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.

I Overcame Satan’s Temptation by Relying on God’s Strength (Part 2)

By Cindy

Multiple Hindrances Fail and the Threat of Divorce Is Employed

One day when my husband came home from work, he had completely changed his formerly fierce attitude and said to me, “If you really want to believe in God, I’ll go to church with you. As long as you don’t believe in Almighty God, I’ll go to any church at all with you.” I knew very clearly in my heart that this was Satan tempting me again, so I turned him down and said, “God started His work of the last days a while ago, and so the Holy Spirit’s work also shifted to God’s work of the last days. The churches based on the Age of Grace are lacking the Holy Spirit’s work, and only by keeping up with God’s new work can we receive the sustenance of the living water of life and keep up with the footsteps of the Lamb. It’s just as in the Age of Grace when the Lord Jesus came to do the work of redemption and the Holy Spirit was no longer working within the temple; the Spirit of God was upholding the Lord Jesus’ work, and only those who accepted that were able to receive enlightenment and guidance from the Holy Spirit, and gain the Lord’s salvation. And currently, Christ of the last days—Almighty God—has expressed millions of words of the truth, revealed all the mysteries of the Bible, and has pointed out to mankind the path to achieve dispositional change and be fully saved. We must keep up with God’s footsteps and experience His current work and words to gain the work of the Holy Spirit. The entire religious world is currently in a bleak state—it lost the work of the Holy Spirit some time ago. What good would it do to go back into religious circles to attend services?” After my husband heard me say this he wouldn’t even acknowledge me. I then urged him, “You’re trying everything to hinder me because you don’t understand God’s work. If you just looked into Almighty God’s work of the last days and read more of His words, you would see that they are all the truth and that God’s work truly can transform and save us.”

I Overcame Satan’s Temptation by Relying on God’s Strength (Part 1)

By Cindy

I’m a Christian. If you were to ask me if I’ve encountered any difficulties throughout my journey of faith, I would say that hindrance from family has been the single greatest difficulty that I’ve experienced. This is an issue that many other new believers may be confronted with. Although I experienced weakness and pain in the face of my family’s disruption and suppression, I was able to gain some understanding and discernment of Satan’s evil essence and motives through the enlightenment and guidance of God’s words. I also really deeply experienced that no matter how Satan may hinder or disrupt me, God is always by my side, guiding me and leading me with His words. This allows me to overcome Satan at every turn and live before God.

20. Service of This Kind Is Truly Contemptible

By Ding Ning, Shandong Province

A few days ago, the church leader arranged a change in my duty. I felt a little puzzled: I worked hard here at my duty, so why suddenly change me onto another duty? But then I thought: “Seeing as the church has made this arrangement, I should submit to it.” When it came time to hand over my old duty, I thought, “I need to take this final opportunity to call a meeting with my brothers and sisters, fellowship about the truth, and leave them with a good impression.” Therefore, I met with several deacons, and at the close of our time together, I said, “I have been given a different duty to perform. I hope you will do the church work properly together with the new leader with one heart and one mind.” As soon as the sisters heard me say this, their smiles fell from their faces. Some of them grasped my hands, some of them embraced me, and weeping they said, “You cannot leave us! You cannot abandon us.” The host family sister was especially unwilling to let me go. She said, “It is so good that you are here with us. You are someone who can endure hardship, and you are good at fellowshiping about the truth. No matter when we needed you, you were always there to patiently help us. What will we do when you’re gone?” Seeing their reluctance to part from me, my heart was full of joy and satisfaction, and I comforted them with these words: “Depend more on God. When I can, I will come back and visit you.”

12. A Battle of Life and Death

By Chang Moyang, Henan Province

The words of Almighty God say: “When you rebel against the flesh, there will inevitably be a battle within you. Satan will try and make you follow it, will try and make you follow the conceptions of the flesh and uphold the interests of the flesh—but God’s words will enlighten and illuminate you within, and at this time it is up to you whether you follow God or follow Satan. God asks people to put the truth into practice primarily to deal with the things inside them, to deal with their thoughts, and their conceptions that aren’t after God’s heart. The Holy Spirit touches people inside, and carries out His work within them, and so behind everything that happens is a battle: Every time people put the truth into practice, or put the love of God into practice, there is a great battle, and though all may seem well with their flesh, in the depths of their hearts a life-and-death battle will, in fact, be going on—and only after this intense battle, after a tremendous amount of reflection, can victory or defeat be decided. One does not know whether to laugh or cry” (“Only Loving God Is Truly Believing in God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). Every time I read this passage from God’s words, I ponder the following: Is practicing the truth really that difficult? When people don’t understand the truth, they cannot practice it. Once they have understood it, wouldn’t they just act according to God’s will? Could it really be as serious as “in the depths of their hearts a life-and-death battle will, in fact, be going on”? It wasn’t until later, through my actual experience, that I had a taste that practicing the truth truly is not easy. What God said is the truth and is entirely in line with the facts; it is not even a little exaggerated.

