Spiritual Awakening: The “Subway” Is Heading Toward Spring

Spiritual Awakening: The “Subway” Is Heading Toward Spring

Yang Jing

On the subway, Xiaoran sat on her seat with a pensive and gloomy air, looking out of the window from time to time. She felt that her recent life and mood were gloomy like the tunnel. She reflected on her experience of the job interview from the beginning: Before the interview, she meant to ask for some interview techniques from her husband, who was an old hand at this sort of thing. But then she realized that most of those so-called techniques were actually tricks of teaching people to cheat others, and that as a Christian, she should not do that, for Jesus Christ taught us: “But let your communication be, Yes, yes; No, no: for whatever is more than these comes of evil” (Matthew 5:37). So she decided to practice God’s words—to speak honestly and not to cheat others. She thought that whether she would pass the interview was in God’s hands, and that if she failed, there must be God’s will in it.

Meditating on God’s words, she went to the interview. Facing many technical questions asked by the interviewers, she frankly answered them according to the real situations, even though she was aware that she was not the best one among the applicants. The interview was going very well, and when she felt that it was about to end successfully, an interviewer smiled and said, “We want to know one more thing: Why did you quit your job in the hospital?” Hearing the question, she was a little nervous because she knew that the interviewer intended to judge by her answer whether she had a bad record in her former workplace. After a short pause, she replied, “I’m getting old, and no longer want to do night duty. Besides … there’s more and more contradiction between doctors and patients now. It’s not easy to be a doctor. …” She, who had performed calmly, suddenly appeared to be hesitating, which made the two interviewers surprised. They exchanged suspicious looks, and asked her no more questions.

The announcement of the stop interrupted Xiaoran’s thoughts. She fretfully leaned back on her seat, and then couldn’t help recalling the incident happened several months ago….

On that night, Xiaoran was on duty in the hospital. After changing medicine for a serious patient, she returned to her office. It was 10:30 p.m. at that time. She had to finish a dozen progress notes of the patients, so she hurried to sit down in front of the computer. Around 11:30 p.m., a nurse phoned her and said, “The patient you have just changed the medicine for has a severe headache. He asks to change the ward or move out of the private ward.” Hearing her words, Xiaoran judged from experience that severe headache was the symptom of a patient in the acute stage of cerebral infarction, and that if he moved out of the private ward, he would be easily infected. For his safety, she refused his request. However, unexpectedly, when she finished the work in hand and went to see the patient, she found that the patient was in a state of clouded consciousness. After examination, it turned out that the patient’s condition had changed suddenly and he got a cerebral hemorrhage. Later, he died despite emergency treatment.

After that, the patient’s family demanded compensation from the hospital for Xiaoran’s missing the best time of treatment. Then the several cerebral specialists in the hospital studied and concluded that, based on the patient’s condition, Xiaoran could not delay the progress of disease for him or prevent him from dying even if she arrived on the spot earlier, for the sudden cerebral hemorrhage occurring based on former condition was beyond man’s control and rescue. Though it was the truth, Xiaoran still felt that it was her fault that she hadn’t arrived there immediately. For this, she felt self-blame.

Later, through negotiation, the incident ended after the hospital returned the hospitalization deposits of 30,000 yuan to the patient’s family. Not long after that, the personnel department of the hospital informed Xiaoran that her contract expired. Having experienced the incident, Xiaoran felt that she was tired with working under high pressure there and that she needed a change of scene. So her contract was not renewed.

Then Xiaoran’s thoughts drifted back to the interview again. Never had she thought that the interviewer would suddenly ask her the reason why she resigned when the interview was about to end; nor had she ever expected that she could hide the fact.

The subway train was proceeding rapidly. She stared at her reflection in the window, regret and remorse filling her heart. Suddenly she thought of God’s words: “Why do people engage in such deceit? To achieve their own aims, and to achieve the objectives they desire. And so they adopt certain methods, which shows that they are not upstanding, and that they are not honest. At such times, people’s insidiousness and cunning is revealed, or else their maliciousness and ignobility. With these things, you feel that it is especially hard to be honest; without them, you would feel that being honest is easy”.

