What Is the Greatest Blessing Job Obtained?

What Is the Greatest Blessing Job Obtained?

By Xiaobo

the Glory Story/FreeBibleimages.org

Each time when I read the Book of Job and saw the words, “So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses. He had also seven sons and three daughters” (Job 42:12-13), “And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brothers. After this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, even four generations” (Job 42:15-16), I admired Job in my heart, thinking he was really blessed with the property, the children, and the prolonged life that God bestowed on him. Therefore I determined to follow the example of Job: If I encounter trials, I would like to calm down and pray to God, seek His will, and obey His orchestrations and arrangements, so that I could stand witness to satisfy Him and receive His blessings.

However, one day, having seen a passage of words on a gospel website, I got a new understanding and view of the greatest blessing Job obtained.

These words said, “How did Job understand what happened to him? … ‘I must understand God, I must act reasonably and be a reasonable man. All this was bestowed by God. Whenever He wants to take it away He may help Himself. I must not argue with Him, for that would be rebellious. If I reject God then that will cause Him grief, and that is not being a truly good man or a genuine created being.’ What happened in the end? He practiced in this way, and so what effect, what achievement did his practice bring to him? In actual fact, the real result was not that he became even richer or that he had more cows and sheep than before, or that his sons and daughters were more beautiful than those he had before; these are graces incidentally given to man by God. That which God really allows man to gain is that, through this matter, you gain a better understanding of Him, have a closer relationship with Him and your heart draws closer to God’s heart, and when God does something else, you will understand, and you won’t say rebellious things or blasphemous things or things that cause God to grieve. Isn’t this casting off your corrupt disposition? This is a complete change. (The things within my nature are no longer able to control me.) They are not able to control you anymore, you are not under their jurisdiction anymore but you are under God’s jurisdiction, for God is able to orchestrate you no matter what He does, and you belong to God. At that time, Job had this state and he had this attitude, and he also acted this way, he entered this kind of reality and, in the end, God appeared to him. When God appeared to Job, whether He showed His face or His back to Job, was Job’s understanding of God deepened, or was it lessened? (It was deepened.) It certainly was; it couldn’t go backward. So with man being able to see God, that is, from previous times when man heard there was a God by the hearing of the ear in legends, and the mentality of this vague ‘He seems to exist’ and ‘Does He exist,’ to where man sees God, and establishes and confirms God’s existence—compared with the grace God bestows on man, which is more of a blessing to man? (Seeing God is more of a blessing.) This is for sure. So what do people always think when they believe in God but they don’t understand the truth? ‘God protect me and be kind to me; think highly of me, God, and elevate me from the crowd. God bless my whole family so that we live in bliss, joy and safety. God allow me to be able to preach wherever I go so that other people are envious of me and admire me….’ You want to gain these things but you don’t know what is real or what God wants to bestow on you and give to you. You just ask for these external things, and what happens when this is all you do? You become further and further from God. You are unable to gain knowledge of God, and so your relationship with God won’t be as close as your relationship with God would be if you knew God, right?” (“What Practicing the Truth Is”).

the Glory Story/FreeBibleimages.org

After reading these words, I understood that the property, the children, and the prolonged life that Job obtained were not the greatest blessings. Instead, it is that after he stood witness in the face of trials, God appeared and spoke to him, which made him have a more profound knowledge and understanding of God and his heart come closer to God, and finally he lived out a valuable and meaningful life. From this we can see, Job ordinarily paid attention to walking the way of fearing God and shunning evil, and he had already had some knowledge of God’s sovereignty when he was stripped of his property and children, so he could obey God unconditionally: Not only did he not sin with his lips, but he did not curse the enemies, much less spoke of the negative words or words of complaint against God. It can be seen that what he loved dearly was not the material blessings, which had no place in his heart. The things that he treasured most were his relationship with God, his true faith in God, his reverence for God, and God’s trials of him. And he believed in God’s sovereignty and pursued to obey and satisfy Him, being deeply afraid of straying from Him and hurting His heart. So when Job bore witness and God appeared to him, he felt delighted and excited for he could see the Creator’s back and hear His voice. Meanwhile, he also understood the kind intentions of God’s testing of him, and knew that whatever God did was for the sake of perfecting him. Afterward, Job saw God’s almightiness through the blessings from God. God said that He would bestow upon Job fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses. And what Job gained was in accordance with what God had promised, and was accomplished all according to God’s words, which allowed Job to better see that all living beings are mobilized in God’s hands and His promise is fulfilled without the slightest disparity. At that time, Job felt happy not because he had more property, but because he could make progress in knowing God’s almightiness and sovereignty, and God’s omnipotence and omniscience. Job’s knowledge and understanding made his heart get closer to God, and let him feel the Creator’s beauty, goodness, and loveliness even more. For this reason, he also gained great comfort and satisfaction in his spirit. This is the greatest blessing that he obtained.

