Christian Video | The Best Decision of My Entire Life—Accepting Almighty God's Work of the Last Days

Christian Video | The Best Decision of My Entire Life—Accepting Almighty God's Work of the Last Days

Since Almighty God began His work of the last days in China, more and more people have come to spread and bear witness to His words. Almighty God’s end-time work long ago expanded outside of China’s borders, and His words have been translated into many different languages and published online. More and more of those who truly believe in God and long to seek the truth are investigating Almighty God’s work, and many want to gain an understanding of The Church of Almighty God and God’s work in the last days. In response to audience requests, in this episode two American Christians, Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt from The Church of Almighty God, share their stories of coming to believe in Almighty God as well as what they have experienced and reaped within the Church.

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The Mystery of God’s Gospel in Every Age

The Mystery of God’s Gospel in Every Age

By Xiaoxi

What Is the Meaning of “Gospel”?

“Gospel” is an old English word, which represents “Good news.” So if we translate it literally, its meaning is good news.

Where Does Gospel Come From?

Gospel comes from God, that’s for sure. After the ancestors of our human, Adam and Eve, were tempted into sin by the snake (that is, Satan), God began the management work of saving mankind. God bestows different gospel upon man in different ages based on the needs of mankind. In the time of Noah, God revealed to Noah, asking him to spread the gospel of destroying the world with a flood. Early in the Age of Law, God used Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, which was a great gospel for the Israelites who were slaves in Egypt. In the Age of Law, God raised up many prophets and directly revealed to them to convey His words, which was the gospel for those who heard it. In the Age of Grace, God incarnate came to earth personally to do the redemption work, bringing the gospel of the kingdom of heaven to us mankind….

Preaching of the Gospel

In the time of Noah, men were deeply corrupted, so they lost the blessings, care and protection of God, falling into darkness. As they became increasingly depraved and evil to the extent that God didn’t bear to look, God planned to destroy the world with a flood and then told Noah to build an ark. In that time, Noah was a righteous man. He listened to God’s word, built the ark and spread the gospel for 120 years. Nevertheless, people didn’t believe his word. Eventually, only Noah’s eight family members entered the ark and survived.

As time went by, there were more and more people on earth. Satan corrupted man constantly. We mankind strayed far from God once more, degenerated. It is recorded in the Bible: People of Sodom and Gomorrah worshiped idols, engaged in sorcery, were licentious and corrupt and left no evil undone. The two cities became the cities of sin in God’s eyes, with the result that God decided to destroy them. But before the destruction, just as God always did, He gave them chances and sent messengers to arrive there. Yet people of the cities wanted to bring harm down upon the messengers. Finally, only Lot and his family accepted God’s gospel and fled from that city of sin; nevertheless the rest of people were fully exterminated by the brimstone and fire from the heaven. The Nineveh was also a city of sin in God’s eyes. But when God sent Jonah to spread the gospel to the Ninevites, they wore sackcloth and ashes, confessed and repented to God after hearing His word. Just as the Bible records, “yes, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands” (Jonah 3:8). As God saw their genuine repentance from within, He didn’t bring calamity on them. From these historical facts, we can see: When our human sins reached God’s eyes and we faced being destroyed, as long as we accept God’s gospel and act according to His word, we can survive in the disaster. Otherwise, we will be destroyed. Furthermore, there are still many such historical events recorded in the Bible. When God’s word was conveyed to people in that time by the prophets, if people accepted and followed His word, they would be preserved by Him; if they didn’t accept His word, even rebelled and resisted, they would suffer God’s punishment and curse. From this we can see that God’s righteous disposition encompasses mercy, lovingkindness, and even more so, majesty and wrath, and that God’s disposition exists everywhere and at all times.

At the end of the Age of Law, people were all entangled by sin, failed to keep the law and committed more and more sin, so that they faced the danger of being condemned and executed by the law. In line with the need of mankind, God ended the work of the Age of Law and started that of the Age of Grace. However, people at that time merely saw “Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every sickness and every disease among the people” (Matthew 9:35). Moreover, it is written in Mark 1, “Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent you, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1: 14-15). Here we can see that Jesus Christ brought the gospel of repentance for the people under the law. For two thousand years, only if we mankind accept the gospel of Jesus Christ and pray in the name of Jesus Christ can we gain His salvation and be forgiven of sins by Him. Our sins are not the barrier for us to come to God any more, and Satan has no way in accusing us, for God personally became the sin offering for us mankind and redeemed us from the domain of Satan. Those who have accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ, gain the work of the Holy Spirit, living in peace and joy and enjoying an abundance of grace of God. But the Pharisees were just the opposite. They rejected the gospel, and even resisted the gospel of the kingdom of heaven preached by Jesus Christ. In the end, they not only were condemned by God to suffer “seven woes”, but also punished justly by God.

