Lost and Found Again

By Xieli, United States

I came to the U.S.A. to work as hard as I could in pursuit of a happy life with a high standard of living. Though I suffered no little over the first few years, with time I was able to start my own company, get my own car, my own house, etc. I was finally living the “happy” life that I’d dreamed of. During this period, I made a few friends; in our free time we’d go out to eat, drink, and have some fun. We all got on pretty well together, and I thought I’d met a good bunch of guys. But then I came to realize that they were all just drinking buddies who didn’t have a single substantial thing to say, and when I was worried or depressed there was not one of them I could go to share my troubles with. Not only that, but they schemed to rip me off: One of them lied to me about his mother in China being really ill and when I lent him some money he disappeared without a trace. Another, from my hometown, told a bunch of lies about needing financing for a project and cheated me out of some money. And even the person nearest and dearest to me—my girlfriend—betrayed me and cheated me out of a large sum of money that it had taken me years of blood, sweat, and tears to accumulate. The heartlessness of these people and the indifference of society left me depressed and disheartened. For a time I lost the confidence to keep on living; my heart was empty, and I was in pain and helpless. After that, I often turned to eating, drinking and having fun to fill the emptiness within me, but I knew that these temporary physical pleasures couldn’t resolve my spiritual suffering at all.

The Truth Showed Her the Way to Get Along With Others (Part 1)

Xiaomo

Jiandan sat on her chair, staring at the number of articles on the worksheet in complete amazement and muttering to herself: “Why is there such a backlog of unchecked articles? Could Sister Liu Yan be in a bad state? But even if she is, she mustn’t let that interfere with her work.”

To Be an Honest Person Is Truly Great! (Audio Essay)

One day in 2004 a friend said to me: “Every day you get up early and are busy all day cutting cloth, you exhaust yourself, yet you still don’t make money. Today’s society relies on the tongue to make money, like the popular saying goes: ‘It is better to have a slick tongue than to have strong arms and legs.’ You know that I’m now engaging in the direct sales business selling makeup products, not only does it make me beautiful, I also don’t need to exert too much effort each day, I just need to speak a few words with my customers and sell my products in order to make a lot of money. Why don’t you change jobs and come sell makeup products with me?” I looked my friend over, she really was prettier than before, and then I thought about how I had been a dressmaker for over 10 years, how I hadn’t really made any money at it, and how I wasn’t getting any younger. If it really was like what my friend was saying, if by switching to a job where I sold makeup products I could make easy money, and could even become younger and prettier and win the high praises of others, then that would be much better! As I thought about this, I told her right then and there that I was willing to become a part of the company. Later, after my inspection, I ordered over 3,000 yuan worth of products, and I started my job in the cosmetics industry as a beauty consultant for this company.

Knowing God Is the Path to Fearing God and Shunning Evil

Everyone should examine anew his life of believing in God to see whether, in the pursuit of God, he has truly understood, truly comprehended, and truly come to know God, whether he truly knows what attitude God bears to the various types of human beings, and whether he truly understands what God is working upon him and how God defines his every act. This God, who is by your side, guiding the direction of your progress, ordaining your destiny, and supplying your needs—how much do you, in the final analysis, understand and how much do you really know about Him? Do you know what He works on you every single day? Do you know the principles and purposes on which He bases His every action? Do you know how He guides you? Do you know the means by which He supplies you? Do you know the methods with which He leads you? Do you know what He wishes to obtain from you and what He wishes to achieve in you? Do you know the attitude He takes to the multifarious ways in which you behave? Do you know whether you are a person beloved of Him? Do you know the origin of His joy, anger, sorrow, and delight, the thoughts and ideas behind them, and His essence? Do you know, ultimately, what kind of God is this God that you believe in? Are these and other questions of the sort something that you have never understood or thought about? In pursuing your belief in God, have you, through real appreciation and experience of God’s words, cleared up your misunderstandings about Him? Have you, after receiving God’s discipline and chastening, arrived at genuine submission and caring? Have you, in the midst of God’s chastisement and judgment, come to know the rebelliousness and satanic nature of man and gained a modicum of understanding about God’s holiness? Have you, under the guidance and enlightenment of God’s words, begun to have a new outlook of life? Have you, in the midst of the trial sent by God, felt His intolerance for man’s offenses as well as what He requires of you and how He is saving you? If you do not know what it is to misunderstand God, or how to clear up this misunderstanding, then one can say that you have never entered into true communion with God and have never understood God, or at least one can say you have never wished to understand Him.

