Fellowship From the Brother Above – January 15, 2026 (Part Eight)

Question 12: There are some brothers and sisters who, after they are elected as members of the district decision-making group, cannot devote more time and energy to their duty due to work pressures, family responsibilities, and obligations to their families. How can we better help them so that they can shoulder this commission?

Answer: To be a leader or a worker, you must meet two conditions: For one thing, you must possess good caliber and have comprehension ability, and for another, you must pursue the truth. Only those who pursue the truth and have comprehension ability can forsake everything to expend themselves for God. If those who serve as leaders and workers cannot forsake everything, how can they do this duty well? So, what conditions must you meet to be able to forsake everything? First, you must possess good caliber and have comprehension ability. Second, you must possess the resolve to pursue the truth. You must view the truth as the most precious treasure before you can forsake all things of the flesh. If someone does not meet these two conditions, it will be very difficult for them to forsake everything, and if they cannot forsake everything, they certainly cannot do the work of a leader or a worker well. This is because the work done by leaders and workers is entirely the work of fellowshipping on the truth and resolving problems; they must seek the truth in all things. No matter what difficulties they encounter, they must pray to God and look to God, and they must also cooperate with the brothers and sisters. This involves a lot of detailed work that requires effort. Sometimes, before they even get to eat or go to sleep, they have to ponder, “What difficulties and problems have arisen in the work? How can I see through to the root of these difficulties and problems? How should I fellowship on the truth to resolve them?” Constantly pondering these problems requires both energy and time. If you cannot forsake everything, you will not be able to find this energy and time, and you will certainly not be able to do church work well. Therefore, those who are leaders suffer more and pay a greater price, but this is also God perfecting them, and it signifies that they are going to embark upon the path of pursuing the truth and being perfected. So, if you want to embark upon this path, you must pursue the truth, forsake everything to do your duty well, and suffer and pay a price; no matter how God works, you must cooperate. You must know that the duty of a leader or a worker is the most suitable duty for embarking on the path of being perfected. In addition, preaching the gospel and sharing testimonies can also enable people to embark on the path of being perfected. These two duties are the most important. There is also text-based duty. These three duties are all work that directly involves the truth. Leaders and workers must always train in using the truth to resolve problems; their stature grows a little with every problem they resolve. In preaching the gospel and sharing testimony, you must fellowship on the truth every day to refute and resolve people’s notions, and to refute people’s ridiculous and absurd views on belief in God. Every time you share a testimony, you can gain something. Doing text-based work also involves the truth principles. Every time you edit an experiential testimony article or write a script, you can gain some understanding of an aspect of the truth. Therefore, doing any of these kinds of work requires you to understand the truth principles. Violating the truth principles will not do, as it will lead you to easily make mistakes. So, in this process, you must always seek the truth principles. When there are problems or difficulties, God will fellowship with you and provide instruction, and I will do the same. After all these rounds of fellowship, think of how many more words of fellowshipping on the truth you will have heard, and how much more enlightenment and illumination you will have gained! These gains will be more detailed and practical. Through doing these duties, you will gain much more truth than others without even realizing it. If you do not do these duties, and rely only on reading God’s words yourself and experiencing things on your own, then your gains will be limited no matter how you experience things. Is that not so? (Yes.) For example, I now hold gatherings and fellowship with God’s chosen people from around the world. At most, we meet once every two weeks, so what people can understand from what they hear is limited. But if you were leaders or workers, I would have to fellowship with you more often in general, fellowshipping with you on how to do the work, directly telling you the paths to resolving your real problems and difficulties, and even pruning you directly. In that case, how much more truth would you gain, and how many more truth principles would you understand than others? Are these not special gains? (They are.) Could you hear and gain so many truth principles by doing other duties? There are some truth principles you can understand and gain from God’s words, but there are others that you won’t be able to grasp just by reading God’s words yourself, and so you will not gain them. Therefore, being a leader or a worker allows you to gain many practical things as a benefit. Although you take on great work, endure much suffering, pay more of a price, and encounter more pruning, do you know how great your gains are? Do you know how great the blessings you receive are? You gain so much more than ordinary brothers and sisters. Have you seen this fact? (Yes.) So, do not