Sermons and Fellowship About God’s Word “It Is Very Important to Establish a Normal Relationship With God” (IV)

Sermons and Fellowship About God’s Word “It Is Very Important to Establish a Normal Relationship With God” (IV)

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Let’s start our meeting. Let’s first read a passage of God’s word, “It Is Very Important to Establish a Normal Relationship With God.”

“People believe in God, love God, and satisfy God by touching the Spirit of God with their heart, thereby obtaining the satisfaction of God; and when engaging with God’s words with their heart, they are therefore moved by the Spirit of God. If you wish to achieve a normal spiritual life and establish a normal relationship with God, you must first give your heart to God, and quiet your heart before God. Only after you have poured your whole heart into God can you gradually have a normal spiritual life. If, in their belief in God, people do not give their heart to God, if their heart is not in God, and they do not treat God’s burden as their own, then everything they do is cheating God, and is the actions of religious people, unable to receive God’s praise. God cannot get anything from this kind of person; this kind of person can only serve as a foil to God’s work, like a decoration in the house of God, filling the seats and taking up space, and is a good-for-nothing—God does not use this kind of person. In such a person, not only is there no opportunity for the work of the Holy Spirit, there is even more so no value of perfection; this type of person is the real “walking dead”—they have no components that can be used by the Holy Spirit—they have all been appropriated by Satan, corrupted to the extreme by Satan, who are the object of God’s elimination. Currently the Holy Spirit is not only using people by putting their virtues into play, but also perfecting and changing their shortcomings. If your heart can be poured into God, and keep quiet before God, then you will have the chance, the qualifications, to be used by the Holy Spirit, to receive the enlightenment and illumination of the Holy Spirit, and you will even more so have the opportunity for the Holy Spirit to make up for your shortcomings. When you give your heart to God, you can enter more deeply on the positive side, and be on a higher plane of understanding; on the negative side, you will have more understanding of your own faults and shortcomings, you will be more eager to seek to satisfy God’s will, and in a non-passive state, you will actively enter, and this will mean that you are a correct person. On the premise that your heart is calm before God, the key of whether or not you receive praise from the Holy Spirit, whether or not you please God, is whether you can actively enter. When the Holy Spirit enlightens a person, uses a person, it never makes him negative, and always makes him positive and eager to progress. Even though he has weaknesses, he is able to not live according to them, he is able to refrain from delaying his life growth, and he is able to continue to seek to satisfy God’s will. This is a standard which sufficiently proves that a person has obtained the presence of the Holy Spirit. If a person is always negative, and even after being enlightened to know himself, is still negative and passive, unable to stand up and act in concert with God, then this type of person just receives the grace of God, but the Holy Spirit is not with him. When a person is negative, this means that his heart has not turned to God, his spirit has not been touched by God’s Spirit, and this should be recognized by all.

In your experience you see that one of the most important issues is quieting your heart before God. It is an issue that concerns people’s spiritual life, and the progression of their life. Only if your heart is at peace before God will your pursuit of the truth and of changes in your disposition bear fruit. Because you come burdened before God, and you always feel that you are lacking too much, that there are many truths that you need to know, much reality that you need to experience, and that you should give every care to God’s will. These things are always on your mind, it is as if they are pressing down on you so hard that you can’t breathe, and thus you feel heavy of heart (but not in a negative state). Only people such as this are qualified to accept the enlightenment of God’s words and be touched by the Spirit of God. It is because of their burden, because they are heavy of heart, and, it can be said, because of the price they have paid and the torment they have suffered before God that they receive the enlightenment and illumination of God, for God does not give anyone special treatment, He is always fair in His treatment of people, but He is also not arbitrary in His provision to people, and does not give to them unconditionally. This is one side of His righteous disposition. In real life, most people have yet to attain this realm. At the very least, their heart has yet to completely turn to God, and thus there has still not been any great change in their life disposition, which is because they only live amid God’s graces, and have yet to gain the work of the Holy Spirit. The criteria for God’s use of people are as follows: Their heart turns to God, they are burdened by the words of God, their heart yearns, and they have the resolve to seek the truth. Only people such as this can gain the work of the Holy Spirit and be often enlightened and illuminated. The people God uses appear from the outside to be irrational and seem to be without normal relationships with others, though they speak with propriety, don’t speak carelessly, and can always keep a quiet heart before God. Such a person is sufficient to be used by the Holy Spirit. This irrational person God speaks of looks like they don’t have normal relationships with others, and they don’t have outward love or superficial practices, but when they are communicating spiritual things they can open their heart and selflessly provide others with the illumination and enlightenment they have acquired from their actual experience before God. This is how they express their love for God and satisfy God’s will. When others are all slandering and ridiculing them, they are able to not be dictated by outside people, occurrences, or things, and can still be quiet before God. Such a person seemingly has their own insights. Regardless of others, their heart never leaves God. When others are chatting cheerfully and humorously, their heart still remains before God, contemplating God’s word or praying in silence to the God in their heart, seeking God’s intentions. They never make the maintenance of their normal relationships with other people the main focus. Such a person has seemingly no philosophy of life. On the outside, this person is lively, adorable, innocent, but also possesses a sense of calmness. This is the likeness of a person God uses. Things like the philosophy of life or “normal reasoning” will not get through to this type of person; this type of person has devoted his whole heart to God’s word, and seems to only have God in his heart. This is the type of person who is what God refers to as a person “without reason,” and is just the person that is used by God. The mark of a person who is being used by God is: No matter when or where, his heart is always before God, and no matter how dissolute others are, how much they indulge in lust, indulge in the flesh—his heart never leaves God, and he doesn’t follow the crowd. Only this type of person is suited for God’s use, and is exactly the one who is perfected by the Holy Spirit. If you are unable to reach this point, then you are not qualified to be gained by God, to be perfected by the Holy Spirit.

If you want to have a normal relationship with God, your heart must turn to God, and on this foundation, you will also have a normal relationship with other people. If you don’t have a normal relationship with God, no matter what you do to maintain your relationships with other people, no matter how hard you work or how much energy you put into it, it still belongs to a human philosophy of life. You are maintaining your position among people through a human perspective and a human philosophy so that they will praise you. You do not establish normal relationships with people according to the word of God. If you don’t focus on your relationships with people but maintain a normal relationship with God, if you are willing to give your heart to God and learn to obey Him, very naturally, your relationships with all people will become normal. This way, these relationships aren’t established on the flesh, but on the foundation of God’s love. There are almost no interactions based on the flesh, but in the spirit there is fellowship as well as love, comfort, and supply for one another. This is all done on the foundation of a heart that satisfies God. These relationships aren’t maintained by relying on a human philosophy of life, but they are formed very naturally through the burden for God. They don’t require human effort—they are practiced through the principles of the word of God. Are you willing to be considerate toward the will of God? Are you willing to be a person “without reason” before God? Are you willing to completely give your heart to God, and not think about your position among people? Of all the people you have contact with, with which of these do you have the best relationships? With which of these do you have the worst relationships? Are your relationships with people normal? Do you treat all people equally? Are your relationships with others maintained according to your philosophy of life, or are they built on the foundation of God’s love? When one does not give his heart to God, then his spirit becomes obtuse, it becomes numb and unconscious, and this kind of person will never understand God’s words, will never have a normal relationship with God; this kind of person will never change their disposition. Changing one’s disposition is the process of one giving his heart completely to God, and of receiving enlightenment and illumination from the words of God. God’s work can, on one hand, let one actively enter, and also enable him to get rid of his negative aspects after gaining knowledge. When you are able to give your heart to God, you will be able to perceive every subtle movement within your spirit, and you will know any of the enlightenment and illumination received from God. Hold onto this, and you will gradually enter into the path of being perfected by the Holy Spirit. The quieter your heart can be before God, the more sensitive and delicate your spirit will be, and the more your spirit will be able to observe the movement of the Holy Spirit, and then your relationship with God will become more and more normal. A normal relationship between people is established on the foundation of giving your heart to God; it is not achieved through human effort. Without God, relationships between people are merely relationships of the flesh. They are not normal, but are indulgent of physical desires—they are relationships that God detests, that He loathes. If you say that your spirit has been touched, but you always want to have fellowship with people who appeal to you, with whoever you think highly of, and if there is another seeker who does not appeal to you, who you hold a bias against and will not engage with, this is more proof that you are an emotional person and you do not have a normal relationship with God at all. You are attempting to deceive God and cover up your own ugliness. Even if you can share some understanding but you carry wrongness in your heart, everything you do is good only by human standards. God will not praise you—you are acting according to the flesh, not according to God’s burden. If you are able to quiet your heart in front of God and have proper interactions with all those who love God, only then are you fit for God’s use. This way, no matter how you associate with others, it will not be according to a life philosophy, but it will be living in front of God, considerate of His burden. How many people like this are there amongst you? Are your relationships with others really normal? On what foundation are they built? How many life philosophies are there within you? Have they been cast off? If your heart cannot be completely turned to God, then you are not of God, then you come from Satan, and in the end you will be returned to Satan; you are not worthy of being one of God’s people. All of this requires your careful consideration.”

