What Lies Behind Lies

By Xiaojing, Shandong Province

Each time I saw God’s words calling on us to be honest people and to speak accurately, I thought, “It’s easy to speak accurately. Isn’t it just calling a spade a spade and telling things objectively as they are? Isn’t that easy? What had always most annoyed me in this world were people who embellished when they spoke.” Because of this, I felt super confident, and I believed that I could easily practice the truth of being an honest person and speaking accurately. But as the facts revealed themselves, I discovered that, without entering into the truth or changing one’s disposition, one can in no way speak accurately.

One time, I saw Sister Wang who had not done her duty well being dealt with by the leader, and so I spoke privately to the leader and told her that dealing with people in that way was hard for others to accept, as it made her appear to lack compassion. Afterward, only through fellowship did I understand that our true love for one another is primarily embodied in the mutual support and help that we bring into our life entry. Another time, when I saw Sister Li overspending a few yuan in the course of her duty, I said that she was squandering church money, and that this was tantamount to stealing offerings. Only later did I recognize that there is a difference between people displaying a little corrupt disposition and being of that kind of nature and essence. Then there was another time when my leader asked me about Sister Zhou’s situation. Because I had some preconceptions about her, even though I knew then that I should make an impartial report, I still couldn’t help but severely talk up the corruption she had displayed, and did not say one word about her good points. When there occurred deviations or flaws in my own work, I would always report the situation to the leaders secretively, hiding the truth of the facts in order to protect my own face and status.

Facing such circumstances, I felt completely puzzled: Why was it that my heart was willing to speak the truth, to speak accurately, but when I opened my mouth I could never speak objectively or accurately? With this question, I went before God to pray and to seek guidance. Afterward, I read this in a sermon: “Why can people never speak accurately? There are three primary reasons: One reason is because of people’s mistaken presumptions. The way they look at things is wrong, so they also speak inaccurately. The second reason is that their caliber is too lacking. They do things carelessly without any practical investigation and they like to listen to hearsay, with the result that they end up adding many embellishments. There is another reason, which is that people have bad dispositions. They use a mix of personal intentions when they speak and, in order to achieve their own objectives, they make up lies to cheat others and deliberately distort the truth to deceive people. This situation is man-made, and must be resolved by the pursuit of truth and by knowing one’s own nature” (The Fellowship From the Above). Once I saw these words I suddenly saw the light. Now I saw that to be an honest person and speak accurately was not as easy as I had thought. It is not that one can achieve it merely by clinging to rules, or by relying on one’s own willpower and self-restraint. The key is to understand the truth, transform one’s views on things, and change one’s life disposition, for only then can one resolve the problems at the root. When someone doesn’t understand the truth, they will then base their outlook on satanic knowledge and logic, and because they won’t thoroughly understand the true state and essence of things, there will naturally be a disparity between what they say and the facts, and it will be impossible for them to speak accurately. When someone is without the truth, they will be unable to resolve any of their various satanic dispositions and their speech will be constrained by concerns about profit, prestige and status. In this way, the things people say will naturally be greatly tainted, and the essence of their words will be lies. As for what I myself had shown, whenever I saw others doing things which did not conform to the way of the world, I would willfully judge them as being without compassion. When I saw others expressing a little corrupt disposition, I would judge them based on the surface of the problem without understanding thoroughly its essence. When I had an opinion on another person and reported their situation, I would exaggerate the facts and add embellishments. When there occurred deviations or flaws in my duty, for the sake of my own reputation and status, I would cheat others and trick God. Weren’t these circumstances and expressions all brought about because I hadn’t entered into the truth, because my point of view was mistakenly presumptuous, because there had been no change in my disposition? At that time I understood: Only when one understands the truth, changes one’s perspective of looking at things, and achieves changes in one’s disposition can one speak accurately and treat everything that they encounter fairly and impartially.

Thank God for His enlightenment and guidance. Now I understand that I was being so naive and preposterous to hold the view that I could speak accurately by relying on my own naturalness and depending on my own perseverance. That I could boast in such an arrogant, ignorant way exposes that I didn’t have the reality of the truth and didn’t recognize how deeply I was corrupted by Satan. From today, I wish to put much more effort into pursuing the truth, to spare no effort in pursuing a change in my disposition, to practice seeing people and things in accordance with God’s words, and to strive to soon be an honest person who both speaks accurately and works in earnest.

Recommendation：Eastern Lightning Shakes the Religious World.

Almighty God Led Me Onto the Path of Obtaining Cleansing

The Secret Held Deep Within My Heart

By Wuzhi, Shandong Province

In the spring of 2006, I was stripped of my position as leader and sent back home because I was considered a “yes-man” and had been disturbing and disrupting the work of the church. For the first few days after I got back, I languished in a constant state of pain, thinking: “I never imagined that after years of serving as a leader I would be replaced on account of being a ‘yes-man.’ This is the end for me; I will be held up as a bad example in the church. How will those who know me think of me? How can I face them?” The more I thought about it, the more negative I became, until I finally lost all faith to continue pursuing the truth. However, when I thought of all the sacrifices I had made in these past few years and of how much I’d expended myself, I couldn’t bring myself to quit, and I thought: “If I completely write myself off and abandon myself to vice, won’t all my suffering be for nothing? Won’t people then think even less of me? I can’t let that happen! I’ve got to stand up for myself and not let others look down their noses at me. Now, no matter how much I suffer, or how wronged I feel, I’ve got to buck up—I can’t quit halfway! As long as I remember the lessons of failure and focus on pursuing the truth, then maybe one day I can become a leader again.” With these thoughts in mind, suddenly all the negativity and sadness faded and I felt a renewed energy in my pursuit of the truth.

From that moment onward, I put in long hours every day, actively reading God’s word to equip myself with the truth, while examining and gaining insight into my past transgressions. I also wrote many articles. A while later, when I saw that two of my articles had been selected, I felt even more faith in my pursuit. I thought to myself: “I’ll just keep working and soon enough my dream will become a reality.” In that way, I worked hard in my pursuit and was satisfied that my condition had more or less returned to “normal.”

One day during spiritual devotion, I was drawn to a certain passage of God’s words: “If people are to understand themselves, they must understand their true states; the most important thing in understanding one’s own state is to have a grasp on one’s own thoughts and ideas. In every time period, people’s thoughts have been controlled by one major thing; if you can get a hold of your thoughts, you can get a hold of the thing behind them” (“People Who Always Have Requirements for God Are the Least Reasonable” in Records of Christ’s Talks). Thinking over God’s words, I couldn’t help but ask myself: What dominates my thoughts now? What lies hidden behind all my thoughts? I began to carefully reflect on my own state and, with God’s guidance, came to realize that ever since I had been replaced, my thoughts had been dominated and controlled by the desire that “I must wrest back my former reputation and status and stand up for myself. I can’t keep being looked down upon by others.” This was the reason why I hadn’t fallen or degenerated in this painful trial, and this thought had been like a spiritual pillar that had given me the drive to pursue the truth, and that had become a goal to fight for, thus I had strived “strongly” under the heavy burden of my disgrace. At this moment, I realized that my pursuit was completely tainted, full of desire and not in the least bit positive.

God had me replaced and exposed me to allow me to reflect on myself and understand my own satanic nature, so that I could be grounded and forthright in my pursuit of truth, cast off sin and attain the salvation of God. However, I certainly did not thank God for His salvation, nor did I hate myself for all the transgressions I committed, much less reproach myself or feel repentant for failing to live up to God’s high hopes. Rather, driven by my arrogant nature that “I must prevail at any cost and not accept failure,” I poured myself into the scheming of this plot, thinking only of the day when I would rise again, be reappointed as a leader, and regain the reputation that I had so thoroughly damaged. Effectively, I was hoping to rebuild my image for others to admire and worship. I had such ambitions; had I not disobeyed God’s orchestrations and arrangements? Had I not been setting myself up in opposition to God? Right then, I couldn’t help but feel afraid for how I’d been. I never would have imagined that such wild ambition lay behind my thoughts and ideas. No wonder God said, “If you can get a hold of your thoughts, you can get a hold of the thing behind them.” This is true indeed. In the past, I viewed my thoughts and ideas as fleeting notions and never took the time to analyze and understand them. Only now do I understand that grasping one’s thoughts and ideas and focusing on analyzing the things held deep within one’s heart is so important to understanding one’s own nature and essence!

