By Thalia, Mexico

On November 18, 2021, I got to know brothers and sisters from The Church of Almighty God on the internet. By reading the words of Almighty God and listening to their fellowship, I became convinced that Almighty God is the returned Lord Jesus. I was very excited, and I happily accepted Almighty God’s work in the last days. Thank God! I wanted to quickly share this happy news with my family, especially my father. He had been a Christian since he was thirty. Now he was sixty, and he had longed for the Lord’s return the entire time. If he learned that the Lord Jesus has returned, I was sure he would accept it as happily as I did. Unexpectedly, after I told my father the news of the Lord’s return, he actually told me not to believe it. “The Bible doesn’t say God will return incarnate,” he said. “The Bible says God descends on a cloud to lift believers up into the kingdom of heaven.” He had notions about how the Lord returns. How did you fellowship with him? I told him, “Dad, actually, the Lord Jesus said many times that in the last days, He would return as the Son of man. For example, ‘For as the lightning comes out of the east, and shines even to the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be’ (Matthew 24:27). ‘As the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be’ (Matthew 24:37). ‘Therefore be you also ready: for in such an hour as you think not the Son of man comes’ (Matthew 24:44). These Bible verses all mention that the Lord comes as the Son of man. This means that God comes incarnate as the Son of man—” Before I could finish, my father interrupted me and said, “The Lord Jesus is the Son of man. It is impossible for Him to return as the Son of man. The Lord will only come on a cloud to take us into the kingdom of heaven.” I said, “Coming on a cloud is not the only way the Lord returns. There are two ways of His return prophesied in the Bible. He comes incarnate in secret, and then comes openly on a cloud. Revelation prophesies, ‘Behold, I come as a thief’ (Revelation 16:15). ‘If therefore you shall not watch, I will come on you as a thief’ (Revelation 3:3). And Matthew 25:6 says, ‘And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him.’ These prophecies all say that the Lord Jesus will come back like a thief. This means He comes quietly, without anyone knowing. If the Lord Jesus came openly, riding on a white cloud in the sky, everyone would see Him. So how would these prophecies be fulfilled? In the last days, God first comes in secret as the incarnate Son of man to express the truth and do the work of judgment. The wise virgins hear God’s voice and welcome the Lord, they are judged and purified by God’s words, and made into overcomers by God. Then, the great disasters start to descend, and the stage of God’s secret work in the flesh is concluded. After the great disasters, God descends on a cloud and openly appears to all. This fulfills the prophecy in Revelation, ‘Behold, He comes with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him’ (Revelation 1:7).” I said to my father, “Dad, think about it. It stands to reason that when the Lord Jesus returns on a cloud, everyone will be happy for the coming of the Savior. So why does it say ‘and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him’? Because when God works as the incarnate Son of man, He completes the work of judgment and purification. Those who merely wait for the Lord to come on a cloud and who resist and condemn Almighty God will miss the chance to accept God’s judgment and purification in the last days, and when the Lord comes on a cloud to reward the good and punish the evil, they will fall into disasters and weep bitterly.” When I finished, I showed him Almighty God’s words and a gospel testimonial video, but he still clung to his point of view. He had a very arrogant and angry attitude with me and told me not to believe in Almighty God.

Later, he saw that I often attended gatherings of The Church of Almighty God, so as an excuse to stop me, he said, “You spend most of your day attending gatherings on your phone. I need you to work and earn money to pay for household expenses. I won’t give you any more money from now on! If you won’t get a job, you can leave this home!” What my father said made me very worried. If I had to work, I wouldn’t have time to attend gatherings and read God’s words. But if I didn’t get a job, my father would kick me out, and I’d have nowhere to live. I was very afraid, so I got a job and worked from six in the morning to four in the afternoon. As time went on, I started to neglect my duty. Because I couldn’t use my phone during work, I couldn’t water newcomers. Every day after I came home from work, I was exhausted, so I felt very tired at gatherings. I prayed to God, asking Him to open a way for me to do my duty. A few days later, I quit that job. I got a job doing household cleaning where I only had to work four hours a day. Although I didn’t earn much, I had time to attend gatherings and do my duty. My father continued to interfere when he saw I was attending gatherings regularly again. He often asked me to do something for him before I had a gathering, and sometimes, when he saw me attending a gathering online, he asked me to go out with him. He was finding excuses to stop you from attending gatherings. I didn’t quite understand what was going on at first. I just thought since he was my father, I had to obey, but it was hard for me, because I didn’t want to miss gatherings. Once, he asked me to go out with him again, and I told him I had a gathering, which made him very unhappy. I didn’t know how to deal with these things at first.

