The Miracle of the Fire Awaken My Heart – A Christian Testimony

The Miracle of the Fire Awaken My Heart – A Christian Testimony

Xiaohan

In the spring of 2013, I was lucky to have accepted God’s work of the last days. Through having meetings, reading God’s words and sharing experiences of believing in God with my brothers and sisters, I felt the joy of receiving the work of the Holy Spirit, and saw that God’s words are truly necessities and tonics of our lives. Afterward, I read His words more voraciously and performed my duty as a created being to repay His love.

One day, I saw these words of God: “People always tend toward the world, harboring too many hopes, wanting too much for their future, and having too many extravagant demands. They are always thinking about and planning for their flesh and never interested in seeking the way of belief in God. Their hearts have been captured by Satan, they have lost their reverence for God, and they are devoting their heart to Satan. But man was created by God. Thus, man has lost the testimony, meaning he has lost the glory of God. The purpose of conquering mankind is to seize back the glory of man’s reverence for God. It can be put this way: There are many people who do not pursue life; even if there are some, the number can be counted on one’s fingers. People are most concerned about their future and are not paying any attention to life whatsoever”. From God’s words, it can be seen that if we can’t put aside the prospects of flesh, and if there are full of extravagant desires within, our heart will easily be captured by Satan and we will become more and more distant from God. At that time, I thought confidently: Others may stray from God for seeking the prospects of flesh, while I will absolutely not. For I’ve understood God’s thoughtful intention to save man from His words. However, in the face of facts, I had to hang my head and admit that what God’s word discloses is the truth. In my experience, I also saw that God never leaves or forsakes me but loves and saves me.

My family ran a transportation business. As the business was more and more prosperous, I became distant from God involuntarily. I thought: Our business is booming and we become well-off. Today people treat others by appearances. If we change our private car for a deluxe one and drive it to talk business, it will not only make us more distinguished, but also help us drum up more business and make greater profits. As people say, “People struggle to go upward, but water flows downward.” As soon as I shared my opinion with my husband, he agreed, “You are right. It’ll be highly advantageous to us if I drive a luxury car to negotiate business with others. For example, since one of my friends bought a Benz car, it has given him considerable advantages in business. Now more partners are willing to cooperate with him.” Thereupon, we began to rush about to all kinds of vehicle dealer’s shops to see cars, like BMWs, Bens, minivans, cross-country cars, etc. In addition, we also searched the Internet for all sorts of luxury cars and their prices.

As I put my whole heart into purchasing a car during that period of time, I couldn’t calm down when reading God’s words in the meeting. I said to myself, “I might as well stop having meetings. After purchasing a car, I’ll continue having meetings and performing my duty. However, as I carefully planned for having a luxury car, something unexpected happened.

One day in March of 2016, I was cleaning my rented house. In the yard, there was a small house built with wood and glass, which was used for storing some wooden articles for daily use as well as some sundries of the landlord. Since we had moved to the city, I decided to give the yard a spring clean and burn up the junk and garbage before leaving. Then I piled the garbage and lit a fire. After that, I kept on the cleaning in the room. A dozen or so minutes later, I heard some explosions from the yard all of a sudden, and then I ran out hastily. At the sight of the scene in the yard, I was petrified. The flames spread straightly to the small house of the landlord, and its glass had been burned to shatters. Then the fire spread into the small house, so the wood and sundries all caught fire. The fire was so strong that part of the roof was burned away and the tongues of fire kept leaping from the burning house. My legs trembled with fear at the sight of such a scene. I thought: The neighbor on the left raised many chickens and ducks in the yard. If the fire spreads to the neighboring houses, I can’t afford to pay even with all my properties. I wanted to call a fire engine immediately, but I found I had forgotten my cellphone. At the time, my forehead sweated profusely with anxiety. In desperation, I rushed out of the yard and shouted, “Help! Fire! Fire! Help!” Nevertheless, as it was around nine o’clock in the morning, neighbors were not at home. The fire was getting stronger and stronger, and moreover, combustibles were around the burning house. Frightened, I was at a loss what to do. In a panic, I hurried to carry water with a tub to douse the flames. However, when I turned the tap on, the water came out slowly, which made me extremely anxious. There was no enough water and no people helping me put out the fire. Besides, I couldn’t make an emergency call. Seeing the brisk fire, I was utterly desperate. Will I forfeit all my savings? Thinking of the serious consequences, I was terrified and started to cry. Suddenly, I thought of God I believe in: God has authority and power. I cannot rely on others; I can only rely on God.

