The Church of Almighty God | Resolve to be Born Again - "Offer Love to God" (Official Music Video)

God took on flesh, came to live among us.

Through all disgrace and shame, He gave us salvation.

But I did not know or understand Him, full of grumbles.

How His heart grieved at my rebellion and resistance!

Dear Almighty God, You don’t remember my faults.

You’ve endured all my rebellious ways but offer grace once again.

Knowing You raise me up, I’m covered with great shame.

How unworthy I am to receive Your love!

Dear Almighty God, I hear what you said.

Holding Your words in my hands, tears stream down my face.

Every word is warm to my heart, draws me closer to You.

Freed from my passiveness, I rise to follow You.

Now my eyes are opened, my heart filled with remorse.

Ready to be born again and live out what You desire.

I will return Your love, offer everything I am,

bearing strong witness to comfort Your heart.

Your love has woken me, I’ll fulfill my duty.

Faithful to the end, I’ll care for Your desire.

I will return Your love, offer everything I am,

bearing strong witness to comfort Your heart,

bearing strong witness to comfort Your heart.

from Follow the Lamb and Sing New Songs

Source: "The Church of Almighty God | Resolve to be Born Again - "Offer Love to God" (Official Music Video)"

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Only Putting the Truth Into Practice Is Having Reality

Being able to blatantly explain God’s words does not mean that you are in possession of reality. Things are not as simple as you might have imagined. Whether you are in possession of reality or not is not based on what you say, it is rather based on what you live out. When God’s words become your life and your natural expression, that is when you are in possession of reality, that is when you have gained understanding and real stature. You must be able to withstand examination for a long period of time, you must be able to live out the likeness that is required of you by God. It must not be mere posturing, but it must flow naturally out of you; only then will you truly have reality, only then will you have gained life. Let Me use the example of the “service-doers” that everyone is familiar with. Anyone can talk about the loftiest theories regarding the “service-doers”; you all have a decent level of understanding regarding this matter, and every one of you is proficient at talking about this subject matter as if this is a competition. However, if man has not experienced a major trial, it is very difficult for him to have a good testimony. In short, man’s living out is still very poor, which is out of tune with his understanding. Therefore, it has yet to become man’s actual stature, it is not yet man’s life. Because man’s understanding has not been brought into reality, man’s stature is like a castle in the sky, without any true foundation. Man has too little reality, it is almost impossible to find any reality in man. There is too little reality naturally flowing from man, all the reality in his life has been forced, so I say that man possesses no reality. Don’t put too much stock in men saying that their love of God never changes, this is only what men would say before they are faced with trials. Once they are suddenly faced with trials, the things that men speak of will once again become incompatible with reality, and it will once again prove that men possess no reality. It can be said that, whenever you encounter things that do not fit with your notions and it requires that you put yourself aside, these are your trials. Every time before God’s will has been revealed is a rigorous test for every man, it is an immense trial for all men; can you see clearly through this matter? When God wants to test men, God always lets men make their choices before the truth of the facts has been revealed; which is to say, when God is testing you, He will never tell you the truth, and that is how men may be revealed. This is one way that God carries out His work, to see whether you understand the God of today, to see whether you possess any reality. Do you truly have no doubt regarding God’s work? Will you remain standing when a major trial comes upon you? Who dares to say words such as “I guarantee there will be no problems”? Who dares to say words such as “Others might have doubts, but I shall never doubt”? Just as the times when Peter was being tested—always talking big before the truths had been revealed. This is not a personal flaw unique to Peter, this is the greatest difficulty facing every man now. If I were to visit several places, or if I were to visit several brothers and sisters, to look at your understanding of God’s work of today, certainly you would be able to talk about many of your understandings, and it would appear that you do not have any doubt. If I were to ask you: “Can you really determine that the work of today is performed by God Himself? Without any doubt?” you would certainly answer: Without any doubt, it is the work performed by the Spirit of God. Once you have answered in such a way, you surely would not have a shred of doubt, you might even feel great enjoyment, you might feel that you have gained a bit of reality. Those who tend to understand things in this manner are those who are in possession of less reality; the more one thinks that he’s “gained reality,” the more one won’t be able to stand up to trials. Woe to those who are arrogant and haughty, woe to those who have no knowledge of themselves. Such men are the best at talking, yet they fare the worst in their actions. When there is the smallest sign of trouble, these men will start to have doubts, the thought of quitting would enter their mind. They have no possession of any reality, all that they have are theories loftier than those of religion, without any of the realities that God has demanded today. I am most disgusted by those who only speak of theories and have no reality. They make the loudest cries when carrying out their work, yet they fall when faced with reality. Doesn’t it show that these people have no reality? If you can remain standing despite the ferocity of the storm that you are facing, with not a shred of doubt entering your mind, if you can remain standing, if you can continue to not deny God’s work, even when there is no one else left, then this shows that you have true understanding, this shows that you are truly in possession of reality. If you should follow whichever way the wind blows, if you should follow the majority and learn to say what others are saying, no matter how well you can say such things, it is no proof that you are in possession of reality. Therefore, I suggest that you not be premature in shouting out empty words. Do you know the work that God shall perform? Do not behave like another Peter lest you should bring shame to yourself, lest you can no longer hold your head high, and it doesn’t do anyone any good. Most men have no real stature. They have yet to be visited by any advent of facts after all the work that God has performed, to be more exact, God has never personally chastised anyone; some of them were exposed by such trials, with their tentacles of sin crawling further and further out, thinking that they can treat God in an off-handed manner, and doing whatever they want. Since they are not even able to withstand such trials, the more challenging trials are out of the question, reality is also out of the question. Is this not fooling God? To have reality is not something that can be faked, it is also not something that you can attain from your knowledge of it; it is based on your true stature, it is based on whether you are able to withstand all trials. Do you understand now?

