Entering the right track of belief in God also requires you to possess a God-fearing heart. First off, speaking with respect to status, people are created beings, and are very lowly; God is the Creator, the Most High. Speaking with respect to human reason, what do people need to do to fear God? For example, say something happens to you, and you think that acting one way is at odds with the truth, but you do not know what you should do to be in harmony with God’s will. If you have a God-fearing heart, what should you do? You must pray to God, seek the truth, find the path of practicing the truth, and then act. If someone does not have a God-fearing heart, how will they behave? They will do whatever they want, thinking: “In any case, my intent is good, so it’s fine if I do this.” They do not do what other people advise, nor do they listen to anyone else; they decide to do whatever they plan for themselves, and not even nine oxen can pull them back. Is this a person who has a God-fearing heart? (It is not.) There are some people who, although they know that God likes honest people and that they cannot lie, still think that in some matter, if they tell the truth, their face will be shamed, their profit will be lost, and maybe their status will not be maintained. They think back and forth and still lie, thinking: “Lying once doesn’t amount to anything, and it’s not as though I’m always lying. Even if I lie, I don’t see any consequences, so if I lie once more it will be fine.” After calculating it out, they decide to act, and they feel no reproach in their heart, nor do they want to pray and accept God’s scrutiny. Is this a person who has a God-fearing heart? (It is not.) So if there is a person who does have a God-fearing heart, how will they behave? (They will not act recklessly or willfully.) These two words are quite suitable. So how do you put not acting recklessly or willfully into practice? (We should have a seeking heart.) When confronted with a problem, some people do seek an answer from others, but when the other person speaks according to the truth, they don’t accept it, they are not able to obey, and in their hearts, they think, “I’m normally better than him. If I listen to his suggestion this time, won’t it look like he’s superior to me? No, I can’t listen to him on this matter. I’ll just do it my way.” Then they find a reason and an excuse to shoot down the other person’s point of view. What kind of disposition is it when a person sees someone who is better than them and they try to bring them down, spreading rumors about them, or employing despicable means to denigrate them and undermine their reputation—even trampling all over them—in order to protect their own place in people’s minds? This is not just arrogance and conceit, it is the disposition of Satan, it is a malicious disposition. That this person can attack and alienate people who are better and stronger than them is insidious and wicked. And that they will stop at nothing to bring people down shows that there is much of a devil in them! Living by the disposition of Satan, they are liable to belittle people, to try to stitch them up, to make things hard for them. Is this not evildoing? And living like this, they still think they’re okay, that they’re a good person—yet when they see someone better than them, they are liable to give them a hard time, to trample all over them. What is the issue here? Are people who are capable of committing such evil deeds not unscrupulous and willful? Such people only think of their own interests, they only consider their own feelings, and all they want is to achieve their own desires, ambitions, and aims. They don’t care how much damage they cause to the work of the church, and they would prefer to sacrifice the interests of the house of God to protect their status in people’s minds and their own reputation. Are people like this not arrogant and self-righteous, selfish and vile? Such people are not only arrogant and self-righteous, they are also extremely selfish and vile. They are not mindful of God’s will at all. Do such people have God-fearing hearts? They do not have God-fearing hearts at all. This is why they act wantonly and do whatever they want, without any sense of blame, without any trepidation, without any apprehension or worry, and without considering the consequences. This is what they often do, and how they have always behaved. What is the nature of such behavior? To put it lightly, such people are far too jealous and have too strong a desire for personal reputation and status; they are too deceitful and insidious. To put it more harshly, the essence of the problem is that such people have no God-fearing heart at all. They are not frightened of God, they believe themselves to be of utmost importance, and they regard every aspect of themselves as being higher than God and higher than the truth. In their hearts, God is not worthy of mention and is insignificant, and God does not have any status in their hearts at all. Can those who have no place for God in their hearts, and who do not have God-fearing hearts, put the truth into practice? Absolutely not. So, when they typically go around merrily keeping themselves busy and exerting quite a lot of energy, what are they doing? Such people even claim to have abandoned everything to expend for God and suffered a great deal, but actually, the motive, principle, and objective of all their actions are for the sake of their own status and prestige, of protecting all of their interests. Would you or would you not say that this sort of person is terrible? What kind of people have believed in God for many years, yet have no God-fearing hearts? Are they not arrogant? Are they not Satans? And what things most lack a God-fearing heart? Apart from the beasts, it is the evil and the antichrists, Satan and the devils’ ilk. They don’t accept the truth at all; they are entirely without a God-fearing heart. They are capable of any evil; they are the enemies of God, and the enemies of His chosen people.

