Rising Up Through Dark Oppression

Mo Zhijian Guangdong Province

I was born in a poor, remote mountain area where we have burned incense and worshiped Buddha for many generations. There are Buddhist temples all over the land where all the families would go to burn incense; no one had ever believed in God. In 1995, my wife and I were in another part of the country where we believed in the Lord Jesus; after we returned we began sharing the gospel and the number of people who accepted it slowly grew to over 100 people. Because more and more people were believing in God, it alarmed the local government. One day in 1997, the police summoned me to go to the local police station, where the chief of the County Public Security Bureau, the chief of the National Security Bureau, the chief of the Bureau of Religion and the head of the police station as well as a few police officers were waiting for me. The chief of the Public Security Bureau asked me: “Why do you believe in God? Who do you have contact with? Where did the Bibles come from? Why don’t you go to the church for gatherings?” I said: “People were created by God, all the sunlight, air, and water are created by God; it is the law of heaven and earth that people believe in God and worship Him. The national constitution also expressly stipulates that citizens have freedom of religion; why don’t you permit us to freely believe in God?” The chief of the Bureau of Religion said: “There are limits to religious freedom, just like a little bird inside a cage; even though its wings and feet are not bound, it can only move within the cage.” When I heard him speak these fallacies, I became indignant and angrily said: “Then the national government is lying to its people!” When they heard me say this, they knew that they were wrong and didn’t have anything to say, so they just let me go home. At that time, I wasn’t aware of the substance of the CCP government’s persecution of believers until 1999 when I accepted Almighty God’s work of the last days. Through reading God’s words and experiencing even more cruel persecution from the CCP government was I able to see clearly that the CCP was the embodiment of Satan the evil spirit; it was the enemy of God as spoken of in the Bible: “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9).

Do You Know What Principles You Should Understand When 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.

(Source: Depositphotos)

I remember the first time I went to a meeting at a church. The pastor read chapter 12, verses 1 to 8 from the Gospel of John, and he preached about Mary anointing the Lord Jesus with perfumed oil, as well as the offering made by the poor widow and, after I’d heard these stories, I felt very moved. The pastor said to us: “Brothers and sisters, in our belief in the Lord, we must be like Mary and the poor widow, and we must make more offerings to the Lord. The poor widow made an offering to the Lord of her money for food, and Mary used a jar of very valuable nard to anoint the Lord. That is to say, Mary took the best thing she possessed, the most valuable thing, and offered it up to the Lord, and this kind of action is what the Lord finds most acceptable and praiseworthy. Therefore, the more money we offer, the more treasures we will accumulate in heaven. People who do this are most blessed by the Lord, and only people like this can receive a hundredfold in this life and gain eternal life in the world to come….” After the meeting, I saw many brothers and sisters walk over to the offering box and put money inside, and I thought: “The Lord Jesus died nailed upon the cross so that mankind could be redeemed, and He has now saved me from my pain, so I should make more offerings to the Lord to repay His love. From now on, I’ll be like the poor widow and Mary, and love the Lord by offering my money. By doing this, the Lord will be gladdened and the pastor will like me too.”

A Christian’s Diary: The Misunderstanding Between My Mother and Me Has Finally Been Resolved(2)

January 19, 2018 Friday Clear Skies

When I thought about my interactions with my mother during this time, I realized that because of my corrupt disposition, I had suffered quite a lot and also made her feel restrained in all respects. I felt it was time to resolve this situation. Today, I went up to my mother’s side and finally had the courage to tell her something straight from my heart, “Mother, these days I have not properly communicated God’s words with you. I have relied on my corrupt disposition to interact with you. I have not treated you as a sister. I have always treated you as my mother. I thought no matter what tone of voice I used to tell you things, you would not take it to heart, you would not become angry at me, you would not hold a grudge against me and you would not turn your back on me. I was not considerate of your feelings when speaking to you. I have hurt you. Only after I had read God’s words did I realize that I was lacking in humanity. I know I was wrong. From now on, I will not demand that you listen to me. I must forsake my flesh, put the truth into practice and live out a normal humanity. Let us treat each other as if we were sisters. When we encounter a situation, we should seek the truth and principles. We should point out each other’s problems and help each other …” The more I said, the more my heart felt guilt. I could see that I was really lacking the rationality of a normal humanity. My mother also said some things that were from her heart, “I’m also corrupt. I stubbornly maintained my own perspective and ways of doing things. Even if I knew what you said was correct, I would not do it. I thought that I had been like this almost my entire life. You always requested that I pay a little more attention to hygiene, yet I did not take it seriously. That was not correct. We are mother and daughter in terms of our flesh. But, in terms of our spirit, we are siblings. I should accept your suggestions when they are right.” When I heard my mother say these heartfelt things to me, I could feel that our relationship had gotten a little better. My heart felt peaceful and happy. I could not help but be grateful, “Thank You God! O God, it’s so wonderful to have Your guidance!”