You Should Know That the Practical God Is God Himself

What should you know about the practical God? The Spirit, the Person, and the Word make up the practical God Himself, and this is the true meaning of the practical God Himself. If you only know the Person—if you know His habits and personality—but do not know the work of the Spirit, or what the Spirit does in the flesh, and only pay attention to the Spirit, and the Word, and only pray before the Spirit, unknowing of the work of God’s Spirit in the practical God, then this yet proves that you do not know the practical God. Knowledge of the practical God includes knowing and experiencing His words, and grasping the rules and principles of the work of the Holy Spirit, and how the Spirit of God works in the flesh.

Keeping the Commandments and Practicing the Truth

In practice, the commandments should be connected with the practice of the truth. While keeping the commandments, one ought to practice the truth. When practicing the truth, one should not violate the principles of the commandments or go against the commandments. Do that which God requires you to do. Keeping to the commandments and practicing the truth are interconnected, not contradictory. The more you practice the truth, the more you keep to the essence of the commandments. The more you practice the truth, the more you will understand God’s word as expressed in the commandments. Practicing the truth and keeping the commandments are not contradictory actions, but are rather interconnected. In the beginning, only after man keeps the commandments can he practice the truth and attain enlightenment from the Holy Spirit. But this is not the original intention of God. God requires you to worship God with heart, not to just practice good behavior. But you must keep the commandments at least superficially. Gradually, through experience, man gains a clearer understanding of God. He stops rebelling against and resisting God, and he stops calling God’s work into question. In this way man may abide by the essence of the commandments. Therefore, merely keeping the commandments without practicing the truth is ineffective and does not constitute real worship of God because you have not yet attained real stature. If you keep the commandments without the truth, this amounts to just keeping rigidly to the rules. In so doing, the commandments become your law, which will not help you grow in life. On the contrary, they will become your burden, and will bind you firmly like the law of the Old Testament, causing you to lose the presence of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, only by practicing the truth can you effectively keep the commandments. One keeps the commandments in order to practice the truth. You practice even more truths through keeping the commandments. You gain even more understanding of the practical meaning of the commandments through practicing the truth. The purpose and meaning of God’s imperative that man ought to keep to the commandments is not to follow ordinances as man may imagine, but rather has to do with man’s entry into life. The more you grow in life, the greater the degree to which you will be able to keep the commandments. Although the commandments are for man to keep, the essence of the commandments only becomes apparent through man’s life experience. Most people think keeping the commandments well means “everything is ready, all that remains is to be caught up.” This is an extravagant imagining and is not God’s will. Those who say such things do not wish to make progress and are greedy for the flesh. This is nonsense! This is not in keeping with reality! Only practicing the truth without keeping the commandments practically is not God’s will. This kind of person is disabled and proceeds as if hobbling on one leg. However, only keeping to the commandments and sticking rigidly to the commandments without having truth is, likewise, not fulfilling God’s will—like a man who sees from one eye only, this is also a form of disability. It can be said that if you keep the commandments well and gain a clear understanding of the practical God, then you will have truth. From a relative perspective, you will have gained real stature. You practice the truth and keep to the commandments at the same time without mutual conflict. Practicing the truth and keeping the commandments are two systems, both of which are integral parts of one’s life experience. One’s experience should comprise an integration of the keeping of the commandments with the practice of the truth, not a division. However, there are both differences and connections between these two things.

Focus More on Reality

  Every person has the possibility of being perfected by God, so everyone should understand what service to God most suits God’s intentions. Most people don’t know what it means to believe in God and have no idea why they should believe in God. That is to say, most people have no understanding of God’s work or the purpose of God’s management plan. Down to the present, most people still think believing in God is about going to heaven and having their souls saved. They still have no idea of the particular significance of believing in God, and moreover they don’t have any understanding whatsoever of God’s most important work in His management plan. For all sorts of their own reasons, people just don’t take any interest in God’s work and give no thought to God’s intentions or God’s management plan. As individuals in this stream, each person should know what the purpose of God’s entire management plan is, the facts that God has already fulfilled, why God has chosen this group of people, what its goals and significance are, and what God wants to achieve in this group. In the land of the great red dragon, God has been able to raise such an inconspicuous group of people, and He has continued to work until now, trying and perfecting in all sorts of ways, speaking countless words, performing much work and sending so many serving objects. From God accomplishing such enormous work, it can be seen that the significance of God’s work is so great. You cannot yet see into it entirely. Therefore, do not treat the work that God has done on you as a simple matter; this is not a small thing. Just what God has shown you today is enough for you to ponder and understand. Only if you thoroughly understand can you experience more deeply and make progress in your life. What people understand and are doing right now is really too little and cannot fully satisfy God’s intentions. This is the insufficiency of man and the failure to fulfill their duty. This is why the results that should have been achieved have not been. The Holy Spirit has no way to work on many people because they have such a shallow understanding of God’s work and are unwilling to treat the work of the house of God as something valuable. They always go through the motions just to get by, or copy what most people are doing, or just show people that they are “working.” Today, each person in this stream shall recall whether what you have done is all that you could have, and whether you have put in all your effort. People have not fulfilled their duties at all. It is not that the Holy Spirit does not do His work but that people do not do theirs, making it impossible for the Holy Spirit to do His work. God has finished expressing His words, but they have not kept up at all and have fallen far behind, unable to stay close with every step, unable to follow the Lamb’s footsteps closely. What they should abide by they have not abided by; what they should have practiced they have not put into practice; what they should have prayed they have not prayed; what they should have discarded they have not discarded. They have not done any of these things. Therefore, this talk of going to the banquet is empty and has no real meaning at all. It is in people’s own imagination. It can be said that as of the present people have not fulfilled their duty at all. Everything is dependent on God doing and saying things Himself, while people’s function has really been all too small. They are all useless trash who don’t know how to coordinate with God. God has spoken hundreds of thousands of words, but people have not put them into practice at all, from forsaking the flesh, discarding notions, practicing obedience in all things, developing discernment and gaining insight at the same time, to letting go of people’s status in their hearts, eliminating the idols who occupy their hearts, rebelling against individual intentions that are not right, not acting based on their emotions, doing things fairly without bias, thinking more about God’s interests and their influence on others when they speak, doing more things that benefit God’s work, keeping in mind benefitting God’s house in all that they do, not letting their emotions determine their behavior, discarding what pleases their own flesh, eliminating selfish old conceptions, and so on. People actually understand some things in all these words of what God requires of them, but they are just not willing to put them into practice. How else can God work and move them? How can rebels in the eyes of God still have the nerve to pick up God’s words to admire them? How do they have the nerve to eat God’s food? Where is man’s conscience? They have not fulfilled the very least of the duties they should have, so talking about doing all they can is pointless. Are they not dreamers? There can be no talk of reality without practice. That is plain fact!