God’s words woke up her. She pondered that the reason why she did not tell the interviewers the truth was that she worried about her personal gains and losses. She feared that the dishonorable experience of her neglect of duty might affect the result of the interview and jeopardize her future career, so she evaded the fact subconsciously. At this thought, she felt pain in her heart. She had been eagerly wishing to be an honest person, yet it had never occurred to her that when her interests might be jeopardized, she couldn’t help covering up the truth by telling lies. She naturally revealed her crafty nature, something that was deeply planted in the bones of every person through Satan’s corruption. She had thought of herself as a very honest person before, yet actually it was an illusion. Only then did she realize that she was far away from being an honest person. She felt that she was too much in need of God’s salvation and of judgment and purification of His words.

After she got home, she read some words of God about being an honest person, and one passage said: “Against a certain background or in a certain environment, you felt it was wise, or that there was a good reason to do so, or that you had ample reasons to do so, and ultimately acted, after which you felt you were fully justified in doing so, and had nothing to be remorseful of. When evening came and you reflected upon what you did, or else one day when you gained enlightenment or were reproached, you then felt that the reason for saying those words at that time was not a reason, and that you should have behaved in another way. How should you practice at such times? For example, you did something to someone, you cheated them, or you spoke words that were either inaccurate or contained your own motivations, and so you should go and find that person to dissect what you did, and say: ‘The words I said at that time contained my personal motivations. If you can accept my apology, please forgive me.’ Thus you dissect yourself, and lay yourself bare”.

God’s words made Xiaoran feel relaxed and understand His will: To be an honest person, I should first resolve my intentions and ulterior motives when I speak and do things. Once I realize I have wrong intentions, I should not be anxious to speak or act, but should try to find out the root cause of my wrong intentions. And then I shall seek God’s will and requirements and what God thinks in this matter, and seek how I shall pray to Him for His help so that I can rebel against the wrong intentions and strive to reach the standard of being an honest person under His guidance. I believe if I continually practice like this, I will make ever greater progress in being an honest person…. Thinking about this, Xiaoran made a decision in her heart silently….

Several days later, Xiaoran attended a second interview. She stated to the two interviewers the reason why she quitted her former job and her true thoughts about it, which greatly surprised the interviewers and another doctor who was waiting to be interviewed. They could not imagine that in this society where everyone lived with a mask and everyone took advantage of any situation to benefit himself, there still existed such a person who could voluntarily admit that she was lying and reveal her dishonorable side. After they showed their surprise, Xiaoran noticed a sort of admiration from their expressions. At that moment, Xiao Ran felt that a big rock was removed from her heart, and she had a strongest feeling: It’s so good to practice being an honest person according to God’s requirements. To her surprise, she, though with mediocre qualifications, was hired by the company afterward, and her salary was higher than her expectation.

On the subway back home, Xiaoran reflected on her recent experiences, and she thought of the words of Jesus Christ: “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man, which built his house on a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house; and it fell not: for it was founded on a rock” (Matthew 7:24-25). Xiaoran told herself inwardly: From now on, I will consistently practice God’s words. I believe that God will guide me to see more of His wonderful deeds and to know His faithfulness and loveliness. When I gradually obtain the truth as life, won’t it be like building the house on a rock? Having understood God’s will, Xiaoran smiled. The train was rapidly moving to the direction of her house, and she felt that her gloomy life was heading toward the bright and beautiful spring.

Read More

International Refugee Freedom of Religion Professional Seminar—A Witness, Zhang Fu Released the Mournful Truth

【KNS Newsletter Reporter: Huang Ziyi】

(Photos after the International Refugee Freedom of Religion Professional Seminar)

On August 16th, Do Hee-youn, the head of the Citizens’ Coalition for the Human Rights of Abductees and North Korean Refugees hosted a seminar on International Refugees and Religious Freedom at the Korea Press Center. The religious suppression and persecution in China as well as solutions about guaranteeing freedom of religious belief and human rights have been discussed at seminar. Youngjae Kim, a professor from Dankook University headed the seminar. The participants watched a video first, Chronicles of Religious Persecution in China.

After watching this video, Do Hee-youn expressed sadness and said he had a similar experience, so he had deep experience with the hardship suffered by these Christians. Hearing this kind of things from a church leader earlier, it occurred to him to help these Christians report the situation, make more consultations and make effort to resolve their problems together.

In the seminar, Do Hee-youn, the head of the Citizens’ Coalition for the Human Rights of Abductees and North Korean Refugees, lawyer Myung-Sup Byun from Sooin Law Firm, Kim Jeong-min, an expert of the International Relations Institute of National University of Mongolia, Kim Jeong-Ae, an author and a North Korean defector, Linda Wang, a former Chinese lawyer, also one of the spokesmen of refugees of the Church of Almighty God made speeches.