My Daughter at Death’s Door: I Witness a Miracle by Praying to God

By Wang Yue, China

God’s Words Comfort Me After My Daughter Is Involved in a Sudden Car Accident

It was gone 11 a.m. on the morning of October 8, 2011 and I was just preparing lunch at home, when suddenly the phone rang. As soon as I answered it, the person calling said anxiously, “Your Lanlan has been in a car accident and they’re trying to save her at the county hospital. You’d best get here as soon as you can!” Hearing this, I felt a loud buzzing in my head, and before I’d said anything, the other person hung up. After I’d put the phone down, I just stood there for a while, thinking: “My daughter went out on her bicycle this morning to run some errands. How could she have been in a car accident? It’s just a prank call, isn’t it? But their tone didn’t sound like they were trying to trick me….” I didn’t have time to think any more, so I stopped what I was doing and left the house. I hurriedly waved down a cab and rushed to the county hospital. I was so worried as I sat in the cab that I clenched my fists tightly together, and I just kept looking out the window. I felt totally confused and upset and I couldn’t stop thinking: “How badly hurt is my daughter? Where has she been hurt? Is her life in danger? She’s only 17. She must be really scared being in the hospital on her own….” The more I thought about it, the more panicky I got, and I couldn’t calm down. I wanted to be there instantly by my daughter’s side to see what exactly the situation was. In my helplessness, I thought of God, and then quickly I called on God in my heart: “O God! I hear that my daughter has been in a car accident.

There Is Nothing God Cannot Do (Part 1)

Bianhua

Zhen’ai answered her daughter’s call, her face beaming with joy as she awaited the good news.

“Hi mom, I’ve spoken with my mother-in-law’s relative to see whether or not they could allocate you and dad a ground floor apartment, as access would be a lot easier for you, but there are so many people in the village who want to live in ground floor apartments, and the village cadre says that it’s just not possible.” Zhen’ai’s daughter patiently explained.

139-B-6 Sermons and Fellowship About God’s Word “Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth” (V)

Then, are you not a descendant of Satan? Are you not the progeny of the great red dragon? Are you not a devil? Are you not an antichrist? You may say “yes” to all of them. However, do not simply admit it in speech but also admit it in your heart. An admission through words is simply a way to muddle through. If you admit it, you would say in your heart, “Oh God, I admit that this is so, yet how come I am unable to realize such things?

How to Practice Quieting Our Hearts Before God

By Xiyu

The Bible says, “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints” (1Co 14:33). From this verse we can see that God likes us to quiet ourselves before Him in all things. Only when we are quiet in front of God will we feel that our hearts are closer to Him and will we achieve growth in our spiritual life. However, in real life, we cannot quiet our hearts before God due to various factors. Most of the time, our hearts are occupied by outside things such as jobs and families; or our minds are disturbed by the complexities of interpersonal relations, such as friction with our brothers and sisters and conflicts between us and our families; or we think about the interests of our flesh while expending and working for the Lord. These things leave us unable to quiet ourselves before God. I once was like this. After I read some content on a gospel website and listened to several brothers’ and sisters’ fellowship, I found out three ways to quiet myself before God and I gained a lot. Here I will share them with you.

124-A-2 Sermons and Fellowship About God’s Word “Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life”

The text containing the words of God entitled, “Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life” that we just finished is the truth pertaining to the vision. What we get first from reading God’s words should be the knowledge of Christ. In what primary respect do we know Christ? Not only do we know that Christ is the incarnate God, and that Christ is the manifestation of God, but the most importantly we should be aware that, “Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life,” which is what matters most. Many have understood and admitted the fact that God has become flesh, and admitted that Christ is the real God, God’s appearance to mankind—they have confirmed this as a fact. Many people are able to follow Christ, to forsake all and do their duty to Him, which is a fact; but after years have gone by, there are those out there who are still not with the truth. Theirs is an evil heart, one that does not fear God and shun evil. So what exactly is the problem? Where is the root of it? We have read these words of God, and should see the root of the problem is that these people do not have profound understanding that “Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life.” In the last days Christ came again to do the work of judgment, exactly what will be the fruits? When you have experienced the judgment before the seat of Christ, have you been made pure? Have you obtained the truth? Have you been saved? This is the fundamental question with belief in God. A lot of people, who have believed in God for many years, are still without the truth.

