Does Doing the Will of God Refer to Forsaking Everything to Expend for the Lord?

By Xiaowei

After eating breakfast, Yeqi turned on her computer and logged on to Facebook. She looked up her friend Lina’s account, and as her fingers clattered across the keyboard, she asked, “Are you online? There’s a question I’d like to talk to you about. This morning, as I read my devotional, I came across this verse, ‘Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name? and in Your name have cast out devils? and in Your name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess to them, I never knew you: depart from Me, you that work iniquity’ (Matthew 7:22–23). I’ve been thinking about the Lord’s words, and I’m a little confused. Why did the Lord say that those who prayed, preached, cast out devils, and did wonderful works in His name not only didn’t have the Lord’s approval, but that the Lord actually called them workers of iniquity? What’s going on here? I realize that, in the past, just like these people, I’ve traveled to spread the gospel through wind and rain, enthusiastically expended for the Lord, and given a tenth of my earnings as tithes. I thought this was doing God’s will, and that I would ultimately receive the Lord’s approval. But now, I’m really not sure about these questions, and I don’t know how I should look at the issue.”

Heart Voice of a Preacher: I Have Found the Way to Get Rid of Sin

By Chuandao, South Korea

The church became desolate and my faith grew cold.

When I was in high school, I suddenly got tuberculosis. Tortured by the disease, I was miserable and helpless, and felt so close to death. In 1980, I started to believe in the Lord in a church near my home. Through reading the Bible, I came to know that it was God who created the heavens and earth and all things. Afterward, I persisted in attending meetings in the church and reading the Bible.

Later, I attended the theology classes held by the church. To my surprise, not long after that, the lung disease that had tortured me for years healed without treatment. I gave true thanks and praise to the Lord from the bottom of my heart. After that, my faith of expending for the Lord became greater, and I wrote a lot of testimony articles about how I was saved and called upon by the Lord. In 1994, I quit my job, and donated all my retirement pay and savings to the church. After a year of training, I formally became a preacher. Since then, I had been energetically preaching, working, and sustaining the church. Such situation lasted for four years.

Happy to Be an Honest Person

• Hymn
• Happy to Be an Honest Person
• I
• Understanding the truth frees my spirit
• and makes me happy.
• I am filled with confidence
• in God's word without doubt.
• Without negativity
• and never drawing back or despairing.
• Doing my best to keep my duty,
• with no fleshly concerns.

Reflection for Today: Does a Church Appearing Fervent Mean That It Has the Work of the Holy Spirit?

Hello brothers and sisters of Spiritual Q&A,

Several months ago, I witnessed the pastors in our church vying with each other for the sake of fame and gain and jockeying for position, so much so that they even verbally attacked and disparaged each other during sermons. Their sermons were not enjoyable to listen to, and our spirits went unnourished. Furthermore, there was widespread cooling of the faith of brothers and sisters; they pursued wealth, they coveted physical pleasures and they followed worldly trends, giving all their attention to eating, drinking and having fun. Most of the time, some brothers and sisters simply did not attend gatherings, but instead only came when a disaster occurred in their lives or when there was some important holiday … Faced with this situation in our church, I left to look for a church that had the work of the Holy Spirit. I searched in many places, however, and discovered that most churches were just the same, and I began to lose hope. I recently found a church, however, which often put on shows and held events, and it even had pastors come from overseas to give sermons. The atmosphere in this church was very warm and enthusiastic, and many people attended each gathering. Looking at this church that was so ardent and at the brothers and sisters who attended gatherings so enthusiastically, I thought this must be a church that had the work of the Holy Spirit. It wasn’t long, however, before I discovered that, although the church appeared ardent, the sermons preached by the pastors were unable to provide benefits for the lives of brothers and sisters and were unable to satisfy our spirits. The singing and dancing that went on only had the effect of changing the atmosphere in the church—while it was going on, we all felt very energetic, but as soon as we sat down to listen to a pastor give a sermon, we would begin to doze off. Moreover, brothers and sisters were always trying to outdo each other with donations and prayers. Whoever donated a lot was considered to be someone who loved the Lord, and whoever prayed for a long time and said nice words in their prayers was considered to be a spiritual person…. In this kind of church, the brothers and sisters not only had no honesty or humility but, on the contrary, their vanity just got stronger and stronger and they became more and more hypocritical. They focused on expressing themselves and showing off in front of others and were exceedingly self-righteous and arrogant. Whenever they encountered an issue, they just dealt with it however they wanted, and they didn’t listen to anyone else—they were just not keeping to the Lord’s teachings at all. Faced with this kind of situation in the church, I couldn’t help but wonder: Could such a church that appears to be so fervent from the outside have the work of the Holy Spirit? This question has always perplexed me, so I’d like to ask if you could answer it for me.

The Substance of Christ Is Obedience to the Will of the Heavenly Father

The Church of Almighty God | The Word of God | "The Substance of Christ Is Obedience to the Will of the Heavenly Father"

Almighty God says, "The incarnate God is called Christ, and Christ is the flesh donned by the Spirit of God. This flesh is unlike any man that is of the flesh. This difference is because Christ is not of flesh and blood but is the incarnation of the Spirit. He has both a normal humanity and a complete divinity. His divinity is not possessed by any man. His normal humanity sustains all His normal activities in the flesh, while His divinity carries out the work of God Himself. Be it His humanity or divinity, both submit to the will of the heavenly Father. The substance of Christ is the Spirit, that is, the divinity. Therefore, His substance is that of God Himself; this substance will not interrupt His own work, and He could not possibly do anything that destroys His own work, nor would He ever utter any words that go against His own will."
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None Care to Actively Understand God

• A Hymn of God's Words
• None Care to Actively Understand God
• I
• When God is upset,
• He faces a mankind
• who doesn't pay attention to Him,
• who follows Him, claims to love Him,
• yet neglects what He feels.
• How can His heart not hurt?
• Even those who want to become
• the confidants of God,
• they don't want to get close to Him,
• know Him or care for His heart.

A 68-year-old Christian’s Testimony: She Miraculously Recovers From the Sudden Hemorrhage in Her Brain Stem

By Sun Hong

I am a Christian, and I am 70 years old. I once became paralyzed because of an illness, and nearly became braindead. During that period, I gave up any hope of surviving, but at a critical juncture, God’s words gave me faith and allowed me to miraculously regain my life. If God hadn’t saved me, I would have left this world a long time ago.

Suddenly Fainting, Becoming Paralyzed

On April 19, 2017, after getting out of bed, I had a splitting headache. Suddenly, I stumbled and fell on the bed. Half of my body couldn’t move, and I gradually lost consciousness.

Later, my relatives took me to the emergency room at the hospital, where a CT scan was done. The doctor said that the hemorrhage in my brain stem was caused by a rupture of the arterial wall, and if we couldn’t stop the blood, my life was in danger. When my daughter heard that, she sobbed, heartbroken. The doctor didn’t dare delay treatment, and told the nurses to bring me to the emergency rescue unit.