Enlightenment From a Story of Solomon—Two Flower Baskets

Xu Fan

During my free time, I read a story about Solomon from the internet. A king from a neighboring country gave, as a present, two uncommon and rare flower baskets to Solomon. The flowers of one of the flower baskets were real and the flowers of the other basket were fake. However, the flowers of both baskets looked extremely similar. There was almost no way to distinguish the real flowers from the fake flowers just by looking at their appearance. The state official from the neighboring country that delivered the flower baskets had heard of Solomon’s wisdom. So, he asked Solomon to distinguish between the real flowers and the fake flowers. Solomon sent some people to bring the two flower baskets to his garden. Nobody understood what Solomon’s intentions were. Solomon asked everyone to gather at the garden and there they understood why he brought the two baskets into the garden. The real flowers had attracted many bees to them while the fake flowers did not have any.

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To Be an Honest Person Is Truly Great!(2)

One day a customer called saying that she wanted a case of VC products worth over 900 yuan, and I asked her to come to the store to pick it up. It wasn’t until she arrived that I realized we didn’t have the products that she wanted in stock, but I promised that if she waited a few days I would get the products and send them to her. After a few days she called again to ask me about the products and I thought to myself: When a customer asks about products I used to always sell them ones that were about to expire, but now I can no longer tell lies to deceive people. But then I also thought to myself: If I am unable to send these products to her quickly then it’s very likely that I will lose a customer, as well as the money! So what should I do? To send products that were about to expire would be deceiving, and God would not be happy. After hesitating for a while I prayed to God asking Him for guidance, to make me be able to practice the truth, and to make me no longer tell lies to customers. After praying I thought about God’s word where it says: “You ought to know that God likes an honest man” (“Three Admonitions” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). “Whenever you do or say anything, you must put your heart right, be righteous, and not be led by your emotions, or act according to your own will. These are the principles by which believers in God conduct themselves” (“How Is Your Relationship With God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). Under the illumination and guidance of God’s words I came to understand God’s demands. He hopes that I can practice the truth and be an honest person, which is the principle that I ought to maintain as I conduct myself. I can feel God by my side examining my every move, and this time I will not disappoint God again, I must tell the truth to this customer. So, I gave the customer a call: “The VC products you asked for haven’t arrived yet, if you need them right away I have a case of VC at home that’s going to expire soon, I can give that to you at a discounted price, if you want them then tomorrow you can come to the shop to check them out.” The next day the customer came to check out the products, and she took them without saying another word. Since I betrayed my flesh and said the truth I felt very at peace and free from anxiety in my heart. After going through this incident I felt very moved in my heart, I saw that so long as I behaved according to God’s word, spoke with customers truthfully according to the facts, and conducted myself as an honest person then I could truly be happy, only then could I obtain true liberation and freedom! Thanks be to God!

To Be an Honest Person Is Truly Great!(part one)

Wu Ming, China

One day in 2004 a friend said to me: “Every day you get up early and are busy all day cutting cloth, you exhaust yourself, yet you still don’t make money. Today’s society relies on the tongue to make money, like the popular saying goes: ‘It is better to have a slick tongue than to have strong arms and legs.’ You know that I’m now engaging in the direct sales business selling makeup products, not only does it make me beautiful, I also don’t need to exert too much effort each day, I just need to speak a few words with my customers and sell my products in order to make a lot of money. Why don’t you change jobs and come sell makeup products with me?” I looked my friend over, she really was prettier than before, and then I thought about how I had been a dressmaker for over 10 years, how I hadn’t really made any money at it, and how I wasn’t getting any younger. If it really was like what my friend was saying, if by switching to a job where I sold makeup products I could make easy money, and could even become younger and prettier and win the high praises of others, then that would be much better! As I thought about this, I told her right then and there that I was willing to become a part of the company. Later, after my inspection, I ordered over 3,000 yuan worth of products, and I started my job in the cosmetics industry as a beauty consultant for this company.

A Different Kind of Love

Chengxin, Brazil

By a chance opportunity in 2011, I came to Brazil from China. When I had just arrived, my eyes were overflowing with fresh and new experiences, curiosity, and I had a beautiful feeling about the future. But after a short time, this fresh and new feeling was quickly replaced by the loneliness and pain of finding myself in a far-off foreign land. Every day I went back home all alone, ate by myself, looking at the walls around me every day without anyone even to talk to, and I felt especially lonely in my heart, often crying all alone. When I felt the most pain and helpless, the Lord Jesus brought me into a gathering by means of a friend. Through reading the word of the Lord, singing hymns, and praying in gatherings, my lonely heart received the consolation of the Lord. I learned from the Bible that heavens, earth, and all things were created by God, and man too is God’s creation. The Lord Jesus was crucified for the redemption of mankind, and it was the Lord Jesus who redeemed us from sin, and He is the only Redeemer of mankind. In the face of the Lord’s salvation, which is greater than all else, I felt deeply moved and resolved to follow the Lord for the rest of my life. Because of this I was baptized on Thanksgiving to become a Christian not just in name but in reality. Because I liked singing hymns, especially those in praise of God, after I was baptized I took the initiative to join the choir and work as part of it. Through God’s guidance and blessings, I lived in peace and happiness. Every time I went to a gathering or praised God in worship, I felt suffused with energy.

What is The Rapture?

Lord Jesus.Li Huan

Just like many other Christian brothers and sisters, I eagerly long for the second coming of the Lord Jesus. We abide by the following passage from the Bible: “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1Ts 4:17). For this reason, we foolishly look up to the skies longing for the day that Jesus will return and take us up into the clouds so that we can be with the Lord. However, after so many years have passed, the four blood moons have already appeared; earthquakes, famines, plagues and war and all sorts of other disasters are becoming more and more intense. The prophecies of the Lord’s second coming have basically been fulfilled. However, we still have not seen one Christian raptured into heaven. I cannot help but think, “Why does the Lord not come to receive us? The Lord is trustworthy. The Lord promised that He would take us into the heavenly kingdom in the last days. The Lord’s promise certainly will be accomplished and fulfilled. I do not doubt this at all. Yet, how come up until now, we still have not been raptured by the Lord into heaven? Could it be that there are some problems with our longing?”

English Christian Skit “Starving for Fear of Choking”

Introduction
In the matter of welcoming the Lord‘s coming, there are some in the religious world who close their door and wait alone for fear of being deceived by false Christs. They starve themselves for fear of choking, and cling to the words, “Then if any man shall say to you, See, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; so that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Mat 24:23-24). They think anyone who preaches God’s gospel of the last days or testifies the Lord’s return is false, and utterly refuse to hear, see, or come into contact with them, but they ignore how to welcome the Lord’s coming. The protagonist of this skit is one such person …

This humorous skit warns us that if we misinterpret the Scriptures, understand the Lord’s words incorrectly, and stubbornly abide by mistaken views, we will inevitably lose our chance to be raptured, and be forsaken by the Lord. Christians need to think about how to welcome the Lord’s return, which means focusing on seeking and investigating, listening for God’s voice, and not starving themselves for fear of choking.

Eastern Lightning, The Church of Almighty God was created because of the appearance and work of Almighty God, the second coming of the Lord Jesus, Christ of the last days. It is made up of all those who accept Almighty God’s work in the last days and are conquered and saved by His words. It was entirely founded by Almighty God personally and is led by Him as the Shepherd. It was definitely not created by a person. Christ is the truth, the way, and the life. God’s sheep hear God’s voice. As long as you read the words of Almighty God, you will see God has appeared.