Return of a Prodigal Son | Eastern Lightning

Wang Xin  
Harbin City

Christian The Church of Almighty God

In 1999, I became a leader due to the requirements of the work of the church. Although I felt deeply that I was not worthy of the job when I first started, after a while, due to my arrogant and self-righteous nature, my initial cautiousness gradually turned into exalting myself and testifying about myself. I cared about food, clothes, and enjoyment, greedily indulging in the blessings of my status. I even wanted to be on an equal footing with God. In the end, I was finally dismissed and sent home. It was only after this that I had an awakening and realized that “status” had made me give up on God and the truth; “status” had made me set up my individual kingdom; “status” had turned me into an antichrist; “status” made me embark on the road to death. It was only then that I discovered that I had strayed so very far from the right path and already fallen too deep.

God’s Words Have Awakened Me | Eastern Lightning

Miao Xiao  
Jinan City, Shandong Province

In the past, I used to always think that when God said “a puppet and traitor who flees from the great white throne” He was referring to those who accept this stage of work but end up retreating because they are unwilling to bear the suffering of His chastisement and judgment. Therefore, whenever I saw brothers and sisters back out from this path for whatever reason, my heart would be filled with contempt toward them: There goes another puppet and traitor fleeing from the great white throne who shall receive God’s punishment. At the same time, I felt I was behaving properly in accepting God’s judgment and was not far from receiving God’s salvation.

Tribulation Inspired My Love for God | Eastern Lightning

Tribulation Inspired My Love for God | Eastern Lightning

Tribulation Inspired My Love for God

Meng Yong    Shanxi Province

I am by nature an honest person, which is why I have always been bullied by other people. As a result, I have tasted the coldness of the world of man and felt my life empty and without meaning. After I started believing in Almighty God, through the reading of God’s words and living the church life, I enjoyed an earnestness and joy in my heart I had never felt before. Seeing the brothers and sisters of the Church of Almighty God love each other like a family made me realize that only God is righteous, and that only in the Church of Almighty God is there light. Through several years of personally experiencing Almighty God’s work, I have come to truly appreciate that the words of Almighty God can indeed change people and save people. Almighty God is love, and He is salvation.

Why does one have to pray, have meetings, and read God’s words while believing in God so as to receive a new life?

The answer from God’s word:

“Prayer is one of the ways in which man cooperates with God, it is a means by which man calls upon God, and it is the process by which man is touched by God’s Spirit. It can be said that those who are without prayer are dead ones without spirit, proof that they lack the faculties to be touched by God. Without prayer, they are unable to attain a normal spiritual life, much less are they able to follow the work of the Holy Spirit; without prayer, they sever their relationship with God, and are incapable of receiving God’s approval. Being someone who believes in God, the more you pray, the more you are touched by God. Such people have greater resolution and are more able to receive the latest enlightenment from God; as a result, only people like this can be made perfect as soon as possible by the Holy Spirit.”

from “Concerning the Practice of Prayer” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Finally I Live Out a Little Like a Human | Eastern Lightning

Finally I Live Out a Little Like a Human

Xiangwang    Sichuan Province

I feel deeply chastised in my heart every time I see that God’s words say: “Cruel, brutal mankind! The conniving and intrigue, the jostling with each other, the scramble for reputation and fortune, the mutual slaughter—when will it ever end? God has spoken hundreds of thousands of words, yet no one has come to their senses. They act for the sake of their families, and sons and daughters, for their careers, prospects, status, vanity, and money, for the sake of clothes, for food and the flesh—whose actions are truly for the sake of God? Even among those whose actions are for the sake of God, there are but few who know God. How many do not act for the sake of their own interests? How many do not oppress and discriminate against others for the sake of maintaining their own status? Thus, God has been forcibly condemned to death innumerable times, countless barbaric judges have condemned God and once more nailed Him to the cross” (“The Wicked Must Be Punished” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

52 You say that God has come, but we dare not believe it. For it is written in the Bible, “Then if any man shall say to you, See, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; so that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” How should we discern the true Christ and the false ones?