Gospel Continues Being Spread

God does His work to regain man from the domain of Satan step by step, hence we mankind come closer to Him….

In modern times, we mankind live in a state of being estranged from God once again. Although we believe in Jesus Christ and pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our hearts become more and more distant from God and we all live in the situation of committing sins in the day and confessing them at night, incapable of breaking free from the bondage of sins thoroughly. The Bible says, “For the wages of sin is death” (Roman 6:23). “holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). Therefore, what we mankind need is not the gospel of repentance any more, but the everlasting gospel promised by God.

There’s 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, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters” (Revelation 14: 6-7). From this prophecy we know that in the last days, God will preach the final gospel to the people on earth. And this gospel tells that God will execute judgment to purify man completely in order to make man break free from the bondage of sins. We have been corrupted by Satan for thousands of years. What we need is much more than God’s mercy and love, and we are more in need of God’s righteous and majestic judgment and chastisement. It is only this ways that can snatch back us the profoundly corrupt mankind from Satan’s domain. And at that time, we will know our satanic nature, such as arrogance and haughtiness, selfishness and despicableness, treachery and perversion, as well as know our own real identity and status. Also, we will no longer pursue being supermen or great people to let others look up to and admire us, and no longer live by satanic dispositions, but will honestly obey God’s predestination and sovereignty, be grounded and forthright in conducting ourselves and doing things, and pursue being an honest man to live out the manner of a true person, to satisfy God. Just as the prophecy in Revelation goes, “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city” (Revelation 22:14). So the final gospel is the everlasting gospel, which directly involves whether we can be saved and enter the kingdom of heaven.

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Put Aside Our Notions to Welcome the Lord’s Return

Wang Hui

We often live in our notions and imaginations, which can give us wonderful hope or become the motivation of our life. However, once the reality doesn’t line up with our imaginations, that can have serious consequences for us.
I have heard such a story:

Once there was an old lady and her two sons. When the sons were small, their father went abroad to work. The father often sent money and necessaries of life to support the family. As time passed by, the two sons had forgotten what their father looked like, so the old lady often talked about their father to them. Thus, there was an imagined father in their mind. Soon after the old lady’s death, their father wrote to them that he would come back, but he didn’t tell them the time of his return. Knowing that their father would be back, the two sons were very excited and looking forward to their father’s return, for they had long known from their mother that their father had already become a rich man abroad.

One day, an ugly old man dressed in rags, was standing at the door of the elder son. He knocked at the door softly and called the son’s pet name. “Who is it?” asked the elder son. “It’s me, your father,” answered the old man. Hearing his pet name, the elder son knew it was his father coming back because no one knew his pet name except his mother and father. He was both astonished and happy; he wasn’t expecting his father back so soon. He gladly ran to open the door, but he was dumbfounded. Standing outside the door was an old man, short, ugly, and in shabby clothes. “How can he be my father? My father will come back in a limousine with his bodyguards.” So he roared angrily, “You poor beggar! How dare you profess to be my father! I won’t give you any food! Go away!” Hearing that, the old man still said calmly, “I am really your father…” But before he could finish speaking, the elder son interrupted him and shouted, “My father is not like you! He is abroad, rich, and will be back soon. Don’t you try to profess to be my father to take advantage of me? Go away quickly!” The old man wanted to say more, yet the elder son pointed at him and said, “Do you not go? If you don’t go, I’ll set my dog on you!” The old man shook his head, sighed and left disappointedly.

Then the old man came to the younger son’s house. He called his pet name as he knocked at the door. On hearing this, the younger son felt it was like his father’s voice, but he was not sure, for this old man before him differed greatly from his father in his mind. However, he invited the old man into the house and got him something to eat. Afterward, he inquired him of the details of his past. From his words, he confirmed that this old man was indeed his father. So he said, “Father, whether poor or rich, you are my father. I will look after you. Please live with us. This is your home.” Hearing these words, the old man was moved to tears.

