongside it by God. The CCP’s intentions are truly insidious, and it resists God frantically in being the enemy of God. It is certainly a demon which devours the souls of the people, just as is said in the word of God: “Satan wins its fame through deceiving the public. It often establishes itself as a vanguard and role model of righteousness. Under the banner of safeguarding righteousness, it harms man, devours their souls, and uses all sorts of means to benumb, deceive and incite man. Its goal is to make man approve of and follow along with its evil conduct, to make man join it in opposing God’s authority and sovereignty. However, when one grows wise to its schemes, plotting and vile features and does not wish to continue to be trampled upon and fooled by it or to continue slaving away for it, or to be punished and destroyed together with it, Satan changes its previously saintly features and tears off its false mask to reveal its true evil, vicious, ugly and savage face. It would love nothing more than to exterminate all those who refuse to follow it and those who oppose its evil forces” (“God Himself, the Unique II” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). The revelations in the word of God have let me see through to the true face of the CCP, and see that it is genuinely the embodiment of Satan, and that it is the most evil influence of Satan. It uses the May 28 Case of Zhaoyuan to start rumors and frame The Church of Almighty God in an attempt to deceive and incite people, and to get those people who don’t understand the truth of the matter to stand together with it and resist God along with it. The purpose of the CCP concocting the case of Zhaoyuan and shifting the blame onto The Church of Almighty God was to search for grounds and excuses for seizing and persecuting Christians. It is a futile attempt to snatch up all Christians in one net and eliminate them root and branch, and to thoroughly prohibit The Church of Almighty God and religious belief, reaching all the way to their wild scheme of establishing an atheist zone in China. The essence of the CCP truly is extremely treacherous and evil!

When I came to know the actual situation of the spiritual war and the evil essence of the CCP, another question arose in my mind: Isn’t God omnipotent? Why does God allow the CCP government to persecute us? The word of Almighty God unraveled the confusion in my mind, where it says: “I once said that My wisdom is exercised based on Satan’s schemes. Why did I say that? Is that not the truth behind what I am saying and doing right now?” (“The Inside Truth of the Conquering Work (1)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). “God intends to use a portion of evil spirits’ work to perfect a portion of man, so that these people can completely see through demons’ deeds, and allow everyone to truly understand their ancestors. Only then can humans completely break free, not only forsaking the posterity of the demons, but even more so their ancestors. This is the original intent of God completely defeating the great red dragon, to make it so that all of man knows the great red dragon’s true form, completely tearing off its mask, and seeing its true form. This is what God wants to achieve, and it is His final goal on earth for which He has done so much work; He aims to accomplish this in all of man. This is known as the maneuver of all things for God’s purpose” (“Interpretation of the Forty-first Utterance” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). I understood from the word of God that God was making use of the compulsion by satanic evil influence of the CCP to do service for the perfection of His chosen people. Through the CCP’s resisting, accusing, and starting rumors to besmirch The Church of Almighty God, and compelling and seizing Christians, God lets us see through to the satanic essence of the CCP’s enmity for the truth and for God. He lets us truly distinguish and forsake it and allows us never again to suffer its confusion, to get out from under the domain of Satan, and to return to the presence of God. At the same time, God also makes use of the seizure and persecution by the demonic CCP to reveal all kinds of people, and to separate people according to their class. Those who are timid, of false belief, and are like Judas are revealed and eliminated in the ferocious persecution of the CCP; those who truly believe in God and pursue the truth and who have the loyalty to God stand witness to God under the ferocious persecution of the CCP and become overcomers made by God. When I understood all this, my misunderstandings, complaints, and perplexity about God were all removed. Furthermore, I saw how wise and almighty God is, and that God’s wisdom is certainly established upon Satan’s ruses.

