Fellowship From the Brother Above – October 1, 2025 (Part Seven)

Question 13: I know that a key point in practicing the truth is to contemplate God’s words. I do contemplate God’s words, but sometimes I can understand them and sometimes I can’t. I want to know how I can contemplate God’s words in a way that allows me to understand and comprehend them, and apply them in my daily life.

Answer: There is a principle to contemplating God’s words in a way that leads to understanding and comprehension. First, you have to realize this: Are certain truths easy to grasp before you’ve experienced them? (They’re not.) Let me give an example. For instance, could a three- or five-year-old child understand how to share their parents’ responsibilities if you asked them to? A child of that age is at an age for playing; they understand almost nothing, let alone how to share their parents’ responsibilities. So you can’t expect them to understand that; it’s beyond their stature. In the same way, God works on people based on their stature and needs, supplying them with the truth in due time and measure. For example, what should you focus on when you first believe in God? You must focus on quickly establishing a foundation in the true way. If your foundation isn’t stable, the moment you encounter even a little of Satan’s disturbances and temptations, you can be misled and abandon the true way, and you’ll risk being eliminated. So, to establish a foundation, what aspects of the truth should you be equipped with? First, be equipped with the truths regarding visions. For example, why must we believe in the incarnate God? What is the difference between believing in the incarnate God and believing in the God in heaven? What is the difference between believing in the incarnate Son of man and believing in the Spirit of God? It’s easy for people to believe in the God in heaven and in the Spirit of God without any doubts or notions, but believing in the incarnate God is very difficult and strenuous. Why is this? Outwardly, the incarnate God is just an ordinary person. So, if you’re asked to treat this ordinary Son of man as God, can your heart accept it? (It can’t.) Never mind your heart—even your eyes can’t accept it. What your eyes clearly see is a person, yet you’re asked to treat Him as God. Isn’t this the most difficult thing of all? (It is.) It is the most difficult thing. So how can you be certain that this ordinary Son of man is, without a doubt, God? First, you must understand the truth of the incarnation. It is crucial to understand what the incarnation is and why you must believe in the incarnate God. If you don’t understand these truths, can you be certain that this Son of man is God? Can you follow God to the very end? At some point, you might hear a bit of negative propaganda and then betray God and stop believing. The risk that you’ll betray God is still 100%! Isn’t that how it is? (It is.) Therefore, if you’ve just come to believe in God, you must first resolve the problem of not being clear on the truths regarding visions. First, you must be clear on the truth of the incarnation, and second, you must also be clear on the truth of the judgment of the last days. Why must you be clear on the truth of the judgment of the last days? Because the work of judgment in the last days must be accomplished by the incarnate Son of man; apart from the incarnate God, no one can do the work of judgment. Once you understand this aspect of the truth, you will no longer doubt the incarnate Son of man, you will have no more notions, and you will be able to steadfastly follow Almighty God, Christ of the last days. Right? (Yes.) These are the truths regarding visions that people must first understand in their belief in Almighty God. Once you understand these visions, you will have established a foundation. Next, you need to understand how to gain the truth and enter into all truths in your belief in God. This can only be achieved by doing your duty. You must be certain of this path. When following Almighty God, it isn’t an option not to do your duty. If you don’t do your duty, you cannot gain the truth and enter into all truths. So why is it essential to do your duty? Gaining the truth isn’t just a matter of occasionally listening to God’s words or attending a gathering once a week. That’s not how it works. You must live before God every day, eat and drink God’s words every day, and do your duty and experience God’s work every day. Only then can you gain the truth and be made perfect. If you don’t do your duty, and only occasionally listen to God’s words and stick to attending one gathering a week while spending the rest of your time living within your family and the flesh, are you a true follower of God? By believing in God this way, can you gain the truth and be made perfect by God? (No.) Doing your duty is truly following God; doing your duty is the path to gaining the truth. If you don’t do your duty, you will gain very little truth, and you will not be a follower of God. If you only stick to attending gatherings and listening to sermons but don’t do your duty, then you won’t have much experience and will gain only minimal truth. Perhaps you will be able to understand some doctrines by listening to a few hours of sermons, but how long can those doctrines really stay in your heart? They won’t stay there long. You might forget them completely after a meal or a nap. But it’s a different story when you do your