Afterwards, the old man had ascertained that his younger son treated him genuinely. No matter how his brother gave bad advice to him, his younger son never kicked him out, but treated him better. In the end, the old man gave all his property to his younger son. After the elder son knew it was a test, he sorely regretted, kowtowing continually and apologizing to his father in bitter tears. He promised that he would mend his ways and treat him well. However, his father shook his head and said, “It’s too late!”

After reading this story, you may feel sorry for the elder son. When his father was standing at his door, he refused him and shut the door on him due to his imaginations. Eventually he was filled with bitter regret. This shows us that our notions and imaginations are too harmful. At the moment, I can’t help thinking of the time when the Lord Jesus came to do His work. Wasn’t it because of their notions and imaginations that the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees opposed the work of the Lord Jesus? Because God’s work was incompatible with their imaginations, that is, because they held on to the views of “impossible,” such as the Lord couldn’t possibly be called Jesus or preach outside the temple when He came, much less be born in a manger, etc., they opposed God—nailed the Lord Jesus who came to redeem mankind to the cross—and committed a heinous crime. Consequently, the entire Israel was subjected to destruction.

Today, two thousand years later, all Christians are looking forward to the return of the Lord Jesus. But they have committed the same mistake, that is, they also use their notions and imaginations to define God. Some insist that God cannot work in China and should work in Israel; others think that God cannot come in flesh and should come upon a white cloud in spiritual body; and so forth. These notions and imaginations severely hinder people from investigating God’s work, and make them shut the door on God’s salvation time and again. Jehovah God said, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9). And the word of God says, “Put aside your view of ‘impossible’! The more that people believe something is impossible, the more likely it is to occur, for the wisdom of God soars higher than the heavens, God’s thoughts are higher than man’s thoughts, and the work of God transcends the limits of man’s thinking and conception. The more that something is impossible, the more there is the truth to be sought; the more that something is beyond the conception and imagination of man, the more it contains the will of God” (“The Appearance of God Has Brought a New Age”).

From God’s words, we can see that God’s thoughts soar higher than the heavens. We can never fathom His thoughts, much less can we measure how He will work by our notions and imaginations. God cannot possibly do His work according to our notions, for man’s notions and imagination are Satan’s schemes. If we always live in our notions and imaginations, we will make the same mistake as the Pharisees—nailing God to the cross. Only if we put aside our notions and imaginations, seek and investigate God’s work, can we witness God’s appearance and welcome the Lord’s return. Otherwise, we will lose the chance to be saved. Just as God says, “The return of Jesus is a great salvation for those who are capable of accepting the truth, but for those who are unable to accept the truth it is a sign of condemnation. You should choose your own path, and should not blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and reject the truth. You should not be an ignorant and arrogant person, but someone who obeys the guidance of the Holy Spirit and longs for and seeks the truth; only in this way will you benefit” (“When You Behold the Spiritual Body of Jesus Will Be When God Has Made Anew Heaven and Earth”).

The Lord Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mat 5:3). We can see that the Lord loves people who has a humble heart. So when it comes to the matter of the Lord’s second coming, if we can put our conceptions to one side, seek humbly and follow God’s footprints, then we will be the most blessed ones. If you have other understanding and new light, you’re welcome to have a real-time chat with us via the online chat window at the bottom of the website or send an email to info@findshepherd.com. We’re all ears to your experience and knowledge of belief in the Lord. Looking forward to exchanging our sharing and welcoming the Lord’s second coming together.

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Have You Welcomed the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus?
I Have Drunk the Water of the River of Life

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Have You Found the Secret of Teaching? I

Have You Found the Secret of Teaching? I

Li Min

When I was a child, I had high regard for teachers. After graduation from senior high school, I got my wish and became a teacher in a private primary school, and then I made a firm resolution: Children are the flowers of our motherland. I must educate them carefully to make them pillars of the state when they grow up, lest I should bring disgrace on the sacred title of “the engineer of the human soul.”

When working as a teacher, at the beginning, I gave the excellent students more encouragement and also helped the poor students with their lessons patiently. It surprised me that my class ranked last in the exam. I felt very dismayed and thought: In the last six months, I taught assiduously and conscientiously, but why did my class do so badly in the exam? As I could find out no way, a close colleague had a heart-to-heart talk with me: “You should treat these students harshly. Spare the rod and spoil the child. So, if they can’t get good scores, you should punish them and give them some pressure. Gradually their scores will be improved.” I was astonished at these words. And I thought: The responsibility of a teacher is to teach and nurture people. In order to improve the students’ exam results, a teacher puts pressure on them and punishes them, then does he have professional ethics? But considering that I have just entered into this profession and the competition was so fierce, if the exam results of my class always stayed in the last place, I can’t teach at this school. For the sake of my career prospects, I tried to accept my colleague’s “experience” after turning this matter over and over in my mind.