Thank God for His enlightenment, which has awakened me. If not, I would still be hoodwinked by my own falseness—careening down the wrong road with blind ambition and heading step by step toward an abyss of death. How incredibly scary! In the process, I also realized that in replacing me, God was protecting me and granting me salvation. For someone with such arrogance, conceitedness and ambition, if I had not gone through God’s chastisement and judgment, hardships and trials, I would invariably have become an antichrist in opposition to God and would have brought on my own demise. With this realization, I prostrated before God and prayed: “O God, I vow to abandon this wrongful pursuit, forsake my arrogant nature and ambition and obey Your every arrangement. I will pursue the truth in earnest and with my feet planted firmly on the ground, fulfill my duty well and live out a genuine human likeness to comfort Your heart.”

Recommendation：If the Eastern Lightning is the true way, why has the CCP government consistently engaged in frantic oppression, arrests, and persecution against the Eastern Lightning?

Almighty God Has Given Me a Second Chance at Life

Service of This Kind Is Truly Contemptible

By Ding Ning, Shandong Province

A few days ago, the church leader arranged a change in my duty. I felt a little puzzled: I worked hard here at my duty, so why suddenly change me onto another duty? But then I thought: “Seeing as the church has made this arrangement, I should submit to it.” When it came time to hand over my old duty, I thought, “I need to take this final opportunity to call a meeting with my brothers and sisters, fellowship about the truth, and leave them with a good impression.” Therefore, I met with several deacons, and at the close of our time together, I said, “I have been given a different duty to perform. I hope you will do the church work properly together with the new leader with one heart and one mind.” As soon as the sisters heard me say this, their smiles fell from their faces. Some of them grasped my hands, some of them embraced me, and weeping they said, “You cannot leave us! You cannot abandon us.” The host family sister was especially unwilling to let me go. She said, “It is so good that you are here with us. You are someone who can endure hardship, and you are good at fellowshiping about the truth. No matter when we needed you, you were always there to patiently help us. What will we do when you’re gone?” Seeing their reluctance to part from me, my heart was full of joy and satisfaction, and I comforted them with these words: “Depend more on God. When I can, I will come back and visit you.”

But after that, every time I remembered that scene of parting from my brothers and sisters that day, I became uneasy in my heart. I wondered, “Was it normal for them to make such expressions? Why did they act as if my departure were such a terrible thing? Why did the church want me to change positions anyway?” I just couldn’t understand it, and so I often came before God seeking the answers while carrying this burden. One day I was reading a sermon and came across this passage: “Those who would serve God must in all matters exalt God and bear witness to God. Only thus can they attain the fruit of leading others to know God, and only by exalting God and bearing witness to Him can they bring others into the presence of God. This is one of the principles of service to God. The ultimate fruit of God’s work that must be achieved is to make people come before God by means of knowing the work of God. If those who serve as leaders do not exalt God and bear witness to Him, but instead are constantly putting themselves on display…, then they are actually setting themselves up in opposition to God. They sit in God’s place and have people treat them as God. Their work becomes a work that vies with God over people. Isn’t this exactly how Satan resists God? Now, there are many leaders who each have an entourage of followers under them, and they are promoting and training people as they themselves wish. In the end, God has not gained anyone who knows His heart. For whom do people do all their work? How many people have they trained that are of one mind with God? How many people have they led into truly knowing and loving God? Therefore, if people’s service does not exalt God and bear witness to God, then they are certainly showing themselves off. Even though they purport to serve God, they are really working for their own status and are really working for the enjoyment of their flesh. They are in no way working to exalt God or bear witness to God. If anyone violates this principle of service to God, then it proves they are defying God” (“The Principles That Must Be Understood for Serving God” in Selected Annals of the Work Arrangements of The Church of Almighty God). The more I read, the more my heart was troubled, and the more frightened I became. I doubly reproached myself, and couldn’t help but think of many scenes during the time I spent with my brothers and sisters. I had often said to the host family sister, “See how fortunate you all are. Your whole family are believers. When I am at home, my husband oppresses me all day long. If he’s not hitting me, he’s cursing me.” As a result, my brothers and sisters thought my stature was great, thinking that I had suffered a lot for my belief in God and for my duty. When my brothers and sisters encountered hardships, I didn’t fellowship God’s will with them, and I didn’t bear witness to God’s work and God’s love, and I didn’t lead my brothers and sisters to be loyal to God and fulfill their duties well in times of hardship. Instead, I constantly showed consideration to their flesh, indulged them and tried to make them think I was so kind and considerate. Whenever I saw a brother or sister doing something that ran counter to the principles of the truth, I would not fellowship on the truth to help them and give them direction, or deal with them and prune them, instead always focusing on protecting my relationships with them, and making them keep a place for me in their hearts. I saw that nothing I did was performing my duty and satisfying God, and it became clear that I had worked and spoken for the sake of status, pursuing reputation and status. In my duty, I didn’t bring my brothers and sisters before God and I didn’t enable them to know God. On the contrary, I had made them sympathize with me and look to me, and I had made them give me a place in their hearts. Even more serious was that when my brothers and sisters heard that I was leaving, some of them wept unconsolably and wouldn’t let me leave. God had expressed the truth to supply people and had worked for so long and hadn’t gained their hearts, and yet I had only been leading them for a few days and had become their confidant, their support. Hadn’t I become a highway robber, stealthily stealing people from God and leading them before me? I thought of God’s words, which say, “I am working among you now but you are still this way. If one day there is no one there to care about and watch over you, won’t you all become kings of the hill?[a] By then, who will clean up the mess after you when you cause a huge catastrophe?” (“A Very Serious Problem: Betrayal (1)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). The words of God again allowed me to see the serious consequences of serving God yet really bearing witness to myself and exalting myself. The words of God helped me see that my own nature, like that of the archangel, could lead me to be a tyrannical bandit, to set up my own independent kingdom and offend God’s disposition, and ultimately be detested and rejected by God. I thought of how God had given me this commission so that I may lead my brothers and sisters before Him and enable them to know Him, but instead I served God without exalting God and without bearing witness to God. My days were spent showing myself off, bearing witness to myself, and leading my brothers and sisters into my presence. Is this kind of service not so contemptible? Is this not simply the service of the antichrist? Thinking about it now, the church giving me a new duty was indeed the protection of God, and it was a timely salvation! Otherwise, if I’d carried on serving in that way, I would only have offended God’s disposition and been punished by Him!

At that time, a sense of fear and shame and the enormous debt I owed overflowed my heart, I prostrated myself upon the ground, weeping bitterly and pleading to God: “Oh, God! If it were not for Your judgment and revelation, I do not know to what depths I would fall. Thank You for Your salvation, for making me see the ugliness and meanness in the depths of my soul, and that my service to You was in truth defiance of You. According to my actions, I deserve nothing but to be cursed by You, but You still have mercy on me, enlighten me, guide me, and give me a chance to repent and start afresh. I truly owe You more than I can ever repay. Oh, God! I am willing to take this experience as a warning to carry with me for my entire life. I wish only that Your chastisement and judgment always accompany me, and enable me to discard my corrupt satanic disposition as soon as may be, and help me become a truly reverent servant of God so that I may repay the great debt I owe.”

Recommendation：Many good sheep in the church would prefer to suffer unbridled arrest and persecution by the Chinese Communist Party just to seek and investigate Eastern Lightning.

Almighty God Has Appeared in the East of the World

Don’t Find New Tricks When Serving God

By Heyi, Liaoning Province

 

Not long ago, I was elected as a church leader by my brothers and sisters. I was very grateful, and thought: I must do my duty well to repay God’s grace. I saw that the evangelical work of the church wasn’t yielding good results, so my brothers and sisters and I put our heads together to resolve the issue. But after a period of hard work, the church’s evangelical work remained lackluster, and my brothers and sisters in the evangelical group were living within trials. Faced with this situation, I could no longer contain my feelings. How on earth could I revitalize the evangelical work? After racking my brains, I finally thought of a good solution: If I held a monthly awards ceremony for the evangelical group and selected outstanding individuals and model preachers, whoever won more souls for God would be rewarded, and whoever won fewer souls would be admonished. This would not only excite their enthusiasm, but it would lift up the negative and weak brothers and sisters. When I thought of this, I was very excited for this clever move of mine. I thought: “This time I’ll really amaze everyone.”