9. A Bit of Understanding of Being Saved

By Lin Qing, Shandong Province

After becoming a Christian I always believed that as long as I put everything aside and expended myself for God, did the work of the church well, I didn’t give up my duty or betray God no matter what tribulations or pain I suffered, and could follow Him until the end, I would be someone God would be pleased with. I thought that I could gain God’s salvation and I would be able to remain. So I gave up my family and fleshly enjoyments, and spent every day rushing around, busy in the church. This is how I came to believe that I had already walked the path of salvation by God, and all I had to do was follow Him to the very end.

8. The Holy Spirit Works in a Principled Way

By Qin Shuting, Shandong Province

For some time, whenever I read the words of God, I never felt the light. I didn’t reflect on the reason for that, but just continued to pray to God, asking Him to enlighten me. But when I read God’s words after that, I still didn’t have any enlightenment. So I thought, “There is a time for God to enlighten each man, so there is no use in trying to rush it.” After that, I unhurriedly plodded along reading God’s words, patiently awaiting God’s enlightenment.

6. God’s Words Led Me Out of the Woods

By Xiao Rui, Sichuan Province

When my duty in The Church of Almighty God was preaching the gospel, while doing this I encountered religious leaders who bore false witness to frantically resist, disturb, and block people’s investigation and acceptance of God’s work in the last days. They even called the police to have them arrest those of us sharing the gospel. As a result, those we were preaching to didn’t dare come into contact with us, and those who had just accepted the gospel were subjected to disruptions and became uncertain about God’s work. Our gospel work was greatly hindered. I felt really anxious when I saw so many brothers and sisters with genuine faith who were hoodwinked and disrupted by the pastors and elders. They were unable to return before God and accept His purification and salvation of the last days. I worked hard every day to share fellowship on God’s words with them to resolve the notions they held regarding God’s work, but after doing this for a period of time, our gospel work still hadn’t taken a turn for the better. I thought: “Evangelical work is so difficult to carry out. It would be so wonderful if God just displayed some miracles and punished those who bear false witness as well as those who seriously resist Him to show to those who have been deceived. Then wouldn’t the work of the gospel advance more quickly? It wouldn’t be so difficult for us to preach the gospel.” This is how this hope came up in my heart every time I encountered difficulties. Later, I read the book of Classic Examples of Punishment for Resisting Almighty God and during fellowship heard some testimonies on God’s signs and wonders, and I felt very glad in my heart. I hoped even more that God would do some things in the areas that I worked in so that our gospel work there could be carried out smoothly. But no matter how I hoped, I still didn’t see God perform any miracles there or do anything to punish evil people. The religious people were still fully resisting God, and the difficulties in our evangelical work were still great. I became negative, thinking: “Why doesn’t God open up a way out for us? Could it be that our faith is inadequate?”

3. Who Knows the Motherly Heart of God?

By Qingxin, Henan Province

In the past, I didn’t understand God’s work of saving mankind, thinking that if someone reveals corruption or commits transgressions in their duty that bring harm to the church’s work, that person will face the retribution they deserve, or that they will be stripped of their duty or be subjected to punishment. Because of this erroneous viewpoint, I was always afraid of slipping up in my work and being dismissed or sent back home, so I thought of a little “trick”: Whenever I did something wrong, I would try my best to not let the leaders know first, and scramble to make up for it myself and do my utmost to make it right. Wouldn’t that then help me hold on to my duty? So every time I gave reports on my work, I would downplay big issues and simply erase the small ones. During the times I was passive I would do my best to cover it up in front of the leaders and present myself as very active and positive, terrified that they would know I was in an abnormal state and think that I could not do the work, and then remove me from my position. That is how I became very carefully guarded, tiptoeing around the leaders and God in everything I did.

