In Your Experience, How Much Practical Understanding Do You Have of God’s Salvation?（part-2）

Once I had come to this realization, I felt so much stronger than I had before, and when I encountered matters that touched upon my self-regard and status, I wasn’t as frail, and I could face them somewhat correctly. But my satanic nature of pursuing status had been deeply rooted within me and it had become my life. It wasn’t something that could be utterly resolved by undergoing a few instances of judgment, chastisement, trials and refinement. In order to better purify and change me, God continued to arrange situations in which He could judge, chastise, try and refine me.

In Your Experience, How Much Practical Understanding Do You Have of God’s Salvation?（part-1）

Nannan

Since I was small, I had always had a strong desire to be better than others. No matter what group of people I was in, I always sought to be the best. While I was still at school, though I had an average mind and my grades weren’t outstanding, I studied very hard so that I wouldn’t fall behind the other students. Teachers praised me for my desire to make progress, and relatives also praised me for being such a diligent student and taking my studies so seriously. I would often feel proud of myself for receiving their praise and getting favorable comments from them, and I considered myself top of my age group. After I’d accepted God’s work in the last days, I came to understand some truths by reading God’s words and living the church life, and I saw that, no matter what disposition God expresses, whether it be mercy, lovingkindness or righteous judgment and chastisement, they are all God’s true love for man. My heart was moved and inspired by God’s love, and I felt that the only right path in life was to believe in God and seek to be perfected by God. I therefore made a resolution to pursue the truth in earnest, to give up everything and expend myself for God to repay His love. But because my deeply-rooted corrupt disposition and satanic nature had not yet been resolved, I still sought to distinguish myself and to make others look highly upon me when performing my duties. I remember one time when I was given the choice of two duties, and without any hesitation whatsoever I chose the duty that I thought would cause others to look highly upon me. Once I’d started this duty, a sense of superiority arose in my heart, so much so that I looked down on other brothers and sisters, thinking that they were only doing common duties, whereas I was performing an important duty, and that I was a person of talent in God’s family.

The Transformation of an Only Child(part-3)

Last winter I saw one of the young brothers (a 19-year old only child) rent a house by himself so that he could repair mp5 devices for free for the brothers and sisters. He also often went to help look after the poorer brothers and sisters. I heard one of the sisters say that he too was once a spoiled “little prince” who often spent many hours at a time in cyber cafes and wouldn’t go home, causing his parents to worry about him a lot. But then his mother found faith in God, and converted him, too. He then started going to youth meetings at the church and became a totally different person: One who listened to others, knew how to act, and started to love positive things.

The Transformation of an Only Child(part-2)

—Only Almighty God Can Save the Degenerate Youth of Today

Bian Hua, Yunnan Province

Although on the surface it appeared that my abnormal humanity had improved a little this certainly didn’t mean that my life disposition had changed. God wanted to transform me, to cleanse me, and so continuously arranged situations to refine me. Because my parents had spoilt me over such a long period of time I’d become especially willful and arrogant, and if anyone didn’t agree with me I would fly into a rage. Later on, God put me in other practical situations in order to resolve my corruption. At that time, I was put with over 20 brothers and sisters to complete a big task together, and there were times when living together or fulfilling our duties together that some friction or quarrels occurred. At first, I always took offence and sometimes even stormed off by myself to sulk. I’d think: “Why are they being so unreasonable? I’m clearly in the right, so why won’t they listen to me?” There was one day when one of the sisters came to me and said: “You’ve got a flaw in your character: You don’t respect other people. When others disagree with you, you walk off in a huff and even slam doors!” I stared at her dumbfounded, all the while burning with the injustice of it as I thought: “When did I ever slam doors?!” After standing my ground for a while I decided to put on a show of reluctantly accepting the criticism, but in my mind I was muttering to myself: “No, it’s all of you who are wrong but you blame me…” Because of my constantly revealing my arrogance and self-righteousness, and holding to my opinions, God prodded the brothers and sisters into dealing with me. It was like I couldn’t get on with anybody. At the time, I was very upset and that’s when I remembered God’s words about how a poor relationship with the people around you means you have a poor relationship with God.

