The substance of most people’s belief in God is religious conviction: They are incapable of loving God, and can only follow God like a robot, unable to truly yearn for God or adore Him. They merely follow Him silently. Many people believe in God, but there are very few who love God; they only revere God because they fear catastrophe, or else they admire God because He is high and mighty—but in their reverence and admiration there is no love or true yearning.
In their experiences they seek the minutiae of the truth, or else some insignificant mysteries. Most people merely follow, they fish in murky waters only to receive blessings; they do not seek the truth, nor do they truly obey God in order to receive God’s blessings. The life of all people’s belief in God is meaningless, it is without value, and in it are their personal considerations and pursuits; they do not believe in God in order to love God, but for the sake of being blessed. Many people act as they please, they do whatever they want, and never consider the interests of God, or whether what they do is in accordance with the will of God. Such people can’t even achieve true belief, let alone the love of God. God’s substance is not just for man to believe in; it is, moreover, for man to love. But many of those who believe in God are incapable of discovering this “secret.” People don’t dare to love God, nor do they try to love Him. They have never discovered that there is so much that is lovable about God, they have never discovered that God is the God who loves man, and that He is the God who is for man to love. The loveliness of God is expressed in His work: Only when they experience His work can people discover His loveliness, only in their actual experiences can they appreciate the loveliness of God, and without observing it in real life, no one can discover God’s loveliness. There is so much to love about God, but without actually engaging with Him people are incapable of discovering it. Which is to say, if God did not become flesh, people would be incapable of actually engaging with Him, and if they were unable to actually engage with Him, they also wouldn’t be able to experience His work—and so their love of God would be tainted with much falsehood and imagination. The love of the God in heaven is not as real as the love of the God on earth, for people’s knowledge of God in heaven is built upon their imaginings, rather than upon what they have seen with their own eyes, and what they have personally experienced. When God comes to earth, people are able to behold His actual deeds and His loveliness, and they can see everything of His practical and normal disposition, all of which is thousands of times more real than the knowledge of the God in heaven. Regardless of how much people love the God in heaven, there is nothing real about this love, and it is full of human ideas. No matter how little their love for the God on earth, this love is real; even if there is only a little of it, it is still real. God causes people to know Him through real work, and through this knowledge He gains their love. It’s like Peter: If he hadn’t lived with Jesus, it would have been impossible for him to adore Jesus. So, too, was his loyalty toward Jesus built upon his engagement with Jesus. To make man love Him, God has come among man and lives together with man, and all that He makes man see and experience is the reality of God.
In their experiences they seek the minutiae of the truth, or else some insignificant mysteries. Most people merely follow, they fish in murky waters only to receive blessings; they do not seek the truth, nor do they truly obey God in order to receive God’s blessings. The life of all people’s belief in God is meaningless, it is without value, and in it are their personal considerations and pursuits; they do not believe in God in order to love God, but for the sake of being blessed. Many people act as they please, they do whatever they want, and never consider the interests of God, or whether what they do is in accordance with the will of God. Such people can’t even achieve true belief, let alone the love of God. God’s substance is not just for man to believe in; it is, moreover, for man to love. But many of those who believe in God are incapable of discovering this “secret.” People don’t dare to love God, nor do they try to love Him. They have never discovered that there is so much that is lovable about God, they have never discovered that God is the God who loves man, and that He is the God who is for man to love. The loveliness of God is expressed in His work: Only when they experience His work can people discover His loveliness, only in their actual experiences can they appreciate the loveliness of God, and without observing it in real life, no one can discover God’s loveliness. There is so much to love about God, but without actually engaging with Him people are incapable of discovering it. Which is to say, if God did not become flesh, people would be incapable of actually engaging with Him, and if they were unable to actually engage with Him, they also wouldn’t be able to experience His work—and so their love of God would be tainted with much falsehood and imagination. The love of the God in heaven is not as real as the love of the God on earth, for people’s knowledge of God in heaven is built upon their imaginings, rather than upon what they have seen with their own eyes, and what they have personally experienced. When God comes to earth, people are able to behold His actual deeds and His loveliness, and they can see everything of His practical and normal disposition, all of which is thousands of times more real than the knowledge of the God in heaven. Regardless of how much people love the God in heaven, there is nothing real about this love, and it is full of human ideas. No matter how little their love for the God on earth, this love is real; even if there is only a little of it, it is still real. God causes people to know Him through real work, and through this knowledge He gains their love. It’s like Peter: If he hadn’t lived with Jesus, it would have been impossible for him to adore Jesus. So, too, was his loyalty toward Jesus built upon his engagement with Jesus. To make man love Him, God has come among man and lives together with man, and all that He makes man see and experience is the reality of God.