I also read in the word of God: “We trust that no country or power can stand in the way of what God wishes to achieve. Those that obstruct God’s work, resist the word of God, disturb and impair the plan of God shall ultimately be punished by God. He who defies the work of God shall be sent to hell; any country that defies the work of God shall be destroyed; any nation that rises up to oppose the work of God shall be wiped from this earth, and shall cease to exist” (“God Presides Over the Fate of All Mankind” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). I saw God’s righteous and majestic disposition in the word of God, and saw that no power can resist or surpass God’s almightiness and authority. Although the CCP government always frantically resists God, suppresses, seizes, and persecutes the chosen people of God, and concocts all kinds of rumors to mislead and obstruct people from returning to God, God’s work has still spread throughout the whole of China. Furthermore, a group of overcomers has been made in China, and the gospel of God’s kingdom is in the process of extending to the entire world. No one can obstruct God’s work. Those who resist God and disturb and destroy God’s work are fated to suffer the righteous punishment of God and to be annihilated. This is decided by the righteous disposition of God. The word of Almighty God allowed me to have a sudden flash of insight and for everything to become clear. I was enlightened in an instant, and could not help sighing in my heart, and praising God’s miraculous work. God’s wisdom truly surpasses all the heavens. It is truly wise for God to use the CCP to do service. God’s salvation of mankind is very practical, and makes me convinced in my speech and heart, praising Him without end! In my heart, I silently prayed to God, “God! I don’t want to become chaff that You throw out from the threshing floor, and I don’t want to be blown away by the evil wind of the CCP. I want to become grain stored by God. God! Before, I have never satisfied You, but in the frantic coercion of the CCP, I hope to exhibit sincerity, and to pursue the truth hard, and not to surrender in the face of the evil influence of the CCP government. I also hope to be a person who thirsts for justice and yearns for light, to stand witness to God, and to let God obtain glory….”

After I had this knowledge, I became strong in my heart. I understood that when I was faced with my family members not understanding me and obstructing me, this was all allowed to be so by God, and that it is God who meticulously appoints them to perfect my faith and loyalty and obedience. Never again will I complain about the environment around me, nor will I ever again suffer being controlled by the environment around me. Rather, I will be grateful to God, and secretly resolve the will that no matter what kind of environment God arranges for me, I must always stand witness to God, and loyally do my duty, and that I must absolutely not betray God! Afterward, when I had seen the way God acts, my husband did not oppose me or force me to stop as he had before. Rather, he told me: “It’s not that I don’t allow you to believe, and I admit that you have changed since you began believing in God; it’s just that later you have to be careful and cautious when you go out to attend gatherings!” When I heard what my husband said, there were hot tears in my eyes. In my heart I gave thanks and praise to God for His action, because I had seen that truth and justice is able to overpower all that is dark and evil. Satan’s evil force will die out in God’s work! In this experience, even though I suffered some of the hardship of being refined, I gained some knowledge of the wise work of God. I gained as well the ability to distinguish between positive things and negative things, and all this is wealth in my life that has aroused my resolution and faith to pursue the truth and yearn for light.

Q&A About God’s Work of Judgment in the Last Days-Question 1

Question 1: You say that God becomes flesh in the last days to do the work of judgment. Does this have basis in the Bible, or fulfill biblical prophecies? Without a biblical basis, we shouldn’t be so quick to believe it.

Answer: Any major incidents of God’s work are prophesied in the Bible, and there are quite a few relating tothe second coming of the Lord Jesus and God’s work of judgment. But we should understand that prophecies only tell people what will happen. They are reminders for people to be alert and to seek and investigate in the last days, so they won’t be abandoned or eliminated by God.

Are the Truths in the Bible Already Complete?

Question 2: The truths in the Bible are already complete. In believing in God, we have the Bible, and that’s enough. We don’t need the new word at all.

 Answer: What the Bible records is limited. The Old Testament only records the work of Jehovah God, and the New Testament only records the work of the Lord Jesus. The Bible only prophesies God’s work in the last days, but doesn’t record the details, because in the last days God does the work of judgment, which is a new work outside the Bible. God is the expresser of the truth, and even more is the Ruler of all things. His richness is unfailing and inexhaustible, and He is unfathomable to any created being. So, the contents of the Bible alone can’t make clear all God’s deeds at all. Almighty God tells us, “All that is recorded within the Bible is limited and unable to represent all the work of God. The Four Gospels have fewer than one hundred chapters altogether in which are written a finite number of happenings, such as Jesus cursing the fig tree, Peter’s three denials of the Lord, Jesus appearing to the disciples following His crucifixion and resurrection, teaching about fasting, teaching about prayer, teaching about divorce, the birth and genealogy of Jesus, Jesus’ appointment of the disciples, and so forth. These are but a few writings, yet man values them as treasures, even verifying the work of today against them.