duty. By doing your duty, you’re in contact with God’s words every day, you experience God’s work every day, and you fellowship on the truth every day. In this way, you can gain so much more of the truth. For example, when you do the duty of preaching the gospel, you constantly have to resolve the notions of potential gospel recipients, read God’s words to them, and tirelessly fellowship on the truth with them. Who knows how many times you might have to fellowship on a single passage of God’s words? This is a great opportunity for people to equip themselves with the truth and understand it. If you do your duty and experience God’s work like this every day, and equip yourself with and fellowship on the truth every day, then God’s words will enter your heart before you know it. You will understand more and more of the truth, you will enter into more and more of the truth reality, and in the end, you will have gained the truth. Therefore, doing your duty is the path to gaining the truth. Not doing your duty and just being a part-time believer is not an option. That’s too little time for you to gain the truth. You must dedicate all of your time to God, follow Him, and do your duty. Only in this way can you gain the truth. If you make a resolution, saying, “I’m willing to dedicate all my time to God and follow Him and do my duty earnestly,” but you end up pursuing fleshly enjoyment and going to work for money, living every day in the nonbelieving world, will you still have God’s words in your heart? (No.) At work, you are in contact with nonbelievers every day, hearing all their devilish words and fallacies—it’s very easy to forget God’s words. How would that make you feel? You’d feel empty and pained, and you’d grow weary of that kind of life. When you have this experience, you’ll realize that being a part-time believer doesn’t work, that you’re gaining too little of the truth, and that you need to turn things around. Right? (Yes.) I remember when I first came to believe in the Lord Jesus, I was still working. At that time, I came across a spiritual book that I thought was quite good. I copied down a couple of passages and would take them out to read and contemplate during my breaks at work. But after contemplating them, all I gained was a bit of doctrine, which I would forget after a short time. So, it’s very difficult for people to gain the truth if they don’t do their duty. Even if they understand a little truth, it’s very shallow and limited. You can only gain the truth by doing your duty.

Why is it said that you can only gain the truth by doing your duty? Because in the process of doing your duty, you will face many problems and difficulties, and these are your opportunities to contemplate and gain the truth. Here’s an example. Suppose you haven’t worked to earn money for a month in order to do your duty, and now you have no way to get by. You can’t pay your rent or utility bills. When you encounter this difficulty, what should you do? If you don’t seek the truth, can you still follow God and do your duty? If you say, “I don’t want to do my duty anymore. It’s too hard to believe in God and try to do a duty. My living conditions don’t allow it, so I still have to go back to work,” then you’ll be working every day, living in Satan’s world. Who would you be following then, Satan or God? If you’re not doing your duty, you’re following Satan, aren’t you? You see, this is a problem. If you don’t seek the truth when you encounter difficulties in your life while doing your duty, you will lose your faith and give up your duty to go and work for money. There’s another problem: For example, you’ve become a leader or a worker, but you don’t have the truth reality and don’t know how to do the work of the church. What should you do then? You might say, “I don’t have the truth, and doing the work of the church is too hard! When problems arise in the work, I need to point them out, but if I speak too harshly, I’m afraid of offending people, and if I speak too softly, I can’t solve the problem. How am I supposed to do this leadership work? I just can’t find my way with it.” Without the truth, it’s easy to live amid your difficulties, not knowing what to do. Without the truth, you can’t do anything well. Isn’t that how it is? (It is.) Also, what if, while you’re doing your duty, someone looks down on you and judges you, saying, “You’re a false leader. You don’t have the truth reality. Are you qualified to lead us?” After hearing that, you become negative and lose the motivation to do your work. Or, when you’re cooperating with someone in your duty, they always look down on you. They can’t see your strengths and always fixate on your weaknesses. At that point, are you thinking of backing out again and giving up on your duty? Aren’t these all difficulties? (They are.) So, people will encounter many difficulties and problems when doing their duty. So tell me, is doing your duty difficult? (It’s very difficult without the truth.) But if you are someone who pursues the truth, you pray to God and seek the truth when you encounter a difficulty, and it gets resolved within a few days. Then you encounter another difficulty, and you continue to seek the truth, and in a few more days, that one is resolved, too. Then another difficulty comes along, and again you seek the truth and resolve it. No matter what difficulties or problems you encounter, you seek the truth and resolve them. What result can you