Although I made the resolution to forsake those false gods and follow Almighty God, I was still a bit concerned that Satan would not let me go and would bring greater and more disasters to my family if I stopped worshiping them.
The sister seemed to read my mind and then read two passages of Almighty God’s words to me, “Although the skills and abilities of Satan are greater than those of man, although it can do things that are unattainable by man, regardless of whether you envy or aspire what Satan does, regardless of whether you hate or are disgusted by that, regardless of whether or not you are capable of seeing that, and regardless of how much Satan can achieve, or how many people it can deceive into worshiping and enshrining it, and regardless of how you define it, you cannot possibly say that it has the authority and power of God. You should know that God is God, there is only one God, and moreover, you should know that only God has authority, and has the power to control and rule all things. Just because Satan has the ability to deceive people, and can impersonate God, can imitate the signs and miracles made by God, and has done similar things as God, you mistakenly believe that God is not unique, that there are many Gods, that they merely have greater or lesser skills, and that there are differences in the breadth of the power that they wield. You rank their greatness in the order of their arrival, and according to their age, and you wrongly believe that there are other deities apart from God, and think that the power and authority of God are not unique.” “Regardless of how ‘powerful’ Satan is, regardless of how audacious and ambitious it is, regardless of how great is its ability to inflict damage, regardless of how wide-ranging are the techniques with which it corrupts and lures man, regardless of how clever are the tricks and schemes with which it intimidates man, regardless of how changeable is the form in which it exists, it has never been able to create a single living thing, has never been able to set down laws or rules for the existence of all things, and has never been able to rule and control any object, whether animate or inanimate. Throughout the vast expanse of the universe, there is not a single person or object that was born from it, or exists because of it; there is not a single person or object that is ruled by it, or controlled by it. On the contrary, it not only has to live under the dominion of God, but, moreover, must obey all of God’s orders and commands. Without God’s permission, it is difficult for Satan to touch even a drop of water or grain of sand upon the land; without God’s permission, Satan is not even free to move the ants about upon the land—let alone mankind, who was created by God.” (from A Continuation of The Word Appears in the Flesh) From Almighty God’s words, I had a clearer understanding that only Almighty God has the unique authority and has the power to rule over all things and set down laws or rules for their existence. Regardless of how “great” are the “skills and abilities” of Satan and false gods, and how clever and secret are the tricks and schemes with which they deceive and intimidate man, they have never been able to rule and control any object, whether animate or inanimate. Without God’s permission, it is difficult for Satan to touch any things created by God—let alone mankind, whom God wants to save. God’s words gave me faith and strength: In the past, blinded and fooled by Satan, I worshiped the false gods even though I didn’t want to. Now, thanks to God’s great love and exaltation, I was fortunate to know the Creator in my lifetime. I should make a clean break with Satan and evil spirits and worship Almighty God in spirit and in truth. But I immediately thought, “Will my husband agree if I no longer worship Satan and false gods? For he is a most superstitious person. Will he abuse me? Or beat me? Or even….” I told the sister my misgivings, and she asked me to read a passage of Almighty God’s words, “Since the day man came into existence, God has been steady in His work, managing this universe and directing the change and movement of all things. Like all things, man quietly and unknowingly receives the nourishment of the sweetness and rain and dew from God. Like all things, man unknowingly lives under the orchestration of God’s hand. The heart and spirit of man are held in the hand of God, and all the life of man is beheld in the eyes of God. Regardless of whether or not you believe this, any and all things, living or dead, will shift, change, renew, and disappear according to God’s thoughts. This is how God rules over all things.” (from The Word Appears in the Flesh) Then she said to me, “God is the Creator, the Ruler of the universe. All the objects, whether animate or inanimate, are in the orchestration and command of God. The heart and spirit of man are also held in the hand of God. Everyone has to submit under God’s authority. We shall just obey God, look to God, and commit everything to God. I believe God will lead us.” Hearing the sister’s fellowship, I nodded in agreement: Yes, since I have believed in the true God now, I should rely on God!