be unwilling to do this duty just because being a leader or a worker involves great suffering. You must see clearly how many more truths you can gain by doing this duty. Is it worth suffering a little more? (It is.) When you see that you have obtained so many truths and so many gains from your experiences over these years, and that you have been perfected by God, you will completely forget all the suffering you endured in this process. You will no longer feel this suffering was bitter; all that will remain in your heart is the sweetness of gaining the truth. At that time, you will say, “Thank goodness I became a leader or a worker. It was so fortunate that I took on this work and did this duty. I have gained so much as a benefit! If I had just been an ordinary believer, I would not have gained these truths even if I had believed for another ten years!” Therefore, being a leader or a worker is the most blessed thing. Ordinary people who do not pursue the truth cannot receive such blessings. Some people, after being elected as leaders, keep finding excuses to decline, saying, “I’m afraid of hardship and working myself tired, I don’t have the time, and I cannot forsake the things of the flesh.” Such people are short-sighted. One day, when they see that the things of the flesh have ruined them, they will regret it. They will say, “Oh, all these years of enjoying the comforts of the flesh have held me back and harmed me a lot. I have gained too few truths and cannot attain salvation! If I had chosen to be a leader or a worker back then, wouldn’t I have gained more truths?” Regret will be useless then. It is like some people now, who go off to find a partner and live their lives. One day, they will say, “Finding a partner back then was the worst choice. How many truths have I missed out on gaining in these few years! If I had known, I would not have found a partner.” It will be too late for them to wake up then, as there will not be that much time left. Some people ruin themselves because they indulge in family and fleshly life and do not do their duty earnestly. For example, there are some people in mainland China who have gifts and skills. Some can write articles, and some can write scripts and direct. If they could come overseas to do these duties, they would gain many more truths than they could in the mainland. But some people are unwilling to forsake their families and the enjoyments of the flesh to go abroad to do their duty and pursue the truth, and later they are arrested by the great red dragon. After being arrested, they are tortured, and their suffering is even greater then. If you refuse to sell out the church no matter what, the CCP, that evil devil, will really beat you to the point of death. People without the truth cannot stand firm. Some people become weak; fearing death and fleshly suffering, they sign the Three Statements and are then released. Tell me, do they have joy and peace on their way home? (No.) Their pain on the way home is heavier than the pain the Lord Jesus felt when He carried the cross! Although the Lord Jesus suffered extreme pain in His flesh when He carried the cross, God was with Him, so He had strength in His heart, along with peace and joy. But when someone signs the Three Statements, it is equivalent to shoving open the gates of hell and walking straight into hell. That kind of pain is indescribable. After returning home, they hold their heads and cry bitterly, “It’s over. I signed the Three Statements and denied God. God doesn’t want me anymore. My ten-plus years of faith have been in vain! What should I do?” They have no path left, and they get a taste of what it’s like when living is worse than dying and every day feels like a year. Tell me, if someone does not pursue the truth and only feels regret when they are eliminated, isn’t it too late for them? (It is.) Now, you have a good opportunity—God has exalted you to be elected as leaders and workers. Is this not a good thing? (It is.) This gives you the opportunity to train and be perfected. Many of you are still so young, and have energy, time, and strength, but why do you not use them in pursuit of the truth? Why do you not shoulder some heavy burdens for God? Why are you still afraid of suffering and paying a price? Why are you still entangled by the flesh and the secular world? Is this mindset normal? Is it correct? (No.) You are afraid of shouldering heavy burdens—you have no faith and do not love the truth! If you have caliber but lack the truth, that is not a big problem—if you have any difficulties, you can pray to God and seek from Him, and God will lead and guide you. In addition, there are brothers and sisters to cooperate with, and you can also seek from the Above—the Above will directly fellowship on the truth to help you. You have these different kinds of advantages but do not use them. Instead, you always fear shouldering heavy burdens, suffering and paying a price, offending people, and being opposed, rejected, and condemned by your relatives and friends. That means you are not a person who pursues the truth. One day, when God’s work ends, you will wail and gnash your teeth, and however bitter your regrets, it will be too late.

Question 13: Some brothers and sisters have believed in God for several years and have good caliber and gifts. They have also been elected as main leaders and workers many times, but because they have to work, they have very little time for their duty, and they currently have no plans to do their duty full time. In this election, they may be elected again to do important duties. What is the appropriate thing for us to do? Or how should we fellowship with them?