I cried while praying to God, “O God, please help me! God, no one can help me now. I realize that I’ve turned away from You for the enjoyment of the flesh recently. I’m too disobedient. Oh, God! If the fire continues to burn, I’m willing to obey. God, please have mercy on me and help me.” After the prayer, I saw the water began to flow faster and for a short while, the tub was filled. I knew God heard my prayer. I couldn’t stop thanking Him. Promptly, I threw the tub of water to the roof. After that, I turned on the three taps in the room, filled every tub with water and threw it to the flames one by one. I didn’t know how many tubs of water I poured upon the fire in this way. By then my clothes were wet through, my face and hands were covered with dust, and my arms as well as legs numbed because of’ overexertion. At that time, the neighbor’s chickens and ducks were scared by the fire and explosion, quacking loudly. The fire was still burning; however, I was exhausted. I could only cry to God in tears without ceasing, “Oh, God! I can do nothing and I’m almost exhausted. Please help me. God! Help! …” After a while, the flames, which had been burning high, burned down a lot. I thought: “Man’s end is God’s beginning!” Consequently, I went on pouring water. The fire in the house burned down slowly, and later became white smoke, so did the flames above. I saw God’s almightiness and sovereignty, for I had used up all my strength to throw water, but the flames were not put out; however, after I prayed to God, they became white smoke miraculously. Seeing the scene before my eyes, I wept for joy and kept praising God’s great power and marvelousness in my heart. After the last flame was extinguished, my heart was finally released. At that moment, I was weak and limp, without any strength. When thinking about what happened at that time, I had palpitations. If not for God’s salvation, I didn’t know how to clean up the mess.

Then I recalled my actions and deeds during that period. I ran around for the sake of my own flesh and extravagant desires. Not only did my heart stray from God, but I even wanted to give up having meetings and performing duties, intending to make more money in the world. Though I treated God in that way, He didn’t abandon me. When I reached an impasse, He still listened to my prayer. Thinking of these, I was overwhelmed with regrets. Thank God for His another mercy on me! He used His love to awaken my numb heart. Without His salvation, all would have come to nothing due to the fire, such as buying a luxury car, making a fortune, and making others look up to me. Now I saw clearly that we are so impotent in the face of disaster, and money and materials I pursuit have no significance or value.

God says, “Whether you can gain life before God, and what your ultimate end will be, depends on how you carry out your rebellion against the flesh. God has saved you, and chosen and predestined you, yet if today you are unwilling to satisfy Him, you are unwilling to put the truth into practice, you are unwilling to rebel against your own flesh with a heart that truly loves God, ultimately you will ruin yourself, and will thus endure extreme pain”. “The fate of man is controlled by the hands of God. You are incapable of controlling yourself: Despite always rushing and busying about for himself, man remains incapable of controlling himself. If you could know your own prospects, if you could control your own fate, would you still be a creature?”. From God’s words, I understood that how much money I can earn and what my fate will be are in God’s hand. I should obey His sovereignty and arrangements. However, I was too greedy and my desires were too great. I was possessed for the flesh, living in Satan’s snare and becoming distant from God, with the result that I nearly ruined myself. I will forsake my flesh, keep my feet on the ground, have meetings and perform my duty properly. In this way, I can live securely. This is the most meaningful life.