Child, Come Back Home (Christian Movie Trailer)

Li Xinguang is a senior high school student. He had been a sensible and well-behaved boy since he was little. His parents and his teachers were very fond of him. While going to middle school, he became infatuated with internet computer games. He would frequently skip classes in order to go to the internet café. His parents did their utmost to help him break his internet addiction. Unfortunately, Li Xinguang's addiction became worse and worse. He became dispirited and slowly changed into a degenerate. … When Li Xinguang's parents felt that they were at their wit's end, they heard that God is capable of saving people, helping them break their internet addiction and break free from Satan's corruption. As a result, they decided to believe in God and looked forward to God saving their son. From God's words, they understood the source of mankind's corruption and depravity. They saw the truth of man's darkness and evil and they understood that only God can save people and set them free from Satan's corruption and affliction. All Xinguang had to do was to believe in God and understand the truth, and he would be able to break his internet addiction. As a result, they spread the gospel to Xinguang and guided Xinguang to read God's words. They prayed to God and asked Him to save their son and help him break his internet addiction. … After a fight, Xinguang started praying to God and relying on God. Under the guidance of God's words, he eventually broke his internet addiction and freed himself from Satan's corruption and affliction. This son who had been hopelessly lost in internet games and internet cafés finally came home!

As a Christian, Regularly Attending Gatherings Cannot Be Neglected!

Xiaogao

Hello brothers and sisters of Spiritual Q&A,

I get very tired from working during the day, and I do not sleep very well at night. As a result, I am not willing to make it to gatherings on time. I do not like to be restricted. I feel that if I have spiritual needs, as long as I look for my brothers and sisters to chat during those times, it should be fine. I wonder what the cause of this issue is. How should I resolve this?

An Jing

Hello Sister An Jing,

You said that you are not willing to attend gatherings on time and that when you feel you have spiritual needs, that is the only time you will actively look for your brothers and sisters to chat. We can think like this because we do not understand what truly believing in God and the importance of gatherings are. Thank the Lord. I will talk a little bit about my understanding about this aspect. I hope it will be useful to you.

What It Means to Truly Believe in God

We all know that the reason why God originally created man was so that man would honor and worship God on earth. The Lord Jesus said: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment” (Mat 22:37-38). As believers in the Lord, we should all prioritize faith and worshiping God and have normal relationships with God. Gatherings, prayer, communicating the truth, singing hymns and praising God are ways to establish a normal relationship with God. As Christians, these are things that we must do at the very least. God’s words say: “‘Belief in God’ means believing that there is a God; this is the simplest concept of faith in God. What’s more, believing that there is a God is not the same as truly believing in God; rather, it is a kind of simple faith with strong religious overtones. True faith in God means experiencing the words and work of God based on a belief that God holds sovereignty over all things. So you shall be freed of your corrupt disposition, shall fulfill the desire of God, and shall come to know God. Only through such a journey can you be said to believe in God” (Preface to The Word Appears in the Flesh). “There are some people whose belief has never been acknowledged in God’s heart. In other words, God does not recognize that these people are His followers, because God does not praise their belief. … They regard believing in God as some kind of amateur hobby, treating God merely as spiritual sustenance…. How does God look upon these people? He views them as non-believers” (“How to Know God’s Disposition and the Result of His Work” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). From here we can see, if our faith in God merely consists of verbal acknowledgement and believing within our hearts, yet we do not pursue the truth, do not experience and practice God’s words but regard faith as spiritual sustenance or a hobby, this is not truly believing in God. God does not praise this sort of faith. True believers in God should frequently come before God, pray to God often, read God’s words often, attend gatherings often and understand more of the truth from God. At the same time, they must bring God’s words into real life. They believe that what happens every day is presided and arranged by God. This is especially the case when they encounter something that is not in accordance with their notions and when they reveal their own corruption and are unable to let go of it. They are able to come before God and reflect upon themselves in accordance with God’s words. They are able to seek in the environment arranged by God the lessons they should learn and the truths they should enter and put into practice. Afterward, they actually put them into practice in accordance with God’s demands, cast off satanic corrupt disposition, live out a normal humanity and in the end, achieve a true understanding of God, obedience to God and love for God. Only this way of experiencing God’s work and words constitutes truly believing in God. We can only obtain God’s approval if we believe in God in this manner. If we do this, in the end, we will be brought into God’s kingdom. Contrarily, if our faith does not involve a normal relationship with God, regular participation in gatherings, prayer, communicating the truth and putting God’s words into practice; if it is just a spare-time faith, if we believe in God a few years yet our corrupt disposition has not changed whatsoever and if we do not have a true understanding of God, God does not acknowledge this sort of faith. There is no difference between this and the faith of unbelievers. If our faith is like this, even though we believe until the very end, we will not be able to obtain God’s approval and salvation.