The sister seemed to read my mind and then read two passages of Almighty God’s words to me, “Although the skills and abilities of Satan are greater than those of man, although it can do things that are unattainable by man, regardless of whether you envy or aspire what Satan does, regardless of whether you hate or are disgusted by that, regardless of whether or not you are capable of seeing that, and regardless of how much Satan can achieve, or how many people it can deceive into worshiping and enshrining it, and regardless of how you define it, you cannot possibly say that it has the authority and power of God. You should know that God is God, there is only one God, and moreover, you should know that only God has authority, and has the power to control and rule all things. Just because Satan has the ability to deceive people, and can impersonate God, can imitate the signs and miracles made by God, and has done similar things as God, you mistakenly believe that God is not unique, that there are many Gods, that they merely have greater or lesser skills, and that there are differences in the breadth of the power that they wield. You rank their greatness in the order of their arrival, and according to their age, and you wrongly believe that there are other deities apart from God, and think that the power and authority of God are not unique.” “Regardless of how ‘powerful’ Satan is, regardless of how audacious and ambitious it is, regardless of how great is its ability to inflict damage, regardless of how wide-ranging are the techniques with which it corrupts and lures man, regardless of how clever are the tricks and schemes with which it intimidates man, regardless of how changeable is the form in which it exists, it has never been able to create a single living thing, has never been able to set down laws or rules for the existence of all things, and has never been able to rule and control any object, whether animate or inanimate. Throughout the vast expanse of the universe, there is not a single person or object that was born from it, or exists because of it; there is not a single person or object that is ruled by it, or controlled by it. On the contrary, it not only has to live under the dominion of God, but, moreover, must obey all of God’s orders and commands. Without God’s permission, it is difficult for Satan to touch even a drop of water or grain of sand upon the land; without God’s permission, Satan is not even free to move the ants about upon the land—let alone mankind, who was created by God.” (from A Continuation of The Word Appears in the Flesh) From Almighty God’s words, I had a clearer understanding that only Almighty God has the unique authority and has the power to rule over all things and set down laws or rules for their existence. Regardless of how “great” are the “skills and abilities” of Satan and false gods, and how clever and secret are the tricks and schemes with which they deceive and intimidate man, they have never been able to rule and control any object, whether animate or inanimate. Without God’s permission, it is difficult for Satan to touch any things created by God—let alone mankind, whom God wants to save. God’s words gave me faith and strength: In the past, blinded and fooled by Satan, I worshiped the false gods even though I didn’t want to. Now, thanks to God’s great love and exaltation, I was fortunate to know the Creator in my lifetime. I should make a clean break with Satan and evil spirits and worship Almighty God in spirit and in truth. But I immediately thought, “Will my husband agree if I no longer worship Satan and false gods? For he is a most superstitious person. Will he abuse me? Or beat me? Or even….” I told the sister my misgivings, and she asked me to read a passage of Almighty God’s words, “Since the day man came into existence, God has been steady in His work, managing this universe and directing the change and movement of all things. Like all things, man quietly and unknowingly receives the nourishment of the sweetness and rain and dew from God. Like all things, man unknowingly lives under the orchestration of God’s hand. The heart and spirit of man are held in the hand of God, and all the life of man is beheld in the eyes of God. Regardless of whether or not you believe this, any and all things, living or dead, will shift, change, renew, and disappear according to God’s thoughts. This is how God rules over all things.” (from The Word Appears in the Flesh) Then she said to me, “God is the Creator, the Ruler of the universe. All the objects, whether animate or inanimate, are in the orchestration and command of God. The heart and spirit of man are also held in the hand of God. Everyone has to submit under God’s authority. We shall just obey God, look to God, and commit everything to God. I believe God will lead us.” Hearing the sister’s fellowship, I nodded in agreement: Yes, since I have believed in the true God now, I should rely on God!
