God’s Word Is My Strength (Part 1)

Feb 26, 2018

By Jingnian, Canada

I have followed my family’s belief in the Lord since I was a child, and often read the Bible and attended meetings. After I got married, I passed the gospel of the Lord Jesus on to my mother-in-law, and after my mother-in-law began believing in the Lord, she no longer lost her temper when things happened or acted entirely on her own whims in the things she did, and the relationships in our family began to improve. My husband saw the change in his mother, so he also began believing in the Lord in 2015, and went to church with me every week. When I saw that my family was at peace after accepting the Lord’s gospel, I knew that this was the Lord’s grace, and I thanked the Lord from the bottom of my heart.

One day in February 2017, while I was at work, a female customer saw me and became very excited. She pulled me aside and said, “You look very much like a friend of mine. Can I introduce you to her? She has just come to Canada and has no friends, so if you have time, it would be good if you could talk.” I was very surprised at hearing this, and thought: Could such a thing happen? Does her friend really look that much like me? But I realized all things carry the Lord’s good intentions, and that lovingly helping others is also one of the Lord’s teachings, so I agreed to her request. A few days later, I met her friend Xiao Han. Xiao Han did indeed look very much like me. People who saw us asked if we were twin sisters. I don’t know if it was because we looked so much alike or because the Lord’s arrangements were behind things, but when I saw her, I immediately felt very close to her. After several meetings with her, we were like sisters who could talk about anything. What surprised me the most was that through Xiao Han, I heard the gospel of the returned Lord Jesus in the last days …

One day, Xiao Han took me to her aunt’s house, where her aunt taught us the gospel of Almighty God’s kingdom. She asked us to read the words expressed by God in the last days, and fellowshiped with us on God’s will in the creation of Adam and Eve, God’s thoughts and intentions when He called on Noah to build the ark, how God’s heart ached when He destroyed the people of Noah’s time, and more. She said that these mysteries are all revealed in God’s words expressed in the last days, and that without them, no one could understand these mysteries. I believed her, because only God Himself could explain the thoughts behind His actions. If God had not come personally to speak and work, who else could clearly explain God’s thoughts and intentions? I was deeply attracted to God’s words, and decided to seriously investigate Almighty God’s work in the last days. As I investigated, I raised many questions that I hadn’t understood when I read the Bible, and Xiao Han’s aunt gave me answers based on the words of Almighty God. The answers were very thorough, and they were clear and understandable to me. As I read more of God’s word, the questions and confusion in my heart were slowly resolved, and I understand that Almighty God’s work in the last days is the work of judging through His words, which fulfills the prophecy in the Bible that “Judgment must begin at the house of God” (1Pe 4:17). This step of God’s work is an escalation and deepening of the work of the Lord Jesus, and it is the final step of God’s work in the last days to purify mankind and save mankind. After investigating for a period of time, I was certain that Almighty God is the returned Lord Jesus, I happily accepted Almighty God’s work of the last days, and began to attend meetings with my brothers and sisters.

One morning, a little over three months later, I was meeting with my sisters as usual, when suddenly my cell phone began to beep. I opened it and saw a notification that someone was trying to locate my position using my iPhone. I was very surprised, and I didn’t know what was going on, but immediately after that, my husband sent a WeChat message to me asking, “Where are you?” As I looked at the message, I hesitated, because I remembered that my husband went to a church meeting more than a month ago and told me that the pastor had said many negative things about The Church of Almighty God, and warned the believers to be on guard and not have any contact with people from Eastern Lightning. At the time, I was afraid that my husband would be confused by the pastor and elder, and that their rumors would turn him against The Church of Almighty God. I wanted to wait until I understood more of the truth and could understandably testify God’s work of the last days to spread the gospel to my husband, so I never dared to tell him about my meetings with the sisters of The Church of Almighty God. With that in mind, I replied to him, “I am on my way to work.” But when I thought about it again, I felt that something was wrong, “He never sends me a message at this time. Why is he suddenly sending a message today asking me where I am? What’s going on?”