A Christian’s Diary: The Misunderstanding Between My Mother and Me Has Finally Been Resolved

Su Ping

January 8, 2018 Monday Cloudy

Recently, my mother’s health has not been good. It is not very convenient for her to leave the house. Our church leader was afraid that this would interfere with her attending meetings. As a result, he asked me to have meetings with my mother at home. Even though I did not say anything when I heard him say this, inside, I was not very happy. In a flash, the unhappy incidences between my mother and me that occurred in the past appeared in my mind like scenes from a movie.

My mother is old now and her memory is poor. She is often forgetful when she does things. Sometimes, she forgets what I told her to do and thus, I have to repeatedly remind her. I am a very neat and tidy person, yet, I do have quite a temper. My mother is a relatively sloppy and messy person. After she finishes eating, she frequently forgets to clear the crumbs of food from the table and the floor. I find this particularly hard to bear. Since I disapprove of my mother’s habits, I frequently get peeved off and am involved in a cold war with her, and at times I even lose my temper at her, but she never changes.

Each time we eat, my mother nags a lot. If this goes on for a long time, I get a bit impatient. Sometimes, just as I am about to start eating, my mother begins to nag. When this occurs, I cannot help but become agitated. I try to repress my temper but the result is that I end up saying something quite cold: “Eat your food. Don’t talk so much.” After many of these exchanges, I started to believe that no matter how much I say, my mother will not change. In my heart, I firmly believe that my mother is someone that is just hard to get through to. Previously, I was secretly very happy that I did not need to have meetings with my mother because I no longer needed to listen to her talk endlessly. I never would have thought that this situation would change today. This was something that I really did not want to face, and it’s really hard to obey. However, I then thought, “My mother is sick and she is unable to go out by herself to attend meetings. I cannot just leave her behind and not take care of her. I have to have meetings with her.”

Testimony of a Christian: How She Overcame the Temptation to Have an Affair (Part 2)

By Xiyue, Henan Province

Over the next few days, although Jingru had not fallen into Satan’s temptation and she knew that she could never be with Wang Wei, her meeting with Wang Wei that evening and his sincere confession replayed in her mind over and over like a scene in a movie …

When Wang Wei called her again, Jingru’s heart was a bit shaken, and she said to herself: “The two of us cannot get together, but we can still be ordinary friends. So long as I keep my feet so that I don’t do anything that goes too far, then it’ll be fine.” She then answered the call from Wang Wei and chatted with him. As time went on, Jingru often thought about whether or not Wang Wei would call, to the point where her heart began to look forward to it. Every time he called, Jingru would comfort herself before answering the phone very naturally…. As things progressed, the calls between Wang Wei and Jingru became more frequent. But after every call, Jingru would feel uneasy and pained, and she realized that her actions were not conforming to God’s will, and that her feelings of pain and unease were precisely God reminding her and reproaching her. She then immediately went before God and prayed: “O God! I know I shouldn’t keep in touch with Wang Wei, but I can’t control my own heart. I can’t help but indulge myself and slide down toward sin. O God! I don’t want my actions in this matter to displease You. O God! Please save me!”

Testimony of a Christian: How She Overcame the Temptation to Have an Affair (Part 1)

By Xiyue, Henan Province

      One evening, Jingru was tidying her place.

“Ring, ring.” The phone began to ring. She answered it and a strange yet familiar voice sounded in her ear: “Hello! It’s Wang Wei. You’re home!”

