And Jesus answered and said, Truly I say to you, There is no man that has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, But he shall receive an hundred times now in this time, houses, and brothers, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.
Archives for 1 月 2023
Bible Verse–Luke 6:22
28 1 月, 2023 by Leave a Comment
Blessed are you, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake.
Bible Verse–Psalm 31:15
24 1 月, 2023 by Leave a Comment
My times are in your hand: deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from them that persecute me.
Bible Verse–1 Peter 5:8
21 1 月, 2023 by Leave a Comment
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour:
I Find a Happy Life
20 1 月, 2023 by Leave a Comment
By Kemu
I was born into a normal peasant family. My mother was diligent and hardworking, while my father was a lazy alcoholic. Every time he lost his temper with my mother after getting drunk, my younger brother and I would hide under the quilt with fear. Later, my parents got divorced due to the broken relationship. Growing up in such a circumstance, I extremely hoped to marry someone who cared for me and loved me to live a happy life.
Later, I made the acquaintance of my ex-husband, who was very filial toward his parents and considerate to me. But my mother-in-law was a well-known shrew in the village, so I planned to live apart from her after getting married. However, things didn’t turn out as I wished. My mother-in-law insisted on living with us, so my plan fell through. Then I thought: Since we live together, then we should get along well with each other. But my mother-in-law always found fault with me because my family was poor and our marriage was not of equal rank. Even if I did everything according to her requests, I could still receive a bad scolding, and she even tried to drive me away from the house several times. I had thought that finding a considerate husband could let me live a happy life, but it was beyond my expectation that I would have such an aggressive mother-in-law. To get a good assessment from the villagers and change my mother-in-law’s attitude toward me, I always swallowed my anger and grievance, doing the housework hard and even letting her manage all the money my husband earned as a driver. After a period of time, my mother-in-law’s attitude toward me still had not changed though all the villagers regarded me as a good daughter-in-law. My efforts were in vain at last, and it was still a torment to me to get on with my mother-in-law.
As my son was growing up day by day, I placed my hope on him, hoping to build a good life for him with my own hands, for it was the greatest happiness of me as a parent. But my mother-in-law kept the money my husband earned, which made me pretty dissatisfied. Thus, I said to my husband, “When could we keep our own money? Our son needs to buy a house and get married when he grows up; now your mother is in charge of the money, and if she doesn’t help us and we have no savings at that time, will our son complain about our uselessness?” Hearing my complaints every day, my husband then reclaimed our money from my mother-in-law, and we finally could keep our own money. But the first year after that, my mother-in-law borrowed 10,000 yuan from us, and then 20,000 yuan the next year. I had never thought that she should take our money in charge in this way. Later, the transportation business run by us was no longer profitable, and we even needed to put in our own money, so my hope of saving more money for my son faded. What was even more unexpected was that my husband had an affair and betrayed me when he worked as a driver. At that moment, I was so helpless. Thinking back, my mother-in-law was bad to me, but my husband loved me, so I still had something to look forward to in life. After my son’s birth, I struggled to create a happy home, but in the end I had nothing. I had suffered so many hardships these years, yet nothing went right for me. No matter how hard I tried, what I gained in the end was just sufferings instead of happiness. Thinking of these, I felt as if my heart were hollowed out. Later, my husband and I got divorced.
After divorce, I was still not reconciled to my fate, so I continued to pursue happiness with my own hands. Then I went to Japan alone. Though I had suffered many pains and frustrations during my first marriage, I still didn’t give up seeking happiness, so I went on planning for a wonderful future after marrying my present husband. In the beginning, our relationship was steady and he was very fond of me, so I thought that I finally found happiness this time. But one day in February, 2015, my husband suddenly told me that he owed over 3,600,000 yen and wanted me to help him repay the debt. Hearing his words, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. I had thought that he worked two jobs for our future life; only then did I know that he did so to repay the debt. Facing this reality, I pretended to be calm outside, but shouted in my heart: Why is the happy life always far from me? Why on earth?
Gradually, I became quiet and was unwilling to talk to anyone, hiding all the things within my heart, because I was afraid of being laughed at. But this made me more mentally tired and I smiled less and less. Whenever I recalled what had happened to me since my childhood, I felt so exhausted and grieved. Sometimes I thought: If only I could fall asleep and never wake up, and then all my pressure and suffering would be relieved. I wanted to leave Japan yet had no idea where to go, so I could only force myself to hold on.