2. I Am Unfit to See Christ

By Huanbao, Liaoning Province

Since I first began believing in Almighty God, end-time Christ, I really admired those brothers and sisters who were following along at Christ’s side, who could personally receive Christ’s shepherding and hear His utterances with their own ears. I felt that it would be wonderful if I were able to hear Christ speak myself one day, and it would be even more glorious if I could see Him with my own eyes. But lately, through listening to Christ’s fellowship, I have come to feel deeply in my heart that I am not fit to see Christ.

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.

What Should I Do if My Work Is So Busy That I Shun the Lord?

Hello brothers and sisters of Spiritual Q&A,

I’m a new believer who has recently accepted God’s work. Although I know that, as a Christian, one must attend church gatherings and read God’s words, and I want to practice in accordance with God’s requirements, my work is so busy every day at the moment and I have an active social life. I feel exhausted every day. Although I’ve made some money over the past few years and my living standards have improved, I always feel like I want to make more money in order to provide protection for my family’s future. Therefore, I work very hard every day to make money and I have no time to attend church gatherings or read God’s words. My heart always feels empty and I feel indebted to the Lord. How can I find a balance between my work and my belief in God?

Xiaodong

June 15, 2018

Hello Xiaodong,

This issue puzzled me for a long time as well. Later, by reading God’s words and through the fellowship and support of brothers and sisters, I finally and gradually came to understand God’s will, and I discovered that if I wanted to balance my work with my belief in God, then I had to understand the value and meaning of pursuing the truth, as well as what it is exactly that we work for. Once we have thoroughly understood these truths, we can then make calm decisions regarding attending gatherings and our jobs. Below, I will fellowship a little of my own experiences and knowledge.

The Value and Meaning of Pursuing the Truth

In fact, we all have to work in order to live, but if we have no time to attend church gatherings or read God’s words because we’re too busy with work, then that is at odds with God’s will. The main reason for this is because we have failed to see the meaning and the importance of pursuing the truth. If we understand the value of the truth and we experience the enjoyment, the release and the freedom that come with practicing the truth, then we will want to attend gatherings and read God’s words. The Lord Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). God’s words say, “Whether the words spoken by God are, in outward appearance, plain or abstruse, they are all truths indispensable to man as he enters into life; they are the fount of living waters that enables him to survive in both spirit and flesh. They provide what man needs to stay alive; the dogma and creed for conducting his daily life; the path, goal, and direction through which he must pass in order to receive salvation; every truth that he should possess as a created being before God; and every truth about how man obeys and worships God. They are the guarantee that ensures man’s survival, they are man’s daily bread, and they are also the sturdy support that enables man to be strong and stand up. They are rich in the reality of the truth of normal humanity as it is lived out by created mankind, rich in the truth by which mankind breaks free from corruption and eludes Satan’s snares, rich in the tireless teaching, exhortation, encouragement, and solace that the Creator gives to created humanity. They are the beacon that guides and enlightens men to understand all that is positive, the guarantee which ensures that men will live out and come into possession of all that is righteous and good, the criterion by which people, events, and objects are all measured, and also the navigation marker that leads men toward salvation and the path of light” (“Knowing God Is the Path to Fearing God and Shunning Evil”).

