Wednesday, April 11, 2018

(I) Classic Words on How to Believe in God | The Church of Almighty God

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    Classic Words From Almighty God, Christ of the Last Days  | X Classic Words on the Reality of the Truth God’s Chosen People Must Enter Into

    (I) Classic Words on How to Believe in God

    1. “Belief in God” means believing that there is a God; this is the simplest concept of faith in God. What’s more, believing that there is a God is not the same as truly believing in God; rather, it is a kind of simple faith with strong religious overtones. True faith in God means experiencing the words and work of God based on a belief that God holds sovereignty over all things. So you shall be freed of your corrupt disposition, shall fulfill the desire of God, and shall come to know God. Only through such a journey can you be said to believe in God.

from Preface to The Word Appears in the Flesh
     2. A true belief in God is not about believing in Him in order to be saved and is even less about being a good person. It is also not just about believing in God in order to have human likeness. Actually, people should not view their belief in God as just a belief that there is a God, and then nothing more; it is not that you should merely believe that God is the truth, the way, the life, and then nothing more. Nor is it just so you acknowledge God, much less is it merely to believe that God is the Ruler over all things, that God is almighty, that God created all things in the world, that God is unique and that God is supreme. It is not merely so that you believe this; rather it is that you—your whole being and your whole heart—should follow God, allow God to employ you, allow God to use you in His service, and that you should do anything for God. It is not that only those predestined and chosen by God should believe in Him. Actually, all of mankind should worship God, heed Him and obey Him, because mankind was made by God.

from “Only the Pursuit of the Truth Is the True Belief in God” in Records of Christ’s Talks

    3. The most fundamental requirement of man’s belief in God is that he have an honest heart, and that he fully devote himself, and truly obey. What is hardest for man is to provide his whole life in exchange for true belief, through which he can gain the entire truth, and fulfill his duty as a creature of God.

from “Success or Failure Depends on the Path That Man Walks” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

    4. The essence of man believing in God is to seek life. If you believe in God yet do not seek life or truth or knowledge of God, then there is no belief in God! Is it realistic that you still seek to enter the kingdom to be king? Only achievement of true love for God through seeking life is reality; the pursuit and practice of truth are all reality. Experience the words of God while reading His words; in this way, you will grasp the knowledge of God through real experience. This is a true pursuit.

from “The Age of Kingdom Is the Age of Word” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

    5. Today, what is real belief in God? It is the acceptance of God’s word as the reality of your life and the knowing of God from His word in order to achieve a true love of Him. To be clear: It is the belief in God so that you may obey God, love God, and perform the duty that should be performed by a creature of God. This is the aim of believing in God. You must achieve a knowledge of the loveliness of God, of how worthy God is of reverence, of how, in His creatures, God does the work of salvation and making them perfect—this is the minimum that you should possess in your belief in God. Belief in God is principally the switch from a life in the flesh to a life of loving God, from a life within naturalness to a life within the being of God, it is coming out from under the domain of Satan and living under the care and protection of God, it is being able to achieve obedience to God and not obedience to the flesh, it is allowing God to gain your entire heart, allowing God to make you perfect, and freeing yourself from the corrupt satanic disposition. Belief in God is principally so that the power and glory of God may be manifested in you, so that you may carry out God’s will, and accomplish God’s plan, and be able to bear testimony to God before Satan. Belief in God should not be in order to behold signs and wonders, nor should it be for the sake of your personal flesh. It should be for the pursuit of  and being able to obey God, and like Peter, obeying Him until death. This is what it is mainly in order to achieve. Eating and drinking the word of God is in order to know God and in order to satisfy God. Eating and drinking the word of God gives you a greater knowledge of God, only after which can you obey God. Only if you know God can you love Him, and the attainment of this aim is the only aim man should have in his belief in God.

from “All Is Achieved by the Word of God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