As the first spokesman in this seminar, lawyer Myung-Sup Byun talked about the necessary legal conditions, credibility and consistency of the statements for people present who failed to get refugee status. He also introduced the asylum process in detail. And he added human rights of people of religious world and in special social groups should be protected, provided they suffer persecution.

Kim Jeong-min was the second spokesman. He had some understanding of religious suppression and had spoken to the relevant people, noting that China’s neighbors were all affected by Chinese government.

(Speakers of the International Refugee Freedom of Religion Professional Seminar are discussing and speaking)

The third spokesman was Linda Wang, a representative of the Church of Almighty God. She felt grateful to attend this seminar. And she said China was powerful outside, but it stretched out its evil hand to everywhere. She also said because of religious suppression in China, her mother was detained and her father committed suicide because he couldn’t bear the persecution of the CCP. After experiencing these sufferings, she had seen clearly the substance of the CCP. She said, “China just respects the freedom of belief on the surface, but it uses ‘keep the social order’ as an excuse to suppress religious belief. The CCP designates Christianity as evil cult, expels preachers, arrests and imprisons Christians and even kills Christians without the least hesitation.”

The fourth spokesman was Kim Jeong-Ae. This author talked about her hard life in North Korea, and her mood after fleeing North Korea because of the current situation of dictatorship in North Korea.

Many mournful truth had been released at the second part of the seminar. After hearing Zhang Fu’s speech, who suffered religious suppression and persecution in China and then escaped to South Korea, all people were plunged into grief. At last, Mr. Zhang made a speech focused on his own experiences which had been reported in a program of a certain TV station, The Reporter.

(The last speaker Mr. Zhang Fu.)

“My name is Zhang Fu, I was persecuted by the CCP due to believing in God in China. I have to suffer the pain of being parted with my wife and son and flee to South Korea to seek asylum. Unexpectedly, after I fled China, the CCP stretched its evil hand overseas and tried every possible means to force me to go back to China. Now I will talk about what I have gone through.” “I believed in the Lord Jesus in 1998 with my parents. After stepped into the society, bitter and drifting working life made me see the darkness and evil, depravity and corruption of the world. I felt extremely empty and sad, perplexed and helpless, and was unable to find the direction of life. In 2005, when the brothers and sisters of the Church of Almighty God testified about Almighty God’s work of the last days to me, I got to know the Lord Jesus had already returned. Almighty God is exactly the returned Lord Jesus. From Almighty God’s words, I understood how to be a real man, how to walk on the right path of the human life. My wife neither believe in God nor oppose my belief. However, good times didn’t last long. One day in 2010, my wife saw rumor condemning and slandering the Church of Almighty God when she read news online. She believed it and started to constrain me in my belief in God. From then on, there was no peace in our home anymore. Especially since the CCP used the May 28 McDonald’s Murder Case to frame the Church of Almighty God in 2014, my wife has been increasingly deceived by the CCP’s rumor. She opposed my belief even more and discouraged me from reading God’s words and attending meetings. She asked me to keep my cellphone on 24 hours so that she could know my whereabouts any time. Once I didn’t answer the phone in time, she would quarrel with me, and even forced me to give up my belief many times with her death. I felt extremely painful and oppressed. Never did I expect that the rumor spread by the CCP could make my wife hysterical. Seeing my wife was poor and deeply deceived by the rumor spread by the CCP, I could only always pray for her.”

“During the Spring Festival in 2015, some of the brothers and sisters in my church were arrested in succession. I faced the danger of being arrested any time. I had no choice but to leave my 2-year-old son and my parents who were in their 70s. After many setbacks, I fled to South Korea for asylum. I thought I could enjoy the freedom of believing in God in South Korea, a liberal democratic country. However, I never expected that I was still unable to flee from the persecution of the CCP.

On May 18, 2016, my wife took my son and my elder sister to Jeju Island and contacted me. In the evening of May 22, I was very excited when I met my family. I felt heartbreaking when I thought my young kid had suffered the pain of being parted with his father, and I held my son and wept. If the CCP hadn’t persecuted me, how could I bear to part with my son, making him lose father’s love at such a young age? How could I be willing to leave my home? Wasn’t it the CCP government who destroyed my happy family?