At first, I didn’t have the heart to mete out physical punishment to them. Over time, my conscience became dull. Thus, I often asked disobedient students to remain standing in the playground; When they got up to mischief, I pulled their ears or spanked them; If they didn’t hand in homework, I would ask them to copy the homework for many times and stand on the platform; Sometimes I called their parents to teach them. As a result, those students behaved themselves in my class and everyone feared me and treated me with great respect. After six months, their exam results rose from the last to third from last. It seemed that my colleague’s method was effective.

Afterward, their exam scores rose rapidly and ranked among the best always. Meanwhile, I was assessed as an advanced teacher for many times. Ten years later, I was promoted to teach in a public school. Soon I was transferred from a rural school to an urban one. I saw my colleagues there also educated students by meting out corporal punishment to them. Civilized teaching didn’t exist at all. In addition, for improving exam scores, those teachers arranged the seats painstakingly by matching outstanding students with slow students before exams. Furthermore, they put pressure on the outstanding students by requiring them to “help” slow students. Teachers told those outstanding students, “if the slow students do poorly in exams and affect the total scores of the class, you will lose your opportunity of being assessed as excellence.” Additionally, teachers also instilled into their students the idea that “Fullness for the bold, famine for the timid.” Besides, they told them to seize every chance to copy other’s and those who could get high scores by copying were proved to be really capable. Even those students who didn’t normally hand in their homework could get over eighty scores in the exam in the end. In this way, not only would the students and their parents be happy, but teachers would also be happier. The headmaster knew it in his gut and everyone had a tacit understanding. Only by seeing this did I know that the teaching method was the same in rural places and urban areas. It was indeed true that “All crows under the sun are black,” and “Exams are the most effective method for teachers and scores are the lifeblood to students.” In order that I could stay at the school, I promptly followed their teaching method.

Before long, some students of our school were sent back to school by policemen because they climbed onto the moving train, including a student in my class. Contrary to my expectations, after coming back, this boy bickered with other students and then they fought with each other. Moreover, he took a knife and intended to revenge them. If it were not caught timely, the consequence would be unpredictable; When holding sport competitions, the school, advocating the slogan, “Friendship comes first and competition second,” intended to enhance the friendship among students. To my surprise, the students of my class voluntarily organized together, shouting the slogan wantonly, “Defeat the other class firmly!” That raised a strife between two classes. In addition, a girl envied another girl’s good grades. They usually attacked, abused and fought with each other so that their parents fell out with each other too, which left a shadow on their young mind. … I was lost in thought after seeing all these matters: Are these “fruits of education” come out through my “careful” education over these years? “Teaching and nurturing people,” how sacred duty it is! “A teacher is an engineer of the human soul.” What a glorious title it is! But what did I bring to these children? How could I educate them well? I felt confused.

When I was at a loss, my relative preached God’s kingdom gospel to me. Through reading God’s words and living the church life, my heart came to be attracted by His words. One day, I saw God’s words: “There is an enormous secret in your heart. You never know it there because you have been living in a world without light shining. Your heart and your spirit have been taken away by the evil one. Your eyes are covered by darkness; you cannot see the sun in the sky, nor the twinkling star in the night. Your ears are clogged with deceptive words and you hear not the thunderous voice of Jehovah, nor the sound of the rushing waters from the throne. You have lost everything that should have belonged to you and everything that the Almighty bestowed upon you. You have entered an endless sea of bitterness, with no strength of a rescue, no hope of survival, left only to struggle and to bustle about. … From that moment, you are doomed to be afflicted by the evil one, kept far away from the blessings of the Almighty, out of reach of the provisions of the Almighty, and you embark on a road of no return. A million calls can hardly rouse your heart and your spirit. You sleep deeply in the hands of the evil one, who has lured you into the boundless realm, with no direction, with no road signs. Henceforth, you have lost your original purity, innocence, and started to hide from the care of the Almighty.” God’s words lit up my heart like a lamp, through which I saw I have been corrupted by Satan and lost my direction. I thought: When I started to be a teacher, in conformity with the sacred duty of a teacher, I did my part with a sense of responsibility and had a clear conscience. However, facing the fierce competition, in order to remain as a teacher in the school, I went against my conscience at any cost, carrying out corporal punishment. In consequence, those students were scared of me just like mice met a cat. During examinations, I encouraged them to cheat, instilled them the thoughts “Fullness for the bold, famine for the timid,” and “The fittest will survive.” Consequently, they were wrecked both physically and mentally. However, if I had not been awakened by God’s words, I would have still educated them in an immoral way, which would hurt these naive and innocent children. Realizing this, I prayed to God, “O God, I will no longer follow Satan. Please guide and lead me, so that I can live under Your protection and care.”

