Archives for 2 月 2020

God Is Always at Our Side

29 2 月, 2020 by Leave a Comment

By Liu Bin

Editor’s note: Dear brothers and sisters, peace to you in the Lord! You may be at a low point in your life at the moment. But believe me, God is always with us. As long as we truly trust in Him, He will give us the most selfless support and help at any time. … The topic that I’ll share with you today is: God Will Never Abandon You When You Are Dejected.

I heard of a story which went like this from my friend: A businessman ran a big company and had abundant assets. His relatives and friends all received a lot of help from him. However, when an economic crisis forced his company into bankruptcy, none of his relatives and friends gave him a helping hand, so he wanted to kill himself to end everything. But when he was close to death, he recalled that someone talked to him about believing in God and said God could help people achieve their own wishes. Thus he thought why not ask for God. Afterward, he wrote a letter, which said he needed food, and put it into the mailbox, sending it to God. A mailman saw it and then took food to the businessman. Next, the businessman wrote God again that he needed clothes, a bicycle, and so on. And he received all these things. He felt it strange and wondered the reason, and then he asked the mailman. The mailman told the businessman that he had believed in God for many years and that there was a voice telling him this thing in his dream, so he did according to the instruction in his dream. The businessman was touched. He knew that God didn’t abandon him but helped him through the mailman. As a result, the businessman had the determination to follow God and walk a new path in life.

The businessman seemed to be unfortunate, but in fact, he was lucky. The rough experience made him see clearly the heartlessness and coldness among people; in the meantime, he also saw God’s love was so deep and actual, and that God was right by his side and never far away. After undergoing the setbacks, he had a new knowledge of God. In the end, he entered into the embrace of God step by step. The short story, which is thought-provoking, makes us lost in thought. Today, in the real society, people put money and interests above all and there are no true feelings between people. When we have money and power, many people surround us. But when we are in adversity, those people who toadied to us in the past go far away quietly. I believe many people have been frustrated by the reality, then have seen through the fickleness of the world, and have become disheartened. But an undeniable point is this: God’s love for us never changes all the time. When we are sad, He always comforts us; when we are negative, He encourages us; when we are dejected, He inspirits us; when we meet problems, He gives us the most practical help. How many times when we are in hopeless straits is it God that gives us the hope and courage that keeps us living.

This reminded me of a passage of God’s word: “Among all the people, matters, and things you can sense in this world, only God’s selflessness is real and concrete, because only God’s love for you is unconditional and unblemished. Apart from God, anyone else’s so-called unselfishness is all fake, superficial, disingenuous; it has a purpose, certain intentions, carries a tradeoff, and cannot stand to be tested. You could even say that it is filthy, contemptible” (“God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself I”). I benefited a lot from these words. Indeed. In this world, only God pays everything for us without demands or repayment. He cares and protects each one of us silently, and watches by our side honestly. His love for us has nothing impure and He makes no demands. This depends on the substance of God. Such a faithful essence of God is not possessed by anyone who is corrupted.

When we know the substance of God in real experience, when we understand God’s love and supply from the small matters around us in real life, we will trust in and look up to Him truly. When we truly rely on God, maybe “the mailman from Heaven” will be by our side.

Filed Under: Inspirational Stories

Bible Verse–Matthew 10:22

29 2 月, 2020 by Leave a Comment

Matthew 10:22

And you shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endures to the end shall be saved.

Filed Under: Bible Verses

Bible Verses–Deuteronomy 6:4-9

25 2 月, 2020 by Leave a Comment

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words, which I command you this day, shall be in your heart: And you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. And you shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. And you shall write them on the posts of your house, and on your gates.

Filed Under: Bible Verses

Bible Verse–Proverbs 22:6

22 2 月, 2020 by Leave a Comment

Proverbs 22:6

Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her.

Filed Under: Bible Verses

What Happened After My Friend Betrayed Me?

20 2 月, 2020 by Leave a Comment

By Lu Min, Spain

I used to think that friends should help and treat each other with all sincerity. Only until after I suffered the betrayal of my friend did I see that, compared with interest, friendship was so fragile and unworthy of mention.