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Let’s start this fellowship now. “It Is Very Important to Establish a Normal Relationship With God.” We have communicated this piece of God’s word three times. I’m not sure if the majority of brothers and sisters have much of a grasp or understanding of these words of God. Perhaps someone will say, “Why are we still talking about this piece of God’s word? If we believe in God, then just let us believe. Why must we establish a normal relationship with God?” These are the thoughts of some new believers. So we must continue our fellowship to make it clear. Why is it that having faith in God involves establishing a normal relationship with God? This is a subject that every believer must understand clearly in their hearts. We are all clear about how the Lord Jesus did redemption work during the Age of Grace. He was nailed on the cross and died for us. We received the Lord Jesus’ salvation, and our sins were forgiven before we started to pray to God and had a connection with God. Who opened up the road to having a connection with God? It was God who personally established this path when He became flesh during the Age of Grace. If we hadn’t had Jesus’ redemption, would we sinners have had the qualifications to pray to God? Would we be qualified to have a connection with God? Perhaps someone will ask, “Now, if we believe in God and pray to God, God will forgive our sins. We are able to offer ourselves to God and expend for God. Isn’t that all there is to this? Why is it that we still need to establish a normal relationship with God?” Would you say that there is a mystery here? There is a mystery here inside. There is truth that must be sought. You will need to figure it out, “God, what is the importance of establishing a normal relationship with You? I still do not understand. From the Age of Grace until now, we have been praying like this for 2,000 years and You did not say these things. Why do You say these things now during the last days? What kind of meaning is there to this? Where is the mystery? God, may You enlighten and illuminate me.” This is a truth-seeking prayer. After you have finished reading God’s words, you must understand God’s intentions. Why does He require us believers to establish a normal relationship with Him? There is meaning to this! The things that God does, the requirements He has of man, the things He must accomplish, all of these are the most meaningful of matters. Let’s look back at Adam and Eve. In the Garden of Eden, what was it that caused them to leave God? Someone said, “It was because of Satan’s corruption that God chased them out of the Garden of Eden.” Now, why is it that man got corrupted by Satan? What is the reason that man got corrupted by Satan? It is because man did not have an understanding of God and did not have the truth. If we have the truth and we understand God, would Satan be able to corrupt us? Why is Satan unable to corrupt Christ? It is because Christ is the truth and He cannot be corrupted. Satan’s evil teachings and fallacies can confuse mankind but they cannot confuse Christ. Isn’t this the case? What is the end result that we want to achieve through establishing a normal relationship with God? We want to achieve an understanding of the truth and of God. If we understand the truth and God, would Satan be able to corrupt us? Would we be confused by all the different kinds of evil teachings and fallacies of this wicked world? Would all the different kinds of poison of the great red dragon poison us? It cannot poison us. Why is this? It is because we understand God, we have the truth as our life. This is how we can thoroughly distance ourselves from Satan’s influence and be completely obtained by God.

Now, what is the purpose and the result that we want to achieve through establishing a normal relationship with God? The most important is to obtain the Holy Spirit’s work. If you do not establish a normal relationship with God, you will be unable to obtain the Holy Spirit’s work. If man is unable to obtain the Holy Spirit’s work, would he be able to obtain enlightenment and illumination in the words of God? Would he be able to achieve an understanding of the truth? If man does not understand all of the truth in God’s words, would he be able to achieve an understanding of God? Definitely not. What can man rely on to achieve an understanding of God and the truth? Can he just rely on his hard work? The most important thing is to rely on the Holy Spirit’s work! The Holy Spirit’s work is of utmost importance. Obtaining the Holy Spirit’s work is the most important. Is it clear? Now can the religious world’s pastors and religious elders obtain the Holy Spirit’s work through their methods of getting close to God? They cannot. Can man be perfected by God if he cannot obtain the Holy Spirit’s work? Definitely not. We can all see that, in the church, there are many highly educated people, people with very intelligent minds. They are especially astute when it comes to outward things, but they are a total mess when it comes to seeking the truth, they do not have the Holy Spirit’s work at all. Isn’t this a very pitiful matter? Not being able to obtain the Holy Spirit’s work is the most pitiful of matters. Now if someone has believed in God for many years, if he or she has believed for their entire lives, but he or she is unable to obtain the Holy Spirit’s work, would this person be able to obtain God’s approval? They would be unable to obtain God’s approval. Would they be able to enter God’s kingdom? Definitely not. Some people cannot see through this matter. They say, “Most religious people aren’t bad. They all love God, they can all enter the kingdom. God will not abandon any of them. If one out of 100 sheep were lost, God would go and find it.” Are these words correct? These words originate entirely from man’s notions and opinions. People say these muddled things only if they do not have an understanding of God. In the Bible, the Lord Jesus said, “Not every one that said to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). What kind of person does “he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven” refer to? It refers to the people who have obtained the work of the Holy Spirit and have been perfected by God. So, which people in the religious world can be saved? It can be said in this way, only those who have the Holy Spirit’s work will be able to obtain God’s approval. Those who do not have the Holy Spirit’s work are targets of God’s elimination. Is it accurate to say it in this way? Saying it in this way is in accordance with God’s will. Look at those who do not have the truth. All they talk about is based on the notions and opinions of man. None of it is in accordance with the truth.

So, what is the significance of establishing a normal relationship with God? It is to allow us, who truly believe in God, to obtain the perfection of the Holy Spirit’s work. In this way, the hopes of our faith in God will be fulfilled and the beautiful dream of our faith in God will become real. If we are unable to obtain the Holy Spirit’s work, the hopes of our faith in God will be shattered and fruitless. Can you accept it if I say it in this way? If you believe in God, you absolutely must read God’s words and look at things according to God’s words, not according to the notions and opinions of man, or the words of the religious world’s pastors, elders and Pharisees. They do not understand the Bible and they do not understand God’s will. This is why all they say are misconceptions, and evil doctrines that deceive people. Now, how can a normal relationship with God be established? This process is very simple but you need to practice for a certain amount of time. It will not do if you do not practice. How do you practice? The most fundamental step is to read God’s words, pray and listen to the preaching and fellowship. In this way, man’s relationship with God will gradually get closer. Once your relationship has gotten closer, when you read God’s words, you will have light. When you read God’s words, it will be easier for you to understand. When you pray to God, you will feel intimacy. When you pray to God, you will feel that God is with you and you will have the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment. You will have many things you want to say to God in your heart. If during your prayers you feel that there are a lot of things in your heart, there are a lot of matters, there are a lot of burdens, there are a lot of problems, there are a lot of real situations or there are a lot of difficulties that you want to tell God, would you say that your communication with God is getting more and more intimate and frequent? You should worry if you have nothing to say when you pray to God. When you have nothing to say, it is proof of one word: unfamiliar. When people see a stranger, they do not have anything to say. When they see someone they are familiar with, they have things to say. Man’s relationship with God is also this way. If you have believed in God for years, but all along you feel that you do not have much to say to God, what does this mean? Can it be said that your relationship with God is not normal? Someone said, “I pray quite a bit. I pray many times each year.” I said, “What do you pray about?” He said, “I pray to God about whatever difficulties I have. Whatever physical ailments I have, I also pray to God. I ask God for a cure. Whatever difficulties I have in my life, I also pray to God.” Would you say that this kind of person’s relationship with God is normal or not normal? Is this a real communion with God? You all say that it is not. This is troublesome. This kind of person is a beggar. He needs food and he wants to make use of God to resolve his difficulties. He does not believe in God in order to obtain the truth, obtain life, achieve an understanding of God and moreover, he does not pray to God to bestow grace upon him so he can understand the truth. Additionally, he does not ask God to enlighten and illuminate him through His words so that he can achieve an understanding of himself, so that he can cast off his corruption and be saved. He does not believe in God so that he can be cleansed and saved. He believes in order to receive benefits, favors and enjoy grace. This kind of person believes in God so that he can feed himself, obtain good fortune, avoid disasters and enter the kingdom of heaven. Is this kind of person’s relationship with God normal? This relationship is not normal.

Now, what kind of relationship with God is normal? Can you tell me? Now, there are a few forms of relationships with God that are not normal. What is a normal relationship? What must we first understand? First, we must understand what kind of relationship is the relationship between man and God. It is a relationship between the creation and the Creator. Am I right? Now, how many principles must be involved in the relationship between the creation and the Creator? Which aspects must this relationship possess if it is to be a normal relationship? What manifestations does the relationship between the creation and the Creator have? Is there a mystery here? Is there a truth here that must be sought? When you encounter this subject from reading God’s words, how do you pray? After you finish reading, do you just pass them by carelessly? You must ponder them and you should seek the truth. What aspects must man’s relationship with God possess in order for it to be normal? What manifestations are present in a normal relationship with God? This is a subject that you should ponder. If you are someone who seeks the truth, you must communicate with others about this. You ponder it together and pray silently together. You pray silently and try to figure this out at the same time. How do you pray silently? “God, please enlighten me. Why can I not see through this subject? Why do I not understand this? God, if You do not enlighten me, I will not be able to figure it out.” If you pray silently in this way, is it okay? Is it appropriate? This way of praying is appropriate. When eating and drinking God’s words, should we ponder in this way? This is how we should ponder it. Then you should ponder over another matter: What manifestations does an abnormal relationship with God have? God did not express all the positive and negative manifestations through His words. God did not list this out. This is a subject that we should ponder over and resolve. We must use our experience and our prayers to seek and obtain the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment. This way, we can list out both the positive and negative manifestations of this so that we can understand God’s words. Isn’t this the case?

Right now, we cannot exactly confirm the positive aspects of this, but are we able to confirm the negative aspects? If man’s relationship with God is not normal, what are the manifestations of this? Let’s summarize this. The first manifestation is that a believer never gives their heart to God. They never seek God through God’s words. They only seek God when they encounter a situation, difficulties or disasters. Is this a normal relationship? This kind of manifestation does not exist in a normal relationship with God. The second kind of manifestation is that someone only believes in the name of God. In reality, they do not believe in the words of God. They only believe in their own understanding and their minds. They only rely on themselves when they do things, as if they can seize their fate in their own hands. Is this believer’s relationship with God normal? The third kind of manifestation is that a believer only has faith so that they can enter the kingdom of heaven. They persistently expend for God and suffer while spreading the gospel thinking that if they do these things until the time that the Lord comes, they will be able to enter the kingdom of heaven and receive a crown of righteousness. With this kind of faith do they have a normal relationship with God? The fourth kind of manifestation is that a believer, externally, looks like they truly believe in God, but they do not feel out God’s intentions, and they do not understand the truth. As a result, in all matters, they look up to other people and they listen to other people, especially pastors and religious elders. Does this type of faith constitute a normal relationship with God? If you listen to and obey religious pastors and elders in all matters, do you obey God? Is this obeying God? Isn’t this obeying man? This is worshiping and following man! This kind of person believes in God only in name. In reality, God is not his Lord. Pastors and religious elders are his lords. Look at those who listen to and obey pastors and religious elders in all things. Once they investigate the true way, even if they feel that it is rational when they hear it, they think, “This way is right! But, I must ask my pastor and elders. If they say it is right, then I will believe. If my pastor and elders say it is not correct, then I won’t believe.” In the religious world, are there many such believers? There are a lot many! These kinds of people are muddled to a certain degree, and they have a confused faith! Now, does this kind of faith constitute having a normal relationship with God? The fifth manifestation is that a believer never seeks the truth and does not feel out God’s intentions. They seek benefit from God, they seek blessings from Him. When they have difficulties, they ask God for help. When they do not have any difficulties, they do not have any contact with God, they have nothing to say to God. Is this way of believing in God normal or not normal? There are even more of these kinds of people in the religious world. During easy times, when things are stable and quiet in the country and in society, there are very few people in the church. Once disasters arrive, “pow,” the gatherings in the church are filled with many people. When the disasters have passed, “pow,” the people scatter again and there only remains a few in quiet isolation. There are many people like this in the religious world. Does this kind of faith constitute a normal relationship with God? There is one more manifestation. People believe in God but worship man. They worship famous people or great people. For example, Paul, Witness Lee, Watchman Nee, particular pastors and elders are held very highly in their hearts, and they do not allow anyone to touch them. In contrast, the Lord’s status is very small to them. The position of man, great people, and famous people is especially high in their hearts. How high is it? It does not matter who speaks badly of their idols, they will fly into a terrible rage! When I expose Paul and the pastors and elders of the religious world, there are many people who become furious. They are very dissatisfied with me. I disturbed their idols; how could they tolerate it! Would you say that this kind of person has a normal relationship with God?