How Is Your Relationship With God

In believing in God, you must at least resolve the issue of having a normal relationship with God. Without a normal relationship with God, then the significance in believing in God is lost. Establishing a normal relationship with God is entirely attained through quieting your heart in God’s presence. A normal relationship with God means being able to not doubt or deny any of God’s work and submit to it, and furthermore it means having the right intentions in the presence of God, not thinking of yourself, always having the interests of God’s family as the most important thing no matter what you are doing, accepting God’s observation, and submitting to God’s arrangements. You are able to quiet your heart in God’s presence whenever you do anything; even if you do not understand God’s will, you must still fulfill your duties and responsibilities to the best of your ability. It is not too late to wait for God’s will to be revealed to you and then put this into practice. When your relationship with God has become normal, then you will also have a normal relationship with people. Everything is established on the foundation of God’s words. Through eating and drinking the words of God, practice in accordance with God’s requirements, put your viewpoints right, and do not do things that resist God or disturb the church. Do not do things that do not benefit the lives of the brothers and sisters, do not say things that do not contribute to other people, do not do shameful things. Be just and honorable when doing all things and make them presentable before God. Even though the flesh is weak sometimes, you are able to attach the highest importance to benefiting God’s family, not covet your own benefits, and carry out righteousness. If you can practice in this way, your relationship with God will be normal.

The Church of Almighty God | The Millennial Kingdom Has Arrived

The Millennial Kingdom Has Arrived

Have you seen what work God will accomplish in this group of people? God said, even in the Millennial Kingdom people must still follow His utterances onward, and in the future God’s utterances will yet directly guide man’s life in the good land of Canaan. When Moses was in the wild, God instructed and spoke to him directly. From heaven God sent food, water, and manna for the people to enjoy, and today it is still thus: God has personally sent down things to eat and drink for people to enjoy, and He has personally sent curses to chastise people. And so every step of His work is personally carried out by God. Today, people long for the occurrence of facts, they try to see signs and wonders, and it is possible that all such people will be abandoned, for the work of God is becoming increasingly real.

The Commandments of the New Age

You have been told to equip yourselves with the words of God, that regardless of what is arranged for you, all is orchestrated by God’s own hand, and that there is no need for your earnest prayer or supplication—they are useless. Yet in terms of the present situation, the practical problems facing you are unimaginable to you. If you merely await the arrangements of God, your progress will be too slow, and for those who don’t know how to experience there will be much passivity. Thus, if you are unable to completely see through to these things, then you are muddled and silly in your experiencing. If you have no reality but only words, is this not a sign of erroneousness? Much erroneousness is visible in you, this group. Today, you can’t make it through the trials like “service-doers,” or else are incapable of imagining or making it through other refinement related to the words of God. Much of what requires your practice is what requires your adherence. Which is to say, people must adhere to the many duties that they should perform. This is what people should adhere to, and what they must carry out. Let the Holy Spirit do what must be done by the Holy Spirit; man can play no part in it. Man should adhere to what ought to be done by man, which bears no relation to the Holy Spirit. It is nothing but that which ought to be done by man, and should be adhered to as commandment, just like adherence to the law of the Old Testament. Although now is not the Age of Law, there are still many words of a kind with the Age of Law that should be adhered to, and they are not carried out merely by relying on being touched by the Holy Spirit, but are what should be adhered to by man. For example: You shall not pass judgment on the work of the practical God. You shall not oppose the man who is testified to by God. Before God, you shall keep your place and shall not be dissolute. You should be moderate in speech, and your words and actions must follow the arrangements of the man testified to by God. You should revere the testimony of God. You shall not ignore the work of God and the words from His mouth. You shall not imitate the tone and aims of God’s utterances. Externally, you shall not do anything that manifestly opposes the man who is testified to by God. This, and more, is what each person should adhere to. In each age, God specifies many rules that are akin to the laws and are to be adhered to by man. Through this, He constrains man’s disposition, and detects his sincerity. Take the words “Honor your father and your mother” of the Old Testament age, for example. These words do not apply today; at the time, they merely constrained some of man’s external disposition, they were used to demonstrate the sincerity of man’s belief in God, and were a mark of those who believed in God. Although now is the Age of Kingdom, there are still many rules that man must adhere to. The rules of the past don’t apply; today, there are many, more fitting practices for man to carry out, and which are necessary. They do not involve the work of the Holy Spirit and must be done by man.