As we live in this world, it won’t do to merely have material things—what we most need is the guidance and the supply of God’s words. Material things can only provide the basic necessities for living and can provide temporary comfort and satisfaction for our flesh. But only the word of God can resolve the difficulties and problems we encounter in our jobs and in our lives, for the word of God is the truth and it can both show us the way to practice and soothe our spirits. Otherwise, though we may be very rich and live a prosperous life, we still feel empty and pained in the deepest recesses of our hearts. For example, we work hard on this earth in order to survive and we come to appreciate how unfair the world is, and how wicked people can be. In our dealings with other people, we all encounter difficulties that we don’t know how to handle, and these difficulties simply cannot be resolved with money or material things. Only by coming before God, attending gatherings, reading God’s words and fellowshiping with brothers and sisters can we understand the truth, be discerning when we encounter issues and thoroughly understand the essences of all manner of different people. Then, when we interact with other people, we will know how to approach them. Furthermore, we are under the dominion of the satanic poisons of “People struggle to go upward, but water flows downward,” and “To be a man is to get ahead.” We focus on pursuing status to make others look up to us in the belief that this is a splendid way to live. When we are without status, we vie with others both openly and behind their backs and we unscrupulously try to usurp their position. And when we obtain status, we are on our guard against others at all times, worrying that someone else will come and replace us and living in extreme suffering. Only through reading God’s words and attending gatherings and fellowshiping the truth with brothers and sisters can we thoroughly understand that fame, fortune and status are ways in which Satan corrupts and harms us. We rack our brains to pursue fame, fortune and status and we will pay any price, and we end up living in unbearable pain, exhausted in both mind and body. Also, the more we pursue fame, fortune and status, all that happens is that we sink deeper and deeper into sin, and our lives cease to have any value or meaning. At the same time, we come to understand from God’s words that, whether us human beings possess status or not, we are just tiny created beings, and the most important things for us to do are to fulfill the duty of a created being, pursue the truth to satisfy God and worship God, and obtain God’s praise and blessings. In this way, our inner satanic outlook is transformed, we no longer concern ourselves with gains and losses for the sake of fame, fortune and status at work, and we no longer try to prevail over others and scheme against them. When someone is better than us at something, we are then able to treat them properly and submit to God’s sovereignty and arrangements, and our hearts naturally become peaceful and at ease, free and liberated. Therefore, God is beside us when we pursue the truth and, no matter what situation we encounter, God is always in our hearts, supporting us, and we have God’s words to steer our course by. We can then calmly face and obey the orchestrations and arrangements of God, and this sense of comfort and peace we feel in our spirits is the only true happiness. It is evident, therefore, that the truth gives us so many blessings, and pursuing the truth is more meaningful than anything else. Making the effort to read God’s words and pursue the truth is the only intelligent thing to do!

Trust the Lord to Provide All That We Need

The Lord Jesus said, “Therefore I say to you, Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they?” (Matthew 6:25–26). “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things” (Matthew 6:31–32). We can see from God’s words that He does not want us to expend too much energy on the basic necessities, but rather He wants us to come more before Him to build a normal relationship with Him and focus on our lives. We don’t need to concern ourselves too much with all the things we need to live, for God will provide them, and all we need to do is submit to God’s orchestrations and arrangements—as long as we have food and clothing, then that is enough. Take the story of the prophet Elijah in the Bible, for example. To avoid being killed, he hid in a mountain valley where there was nothing to eat, yet God gave him food through ravens. In a great drought that lasted for three years, God made the poor widow provide for Elijah when all she had was a tiny bit of oil in a jug and a tiny bit of flour in a jar, and yet they survived three years of famine. And there are many brothers and sisters today who follow God who have a deep appreciation of these words of God. When they take pursuing the truth and practicing the truth as their number one priority, and when they entrust their lives to God and let nature take its course with their work, they discover that God still provides much, more even than they ever imagined.

What Do We Work For?

Perhaps we may all think like this: “Everyone has to have a career in order to live, and must earn money to support one’s family—is this not the proper way to live?” Of course, there’s nothing wrong with earning money and supporting one’s family, but oftentimes we are not working hard and toiling just to support our families, but instead we do it to satisfy the extravagant desires of our flesh. We want to earn even more money so we can buy a house, buy a car and enjoy a high-flying life and thereby win the admiration and esteem of others. For the sake of physical comforts or the admiration and esteem of others, we work extra shifts and work overtime, to the point where we spend all our time and energy on making money. Not only do we then ruin our bodies through exhaustion, but we also have no time at all to come before God. In this way, we unknowingly lose the chance to worship the Lord of creation as created beings.

God’s words say, “In fact, no matter how lofty man’s ideals are, no matter how realistic man’s desires are or how proper they may be, all that man wants to achieve, all that man seeks for is inextricably linked with two words. These two words are vitally important to the life of every person, and these are things Satan intends to instill in man. Which two words are these? They are ‘fame’ and ‘gain.’ Satan uses a very subtle kind of way, a way very much in concert with people’s notions; it is not any kind of radical way. In the midst of unawareness, people come to accept Satan’s way of living, its rules of living, establishing life goals and their direction in life, and in doing so they also unknowingly come to have ideals in life. No matter how high-sounding these ideals in life seem, they are just a pretext that is inextricably linked to fame and gain. … People think that once they have fame and gain, they can then capitalize on them to enjoy high status and great wealth, and to enjoy life. Once they have fame and gain, they can then capitalize on them in their pleasure-seeking and unscrupulous enjoyment of the flesh. People willingly, albeit unknowingly, take their bodies, minds, all that they have, their futures and their destinies and hand them all over to Satan in order to attain the fame and gain they desire. People actually do this without ever a moment’s hesitation, ever ignorant of the need to recover it all. … Once someone is mired in fame and gain, they no longer seek that which is bright, that which is righteous or those things that are beautiful and good. This is because the seductive power that fame and gain have over people is too great, and they become things for people to pursue throughout their lives and even for all eternity without end. Is this not true?” (“God Himself, the Unique VI”).