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Above, we have mentioned a total of six kinds of people. Each of them has a different method of believing in God that constitutes a relationship with God that is not normal. This has now been defined. Now, when it comes to these six types of people, regardless of how many years they have believed in God, are they able to obtain the Holy Spirit’s work? Can they enter the kingdom of heaven? We all say that they cannot. They cannot obtain the Holy Spirit’s work but they still want to enter the kingdom of heaven. Isn’t this delusional? Therefore, if you believe in God but you are unable to obtain the Holy Spirit’s work, then all is empty talk, you will not be able to obtain anything. This sentence is very accurate! Now, why do we need to establish a normal relationship with God? It is so that we can obtain the Holy Spirit’s work, obtain the truth in order to achieve an understanding of God and become perfected by God. Once we become perfected by God, we will become people who truly obey and worship God and we will obtain God’s promise. Now, if we have this kind of intention and this kind of goal, would we be able to establish a normal relationship with God? If our intentions are correct, then our goals can be achieved. Since our intentions are correct, we will be able to receive God’s blessings. When we receive God’s blessings, the Holy Spirit will start working on us. Isn’t this the case?

Some people might ask, “Now, I understand what it means to not have a normal relationship with God. In all, there are six aspects. So how many aspects are there in terms of having a normal relationship with God?” Should we communicate a little about this? There are a few aspects when it comes to normal relationships with God. Let’s talk about this. First of all, let’s confirm that the relationship between man and God is the relationship between the creation and the Creator. We have to define this relationship first. If this is not defined, then you will not be able to accurately see what a relationship between man and God is like. If you think God is only a little higher than man—God is the Captain and you are the lieutenant—then that is a problem. Since we already understand that the relationship between man and God is the relationship between the creation and the Creator, then what exactly is the relationship between the creation and the Creator? First of all, we should establish that the Creator is in control of the creation. That which has been created was produced under the authority and rule of the Creator. Therefore, that which has been created must absolutely obey the Creator. This is the most normal relationship. Isn’t this the case? There is no other way for creatures to approach the Creator, they must absolutely obey. If they do not obey, then they are not qualified creatures. If there is no real obedience, then the creatures will receive God’s curse, condemnation, punishment or destruction. We can see that after Satan corrupted mankind, there were a few cities that God destroyed. Why did this happen? It was because the people in those cities rebelled against God. They reviled God. In the end, God unleashed His wrath and He destroyed them. He used fire from the sky to burn them to death. He burned them into ashes. In the end, their spirits, souls, and bodies were all completely destroyed. Not a single trace was left. Therefore, if the creation does not have a reverent and obedient heart for the Creator, then it is not worthy of being called a creation, a human. Now, we can define what a normal relationship is between man and God. First of all, what kind of relationship is this? The first component of this kind of relationship is that man must absolutely obey God. If man does not absolutely obey, then man is a rebel, a traitor and a degenerate! What kind of person does God despise the most? He despises people that resist and betray Him the most. One kind of person frantically resists and condemns Him. The other kind completely betrays God and relies on Satan. These kinds of people are degenerates in the eyes of God. When I mention degenerates, it means such people are doomed to be destroyed by God. Take a look at the world, to what degree has it been corrupted? Isn’t it corrupted to the point where God is cursed? When man makes God into an enemy, curses God, it means their death is not far away and disaster is about to descend from the sky. Take a look at the disasters in different countries, aren’t they getting bigger and bigger? Now, what is the source of these disasters? They all originate and descend from God, right? Now, what is the purpose of God initiating these disasters? It is to warn, admonish and exhort the human race to return to God and have true repentance. Only this would prevent God from unleashing His wrath upon humanity. Isn’t this the case? You should be able to see through this matter now.

The first thing when it comes to establishing a normal relationship with God is to have absolute obedience for God. The second thing is that in the process of fulfilling duties, man must have an absolutely faithful relationship with God. The third thing is that man must have a relationship where he abandons Satan and absolutely worships God. The fourth point is that man must have a relationship where he honors God as great and reveres God. The fifth thing is to have a relationship where man seeks the truth in all matters, relies on and looks up to God. The sixth point is to allow God to be the master of all of his affairs and be willing to be the servant in his relationship with God. The final point is that man must absolutely and truly have a loving relationship with God. God is worthy of man’s love. When it comes to this word, “worthy,” man must experience this. You must experience it and learn from this experience until you are old. Man will never be able to fathom the depths of this worthiness. There is so much to love about God and God is so lovely! The more you experience, the more you will feel how worthy God is of man’s love; in the end, you will be able to have a supreme love for God, and obey God unto death. Your relationship with God will thus achieve normality. Now, some people will mention the following, “You just talked about seven points when it comes to having a normal relationship with God. It makes sense, but it is not easy to do this. Who is able to do this? When you say ‘love God,’ would you be able to love Him right then and there? When you say ‘obey God,’ would you be able to obey right then and there? Of course you cannot!” Would you say that this is a good issue to mention? Isn’t this an issue that many people have to seek the truth about? So, let us communicate a little about this. Someone says, “Okay, I will start establishing these seven components of a normal relationship with God. Tell me, how do I establish these components?” It is easy to say these things, but putting this truth into practice is not! There is one fact that we must see through. We are all people that have been corrupted deeply by Satan. Inside we have all sorts of satanic poisons and satanic philosophies that cause us to become resistant and rebellious against God. Aren’t these the facts? Someone says, “What is the satanic poison and the satanic disposition?” Is arrogance and conceitedness the satanic disposition? Is egotism the satanic disposition? Is being contemptuous of God the satanic disposition? There are a lot of these kinds of satanic dispositions. We do not have to talk in detail about them. Selfishness, baseness, crookedness, treachery, lies, deceit, self-centeredness, all sorts of base intentions and goals exist inside of us. Many kinds of satanic philosophies exist inside of us. To achieve absolute obedience, loyalty and worship to God as well as honoring God as great, this cannot be done overnight. It will not come into effect just by thinking of it. In the beginning, everyone wants to become people who obey God right away. However, once they encounter difficulties, they are unable to obey and put the truth into practice. Their corrupt disposition involuntarily comes out. What do we do in times like these? There is a spiritual maxim, “God begins where man ends.” When we encounter situations that we are unable to deal with, we just need to rely on God. He can do all things. We must look up to God and pray and ask for help with a true heart. God will answer our prayer. Do you believe these words? If you believe these words, would you say that man is able to achieve the seven components that constitute a normal relationship with God? It is definitely achievable. However, the time it takes to achieve it is not short. Do not say, “I will pray to God and after one month, my relationship with God will become normal right away.” These words are not realistic. One month will not do. You must establish this a little bit at a time. Look at the relationship between a husband and a wife, a father and a son and a mother and a daughter. How long does it take to establish an intimate relationship where both parties love each other? Is this relationship established in a day? Some couples reach 50 or 60 years of age; still, they get divorced. They’ve been together for 20 to 30 years, yet in the end, they break up. They did not establish a normal relationship. What is going on here? Presently, the divorce rate is getting higher and higher. Why is this? It is due to Satan’s corruption, isn’t this the case? Establishing a normal relationship with God is also not something that can be established in a day. If we return before God, eat and drink God’s word, experience God’s judgment and chastisement, our corruption will gradually get cleansed and our obedience to God will gradually get deeper. Along with our understanding of the truth and our gradual understanding of God, when our life grows, our relationship with God will become normal. Isn’t the process like this? Precisely speaking, how long does it take to establish a normal relationship with God? How many years does it take? In 3 to 5 years, you will definitely start to see some results. After 7 or 8 years, you will see significant results. Someone says, “You mean 1 or 2 years is not enough?” You’ve barely learnt the fundamentals in 1 or 2 years. You will be able to speak intimately to God and you will be willing to communicate with God through prayer. It takes 1 or 2 years to learn the fundamentals, 3 to 5 years to start seeing results, and 7 or 8 years to see significant results.

