In Your Experience, How Much Practical Understanding Do You Have of God’s Salvation?

September 25, 2018  

Nannan

Since I was small, I had always had a strong desire to be better than others. No matter what group of people I was in, I always sought to be the best. While I was still at school, though I had an average mind and my grades weren’t outstanding, I studied very hard so that I wouldn’t fall behind the other students. Teachers praised me for my desire to make progress, and relatives also praised me for being such a diligent student and taking my studies so seriously. I would often feel proud of myself for receiving their praise and getting favorable comments from them, and I considered myself top of my age group. After I’d accepted God’s work in the last days, I came to understand some truths by reading God’s words and living the church life, and I saw that, no matter what disposition God expresses, whether it be mercy, lovingkindness or righteous judgment and chastisement, they are all God’s true love for man. My heart was moved and inspired by God’s love, and I felt that the only right path in life was to believe in God and seek to be perfected by God. I therefore made a resolution to pursue the truth in earnest, to give up everything and expend myself for God to repay His love. But because my deeply-rooted corrupt disposition and satanic nature had not yet been resolved, I still sought to distinguish myself and to make others look highly upon me when performing my duties. I remember one time when I was given the choice of two duties, and without any hesitation whatsoever I chose the duty that I thought would cause others to look highly upon me. Once I’d started this duty, a sense of superiority arose in my heart, so much so that I looked down on other brothers and sisters, thinking that they were only doing common duties, whereas I was performing an important duty, and that I was a person of talent in God’s family.

I started performing a duty that required me to use English

In June 2016, I started performing a duty that required me to use English. This was something I’d never dared to even dream of, and my heart was totally elated. I hadn’t expected to see a day when I could distinguish myself, and I had always used to feel distressed about not being smart enough, thinking that I’d be like this the rest of my life and that I had no great future prospects. Little did I realize that even lilies of the field have a spring too, and my spring had come at last. This was a turning point in my life and it was the beginning of the realization of my dreams—I would show my skills to the best of my ability. Thinking this, I felt so elated. How I wished I could immediately tell this news to my brothers and sisters in the church at home, letting them know what duty I was doing. I was even beginning to imagine how envious my brothers and sisters would feel once they came to know that I was doing this duty…. While I was so immersed in happiness and joy that I had forgotten myself completely, God’s judgment and chastisement came upon me again and again …

Though the brothers and sisters around me were young, they could read English very fluently and their pronunciation was very clear. In their everyday lives, they often used English to converse with each other, and they even used English to communicate and exchange ideas during meetings and when performing their duties. Compared with them, my English was so much poorer, and I felt both admiration and anxiety. At the same time, I quietly gave myself encouragement: “It doesn’t matter. As long as I study hard, I’ll catch up with you one day, and even surpass you.” In the days that followed, I rose up early and went to bed late so that I would have time to memorize vocabulary and read English. In my free time, I would always wonder how I could be more efficient at my duty, and whenever someone said about some experience they’d had in their professional work, I would note it down straight away. Every time I listened to an audio file while I did my duty, I recorded the time it took to finish it, in order to see whether or not I’d made any progress…. In the blink of an eye, several months had passed and, although I’d studied hard and made some progress, the results I obtained in my duties were still so much poorer than those obtained by my brothers and sisters. When I used English to exchange ideas with others, I would often express myself inaccurately, so afterward my brothers and sisters would always help me to correct my mistakes. When discussing work, the views and suggestions I offered were mostly useless. Thinking of how I wasn’t performing well at my duty and that I still needed my brothers and sisters to help me and set me right, I really felt like I was losing face, and in my heart there was a feeling of dejection and pain that I couldn’t give words to. But the more things went on like this, the stronger my desire to be better than others became and the more I didn’t want to give up, thinking that one day in the future I would surely stand out conspicuously and receive others’ approval.

the person in charge arranged for me to perform duty together with another sister