In which matters in your daily lives do you have a God-fearing heart? And in which matters do you not? Are you able to hate someone when they offend you or impinge on your interests? And when you hate someone, are you capable of punishing them and getting revenge? (Yes.) Then you are quite scary! If you do not have a God-fearing heart, and are able to do evil things, then this vicious disposition of yours is far too severe! Love and hatred are things which normal humanity should possess, but you must differentiate clearly between what you love and what you hate. In your heart, you should love God, love the truth, love positive things, and love your brothers and sisters, whereas you should hate Satan and devils, hate negative things, hate antichrists, and hate evil people. If you are capable of suppressing and taking revenge on your brothers and sisters out of hatred, this would be very frightening, and this is the disposition of an evil person. Some people simply have hateful thoughts and ideas—evil ideas, but they would never do anything evil. These are not evil people because when something happens, they are able to seek the truth, and they pay attention to the principles in how they conduct themselves and deal with things. When interacting with others, they do not ask more of them than they should; if they get along with the person well, they will keep interacting with them; if they do not get along, then they won’t. It barely affects the performance of their duty or their life entry. God is in their heart and they have a God-fearing heart. They are unwilling to offend God, and are afraid to do so. Though these people might harbor certain incorrect thoughts and ideas, they are able to rebel against and abandon them. They exercise restraint in their actions, and do not utter a single word that is out of line, or which offends God. Someone who speaks and acts this way is someone who has principles and who practices the truth. Your personality might be incompatible with another person’s, and you may not like them, but when you work together with them, you remain impartial and will not vent your frustrations in doing your duty, or take out your frustrations on the interests of God’s family; you can handle affairs according to principles. What is this a manifestation of? It is a manifestation of having a basic God-fearing heart. If you have a bit more than that, when you see that someone else has some inadequacies or weaknesses, then even if they have offended you or have a bias against you, you still have it in you to treat them correctly and lovingly help them. This means there is love in you, that you are a person who possesses humanity, that you are someone who is kind and who can practice the truth, that you are an honest person who possesses truth realities, and that you are someone with a God-fearing heart. If you are still of small stature but you have a will, and are willing to strive for the truth, and to strive to do things according to principle, and you are able to deal with things and act toward others with principle, then this also counts as having somewhat of a God-fearing heart; this is most fundamental. If you cannot even achieve this, and cannot restrain yourself, then you are in great danger and are quite frightening. If you were given a position, you could punish people and give them a hard time; you would then be liable to turn into an antichrist at any moment. Regardless of whether a person is good or bad, no matter how they believe in God or what path they walk, they will be revealed in a matter of years. You must treat them in a principled way, no matter what their outcome might be, whether they ought to be punished or rewarded—that is a matter for God. As long as you are able to discern and treat them according to principles, that will do. No matter who you are dealing with, as long as God has not determined what sort of outcome such people will have, the church has not expelled them, and God has not punished them, and they are being saved, you should help them patiently, out of love; you should not determine the outcome of such people, nor should you use human means to punish them. If they have revelations of corruption, you may prune such people, or you may honestly open your heart and engage in fellowship to help them. However, if you contemplate punishing, ostracizing, and framing these people, trying to right wrongs in Heaven’s name, then you will be in trouble. Would doing so be in line with the truth? Having such thoughts would result from being hot-blooded; those thoughts come from Satan and originate from human resentment, as well as from human jealousy and loathing. Such conduct does not conform to the truth. This is something that would bring down retribution upon you, and you must not do it. Are you capable of thinking up various ways to punish people because they are not to your liking or because they do not get along with you? Have you ever done that sort of thing before? How much of it have you done? Were you not always indirectly belittling people, making cutting remarks, and being sarcastic toward them? What states were you in when you were doing such things? At the time, you were venting, and felt happy; you had gained the upper hand. Afterward, however, you thought to yourselves, “I did such a despicable thing. I do not have a God-fearing heart, and I have treated that person so unfairly.” Deep down, did you feel guilty? (Yes.) Though you don’t have a God-fearing heart, you at least have some sense of conscience. Thus, are you still capable of doing this kind of thing again in the future? Can you still attack and seek revenge against people whenever you despise them and fail to get along with them, or whenever they do not obey or listen to you? What sort of humanity is possessed by a person who does such a thing? In terms of their humanity, they are malicious. Measured against the truth, they do not have a God-fearing heart. In their speech and actions, they have no principles; they act wantonly, saying and doing whatever they please. Do such people have truth realities? Of course not; the answer is “no,” one hundred percent. Can a person who does not have a God-fearing heart truly submit to Him and worship Him? They absolutely cannot.