God uses reality and the advent of facts to make people perfect; God’s words fulfill part of His perfection of people, and this is the work of guidance and opening the way. Which is to say, in God’s words you must find the path of practice, and must find the knowledge of visions. By understanding these things, man will have a path and visions as they actually practice, and will be able to be enlightened through God’s words, they will be able to understand that these things come from God, and able to discern much. After understanding, they must immediately enter into this reality, and must use God’s words to satisfy God in their actual life. God will guide you in all things, and will give you a path of practice, and make you feel that God is so lovely, and allow you to see that every step of God’s work in you is in order to make you perfect. If you wish to see God’s love, if you wish to truly experience God’s love, then you must go deep into reality, you must go deep into real life, and see that everything God does is love, and salvation, and so that people may leave behind that which is unclean, and in order to refine the things within them that are unable to satisfy God’s will. God uses words to provide to man whilst also creating environments in real life that allow people to experience, and if people eat and drink many of God’s words, then when they actually put them into practice, they can resolve all the difficulties in their lives using many words of God. Which is to say, you must have the words of God in order to go deep into reality; if you do not eat and drink the words of God, and are without the work of God, then you will have no path in real life. If you never eat or drink the words of God, then you will be confounded when something happens to you. You know only to love God, and are incapable of any differentiation, and have no path of practice; you are muddled and confused, and sometimes you even believe that by satisfying the flesh you are satisfying God—all of which is the consequence of not eating and drinking God’s words. Which is to say, if you are without the aid of God’s words, and only grope about within reality, then you are fundamentally incapable of finding the path of practice. People such as this simply don’t understand what it means to believe in God, much less do they understand what it means to love God. If, using the enlightenment and guidance of God’s words, you often pray, and explore, and seek, through which you discover that which you ought to put into practice, find opportunities for the work of the Holy Spirit, truly cooperate with God, and are not muddled and confused, then you will have a path in real life, and will truly satisfy God. When you have satisfied God, inside you there will be the guidance of God, and you will be especially blessed by God, which will give you a sense of enjoyment: You will feel especially honored that you have satisfied God, you will feel especially bright inside, and in your heart you will be clear and peaceful, your conscience will be comforted and free from accusations, and you will feel pleasant inside when you see your brothers and sisters. This is what it means to enjoy God’s love, and only this is truly enjoying God. People’s enjoyment of God’s love is attained through experiencing: By experiencing hardship, and experiencing putting the truth into practice, they gain God’s blessings. If you only say that God really loves you, that God has paid a heavy price in people, that He has patiently and kindly spoken so many words, and always saves people, your utterance of these words is only one side of the enjoyment of God. A more real enjoyment would be for people to put the truth into practice in their real life, after which they will be peaceful and clear in their hearts, they will feel so moved inside, and that God is so lovable. You will feel that the price you have paid is so worthwhile. Having paid a great price in your efforts, you will be especially bright inside: You will feel that you are truly enjoying God’s love, and understand that God has done the work of salvation in people, that His refinement of people is in order to purify them, and that God tries people in order to test whether they truly love Him. If you always put the truth into practice in this way, then you will gradually develop a clear knowledge of much of God’s work, and at that time you will always feel that God’s words before you are as clear as crystal. If you can clearly understand many truths, you will feel that all matters are easy to put into practice, that you can overcome this issue, and overcome that temptation, and you will see that nothing is a problem for you, which will make you so free and liberated. At this moment you will be enjoying God’s love, and God’s true love will have come upon you. God blesses those who have visions, who have the truth, who have knowledge, and who truly love Him. If people wish to behold God’s love, they must put the truth into practice in real life, they must be willing to endure pain and forsake that which they love to satisfy God, and despite the tears in their eyes, they must still be able to satisfy God’s heart. In this way, God will surely bless you, and if you endure hardship such as this, it will be followed by the work of the Holy Spirit. Through the real life, and through experiencing God’s words, people are able to see God’s loveliness, and only if they have tasted God’s love can they truly love Him.