After realizing all of this, to be honest, I really admired Job. Though in the midst of trials he suffered greatly, and lost all of his property, and even his wife attacked him, yet after he stood witness, God appeared and spoke to him, which allowed him to have a deeper understanding of God. This is the greatest blessing that God bestowed upon him. Then how should we pursue to stand testimony and glorify God, achieving more understanding of God, like Job, when we encounter trials?

I also saw these words on the website: “Job’s practice was detailed, was it not? What details did it have? First let us talk about how he treated his children. His objective was to submit to God’s orchestration and arrangements in all things. He did not forcibly take the initiative to do anything God did not do, nor did he make any plans or calculations based on human ideas. In all things, he complied with and waited for God’s orchestration and arrangements. This was his general principle. As for his detailed methods of practice, in what ways did he treat his children? (The first was that he neither interfered with nor participated in his children’s feasting and merrymaking; he distanced himself from it.) He distanced himself, and offered burnt offerings for them. What else? (He did not try to force them into believing in God, nor did he try to drag them into doing so against their will. He did not pray for them, and he drew clear boundaries between him and them.) This is his principle of practice. Is this not a detailed practice? … As for how to treat his children, while they were still alive, Job’s attitude was to not try to drag them into believing in God against their will; he did not try to force them to believe, and he did not interfere, because they were walking a different path. He did not interfere with what they did, and did not interfere with what sort of path they were taking. Did Job seldom speak to his children about believing in God? He certainly would have had enough words with them about this, but they did not accept them, and refused to listen. What was Job’s attitude? He said, ‘I have fulfilled my responsibility; as for what kind of path they are able to take, that is up to God, and it is up to God’s guidance. If God does not work, or move them, I will not try to force them.’ Therefore, Job had one other method of practice: He did not pray for them before God, or cry tears of anguish over them, or fast for them or suffer in any way at all. He did not do these things. Why did Job not do any of these things? None of these were ways of submitting to God’s rule and arrangements; they all came out of human ideas and were ways of actively forcing one’s way to the forefront. This was to do with his treatment of his children; this was the sort of attitude he had, given that his children would not take the same path as he. So when his children died, what was Job’s attitude? Did he cry or not? Did he vent his feelings? Did he feel hurt? (No.) So did he say it served them right, or not? There is no record of any of these things. So when Job saw his children die, did he feel heartbroken or sad? (He did.) What was he sad about? Did he feel regret for not having urged them to work hard at believing in God, and over their having been punished for not doing so? Speaking in terms of the affection he felt for his children, he certainly did feel that little bit of sadness, but he still submitted. How was his submission expressed? ‘These children were given to me by God. Whether or not they believed in God, the lives of humans are in God’s hands. If they had believed in God, then if God wanted to take them away, He would still have done so; if they had not believed in God, they still would have been taken away if God had said they would be taken away. All of this is in God’s hands; otherwise, who could take people’s lives away?’ What line sums all of these words up? ‘The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD’(Job 1:21). This is why he maintained this attitude in the way he treated his children. Whether they were alive or dead, he continued to have this attitude. His method of practice was correct; in every way he practiced, in his views with which he treated everything, in his attitude, and in his state, he always submitted and waited, and then he achieved knowledge. This attitude is very important. If people never have this kind of attitude in anything they do, and have especially strong personal ideas and place personal motives and benefit before all else, then are they really submitting? In such people genuine submission cannot be seen; they are unable to achieve genuine submission” (“Principles of Carrying Out One’s Submission to God”).