In the afternoon, when I related the story of the fire accident to my husband, he was astonished. I talked to him with emotion, “If God didn’t save me, we would have been finished. We can’t afford the loss even with all our properties.” He said repeatedly, “Yeah, that’s right!” Right after that, I spoke to him seriously, “As to purchasing a car, I’ll leave it up to you. I’ll keep my mind on gatherings and perform my duty properly in the church to repay God’s love.” Hearing my words, he nodded and said, “All right, I’ll deal with the business myself. Don’t worry about it any longer.” At that moment, I felt so relaxed and happy from the bottom of my heart.

Though the fire accident befell me, I have truly experienced God never leaves or forsakes me but loves and saves me. I even more saw His almightiness and sovereignty. Today in the last days, various disasters occur frequently. If we can’t give up our fleshly hopes to follow God steadily, once we miss the opportunity to be saved by God, we will live in remorse till the end of our days. For God says, “I am mankind’s only salvation. I am mankind’s only hope and even more, I am He on whom the existence of all mankind rests. Without Me, mankind will immediately become stagnant. Without Me, mankind will suffer catastrophe and be trod upon by all manner of ghosts, even though none take heed of Me. I have done work that can be done by no other only in the hope that man repay Me with good deeds. … If you cannot work for good in My presence, then you will not escape suffering the disaster”.

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Daily Bible Devotions: Which Is Greater in Your Heart, God or the Temple?

Daily Bible Devotions: Which Is Greater in Your Heart, God or the Temple?

By Lin Lin

The Bible records, “But I say to you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. But if you had known what this means, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day” (Matthew 12:6-8). When I was a new believer, I read these verses. At that time, I only knew the Lord Jesus was saying this to remind people who lived under the law that He is greater than the temple and that He is Lord of the Sabbath day. Therefore, He could heal patients on that day, and He didn’t condemn His disciples who plucked and ate the ears of corn when they went through the corn fields on the Sabbath. Yesterday I read these verses again. From the fact that He worked on the Sabbath day, I clearly realized the Lord was reminding people who lived under the law that He had done new work outside the temple, and that everyone should depart from the temple to accept His new work.

However, during that time, the Pharisees who slavishly abided by the laws and rules saw the temple as greater than God. Apparently, they served God in the temple and explained the laws to the people, but they only talked about some letters, rules and restrictions. They themselves never complied with the law. Worse still, they renounced God’s law, killing prophets and devouring widows’ houses. Hence, in the eyes of God, all they did had nothing to do with His will and requirements; their service was merely going through the process of sacrificing, and was idol worship. They had no place for God in their hearts for they valued the temple, their status and livelihood above God and the truth He expressed. As a result, though having heard the Lord Jesus’ preaching, seen various signs and wonders He manifested, and perceived His power and authority and wonderful deeds, they did not at all have the heart to seek the truth or look for a way to be compatible with God. Besides, they judged the Lord Jesus, saying that He was just an ordinary person, condemned Him, and blasphemed that He cast out devils by the prince of the devils. They even joined hands with the Roman government to crucify the Lord Jesus. Ultimately, they were subjected to God’s righteous punishment and curse and were destroyed in hell because they offended His disposition.

Then let’s turn to the followers of Judaism who were deceived by the Pharisees. They too saw the “temple” as greater than God. For example, they viewed those chief priests, scribes and Pharisees as greater than God. So, when deceived and incited by the chief priests, they lost the rationality and ground that a believer in God should have. Not only did they fail to stand on the side of the Lord but they blindly followed the chief priests and yelled out to nail the Lord Jesus to the cross. They lacked penetration into the truth of the hypocrisy of the chief priests, scribes and Pharisees, and didn’t know these people who served God saw their own status and the words of the Bible as greater than the Lord. These so-called “God’s servants,” taking “defending the true way” as camouflage, fabricated various rumors and made up lies to deceive the people. They controlled the people firmly in their hands, frantically disturbed and impaired God’s work, and competed with God for people. Therefore, the Jews who followed them also perished and were destroyed in the end.