When I was immersed in the happiness of reunion with my family. Never did I expect that this meeting was a scheme plotted by the CCP itself. On the afternoon of May 23, I went out for a walk, and returned to the hotel at about 5pm. As I entered the room, I saw a man dodging into the toilet swiftly. The man noticed I had seen him, so he came out and sat down, pretending to be calm. He dared not look into my eyes. I asked who he was. He said he was Xiaohan, my wife’s colleague. A few seconds later, he suddenly went out of the room without notice. At that moment, I suddenly noticed my cell phones had been tampered and my passport was gone. I asked my wife who took away my passport. My wife urgently explained that she called the police for she thought I had run away, and it was the policeman who took away my passport. I felt it strange. How could it be possible for me to run since my luggage, my passport and my cell phones were left in the hotel? Obviously, my wife was lying. I felt disgusted about that and she apologized to me. Later she contacted a policeman surnamed Cheng through WeChat. Mr. Cheng said he was a police officer of the Public Security Bureau of Shanxi Province, and had already dealt with over 2,000 cases of the Church of Almighty God. He then said so much words to coax me to go back to China. About half an hour later, Xiaohan entered our room again. He said it was good for me to talk with Mr. Cheng. I asked whether he knew Mr. Cheng. He blurted out that Mr. Cheng was his teacher. Later, Xiaohan tried hard to pry into the information of our South Korean church, which made me realize that Xiaohan must be a CCP spy.

That very night, my wife and elder sister went out in turns. Every time they came back, they pressed hard on me for returning to China. I told my wife again about my situation and the reason why I could not go back to China. I hoped she and my child could stay and live in South Korea. ‘No way! You must go back with me.’ she said. At last, seeing me have no inclination to go back, they took away my wallet, credit card and the only 700,000 KRW on me and stole my cellphones while I was sleeping soundly at night. In the morning of May 24, my wife said I must go back to China with her and even threatened me with death. After much effort, I finally escaped with another cell phone on me. About a quarter after I arrived at the Jeju Island airport, my sister suddenly appeared behind me to snatch my cell phone while I was editing the message to her, hoping that she could leave my passport to me. I snatched it back and turned around to run away. At this moment, I saw my wife was in front of me and Xiaohan was at my right side. They three had surrounded me. I immediately dashed to the crowd. ‘Stop, stop, Zhang Fu stop!’ Xiaohan then shouted at me and rushed to me. I ran desperately and dared not stop for a second, fearing of being caught up by them. I kept running through streets and alleys of Jeju Island for over 4 hours. The fear in my heart was beyond words. Thank God for His protection that I escaped narrowly.

In August 2016, the CCP incited my wife to South Korea again. As soon as she got off the plane, she was accompanied by someone. She obviously knew where I was, but she did not contact me. She followed some unidentified people to call a press conference in the name of searching for her husband and made troubles at the Church of Almighty God, vilifying the Church by saying that the Church coerced her husband so that her husband could not go back to China. She used South Korean news media to wildly make public opinions, attempting to force me back to China and achieve the purpose of discrediting the Church of Almighty God. My wife was just an ordinary housewife. Without the CCP’s instigation, plot and involvement, how was she able to do it? I knew she was used as a tool by the CCP. The CCP had not only deprived me of the right to freedom of religion, ruined my family, but also made use of my wife’s tears and child’s crying to deceive those who were unaware of the fact, which framed the Church and also caused the public to lay the blame on the Church of Almighty God. It was the evil intention of the CCP.

A few days ago, I happened to see a piece of news that the CCP wanted to repatriate 5 North Korean defectors forcibly, which caused the 5 North Korean defectors to commit suicide by drinking poison. I was enraged at this news and grieved for the 5 North Korean defectors who longed for a free life. There are still many North Korean defectors being arrested by the CCP government and confined in prison in China. Thousands of Chinese Christians are still struggling hard under the suppression and persecution of the CCP government. I wish more people with noble aspirations can stand up and call upon for the North Korean defectors and the persecuted Chinese Christians to expose the CCP’s evil deeds in abusing human rights, and denounce the CCP for its inhuman persecution on the North Korean defectors and Christians.”

At that day, the conference disclosed an open letter from Mr. Willy Fautré, the director of Human Rights Without Frontiers. The letter called upon the South Korean authorities to grant those 41 Chinese Christians political asylum. Those 41 Christians were forced to leave China to escape religious persecution of their Church. Their Alien Cards were withdrawn by the South Korean Immigration Office, among which twenty-seven people received the Departure Order and fourteen people received Disapproval Notices on the extension of their sojourn period.