After reading these words, I felt my heart brighten. As it turned out, the reason why Job had such testimony and gained these things was because he usually sought to obey and know God’s sovereignty: In all things he could let go of his own plans, considerations, and intentions, and then wait for and seek God’s will. Since he had such attitude and pursuit, he was always able to see God’s deeds in his life. Through these true experiences, not only did he have a real understanding of the authority by which God controls all things, but also knew that whatever God does is good, and he should accept and obey it. Particularly, when faced with trials, he clearly knew that everything is in God’s hands, and God allowed him to encounter these matters, so he could obey God without conditions and praise God’s name, standing witness for God. After the trails, he received the blessings and approval from God.

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How to Pray? 4 Keys to Pray to God We Shall Know

How to Pray? 4 Keys to Pray to God We Shall Know

Xiaoxi

Prayer is often overlooked by us in our daily life. Often times, we pray before God perfunctorily, just going through the formalities. Never have we presented our hearts before God to have true prayers, and we just hurriedly come before Him to pray and look up to Him when we encounter some issues. It is because of such an attitude that we don’t know how to pray to God, even if we have believed in Him for many years. Today, let’s share how to pray to God together.

1. What Does It Mean to Truly Pray?

One day, a friend of mine came to my home and had a gathering with me. In talking about this topic, she took out a book and read to me: “What does it mean to truly pray? It means speaking the words within your heart to God, and communing with God having grasped His will and based upon His words; it means feeling particularly close to God, feeling that He is in front of you, and that you have something to say to Him; and it means being especially radiant within your heart, and feeling that God is especially lovely. You will feel especially inspired, and after hearing your words your brothers and sisters will feel gratified, they will feel that the words you speak are the words within their hearts, the words they wish to say, and that what you say represents what they want to say. This is what it means to truly pray”. This paragraph of words allowed me to understand: A true prayer means speaking our heartfelt words to God and opening our hearts to commune with Him about our difficulties, things that we face, and the questions we don’t understand. Through praying to God and drawing close to Him, we understand His will and find the ways of practice. With prayer such as this, we can be clear-minded and enlightened under the guidance of God, so that we can see the true nature of problems more thoroughly. In the meantime, we can feel that God is right by our side; our hearts will feel particularly close to Him and our relationship with Him gradually gets closer. If we always pray to God in this way, our prayers will be after His heart and surely be answered.

2. What Is the Content of Prayers?

Later we fellowshiped about the content of prayers. Many times our prayers before God are dry and banal and we don’t know what to say; we only spew out all difficulties and worries in our life and work to God, not caring whether it conforms to His will or not or whether He will listen to it, we just babble on and on like reciting scripture. As a result, we are unable to obtain the Holy Spirit’s work and our problems can’t be solved. Is this not ignorant? Actually, the Lord Jesus has long since told us, “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. But seek you first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you”. From this passage of God’s words, we come to understand: Praying is not to seek what we will eat, drink, or wear. God has painstakingly arranged these material needs for us since we came into this world, and there is no need for us to pray for them. This is similar to a mere child; does he need to tell his parents what he will eat and put on every day? No. All necessaries of his life have been arranged appropriately by his parents. In many instances, we pray to God, “Lord, I have no a good job, please give me one,” “Lord, I’m being sorely pressed, please give me a chance to make money,” and so on; such kind of prayers is not in line with the will of God. God has told us what the content of prayers ought to be, “You should pray, step-by-step, in accordance with your true state and that which is to be done by the Holy Spirit, and you should commune with God in keeping with God’s will and His requirements of man. … When you are possessed of this burden, God will surely make you perfect; you should not only pray for the sake of yourself, but also for the sake of carrying out the will of God, and for the sake of loving Him. Such is the truest kind of prayer”. Are your prayers for the purpose of carrying out the will of God? If we pray for ourselves, for the sake of satisfying our own flesh and selfish desires, God will definitely not accept our prayers.