    6. Since you believe in God, you must eat and drink of His word, experience His word, and live out His word. Only this is belief in God! If you say you believe in God yet cannot speak out any of His words or put them into practice, you are not considered to believe in God. This is “seeking bread to satisfy hunger.” Speaking only of trivial testimony, useless matters, and superficial matters, and not having even the slightest bit of reality do not constitute belief in God. As such,[a] you have not grasped the right way of believing in God. Why must you eat and drink more of God’s words? Is it considered belief if you do not eat and drink of His words and seek only to ascend to heaven? What is the first step for one who believes in God? By what path does God perfect man? Can you be perfected without eating and drinking of the word of God? Can you be considered a person of the kingdom without the word of God as your reality? What exactly is belief in God? Believers in God should be possessed of good behavior externally, at the very least, and of utmost importance is to have the word of God. No matter what, you can never turn away from His word. Your knowledge of God and fulfillment of His will are all achieved through His word. All nations, sects, denominations, and sectors will be conquered through the word in the future. God will speak directly, and all people will hold the word of God in their hands; through this will people be perfected. The word of God pervades throughout: People speak of God’s word and practice according to God’s word, while kept within is still the word of God. Both within and without, they are steeped in the word of God, and thus are they perfected. Those who fulfill the will of God and are able to bear witness to Him are those who have the word of God as reality.

from “The Age of Kingdom Is the Age of Word” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

    7. In believing in God, your intentions and viewpoints must be put right; you must have a correct understanding and correct treatment of the words of God, God’s work, the environments arranged by God, the man testified by God, and of the practical God. You must not practice according to your personal thoughts, or make your own little plans. You must be able to seek truth in everything and stand in your place as a creation of God and submit to all of God’s work. If you want to pursue being perfected by God and enter into the right track of life, then your heart must always live in God’s presence, not be dissolute, not follow Satan, not leave Satan any opportunities to do its work, and not let Satan use you. You must completely give yourself to God and let God rule over you.

from “How Is Your Relationship With God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

    8. You may think believing in God is about suffering, or doing many things for Him, or for the peace of your flesh, or for everything to go well for you, for everything to be comfortable—but none of these are purposes people should have for believing in God. If that is what you believe, then your perspective is incorrect and you simply cannot be perfected. God’s actions, God’s righteous disposition, His wisdom, His words, and His wondrousness and unfathomableness are all things people ought to understand. Use this understanding to get rid of the personal requests as well as the individual hopes and notions in your heart. Only by eliminating these can you meet the conditions demanded by God. Only through this can you have life and satisfy God. Believing in God is for the sake of satisfying Him and for living out the disposition He requires, so that His actions and glory may be manifested through this group of unworthy people. That is the correct perspective for believing in God, and also the goal you should seek.

from “Those Who Are to Be Made Perfect Must Undergo Refinement” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

    9. 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.

from “Practice the Truth Once You Understand It” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

    10. How is a person’s genuine belief in God produced? … First, you must learn how to apply God’s word and experience God’s word in all things. Go taste and experience every word spoken by God and His every requirement of humankind. Go see whether what God says is really the case; you must prove it, and in the process of proving it you will unconsciously discover that every word God speaks is very true and clear and can clearly and truly supply your life. It can guide your daily life. It is your path. It is the direction of your life.

from “Now Is the Critical Time for Performing One’s Duty and Obtaining Truth” in Records of Christ’s Talks

    11. Believing in God is not so simple as man may say. As God sees it, if you only have knowledge but do not have His word as life; if you are limited only to your own knowledge but cannot practice the truth or live out the word of God, then this is proof still that you have no heart of love for God, and shows that your heart belongs not to God. Coming to know God by believing in Him; this is the final goal and that which man shall seek. You must devote effort to living out the words of God so that they may be realized in your practice. If you have only doctrinal knowledge, then your faith in God will come to naught. Only if you then also practice and live out His word can your faith be considered complete and in accord with God’s will.

from “You Ought to Live for the Truth Since You Believe in God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

    12. Even though people with religious beliefs have faith in God, they don’t seek dispositional change, don’t pursue knowledge of God, and only seek the interests of their flesh. Many among you have faiths that belong in the category of religious convictions. That is not true faith in God. To believe in God people must possess a heart to suffer for Him and the will to give themselves up. Unless they meet these two conditions it does not count as faith in God, and they will not be able to achieve dispositional change. Only people who genuinely seek the truth, seek knowledge of God, and pursue life are those who truly believe in God.

from “Those Who Are to Be Made Perfect Must Undergo Refinement” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