One day, I read these words of God, “In your seeking, you have too many individual notions, hopes, and futures. The current work is in order to deal with your desire for status and your extravagant desires. The hopes, the desire for status, and the notions are all classic representations of satanic disposition. The reason that these things exist in people’s hearts is entirely because Satan’s poison is always corroding people’s thoughts, and people are always unable to shake off these temptations from Satan. They are living in the midst of sin yet do not believe it to be sin. … For many years, the thoughts that people have relied upon for their survival have been corroding their hearts to the point that they have become treacherous, cowardly, and despicable. Not only do they lack willpower and resolve, but they have also become greedy, arrogant, and willful. They are utterly lacking any resolve that transcends the self, and even more, they don’t have a bit of courage to shake off the strictures of these dark influences.” From these words, I came to realize: Over these years, for the purpose of saving face and preserving my standing, I kept working hard and acting unscrupulously, hoping to gain a foothold in the education world and other’s admiration. I have been actually driven by the thoughts of Satan, “People want to move up as water has to flow down,” and “Stand out from others and pursue to stand high among people.” When I pursue fame, gain and status, I have been taken captive by Satan and become a servant of them, betraying my conscience to teach and living in pain. This is exactly the contemptible means by which Satan corrupted man. I made my resolution to get rid of these wrong view points and no longer willing to be used by Satan.

Afterward, I voluntarily made apologies to my students in class: “Dear students, I only knew to treat you rudely in the past. I am sorry. Now, I hope you can supervise me. If you find I do something wrong in the future, please tell me and I will change.” After saying this, I felt a sense of release. Then they all looked at me in amazement, and whispered: “What’s wrong with our teacher today? Even her tone has changed. Does she really mean that? …” After a while, the monitor incredibly stood up and asked me, “Miss Li, won’t you punish us any longer?” I nodded with a smile. Then they made some proposals, “Miss Li, I think you are a little partial, please pay more attention to us.” “Miss Li, if something happens in school, please solve it in school and don’t tell our parents.” Hearing the low students were willing to speak, I felt very gratified. It seemed that the relationship between us was closer suddenly. It was all due to God’s guidance. Thank God! Thereafter, when seeing me, they greeted me actively and they became attentive in class; after class, my appearance wouldn’t put a sudden stop to their laughter; some slow students actively found me for making up missed lessons and asked me questions. Moreover, some helped me fetch water when I was watering flowers in the schoolyard. … Their small changes made me feel pleased for practicing the truth.

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Tonight, the Dormitory Light Comes On

Tonight, the Dormitory Light Comes On

Chenxi

It was freezing cold in winter. The whole city was like a big icehouse. In the evening, Chenxi was on the way to the self-study classroom. Pulling up her collar higher, she rapidly put her hands into her pockets. She thought, how cold it was!

Two years ago, like many students who left their homes, she left her parents and came to the city to study. She imagined having a wonderful campus life and everyone striving toward their own ideals. But the reality broke her wonderful yearning.

In her dormitory lived six girls with very different characters, three of whom were the “only daughter.” They all had different living habits. As time went by, many conflicts appeared. Formerly, Chenxi always indulged her roommates, not quibbling over many little things in life. She thought believers in God shouldn’t act the same as unbelievers. She, therefore, always forbore with their unreasonable requests. However, these days, as soon as it grew dark, her roommates would turn the light off to see movies. Their reason was that turning off the light could create an atmosphere of cinema. This thing troubled her a lot. She wanted to read books and review lessons in the dormitory, for she would get exams after some time and she didn’t want to go to the self-study classroom on her own at night. Though she had tried many times to consult with them on whether they could turn on the light, their attitude was nevertheless rather inflexible. Every time they broke up in discord.

