What is meant by “leave everything behind and follow God”?

Relevant Words of God:

You can devote your heart and body and all of your genuine love to God, place them before Him, be completely obedient toward Him, and be absolutely considerate to His will. Not for the flesh, not for family, and not for your personal desires, but for the interests of God’s household. In everything you can take God’s word as the principle, as the foundation. That way, your intentions and your perspectives will all be in the right place, and you will be someone who gains God’s praise before Him.

from “People Who Can Be Absolutely Obedient Toward God’s Practicality Are Those Who Truly Love God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

You believe in God and follow God, and so in your heart you must love God. You must cast aside your corrupt disposition, must seek to fulfill God’s desire, and must perform the duty of a creature of God. Since you believe in and follow God, you should offer everything to Him, and should not make personal choices or demands, and you should achieve the fulfillment of God’s desire. Since you were created, you should obey the Lord that created you, for you are inherently without dominion over yourself, and have no ability to control your destiny. Since you are a person that believes in God, you should seek holiness and change. Since you are a creature of God, you should adhere to your duty, and keep your place, and must not overstep your duty. This is not to constrain you, or to suppress you through doctrine, but is the path through which you can perform your duty, and can be achieved—and should be achieved—by all those who do righteousness.

from “Success or Failure Depends on the Path That Man Walks” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

9. Your thoughts ought to be of the work of the church. You should put aside the prospects of your own flesh, be decisive about family matters, wholeheartedly devote yourself to the work of God, and put God’s work first and your own life second. This is the decency of a saint.

from “The Ten Administrative Decrees That Must Be Obeyed by God’s Chosen People in the Age of Kingdom” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

You must suffer hardship for the truth, you must give yourself to the truth, you must endure humiliation for the truth, and to gain more of the truth you must undergo more suffering. This is what you should do. You must not throw away the truth for the sake of a peaceful family life, and you must not lose your life’s dignity and integrity for the sake of momentary enjoyment. You should pursue all that is beautiful and good, and should pursue a path in life that is more meaningful. If you lead such a vulgar life, and do not pursue any objectives, do you not waste your life? What can you gain from such a life? You should forsake all enjoyments of the flesh for the sake of one truth, and should not throw away all truths for the sake of a little enjoyment. People like this have no integrity or dignity; there is no meaning to their existence!

from “The Experiences of Peter: His Knowledge of Chastisement and Judgment” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Sermon and Fellowship Excerpts for Reference:

God requires this of all those who believe in Him: abandon everything to follow God. From the Age of Grace to the Age of Kingdom, there have been so many people who abandoned everything to follow God. Only these people are worthy of being called saints, who are the people of God in the Age of Kingdom. What does it mean to abandon everything and follow God? It is to offer up your whole heart, your entire being to God, and to fully immerse yourself in God’s work and expend yourself for Him. This is the true meaning of abandoning everything to follow God. There are people who believe that only those who haven’t started their own family and have nothing to worry about can abandon everything, while those who have a family, who have parents, a spouse, or children cannot do so. This perspective is incorrect. First, people must know that God’s demands on people are fair and reasonable. He does not demand that people forsake their parents, spouse, or children. Rather, He requests that people offer up their hearts and perform their duty to the fullest without being constrained by any person, event, or thing. This is tantamount to abandoning everything and following God. God does not force people to do things they are not willing to do. It is enough for a person to exert all his effort to satisfy God. It is only natural that one must cast aside some things which should be cast aside. If for the time being one cannot abandon something, all that is required is to not be constrained by that thing. If his heart is still constrained and he cannot fully perform his duty, then this does not count as abandoning everything. The issue of devotion to God lies within the practice of abandoning everything. If you truly are someone who is devoted to God, within your heart you’ll be able to avoid being constrained by your family, spouse, or children. Many brothers and sisters have family ties, but their hearts are not constrained by their families; they perform their duties very well. Though they go away occasionally to care for their families, they do not allow this to interfere with their duties at all. Can you say that they have not abandoned everything to follow God? Having a family truly is a difficulty—no one can deny this. However, if their heart can be loyal to God, they will be able to shake off all family entanglements. Though the flesh undergoes some hardship, there are great blessings from God for their growth in life. And what do those people who cling to the enjoyments of the flesh gain? Ultimately they gain nothing. And how should one deal with the hardships of the flesh? It can be said that any amount of fleshly hardship is a good thing. As long as God is satisfied, then a person’s spirit can rejoice. The greatest pain of all would be to offend God because of clinging to pleasures of the flesh. All those who abandon everything to expend themselves for God will be gratified because they have properly performed the duty of a human being and have satisfied God. Moreover, they will be commended by God, because God gives great blessings to all those who sincerely expend themselves for Him. Those who cling to the enjoyments of family and flesh and cannot abandon everything to follow God are all ones who are devoted to the devil Satan. They certainly cannot be saved by God, and particularly will not have God’s blessing.

from The Fellowship From the Above

What are the differences between doing one’s duty and rendering service?