Once some people hear these things, they feel their enthusiasm dampen. Why is this? “Right now, I am in my seventies. Let’s not even mention whether or not I can live another 7 to 8 years.” Are there people who say these things? Do not only focus on death. Only focusing on death is wrong. If you are alive for one more day, then seek the truth one more day. Make your best effort in your seeking. Seek with all your strength. Perhaps just as you are about to succeed in your seeking, you develop an illness. God says that your prayers have not yet been fulfilled and He will not allow you to die. Your illness will have become a refinement, a trial. It will cause you to become cleansed and have an understanding of God. In this way, you will not die. What does this clarify? If man truly seeks God, walks onto the right path of believing in God and walks onto the path of being perfected by God, would God allow him to die? Isn’t whether or not he dies in God’s hands? Would you say that man’s life is in the hands of the king of hell or in God’s hands? We would all say that it is in God’s hands. Why do we say this? Is there a basis for this in the Bible? It is not okay to randomly say things that do not have any basis in the Bible. Other people will not listen to you. Where is the basis for this in the Bible? In one of the conversations between Peter and the Lord Jesus, there is this verse, “and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). What are these words referring to? The lives of unbelievers are controlled by the king of hell. The people of God are under the control of God Himself. “And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” is referring to God’s authority. God’s chosen people have separated themselves from Satan’s influence, they no longer belong to Hades. Therefore, those who believe in God belong to God, they are citizens of the kingdom of heaven. They belong in the kingdom of heaven, in Christ’s kingdom. Understand? If someone tells you your fortune, saying that next year, you are in danger, that perhaps your life will end, it has reached its limit, then you should tell them, “I belong to God. God will not let me die! No matter how you base your observations on my lifespan, that’s fine, it’s useless! It does not hold weight!” Therefore, those who believe in God are in God’s hands, this is a reliable fact. Now, someone will ask again, “This is incorrect. I’ve seen a few believers in Almighty God actually die. They had cancer and they died. How do you explain this?” Tell me, how would you explain this matter? There are many people who believed in the Lord Jesus who have died. We do not worry about it. We are instead concerned about this matter: How is it that believers in Almighty God still die? Let’s talk a bit about this. Anyone who is clear about this matter is someone who truly understands the truth. So, how do we explain this? Nobody will say. I will dare to confirm this. Those who died are definitely not people who seek the truth. They did not have a normal relationship with God and they did not have the Holy Spirit’s work. Is this correct? Look at how simple this matter is. It has confused many smart and intelligent people! If you do not have the truth, would you be able to see through this matter? You must be equipped with the truth. Those that understand the truth and have an understanding of God will understand God’s words. If you understand God’s words, then your perspective will change and you will see things with a basis in God’s words. Every word of God will be fulfilled. What does the Lord Jesus say? “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:35, Mark 13:31, Luke 21:33). This is the authority of God’s words. Do you have faith in these words? If you have faith in these words, then this is true faith. This is much stronger than a vague faith.

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What kind of process is it when people establish a normal relationship with God? First of all, we are certain that it is a process in which one obtains the work of the Holy Spirit. This process may continue for one, two, or three years, but once someone obtains the work of the Holy Spirit, what does this indicate? It means that henceforth they have entered into the right track of belief in God. Can these words be accepted? One comes to establish a normal relationship with God through prayer, reading God’s word and communing with God. If the relationship with God reaches a state of being normal, and if one has true communion with God, one will be able to obtain the work of the Holy Spirit. This way of obtaining the work of the Holy Spirit is not something occasional, and even more so is not a one-time thing, but happens when you frequently obtain the enlightenment and illumination of the Holy Spirit in the word of God. There is always the guidance, enlightenment and illumination of the Holy Spirit in everything that you do, which allows you to understand and to see into how these things were arranged and dictated by God. You’ll say, “Oh, God is guiding me and is doing things for me in secret. I know that God wants to save me and that I am beloved by God.” If you discover this mystery in your experience, how great peace and joy you have! Isn’t this joy so much greater than when you come across a hundred dollars? People who have already had this feeling in their experience, raise your hands. There are several of the new believers, and these are the ones who truly believe in God. New believers even have this feeling, and these are people who understand the spirit! This proves that what I’m saying is believable, there are the experiences of some of the chosen people of God that can confirm it. Isn’t it the most blessed thing to have this kind of feeling? Isn’t it a greater joy than meeting the love of your life? After a person obtains the work of the Holy Spirit, he becomes interested in seeking the truth, and loses interest in the wicked objects and trends of the external world. He sees them as too vulgar and degenerate, and too wicked! It’s better to seek the truth! Because these kinds of people love the truth, their relationship with God becomes more and more normal. Remember these words, there is a force in people having a normal relationship with God, and that force is a heart that loves the truth. The more a person loves the truth, the more normal his relationship with God will be; the more a person loves the truth, his love for God will be real as well; the more a person loves the truth, his energy in carrying out the truth will be all the greater. No one will stand in his way, and he won’t be controlled by any man, thing, or object. There are some young brothers and sisters among the new converts who understand a little of the truth after coming to believe in God, and see the great value and significance of seeking the truth. They begin to cast away family life and abandon their careers, offering themselves up to God and expending wholeheartedly for the sake of God. What amount of energy is this? The great red dragon is astounded, and unbelievers find it shocking, saying, “Can belief in God really make them so vigorous? Is it more alluring than a million-dollar mansion? Is it even more alluring than a famous brand of luxury car?” Isn’t this a heart that loves the truth? With a heart that loves the truth so much, is it easy for this kind of person to attain a normal relationship with God? It’s easy. You see that some people may have committed some transgressions, and once I point out and deal with them, they will cry and feel remorseful in their heart. Immediately they will begin to change and transform, and will return to prayer in the presence of God, feeling that they owe a great deal to God. They will shed many tears about this. Why is this? Is it because weak people cry easily? Why is this? It is because of having a heart that loves the truth. If one loves the truth and what you say accords with the truth and is his true condition, he will accept it. This will make him feel remorseful and grieved, and this is controlled by a heart that loves the truth. Isn’t this the case?

For whom is it easy to establish a normal relationship with God? It is easy for a person who sincerely believes in God and loves the truth to establish a normal relationship with God, and he will attain a result in a year or two at most, just a year or two! In the first year there will still be some worldly objects that are quite attractive to him, and in the second year their appeal to him will become less and less until finally his relationship with God becomes more and more normal. In this way he will be able to quiet down before God at any time, and able to have heartfelt words of prayer with God at any time. His talk with God and true prayer will increase more and more. You see that his prayers with God are not just a performance of religious ritual, but are a matter for any place and time. When walking along the road he watches the road with his eyes while in his heart he is praying to God. If you don’t believe it when his eyes are watching the road, you can wave your hand in front of his face and he won’t see it. From the outside it looks like his eyes are watching the road, but actually in his heart he is praying to God. Some people are praying to God in their hearts when cooking, and once they enter into prayer they become entranced, with their food and vegetables becoming burnt and overdone. They forget all about it, enraptured in the spirit. Doesn’t this happen? This is when, through prayer, a person’s relationship with God becomes more and more normal. Inside, he is always sharing what is in his heart and communing with God at any time or place. Along with increasing evermore in speaking his innermost feelings to God, would you say that falsehoods in his speech would become fewer and fewer? Some people say they will. Why? Why would his falsehoods become fewer and fewer? Who can see into this matter? Falsehoods become fewer and fewer, and speech that is vulgar, useless, nonsensical, and has nothing to do with the truth and life will also become less and less. What does the attainment of this depend on? Is it restraint, or is it artificial? Who can explain this? It’s because he speaks to God more often about his innermost feelings. The more he speaks the more honest his words are, and the more he speaks the more real his words are. They are about his own actual circumstances and situation. When he prays to God with sincerity, it is with true knowledge and desire! The more these words increase, the more quickly his speech that is false, vulgar, nonsensical, long-winded, and has nothing to do with the truth will cease to be and fade away. He’ll feel that saying such things is meaningless, and if someone tries to get him to say them he won’t. You can’t get those words out of him because saying them causes him agitation in his heart. He doesn’t enjoy it and it’s painful for him. How is this result attained? Who can explain it clearly? I can’t explain it clearly. In any case, when your prayers to God become more and more regular, when you speak your innermost heart to God, you obtain the enlightenment, guidance, and touch of the Holy Spirit. Unconsciously, those words of nonsense and falsehood will be lessened. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, which causes man to attain this kind of result in an unconscious condition. You are unable to see or touch the work of the Holy Spirit, so how have you transformed? Is science able to explain this problem? No, science can’t explain it. People discover that after this kind of person believes in God for a year or two, the change becomes greater and greater; they do not understand what is going on. No good job or amount of money can attract him, nor can any mundane books or movies. How does this happen? How is he transformed? Is it through undergoing “reeducation through labor” while staying in a prison? No, it’s not. How does he change? Who can explain this matter? Is it easy to explain or not? This is a change brought about unconsciously through offering genuine prayer to God. God perfects man and transforms man, and it is attained through man’s communion with God in prayer. Is this not the case? The issues I just mentioned can all prove these words. For example, when someone does something wrong, it reveals his corrupt disposition. Brothers and sisters then feel ill at ease and bring it up and communicate it to him, but he doesn’t accept it, saying, “I refuse! I have a hundred statements to refute you, so I refuse!” Finally, brothers and sisters can’t convince him, and there’s nothing that can be done. “Alright, let it be that way, then. I can’t explain it clearly, as my experience is too shallow. Go pray about this matter, for by praying to God you will understand it thoroughly. No matter how much people tell you, it’s useless.” Once he hears this, he doesn’t utter a word. After a couple days have passed, he will come to these brothers and sisters, sniveling, and what will he say? “I was wrong, I was too arrogant!” “How were you wrong? You weren’t wrong, what you said was good. How is it that you were wrong? How could you be wrong having as much reason as you do?” “Don’t say that, the more you say that the harder it is for me to handle!” What is the matter here? Who can explain this? “I can’t solve this problem of yours, so pray to God.” With just these words you get him to pray to God, and when he comes into the presence of God he will become more honest. Could you be so arrogant toward God? Could you be arguing with God? People who sincerely want God become weak as soon as they are in the presence of God. They do not fear, but their conscience suffers blame and accusation! At that time one feels he is not human, but is purely Satan. Arguing with wide eyes, rejecting the truth with wide eyes, disobeying God—if this isn’t Satan, or a scoundrel, then what is it? Once you come into the presence of God it becomes clear, and you will understand everything. So, no matter how great a person’s difficulties and corruption are revealed to be, man cannot solve them. So go pray in the presence of God. Once you pray, you will be rebuked in conscience, and you will conscientiously accept your responsibilities. Tell me, is it important to establish a normal relationship with God? It is so important. There are many problems that people cannot solve, and no leaders and workers can solve these problems. Once you come into the presence of God, you understand, it becomes clear and distinct in your heart. This is the result reached through prayer to God, becoming intimately close to God, and the work of the Holy Spirit. God has a way, for God is almighty. You must see this!