The more you put the truth into practice, the more you are possessed of the truth; the more you put the truth into practice, the more you possess God’s love; and the more you put the truth into practice, the more you are blessed by God. If you always practice in this way, you will gradually see God’s love in you, and you will know God as Peter did: Peter said that God not only has the wisdom to create the heavens and earth and all things, but, moreover, that He also has the wisdom to do real work in people. Peter said that He is not only worthy of people’s love because of His creation of the heavens and earth and all things, but, moreover, because of His ability to create man, to save man, to make man perfect, and to bequeath His love to man. So, too, did Peter say that there is much in Him that is worthy of man’s love. Peter said to Jesus: “Are You not deserving of people’s love for much more than creating of the heavens and earth and all things? There is more in You that is lovable, You act and move in real life, Your Spirit touches me inside, You discipline me, You reproach me—these things are even more worthy of people’s love.” If you wish to see and experience God’s love, then you must explore and seek in real life, and must be willing to put aside your own flesh. You must make this resolution. You must be someone with resolve, who is able to satisfy God in all things, without being lazy, or coveting the enjoyments of the flesh, not living for the flesh but living for God. There may be times when you do not satisfy God. That’s because you don’t understand God’s will; the next time, even though it will take more effort, you must satisfy Him, and must not satisfy the flesh. When you experience in this way, you will have come to know God. You will see that God created the heavens and earth and all things, that He has become flesh so that people can really and actually see Him, and really and actually engage with Him, that He is able to walk among man, that His Spirit can make people perfect in real life, allowing them to see His loveliness and experience His discipline, His chastening, and His blessings. If you always experience in this way, in real life you will be inseparable from God, and if one day your relationship with God ceases to be normal, you will be able to suffer reproach, and capable of feeling remorse. When you have a normal relationship with God, you will never wish to leave God, and if one day God says He will leave you, you will be afraid, and will say that you would rather die than be left by God. As soon as you have these emotions, you will feel that you are incapable of leaving God, and in this way you will have a foundation, and will truly enjoy God’s love.
People often speak of letting God be their life, but they have yet to experience to that point. You are merely saying that God is your life, that He guides you every day, that you eat and drink His words each day, and you pray to Him each day, and so He has become your life. The knowledge of those who say this is so superficial. In many people there is no foundation; God’s words have been planted within them, but they have yet to sprout, much less have they borne any fruit. Today, to what extent have you experienced? Only now, after God has forced you to come this far, do you feel that you cannot leave God. One day, when you have experienced to a certain point, if God were to make you leave, you wouldn’t be able to. You will always feel that you can’t be without God inside you; you can be without a husband, wife, or children, without a family, without a mother or father, without the enjoyments of the flesh, but you can’t be without God. Being without God will be like losing your life, you won’t be able to live without God. When you have experienced to this point, you will have hit the mark in your faith in God, and in this way God will have become your life, He will have become the foundation of your existence, and you will never again be able to leave God. When you have experienced to this extent, you will have truly enjoyed God’s love, your relationship with God will be so close, God will be your life, your love, and at that time you will pray to God and say: “O God! I can’t leave You, You are my life, I can go without everything else—but without You I can’t go on living.” This is people’s true stature; it is the real life. Some people have been forced to come as far as they have today: They have to go on whether they want to or not, and they always feel like they’re between a rock and a hard place. You must experience such that God is your life, such that if God were taken away from you it would be like losing your life; God must be your life, and you must be incapable of leaving Him. In this way, you will have actually experienced God, and at this time, when you love God again, you will truly love God, and it will be a singular, pure love. One day when your experiences are such that your life has reached a certain point, you will pray to God, eat and drink the words of God, and will be unable to leave God inside, and even if you wanted to, you would not be able to forget Him. God will have become your life; you can forget the world, you can forget your wife and children, but you’ll have trouble forgetting God—that is impossible, this is your true life, and your true love for God. When people’s love of God has reached a certain point, nothing they love is equal to their love of God, He is their number one love, and in this way they are able to give up everything else, and are willing to accept all dealing and pruning from God. When you have achieved a love of God that surpasses all else, you will live in reality, and in God’s love.