Soon after, I returned to China to take a holiday and told my mother about all things happening during this period, and she exhorted me: “Everything of us is in God’s hands and is not up to ourselves. Just believe in God and rely on Him, and stop resisting fate. You always desire to take your fate into your own hands, which only made you more and more pained. You have been toiling for your family and money these years, trying to live a happy life with your own hands; then what is the result? Could it be that your destiny is really held in your own hands? You should think about it carefully.” Before, my mother had preached the gospel to me many times, advising me to believe in God and accept God’s sovereignty; however, I had been seeking a happy life according to my own will all the time. At that time, I had to admit that there was nothing working out as I wished all these years, that what happened in real life brought me nothing but sadness and pains, and that I indeed couldn’t get real happiness by relying on myself.
Then I looked at my mother in front of me. Since she believed in God, her views about things had changed a lot and she became more and more happy. My mother’s transformation made me interested in believing in God, and I wanted to live easily and freely like her. Then she asked me to read the following passages of God’s words: “Because people do not recognize God’s orchestrations and God’s sovereignty, they always face fate defiantly and with a rebellious attitude, and they always want to cast off God’s authority and sovereignty and the things fate has in store, hoping in vain to change their current circumstances and alter their fate. But they can never succeed and are thwarted at every turn. This struggle, which takes place deep in one’s soul, brings profound pain of the sort that carves itself into one’s bones, as one fritters away their life all the while. What is the cause of this pain? Is it because of God’s sovereignty, or because a person was born unlucky? Obviously, neither is true. At bottom, it is caused by the paths people take, the ways they choose to live their lives.”
“If a person has a negative attitude toward fate, it proves that they are resisting everything that God has arranged for them, that they do not have a submissive attitude. If one has a positive attitude toward God’s sovereignty over human fate, then when one looks back upon one’s journey, when one truly comes to grips with God’s sovereignty, one will more earnestly desire to submit to everything that God has arranged, will have more determination and confidence to let God orchestrate one’s fate and to stop rebelling against God. For one sees that when one does not comprehend fate, when one does not understand God’s sovereignty, when one gropes their way forward willfully, staggering and tottering through the fog, the journey is too difficult, too heartbreaking. So when people recognize God’s sovereignty over human fate, the clever ones choose to know it and accept it, to bid farewell to the painful days when they tried to build a good life with their own two hands, and to stop struggling against fate and pursuing their so-called ‘life goals’ in their own way. … Only when one accepts the Creator’s sovereignty, submits to His orchestrations and arrangements, and seeks true human life will one gradually begin to break free from all heartbreak and suffering, and to be rid of all the emptiness of life.” After I read these words, my mother said to me, “Our whole life is held in God’s hands, and we are incapable of controlling ourselves. So don’t struggle against your own fate anymore.”
Hearing her advice, I reflected on God’s words carefully. Thinking back, I was full of fantasies about life and marriage at first, desiring to build a happy life with my own two hands. But things always went contrary to my wishes, and I became exhausted both physically and mentally and felt unbearably painful. Isn’t it all because I had no knowledge of God’s sovereignty over my fate and blindly struggled against the fate with my ability? Yet these sufferings are what I should undergo, because if I hadn’t experienced so many frustrations and failures, I wouldn’t have the opportunity to come before God or know that my destiny is not controlled by myself. At this moment, I was full of gratitude for God and was willing to submit to His sovereignty. In the days that followed, I often went out for meetings with my mother; when I was free, I would read God’s words, listen to hymns, and watch gospel movies and videos; and my mother taught me how to pray. Every day was full and I no longer felt the days unbearable.
Later, I went back to Japan. After a while, my husband told me that we just needed to pay the solicitor 500,000 yen and then he would help us handle the matter of the debt; besides, we could pay the lawyer fee by installments, which wouldn’t influence our life. I deeply knew that it’s owe to God’s sovereignty and arrangements that my life took a favorable turn, so I thanked God constantly in my heart. Later, I had contact with the brothers and sisters in the Church of Almighty God in Japan and had a regular church life. Through reading God’s words continually and the fellowship and help from my brothers and sisters, I was certain that Almighty God is God incarnate.
One day, I read these God’s words: “A person who truly knows and experiences the Creator’s sovereignty should be in an active state, not a state that is passive or helpless. While such a person would accept that all things are fated, they should possess an accurate definition of life and fate: Every life is subject to the Creator’s sovereignty. When one looks back on the road one has walked, when one recollects every phase of one’s journey, one sees that at every step, whether one’s journey was arduous or smooth, God was guiding one’s path, planning it out. It was God’s meticulous arrangements, His careful planning, that led one, unknowingly, to today. To be able to accept the Creator’s sovereignty, to receive His salvation—what great fortune that is!” Through the revelation of God’s words, I truly experienced that no matter whether my road in life is rough or smooth, it is God that leads me all the way until now. Though I have suffered a lot, I finally see clearly the fact that I really can’t dictate my own fate. When I accept God’s sovereignty and obey His arrangements for me, and no longer seek happy life by my own ability, I live more easily and freely. I feel so lucky to come in front of God, and have finally understood that only those who know God’s sovereignty have true happiness to speak of.
