How to Improve Your Mother-Daughter Relationship

Photo credit: CameliaTWU on Best Running / CC BY-NC-ND

Dong Xin and her daughter Tingting were going out. When she saw Tingting was rolling up her pant legs before the mirror, Dong Xin asked confusedly: “Come now, why are you rolling them up?” Tingting didn’t pay attention to her mom’s question. She looked at her rolled-up pant legs and smiled with satisfaction, thinking: Hum, after rolling them up, I really look different. My legs look thin and long, and I look tall. Nice! As she enjoyed her beauty, she responded to her mom, “Dressing like this I’ll look slimming and pretty.” At Tingting’s words, Dong Xin felt that teenagers’ thoughts were strange today. She said frowning at her daughter, “Look at you. Rolling up your pant legs, you look like a hoodlum. It’s strange. Let them down.” At the moment, Tingting’s smile froze in a flash and a big question mark appeared before her eyes: Oh, my gosh! How can my mom have this thought? Don’t my contemporaries all dress this way? It’s normal. How can my mom describe me like this? She is really outdated. I wouldn’t like to listen to her. So she said, “No. I like this style. It’s in fashion.” Dong Xin saw Tingting didn’t give in, so she played her trump card, saying, “If you don’t let them down, I won’t take you to go shopping.” Tingting thought gloomily: If I don’t meet her requirement, my buying clothes will fall through. Ah, it seems the older the wiser. For the sake of my beloved clothes, I have to be aggrieved and listen to my mom. So she unwillingly let down her pant legs. As a result, Dong Xin was satisfied while Tingting wasn’t content in her heart. She thought: My mom’s so outdated. She doesn’t understand fashion nor can she keep pace with social trends closely. It seems as if she and I belong to different worlds, and we can’t simply communicate with each other.

From food, clothing and shelter to their networks of friends, it seemed that Tingting’s opinions about them were never in tune with Dong Xin’s. As long as they talked about something, they would argue and they each would insist on their own opinions, ending up parting unhappily. Therefore, even if Tingting had something on her mind, she would rather suppress it in her heart or tell others than tell Dong Xin. Although they lived under the same roof, sometimes they even wouldn’t say a word to each other in a day, so that the distance between them increased and they became the most familiar strangers. Dong Xin said Tingting didn’t understand how to do her a favor nor was she willing to be near to her. There was the saying, “The daughter is the apple of the mother’s eyes,” but Tingting fell far short. After she heard this, Tingting felt very uncomfortable and thought to herself: Don’t blame me. Regardless of what I say and what I do, they are all wrong in my mom’s eyes. Since there is no common language, then we have nothing to communicate with each other. Just like this, they complained against one another and wouldn’t put themselves aside, and thus they were always locked in this kind of stalemate.

The generation gap between them didn’t disappear but was even widening. When Tingting hit the market, she met a boy student and said hello to him. Seeing this, Dong Xin would ask her who the boy was, and warn her against calf love; when Tingting sometimes made a facial mask, Dong Xin would also say she was pursuing world trends; every time when Tingting went to shop for clothes with her mother, Dong Xin would be unsatisfied with each dress Tingting picked out, either saying the clothes were too tight, or had plunging neckline, or saying they were offbeat and didn’t fit a girl. In short, Dong Xin’s opinions were all different from Tingting’s, so Tingting felt very wronged and uncomfortable. Nevertheless, she didn’t dare argue with Dong Xin, because she never spoke but Dong Xin scolded her by saying that all she knew was to seek the trends of the world all day and that she wasn’t engaged in honest work. In the aspect of life, she was a bit picky and she liked vegetarian foods and hated meat. For this, Dong Xin often kept dinning in her ears: “It’s more difficult to feed you than feed ten children. If you visit others, will you act like this? If a famine occurs, you’ll absolutely starve to death.…” At these words, Tingting felt like she had a headache. So, what Dong Xin said often went in at one ear and out at the other.

Until that day, under the guidance of God’s words, their relationship began to change silently.…

One day, Dong Xin came to Tingting and said, “Tingting, let’s have a meeting together.” Hearing this, Tingting agreed reluctantly. She thought: Well, in any case, everything is for you to decide. If I don’t listen to you, you’ll nag me again. Then, they sat together and began to read God’s words, “Parents raise their children from infancy to adulthood, nagging them and looking after them throughout. How do parents see time? Whether twenty or thirty years later, their attitude toward their children is the same as when they were born, it doesn’t change. The child has, in fact, long since grown up, he’s long since established his own way of thinking, state of mind, insight, and viewpoints—he’s long since had these things—yet the adults never realize this, they can never keep up, they always talk and interact with the child as if he’d just been born. So what issue does the child have? As soon as the parents start nagging, the child objects. He stays away from them, he avoids them, saying to himself, ‘How I wish there was no nagging, how I wish that no one nagged me, then I’d be free.’ He doesn’t know how to open up to them, or look for the chance to tell them what’s in his heart, which would allow his parents to understand him, and know what he needs, what he’s thinking in his heart, whether there is any problem with what’s in his mind, or anything erroneous about it; whether, if he carries on thinking like this, it will make him do something wrong. He suppresses these things, he doesn’t know how to have a heart-to-heart talk, with the result that the two generations reach an impasse.”

Having finished reading God’s word, Dong Xin looked at Tingting and said, “Tingting, by reading God’s words, I know I’m wrong. I think it’s necessary for me to say I’m sorry. Since you believed in God, in order to let you believe in God properly, for fear that you are attracted by various evil worldly trends and keep far away from God, I, in accordance with my own will, have controlled you and obstructed you from doing this and that. I thought I was doing this for your own good, but I have never expected our relationship becomes more strained for this. Now, through God’s words, I came to realize I’m too arrogant. I regard what I believe is right as the standard and control you in my position as a parent all the time. I always treat you as a child and want you to live in line with my thoughts. When you don’t listen to me, I’m angry with you and still complain about your not understanding things. In hindsight, there’s such great estrangement between us and I should bear much of the blame. In fact, just as what God says, you’ve grown up. You have your own way of thinking and your free space. I shouldn’t always impose my thoughts on you. I ought to talk with you more and understand your ideas. When we understand each other and know what the other think of, can’t we know each other? Then there won’t be such great estrangement between us.”

At Dong Xin’s words, Tingting was lost in thought: Things have progressed to this point today. It wasn’t all my mother’s fault and I was also wrong. If I was supposed to see every matter I encountered from the perspective of the truth, always acted in accordance with God’s words in everything, learned to chat with my mother, and said what was in my heart so that we understood each other, then there wouldn’t happen these things.