God’s words are so clear! From when we are little, we are indoctrinated with satanic life axioms, such as “Money isn’t everything, but without it, you can do nothing,” “To be a man is to get ahead,” and “A man leaves his name behind wherever he stays, just as a goose utters its cry wherever it flies.” Under the influence of these axioms, our hearts advocate money, we covet physical pleasures and seek to become top dog, regarding fame, fortune and status as being more important than anything else. Under the dominion of these fallacious ideas, we no longer work purely to be able to support our families, but instead we work seeking to have a career with which we can win the admiration and esteem of others. For this reason, one-by-one we become money-making machines, we live exhausted and in pain, and some people even ruin their own bodies and ultimately pay with their lives. Although we may make some money, yet inside ourselves we often feel empty and helpless, without a hint of peace or joy in our spirits. Furthermore, when we live by the life axioms of Satan and persistently pursue fame and fortune, our hearts grow farther and farther from God and our interest in fulfilling the duty of a created being—believing in God and worshiping God—grows less and less. Some people even come to think that attending church gatherings and reading God’s words interfere with their ability to earn money, and so they stop going to gatherings and they stop reading God’s words, and without them being aware of it, they lose their normal relationship with God. From this, we can see that Satan uses our pursuit of fame and fortune to steal us away from God, to bring us thoroughly under its control and occupation and so that we sink deeper and deeper into the quagmire of sin. Therefore, we must understand that fame and fortune are ways in which Satan deceives, harms and devours us, and the pursuit of fame and fortune is the wrong path to take. Once we can understand and discern our inner wrong views on pursuit, we can then take the correct approach to our work.

In fact, there is no clash between our jobs and our belief in God. So how then should we establish a normal relationship with God in our work?

You Can Experience God’s Work in Your Job

The Lord Jesus said, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). God is a Spirit and we can worship Him and establish a normal relationship with Him in any place and at any time. While we’re at work, though we may be busy with the work at hand, we can still quiet our hearts before God, think of God’s love and salvation, contemplate the truths in God’s words and learn to practice and experience God’s words. God will then be with us, helping us to resolve our difficulties and guiding us on how to conduct ourselves as human beings. When we establish a normal relationship with God and we obtain the work of the Holy Spirit, our hearts derive comfort and will feel peace and joy. In this way, even though we may tire from our work and we may find it hard to make time, we can still face it all with a positive attitude.

Let me tell you a little of my own experiences. When I’d only just started to believe in God, I believed that work was work and faith in God was faith in God. I believed that attending gatherings was the only proper way to worship God and I simply had no idea that I could practice God’s words when I was at work. At that time, I was working in a restaurant and it was very busy. I also had several church gatherings to attend per week and I never felt like I had enough time. I felt like I didn’t have the time to read God’s words nor any opportunity to experience His words. While I was at work, I felt like the time dragged by and was very dull. Later at a church gathering, a sister read me a passage of God’s words that concerned my problem: “Because in order to walk in God’s way, we cannot let go of anything to do with ourselves, or anything that happens around us, even the little things. No matter whether we think we should pay attention to it or not, as long as any matter is facing us we should not let it go. All of it should be viewed as God’s test for us. How’s this kind of attitude? If you have this kind of attitude, then it confirms one fact: Your heart fears God, and your heart is willing to shun evil. If you have this desire to satisfy God, then what you put into practice isn’t far from the standard of fearing God and shunning evil. There are often those who believe that the matters which aren’t paid much heed by people, the matters that aren’t usually mentioned—these are merely minor trifles, and they don’t have anything to do with putting truth into practice. When these people are faced with just such a matter, they don’t give it much thought and let it slide. But in actual fact, this matter is a lesson for which you should be studying, a lesson on how to fear God, on how to shun evil. Moreover, what you should be even more concerned about is knowing what God is doing when this matter arises to face you. God is right at your side, observing every one of your words and deeds, observing your actions, your mind changes—this is God’s work” (“How to Know God’s Disposition and the Result of His Work”). By reading God’s words, I came to know that the people, events and things we encounter every day, whether big or small, are all meticulously arranged by God for our sake. God wants to trial us and test us through these people, events and things to see whether or not we revere Him, whether or not we can practice in accordance with His words in all things, and whether or not we have entered into all kinds of truths. I was never aware before that I could experience God’s words in the people, events and things around me and I therefore missed many chances to gain the truth. I decided that I must focus on bringing God’s words into my real life, I must experience and practice God’s words at work and I must pursue the truth in the environments that God arranges so that my life may gradually mature.