One day, a customer of mine who worked in the bank told me that he sold lottery as a sideline, but the business was bad and he wanted to transfer the lottery commission agency to me. As the agency contract was successfully signed through his connections and he needed to renew it by himself in the future, he asked me to give him 20% of the monthly profit as a reward. I thought: I can make money so easily without going out, so why would I not accept it readily? Then, I agreed to his proposal. A year later, the business gradually improved. My partner proposed becoming a shareholder and expanding the shop. Since I couldn’t obtain the renewal without him, I agreed to his demands and shared 50% of the profit with him every month. Since then, we had cooperated for ten years and no conflict occurred between us during that period.

One day, my partner called me, telling me that he wanted to break up the partnership with me and run the business alone, and that he had already transferred the lottery commission shop to another place. Hearing his words, I was very angry: We’ve been partners for ten years and I’ve always treated you with all sincerity. How could you “repay” me in this way? Now, you see that the business is turning around, and then you want to kick me away. How mean you are! The more I thought the angrier I was. I said to him, “At the beginning, the business was bad. You transferred it to me and asked me to give you 20% of the profit every month. I agreed. Later, the business improved after I took it over. You required me to share 50% of the profit with you. I also agreed. But now, seeing the business is stable, you want to take everything alone. Are you ungrateful like burning the bridge after crossing it? Do you still have morals and conscience?” At my words, he knew that he was in the wrong and said that he would give me some financial recompense but he just insisted on taking back the commission shop. I truly couldn’t accept his unreasonable deeds, so I quarreled with him on the phone and we ended up in discord. After hanging up the phone, I recalled: I’ve treated him with complete sincerity in the past ten years, but he actually kicks me out secretly. He’s really a base man who forgets the moral principles for the sake of profit. The more I thought the more resentful I was. Misery and hatred welled up in my heart. I thought: He is a leader in his unit. I will go to his unit to expose him and let his colleagues know his despicable behaviors, making him feel too ashamed to work there. But while thinking like this, I felt guilty inside: I’m a Christian. If I attack and seek revenge against him, then what’s the difference between me and those unbelievers? This isn’t after God’s will.

Facing this matter, I was terribly upset for a good while. I didn’t know how I should deal with it and treat my partner, or how I could relieve the anger and discontent toward him in my heart. So, I prayed to God, asking Him to lead my way ahead. Later, I saw God’s word saying, “Those who are of the devil all live for themselves. Their life maxims are mainly those words that come from Satan like, ‘Everyone for himself and the devil take the hindmost.’ … ‘Everyone for himself and the devil take the hindmost’ is a well-known satanic saying that has been instilled into everyone and become the human life. There are some other words of life philosophy that are also like this. … There are still many satanic poisons in people’s lives and in their conduct and dealings with others—they are almost without a shred of truth—for example, their life philosophies, their maxims for success, or their ways of doing things. Every person is filled with the poisons of the great red dragon, and they all come from Satan. So, what flows through people’s bones and blood are all things of Satan.” And the words in Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life say, “Ruled by the philosophies of Satan, man has become more and more corrupt, more and more selfish, and more and more despicable. What they do is all for themselves. The inner nature of people can be summarized in one word—‘selfishness.’ People are all extremely selfish. They are so selfish that they become base. And when they are base to a certain extent, they will stage revolution or take any means necessary. Is this the fact? How does the war between nations break out? And how does the fight occur between people? All this is because of people’s ‘selfishness,’ and is for the sake of their own interests. All in all, no matter whether it is the religious conflict, or the fight for territory or any other things, all are caused by one word ‘selfishness’ and are for the sake of self-interests.”