I went to the evangelical group and explained my idea. Everyone was very happy and willing to cooperate. I was thrilled, and waited to see it bear fruit. But a few days later, some brothers and sisters were even more downcast and had some opinions on my methods because they had not won any souls in their evangelism. They even wanted to leave the evangelical group. Seeing all of this, I was stunned. I didn’t know what I should do. After hearing about it, my leader quickly came to fellowship with me, and addressed my state by reading God’s words and the work arrangement: “What’s the greatest taboo in man’s service of God? Do you know? Those who serve as leaders always want to have greater ingenuity, to be head and shoulders above the rest, to find new tricks so that God can see how capable they really are. However, they don’t focus on understanding the truth and entering into the reality of God’s word. They always want to show off; isn’t this precisely the revelation of an arrogant nature? Some even say: ‘By doing this I’m sure that God will be very happy; He’ll really like it. This time I’ll let God see, give Him a nice surprise.’ As a result of this ‘nice surprise,’ you’re eliminated. Don’t just rashly do whatever comes into your mind. How can it be okay if you don’t consider the consequences of your actions? … If you aren’t upright, godly or prudent in serving God, sooner or later you will offend God’s administrative decrees” (“Without the Truth It Is Easy to Offend God” in Records of Christ’s Talks). “A person who is serving God must grasp His will in all things. When encountering any problem, they should seek the truth, and all work must be done on the basis of God’s word. Only this way can they ensure that their actions conform to God’s will” (“The Principles That Must Be Understood for Serving God” in Selected Annals of the Work Arrangements of The Church of Almighty God). These words gave me a rude awakening and a deep feeling of fear and trembling. I realized that the “awards ceremony” I had racked my brains for was just finding a new ingenious trick. It was something that aroused the most disgust and hate in God. Serving God is primarily leading others to know God’s work, learn how to practice and experience God’s words, achieve understanding of the truth and of God, and finally bringing people before God. So no matter what work a person does, they must have a heart of reverence for God and do things strictly according to the work arrangements and the principles of service. When encountering a confounding issue, they must seek the truth and find someone who understands the truth for fellowship, and learn to follow God’s leadership and guidance. Only this way can they ensure that their actions conform to God’s will. Now, God lifted me up to fulfill my duty as a leader. When the evangelical work was not bearing fruit and my brothers and sisters were in trials, I should have come in front of God to seek His will, to find the root of the problem, and then found the corresponding truth in the words of God to resolve the states and problems of my brothers and sisters. Then they could develop faith and motivation because of their entry into the truth. Instead, when faced with difficulties I didn’t seek the principles of the truth at all; I just took action for its own sake and made a fuss on the superficial methods. I relied on my own little cleverness; I took something from worldly factory management techniques, planning to hold an awards ceremony to select outstanding people. As a result, not only did the evangelical work not bear fruit, but my brothers’ and sisters’ states were not resolved, and because of my methods they became even more negative to the point of wanting to leave the evangelical group. How could that be me fulfilling my duty? How could that be leading people to understand the truth and bringing them before God? It was nothing but going my own way and holding up the normal operations of the church’s work, disrupting God’s work of saving mankind. How was I worthy of being a leader? If I had continued to lead my brothers and sisters this way, they would have been led astray by me, and in the end, through my enthusiastic service, I would have offended God’s administrative decrees and suffered His punishment.

Only through God’s judging me and exposing me did I understand that serving God is doing the work of His commission and that it must be done according to His requirements and the principles of the truth in order to meet His will. If you just do things according to your own whims you’ll be very likely to do something that offends His disposition. I saw that my nature is arrogant and reckless, and that I lack the slightest heart of reverence for God. I rely on my own thinking and imaginings when serving God which can only disturb and disrupt God’s work and lead to His disgust and hate. From this day forward, I am willing to bear this lesson in mind and do my utmost to pursue the truth to change my own arrogant satanic nature. In all things I will seek the truth, seek the principles of all actions, and hold a heart of reverence for God. I will fulfill my duty to the best of my ability and satisfy God’s will with the utmost in honesty and obedience.

Recommendation：if the Eastern Lightning is the true way, why has the CCP government consistently engaged in frantic oppression, arrests, and persecution against the Eastern Lightning?

Almighty God Has Appeared in the East of the World

I Was Not Following Peter’s Path

By Wuxin, Shanxi Province

Something we have always discussed in previous gatherings is the paths walked by Peter and Paul. It is said that Peter focused on pursuing the truth, knowing himself and God, and his pursuit was approved by God, while Paul only focused on his work, sought reputation and status, he set foot upon the path of the antichrists of the Pharisees, and he was someone God despised. I have always been afraid of walking Paul’s path, which is why I normally often read God’s words, as well as sermons on entering into life, that concern Peter’s experiences, in order to see how he pursued the truth and experienced God’s work. Then I consciously imitate Peter in my practice and entering. After practicing like this for a while, I felt I had become more obedient than before, my desire for reputation and status had dimmed, and that I had gotten to know myself a little. I believed that even though I was not completely on Peter’s path, it could be said that I had come pretty close to following it, and at least it meant I was not heading down Paul’s path.

One morning, while I was practicing my spiritual devotions, I saw the following words of God: “Peter’s work was the performance of the duty of a creature of God. He did not work in the role of an apostle, but during the course of his pursuit of a love of God. The course of Paul’s work also contained his personal pursuit…. There were no personal experiences in his work—it was all for its own sake, and not carried out amid the pursuit of change. Everything in his work was a transaction, it contained none of the duty or submission of a creature of God. During the course of his work, there occurred no change in Paul’s old disposition. His work was merely of service to others, and was incapable of bringing about changes in his disposition. … Peter was different: He was someone who had undergone pruning, and had undergone dealing and refinement. The aim and motivation of the work of Peter were fundamentally different to those of Paul. Although Peter did not do a large amount of work, his disposition underwent many changes, and what he sought was the truth, and real change. His work was not carried out simply for the sake of the work itself” (“Success or Failure Depends on the Path That Man Walks” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). God’s words stirred my heart and I fell silent. I couldn’t help but examine my conscience and ask myself: “Peter worked to fulfill his duty as a created being and worked through the process of seeking to love God; he did not work using his position as an apostle. Do I work to fulfill my duty as a created being or just to do my job as a leader?” At this time, I thought back to my various expressions when I’d performed my duty: When the church had a lot of work to take care of, and some brothers and sisters saw that my partner sister and I had visited the church to solve people’s problems from dawn till dusk, they would say: “You truly shoulder the burden of the church’s work.” I would then blurt out: “We leaders have no choice but to deal with it.” Sometimes, in front of my brothers and sisters or co-workers, I would want to be considerate to my physical body and relax myself, but then I would think: “No, I’m a leader, I must set a good example and not be dissolute.” When I was in a bad state and didn’t feel like reading the words of God, I would think: As a leader, if I don’t equip myself with God’s words, then how will I be able to resolve other people’s problems? So I had to forsake myself and read God’s words. Sometimes I would go with a co-worker to the host family she was staying with, and when I saw that the way the host sister treated me was not as warmly as she treated her, I would get upset and couldn’t help revealing my thought: “You might not know who I am, but I am her leader.” Sometimes, for whatever reason, I would not feel like fellowshiping with host brothers and sisters, but then I would think: I’m a leader, so what will people think of me if I come to visit but don’t fellowship with them? Since I am a leader I have to fellowship with others. And so on. These various behaviors made me see: Whether it was doing my own spiritual devotions, fellowshiping with people, attending meetings, or handling general affairs, it was all because I was a leader that I felt obligated to do some duty and do a bit of work—I was working only because of my position. It was not because I had understood the truth and seen clearly the meaning behind performing my duty, or because I had recognized the responsibility and obligation of a created being that I worked actively and positively, and moreover I was not working through my process of seeking to love God like Peter had. If the day ever came that I would be dismissed from my duty and replaced, and would lose my position as leader, I perhaps would not expend myself for God the way I do now. It was only then that I realized that I was not a person who practiced the truth or was considerate to God’s will. Instead, I was a profit-obsessed, hypocritical and despicable villain who only worked for reputation and status. It was impossible to be devoted to God working the way I had because I was not willingly practicing the truth and being considerate to God’s will, but instead, like the revealing words of God, “There were no personal experiences in his work—it was all for its own sake, and not carried out amid the pursuit of change.” How could such service possibly conform to God’s will? Paul was working in his position as an apostle; he testified to the great suffering he underwent and the compassion he had for others, and he even belittled Peter and exalted himself as the leader of all the apostles, saying also that he was living as Christ, and he always led people before him. And I was also working and expending in my position as a leader, and everything I did was done to protect the position and image I kept in the hearts of my brothers and sisters. How are such intentions and purposes any different to Paul’s?

