The Transformation Of A Businessman

The Transformation of a Businessman

Xiaofen

Previously, I ran a small shop. I was sincere with my customers and sold genuine goods at a fair price, so my business was flourishing day by day. At that time, I didn’t really experience the two popular words: “Money talks,” and “Money makes the mare go.” No long after I opened my shop, another shop was also set up opposite to mine. Although his shop was larger than mine, it didn’t influence my business much. I worked from dawn to dark, and tried my best to meet every customer’s needs. My hard work finally got paid off. My sincerity won many regular customers. Furthermore, some customers in the opposite shop also came to my store to shop.

However, after a period of time, my business increasingly fell, and even some regular customers went to the opposite shop. This made me very confused. One day, a regular customer said to me, “The owner of the opposite store said that the prices of your goods were a little bit more and many of their goods were at preferential prices. He asked me not to shop in your store.” I was angry at what I heard, thinking: There must be fair competition in business. How could he do that? No wonder my business is declining. So it is they who play a dirty trick on me in the back. I do business lawfully with my conscience, but eventually I can’t retain my customers…. Just when I was perplexed, a deliveryman for the opposite shop passed in front of my shop and I stopped him and asked, “What’s the secret for the opposite shop to achieve a booming business?” He answered beneath his notice, “A bottle of Wuliangye white spirits costs 80 yuan, but he prices it at 360 yuan; a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes costs 120 yuan, but is sold for 550 yuan….” I said angrily, “Doesn’t he sell fakes?” He said, “Both real and sham. Nowadays people are all like this. You say nothing and I say nothing; who knows? This way can make quick money.” I stared at him speechless, and then he added, “If you go on doing business this way, your shop will be closed sooner or later. Your customers all become theirs; couldn’t you make any profit? It’s necessary for you to play some tricks. Think it over.” After hearing his words, I sank into confusion: What should I do? Should I stop my business or make dirty money like them? If I make dirty money like them, I will become so conscienceless. But if closing the shop, I’ll sustain losses. When I was torn between two opposing choices, those words popular in the world occurred to me, such as “Without money you have nothing,” “Money makes the mare go,” and “Money talks.” At the thought of my plan to buy a house and car in the future, I considered it necessary to resort to their tricks. So, in order to retain customers, I stocked some fakes as well, and put genuine articles on the rack and fakes in secret places. When customers shopped, I gave them fakes. In addition, I also learned to use some petty favors to win their hearts. Driven by the interests, I betrayed my conscience and began to earn dirty money. Gradually, my conscience became numb and I began to wallow in the mire with the world. After some time, I indeed made much money, but I lost the peace of my heart and lived in fear and unease every day, afraid of being inspected by the officials of the Trade and Industry Bureau and also afraid of suffering retribution. Besides, the competitive pressure among the fellow traders was quite great. Thus, I lived in misery.

Later, I was fortunate to accept Almighty God’s end-time gospel. I read Almighty God’s words, “In your heart there is a very big secret, which you have never realized, because you have been living in a world without the shining of light. Your heart and your spirit have been taken away by the evil one; your eyes have been covered by darkness and cannot see the sun in the sky and cannot see the twinkling star in the night sky; your ears have been blocked by deceitful words and cannot hear the thunderous voice of Jehovah and cannot hear the sound of many waters flowing from the throne. You have lost everything you should possess and have lost everything bestowed to you by the Almighty, entering into the boundless sea of misery, with no power of rescue and with no hope of survival, only struggling and rushing…. From that moment on, you are bound to be afflicted by the evil one, turning away from the blessings of the Almighty, turning away from the supply of the Almighty, and taking a path of no return. Thousands of calls can hardly arouse your heart and your spirit. You are fast asleep in the hand of the evil one and are enticed by the evil one into a boundless realm, where there is no direction or road signs. Since then, you have lost your original innocence and guilelessness and begun to escape from the care of the Almighty. The evil one directs your everything in your heart and becomes your life. You no longer fear him and no longer avoid and doubt him, but regard him as the God in your heart. You begin to enshrine him and worship him, you and he are inseparable as body and shadow, and you and he promise to live and die together.” (from The Word Appears in the Flesh) God’s words fully exposed the secret of my heart. In the past, when I earned money based on conscience, I felt at ease and peaceful in my heart. However, driven by Satan’s philosophies such as “Money talks” and “Money makes the mare go,” in order to make more money and profits, I betrayed my conscience and lost integrity, living in anxiety, unease, and darkness every day without knowing how to remove pain from my heart. Almighty God’s words made me understand suddenly: Actually, my pain was because I took these satanic philosophies as the foundation of my existence, throwing away the conscience and integrity and giving up the most basic faithfulness in conducting myself. God’s words helped me find the root of my misery. I made up my mind not to do business against my conscience or make profits at others’ expense for the sake of money and interests.