Some people say: “When I see disasters come, I frequently pray to God, I dare not leave God at any moment, and I ask for God’s guidance and protection. As I walk the road alone at night, when danger comes upon me, I always rely on God, I dare not leave Him, and I ask Him to help me. When I do my duty, my heart constantly prays to God and asks things of Him, so that He will not let me be perfunctory, and so that He will take command. I have tried before, and if God is not working, then I can do nothing, and I myself have nothing.” Is this a person who has a God-fearing heart? (No.) Is it a mistake to rely on God? Is it a mistake to ask God for protection? The words spoken here are not mistaken, but this kind of state is abnormal. It means that you only find God because you have nothing to support you and nowhere to go, you are compelled and have no choice in the matter, and you want to use God to do things for you in order to accomplish your goals. Is that fearing God? Once you have no problems, you will already have completely forgotten about God. When you are happiest, when you are flushed with success, when your status is elevated above everyone else so that they flatter and worship you, how is it that you do not then also rely on God? How is it that you do not accept God’s scrutiny or seek His guidance? How is it that you do not ask God whether or not all you do conforms to His will? When you do evil, when you exalt and testify of yourself, how do you not ask God whether or not this conforms to His will? How is it that you do not self-reflect, nor rely on God to restrain yourself? What kind of problem is this? What are all these states called? Not having a God-fearing heart. Can a person who does not have a God-fearing heart do their duty well? Can they become a truly good person? Can they enter into the truth reality? (No, they cannot.) They really cannot. Without a God-fearing heart, they absolutely cannot do their duty well, nor can they put the truth into practice or submit to God, even if they want to. Without a God-fearing heart, it is not easy to practice the truth. If they want to do their duty well, there will certainly be too many difficulties and disturbances, and they cannot successfully put the truth into practice. Right now, you must calm your hearts and think for a moment. Based on your current stature, it is still very difficult for you to do your duty to an acceptable standard, because the majority of you only have a grasp of the words, doctrines, and the regulations, as well as possess some personal desires, ideals, and enthusiasm. But your starting point and your standards of practice are not established on the foundation of the word of God. You still have not truly entered into the truth reality; you are only abiding by the regulations. If you do not pursue the truth, it will be very dangerous for you in the future. If you believe in God but do not practice the truth or submit to God, then sooner or later, you will be eliminated. Whether a person believes truly or falsely is not calculated in years; just because you have believed in God for many years, for a long time, doesn’t mean that you believe truly, and that God will approve of you. In the end, God will not acknowledge people who do not practice the truth. He will reveal and eliminate them. You ought to understand this.