      “Wang Wei?” Jingru was somewhat astonished: Why was he calling her now after so many years?

      “Yes … I’m home. What’s up?” asked Jingru in surprise.

      “Long time no see. I’d like to take you for a ride. I’m on my way to your place and will arrive soon. Wait outside your door for me!” said Wang Wei.

      After she’d hung up, Jingru’s heart began to race, and her thoughts immediately returned to those days at school …

     Jingru had not only grown to be pretty, but she also got good grades, and many boys in the school, including Wang Wei, pursued her. In order to get himself into Jingru’s world, Wang Wei employed all kinds of ways to get closer to her, like passing messages, writing letters and giving her presents to express his feelings for her. But Jingru was an obedient, sensible girl, and she didn’t want her studies to be affected or to disappoint her parent’s expectations of her because of some emotional distraction, and so she always adopted an indifferent attitude in the face of Wang Wei’s persistent pursuit. But Wang Wei didn’t give up just because Jingru gave him the cold shoulder, and several years later Wang Wei was still pursuing her just as he’d always done. His persistence began ever so slightly to move Jingru’s heart, but she was only slightly moved. Later, a few female classmates began to appear around Wang Wei, and they would follow him around all day long. Jingru’s tranquil heart began to surge, and she thought she could use this circumstance to test Wang Wei for a semester; if he remained unmoved by these girls and kept pursuing her, then she would relent to his pursuit …

How Should We Treat Biblical Prophecies About the Second Coming? – Bible Study

　　By Chenyan, Shandong

　　There are a lot of prophecies of the Lord’s return in the Bible. Every Christian is familiar with them. Especially we who are anxiously expecting the Lord’s return even want to properly understand and know the prophecies of the Lord’s return, so that we can meet the returned Lord and realize the desire of entering into the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, it is very important how we treat the prophecy, which will directly involve whether we can meet the returned Lord.

　　I recalled when the Lord Jesus came to do His work, the Israelites of that time had been waiting eagerly for the Messiah’s coming according to the prophecies of the Old Testament. They saw the prophecies in the Bible, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given: and the government shall be on his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, on the throne of David, and on his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from now on even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this” (Isaiah 9: 6-7). “But you, Bethlehem Ephratah, though you be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall he come forth to me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2). According to the letters of the prophecies in the Bible, and their imaginations and inferences concerning the coming of the Messiah, they defined that the Lord’s name was Messiah when He came and He would definitely be born in the imperial palace, looking majestic, imposing and extraordinary. And He would come to lead them to break away from the rule of the Roman government as the king of Israel, like David.

Pledging My Life to Devotion

Zhou Xuan Shandong Province

　　On April 3, 2003, I went with a sister to visit a new believer. This new believer had still not been set in the truth and ended up reporting us. As a result, four evil plain-clothes police came and aggressively forced the two of us into their vehicle and took us to the police station. On the road, my heart was extremely nervous, because on my person was a pager, a partial list of names of members of our church, and a notepad. I was afraid that the evil police would discover these things and I was more afraid that my brothers and sisters would call my pager, therefore I continually and urgently prayed to God in my heart: “God, what am I supposed to do? I ask You to provide a way out for me and not let these things fall into the hands of the evil police.” Following this, I took the things from my bag and quietly moved them into my waist and said that my stomach was not feeling good and I had to use the restroom. The evil police swore at me saying: “You are full of shit!” Upon my repeated requests, they had a female police officer watch me as I went to the bathroom. When I removed my belt, the pager fell out and I easily picked it up and threw it into the sewer pipe. Because I was afraid at the time that the female officer would discover the bag in my waist, I didn’t throw it in the pipe, but rather placed it in the garbage can; I thought that I would use the bathroom again at night and then throw it in the toilet. As it turned out, I never went back to that bathroom. It turned out that the evil police found the bag I had thrown away in the garbage can.

