Because of a work requirement, I was transferred to another work area. At that time, I was very grateful to God. I felt that I was lacking so much, yet through God’s divine promotion, I was given the opportunity to fulfill my duty in such a wonderful work area. I made a vow to God in my heart: I would do my very best to repay God.
From April 13 to 15, 2018, the 3rd Conference of the Baltic Alliance for Asian Studies was held at the University of Latvia in Riga, Latvia with the theme of “Dynamic Asia: Shaping the Future.” Well-known scholars and professors from over 20 countries including Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Japan, South Korea, Italy, France, and Israel delivered lectures on topics related to lifestyles, religion, art, economics, culture, etc. The intention was to promote academic exchanges, strengthen cooperation in research, and to raise the profile of the research, as well as to pool resources for the development of joint research projects.
Ding Ning Heze City, Shandong Province 💖👀📚💖👀📚💖👀📚💖👀📚💖
Over the past few days, the church has arranged a change in my work. As I received this new assignment, I thought, “I need to take this final opportunity to call a meeting with my brothers and sisters, speak to them clearly about matters, 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 asked to leave here and move on to different work. I hope you will accept the leader who is coming to replace me and work together with her with one heart and one mind.” As soon as they heard me say these words, some of the sisters who were present blanched, and the 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 cast us aside and ignore our needs! …” The sister of the host family was especially unwilling to let me go. She said to me, “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. If you go, what will we do? …” Seeing their reluctance to part from me, my heart was full of joy and satisfaction. I comforted them with these words: “Depend on God. When I can, I will come back and visit you….”
My station in life, or status, was something I could never let go of, and when God created an environment that exposed me, I was only negative, complaining, and despairing. Only through refinement after refinement did I come to understand God’s good intentions, and that His testing of me was not to torment me. Rather, it was to cleanse me and make me perfect, to allow me to understand that believing in God for the sake of a station can only ruin me, thus allowing me to let go of improper views of pursuit, and to have a proper goal to pursue.
After some time of serving as a leader in the church, I was promoted to be a district leader’s partner. Before long, I was promoted again and entrusted with being a district leader. This linear “rise” made me work even harder to perform my duty, looking forward to the day that even more would be entrusted to me. This hope became the impetus for my pursuits. However, just as I was dreaming of my step-by-step “ascent,” I was replaced! At the time I was crushed—I felt that I had lost my station and my path of faith in God had come to its end. I was in pain to the point that I considered leaving the church. I even thought about dying. Later, through enlightenment from God’s words, I gradually came out of that negativity. His words were: “When the mountains move, could they make a detour for the sake of your station? When the waters flow, could they cease before your station? Could the heavens and the earth be reversed by your station?” (“The Twenty-second Utterance” of God’s Utterances to the Entire Universe in The Word Appears in the Flesh). At the time, although I realized that my desire for status was too strong and that faith in God should not be a pursuit of status, I didn’t have any real understanding of myself, and I thought to myself: I won’t pursue status anymore; no matter what duties are arranged for me, I’ll obey and that’s it. Later, the church arranged for me to preach the gospel and to look after new believers. I accepted all of this. So, I believed that I had let go of my desire for status.
Two thousand years ago, theLord Jesus prophesied, "And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him" (Matthew 25:6). "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:20). For the last two thousand years, believers in the Lord have been watchful and awaiting the Lord's knock on the door, so how will He knock on mankind's door when He returns? Inthe last days, some people have testified that the Lord Jesus has returned—Almighty God incarnate—and that He is doing the work of judgment in the last days. This news has rocked the entire religious world.