At this point, I couldn’t help but feel extremely ashamed for my actions and behavior, and I fell down before God, praying: “Oh God! Thank You for the judgment and chastisement of Your word that have awoken me from my stupor, made me realize my real state, and see that my work and the performing of my duty have been exactly the same as Paul. The path I’m walking is precisely the path of Paul resisting God, which indeed disgust You. Oh, Almighty God! I am willing to turn around my wrong intentions and viewpoints under the guidance of Your word. I am willing to take my position as a created being and fulfill my duty to satisfy You, and do my utmost to seek and move forward toward Peter’s path!”

Recommendation：Is the Eastern Lightning the manifestation of the Lord and His work?

God’s Words Have Awakened Me

By Miao Xiao, Shandong Province

In the past, I used to always think that God’s words “a puppet and traitor who flees from the great white throne” were referring to those who accept God’s work in the last days but who then retreat; to me, they were all people who weren’t willing to endure the pain of being judged and chastised. Therefore, whenever I saw brothers and sisters retreat for whatever reason, my heart would be filled with contempt toward them, thinking: “There goes another puppet and traitor fleeing from the great white throne who shall receive God’s punishment!” Each time this happened, I felt I was behaving properly in accepting God’s judgment and was not far from receiving God’s salvation.

One day, when I was practicing spiritual devotion, I saw the following words of God in the text “Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth”: “For the substance of this work is actually the work of opening up the truth, the way, and the life of God to all those who have faith in Him. This work is the work of judgment done by God. If you do not regard these truths with importance and constantly think of avoiding them or of finding a new way out apart from them, then I say you are a grievous sinner. If you have faith in God, yet seek not the truth or the will of God, nor do you love the way that brings you closer to God, then I say that you are one who is trying to evade judgment, and that you are a puppet and traitor who flees from the great white throne. God will not spare any of the rebellious that escape from under His eyes. Such men shall receive even more severe punishment. Those who come before God to be judged, and have moreover been purified, shall forever live in the kingdom of God” (The Word Appears in the Flesh). After contemplating these words, I finally realized: It turns out that the puppets and traitors who flee from the great white throne don’t just refer to those who have accepted God’s work of the last days but later retreat. These words mainly refer to those who follow God but don’t love the truth and get sick of the truth; they refer to those who don’t focus on seeking the truth within God’s words and practicing the truth when they encounter issues. All those who have believed in God for years but have continued to live outside of God’s words, and who never accept God’s judgment, chastisement, dealing with, or pruning, are puppets who flee from the great white throne.

Under God’s enlightenment and guidance, I started to reflect: God is now expressing His words to judge man, and He is purifying the satanic poisons within people, by means of tribulations and refinement. But every time God’s chastisement, judgment, tribulations and refinement come upon me, I am not willing to submit to God’s orchestrations and arrangements, to seek the truth, reflect on myself and learn the lessons. Instead, I am always trying to escape, hoping that God will quickly move these situations away. Is this not evading the truth and rejecting God’s judgment and chastisement? When the people or things brought on by God don’t match my personal conceptions or cause me a little fleshly suffering, I fall into a negative state. Even if the fellowships of brothers and sisters can clear up my misunderstandings of God, and resolve my problems, I still resist and refuse to listen. Isn’t this not seeking the truth and not loving the way that brings one closer to God that God’s words talk about? When I am dealt with and pruned for the perfunctory way I carry out my duty, I am always looking for excuses to explain myself and shirk my responsibility. Is this not an essence that refuses to accept the truth? I often safeguard my fleshly interests and indulge myself in sinful pleasures. When I read God’s words, at the time I would hate myself a bit and feel self-reproach within my heart. After that, I kept on doing things my own way and just indulged myself. Is this not merely accepting judgment but not seeking to be purified? Now that I think about it, I can’t help but feel fear and tremble when I think of my own expressions. Even though I had not left the church and I still read God’s words and performed my duty as usual, whenever I encountered an issue I always refused to accept the truth and I evaded God’s judgment; I had never experienced God’s words or put them into practice. Am I not precisely the puppet and traitor who flees from the seat of God’s judgment? Yet I had believed that I was very close to receiving God’s salvation. I see that my understanding of God’s word was too one-sided and shallow, and that my knowledge of God’s work was too lacking. Now, only those who obediently accept God’s chastisement and judgment and whose dispositions have achieved change will truly receive God’s salvation. Instead, I was living in my own conceptions and imaginings, not hungering after the truth, not taking responsibility for my own life, and having no sense of danger or urgency at all. If I continued like this, would I not precisely be the object of God’s punishment?

I give thanks to the enlightenment of God’s words for awakening me from my own conceptions and imaginings, realizing that I was not a person who was willing to accept God’s chastisement and judgment. It has also made me see that I am on the brink of danger. From now on, I will give my heart entirely to God, submit to His chastisement and judgment, and do my utmost to pursue the truth and dispositional change, so that I can soon be purified and made complete by God.

Recommendation：Eastern Lightning Shakes the Religious World

Thanks and Praise to Almighty God

loves God | I Have Seen My True Colors

By Xiaoxiao, Jiangsu Province

Due to the needs of the church’s work, I was transferred to another church, which was in a frail state, to fulfill my duty. At the time, the gospel work at that place was at a low ebb, and the states of brothers and sisters were generally not very good. But because I was touched by the Holy Spirit, I still took on everything that I was entrusted with, full of confidence. I would get up early and stay up late every day, busying myself in the church so that I could do my work well. After a period of time, the church’s work was taking a turn for the better. Seeing this, I couldn’t help but become quite self-satisfied. I felt that I was all right, that I really took on a burden in fulfilling my duty, and that I was full of the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. I felt that I was full of courage and resolve in my work. I believed myself able to perform the job well. I was living mired in self-satisfaction and self-admiration.

Right when I was brimming with smugness and was preparing to really set to more work, I met a brother who was in charge of the work. He asked me about the situation regarding my work, and I answered his questions one by one while thinking: “He will surely admire my abilities in my work and my unique insights.” But never did I expect that after listening to my responses, not only did he not even nod in appreciation, but he said that my work was inadequate, that personnel had not really been mobilized properly, that I hadn’t achieved any results, and so forth. Seeing his dissatisfied expression and listening to his assessment of my work, my heart suddenly felt cold. I thought: “He says my work is inadequate? If this isn’t achieving any results, then what extent will I have to go to for it to count as achieving results? It should be good enough that I haven’t resented coming to this frail church and worked enthusiastically, and yet he says I haven’t done a good job.” I was very defiant in my heart and felt so wronged that tears nearly started falling. Those defiant, dissatisfied and rebellious things inside me shot straight to the surface: This is all I can achieve with my caliber; I’ve done my best anyway, so if I’m inadequate then they might as well find someone else. I was extremely upset, and so I was unable to hear a word the brother said after that. Over the next few days, my state plummeted and I even felt depressed and disheartened. I was full of grievances. Amid the darkness, I remembered God’s words: “Peter sought to live out the image of one who loves God, to be someone who obeyed God, to be someone who accepted dealing and pruning …” (“Success or Failure Depends on the Path That Man Walks” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). It’s true. Peter sought to love and satisfy God, and he could obey God’s orchestrations and arrangements. He accepted being pruned and dealt with. And me? All someone did was say that my work was not good enough, and I felt upset and wanted to throw in the towel. How could that be a person who is willing to accept being dealt with and pruned? Is this seeking to love God like Peter? The disposition I had expressed was nauseating and disgusting to God, but I didn’t realize that at all. I was continually living within my own notions and imaginings, seeing myself as really great, really lofty. When someone else said that I hadn’t done something well I couldn’t accept it. I was internally resistant, and I argued and reasoned with him in my heart. I saw that I am really too arrogant and superficial!