I remember a hymn of life experience which says: “If I were not saved by God, I would still be drifting in this world, struggling hard and painfully in sin; every day gets bleak and hopeless. If I were not saved by God, I’d still be crushed below the devil’s feet, snared in sin and its enjoyments, ignorant of what my life would be. If I were not saved by God, I’d be without my blessings here today, much less know why we should live on or the meaning of our lives. If I were not saved by God, I’d still be confused about my faith, still in empty space passing the days, unaware in whom to put my faith. I have finally understood God’s loving hands hold mine as we go. I would never go and lose my way ’cause I’m on this brilliant course to stay. I have finally understood God’s intent, earnest to man. False impressions fully removed, I will give my flesh and soul to God.” This hymn makes me identify with it, for it gives voice to my own thoughts. From now on, I only wish to walk on the path which God points out for me, sacrifice my whole being to God, and accept God’s sovereignty over my fate.
Bible Verse–2 Corinthians 12:10
17 1 月, 2023 by Leave a Comment
Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
The Camp at Gilgal
15 1 月, 2023 by Leave a Comment
The Camp at Gilgal
19 And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho. 20 And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal. 21 And he spoke to the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? 22 Then you shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. 23 For the LORD your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until you were passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over: 24 That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that you might fear the LORD your God for ever. (Joshua 4 )
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1 And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel. (Joshua 5)
The Passover at Gilgal
10 And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho. 11 And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day. 12 And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.
13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went to him, and said to him, Are you for us, or for our adversaries? 14 And he said, No; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said to him, What said my Lord to his servant?15 And the captain of the LORD’s host said to Joshua, Loose your shoe from off your foot; for the place where on you stand is holy. And Joshua did so. (Joshua 5)
Bible Verse–Matthew 5:44
14 1 月, 2023 by Leave a Comment
But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which spitefully use you, and persecute you;
No Longer Engaging in Intrigue Against My Colleague, I Live Out the Likeness of a Christian
10 1 月, 2023 by Leave a Comment
By Zheng Xin
After Spring Festival, I found a job of sewing buttons and packaging in a small privately-owned clothing factory. In order not to miss meetings, I told the boss that I was to do piece work on a flexible schedule and get paid according to the amount of work I did. And my boss agreed.
Over a month later, the factory was snowed under with work, so my boss hired another female worker to do buttonholing. She was several years my junior, and I called her Xiaowang. We worked together upstairs. She was fast and skillful at her work. Later, when my boss found it was hard for me to undertake two kinds of work alone, he talked to me about whether I could give some to Xiaowang, letting her sew buttons after she finished her tasks. I agreed. In this way, if there were some more tasks than I could finish every day, I would give some to Xiaowang. We worked and chatted, feeling that each day was pleasant.
Over time, however, I found Xiaowang started to compete with me for more tasks. In the past, when she finished making buttonholes, she would put the clothes with buttonholes on my work-table for me to sew buttons. If I couldn’t get them done alone, I would give some to her. But recently, she began to sew buttons directly after making buttonholes. She even didn’t ask whether I needed her to help me. And what’s more, in the days that followed she only focused on working, talking little with me. Because we were paid by the piece, the tasks that she completed would be accumulated into her account. I felt a bit sore in my heart, thinking, “What’s your problem? It’s settled that I give you some on condition that I can’t complete them alone. Now, you compete with me. How come you don’t follow the rules? If you go on like this, I must reason with you.” But then, I thought, “If any of my words aren’t tactless, we might get into a quarrel with each other. That’s not good. I am a believer in God. If I do so, isn’t that dishonoring God? Forget it! I should live out the saintly propriety. I can’t quarrel with her only for a little profit.” So, I buried these thoughts in my heart.
Some days later, she didn’t show any restraint because of my forbearance but she continued to compete with me for the tasks. Sometimes when I sneaked a look at her, I saw her working faster and faster. Reluctant to show weakness, I also started to work in a fast way, busying myself needling, sewing, and cutting. After a long time of work, my neck muscle ached, but I didn’t want to raise my head to have a rest for fear that I wasted time and lost more tasks. Moreover, I was not convinced: I have worked here longer than you, but I don’t believe my skill is inferior to yours. Gradually, we became distant from each other. Although we didn’t have any quarrel outwardly, we were fighting in the heart. It simply seemed like we were bitter enemies. Though working together, we were like strangers.