Yang Aiguang, the protagonist of the film, has believed in the Lord for decades and has always been enthusiastically engaged in work and preaching, waiting to welcome the Lord's return. One day, two people come and knock on the door, tell Yang Aiguang and her husband that the Lord Jesus has returned, and share the words of Almighty God with them. They are deeply moved by Almighty God's words, but because Yang Aiguang has been subjected to the fallacies, deception, and strictures of the pastors and elders, she throws the witnesses of The Church of Almighty God out of the house. After that, the witnesses knock on their door on many occasions and read the words of Almighty God to Yang Aiguang, bearing witness to God's work in the last days. During this time, the pastor disrupts and hinders Yang Aiguang time after time, and she continues to waver. However, through hearing the words of Almighty God, Yang Aiguang comes to understand the truth and gains discernment regarding the rumors and fallacies propagated by the pastors and elders. She finally understands how the Lord knocks on people's doors during His return in the last days, and how we should welcome Him. When the fog clears, Yang Aiguang finally hears the voice of God and acknowledges that Almighty God really is the return of the Lord Jesus!
In 1999, I became a leader due to the requirements of the work of the church. Although I felt deeply that I was not worthy of the job when I first started, after a while, due to my arrogant and self-righteous nature, my initial cautiousness gradually turned into exalting myself and testifying about myself. I cared about food, clothes, and enjoyment, greedily indulging in the blessings of my status. I even wanted to be on an equal footing with God. In the end, I was finally dismissed and sent home. It was only after this that I had an awakening and realized that “status” had made me give up on God and the truth; “status” had made me set up my individual kingdom; “status” had turned me into an antichrist; “status” made me embark on the road to death. It was only then that I discovered that I had strayed so very far from the right path and already fallen too deep.
Looking back, my downward spiral began when my gospel work started to show some results. At the time, I really thought I was something and started talking big and getting pleased with myself, and I often spoke with a tone to people within the scope of my work. Later, a sister I was paired with raised my deficiencies with me, saying I carried a kind of wildly arrogant disposition when I spoke. I only accepted it on the surface, but not in my heart. In the end, I still thought of all sorts of ways to indirectly refute the deficiencies she raised. In the days after this, I began to speak for the sake of my status, never feeling uncomfortable in my heart for failing to satisfy God. Instead, I was often frustrated because other people were not convinced by me. Gradually, my heart grew numb and devoid of feeling. Just when I was still completely unaware that I was pursuing the wrong path, a leader gave me a note. It said: “XX, now that you’ve become a big shot, even your tone of voice has changed. You’re pretty much like the government officials out in the world. You will be eliminated soon.” What? Does this not imply that I am going to lose my future and destiny? After reading these words I fell into painful torment, but I did not examine my nature or appreciate from it God’s care and thought, and moreover I did not sense the consequences of continuing on like this. Then, a major illness suddenly befell me. In this situation and environment, I felt I had thoroughly fallen into despair. My mind was in a tangle and I was terrified of losing my duty. I was also afraid of being eliminated and not having a future, as well as being dismissed and sent home. I was full of outrageous requests toward God. Although I realized that I cared too much about status, I was entirely under Satan’s control and could not free myself. I actually used my position as a leader to control brothers and sisters into doing personal things for me, getting them to help me find a doctor so I could find a way to quickly get rid of my illness. My heart was dominated by one thought: I must not lose my status and I can’t lose my duty. I started to enjoy special treatment, ate good health supplements, and also accepted good food from brothers and sisters without question. Yet, I absurdly thought: I’m not doing it for enjoyment; I’m doing it to heal my illness so it won’t delay my work, and therefore it does not count as excessive. In the end, I not only did not recover but my illness got even worse.
God says, "In My plan, Satan has ever snapped at the heels of every step, and, as the foil of My wisdom, has always tried to find ways and means to disrupt My original plan. But could I succumb to its deceitful schemes? All in heaven and on earth serves Me—could the deceitful schemes of Satan be any different? This is precisely the intersection of My wisdom, it is precisely that which is wondrous about My deeds, and it is the principle by which My entire management plan is carried out" (The Word Appears in the Flesh). How does God's work of the last days make use of the Chinese Communist Party and the antichrist forces in the religious world to do service for making people perfect into overcomers? Why is it said that God's wisdom is exercised based on the crafty schemes of Satan? What will be the final outcome of the Chinese Communist Party and the antichrist forces in the religious world that have consistently hatedthe truth, and wildly resisted God? We invite you to watch this short video.