Tingting bowed her head and right saw a passage of God’s words, “When some young people are talking, they keep rolling their eyes, they hold everyone in contempt, and everything they say is filled with a note of disdain. If you have a word with them but it’s not to their liking, they will just ignore you. It is rather hard to be a parent nowadays and very hard to get to know the mentality of young people. If they say one wrong word, their child will throw a tantrum and storm off, and it is very difficult for them to communicate with adults. This is to say that there are problems with the thinking of many young people today. Is this situation not created by evil trends and this evil society? The things of people’s normal humanity are becoming fewer and fewer. … Then there is ‘they can’t tell a four from a six.’ This is a dialect expression. Have you heard it before? (Yes.) Explain to Me the literal meaning of these words. (It means that they cannot discern between good or bad. Whatever they think is good is always good. Whatever they think is bad is always bad. No matter how you explain something to them, they don’t listen.) (It means that they are unable to know what is good for them, they have no discernment, they have no understanding about anything and are all mixed up.) This is roughly the literal meaning, that is, not being able to know what is good for them, not knowing what is positive or what is negative and not being able to tell good from bad. Because they are young, brash and arrogant, they don’t listen to anything anyone says. ‘Anything anyone else says is wrong, what I say is right. Don’t anyone try to say anything to me, I won’t take anything in. I know I’m right. Even if I am wrong, I’ll still stick to my guns. Though I know perfectly well that I’m wrong, I’ll still persist with my opinions.’ They have this kind of disposition, of not being able to tell a four from a six. From the outside it is hard to tell whether the child is being clever or stupid; they can put forward ordered arguments. When arguing something, they know better than anyone and they understand more than anyone else, so how come they always do things in such a befuddled way? Though they know perfectly well that a certain way of doing something is right, they don’t listen, they do as they wish and do things however they want—they are willful and muddled.”

After reading God’s words, Tingting felt shamed and humiliated. She thought: All along, although I’m a child believing in God, many of my thoughts and actions were no different from that of nonbelievers. Just as God said, “They are young, brash and arrogant, and they can’t tell a four from a six.” Every time my mother pointed out my mistakes, I either retorted or opposed her with silence; each time she did something that wasn’t to my liking, though I didn’t throw a tantrum, I pulled a long face and gave a dirty look to her. In fact, I obviously didn’t change my views on pursuing, paying much attention to following the trends of the world, but instead I put all the blame on my mother. I think it was my mother who was autocratic and her thoughts were outdated and she always tried to control me. So I was unwilling to communicate with her and opened up to her. As a result, we became the most familiar strangers. In fact, although my mother always tried to control me, that was because she was afraid my heart was attracted by the world, for the evil world is full of sensual pleasures, and we young people will face too many and too great temptations. If we stop paying attention for a moment, we will be seized by Satan. Then she recalled: Each time I went shopping with my classmates, they would talk about how to eat, drink, and have fun and which two classmates fell in love. Every time after I listened to what they said, I would descend into negativity and didn’t thirst for God’s words as before. Didn’t my mother control me because she feared that I kept far away from God and that I was seized by Satan? But I was often muddled and misunderstood her intention. I was really unable to know what was good for me.

After Tingting understood this, she began to apologize to Dong Xin, “Mom, this is not your fault. I should say I’m sorry. I myself follow the trends of the world, even saying you’re outdated. I oughtn’t to put all the blame on you.”

At her words, Dong Xin gently said, “Tingting, I’m wrong, too. I shouldn’t always try to control you. Your growing in life has a process and I shouldn’t ask too much of you. I haven’t considered your feelings, nor have I expected that I brought you such hurt.”

Tingting said, a little embarrassed, “Mom, in the past I didn’t understand your heart and regarded your concern as controlling me. What’s more, I always blamed you for nagging me, ignored you and didn’t know how to get on with you. Now thinking this over, before, I really couldn’t tell a four from a six and didn’t know you doing this was good for me. Mom, I see this passage of God’s word is very good and shows us the path of how to get along. Let’s read it together.”

Dong Xin responded happily, “Okay! Read it.”

Tingting carefully read, “You must endeavor to take the initiative in changing. Put yourself aside, don’t pit yourself against them, don’t contradict them. Don’t always say to yourself, ‘I’m their child, I can do whatever I want.’ When you act from this perspective, such an attitude is inherently wrong. You must put this attitude aside, it must be changed. When you interact with your parents like you would with an ordinary brother or sister, their attitude toward you will most certainly change. … If parents don’t act high and mighty, and the children can open up to them, and treat them as intimates, could there still be the estrangement between them?” “Tell them this: ‘It’s actually very simple. You don’t always think of yourselves as my parents, and I won’t think of myself as your child. The relationship between us will be that of ordinary brothers and sisters. If something’s up with you, tell me. Don’t suppress it or hide it. I won’t laugh at you. If you see something wrong with me, you can point it out to me. Tell me what you understand, so that I can put it into practice and not walk the wrong path.’ What’s it called when two people confer in this way? It’s called speaking heart-to-heart. And what is the purpose of speaking heart-to-heart? Is it to maintain a proper relationship between parents and children? Let Me tell you, narrowly speaking, the purpose of speaking heart-to-heart is for there to be normal human communication, having an exchange of minds. That’s narrowly speaking. Broadly speaking, it is for people to understand each other’s state, learn from each other, support each other, and help one another—that’s the effect. And thus, isn’t the relationship by which people interact with each other normal? … In short, the most proper relationship between children and parents is for them to understand each other, support each other, help each other, and make up for each other’s shortcomings. If you can practice this and achieve this, the conflicts between you and your parents will surely be resolved, and there will be no longer any problems.”

Having finished reading God’s word and pondering for a moment, Tingting said, “Mom, through God’s word, I know why I couldn’t communicate with you before. I always thought since you’re my mom, I could do what I wanted. When what you said wasn’t to my liking, I would be unreasonable before you without the slightest consideration for your feelings. Sometimes I would rather tell what’s in my heart to my brothers and sisters than tell you, and always pitted myself against you, with the result that we reached an impasse. I think about when my brothers and sisters communicated to me, sometimes though their communication didn’t accord with my will, I still could accept it from God and learn a lesson. Nonetheless, with regard to you, I thought your thoughts were too outdated and you were too nagging. Even if what you communicated was right, I wouldn’t like to accept it, and I’m really that kind of a child who sticks to his guns in God’s words. Mom, through this passage of God’s word, I have found the path to practice. Afterward, I just treat you as an ordinary sister. When we have different viewpoints, I’ll no longer suppress my viewpoint in my heart. I’ll have a heart-to-heart talk with you to have an exchange of our thoughts. As a result, we two will understand each other.”