One day, I was in the restaurant writing the menu when the manager asked me to add more dishes to customers’ bills so that we could charge them more. I knew that the Lord said: “But let your communication be, Yes, yes; No, no: for whatever is more than these comes of evil” (Matthew 5:37). The Lord asked that we be honest and call a spade a spade. If we lie for the sake of profit, then we are engaging in deception and we will not earn God’s praise. I knew that I should not tell lies to cheat the customers, but I worried about displeasing the manager so that he would make things difficult for me or cut my pay, and if I didn’t handle it well then I could even lose my job. As I worked my way through this dilemma, I suddenly realized that God had permitted this issue to befall me and that God was right beside me watching to see what I would do with the truth and watching to see whether or not I would practice God’s words and be an honest person. And so, I prayed to God and became willing to forsake my flesh and practice the truth. I didn’t care how people would treat me or whether or not I would lose my job, but instead I wanted to focus on living before God and establishing a normal relationship with God. After praying, my heart felt much more at ease and I found the resolve to practice the truth and satisfy God. Unexpectedly, just as I was truthfully writing up the menu for the customers, though the manager said nothing, he later went and told the restaurant owner that I was honest and trustworthy. I witnessed God’s wondrous deeds and I experienced the feelings of peace and security, of release and freedom that comes from practicing the truth, and those are feelings that no amount of money can buy. In my work after that, I always paid close attention to the people, events and things around me and I focused on experiencing and practicing God’s words, and gradually my relationship with God normalized and I felt much more relaxed at work.

Brother Xiaodong, having now given fellowship about how to find a balance between work and belief in God, I trust that you will now have some paths to follow. In work, we should let nature take its course and not struggle for the sake of our own fame and fortune—it is enough to have food and clothing. At the same time, we must put our heart into reading God’s words and pursuing the truth, we must arm ourselves more with the truth, train with and practice God’s words in our lives and allow God’s words to become the principles of our lives and our conduct. In this way, we will gradually be able to understand the truth and come to know God more and more. At the same time, we will obtain inner liberation and freedom as well as the joy that comes from having God beside us. May the Lord bless you!

Xiaoming of Spiritual Q&A

June 17, 2018

There Are Actually Principles for Making Offerings to God

Li Hui

Because of some trouble at home, in 1997 I began to believe in the Lord Jesus. Afterward, through practicing the Lord’s words, there was no longer any arguing at home. The Lord saved my family, saved me from my pain and gave me hope in life.

That Was Close! I Nearly Let the Lord Pass Me By (Part 2)

By Weilian, United States

Seeking Jesus’ Return: Why Would God Incarnate of the Last Days Be a Woman?

After that I reached out to Brother Zhao online and told him the source of my confusion. “The Bible says, ‘He that has the bride is the bridegroom’ (John 3:29). And ‘Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife has made herself ready’ (Revelation 19:7). It’s written that the ‘bridegroom’ will marry the ‘bride’, so doesn’t the ‘bridegroom’ refer to the Lord being male when He returns? However, you testify that the Lord has returned as a woman. This is something I don’t understand. Brother, can you share fellowship on this?” Brother Zhao responded, “I used to think that since the Bible says that the bride will adorn herself to welcome the bridegroom, when the Lord returns He will certainly be male and couldn’t possibly be a woman. So is this understanding of the prophecy actually accurate, or not? If it’s as we take it, when God comes He has to be a man, and only a man can be called the ‘bridegroom’ so the ‘bride’ without a doubt refers to a woman, then which of our brothers, who are male, could become a ‘bride’ and attend the wedding banquet of the Lamb? Wouldn’t they all be cast out by the ‘bridegroom’ into the darkness, weeping? God is the God of all creatures; He is the God of all men and all women, so how could He only save women and not men? That is to say, our concept that the ‘bridegroom’ should be a man comes from looking at things from a worldly viewpoint. It’s just a literal understanding of the Bible, our own notions and imaginations. It is not remotely in line with the true meaning of what was prophesied in the Bible, and it is even less in line with the truth.

