By Xinjing, South Korea
Thursday, August 30, 2018
I have accepted Almighty God’s work of the last days for over a month. During this time, I have read God’s words every day, frequently gathered with my brothers and sisters, and listened to their understanding of God’s words and their experiences and testimonies. I feel enriched and brightened in my spirit and feel that I am attending the wedding feast of the Lamb. However, what happened today upsets me—A battle without gunsmoke has started in my family …
After my eldest son and his wife learned that I believed in Almighty God and saw lots of negative propaganda about The Church of Almighty God from the CCP, they began to oppose me. They even told this matter to my second son, who lives in mainland China, and he then gave me a call, “Mom, do you know that the CCP police are now arresting believers in Almighty God everywhere? Once someone is found to be a believer in Almighty God, his family members will be implicated. Can’t you stop believing? …” Listening to him made me really angry, so I said, “I’m now in Korea. Though the CCP is very savage, can it really come here to arrest me? You needn’t worry about this.” Thinking that the CCP carries out phone surveillance to arrest believers in God, I dared not say anything more and hung up the phone.
Alas! My sons and daughter-in-law are all deceived by the CCP’s rumors and so against my belief in Almighty God. I know this is the time for me to stand witness for God. No matter how they object, I’ll continue following Almighty God.
Sunday, September 2, 2018
Unconsciously, three days have passed since my second son phoned me. During this time, I received call after call from my relatives and friends. They said, “The CCP is cracking down on religion more fiercely than ever. It has prohibited the selling of Bibles on the Internet and many church crosses have been demolished. It has even publicly branded Christian house churches as cults, especially The Church of Almighty God, which has been persecuted worst of all. If their believers are arrested, they’ll be sentenced. We urge you to not believe any longer.”
After hearing this, I was furious. I really wanted to refute them. However, I have not believed in Almighty God for very long and do not understand many truths, so I could only pray in my heart, “Almighty God, I know that You are the returned Lord Jesus. Regardless of what they say, I’ll follow You. Please give me faith….” After my prayer, with a firm voice I replied, “I’ve believed in the Lord Jesus for many years and have always longed for His return in the last days. Now, I’ve finally welcomed the Lord. Through reading Almighty God’s words at meetings and seeing many videos of brothers’ and sisters’ experiences and testimonies, I’ve become sure that Almighty God’s work of the last days is the true way. No matter how you oppose me, I’m determined to follow Almighty God.” Confronted with my resolve, they did not say anything else.
Though they failed to sway my faith, it is a pity that I could not refute them, because I do not know why the CCP condemns our church as a cult. I’m going to ask the sisters to fellowship about this with me.
Wednesday, September 5, 2018
This morning, after I arrived at our church, I could hardly wait to ask my brothers and sisters, “After this period of seeking and investigating, I’ve determined that Almighty God is the returned Lord Jesus. I also have faith to follow Him. However, there is still something I’m not clear on. We’re walking the right path in life, but why does the CCP deem our church a cult?” After hearing what I said, they played for me a splendid movie clip of The Lies of Communism: What Is a Good Religion, and What Is an Evil Cult?
In this movie, a brother said, “That the CCP condemns the Lord Jesus and calls Christianity a cult isn’t a surprise. The CCP is a satanic regime that hates both truth and God. In particular, it hates when God appears and does work. This is because of its satanic nature. … These days, people from various religious denominations who love to seek truth have read the words of Almighty God and they agree they are the voice of God. Almighty God is the Savior of the last days. The words of Almighty God are the truth, and have already been witnessed and spread by many people. Why does the Communist Party insist on doing everything it can to condemn the work and churches of God? Why is it that the more it is God’s work, the more something is the truth, the more positive something is, the more the Communist Party attacks and condemns it? Isn’t this going against Heaven, and very irrational? Now we can all clearly see any organization that hates truth, denies, and is hostile towards God is the real cult. Anything that fabricates rumors and fallacies to corrupt and deceive the human race is a cult. Anything that suppresses and condemns the Christian church, and is hostile to Christ is a cult. Anything that denies Christ, that denies and opposes truth, or is hostile towards Christ is a cult. The Communist Party denies God the most, resists Him the most, hates truth the most, and hates Christ the most. Therefore, the Communist Party is a genuinely evil cult.”