Afterward, when Xiaowang saw me sew buttons faster and faster, she resolutely kept all the clothes with well-made buttonholes for herself and didn’t give them to me. As soon as she finished making buttonholes, she hastened to sew buttons. I couldn’t bear what she did. So the more I thought about it, the angrier I got, thinking, “Do you think you can easily bully me? I have been tolerating you, but you just go too far! Sewing buttons is my work. It’s quite good enough that I gave you some. Not only do you not thank me, but you compete for them and devour my share. Are you not bullying me?” At this moment, my anger overwhelmed my weak wish of living out the saintly propriety. After work, when she left, I went to my boss with anger and complained, “How should Xiaowang be that way? Sewing buttons is originally my duty. Yet now, she not only competes with me, but she does it all alone. She is too unreasonable. If this continues, I won’t work here any longer. I can’t stand the sight of her. Maybe I shouldn’t come tomorrow. Maybe I should let her do all the work.” Hearing my complaint, my boss said immediately, “Xiaozheng, don’t be that way. Now is the peak season for our factory. Many orders need to be fulfilled. We need hands badly. Don’t leave. As long as you can stay, I can stop using her a few days later and at the end of this month after I pay her wage, I will ask her to pack up and quit.” At my boss’ words, I was secretly delighted, feeling that my boss’ words finally helped me vent my anger. Never in my life have I been bullied like this. Humph! How dare you compete with me? As long as our boss fires you, you won’t earn a cent here.
I had a sense of victory over her, feeling self-satisfied. Then I went home humming a little tune. After supper, I turned on my MP5 player and listened to a passage in a fellowship from the above, “When it comes to interests, there must be wars, quarrels, and conflicts among men. Why do people fight with each other? For the sake of interests. Politicians fight because they want to take power; civilians fight because of their benefit. In a word, people without the truth are very likely to fight against others, and they tend to wage campaigns. This is undoubtable and many facts have all confirmed this point. Tell me, what do two people usually fight for? They fight for their personal interests.” Then I saw God’s words say, “In God’s eyes, people are like the animals in the animal world. They fight with each other, slaughter each other, and have extraordinary interactions with each other. In God’s eyes, they are also like apes, scheming against one another regardless of age or gender. As such, all that the whole of mankind does and manifests has never been after God’s heart.” Comparing myself to God’s words and the sermons from the above, I felt ashamed and humiliated. I am the target of God’s words: Over this period of time, I always fought both openly and in secret with Xiaowang; is it not because of interests? She wanted to work more to make more money, which means I had to work less and thus earned less, so I couldn’t tolerate her. I am exactly like the animal revealed in God’s words. For the sake of my own small interests, I fought against her all day. Although I didn’t quarrel with her, all that I expressed in my heart was corrupt satanic disposition. On this matter, I didn’t come in time before God and seek the truth to resolve my corruption, but instead I made complaints before my boss and spoke ill of her behind her back. When my boss stood on my side and intended to fire her, I felt both happy and satisfied. I realize my nature is too malicious, and that just like the jungle animals in the animal world, I have no humanity at all, intriguing and vying against others. Does my living out match the likeness that a Christian should have in the least?
Then I read God’s words, which said, “Until people have experienced God’s work and gained the truth, it is Satan’s nature that takes charge and dominates them from within. What, specifically, does that nature entail? For example, why are you selfish? … they will answer, ‘Because it’s every man for himself, and the devil take the hindmost.’ This single phrase expresses the very root of the problem. Satan’s logic has become people’s lives. They may do things for this purpose or that, but they are only doing it for themselves. Everyone thinks that since it is every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost, people should live for their own sakes, and do everything in their power to secure a good position for the sake of food and fine clothing. ‘Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost’—this is the life and the philosophy of man, and it also represents human nature. … These words of Satan are precisely the poison of Satan, and when people internalize it, it becomes their nature. Satan’s nature is exposed through these words; they represent it completely. This poison becomes people’s lives as well as the foundation of their existence, and corrupted humanity has been consistently dominated by this poison for thousands of years.” God’s words cut to the point and reveal my nature. They allow me to realize that the reason why I always defend my own interests when meeting things is because of my selfish nature. The satanic poison, “Everyone for himself and the devil take the hindmost,” has become my life and the foundation of my existence. This poison misleads me to believe that man should live for himself and that scrambling for what belongs to myself is proper. But from God’s words, I came to know that my thought of this kind is directed by my satanic poison. It can cause me to fight with others once my interests are harmed. As a result, I can’t live out the likeness of a real man in association with others. At this point, I understood: Although it appeared to be a bad thing that I competed with Xiaowang for tasks, it is through such an environment and person that God wants me to know my own corruption, and then to add the truth of normal humanity to me. So that I can rely on His words to live, and cast away my corrupt satanic disposition. Through this, I can learn to give up my own interests, and get along well with others, no longer fighting against others for my personal interests.