3. What Is the Significance of Prayer?

Concerning the significance of prayer, after our fellowship, our understanding was: Only when we understand why we pray to God and the importance of prayer, will we place great importance on praying and pray with our hearts. Only when we know the significance of whatever we do, can lots of problems be readily solved. Then, after all, what’s the significance of prayer? God says, “Prayer is one of the ways in which man cooperates with God, it is a means by which man calls upon God, and it is the process by which man is touched by God’s Spirit. It can be said that those who are without prayer are dead ones without spirit, proof that they lack the faculties to be touched by God. Without prayer, they are unable to attain a normal spiritual life, much less are they able to follow the work of the Holy Spirit; without prayer, they sever their relationship with God, and are incapable of receiving God’s approval. Being someone who believes in God, the more you pray, the more you are touched by God. Such people have greater resolution and are more able to receive the latest enlightenment from God; as a result, only people like this can be made perfect as soon as possible by the Holy Spirit”.

4. How Can We Enter Into True Prayer?

We have just fellowshiped that “What is true prayer?” Then how do we enter into true prayer? God’s words tell us the answer, “Whilst praying, your heart must be at peace before God, and it must be sincere. You are truly communing and praying with God; you must not deceive God using nice-sounding words. Prayer is centered around that which God wishes to complete today. Ask God to bring you greater enlightenment and illumination, and bring your actual state and troubles before God to pray, and make resolution before God. Prayer is not the following of procedure, but the seeking of God using your true heart. Ask that God protect your heart, making it able to often be at peace before God, making you able to know yourself, and despise yourself, and forsake yourself in the environment that God has set for you, thus allowing you to have a normal relationship with God and making you someone who truly loves God”. These words make us understand: We can enter into true prayer as long as we grasp these three aspects: First, we must be quiet in front of God, speaking from the heart; we should never deceive God with words of praise and never cheat Him with falsehoods or empty words. Second, we should pray around actual things and the situation arranged by God. For example, our practical difficulty is that we don’t know how to practice to be an honest person, yet we pray for God to purify us in that we still have arrogant disposition. So this will be wrong. If we pray like this, it proves that we don’t possess the normal people’s thinking. Third, praying is not to go through the process but to come before God sincerely to seek the related truth and the way of practice, through which we can gain the work of the Holy Spirit and have deeper knowledge of our own corrupt disposition and better understanding of God’s will to save man. Possessing these three aspects of practice, we are able to enter into true prayer.

Our gathering has enabled me to understand the above four aspects of the truth with regard to the practice of prayer. I hope it will help you. Thank the Lord! In the end, I’d like to share with you the basic general knowledge of prayer:

“1. Do not blindly say whatever comes to mind. There must be a burden within your heart, which is to say, you must have an objective when you pray.

2. Your prayers must contain the words of God; they must be based upon the words of God.

3. When praying, you cannot go over old ground; you must not bring up things that are outdated. You should specially train yourself to speak the actual words of the Holy Spirit; only then will you be able to make a connection with God.

4. Group prayer must be centered around a core, which must be the work of the Holy Spirit today.

5. All people must learn how to pray for others. They must find the part in God’s words that they wish to pray for, based upon which they must have a burden, and for which they must often pray. This is one manifestation of care for God’s will”.

Though I pray to God every day, many times I feel my prayer dull and dry as if the Lord doesn’t listen at all; many times I pray, He doesn’t fulfill my prayers; still many times I have nothing to say when praying. How exactly to pray to God? I feel confused about that for a long time, and I haven’t find out a way to practice. Thanks for the Lord’s guidance and the author’s sharing, I understand the significance of prayer, and know how to pray to God with a true heart in order to gain rapid spiritual growth. I have no clue whether you’re also in this state. If you have any other practice and experience about praying, you’re welcome to leave messages to us or chat with us via the online window at the bottom of the website. We look forward to sharing God’s enlightenment with more and more brothers and sisters, growing together in Christ.

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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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Turn Left? Turn Right?: How Can We Find the Way to Happiness?