    13. Man thinks that belief in God is the pursuit of beholding signs and wonders and the pursuit of ascending to heaven and the third heaven. There is no one who says that their belief in God is the pursuit of entry into reality, the pursuit of life, and the pursuit of being gained by God. What value has such a pursuit? Those who do not pursue the knowledge of God and the satisfaction of God are people who do not believe in God, they are people who blaspheme God!

from “All Is Achieved by the Word of God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

    14. You believe in God and know God, which shows that your belief in Him is genuine. If you continue to experience until the end yet are still unable to know God, then you are surely someone who resists God. Those who only believe in Jesus Christ but do not believe in the incarnate God of today are all condemned. They are all contemporary Pharisees because they do not recognize the God of today, and they all resist God. No matter how devoted their belief in Jesus is, it will all be in vain; they will not receive God’s praise. All those who say that they believe in God yet have no true knowledge of God in their hearts are hypocrites!

from “Be Mindful of God’s Will to Attain Perfection” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

    15. You believe in God and follow God, and so in your heart you must love God. You must cast aside your corrupt disposition, must seek to fulfill God’s desire, and must perform the duty of a creature of God. Since you believe in and follow God, you should offer everything to Him, and should not make personal choices or demands, and you should achieve the fulfillment of God’s desire. Since you were created, you should obey the Lord that created you, for you are inherently without dominion over yourself, and have no ability to control your destiny. Since you are a person that believes in God, you should seek holiness and change. Since you are a creature of God, you should adhere to your duty, and keep your place, and must not overstep your duty. This is not to constrain you, or to suppress you through doctrine, but is the path through which you can perform your duty, and can be achieved—and should be achieved—by all those who do righteousness.

from “Success or Failure Depends on the Path That Man Walks” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

    16. No matter how long you have been believers in God, you still haven’t understood thoroughly the significance of belief in God. In fact, the significance of belief in God is incredibly deep, and people have not thought thoroughly about it. In the end, the things within people that are of Satan, and the things of their nature must change, and must become compatible with the requirements of the truth; only this is truly achieving salvation. If you are like what you were in the religion—just shouting some words of doctrine or shouting some slogans, and then doing some actions and good behaviors, and not committing any sins, not committing any obvious sins—this still does not mean that you have entered onto the right track of believing in God. Just because you can abide by the rules, does that mean you are walking the correct path? Does this mean you have chosen correctly? If the things within your nature have not changed and in the end you are still resisting God and offending God, then this is the largest of problems. If you believe in God but do not resolve this problem, then can you be considered as having been saved? What does it mean, Me saying this? It is to make you all understand in your hearts that a belief in God cannot be separated from God’s words, from God, or from the truth. You must choose your path well, put effort into the truth and put effort into God’s words. Do not just have some half-baked knowledge and then consider yourself done, or just understand them more or less. If you go about things in a slapdash way, you will only hurt yourself.

from “Those Who Have Lost the Work of the Holy Spirit Are Most at Risk” in Records of Christ’s Talks

    17. If you wish to believe in God, and wish to gain God and gain His satisfaction, then if you don’t endure a degree of pain or put in a certain amount of effort, you will not be able to achieve these things. You have heard much preaching, but having heard it does not mean this preaching is yours; you must absorb it and transform it into something that belongs to you, you must assimilate it into your life, and bring it into your existence, allowing these words and preaching to guide the way you live, and bring existential value and meaning to your life—and then it will have been worth you hearing these words. If the words I speak do not bring any upturn in your lives, or any value to your existence, then there is no point in you listening to them. … You will only gain from the belief in God if you approach it as the greatest thing in your life, more important than food, clothes, or anything else! If you only believe when you have the time, and are incapable of devoting your entire attention to your belief, if you always make do, and are at sixes and sevens, then you will gain nothing.

from “God Himself, the Unique X” in Continuation of The Word Appears in the Flesh

    21. When the day comes that you truly behold God and realize the wisdom of God; when you behold all the deeds of God and recognize what God is and has; when you behold His abundance, wisdom, wonder, and all His work in man, it is then that you will have attained successful faith in God.

from “All Who Do Not Know God Are Those Who Oppose God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
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