In that moment, my heart brightened a bit, so I opened up the book of God’s words and saw this passage: “It would be best for you to dedicate more effort to the truth of knowing the self. Why have you not found favor with God? Why is your disposition abominable to Him? Why does your speech arouse His loathing? As soon as you have demonstrated a bit of loyalty, you sing your own praises, and you demand a reward for a small contribution; you look down upon others when you have shown a modicum of obedience, and become contemptuous of God upon accomplishing a petty task. … A humanity such as yours is positively offensive to speak or hear of. Is there anything praiseworthy in your words and actions? … Do you not find this laughable? Knowing full well that you believe in God, you nevertheless cannot be compatible with God. Knowing full well your own unworthiness, you persist in boasting all the same. Do you not feel your sense has deteriorated to the point that you no longer have self-control? With sense like this, how are you fit to associate with God? Are you not afraid for yourselves at this juncture? Your disposition has already deteriorated to the point where you cannot be compatible with God. This being so, is your faith not laughable? Is your faith not preposterous? How are you going to deal with your future? How are you going to choose the path on which you are to walk?” (“Those Who Are Incompatible With Christ Are Surely Opponents of God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). God’s words really got to the heart of my own essence and left me speechless. I really felt ashamed, that I had nowhere to hide. I thought back on what I had revealed about myself while performing my duty: As soon as I had achieved some results in my work I didn’t think of how I could refine my work to achieve the best possible outcome and satisfy God. Instead, I was complacent with things as they were and full of myself, thinking that I was very capable in my work, and I took credit for the fruit of the Holy Spirit’s work. I saw that I really did not know myself. God’s words say: “Knowing full well your own unworthiness, you persist in boasting all the same. Do you not feel your sense has deteriorated to the point that you no longer have self-control? With sense like this, how are you fit to associate with God?” That is true. All work is done by God Himself; I am just cooperating with it. If the Holy Spirit weren’t working I wouldn’t be able to achieve anything on my own. Bearing fruit in my work is entirely the result of the Holy Spirit’s work, and there is nothing for me to brag about. However, not only did I fail to know the Holy Spirit’s work, but I failed to know myself. I showed off because of some little thing I had accomplished in my work, shamelessly trying to wrest away God’s glory and gain people’s praise and admiration. When I was dealt with I still didn’t reflect on myself, but instead felt wronged and was not convinced. I even threw a fit and wouldn’t work. I’m really lacking all humanity and reason! At that moment I finally clearly saw my true colors, and that my disposition was as arrogant as the archangel’s. After doing a bit of work I didn’t even know who I was anymore and tried to rob God of His glory, to hold a high-ranking position and have others look up to me and adore me. Having this kind of disposition and pursuit, wasn’t I walking on the path of an enemy to God? Then I couldn’t help but tremble with fear. Apparently my conditions had already gotten to a dangerous point, but I had no awareness of that. I was still charging ahead struggling and reasoning for my own purposes and brooding when others didn’t praise me. I really was so superficial and foolish. If I had continued on like that, I certainly would have resisted God and been punished by Him.

Thank God for His revelation and salvation for me. If not for His wonderful orchestrations and arrangements, if not for the brother He sent to deal with me, I would have already forgotten who I was and stepped onto the wrong path, lacking all awareness, trying to rob God of His glory while being self-righteous. That’s so shameful! All thanks to God exposing me, I finally saw my true colors, and the pitiful fact that I lacked the reality of the truth. God’s deeds are so wonderful! At that moment I couldn’t help but pray out to God in my heart: “Oh God! I no longer want to be negative, and I no longer want to live for those lowly things. My only wish is, through Your chastisement and judgment, Your strikes and discipline, to know You, to seek to satisfy You, and moreover to fulfill my duty amidst being dealt with and pruned by You so I can repay You!”

Recommendation：Is the Eastern Lightning the manifestation of the Lord and His work?

       Almighty God Led Me Onto the Path of Obtaining Cleansing.

A Haughty Spirit Before a Fall

By Baixue, Liaoning Province

I was recently transferred to another church to perform my duty. I had heard that all the work at this church had achieved good results, and so I felt especially grateful to God that I had been asked to come to such a good church to do my duty. So I silently made a resolution to God: I will definitely do my very best in my duty to repay God’s love.

However, after I arrived, I discovered many loopholes in the work being done. As a result, I took it upon myself to begin inspecting each item of work. As I was performing my inspections, I also thought to myself: “How on earth have they done their work like this? I thought the work done here would be excellent. I never imagined it would be like this, and that it would be worse than that of the church I was in charge of before! Now that I’m here, it must be properly managed, and each item of work carried out according to the work arrangement. I will lead all the brothers and sisters to enter into life and get the results from each item of our work up to scratch.” Later, I got together with the co-workers and began learning about each item of work, and then communicating, planning, and making arrangements. When we fellowshiped, I frequently revealed my true feelings: The work quality here is so low. My work before wasn’t like how yours is now. At my old workplace, we always managed work in such-and-such a way, we always did such-and-such to do our jobs well, and the brothers and sisters there were obedient to God in such-and-such a way. After these meetings, some of the co-workers would say: “Exactly right! We haven’t done any practical work. This time, we need to start over and do our work according to the principles.” Others would say: “Thank you for your fellowship today. Otherwise we really wouldn’t know how to do our work properly.” Upon hearing these words, I was very happy. I felt that I was indeed better than their former leader. But while I was feeling proud of myself, I also couldn’t shake a faint feeling of guilt: “Was it really appropriate for me to talk like that? Why did I always say that my former workplace was better?” But on the other hand, I thought: “What’s wrong with saying that? I was just trying to teach them how to do a better job.” In this way, I didn’t follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit to examine myself. In the Bible, there is a proverb which says, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Pro 16:18). Just as I was about to dive head-first into my work with very high hopes, I suddenly felt that I was losing touch with God; I was not seeing any signs of improvement in our work, and also the effectiveness of our gospel work went from soaring high to taking a nosedive. I sank into a state of extreme pain, but wasn’t sure where I’d gone wrong. So, I went before God to pray and seek guidance in earnest, and just then, I remembered a passage from a sermon: “To be a leader serving God you must have principles. … no matter what, you still need to testify and exalt God. Say as much as you understand, exalt and testify God to the greatest extent that you can, and under no circumstances exalt yourself or allow others to worship you. This is the first and the most fundamental rule to follow” (“One Must Have Principles in Serving God” in Collection of Sermons—Supply for Life). Right then, tears streamed down my face. Remorse, self-reproach, and gratitude all filled my heart at the same time. I recalled all that I had said to the co-workers in fellowship and I felt that I was really indebted to God, and that I hadn’t lived up to His exaltation of me. The church arranged for me to come here to do my duty so that I could exalt and bear witness to God, lead brothers and sisters before God, and help them to know Him. Yet, I shamelessly showed off, and had the audacity to exalt myself, bear witness to myself, and build myself up, so that others would look up to me and worship me. I was so arrogant and conceited, and how could such a despicable person as me, who was engaged in my own business in the name of loving and satisfying God, ever deserve to serve God? How could the work of such a person be blessed by God? All I was doing was striving for fame and position; I was walking the path of an antichrist, I was acting purely in defiance of God, and was truly detested by God. The more I thought about it, the more I detested myself. I couldn’t help but remorsefully prostrate myself before God, and pray to Him, “O God! Thank You for Your chastisement and judgment that have awakened me and enabled me to recognize my satanic nature. Your chastisement and judgment have also revealed the direction in which my service must go, and have made me understand that only if I exalt You and bear witness to You can my service be after Your heart. That is my duty as a created being. O God! From now on, in the performance of my duty, I wish to examine my intentions and motives when I speak or act, to consciously exalt You and bear witness to You, and to lead the brothers and sisters to know You. I’m willing to be someone who possesses truth and humanity and perform my duty properly to comfort Your heart.”

Recommendation：Eastern Lightning—the appearance and work of God in the last days has rocked all sects and denominations, and all kinds of men have been revealed.
Almighty God Has Appeared in the East of the World

After Losing My Status

By Huimin, Henan Province

Every time I saw someone who had been replaced as a leader and them feeling down, weak or sulky, then I looked down on them. I thought: “It was nothing more than different people doing different work within the church, that there was no distinction between high or low, that we were all God’s creations and there was nothing to feel down about.” So whether I was watering new believers or serving as a leader, I never thought I focused much on my status, that I was that sort of person. I never would have thought in a million years that I would display such shameful behavior when I myself was replaced as a leader.

Some time ago, because I had not been performing any real work and was always preaching doctrine, my leader replaced me. At that time, I thought to myself: “Even if my caliber wasn’t made out to be a mid-level leader, I was still competent to fellowship about the truth and do the work of watering and supporting the church.” I never expected for my leader to task me with taking care of the general affairs of the church. I was surprised then, and I thought, “Such a mid-level leader as myself, am I now to be made to run errands? Anyone in the church who could run or who had a little intelligence could do this job. Wasn’t getting me to do this job an obvious waste of my talents?” But I was afraid that my leader would say I was disobedient and that I cared about my status, so I forced a smile and agreed. But as soon as I got home, I fell flat on the bed and felt awful. “Since I have no status, what will my brothers and sisters think of me? Now I am only running some errands, how will I ever be able to have my day again?” These thoughts filled my head. The more I thought about it, the more awful I felt.