We just fellowshipped on four conditions that must be met in order to embark on the right track of believing in God. But there is one more, final condition, which is the most crucial of all, and is also something you often say. Ponder for a moment what it might be. (To love God.) For now, we will not touch on loving God, which most people fall far short of. Let us touch on something more practical and real, which involves a truth that people can actually live up to. (To submit to God.) Correct. It is having a heart of submission to God. Most of the time, when things befall people, they actually do not know the correct principles of practice, nor do they know which direction to face or which goal to work toward. But there is an issue here with their attitude and state: They must have a heart of submission to God. This is what people most need to possess. For example: Say something happens to you, and you do not know what to do, nor have you heard anyone else say what to do. This matter might not be in line with your notions and imaginings, and might not really be to your taste; so there is some resistance in your heart, and you are a bit upset. So, what should you do? There is one simplest way to practice, which is to first be submissive. Submission is not an outward action or saying, nor is it a verbal claim—there is a state that lies within it. This should not be unfamiliar to you. Based on your own real experiences, how do you think people talk, act, and think, and what state and attitude do they have, when they truly submit? (With the things they do not yet understand, they first set aside their notions and imaginings. They seek the truth and God’s will. If they still do not understand after seeking, then they learn to wait on God’s timing.) This is one aspect of it. What else? (When they are pruned, they do not reason or try to defend themselves.) This is another aspect of this state. Some people, although they do not reason or defend themselves to your face, are nevertheless full of complaints and discontent. They do not say it to your face, but talk carelessly behind your back, spreading it everywhere. Is this a submissive attitude? (It is not.) So what, exactly, is a submissive attitude? First off, you must have a positive attitude: When you are pruned, you do not analyze right and wrong at first—you just accept it, with a submissive heart. For example, someone might say that you did something wrong. Although you do not understand in your heart, and you do not know what you did wrong, you nevertheless accept it. Acceptance is primarily a positive attitude. Additionally, there is an attitude which is slightly more negative, which is to maintain silence and not offer any resistance. What kind of behaviors does this entail? You do not reason, defend yourself, or make objective excuses for yourself. If you always make excuses and offer reasons for yourself, and push the responsibility onto other people, is that resistance? That is a disposition of rebellion. You should not reject, resist, or reason. Even if you reason correctly, is that the truth? It is an objective excuse of man, not the truth. Right now, I am not asking you about objective excuses—why things happened, or how they came about. Rather, I am saying that the nature of your actions is not in line with the truth. If you have knowledge on this level, you will really be able to accept and not resist. First having a submissive attitude when things befall you is key. There are some people who always reason and defend themselves after they are faced with pruning: “I am not the only one to blame for this, so how did the responsibility get pushed onto my head? Why is no one speaking on my behalf? Why am I alone taking responsibility for this? This really is an ‘everyone reaps the benefits, but only one person takes the blame’ kind of situation. I am so unlucky!” What kind of emotion is this? This is resistance. Although on the outside they nod their head and admit their mistake, and they accept it with their words, they complain in their heart, “If you’re going to prune me then do it, but why do you have to speak so harshly? You’re criticizing me in front of so many people, but where am I supposed to put my face? You’re not dealing with me with love! I just made a small mistake, so why do you keep talking endlessly?” Thus, they resist and reject this treatment in their heart, stubbornly opposing it, and they are unreasonable and argumentative. Someone who has these thoughts and feelings is clearly resistant and antagonistic, so how can they have a truly submissive attitude? When faced with pruning, what actions constitute an accepting, submissive attitude? At the very least, you must be sensible and possess reason. You must first submit, and must not resist or reject it, and you must treat it with rationality. This way, you will have the bare minimum of reason. If you want to attain acceptance and submission, you must understand the truth. It is no simple thing to understand the truth. First, you must accept things from God: At the very least, you must know that being pruned is something God allows to happen to you, or it comes from God. Regardless of whether or not the pruning is totally reasonable, you should possess an accepting, submissive attitude. This is a manifestation of submission to God, and at the same time, it is also an acceptance of God’s scrutiny. If you just reason and defend yourself, thinking that the pruning comes from man and not from God, then your understanding is flawed. For one thing, you have not accepted God’s scrutiny, and for another, you have neither a submissive attitude nor submissive behavior in the environment that God has set up for you. This is someone who does not submit to God. Some people do not accept the truth or self-reflect when they are faced with pruning; they just blindly follow the regulations. Their actions clearly violate principles, and they put all of the blame onto Satan. They say: “Serves it right! Who let this old Satan blindly show itself, blindly act, blindly disrupt things, and blindly create disturbances? Satan should be pruned, made too ashamed to show its face, and humiliated! Satan should take responsibility for this; it has nothing to do with me! All the blame should go to Satan!” Then, their heart will be pleased, and they will think they have been victorious over Satan. Is this way of thinking not preposterous? Obviously, they themselves did something wrong, and they say Satan did it. So was it actually them, or was it Satan? (It was they themselves who did it.) Do they truly understand that they are Satan? (They do not.) So do they actually hate Satan, or themselves? They do