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

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

Only by Satisfying God’s Final Requirements Can One Be Saved

God’s Ten Requirements for His Chosen People

　　The practical standard of entry into life is to satisfy God’s requirements, and the greatest reality of man’s entry into life is to satisfy God’s final requirements. Regardless of how deeply a man has entered into life, if he fails to meet God’s requirements and lacks real testimonies in his trials, the reality he has is empty. All of those who believe in God know that entry into life refers to entry into the truth, and that only when one has entered into the truth will he have reality. Because the truth is the life of man, only he who truly understands the truth and lives out the truth is a man who has entered into reality. Then what is the greatest reality of entry into life? Anyone who pursues salvation must know it clearly. Most people only pursue to have entry in certain aspects, but they have not truly entered into God’s requirements, especially the most critical requirements of God. What do you call this? This is called “giving up a goose for a feather.” Does barely having entry in trivial matters mean that you are standing firm in your testimony? Does it mean you are obedient to God? Does it mean you are faithful to God? Does it mean you are someone who loves God? If you fail to achieve these results, such entry of yours is worthless. If you are seemingly obedient in minor aspects but are not truly obedient to God’s will and cannot satisfy God in His requirements, this kind of entry of yours is meaningless. The work of God is to change man’s life disposition through judgment and chastisement so as to achieve the goal of saving man from the influence of Satan. Since this is the work that changes man’s life disposition, there are criteria for receiving salvation. Some major requirements that God finally makes of man are the criteria for receiving salvation. Now we all know some of God’s requirements, which are actually His major requirements for His chosen people. The first requirement is what God required of us at the initial stage of His work. Whoever expends himself for God wholeheartedly shall receive His blessings. This is God’s earliest requirement for His chosen people. Whoever expends himself for God wholeheartedly shall be greatly blessed by Him. The second one is that God requires all those to be made perfect by Him to undergo refinement, to have the refined faith. This is God’s second requirement for His chosen people. Whoever believes in God must have true faith in God. Faith becomes true after refinement, which is like that of Job, who was able to stand firm regardless of what trials befell him. The third requirement is that God requires us to follow Peter’s example, to have true love for God and become a person who truly knows God. This is also a requirement made by God at the early stage of His work. It is mainly written in “How Peter Came to Know Jesus,” through which God particularly requires man to follow Peter’s example, to pursue to know God and love God. The fourth requirement is that God requires His chosen people to have enough good deeds, because only those who have enough good deeds will have a good destination. God has made this requirement in the piece of His words “You Ought to Prepare a Sufficiency of Good Deeds for Your Destination.” The fifth requirement is that God requires us to pursue the truth tirelessly to know our own corrupt essence and enter ont0 the right track of believing in God. This requirement is very important, because entering onto the right track of believing in God requires man to know his corrupt essence. The sixth requirement is that we must resolve our transgressions, because only by resolving our transgressions can we truly be saved. This is a requirement God has made in the piece of His words “Transgressions Will Take Man to Hell.” This requirement is also very important, because no matter how you pursue in believing in God, if you have too many transgressions which remain unresolved all along, according to the words of God, transgressions will take you to hell. This requirement is quite important. The seventh requirement is that God requires us to be a person who is loyal to God. We believers in God should be loyal to God rather than to any people, matters, or things, and we are also required to offer up our final devotion for God’s work. This is the seventh requirement. The eighth requirement is that God requires us to be honest people. Because God is pleased with honest people, only by being an honest person can we truly receive salvation. The ninth requirement is that God requires us to pursue to be made perfect. God requires us to enter into all truths and become witnesses of God. The tenth requirement is that the chosen people of God must understand the disposition of God and know the practical God on earth. These are the most important things God has required of us, which are also the ultimate effects God’s work will achieve in us. God has made the tenth requirement in the two pieces of His words “It Is Very Important to Understand God’s Disposition” and “How to Know the God on Earth.” We see from God’s work that God has these ten greatest requirements for His chosen people. If a person has met all these ten requirements, he is undoubtedly someone who has been saved and made perfect. If someone has experienced God’s work but not met God’s requirements in the end, or if he has not met even one of God’s requirements, what do you say, can such a man receive God’s salvation? That is absolutely impossible. Not satisfying even one requirement, he is destined to be eliminated. To be sure, those who are eliminated are those who are to be punished by God.