On Experience

Throughout Peter’s experiences, he had endured hundreds of trials. Though people now are aware of the term ‘trial,’ they do not at all understand its true meaning or circumstances. God tempers the determination of man, refines his confidence, and perfects his every part, achieving this mostly through trials. Trials are also the hidden work of the Holy Spirit. It seems that God has forsaken man, and so man will, if not careful, see them as Satan’s temptations. In fact, many trials can be considered temptations, and this is the principle and rule of God’s work. If man truly lives before God, he will see them as trials by God and not let them slip. If someone says that because God is with him Satan will surely not approach him, this is not entirely correct. How can it be explained that Jesus faced temptations after He had fasted in the wilderness for forty days? So if man has truly put right his views on believing in God, he will see many things much more clearly and will not have skewed and fallacious understanding. If one is truly resolved to be made perfect by God, he needs to approach matters he is faced with from many different angles, neither leaning to the left nor the right. If you do not have knowledge of God’s work, you will not know how to cooperate with God. If you do not know the principles of God’s work and are unaware of how Satan works on man, you will have no path of practice. A mere zealous pursuit will not allow you to attain the results God demands. Such way of experience is akin to that of Lawrence, not differentiating and only focusing on experience, utterly unaware of what Satan’s work is, of what the work of the Holy Spirit is, what man is like without the presence of God, what kind of people God wants to perfect. How to behave toward different people, how to grasp God’s present will, how to know God’s disposition, at which people, which circumstances, and which age, God’s mercy, His majesty and righteousness are directed—he does not differentiate these. If man does not have many visions as his foundation, a foundation for his experiences, then life is out of the question, even less so is experience; he just foolishly keeps submitting to everything, enduring everything. All such people are very difficult to be made perfect. It may be said that having none of the visions touched on above is ample proof you are being a fool, akin to a pillar of salt, always standing in Israel. Such people are useless, they are good-for-nothings! Some people only ever submit blindly, they always know themselves and always use their ways of conducting themselves when dealing with new matters, or use “wisdom” to deal with trivial matters that are unworthy of mention, those are people who are devoid of discernment, as if they by nature were to resign themselves to adversity, always being the same, never changing; this is a fool with no discernment whatsoever. They never suit measures to the circumstances or to different people. Such people do not have experience. I see that some people know themselves to a certain point that when confronted with those who have the work of the evil spirit they even lower their heads and admit guilt, not daring to stand up and condemn them. When faced with the obvious work of the Holy Spirit, they do not dare obey, either, believing that evil spirits are also in the hands of God, and not in the slightest do they dare to rise in resistance. These are people who do not have the dignity of God, and they are definitely unable to bear heavy burdens for God. Such muddled people do not differentiate. This way of experience ought therefore to be abandoned as it is untenable in the eyes of God.

What Qualities Should an Adequate Shepherd Possess

You must have an understanding of the many conditions men will be in when the Holy Spirit performs work on them. In particular, those who coordinate to serve God must have an even better grasp of the many conditions brought about by the work that the Holy Spirit performs on men. If you only talk about many experiences and many ways of entry, it shows that man’s experience is too one-sided.

A Person Who Attains Salvation Is One Who Is Willing to Practice the Truth

Very early on, the necessity of having a proper church life was mentioned in the sermons. So why is it that the life of the church has not yet improved, and is still just the same old thing? Why is there not a completely new and different way of life? Could it be proper for a person of the nineties to live like an emperor of a bygone era? Although the food and drink may be delicacies rarely tasted in previous ages, there have been no major turnarounds in conditions in the church. It has been like putting old wine in a new bottle. What then is the use of God saying so much? The churches in most places have not changed at all. I have seen it with My eyes and it is clear in My heart; even though I have not experienced the life of the church for Myself, I know the conditions of church gatherings like the back of My hand. They have not made much progress. It goes back to that saying—it’s like putting old wine in a new bottle. Nothing has changed, not in the least bit! When someone is shepherding them they burn like fire, but when no one is there to support them, they are like a block of ice. Not many can talk of practical things, and very rarely can anyone take the helm. Although the sermons are lofty, seldom has anyone had any entry. Few people cherish the word of God. They become tearful when they take up God’s word and become cheerful when they set it aside; they turn gloomy and morose when they depart from it. Speaking frankly, you simply do not cherish the word of God, and you never see the words from His own mouth today as a treasure. You just become anxious when reading His word, and feel it is very strenuous when memorizing it, and when it comes to putting His word into practice, it is like facing a Sisyphean task—you are unmotivated. You are always energized when reading God’s word, yet forgetful when practicing it. In fact, these words need not be spoken so painstakingly and repeated so patiently; people just listen but do not put them into practice, therefore it has become an obstacle for God’s work. I cannot not bring it up, I cannot not talk about it. I am compelled to do so; it is not that I enjoy exposing the weaknesses of others. You think that your practice is just about adequate and you think that when revelations are at a peak, that you have also entered into that peak? Is it so simple? You never examine the foundation upon which your experiences are ultimately built. As of this moment, your gatherings absolutely cannot be called a proper life of the church, nor is it a proper spiritual life at all. It is the gathering of a bunch of people who enjoy chatting and singing. Strictly speaking, there is not much reality in it. Saying it a little more clearly, if you do not practice, where is the reality? Is it not boasting to say that you have reality? Those who always perform work are arrogant and conceited, while those who always obey keep quiet and keep their heads down, without any opportunity for practice. People who do the work do nothing but talk, going on and on with their high-sounding speeches, and the followers only listen. There is no transformation to speak of; these are just ways of the past! Today, your being able to submit and not daring to interfere or behave willfully is due to the arrival of the administrative decrees of God; it is not change you have undergone through experiences. The fact that there are many things you would not do today that you would have done yesterday is because God’s work is so apparent that it has conquered people. Let Me ask someone, how much of your accomplishment today was earned with the sweat of your own hard work? How much of it was told to you directly by God? How would you answer? Would you be dumbfounded and speechless? Would you stick out your tongue? Why is it that others are able to speak out about many of their experiences to provide you with sustenance, while you simply enjoy the meals that others have cooked? Do you not feel ashamed? Aren’t you embarrassed?