not say clearly. In short, someone who does not accept being pruned is someone who is not submissive to God at all. Submission is the hardest lesson to learn of all. For the majority of people, when something happens to them that is in line with their own notions and imaginings, and in line with their own tastes, they feel pretty good, so they are pleased to submit, and everything goes smoothly. Their hearts are at ease and at peace, and they are happy and pleased. But when they encounter something that is not in line with their own notions, or something that is disadvantageous to them, they cannot submit even though they know they should. They feel pain, they have no choice but to suffer in silence, and they find it hard to talk about their difficulties. They feel depressed, and are filled with grievances that have no place to go, so their hearts seethe: “The others are right. They have higher status than me; how can I not listen to them? I may as well accept my fate. I’ll have to be more careful next time and not stick my neck out—people who stick their necks out get pruned. Submission is not easy. It is very hard! The fire of my enthusiasm has been doused with a bucket of cold water. I wanted to be simple and open, but the result was that I kept saying the wrong thing, and I kept being pruned. In the future, I will keep quiet, and be a people pleaser.” What kind of attitude is this? This is going from one extreme to the other. What is the ultimate goal of God letting people learn the lesson of submission? No matter how many wrongs and pains you suffer at the time, how much you are shamed, or how much injury you suffer to your face, vanity, or reputation, these are all secondary. The most important thing is to turn your state around. What state? Under normal circumstances, a kind of intransigent and rebellious state exists in the depths of people’s hearts—which is chiefly because, in their hearts, they have a certain kind of human logic and set of human notions, which are: “As long as my intentions are right, it doesn’t matter what the outcome is; you shouldn’t prune me, and if you do, I don’t have to obey.” They do not reflect on whether their actions are in line with the truth principles, or what the consequences will be. What they stick to is always, “As long as my intentions are good and right, God should accept me. Even if the outcome is not good, you must not prune me, much less ought you to condemn me.” This is human reasoning, is it not? These are the notions of man, are they not? Man always fixates on their own reasoning—is there any submission in it? You have made your own reasoning the truth and put the truth to one side. You believe that that which agrees with your reasoning is the truth, and that which doesn’t is not. Is there anyone more ridiculous? Is there anyone more arrogant and self-righteous? Which corrupt disposition must be resolved in order to learn the lesson of submission? It is actually the disposition of arrogance and self-righteousness, which is the greatest impediment to people practicing the truth and submitting to God. People with an arrogant and self-righteous disposition are most inclined to reasoning and disobedience, they always think they’re right, and so nothing is more urgent than resolving and pruning one’s arrogant and self-righteous disposition. Once people become well-behaved and stop reasoning on their own behalf, the problem of rebelliousness will be solved, and they will be capable of submission. If people are to be able to attain submission, do they not need to be possessed of a certain degree of rationality? They must be possessed of a normal person’s reason. In some matter, for example, regardless of whether we have done the right thing or not, if God is not satisfied, we should do as He says, and treat His words as the standard for everything. Is this rational? Such is the reason that ought to be found in people before anything else. No matter how much we suffer, and no matter what our intentions, aims, and reasons are, if God is not satisfied—if His requirements have not been met—then our actions have unquestionably not been in line with the truth, so we must listen to and submit to God, and we should not try to reason or rationalize with Him. When you possess such rationality, when you possess a normal person’s reason, it is easy to solve your problems, and you will be truly submissive. No matter what situation you are in, you will not be rebellious, and will not defy God’s requirements; you will not analyze whether what God asks is right or wrong, good or bad, and you will be able to obey—thus solving your state of reasoning, intransigence, and rebelliousness. Does everyone have these rebellious states within them? These states often appear in people, and they think to themselves, “As long as my approach, propositions, and suggestions are sensible, then even if I violate the truth principles, I should not be pruned, because I have not committed evil.” This is a common state in people. Their view is that if they have not committed evil, they should not be pruned; only people who have committed evil should be pruned. Is this view correct? Definitely not. Pruning is chiefly aimed at people’s corrupt dispositions. If someone has a corrupt disposition, they should be pruned. If they were only pruned after committing evil, it would already be too late, for the trouble would have already been caused. If God’s disposition has been offended, then you’re in trouble, and God may cease to work in you—in which case, what is the point in pruning you? There is no choice but to reveal and eliminate you. The main difficulty that prevents people from submitting to God is their arrogant disposition. If people are truly able to accept judgment and chastisement, they will be able to effectively resolve their own arrogant disposition. No matter the degree to which they are able to resolve it, this is beneficial to practicing the truth and submitting to God. Acceptance of judgment and chastisement is, above all, in order to resolve one’s corrupt disposition, in order to be saved by God. And if people are truly able to attain absolute submission to God, need they still experience judgment and chastisement? Need they still experience pruning? They need not, for their corrupt dispositions have already been resolved. When faced with the judgment, chastisement, and pruning of God, people always love to reason on their own behalf. No matter how much reasoning you do, none of it is the truth; it does not mean your corrupt disposition has been fixed, much less that you are truly submissive to God. So there’s no point in reasoning; solving the problem is what’s most important.