Church Life Is Essential

If we are unwilling to attend gatherings on time, this indicates that we do not understand the importance of church life. In fact, church life is our life of communicating God’s word and entering into the truth, and it is also the life of experiencing the Holy Spirit’s work and enjoying God’s love. Understanding the truth, entering into the truth and attaining God’s salvation are completely a result that is achieved through the Holy Spirit’s work. Only through our lives in the church where we serve and provide for one another, fulfill our duties and bear witness to God would we be able to easily obtain the Holy Spirit’s work and God’s purification and salvation. In other words, winning God’s approval in regard to our faith and attaining His salvation are inextricably tied to a normal church life. In the Bible, it says: “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as you see the day approaching” (Heb 10:25). The Lord Jesus said: “Again I say to you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the middle of them” (Mat 18:19-20). From this, we can see, living a church life is one of God’s demands for us as Christians. Since our caliber itself is limited and we do not have the organ to receive the truth, it is very difficult to understand the truths and mysteries within God’s words. Even though we understand a lot of the literal meaning, we understand very little of God’s intentions and the demands that God has for man. But if we consistently participate in church life, pray together with our brothers and sisters, read God’s words and communicate our own understanding, experience and acceptance of God’s words, we will be able to obtain the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment and illumination. We will obtain even more light and rewards, we will understand more clearly God’s intentions and requests, and the path of practice will be even clearer. This is especially the case when we do not understand God’s words or encounter various difficulties. If we cooperate with our brothers and sisters to seek God, pray to God and have the Holy Spirit work amongst us, we will be able to understand the esoteric meaning of God’s words and all our problems and difficulties will be resolved because we understand the truth. The more problems we solve in our church life, the more truth we will understand and obtain. This way, we will no longer be annoyed with worldly affairs. Our lives will be effortless and liberating. Afterward, we will be able to tackle the situations we encounter in accordance with God’s intentions and demands. Gradually, God’s words will become the principles and directions with which we handle situations. Under the Holy Spirit’s guidance, we will walk upon the path of God’s salvation.

If we do not participate in church life, if we occasionally pray to God ourselves and read God’s words, our attainment of the Holy Spirit’s work will be very limited. Without the Holy Spirit’s work, we will not be able to understand the truth, nor will we be able to enter into the reality of the truth. When we encounter difficulties or problems, since we do not understand God’s intentions, we will frequently not know what to do nor how to put the truth into practice. If we occasionally rely on our own notions and imaginations to do things, we will do things that violate God’s intentions and even offend God’s disposition. We will lose the Holy Spirit’s presence, not to mention God’s salvation. God’s words say: “If your spiritual life is not normal, you cannot understand God’s current work; you always feel that it is completely incompatible with your own notions, and you are willing to follow Him, but you lack internal drive. So no matter what God is currently doing, people must cooperate. If people don’t cooperate the Holy Spirit can’t do His work, and if people do not have a heart of cooperation, they cannot attain the work of the Holy Spirit. … If people do not cooperate with God and do not pursue deeper entry, God will take away what they once had. Inside, people are always greedy for ease and would rather enjoy what is already available. They want to gain God’s promises without paying any price at all. These are the extravagant thoughts within mankind. Gaining life itself without paying a price—what has ever been so easy? When someone believes in God and seeks to enter into life and seeks a change in their disposition, they must pay a price and achieve a state where they will always follow God no matter what He does. This is something that people must do. Even if you follow all of this as a rule, you must stick to it, and no matter how great the trials, you cannot let go of your normal relationship with God. You should be able to pray, maintain your church life, and stay with brothers and sisters. When God tries you, you should still seek the truth. This is the minimum for a spiritual life” (“You Ought to Maintain Your Devotion to God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). From God’s words, we can see that a normal spiritual life is very important to us. Praying, reading God’s words and attending gatherings are all a part of a spiritual life. If we are unable to adhere to these, we will be unable to attain the Holy Spirit’s work. Even though our hearts want to follow God, we will not have faith. Therefore, regardless of how busy our work lives are and how tired our physical bodies are, we must not lose our normal relationship with God. At the minimum, we must maintain a normal spiritual life. We must live before God and seek the truth and put the truth into practice when we encounter situations. Only if we do this will our spiritual life become unyielding. Only then will we have a path that we can take when we encounter situations.