You see that when you are praying, no matter what you say, are you able to hear of the Holy Spirit sending forth His voice? You can’t hear that at all, but if you commune with God as you wish, and say some heartfelt words, why will you change in your heart? How will your mentality be any different? What is going on here? Have you seen God? On the surface you haven’t seen anything, praying with your eyes closed, but how has the change happened? Why do you blame yourself for it? Why do you begin to feel remorse? Why do you hate yourself? Some even come to curse themselves, or hit themselves on the face, and what is going on here? It is the Holy Spirit at work! “Even though I pray with my eyes closed and do not see God, I can still feel the work of the Holy Spirit. The work of the Holy Spirit has achieved its result, causing me to bow down in the presence of God and begin to feel remorse for what I’ve done, to detest myself, to curse myself, and even to slap myself on the face.” This is the result that is reached by establishing a normal relationship with God. What can be relied on to resolve man’s corruption? What can be depended on to cleanse man’s satanic disposition? Is it clear now? Is it solved by reading the word of God yourself, or by relying on praying for the work of Holy Spirit? You must rely on the work of the Holy Spirit. There are many people who say, “Why do we need to establish a normal relationship with God?” After we communicate these words, are you able to understand? Why do we need to establish a normal relationship with God? What’s the importance of this? What kind of problems can it solve? Can you explain it now? Some people say they can. Then tell me, in what aspects can establishing a normal relationship with God bring about results? To use human speech to describe it, what benefits and advantages can be obtained? Every time you pray you don’t get even a penny, and have you seen any money from it? Do you get a car when you’re done praying? Do you get a house? You don’t get anything! Do you hear God speaking or see the face of God? There is none of this. But what do you receive? To be perfectly honest, what do you actually receive? What we receive is life, it’s the truth, and the result we achieve is obeying God and worship of God. So, how much money can you give in exchange for this kind of life and this kind of obedience? Can you exchange a car for it? Or a grand mansion? Some people throw away their careers and the world in order to obtain this truth and life. So, how does one go about beginning to obtain this truth and life? Establishing a normal relationship with God! Once this normal relationship with God has begun to be established, our connection with God has been founded, and then we can pray to God anytime and anywhere, and be intimately close to God. At that time, God will have become our God. God is the source of life for all things. God will then have begun to reveal the providence of life to us, and God’s abundance, promise, and blessings will be bestowed on us in an unending flow. These spiritual fortunes are what we attain through having established a normal relationship with God, and this is the significance of establishing a normal relationship with God. Do you understand? If someone should ask, “Why do we need to establish a normal relationship with God in our belief in Him?” Is it now understood how we should answer this in order to explain it? Do you think it is important after all to establish a normal relationship with God? Everyone says it is. The word of God says, “It Is Very Important to Establish a Normal Relationship With God.” You must now understand what the words “it is very important” mean! After a person establishes a normal relationship with God, once he sees the deeds of God, enjoys the perfection of the work of the Holy Spirit, and especially when he sees his own point of view has changed and he has some knowledge of God, he will feel the significance of living like this. This is the result achieved by establishing a normal relationship with God, and it’s the initial result. After one reaches this initial result, he will feel that praying to God is replete with significance! Communing with God is extremely important! Corrupt men all communicate with other people, with Satan, or with evil spirits. They just do not commune with God, and this is a sign of corruption. As for people who receive salvation, they become intimately close with God, and the only thing they place importance on is communion with God. Their intimacy with other people fades away, and their relationship with others becomes normal. As people commune with God, and do so more and more often, these people unconsciously enter into a path to be perfected by God. Is this not the case?

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So let me ask another question: What is the way that man is perfected by the Holy Spirit? It is attained by establishing a normal relationship with God. When you establish a normal relationship with God, your path of communing with God will open up; once this path is opened, the benefits you gain become greater and greater, the provision you receive becomes more and more, and the quality of your communion with God becomes more and more real, pure, and closer to the truth and life. You will then begin to enter into the path to being perfected. At this time, your communion with God will have become perfectly normal and will be a matter of any time or place. When a person’s relationship with God has become completely normal, there is no impurity: First, there is no transaction; second, it is not a relationship of exploiting God; third, it is not only asking for bread from God to eat one’s fill, but is seeking the truth from God as well as seeking to know God. In this way, a man’s relationship with God will become perfectly normal. When his relationship with God has become normal, how does God look upon this person? If someone’s relationship with God is not normal, how does God look upon and treat this person? Can you see into this matter? When man’s relationship with God has become normal, isn’t his intention in believing in God correct and normal? Is there still anything impure in his prayers to and communion with God? There is nothing impure. Then what is the principle in his prayers to and communion with God? What is his intent? What is his purpose? He communes with God, seeks God’s perfection, and seeks God’s guidance entirely for the sake of seeking the truth, for the love of God, and for obeying God and following God’s will in order to live out a meaningful human life. In this way, his prayers to and his communion with God receive God’s blessing and God’s praise. Isn’t this the case? Tell me, what type of prayer to God are the prayers of religious people, and what kind of relationship do they have with God? Is it a normal relationship? They do not have a normal relationship with God, they are making deals with God and exploiting God to gain blessings. They want to gain blessings from God, so they have adopted many kinds of hypocritical manners, using man’s exertions and spreading the gospel, man’s suffering, and the price man pays to enact business deals with God. Relying on this price and suffering to make demands on God, they say, “You must treat me with righteousness, and You must bestow the crown of righteousness upon me. I have paid such a high price, as You have seen, so there’s no way You won’t bestow the crown upon me and reward me. If You don’t let me enter into the kingdom of heaven, then You are not righteous!” Wasn’t the relationship of Paul with God like this? Paul did have such a relationship, which is why he said, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: From now on there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day …” (2 Timothy 4:7-8). These words of Paul have become the motto of many religious people, and they do not see how in saying this Paul revealed his nature. They are unable to see into whether this is true testimony to God. If Paul, when he was about to die as he was spending for the sake of God, had said, “I was able to suffer so much hardship in spreading the gospel, and actually it was all to make atonement, to redeem the heart of God. Before, I broke God’s heart. Now I have suffered much hardship in spreading the gospel, so it seems I should receive the crown, and that I should enter into the kingdom of heaven and obtain the blessings of God, but I feel I am undeserving! My prior sins are too great, and I am unfit to enter the kingdom of heaven. I’m such a filthy person; even if I am met with the curse of God and die in hell after I have completed my service, I will have no complaint or regret, because God is righteous.” If Paul had been able to write such a letter when he was at the end of his life, what do you think would have happened? If Paul had spoken these words, it would show that he was truly repentant and he had finally spoken conscientious and reasonable words in the presence of God, and spoken some true words. But Paul did not say any such words, and what does this demonstrate? Paul had spent so much for the sake of the Lord, and suffered so many hardships, but why did he not know the Lord’s righteousness and disposition in the end? Why did he not have true repentance? Why did he still desire the crown and to be rewarded? He even threatened the Lord, saying, “If You are the righteous Judge, then You must bestow the crown of righteousness upon me. If You don’t bestow it upon me, then You are not the righteous Judge!” In saying these words, he was threatening the Lord! Isn’t this of a very serious character? Doesn’t it reveal the nature of the antichrist? What is believing until the very end and saying words such as these sufficient to demonstrate? This kind of person has not known the Lord! They resist the Lord even when on the brink of death, and demand the crown from the Lord! There are many religious people who say, “If the Lord were to come one day and not carry us up to the kingdom of heaven, then we would dispute this with Him! We would go up into the third heaven and dispute this with the Lord!” Isn’t this what religious people say? Doesn’t this have a hint of rebelliousness? How am I able to hear that this is the sound of rebelliousness? Have you felt it? Isn’t this the voice of the antichrist? Isn’t it the voice of Satan the devil? Are you now able to distinguish them? Can you hear which is the voice of the antichrist and Satan, which is the voice of a man who sincerely loves God and obeys God? If you really are able to differentiate between them, then you truly have stature.

If a person believes in God for many years and yet has not been able to establish a normal relationship with God, then can this kind of man be considered to have gained success in believing in God? This is the mark of having failed in believing in God! If one believes in God for many years and yet does not have normal communion with God, does not have true prayer, and is not able to open his heart to God, then this is a person who stands outside the gate. He is someone outside the gate of the kingdom of heaven! Christ is the gate of the kingdom of heaven, and this person is outside of Christ, outside of the word of God. Why does one have to establish a normal relationship with God when seeking to enter into life through belief in God? Because what we rely on in believing in God is the guidance and perfection of the work of the Holy Spirit. If one doesn’t have the guidance and perfection of the work of the Holy Spirit, then no matter how he believes it is all in vain and of no use. Some religious people may not understand, and say, “If we don’t have the guidance, enlightenment, illumination, and work of the Holy Spirit, then no matter how much we believe it is all still in vain? In relying on ourselves to eat and drink the word of God we would not be able to understand the truth? I don’t believe this! I’ll rely on myself and still be able to understand the word of God, and still be able to understand the truth!” Tell me, do these words make any sense? Most people say they make no sense. Some people still hold some refusal in their hearts, and say, “The word of God is all spoken plainly and clearly, so that people understand it as soon as they read it. If they read a lot of it, then they understand a lot. How can you deny this fact?” This fact is true, and I am convinced of these words of his. The word of God is like the bright moon, spoken very plain and clear, and people do understand it as soon as they read it. I can’t deny this fact. But there’s one thing, that without the enlightenment and illumination of the Holy Spirit, is what you understand of the word of God able to reach up to the standard? That is on the surface, just the outer skin; if you understand the word of God, are you truly able to compare it to your own state? Are you truly able to see into your own corrupt condition in the word of God? Are you truly able to understand the will of God and God’s requirements of man in the word of God? Furthermore, are you truly able to understand the word of God and put the word of God into practice? You cannot attain these results. If you only understand the outside, then you have taken the first step in a long march of ten thousand miles. And what about the problems that still remain? What about the problems that follow afterward? Can you solve or achieve them? This is just your blind boasting and arrogance. Will it work for people to be without the work of the Holy Spirit in their belief in God? Relying only on human brainpower and knowledge, can people achieve an understanding of the truth and an entry into reality? Relying on themselves, people can’t even carry out the truth, to say nothing of other things. This is all vacuous and even more useless! Isn’t that so? If they can’t carry out the truth, then can they even achieve a state of not telling lies through reliance only on themselves? Are they capable of attaining a state in which there is no cunning in their hearts? Can they do their duty up to the standard? If they don’t understand the truth, are they able to have principles in handling affairs? They can’t attain any of this. So, if they are not able to have the work of the Holy Spirit in their belief in God, then it is all in vain, and they will not be able to obtain anything, they’ll just get some dried-up words and doctrines, which are all without use.

