Fellowship From the Brother Above – August 1, 2025 (Part Five)

II. Questions Regarding Life Entry

Question 7: When I encounter difficulties in my duty, I tend to fall into a negative state. I feel that I am too weak and that I cannot be a pillar in the work of the church. God likes people with resolve and people who walk the path of Peter, so what should I do to become a person with resolve like Peter?

Answer: The person who asked this question has spoken of their own state. They say they are too weak and that they cannot be a pillar. Then if we cannot be pillars, let us first be saplings. When a sapling has grown taller, it will become a tree, and when the tree has grown big, it will become a pillar. Is this good? (Yes.) Your stature has not yet grown to the point where you can be a pillar, but you keep measuring yourself by the standard of a pillar. In this way is it not easy for you to become negative? (It is.) Your stature must grow to a certain degree, to the point where you have true faith, and ordinary trials cannot crush you or knock you down. Only then can you become a pillar. You do not have much of the truth now, and you are often negative and weak, and you cannot take on any work. At most, you are just a sapling, and you do not meet the standard of a pillar, so it is not appropriate for you to make demands of yourself by the standards of a pillar. Just like when you were five or six years old, could you bear the burden of your parents? (No.) This was because you were still too young, you did not understand anything, and you could not take the place of your parents in their work. When you become an adult, get married, and have children, and you also become a parent and begin to earn money independently to support your family, then you have become the pillar of a family. When you have managed the affairs of your household for half your life, you have grandchildren, and you have become a grandfather or grandmother, then you will have become the pillar of a large family. No matter what happens in this family, you can be the master of the house, and you can truly be called a pillar. Doing one’s duty in the church is the same. When your stature is immature and you do not have the truth, you cannot be a pillar. You must have the truth to be able to take on work and become a pillar of the church. Tell me, if the works of a church get no results, and the difficulties and problems in the church cannot be resolved, is there a pillar in this church? Are the leaders and workers here pillars? Such leaders and workers cannot take on any work, so they are not pillars. Then what should you do if you want to become a pillar? You must do your utmost to pursue the truth and strive upward. No matter what work it is, you must strive to do it. One day, when you have resolved all the problems that the church has encountered by praying to God and seeking the truth, and you can also lead God’s chosen people to do their duties, and slowly, church life achieves results, the gospel work achieves results, and the film production work also achieves results, and you can support several of the church’s works, then have you not become a pillar? (Yes.) You are a pillar of the church’s work, and you are also a pillar of the gospel work, and you are also a pillar of the work of shooting experiential testimony videos and movies. You can take on several works, so you are a pillar of several works. Your function as a pillar is truly great, and your usefulness is truly great. Your contribution to the spreading of the gospel of the kingdom is truly great, and you are therefore a most valuable pillar. Is this not so? (It is.)