After seeing God’s word and the fellowship, I came to understand: The whole of mankind has been corrupted by Satan. Our thoughts are rotted by Satan and thus we all live by satanic principles of living like “Everyone for himself and the devil take the hindmost” and “We will not attack unless we are attacked; if we are attacked, we will certainly counterattack.” So, we place our interests first and even do anything for them, living in selfishness. Just like my partner and me: He betrayed his morals and conscience, ignored our old friendship, and kicked me out for his own interests; while I hated him and even wanted to retaliate against him when my interests suffered. As I had no discernment, I didn’t realize that these were negative things but thought that they were right and proper and I should live in this way. In fact, both of us are the victims who have been afflicted and fooled by Satan. In present-day society, we are driven by selfish and greedy dispositions. For our private interests, we can do anything; for the sake of profit, we forget all moral principles, betraying our family, friends, and lovers, and some of us even can murder for gain, doing something unlawful. All these are Satan’s afflictions and it is Satan that has corrupted us to this point! At this thought, I gradually put aside the hatred of my partner in my heart and no longer thought of retaliating against him, for I knew that he was also a poor victim corrupted by Satan. At that moment, I felt released in my heart.

A week later, my partner called me again. He said that he wanted to discuss something about the lottery commission shop with me and asked me to meet him in the bank. After we met, he asked me to sign an agreement which said that I should take all the responsibilities if his shop was destroyed by others after we dissolve the business relationship between us. While seeing this unfair agreement, I obviously realized that he was guarding against me for fear that I would seek revenge against him and go to his shop to make trouble. I felt it inconceivable and said to him, “We’ve cooperated with each other for ten years. You are clear about how I treated you during this period. It’s already very unfair for me that you unilaterally break up the partnership. But I accepted it because I didn’t want to mess up our relationships. Today, you actually use such an agreement to guard against me. That’s going a bit too far!” Unexpectedly, he said, “One shouldn’t have the heart to harm others, but must be vigilant so as not to be harmed.” Hearing his words, I found it ridiculous. When I looked at the agreement full of complicated clauses, I really wondered how many brain cells he had wasted on it. I felt exhausted for him from the bottom of my heart. Though he earned more money, he had been living in constant dread, for the money he had was ill-gotten gain. He thought of how to scheme and guard against others all day long for fear that he would be retaliated against, living a very miserable life. Looking at the scared look on his face, I felt very fortunate for my believing in God and being a Christian. From God’s word, I saw through the tricks Satan used to corrupt people, so that I no longer lived by the satanic poisons or was fooled by Satan like him.

I also remembered that God says, “Only if one knows God and has the truth does he live in the light; and only when his view of the world and his view of life change does he change fundamentally. When he has a life goal and comports himself according to the truth; when he absolutely submits to God and lives by God’s word; when he feels assured and brightened deep in his soul; when his heart is free of darkness; and when he lives completely freely and unrestrained in God’s presence—only then does he live a true human life….” From God’s word, I understood that I could only live in pain and darkness if I live by satanic poisons, and that only when I conduct and behave myself according to God’s requirements can I live in the light. I used to live by the satanic rules for living like “Everyone for himself and the devil take the hindmost.” So, I would feel very angry and painful when someone harmed my interests. But today, I understood the truth from God’s word. I knew that I shouldn’t just live for money and interests but should live with integrity and dignity, and that I should live as a man with an open and upright heart and act with honor, making others admire and pleasing God. I had tasted that only by living in this way could I have peace and joy in my heart.

Thinking back, if it were not for God’s word, I would surely have struggled for my private interests, living in the state of paying wrong for wrong and leading a tiring life like my partner, and ended up in mutual destruction. I could treat this matter so calmly and feel released in my spirit all because of the effect achieved by the enlightenment and guidance of God’s word. I sincerely thanked God for His salvation, which made me live in His care and keeping.

Filed Under: Interpersonal Relationships

Bible Verse–Proverbs 28:13

18 2 月, 2020 by Leave a Comment

Proverbs 28:13

He that covers his sins shall not prosper: but whoever confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy.

Filed Under: Bible Verses

3 Reasons Why Abraham Was Blessed by God

16 2 月, 2020 by Leave a Comment

Verses: Genesis 22:2-3, 9-10

“And he said, Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and get you into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of” (Genesis 22:2).

“And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and split the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went to the place of which God had told him” (Genesis 22:3).

“And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar on the wood” (Genesis 22:9).

“And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son” (Genesis 22:10).

Abraham sacrificing Issac is a well-known Bible story. When Abraham was one hundred years old and his wife Sarah was ninety, God promised him a son. In Abraham’s opinion, as his wife had been beyond the age of getting pregnant, having a son seemed to be impossible. But as soon as God promised it, it was fulfilled. When Issac was more than ten years old, God tested Abraham and asked him to offer Issac as a burnt offering. Then Abraham followed God’s instructions, and he therefore received great blessings from God. In this story, what are the redeeming qualities of Abraham?