Not long after, the person in charge arranged for me to perform duty together with another sister. Seeing that the sister was unfamiliar with the duty and that her level of English was not as good as mine, I secretly rejoiced: I could finally be rid of the dunce hat. The sister later encountered difficulties in her duty and, when she came to me seeking answers, I kept some information to myself. I didn’t want to fellowship too much with her for fear of her progressing too quickly and surpassing me. Sometimes I saw this sister obtaining no results in her duty and living in a state of negativity. I knew I should help her with a loving heart but I was afraid that, if her state became better and she obtained good results in her duty, then I wouldn’t outshine her anymore, so I behaved indifferently toward her. Little did I realize that when the sister encountered difficulties she would seek the truth, and when she lacked some professional knowledge she would often learn from other brothers and sisters. After two or three months she gradually managed to grasp the principles of doing her duty, her English quickly improved and she obtained good results in her duty. This made me panic, and I thought: “If things carried on this way, I was afraid that I’d once again be the least able member of the group. Oh, compared with the brothers and sisters who’d been doing this duty for a long time, it was OK for me not to be as good as them. But this sister had joined the group after me. If she was better than me too, where would I be able to hide my face for shame? What would my brothers and sisters think of me?” So, in this way, I lived all day in a state of vying for fame and gain from which I couldn’t escape, my mind entertained all sorts of ideas, my spirit was in darkness and in pain, and I lived in torment every day. At that time, I couldn’t help but recall with nostalgia the great time I’d had before, doing my duty back at home. When we’d discussed work back then, my sisters all approved of my views. Besides, the church leader held me in high esteem. How wonderful those days were, and yet now I had sunk to such a low…. The more I thought about it, the more painful it was, and the more disconsolate and wronged I felt, and I couldn’t help but hide away in the bathroom, crying my eyes out. In my pain, I prayed to God: “Oh, God! I don’t know what lessons I should be learning in this situation, and I don’t know why You have orchestrated this kind of environment for me. Are You exposing me? Oh, God! What is Your will? May You enlighten and illuminate me….” That evening, I lay in bed tossing and turning, unable to sleep. I kept thinking: “Doing my duty here is just too painful and I feel so dispirited. I don’t want to stay here in this place any longer. I’d rather go work as a coolie than stay here.” But when I thought this, I remembered how I had previously made a solemn vow to God to expend myself and repay God’s love for as long as I lived. If I really gave up my duty, wouldn’t that vow become just a lie? Wouldn’t I have deceived and betrayed God? But if I stayed here and did my duty, living in a pained, stifling state, I wouldn’t be willing to face the situation God had arranged for me—what was I to do? I was in a dilemma and I cried constantly. Crying, I prayed to God: “Oh, God! I’m so upset. I don’t know how I should be pursuing the truth in this situation, and I don’t know what lessons I should be learning. I ask that You enlighten and guide me, and allow me to understand Your will….”