As soon as God becomes the life within people, they become unable to leave God. Is this not the deed of God? There is no greater testimony! God has worked to a certain point; He has said for people to do service, and be chastised, or to die, and people have not backed away, which shows that they have been conquered by God. People who have the truth are those who, in their real experiences, can stand firm in their testimony, stand firm in their position, stand on the side of God, without ever retreating, and who can have a normal relationship with people who love God, who, when things happen to them, are able to completely obey God, and can obey God unto death. Your practice and revelations in real life are the testimony of God, they are man’s living out and the testimony of God, and this is truly enjoying God’s love; when you have experienced to this point, the due effect will have been achieved. You are possessed of actual living out and your every action is looked upon with admiration by others. Your appearance is unremarkable, but you live out a life of the utmost piety, and when you communicate the words of God, you are guided and enlightened by Him. You are able to speak God’s will through your words, communicate reality, and you understand much about serving in spirit. You are candid in your speech, you are decent and upright, non-confrontational and decorous, able to obey God’s arrangements and stand firm in your testimony when things befall you, and you are calm and composed no matter what you are dealing with. This kind of person has truly seen God’s love. Some people are still young, but they act as someone of middle age; they are mature, possessed of the truth, and admired by others—and these are the people who have testimony, and are the manifestation of God. Which is to say, when they have experienced to a certain point, inside they will have an insight toward God, and so their external disposition will also stabilize. Many people do not put the truth into practice, and do not stand firm in their testimony. In such people there is no love of God, or testimony to God, and these are the people most loathed by God. They eat and drink the words of God, but what they express is Satan, and they allow God’s words to be vilified by Satan. In people such as this there is no sign of God’s love; all that they express is of Satan. If your heart is always at peace before God, and you always pay attention to the people and things around you, and what is going on around you, and if you are mindful of God’s burden, and always have a heart that reveres God, then God will often enlighten you within. In the church there are people who are “supervisors,” they specifically watch the failings of others, and then copy and emulate them. They are incapable of differentiating, they do not hate sin, and do not loathe or feel disgusted by the things of Satan. Such people are filled with the things of Satan, and they will ultimately be utterly forsaken by God. Your heart should be ever reverent before God, you should be moderate in your words and actions and never wish to oppose or upset God. You should never be willing for God’s work in you to have been for nothing, or to allow all the hardship you have endured and all that you have put into practice to come to naught. You must be willing to work harder and to love God more on the path ahead. These are the people who have a vision as their foundation. These are the people who seek progress.
If people believe in God, and experience God’s words, with a heart that reveres God, then in such people there can be seen God’s salvation, and God’s love. These people are able to testify to God, they live out the truth, and what they testify to is also the truth, what God is, and God’s disposition, and they live amid God’s love and have seen God’s love. If people wish to love God, they must taste God’s loveliness, and see God’s loveliness; only then can there be roused in them a heart that loves God, a heart that is willing to loyally expend for God. God does not make people love Him through words and expressions, or their imagination, and He does not force people to love Him. Instead, He makes them love Him of their own volition, and He makes them see His loveliness in His work and utterances, after which there is borne in them the love of God. Only in this way can people truly bear testimony to God. People do not love God because they have been urged to do so by others, nor is it a momentary emotional impulse. They love God because they have seen His loveliness, they have seen that there is so much of Him that is worthy of people’s love, because they have seen God’s salvation, wisdom, and wondrous deeds—and as a result, they truly praise God, and truly yearn for Him, and there is roused in them such a passion that they could not survive without gaining God. The reason why those who truly testify to God are able to give a resounding testimony to Him is because their testimony is upon the foundation of the true knowledge and true yearning for God. It is not according to an emotional impulse, but according to the knowledge of God and His disposition. Because they have come to know God, they feel that they must surely testify to God, and make all those who yearn for God know God, and be aware of God’s loveliness, and His realness. Like people’s love for God, their testimony is spontaneous, it is real, and has real significance and worth. It is not passive, or hollow and meaningless. The reason why only those who truly love God have the most value and meaning in their lives, and only they truly believe in God, is because these people live in God’s light, they are able to live for God’s work and management; they do not live in darkness, but live in the light; they do not live meaningless lives, but lives that have been blessed by God. Only those who love God are able to testify to God, only they are God’s witnesses, only they are blessed by God, and only they are able to receive God’s promises. Those who love God are God’s intimates, they are the people beloved by God, and they can enjoy blessings together with God. Only people such as this will live to eternity, and only they will forever live under God’s care and protection. God is for people to love, and He is worthy of all people’s love, but not all people are capable of loving God, and not all people can testify to God and hold power with God. Because they are able to testify to God, and devote all their efforts to God’s work, those who truly love God can walk anywhere beneath the heavens without anyone daring to oppose them, and they can wield power on earth and rule all the people of God. These people have come together from across the world, they speak different languages and have different skin colors, but their existence has the same meaning, they all have a heart that loves God, they all bear the same testimony, and have the same resolve, and the same wish. Those who love God can walk freely throughout the world, those who testify to God can travel across the universe. These people are beloved by God, they are blessed by God, and they will forever live in His light.
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