So, from that day on, I started to forsake myself consciously. Every day before I went to work, I prayed to God, asking Him to keep my heart so that my action could satisfy Him. When I reached the factory, if there were tasks to be done, I would do them; if not, I would go home early. Because of the leading of God’s words, I was not that sulky and annoyed.
A few days later, my boss found that I went home early every day. He knew it was because I didn’t want to compete with Xiaowang. He could hardly stand what she was doing. So after he finished preparing clothes downstairs, he first carried them to me, and winked at me to show that I could sew buttons first and then deliver them to Xiaowang to make buttonholes. That way, Xiaowang would have no means to compete with me. When I received the clothes, I was very happy. As I sewed buttons, I thought, “It’s our boss that gives these clothes to me first; it’s not me asking him to do so. Wait and do your tasks after me. This time I can do more tasks so I can make more money. Last month, I only earned about fifteen hundred yuan while you earned over two thousand yuan. My salary is the lowest in the factory. Is this not because you compete for more tasks? Now, our boss gives the clothes to me first, and you can no longer compete with me.” So I exerted all my strength and accelerated my speed of work. In a short while, I finished several clothes. But after I came back from the washroom, I found the buttons I sewed on the clothes looked very strange. I took them up and checked them out, “Oh, no! I was only too excited to sew buttons on the other side left for buttonholes.” Because of my mistake, all my work just now was in vain. So I had to remove those buttons one by one from the clothes and what’s more, I didn’t dare to make Xiaowang know it for fear that she would laugh at me.
Just at that time, I suddenly realized what I did was still not in accordance with God’s will. Although these clothes were given to me by our boss, wasn’t I still competing with Xiaowang in the heart? Was the revelation from my thoughts still not the selfish nature of Satan? Then I thought of God’s words, “Everything that happens to people happens when God needs them to stand firm in their testimony to Him. Though nothing major is happening to you at the moment and you do not bear great testimony, every detail of your daily life is a matter of testimony to God. If you can win the admiration of your brothers and sisters, your family members, and everyone around you; if, one day, the unbelievers come, and admire all that you do, and see that all that God does is wonderful, then you will have borne testimony.” Pondering these words of God, I understood God’s will. Now is exactly the time when I need to stand testimony for God. Perhaps it’s not a big thing to bicker with colleagues during working time, and doing that may be very common among the crowd. I would also think that Xiaowang was the first to blame. However, it is because I am corrupted by Satan and I have no truth that, when encountering things, I rely on my selfish nature to live, without giving up my own interests. This is why I had an abnormal relationship with Xiaowang and kept competing with her in the heart. I saw that I am so deeply corrupted by Satan. Although I wanted to forsake my own interests and get along with her, yet what I expressed before interests was corruption all the same. I found it hard to change this corruption with my power. Thus, I prayed to God in my heart, “Almighty God! Please lead me. I’m not willing to rely on my selfish nature to live any longer, nor do I want to fight with others for my own interests. I’m willing to practice the truth and bear testimony for You. Please give me faith and strength so that I can betray my flesh, break away from the corruption and restraint of Satan, and honor and testify to You with my practical living out.” After praying, my heart grew calm a lot. I saw Xiaowang was not happy, either, because she couldn’t compete for more tasks. She went home early that day.
After work, when I was about to leave, I said to my boss, “From now on, you can first give these tasks to Xiaowang. If she is too busy to complete them alone, I can share some. I don’t want to compete with her. Now that we work together in the same workshop, we should get along with each other. It is nothing for me to make more or less money. It is a kind of destiny that we can work together. What’s more, if we fight here just for getting more tasks, you, your wife and all the workers will be fed up with our bad behavior. The best way is that we finish the tasks in harmony. I can’t harm all the harmonious relationship because of the conflict between us.” Hearing my words, my boss couldn’t believe his ears and asked me with doubt, “Hey, what makes your thought different from others? Who doesn’t want to earn more money here? How come you give up yours voluntarily? Besides, you have already been the one who earns the least in this factory.” I said smilingly, “It’s nothing. I don’t care how much money I can make. If I make less, then I spend less.” My boss smiled and said, “There are few people like you these years.” I thought, “If it were not for my belief in God, I couldn’t possibly give up my interests actively. That I can do this today is the result achieved by God’s words.” Since then, never did I compete with Xiaowang. Every time I saw there were buttons to be sewed on a few bags of clothes, I left them to Xiaowang and went home. Over time, Xiaowang also felt a little guilty. She hadn’t conversed with me for a long time. One morning, I had just arrived at the factory when she took the initiative to greet me, “Good morning, Sister Zheng.” I was very happy to see that she could speak to me actively. I knew it was because I practiced God’s words that our conflict was resolved and Satan was put to shame. From then on we could get along again.