If someone does not have a heart of submission to God, they are in trouble. Sometimes God arranges circumstances for you that are not like you imagined they would be, so you resist. For example, say you are someone who loves cleanliness, and does not like sloppy, slovenly people; you think these people are disgusting when you see them. Are you able to keep yourself under control? What should you do? First, you need to have a correct attitude. What attitude? (A submissive attitude.) How do you submit? What inner thoughts constitute a submissive attitude? What constitutes the reality of submission? When you encounter this kind of thing, there must be mutual adjustment. None of this is a problem. In a person’s lifetime, nine out of ten things are not in line with their wishes. You might dislike this thing or that thing, and no matter what happens to you, you always reason on your own behalf and complain that God is unfair to you. In reality, this is your own problem, so do not make a fuss over nothing. When you have believed in God for a long time and have many experiences with failure, then you will know that you are not really respectable, no better than anyone else. Thinking of how you used to believe you were better, loftier, and more honorable than others, you will feel very foolish! When a person understands a little truth, they have more reason than before, so it is easy for them to accept the truth, and it is easy for them to seek the truth and submit to God when something happens to them. You must learn how to adjust to your environment. Believers in God must first have this knowledge: There are people in the church from every land, and every land has different customs and habits. These things do not represent the quality of one’s humanity; even if a person’s life habits are good, normal, and regulated, and they have a noble character, it does not mean that they understand the truth. You must understand this and have a positive understanding of it. Additionally, your own flaws are many, and you are too finicky. God gives you an environment that is good for you, so you must learn to adjust to it, not nitpick other people’s flaws, and moreover, get along with others with love, get close to them, see and learn their strengths, and then pray to God to help you overcome your own flaws. This is a submissive attitude and practice. If you dislike other people too much, and it impacts you doing your duty, then you should get some distance from them, and not meddle with them. What is meddling? It is when you say: “I have to change this flaw of theirs—if it doesn’t change, I won’t let it go!” What kind of a way to behave is this? It is insolent, arrogant, and ignorant. Do not be this kind of person. We are all ordinary people; we do not look special. We each have a head, two eyes, a nose, and a mouth. Whether we are eating, walking, or working, we are all the same, with no differences; we are also not better than others, so we should not see ourselves as respectable or great. Even if you have a little skill or talent, there is nothing to boast about. First off, you must set your position straight, and when you encounter matters, you must look at them based on God’s words, then you will not make a fuss over nothing. If something special happens to you, and you really cannot submit, and it impacts doing your duty, then you should pray to God and seek the truth to resolve it. We do not insert ourselves where we do not belong. All things have God’s good intention. He trains people through all kinds of circumstances, causing them to receive tempering and learn to submit, and in the end, this tempering bears fruit: They are able to fear God and shun evil, satisfy God, and then they have a real change. To pursue the truth, you must first have the will to suffer, and you must learn to submit to your circumstances. Oftentimes, your circumstances are not so simple; you can come into contact with all kinds of people and encounter all kinds of strange things. No matter what happens to you, do not rely on your own will or impetuousness, but come before God in prayer. To do this, you must first have a submissive attitude, which is an inner quality that all normal people ought to possess. Additionally, if you pray and ask God to act, and He does not act or open a way out for you, then you must also submit. You should continue living in this kind of circumstance, letting God orchestrate you, and not forcing things by your own hand and walking before God. This is the only way to live a valuable life. The reality of submitting to God is not so easy to enter into, because no one lives in a vacuum. Looking at their lives, each person has their own habits and their own subjective thoughts, desires, and wishes. Looking at objective conditions, no one can totally conform to your will in their words and actions. Thus, the most essential lesson is to allow everyone to learn how to submit to their circumstances, and to seek God’s will in the life circumstances