After watching this video, I came to understand that the CCP is an evil atheist political party that most despises the true God and has always opposed God throughout history. It has designated Christianity as an evil cult, burned Bibles and killed Christians. Now, the CCP government, seeing more and more people accept Almighty God’s work in the last days, is terrified that this will threaten its control. Therefore, it makes up rumors out of thin air to malign The Church of Almighty God as an attempt to incite and delude people, aiming at making them not seek and investigate the true way. As a result, my families and friends, who do not understand the truth, are deceived by the CCP’s rumors, and so they began to disrupt and hinder me. The CCP is so evil!
Saturday, September 8, 2018
Recently, my families have opposed me more fiercely. Whenever my eldest daughter-in-law found that I was not at home, she would call me to ask where I was; when I came back, she would give me dirty looks. What was even more difficult for me to accept was that my second son actually sent me a message via WeChat saying that if I kept on believing in Almighty God then he would terminate our mother-son relationship. Facing all this, I am suffering deeply. I never would have thought that my son, whom I painstakingly brought up, would be willing to end our relationship. Why is it so difficult for me to believe in the true God and walk the proper path of life? Why don’t they understand me? Before I know it, I have become somewhat weak and negative, and I haven’t gone to the church for a couple of days. My brothers and sisters called me to ask why I hadn’t gone back, and I made the excuse of my sons not allowing me to go.
Alas! Without going to the church, I’m feeling very dark in my spirit and deeply tormented. What should I do?
Tuesday, September 11, 2018
I never expected that my sisters would specially come to my house to visit me today. I told them what had happened these days. Pertaining to my situation, a sister read a passage of God’s words, “Today, most people don’t have that knowledge. They believe that suffering is without value, they are renounced by the world, their home life is troubled, they are not beloved of God, and their prospects are bleak. The suffering of some people reaches a certain point, and their thoughts turn to death. This is not the true love of God…! God is eager for man to love Him, but the more man loves Him, the greater man’s suffering, and the more man loves Him, the greater man’s trials.” And she also read a passage of fellowship, “This world is dark and wicked, the nation coerces people, and the government persecutes people. It only allows people to follow evil paths, and does not allow people to follow the true way. Mankind is corrupt and wicked in this way, and this is the reality that nobody can change. So, to seek to obtain the truth and to receive salvation in countries where demons wield power, a person is destined to experience persecution and tribulations in their faith in God. If they can’t bear to endure this suffering, then there is no way for them to believe in God” (“The Hardships That Must Be Suffered in Believing in God” in Collection of Sermons—Supply for Life).
Then, the sister fellowshiped, “God’s words and the fellowship make it clear that we are not meant to be in line with the world, because we believe in the true God and walk down the right path. The Bible says, ‘And the light shines in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not’ (John 1:5). ‘And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in wickedness’ (1 John 5:19). Now, the last days have already arrived. Mankind has become evil and corrupt to the extreme. They advocate evil and injustice, fight for power and profit, living in corruption and licentiousness. Evil trends are prevailing in the world. However, in the face of God’s arrival, people do not welcome it; they neither like nor accept the truth He has expressed, but are instead hateful and antagonistic toward it. Just as the Lord Jesus said, ‘If the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love his own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you’ (John 15:18-19). The Lord’s words put it clearly that what unbelievers hate and resist are God and the truth. So, we will definitely face their obstruction and coercion due to believing in God and walking the right path of life.