When Dong Xin heard what Tingting said, she felt very gratified. With nodding, she said, “I’ll no longer control you later on consciously. Afterward, when my opinion is different from yours, let’s seek the truth, communicate about the truth and act according to God’s words. In our family, we should let Christ and God’s words reign and shouldn’t stick to ourselves.”

Hereafter, when encountering the matters, they both practiced implementing God’s word. When Dong Xin wanted to make demands on Tingting in accordance with her own will, she would consciously come before God to pray, put herself aside and no longer acted high and mighty in her position of a mother. On the contrary, she would place her in Tingting’s place and try to understand what she thought, and gradually, she wouldn’t control Tingting with intention; when Dong Xin discussed something with her, Tingting would learn to regard her mom as a sister and respect her opinion instead of being unreasonable as before. When she had a different viewpoint, she would open up and speak heart-to-heart to let her mom know her genuine thoughts, in order that they understood each other.

Later, Tingting went shopping with her mother. When choosing the clothes, Tingting no longer held to her viewpoints as before but learned to listen to her mom’s opinion and allowed her mom to give her some advice. Once, an assistant said to Dong Xin, “Present-day young people are of character and assertive. Your daughter is already this big. When she goes shopping with you, she still can listen to your advice. It’s not easy and your daughter is really obedient.” At these words, Tingting and her mom looked at each other and smiled, and they both clearly knew it was God’s words that changed them. They tasted the sweetness in practicing in accordance with God’s word and experienced a happiness they had never felt before in their hearts.

Gradually, their relationship has changed obviously. They dispute less and speak hear-to-heart more; they worry less and smile more; besides, their hearts are closer. Through the true experience, Tingting has tasted that only by practicing according to God’s word can she truly be the apple of her mom’s eyes. She has even more experienced the feelings between her and her mom should be based on practicing God’s words. This kind of affection between them, though without the fragrance of carnations, was simple and genuine like fruits, bringing them the tang of happiness.

Read More

Everyone Has a Bill That He Does not Have to Pay

Liang Zhi

Thoughts Provoked by the Story of the Bills

There was once a boy named Tom who presented his mother with a bill.

The bill says, “The sum Mom owes Tom is as follows:

Mom should pay Tom $5 for helping mop the floor; $10 for buying mom daily necessities; $15 for babysitting my younger sister; and $20 for being a good boy. That comes to $50. Your son, Tom.”

Then Tom hung out cheerfully after making out the bill. In the evening, he came back and found 50 dollars at his bedside. Just when he was pleased about the reward offered by his mom, he saw another bill beside it. And he picked it up and read it with curiosity.

“The sum Tom owes Mom is as follows:

Mom charges Tom $0 for having given birth to little Tom after months of pregnancy; for worrying about and looking after Tom when he is ill, $0; for teaching Tom to talk, walk, and eat, $0. Mom prays to God every day for Tom to grow healthily and happily, Tom should pay $0. In total, Tom should pay Mom $0. Love, Mom.”

After reading mother’s bill for $0, Tom was quite ashamed. He walked stealthily up to his mother, who was preparing the dinner, and buried his hot face in his mother’s bosom, cautiously slipping the 50 dollars into her pocket.

Having just read the story, I merely laughed it off. After all, Tom was only a child, for what reason should we not forgive him for his innocence? But then, on reflection, I thought most people’s morbid mentality was also mirrored by the ignorant child’s idea. In this society full of material desires, a great number of things can be sold at marked prices. And it is natural that we gain our due reward in exchange for the price we have paid. Sometimes, those that are supposed to be the expressions of love at last turn into merciless bargains owing to our selfishness.

My Relationship With God Is Revealed As One of Making a Deal With Him Through Labor

Some time ago, the work of the church was very busy, and I ran around from early morning to late at night. Once, I had to get to a place 30 miles away to meet a few brothers and sisters at 6 o’clock in the morning, so I got up early and set off at 5. Though the severe winter was gone, it was still cold. Especially at dawn, after a long night, there was a chill in the air, and the trees by the roadside were shriveled up. Despite my thick cotton-padded jacket under the dust coat, the wind still forced its way into my sleeves and reached my chest while I was riding the motorcycle. My legs were numb with cold. So, many times I had to get off and stamped my feet to warm them up. At that time, I couldn’t help thinking, “If not for the work of the church, I would never go outside so early in such cold weather. God may have seen all I did. And will He commemorate and bless me?” A sharp pang of guilt shot through me when I thought this way. I remembered the short story of Tom billing his mother. And a passage of God’s words which a brother had shared with us in the meeting suddenly occurred to me too, “Many of those who follow God are only concerned with how to gain blessings or avoid disaster. … Such people have one very simple aim in following God: to gain blessing, and they are too lazy to attend to anything that doesn’t involve this aim. For them, believing in God to gain blessings is the most legitimate of goals and the very value of their faith. They are unaffected by anything that cannot achieve this objective. Such is the case with most of those who believe in God today. Their aim and motivation seem legitimate, because at the same time as believing in God, they also expend for God, dedicate themselves to God, and perform their duty. They give up their youth, forsake family and career, and even spend years busying about away from home. For the sake of their ultimate goal, they change their interests, alter their outlook on life, and even change the direction they seek, yet they cannot change the aim of their belief in God. They run about for the management of their own ideals; no matter how far the road is, and no matter how many hardships and obstacles there are along the way, they stick to their guns and remain fearless of death. What power makes them continue to dedicate themselves in this way? Is it their conscience? Is it their great and noble character? Is it their determination to do battle with the forces of evil to the very end? Is it their faith in which they bear witness to God without seeking recompense? Is it their loyalty for which they are willing to give up everything to achieve the will of God? Or is it their spirit of devotion in which they’ve always forgone personal extravagant demands? For people who have never known the work of God’s management to give so much is, quite simply, a wondrous miracle! … Apart from the benefits that are so closely associated with them, could there be any other reason for these people who never understand God to give so much to Him? In this, we discover a previously unidentified problem: Man’s relationship with God is merely one of naked self-interest. It is the relationship between the receiver and giver of blessings. To put it plainly, it is like the relationship between employee and employer. The employee works only to receive the rewards bestowed by the employer. In a relationship like this, there is no affection, only a deal; there is no loving and being loved, only charity and mercy; there is no understanding, only resignation and deception; there is no intimacy, only a gulf that cannot be bridged.”

Contemplating these thought-provoking words, I felt terribly ashamed at my thought of making demands on God and bartering with Him when I suffered a little. I realized that I had abandoned my family and job and endured hardship and suffering, not because of my noble character, my resolution to follow God, even less because of my love for God, but just for the sake of demanding God’s blessings and rewards, and buying blessing of the kingdom of heaven with my labor and sacrifice. Wasn’t I conducting a transaction with God? Wasn’t I making use of Him and deceiving Him? At this moment, I truly felt myself a person who sought nothing but profits and lacked conscience and sense before God.