Several months later, these tasks were finished. After paying our wages, my boss insisted on inviting us workers to have a meal in a restaurant. That day, Xiaowang left early because she had some other things to attend to. During the meal, my boss raised his wine glass and said to all workers, “Today, I’ll drink to Xiaozheng. She can maintain our union in our factory. That’s not easy. She is really a good person.” Hearing what my boss said, I gave glory to God in my heart. Because I am not a good person by nature but the same as all those who intrigue or scramble against each other for personal interests. If it were not for God’s words that guided me time and again, I couldn’t get free from my corrupt satanic disposition. Now I can live out some likeness of man. I thank God for His salvation to me from my heart. All the glory be to God!
Bible Verse–Joshua 22:4
10 1 月, 2023 by Leave a Comment
And now the LORD your God has given rest to your brothers, as he promised them: therefore now return you, and get you to your tents, and to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side Jordan.
Bible Verse–Ephesians 1:2
7 1 月, 2023 by Leave a Comment
Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Bible Verse–Romans 16:20
3 1 月, 2023 by Leave a Comment
And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
How Should We Know Romans 13:1-2, “Submission to Authorities”?
2 1 月, 2023 by Leave a Comment
I am a co-worker of a house church. Since our church has refused to join the Three-Self Church, we are restricted and persecuted by the Chinese Communist government frequently. So we go and gather in the mountains in order to avoid being arrested. Today, after my family and I had prepared everything, we disguised ourselves, took our farm implements, and then went to the mountain for a meeting. When passing by the village entrance, I heard some villagers saying that the police were arresting a preacher. Hearing that, I was much angrier and thought, “Ah! The Chinese Communist Party is persecuting house churches more and more severely. It seems that in the future we have to be much more cautious when gathering and preaching the gospel.” But what the scripture says occurred to my mind: “Let every soul be subject to the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whoever therefore resists the power, resists the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation” (Romans 13:1–2). I felt very confused and was caught in a dilemma: How should we treat the CCP regime? The CCP has been persecuting us believers in the Lord, arresting and persecuting Christians. If we obey the ruling authority according to Paul’s words, then aren’t we opposing the Lord and bringing destruction on ourselves? But if not, then according to the Bible, we are rebelling against the ordinance of God and asking for punishment. Ah! How to practice to be after the Lord’s will? The oppression of the CCP is becoming tighter and tighter yet I still don’t know how to practice in this aspect. …
As I thought of this, we reached the woods, and there we surprisingly encountered the preacher Brother Wu being arrested by the police. Without allowing ourselves time to talk, we hurried to take Brother Wu to our meeting place. After getting a general understanding of the persecution he had undergone, I said: “It is the Lord’s arrangement that we meet here today, and there must be God’s good will.” While I was speaking, the other co-workers came in gradually. Then I told them about how the CCP hunted Brother Wu.
Brother Zhou said heavily: “Brother Wu was able to escape from the pursuit of the CCP, this really was the protection of the Lord. It is too difficult for us to believe in the Lord under the CCP regime. Every time we gather together or preach the gospel, we are in danger of being arrested and jailed. If we didn’t have true faith and the will to give up our life for the Lord, it would be hard for us to walk down the path. We really need to pay a high price for following the Lord! I was arrested and had been in prison for three years because of spreading the gospel, so I know these things very clearly. For all these years, the CCP government has been wantonly arresting and persecuting believers in God, making many Christians have no home to return and their families shattered. Some have suffered tortures, and some have even been persecuted to death. The evil behavior of the CCP really makes people enraged with hatred! But in the Bible, Paul says that we should obey those in power. I am so hazy. How to treat the CCP regime to accord with the Lord’s will?” What Brother Zhou said was exactly what I thought and it was our puzzlement and difficulties as well.
Thus, I said anxiously: “Yeah! This problem has troubled me for quite a long time too. If we put Paul’s words into practice, then we ought to obey the regimes in all things. However, the CCP, an atheistic regime, has always persecuted religious belief and opposed God. Not only does the CCP not allow us to believe in the Lord but they also arrest and persecute those who spread the gospel and bear witness for God. In case we obey them, neither believing in the Lord nor preaching the gospel to testify about Him, then aren’t we standing on Satan’s side, resisting and betraying the Lord? Won’t we then become the ones who shall perish? Ah! I really don’t understand: When it comes to how we treat those in power, what should we do to be after the Lord’s will? Oh, Brother Wu, as a preacher, you should have higher insight. What’s your understanding of this?”