Relevant Words of God:

There is no correlation between the duty of man and whether he is blessed or cursed. Duty is what man ought to fulfill; it is his heaven-sent vocation, and should not depend on recompense, conditions, or reasons. Only then is he doing his duty. To be blessed is when someone is made perfect and enjoys God’s blessings after experiencing judgment. To be cursed is when someone’s disposition does not change after they have experienced chastisement and judgment, it is when they do not experience being made perfect but are punished.

How is dispositional change manifested?

Relevant Words of God:

Whether or not your disposition can change depends upon whether or not you keep up with the Holy Spirit’s current words and whether or not you have true knowledge. This is unlike what you understood before.

Testimony of Faith: How to Overcome the Temptations of Satan (Part 2)

By Geng Xin

Though when I was tempted this time, I had understood God’s will and not been caught out by Satan’s deceitful scheme, Satan was not quite done yet. Not long after, Satan began to attack me once again.

Competing in This Way, I Benefit Tremendously

By Ma Xin, China

Since my husband was not engaged in honest work, frequently drank alcohol and showed no concern for family matters, I would often sink into bitterness and pain. At a time when I did not have the strength to struggle on, a relative delivered Almighty God’s kingdom gospel to me. Through reading God’s word, I understood: God expresses the truth and does the judgment work of the last days in order to save the human race from the hands of Satan. He instructs man to understand, obey and return to Him so that he can receive His protection and care. As a result, I gladly accepted the work of Almighty God of the last days and quickly started my church life. However, right as I found something I could depend my life upon and felt a sense of joy and cheer, Satan’s temptations pounced on me like a wild beast rushed after its prey and a spiritual war erupted …

What is the difference between understanding the truth and understanding doctrine?

Relevant Words of God:

Coming to a real understanding of the actual meaning in God’s word is no simple matter. Don’t think this way: I can interpret the literal meaning of God’s words, and everyone says it’s good and gives me a thumbs-up, so it counts as understanding God’s word. That is not the same as understanding God’s word. If you have gained some light from within God’s word and you have gotten a sense of the true significance of God’s word, if you can express the significance of God’s word and what they will ultimately achieve, once this is all clear that counts as having some level of understanding of God’s word. So, understanding God’s word is not quite so simple. Just because you can give a flowery explanation of the letter of God’s word does not mean you understand it. No matter how much you can explain the letter of God’s word it is still man’s imagination and way of thinking—it’s useless!

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.

What exactly must one do to achieve understanding of the truth and gain the truth?

The Answer from God’s Word:

Understanding God’s word is not quite so simple. Just because you can give a beautiful explanation of the letter of God’s word does not mean you understand it. No matter how you interpret the letter of God’s word it is still the imagination and way of thinking of man and is useless.

What is doing one’s duty?

Relevant Words of God:

Fulfilling your duty is the truth. Fulfilling your duty in God’s house is not simply fulfilling some obligations or doing something you should do. It is fulfilling the duty of a created being living between heaven and earth! It is fulfilling your obligations and responsibilities before the Lord of creation. These responsibilities are your true responsibilities. Compare fulfilling the duty of a created being with being filial to your parents—which is the truth? Fulfilling the duty of a created being is the truth; it is your bounden duty.

What exactly is the connection between doing one’s duty and pursuing the truth? What does doing one’s duty have to do with achieving salvation?

The Answer from God’s Word:

It is always through the process of doing his duty that man is gradually changed, and it is through this process that he demonstrates his loyalty. As such, the more you are able to do your duty, the more truths you shall receive, and so too shall your expression become more real. Those who merely go through the motions in doing their duty and do not seek the truth shall be eliminated in the end, for such men do not do their duty in the practice of truth, and do not practice truth in the fulfillment of their duty. Such men are those who remain unchanged and will be cursed. Not only are their expressions impure, but what they express is nothing but wickedness.

Why is it that believers must pursue the truth to achieve salvation and be perfected?

The Answer from God’s Word:

Many people say: “I believe in God and I follow in this way, so I’m bound to obtain something. I do not seek the truth but I follow until the end, and I use all my strength to expend effort and to abandon things in the course of my duties. Even if I commit some transgressions, I can still obtain something.” They do not know what they are saying.

Disturbances From the “May 28” Rumor (Part 2)

Xingwu, France

Searching the Truth of the Facts, I Saw Clearly the Root of the CCP Shifting Blame to The Church of Almighty God

Why should mankind believe in God?

The Answer from God’s Word:

God created all things, and so He makes all creation come under His dominion, and submit to His dominion; He will command all things, so that all things are in His hands. All creation of God, including animals, plants, mankind, the mountains and rivers, and the lakes—all must come under His dominion. All things in the skies and on the ground must come under His dominion. They cannot have any choice, and must all submit to His orchestrations. This was decreed by God, and is the authority of God. God commands everything, and orders and ranks all things, with each classed according to kind, and allotted their own position, according to God’s will. No matter how great it is, no thing can surpass God, and all things serve the mankind created by God, and no thing dares to disobey God or make any demands of God. And so man, as a creature of God, must also perform the duty of man. Regardless of whether he is the lord or ruler of all things, no matter how high man’s status among all things, still he is but a small human being under the dominion of God, and is no more than an insignificant human being, a creature of God, and he will never be above God. As a creature of God, man should seek to perform the duty of a creature of God, and seek to love God without making other choices, for God is worthy of man’s love.