Later, I read God’s words: “Cruel mankind! When will you cease from intriguing against each other, vying with each other, scrambling for fame and gain, and fighting against each other? … How many are not for their own interests? How many do not suppress and exclude others for the sake of preserving their own position?” (from The Word Appears in the Flesh) From God’s words, I understood that Satan uses money and interests to corrupt mankind and makes them fight against one another for interests to meet their contemptible purpose of making profits. I formerly lived in Satan’s snare and didn’t hesitate to betray my conscience for money. Because of God’s salvation and the supply of God’s words, I saw through Satan’s scheme, broke away from Satan’s bondage and fooling, and lived in the light!

Soon, I diverted to the children clothing business. When I treated customers sincerely in good conscience, my heart was assured and joyful and my business was also more and more flourishing. I really experienced the authority and power of God’s word. From my experience, I’ve learned that Almighty God’s work indeed can save man and change man’s wrong perspective of survival, causing man to live with dignity and integrity and in an open, aboveboard manner, and to live out the likeness of a real man. Thank God. All the glory be to Almighty God!

Disclaimer: This article on our website is original. If you wish to reproduce it, please indicate that we are the source.

Read More

There Is a Love That Is Called Pain

There Is a Love That Is Called Pain

There is a love that is called pain.

Perhaps you are competent, but you are always serving others, while someone else who is very cowardly has been taken care of. You may have experienced many hardships and are no stranger to tribulations, but the one you are most familiar with lives their entire lives in peace. You probably have spent over half your life suffering from illness, while some others lead a happy and comfortable life. … In short, there are many things you may find unfortunate and hard to accept.

However, we should not think ourselves unfortunate, or feel greatly wronged and complain how fate is unfair to us. Look at the people around us: In experiencing pain, some choose to escape and cease the effort to move forward, whereas some others choose to brave it and keep groping for progress. In the end, those who choose to escape, despite suffering little, live their lives in mediocrity. Those who choose to confront pain suffer a lot and shed many tears, but after going through painful struggles, they gain some understanding of human life, become mature in their thinking, and conduct themselves and handle things in an experienced and steady manner. On top of that, they can submit to the orchestration of fate, and feel steadfast, released and liberated in their hearts.

When I didn’t believe in God, I saw a lot of the above cases. After I believed in God, I read many of God’s words, and realized a fact: Every one of us is a part of God’s management plan, and we came into this world as a result of God’s arrangements. In our life journeys, there are many things painstakingly arranged by God for us. Some of them are very disappointing and we feel pain about them, but they are truly beneficial to us. Take myself for example. I was born vain. No matter what I did or said, I preferred to be praised and complimented by others. Any words that damaged my reputation would make me feel upset. Later, I married a man who was very lazy and ill-tempered. He often threw our family into turmoil. I felt my reputation was ruined, and I couldn’t keep my head high in front of others or speak with confidence. I had lived in pain and depression, and at some point I even lost the courage to live on. Afterward, I saw God’s words: “Corruption within human nature must be resolved through trials, however. In whichever aspects you do not pass, it is in these aspects that you must be refined—this is God’s arrangement. God creates an environment for you, forcing you to be refined there to know your own corruption. Ultimately you reach a point where you would rather die and give up your schemes and desires, and submit to God’s sovereignty and arrangement. So if people do not have several years of refinement, if they don’t have a certain amount of suffering, they will not be able to avoid the bondage of corruption of the flesh in their thought and in their hearts. In whichever aspects you are still subject to Satan’s bondage, in whichever aspects you still have your own desires, your own demands—it is in these aspects that you should suffer. Only in suffering can lessons be learned, which means being able to gain truth, and understand God’s intention” (“How to Satisfy God in the Midst of Trials”). Looking at God’s words, I felt very warm inside. I came to understand why God arranged things for me in this way and what His purpose was. God knows man best. He knew that I always worried about gaining and losing reputation, living in pain and depression without being able to be released. So, He arranged such a husband for me according to my corrupt disposition and my need. However, I was unwilling to accept it, and misunderstood God’s will, thinking God mistreated me so that I lived a miserable life. But on mature reflection, if I, as a person who treasured reputation more than life, had actually had my own way in everything, I would have become more arrogant with my internal desires continually growing, and more lacking in how a human being should be. I would even have been led astray by reputation and status. If that was really the case, not only would my whole life have been thoroughly ruined by vanity, but I would have brought much suffering to my family. At this point, I understood God’s will and His kind intentions. I saw that all He does is salvation and greatest protection for me. This is a love that cannot be expressed with words.

God says: “God can perfect man in both positive and negative aspects. It depends on whether you are able to experience, and on whether you pursue being perfected by God. If you truly seek being perfected by God, then the negative cannot make you suffer loss, but can bring you things that are more real …” (“Only Those Who Focus on Practice Can Be Perfected”). God’s words are very true. Whatever God does, be it good or bad in our eyes, contains God’s good intention, and it is to change us. When we have experienced some pain, we will truly recognize that pain is a unique gift and the truest love God bestows upon us.

Recommended:
Hardship Is the Best Blessing God Bestows on Us
Why did God allow Job to suffer?
The Greatest Blessing That God Bestows Upon Man

Read More

What Should We Do to Overcome Our Fear of Death?

What Should We Do to Overcome Our Fear of Death?