There are some people who, in their belief in God, do not place importance on establishing a normal relationship with God. They always place importance on associating with other people, or on looking up to and admiring other people, or on associating with famous and great people. What kinds of people are they? If, in their belief in God, they do not associate with God, do not speak intimate words with God, and they always speak only with those famous and great idols whom they adore, always wanting to measure up to those people and to listen to what they say, paying attention to whatever comes out of their mouths, and trying every day to imitate the way those people live, then are they people who love the truth? Are they people who sincerely believe in God? Not at all. So, all those who are unable to establish a normal relationship with God, even though they have believed in Him for many years, but instead worship Satan the devil and the antichrist and look up to pastors and elders—these are people who resist God and who stand beside and serve Satan. No matter how many years these people believe, and no matter how much hardship they suffer, they will still be unable to receive God’s salvation. Why? Because these people belong to those who resist God, and those who take Christ as their enemy are courting destruction. Are you able to accept the meaning of these words? It can be fully accepted. Believing in God but taking Christ as one’s enemy is courting destruction! In the Age of Grace, the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees of Judaism believed in Jehovah God, the one true God in heaven, but they never thought that the Lord Jesus would come. The Lord Jesus was the incarnate God, who expressed the truth and did the work of redemption, and this was heaven’s law and earth’s principle! The chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees of Judaism found it objectionable, and they said that the Lord Jesus spoke words of blasphemy. They saw that the words the Lord Jesus spoke had true power and authority, having enacted such great miracles, even greater than the miracles of the prophets in ages past. They were envious of this and hated Him, and because of this they did their utmost in hurling accusations at Him, distorting facts, and defaming the Lord Jesus. To what extent did they blaspheme the Lord Jesus? Even up to today, within all of Judaism there are few who believe in the Lord Jesus. You tell me how great the sins must be that have been committed by these chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees within Judaism! Under the law, they committed sins every day and violated the law, and would all be convicted under the law, they would all be extinguished, and in the end God came to redeem them, and became man’s sin offering. Not only did they not accept Him, but on the contrary they crucified the Lord Jesus. Finally, God became enraged and destroyed the Jewish nation, and caused all the Jews to be reduced to being dispersed into many different countries, leading a wretched and miserable life. In the Second World War, Hitler killed many millions of Jews, and the bitterness of that holocaust is known to all the world. This is what happens when people believe in God but take Christ as their enemy, with the result that they court destruction. Why did such great disasters befall them? The Lord Jesus said, “Woe to you Pharisees! Woe!” They said, “Woe? You say that we are unfortunate, but we haven’t faced any misfortune. You say we are unfortunate, but how do we have food to eat and clothing to wear every day? Every morning, the sun comes up in the East and goes down in the West without us seeing any misfortune.” In the blink of an eye, the great Roman army arrived and annihilated them all, and at that time the word of the Lord Jesus was fulfilled and the temple was completely demolished, without even one stone left standing on another. It was thoroughly destroyed! “You are supposed to worship God. You draw near to God with your lips, but your hearts are far from God, and the most detestable thing of all is that you nailed the incarnate God to the cross. This time, your temples and synagogues were destroyed, and they were utterly destroyed!” Was this not being cursed by God? This was God’s curse. Did you not crucify the Lord Jesus? The Lord Jesus caused your nation two thousand years of destruction, caused you yourselves to be crucified upside down, and this is the end result of taking Christ to be your enemy! That is to say, “Believing in God yet taking Christ to be your enemy is courting destruction.” Do these words make sense? These words are fact.

Now, most of us have turned from believing in the Lord Jesus to this way of Almighty God, because we have seen the utterances of God, which are proof that God has returned. The Lord Jesus has already returned and is none other than Almighty God! According to what is recorded in Revelation, it is God’s promise that the church of Philadelphia will be raptured, the name of the city of God and the new name of God will all be written upon our foreheads, and then we will be people in the book of life and truly belong to God. Because religious people do not accept Almighty God, they also do not accept or acknowledge the second coming of the Lord Jesus. God determines them as people who have betrayed the Lord Jesus. They have betrayed the Lord Jesus. If they do not accept the incarnate Almighty God, then they betray the Lord Jesus, so God says they can only be given over to be dealt with by the Lord Jesus. How are they dealt with when given over to the Lord Jesus? It is when the Lord descends upon white clouds and deals with them, do you understand? Is it important or not to establish a normal relationship with God? If you do not establish a normal relationship with God, then you will never know God! You will never obtain the truth! You will never have life! God will never acknowledge you! To what extent is it important to establish a normal relationship with God? Do you understand? If you have believed in God for many years and have not established a normal relationship with God, God will not acknowledge you! God says you do not belong to Him, and He does not know you! If He determines to say to you, “Away from Me, you evildoers!” then that is trouble for you, and you cannot possibly imagine the consequences! Every one of the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees in religious circles, as well as the pastors and elders, do not have a normal relationship with God, and they all just want to take advantage of God to gain blessings. They act one way before God, and a different way behind His back. They are reading the word of God but not carrying out the truth; they are hypocrites. So, most of the pastors and elders in the religious community are condemned, and this is absolute! These words cannot be said lightly. Remember this, these words must have the basis of the word of God, and man cannot utter them carelessly.

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Some people ask, “How can I establish a normal relationship with God? Are there things I should put into practice to guarantee this? If I am to establish a normal relationship with God, in which aspects do I need to commune with God and pray to God to attain this?” There are 5 major aspects. If you are able to attain normal contact with God, normal communion with God and have normal prayers to God through these 5 aspects, you are assured to attain a normal relationship with God. First, to commune with God you must read the word of God, and based on the word of God you must plead and pray to God. Second, you must recognize your own true situation through the word of God, and see your own deficiencies, understand your own corruption, pray to God, plead to God, beseech God to save and cleanse you. To have a true burden for your own life entry, this is the most important. Third, you must entrust unto God that which you cannot yourself obtain or accomplish. You must be able to rely on God and look to God. That is the third aspect. Fourth, you must completely deliver your own heart and your whole person to God. You must accept the judgment and purification of God and be perfected by God. Fifth, if you are able to disobey God, if you are able to betray God, then you must be able to curse yourself, and plead for the punishment of God, and this is very important! If you commune with God this way, are you not expressing your true feelings? These are the actual details of these several aspects of communing with God.

Some people cannot forsake the world. They already have enough to get by, but they want to earn more and enjoy more. They should be content with the clothes on their back and the food on their plate. With disasters looming, how much is enough to earn? But they can’t cast it away, so they pray, “God, I now see that my heart is very covetous of wealth. Others are all able to forsake everything and be content with clothes on their back and the food on their plate. Why can’t I be content? Why do I still cling to wealth in my heart? Please God, I ask You to save me! I don’t care if You discipline me or if You use some other method, it’s all okay, just so long as I am able to rely on You to forsake everything and follow You. I will fulfill my duties for You. In order for You to obtain glory, I will perform my duties well. This is my wish.” Think about this prayer. Is this kind of person not opening up their heart to God? Some people do not want to find a partner, but the temptations of Satan always come. These temptations finally affect them, so they will say, “Oh, this is getting the better of me, I must pray to God.” When they pray like this, God will act, and make them see clearly the true condition of man’s corruption. They will not be able to find any love for man, and they will let it go. Whatever things man cannot accomplish must be entrusted to God. If man is able to rely on God and look to God, then in the end these things will be accomplished. That which cannot be done by man can be done by God, for God is the almighty God. So is this not truly praying to God and communing with God? Some people cannot see clearly how pastors and elders can be hypocrites, “Why can’t I see through to this? I feel like they are very good and very devout, I’d better pray about this to God, and tell God how I feel.” So they say, “God, I’ve read Your words that reveal the Pharisees, but I cannot see through them clearly. On the outside they seem very devout, why can’t I see their essential hypocrisy? Especially their essential hatred of the truth, I can’t see through to that. So, in my heart I have always looked up to them and I always wanted to ask them if I came across problems. I also feel this is incorrect, but why can’t I let it go? Why is it that I can’t see through them, why am I unable to see through to their inner nature and forsake them in my heart?” If you pray this way for a time, one day God will make it so that you see things clearly. God will bring insight to you, and all of a sudden it will be revealed to you through some of His words, and you will see clearly the essence of the Pharisees. After you see this, you will feel disgust and loathing, and henceforth you will no longer worship them. Is this not the result achieved through the work of the Holy Spirit? When it comes to reaching a communion with God and establishing a normal relationship with God, who would be able to only rely on themselves to accomplish all that they want to pursue, that they want to obtain, that they want to renounce and that they want to forsake? Take casting away one’s wealth for example; that’s not something easy to do, for who doesn’t have a little bit of greed? There is some greed in each of our hearts. So how can we find a way to renounce it? Through prayer, through relying on God! In many things we should be able to pray to God, entrust ourselves to God, ask God to work and lead us and plead to God to save us. Without us knowing it, our corruption will be cleansed, our problems will be solved, and we will be able to let go of those things we are unable to do or that we once could not let go of. All of this can be accomplished. Isn’t this being perfected by God? If someone has very little faith in God, there will be many things that they cannot rely on God for. They won’t look up to God, but instead will always rely on other people, they will always seek out pastors and elders, and they will always seek out brothers and sisters to fellowship with. Will they be able to solve their problems? No. They do not rely on God. They do not look up to God. This illustrates that they have very little faith in God. They have no knowledge of God! This is like holding out a bowl made of gold and begging for something to eat! The God we believe in is almighty. By relying on God, all of our problems and difficulties can be solved. Some people ask, “What if I get cancer? How do I pray to God then? Didn’t you say that God is almighty? There’s not a doctor on the planet that can cure cancer, so can God cure it?” Are you asking if God can cure it? He can. If He can cure it, then why isn’t it enough for some people who get cancer to pray? Why do they have to die? How can this be explained? Isn’t this a real problem? So how can we explain this question? Actually, we must first recognize that there’s nothing God can’t do. God is almighty. Man was created by God, and so was the heaven and earth and all things. So, treating some minor illness of man is no problem at all! Did you ever see the Lord Jesus using a surgical knife when He was treating the sick? Did He use medicine? Did He give shots? None of these are useful. So how did the Lord Jesus treat people? He asked if you have faith. If you truly have faith, if you could grab onto the Lord’s clothes, there would be power rising from the body of the Lord, and your sickness would be cured. The most important thing is whether or not you have faith.