Answer: No one can force anyone else to forsake and expend for God. The crucial thing is whether someone can understand the significance of doing their duty and be considerate of God’s intentions. If they are smart, they can understand these things and choose to expend themselves for God. In addition, some family entanglements can be forsaken and are easy to forsake, while others are indeed not easy to forsake. This is a fact, and we cannot apply a one-size-fits-all approach. If their family circumstances allow them to forsake things but they do not, should their conscience not be reproached? (Yes.) Say they have quite a high salary in the world and their family lives a wealthy life. If they quit their job, they will not go hungry. At most, their standard of living will be lowered a little. Can we not still live if others eat a little better, and we eat a little worse—if others eat fine grain and fine meat, and we eat simple food? But they are unwilling to give up their current living conditions and lower their standard of living, always emphasizing that they cannot endure hardship and that they have certain standards for their daily needs. This is troublesome. They want to keep enjoying a wealthy life. Is this not indulging in fleshly pleasures? (It is.) Can such a person forsake things and expend themselves? (No.) They just like to enjoy a wealthy life and are unwilling to give up fleshly pleasures, so they certainly will not arrange much time to do their duty. This makes it impossible to do their duty well, because being a leader or a worker requires spending more time and energy to do the work well. Sometimes brothers and sisters have many problems, and you have to gather with them frequently to fellowship on and resolve their problems. There are sometimes still many unresolved problems after gatherings, and so you have to find more time to continue fellowshipping until the problems are completely resolved. That is to say, in addition to the normal time needed to do your duty during the day, you also have to find time in your spare time to help people resolve problems. Can you offer up this time? If you say, “If you have any problems during normal working hours, I can fellowship with you, but my spare time is my personal time and I cannot use it to fellowship with you further. I need time for leisure and entertainment, and when I am resting, no one should come to me with any problems,” can you do this duty well? (No.) Therefore, when it comes to forsaking and expending for God, we should just water people with the truth and fellowship on the significance of doing duty. If they sincerely believe in God and their family conditions are suitable, they will gradually understand the truth and be able to forsake things and expend themselves. But we must never force people in this matter. The path a person takes depends on their own choice.

Question 14: During elections, there are some people we haven’t got to know in daily life and have not done duty with. We can only weigh them up by reading brothers’ and sisters’ evaluations of them, but some evaluations may not be accurate. In this situation, how should we discern which people are suitable candidates?

Answer: In this situation, you cannot just look at evaluations. Evaluations are only one reference for weighing a person up. You also have to look at the person’s appearance. Their appearance can also serve as a reference. If a person looks very ugly and appears to have no caliber, then they likely cannot shoulder the work. If they look a bit cunning and devious, then there is a problem with this person, and they are very likely a negative figure. If their appearance is average and they look like a guileless and honest person, then it is not a big problem even if their caliber and work capability are average. At least they will not walk a crooked path, which makes them relatively reliable. It is like when women look for a partner. Some women find a partner with average looks and no great ability—they cannot live a very wealthy life with him, but he is a guileless person who they can live a decent life with; he is a reliable person. Therefore, when looking for a partner, the minimum requirement is to find a guileless person, and absolutely not a hooligan or bandit. Is this not the lowest standard for finding a partner? (It is.) This is the baseline. So, what is the minimum standard when electing a leader? First, they must be an honest person, a right person. Even if their caliber is average and their work capability is a bit poor, they can seek the truth and act according to principles when things come upon them, and at the very least, they will not lead God’s chosen people onto the wrong path. This is the minimum standard for electing a leader. If a person has good evaluations, but when you see their appearance, you find that they look very strange, do not look like a person with normal humanity, and seem to be a negative figure, then this person may not be a good person, and you must absolutely not elect them as a leader or a worker. If their appearance is upright, they have a decent look in their eyes, they look like a trustworthy person, they are quite simple and honest, and they can open up when they speak, then it is not a big problem even if their caliber is average—they can be elected as a leader or a worker. If this person is quite eloquent, but they usually talk a lot and do little, and do not do any real things at all, should they be elected as a leader or a worker? (No.) This person is troublesome. The scent of deception hangs on them, and they are just like the Communist Party—saying all the nice things but doing all the bad things, and acting like a human to your face but a devil behind your back. Are they not a devil and a Satan? If you elect them as a leader, you have been duped. Do you understand? (Yes.) So, there are some people who we have not interacted with or cooperated