1. Abraham’s Innocence and Honesty

As the following verse says, “And he said, Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and get you into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of” (Genesis 22:2). We can see Abraham was asked to go to offer his son. This really isn’t in accord with our conceptions or comprehensible. We thought it was impossible to give birth to a child at the age of ninety, but God gave a son to them. Yet, when his son was about ten years old, Abraham was asked to offer his son for the burnt offering. It seemed that God’s requirements were incredible. Then, what was God’s will? Why did God do that? If this happened to us, we would probably be full of suspicions, misunderstanding, complaints, and even abuse. But how did Abraham respond?

He saddled his donkey and took Isaac to the place God had told him. Arriving there, he bound his son Isaac, laid him on the altar on the wood, and then he took the knife and was ready to slay his son. How astonishing his series of actions were. Yet Abraham did it. From this story, we know Abraham is a pure, honest, and good-natured person. Though there was no Bible to read and he was not able to learn more about the will of God at his time, with great pain, Abraham still obeyed God. He had no arguments, no complaints, and no conflicts, and much less hostility toward God, he simply was submissive to Him and followed His words, and acted based on His words. This shows us Abraham’s humanity is beyond the reach of us.

2. His Genuine Faith Toward God.

Trials are the greatest ways to test our faith. In our conceptions, we always expect God is the God who bestows grace and blessing upon man, but not the God who deprives man of anything. In the Old Testament age, Jehovah God gave the manna to the Israelites during their forty years of life in the wilderness not planting. In the New Testament age, the Lord Jesus performed many miracles—feeding five thousand people with five loaves and two fish, healing the sick, casting out demons, raising the dead, etc. The work of God is indeed marvellous and He does not work according to man’s notions. He blesses man and deprives man of anything and behind it there is His will, but we cannot see it through. When the trial comes, we are seized by panic, misunderstand, complain against, and even turn our back on God and leave Him. But when Abraham was tested and asked to offer his beloved only son, Isaac, he did not doubt God’s intentions, much less did he leave God. Instead, Abraham practiced his faith through his actual action, proclaiming that his faith was true and whether he was blessed or cursed, his faith didn’t change. Therefore, he is worthy of the title of the ‘father of faith.’

3. His Total Submission to God

God is the Creator and we are created by Him, and therefore we should submit to His orchestration and arrangement. For this reason, God will test whether we obey Him with many trials and things that are not in line with our notions. When God’s trials come upon us, we find many of them are hard for us to accept and even incomprehensible, but Abraham showed total submission to God. God asked him to offer Isaac as the burnt offering, so he acted based upon God’s instructions—taking the knife to slay his son. When he responded with this astonishing action, God saw his sincerity and his unconditional obedience, and was pleased with this. Because God did not want the life of Isaac, He sent His angel to stop Abraham just in time. Abraham did not know God’s intention, nor did he know it was just a test. Therefore, it was precious that he demonstrated his total submission to God.

We usually can’t understand why God still keeps trying us and testing us though we have forsaken much and spent a lot. It is actually because we haven’t given our true hearts to God, much less unconditional obedience to Him, and because we don’t show God our hearts and obey God just like Abraham, who raised his knife to slay his son and sacrifice him to God. That’s why God keeps subjecting us to trials. We should imitate Abraham, whose obedience to God is an example for us.

Abraham had so many extraordinary merits and therefore was greatly blessed by God. God made him the leader who could undertake His management plan and through his descendants, God would complete his management plan of salvation for human. This meant God’s blessing to Abraham was not temporary; it was to all generations. If we are possessed of the innocent and honest humanity of Abraham, possess his faith and obedience to God, and act according to God’s commands, then we will definitely receive God’s blessings and be given all that we need, for the Lord Jesus said, “For your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. But seek you first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:32-33).