Afterward, I turned my phone on and listened to a hymn of God’s words. As I listened, some of the lyrics touched my heart: “For many years, the thoughts that people have relied upon for their survival have been corroding their hearts to the point that they have become treacherous, cowardly, and despicable. Not only do they lack willpower and resolve, but they have also become greedy, arrogant, and willful. They are utterly lacking any resolve that transcends the self, and even more, they don’t have a bit of courage to shake off the strictures of these dark influences. People’s thoughts and lives are rotten, their perspectives on believing in God are still unbearably ugly, and even when people speak of their perspectives on belief in God it is simply unbearable to hear. People are all cowardly, incompetent, despicable, as well as fragile. They do not feel disgust for the forces of darkness, and they do not feel love for the light and the truth; instead, they do their utmost to expel them” (“Man’s True Condition of Being Corrupted by Satan” in Follow the Lamb and Sing New Songs). Listening to these words, I suddenly thought: Wasn’t I now living out the ugly life that God had exposed? All day long, I pulled a long, moping face, was pessimistic and despairing, and in my duty I was negative and passive, so much so that I even had the idea to throw down God’s commission and go out and get a job, and I hadn’t even a shred of resolve to pursue the truth and change myself. Only because the thoughts people live by are corroding their hearts do they have these states that God exposes. So exactly what thoughts was I living by? What thoughts had actually been tormenting me so painfully, to the point where I was even going to break my vow and give up my duty? As I contemplated God’s words, I began to calm down and reflect on exactly what I was pursuing and what things I had become fond of. I then thought of a scene in a music video. Written all over it were all kinds of satanic poisons and satanic laws, and three of them were: “I am my own Lord throughout heaven and earth,” “rising above others,” and “One should bring honor to his ancestors.” I suddenly realized that I had always lived by these poisons, and had therefore sought to be treated as important and held in high esteem by other people, and to gain their respect. At the very least, I wanted to be taken seriously, and at best, everyone would like me, admire me, agree with and approve of me. Only that was a life of value and meaning. Only that was the life. If I wasn’t held in high esteem by other people, but instead was seen as unimportant or snubbed, I would feel that life was so painful and meaningless, and that kind of life was so disheartening and degrading. Since I was small, I had always been worshiping and admiring those people with a towering image, always seeking to be someone like them. After I had come to the church to perform my duty, I was still living by Satan’s poisons. These things had become the beliefs I lived by and they had become my motivation and my goal, and no matter what situation I was in, I always worked hard and struggled to achieve this goal. When I had tried my hardest and failed to be seen as important and held in high esteem by other people, I would become despondent and would feel pained and downhearted, so much so that I wanted to give up my duty and betray God. Thoughts of pursuing fame and gain were in firm control of me and were dominating me. I suffered for them and struggled for them, so that all my joys and sorrows were affected by them and controlled by them. They were like phantoms, entwined so tightly around every piece of the deepest part of my soul, that if someone had dared to lay a finger on them, it would have killed me. At that moment, I realized that the direction in which I was pursuing was wrong. I was believing in God and doing my duty not to pursue the truth or repay God’s love, but instead I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to do my duty to satisfy my desire for status, and achieve my ambition and desire to distinguish myself. The enlightenment of God’s words enabled me to have some knowledge of my corrupt disposition of pursuing fame, gain and status, and I came to see clearly my future path. My heart felt very much unburdened. Although I was still bottom of the group, I didn’t feel as pained as I had before, for I knew that it was unimportant whether I was bottom of the group or not, and whether other people looked highly upon me or not was equally unimportant; what was most important was to be able to obey God’s orchestrations and arrangements, seek to practice the truth and satisfy God in all things, live by God’s words, fulfill my own duty well and ultimately earn God’s praise.

God’s Protection – Reflections After the Fire: Only God Is My Salvation

Posted on 10/13/2018 by Our Daily Devotionals

By Aizhong

One day in February last year, while I was doing housework, I heard several neighbors talking in front of my house. One of them said: “Dongsheng’s house, which was in the neighboring village, caught fire, and the fire burned up his two-storied house and all his possessions.” Another said: “Luckily, his wife and son were not at home that day so they were not harmed; otherwise he would have suffered more. Alas! This family are really unlucky to have encountered such a thing!” “Now Dongsheng is crying from worry day in and day out. No one can persuade him to stop crying.” said another. On hearing their words, I immediately thought of my unforgettable experience …