Xuesong

If we compare the course of a man’s life to a journey in this material world, then each journey is surely different in the length and direction. Anyway, all of us wish it to be a journey of bliss and significance. However, after going through various hardships in life, many of us become aware that reality doesn’t always meet our wishes and that our wishes are merely a sort of thought or belief. When arriving at a crossing, we are always full of anticipation and hesitation, as we are ignorant of which path leads to happiness, how to make the journey meaningful, and even more ignorant of what is waiting for us at the end of the path. At the intersection of your life, which do you choose, to turn left or turn right?

In the beginning, when we stepped onto the path of life, all of us roamed in the ocean of knowledge, because in it there were footprints and teachings left by our predecessors and through it we could understand the mysterious and unfathomable world. After all preparations were made, we came to the first intersection of our life officially, and then we chose different directions to seek happiness according to the knowledge we had learned. When we turned left, the world told us, “With money, you are able to obtain all material enjoyments, and only then is your life the happiest.” Thus, in order to gain happiness, we struggled hard and did our utmost to chase after money. In order to make money, we even lost our conscience and morality, learned to deceive, and moreover, learned to vie with each other. Ultimately, some gained money while others obtained nothing. But we were similar in that all of us were unhappy, because we felt empty in our heart as if we were staying in a desert waste and nothing could fill the emptiness. In confusion, we turned right. This time the world told us, “Only when you gain status can you be truly happy. This path leads to true happiness, because it will enable you to gain not only money but also others’ support and admiration.” Thereupon, we started to intrigue against each other and deceive mutually. At last, we trampled others underfoot and scrambled to the high peak that we yearned for. However, when we rode on the crest of success and earned others’ flowers and applause, we were still not so happy and joyful as imagined, because all of us held all that we had possessed tightly, worried about their gains and losses. Exhaustion and pain came over us, and we seemed to have been thrown into a prison cell. At this moment, we were disappointed and weary, and even wanted to finish our life journey soon. We were puzzled: Where on earth is happiness? Why didn’t I get it as expected, no matter whether I turned left or turned right?

We felt very anxious yet could do nothing. I didn’t know why we were so distressed in this journey until I heard the utterances of the Creator. Almighty God says, “People think that once they have fame and gain, they can then capitalize on them to enjoy high status and great wealth, and to enjoy life. Once they have fame and gain, they can then capitalize on them in their pleasure-seeking and unscrupulous enjoyment of the flesh. People willingly, albeit unknowingly, take their bodies, minds, all that they have, their futures and their destinies and hand them all over to Satan in order to attain the fame and gain they desire. People do this without ever a moment’s hesitation, ever ignorant of the need to recover it all. Can people still have any control over themselves once they go over to the side of Satan in this way and become loyal to it? Certainly not. They are completely and utterly controlled by Satan. They are also completely and utterly unable to free themselves from the quagmire they have sunk down into”. “In other words, people who have not been saved are prisoners to Satan, they have no freedom, they have not been relinquished by Satan, they are not qualified or entitled to worship God, and they are closely pursued and viciously attacked by Satan. Such people have no happiness to speak of, they have no right to a normal existence to speak of, and moreover they have no dignity to speak of”.

I realized that our minds had already been poisoned by Satan, and beguiled by it, we had taken the wrong path at the start of our life journey. Therefore, regardless of whether we turned left or right, we were all like prisoners in shackles. We rushed about painstakingly for fame and gain and status. We gave up our youth and expended everything, but in the end, we simply became increasingly corrupted. We lost our conscience, morality, and the bottom line of being a man in face of the enticement of fame and gain and status. In order to attain fame and gain, we fought against each other to such an extent that we were exhausted and incapable of freeing ourselves from it. … We got lost, had difficulty controlling ourselves, and were trapped in sins, living in increasing agony. Even though we obtained everything we wanted, emptiness and perplexity occupied our heart, making us have no idea of where to go. In this way, we had been corrupted by Satan to such a degree that we had less and less human likeness and strayed further and further from God’s care and keeping. We simply didn’t have any happiness to speak of.