God’s Love Cannot Be Measured, and Is Far More Than I Can Repay

After back home, I went to the brother and communicated with him. He then combined a passage of God’s words to fellowship with me, which was edifying and helped me gain a better knowledge of God’s will. And the passage of God’s words say: “God created mankind; regardless of whether they have been corrupted or whether they follow Him, God treats human beings as His loved ones—or as human beings would say, the people dearest to Him—and not His playthings. Although God says He is the Creator and that man is His creation, which may sound like there is a bit of a difference in rank, the reality is that everything God has done for mankind far exceeds a relationship of this nature. God loves mankind, cares for mankind, and shows concern for mankind, as well as constantly and unceasingly provides for mankind. He never feels in His heart that this is additional work or something that deserves a lot of credit. Nor does He feel that saving humanity, supplying them, and granting them everything, is making a huge contribution to mankind. He simply provides for mankind quietly and silently, in His own way and through His own essence and what He has and is. No matter how much provision and how much help mankind receives from Him, God never thinks about nor tries to take credit. This is determined by the essence of God, and is also precisely a true expression of God’s disposition. This is why, regardless of whether it is in the Bible or any other books, we never find God expressing His thoughts, and we never find God describing or declaring to humans why He does these things, or why He cares so much for mankind, in order to make mankind be grateful toward Him or praise Him. Even when He is hurt, when His heart is in extreme pain, He never forgets His responsibility toward mankind or His concern for mankind, all while He bears this hurt and pain alone in silence. To the contrary, God continues to provide for mankind as He always does. Even though mankind often praises God or bears witness to Him, none of this behavior is demanded by God. This is because God never intends for any of the good things He does for mankind to be exchanged for gratitude or for it to be paid back. On the other hand, those who fear God and shun evil, those who truly follow God, listen to Him and are loyal to Him, and those who obey Him—these are the people who will often receive God’s blessings, and God will bestow such blessings without reservation. Moreover, the blessings people receive from God are often beyond their imagination, and also beyond anything human beings can exchange for what they have done or the price they have paid. When mankind is enjoying God’s blessings, does anyone care about what God is doing? Does anyone show any concern for how God is feeling?” (“God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself I”).

I was greatly touched by these words. God silently bestows the truth and life on us, and provides for us, and what He has done for us humans cannot be measured. We used to be ones who wandered and were lost in the world, and it is thanks to God’s salvation that we can come before God, so that we come to understand some truths, can discern good from evil, and beauty from ugliness, and can walk on the correct path to break away from Satan’s influence of darkness and march on toward a brilliant life. Recollecting the days of our first believing in God: How many times we have responded to God with silent tears in our prayers when we thought of His salvation and grace. How many times we have promised to give our whole lives to God. But after years of belief, when we sacrifice and suffer a little in our work, our selfish and greedy nature is revealed—we frequently take our devotion and sacrifice as the bargaining stock for God’s grace, demanding of Him to keep us so that our families always live harmoniously and peacefully, and moreover expecting Him to grant us a beautiful destination, and the blessing of the kingdom of heaven…. There are many items in our bill that we ask God to pay in our heart. In contrast, what has God demanded from us for all that He did for us mankind since the time of creation? God prepared the air, the sunshine, the rain and dew, various foods, and all the other conditions for us mankind to survive and to be able to thrive and reproduce. Moreover, after mankind was corrupted by Satan, in order to ensure their normal existence on earth, God issued laws and commandments and led man’s life for thousands of years. And later, in order to redeem mankind, who would soon be devoured by Satan, He Himself put on the flesh and was crucified for mankind. God also promised to return in the last days to do the work of judging and purifying man, bestow all the truths man needs to be saved, so as to thoroughly destroy Satan and take man to a wonderful destination…. God has never demanded anything from humans for all He did. He does everything so that we human race will live and enjoy His love forever.

Faced with God’s such profound love and ardent expectations, will we still make demands of God and claim grace from Him for the sake of our own self-interests or because of our expending and suffering? We know that God hopes we can pursue the truth, forsake our flesh and abandon Satan to practice His words, truly love Him and care for His heart to expend for Him, and obey His teachings willingly and happily, so that we will live out the likeness of a creature with humanity and sense to comfort His heart. That is our duty and responsibility as God’s creation, and only by living that way can we be worthy of all that God selflessly supplies and gives to us.

Recommended:
Blessed Through Illness: Experiencing God’s Love
The Creator’s Sincere Feelings Toward Mankind

Read More

Is the Hope of Rapture to meet Jesus Christ Achievable?

Is the Hope of Rapture to meet Jesus Christ Achievable?

Li Huan

Like many brothers and sisters who truly believe in the Lord, I have been longing for the return of the Lord Jesus, holding to the words in the Bible, “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Thus, we have been obsessively looking at the sky, yearning that a day will come when the Lord Jesus will take us into the clouds to meet with Him in the air, and then we can enter the kingdom of heaven and gain eternal life. Many years, however, have passed, and the signs of the second coming of the Lord have basically fulfilled, but we never see a believer be caught up to the heavens. It makes me wonder: Is this hope realistic? Does this word of Paul represent God’s will? If not, then aren’t we imaging it out of thin air? I have looked through the Bible, yet nothing of the kind that the Lord Jesus ever said was found. God is faithful, and He has said, “He is as good as His word, and His word shall be accomplished, and that which is accomplished lasts forever.” What God has promised will definitely be accomplished and fulfilled, as His word is the truth, the way. Now that the Lord Jesus never made such a statement, and man’s words cannot represent words of God, the Lord has His own will and plan on how to collect Christians into His kingdom when He comes back. Yet Paul was merely a man, a gospel-preaching apostle who had ever pursued the Lord Jesus and His disciples, and later was conquered after being blinded by the Lord’s great light. Even though Paul’s words were recorded in the Bible, and part of them were inspired by the Holy Spirit conformed to the truth, they were still not the words of God. What’s more, some of them were not the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit and had no basis in God’s words, but mostly originated from man’s notions and imaginations and were colored by the absurdity of man’s mind. That’s why we cannot take man’s words as the basis for receiving the second coming of Jesus Christ. So, when seeking the issue “whether or not we can be caught up into the air,” we should use God’s words and His work in the Bible as the basis, which is in accord with God’s will.