139-B-4 Sermons and Fellowship About God’s Word “Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth” (V)

In what we have just read of the word of God, it is said: “When it comes to the word ‘judgment,’ you will think of the words that Jehovah spoke to all the places and the words of rebuke that Jesus spoke to the Pharisees. Though these words are stern, they are not God’s judgment of man; these words are only those spoken by God within different environments, that is, different settings.” In the age of grace, the Lord Jesus spoke these words in accordance with different environments and settings. These words in their outward appearance were a rebuke and also quite stern and were also very thorough in what they exposed, so why are they not words of judgment of man? Why? Can you understand this? Some say it’s because He did not bring forth the truth in all its aspects to elucidate it to man.

Catholic Beliefs: I Have Welcomed the Lord’s Return

By Amy, USA

“Meeting with the Lord is the greatest hope of all believers. By the grace of the Lord, I have welcomed the Lord’s return and I am full of gratitude to Him….” It’s nighttime, and the clear moonlight spills into the room through the window. Under the soft light of her lamp, Amy is quickly typing out her experience of welcoming the Lord’s return. Thinking of God’s love and salvation for her, Amy stands up and softly walks to the window and gazes out at the full moon, reminiscing on the past …

Coming Home (Part 2)

By Muyi, South Korea

In this period, there was another brother named Yang who also investigated Almighty God’s work in the last days together with me. I had always had a careless and absent-minded attitude, but Brother Yang was earnest in his studies. Brother Yang said that he had rejected the gospel of Almighty God when people had preached it to him before but that hearing it again today must be an opportunity granted by God! He wanted to investigate it. Brother Yang saw that I was only interested in listening to the pastor’s words and not investigating with an open mind. He found a passage for me, which was Matthew 5:3–6: “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. … Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” Reading the word of the Lord, I wondered: Why is it that I can’t seek tranquilly in the presence of the Lord? If the Lord were really to return by some chance, and I did not listen to Him or investigate it, would I not be left behind? I should also learn some humility, and I must not blindly come to conclusions based on my own imagination. Just when I had decided to settle my heart to investigate it sincerely, a missionary of the church gave me a call out of the blue and asked me if I were still with the people from The Church of Almighty God. I said that yes, the missionary again reminded me to cease contact with them. The missionary’s words dispelled the thought that I had just been wanting to investigate. I thought, “The pastor and missionary have a much better understanding of the Bible than I do, and none of them acknowledges that the Lord has returned. I had too little understanding of the Bible and had no ability to discriminate for myself, so I had better just listen to what the pastor and missionary were saying.” When I hung up the phone, I said to Brother Cheng: “If Brother Yang wants to investigate, then you two go on speaking. I don’t want to hear it.” Just like that, I had once again stiffly rejected the salvation of God.

139-B-7 Sermons and Fellowship About God’s Word “Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth” (V)

What do we gain by submitting to God’s judgment and chastisement? We gain the truth expressed by God, we see the complete revelation of God’s disposition; we see all that God has and is being displayed, revealed in Christ. So, if we experience the work of Christ of the last days, and by the end we come to know the practical God incarnate, then we will have seen the disposition of the God in heaven, all that the God in heaven has and is, in other words, His essence. All these things are revealed in the incarnate God and the words that He has expressed, and these are the fruits and effects that we gain from our faith in the practical God. Aren’t these rewards tremendous? They are tremendous. If you believe in the practical God and experience His work, if you believe in Him for two, three decades, and you gain the truth, the way, and the life, if you live out a meaningful life and become a witness for Christ of the last days, then this is the greatest honor in life. It is even more honorable and meaningful than being a president or a scientist. Is that not the case? As I fellowship and chat with you here today, many of you have become somewhat edified in your lives, and is this not something meaningful? What do I feel in my heart? That I have not lived in vain, that I am somewhat useful, that I have contributed my insignificant part in the work of God and therefore I have not lived in vain. This is what I feel in this regard. Also, we see that so many people are able to gather together to eat and drink God’s words in this way, and if this is not the work of the Holy Spirit, who else has this ability to have all of you listen, with such concentration and seriousness, to someone like me chatting? Could a president’s speech get so many people to listen to it with such seriousness? No, it could not, for people would only listen to such a speech on a superficial level. Today, God’s chosen people have gathered together like this, listening to the fellowship about God’s words with such earnestness to gain some practical edification. Is this not the work performed by the Holy Spirit? This is the enlightenment and illumination from the Holy Spirit, this is the result achieved by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has led me, this man, and trained this man so many years to achieve this. Of course I am not satisfied with that which I have gained. I want to gain even more, to strive to edify God’s chosen people even more. Isn’t that even better? We cannot compare ourselves with Christ, for Christ is God while we are human beings. But we must strive for better results. There are now many who have put a lot of effort into seeking the truth.