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.

Throwing off Satan’s Yoke Is Liberating

Momo    Hefei City, Anhui Province

Before I believed in God, no matter what I was doing, I never wanted to fall behind. I was willing to accept any hardship as long as it meant I could rise above everyone else. After I accepted God, my attitude remained the same, because I firmly believed in the saying, “No pain, no gain,” and saw my attitude as proof of my motivation. When God revealed the truth to me, I finally realized I had been living under Satan’s yoke, living under its domain.

Not too long ago, the church made plans to send the sister I partnered with out to serve in a leadership position. Upon hearing the news, my heart sank. We both used to serve in leadership roles until we were reappointed as editors. Now my sister would be returning to a leadership position and serve God with unlimited growth potential, but I’d still be stuck at a desk, performing my duty in obscurity. What future would there be in that? On second thought, I was reminded of the old saying, “There are a million different paths to success.” As long as I fulfilled my duty properly, I could also be successful. I just needed to redouble my efforts at pursuing the truth. If I focused on editing sermons so they better communicated the truth, maybe one day the leaders would see that I understood the truth. Then they’d promote me and my future would be equally as bright. After this realization, the gray clouds began to retreat in favor of a renewed determination. I threw myself into my work, and I ate and drank God’s word

With Life Hanging by a Thread, the Hand of God Came to the Rescue (Audio Essays)

Ling Wu, Japan

“If I were not saved by God, I would still be drifting in this world,

struggling hard and painfully in sin, every day bleak and hopeless.

If I were not saved by God, I’d still be crushed below the devil’s feet,

snared in sin and its enjoyments, ignorant of what my life would be.

It’s Almighty God who saves me; all God’s words have purified my heart.

Through God’s judgment and His chastisement, my corrupted disposition’s changed.

All the word and truth God expresses, it has all given me new life.

I have seen my God face to face and have tasted God’s true love.

Finally I’ve understood God’s loving hand holds mine as we go.

Now I have heard the voice of God and been raised before God’s throne.

The feast of my Christ I attend, to be perfected and purified by Him.

What I’d hoped for is finally realized, I have now been saved by God.”

God’s Love Was With Me in the Devil’s Dark Prison

Yang Yi, Jiangsu Province

I am a Christian of the Church of Almighty God. I have been a follower of Almighty God for over ten years. During this time, one thing I’ll never forget is the awful tribulation when I was arrested by the CCP police a decade ago. Back then, despite my being tortured and trampled on by evil demons, and coming close to death several times, Almighty God used His mighty hand to guide and protect me, to bring me back to life, and take me back to safety…. Through this, I truly experienced the transcendence and greatness of the power of God’s life, and gained the precious wealth of life conferred upon me by God.

To Be an Honest Person Is Truly Great! (Audio Essay)

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.

3 Great Masterstrokes for Overcoming Temptations in Spiritual Warfare

Jingxing, South Korea

Brothers and sisters,

I wish you peace in the Lord! Not infrequently, all sorts of spiritual warfare will occur throughout our time of faith in and following God. There are temptations regarding money, status and name, and temptations between men and women, as well as slander by unbelievers, obstruction and suppression from loved ones, as well as being hunted down and persecuted by a satanic regime. Sometimes completely unexpected calamities befall us. 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). God’s words say: “On earth, all manner of evil spirits are endlessly on the prowl for a place to rest, are ceaselessly searching for the corpses of men to eat up” (“The Tenth Utterance” of God’s Utterances to the Entire Universe in The Word Appears in the Flesh). There isn’t a single moment that Satan is not by our side, racking its brains to use any person, event, or thing to tempt, test, and persecute us, trying to get us to sink into evil, into disaster and to distance ourselves from God, to betray Him so that in the end we may be swallowed whole by it. If we lack the truth, we also lack discernment; if we cannot clearly see spiritual warfare, if we cannot remain firm in God’s words, we will be likely to go after fleshly benefits and preferences, falling into Satan’s web and losing our testimony. As Christians, learning how to recognize Satan’s trickery is critical. So what can we do to enable ourselves to see through Satan’s trickery in the midst of spiritual warfare and stand witness for God? I’d like to share some fellowship with you on three paths of practice for triumphing over Satan’s temptations.