The Lord Jesus once said, “And no man has ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven” (John 3:13). When we try carefully to figure out the words of the Lord Jesus, we can see His great power and His humility. Only God can both ascend to the highest place and descend to the lowest place, while we humans cannot ascend to a high place to meet God. Moreover, God ordains that we human beings live on earth. He made our mankind’s ancestors Adam and Eve out of clay, and then put them in the Garden of Eden on earth and made them live there. They listened to His words and were blessed by Him, ruling over everything in the garden. Instead of in heaven, the humanity that followed still had dominion over all things on the earth. When the mankind on earth were deeply corrupted by Satan, filled with violence, God decided to destroy the earth with a flood and to save Noah, a righteous man who worshiped God. At that time, He didn’t take Noah to the air to escape the flood, but let him build the ark, so that when the flood came, his family of eight could take shelter there. In the Age of Law, God issued the laws through Moses, leading man to live on earth. In addition, when God rescued the Israelites from the hunting of Pharaoh on their way out of Egypt, He didn’t lift them into the air, but carried out His authority on earth, allowing them to see His guidance and know His power and wisdom. Also, in the Age of Grace, man didn’t go to heaven to obtain the sin offering so as to receive the Lord’s redemption, but instead the Lord Jesus personally became flesh on earth, and redeemed all mankind through His crucifixion. By this way, we man received His salvation, knew His love and mercy, and enjoyed the abundant grace God had bestowed upon us. Then, how will God receive us into the kingdom when He comes back in the last days? With the question, I studied the Bible and read the words of the Lord Jesus, “After this manner therefore pray you: Our Father which are in heaven, Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9-10). This is what the Lord said, which contains the will of God: God allows us to worship Him on earth and wait for His kingdom to be established on earth; He will live on earth with man, and make the kingdoms of earth become Christ’s kingdom. Just as Revelation prophesied, “And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God” (Revelation 21:3). So we are completely clear. God never said that man would be taken into heaven both in His previous work and in the Lord’s prophecies. So we always believe that the Lord will take us into the air when He returns; is this not our notions and imaginations? We always want to be raptured into heaven; is this not our extravagant thoughts? This is totally not in line with the Lord’s words and His will.

When I repeatedly pondered over how to understand the words that the Lord would bring us into the air to meet Him when He came, I suddenly recalled a prophecy in Revelation, “And I saw another angel fly in the middle of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people” (Revelation 14:6). Then I thought: Now messages about the Lord’s return are spreading widely on the Internet. Why is it like the angels transmitting the gospel through the air? If we people really accept the good news of the Lord’s return through the Internet, are we lifted to heaven to meet with the Lord? Clearly, there must be mysteries in our rapture into heaven to meet with the Lord. The Lord Jesus ever said, “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come” (John 16:12-13). From these words, we can easily understand that when the Lord comes, He will tell us what we don’t know and the future things, and guide us to understand the mystery of the truth. So facing the Lord’s second coming, what we should expect is the Spirit of truth and all of the truths He expresses, for He will guide us to understand the truth and come before God. When we meet the Spirit of truth, are we raised up before God? Isn’t this kind of rapture very real? This is worthy of our deep thought.

The Lord Jesus said, “And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him” (Matthew 25:6). So, at this crucial moment when the Lord comes again in the last days, whether we can keep up with the Lord’s footsteps and be raptured to His presence depend on whether we can spend more time pondering and seeking after His words, whether we can relate the current news of His return to take heed of such issues as where there is the Holy Spirit’s word to the churches and where there are people testifying God’s newest words and utterances, and whether we can recognize the Lord’s voice and thus welcome His arrival when we seek and investigate actively. These are all the key questions for the wise virgins to pay attention to when investigating and welcoming the returned Lord, and are great matters that relate to our rapture and salvation!

Read More

Why Does the CCP Require Real-Name Registration for Internet and Telephone Users?

Why Does the CCP Require Real-Name Registration for Internet and Telephone Users?

Zhen Yan

Following the implementation of the Cybersecurity Law in mainland China on June 1, the 24th article of which stipulates that network operators must require users to register using their real identity information and, if they refuse to provide it, must not provide them with relevant services, China will fully impose real-identity system on mobile phones. According to the Chinese government, 92 percent of China’s telephone users had been registered under real names by May 2016. Now telecommunications companies are required to make sure that all telephone services will have had real-name registration by June 30, 2017.

Is it good or bad news for people in mainland China? The emergence of the Internet and development of the telecommunications have indeed brought many benefits to our work and lives and broaden our knowledge and understanding of the outside world. However, people in mainland China have never enjoyed Internet freedom due to constant website blockages of the Chinese Communist Party’s cyberpolice. Overseas information cannot come in freely and the truth of major domestic incidents cannot be sent out; people’s posts on social media platforms are often deleted by the authorities, and their calls are also kept under surveillance. Outwardly, the Chinese Communist Party professed that the new cybersecurity law was meant for protecting the legal rights of citizens and upholding national security and society’s public interest. Yet in reality it has been restricting the usage of Internet and telecommunications and monitoring all the Internet and telephone users in mainland China. For example, in the spring of 2011, a group of strange men burst into a Christian’s home and directly took her to the local police station. During the interrogation, she learned that she was arrested because she had called a sister in the church talking about transporting the spiritual books, which attracted the notice of the police from the State Security Bureau during surveillance and led to the apprehension of the several sisters involved in the transport and the shutdown of the printing plant. As another example, after Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a new policy on news media control that all Chinese media had to serve the party in a visit to three state media organizations on Feb. 19, Ren Zhiqiang, an ex-president of Beijing Huayuan Group, a property company, posted statements challenging this policy and saying that the news media should serve the people, not the party. The posts of this outspoken property tycoon were quickly deleted. On Feb. 22, a website managed by the Beijing municipal party committee criticized Mr. Ren, saying that he was acting against the party.

Obviously, the Chinese Communist Party aims to thoroughly limit freedom of speech by fully carrying out real-identity registration of Internet and telephone users. It has always employed the strategy of “Submit to me or perish,” giving no punishment to those obedient people who specially sing praise for it and are at its beck and call, while thinking of every possible way to crack down on those who have discernment of it and dare to speak the truth as well as the Christians. If the latter want to tell the truth, they will be silenced unceremoniously by the party, and any further insistence will make them lose their lives. Wasn’t Zhang Zhixin impaled in the throat and shot for opposing Mao Zedong’s tyranny during the Cultural Revolution? To take another example: In the summer of 2011, a Christian in Xi’an City received a call from her daughter in Yunnan Province, who told her that many Christians had been arrested by the Chinese Communist Party in Kunming City and tried to persuade her out of her belief in God for it would put her at risk of being arrested. Less than an hour after that, the police officers from the local police station came to her, questioning whether she believed in God and repeatedly warning her not to do that. Only then did she realize that the Chinese Communist Party had been wiretapping. … From the facts above, we can see that the Chinese Communist Party has been monitoring people by the Internet and telecommunications. The purpose of real-name registration of all Internet and telephone users required by the party is to gain complete control over the Chinese people and to have them obey it and support it.