Zhou Ru

From the moment we are born crying into the world, we begin our life journey. As we gradually grow up, people, events, and things around us are also constantly changing. We try to change our fates with our own two hands, but only to find that we have to accept the ups and downs that our fates have in store. Some people achieve what they desire, while some people achieve nothing…. Yet whatever we have experienced during this process, when we enter old age, each of us will unknowingly confront the last life-juncture: Death.

I have an aunt who works in a hospital. Every time I went to her for something, I had to pass many wards, in which almost all of the patients were old people who were incapable of looking after themselves, and who were lying on the bed and depended on drugs to stay alive. Whenever I happened to meet their blank and fearful eyes, I would unconsciously develop sympathy for them, and then I would hurriedly avoid their eyes. When turning away from them, I saw their families busy serving them meals or water, dressing them, feeding them medicine, and so on. It seemed that they wanted to delay the approach of the death of their loved ones in this way. However, once the wheel of destiny starts to go around, no one can reverse it.

I saw an article about a teacher who suffered from chronic renal failure. In order to cure his illness, he had almost visited all the large famous hospitals in a few years, yet at last he was no better, but rather grew worse. Because of taking too much medicine, his eyes got blurred and he couldn’t see clearly, and his legs became numb and he could hardly walk. He was diagnosed with drug poisoning. Yet he still didn’t give up the treatment, and eventually his kidney problem got even worse due to the side effects of the drugs. During that period, he thought: I have been a heavy burden to my family for too long and I have thought of committing suicide several times. But why do I fear death, fear departing from this world? …

I, who am young, often pondered: Why do people still desperately struggle to survive even when they know clearly they are close to dying? Since we all know that we will have to face death some day, why can’t we face it calmly when death truly draws near?

One day I finally got the answer from a book. It says, “Why are they unable to escape the suffering from the fear of death? When facing death, some people wet themselves; others shiver, faint, lash out against Heaven and man alike, even wail and weep. These are by no means the sudden reactions that occur when death draws near. People behave in these embarrassing ways mainly because, deep in their hearts, they fear death, because they do not have a clear knowledge and appreciation of God’s sovereignty and His arrangements, much less truly submit to them; because people want nothing but to arrange and govern everything themselves, to control their own fates, their own lives and death. It is no wonder, therefore, that people are never able to escape the fear of death.” When pondering this passage of words, I recalled the manifestations of those people who were facing death. Then I saw the light: The reason why they feared death was because they didn’t know the Creator, didn’t know God’s sovereignty and arrangements, much less truly submit to them. Actually, it is God who plans out and arranges when a person is born, and when and in what context he dies. Yet after corrupted by Satan, we are full of various satanic poisons, and no longer believe in God’s sovereignty but try to change our fates by our own ability, always hoping to cast off God’s authority, sovereignty and arrangements. Therefore, when death really draws near, we have no idea where we are going, and what we show is only fear and dread.

After understanding this, I couldn’t help thinking: What should we do to overcome the fear of death? Then I continued to read, “If one wishes to depart from this world painlessly, if one wants to be able to face life’s final juncture with no reluctance or worry, the only way is to leave no regrets. And the only way to depart without regrets is to know the Creator’s sovereignty, to know His authority, and to submit to them. Only in this way can one stay far from human strifes, from evil, from Satan’s bondage; only in this way can one live a life like Job’s, guided and blessed by the Creator, a life that is free and liberated, a life with value and meaning, a life that is honest and openhearted; only in this way can one submit, like Job, to be tried and deprived by the Creator, submit to the Creator’s orchestrations and arrangements; only in this way can one worship the Creator all one’s life and win His commendation, as Job did, and hear His voice, see Him appear; only in this way can one live and die happily, like Job, with no pain, no worry, no regrets; only in this way can one live in light, like Job, pass every one of life’s junctures in light, smoothly complete one’s journey in light, successfully achieve one’s mission—to experience, learn, and come to know the Creator’s sovereignty as a created being—and pass away in light, and for ever after stand at the Creator’s side as a created human being, commended by Him.” After reading these words, I came to understand: Only when we have the knowledge of the Creator’s predestination and His sovereignty and genuinely submit under His dominion, can we be freed from the fear of death. Job died full of days. In the face of death, he behaved differently from others. That was because in his heart he believed that everything was in God’s hands; no matter whether God deprived him or blessed him, he still blessed the name of Jehovah God. He lived his life in the subjective pursuit of belief, recognition, and submission to God’s sovereignty. So, when death came upon him, he had no cares or regrets, nor worries about his outcome, much less the fear of death. And when he gave his all to God, he was happy and released.

So, regardless of how we define the word “life” or how we experience it, in the end we are still unable to escape the law ordained by the Creator for us. Only by accepting and submitting to His sovereignty and predestination can we face our life calmly like Job. Just as the book says, “So, when one truly grasps these things, one will naturally be able to face death calmly, to lay aside all of one’s worldly possessions calmly, accept and submit happily to all that follows, and welcome the last life-juncture arranged by the Creator rather than blindly dread it and struggle against it.”

Recommended:
Death: The Sixth Juncture
The Price Lived Out by Job During His Lifetime
Job Spends the Latter Half of His Life Amid God’s Blessings

Read More