(The open letter from Mr. Willy Fautré, the director of Human Rights Without Frontiers)

Original source: http://www.kns.tv/news/articleView.html?idxno=343158

Read More

After the Mountain Was “Removed” …

Wang Zhi

“The Foolish Old Man Removes the Mountains” is a well-known ancient Chinese fable about an old man who was determined to dig away the two mountains in front of his house despite the impossibility of the task. Today, I’d like to tell a modern version of the story.

There was once a young man who lived in an isolated mountain village. A great mountain lay right in front of his house, making his travel very inconvenient. Whenever he went out, he had to take a path around it. Afterward, he got married and had three sons. As time went by, the young man turned old and frail, while his sons all grew up to be successful. The first son became a builder, the second one worked in business, and the third one was in charge of a logistics team. The only constant was the mountain in front of the house. Every time the old man traveled, he hobbled all the way circumventing the mountain. … One day, an idea suddenly occurred to the old man, so he called his three sons, saying that he wanted to have the mountain removed. Hearing that, his sons all advised him to give up the idea and live with them in the city. But the old man said, “I won’t go to the city, for I’ve already been used to the life in the village. The air is fresh, and there is no noise. The only problem is the mountain that stands in the way.” After discussion, the three sons decided to fulfill their father’s wish since they were capable of that. Then, the first son dispatched front-end loaders and excavators to the site, the second one paid the money, and the third one mobilized his logistics team. Having got everything prepared, they broke ground on the project. Instantly, the machines rumbled and kicked dust into the air. After a few months of operation, a 10-plus-meter-wide road was cut through the mountain and paved with asphalt. Besides, a pavilion was built in the yard, and the house looked literally like a villa. The old man was overwhelmed with joy as he saw the sight before him.

One day, high winds ripped through the newly built road to the house of the old man, sand smashing against the glass with noises. Immediately, the pavilion in the yard was blown askew, and the tiles were torn off the roof of the house. … After the wind passed, the onetime villa was left in ruins. The old man cried out in confusion, “Heavens! What did I do wrong? Why did this befall me? I’d never come across anything like this before. What’s going on?”

Why did this happen to the old man? God has given us the answer in His words. He says: “So what use is the mountain here? Is it somewhat like a filter for the wind? (Yes.) The mountain takes the fierce wind and cuts it down into what? (A slight breeze.) Into a slight breeze. Most people could touch and feel it in the environment where they lived—was it a fierce wind or a slight breeze that they felt? (A slight breeze.) Isn’t this one of the purposes behind God’s creation of mountains? Isn’t this His intent? What would it be like for people to live in an environment where the fierce wind blew around bits of sand without anything to block or filter it? Could it be that with sand and stones blowing around, people wouldn’t be able to live on the land? Some people might get hit in the head by the stones flying about, or others might get sand in their eyes and wouldn’t be able to see. People could get sucked up into the air or the wind could blow so hard they couldn’t stand up. Houses would be destroyed and all sorts of disasters would happen.” “such as mountains, mountain ranges, plains, hills, basins, valleys, plateaus, and rivers. God applies these different geographical environments to change an airflow’s speed, direction and force, using such a method to reduce or manipulate it into an appropriate wind speed, wind direction, and wind force, so that humans can have a normal living environment. Doing something like this seems difficult for humans, but it is easy for God because He observes all things. For Him to create an environment with a suitable airflow for mankind is too simple, too easy. Therefore, in such an environment created by God, each and every thing among all things is indispensable. There is value and necessity in all of their existence. However, Satan and corrupted mankind do not have such a philosophy. They keep destroying and developing, vainly dreaming of turning mountains into flat land, filling up canyons, and building skyscrapers on flat land to create concrete jungles. It is God’s hope that mankind can live happily, grow happily, and spend each day happily in the most suitable environment He prepared for them. That is why God has never been careless when it comes to dealing with mankind’s living environment.” “Why has man found himself in his current environmental predicament? Is it because of man’s greed and destruction? If man ends this destruction, won’t the living environment gradually right itself? If God does nothing, if God no longer wishes to do anything for mankind—that is to say, He doesn’t want to intervene—the best method would be for mankind to stop this destruction and return things to how they were. Putting an end to all this destruction means to stop the plundering and devastation of the things God has created. This will allow the environment where man lives to gradually improve. Failure to do so will result in further destruction of the environment and it will only become more serious.”