Nowadays there are some things we plead to God for that He doesn’t do. Why is that? Perhaps our prayers don’t conform to God’s intention, so God does not do it. Why is that? God won’t do things that don’t conform to His intentions. Some people ask, “If you plead to God for Him to find a cure for cancer, why doesn’t that conform to His intentions?” You have to pray to God, “Why do I have cancer?” Did you ask God? Don’t you have to first answer this question? “Why did I get cancer? If getting cancer is God’s way of punishing me, if He wants me to die, then I will submit, I will die, I will not treat my illness. If getting cancer is God’s way of refining me and cleansing me, then I hope that the will of God will be accomplished, I will submit to this.” Is submitting in this way good or bad? This conforms to the intention of God. So, when you pray to God, say, “Dear God, if You want me to die I will submit, I will die, and I guarantee I will have no complaints.” God will reply, “Why do you have no complaints? I want you to die and you still have no complaints? Why? Are you boasting? Explain yourself to Me.” To which you say, “First, man was created by You; second, I have sinned, I have done many things that do not conform to Your intentions, and I should receive punishment for this. By Your law, if man commits sin in rebellion to You they ought to die, this is the law of heaven and the principle of the earth, so I ought to die.” What do you think of this prayer? Is it obedient? How did the Lord Jesus pray before He was nailed to the cross? Did He know that He would die when nailed to the cross? How did the Lord Jesus pray? “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). Look at these words in the prayer of the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus submitted unconditionally to God. Whenever man unconditionally submits himself to the point of death, the intention of God will be satisfied. At the time God may possibly change His mind and say, “I was trying you. I didn’t mean to kill you, I meant to put you through trials and perfect you until you are cleansed, this is the resolution I want in your heart. Now I can see this resolution, so this sickness is no longer needed, I will get rid of it.” And without knowing what happened, you’ll think to yourself, “I don’t seem to feel anything anymore, as if my illness is gone. Oh, now I understand the intention of God, this is the cleansing of love, it was to cleanse me. God loves me very much. Really, I do not deserve to live, I ought to die, but God still has let me go on living, I must thank God!” What do you think about this prayer? Should we submit to God in this way? We should. Whenever you submit in this way, you won’t carry any extravagant desires in your heart. If your prayer is, “Oh God! You must save me, You must save me! Please don’t let me live with this sickness! I beg You to get rid of this illness, to get rid of this cup of suffering as soon as possible! Are You willing to look on as I suffer? Do You take delight and pleasure in watching me suffer?” This is no good, these are rebellious words, there is no obedience in them, and they are expressing nothing but extravagant desire! God will loathe these words the moment He hears them, and He will turn His ears away, “I ought to refine this man, it looks as though it really is not enough to have this illness be mild, I must make it more serious.” In response to this, some people might say, “Some people pray in this way, and they really die in the end.” What do you think of this? Is God not listening to people’s prayers? What is going on here? God is the Lord that created all things, and man is one of these things He created, so shouldn’t creations obey the Lord that created them? If the Creator wants one to die, then they ought to die. They must submit to their death, they cannot resist or rebel as they go to their death, they must obediently go to their death, for death too is an enjoyment. Isn’t this how obedience should be? If, after you finish praying to God you still hope to live, then your prayer was a lie, you were deceiving God, you were not willing and ready to submit yourself. It is not okay to tell lies, and if you are really telling lies then you truly ought to die. If you say sincerely, “Even if I die I will have no complaints, I will wait for death.” Then you wait but death does not come, so you say, “I haven’t died, but I have already bought my coffin, I have registered at the crematorium, I registered my name beforehand, can’t you see that I am truly ready to die?” It’s these actions that tell the truth, isn’t that so? Do people who believe in God still fear death? Some people say they don’t fear death. How should you treat the life and death of people? How should you feel about parting forever? Let nature take its course, obey the intentions of God, if you are meant to die then you ought to die. Obeying unto death—this shows that you are truly cleansed. If you are truly cleansed, even your death will be pure. To have a normal relationship with God is to have unconditional obedience, to be able to obey unto death, to love God with all your heart and submit to God’s plan in everything. If God wants to take our lives, then we shall die; if God wants us to move to another place to live our lives, then we shall move and thank God; if God does not want us to live, if He feels we don’t deserve to live, then God shall eliminate us, and we shall obey. This is how we ought to obey. If someone asks you, “You have established a normal relationship with God, you always pray this way, so what will be your end?” Answer, “I don’t know. I submit to the orchestration and planning of God, I don’t have my own requirements or extravagant desires.” If we were to be cleansed to this degree, wouldn’t there be a change in our worldview and our view on life? There would be a complete change, we would obey God in everything, and there would be no complaints. If God wants us to die, there will be no complaints. If many difficult hardships are suffered, there will be no complaints, just obedience to God. If we are able to truly submit ourselves to God, if we unconditionally obey God, won’t our lives be much simpler? Would our lives need to be so tiresome? There would be nothing to weigh us down. If our lives reached that degree, we could understand our lives, and our understanding would be complete.

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Everyone who believes in God has a different relationship with God, which is decided by the person’s nature. Those who love the truth often pray to God and commune with God, so their relationship with God becomes more normal over time. For those who do not love the truth, their prayers are not genuine, which means their relationship with God will certainly not be normal. Why? Because they do not love the truth, they do not truly commune with God, and they do not truly pray to God. Their prayers are pleas and more pleas, perhaps pleading for a cure for their illnesses, or for grace and blessings from God, or for God to solve their problems. There is always more pleading. Such men are despised by God. For those who hate the truth, their relationship with God will be even more abnormal. They have a hostile relationship with God, they are sworn enemies of God and Christ. All those who hate the truth are wicked people and antichrists, therefore it is impossible for them to establish a normal relationship with God, because their nature and their disposition are in opposition to God, and they resist God. For example, the priests, scribes and Pharisees of Judaism, as well as the pastors and elders of the religious world of the last days all hate the truth, therefore they believe in the vague God in heaven, yet are sworn enemies of Christ. Isn’t their relationship with God a hostile one? All those who hate the truth have a hostile relationship with God. All those who do not love the truth or are bored of the truth have an abnormal relationship with God. All they do is plead. They all live for themselves, they all plead for themselves, they never strive to grasp God’s will, nor are they considerate of it. Only those who love the truth have a normal relationship with God. All those with a normal relationship with God have the love of God in their heart and are able to obey God. Why do they need to always pray to God? Why do they need to always fellowship with God? Maybe we can already see the underlying reason, which is that they love the truth. They see that God’s words are the truth, they see that God’s words thoroughly explain all of life, that the best words to live by are God’s words, and that all the famous words spoken by the famous people of the world are all Satan’s lies, Satan’s logic and philosophies. These words grow more disgusting the more you look at them. I have bought some books before, such as quotes and thoughts of famous people. Now, when I look at them, all that I see are fallacies and lies. Only God’s words are the truth, the way, and the life. Therefore, the more those who love the truth read God’s words, the more love they will come to have for God in their hearts; the more they read God’s words, the more they want to pray to God and fellowship with God; the more obstacles they encounter, the more they fellowship with God and pray to God. There is no use in fellowship with people, because it resolves nothing. Without realizing it, after praying to God for a period of time, their relationship with God becomes more and more normal. Sometimes when praying for their own flesh, when praying for their children, when praying for their parents, after they have finished their prayers, they have no joy in their heart, “Have I prayed incorrectly? Let me seek God’s will.” “Now I understand. I must not pray for their flesh, I should pray for their souls and their lives. If they should gain the truth and come to know God, their fleshly difficulties will take care of themselves, God will take care of them.” If God has decided to bring disasters to mankind, God will not change His mind no matter how much men pray. Look at all the things those in the religious world pray for. They pray for their country, their community, peace, the happiness and health of mankind, and that this world shall last forever. They keep praying and pleading. And what is the result? Has God listened? God has not listened to any of those prayers, He continued to visit this world with disasters, and these disasters become worse every time. God wants to destroy this evil world. It was preordained before the ages, and God pays no mind to men’s prayers. These blind men, why do they keep on praying like this? They do not know God’s will. Can you see clearly now?

