July 2, 2018 – Ecclesiastes 1:2

Vanity of vanities, said the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.

- Ecclesiastes 1:2

Thoughts on Today’s Verse…

This verse tells us that our pursuits in life, such as fame and fortune, status, money and fleshly enjoyments, are all vanity and meaninglessness because we do not bring when we are born and we do not take when we die.

The Truth About Sin: The Difference Between Being Saved and Attaining Full Salvation

By Zeng Xin

Whenever the difference between being saved and attaining full salvation is mentioned, there are perhaps some brothers and sisters who will say, “Is there any difference between being saved and attaining full salvation? Doesn’t being saved mean attaining full salvation? We have been saved through our faith in the Lord Jesus, so have we not attained full salvation? When the Lord comes, we will immediately be raptured up into heaven.” But are things really this simple? It would be well for us to seek and discuss this matter.

God's Love Is Not Possessed by Any Created Being

• 
  
• The Hymn of God's Word
• God's Love Is Not Possessed
• by Any Created Being
• I
• The words of God are full of life,
• offering us the path
• we should walk,
• the comprehension
• of what the truth is.

God's Love Is Most Real

• A Hymn of God's Words
• God's Love Is Most Real
• I
• God's conquering work on you,
• such great salvation it is.
• Every one of you
• is full of sin and licentiousness.
• Now you see God face to face.
• He chastises and judges.
• You get His great salvation.
• You receive His greatest love.
• All God does is from His love.

2 Reasons Why Most Jewish People Condemn Jesus Christ

By Li Qingming

A couple of days ago, I saw the following scriptures: “But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus” (Matthew 27:20), and “When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see you to it. Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children. Then released he Barabbas to them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified” (Matthew 27:24–26). From these words, I learned that most Jewish people followed the Pharisees in resisting and condemning the Lord Jesus and nailing the innocent Lord Jesus to the cross, thereby suffering the curses and punishment of God and bringing about 2000 years of destruction to Israel. This made me sigh with regret. At the same time, I wondered: What was it that caused most Jewish people to follow the Pharisees in resisting and condemning the Lord Jesus? Thanks to God’s guidance. Through my seeking, I found the answer to that in a book.

I Want to Sing for God

transform-origin  : center center;

• Hymn
• I Want to Sing for God
• I
• I've gained much
• from God's truthful work.
• From His words,
• man's corruption I've seen.
• From His truth, God's disposition,
• the meaning of life I have known.
• God's judgment reveals
• man's rebellion,
• satanic corruption is seen.

Coming Back to God, She Got Rid of the Life of Working Desperately Hard for Money

By Lianxin

After a tempest blew over, the air was so pure. Lianxin was sitting by the window of the light spacious bedroom reading God’s word, with a happy smile on her lips. She knew it was due to God’s love and salvation for her that she, who once struggled to make money and fell ill from constant overwork, could rid herself of the life of working desperately hard for money and thus live healthily and in the light.

What Is the Rapture?

Li Huan

Just like many other Christian brothers and sisters, I eagerly long for the second coming of the Lord Jesus. We abide by the following passage from the Bible: “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1Ts 4:17). For this reason, we foolishly look up to the skies longing for the day that Jesus will return and take us up into the clouds so that we can be with the Lord. However, after so many years have passed, the four blood moons have already appeared; earthquakes, famines, plagues and war and all sorts of other disasters are becoming more and more intense. The prophecies of the Lord’s second coming have basically been fulfilled. However, we still have not seen one Christian raptured into heaven. I cannot help but think, “Why does the Lord not come to receive us? The Lord is trustworthy. The Lord promised that He would take us into the heavenly kingdom in the last days. The Lord’s promise certainly will be accomplished and fulfilled. I do not doubt this at all. Yet, how come up until now, we still have not been raptured by the Lord into heaven? Could it be that there are some problems with our longing?”

In the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, Do You Know What God’s Hidden Intention Is?

Chengxin

One evening, as I sat at my desk after praying to God, I read the parable told by Jesus in Matthew 20:1-16, where the kingdom of heaven is likened to a landowner hiring workers for his vineyard, and it didn’t matter whether they went first thing in the morning or if it was in the noon or the afternoon that they went into the vineyard, their wages were all the same. When the workers who came first learned of this, they grumbled against the landowner, but the landowner replied by saying: “Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with my own? Is your eye evil, because I am good? So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen” (Mat 20:15-16). After reading these several lines of scripture from the Bible I knitted my brows and could not help but think: “It is reasonable to say that those who practice their faith in God for a long time, who forsake more and expend themselves more for the Lord and who toil and work for more years ought to be rewarded with more than those who come later, but in Scripture it says that the wages are the same for those who come early and those who come late, isn’t this God intentionally showing favoritism for those who come later?” I felt that I really didn’t understand these words, I didn’t understand what the Lord’s intention was in saying these words.

To Be an Honest Person Is Truly Great!

Wu Ming, China

One day in 2004 a friend said to me: “Every day you get up early and are busy all day cutting cloth, you exhaust yourself, yet you still don’t make money. Today’s society relies on the tongue to make money, like the popular saying goes: ‘It is better to have a slick tongue than to have strong arms and legs.’ You know that I’m now engaging in the direct sales business selling makeup products, not only does it make me beautiful, I also don’t need to exert too much effort each day, I just need to speak a few words with my customers and sell my products in order to make a lot of money. Why don’t you change jobs and come sell makeup products with me?” I looked my friend over, she really was prettier than before, and then I thought about how I had been a dressmaker for over 10 years, how I hadn’t really made any money at it, and how I wasn’t getting any younger. If it really was like what my friend was saying, if by switching to a job where I sold makeup products I could make easy money, and could even become younger and prettier and win the high praises of others, then that would be much better! As I thought about this, I told her right then and there that I was willing to become a part of the company. Later, after my inspection, I ordered over 3,000 yuan worth of products, and I started my job in the cosmetics industry as a beauty consultant for this company.

My Life Principles Left Me Damaged

Changkai    Benxi City, Liaoning Province

The common phrase “All lay loads on the willing horse” is one with which I am all too personally familiar. My husband and I were all particularly guileless people: When it came to matters that involved our own personal benefit or loss, we weren’t the type to haggle and fuss with others. Where we could be forbearing we were forbearing, where we could be accommodating we also did our best to be accommodating. As a result, we often found ourselves cheated and abused by others. It really seemed that in life, “All lay loads on the willing horse”—if you have too much kindness in your heart, if you’re too accommodating and modest in your affairs, you’re very liable to be cheated. With these thoughts in mind, I resolved to not subject myself to all this abuse and live in frustration anymore: In future matters and in dealings with others, I vow not to be too accommodating. Even after I accepted Almighty God’s work, I still applied this principle in conducting my behavior and interactions with others.

The Secret Tip to Resolving Hatred

Xiao Wu

I was self-employed. Mainly I sold all kinds of textiles, and I also made clothes for my customers part-time. After a few years, my business became more and more popular, and people around me were all very envious. Later, a neighboring household opened the same kind of shop as mine and became my competitor. Naturally, the business in my shop was affected. The popular proverb says two of a trade never agree, but my peer was not just anyone, but my most trusted pupil, Xiaochen.