You bear witness that Almighty God is the return of the Lord Jesus. This is impossible! “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Mat 24:29-30). If the Lord really had returned, He should have done so with great glory while descending upon a cloud. Moreover, heaven and earth would have quaked, and the sun and moon would have stopped shining. So far such sights have not manifested, so how can they say the Lord has already returned? Just what exactly is all this about?

Answer: By waiting to welcome the Lord’s return, we have all made the same mistake. We are only waiting for the Lord’s return based on the prophecies of His descent upon a cloud, but we have overlooked other prophecies about the Lord’s return. This is a grave mistake! Many parts of the Biblecontain prophecies about the Lord’s return.

Spiritual Awakening of a “White Angel” (Part 2)

Miaoxiao

Recognizing Mankind That Has Been Corrupted by Satan

From then on, every day before the dawn, I got up to read God’s words, pray and sing hymns and enjoyed the kind of peace and joy that I had never experienced before. One day,

I Was Not a “Good Man”

Since I believed in Jesus, I had thought that I had already had no corruption, because I always considered that I had a “good humanity” and could get along well with anyone and the brothers and sisters also regarded me as a “good man.” Later, I accepted the end-time work of the Almighty God, and exposed by God, I gained some knowledge of myself. At that time, I remember, God’s family assigned a brother and me to shepherd the churches. During that period of time, I had a prejudice against the brother. In the beginning, I didn’t think it was corruption and felt it was not a big problem. But later, such prejudices became more and more, which even caused me to lose the working of the Holy Spirit and live in inextricable pain.

You have said that the Lord Jesus has already come, but we don’t believe it. We have had faith in the Lord for many years and have always toiled tirelessly for Him. When the Lord comes He should first reveal it to us. Since the Lord has not revealed it to us, that just shows us that He hasn’t returned. What is wrong with this belief?

The Answer from God’s Word:

The work of God continues to advance, and though the purpose of His work remains unchanging, the means by which He works are constantly changing, and thereby so are those who follow God. … All men wish to gain God yet are unable to tolerate any changes in God’s work. Those who do not accept the new work of God believe that the work of God is changeless, and that the work of God forever remains at a standstill. In their belief, all that is needed to gain eternal salvation from God is to keep the law, and as long as they repent and confess their sins, the heart of God will be forever satisfied. They are of the opinion that God can only be the God under the law and the God who was nailed on the cross for man; it is their opinion too that God should not and cannot exceed the Bible. It is precisely these opinions that have shackled them firmly to the law of old and kept them fettered by rigid regulations. Even more believe that whatever the new work of God, it must be substantiated by prophecies, and that in each stage of such work, all those who follow Him with a true heart must also be shown revelations, else that work could not be that of God. It is already no easy task for man to come to know God. Taken in addition to man’s absurd heart and his rebellious nature of self-importance and conceit, then it is all the more difficult for man to accept the new work of God. Man neither studies the new work of God with care nor accepts it with humility; rather, man adopts an attitude of contempt, waiting for the revelations and guidance of God. Is this not the behavior of a man who rebels against and opposes God? How can such men gain the approval of God?

God Is the Power of My Life

The Secret to Effective Prayer

It is known to each of us who believes in God that prayer is vital for our understanding the truth and practicing God’s requirements of us. Whatever tribulations we face, whatever difficulties we encounter in life, or whenever we desire to gain enlightenment and guidance of the Holy Spirit in reading God’s word, we can never depart from prayer. Actually, every believer in God is eager to achieve results in praying to God, eager to receive God’s blessings, gain enlightenment and guidance from the Holy Spirit, and thereby live before God. However, now many brothers and sisters find that they often pray to God but receive no enlightenment, which causes them to be passive and weak in spirit. Thus, a lot of people could not understand this: Isn’t prayer just speaking to God? Why can’t I receive enlightenment from God and achieve results though I pray often? Could it be that there is a secret to prayer? In the past, I was also puzzled by the same questions. Later, after reading some words in a spiritual book, I found there really was a secret to praying.

Knowing the Purpose and Significance of Each of the Three Stages of God’s Work.

(1) The aim and significance of God’s work in the Age of Law

Relevant Words of God:

The work that Jehovah did in the Israelites established among humanity God’s earthly place of origin, His sacred place where He was present. He confined His work to the Israelite people. At first, He did not work outside of Israel; instead, He chose a people He found suitable in order to restrict the scope of His work.