So, what kind of people are those who honor God as great? I thought of Job. When all his children died and all his properties were taken from him, grieved as he was, he didn’t sin with his lips against God but still extolled His name. Job said, “the LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21). Job had a place for God in his heart. For Job, his sheep and cattle, wealth and children couldn’t compare with God, because God was the only One in his heart. Job could honor God as great in his heart, so he received greater blessings from God after he underwent the trials. Peter was another example. As he followed the Lord Jesus, he carefully obeyed His voice and acted in accordance with what He demanded. At a critical time, when the soldiers tried to seize the Lord Jesus, Peter rushed over and cut off a soldier’s ear, disregarding his own life to protect the Lord Jesus. From this I saw Peter loved the Lord more than himself, which cannot be reached by ordinary people. Peter’s actions gained the Lord’s approval. Therefore, the Lord Jesus gave the keys to the kingdom of heaven to Peter and entrusted him with the heavy responsibility of shepherding the churches.

When thinking of this, I prayed to God and reflected: Which is greater in my heart, the “temple” or God? The fact that the Pharisees resisted God gave me a warning. That is, if I believe in God but in my heart I don’t honor Him as great, nor do I know, obey or worship Christ incarnate, then all that I have done will be in vain in His eyes no matter how I believe in Him, follow Him, and sacrifice and expend for Him. I should emulate Job and Peter: No matter what trials I encounter, I shall believe in God’s sovereignty and have true faith in Him; no matter how God’s work and word do not conform to my own conceptions and imaginations, I shall put myself aside to obey Him. Only in this way can I become someone who genuinely follows God and honors Him as great in his heart. Brothers and sisters, let’s honor God as great in our hearts in everything. Then God’s blessings and grace will surely be with us!

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At the Critical Moment, God Demonstrates His Mighty Power – A Christian Testimony

At the Critical Moment, God Demonstrates His Mighty Power – A Christian Testimony

Chengjing

I’m a Christian, who deals in breakfast. I built a cooking range in the backyard. At 5 p.m. on Sept. 24, 2016, I was busy getting ready to fry small fish. I poured about fifteen kilos of cooking oil into the wok of 70cm diameter, turned on the blower and then hastened to prepare other things. After a short while, I suddenly heard a bang from the backyard. Realizing something was wrong with the wok of oil, I rushed to the backyard and saw it on a roaring fire, with flames shooting into the ceiling. Immediately, there was thick black clouds of smoke billowing out from it. Oil buckets and water pipes near it were ignited by splashed flames. The light bulb hanging from the ceiling was on fire as well, and the fire was climbing along the electric wire with a “sputtering” sound. And a great cloud of smoke was flying up the ceiling. … At the scene, I was dumbfounded trembling in legs traitorously. I hurried to call my husband, but he said to me, “As long as you’re all right, nothing is serious. My leaders are in the hospital for an examination now. I’m tied up. Call the fire brigade quickly. …” Before he finished, I flung the phone on the ground angrily. At that moment, my tears instantly rolling down, I felt when the disaster befell me, even my closest relative couldn’t help me. Having no choice, I quickly picked up my phone and called the fire brigade, only to find it broken and unresponsive. I thought to myself: What should I do? Even if they arrive here, it will be at least half an hour later. Then it will be too late. Faced with the emergency, I burned with anxiety and thought: I have to put out the fire quickly. Otherwise, it will spread to the whole building. The consequence will be disastrous.

Seeing that the fire was burning increasingly strong and was going to spread to the other houses along the electric wire, I hastily carried a stool and wanted to turn off the switch. But the fire was so strong that I couldn’t approach it. Seeing that the fire would come to the second floor soon, I thought in my heart: There is a gas pipe by it. If the gas explodes, that will involve human life. I didn’t dare to think further. Watching the roaring fire, I felt as if the death was to come upon me in a second. Dread, helplessness and anxiety occupied my heart with bad thoughts passing through my mind continuously. I thought, “This day next year will probably be my death day. If I die, how shall my child live? …” Then tears burst out of my eyes.