She had to brace herself to walk toward the self-study classroom. The more she thought about it, the more she felt angry: Is it reasonable not to study? You can see movies, but why insist on turning off the light? You are indeed selfish. Considering she was for studying, she even more felt what she did was correct while her roommates were at fault. Looking at the empty campus, she thought: Other students must be in their dormitories. If my roommates had not insisted on switching the light off to see movies, I wouldn’t have gone out suffering this. … At that time, she suddenly realized: It’s wrong to think in this way. Am not I falling into the influence of Satan? She hastened to pray to God silently in her heart, “O God! My stature is too small. When things happen to me, I always fixate my eyes on others, thinking they are not good. I’m often angry with my roommates at such trifles. Please keep me from living under Satan’s control. …” After the prayer, she remembered God’s words, “People do not require much of themselves, but they require much of others. They must be patient and forbearing of them, cherish them, provide for them, smile at them, be accommodating to them, and yield to them. … and they cannot …do anything that they would not like. Man’s reason is so lacking!” “Your reputation has been destroyed, your bearing is degrading, your way of speaking is lowly, your life is despicable, and even all of your humanity is lowly. You are narrow-minded toward people and you haggle over every little thing.” She examined herself while walking on the road. She recognized that the reason why she felt angry and aggrieved was not on account of others’ problems actually, but was that her nature was too selfish. For fear that her roommates hindered her from studying, she held some views against them, thinking they were selfish. In truth, it resulted from her selfish nature. Consequently, once her roommates’ deeds involved her interests, she would begin to fuss over things and quarrel with them, living by the poison of Satan “Everyone for himself and the devil take the hindmost.” She also realized that today, that she suffered coldness was the consequence of being unwilling to relinquish herself. God’s words revealed that we mankind are unqualified to require much of others. God said that it is an expression of lacking a reason to require too much of others and ask them to go with our own ideas. She came to realize that as a Christian, she should practice according to God’s words in all things but not be angry with classmates in this way, or she would lose testimony before Satan. Thinking of those, she prayed silently to God, “O God! Today I realize that my nature is too selfish. When my roommates’ deeds are disagreeable to me, I am unwilling to obey, and even have quarrels with them, having no likeness of a Christian. God, I’m willing to practice the truth and obey the environment You arranged. May You lead me to put it into practice. …” After praying, she immediately had strength, no longer feeling that their turning off the light was wrong, but instead feeling that she should adjust to them and should not ram her opinions down their throat. It was the manifestation of arrogance and selfishness.

When understanding these, she wanted to go back to the dormitory, instead of going to the self-study classroom alone. Regardless of whether she could read books and whether the deadlock among them could be resolved, she was willing to face it. Because the intention of God was to let her learn to put herself aside. This lesson was arranged by God, was which she needed to enter. And also, she needed to transform herself.

Chenxi went toward the dormitory. Her heart was still somewhat uneasy, for she didn’t know what waited for her next: maybe an unlighted light, their dissatisfaction or anything else …

She pushed open the door nervously. A warm air blew into her face. “You are back, Chenxi. Have you eaten dinner? Turn on the light and eat your dinner.” A roommate said to her. In an instant, she blushed, asking, “Won’t I interfere with your seeing movies?” “Oh, it’s okay. In the future, we’ll see movies with the light on. Eat your dinner while it is still warm. …” She looked around at her roommates. Hesitating for a moment, she put on the light. She felt the light tonight was especially bright. She couldn’t help smiling, pleased, beyond all concealment. She was so surprised how their attitude could be changed so greatly. She sighed with emotion that she just practiced a little truth but received such a big surprise. She felt that God is too amiable and lovely!

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God Creates the Miracle of Life

God Creates the Miracle of Life

Li Qi

I had gone through an unhappy marriage and I started a new family in 2007. After marriage, due to my physical unfitness, I had habitual abortion. In 2011, I was over the child-bearing age, but luckily, I was pregnant once again. To give birth to the baby smoothly, I strictly followed the doctor’s advice to have tonics and take rest; I had examinations and injections of tocolytic agents regularly in the hospital, in fear of an unexpected miscarriage. However, more than six months later, amniotic fluid breaking, I delivered a premature baby with the weight of 1.8kg. The doctor diagnosed my son’s illness as a congenital biliary atresia, which might take his life at all times. Hearing that news, I felt as if the sky had fallen and I couldn’t help but drop tears unceasingly, thinking: It is not easy for me to bear this child. How come he has a congenital disease? No! I must try my best to cure him. Nowadays, science is so developed. Besides, it has been publicized in the newspaper and on TV that any disease can be cured. I’m assured that science will cure my son’s disease.