So I calmed myself down and began to reflect on my actions. I read these words of God’s: “What is the transformation of disposition? You must be a lover of truth, accept the judgment and chastisement of God’s word as you experience His work, and experience all kinds of suffering and refining, through which you are purified of the satanic poisons within you. This is the transformation in disposition” (“How to Know Man’s Nature” in Records of Christ’s Talks). 

The Transformation of an Only Child（part-1）

—Only Almighty God Can Save the Degenerate Youth of Today

Bian Hua, Yunnan Province

I started following Almighty God when I was 19 years old: As soon as I left school I joined The Church of Almighty God. I had had very little to do with society, and didn’t really know much about what was going on in it. But I did know that I totally represented one of the special characteristics of Chinese society in that I was a selfish only child.

As a result of my parents having to be subject to the Chinese government’s policy of population control, I was in the first batch of “achievements.” After I was born, everybody in my family started treating me with the care and protection deserving of a rare and precious treasure. My mother told me that in my first year I often had a fever and so my father would hold me in his arms and walk around the bedroom all night to stop me from crying. As my parents both had jobs, and so didn’t have the time to look after me, I was sent to kindergarten before the age of 2. My grandma was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to adjust, and so would often stand outside the kindergarten to see if I was crying or not, which made her often late for work. Once when the weather was very cold my mother stayed up all night knitting a warm sweater for me to wear the next day. In school my grades were always good, and having me as a high achiever was gratifying to my parents’ and grandparents’ vanity of longing to see their children succeed, giving them more reason to treat me like a precious pearl. During my school years, the first thing my father would do when he got home from work was to massage my hands to prevent them from getting tired from doing homework. In the summer when I got home after school, my mother would always get a bowl of peeled, frozen, sugary tomatoes from the fridge for me to eat. I remember one time when my parents found a teacher to teach me the pipa, a kind of Chinese lute. But after practicing some finger movements for a couple of days I got tired of it and told my parents that I wasn’t going to learn it, so my parents reluctantly conformed with my wishes. Every weekend I would go to my grandma’s house and she would always put some money in my pocket. If I told her I didn’t want it, she’d say: “Free lunch, why not? Take it. I’ll give you money as long as you come every week.” She always used to stuff my mouth with tasty treats too, and I’d eat so much that I’d get stomach ache. Thinking back on this now, I can see that Chinese parents don’t have truths and that’s why they don’t know how to educate their kids. So what did I turn into from being smothered with all this affection? I turned into a selfish, temperamental, fragile kid who had no willpower or purpose in life. I was like an invalid who sits in bed every day holding out their hand to take whatever is given and opening their mouth when it’s time to be fed, but never caring a jot for anyone else. I was totally unforgiving toward my parents, and I never accepted anyone else’s opinions. If my parents said something critical about me I’d retort with 10 times as much.

Worship Song "God's Deeds Fill the Vast Expanse of the Universe" | Praise the Return of the Lord

1. God looks down upon all things from on high, and dominates all things from on high. At the same time, God has sent His salvation over the earth. God is watching from His secret place all the time, man’s every move, everything they say and do. God knows man like the palm of His hand. The secret place is God’s abode, the firmament is the bed He lies on. Satan’s force cannot reach unto God, for He is full of majesty, righteousness, and judgment.

2. God has trodden all things with His feet, He stretches out His gaze over the universe. And God has walked among men, has tasted the sweetness and bitterness, all flavors of the human world; but men, they never truly recognized God, nor did they notice God as He walked abroad. Because God was silent, and performed no supernatural deeds, thus, no one ever truly saw Him. Things are not now as they once were: God is going to do things that, throughout the ages, the world has never seen, God is going to speak words that, throughout the ages, men have never heard, because He asks that all humanity come to know God in the flesh.

from “The Fifth Utterance” and “The Sixth Utterance” of God’s Utterances to the Entire Universe in The Word Appears in the Flesh.

Praise and Worship Music "The One Who Holds Sovereignty Over Everything" (Christian Musical Documentary)