At that time, I heard someone shouting at the gate, “Her house is on fire! Call the fire brigade, now.” Another one said fiercely, “My son is to get married the day after tomorrow. My balcony is filled with fireworks and firecrackers. If something terrible happens, they should take the responsibility. …” Without going outside, I knew there were many people gathering at the gate. I thought: Anyway, I can’t get others into trouble. I have to think quickly and put out the fire to minimize the losses. Then I saw a water tank on a roof and hurriedly ran to the roof. Out of nervousness and fear, I suddenly knelt on the step with trembling before mounting two steps. At that moment, God’s words popped into my mind, “… that everything man possesses comes from the Creator and will return to Him some day not far in the future; such a person understands that the Creator arranges man’s birth and has sovereignty over man’s death, and that both life and death are predestined by the Creator’s authority”. God’s words woke me up all at once: Yes, my life and everything come from God. My life and death are ruled by His hands. Why can’t I defer to the authority and sovereignty of the Creator? Ever since I believed in God, I have been busy making money every day, and I have never been truly considerate of His intentions or fulfilled my duty of a creation well. If my life ends in this way, won’t I miss God’s salvation? Thinking of this, I realized that how precious life is. Kneeling on the step, I prayed to God, “O Almighty God! You are righteous and holy. You control all things in the universe. The calamity has befallen me. I’m willing to hand over everything to You and obey Your arrangement.” When I prayed to God with complete sincerity thus, I found that the “sputtering” sound fell and the smoke almost disappeared. Furthermore, my legs had strength again. I sped down the step and saw: The wok of oil was no longer on fire; the flames spreading to the second floor were out; the air conditioner upstairs was still smoking but seemed not to be dangerous; the gas pipe stood just a few steps away from the flames, blackened but safe. I took a deep breath and kept thanking God for His wonderful deed in my heart.

I saw the backyard in a complete mess. I could hardly imagine that the fire, which was roaring just now, was out silently in this way. It was really God’s authority and great power. I remembered these words of God, “Man was created by God, and it is perfectly justified that God rules and arranges everything of man; this is the responsibility of God …”. God’s motherly words comforted my heart. I couldn’t help but pray to Him in tears, “Oh Almighty God! Thanks be to You. You can’t bear to allow me to live under the bondage of money, and to be fooled to death by Satan. You bestowed Your salvation upon me in time, so that I can see clearly money is so insignificant and powerless in the face of disaster. It cannot save my life, but only make me more degenerate, further away from You. Also it can only afflict me, and finally makes me go to hell. O God, I see the authority of Your word and Your almightiness and sovereignty. At that critical moment, no one could save me. It was You who cared and protected me. Thank and praise You for Your mighty power!”

The fire thoroughly awakened my numb heart. From now on, I’m willing to do my best to pursue the truth. No matter how busy I am, I must diligently arm myself with the truth and put them into practice in order to satisfy God. Because I have truly experienced that His word has authority and power and is the supply of my life. He is my only reliance and redemption. I can’t leave Him.

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I Saw the Mighty Power of God’s Word in Spiritual Warfare II