The answer from God’s word:

“To study such a thing is not difficult, but requires each of us to know this truth: He who is God’s incarnation shall hold the substance of God, and He who is God’s incarnation shall hold the expression of God. Since God becomes flesh, He shall bring forth the work He must do, and since God becomes flesh, He shall express what He is, and shall be able to bring the truth to man, bestow life upon man, and show man the way. Flesh that does not contain the substance of God is surely not the incarnate God; of this there is no doubt. To investigate whether it is God’s incarnate flesh, man must determine this from the disposition He expresses and the words He speaks. Which is to say, whether or not it is God’s incarnate flesh, and whether or not it is the true way, must be judged from His substance. And so, in determining[a] whether it is the flesh of God incarnate, the key is to pay attention to His substance (His work, His words, His disposition, and many more), rather than external appearance. If man sees only His external appearance, and overlooks His substance, then that shows the ignorance and naivety of man. External appearance does not determine substance; what’s more, the work of God has never conformed with the conceptions of man. Did not the outward appearance of Jesus conflict with the conceptions of man? Were not His appearance and dress unable to provide any clues as to His true identity? Was not the reason why the earliest Pharisees opposed Jesus because they merely looked at His external appearance, and did not take to heart the words that He spoke? It is My hope that the brothers and sisters who seek the appearance of God will not repeat the tragedy of history. You must not become the Pharisees of modern times and nail God to the cross again. You should carefully consider how to welcome the return of God, and should have a clear mind of how to be someone who submits to the truth. This is the responsibility of everyone who is waiting for Jesus to return with the clouds. We should rub our spiritual eyes, and not fall prey to the words full of flights of fancy. We should think about the practical work of God, and should take a look at the real side of God. Do not get carried away or lose yourselves in daydreams, always looking forward to the day that the Lord Jesus suddenly descends among you on a cloud to take you who have never known Him or seen Him, and do not know how to do His will. It is better to think upon practical matters!”

from Preface to The Word Appears in the Flesh

IX Questions and Answers About God’s Work of Judgment in the Last Days

Question 9: We accept God’s work of the last days, but how do we experience God’s judgment and chastisement so that we can receive the truth and life, get rid of our sinful nature, and achieve salvation to enter the kingdom of heaven?

Answer: How to experience God’s judgment and chastisement to receive the truth and life, and get rid of our sinful nature to achieve salvation and enter the kingdom of heaven. This question you have raised is very important, because this relates to the major issues of man’s ending and destination. To seek this aspect of the truth, we should first read a few passages of Almighty God’s word:

“True faith in God means experiencing the words and work of God based on a belief that God holds sovereignty over all things. So you shall be freed of your corrupt disposition, shall fulfill the desire of God, and shall come to know God. Only through such a journey can you be said to believe in God” (Preface to The Word Appears in the Flesh).

“The current process of speaking is the process of conquering. How exactly should people cooperate? By eating and drinking these words effectively and understanding them. People cannot become conquered by themselves. They must, from eating and drinking these words, come to know their corruption and filth, their rebelliousness and unrighteousness, and fall down before God. If you can understand God’s will and then put it into practice and, further, have the vision, and if you can completely obey these words and not exercise any of your own choices, then you will have been conquered. And it will be these words that have conquered you” (“The Inside Truth of the Conquering Work (1)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

“Paying attention to eating and drinking God’s words, paying attention to seeking the truth and God’s intentions in His words, and finding out God’s will in all things—this is the most fundamental and crucial means of practice. … Devoting all of your mind and body to God’s words primarily involves seeking the truth and God’s intentions in His words, paying attention to finding out God’s will, and understanding and gaining more truths in God’s words. … achieving the knowledge of God’s disposition and His loveliness, and knowing the various corrupt states of man, his corrupt nature, and what he truly lacks, and fulfilling God’s various requirements of man in order to satisfy God. Peter can correctly put all these things into practice according to God’s words, and nothing will be more after God’s heart, and there will be no better cooperation in experiencing God’s work” (“How to Walk the Path of Peter” in Records of Christ’s Talks With Leaders and Workers of the Church).