Filed Under: Bible Study

Expulsion from the Garden of Eden – Bible Stories

15 2 月, 2020 by Leave a Comment

The Serpent’s Deception
(Genesis 3:1-7)

Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, Yes, has God said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die. And the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die: For God does know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

God Arraigns Adam and Eve
(Genesis 3:8-13)

And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called to Adam, and said to him, Where are you? And he said, I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded you that you should not eat? And the man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the LORD God said to the woman, What is this that you have done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

And the LORD God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, you are cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; on your belly shall you go, and dust shall you eat all the days of your life:

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.

The Punishment of Mankind
(Genesis 3:16-20)

To the woman he said, I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in sorrow you shall bring forth children; and your desire shall be to your husband, and he shall rule over you.

And to Adam he said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it: cursed is the ground for your sake; in sorrow shall you eat of it all the days of your life;

Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to you; and you shall eat the herb of the field;

In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread, till you return to the ground; for out of it were you taken: for dust you are, and to dust shall you return.

And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

The Expulsion from Paradise
(Genesis 3:21-24)

To Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from from where he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

Filed Under: Bible Stories

Bible Verse–John 16:33

15 2 月, 2020 by Leave a Comment

John 16:33

These things I have spoken to you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Filed Under: Bible Verses

Bible Verse–Proverbs 23:13

11 2 月, 2020 by Leave a Comment

Proverbs 23:13

Withhold not correction from the child: for if you beat him with the rod, he shall not die.

Filed Under: Bible Verses

What Kind of Prayers Will God Listen To?

10 2 月, 2020 by Leave a Comment

By Cheng Shi

Prayer is a way for us Christians to maintain a proper relationship with God. Especially, prayers in the morning and at night are indispensable. Although Brother Zhang insisted on praying every day, he still felt the Lord didn’t listen to his prayer, and he even couldn’t feel His presence. When he posted this feeling on the Internet, it aroused an echo among many brothers and sisters.

To prove Brother Zhang’s words were true, some brothers and sisters also opened their hearts, saying that although each time they said many words to God when prayed, it was just like they were speaking to themselves or talking into the air. And they obviously felt the Lord didn’t listen to their prayer. Thus they doubted whether they have been abandoned by the Lord.

Why doesn’t the Lord listen to our prayer? The reasons are as following:

Reason 1: We don’t pray to the Lord with our true heart but treat Him as a fool and deceive Him.

The Lord Jesus said, “when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him” (Jhn 4:23). However, we usually don’t quiet before the Lord and use our hearts to pray to Him. Sometimes our tips seem to move, but our hearts are upset, filling with household matters and jobs; sometimes we only move our lips but don’t stir our hearts, going through the motions to speak some words without a sincere attitude; we often make great, empty talk with inaccurate words. For example, our love of parents and careers exceeds our love to the Lord. Nevertheless, we pray, “God, I love You!” When we encounter something untoward in family, we are negative and complain the Lord, but we thank the Lord and praise Him in prayers. … If we don’t pray to God with sincere heart but make great and empty talk and say some words which are contrary to our own convictions to God, then we are going through the emotions and cheating the Lord. He will not listen to this kind of prayers at all.

Reason 2: We pray to God with wrong intentions and aims, and often ask Him for blessings without obedience.

Most of the time, it seems that we are praying to God in an honest way, but we are often making demands of Him: those with no jobs ask for a job; those with no children ask for a child; we ask God to have our diseases healed or deal with our issues at home; businessmen pray for earning more money; students pray to God to bless them intelligence and wisdom; the young pray for a good job, while the old for the absence of disease or misfortune and spending the rest of their days in peace. When in peace, we pray to thank and praise the Lord with a desire of asking Him to protect us forever; when in tribulations and trials, we disobey God’s orchestrations and arrangements, wanting Him to take away the bitter cup. Also we stand in a wrong place to make demands on God and hope He can do everything according to our will. … As a result, the more we pray in this way, the further we stray from God, for this kind of prayer is making a deal with God and there is no true faith in and true love to God. We are making use of Him to achieve our own objectives. Just as the Lord said, “This people draws near to me with their mouth, and honors me with their lips; but their heart is far from me” (Mat 15:8). God will never listen to this kind of prayer.

Reason 3: There is no work of the Holy Spirit in the church, so the Lord doesn’t listen to our prayer.