Later, at a gathering, the brothers and sisters read some of Almighty God’s words that helped me see things a little more clearly. “In every step of work that God does within people, externally it appears to be interactions between people, as if born of human arrangements or from human interference. But behind the scenes, every step of work, and everything that happens, is a wager made by Satan before God, and requires people to stand firm in their testimony to God. Take when Job was tried, for example: Behind the scenes, Satan was making a bet with God, and what happened to Job was the deeds of men and the interference of men. Behind every step of work that God does in you is Satan’s wager with God—behind it all is a battle” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Only Loving God Is Truly Believing in God). “When God works, cares for a person, and looks upon this person, and when He favors and approves this person, Satan trails closely behind, trying to dupe the person and bring them to harm. If God wishes to gain this person, Satan will do everything in its power to obstruct God, using various evil ploys to tempt, disrupt and impair the work of God, in order to achieve its hidden objective. What is this objective? It does not want God to gain anyone; it wants to snatch possession of those whom God wishes to gain, it wants to control them, to take charge of them so they worship it, so they join it in committing evil acts, and resist God. Is this not Satan’s sinister motive?” (The Word, Vol. 2. On Knowing God. God Himself, the Unique IV). After reading God’s word, I had a little understanding of Satan’s tricks. When God wants to save a person, Satan tries every means and uses all people and things to stop them from being gained by God. It was happening to me. After my father learned I believed in Almighty God, he tried his best to stop me and disturb me. He made the excuse that I had to work, asked me to do things every time before I had a gathering, and deliberately interrupted my gatherings to ask me to go on errands with him. All of this was Satan using my father to disturb me to make it impossible for me to attend gatherings or read God’s word normally. I had no discernment of Satan’s tricks, so when my father threatened me, I listened because I feared being kicked out of the house. I fell for Satan’s temptation, so I couldn’t attend gatherings regularly, and couldn’t do my duty well. Now I understood Satan was using my father’s disturbances to make me distant from God and lose God’s salvation. Satan is so evil. But God’s wisdom is exercised based on Satan’s tricks. By experiencing this environment, I was able to seek the truth, learn lessons, learn to discern Satan’s tricks, stand firm in my witness and humiliate Satan. Only with God’s enlightenment and guidance did I gain some discernment of the real state of things. I had to stand firm in my witness, and no longer fall into Satan’s traps.

After that, I insisted on attending gatherings and doing my duty. My father continued to hinder and bother me, and he even wanted to kick me out of the house a few times. He was so angry with me that he didn’t want to talk to me at all. Regardless of what he did to me, I knew I had to speak to him. One day I asked him, “Dad, why won’t you talk to me? Why do you want to kick me out of the house?” He said, “You only care about gatherings, and you are very disobedient.” I said, “God told us to respect our parents, so I won’t stop talking to you, but I also won’t stop attending gatherings.” How did your father react to that? He was silent, and didn’t say anything to me after that. Later, I preached the gospel to my stepmother. She thought it was good, and she attended gatherings for a month. But when my father found out, he forbade her from attending and wanted to kick me out of the house. This made me sad. I didn’t want my relationship with my father to be ruined. One morning, I was reading God’s word on my phone. My father scolded me when he saw it, “If you still attend gatherings on your phone, I’ll take it away!” Then he tried to grab my phone from my hand. I wouldn’t give it up, so he said angrily, “If you won’t obey me, you can get your things and leave this house!” It was heartbreaking. My relationship with my father had always been good. I never wanted to leave him or his home, but my father’s attitude toward me and these hurtful words were painful in a way that I can’t describe. If I was kicked out of the house, I would have nowhere to go. I also had no money. I didn’t know what to do. I started to cry, and I felt pain in my chest. Because of my father’s obstruction and disturbance, I endured so much anxiety, and I felt so weak and tormented. I didn’t want to keep facing these difficulties and choices, so I thought about suicide.