Brother Wu said seriously: “About this question of whether we should listen to those in authority or not, we should treat it according to God’s words. Let’s recall, from the Age of Law to the Age of Grace, God never said that man should obey the authorities. For instance, in the Age of Law, the Egyptian Pharaoh, the enemy of the Israelites, held the power. He prevented the Israelites from leaving Egypt to worship God. He resisted the work of God; as a result, God sent disasters down on him. In the Age of Law, all devilish rulers opposing God were destroyed by Him in the end. Then, in the Age of Grace, both the authorities and the religious leaders were resisting God and were hostile to God. They opposed and condemned God’s work, so the Lord Jesus could only leave the temple to preach and work in the wilderness and among the common people. Had the disciples of the Lord Jesus obeyed the ruling regime, could they have still followed Him? From the facts of the work of God, we can see that listening to those in power isn’t in accordance with God’s will and isn’t God’s requirements, either. Particularly, since the CCP came to power, they have been publicly denying, condemning, and blaspheming God. They have regarded Christianity as an evil cult, and labeled the Bible as an evil cult book, confiscating it and burning it. They have also declared religious groups as cult organizations and persecuted and suppressed them. Especially with those Christians who believe in true God, spread and testify God, the CCP even more wildly arrest, persecute and brutally torture them. It really is ruthless and unwarranted killing! The facts are sufficient to prove that the CCP is an evil satanic force opposing God. Why does the CCP hate and persecute believers in God so much? What on earth is its purpose? This is because it most fears that all Chinese people will believe in God, follow God, pursue the truth, and receive God’s salvation. In this way, there will be no one to be enslaved by or to serve it anymore. Hence, the CCP persecutes Christians by any means, trying in vain to abolish God’s work, ban Christianity, and turn China into a region without God. The CCP is indeed the evil satanic regime which hates the truth and God the most.”
After hearing Brother Wu’s fellowship, brothers and sisters started talking about it. My heart also felt much brighter and then I said, “Ah, thanks be to the Lord! Now I feel released in my heart. Previously I didn’t understand the truth and didn’t see through the CCP’s evil essence of resisting God. No matter how those in power arrested and persecuted Christians, I didn’t dare to rise up to resist but still prayed for them. I thought that authorities were ordained by the Lord and if we didn’t obey them, then we were rebelling against and betraying the Lord! Ah! I was really ignorant and unable to tell good from evil!”
Brother Wu said: “Thank God! This is all God’s enlightenment and illumination. The CCP government uses all kinds of means to persecute Christians cruelly, which causes countless Christians to be homeless and their families to be ruined. From the ironclad facts, we can be sure that the CCP government is the most evil satanic regime in the world. So, we reject and betray it. Isn’t this completely after God’s will?”
Brothers and sisters said repeatedly: “Right, it must be rejected.”
Brother Wu continued fellowshiping: “Actually, the Lord Jesus has said long ago, ‘This is an evil generation’ (Luke 11:29). ‘And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil’ (John 3:19). Also it is said in the Bible, ‘the whole world lies in wickedness’ (1 John 5:19). The Lord Jesus cuts to the point and reveals the true state and the source of this word’s evil darkness. All mankind lives under Satan’s influence, unable to tolerate the existence of God or the truth. Looking back, two thousand years ago, once the Lord Jesus was born, He was hunted down by King Herod; when He was preaching and doing His work, He was rejected and condemned by the Jewish leaders and in the end the Jewish leaders joined with Roman officials to nail Him to the cross. When the gospel of the Lord Jesus came to China, it also suffered the wild condemnation and resistance of the Qing Dynasty and we don’t even know how many missionaries were persecuted or slaughtered. Since the People’s Republic of China was founded and the CCP took power, Christians having been arrested or afflicted are even countless. What do these facts all prove? Why can’t God’s will be carried out on the earth as well as throughout all countries in the world? This is because the whole world is under the domain of the evil one, Satan. Those ruling on the earth are all Satan’s evil forces that oppose God, and the CCP regime is a typical example of Satan’s evil forces. That is the reason that mankind becomes evil and dark to the extreme. Isn’t this a widely acknowledged fact?”
I could see more clearly the essence of the CCP’s resistance to God after hearing his fellowship. Brothers and sisters all began to talk, “This is exactly correct!” “If we obey the CCP, we shall bring destruction to ourselves.” “It is really so!”
Brother Wu went on saying: “After the fellowship, now when we read Paul’s words again, we really find them questionable. Paul also was once arrested and put in jail because of spreading the gospel, in theory he should have greater insight into the essence of evil satanic regimes than we do. But Paul said these words in the end. It is really unbelievable!”