Some people have just started to train in their duty. They have the stature of a blade of grass and cannot support a single work. Then how should they seek to become a pillar? First, they must equip themselves with and enter into an aspect of the truth. For example, you first equip yourself with the truths of preaching the gospel. You go from not understanding the truths of preaching the gospel to understanding them, and then your preaching of the gospel goes from achieving no results to achieving results, and then to gaining more and more people. Then you will be able to do the gospel work well. By that point, wherever there are difficulties in the gospel work, you can use the truth to solve them. Through your fellowship and testimony, there will be no more difficulties in the gospel work, and it will be able to proceed smoothly. Then more people will be converted, and five or ten churches can be established, and in the end, even all the people who belong to God in the entire city will be gained. Then you will be a pillar in the work of spreading the gospel, and your contribution as a pillar will be great, even greater than Paul’s. Although Paul converted many people, he only worked by relying on his gifts and did not have life entry, while you, in preaching the gospel, are not laboring. You have gained the truth and thus achieved such a result. Tell me, without the truth, can you preach the gospel and testify to God? Without the truth, can you solve the difficulties in preaching the gospel? Without the truth, you cannot convert people at all, much less spread the gospel. Only when you understand the truth and have life entry can you achieve results in preaching the gospel, and all the work you are responsible for can also be done particularly well. If you do one work well, you are a pillar in that work. If you do several works well, you are a pillar in those several works, and thus your contribution will be great. In whichever church you work, the work of that church will achieve results. If any brother or sister has any problem or difficulty, and you fellowship the truth with them a few times, then their hearts can be brightened, and their problem can be solved. If anyone is negative and weak, and you support and help them more, then they will become strong, and have enthusiasm and faith to do their duty. If a false leader, an antichrist, or an evil person appears in the church, you can also resolve such a matter in good time to keep church life from being disturbed or damaged. In this way, no matter which church you spend some time working in, you can bring the church life there onto the right track, and you can lead the brothers and sisters there to preach the gospel, gain many people, and establish many churches. Therefore, a person who can fellowship the truth and solve problems is truly valuable. With such a person working there, so many of God’s chosen people can benefit from them, and so many churches will also benefit by association. Tell me, is such a person not a pillar? (They are.) Whether a person has the truth is seen in whether they can do one work well, and in whether they can be a pillar in one work. If a person can do one work well, they are a pillar in that one work, and this person is a person who understands the truth. Then there are people who are always arrogant and conceited, and always boast of themselves, saying that they are capable and understand the truth, but in the end, they can’t do any work well. Is this not hypocritical of them? You are arrogant and conceited, but you must at the very least be able to do your work well. For example, if you have made a movie that testifies to God, and many people like it and can benefit from it, and it has attracted many people who long for the truth to come and investigate the true way, then your contribution is great, and you are a pillar in the film production work, and your usefulness as a pillar is great. If you go to preach the gospel and water the church, the results you achieve will surely also be the best. I long for such people to appear in the churches of all countries. Some people also want to be pillars. They say, “Although I can do some work, my stature is not up to the standard of a pillar, and the results I achieve in my work aren’t good. When can I become a pillar?” It is right for a person to have this resolve, but you cannot be negative and weak just because your stature is small and you are not up to the standard of being a pillar. Do not be discouraged if you’re not getting good results in your work right now. You just need to pray to God, pursue the truth, and experience God’s work diligently. One day, when you have understood the truth, you will be able to support one work, and then you will naturally become a pillar. Your stature is still small and you are still very fragile, and you are not yet up to the standard of being a pillar, but this does not mean that you cannot become a pillar. Is that understood? (Yes.) As long as you do not give up on pursuing the truth, you will be able to become a pillar sooner or later.

Question 8: When I do my duty, I lack a sense of burden and am often perfunctory. Brothers and sisters have shared God’s words with me or pruned me regarding my state, but I can only maintain a positive attitude for a few days, and afterward, my attitude toward my duty reverts to being deeply passive. How can this state be resolved?

Answer: There are different states in being perfunctory in one’s duty. Some people are perfunctory because they understand the truth but are unwilling to practice it. Others are perfunctory because they do not understand the truth and are always negative and weak. Those who sincerely expend themselves for God, even if they are occasionally negative and weak, will not be perfunctory in their duty. Therefore, to resolve the problem of being perfunctory, you must understand what it means to do your duty, and you must understand that doing your duty is to fulfill the responsibilities of a created being. This matter is truly meaningful and important. If you do not value the responsibilities of a created being, and you only value your own fleshly interests, then your outlook on life and your values will remain just as they were before and completely unchanged, you will always be perfunctory in your duty, and you will be unable to proactively fulfill the responsibilities of a created being. Just like when you ask some people, “In what matters are you not perfunctory?”—what will they say? “I am not perfunctory when I am making money, and I am never perfunctory when I am doing things that are beneficial to myself.” Then you can see clearly why they are always perfunctory in their duty. It is because they feel that their performance of their duty is not beneficial to them. They live for fleshly interests. Is this not a problem with the source and starting point of their actions? (It is.) So for whom do you do things without being perfunctory? If you say, “I am not perfunctory when I do things for the people I love, for my children, or for my spouse, but when I do things for God, I am always perfunctory,” then your sincere heart is not given to God, and you are not sincerely expending yourself for God. Since you are not sincerely expending yourself for God, why do you still do your duty? Some people say, “I am afraid that if I do not do my duty, I will not be saved. I am afraid that if I do not do my duty, I will die in the disasters, so I have to do a little bit of duty.” Do you think you can be saved just by doing a little bit of duty? It is not like that. Although you have done a little bit of duty, your vision is not clear. You do not know God’s work, you do not understand God’s requirements for created beings, and you do not know that humans must fulfill the responsibilities and obligations of a created being, that is to say, they must fulfill the duties of a created being. In this case, you will always be negative, weak, and perfunctory in your duty, and it will be impossible for you to achieve salvation. You must at least know what the significance of doing the duty of a created being is, and why God requires this of humans. Understanding this aspect of the truth is truly meaningful and after you have understood it, you will no longer be perfunctory in your duty. Therefore, when you are no longer perfunctory in your duty, and you are more sincere and attentive in your duty than you are when you work and make money out in the secular world, and you are even more attentive than you are in doing anything you used to love, then you will have understood the truth. A person who understands the truth can sincerely expend themselves for God and do their duty with the entirety of their heart, mind, and soul. A person who does not understand the truth does their duty to gain blessings and enter the kingdom of heaven. They keep trying to make deals with God. As soon as their duty affects their fleshly interests, they become negative, weak, and perfunctory. Is this not the case? (It is.) Anyway, to always be negative, weak, and perfunctory in one’s duty means that a person’s attitude toward their duty and their intentions are wrong, and that there is some kind of corrupt adulteration. You must quickly seek the truth to resolve this problem. When you truly understand the significance of doing your duty, you will be devoted to your duty.