I knew my thinking was wrong, so I prayed to God to seek and told my brothers and sisters about my state. They shared God’s words with me. “If many things come upon you that do not align with your notions but yet you are able to put them aside and gain knowledge of God’s actions from these things, and if in the midst of refinements you reveal your heart of love for God, then this is standing witness. If your home is peaceful, you enjoy comforts of the flesh, no one is persecuting you, and your brothers and sisters in the church obey you, can you display your heart of love for God? Can this situation refine you? It is only through refinement that your love for God can be shown, and it is only through things occurring that do not align with your notions that you can be perfected. With the service of many contrary and negative things, and by employing all sorts of Satan’s manifestations—its actions, its accusations, its disturbances and deceptions—God shows you Satan’s hideous face clearly, and thereby perfects your ability to distinguish Satan, that you may hate Satan and forsake it” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Those Who Are to Be Made Perfect Must Undergo Refinement). “Do not be discouraged, do not be weak, and I will make things clear for you. The road to the kingdom is not so smooth; nothing is that simple! You want blessings to come to you easily, do you not? Today, everyone will have bitter trials to face. Without such trials, the loving heart you have for Me will not grow stronger and you will not have true love for Me. Even if these trials consist merely of minor circumstances, everyone must pass through them; it’s just that the difficulty of the trials will vary from one person to another. Trials are a blessing from Me, and how many of you come often before Me and beg on your knees for My blessings?” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Utterances of Christ in the Beginning, Chapter 41). “Today, most people do not have that knowledge. They believe that suffering is without value, they are renounced by the world, their home life is troubled, they are not beloved of God, and their prospects are bleak. The suffering of some people reaches an extreme, and their thoughts turn to death. This is not true love for God; such people are cowards, they have no perseverance, they are weak and powerless! … Thus, during these last days you must bear testimony to God. No matter how great your suffering, you should walk until the very end, and even at your last breath, still you must be faithful to God and at the mercy of God; only this is truly loving God, and only this is the strong and resounding testimony” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Only by Experiencing Painful Trials Can You Know the Loveliness of God). After reading God’s words, I understood the road to the kingdom is not an easy one. We have to pay a price and withstand the test of all kinds of difficult environments to receive God’s approval and blessings. Yes. On the path of belief in God, without suffering and refinement, we can’t develop genuine love for God. My father opposed me because I believed in Almighty God. He tried to hinder me and disturb my gatherings and duty, and even wanted to kick me out of the house several times. This was a very painful thing for me. I didn’t understand why God allowed me to suffer such adversity, but I didn’t seek God’s will or how to experience this environment. Instead, I just felt awful, I got distressed and worried, and I was afraid of the hardships I would face when I was kicked out. I was so weak, to the point that I thought that the best way out was death. My negative thoughts completely controlled me. Now from God’s word, I knew just how wrong my ideas were. I was a coward. I should have been brave and strong enough to face any difficulties, because God wanted to perfect my faith through these circumstances, make me able to obey and accept no matter what difficulties I encountered, and make me able to pray and rely on God to stand firm in my witness and humiliate Satan. As I contemplated God’s word, my heart brightened. I couldn’t be timid. I had to move forward, because God was with me, and God would help me. So, I didn’t stop attending gatherings and doing my duty.