At past 2 a.m. on December 22, 2016, I was suddenly awakened from a sound sleep by the noise of cracking from the living room. I thought: “I have never heard such sound before during a night’s sleep; there must be something wrong.” So I hurried to get out of bed and wake up my granddaughter and grandson, who were sleeping in the same room with me. They quickly rose from the bed, and then as soon as they opened the door to see what was on, they screamed: “Grandma! It’s disastrous! The electrical wire in the living room is on fire. What should we do?” I stepped forward to have a look, and then the stench of burning rubber saluted my nostrils. I saw the room was filled with billows of smoke, and that the electrical wire was sending out white sparks; apart from this, I couldn’t see anything else at all. My grandson and granddaughter cried out in fright: “Grandma! Grandma! What can we do?” I was also trembling with fear at the sudden fire, but with assumed tranquility, I still comforted them: “Children, don’t be afraid. Go downstairs quickly!” At that time, I suddenly remembered that my co-tenant had just put a full tank of gas in the kitchen. I thought, “Now the fire is so strong. If it is not moved out, once it explodes, the fire will burn the whole building, causing harm to others; if so, it will be too terrible! And what’s more, I can’t afford to pay for such huge economic losses.” Thinking about this, I got so anxious and told myself that I had to wake up the other people in the building immediately. However, the more anxious I got, the more I felt it difficult to cry out. Seeing this, my granddaughter began to shout: “Auntie, get up quickly. It’s a fire! Our electrical wire is on fire! Get up quickly!” Then, the other people in the building all got up and dashed out. But at that time my grandchildren and I couldn’t grope our way to the door, because our room was filled with black smoke. At that time, I suddenly thought of my money in the cupboard, so I hastily groped around for the cupboard; when I found the money, I put it into my purse, and took it with me. Then I also thought of the many things in our room, and began to wonder how to throw them out of the windows? Just at that moment, I heard the sound of my co-tenant coming. She tried to go move the gas tank out, but failed to grope her way to the kitchen. Frightened, she cried and said: “Where’s the kitchen? How come I get to the bathroom?” After a while, she finally reached there, and managed to get the gas tank down the stairs. At that moment my heart was a little released. However, the smoke was so thick that we still couldn’t find the door. I was seized with fear, panic, and anxiety, thinking to myself: “What can I do? If we can’t find the door, we will be burnt to death.” At this point, I suddenly remembered that I am a believer in God, and also remembered a sentence of God’s words I often read before: “The greatest wisdom is to look to God and rely on God in all things.” Thereupon I hurriedly cried out to God in my heart: “God, what I encounter today contains Your good intentions. Now the room is filled with billows of black smoke that we can’t find the door. God, all things and matters are in Your hands, and I can only rely on You now. You are the almighty God, and may You guide me to find the way out.” After praying, I felt a bit calmer. At this time, my granddaughter shouted: “Grandma, we have groped our way to the staircase. Quick, this way!” But then I thought of those expensive clothes my daughter bought for me, so I decided to get them out first. Yet my granddaughter cried out: “Grandma, hurry up! Now our lives are in danger, what use will those things be?” Hearing what she said, I realized that this was God reminding me through her. Thereupon, I hastily went outside and managed to grope for the banister. At the time, I was in a panic, and my whole body was trembling with fear uncontrollably. When I started to go downstairs, I suddenly missed my step and fell from the fourth floor to the third floor (it measured about 3 meters). As I rolled down the stairs, I thought: “This time, even if I don’t die, I will be disabled, so how can I run out? I’m finished! It’s all over!” Just when I was worried and fearful, I fell to the landing. After my grandchildren heard the sound, they raised me up crying and asked: “Grandma, grandma, are you OK?” After I stood up and checked myself, I found nothing was seriously wrong with me, except that I had a slight headache and grazed my hands and feet a little without drawing blood. Seeing this, I couldn’t help but think: “I am in my sixties now, yet after falling from the fourth floor to the third floor, I just suffered superficial injuries. This was really God’s wondrous protection.” I kept thanking God in my heart.