Question 9: I feel that I have some enthusiasm in my duty, but when I hit a wall or encounter difficulties, I just rely on my enthusiasm to get through it, and I am not very good at reflecting on the corrupt dispositions revealed in my thoughts and ideas. How can I focus on life entry in my duty?

Answer: This requires you to seek the truth. In whatever matter you encounter difficulties or pressure, and in whatever aspect you have a problem that you cannot solve, you should search in God’s words and see what God says about this matter and what God requires of humans. If you find these words of God and ponder them clearly, these problems will naturally be solved. In addition, the various problems of life entry are also spoken of very clearly in the experiential testimony videos of God’s house. For example, the matters of how to resolve being perfunctory in one’s duty, how to seek the truth when one encounters a problem that one cannot solve, how to practice the truth and adhere to the truth principles in one’s duty, and so on are all talked about in these experiential testimony videos. If you do not know how to reflect on and know yourself, and if you do not have life entry, you can carefully watch these experiential testimony videos, and it will be easier to solve your problems.

Question 10: Brother, I recently heard you say in sermons that the time for doing our duties is running out. I also want to spend more energy on doing my duty well, but sometimes I feel that my heart is still bound by worldly things, and I cannot put all my energy into my duty. I would like to know how I can see through these worldly entanglements to break free from them and do my duty well.

Answer: Some people have clearly seen that the great catastrophes are about to descend, and that the time in which to pursue the truth is truly running out. A few days ago, a magnitude 8.8 earthquake occurred in Russia. Since the creation of the world, such large earthquakes have been rare occurrences. This earthquake triggered tsunamis along the coasts of Japan, Taiwan, and Hawaii. You see, an 8.8-magnitude earthquake can affect a very large area. If a magnitude nine or ten earthquake occurs in the future, it will be an even greater catastrophe. Time is truly running out. Great earthquakes and tsunamis can break out at any time, and great famines are also about to strike. Some countries have already been struck by famine, and people have no food to eat. Wars may escalate at any moment. All countries are researching nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons are different from earthquakes. Earthquakes sometimes occur in mountains and deserts where there are no people, while nuclear weapons are used to attack places with large populations, such as large cities and military bases. Once nuclear war breaks out, it will be a devastating disaster, with countless deaths and injuries! Therefore, no matter how one looks at the situation, it is clear that time is running out, and that the truth must be pursued immediately! Don’t you see that more and more people are dying, and faster and faster? It can be said that life is precarious! Many people look healthy, and although one day they may be talking and chatting with you, the next they could suddenly drop dead. People are puzzled, wondering, “He wasn’t even sick. How did he suddenly die?” In the past, some people said, “People don’t die if they aren’t sick.” Looking at this statement now, is this correct? (No.) This statement is incorrect. A person who is healthy may not die from illness, but there are also disasters that can strike at any time and endanger their life. If God has preordained that a person will die in a certain disaster, then no matter whether they are sick or not, they will die. In addition, there is something that is even more terrifying. Some people you see are very healthy and don’t have any kind of sickness, but one day they suddenly have a convulsion, fall to the ground and lose consciousness. When they are sent to the hospital, no matter how they are treated, they cannot be revived, and they end up dying. The doctor cannot say what illness they had. Tell me, what is going on here? This is a matter of the spiritual realm. A bailiff from the underworld has come and taken this soul back. When a bailiff from the underworld comes to take a person, it is not based on whether the person is sick or not. It is based on whether their lifespan has come to an end. If God has preordained that a person’s lifespan has come to an end, then no matter whether the person is sick or not, they must die. When some people see this, they become afraid, thinking, “It is a terrible thing for a bailiff from the underworld to come and take a person. A person can die even if they are not sick. I have believed in God for more than ten years, and it seems I have not lived out any truth reality. Will I also have to die?” They worry about themselves, and some people even become negative because of this. Is doing so correct? (No.) When you encounter this, it is useless to fear death. You must quickly pursue the truth. If you ultimately gain the truth, will you not be protected by God and survive?