“Though we’re being persecuted and rejected by our families and friends to varying degrees, this is even more God’s salvation for us. Only through experiencing this kind of situation can we clearly see Satan’s evil substance and become more aware of God’s benevolent essence. Furthermore, this will all the more arouse our faith to follow God. God’s words say, ‘Thus, during these last days you must bear testimony to God. No matter how great your suffering, you should go on to the very end, and even at your last breath, still you must be faithful to God, and at the mercy of God; only this is truly loving God, and only this is the strong and resounding testimony.’ We can see from these words that when we encounter such persecution, God needs us to stand testimony for Him. Actually, the former saints and prophets, like Peter and John, all suffered a lot of persecutions and tribulations. Nevertheless, they did not leave God as a result but persisted in following Him until the end. This is worthy of emulation.”
Through listening to God’s words and the sister’s fellowshiping, I came to understand that we who believe in God and walk the right life path are destined to be obstructed and persecuted by unbelievers. It is the suffering we ought to bear. When things like this happen to us, it is precisely the time when God is testing whether or not we have faith and is when He needs us to bear witness to Him. However, when I was rejected by my family and my son would terminate our relationship, I felt it was too hard to believe in God and thus lost faith in God. As the facts revealed themselves, I saw that I was too small in stature and did not have true faith in God. After realizing all this, I made a resolution to God that no matter how my sons and daughter-in-law persecuted me, I would stand testimony for Him.
Friday, September 14, 2018
Today is the day on which we had a gathering. Thinking of being able to once again meet with the brothers and sisters made me exceedingly happy, but meanwhile, I was worried that if my son and daughter-in-law learned that I went to The Church of Almighty God, then they would give me attitude and say something to obstruct me. At that time, I suddenly realized that my situation wasn’t right, so I hurriedly turned my phone on and saw God’s words a sister had sent to me before, “You must have My courage within you and you must have principles when facing relatives who do not believe. But for My sake, you must also not yield to any of the dark forces. Rely on My wisdom to walk the perfect way; do not allow the conspiracies of Satan to take hold. Put all your efforts into placing your heart before Me and I shall comfort you and give you peace and happiness in your heart. You shall not seek the approval of men; isn’t it more valuable and weighty to satisfy Me? In satisfying Me, won’t you even more have eternal and lifelong peace and happiness? … Be loyal to Me above all else, move forward with bravery; I am your strong rock, rely on Me!” God’s words gave me the faith and courage to break through the restrictions of my family. I realized that my fearful thoughts were from Satan’s temptations. I thought, “God is my backup. Facing this situation, I should rely on Him. I believe that everything is in God’s hands and that He will open up a way forward for me.”
After understanding God’s will, I went to the church with great faith. During the meeting, my eldest daughter-in-law called to ask whether I had gone to The Church of Almighty God. With God’s words as my foundation, I was not as cowardly as before but said calmly, “Yes, I’m at the church.” I thought she would say something to obstruct me, but she said nothing else and hung up.
In the evening when I returned home, I still worried that my eldest son and his wife would be angry with me. But unexpectedly, they just asked me to hurry to have dinner, like nothing ever happened. At that moment, I truly appreciated that when Satan’s temptations come upon us, God is looking to see if we have faith, and that as long as we depend on God and stick firmly to our loyalty and obedience to Him, then Satan will be shamed and defeated.
Saturday, September 29, 2018
Unknowingly, it has been two months since I accepted God’s work in the last days. My sons and daughter-in-law don’t object my belief anymore, so I’m free to believe in Almighty God now. When they see me reading God’s words, listening to hymns, and watching videos produced by The Church of Almighty God at home, they don’t interfere. After experiencing this spiritual battle, I’ve genuinely come to realize that we cannot be without the guidance of God’s words in our belief in God. During this battle, it was God’s words that gave me faith and strength and served as the powerful weapon with which I overcame Satan. I know that on the path of following God, I will certainly go through many temptations from Satan. However, with God’s words supporting me, I am no longer that afraid but am filled with faith. I believe that as long as I rely on and look to God, He will lead me through one difficulty after another. Thank God! All the glory be to God!
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