“Hello, please can I ask whether your restaurant is hiring any staff at the moment?”
“Can you speak a foreign language? Do you have work experience?”
“No, sorry, I don’t speak any foreign language and I don’t have any work experience.”
“In that case, I’m sorry. We need skilled workers, not interns at this time.”
When the telephone call ended, thoughts swirled through my mind: “Oh dear, this is the third call I’ve made today trying to find a job. If I can’t find a job, then I won’t be able to afford this month’s rent.”
The phrase “scramble around to find a doctor when you’re sick” directly reflects people’s feelings of anxiety, helplessness and panic when they get sick. As Christians, although we know that everything is created by God, that God gave us our very breath and that God rules and arranges the life and death of man, we can still feel at a loss as to what to do when confronted by sickness.
Wang Xinyu and her husband run a clothing shop, and though at first they try to operate their store with integrity and conscience, they don't earn much money, and their lives are very difficult. But when they see their peers who rely on lying and deception to do business buying cars and houses and living lavish lives, they decide they don't want to be left behind. Guided by their peers, they follow the social trend and begin to do business through lying and trickery.
On July 21, 2012, it started to rain heavily in the morning. By the afternoon when I was supposed to go to a meeting, I saw the rain was so heavy that I didn’t want to go. But it was just once a week, if I didn’t go I’d have no way to do my church work. Whatever there was going on outside, I still had to fellowship with them. When I thought of that, I hurried myself to the meeting. After four o’clock that afternoon, the brother of the meeting place ran back home, saying: “You’re still holding meeting, get yourselves home, there’s a whole lot of water coming down out there.” I went out and looked and there was a lot of water coming down, the river was swollen and running very high. I’d never seen so much water, I had no way to get home. (My place was half a li outside this village.) I was very anxious. There was nothing I could do, I had to go back to the meeting place, because the place was high up, and safer. After a while I heard a clamor of voices outside. I went out to look, and it was the adults and children of my village coming their way with ropes and poles. I rushed to ask how my house was doing, and someone told me it hadn’t been washed away, but the waters were high outside of the wall of the yard. I thought to myself: All things are in God’s hands. Even if the house is washed away, there is the good purpose of God in it.
Seek to Love God No Matter How Great Your Suffering
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The faithful in China face so much persecution and hardship.Most people don't understand God's will, thinking suffering is valueless:They're oppressed for their faith, rejected by the world, their homes are troubled too, their future all too bleak, all too bleak.The suffering of some becomes too much, so much that they want to die.How does this show a God-loving heart?People like this are worthless!They cannot persevere, they have no stamina.They're weak and feeble too, and they are powerless.You must see clearly that God cleanses you by refining you.So your testimony you must bear always during the last days.No matter how you're suffering, as long as you are still breathing, stay true to God, bow to His hand.This is true love for God, a strong testimony.
However, when I shared the gospel with my wife, she would not accept it. Then, I asked the brothers and sisters from the church to come and share the gospel with my wife, but she still wasn’t willing to listen and she didn’t want to have them as guests. In light of these circumstances, I could only entrust my eager hopes for my wife to God. One day, I read this passage of God’s word: “Your practice and revelations in real life are the testimony of God, they are man’s living out and the testimony of God, and this is truly enjoying God’s love; when you have experienced to this point, the due effect will have been achieved. You are possessed of actual living out and your every action is looked upon with admiration by others. Your appearance is unremarkable, but you live out a life of the utmost piety, … admired by others—and these are the people who have testimony, and are the manifestation of God” (“Those Who Love God Will Forever Live Within His Light” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). “Everything that happens to people is when God needs them to stand firm in their testimony to Him. Nothing major has happened to you at the moment, and you do not bear great testimony, but every detail of your daily life relates to the testimony to God. If you can win the admiration of your brothers and sisters, your family members, and everyone around you; if, one day, the unbelievers come, and admire all that you do, and see that all that God does is wonderful, then you will have borne testimony” (“Only Loving God Is Truly Believing in God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). God’s word had shown me the road I needed to take, and that was that one must use God’s word to change one’s old disposition and change one’s own depraved lifestyle. The only way for me to witness God and for me to bring my wife benefit and edification was that I let her see these changes in me and see the work God has done upon me. I thought back to the time before I had faith in God when I lived a life based on Satan’s rules. I had been preoccupied with hedonism and acting arrogant to make my wife wait on me. I was so out of touch I wasn’t being how a person should be. It was all the demonic image of Satan who had harmed my wife and children so much. Now, my wife harbored resentment against me and had this set idea that I needed to make allowances for her. What’s more, I had faith in God now and I had to conduct myself based on God’s word and live like a genuine person. I should live out the reality of the truth to testify God.