After reading God’s words, have you known who was to blame for the old man’s tragedy? What did he do wrong? Yes, he shouldn’t have “removed” the mountain that had protected him. Actually, God created all things and set boundaries and laws for them—all of this God has done is for us human beings to live happily. There is value in the existence of each and every thing among all things. For example, the mountain can block the wind and change its speed, so that the fierce wind is reduced to a mild breeze which can please people. Nonetheless, when we are blinded by greed and act contrary to God, for the sake of our own self-interests, trying to change the laws established by God for all things and wantonly damaging the homeland we rely on for our survival, can we still enjoy the pleasant breeze? When we believe we have led a cozy and comfortable life by changing the environment where we live, have we ever wondered the dire consequences of such willful destruction of the living environment God prepared for us? Considering the benefits the old man enjoyed from the mountain’s “removal,” we might approve of him; however, faced with the unexpected result of his house being destroyed by the strong wind carrying sand, we couldn’t help but heave a sigh: The old man, you are truly foolish!

The story is well worthy for us to deliberate. In real life, how can we save the land our lives depend on—the earth, where there has already been widespread devastation? The only answer is that we should stop the destruction, return things to how they were, gain knowledge of the Creator’s sovereignty and return to His side. …

Recommended:
God Himself, the Unique VII

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

Let Go of Yourself and Be Open to Different Voices

Lin Lan

There is an owl named Dada in a forest. After delivering five cute babies, Dada decides to find a bigger hole for her babies to grow healthy and happy. At last, she singles out a large tree deep in the forest.

Dada’s friend Benben suggests to her that she should not make her new home there, for a male fox lives under the tree. In the forest, it is very dangerous to be a fox’s neighbor. However, Dada brushes it aside. She believes the activities of the fox can only be under the tree though he is scary. Since she and her cubs live at the top of the tree, there will be no danger. So, Dada does not take Benben’s advice.

Then, Benben says, “If you must move to the tree, you’d better choose the hole on the right as your new home, because it is farther from the fox’s house and more concealed. Living there will be safer for your babies.” But Dada denies Benben’s suggestion again. She thinks the hole on the left is sunny and spacious, so why should she reject the good and choose the worse? In the end, Dada moves into the hole on the left alongside her babies.

One stormy night, Dada does not return after foraging for food long outside. The young who wait anxiously poke their heads out and look around in search of their mother, none of them noticing the slobbering fox under the tree. Suddenly, there is a wind. The small cubs are blown out of the hole and fall right before the fox, only to see the cruel glitter in his eyes …

It is conceivable that when Dada returns to find that her babies have become the fox’s supper, she must be terribly regretful about her original arrogance and self-righteousness, which contributes to the tragedy followed by her rejection of Benben’s suggestion.
The Bible says: “This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event to all: yes, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead” (Ecclesiastes 9:3). “Proud and haughty scorner is his name, who deals in proud wrath” (Proverbs 21:24).

In real life, there are many times when we, like Dada, are dominated by our arrogant nature and so brush aside or reject other people’s viewpoints that are at odds with ours. We never consider whether their advice is reasonable, or whether what we insist on is right. If what they put forward is correct, but we cannot let go of our arrogance and vanity and accept it humbly, then in the end we will be the ones who suffer loss.

God says, “For whoever exalts himself shall be abased; and he that humbles himself shall be exalted” (Luke 14:11). “What is vital now for you all to do is to learn how to obey that which is right and how to obey that which comes from the truth and that which conforms to the truth; in this way, you are walking and practicing toward being obedient to God. … Through obeying, seeking, praying more, retreating to your spirit and coming before God then, unbeknownst to you, a change will happen in your inner condition.”

God accepts those who can humble themselves and listen to right suggestions. The more one is willing to make himself humble, the more delight God will take in him, and the more people will love and respect him. But the view of corrupt mankind is: To be praised and thought highly of is a glory, but to submit to others is a shame. So, having been corroded by this view, our nature has become exceedingly arrogant and self-conceited. We are self-important, conceited, and overweening, and we don’t like others to have the upper hand. As a matter of fact, listening to right advice with a humble heart isn’t a manifestation of incompetence and ignorance; it is a precondition for making progress.

One’s ability is limited however high it is. Just as the Chinese saying goes, “Many hands make light work,” we can achieve great progress only when we are able to listen to proper suggestions and learn from others’ strong points to offset our own weaknesses.

Recommended:
Bible Prophecies: Sheep Have Been Separated From Goats
Watch! Only by Listening to God’s Word Will We Not Be Abandoned
Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit – Matthew 5:3

Read More