Practice the Truth Once You Understand It

God’s work and word are meant to bring about a change in your disposition; His goal isn’t merely to make you understand or recognize it and have that be the end of it. As one with the ability to receive, you should have no difficulty in understanding the word of God, as most of God’s word is written in human language that is only too easy to understand. For instance, you can know what God wants you to understand and practice; this is something that a proper person who has the faculty of understanding should be able to do. What God says now is especially clear and transparent, and God points out many things that people have not considered and the various circumstances of man. His words are all-embracing, as clear as the light of a full moon. So now, people understand many issues; what they lack is putting His word into practice. People must experience all aspects of truth in detail, and explore and seek it out in greater detail, not simply wait to take in what’s readily given to them; otherwise they become little more than freeloaders. They know God’s word, but don’t put it into practice. This kind of person doesn’t have a love of the truth, and will ultimately be eliminated. Having a style like a Peter of the 90s means that each one of you should practice the word of God, have true entry in your experiences and gain even more and even greater enlightenment in your cooperation with God, bringing even more assistance to your life. If you’ve read a lot of God’s word but only understand the meaning of the text and you do not have first-hand knowledge of God’s word through your practical experience, you won’t know God’s word. As far as you are concerned, God’s word is not life, but just lifeless letters. And if you only hold fast to lifeless letters, you cannot grasp the essence of God’s word, nor will you understand His will. Only when you experience His word in your actual experiences will the spiritual meaning of God’s word open itself up to you, and it is only in experience that you can grasp the spiritual meaning of many truths, and only through experience that you can unlock the mysteries of God’s word. If you do not put it into practice, then no matter how clear His word, the only thing you’ve grasped hold of is empty letters and doctrines, which has become religious regulations to you. Isn’t this what the Pharisees did? If you practice and experience God’s word, it becomes practical to you; if you do not seek to practice it, then God’s word to you is little more than the legend of the third heaven. In fact, the process of believing in God is the process of you experiencing His word as well as being gained by Him, or to put it more clearly, to believe in God is to have the knowledge and understanding of His word and to experience and live out His word; that is the reality of your belief in God. If you believe in God and hope for eternal life without seeking to practice the word of God as something you have within you, then you’re foolish; it’s like going to a feast only to take note of what’s there to eat without actually trying it. Isn’t a person like that foolish?

The truth that man needs to possess is found in the word of God, a truth that is the most beneficial and helpful to mankind. It is the tonic and sustenance that your body needs, something that helps man restore their normal humanity, a truth that man should be equipped with. The more you practice God’s word, the more quickly your life will blossom; the more you practice God’s word, the clearer the truth becomes. As you grow in stature, you will see things of the spiritual world more clearly, and you will be more powerful to triumph over Satan. Much of the truth that you don’t understand will be made clear when you practice the word of God. Most people are satisfied to merely understand the text of God’s word and focus on equipping themselves with doctrines without experiencing its depth in practice; isn’t that the way of the Pharisees? How can the phrase “The word of God is life” be true for them, then? Only when man practices the word of God can his life truly blossom; it cannot grow simply by reading His word. If it is your belief that to understand God’s word is all that is needed to have life, to have stature, then your understanding is warped. Truly understanding God’s word occurs when you practice truth, and you must understand that “only by practicing truth can it ever be understood.” Today, after reading the word of God, you can merely say that you know God’s word, but you can’t say that you understand it. Some say that the only way to practice truth is to understand it first, but this is only half right and not entirely accurate. Before you have knowledge of a truth, you have not experienced that truth. Feeling that you understand what you hear is not the same thing as truly understanding. To equip yourself with the truth as it is seen in text isn’t the same as understanding the true meaning therein. Just because you have a skin-deep knowledge of the truth doesn’t mean you actually understand it or recognize it; the true meaning of truth comes from having experienced it. Therefore, only when you experience truth can you understand it, and only when you experience truth can you grasp the hidden parts of it. To experience it in depth is the only way to grasp the connotations of truth, to understand the essence of it. Therefore, you can go everywhere with truth, but if there is no truth in you, don’t even think of trying to convince religious people, much less your family. You will be like fluttering snow without truth, but with truth, you can be happy and free, where none can attack you. No matter how strong a theory is, it cannot overcome truth. With truth, the world itself can be swayed and mountains and seas moved, whereas a lack of truth leads to ruin by maggots; this is simply fact.

What’s important now is to first know the truth, then put it into practice, and to equip yourself further with the true meaning of truth. That should be what you aim for, not merely to have others follow your words but to have them follow your actions, and only in this can you find something meaningful. No matter what befalls you, no matter what person you come across, you can only stand firm with truth. The word of God is that which brings life to man, not death. If after reading the word of God you do not come alive, but you are still dead after reading His word, then there is something wrong with you. If after some time you’ve read much of God’s word and have heard many practical sermons, but you are still in a condition of death, this is proof that you are not one who values truth, nor are you a person who seeks truth out. If you truly sought to gain God, you wouldn’t focus on equipping yourself with high doctrines and using them to exhort others, but would instead focus on experiencing God’s word and putting truth into practice; isn’t that what you should currently enter into?

There is a limited time for God to do His work in man, but what outcome can there be if you do not cooperate with Him? Why is it that God always wants you to practice His word once you understand it? It’s because God has revealed His words to you, and your next step is to actually practice them, and God will carry out the work of enlightenment and guidance as you practice these words. That is how it is. The word of God is meant to allow man to blossom in life without causing deviations or negativity. You say you’ve read God’s word and practiced it, but you still haven’t received any work of the Holy Spirit—what you say could only deceive a child. Man doesn’t know if your intentions are proper, but you think God won’t know? How is it that others practice the word of God and receive the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, yet you practice His word and don’t receive the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit? Is God emotional? If your intentions are truly good and you’re cooperative, then God’s Spirit will be with you. Why is it that some people always want to take center stage, and yet God does not let him rise up and lead the church? Why is it that some people merely fulfill their function and without realizing it, they gain God’s approval? How can that be? God examines the innermost heart of man, and people who seek the truth must do so with good intentions—people who do not have good intentions cannot stand. At its core, your goal is to let God’s word take effect within you. In other words, it is to have a true understanding of God’s word in your practice of it. Perhaps your ability to receive God’s word is poor, but when you practice the word of God, He can supplement the flaw of your poor ability to receive, so not only must you know many truths, but you must also practice them. This is the greatest focus that cannot be ignored. Jesus suffered much in His thirty-three and a half years because He practiced the truth. Why is it always said in the records that He was persecuted? It is to explain how much He suffered because He practiced the truth and carried out the will of God. Suffering He would not have undergone had He known the truth without practicing it. If Jesus had followed the lessons of the Jews, followed the Pharisees, then He would not have suffered. You can learn from Jesus’ practice that the effectiveness of God’s work on man comes from his cooperation, and this is something you must recognize. Would Jesus have suffered as He did on the cross if He had not practiced the truth? Could He have prayed such a sorrowful prayer if He had not acted in accordance with God’s will? This means then that this is the kind of suffering a person should endure.