My name is Zhao Xia. I was born to an ordinary family. Due to the influence of dictums like “A man leaves his name behind wherever he stays, just as a goose utters its cry wherever it flies,” and “As a tree lives for its bark, a man lives for his face,” reputation and face became particularly important to me. Everything I did was to earn other people’s praise, compliments, and admiration. After getting married, the goals I set for myself were: I will live a wealthier life than others; I must not let anyone say negative things about how I treat the elderly or about my behavior and conduct; and I will make sure my child gets into a famous university and has good prospects, so as to add more luster to my face. Therefore, I never quarreled with my in-laws. Sometimes, when they said harsh things to me, I would feel so aggrieved that I’d hide and cry rather than give them attitude.
Over the next few days, although Jingru had not fallen into Satan’s temptation and she knew that she could never be with Wang Wei, her meeting with Wang Wei that evening and his sincere confession replayed in her mind over and over like a scene in a movie …
Christian Variety Show | Testimony of the Faith of a Christian "Escaping the Cage" (2018 Crosstalk)
The crosstalk Escaping the Cage tells the story of how Christian Xiaolan was persecuted and locked in her home for a month by her Communist Party official father, where she was unable to take part in church life, and her experience of escaping her home and running away. A once-happy family was split apart, a daughter left her mother, and her father held a deep grudge against her. Who was the chief architect? And who gave Xiaolan faith and strength, and led her to escape her cage and walk the correct path in life?
The crosstalk Eyes Everywhere describes how the Chinese Communist Party attempts to banish religion through using large-scale searches across the country, as well as turning people from every class and walk of life into eyes to investigate, monitor, and surveil Christians. Through a humorous, vivid performance, this comedy duo shows us all the despicable methods and detestable intentions with which the CCP arrests Christians, and at the same time shows us how Christians rely on God to avoid one pair of eyes after another, spread the gospel, and testify God.
Christian Testimonies | Relying on God, Gain the Wisdom
Before I left the office, my group leader set me a task—completing some paperwork that was unfamiliar to me. She said, “As time is limited, please arrange this document as soon as possible. Since the plans devised by Wang Jie and other colleagues last few times were all rejected by the customer, you’d better do your best to finish it this time.” Then she left the office. Seeing the document in the computer and thinking of the group leader’s words, I felt much pressure and thought: Wang Jie and other colleagues, who are veteran workers, have dealt with this kind of paperwork for a long time, so their professional ability is much better than mine. They even failed to devise a plan that met the customer’s requirement, let alone me. At this thought, I felt unsure of where to start as if my limbs had been bound.
🌷🌷 Perhaps you’re caught up in a difficult situation; do not complain, do not feel sad and do not escape. This is because going through adversity is how we assimilate nutriment for the blossom of our life. Whatever kinds of pressure, distress, or predicaments we may encounter in life, there is God’s permission and good will behind them. God hopes we can learn to pray to Him and rely on Him in adversity. And if we can obey His guidance and follow His words, He will surely lead us through difficulties …
Gospel Testimonies | To Be an Honest Person Is Truly Great!