A few days later, my older brother returned. I testified Almighty God’s work to him and invited him to attend gatherings, and he accepted my invitation to do so. But after a while, my father found out and began hindering and disturbing him, so my older brother stopped attending gatherings. My father also warned me not to preach the gospel to my family again. I was a little sad, but I knew that this outwardly was my father’s hindrance, but was actually Satan’s disturbance, so I tried to calm myself. Later, in God’s word, I read this, “You must possess My courage within you, and you must have principles when it comes to facing relatives who do not believe. For My sake, however, you also must not yield to any dark forces. Rely on My wisdom to walk the perfect way; do not allow any of Satan’s conspiracies to take hold. Put all your efforts into placing your heart before Me, and I shall comfort you and bring you peace and happiness. Do not strive to be a certain way in front of other people; does making Me satisfied not carry more value and weight?” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Utterances of Christ in the Beginning, Chapter 10). “By what principle do God’s words ask that people treat others? Love what God loves, and hate what God hates: This is the principle that should be adhered to. God loves those who pursue the truth and are able to follow His will. These are also the people that we should love. Those who are not able to follow God’s will, who hate God, and rebel against God—these people are despised by God, and we should despise them, too. This is what God asks of man. If your parents do not believe in God, if they know full well that faith in God is the right path, and that it can lead to salvation, yet remain unreceptive, then there is no doubt that they are people who are sick of the truth, who hate the truth, and there is no doubt that they are those who resist God, and hate God—and God naturally abhors and despises them. Could you despise such parents? They are liable to oppose God, and revile God—in which case, they are surely demons and Satans. Could you abhor and curse them, too? These are all real questions. If your parents prevent you from believing in God, how should you treat them? As is asked by God, you should love what God loves, and hate what God hates. During the Age of Grace, the Lord Jesus said, ‘Who is My mother? And who are My brothers?’ ‘For whoever shall do the will of My Father which is in heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother’ (Matthew 12:48, 50). This saying already existed back in the Age of Grace, and now God’s words are even more clear: ‘Love what God loves, and hate what God hates.’ These words cut straight to the point, yet people are often unable to appreciate their true meaning” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Only by Recognizing One’s Own Misguided Views Can One Truly Transform). After reading God’s word, I recalled my father’s various acts since I accepted Almighty God’s work in the last days. I read Almighty God’s words to him many times, and testified Almighty God’s work in the last days. Even if my father couldn’t refute me, he clung to his notions and didn’t seek at all, he denied and condemned God’s work, and he tried every means to prevent me and the others from believing in Almighty God. Now, I saw clearly that my father opposed and persecuted us because he didn’t love the truth; he hated it. He was just like the Pharisees who resisted the Lord Jesus. When they heard the Lord Jesus came to do new work, instead of seeking and investigating, they resisted and condemned it, which completely reveals their nature of hating the truth and resisting God. My father had believed in God for over 30 years, but faced with the Lord Jesus’ return, he stubbornly clung to religious notions, had no desire to seek, refused to listen to God’s voice, and tried to hinder us. He wasn’t opposed to us, he was resisting the truth and God. He was not God’s sheep, and God didn’t approve of him. God doesn’t care how long you’ve believed in the Lord, if you have status, or how well you know the Bible. God looks at whether you can humbly seek the truth, whether you comprehend God’s voice and accept God’s appearance and work. My father was not someone who truly believed in God and sought the truth. No matter how many years he had believed in the Lord, if he didn’t accept Almighty God’s work in the last days, and resisted and condemned like this, he would never receive God’s salvation, and he would be condemned and cursed by God. It was God’s word that enlightened and guided me, let me understand some truth, and gave me discernment of my father’s nature and essence. I could no longer act on emotion. I had to act according to the principles of truth and God’s word, uphold my faith, and stand firm in my witness for God.

After experiencing this environment, I gained more discernment of my father, and whenever he hindered me, I prayed and relied on God. My brothers and sisters also shared Almighty God’s words with me to help me, which made me understand God’s will and gave me the faith to follow God. I felt God’s love, so I was very happy, and I was very grateful to God. When my father hindered and disturbed me after that, I was no longer constrained. I could stand up to him and tell him no matter what, I would continue to believe in Almighty God and attend gatherings, that I knew what my responsibility is, that I had to put my duty first, and that I had to spread the gospel and do my duty well.

Later, I read more of God’s words. “Today, I love whomever can do My will, whomever can show consideration for My burdens, and whomever can give their all for Me with a true heart and sincerity. I will constantly enlighten them, and not let them slip away from Me. I often say, ‘To those who sincerely expend for Me, I shall surely bless you greatly.’ What does ‘bless’ refer to? Do you know? In the context of the current work of the Holy Spirit, it refers to the burdens I give to you. For all who are able to carry a burden for the church, and who sincerely offer themselves up for My sake, their burdens and their earnestness are both blessings that come from Me. In addition, My revelations to them are also a blessing from Me” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Utterances of Christ in the Beginning, Chapter 82). “Rise up and cooperate with Me! I certainly will not treat shabbily any who sincerely expend themselves for Me. As for those who devote themselves to Me in earnest, I shall bestow all My blessings upon you. Offer up yourself entirely to Me! What you eat, what you wear, and your future are all in My hands; I will arrange everything properly, so that you can have endless enjoyment, which you will never use up. This is because I have said, ‘To those who sincerely expend for Me, I shall surely bless you greatly.’ All blessings will come to every person who sincerely expends himself for Me” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Utterances of Christ in the Beginning, Chapter 70). After reading God’s word, I understood bearing a burden in your duty and being sincere is very important. I asked myself, “Am I truly dedicated to preaching the kingdom gospel? Have I fulfilled my duty according to God’s requirements?” I knew my father wouldn’t allow me to spend more time on my gatherings and duty at home, because he always tried to hinder and disturb me. If I wanted to devote myself fully to gospel work, I had to leave home and go somewhere else to preach the gospel. God wants the kingdom gospel to spread as fast as possible so that more and more people can receive God’s salvation in the last days. I have a responsibility to spread God’s kingdom gospel so that more people can hear the voice of God and welcome the Lord. So I left home with my luggage and went to a new town, and I was finally free to preach the gospel. Without the hindrance and disturbance of our family, we feel relaxed and released in our duties. Thanks be to Almighty God!