God’s Word Is My Strength 

When I got home from work that evening, I saw my husband sitting on the bed and giving me an angry look. My husband had found the books of God’s word that I hid at home and laid them out on the desk. I was very surprised by seeing all this, but before I had time to think about how to react, my husband asked me, “When did you start believing in Almighty God? There is a lot of negative news online about The Church of Almighty God, don’t you know that? You lied to me today. You weren’t on your way to work in the morning. Where were you?” I answered him, somewhat angrily, “So you’re the one who made my phone alert me this morning that someone was trying to locate me!” He said, “On my break at work this morning I wanted to know where you were, so I looked up your position and discovered you weren’t where you said you were.” He softened his tone and continued, “The Chinese government said the boundaries between men and women are unclear among believers in Almighty God, and there was a lot more negative information as well. Can you please not contact them anymore? It would be so much better if you just went to church meetings, and I could go with you every week. Why are you in contact with them?” When he finished, he went online and found a lot of negative information about The Church of Almighty God for me to read. After reading these baseless rumors, I was very angry, and said, “These people have never had any contact with The Church of Almighty God at all. Why are they commenting on it? These words are completely unfounded, it’s hearsay. These are lies and rumors. They’re completely untrustworthy! In the past few months, I’ve been around the brothers and sisters of The Church of Almighty God, and what I’ve seen is that they dress in a simple and honest manner, and they speak and behave in a dignified manner. Their brothers and sisters respect boundaries and are principled in their interactions. They are not at all like the rumors the CCP and the pastors and elders spread. The administrative decree for the Age of Kingdom issued by Almighty God clearly states, ‘Man has corrupt disposition and, moreover, he is possessed of emotions. As such, it is absolutely prohibited for two members of the opposite sex to work together when serving God. Any who are discovered doing so will be expelled, without exception—and no one is exempt’ (‘The Ten Administrative Decrees That Must Be Obeyed by God’s Chosen People in the Age of Kingdom’ in The Word Appears in the Flesh). God is holy and righteous, and loathes nothing more than when people engage in fornication. So, God has issued strict administrative decrees for His chosen people, and anyone who violates them will be expelled from the church. The brothers and sisters of The Church of Almighty God strictly abide by God’s administrative decrees, and no one dares violate them. This is what I personally saw and experienced. The rumors spread by the CCP and the pastors and elders that the boundaries between men and women of The Church of Almighty God are unclear is nothing but rumor and defamation. They are nothing but thieves trying to hide their own ignominy!” But no matter what I said, my husband wouldn’t listen, and he insisted that I no longer meet with my brothers and sisters. I began to feel negative when I saw my husband’s stubborn attitude, for here abroad I only knew my husband and I didn’t want to fight with him. On the other hand, I was afraid that he would tell my family in China and the pastor, which would only bring me more trouble. So, when he insisted that I not go to meetings, I agreed, but I said that I wanted to continue reading God’s word at home, and he agreed. And so, the storm subsided for the moment.

There were many things I didn’t understand as I read God’s word at home, so I used my mobile phone to contact my sister when my husband was at work, which allowed me to continue my meetings with my sisters. I also told my sister about how my husband stopped me from going to meetings, after which the sister read a passage of God’s word to me, “In every step of work that God does within people, externally it appears to be interactions between people, as if born of human arrangements, or from human interference. But behind the scenes, every step of work, and everything that happens, is a wager made by Satan before God, and requires people to stand firm in their testimony to God. Take when Job was tried, for example: Behind the scenes, Satan was making a bet with God, and what happened to Job was the deeds of men, and the interference of men. Behind every step that God does in you is Satan’s wager with God—behind it all is a battle. … When God and Satan do battle in the spiritual realm, how should you satisfy God, and how should you stand firm in your testimony to Him? You should know that everything that happens to you is a great trial and the time when God needs you to bear testimony” (“Only Loving God Is Truly Believing in God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). My sister fellowshiped, “When we encounter such an environment almost immediately after accepting Almighty God, from the outside it appears that our family is stopping us and not letting us go to meetings, but if we look at the matter through God’s word, Satan’s disturbance is behind this, because this is a spiritual battle. God wants to save us, but Satan doesn’t want to let that happen, so it follows behind God to disturb us, and uses the people around us to stop us from coming before God. Satan’s purpose is to destroy our normal relationship with God, make us feel negative and weak so that we leave and betray God, and finally return to its dominion and lose the chance to be saved by God. So, we must learn discernment, look at things according to God’s words, see through Satan’s tricks, pray more and rely on God, have genuine faith in God, and see God’s actions through our faith!” After hearing God’s word and my sister’s fellowship, I suddenly realized, “My husband is stopping me from believing in God and following God because Satan is using him to disturb me and make me betray God, which is the same as the trial that Job experienced. Satan tried every means it knew to tempt Job. It made him lose his immense wealth and his herds of cattle and sheep, covered him in horrible boils, but also used Job’s friends to disturb and attack him, and even used his wife to tempt Job to abandon God and die. Satan arrogantly tried to destroy Job’s faith in God and make him deny and reject God. Satan is truly evil and despicable!” When I thought of this, my heart was full of loathing for Satan, but then I thought, “Although Satan frantically tried to ruin Job, it never would have harmed Job unless God permitted it to do so, so doesn’t that mean what I am going through is also in God’s hands? As long as I truly look up to God and rely on God, God will surely guide me to overcome the temptations of Satan.” That thought gave me further faith in God, and I became determined to stay in contact with my sisters and continue my meetings and fellowship through my mobile phone.

To be continued    

Source The Internet