that befall them. Whether your life circumstances are good or bad, comfortable or poor, there are lessons you should learn. Those who covet comfort and ease must learn the lessons of submission and suffering; they must achieve the ability to survive in any circumstances, to do their duty well and stand firm in their testimony. Only then can they satisfy God’s will. Is this kind of life circumstance not orchestrated and arranged by God? Everyone yearns for a good life, but if they live in circumstances that are too comfortable and ideal, without suffering anything at all, then will they be able to submit to God and testify of Him? When God arranges some difficulties and poor circumstances for you, whether or not you are able to be submissive is the key question. If everyone is able to take God’s will into consideration under these circumstances and practice according to His requirements, then you have to endure all the things you are unwilling to see, the things you do not like; moreover, you have to not be constrained by these things and be able to do your duty normally. Experiencing this way will make your life grow. Some people say: “If others don’t practice the truth, then I won’t practice the truth, either. If they don’t submit, then why should I submit? If they have no tolerance, then why should I? Why do I always have to do the things they don’t do? Why should I always have to be the one to put in so much effort? I’m not going to do it, either.” What about this attitude? Your practice of the truth is your own business; it is a matter that is between you and God, and has nothing to do with anyone else. No one else has any obligation to cooperate with you. You are you, they are they. If they do not practice the truth and do not enter the truth reality, then, in the end, they will be the ones to be abandoned, not you, and you will not lose out. Would people who submit to God lose out? They would not lose out. If you cannot fathom this, then you are just too stupid!

As to the matter of life entry, even though it is just a few words of fellowship, if you sincerely accept them, are able to put them into practice in your real life, and make them your reality, then I will not have spoken in vain. So, no matter what aspect of reality it is, and even when it is just a few words, if the truth makes it into your heart, and if you practice it as the truth, then it will take root, flower, and bear fruit inside you. It will become your life, and you will be able to live it out, and bring it to fruition. This is a good result. If I were to fellowship with you every day, but however much I said, you did not make anything of it—if no one were to allow it into their heart, still did whatever they wanted, acted wantonly and recklessly, did not listen to what I said, and still lived according to their own will, imaginings, and notions—then would I not be speaking in vain? It does not matter how many words I speak to you about this—what matters is whether or not you diligently listen, accept, and practice them. The truth is really and truly the life of man. It is not a branch of scholarship, nor is it knowledge, nor a folk tradition, nor an argument—it is the life of man. It can allow you to escape from Satan’s bonds, to be free of your corrupt disposition, to live with strength and greater power, to live more comfortably, and to live with a direction and goal. The truth can really become man’s life. If you do not believe Me, then go experience it and put it into practice for a while, see whether or not there are results, and then you will know. If you often feel weak and negative, then all I can say is that you have not yet obtained the truth. If you had obtained the truth, you would not be in this state right now, so helpless, weak, and frail; you would not be negative so often, nor so often stuck at a crossroads, not knowing where to go. That is one hundred percent sure! Do you understand? (Yes.)

Right now, we have finished fellowshipping on the five conditions that must be met to embark on the right track of belief in God. What are those five conditions? (First, one must possess an honest heart; second, one must have a heart that loves the truth; third, one must have a conscience and reason; fourth, one must possess a God-fearing heart; fifth, one must have a heart of submission to God.) Remember these five conditions, fellowship about them and pray-read them when there is nothing else going on. See which truth principles you have put into practice during this time, whether or not your words and actions are honest, whether or not you have a God-fearing heart, whether or not you have an honest heart as you do your duty, whether or not you have a perfunctory state, whether or not you have thoughts of slacking off, shirking responsibility, or being deceptive, and whether or not you seek and are submissive to all God’s requirements. You must examine this periodically. Only by attaining results will your life progress.

September 15, 2015