Then, how could we find the path to happiness? Now a soft voice resounded in my ears, “At the moment when a person is born, one lonely soul begins its experience of life on earth, its experience of the Creator’s authority which the Creator has arranged for it. Needless to say, for the person, the soul, this is an excellent opportunity to gain knowledge of the Creator’s sovereignty, to come to know His authority and to experience it personally. … If one views life as an opportunity to experience the Creator’s sovereignty and come to know His authority, if one sees one’s life as a rare chance to perform one’s duty as a created human being and to fulfill one’s mission, then one will necessarily have the correct outlook on life, will live a life blessed and guided by the Creator, will walk in the light of the Creator, know the Creator’s sovereignty, come under His dominion, become a witness to His miraculous deeds and to His authority”. “When your heart truly opens up to God, you will see that His heart is such an infinite world, and you will enter into a realm you have never experienced before. In this realm there is no cheating, there is no deception, there is no darkness, and no evil. There is only sincerity and faithfulness; only light and rectitude; only righteousness and kindness. It is full of love and care, full of compassion and tolerance, and through it you feel the happiness and joy of being alive. These things are what He will reveal to you when you open up your heart to God”.

God’s words dispelled our confusion and clearly showed us the path for a human life. How much wealth we will amass and what kind of status we will have in our life have long been predestined by the Creator. But Satan made use of fame, gain, and status to seduce us into opposing God for its vicious purpose of corrupting and devouring mankind. We were made to strive and struggle ceaselessly, attempting to escape from the Creator’s authority and change our fate. We did not realize that money is just as transient as fleeting clouds, which we cannot bring at birth or take at death, and status is insignificant and valueless as well. No matter how high our prestige is, we can never break free of the suffering of illness, the threat of death, as well as the consequent void and pain. What fame, gain, and status bring to us is only temporary satisfaction of fleshly desires, which is just a flash in the pan. They cannot bring us even the slightest spiritual consolation, but instead cause us intolerable emptiness and unendurable suffering.

The arrival of Almighty God is exactly an end to our wandering, painful life. He is the Creator of the heavens, earth, and all things, and also our one and only God. He is incarnated to speak among us, expressing the truth to provide us with life and to save us out of Satan’s net. Only by following His footsteps and submitting to His sovereignty and arrangement, will we not get lost in the course of our life. And only when we come before the Creator and open up our hearts to Him, commit everything of us to Him, obey His sovereignty and arrangement, and under God’s personal guidance, truly break free of Satan’s influence of darkness and walk onto the way of fearing God and shunning evil, can we be in the way for happiness. And only those who are willing to put God’s words into practice from now on will finally achieve happiness.

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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.

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Spiritual Awakening: I Finally Escaped From the Shadow of Death! – Christian Testimony

Spiritual Awakening: I Finally Escaped From the Shadow of Death! – Christian Testimony

Xinzhi

When I was young, my family was poor. My mother had mental illness, so the heavy burden of my family fell upon my father alone. He had traveled many places to seek a cure for my mother’s illness but to no avail. At that time I thought: I must study hard to be a doctor when I grow up. As science is making increasing progress, my mother’s illness can surely be cured in the future. However, it never occurred to me that not only did my mother not get cured, but my sister was also diagnosed with Hepatitis B, which, the doctor said, was an infectious disease and could cause various systemic diseases, even death. In more than one year of her hospitalization, her condition was getting worse and worse. Seeing this, I could do nothing but steal away to cry in private and say in my heart: Sister, hold on for another two years. You are sure to be cured! For science is developing so fast and the wonder drug for your disease can surely be developed. Your younger brother and I can’t live without you…. But she still left us, and my brother and I cried bitterly for her.

Later, I often felt weak and feeble, and had a temperature at a regular time every day, so I went to the hospital for an examination. The doctor told me that I had developed Hepatitis B, which was transmitted from my sister. At this bad news, my mind went blank. I had no idea how I walked home with the test sheet in my hand. After entering the room, I slumped into the sofa, weeping uncontrollably. Seeing this, my husband asked anxiously, “What’s the result? Is it serious?” “It’s Hepatitis B, the same as our sister’s,” I replied weakly in tears. “What if you and our kid are also infected?” I broke down and wailed after saying this. He said as he wiped my tears, “Don’t worry, my dear. We’ll try to find a cure for it. Hasn’t the Hepatitis B vaccine already been developed? Our kid and I can have a vaccination against it. Anyhow, we must try our best to cure it!” Hearing his words, I was a bit comforted.