achieve in the end? Before you know it, you’ll be able to practice the truth. Before you know it, you’ll act with principle, and you’ll learn to cooperate harmoniously with others. Before you know it, you’ll be able to treat others correctly, and you’ll be able to accept and submit to whatever is correct, no matter who says it. Before you know it, you’ll achieve submission to God and gain knowledge of Him. You’ll feel that God’s work is so valuable, and that what God has and is is so precious and so lovable. Once you recognize these things, you’ll think to yourself, “There is so much that is lovable about God. When will I be able to live out a little of what God has and is? I have a bit of normal humanity now, but I still have so many corrupt dispositions. Can I glorify God like this? No! I long to live out all aspects of the truth; I long to live out a little of what God has and is. Then I can become someone who follows God’s will.” You see, the more truth you understand, the more you want to climb to a higher realm, and the more you want to reach the point of living completely in the light. Is this not achieved through doing your duty? (It is.) In the process of doing your duty, you constantly encounter problems and constantly seek the truth to resolve them. When you have sought the truth and resolved all the problems you encounter in your duty, you will have gained the truth and become someone who knows God. You will see that every word God speaks is faithful, and that with God there are no lies or words of deceit. God’s words are the most real; they are all truth and reality, and there are no corrupt dispositions in God’s normal humanity. When you see these things, you will have entered a higher realm. You will long to live out what God has and is, and you will long to cast off your corrupt dispositions and live out the true human likeness that God requires. Tell me, is this not a change in life disposition? (It is.) These are all results achieved by pursuing the truth while doing your duty. So if you don’t do your duty, can you reach this realm? (No.) Never. If you don’t do your duty, you can’t cast off your corrupt dispositions at all. You can’t even enter into the most basic truth of being an honest person. The truth of being an honest person is the minimum that believers in God should enter into, and it is also the most difficult. You won’t be able to cast off lies and deceit without a good eight or ten years of experience. Can you guarantee right now that your words are free of lies and all contain reality? Take me, for example. However long I speak to you, could you find any lies in my words, or any words that are not in line with reality? Could you find any words and doctrines? (No.) Can you speak in the same way I do? (No.) I am a corrupt human being just like you. Why is it that I can do it and you cannot? (Because we haven’t gained the truth; we don’t have the truth reality.) The main reason is that you have only believed in God for a short time. You have only just started doing your duty. When you have done your duty for ten or twenty years and have experienced more of God’s work, you will understand many truths, you will have the truth reality, you will act according to principles, you will be able to be honest people, you will be able to resolve any problems that arise in your cooperation with others, and you will have no more difficulties when cooperating with others in doing your duty. Is this result not achieved by experiencing being perfected by God while doing your duty? (It is.) If you feel that you reveal too much corruption in your duty, that your humanity is poor, that you lack conscience and reason, and that you’re just not fit for use in your duty, and then you get so negative you just shut down and stop doing your duty, that’s a problem. Aren’t you eliminating yourself? You’ve discovered you have so many corrupt dispositions, so why don’t you pursue the truth to resolve them? Who doesn’t reveal a corrupt disposition when doing their duty? I used to be arrogant and self-righteous, too. I have corrupt dispositions just like you; in this respect, there’s no difference between us. But where I differ from you is that I have great drive in my faith in God; I have an indomitable drive to pursue the truth. This is crucial. Do you lack this kind of drive in your faith right now? (We do.) But it’s not entirely right to say that: Some people do have this kind of drive in their faith. Some brothers and sisters, after being arrested by the CCP police, endure severe torture without denying or betraying God. They have that kind of resolve and can bear that kind of testimony. Don’t you admire them? (We do.) I admire people like that from the bottom of my heart. So, everyone has some strengths. Although some of you haven’t been made perfect yet and still reveal corruption in your duty, don’t be anxious. No matter what corruption you reveal, what difficulties or weaknesses you have, or how shallow your entry into the truth is, don’t be negative. There is still some time left. Just do your utmost to pursue the truth earnestly. God doesn’t look at our revelations of corruption, nor does He look at our shortcomings. Whatever difficulties we have, we can just seek the truth and resolve them gradually. If a problem can’t be resolved right away, you can set it aside for now, as long as it doesn’t affect your duty. Perhaps at some point, you’ll experience something, your stature