salvation prayer, look to God and rely on God in all things

After we went downstairs, where there was a confusion of noises, I breathed heavily and still didn’t fully return back to normal. At that time, some people who lived in the same building surrounded me and asked: “What’s wrong with the electrical wire of your house? How did it catch fire?” Those who knew I had fallen down the stairs said in amazement: “You’ve fallen down from the fourth floor to the third, but you are actually not seriously hurt. What a miracle!” Also, many other people shouted: “We have waited for so long, but why hasn’t the fire department arrived yet to put out the fire?” “Yes! We have called them twice. It’s extremely worrying!” Just then, the fire truck arrived. It took over half an hour to fight the fire, and not long after, the smoke dispersed. At this time, someone said to me: “How terrifying it was! If you had been fast asleep and hadn’t found the fire tonight, the consequences would have been unimaginable. We would have suffered great misfortune.” Now, he turned to the others and continued, “Today we are so lucky that there are no casualties. All right! Everybody! It’s four o’clock, let’s go home and get some sleep.” Then all of us left. Those who lived on the same floor went upstairs with me to see the fire scene in my house. While going upstairs, I wondered what had become of the things in my home. After I got home, to my surprise, I found: Although the fire burned for more than two hours, it only burned a bed in the living room, my co-tenant’s bacon, which weighed dozens of kilograms, and some of her tableware. Apart from that, the electrical wires in the kitchen and living room were destroyed and the window panes in the two rooms burst, while the other rooms were just blackened by smoke. Even more incredible was that our bedrooms were undamaged. At the sight of this scene, the neighbors started talking at once. “It’s really strange! Although the fire burned for so long, it didn’t spread to other rooms, nor did it burn any one. It was Heaven’s protection!” “It is quite rare to see. What a miracle! You must have done good deeds in your previous life, for it is said, ‘Do good things and good things happen.’” “It was really Heaven who saved their family of three.” Hearing what they said, I thought: “Indeed, this is all down to God’s care and protection, just as God’s word says: ‘Almighty God the practical God! You are our strong tower. You are our refuge. We huddle under Your wings, and calamity cannot reach us. This is Your divine protection and care.’” Thinking about this, I said to my neighbors: “You are right. It is true that Heaven cared and protected us today, otherwise my grandchildren and I would have died. I really thank God!” After hearing my words, they all nodded.

After the neighbors all had gone, I silently sat on the side of the bed and replayed the electrical fire in my mind. There was still fear lingering in my heart. I also thought: “We could grope our way out in billows of black smoke, and the fire, which burned for more than two hours, didn’t spread to the bedrooms; all of this was all down to God’s care and protection. I clearly knew in my heart that all this, which was thought to be impossible, is the work of God’s power.” Thinking of this, I turned on my MP5 player and began to read God’s words, where it says: “The heart and spirit of man are held in the hand of God, and all the life of man is beheld in the eyes of God. Regardless of whether or not you believe this, any and all things, living or dead, will shift, change, renew, and disappear according to God’s thoughts. This is how God rules over all things.”

Pondering over God’s words, combining them with what I had experienced just now, I deeply felt the great power and authority of God in ruling all things. All things and matters are in God’s hands, and how things develop is also at the mercy of God. Think about myself. Two o’clock is a time when I am in deep sleep, yet today I was awakened by the sound of fire caused by electricity. This was God’s reminder to me. Moreover, the fire burned for more than two hours, but it didn’t spread to other rooms. Wasn’t this controlled by God? It was completely God’s wondrous protection!

At this point, I suddenly felt pain when I thought about how my heart had strayed far from God since I came to this county to accompany my grandchildren while they studied. I worked two jobs, and indulged in making money. What I thought about all day was making more money; I even put making money first and attending gatherings second, and would attend gatherings only when I had free time. Thinking about such attitude in my belief in God, I felt unworthy to live in God’s presence. However, God didn’t treat me according to my disobedience; instead, when the disaster befell, He still reminded and protected me, allowing me to live peacefully through it. Now I finally realized: No matter how much money I have earned, it can’t help me to avoid disaster. In the face of disaster, wealth and material things are completely useless and can’t save my life. Yet I highly valued money before, how ignorant and foolish I was!

Afterward, I also read God’s word saying: “People spend their lives chasing after money and fame; they clutch at these straws, thinking they are their only means of support, as if by having them they could keep on living, could exempt themselves from death. But only when they are close to dying do they realize how distant these things are from them….”