with in our duty. How can we see them clearly? It is not easy to see them clearly. In this situation, we have to look at them comprehensively. First, get a preliminary understanding based on evaluations, then look at their appearance, and then observe how they speak and act in public, and make a comprehensive judgment based on these. Appearance is only a reference, not a conclusion. Is that clear? (Yes.) Then, is the principle of using appearance as a reference correct? (Yes.) Why is it correct? Can a person’s appearance really represent whether they are good or bad? Is it right to say that good looks cover a hundred flaws, and bad looks mean they should be totally dismissed? (No, it is only a reference.) Then why is appearance worth referencing? (A person’s appearance is preordained by God, and there are certain interpretations and mysteries behind this.) In the course of thousands of years of human development, people have discovered some mysteries from human appearance. Some books on physiognomy are quite accurate. Some people can read faces, and they can tell some things from faces—they are quite accurate. In mainland China, I once met an old physiognomist. When he saw me on the street, he chased after me and said, “Looking at your face, it seems you are doing something very big right now, something that no one has ever done before, something that no one in the whole world has done. What’s more, you are not doing it alone—a group of you are doing this huge thing.” But he did not know specifically what it was. I thought about it, and realized that what he was talking about was God’s chosen people testifying to God’s work and spreading the kingdom gospel. Is this not something that a group of people are doing, and something that no one has ever done before? I thought to myself, “This is strange. I have an average appearance and am not tall. How could he perceive such a great mystery?” So tell me, are there mysteries in people’s appearance? (Yes.) There are mysteries that ordinary people cannot fathom. I tell you, there are laws and mysteries in everything created by God. Tell me, are there mysteries in celestial phenomena? Are there mysteries in the stars and clouds in the sky? (Yes.) What kind of clouds appear on a sunny day, what kind of clouds appear on a rainy day, what kind of clouds appear on a warm day, and what kind of clouds appear on a cold day—these all follow laws. Also, whenever something major happens in a country, there are often some omens, and there are also mysteries in these omens. All things created by God are full of mysteries, and people could never fully fathom them in a lifetime. It’s just like how there are many mysteries in the human body—there are omens in your body for when you will get sick, and omens for when good or bad things will come upon you. These are all preordained by God. There are infinite mysteries in the internal organs, blood, blood vessels, and joints of the human body, which scientists have not been able to fathom to this day. Tell me, can science guarantee that a person will live to be a hundred years old? (No.) Science cannot give people longevity. You see, some people smoke all their lives but live to be over a hundred and twenty years old. How do you explain this? Smoking is considered harmful to health by science, and smoking long-term increases the risk of cancer and early death, but they smoked all their lives and lived longer than ordinary people. Does this not shame scientists? (It does.) Therefore, how long a person can live is preordained by God. Science cannot make people live longer, nor is there any secret trick to longevity. Can we say this? (Yes.) Many people formulate the best diet plans and lifestyles for themselves according to so-called secret tricks of longevity, but in the end, they do not live long and die early. This is God’s preordination. Some people eat and live ordinarily, and their living environment is also ordinary, but they live to a very old age. This is also God’s preordination. A person’s lifespan, body, and appearance are all preordained by God. Since they are preordained by God, there are laws and mysteries within them. Therefore, it is completely appropriate for us to reference appearance when weighing people up, and referencing appearance is also a crucial principle. Is that clear? (Yes.) If a person’s appearance is very strange, or they look very treacherous and deceitful, or are ugly and wretched, then they are definitely not a right person. They do not have normal humanity and definitely cannot do good things. If someone looks very simple, honest, and kind, they are very likely a good person. So tell me, is it superstitious for us to reference appearance when selecting and using people? (No.) This is absolutely not superstition. This is experience built from many facts. You will know this when you have experienced more. Some people say, “You believe in God and should base everything on the truth principles. Why are you still being superstitious?” Are they not ignorant? (They are.) Ignorant people judge you like this, and such people are troublesome. God has said: “I suggest that you who wish to gain blessings first find a mirror and look at your own ugly reflection. Do you have what it takes to be a king? Do you have the facial features of one who could receive blessings?” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. To Remain Unchanged in Disposition Is to Be in Enmity to God). What does this mean? (A person’s appearance and facial features have been preordained by God and contain mysteries.) Do not rashly think that these words are spoken casually. There are mysteries in these words. Therefore, if you think that referencing appearance when assessing people is superstition, then you are too ignorant! When you experience some failures and take some detours, you will know that referencing appearance when assessing people is absolutely necessary.