A few days later, I saw the sister in charge of the work of general affairs. As soon as I saw her, she gave me fellowship, saying, “Doing this job looks easy, but it must still be done with devotion,” then went on to talk about the truth of such aspects as wisdom and obedience. I voiced my agreement, but my heart was like a seething fire, thinking, “You’re giving me fellowship like I know nothing. Wasn’t it I who gave you this very fellowship before? Now you’re giving me fellowship in turn!” Not one word of what my sister was fellowshiping sank in; instead I just resented her verbosity. In the end I said impatiently, “Anything else? If not, then I’m off!” Once I got back, I kept wondering: “Why did I have such an attitude toward the sister? If her status had always been higher than mine or equal to it, would I have treated her this way? No, I wouldn’t have. Absolutely not! Wasn’t it because I had always led her, and now she in her turn was pointing things out to me that it left me unconvinced? Didn’t this show that I was dominated by my desire for status?” I suddenly felt awful about my own shameful behavior and God’s words of judgment came to me: “The more you seek this way the less you will reap. The greater a person’s desire for status, the more seriously they will have to be dealt with and the more they must undergo great refinement. That kind of person is too worthless! They must be dealt with and judged adequately in order for them to thoroughly let go of that. If you pursue this way until the end, you will reap nothing. Those who do not pursue life cannot be transformed; those who do not thirst for the truth cannot gain the truth. You don’t focus on pursuing personal transformation and entering in; you always focus on those extravagant desires, and things that constrain your love for God and restrain you from getting close to Him. Can those things transform you? Can they bring you into the kingdom? If the object of your pursuit isn’t to seek the truth, then you may as well take advantage of this opportunity and return to the world to make a go of it. Wasting your time this way is really not worth it—why torture yourself?” (“Why Aren’t You Willing to Be a Foil?” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). Pondering God’s words and looking at myself, I started to realize that what I was pursuing was not truth and life at all, nor was I seeking to perform my duty to satisfy God, but instead I was pursuing empty things like fame, gain and status. When I had status, I was always on the ball with an energy that was inexhaustible. But when I lost my status, I felt limp and feeble, to the point where I even bore a constant grudge and became passive and slacked off my work, as though I had become a different person. I got really carried away with my status, bustling around concerning myself all day with these insignificant and worthless things and wasting so much time; and what did it get me in the end? Is it the shameful behavior I showed today? Thinking of all that God had done for me, not only had I been unable to submit to His orchestrations and arrangements, nor pursue the truth or be devoted in my duty, but on the contrary I had resented the duty that was given to me as being beneath me and as having no development prospects, and I hadn’t wanted to do it. In behaving this way, I had shown myself to be entirely without the conscience or reason of a created being. I thanked God for His disclosure that allowed me to see the shame of my pursuit of my own fame, gain and status, and to recognize that I was arrogant and conceited and was placing far too much importance on status.

Then there came to mind a song: “Oh God! Whether I have status or not, I now understand myself. If my status is high it is because of Your elevation, and if it is low it is because of Your ordination. Everything is in Your hands. I don’t have any choices or complaints. … I should only be completely obedient under Your dominion because everything is within what You have ordained. … If You use me, I am a creature. If You perfect me, I am yet a creature. If You do not perfect me, I will still love You because I am no more than a creation” (“I’m Just a Tiny Created Being” in Follow the Lamb and Sing New Songs). I sang this song over and over, tears pouring from my eyes, and I couldn’t help but kneel before God and pray: Oh God! Through Your words I have come to understand Your intentions. Regardless of whether my status is high or low, I am Your creation and must completely obey the arrangements You make, must do my utmost to perform the duty expected of one of Your creations and not be choosy with the duty You arrange for me. Oh God! I wish to obey Your arrangements, to be before You working like an ox and be at Your disposal, never again to do things that hurt You for the sake of status. Oh God! I only wish for You to judge and chastise me all the more, to make me able to lay down my pursuit of status, to do my utmost to perform my duty in all honesty and to live out the likeness of a true person.

Recommendation：Many good sheep in the church would prefer to suffer unbridled arrest and persecution by the Chinese Communist Party just to seek and investigate Eastern Lightning.

Almighty God Led Me Onto the Path of Obtaining Cleansing

The Work of God Is So Wise

By Shiji, Anhui Province

Normally, when attending co-workers’ meetings, my leader would often preach about the experiences of people who failed in their service to God, and would ask us to learn lessons from their experiences and to take them as a warning. For example, some leaders always preached letters and doctrines when they gave sermons or fellowshiped. They were unable to preach real knowledge of the truth and they were unable to perform practical work, with the result that they served as leaders for years without moving the work of the church forward; the church work almost came to a complete standstill, and they became false leaders and were sifted out by God. When performing their duties, some leaders always showed themselves off, exalted themselves and testified to themselves, and worked to protect their status, and in the end, such leaders led people before themselves, and became antichrists to be expelled. Some leaders showed too great a consideration for their own flesh, coveting comforts and never doing any real work. Such leaders were like parasites in the church who coveted the blessings of status, and in the end, they were exposed and weeded out. Hearing these examples of failure, I couldn’t help but question: “Is God not almighty? Given that these leaders were perpetrating evil and resisting God as they worked and were causing loss to the church’s work, why didn’t God step in sooner to expose and weed them out? In this way, would not the life of the brothers and sisters and the church’s work suffer less loss?” I was beset with this question.

One day, I read in a sermon: “Some people are always hurling criticism at leaders of every level and making irresponsible remarks. What does this behavior expose in these people? It exposes them to be arrogant and conceited and irrational, and that they have no understanding of the work of God at all, and so they are incapable of possessing a correct understanding. If you can discern that this person lacks the work of the Holy Spirit and is not leading God’s chosen into the truth with his work, does this not prove that you have entered into the truth? If one sees this kind of thing happen—if false workers or false apostles appear—what is the duty of God’s chosen? How should God’s chosen handle this situation? How should they approach this kind of issue? You can report the issue to your superiors and expose the person in question. Go through the proper channels so that even more of God’s chosen have discernment, and take the appropriate measures to report, expose, and propose suggestions—is the problem not in this way resolved? Thus, God’s chosen also must bear responsibility and must know the right way to resolve such matters. If God’s chosen people are without truth, they will certainly not act appropriately in resolving these issues. Some people have a sense of justice—they just won’t allow disturbers and destroyers of God’s work within their church. As soon as they find such a person, they immediately report and expose them. Some people will resist the disturbers or destroyers, while some will blindly obey. Some people blindly worship and follow the leader no matter who he is, others act without discernment, heeding and accepting whatever anyone says. So you see, in this way all different kinds of people are exposed. When things like this happen, they really expose people, and behind them there is God’s good intention. If God’s chosen people have a strong grasp of the truth, then the majority of them will be able to discern, resist and reject false apostles and false workers when they appear. What does this show? This shows that the lives of God’s chosen have matured and grown up, that they have completely attained salvation and that they have been gained and made complete by God. Therefore, God’s good intentions are behind all that occurs” (“How to Know Man’s Conceptions and Judgments” in Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life III). This fellowship thoroughly resolved the confusion in my heart. As it turned out, God allows false leaders and false workers to emerge within our church, in order to expose all different kinds of people. More so, it allows Him to instill the truth within people so that they may develop their discernment and insight, and so that they may understand the truth and enter into the reality of God’s word. All those who pursue the truth and have a sense of justice will stand up and report, expose, resist and reject the false leaders and false workers when they see them committing acts of evil in the church and disturbing the church’s work, so as to safeguard the church’s interests and stand testimony for God; these people are the ones God works to perfect. But because those who do not pursue the truth and who indiscriminately follow others lack discernment, they can only go along with the masses, and blindly follow and acquiesce to others, and they will end up conspiring with evil-doers; because those deplorable flunkies who advocate and fawn on the influential do not love truth, but only love to worship, pursue and admire others, they will end up being deceived by false leaders and false workers; because those who are arrogant, conceited and without a shred of reason have no knowledge of the work of God, they can only opine and develop notions regarding the church’s work and even call into doubt and pass judgment on God’s work, and for this, they are exposed. As is clear, God is so very wise! Through His work which is at odds with people’s notions, He exposes, perfects and eliminates man. Those who truly believe in God and pursue the truth are capable of seeking the truth, understanding God’s will, practicing the truth, and standing testimony to satisfy God when they encounter antichrists, false leaders, and false workers, and thus God makes them complete and perfects them. Those who do not pursue the truth can only follow the crowd, blindly worship others, or pass judgment on God living within their own notions and imaginings, and for this, they are exposed and weeded out. I thought of the following passage of God’s words: “It is through many negative things, many adversities that God perfects you. It is through many of Satan’s actions, accusations, and its expression in many people that God allows you to acquire knowledge, thus perfecting you” (“Those Who Are to Be Made Perfect Must Undergo Refinement” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). Indeed, this is true. People might regard an event as adverse or negative, but God is working through this situation to allow people to develop their discernment and insight, to make people understand the truth, know God’s wisdom, omnipotence, wondrous acts, and righteous disposition, and see through Satan’s plots so that they may forsake Satan and turn to God. This is the meaning behind God perfecting people through His work which is at odds with people’s notions. If God had exposed and weeded out the false leaders and false workers in the church as soon as they emerged, then in a situation whereby people do not understand the truth, given their inability to thoroughly understand people’s essence and having no discernment, as well as being deluded by the superficial sacrifices and expending of those leaders and workers, they would, as a result, develop notions and judgments of God’s work, and they would even voice grievances and come to the defense of the supposed injured parties. In this way, people would have no discernment of the evil and corruption of Satan, and no understanding of what God has and is, such as His almightiness, His wisdom, His holiness and righteousness, and they would be incapable of life entry; God would therefore be unable to achieve His goal of saving man and perfecting man. God didn’t neglect to expose these false leaders and false workers because He is not omnipotent or because He didn’t know they were there. Rather, He wanted to use these people as a foil, so that people could then tell the difference between those who have the work of the Holy Spirit and those who do not, between true and false leaders and workers, and between those who preach letters and doctrines and those who possess the reality of the truth. He wanted us to see to the heart of every individual in the church who pursues the truth and has a sense of justice, and everyone who does not pursue the truth, who is muddled and lacks discernment, and those arrogant, conceited people who constantly hold notions with regard to the work of God. Once all people have understood the truth, have entered into the reality of God’s word, and been gained by God, those antichrists, false leaders and false workers will have served their purpose. At that time, God will thoroughly eliminate these people, and in this way, not only will people not misunderstand God, but they will praise His righteousness and omnipotence. As is clear, God works through these adverse and negative events to allow people to seek the truth and equip themselves with the truth, so that they can understand the truth, recognize different kinds of people and have a true understanding of the work of God.