Now the Chinese Communist government has developed authenticated identity administration for Internet and telephone users, and every word of the mainland Chinese is monitored and mastered by the party. Once one is found suspected, he will be tracked and located wherever he goes. In this way, the Chinese Communist Party’s aim of controlling people is achieved, while the Chinese people have completely lost their freedom. No one can be brave enough to speak the truth, much less do something against the party’s will. So, the Chinese Communist Party’s rule of real-name registration for all Internet and telephone users undoubtedly shackles the Chinese people. How miserable the mainland Chinese!

Recommended:
Exposing the CCP’s Whopping Lies

Read More

The Transformation of a Teacher

The Transformation of a Teacher

Fan Lin

Introduction: Fan Lin is a teacher. Since the first day she set foot in the classroom, she has made a resolution inwardly to be a paragon of virtue and learning, to devote her entire life to education, to expend all of her painstaking efforts on children selflessly. However, when she really assumed her own post, she was powerless to prevail over the assaults of social trends. She broke her promises under the temptation of interests. …

Setting up My Mind to Be a Good Teacher

When I began to teach in the school, in order to be a good teacher who nurture students, I endeavored to enrich my professional knowledge, collected materials, prepared the lessons carefully and strived to give good lessons. And my efforts paid off. The score of my class finished in the top three every semester. Usually, I also cared for every student. At that time, there was a student who had epilepsy in my class. Once, while I was giving a lesson, he had an epileptic fit suddenly and fell to the ground in a faint. … I lay him down and pinched his philtrum, calling his name repeatedly. Gradually, he came around. After school, I carried him on my back to his home. His parents told me that he had suffered from the disease since childhood. So, I promised them that if he had an epileptic fit again, I would rescue him in time and take him home. They were grateful to me for what I said. Parents saw that I cared about students and did well in teaching, thus they were willing to send their children to my class. Winning their trust and recognition, I felt gratified and focused more energy on students. I also received favorable comments for my efforts from parents and teachers around.

Doing the Work Assiduously and Conscientiously

In the blink of an eye, two years passed. I saw some teachers around me, who were not as assiduous as me in teaching, were awarded advanced workers, or given a promotion, or given an increase in salary. Whereas, I did the work conscientiously, took the best care of every student and achieved remarkable results. But why didn’t these good things come upon me? I couldn’t figure it out. Later, I told my thoughts to my friend and she said to me, “You’re so silly. You only know to bow your head to do the work conscientiously as an old cow from dawn to dusk. In this age, it’s impracticable to exert all our strength like you. The contemporary society advocates ‘With money, you can make the devil push the millstone,’ and ‘Bureaucrats never discipline gift-givers.’ Do you see who works assiduously as you? But they can take the money, be granted both the professional titles and advanced titles, and awarded the bonus at the end of the year. Don’t be so stubborn. You’d better change quickly.” After hearing the words of my friend, I was suddenly enlightened: I believed the school was a pure land. It turns out that the school is the same with the society, advocating the principle of ‘Bureaucrats never discipline gift-givers and you can’t accomplish anything without licking their boots.’ Now I see it clearly that the honest are unpopular in the modern society. Working assiduously is less practicable than giving gifts. In the beginning, I felt that it was the conduct lacking moral quality for a teacher who imparted knowledge and educated people to give gifts. But when seeing the people around me all did this, I gave way to temptation and followed the crowd.

Following the Crowd

From then on, in order to be promoted and have my salary raised, I changed and began to follow the crowd to give gifts. During festivals, I prepared the gifts ahead and gave them to every leader in the school as well as the leaders of the Communist Youth League. Seeing the money spent on the gifts, I felt somewhat distressed. Then I thought, “In such a society, man can’t accomplish anything without giving gifts. Although I’ve given gifts to them today, when I’m promoted, I’ll be compensated by other gifts sooner or later.” Everything comes to him who waits. My desire finally came true. My husband became the leader of our school; I was promoted and my salary was raised too. Then, my status was exalted immediately and the teachers all greeted me with a smile. I wouldn’t need to give gifts to them, but instead they needed to send gifts to me. On holidays, I waited for their gifts at home.  Moreover, I learned how to treat them in accordance with the value of their gifts. For instance, facing those giving me expensive gifts, I would greet them with a smile; facing those giving me cheap gifts, I would have a lukewarm attitude toward them. In one Spring Festival, I made the list recording the gifts sent by the teachers and found most of the teachers had given us gifts except three or four teachers. I thought, “Hum! I’m no longer the one who was very honest before.” Thus, I said to my husband, “Three or four teachers did not send gifts to us. If they come to ask you for help later, you shall make them embarrassed.”

Accepting Gifts Beyond My Responsibility

Once, a student’s parent sent me a bag of rice and six quilt net covers for me to take care of his child. Seeing so many things, I thought, “It’s normal for teachers to give gifts to their leaders, for the whole society is like this. But I’ve never seen students’ parents give gifts to teachers. Imparting knowledge and educating students is my responsibility. I shouldn’t accept the gifts of the student’s parents.” Then, I told him, “You needn’t do so. Educating children is the responsibility of us teachers. I can’t accept your gifts. …” But the student’s parent said that these things were the tokens of his appreciation and asked me to accept them. At the same time, he unloaded these gifts from his car and moved them to my home. Thinking that my son would get married and need these quilt net covers, I was somewhat tempted. I thought, “Since he gives me these things sincerely, I’d better take them.” But I felt that it was improper for me to accept them, for he didn’t owe me anything. Although I refused to accept them once more, the student’s parent insisted on leaving them to me and then drove away. Seeing these things, I felt uneasy as if I were a thief.

I Became Greedy as a Wolf

As time went by, before or after every semester, children’s parents would carry big or small bags to send gifts to teachers. Some sent gifts to teachers’ home, some did so at the appointed meeting place by the phone call…. At that moment, gifts in the teachers’ home were as abundant as those in the Spring Festival. The gifts included cigarettes, wines, rice, oil, chicken, duck, fish, meat and various health supplements, etc. Seeing the crowd behave like this, I became inured to this kind of matter. I put the bottom line for conducting myself as a person behind me and adapted the social trends soon. Gradually, I felt that teaching children was laborious and it was normal and reasonable for them to give me some gifts. Moreover, such was the social trend. If you didn’t follow it, you would be defeated by it. At that time, I had already lost the original simplicity of being a teacher. The children before me were no longer the students I should educate and take care of, but the chess pieces I could use to make profits. I began to treat the children in the way that I treated the teachers. I carried out favorable policies to those children whose parents gave me gifts, such as arranging for them to sit in the front row, to be the class leaders and the excellent all-round students. If they made mistakes, I would turn a blind eye. To those children whose parents never gave me gifts, I would give them special treatments, such as arranging for them to sit in the last row, letting them clean the classroom. If they made mistakes, I would punish them by having them stand in class or rebuke them. When these children saw me, they acted just like the mouse saw the cat. Sometimes, it weighed on my conscience. When I recalled that my son’s ears were twisted by his teacher for failing to complete the homework in his childhood, I would hate that teacher. When I began my teaching career, I exhorted myself not to treat the children as she did. However, facing the interests nowadays, I became greedy as a wolf in my conscience.