This is the most important reason. At the beginning of the Age of Law, there was the work of the Holy Spirit in the temple. Anyone who sinned would get the discipline of the Holy Spirit; and when the priests who served God violated the law, they would be burned by the fire from heaven. Thus people at that time feared God and had a heart that revered God. Yet when it came to the later period of the Age of Law and the Lord Jesus began to do His work, the Jewish people at that time exchanged money and sold oxen, sheep and doves within the temple. They changed the temple into a den of thieves but didn’t receive the discipline of the Holy Spirit. At that time, the Holy Spirit had left the temple and the Lord Jesus began to do His work. So even if people kept the laws in the temple or prayed in the name of Jehovah God, they couldn’t gain the work of the Holy Spirit. The temple once used to serve Jehovah God completely became a religious venue.

Let’s have a look at our church, is there any difference between the situation of our church and that in the latter days of the Age of Law? From the outside, although we persist in gathering and praying more often for the revival of the church, our sermons have no new light and believers can’t get true supply; though we read the Bible and pray every day, we only know the letters without understanding the spirit of the Lord’s words; we perceive the withering and dark of the spirit and can’t feel the presence of the Holy Spirit. What’s more, we cling to eating, drinking, pleasures, and status and power. Co-workers struggle and fight against each other, committing sins continuously without receiving the discipline of the Holy Spirit. When we are overcome by transgressions, we do not feel indebted to God, just like unbelievers. … It is obvious that there isn’t the work of the Holy Spirit in our church.

There are more reasons except these above. I will not list them individually. Then how should we pray so that the Lord will listen?

First, worship God with heart and honesty, speak to Him the true words in our hearts.

We all know that God is faithful, in God there is no deceit and fake. God is sincere to every one and He hopes us to be honest. Just as the Lord Jesus says, “But let your communication be, Yes, yes; No, no: for whatever is more than these comes of evil” (Mat 5:37). When we pray, whether we are in a weak or strong condition, we should speak to God; whatever thoughts or plans, sorrow or troubles, we should open up our hearts to tell God. Sometimes we are too embarrassed to tell others about something, we can’t conceal the truth from God but open our hearts and tell the truth to Him. When God sees that we have no concealment but are open and sincere to Him in prayer, He will guide us to understand His will. Then our troubles and difficulties will be solved.

Moreover, when we pray, we should quiet our heart before God and pray to Him with a true heart. We cannot be of two minds toward Him or treat Him in a perfunctory manner. We honor our parents and have a conscientious attitude when talking with them, isn’t that because they are our elders and have brought up us? God creates us, bestows us life and provides us with everything, shouldn’t we hold Him in reverence when we pray to Him? Besides, whether we pray to God or seek His will, we are aiming to establish a proper relationship with Him and ask Him to resolve our practical difficulties. And finally, we ourselves are the beneficiaries.

Second, stand in the place as a creation of God, make no demands of Him and have a submissive heart as we pray.

Every day when we pray to God, we should make sure that God is the Creator and we are under His sovereignty. Whatever happens in our life, regardless of whether it is a big thing or a small thing, it is from God’s orchestration and arrangement. Thus we should pray on everything we encounter, “God, I don’t know the truth and what I should do to be after Your heart on this matter. May You enlighten me. Amen!” If we pray like this, we will please God. We stand in the place as a creation of God and pray to Him, bow down before Him, worship Him, and then thank and praise Him. This is the relationship between a created being and God. When God has a place in our hearts, and we stand in the place of a created being to submit to His work and act according to His words, we will have a normal relationship with God. Then we can gain the work of the Holy Spirit and enjoy the presence of God.

When it comes to Job, at the news of losing his livestock all over the mountains and his children, he knew that his all was bestowed by God. From the outside, his livestock were stolen away by robbers and his children were beat to death. Actually, they were taken away by God. Thus he fell to the ground to worship and pray to God with a submissive heart. Later when his body was covered in boils, although he was in pain and sorrow, he would still rather curse the day of his birth than blame God. He said, “the LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21). If we can treat God as God, like Job, then God will guide us at any time when He sees that we have a place for Him in our heart. Then we will be keener and keener in spirit and our mind will become much clearer. Anytime when we have the least corruption or incorrect condition, we will realize it right away and solve it in a timely manner. Then we will have a closer and closer relationship with God and make a quicker and quicker progress in our life.