How to Pray in Accordance With God’s Will

The Outcomes and the Content of Prayer

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

From Classic Selections From Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life

Meeting the Lord Again

Jianding, USA

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

　

The Minimum Reason That Ought to Be Possessed in Serving God

People who serve God all ought to know that if those who serve God are not people who have been perfected by God, then they are not suitable for being used by God. That’s because corrupt humanity all has the nature of resisting and betraying God, and they all have arrogant, conceited, self-important, and self-righteous dispositions. When they perform their duties, they are willing to do it according to their own will, but they are not willing to search for the will of God, and they are even more unwilling to seek fellowship. They do not have true obedience to God, yet they greedily enjoy the benefits of their positions without any reason at all. If they do a few days of work, they will start getting arrogant, and they will start asking God for crown and blessing, and they will prepare to rule together with God. Once they receive being pruned or dealt with or God’s elimination, they start complaining and are shamed into anger, thinking that serving God is like the perilous condition of serving a wild tiger. They have not recognized that God is righteous, good, and beautiful, but people are too corrupt and too lacking in humanity, deserving punishment for their crimes. In people’s hearts, God is not fair to humans, as if God has treated them wrongfully. This kind of people serve God for several years, but they become God’s enemies, openly resisting and judging God. How could this kind of people be suited to God’s use? If people who serve God are truly people who pursue the truth, they should recognize the source of corrupt humanity’s resistance of God, they should recognize their own nature of resisting God, they should recognize that when corrupt humanity serves God they ought to receive pruning and dealing, and especially they ought to receive God’s judgment and chastisement. If in their service they disrupt God’s work by mixing in human will or diverting the work onto their own paths, then they should even receive God’s punishments and curses and obey God’s work. Only in this way can people achieve changes in life disposition through service and walk on the right track of serving God.

How to Achieve a Change in Life Disposition

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The Path to a Change in Life Disposition