What Brother Wu said made a lot of sense and awoke me. I came to a sudden realization and said, “Alas! Yeah, most people in the religious world are misled and deceived by Paul’s words. In particular, those who believe in the Lord in the Three-Self Church obey the ruling regime according to Paul’s word, stand on the side of the CCP regime completely, and act upon whatever it says. Moreover, they also follow the fallacy of the CCP that ‘love your country, love your church, glorify God and benefit men.’ Gatherings, Bible study, and spreading the gospel are all controlled by the CCP. How are they believing in the Lord? Aren’t they worshiping Satan, and resisting the Lord and betraying Him? Ah! Paul’s words really are misleading and harmful; they have misled and ruined many pious believers who do not understand the truth.”
Brother Wu fellowshiped with patience, “The main purpose of God’s salvation for man is to defeat Satan and transform those who have been corrupted by Satan into those who obey and worship God. This is the way to thoroughly defeat and humiliate Satan, and end its destiny eventually. God allows Satan to rule on earth and corrupt mankind; He wills us to discern Satan, see its essence clearly, and hate and betray it. However, never has God said that we should obey Satan, much less that rebelling against the satanic regime is just asking for punishment. According to Paul’s viewpoint, were those ancient saints, who suffered the arrest and persecution of Satan’s regimes and were even martyred for the Lord, asking for punishment on account of rebelling against those in power? Is that really the case? Isn’t the imprisonment of the ancient saints a beautiful testimony to the Lord? But according to Paul’s words, the persecution and even slaughter of these ancient saints were not good witnesses to the Lord; instead they were looking for punishment because they rebelled against authorities. In this case, isn’t the suffering of being arrested and put in jail for spreading the gospel that Paul himself underwent in vain? Then why did he take his suffering as testimony and talk it to others? Isn’t he contradicting himself? It is heaven’s law and earth’s principle for us to believe in the Lord, and spread and testify to the gospel of Him. But satanic governments use all kinds of methods to persecute Christians brutally, obstruct the spreading of God’s gospel, and block the carrying out of God’s will, which fully exposes their devilish essence—hating the truth and being hostile to God. We are persecuted cruelly by the regime of Satan for adhering to the true way and spreading and testifying to the Lord’s gospel. The persecution we suffer is for righteousness’ sake and is most approved by the Lord. How can we say that this is asking for punishment? The Lord Jesus clearly said, ‘Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven’ (Matthew 5:10). Did Paul not know these words of the Lord? He must have known! It can be seen that Paul’s words obviously contravene those of the Lord Jesus. So, in this matter, what should we do? Listen to Paul or obey the Lord?”
“Surely we should obey the Lord!” I couldn’t help blurting out.
“Right,” Brother Li said excitedly, “‘Let every soul be subject to the higher powers’, these words are Paul’s, not the Lord’s. What Paul said doesn’t represent the Lord Jesus’ intentions. The Lord Jesus never said that obeying those in power was obeying God. Ah, I just remembered, when it comes to paying taxes, the Lord Jesus once said: ‘Render therefore to Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s’ (Matthew 22:21). The Lord Jesus only said we ought to obey the authorities in terms of paying taxes. He never said that we must obey all of their commands, nor did He say that opposing them is rebelling against the ordinance of God. So the words of Paul aren’t in accordance with those of the Lord Jesus or the truth at all, and we cannot take them as the principles of our actions. Created by God, we belong to God. We should listen to God’s words and obey His authority in everything. This is the law of heaven.”
An old sister said with excitement, “Yeah, since we believe in the Lord, we should listen to and obey Him. Whoever they are, those in authority or famous figures, if their words are not in line with the Lord’s, we won’t listen. Just as the Bible says: ‘We ought to obey God rather than men’” (Acts 5:29).
I was so happy and said: “Today, hearing Brother Wu’s fellowship, my heart brightened suddenly. Many years of confusion have been resolved. Today we have gained much more than we have from listening to our pastors and elders explain the Bible. Brother Wu came here today, this is really the Lord’s arrangement and grace!”
Just at that moment, my father came to convey a message in a great fluster. He said that the police had not caught Brother Wu and were going to continue the search. We saw that gathering there was not safe, so I immediately arranged for some brothers and sisters to cover Brother Wu as he went down the mountain and to find him a safe place to live.
Walking on the path, I thought: Today’s meeting really benefited me a lot. What Brother Wu fellowshiped made me have a thorough discernment of Paul’s words “Let every soul be subject to the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whoever therefore resists the power, resists the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation” (Romans 13:1–2). We cannot obey those satanic regimes that resist, persecute, and are hostile to God; otherwise, we are bringing about our own destruction. Besides, I have understood that the reason why God allows Satan to rule on earth is that He wants to use it to do service for making a group of people who can obey and worship God, thereby to seal its fate. God is so almighty and so wise! It seems that we must see everything according to God’s words when it comes to believing in God. If not, we will fall into Satan’s net, and it will cause unimaginable consequences. Thank the Lord for guiding me to gain a lot through today’s meeting and having my puzzlement resolved. Glory be to God!
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