Third, since there isn’t the work of the Holy Spirit in the church, we must seek and pray.

We all know that in the latter days of the Age of Law, Judaism lost God’s glory. With the name of “Jesus,” God began a new stage of redemptive work and initiated the Age of Grace. For those who didn’t accept the name of the Lord Jesus, when things happened to them, no matter how they prayed to Jehovah God, they couldn’t obtain the work of the Holy Spirit, and God would not listen to their prayer. However, those who accepted the Lord Jesus’ new work, prayed to God in the name of Jesus enjoyed the provision of the living water of life and were accompanied by the work of the Holy Spirit all the time.

Today, no matter how we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus, we can’t feel the Holy Spirit’s work. It is obvious that the work of the Holy Spirit has shifted again. It is said in the Bible that “And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejects me, and receives not my words, has one that judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (Jhn 12:47-48). “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God” (1 Pe 4:17). The Lord will come to judge the world in the last days, which is inevitable. He perfects up to the point of which He has spoken. I have been always praying to the Lord to bestow the ointment to anoint us. May the Lord guide us to find the wellspring of living water so that we can be watered and fed. Wherever the Lord goes, we will follow Him to the end. I’d like to pray together with brothers and sisters who have the same wish with me for leading us to follow His footsteps, because the Lord once made a promise to us: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you” (Mat 7:7).

Filed Under: Prayer

Bible Verse–Proverbs 28:18

8 2 月, 2020 by Leave a Comment

Proverbs 28:18

Whoever walks uprightly shall be saved: but he that is perverse in his ways shall fall at once.

Filed Under: Bible Verses

Bible Verse–Luke 21:19

4 2 月, 2020 by Leave a Comment

Luke 21:19

In your patience possess you your souls.

Filed Under: Bible Verses

Know God’s Righteous Disposition From King David’s Experience

2 2 月, 2020 by Leave a Comment

By Xiaowei

The Old Testament records a king. He was once an ordinary shepherd but later chosen by God and became a beloved king of the Israelites.

When David was only 14-15 years old, he tended sheep in the fields. He was able to save the flock from the lion or other beast with his bare hands, because he had Jehovah God as his backup. His hymns that praise Jehovah God always echoed through mountains and fields. The intimate relationship between him and Jehovah God is enviable!

When the Philistine giant challenged the Israeli army, no one dared to meet him. Though thin and weak, David was willing to fight for Jehovah God’s army. He defeated the Philistine giant Goliath with only a sling. Then he became a brave soldier. Relying on Jehovah God, he won one battle after another, and protected the Israelites.

After David was anointed the king of Israel by God, he often played the lyre praising Jehovah God and didn’t forget God’s grace and blessings to him. Most importantly, he was determined to build a temple for God so that all the Israelites could worship Jehovah God in the temple.

Therefore, David became a man who was after God’s heart.

However, David, after becoming the king, framed and killed Uriah, took Uriah’s wife Bathsheba as his own. He offended God’s disposition and thus he was judged and punished by God: The first son of David and Bathsheba died young, the sword shall never depart from his house; his son raped his daughter, his sons killed one another for the throne … From the lessons of David’s failure, how should we know God’s disposition?

God says, “when man disobeys God or resists Him, or they reveal their own corruption, God will show no mercy in chastening them and disciplining them.” “God is possessed of this kind of righteous disposition because He detests wickedness, darkness, rebelliousness and Satan’s evil acts—corrupting and devouring mankind—because He detests all acts of sin in opposition to Him and because of His holy and undefiled substance. It is because of this that He will not suffer any of the created or non-created beings to openly oppose or contest Him. Even an individual that He had once shown mercy to or selected need only provoke His disposition and transgress His principle of patience and tolerance, and He will release and reveal His righteous disposition without the least bit of mercy or hesitation—a disposition that tolerates no offense.”