I Saw the Mighty Power of God’s Word in Spiritual Warfare II

However, Satan was not willing to be defeated. It employed new tricks. One night less than a month later, knowing that I was still believing in God, my daughter said to me impatiently, “Mom, stop believing in God! I’m going to take the college entrance examination. If you insist on your belief in God, my school will not allow me to take the test. You should think of me. Don’t be too selfish.” Hearing these words, I thought: It is for your sake that I’ve made compromises and lived together with your father for all these years. Since I believed in God, I have been less depressed and distressed than I was before, and my mental outlook has been improved a lot. Don’t you see that? Then, I said to my daughter in a mild tone, “Haven’t you noticed that I’ve been in excellent spirits every day since I believed in God? I’ve come a long way to find the true God. Why don’t you understand me?” Seeing that I didn’t listen to her, my daughter walked off in a huff without another word. I hastened to ask, “It’s already dark out. Where are you going?” She didn’t respond and continued her way. At that time, my cousin was also there. She rushed to drag her back, but my daughter just wouldn’t come back no matter how hard she tried. After my daughter left, my heart was in turmoil: The day is dark already. Now the school is on summer vacation, she cannot go back there. And we have no relatives nearby. Where could she have gone? My cousin and I called her repeatedly, but she never answered the phone. We went out to look for her but to no avail. It was past ten o’clock at night. I send texts to her, but she didn’t reply. I was so agitated that I walked back and forth across the house, with my heart in my mouth. My cousin cried from worry, saying, “Sister, what if your daughter has any kind of accident?” Hearing this, I was even more anxious: Yes! She is a young girl aged about 18. How am I supposed to live if she meets with some accident? The more I thought, the more afraid I became. I waited in suspense for my daughter to reply to my texts. It was not until five minutes after midnight that I finally received her reply. I opened the text, only to see the following words: “I’m not going back until you promise what I told you.” Looking at her text, I was worried and fearful. So, I responded in a negotiating tone, “You may come back now. I’ll consider what you said and answer you later.” An hour later, however, my daughter replied, “If you do not agree to my request and persist in your belief, I’ll break up with you and put it in writing that I’ll never have contact with you for the rest of my life.” I was dumbfounded at my daughter’s text. What’s going on? I’m just believing in God; I’m not doing anything wrong. Yet my daughter is actually going to break up with me. It breaks my heart. She is my only child, my lifeblood. I’ve paid a great price for her during all these years. I never imagined that she could be so heartless to me because of my belief in God. At that moment, I wanted to cry but no tears came. Then I thought: I might as well not believe. Believing in God is too difficult. I put my hope completely on my daughter. I can’t lose her. My heart ached increasingly as I thought about it. I felt as if the sky were falling. I knelt down and cried out to God, “Oh God! What should I do? Please help me. My daughter is going to break up with me because of my faith. I’m afraid of losing my only daughter, and I don’t want to leave You. Oh God, I don’t know how to choose. I’m unable to overcome it. I really have no way out. God, what should I do?” Just when I was praying, I remembered God’s words: “In every step of work that God does within people, externally it appears to be interactions between people, as if born of human arrangements, or from human interference. But behind the scenes, every step of work, and everything that happens, is a wager made by Satan before God, and requires people to stand firm in their testimony to God. Take when Job was tried, for example: Behind the scenes, Satan was making a bet with God, and what happened to Job was the deeds of men, and the interference of men”. Through God’s words I suddenly saw the light. Oh! Am I not falling into Satan’s scheme? Is it not another spiritual war? I should stand witness for God and never make concessions to Satan. With God’s word supporting me, I had the courage inside to go to war with Satan. So, I sent a text to my daughter, “In any case, I cannot agree to your request.” Then I felt much more grounded inside my heart, and was no longer as worried as before.