To achieve a change in life disposition, one must experience God’s judgment and chastisement, pruning and dealing, and trials of many kinds. This is the path to a change in life disposition. God’s judgment and chastisement is mostly about experiencing and receiving God’s judgment and chastisement from God’s words, this is the most crucial experience in submitting to the work of God. The experience of God’s judgment and chastisement is a result which must be achieved through the work of the Holy Spirit. We have seen most people read the word of God, eat and drink the word of God, but they have not experienced God’s judgment and chastisement. They have only seen in the word of God the revelation and the judgment of people’s rebelliousness and corruption. They have not personally felt the individual judgment and chastisement of themselves by God, this illustrates that these people have not experienced the judgment and chastisement of God. When some people see that the words of God’s judgment and chastisement are quite strict, they avoid and get out of them. When some people see the words of God’s judgment and chastisement, they think that they are talking about other people, that these words are not directed toward themselves, so they think nothing of it. Anyone who is in this state has not experienced God’s judgment and chastisement. So, God’s work does not have much of an effect on those people who have not experienced God’s judgment and chastisement in eating and drinking the word of God. We have seen that people in the Age of Grace all read the Bible and understood much of the writing contained within it. However, they did not feel the judgment and chastisement of God in their hearts and, at that time, God did not express words of the judgment and chastisement, so no matter how long people believed, they were not seen to have a change in life disposition. If people do not feel that God’s judgment and chastisement is directed toward themselves when they eat and drink the word of God in the Age of Kingdom or if they feel even less that God’s judgment and chastisement has a real effect on their hearts, then their experience of God’s work will not have much meaning. So, the entry into experiencing God’s judgment and chastisement is a crucial issue. So, how does one enter? You must do so through prayer. You pray before God: “God, I am willing to accept Your judgment and chastisement. May Your judgment and chastisement have an effect on my heart.” Afterward you will probably have the work of the Holy Spirit. When you read the words of the judgment and chastisement, you will feel that they are judgment and chastisement of you, that they are directed toward you. It will feel as if your heart has been stabbed and you will feel that “these words are so true, they are judging me, these words chastise me.” You will only truly experience God’s judgment and chastisement when you have this feeling. Most people, when seeing that the words of God are too strict, just like a two-edged sword, do not dare to face them but choose to avoid them. The result is that God’s judgment and chastisement seems to have nothing to do with them and, because of this, their corruption and nature will not change. Therefore, the experience of God’s judgment and chastisement lies in a person’s pursuit and acceptance. If you do not choose acceptance there is no way for this judgment and chastisement to happen to you. That is to say, a person must personally experience God’s judgment and chastisement—in your heart you truly feel that you have received God’s judgment and chastisement and you experience much suffering and refinement from the words of judgment and chastisement, and in the end, this makes you recognize your satanic nature, recognize the hatefulness of your satanic nature and recognize that Satan is the essence of your corruption. If you have no experience of God’s judgment and chastisement, then you must have not suffered too much from God’s words. If you have not suffered very much, then you definitely will not recognize your nature and the essence of your corruption and if you do not recognize this, how can you bring about change? So it can be said that experiencing God’s judgment and chastisement is dependent on a person’s pursuit. If people do not have this experience and do not suffer much from God’s words, changes in life disposition are not possible, this is a key experience. The most important thing in the submission to God’s work is to experience God’s judgment and chastisement and this depends on a person’s pursuit. If people do not pursue, they will not be able to receive the judgment and chastisement. After people are corrupted by Satan, they all think that they are good people, that they are much better than others, that they are after God’s heart, that they can be saved by God and they even consider themselves loved by God and to be God’s favorite. These people do not recognize the essence of their corruption. So the first experience is the experience of God’s judgment and chastisement. If people do not truly experience this in God’s work, this is the greatest mistake and is also the greatest loss. The second is to experience God’s pruning and dealing. Some of God’s words are specifically about the pruning of people and dealing with people’s corrupt condition. If people truly experience these words, they will feel that all of these words are dealing with themselves and are directed toward their own condition. They will see that their condition is too corrupt and that God’s dealing is right and entirely appropriate and proper. Of course, when people receive God’s pruning and dealing, their heart will suffer somewhat, they will despise their own corruption and repent, pray before God and weep. If people are not able to submit to and accept God’s words, the pruning and dealing cannot achieve any effect. They must seek the pruning and dealing of God. They must obtain the work of the Holy Spirit through prayer, so that they may feel that God’s pruning and dealing is directed toward them, is directed toward their situation yesterday or the day before. And they may feel as if God is speaking to them in person. If they have this experience, then that is to truly experience God’s judgment and chastisement and truly experience God’s pruning and dealing. Ordinary people do not have this true experience but there are some people who can feel it. You see, there are some people who after reading God’s words say to others, “this is about me,” they say this to others in public. Why do they feel that God is talking about them? Where does this feeling come from? This is the work of the Holy Spirit. The enlightenment of the Holy Spirit makes them feel that God is talking about