From God’s words I understood: Regardless of whether a person that God has once shown mercy to or loved, so long as he resists and disobeys God and offends His disposition, he will be faced with God’s judgment and wrath, for God is beautiful, good, and righteous, and does not allow any filth to exist. This is God’s righteous disposition and it does not allow any offense. God’s righteous disposition is free of any other elements, it is holy and flawless. Although King David was confident and loyal to God and loved by God, when he sinned, God judged him according to His righteous disposition. God sent Nathan the prophet to reveal David’s sin and rendered His punishment upon him that the sword shall never depart from his house.

After this matter, David truly repented to God and made a resolution that he would never do evil things. When he was old and couldn’t keep warm, his servant asked a virgin to lie beside him to help him keep warm, he had no intimate relations with her. What’s more, after the matter of Bathsheba, he kept Jehovah God’s commandments more strictly, and guided the Israelites to worship God. God still had mercy on and cared for him and he was still the King supported by the Israelites.

From this we can see that God is like a loving mother as well as a stern father. When we sin against and resist God, God smites and disciplines us like a stern father; when we obey God and truly repent, God is like a loving mother giving us His mercy, care and blessings. Just as God says, “When God is angry with man, He hopes that man will be able to truly repent, and He hopes to see man’s true repentance, in which case He will then liberally continue to bestow His mercy and tolerance upon man. This is to say that man’s evil conduct incurs God’s wrath, whereas God’s mercy and tolerance are bestowed upon those who listen to God and truly repent before Him, upon those who can turn away from their evil ways and abandon the violence in their hands.” “Only the Creator has pity on this mankind. Only the Creator shows this mankind tenderness and affection. Only the Creator holds a true, unbreakable affection for this mankind. Likewise, only the Creator can bestow mercy on this mankind and cherish all of His creation. His heart leaps and aches at every one of man’s actions: He is angered, distressed and grieved over man’s evil and corruption; He is pleased, joyful, forgiving and jubilant for man’s repentance and belief; every single one of His thoughts and ideas exist for and revolve around mankind; what He is and has is expressed entirely for mankind’s sake; the entirety of His emotions are intertwined with mankind’s existence.”

I feel God’s true love for mankind in His earnest teaching. No matter how He works on us, He hopes that we can truly repent to Him, totally forsake the evil way and be a person after His heart. We have been corrupted by Satan for thousands of years, lost conscience and sense, and the original image of man. No matter what wrongs we have committed or how much we have transgressed, as long as we truly repent, God’s all emotions will change according to our attitude toward Him, and He will give us mercy and tolerance again, and guide us onward.

I couldn’t help thinking, when I first believed in God, I just wanted to enjoy God’s grace and blessings. Once I did something that disobeyed and resisted God and then God’s discipline came upon me or when I caught sight of His severe words of judgment, I would misunderstand Him: “Does God still love me? Why does He treat me this way? Is God revealing me through this?” But now I understand: When God’s righteous disposition comes upon us, it’s also His salvation for us. When I have a revelation of corrupt disposition or show resistance toward God, He disciplines me, deals with me and punishes me, but He doesn’t mean to eliminate or forsake me. Instead, He judges and saves me through it so that I can know my satanic nature and essence, break free from corrupt disposition, and walk the right path. God’s disposition is not only compassionate and loving, it is also righteous and majestic. No matter what God does, all that He does is love and salvation for us. God has eagerly looked forward to our sincere repentance and casting off the shackles of Satan. At any time, God’s heart to save man will never change. This is the most lovable part of God, and also something that we should cherish and treasure the most.

Filed Under: Bible Study

The Creation of Man and Woman – Bible Stories

1 2 月, 2020 by Leave a Comment

The Creation of Man
(Genesis 2:4-7)

These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

The Forbidden Fruit
(Genesis 2:15-17)

And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die.

Adam Names the Animals
(Genesis 2:18-20)

And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them: and whatever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

The Creation of Woman
(Genesis 2:21-25)

And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her to the man.

And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall join to his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Filed Under: Bible Stories

Bible Verse–Proverbs 10:9

1 2 月, 2020 by Leave a Comment

Proverbs 10:9

He that walks uprightly walks surely: but he that perverts his ways shall be known.

Filed Under: Bible Verses