From then on, I prayed to God every day, “O Almighty God, I’m willing to rely on You, and look up to You. May You protect my heart, so that I won’t be restricted by my husband and will stop worshiping these evil spirits and false gods but worship You wholeheartedly! Thank You, Almighty God! Amen!” At the beginning, I stopped burning joss sticks but still offered sacrifices there. Sometimes when my husband was at home and asked me whether I did worshiping, I would make some excuses and he didn’t say more. This was God’s wondrous deed! A period of time later, when I saw that nothing happened to my family even though I didn’t worship these false gods, I was very much released, not bound by the regulations of burning joss sticks any more. For example, I needn’t worship them on an empty stomach after getting up and grooming myself. Now I felt easy and steady, and had peace in my heart. I knew it was God who was by my side caring for and protecting me, and I thanked Almighty God from the bottom of my heart. Nevertheless, whenever festivals came, I was still anxious, for in the past I always worshiped the false gods together with my husband, and what should I do to avoid it now? So, when the festivals were approaching, I would pray to God ceaselessly, “O Almighty God! I thank and praise You. It’s You who gradually lead me to break away from the deceit and bondage of the false gods. Now I feel assured and peaceful in my heart, but I haven’t completely broken away from their bondage and have still been restricted by my husband. Now the festival is drawing near. O God, I commit my difficulty into Your hand. May You make a way out for me so that I won’t need to worship those false gods any longer! …” Every time after making such a prayer, I saw God’s wondrous deeds: Sometimes my husband was on business trips, so he asked me to do worshiping myself; sometimes when he was at home, he said that he was too tired to get up and asked me to do it alone; or sometimes when we were about to make the worship, he received a call and told me that there was something urgent to deal with and he had to go out, and that I would do it alone…. Just like that, I avoided doing worshiping again and again. I knew it was God who made a way out for me in these circumstances and fulfilled my resolution not to worship Satan. But later I thought: My husband, who is also bound by Satan and false gods without release, is a victim too; why don’t I preach Almighty God’s gospel to him, and let him also forsake the false gods and follow the true One? Therefore, I often prayed to Almighty God, asking Him to give me proper words so that I could preach the gospel and testify God to my husband. One day, I finally mustered up my courage to testify about Almighty God’s work to him. My husband asked me to believe seriously and said that he would also believe when his business was not so busy. His answer was indeed beyond my expectation. It was absolutely God’s deed that my husband’s mind changed. Thereafter, with faith, I also told him that what we worshiped were false gods which deceived man and I wanted to “send” them away. To my surprise, he neither abused me nor got angry with me, but asked me calmly, “We have worshiped them for such a long time. It is said that it is easier to invite the ‘devil’ than to send him away. If we throw them away just like this, will it cause any misfortune?” I called to mind those passages of Almighty God’s words which the sister fellowshipped about with me before, then I read them to him. Besides, I shared my experiences with him as to how I tasted God’s care and protection to man and God’s love for man after I believed in Almighty God. He listened attentively. After my fellowship, he said with a smile, “Do whatever you like.” I thanked God in my heart persistently. I truly saw that everyone’s thoughts and ideas are within God’s control, and that they all move, change, renew, and disappear according to God’s thoughts. The next morning, I smashed all the false gods into pieces with a hammer, and dumped them into garbage bin with the things used for worshiping the false gods.
From then on, I felt released and shook off the shackles which had oppressed me for decades, and there was no more prohibition to bind me. I couldn’t express my thanks to God with words. O God! Your deeds are truly amazing. In the universe, only You are the true Ruler, and only You can bring the light to mankind. In You is total release and total freedom, without any prohibition. It is You that bring the truth to man, show man the bright way, and bestow the eternal life upon man. You are the only true God of eternal constancy. In the end, I want to share a hymn of experience with everybody, which is my heart’s voice. I hope it is the heart’s voice of us all!
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