 From "Practice the Truth Once You Understand It"

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Concerning God’s Use of Man

No one is capable of living independently except for those who are given special direction and guidance by the Holy Spirit, for they require the ministry and shepherding of those who are used by God. Thus, in each age God raises up different people who rush and busy about shepherding the churches for the sake of His work. Which is to say, God’s work must be done through those whom He looks favorably upon and approves of; the Holy Spirit must use the part within them that is worthy of use in order to work, and they are made fit for use by God through being made perfect by the Holy Spirit. Because man’s ability to understand is too lacking, he must be shepherded by those who are used by God; it was the same with God’s use of Moses, in whom He found much that was suitable for use at the time, and which He used to do God’s work during that stage. In this stage, God uses a man whilst also taking advantage of the part of him that can be used by the Holy Spirit in order to work, and the Holy Spirit both directs him and simultaneously makes perfect the remaining, unusable part.

The work carried out by the one who is used by God is in order to cooperate with the work of Christ or the Holy Spirit. This man is raised up by God among man, he is there to lead all of God’s chosen ones, and he is also raised up by God in order to do the work of human cooperation. With someone such as this, who is able to do the work of human cooperation, more of God’s requirements toward man and the work that the Holy Spirit must do among man can be achieved through him. Another way of putting it is like this: God’s aim in using this man is so that all those who follow God can better understand God’s will, and can attain more of God’s requirements. Because people are incapable of directly understanding God’s words or God’s will, God has raised someone up who is used to carry out such work. This person who is used by God can also be described as a medium by which God guides people, as the “translator” who communicates between God and people. Thus, such a man is unlike any of those who work in God’s household or who are His apostles. Like them, he can be said to be someone who serves God, yet in the substance of his work and the background of his use by God he differs greatly from the other workers and apostles. In terms of the substance of his work and the background of his use, the man who is used by God is raised up by Him, he is prepared by God for God’s work, and he cooperates in the work of God Himself. No person could ever stand in for his work, it is human cooperation that is integral to the divine work. The work carried out by other workers or apostles, meanwhile, is but the conveyance and implementation of the many aspects of the arrangements for the churches during each period, or else the work of some simple provision of life in order to maintain the church life. These workers and apostles are not appointed by God, much less can they be called those who are used by the Holy Spirit. They are selected from among the churches and, after they have been trained and cultivated for a period of time, those who are fit are kept on, while those who are unfit are sent back to where they came from. Because these people are selected from among the churches, some show their true colors after becoming leaders, and some even do many bad things and end up being eliminated. He who is used by God, on the other hand, is someone who has been prepared by God, and who possesses a certain caliber, and has humanity. He has been prepared and made perfect in advance by the Holy Spirit, and is completely led by the Holy Spirit, and, particularly when it comes to his work, he is directed and commanded by the Holy Spirit—as a result of which there is no deviation on the path of leading God’s chosen ones, for God surely takes responsibility for His own work, and God does His own work at all times.

 From "Concerning God’s Use of Man"

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Concerning Everyone Performing Their Functions

In the stream of today every person that truly loves God has the opportunity to be perfected by God, regardless of whether they are young or old, so long as they keep in their hearts an obedience to God and reverence for God they will be able to be perfected by Him. God perfects people according to their different functions.

Discussing Church Life and Real Life

People feel that they are only able to transform during their church life, and that transformation is not possible outside of church life, that they are unable to achieve transformation in their real life. Can you recognize what the issue is? I used to talk about bringing God into real life, and this is the path for those believing in God to enter into the reality of God’s words.

Regarding a Normal Spiritual Life

A believer must have a normal spiritual life—this is the foundation for experiencing God’s words and entering into reality. Currently, can all of the prayers, the getting close to God, the singing, praising, meditation, and the trying to figure out God’s words that you practice meet the standards of a normal spiritual life? None of you are very clear on this. A normal spiritual life is not limited to prayer, song, church life, eating and drinking the words of God, and other such practices, but it means to live a spiritual life that is fresh and lively. It’s not about the method, but the result. Most people think that in order to have a normal spiritual life one must pray, sing, eat and drink the words of God, or try to figure out the words of God. No matter whether there is any result, or whether there is a true understanding, these people just focus on going through the motions on the outside, and do not focus on the result—they are people living within the rituals of religion, and are not people living within the church, and even less are they people of the kingdom. This kind of person’s prayers, songs, and eating and drinking of the words of God are all abiding by the rules, they are compelled to do them, and they are done in keeping with trends; they are not done willingly or done from the heart. No matter how much these people pray or sing, there will be no result at all, because all they practice are religious rules and rituals, and they are not practicing the word of God. By only focusing on the method, and taking the words of God as rules to keep, this kind of person is not practicing the word of God, but is satisfying the flesh, and is doing things to show off to others. This kind of religious ritual and rule comes from man, not from God. God does not keep rules, does not abide by any laws; He does new things every day and He does practical work. Like the people in the Three-Self Church who are limited to daily morning watch, evening prayers, giving thanks before meals, expressing thanks in everything, and other such practices, no matter how much these people do, or how long they practice, they will not have the work of the Holy Spirit. If people live within rules, with their hearts poured into practice, then the Holy Spirit has no way to work, because people’s hearts are taken up with rules, are taken up with human conceptions; therefore God has no way to do work; people will just always be living under control of the law, and this type of person will never be able to receive the praise of God.

Utterances of Christ of the Last Days (Selections) | How to Know Reality

From: The Church of Almighty God - Lord Jesus

God is the God of reality: All of His work is real, all of the words He speaks are real, and all of the truths He expresses are real. Everything that is not His words is vacuous, non-existent, and unsound. Today, the Holy Spirit is to guide people into the words of God.