One day my husband came home from work and said to me excitedly, “Good news! Another new kind of medicine has been developed. It’s said that two boxes of it can guarantee a cure. I have bought two boxes with the help of a friend. Take it and see whether it’s efficient.” I was so happy to hear that, thinking: Science today is so advanced; there must be some medicine that can cure my illness. With the two boxes of medicine taken, I went for a check-up in a hospital, only to find that it didn’t take any effect on me. I thought, “Why can’t the medicine newly developed by scientists cure my illness?” Tormented by the illness, as long as I heard of a type of newly developed medicine or any that could cure me, I would rush to buy it. After a long time of doing this, even I myself couldn’t remember how many kinds of medicine I had taken. Right then, two of my cousins got Hepatitis B, and died off afterward. Their death hit me hard and I began to fear that I would also die one day. Every time I thought of this, I would shed bitter tears. Hardly could I imagine what would become of my kid if I died.

Several years later, more and more illnesses attacked me: bone deformation resulting from rheumatism, dim sight, stiffness of legs and feet joints, and lags in response. And consequent complications, such as heart disease, diabetes, gasteremphraxis, fatty liver, and cholecystitis, all set in successively. I became so weak that even a few quick steps would make me breathe heavily. And I often caught a cold. The doctor said my immunity had decreased due to regular medication, and thus various complications were induced…. I dared not take that much medicine from then on. Right at that time, someone introduced health products to me, and I, eager to get cured, spent all my money on various health products and tonics, hoping to improve my immunity through these high-tech products. But after a period of time, they didn’t take effect, and even caused great harm to my stomach—it would ache if I ate, so that I could only drink millet gruel every day. After I had experienced that medicine and health products didn’t work on me, I began to watch TV programs and read books about scientific regimen. But after a while, my health was declining. I could do nothing but stay like a useless person. I was upset every day and sank into extreme distress. I often wondered: Science today is so advanced; isn’t there any cure for my diseases? I’m still so young; do I have to wait for death helplessly?

Right when I was cornered, Almighty God’s kingdom gospel came upon me. I accepted it and regularly attended meetings and read God’s words with brothers and sisters. During one meeting, after a sister had learned my condition, she read me two passages of God’s words: “Where did the pain of birth, death, illness and old age present throughout the life of man come from? Because of what people first had these things? Did man have these things when they were first created? They didn’t, did they? So where did these things come from? These things came after the temptation of Satan, after man’s flesh became degenerate. The pain of the flesh, the troubles and emptiness of the flesh and the extreme wretchedness of the world came from Satan’s torment of man after it had corrupted them. Man then became more and more degenerate, the illnesses of man were deepened, their suffering became more and more severe …”. “Almighty God, the Head of all things, wields His kingly power from His throne. He rules over the universe and all things and He is guiding us on the whole earth. … Praise God in the midst of illness and enjoy God in the midst of your praise. Do not lose heart in the face of illness, keep seeking and never give up, and God shall shine His light to you. How faithful was Job? Almighty God is an all-powerful physician! To dwell in sickness is to be sick, but to dwell in the spirit is to be well. If you have but one breath, God will not let you die. The life of the resurrected Christ is within us. We really lack faith in the presence of God, and may God put true faith within us. … Faith is like a single log bridge, those who cling abjectly to life will have difficulty in crossing it, but those who are ready to sacrifice themselves can pass over without worry”. Then she fellowshiped with me, “From God’s words, we can see that when man was created in the beginning, they didn’t have the suffering of illness. It was only after man’s ancestors committed sins under the temptation of Satan that man began to experience birth, aging, sickness, and death. And as man became more and more corrupt, man’s illnesses were deepened, and even kinds of strange diseases have occurred in recent years. So, all the illnesses we have come from Satan’s affliction. Nevertheless, God’s words tell us: It is God who rules over all things in the entire universe; although Satan can corrupt man, it cannot control man’s life and death. Take when Job was tempted by Satan, for example: Though his body was covered in boils, God didn’t permit Satan to take his life and it dared not overstep the mark. In the midst of his illness, Job still held onto his faith in God, and he didn’t complain to God but praised His name. In the end, God made Job emerge from his troubles and doubly blessed him. Sister, God has pointed out a path for us—have faith in God as Job, truly rely on Him, commit our illnesses into God’s hands, and let Him dominate and arrange them.” After her fellowship, I finally realized that all my illnesses arose from Satan’s affliction. So I said, “Sister, I understand what you have fellowshiped. It is Satan that has been afflicting me. What should I do now?” Then she fellowshiped much in detail about my problem. She told me to read more of God’s words, taught me how to pray to and rely on God when in difficulties, and told me not to demand God with my own motivations but to only obey His sovereignty and arrangements. Thereafter, I read God’s words every day and attended meetings on time, which especially enriched my daily life. My secret worries were much lightened and my heart was also much liberated.