them. They see that they have those corruptions and rebelliousness mentioned and that these words are pruning and dealing with them. This is a true entry and a true experience. If some people, no matter what aspect of the word of God they read, whether it is the words of judgment and chastisement or the words of pruning and dealing, feel that the words of God are never directed toward them, that they have nothing to do with them and the words are directed toward others, then this kind of person does not have the work of the Holy Spirit with them. In experiencing the work of God, one must also experience God’s discipline and punishment, this is also a necessary experience. Some of God’s discipline is carried out through words and sometimes God uses the environment or people, events and objects around us to discipline and punish us. If you truly have the work of the Holy Spirit, your heart will be very clear about it, you will say: God is disciplining me through this environment, this is God punishing me. If people have this kind of experience—they of course have to suffer a lot—and they can feel God’s discipline and God’s punishment, this is an effect of the work of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it can be said that, whoever seeks the truth and seeks to change their disposition must have this kind of experience. If a person does not have this kind of experience, their corrupt disposition will not change. There is also another experience which is the most formidable. It is the experience of God’s trials of many kinds. If a person does not experience God’s trials of many kinds, their life disposition will definitely not change. Experienced people will definitely know about these trials of many kinds while inexperienced people will definitely not know them. The trials of many kinds are not a sort of trial. In the initial stage of God’s work, most people underwent the trial of the service-doers, the trial of death and the refinement of the times of chastisement. However, after experiencing these trials were they able to achieve a change in life disposition? Impossible. They experienced some changes but did not achieve a change in life disposition. To achieve a change in life disposition, they must experience God’s trials of many kinds. So, in God’s work, those who experience God’s trials of many kinds are the most blessed. Only in this kind of person can a real change in life disposition be seen. Some people often ask: “What trials are included in the trials of many kinds? What kind of occurrence constitutes a trial?” Put it this way, anything which makes you suffer and which refines you has the nature of a trial or refinement. If you are a person who pursues the truth, anything which makes you especially suffer or refines you and is a kind of experience which you endure without collapsing and which makes you stronger afterward is a trial. For example, sometimes you may find that you cannot feel God for a while, that when you pray you cannot sense the presence of God either, and in your heart, no matter how you pray to be close to God, you cannot feel God. Will people suffer when they are in this situation? Of course they will suffer, no one could bear this. If a person cannot feel God, his first reaction is: “Oh, God does not want me, God has eliminated me, I’m finished! What sins have I committed? Why has God forsaken me?” If he is able to pursue the truth, he will undergo a period of refinement and endure much suffering. In his heart he will say: “This is no good. Even though I cannot feel God I must still have faith, even though I cannot feel God I will still pursue the truth, I cannot leave God.” He will still keep his faith, this is the expression of a person who pursues the truth. If a person who does not pursue the truth cannot feel God, he will think: “Why can’t I feel God at the moment? Is it because my faith was misplaced? Well, if there is no God then I will not believe,” and he will return to the world. This kind of person will thus be eliminated, this is not a test of him but is a way to expose him, to expose his evil heart of disbelief and eliminate him. However, the more people who pursue the truth fail to feel God, the more worried they will become. The more worried they become, they more they will pray to God, the more they will reflect on themselves, the more they admit their transgressions to God, the more they admit their corruption and in their heart they will do their utmost to call for and want God. This kind of desire will become more and more intense with the passing of time. They will feel that they cannot go on living without God, that life without God has no meaning and is empty. They will think: “This is no good, I must go on pursuing the truth, I must go on reading God’s words….” This is a person who truly wants God. If he encounters this kind of situation and it does not make him collapse, but on the contrary, it makes him stronger, this is a kind of test. It is like when a young child is living with his parents. Sometimes the parents want to test whether or not the child can be independent, to see if he can be apart from them. So they suddenly hide themselves. When the child cannot see his parents he becomes worried, cries and looks for them. The parents, when seeing the child crying most miserably, suddenly appear before him again. At this time the child thinks: Oh, my parents are great, they are truly worthy of my love! And immediately he throws himself into their arms. This is similar to how God sometimes tests people. God conceals Himself so that people cannot feel Him. However, if a person truly pursues the truth, no matter how long this kind of trial lasts, he will still want God, still pursue the truth and still read Gods words, he will not leave God. This is one kind of trial. There are also times when some people will suddenly feel as if they were about to die, that they don’t have long to live. They have a kind of premonition that something special is going to happen. After they have this kind of premonition, they will suffer inside and be very worried: “What will it be like if I really die? If I really die, have I received salvation or not? After I die where will I go? I have not gained God, nor obtained the truth, if I really die will I not miss the opportunity to be made perfect through God’s work?” This trial of death is quite painful, upon encountering this trial one will probably feel like he is about to die. What would a person who pursues the truth think? He would think: “I am about to die, that is no good; since I am about to die I even more have to do my duty properly, I must satisfy God for once, and even if I die I will not complain. I was created by God, and should offer