Believing in God requires you to put your intentions and views in proper order; you must have a correct understanding of, and a correct way of treating, the words of God and God’s work, all the environments that God arranges, the man for whom God testifies, and the practical God. You must not practice according to your own ideas or devise your own petty schemes. Whatever you do, you must be able to seek the truth and, in your position as a created being, submit to all of God’s work. If you wish to pursue being perfected by God and enter upon the right track of life, then your heart must always live in God’s presence. Do not be dissolute, do not follow Satan, do not allow Satan any opportunities to carry out its work, and do not let Satan make use of you. You must give yourself to God completely and let God rule over you.

Are you willing to be Satan’s servant? Are you willing to be exploited by Satan? Do you believe in God and pursue Him so that you may be perfected by Him, or so that you may become a foil for God’s work? Would you prefer a meaningful life in which you are obtained by God, or a worthless and empty life? Would you prefer to be used by God, or exploited by Satan? Would you prefer to let God’s words and truth fill you, or let sin and Satan fill you? Consider these things carefully. In your daily life, you must understand which words you say and which things you do might cause abnormality in your relationship with God, and then rectify yourself to enter into the correct manner. At all times, examine your words, your actions, your each and every move, and all your thoughts and ideas. Gain a proper understanding of your real state and enter into the manner of the Holy Spirit’s work. This is the only way to have a normal relationship with God. By assessing whether your relationship with God is normal, you will be able to correct your intentions, understand the nature and essence of man, and truly understand yourself, and, in doing so, you will be able to enter into real experiences, forsake yourself in a real way, and submit with intention. As you experience these matters concerning whether or not your relationship with God is normal, you will find opportunities to be perfected by God and become able to grasp many states of the Holy Spirit’s work. You will also be able to see through many of Satan’s tricks and penetrate its conspiracies. Only this path leads to being perfected by God. You put right your relationship with God, that you may submit to His arrangements in their entirety, and that you may enter even more deeply into real experience and receive even more of the Holy Spirit’s work. When you practice having a normal relationship with God, in most cases, success will be achieved by forsaking the flesh and through real cooperation with God. You should understand that “without a cooperative heart, it is difficult to receive the work of God; if the flesh does not suffer, there will be no blessings from God; if the spirit does not struggle, Satan will not be put to shame.” If you practice these principles and understand them thoroughly, the views of your belief in God will be put right. In your current practice, you must discard the mindset of “seeking bread to satisfy hunger”; you must discard the mindset of “everything is done by the Holy Spirit, and people are unable to intervene.” Everyone who says so thinks, “People can do whatever they want, and when the time comes, the Holy Spirit will do His work. People have no need to restrain the flesh or cooperate; all that matters is that they be moved by the Holy Spirit.” These opinions are all absurd. Under such circumstances, the Holy Spirit is unable to work. It is this kind of viewpoint that greatly hinders the work of the Holy Spirit. Often, the work of the Holy Spirit is attained through human cooperation. Those who do not cooperate and are not resolved, yet wish to achieve a change in their disposition and receive the work of the Holy Spirit and enlightenment and illumination from God, have extravagant thoughts indeed. This is called “indulging one’s self and pardoning Satan.” Such people do not have a normal relationship with God. You should find many revelations and manifestations of satanic disposition within yourself and find any practices you have that run contrary to what God now requires. Will you now be able to forsake Satan? You should attain a normal relationship with God, act in accordance with God’s intentions, and become a new person with a new life. Do not dwell on past transgressions; do not be unduly remorseful; be able to stand up and cooperate with God, and fulfill the duties that are yours to fulfill. In this way, your relationship with God will become normal.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. How Is Your Relationship With God?