After my son was born, the doctor placed him in the incubator, injecting him with the imported nutraceutical on time every day, monitoring his heart around the clock and specially assigning persons to take care of him. However, having stayed in the incubator for twenty-three days, he only gained 200g. I was burning with anxiety. Seeing that my child felt too unwell to fall asleep, he breathed a shallow breath, cried with his face getting purple, and his navel swelled up, I was heartbroken, with tears wetting my face every day. I thought: So many days have passed and we have used almost all leading medicines and remedies; how can they be ineffective? The modern medical science is so advanced now, but why can it not alleviate my son’s pain? Is the medical skill not up to the mark or the equipment not advanced in this hospital? Perhaps those are better in a large-scale hospital.

So, after discussion, my husband and I decided to transfer our son to a provincial hospital. Regardless of my rather frail body, I was discharged from the hospital quickly and on the very day, we left for the provincial capital. In the provincial hospital, my child was sent to the incubator again, and took blood test every day. After several twists and turns, the results of inspection were the same as before, and the doctor gave the same medical treatments. After nine days, my son’s illness didn’t take a favorable turn, but was aggravated owing to being drawn too much blood for tests. His cries became weaker and weaker, his navel got more and more swollen, his weight decreased, and he sucked the breast with difficulties. Observing this situation, the doctor was afraid that my child would die in the hospital, so he said to us, “You’d better go home. I’m incapable of curing your child. There’s no use in continuing healing him.” Hearing the specialist’s words, my husband and I were agonized. I thought: Will my kid’s life end that way? Isn’t it said that all the disease can be cured by modern science? Why can’t it cure my son? I still didn’t give up, then I cried and pleaded with the doctor, “Please seek other ways to save my child. As long as there is a glimmer of hope, I’m willing to do no matter how much it costs.” But he shook his head resignedly. My husband also advised me, “Since the specialist can’t cure our son’s disease, now we can only wait for his good fortune.” We had no alternative but to take our child back home.

On the second day after we returned home, my aunt (my father’s sister) came to visit my child and me. She testified about God’s gospel to me. And then she picked up a book and read a passage of God’s words to me, “From the moment you come crying into this world, you begin to perform your duty. You assume your role in the plan of God and in the ordination of God. You begin the journey of life. Whatever your background and whatever the journey ahead of you, none can escape the orchestration and arrangement that Heaven has in store, and none are in control of their destiny, for only He who rules over all things is capable of such work.” After reading these words, my aunt fellowshiped, “God is the Creator and the source of life for all things. He presides over everything of man. So everyone’s fate is in control of His hand and cannot be governed or decided by anyone. Your son’s disease cannot be cured in this hospital, nor in that hospital. You can hand the child to God, pray to Him, depend on and look up to Him more often. Whether he is well or not, let God control and decide. We just submit to His sovereignty and arrangement. …” Hearing her words, I gasped and thought: I have never heard about such words. They are reasonable. I thought back to the past. After I had a pregnancy, I started having injections, taking medicine and having health care for the safe birth of my child. Beyond my expectation, I had a premature delivery and my child had a congenital disease. We transferred him from a general hospital to a large-scale one, but both of them couldn’t cure him of disease. It cost a lot of money, but his disease turned no better. It seemed that science cannot take charge of man’s fate, much less change one’s fate. Is my child indeed in charge of God? My son’s disease, congenital disease couldn’t be cured even in the largest hospital in the provincial capital. Is God able to? My aunt seemed to read my thought and said to me, “God’s authority and power cannot be fathomed by man. If you experience practically, you can see God’s wondrous deeds.” Hearing what she said, I wanted to have a try. Maybe, if I believed in God, there would be a little hope for my son’s disease. Thereupon, I began to follow my aunt to believe in God. Whenever I had time, I would read God’s words. The brothers and sisters often had gatherings at my home and fellowshiped with me. And I often committed my son’s disease into God’s hands and allowed Him to control and arrange.