Half an hour later, my daughter texted me again, saying, “Well, I’ll go to die.” I was shocked, thinking: Oh, she has actually said something like this. Maybe I should tell her that I’ll stop believing. Then she will not go to die, and I will not be refined as such. I picked up my phone and wanted to contact my daughter. Just at this moment, I recalled the happy time when I gathered with my brothers and sisters with my heart at ease and peaceful. If I didn’t believe in God, however, I would simply return to the dark and painful life I had lived in the past. Holding the phone, I thought of my daughter and the church life alternately, wavering back and forth inside. Should I compromise with my daughter? Feeling helpless, I put down my phone and prayed to God, “Oh God! What shall I do? Please help me …” At this point, I thought of God’s words: “The heart and spirit of man are held in the hand of God, and all the life of man is beheld in the eyes of God. Regardless of whether or not you believe this, any and all things, living or dead, will shift, change, renew, and disappear according to God’s thoughts. This is how God rules over all things”. Yes, whether my daughter will end her life tonight is in God’s hands. It’s not up to her. Man’s life is controlled by God. The heart and spirit of my daughter are also controlled by God. Her thoughts will shift according to God’s thoughts. Is she not trying to persuade me out of my belief in God by threatening me with death? Under the guidance of God’s words, I had confidence again. So, I replied to my daughter, “I’ll insist on believing in God.” After a while, she sent a text back, saying, “I’m going to die!” This time I realized it was Satan’s sinister plot. It threatened me with the death of my daughter over and over again. It was too despicable! Being much calmer than I had been, I reminded myself that I should never fall for Satan’s tricks again. My daughter’s life was in God’s hands. It was not decided by Satan, let alone any man. When my thoughts went there, I replied to my daughter, “Do as you please.” Then, I said a prayer to God, “Oh God! I will entrust my daughter to You. Whether she will die or not is in Your hands. Without Your permission, she will not die even if she wants to. I’m willing to obey Your plans.” After I had prayed, my heart was at ease. It was two o’clock in the morning. I lay in bed and fell asleep unconsciously. After dawn, I was still a little worried when I thought back to what had happened last night. I stood on the street for a while, and didn’t hear any bad news. Then, my heart settled.

One day, a week later, my phone rang. I was extremely excited when I saw it was my daughter calling. I picked up my phone immediately and said, “Hello!” “Mom, happy birthday!” I was pleasantly surprised, and said in tears, “Oh, today is my birthday! I forgot it myself.” My daughter also said she had bought a present for me. Hearing this, I kept giving thanks to God in my heart. When the call ended, I came before God at once and sincerely offered up a prayer of praise and thanksgiving to God.

Since then, my daughter has never again prevented me from believing in God. Besides, her career prospects were not affected at all, and she instead found a satisfactory job. She even encouraged me, saying, “Mom, I find that you have really changed since you believed in God. You are not the same as before. Just be a good believer in God, as long as you feel good.” My daughter’s attitude has changed. I know this is all God’s deeds. God used the real environments to let me see Satan’s meanness and evilness. It employs all sorts of methods to deceive and swallow man, trying to make all of them turn into its funerary objects. Through this experience, I have also realized that if we can rely on and look up to God and make God’s word have dominion with us, Satan will withdraw. It will forever be defeated in God’s hands. I have truly appreciated the power of God’s word and seen how difficult it is for God to save man. After experiencing this spiritual war, I have seen that God is right beside me helping and guiding me constantly. Thanks be to God! All the glory goes to God!

The End.

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I Saw the Mighty Power of God’s Word in Spiritual Warfare I

I Saw the Mighty Power of God’s Word in Spiritual Warfare I

I’m an ordinary rural woman. After marriage, I often quarreled and had fights with my husband over trivial matters, living in agony every day. I considered dying many times, but at the thought of my young child I had to give up the idea of suicide. As such, my daughter became my only hope and support for survival.

In November of 2007, one of my classmates preached the gospel of the kingdom to me. I saw these words of God: “Since the creation of the world I have begun to predestine and select this group of people, namely, you today. Your temperament, caliber, appearance, stature, family in which you were born, your job and your marriage, the entirety of you, even the color of your hair and your skin, and the time of your birth were all arranged by My hands. Even the things you do and the people you meet every single day are arranged by My hands, not to mention the fact that bringing you into My presence today is actually My arrangement. Do not throw yourself into disorder; you should proceed calmly. What I allow you to enjoy today is a share that you deserve, and it was predestined by Me at the creation of the world”. After reading God’s words, I understood that my marriage and family were both ordained by God, and that I was predestined to believe in God long ago. I didn’t complain anymore. Soon afterward, I began to live the church life, praying, reading God’s words, and singing hymns to praise God with my brothers and sisters. I felt especially liberated and was free from the painful life that I used to lead. Hopes rose in my heart.

