Catholic Beliefs: The Lord Really Has Returned

By Renshi, USA

My whole family believes in God. I attended mass with my mom from the time I was a little girl and God bestowed so much grace on us—we were full of gratitude toward Him and we were also longing for the Lord’s return. But I never imagined that when the Lord really did return to work and save us, I wouldn’t recognize His work but would instead rely on my arrogant nature and cling to my old notions, nearly missing out on the Lord’s salvation. Every time I think of this I feel self-reproach but I also rejoice.

Seeing God’s Hand in the Hardships of Selling and Buying a Home

Ma Ling

Part 1

Deep in the night when all was quiet, Ma Ling stood in silence by the window thinking about a conversation she had had with a church leader that day.

The leader, Sister Bai, said: “Sister Ma, one of the people taken in the most recent wave of arrests of brothers and sisters by the CCP government was a sister who used to stay at your home. We’re afraid that the police will track her movements through video surveillance recordings, and in that case you would certainly be implicated. The duty that you’re currently performing would be impacted too. I don’t know if you have any particular plans.”

3 Great Masterstrokes for Overcoming Temptations in Spiritual Warfare

Jingxing, South Korea

Brothers and sisters,

I wish you peace in the Lord! Not infrequently, all sorts of spiritual warfare will occur throughout our time of faith in and following God. There are temptations regarding money, status and name, and temptations between men and women, as well as slander by unbelievers, obstruction and suppression from loved ones, as well as being hunted down and persecuted by a satanic regime. Sometimes completely unexpected calamities befall us.

Catholic Beliefs: I Have Welcomed the Lord’s Return

By Amy, USA

“Meeting with the Lord is the greatest hope of all believers. By the grace of the Lord, I have welcomed the Lord’s return and I am full of gratitude to Him….” It’s nighttime, and the clear moonlight spills into the room through the window. Under the soft light of her lamp, Amy is quickly typing out her experience of welcoming the Lord’s return. Thinking of God’s love and salvation for her, Amy stands up and softly walks to the window and gazes out at the full moon, reminiscing on the past …

Christian Life: 4 Tips to Teach You How to Interact With Others in Accordance With the Lord’s Intentions

By Wang Zihan, Shanxi Province

Interpersonal relationship is a topic that causes headaches for many people. This is also a topic that is encountered often throughout one’s life as a Christian. The Lord Jesus requires us to get along harmoniously with each other and to love others as we love ourselves. Many devout Christians are also willing to put the Lord’s teachings into practice. However, in reality, when we interact with others, we frequently encounter conflicts, and misunderstandings, so much so that our relationships become rigid and break down. This leads to pain for everyone. Now, what is the reason that we are unable to exist harmoniously with each other? How should we Christians interact with others in our lives in accordance with the Lord’s intentions? This has also been a problem that I have had difficulty with in the past. Thank the Lord for His guidance! Afterward, I was able to find the answer in a book that resolved my difficulties. Here, I will share a bit about my experience and understanding!

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.