How to Serve in Harmony With God’s Will

Today, we will primarily be communing how people should serve God in their belief in God, what conditions should be fulfilled and what should be understood by those who serve God, and what deviations there are in your service. You should understand all of this. These issues touch upon how you believe in God, how you walk onto the path of guidance by the Holy Spirit, and how your all is arranged by God, and they will allow you to know every step of God’s work in you. When you reach that point, you will appreciate what faith in God is, how to properly believe in God, and what you should do to act in harmony with God’s will. This will make you completely and utterly obedient to God’s work, and you will have no complaints, you will not judge, or analyze, much less research. Furthermore, you will all be capable of obedience to God unto death, allowing God to steer you and slaughter you like a sheep, so that you can all become the Peters of the 1990s, and can love God to the utmost even upon the cross, without the slightest complaint. Only then will you be able to live as Peters of the 1990s.

Everyone who has resolved to can serve God—but it must be that only those who give every care to God’s will and understand God’s will are qualified and entitled to serve God. In your experiences, it can be seen that many people believe that serving God means fervently spreading the gospel for God, going on the road for God, spending and sacrificing for God, and so on; even more religious people believe that serving God means running around with a Bible in their hands, spreading the gospel of the kingdom of heaven and saving people by making them repent and confess; there are many religious officials who think that serving God is preaching in chapels after studying at the seminary, teaching people by reading chapters of the Bible; many fellow brothers and sisters believe that serving God means never getting married or raising a family, and dedicating their entire being to God; there are also people in impoverished regions who believe that serving God means healing and casting out demons, or praying for the brothers and sisters, or serving them; amongst you, there are many who believe that serving God means eating and drinking the words of God, and praying to God every day, and visiting churches everywhere; so, too, are there people who say that living the life of the church is serving God. Yet few people know what it actually means to serve God. Although there are as many who serve God as stars in the sky, the number of those who can serve directly, and who are able to serve God’s will, is paltry—pifflingly small. Why do I say this? I say this because you do not understand the substance of the phrase “service to God,” and you understand so little of how to serve God’s will. Today, we are mainly communing how to serve in accordance with God’s will, how to serve in order to satisfy God’s will.

How to Enter Into a Normal State

The more receptive people are of God’s words, the more enlightened they become and the more they pursue knowledge of God with a hunger and thirst for righteousness. Only those who receive God’s words are able to have deeper and richer experiences; they are the only ones whose lives blossom more and more. Everyone who pursues life must treat this as if it were their job, and should have the feeling that they can’t live without God, that there is no single success without God, and all is emptiness without God. They should have the resolution of doing nothing without the presence of the Holy Spirit, and being unwilling to do anything further if their actions do not bear fruit. They should not act to accommodate themselves. Life experiences come through God’s enlightenment and guidance, and they are also the fruition of your subjective efforts. You should have the requirement of not making excuses for yourself in your life experience.

The Wicked Must Be Punished

Inspecting whether you practice righteousness in all that you do, and whether all of your actions are observed by God, are the behavioral principles of those who believe in God. You will be called righteous because you are able to satisfy God, and because you accept God’s care and protection. In God’s eyes, all those who accept God’s care, protection, and perfection and who are gained by Him, are righteous and looked upon with cherishment by God. The more you accept the words of God in the here and now, the more you are able to receive and understand God’s will, and thus the more you can live out God’s words and satisfy His requirements. This is God’s commission for you, and what you ought to achieve. If you use conceptions to measure and delineate God, as if God were an unchanging clay statue, and if you delimit God within the Bible, and contain Him within a limited scope of work, then this proves that you have condemned God. Because, in their hearts, the Jews of the age of the Old Testament cast God in the mold of idol, as if God could only be called the Messiah, and only He who was called the Messiah was God, and because they served and worshiped God as if He were a (lifeless) clay statue, they nailed the Jesus of that time to the cross, sentencing Him to death—condemning innocent Jesus to death. God had committed no crime, yet man did not spare God, and unwaveringly sentenced Him to death. Thus, Jesus was crucified. Man always believes that God is unchanging, and defines Him according to the Bible, as though man has seen through to God’s management, as though all that God does is in the hands of man. People are ridiculous to the extreme, they are possessed of the utmost arrogance, and they all have a flair for turgid eloquence. Regardless of how great your knowledge of God, still I say that you do not know God, that there are none who are more opposed to God, and that you condemn God, for you are utterly incapable of obeying the work of God and walking the path of being made perfect by God. Why is God never satisfied with the actions of man? Because man does not know God, because he has so many conceptions, and because, instead of complying with reality, all of his knowledge of God is cut from the same cloth, and rigid and inflexible. Thus, having come to earth today, God has once more been nailed to the cross by man. Cruel, brutal mankind! The conniving and intrigue, the jostling with each other, the scramble for reputation and fortune, the mutual slaughter—when will it ever end? God has spoken hundreds of thousands of words, yet no one has come to their senses. They act for the sake of their families, and sons and daughters, for their careers, prospects, status, vanity, and money, for the sake of clothes, for food and the flesh—whose actions are truly for the sake of God? Even among those whose actions are for the sake of God, there are but few who know God. How many do not act for the sake of their own interests? How many do not oppress and discriminate against others for the sake of maintaining their own status? Thus, God has been forcibly condemned to death innumerable times, countless barbaric judges have condemned God and once more nailed Him to the cross. How many can be called righteous because they truly act for the sake of God?