Seven months after I believed in God, my daughter, who was a high school student, went home for the summer break. That day, I went out for a meeting. My daughter happened to discover a note I put in a pocket where I copied down some words of God. When I returned home from the meeting, she looked very unhappy and asked, “Are you believing in God?” “Yes. How did you know that?” I replied. Then my daughter said angrily, “Our principal said at a school meeting that belief in God is opposed by the national government. The students whose parents believe in God will be forbidden from taking the college entrance examination, their employment will also be affected. Make your own decision!” Hearing her say this, my heart sank. Believing in God is a good thing. How can it be this way? In confusion, I said, “God comes to save man and asks man to be good people. He doesn’t participate in the politics of man. How could believing in God affect your further education and employment?” My daughter was snappy, saying, “Anyway, our principal said such things. Even if you don’t care for yourself, you should consider me.” Then she left. I felt awful and pondered over my daughter’s words. Could what she said be true? What if she can’t find a good job in the future? Should this be the case, won’t her future prospects be ruined by me? Won’t she blame me forever? Inside me there was a fierce battle. I was torn between my daughter’s future prospects and God, who gave me the truth and life. I just can’t bear to give up my belief in God. Oh, what am I to do? The more I thought about it, the more upset I felt. I was unable to eat or sleep well. During the several days that followed, I had been indecisive about this matter.

Just when I was at a loss and distressed, a sister in the church came to my home. I told her my difficulty. Then she said to me, “Man’s future and fate are in God’s hands. They are not decided by any person. Let’s see some of God’s words. God says, ‘From the moment you come crying into this world, you begin to perform your duty. You assume your role in the plan of God and in the ordination of God. You begin the journey of life. Whatever your background and whatever the journey ahead of you, none can escape the orchestration and arrangement that Heaven has in store, and none are in control of their destiny, for only He who rules over all things is capable of such work. Since the day man came into existence, God has been steady in His work, managing this universe and directing the change and movement of all things. Like all things, man quietly and unknowingly receives the nourishment of the sweetness and rain and dew from God. Like all things, man unknowingly lives under the orchestration of God’s hand’. From God’s words we can see that the destiny of every one of us was arranged by God. As to whether your daughter can attend college or what kind of job she may get in the future, God has the final word. They are not up to any man, or the government.” Then I thought: Man’s fate is indeed in God’s hands. It is not decided by any person. I wished to find a great partner and live a happy life in the first place, but things just didn’t turn out that way. God’s words are correct! At this time, the sister went on to say, “God is testing our faith by allowing such a situation to befall us. It is a battle in the spiritual realm. When Satan is carrying out its cunning schemes, God wants to see whether we can stand firm and bear witness in Satan’s attacks. Let’s look at another passage of God’s words. God says, ‘Because God has become flesh, Satan has employed all sorts of methods of accusation, wanting to attack God this way. However, God does not retreat because of this—He just speaks and works among mankind and allows people to know Him through His incarnate flesh. Satan is red-eyed with fury and has put forth a great deal of effort on God’s people to make them negative, retreat, and even lose their way. But because of the effect of God’s words Satan has failed, thus adding to its wantonness. This is why God has reminded everyone: “In your lives, there may come a day when you will meet with this kind of situation: Would you willingly allow yourselves to fall captive to Satan, or will you have Me obtain you?”’. God wants to save man and free them from the bondage of Satan so that they may live in the light. But on the other hand, Satan tries to disturb and tear down God’s work and cause man to lose the opportunity for God’s salvation. Satan knows that you love your daughter most, so it uses her to disturb you and attempts to make you reject and leave God. Once you leave God, you will be under Satan’s domain, and you’ll be taken to hell by Satan. This is the treacherous intention of Satan.”

Through the sister’s fellowship, I understood it was Satan’s plot. I said to her, “It turns out that Satan was using my daughter’s words to disturb my mind and make me weak and push God away. I was almost fooled by Satan. It was so close! I can’t fall captive to Stan and allow it to take me to hell. I must stand on the side of God. No matter what my daughter says in the future, I will absolutely not waver. May God give me faith.” The sister nodded with a smile.

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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

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