will grow, you’ll naturally come to understand the truth, and the problem will be solved. You can resolve some problems now by seeking the truth, while others you will come to understand and resolve without even realizing it once your stature has grown. Some people ask, “When will I be able to preach like you—able to resolve any problem with just a few words?” Don’t rush. That just comes down to how long you’ve believed in God. If you truly bear this burden, and you truly gain the Holy Spirit’s guidance and training, you’ll understand the truth before you know it, and be able to work and preach just like me. When I first started working and preaching, I didn’t understand the truth either. I just had a fire in my heart. Later, the Holy Spirit worked to enlighten and illuminate me, and I had more and more to say in my sermons at gatherings. I could speak for several days and still have things to say. That’s how the Holy Spirit’s work is. But that was a time when the Holy Spirit was doing great work, and it didn’t represent my true stature. Over the years, I’ve gained some experience, understood some truths, and entered into the truth reality. Can you see this matter clearly? (We can.) If you can see it clearly, then don’t be negative. Just focus on pursuing the truth in your duty. No matter what difficulties you encounter, seek the truth and strive upward. Slowly, you’ll gain practical experience, and when you fellowship on your experiential testimony, you’ll achieve the same results as I do with my sermons. It’s even possible that in the future, some people’s experiential testimonies will achieve even better results than my sermons do. You must have faith and strive toward the truth.

Question 14: I am disturbed by many things every day, which prevents my heart from being quiet before God. I often feel that my heart is far from God. How can I better draw near to God and be quiet before Him in my daily life?

Answer: You’re disturbed by many things every day and your heart can’t be quiet before God. How should this problem be resolved? First, you need to distinguish what these things are. Some are trivial everyday matters, and if you can get away from them, you should. But some things are necessary for your life experience; they are essential for you. In that case, you shouldn’t get away from them or escape them. You must endure the pain, bear your cross, and experience God’s work. You also need to pray more to draw near to God, read God’s words, and seek the truth to resolve the situation. If your circumstances don’t permit you to read God’s words, then you should pray to God more and keep your heart in His presence. Then, these circumstances won’t affect your ability to be quiet before God. No matter what befalls you, you should pray to God and draw near to Him in your heart, or contemplate God’s words, or sing hymns to praise God, until your state is no longer affected by your circumstances and you can enjoy God’s words, the truth, and God’s love to the best of your ability—that is enough. Don’t always be thinking about escaping your circumstances. If you’re always trying to escape and can’t submit, that’s a problem. There are some things you can’t escape, like certain family matters that are your responsibility. Not taking responsibility isn’t an option; you might even be breaking the law by doing so. There are also some things that are your cross to bear and suffering to endure. Amid this suffering, you should pray to God, seek the truth, learn to experience God’s work and know God’s love, and be able to live by the truth. Therefore, when things befall you, you must learn to contemplate and seek God’s intentions. Don’t do anything extreme or illegal. No matter what circumstances befall us, our hearts must not leave God. Whenever we can sing, we sing. Whenever we can read God’s words, we read them. Whenever we can contemplate God’s words, we contemplate them. Whenever we can think of God’s love in our hearts, we do so. Whenever we can pray to God and seek the truth, we do so in our hearts. These are all practices for quieting your heart before God. No matter what circumstances befall you, as long as you can practice in this way, your life growth will not be delayed. Understood? (Understood.) I remember in the past, when I traveled by bus to preach in various places in mainland China, I was surrounded by nonbelievers. Sitting among them, I felt uncomfortable and had nothing to say to them. Sometimes, I would pray in my heart. On the outside, it seemed like I was just looking at the scenery, but in reality, I was praying to God and drawing near to Him in my heart. You see, you have to train yourself to be quiet before God in all circumstances. When you have the opportunity to eat and drink God’s words, do so immediately. When you have brothers and sisters to fellowship on the truth with, do so immediately. When it’s time to do your duty and do your work, do so immediately. If you are currently living with nonbelievers and cannot do your duty full-time, then you should pray to God in your heart. It’s enough to just see the affairs of nonbelievers clearly. Don’t participate in them or study them; the affairs of nonbelievers are meaningless. This is the path to being quiet before God. No matter what happens around you or what circumstances you encounter, if you can achieve quieting your heart before God, that is enough. Don’t always be thinking about escaping your circumstances.