That Was Close! I Nearly Let the Lord Pass Me By (Part 1)

By Weilian, United States

Not long after I finished high school, I was tricked into joining a pyramid scheme by a friend. I really wanted to get out of it, but there was just no way for me to do it. I was helpless and in pain and felt that my future was dark, devoid of light—I was totally lost. In July 2016, in the midst of my pain and helplessness a copy of the Bible made its way into my hands; I learned that God created the world and human beings. I was moved by the Lord Jesus’ redemption of mankind and silently said to God, “If you’re really such a loving, merciful God in this universe, in this world, I ask You to help me escape from my pain and lead me to a place where I can change my fate, a place full of hope.” I made this entreaty often, and amazingly, less than one month later I was on my way to the United States.

If Eastern Lightning Is the True Way, Why Is It Oppressed?

Hello, brothers and sisters of Spiritual Q&A,

I’ve been looking into the way of Eastern Lightning for some time now. By reading Almighty God’s words and watching The Church of Almighty God’s gospel films and videos, I’ve learned about the purpose of God’s three stages of work, the mysteries of God’s incarnations, the significance of God taking on a different name in each age, the inside story of the Bible, what a wise virgin is and what a foolish virgin is, what truly being raptured is, how God’s judgment of the last days cleanses, transforms, and perfects people, plus what people’s destinations and outcomes will be. I’ve come to understand so many truths I never did before and my faith and love for God have been restored. I’ve had a lot of spiritual enjoyment. I’ve seen that Almighty God’s words are the truth; they possess authority and might and couldn’t be uttered by a human being. They are utterances that come from the Holy Spirit. I feel that Eastern Lightning must be the true way. However, some of the pastors and elders in religious circles say that if it were the true way, why would it be so suppressed, persecuted, and condemned by the CCP? I’m not clear on this and want to do more seeking.

Yang Guang

Man Can Only Be Saved Amidst the Management of God

Everyone feels that the management of God is strange, because people think that the management of God is completely unrelated to man. They think that this management is the work of God alone, is God’s own business, and so mankind is indifferent to the management of God. In this way, the salvation of mankind has become vague and indistinct, and is now nothing but empty rhetoric. Even though man follows God in order to be saved and enter the beautiful destination, man has no concern for how God conducts His work. Man does not care for what God plans to do and the part he must play in order to be saved. How tragic that is! The salvation of man is inseparable from the management of God, much less can it be divorced from the plan of God. Yet man thinks nothing of the management of God, and thus grows ever more distant from God. Consequently, increasing numbers of people are becoming followers of God who don’t know things that are closely related to the salvation of man such as what creation is, what belief in God is, how to worship God, and so on. At this point, then, we must have a talk about the management of God, so that each follower may clearly know the significance of following God and believing in Him. They will also be able to choose the path that they should tread more accurately, instead of following God solely to gain blessings, or avoid disaster, or become successful.

Beholding the Appearance of God in His Judgment and Chastisement

Like the hundreds of millions of others who follow the Lord Jesus Christ, we abide by the laws and commandments of the Bible, enjoy the abundant grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and gather together, pray, praise, and serve in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ—and all this we do under the care and protection of the Lord. We are often weak, and we are also often strong. We believe that all of our actions are in accordance with the teachings of the Lord. It goes without saying, then, that we also believe ourselves to be on the path of obedience to the will of the Father in heaven. We long for the return of the Lord Jesus, for His glorious descent, for the end of our life on earth, for the appearance of the kingdom, and for everything as it was foretold in the Book of Revelation: The Lord arrives, He brings disaster, He rewards the good and punishes the wicked, and He takes all those who follow Him and welcome His return up to meet Him in the air. Whenever we think of this, we cannot but be overcome with emotion and filled with gratitude that we were born in the last days and have the good fortune to witness the coming of the Lord. Though we have suffered persecution, we have got in return “a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” What a blessing! All of this longing, and the grace bestowed by the Lord, render us constantly sober unto prayer, and make us more diligent in gathering together. Maybe next year, maybe tomorrow, and again, maybe within a space of time shorter than man can conceive, the Lord shall suddenly descend, appearing among a group of people who have been waiting for Him with eager solicitude. We rush to get ahead of each other, none willing to fall behind, all for the sake of being in the first group to behold the appearance of the Lord, of being among those who are raptured. We have given everything, heedless of the cost, for the coming of this day, some leaving their jobs, some abandoning their families, some renouncing marriage, and some even donating all of their savings. What selfless acts of devotion! Such sincerity and loyalty is surely beyond even the saints of ages past! As the Lord bestows grace upon whomever He pleases, and shows mercy to whomever He pleases, our acts of devotion and of expending, we believe, have long since been beheld by His eyes. So, too, have our heartfelt prayers reached His ears, and we trust that the Lord will give us recompense for our dedication. Moreover, God had been gracious toward us before He created the world, and the blessings and promises He has given to us no one can take away. We are all planning for the future, and as a matter of course have made our dedication and expending into counter chips or capital to exchange for being raptured to meet the Lord in the air. What is more, we have, without the slightest hesitation, placed ourselves on the throne of the future, to preside over all nations and all peoples, or to reign as kings. All this we take as a given, as something to be expected.