Before long, the church arranged for me to take on hosting duties. I was glad to hear that and agreed without hesitation. When I first took on the duty, I even had difficulty taking vegetables upstairs. Somehow, after a period of time, my health gradually improved. I became vigorous, and it was easier for me to do the household chores than before. The steady improvement in my condition also delighted my husband and my kid. Later, I had myself examined in a hospital and the doctor told me that my Hepatitis B was gone. I could hardly believe it, so I had a second examination in another big hospital. But the result was the same. The doctor there said, “Judging by the test result, your body has produced the antibody and you won’t be infected with Hepatitis B anymore even if you contact the virus.” At the doctor’s words, I was wild with joy and lost for words. I never thought that my Hepatitis B, which hadn’t been cured by every possible means, should be cured in such a miraculous way. I couldn’t help praising God from the bottom of my heart: God, it’s You who has pitied and cured me. It’s You who has freed me from the torment of the illness. Many thanks be to You!

One day, I read the following words of God: “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. A world in man’s heart with no place for God is dark, empty without hope”. I suddenly saw the light. In the past, I used to believe that highly developed science and technology were able to solve all man’s difficulties. When I fell ill, I thought that science would develop effective medicine which could definitely cure my illness. Consequently, when I heard there were newly produced drugs, I rushed to buy them, when I heard that health products were good, I bought them without delay, and when I heard of scientific regimen on TV, I studied it immediately. In the end, a great deal of money and effort had been wasted, and my condition got worse and worse—I just awaited death. Through God’s words and my own experiences, I was completely clear that science is not the truth, much less can it save man. Because of my blind faith in science, I strayed ever further from God and lived more painfully and helplessly. Later I read these words of God: “Whenever Satan corrupts man or engages in unbridled harm, God does not stand idly by, neither does He brush aside or turn a blind eye to those He has chosen. … as man grows up, Satan’s gaze is fixed on every one of them, like a tiger eyeing its prey. … In the process of growing up, you may encounter many things that are not to your liking, encounter illnesses and frustrations. But as you walk this road, your life and your future are strictly under God’s care. God gives you a genuine guarantee to last all your life, for He is right there beside you, guarding you and looking after you”. Only then did I understand that God has been right there beside me ever since I was born. I had suffered from serious diseases, but God didn’t allow Satan to take me captive. My illness is in God’s hands, so is my life. Satan had covetously eyed me and afflicted me with illness, but without the permission of God, death would not come upon me. It is God who has been guarding and keeping me all the time. With gratitude, I went before God and prayed, “God, it’s Your great love that has saved me! When Satan used science to afflict and deceive me, I tasted the bitter fruit of believing in science. But when I struggled hard on the edge of death, it was Your loving hand that led me to return before You, and Your words gave me confidence and power. What was more unexpected was that You had removed my illness before I knew it. How wondrous and almighty You are! Thanks be to You for Your great love and mercy for me. May all the glory be to Almighty God!”

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