It was not until I read this passage of God’s words that I realized that the reason why I, after believing in God for many years, could still be obsessed with money was because my view of pursuit had not changed. Indoctrinated with Satan’s thoughts and viewpoints, such as “Without money, you can do nothing” and “Money is first,” and so on, I always thought that man couldn’t live in the world without money and that only having money could bring my heart peace, and thus I placed money before everything else. Actually, the main purpose of my coming to this county was to cook for my grandchildren, and I had no lack of money. But under the domination of my wrong thoughts and viewpoints, I wasn’t satisfied with my current situation, and though I was in my sixties, I still worked two jobs to make more money. To this end, I even put my belief in God to the back of my mind, and didn’t take gatherings seriously. And I only attended them occasionally when I was free. Even in the face of the fire, I still thought of my money and possessions, and could throw away my life in exchange for money. I really cared more about money than life itself. I completely fell for Satan’s trickery, living in Satan’s net, thus becoming a money-mad person. At this time, I called to mind the story of the burning of Sodom as recorded in the Bible. When God sent down fire to destroy Sodom, Lot’s wife, who had great attachment to their property in the city, couldn’t bear to give it up that when fleeing from Sodom she persisted in looking back, even though the angels had told her not to. As a result, the moment she turned, she became a pillar of salt. Wasn’t I the same as Lot’s wife? God’s work of saving man in the last days is short-lived, but I didn’t focus on pursuing the truth and gaining life and yet was fully occupied with making more money. If I continue on that way, then when God’s work has been completed and disasters befall, I certainly can’t receive God’s salvation without truth; then whom can I complain about? At that time, even more money can’t help me to escape the disasters. My encountering this sudden fire accident was indeed worthy of my reflection. In fact, money and material things are all empty and fleeting clouds; when disasters befall, they are all useless. The experience of Dongsheng in the neighboring village is an example. He owned more than 1 million in property, but no matter how much money he had earned, when his house was on fire, it couldn’t help him get the fire under control. He had struggled all his life to make those money yet lost all of it in a fire.

Thank God! Through experiencing this fire, I realized that believing in and worshipping God is a quite important matter, while living for food, clothes, and flesh is devoid of all meaning and value, is empty, and will allow us to gain nothing. When my views of pursuit changed somewhat, I gradually became indifferent to money. Then I gave up one job, and began to put belief in God first, focused on pursuing and practicing the truth, sought to cast off my corrupt disposition to live out the likeness of a true man, and sought to perform my duty as a created being to repay God’s love. Thank God!

How to Treat Bible Prophecies Correctly? Avoid the Pharisees’ Failure

Devotional Topic|How to Treat Bible Prophecies Correctly? Avoid the Pharisees’ Failure

Posted on 11/10/2018 by Our Daily Devotionals

By Wang Wei

Prophecies are abstract and difficult for us to understand.

The Truth Showed Her the Way to Get Along With Others (Part 3)

Christian testimonies|The Truth Showed Her the Way to Get Along With Others (Part 3)

Xiaomo

Soon after, as the duty became more difficult, the four people in Jiandan’s group came across a new problem. While they were checking the articles, they would often come across some issues they didn’t thoroughly understand and sometimes they would get quite worried. When they discussed the issues together, if one person suggested a solution and the other two were all of the same opinion, they would not wait for the fourth person to have their say. Jiandan felt that if the majority held the same view then it should be right, and that by doing this they could be considered to be performing their duty in accordance with principles.

In God’s work of the last days, why does He issue forth so many words of judgment and chastisement?

Gospel Books|In God’s work of the last days, why does He issue forth so many words of judgment and chastisement?

The Answer from God’s Word:

The sins of man were forgiven, and this is because of the work of God’s crucifixion, but man continued to live within the corrupt satanic disposition of old. This being so, man must be completely saved from his corrupt satanic disposition, so that his sinful nature may be completely extirpated, never to develop again, thus enabling the disposition of man to be transformed. This would require man to grasp the path of growth in life, to grasp the way of life, and to grasp the way to change his disposition.

From Suffering Is Emitted the Fragrance of Love

Christian testimonies|From Suffering Is Emitted the Fragrance of Love

January 19, 2015

122

Xiaokai, Jiangxi Province

I’m an ordinary country woman and, because of the feudalistic idea of only valuing male children, I was unable to raise my head in front of others for shame at having borne no son.

A Letter From a Recovered Cancer Patient to Her Sister

 Testimonies| 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.