So what are the details of practicing in the pursuit of the truth? It is that when you pray, you should quickly speak the words in your heart to God, and ask God to enlighten you to know yourself. When you eat and drink God’s words, you should quickly ponder the truth and accept the judgment and chastisement of God’s words. When you understand a little truth, you should quickly practice and enter into it. In your duty, you should quickly offer up your devotion, and seek to submit to and worship God. Also, you should quickly offer up all your energy and all the remaining time you have to God, and live this life of yours for the sake of doing your duty well and satisfying God. Do not live for Satan anymore, do not live for your family, for your children, for the flesh, and do not live for fame, gain, and status anymore. These are all the details of pursuing the truth. Is that understood? (Yes.) In other words, you must offer up all your time to God, and use it all to pursue the truth and do your duty. So at the moment, where do you use your time in a day? How much time do you spend reading God’s words and pondering the truth? How much time do you spend fellowshipping the truth? How much time do you spend reflecting on and knowing yourself? How much time do you spend doing your duty? How much time do you spend preaching the gospel? How much time do you spend on your parents, your spouse, and your children? How much time do you spend on fleshly enjoyment? If you tally up all this time, you will be able to see if you are pursuing the truth or not. If most of your time is spent on things that are not related to the truth, then you are not pursuing the truth. If you are not pursuing the truth, it is useless for you to be afraid of death, as perhaps one day a disaster will befall you and you will die. If you spend a lot of your time pursuing the truth and doing your duty, and you spend very little on fleshly enjoyment, and God scrutinizes and sees that you are sincerely pursuing the truth and expending yourself for Him, then God will spare you from death and give you a chance to live. Even if a disaster comes one day, it will pass you by. This is all a matter of one word from God. Disasters are initiated by God and they are also orchestrated by God. Whoever God wants them to strike, they will strike, and there will not be the slightest error. If you can see through to these things, you will know what you should live for in the time you have left, and you should pursue the truth and walk the correct path. If you still cannot see through to this matter now, and still live for fleshly enjoyment, then you are in trouble. Perhaps one day you will die in a disaster. Is this problem clear now that it has been answered in this way? (Yes.)

Question 11: I am currently doing my duty, but I don’t know if what I am doing is good enough or if I am on the right path. How can a person do their duty in a way that is up to standard? What is the difference between doing one’s duty in a way that is up to standard and doing one’s duty well?

Answer: What does it mean to do one’s duty in a way that is up to standard? In theory, if you can sincerely expend yourself for God and use all your strength to satisfy God, then your performance of your duty is up to standard. To be a little more specific, it means that when you do your duty, you can act according to the truth principles, without the adulteration of human intentions, and you achieve the minimum result that should be achieved. This is what it means to be up to standard. If you are too perfunctory in your duty, act too much according to your own will, and act too little according to the truth principles, and you basically achieve no results, and are just going through the motions and being formalistic, tell me, can doing your duty in this way be considered as being up to standard? (No.) Then what does it mean to do one’s duty in a way that is up to standard, and what does it mean to do one’s duty well? In fact, doing one’s duty in a way that is up to standard is doing one’s duty well, and if a person’s performance of their duty is not up to standard, then their duty is not being done well. This is how the metrics for “good” and “up to standard” can be explained. Then is there a level that is better than “up to standard”? There is, which is to achieve better results in one’s duty, and to be able to become a pillar in the church. This is better than being up to standard. Peter achieved this in his duty. God’s requirements for a person’s performance of their duty are based on the degree to which they understand the truth and on their actual stature. If you do not have Peter’s stature, God will not require too much of you. If you can achieve a general result in your duty, it is considered up to standard. If you have Peter’s stature, then the results you will be able to achieve in your duty will be great, and you will be able to be a pillar in many different items of work. God’s required standard for those who are pillars is high. They must act in strict accordance with the truth principles, be able to use the truth to solve all problems, and be able to carry out all items of work very well. In this way, such people doing their duty will achieve the best results, and they will become pillars in the church. You have not yet reached this degree in your duty, but God measures people according to their stature. As long as you can manage to be up to standard in your duty, God will be satisfied. If you say, “I am still not satisfied. I want to achieve better results and reach a higher standard,” it is very good that you have this resolve. You should pursue this standard, and in the end, if you can truly achieve better results in your duty, you will become a pillar in the church, and then you will gain God’s approval and become a person who has been perfected.