Thank God for His enlightenment and guidance which has allowed me to understand that, behind these things which are at odds with people’s notions, there is God’s good intention and even more so His wisdom. It is all done to expose and perfect man in the most meaningful way. Just as God’s word says, “My wisdom is exercised based on Satan’s schemes,” and “God maneuvers all things so that they serve Him.” From this day on, I no longer wish to weigh situations good or bad with my own human eyes. But in all the things which I will encounter, I wish only to seek the truth, seek to know God’s wisdom and almightiness, and know God’s disposition and what He has and is, so that I may truly understand the truth and gain the truth.

Recommendation：Eastern Lightning—the appearance and work of God in the last days has rocked all sects and denominations, and all kinds of men have been revealed.

Almighty God Has Given Me a Second Chance at Life

What Is the Nature of God’s Love?

By Siqiu, Heilongjiang Province

God’s words say: “If you’ve always been very loyal and loving toward Me, yet you suffer the torment of illness, the impoverishment of life, and the abandonment of your friends and relatives or endure any other misfortunes in life, then will your loyalty and love for Me still continue?” (“A Very Serious Problem: Betrayal (2)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). Whenever I read this demand that God has of man, I feel an inexpressible sadness, and think: “O God, how can You allow those that are loyal to You and love You to meet with such misfortune? The man used by the Holy Spirit previously gave a fellowship that said, ‘God’s last demand of man is loving and sincere.’ How should we understand this?” These words had always puzzled me.

Recently, the sister with whom I was performing my duty developed hyperthyroidism. Gradually, her condition got to the point where she had to eat six meals a day. Due to the stress of illness, her strength gradually diminished, and she lived every day in depression, weakness and fatigue. Her body simply couldn’t comply with her desire to fulfill her duties, and her illness became more and more advanced. I couldn’t understand why this was happening. This sister had left her family and a high-paying job with good benefits to devote herself to the fulfillment of her duties and she was very loyal. How could it be that, for all that she had given, she would be saddled with the torment of this illness in return? I didn’t reveal my feelings outwardly, but my heart was in tumult—whenever anyone raised this issue I would lose my calm.

Not long after, that sister and I parted ways, but I never forgot about her. One day, I asked my leader how the sister was doing. The leader said: “At first she was in a very negative state and failed to understand the work of God. Later, she consciously adjusted her condition, and sought out God’s intention within the torment of her illness. Through God’s words, she began to know herself and realize that she had not had true belief. Within her belief there was still a view of trade with God, still a desire to gain blessings through her belief in God. She also identified many other elements of rebelliousness within herself. Once she had realized these things about herself, her health improved dramatically. She’s recovering day by day. She’s back down to three meals a day and her condition is much better. She’s even able to give frequent fellowship about the truth to help and sustain the brothers and sisters.” When I heard this good news, I felt happy for her. But at the same time, I more so felt shocked. I had thought that the torment of illness would wear down the sister’s willpower and cause her great suffering physically and mentally. Wracked by sickness, I believed she would end up groping in the darkness more and more on the road of believing in God. I even suspected that she might be unable to go on. Today, faced with the reality of her situation, I was left standing agape. Not only had she not lost faith in God, but, through the refinement of her illness, she had actually come to understand God’s work and recognize her corruption. She had learned from her experience and had made improvements to her life. Was this illness not a manifestation of God’s true love and real salvation of man?

Later, I read the following passage from a sermon: “Number 5: ‘If you’ve always been very loyal and loving toward Me, yet you suffer the torment of illness, the impoverishment of life, and the abandonment of your friends and relatives or endure any other misfortunes in life, then will your loyalty and love for Me still continue?’ God’s work is not in line with people’s notions. God has worked according to this principle to bring salvation to people throughout the ages. All those who have experienced this work of God will be aware of this fact. People are loyal and loving toward God, and God in turn imparts His love to them. … If we are truly loving and loyal to God, when we meet with all manner of misfortune, this is the manifestation of God’s love. If we truly understand God’s will, we should be even more loyal and love God even more till the end. If we are unable to see God’s will in the trials we suffer and even misunderstand God and betray God, we certainly do not know the work of God. Even if we love and are loyal to God, there are still elements of betrayal within us. No one would debate that. God tries and refines man to purify and save him” (The Fellowship From the Above). Only after reading this passage of fellowship did I realize that I have always judged God’s work in terms of my flesh-bound thinking. I mistakenly believed that God’s love consists of bounteous gifts of grace and assurance of fleshly joy and peace. I never thought that suffering is a form of God’s blessing and love. Only after learning of my sister’s experience did I realize that the refinement of suffering is a true manifestation of God’s love. God creates certain situations of suffering upon people—be it through physical ailment, financial hardship, or any other misfortune in life—not to deliberately make things difficult for people, but out of His love. To address the satanic disposition and inadequacies of man, God tries and refines him. Through these real-life situations, He purifies, transforms and puts truths into man so that man may live according to God’s words. Only in this way can man’s life gradually develop. Though man’s flesh must undergo incredible hardship in the process of refinement, which may be perceived as misfortune or bad things, this reveals many impurities, wrong intents and viewpoints, extravagant desires, and incorrect goals of pursuit that man has in his belief in God so that he can know himself. When man has some understanding of the truth and substance of his corruption, he sees God’s holiness and righteousness, understands God’s dearness and loveliness, and realizes God’s earnest intention to save mankind. He develops fear and obedience toward God, has a more and more normal relationship with Him and slowly cultivates love for Him in his heart. Such benefits cannot be obtained through a life of leisure. When man absorbs the lessons obtained from the torment of his trials and reflects back on the road he has taken, he deeply understands that God’s judgments and chastisements, His smiting and discipline are all full of His infinite love. God’s love is not just kind and compassionate. It is not only about bestowing material benefits, but is also harrowing refinement, smiting and discipline.

I prostrated myself before God and offered a prayer: O God, thank You for working through all aspects of my surroundings to remedy my absurd and misguided viewpoints on things and to allow me to see that, even if Your love is not in line with human notions, it is always there to transform and save us. Your love is always imbued with Your earnest intentions and Your ineffable wisdom. O God, in honor of the love that You share with mankind, I offer You praise and gratitude! I also hope that one day I too will receive this kind of love. I vow to accept any degree of suffering so that I may experience and testify to Your love.