One evening, my son felt unwell again and cried very bitterly with sweat all over, his navel swelling badly. Seeing his agony, I began to worry again: He is so small and thin and doesn’t want feeding. If this continues, how can he bear? I’d better let my husband take him to the hospital again. Perhaps there’ll be a gleam of hope. I told my thought to my husband. He took a look at our child and said dejectedly, “Our son has a congenital disease. The best expert has refused to treat him. Even if we go to the hospital, what problems can be solved?” Then I thought what he said was reasonable. Even the expert in the provincial hospital couldn’t cure him. Science can’t save my child. What should I do? One day, I saw two passages of God’s words, “From when man first had social sciences, the mind of man was occupied by science and knowledge. Then science and knowledge became tools for the ruling of mankind, and there was no longer sufficient room for man to worship God, and no more favorable conditions for the worship of God. The position of God sunk ever lower in the heart of man.” “Mankind merely uses scientific knowledge that the naked eye can see and the brain can comprehend to anesthetize his heart. … Regardless of whether you are able to recognize the deed of God, and irrespective of whether you believe in the existence of God, there is no doubt that your fate lies within the ordination of God, and there is no doubt that God will always hold sovereignty over all things. His existence and authority are not predicated upon whether or not they can be recognized and comprehended by man. Only He knows man’s past, present and future, and only He can determine the fate of mankind.” At this time, I understood: Originally, I had been esteeming science and relying on it, and I had thought science was all-purpose, could solve people’s various difficulties and cure people’s all kinds of diseases. Before the birth of my child, I tried to prevent a miscarriage with scientific methods for my child to be born smoothly. However, unexpectedly, my son was delivered prematurely with a congenital disease. During the treatment, I, again, put all of my hope on science, believing that, in modern times, science was well-developed, and with advanced apparatus and equipment, imported medicine as well as the treatment of the specialists, my son would recover from his disease. As a consequence, we spent lots of energy and money, but all hardly helped. It turned out that science is not all-purpose, and it cannot rule over man’s fate, much less change man’s foreordination. I was deceived by science, believing it in the depth of my heart, but not admitting God’s sovereignty, not believing man’s fate is in the hand of God. Hence, as soon as I had difficulties, I would think of science and intended to alter my child’s fate by it. It could be seen that what I believed and depended on in my heart was science, and I wasn’t a true believer in God! From then on, I am determined to rely on and look unto God genuinely, and allow God to reign over, dominate and arrange my son’s fate. No matter whether my son would die or survive, I would obey Him and have no complaints.

Four months later, the symptom of my son showed little improvement, his face yellow and thin, and his breath feeble. I planned in my heart again: My son is always suffering so much and has not improved a bit. Should I find a better hospital? Thinking of these, I was anxious and uneasy. In pain, I came before God and cried to Him, “Oh, God! My son hasn’t had a better turn for so long a time. I don’t know whether I shall go to the hospital. Oh, God! I would like to depend on You! May You lead me to understand Your will.” After prayer, I saw two passages of God’s words, “Almighty God is an all-powerful physician! … Faith is like a single log bridge….” “People’s faith is required for when something cannot be seen by the naked eye, and your faith is required for when you cannot let go of your own notions. When you are not clear on God’s work, what is required is your faith and that you take a firm stance and stand witness. … If you have lost hope in God, how will you be able to experience Him? Therefore, only when you have faith and you do not harbor doubts toward God, only when you have true faith in Him no matter what He does will He enlighten and illuminate you in your experiences, and only then will you be able to see His actions. … What does faith refer to? Faith is the genuine belief and the sincere heart that humans should possess when they cannot see or touch something, when God’s work is not in line with human notions, when it is beyond human reach. This is the faith that I speak of.” Having read these words, I recalled: Before I believed in God, I only believed science. Consequently, seeking medical advice had no result. Today, I have believed in God, but I have suspicion in my heart. I still want to depend on science. Neither do I believe in God’s sovereignty, nor do I believe that man’s life is in God’s hand. Feeling uncertain about God, I will not see His actions. Only by genuinely believing in God can I see His wondrous deeds. Therefore, every day I, by prayer, put my son’s disease in God’s hands and left it at the mercy of Him.

When I truly committed my son to God’s hands, after a short period of time, he had unconsciously a little ruddy complexion, and didn’t cry bitterly as before. Seeing he was on the mend, my husband took him to the hospital to check. After the checkup, the doctor made certain that my son had gotten over the disease and said, “It’s really a miracle!” At that moment, I dared not believe my son’s disease was gone miraculously and he could grow up like other normal children. I was so excited that tears swarmed to my eyes. I said to my husband gladly, “Thank God! Thank God! God is indeed marvelous!” Watching our son, my husband nodded happily and gaily.

Through this matter, I have personally experienced and seen: God, using His extraordinary authority and power, created the miracle of life. These years, whenever I see my son grow up healthily and happily, I will think of God’s salvation and can’t help sighing from the bottom of my heart: Science simply can’t change man’s fate. Only God is the source of man’s life. The life and death of each person are determined by God.

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