Breaking Free From the Rumor Trap

By Xiaoyun, China

I used to be a female army officer. One day in 1999, a Korean pastor preached the gospel of the Lord Jesus to me. Because of my earnest pursuit, I soon became the focus of the pastor’s training and his primary assistant. In the summer of 2000, the pastor came to Yunnan on a short summer missionary trip with more than a dozen college students from the Korean Gospel Church. Unexpectedly, this alarmed the CCP government. We were arrested whilst having a meeting at the pastor’s home and then brought to Yunnan Province Public Security Department for questioning. The Korean university students were deported that same night and the Korean pastor was also expelled from the country. The church suffered persecution by the CCP government, and many believers became afraid and did not dare believe. A proportion of believers were also forced to go to the Three-Self Church, and this was how the church was broken up by the CCP government. I was the main co-worker in the church and the persecution by the CCP government this time also caused me to lose my job.

Fearing God—Gospel Reflection on Proverbs 15:33

Proverbs 15:33

The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; and before honor is humility.

Reflection

Fearing God is very important in belief of God, and is what a qualified Christian must possess. Simply put, fearing God is that there is a place for God in the heart. We will undoubtedly be the wisest if in everything we encounter, we practice in this way: not to be arrogant or self-righteous, or do things arbitrarily, but to believe in God, commit all things into God’s hand, do in accordance to God’s requirements and conduct ourselves by God’s word.Share God’s words, “‘To fear God’ does not mean nameless fright and horror, nor to evade, nor to put at a distance, nor is it idolization or superstition. Rather, it is admiration, esteem, trust, understanding, caring, obedience, consecration, love, as well as unconditional and uncomplaining worship, requital, and surrender.”

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Why God Tries the Hearts—Gospel Reflection on Proverbs 17:3

Proverbs 17:3

“The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but Jehovah tries the hearts.”

Reflection

The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold, but God uses hardship and refinement to train the people of the kingdom. Although we can understand the meaning of this verse, we are easy to become negative and weak and even complain when we meet with hardships or sickness. This is because we do not understand the significance of God’s work of refinement.

136-A-8 Sermons and Fellowship About God’s Word “In Your Faith in God You Should Obey God” (I)

Question 2: I have always striven to make and maintain a good name for myself among others. As such, when carrying out my duty, I have always done my utmost to protect my position and my image as it appears to the brothers and sisters. I have used apparent good behavior in place of carrying out the truth, and I have not regarded such as shameful. In fact, I had thought that what I was doing was correct and was a positive thing. However, through the real environment which God has set for me, and through that which He reveals in His words, I recognized that I was, in fact, truly deceitful. I was, in essence, vying with God for position. When this was revealed to me and I saw the essence of my nature for what it is, I was left in a very negative and confused state. It appears that a person’s essence is predetermined, and I don’t know if I can change. I would like to know how I should go about solving this problem.