my loyalty to God. I must live for God when alive. If I am about to die I must do well my duty so that my life is not wasted.” You see, this trial of death has this kind of effect on people. Is this not a kind of purification? It is indeed a kind of purification, it can change people. It is a result that people will obtain after experiencing the trials of many kinds. Many times when this kind of trial happens, you will feel in your heart as if it is really happening to you. This is your refinement, the refinement of your heart. At last, once it has had a certain effect, the feeling of this trial will go away. There are many trials like this, they probably occur once every 8 or 10 days. Sometimes they involve the word of God. God will have you read a sentence and you will feel that it is testing you. This one sentence will cause you to suffer for five, six, seven or eight days. After you have suffered, you will think: “Why is God judging me like this? These words are directed toward me. Is it possible that I am really about to be punished? Is it possible that I am really about to go to perdition or destruction? Then what should I do? How should I practice?” In the end, you will still choose to satisfy God and submit to God. You must be refined so that you can achieve the following result: You will have a heart to satisfy God, you are willing to best fulfill your duty as a created being, you are willing to give your loyalty until the end, you are willing to repent, you are able to despise yourself and curse yourself and you are able to praise God and you feel that God is righteous and so lovable. When refinement produces such a result, does it not mean that you have been purified? This is indeed the process by which a person is purified. So the trials of many kinds are of great benefit to a person! I have seen God’s words which talk of Peter facing hundreds of trials in the last 7 years. In the beginning, I did not understand, I thought: “Facing hundreds of trials in 7 years, wow, that is one trial every few days. What kind of trial did he receive once every few days?” Later, with experience, I understood. I also experienced some trials, so I knew that these trials were of great benefit to a person. In short, whether you experience God’s judgment and chastisement, experience God’s pruning and dealing, experience God’s discipline and punishment, or experience God’s many kinds of trials, these are all the process by which God purifies a person, they are the process by which God saves or transforms a person and are of great benefit for a person’s change of disposition. If you are a person who pursues the truth, you will long for this kind of experience. You will be willing to receive God’s judgment and chastisement, be willing to receive some pruning and dealing, and be even more willing to receive discipline and punishment. You will also feel that God is lovable and righteous while living with God’s many kinds of trials and feel that this is God’s exaltation and grace. Now, when experiencing God’s work, the more suffering you receive from God’s words, the more blessed you are. If a person does not receive any suffering from God’s words, there are problems with his method of faith, practice, pursuit and resolution. Strictly speaking, anyone who does not suffer from God’s words is not truly experiencing God’s work. If you read a lot of God’s words or if you read God’s words for several years and you do not feel that you have suffered very much, it could be said that this is the greatest loss! If you have not suffered, you have definitely been too selective when reading God’s words. You have tried to choose some words to read which do not cause suffering. This is of no benefit to your growth in life or your change in disposition. This is the truth. At the beginning when I read God’s words in experiencing the trial of the service-doers, I thought: Wow, why are these words so harsh, these words are so piercing to the heart. After one glance I do not want to read anymore. At that time I was also like this. However, as time passed, I discovered that the work of the Holy Spirit did not leave me and it was impossible to not suffer, I wanted to avoid it but could not. After I experienced it for a time, I felt better, the state inside me changed. At this time I realized: Wow, it is good to suffer in reading God’s words. The more I feel judgment and chastisement from the words, the more I should read them carefully and attentively, the more I should write them down in my notebook. This is what I felt later, it wasn’t like this at the start. Therefore, any of you who fears suffering while reading God’s words, should go back and read God’s words carefully. You should truly submit to God’s words, and should be able to truly satisfy God in God’s words. Reading God’s words this way is guaranteed to make your life grow and bring you a change in life disposition. If you read God’s words in the way that people eat food, choosing delicious food and food which suits their own taste as much as possible, then it will not be of any benefit. Reading the word of God in this way is not truly experiencing God’s work. This is the truth. A change in life disposition depends on experiencing God’s work. The most important thing is to receive God’s judgment and chastisement, to receive God’s pruning and dealing, to receive God’s discipline and even punishment and even more so to receive God’s trials and refinement of many kinds. If you do not experience enough of these four kinds of suffering, your life disposition will definitely not change very much. Achieving a change in disposition is dependent on experiencing God’s work and much pain. If a person merely continually reads God’s words while he lives in tranquility and peace without experiencing any suffering at all, he will not be able to achieve this result. So, you must understand the true path of achieving a change in life disposition, it is obtained by truly receiving God’s judgment and chastisement, by truly receiving God’s pruning and dealing, by receiving God’s discipline and punishment and finally by experiencing God’s many kinds of trials. This is the only way to truly receive this blessing of a change in life disposition. So, I’m afraid that anyone who does not suffer through God’s words, especially those words of judgment and chastisement, pruning and dealing, discipline and even punishment will not receive life and will be even less able to achieve a change in life disposition.

From Classic Selections From Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life

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

The Requirements Those Who Serve God Must Meet

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