The Principles That Must Be Understood for Serving God

People fulfilling their duties of serving God is not doing their own work, but rather they are doing the work that God has commissioned. To do the work that God has commissioned, it must be done in accordance with God’s requirements in order to satisfy God’s will. If it is their own work, then people can do it according to their own will. They can do it however they like, and other people have no right to interfere. For example, if you are an official in the government, then you would have to work according to the country’s laws in order to be retained. If you work in a factory, you would have to work according to the factory’s rules in order to get paid. In the same way, if you work on God’s commissions in the house of God, you have to do it in accordance with God’s requirements and God’s words in order to not be eliminated. This is like the Chinese idiom, “If you do not work according to your employer’s commands, you wouldn’t be rewarded even if you die from exhaustion.” Now, many people who are working as leaders still do not understand this principle. These kinds of people are truly foolish, ignorant, and lacking in knowledge.

Several Principles for Leading Non-Religious New Believers

God’s salvation of people is not limited to those who are already religious or are outsiders. As long as a person is willing to accept God’s work, is able to eat and drink God’s words and seek truth, then they are a suitable target for God’s salvation. God’s will is such that all those who can accept the work of Almighty God and attain purification are those who shall attain God’s salvation. There is no seniority among believers when practicing faith in God. As long as someone seeks truth and accepts God’s judgment and chastisement—thereby achieving transformation in his or her life disposition—then they are someone perfected by God. Therefore, mankind’s conceptions, imaginings or delineations about God are all ridiculous. God is righteous; God does not treat anyone with preference. To nurture and give sustenance to non-religious believers—truly bringing them into God’s words and helping them to enter into all truths—is God’s requirement, and this is also God’s commission to the leaders and workers of God’s house. All those who have prejudice against or exclude non-religious new believers, all those who muddle through the work of nurturing and giving sustenance to non-religious new believers, are all servants of Satan and they are all interrupting and disturbing God’s work. This is entirely the revelation of mankind’s satanic nature that opposes God. This must be clearly discerned.

Principles for Establishing a Church and Managing Church Life

1. Principles for Establishing a Church

The principles for establishing a church are: So long as there is a group of people (around 20) who have truly accepted God’s work, who request to formally join the church, and who are willing to fulfill their duties, then a church can be established. If there are around 10 new believers who ask to have gatherings, a gathering group can first be set up, but a church cannot be established. If the new believers have not formally recognized and accepted the true way while they investigate it, then a church should not be established. The establishment of a church should be done in person by a church leader, a gospel preaching deacon or a nurturing deacon. Before establishing a church, it is most critical to first clearly communicate how church leaders and deacons are elected. After the new believers have all understood the principles for electing leaders and deacons, an election can then be held. After the church leader and deacons have been elected, the person responsible for establishing the church shall preside over and hold a prayer meeting during which they should formally announce the establishment of the church, announce who are to be the church leaders and deacons, and then begin to pray. Everyone shall pray before God and declare that they formally believe in Almighty God and are joining the church. They should also declare that they thoroughly accept and submit to God’s work, will seek truths to attain God’s salvation, will exalt God and bear witness for God to repay God’s love and spend their whole life for God. They may also relate their wishes, aspirations and innermost thoughts to God. After God’s chosen people have finished their prayers, the church will then have been established, and the leaders and deacons may officially begin leading the church life.