The condemnation and Uneasiness in My Conscience

Every time when I did these things, I would be a little uneasy. Then I thought, “The modern society advocates ‘Bureaucrats never discipline gift-givers and you can’t accomplish anything without licking their boots.’ Not only the teachers and leaders in the school, but people from every walk of life all advocate this principle. If I don’t do this, others will say I’m sick.” Therefore, I felt at ease to enjoy the gifts from teachers in the Spring Festival and from the children’s parents in normal times. However, I didn’t feel happy later, because I felt that I had taken advantage of others and had enjoyed the hard-earned things from others. Besides, I felt uneasy as if I were a thief because I felt that I enjoyed the ill-gotten gains. Seeing that some corrupt officials were reported, I was also in a state of anxiety and always had nightmares at night. Sometimes, I was so scared that I cried and woke up in the middle of the night and my heart was strongly condemned. I thought, “If I don’t turn around, I would endure the mental pressure forever and would never be free from the inexplicable fear in my heart.” I didn’t want to be like this, but I couldn’t extricate myself from the days when I was haunted by the nightmares. …

God’s Words Judged and Revealed Man’s Corruption

In a fortuitous opportunity, I was lucky enough to accept the kingdom gospel of Almighty God. Through the gathering and fellowshiping with the brothers and sisters of the Church of Almighty God, I gradually understood some truths. I saw the words of Almighty God, “Born into such a filthy land, man has been severely blighted by society, he has been influenced by feudal ethics, and he has been taught at ‘institutes of higher learning.’ The backward thinking, corrupt morality, mean view on life, despicable philosophy, utterly worthless existence, and depraved lifestyle and customs—all of these things have severely intruded upon man’s heart, and severely undermined and attacked his conscience. As a result, man is ever more distant from God, and ever more opposed to Him. Man’s disposition becomes more vicious by the day, and there is not a single person who will willingly give up anything for God, not a single person who will willingly obey God, nor, moreover, a single person who will willingly seek the appearance of God. Instead, under the domain of Satan, man does nothing but pursue pleasure, giving himself over to the corruption of the flesh in the land of mud. … Before he was corrupted by Satan, man naturally followed God and obeyed His words. He was naturally of sound sense and conscience, and of normal humanity. After being corrupted by Satan, his original sense, conscience, and humanity grew dull and were impaired by Satan” (“To Have an Unchanged Disposition Is to Be in Enmity to God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). I was suddenly enlightened by God’s words: Before man was corrupted by Satan, man naturally followed and obeyed God’s words. He was naturally of sound sense and conscience, and of normal humanity. After being corrupted by Satan, man was severely blighted by society and influenced by feudal ethics. Gradually, man’s conscience grew dull, his sense became unsound, and he lost his humanity. His mindset became backward, his morality was corrupt, and he lacked the bottom line and principle of being a man. He took Satan’s philosophy of life as the truth, plundering one from another and giving free rein to the spread of sin. Originally, I just desired to be a good teacher, who could impart knowledge and educate people. However, under the influence of the social trends, I began to live by Satan’s laws of survival ‘Bureaucrats never discipline gift-givers and you can’t accomplish anything without licking their boots.’ In order to get a promotion and an increase in salary, I began to give gifts to the leaders. Once my goals were achieved, I began to enjoy the gifts from teachers and students’ parents. My attitudes toward these teachers and students varied with the amount of their gifts. I saw that Satan used these poisons to lure and corrupt me, so that I lost conscience, morality and humanity, and I outstretched my greedy hands farther and farther, and thus I couldn’t extricate myself from sins. Without God’s care and protection, I couldn’t see the light under the domain of Satan, felt strongly condemned and had nightmares frequently. This was the source of my miserable life.

God’s Words Roused My Heart and Spirit

One day, when I returned home from work, I opened the book of God’s word and saw the following words, “For example, some people especially love to take advantage at others’ expense and seek after their own interest in everything. Whatever they do must benefit them or they won’t do it. They don’t bother with anything unless it provides advantage, and they have their own ulterior motives for everything. They speak well of whoever benefits them and exalt whoever flatters them. Even when their favorites have problems, they will say their favorites are right and try hard to cover for and defend them. What nature does this sort of person have? Can you see their nature clearly according to these behaviors? They strive to take unfair advantage through their actions and engage in transactional behavior all the time and everywhere, so you can be certain that their nature is one of wholehearted covetousness for profits. They are for themselves in everything. They will not rise early unless there is an associated benefit. They are the most selfish people, insatiable, so their nature is to love money and not love truth. Does that not represent their nature? … So, if you seek to change your disposition then you must recognize your nature. ‘The rivers and mountains may change, but not one’s essential nature.’ If one’s nature is too bad and will never change, God will not save him. Don’t think that nature can be changed” (“How to Know Man’s Nature” in Records of Christ’s Talks With Leaders and Workers of the Church). God’s words pierced my heart like a sharp sword, and my satanic ugliness was so thoroughly exposed. It turned out that I was mercenary and loved to take advantage at others’ expense and enjoyed being supplied by others, which was selfish and greedy by nature and was influenced by Satan’s poison “Every man for himself and the devil takes the hindmost.” My living out was evilness before God, was a negative thing and was loathed by God most. God observed the hearts of all men, and saw clearly what evil things men do behind others though nobody knew about them. I felt these words were the warnings from God. I shouldn’t live in sin anymore. I should wake up immediately and repent to God, otherwise I won’t be saved by God. Thinking of this, I felt scared and knelt down to pray to God hurriedly, “Oh God! I’m wrong. Previously, I lived by Satan’s poisons and was loathed by You. Now, I’m willing to repent to You, set aside my greedy desires and become a new person in accordance with Your words’ requirements.”

The pictrue is from Internet.