Recommendation：Why are good sheep in the church able to investigate Eastern Lightning? Are those people who are unable to seek and investigate God's work in the last days able to enter the kingdom of heaven after all?

Thanks and Praise to Almighty God

A Turn for the Better on the Road of Believing in God

By Zhuanbian, Shanghai City

Although I had believed in God and followed God for many years, I had made almost no progress with my entering into life, and I felt very anxious. Especially when I heard the man used by the Holy Spirit talking with brothers and sisters in recordings of sermons, I felt filled with anxiety hearing him say this kind of thing, “You now believe in God and have tasted the sweetness of the pursuit of truth. You have started to enter onto the right track and are full of faith in your pursuit of salvation.” I thought, “These people have not believed in God for very long and yet have already had entry and are so full of faith about being saved. Yet here I am having so far believed in God and I still haven’t obtained the truth and my disposition in life has undergone no change whatsoever. Never mind attaining salvation, I haven’t even started to enter onto the right track!” I thought of how the man used by the Holy Spirit fellowshiped that the truth can resolve all of man’s corruptions, but I had never experienced this at all. I even felt that the truth could resolve other people’s corruptions but not my own, and the more I thought like this the more dispirited I felt, and I felt that pursuing a change in my disposition was just too hard, and so I lost faith in my pursuit of the truth and of salvation. Although I was aware that my own condition was not right, there was no way I could escape it, so I could only cry to God for help.

One day, I saw these words of God: “Growth in man’s life and changes in his disposition are all achieved by entering into reality and, moreover, through entering into detailed experiences” (“The Difference Between the Ministry of the Incarnate God and the Duty of Man” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). “If you only focus on the knowledge in theories and only live among religious ceremonies without going deep into reality, without entering into real life, then you will never enter into reality, you will never know yourself, the truth, or God, and you will always be blind and ignorant” (“Discussing Church Life and Real Life” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). Only through the enlightenment of God’s words did I realize that my disposition had not undergone much change, despite the many years I had believed in Him, and that this was mainly because when I read God’s words I focused only on understanding the literal, theoretical meaning, and had only a thinking understanding. I was not focusing on putting the truth into practice or entering into reality, nor was I focusing on experiencing God’s words through practical experience. Thinking back on these years of my belief in God, no matter what aspect of the truth, I always stopped at having a literal understanding, and I never sought to have a deeper understanding of the essence of the truth, much less did I plan to practice and enter into it. Instead, I thought it was enough just to have a theoretical knowledge and understanding. For example, in real life I always struggled for fame and gain, always wanted to make others listen to me. After revealing corruptions, I just thought for a while, and prayed before God, acknowledging my own corruption and knowing that it was an expression of an arrogant and self-right nature, and nothing more. I did not seek for the relevant truths to resolve this problem. The result was that, no matter how many times I “felt remorse or confessed my sins” before God, I still did not change. Within each environment God arranged, through praying and seeking I came to know that God was using it to deal with my corruption. After I came to this understanding, I just acknowledged that all of God’s trials and refinements, all of God’s dealing with me and pruning me was His salvation, was His love, that God’s heart is always good, period. But afterward, I never paid any attention to practicing the truth or resolving my own corruption. The outcome was that, although I underwent some hardship, I had not undergone any change. In addition, each time I finished listening to the sermons, I felt that they were indeed what I needed in my life entry, and that they had allowed me to understand the truth that I had not previously understood. But all I did was just store the content of the sermons in my head, and I never applied it to real life, which resulted in the little bit of understanding I’d obtained disappearing after a while.

The facts had revealed me as someone who simply did not pursue the truth. I had believed in God for many years but had never put any effort into practicing the truth or entering reality, to the extent that I had so far still not obtained the truth, nor had my disposition undergone any change. This was entirely the revelation of God’s righteous disposition, as God has said: “You must devote effort to living out the words of God so that they may be realized in your practice. If you have only doctrinal knowledge, then your faith in God will come to naught. Only if you then also practice and live out His word can your faith be considered complete and in accord with God’s will” (“You Ought to Live for the Truth Since You Believe in God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). God is righteous. God has never treated anyone unfairly, and has never wantonly given to man, much less given to man unconditionally. I do not practice the truth, have not made any effort to live out His words, with the result that today, I must reap as I have sown. At this time I couldn’t help but feel extreme remorse, regretting bitterly that, although I had believed in God for years, today I still had nothing to show for my belief and I really hadn’t lived up to God’s salvation. And yet I did not wish to continue degenerating in such a way, but instead I wished to start again, to make effort in my practice of the truth and to implement God’s words on myself.

Afterward, I began to train in practicing the truth and in entering reality. When I revealed the corruption of vying with others for status in my work, I was then no longer as I had been before, when I had just prayed and confessed to God, and nothing more. Instead, I looked for the relevant words of God to read and I accepted the judgment and chastisement of God’s words. From His words I came to realize that my pursuit of fame, gain and status was my satanic disposition at work. In the beginning, because the archangel vied with God for His position, it was cast into the air. This also happened to mankind after it was corrupted by Satan; people want to be the leader in any group and make others listen to them. In particular, the CCP, the king of devils, vies with earth and with heaven in the vain hope of having mastery over all the world. People, as created beings, cannot keep to their own place and always want to become exceptional and great, to be equal to God—this really is too wicked. After I realized that, disgust and loathing for my own nature spontaneously arose. Afterward, I equipped myself with the truth about raising God up, about bearing witness to God, and in real life I trained for entry. Through this practice, I saw even more clearly the ugliness and contemptibility of myself standing on high and telling people what was what. I loathed and cursed myself even more, and made up my mind to forsake the flesh and practice the truth in order to satisfy God. After training in this way for a while, I discovered that the expressions of my own arrogant disposition reduced a great deal.

In normal interpersonal relationships, in the past I knew I had to practice tolerance, patience, to use wisdom, have principles, and be an honest person. But in reality I never entered these five aspects. Now, when I took unkindly to others due to their expressions of corruption, I prayed to God and practiced according to these five aspects. Under God’s guidance, it occurred to me that my brothers and sisters are now in the process of seeking change, so expressions of corruption are inevitable, and that maybe so-and-so isn’t aware of the corruption he reveals, or maybe he is dominated involuntarily by his own nature and is not acting this way toward me on purpose. It was just the same as when my usually arrogant and conceited disposition had been disgusting to others, yet I myself had remained unaware before I really understood the truth and came to know myself. This is all harm that is done to man by Satan. It is Satan that I should hate, and I should not form opinions about my brothers and sisters. Sometimes my brothers and sisters would be constrained by their corrupt dispositions in their actions toward me, and yet brothers and sisters they remain—they are sincere believers in God, not wicked people or antichrists. So I should imitate what God is, and however God forgives me, that is how I should forgive other people, and I should treat people with the heart and the love of God. When I thought like this, the resentment and grudges I had held inside me disappeared in a flash, and were replaced by hatred for Satan and sympathy and forgiveness for my brothers and sisters; I even wanted to find suitable opportunities to help them. When I tried voluntarily to help them, I found that my relationship with them became a lot friendlier and I got a taste of the happiness that comes from helping others.

When I practiced applying the words of God I understood into real life, not only did I gain some practical experience of and entry into various aspects of the truth, and I was able to perform my duty and handle matters with some principles according to God’s words, I also came to have some true knowledge of the various states I possess from being corrupted by Satan, how one’s satanic nature can bind one, and the extent to which people have been corrupted by Satan. I felt God’s leadership and guidance and tasted the sureness, peace and joy that practicing the truth had given to my heart. I felt that my life was enriched, that there was a lesson to be learned every day, feeling that pursuing the truth was so meaningful, that the truth really could save and change people!

Once I had this bit of personal experience and understanding, I felt that my own road of believing in God has taken a turn for the better, never again to feel that salvation was beyond my grasp. I believe that, so long as I work with God, continually equip myself with truth and practice and enter the truth, I will certainly reach a change in my corrupt disposition. I believe that God’s work is able to save man and God’s words are able to change man: I have this faith because I have tasted it already. From this day on, I wish to pursue the truth with my feet planted firmly on the ground, and to bring God’s words into real life to practice and enter, so that I may soon achieve a change in my disposition, and live out the manner of a true person in order to bear witness for God, to bear witness to God’s work to save me, to bear witness to God’s power to save man, and to bear witness to God’s wonderful deeds!

Recommendation：Eastern Lightning—the appearance and work of God in the last days has rocked all sects and denominations, and all kinds of men have been revealed.

Almighty God Has Appeared in the East of the World