Promises to Those Who Have Been Perfected

What is the path through which God perfects man? Which aspects are included? Are you willing to be perfected by God? Are you willing to accept the judgment and chastisement of God? What do you know of these questions? If you cannot speak of such knowledge, then this shows that you still know not of God’s work and have not been enlightened at all by the Holy Spirit. Such kind of man cannot be perfected. They can only receive a small amount of grace to enjoy briefly and it cannot be maintained in the long term. If one merely enjoys God’s grace, he cannot be perfected by God. Some may be satisfied with the peace and enjoyment of the flesh, a life of ease without adversity or misfortune, living in peace with their family without fights or quarrels. They may even believe this to be the blessing of God, but in truth, it is merely the grace of God. You cannot be satisfied merely with enjoying the grace of God. This kind of thinking is too vulgar. Even if you read the word of God daily, pray every day, and your spirit feels particular enjoyment and peace, yet in the end you cannot speak of any knowledge of God and His work or have no experience with such, and no matter how much of God’s word you have eaten and drunk, if you merely feel peace and enjoyment in your spirit and that the word of God is sweet beyond compare, as if you cannot enjoy it enough, but you have no real experience with and no reality of the word of God, then what can you receive from such manner of faith in God? If you cannot live out the essence of God’s word, your eating and drinking and prayers are entirely concerned with religion. Then such kind of man cannot be perfected and cannot be gained by God. All those gained by God are those who pursue the truth. What God gains is not man’s flesh nor his possessions, but the part within him that belongs to God. That is why I say that God perfects not the flesh of man but his heart, so that the heart of man may be gained by God. In other words, the essence of saying that God perfects man is that God perfects the heart of man so that it may turn to God and love Him.

A Normal Spiritual Life Leads People Onto the Right Track

You have only walked a very small portion of the path of a believer in God, and you’ve yet to enter onto the right track, so you’re still far from achieving God’s standard. Right now, your stature is not adequate to meet His demands. Due to your caliber as well as your innate corrupt nature, you always treat God’s work carelessly and don’t take it seriously. This is your greatest shortcoming. Furthermore, you are incapable of finding the path of the Holy Spirit. Most of you don’t understand it and can’t see it clearly. Moreover, most of you pay no mind to this matter, and are even less serious about it. If you continue to behave like this and do not know the work of the Holy Spirit, then the path you take as a believer in God will be futile. This is because you don’t do everything in your power to seek to fulfill God’s will, and because you don’t cooperate well with God. It’s not that God hasn’t worked on you, or that the Holy Spirit hasn’t moved you. It’s that people are so careless that they don’t take the work of the Holy Spirit seriously. You must turn things around immediately and walk the path led by the Holy Spirit. This is the main topic for today. This “path led by the Holy Spirit” is that people gain enlightenment in their spirit, they have knowledge of God’s word, they gain clarity on the path ahead of them, and they are able to enter into the truth step by step, and come to understand God more and more. The path led by the Holy Spirit is primarily that people have a clearer understanding of God’s word, free of deviations and misconceptions, so that they may walk in it . In order to achieve this effect, you will need to work in harmony with God, find a correct path to put into practice, and walk the path led by the Holy Spirit. This concerns cooperation on man’s part, that is, what you do to achieve God’s requirements of you, and how you behave to enter onto the right track.

It sounds quite complicated to walk the path led by the Holy Spirit, but you’ll find this process much simpler if the path of practice is crystal clear to you. The truth is that people are capable of achieving all that God demands of them. He does not push people beyond what they are capable of. In all situations, God seeks to resolve people’s problems and settle their concerns. All of you must understand this; don’t misunderstand God. The path of the Holy Spirit is using God’s word to guide people. As mentioned before, you must give your heart to God. This is a prerequisite for walking the path led by the Holy Spirit. You must do this in order to enter onto the right track. How does one give their heart to God with intention? When you experience God and pray to Him in your daily life, you do it carelessly—you pray to God while you work. Can this be called giving your heart to God? You’re thinking about household matters or affairs of the flesh; you are always of two minds. Can this be considered quieting your heart in the presence of God? This is because your heart is always fixated on external affairs, and is not able to turn to God. If you desire to truly make your heart at peace before God, you must deliberately do the work of cooperation. That is to say, every one of you must take time away from every person, matter, and object for your personal spiritual devotionals, where you will be able to bring peace to your heart and quiet yourself before God. You should have your own individual devotional notes where you can record your knowledge of God’s word and how your spirit has been moved, regardless of whether what you write down is profound or superficial. Quiet your heart before God with intention. If you can dedicate one or two hours to a true spiritual life every day, your daily life will feel enriched and your heart will be bright and clear. If you live this kind of spiritual life on a daily basis, then you will be able to give your heart to God more and more, your spirit will become stronger and stronger, you will become more capable of walking the path led by the Holy Spirit, and God will bestow more and more blessings upon you. The purpose of your spiritual life is to deliberately seek and gain the presence of the Holy Spirit. It is not to observe rules or conduct religious rituals, but to truly act in concert with God and discipline your body. This is what man should do, so you must give it your all in order to do this. The better your cooperation and the more effort you put forth, the more you will be able to turn your heart toward God, and the more you will quiet your heart before Him. Once you’ve reached a certain state, God will gain your heart completely. No one will be able to sway or capture your heart, and you will belong completely to God. If you walk this path, God’s word will reveal itself to you at all times and enlighten you on everything you don’t understand—this can all be achieved because of your cooperation. This is why God always says, “All who act in concert with Me, I will reward twice over.” You must see this path clearly. If you wish to walk the right path, then you must do all that you can to satisfy God. You must do all that you can to attain a spiritual life. At the start, you may not be able to achieve much in this regard, but you must not allow yourself to regress or wallow in negativity—you must keep on working hard! The more you live a spiritual life, the more your heart will be occupied by the words of God, always concerned with these matters and always bearing this burden. After that, you can reveal your innermost truth to God through your spiritual life, tell Him what you want to do, what you’ve been thinking about, your understanding of and your own way of seeing God’s word. Don’t hold back anything, not even a little bit! Practice speaking the words within your heart to God, tell Him the truth, and don’t hesitate to speak what’s in your heart. The more you do this, the more you will feel God’s loveliness, and your heart will be pulled more and more toward God. When this happens, you will feel that God is dearer to you than anyone else. You will never leave God’s side, no matter what. If you practice this kind of spiritual devotional on a daily basis and do not put it out of your mind, but treat it as your calling in life, then God’s word will occupy your heart. This is what it means to be touched by the Holy Spirit. It will be as if your heart has always been possessed by God, as if there has always been love in your heart. No one can take that away from you. When this happens, God will truly live inside you and have a place within your heart.

From "A Normal Spiritual Life Leads People Onto the Right Track"

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