One afternoon in the winter, all the children except one were picked up by their family members after school. Seeing the child in flimsy pants huddle up and walk back home, a wave of sadness and grief pulsed through me. I felt the child very pitiful and assumed his family must live in poverty. After I went home, I sewed a pair of cotton-padded trousers for him that night and gave it to him the next day. As a result, on Sunday, his parents got a gigot of lamb somewhere and asked him to send it to me. Seeing the gigot, I thought, “The mutton is expensive and I can’t bear to buy it for a long time. I’m itching to take it and nobody will know it. Just this once. I bet it won’t happen again.” Then, I had a second thought: This student’s family is in rather difficult condition. This gigot may be given by others. They don’t bear to eat it, but ask the child to give it to me. How can I take it? I feel uneasy to take it, but I’m reluctant to refuse it. I don’t really know what to do. Then, I prayed to God silently, “Oh, God! You know my flesh is weak at this moment and I’m incapable of overcoming sin. May You lead me to forsake my own greedy desires and carry out Your will in accordance with Your requirements.” After prayer, God’s words rang in my ears, “Today, most people are too afraid to bring their actions before God, and while you may deceive God’s flesh, you cannot deceive God’s Spirit. All that cannot withstand God’s observation is not in accord with truth and should be cast aside, or you sin against God” (“God Perfects Those After His Heart” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). At that moment, I felt God, by my side, was observing every word and action of me, as well as the change of my thoughts, and was waiting for me to turn back to Him. God’s words showed me the way to practice. Since I was a believer in God, I couldn’t live by Satan’s corrupt dispositions, taking advantage at others’ expense, and I should forsake Satan and stand testimony for God. So I gave the gigot back to the child’s parents. When I practiced God’s words, I felt assured in my heart. I knew this wasn’t my actual stature. It was Almighty God’s words that led me to triumph over the temptation of Satan. Thank God for His protection to me!

Conducting Myself Uprightly and Honorably

The Spring Festival was getting near before I knew it. The teachers took high-grade cigarettes and wines and other gifts to my home. Seeing the gifts they sent, I was not as joyful as before. Because after I believed in God, I understood from God’s words that in accepting other people’s gifts in the past, I lived by Satan’s philosophies of life. It was the corrupt disposition of Satan and was loathed by God. As I understood God’s requirements, I couldn’t do it as before, otherwise I was following Satan to bring shame upon God’s name. Then, I said to my husband, “Every family has its difficulties. We haven’t done much for them, so we shouldn’t accept their gifts. We’d better send them back. Moreover, when we were in a difficult situation and had to give gifts to the leaders before, we hated them from our inner hearts. Now we accept their gifts; won’t they hate us? It is unfair to them.” But my husband said, “You’re so stupid! Don’t you know ‘Power is gained to be used before it’s gone’? We should enjoy when we are in office. There is nothing fair. Such is the modern society. Who will care about us once we are retired?” After hearing my husband’s words, I hesitated slightly and thought them reasonable. I decided to take the gifts. At that moment, God’s words guided me from within: “you must not … do anything reprehensible; all that you do must be bright and honest, and able to be brought before God. Although there will be times when your flesh is weak, you must be able to put the interests of the house of God first, you must not seek personal profit, and you must be able to act with righteousness. If you are able to practice in this way, then your relationship with God will be normal” (“How Is Your Relationship With God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). God’s words helped me any time I needed and allowed me to understand: I was a person who believed in God, so I should put God’s words into practice when faced with a matter and should place everything in front of God to satisfy Him. I could not seek my personal interests and do those reprehensible things. Thinking of this, I said to my husband, “We believers in God all know God is observing man’s deeds. Taking ill-gotten gains is loathed by God. I fear offending God. Let’s find ways to give back to them.” After hearing my words, my husband had to follow me and then we bought some things to return to them. Previously, in the Spring Festival, I didn’t spend one penny, but my home was piled high with the purchases for the Spring Festival. Although there were few purchases this year, I felt assured and peaceful in living like this, without the former guilty conscience.

Feeling Sweet After Standing Testimony

In a trice, a new semester began. I went to school to do some cleaning and to await the students to register. After a busy day, I was very tired and had a sore back. When arriving at the gate of my home with a waddle, I saw a student’s parent waiting for me. Beside him, there was a four-wheeler, in which many big watermelons were loaded. He saw me back and said, “Teacher Fan, these are the watermelons I grew. They’re very sweet. These are for you.” While saying it, he moved them to my home in bags. At that moment, I ignored my backache and said hypocritically, “You needn’t do that. Thank you!” I began to carry the watermelons involuntarily. When I put down the watermelons, I felt the pain of my back became intense. I realized immediately that it was not pleasing to God and that as a believer in God, I shouldn’t take advantage at others’ expense. I hastened to repent to God silently, “Dear Almighty God! I know I’m wrong. I’m willing to repent. May You continue to lead and enlighten me!” After my prayer, I thought of Almighty God’s words, “In every step of work that God does within people, externally it appears to be interactions between people, as if born of human arrangements, or from human interference. But behind the scenes, every step of work, and everything that happens, is a wager made by Satan before God, and requires people to stand firm in their testimony to God” (“Only Loving God Is Truly Believing in God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). God’s words aroused my numb heart and let me know the will of God. I should stand testimony. I should neither have Satan’s schemes succeeded nor live by Satan’s poisons any longer. I should live by God’s words. Thinking of this, I saw that the student’s parent had unloaded the watermelons and was ready to go. He said, “Please help arrange the seat of my child in the front row.” I said, “Take it easy. I’ll arrange the seat for your child. Today, I accept the watermelons you give, but I need to pay you money. You shall take the money.” He said, “The watermelons are for you. No charge.” I said, “Absolutely not. The heaven is watching what man is doing. I can’t take advantage at your expense. You’d better get the money.” As I made it clear, he had to get the money and went away. At that moment, my back didn’t ache, and I feel relaxed and happy. I knew I couldn’t stand firm by myself. It was God’s words that gave me strength continually, helping me triumph over the greedy desires of the flesh. God was the One I could depend on at any time.

Feeling Assured and Peaceful by Living in Accordance With God’s Words

Ever since I believed in God and was guided by God’s words, I haven’t been so greedy for money and haven’t taken advantage of others as before. I ever arranged the children, whose parents didn’t give gifts to me, to sit in the last row and usually rebuked them. Now I treat every child equally. In order to protect their eyes from harm, I get their seats exchanged once a week, so that each of them has the opportunity to sit in the front row. I treat them as my own children: playing games with them after class and telling them stories surrounded by them. I pass every single day with them happily.

Through my step-by-step experiences, I feel that only Almighty God can save man from sin’s deep abyss, free man from Satan’s bondage. Only if man comes before Almighty God, behaves himself in accordance with the requirements of God’s words, can he enjoy true peace and joy and his conscience and reason can be restored. Now I have the right life goals and directions and live in the blessings of God! Thank Almighty God!

The End.

Read More