One day a customer called saying that she wanted a case of VC products worth over 900 yuan, and I asked her to come to the store to pick it up. It wasn’t until she arrived that I realized we didn’t have the products that she wanted in stock, but I promised that if she waited a few days I would get the products and send them to her. After a few days she called again to ask me about the products and I thought to myself: When a customer asks about products I used to always sell them ones that were about to expire, but now I can no longer tell lies to deceive people. But then I also thought to myself: If I am unable to send these products to her quickly then it’s very likely that I will lose a customer, as well as the money! So what should I do? To send products that were about to expire would be deceiving, and God would not be happy.
Selected Testimonies | Family | Transformation of My Husband: He Plays Mahjong No More
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Later, I saw God’s wordssaying: “One after another, all these trends carry an evil influence that continually degenerates man, that lowers their morals and their quality of character more and more, to the extent that we can even say the majority of people now have no integrity, no humanity, neither do they have any conscience, much less any reason. … The majority of people, however, in the midst of their unawareness, will still be continually infected, assimilated and attracted by this kind of trend, until they all unknowingly and involuntarily accept it, and are all submerged in and controlled by it.
Regarding the “God is righteous” aspect of the truth, I used to always have a somewhat absurd understanding. I thought that as long as someone reveals corruption in their work or commits transgressions that damage the church’s work, that person shall face retribution, or lose their duty or be subjected to punishment. That is God’s righteousness. Given this incorrect understanding, plus the fear of losing my duty from committing mistakes in my work, I thought of a “clever” method: Whenever I do something wrong, I try my best to not let the leaders know first, and quickly try to make up for it myself and do my utmost to make it right. Won’t that then help me keep my duty? Hence, whenever I gave reports on my work, I would reduce big issues into small ones and small issues into nothing. If I was sometimes passive I would do my best to cover it up in front of the leaders and pretend to be very active and positive, terrified that the leaders would think I was incompetent and stop using me. So just like that, I would be very carefully guarded against the leaders in everything I did.
Gospel Testimonies | Shaking Off the Shackles of the Spirit
picture of the Church of Almighty God
I was a weak person with a sensitive character. When I didn’t believe in God, I would frequently feel down and distressed from things that came up in life. There were many of these times, and I always felt that my life was difficult; there was no joy, no happiness in my heart to speak of. After I started believing in God, there was a period of time where I felt particularly joyous and at peace, but after that, I once again felt the same as ever. I couldn’t make sense of why I was always that way.
In 1991, by the grace of God, I began to followAlmighty Godbecause of an illness. At that time I didn’t know anything about believing in God, but the interesting thing is that, when eating and drinking of the words expressed by Almighty God, I enjoyed it. I felt that His words were so good, and when I sang or prayed I was frequently moved by the Holy Spirit to the point of weeping. That sweetness in my heart, that enjoyment was as if a joyous event had come upon me. Particularly in get-togethers during the great work of the Holy Spirit, I felt as if I had transcended the flesh and I was living in the third heaven, that everything belonging to the world had been cast to the winds. I can’t say how joyful, how happy I was in my heart. I felt that I was the happiest person in the world. So at that time I believed that believing in Godwas just enjoying His grace.
At the end of last year, because I was unable to get thegospelwork in my area off the ground, God’s family transferred a brother from another area to take over my work. Prior to this I had not been informed, but rather heard indirectly through a sister I was partnering with. I was very upset. I suspected that the person in charge hadn’t informed me for fear that I would be unwilling to give up my position and put up a fight.
As a result, I formed a poor opinion of the sister in charge. Later, the sister met with me and asked about how I felt about being replaced—initially I meant to speak my mind, but I worried that she’d get a bad impression of me and think I was angling for position. So instead, in as relaxed a voice as possible I said, “It’s no problem, I wasn’t able to do constructive work so it makes sense I’d be replaced. I don’t have any particular thoughts on the matter, whatever duty God’s family gives me to fulfill I’ll obey.”