39. It Is So Important to Obey the Work of the Holy Spirit

By Xiaowei, Shanghai City

Some time ago, even though I always received some inspiration and benefit when a sister who performed duties with me shared the enlightenment she had attained while reading the word of God, I also always had the lingering sense that she was showing off. I would think to myself, “If I respond to her right now, won’t I be pandering to her? In that sense, will I not then seem lesser than her?” As a result, I refused to bring up my own views in fellowship or comment on any of the thoughts that she shared. One time, my sister, having received some insights from reading a particular passage of God’s words, felt that there was something wrong with our states and asked me if I would be willing to fellowship with her on that passage of God’s words. As soon as she asked, all these thoughts and feelings of resentment floated to the surface: “You just want to testify about yourself, to have an audience to preach to. Why should I fellowship with you?” I even went so far as to skip out on a meeting so I wouldn’t have to hear her. After a while, I felt a heavy weight in my heart, I knew something was wrong with my state, but I couldn’t think of a good way to resolve my inner conflict. All I could do was to fully invest myself in my duties, read the word of God, and sing the hymns to distract myself from these negative feelings. However, whenever I had to face the current situation, the same corrupt disposition would rise in my heart—things were getting worse, not better—and I hadn’t a clue how to break free from it.

36. Reflections on Being Replaced

By Yi Ran, Shandong Province

Several days ago, our church replaced a leader. As I did not understand the principle behind the church’s revision of personnel, a conception arose within me: The sister that was replaced was very good at both receiving and fellowshiping the truth, and could be open about her own expressions of corruption. How could someone who pursued the truth so much be replaced?

34. Why Haven’t I Changed After So Many Years of Faith?

By Jinru, Henan Province

Not long ago, whenever a brother or sister pointed out my failings or did not heed my opinion I was either quietly unconvinced or directly refuted it. I regretted my actions later, but when faced with these things, I couldn’t help but reveal my corrupt disposition. I was deeply troubled by this, and thought: “Why is it that others’ words can shame me into anger? And why has my corrupt disposition not changed a bit despite eight years of following God?” I became awash in anxiety, so I brought my confusion in front of God; I prayed to God and sought from Him many times, asking Him to enlighten me to be able to know the root of why my corrupt disposition had not changed.

31. What Is the Nature of God’s Love?

By Siqiu, Heilongjiang Province

God’s words say: “If you’ve always been very loyal and loving toward Me, yet you suffer the torment of illness, the impoverishment of life, and the abandonment of your friends and relatives or endure any other misfortunes in life, then will your loyalty and love for Me still continue?” (“A Very Serious Problem: Betrayal (2)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). Whenever I read this demand that God has of man, I feel an inexpressible sadness, and think: “O God, how can You allow those that are loyal to You and love You to meet with such misfortune? The man used by the Holy Spirit previously gave a fellowship that said, ‘God’s last demand of man is loving and sincere.’ How should we understand this?” These words had always puzzled me.

30. The Work of God Is So Wise

By Shiji, Anhui Province

Normally, when attending co-workers’ meetings, my leader would often preach about the experiences of people who failed in their service to God, and would ask us to learn lessons from their experiences and to take them as a warning. For example, some leaders always preached letters and doctrines when they gave sermons or fellowshiped. They were unable to preach real knowledge of the truth and they were unable to perform practical work, with the result that they served as leaders for years without moving the work of the church forward; the church work almost came to a complete standstill, and they became false leaders and were sifted out by God. When performing their duties, some leaders always showed themselves off, exalted themselves and testified to themselves, and worked to protect their status, and in the end, such leaders led people before themselves, and became antichrists to be expelled. Some leaders showed too great a consideration for their own flesh, coveting comforts and never doing any real work. Such leaders were like parasites in the church who coveted the blessings of status, and in the end, they were exposed and weeded out. Hearing these examples of failure, I couldn’t help but question: “Is God not almighty? Given that these leaders were perpetrating evil and resisting God as they worked and were causing loss to the church’s work, why didn’t God step in sooner to expose and weed them out? In this way, would not the life of the brothers and sisters and the church’s work suffer less loss?” I was beset with this question.

25. I Have Seen My True Colors

By Xiaoxiao, Jiangsu Province

Due to the needs of the church’s work, I was transferred to another church, which was in a frail state, to fulfill my duty. At the time, the gospel work at that place was at a low ebb, and the states of brothers and sisters were generally not very good. But because I was touched by the Holy Spirit, I still took on everything that I was entrusted with, full of confidence. I would get up early and stay up late every day, busying myself in the church so that I could do my work well. After a period of time, the church’s work was taking a turn for the better. Seeing this, I couldn’t help but become quite self-satisfied. I felt that I was all right, that I really took on a burden in fulfilling my duty, and that I was full of the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. I felt that I was full of courage and resolve in my work. I believed myself able to perform the job well. I was living mired in self-satisfaction and self-admiration.

24. God’s Words Have Awakened Me

By Miao Xiao, Shandong Province

In the past, I used to always think that God’s words “a puppet and traitor who flees from the great white throne” were referring to those who accept God’s work in the last days but who then retreat; to me, they were all people who weren’t willing to endure the pain of being judged and chastised. Therefore, whenever I saw brothers and sisters retreat for whatever reason, my heart would be filled with contempt toward them, thinking: “There goes another puppet and traitor fleeing from the great white throne who shall receive God’s punishment!” Each time this happened, I felt I was behaving properly in accepting God’s judgment and was not far from receiving God’s salvation.