And how do you establish a normal relationship with God? Several principles are involved. The first is that you must believe in the almightiness and wisdom of God, you must believe that all of God’s words will be fulfilled. This is the foundation. It will not do if you do not believe in God’s words, for it shows a lack of genuine faith; failure to believe in God’s almightiness shows a lack of genuine faith. Second, you must give your heart to God and allow God to take over in all things. Third, you must accept God’s observation, and this is critical. If you do not accept God’s observation of your prayers and fellowship, your actions and your words, could you have true fellowship with God? Could you still tell Him that which is in your heart? You must accept God’s observation. When you speak, you only pray for yourself; when you speak, what you say is mixed with falsehood, carries ill intentions, and is filled with embellishments and lies. If you do not accept God’s observation, can you realize that? Once you accept God’s observation, when you say the wrong things, after you speak words devoid of meaning, after you speak wishful words, you think, “Oh, am I not deceiving God? Why does this feel like lying to God?” See? This is how God’s observation works. It is critical to accept God’s observation. Fourth, you must learn to seek the truth in all things. Do not rely on the philosophy of Satan, and do things based on whether you benefit. You must seek the truth, making sense of the truth, then you must practice the truth. Regardless of personal gains, you must practice the truth and tell the truth, as well as be an honest person. It is a blessing to be taken advantage of; you shall be further blessed by God when you are being taken advantage of. Abraham was taken advantage of many times, and he always made compromises when dealing with people. Even his servants complained, “Why are you so weak? Let us fight them!” “We are not fighting with them. Everything is in God’s hands, and it is alright to be taken advantage of.” As a result, God blessed Abraham even more. Is that not the case? If because of practicing the truth, you have suffered in terms of your personal gains, and you do not blame God, then God shall bless you. Fifth, you must learn to obey the truth in all things, this is also critical. Regardless of the identity of the person who says things in accord with the truth, regardless of whether the person who says such things has a good relationship with us or not, and regardless of how we treat him, so long as what he says is in accord with the truth, we should obey him and accept what he says. What does this show? It shows that man has a heart that fears God. If a person can obey a three-year-old child who says in accord with the truth, is this person arrogant in any way? Is this someone who is arrogant? He has changed, his disposition has transformed. Therefore, obey the truth in all things. Such testimony is very potent, and it is sufficient to shame Satan. An old man, seeing that a child has said in accord with the truth, hurries to respectfully obey and accept what the child said—such are the wonderful scenes playing out in the Age of Kingdom. Such wonderful scenes are only possible in the kingdom. No one shall see such scenes in this evil world, there is no chance. If man should enter into this principle of absolute obedience of the truth, then this is proof of a transformation in life disposition. Sixth, be loyal to God in fulfilling your duties. Never forget your duties as the created. You shall never be able to meet God’s expectations if you do not fulfill your duties. If man does not fulfill his duties, he is garbage, and he belongs with Satan. If he can fulfill his duties before God, then he shall be one of God’s people, for this is the mark. If he has fulfilled his duties well, then he is a qualified creature; if he has failed in fulfilling his duties, then he is not a qualified creature, and he will not receive the approval of God. Therefore, if man can be loyal to God in fulfilling his duties, if he then associates with God, can God not bless him? Can God not be with him? Seventh, be on God’s side in all things, be compatible with God, be one with God. Say, “If my parents should say anything that resists God, then I shall stand by God and argue with my parents, rejecting them, not accepting them, even though they are my parents. If what they say is not in accord with the truth, then they rebel against God and resist God, and I shall stand by God, not my parents.” Is this not witnessing? How could this not shame Satan? If you are a parent yourself, and your children say something that rebels against God and betrays God, you say, “I would rather draw my line against you and stand by God. I would rather stop loving you, my son, my daughter, and stand by God. Even if my son and daughter should become angry and no longer honor me, I shall not turn back. Even if they do not follow God, I shall follow God.” Look at such a person, even his most precious children are unable to rule over his loyalty to God, is this not witnessing? For most people, once they grow old, what are they most afraid of? That there is no one to honor them and take care of them in their old age. If an old man says to his children, “I will not rely on you, I shall rely on God. If you do not follow God and believe in God, then I no longer want you to honor me. I shall stand by God and be one with God.” Is this not witnessing? If an unbeliever should see this, what would he say? “This old man has gone mad with his belief in God, he has provoked his children, he is standing by God in all things, isn’t he insane in his belief in God? Look at all that he suffers.” In the eyes of others, isn’t this great suffering? Hasn’t he become senile in his old age, burning his bridges? How do you view this matter? Men with cunning would never do such things, only men with honesty would do this. Such people love God and obey God and are not ruled over by any individual or any things, “Even if you are my children, so what? Even if you are my parents, so what? Even if you are my spouse, so what? While you are not of one mind with God, I am of one mind with God. If you are not on God’s side, then you are on the side of Satan, and I am on God’s side. This is how I shall believe.” These are the seven principles. If man can adhere to these seven principles, tell me, will man gain God? Will he receive God’s approval? Everyone says yes. Then is his relationship with God completely normal? These seven principles are very critical, almost too critical. This is how you must practice every day, and pray after you have practiced thus, and then see how you feel. It will be different, you will feel different. You might look silly on the surface, you might have been taken advantage of, but in reality, you’ll have been blessed. The unbelievers have a motto, “To be taken advantage of is to be blessed.” How do the fools reckon? “To be taken advantage of is a misfortune.” The wise man says, “To be taken advantage of is to be blessed.” Abraham was taken advantage of, and in the end he was most blessed by God. God bestowed great blessings on Abraham. What does it mean to be taken advantage of? What does it mean to take advantage of others? Even philosophers are unable to see clearly through this issue, for they have no truth. If man practices the truth and lives before God by adhering to these seven principles, his prayers to God and his communing with God will become normal, his relationship with God will become more and more normal, he shall receive more and more of God’s blessings, and ultimately he shall become someone loved by God, someone that will be surely perfected by God. God said, “If man is able to have such a love for God in his heart, then he must be perfected. This is a natural law and shall not be disobeyed by anyone, God will surely perfect him.” If you love God to such a degree, how could God be displeased? God would be immensely pleased. It can be said that, since the creation of the world, God has looked forward to gaining such a group of people who truly love Him. This is the culmination of God’s management plan for six thousand years. Therefore, let us now look at how important it is to establish a normal relationship with God. What is its true significance? Are you on your way to being perfected by God once you establish a normal relationship with Him? Is this a path toward receiving God’s blessings? The practice of these things is too important, all too important!

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Listening to this, some people might say, “Today I finally understand. Apparently, establishing a normal relationship with God is all too practical and meaningful! I will do it. I am resolved to do it! I will practice every day until I have a normal relationship with God.” If you practice like this every day, pray to God every day and live before Him, you will obtain the work of the Holy Spirit and be made perfect. If the Holy Spirit perfects you to a point where you can communicate the truth, then the Holy Spirit will start to use you. If the Holy Spirit uses you, how great an honor is that for a creation?! Even if you could be the president, you wouldn’t do it. Where is the honor of the president? There’s no honor at all. Unbelievers may consider them honorable, but their honor disappears in the blink of an eye. They themselves are destroyed just in the blink of an eye. It’s a flash in the pan; it’s meaningless. If you obtain the Creator’s praise, the one and only true God’s praise, no one will be able to take that blessing away. No one will be able to change it! Therefore, establishing a normal relationship with God is all too significant and important! It’s beyond description! As soon as people have a normal relationship with God, how does He refer to them? God says, “I am your God. You are My people.” “I am your God. You are My people.” What does this sentence mean? Can Satan accuse you of anything after that? Can it take you from God’s hands? No, it can’t. God has obtained you, and you have obtained God. As soon as you establish a normal relationship with God, you will really belong to God. Do you understand? Many people used to say, “How much do we have to believe before we can say that we have succeeded in believing in Him? When can we say we have obtained God?” At that point, no one could say for sure. They just said vague things. Now then, how will we answer this question today? How will we talk about it more realistically, objectively and practically? As soon as we establish a normal relationship with God, we belong to God and God becomes our God. He will be with us every day. God is the source of life for all things. Therefore, in the future, if we have a normal relationship with God, our life is linked to the source of all life. In that case, can we obtain life? You can say that obtaining life will not be a problem. God’s provisions and abundance will be bestowed upon us, and our cups shall run over. Will that wish have been realized? What person who believes in God does not want to obtain His blessings? What person does not want to inherit God’s promises? Everyone does. However, how much do you have to believe in God and what point do you have to reach to obtain these promises? If you establish a normal relationship with God, He will give His abundance and provisions to you. Your cup will be overflowing; you will have abundant blessings and everlasting enjoyment. In the Bible, it says that if you truly follow God and sacrifice for God, what will God promise you? You will receive a hundred times as much in this world and eternal life in the age to come.

If you establish a normal relationship with God, you will understand the truth quickly, and your life will progress quickly. If you have the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment and illumination every day, have God’s guidance and the Holy Spirit’s work every day, how could your life not progress quickly? The more you experience, the quicker you’ll progress. If you can’t see through someone, the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment and illumination will allow you to see through them and will allow you to see that their satanic disposition is written on their mouth and their face. You’ll know they’re not good people. It will be that simple. Therefore, as soon as the Holy Spirit does His work, people will be made perfect very quickly! When people educate people, and people try to change people, troubles pile up, but as soon as God does His work, everything is easy. That is the wondrousness of believing in God, God’s wonderful deed. Therefore, after you establish a normal relationship with God and give your heart to God, you’re unable to not love Him. If you do not love God you will hate yourself and curse yourself. If you do not love God and rebel against Him, you will want to throw your heart on the floor and stomp on it. If you do not love God you will regret it and slap yourself in the face. After you give your heart to God, will your heart change quickly? What was your heart like before? It was a hard heart. And now? Your heart has changed. When your heart changes, you start to get closer to God, bend toward Him and love Him with all your heart. You do everything according to the truth. Isn’t this quite a change? Is this not a change in life disposition? Do you understand now? Therefore, when you establish a normal relationship with God, you will have genuine communion with God. When you truly commune with God, you’ll be able to use your spirit to listen to the words of God, use your heart to feel God’s work and use your heart to experience God’s words. This way, your heart will become more and more occupied by God’s words, the truth, and God. If your heart belongs to God, you will completely change and your life disposition will completely change. If your mouth changes but your heart doesn’t change, that’s useless. You see a lot of people pray to God with their mouths. They say a lot of stuff, all from the Bible, but then what happens? God doesn’t even give them the time of day. They kneel for a long time and talk up a storm, but then when they get up again, brush the dust off their pants and return home, they don’t have smiles on their faces. What are they doing? They are performing a religious ceremony and tricking God. They will be disappointed, as they gain nothing. Isn’t this so? God does not bless religious prayers. That’s just cheating God! Is this not a bald-faced lie? They’re just shamelessly spouting off nonsense, reciting Bible verses, indiscriminately touting God and giving Him praise and speaking a bunch of empty phrases. They ask God to bless them, then recite even more Bible verses written by Paul. What is that? That’s tricking God, trifling with God! Does God listen? God hates people like that. You trick God and lie to God, and you think He doesn’t know? If you lie to people and trick them, everyone will hate you. No one will pay attention to you! Do you really think people are that blind? You think they can’t tell whether you’re lying or not? All mortals can see through it, yet God cannot? God searches humans’ hearts and understands their thoughts. Therefore, God says religious people are all hypocrites. They all use their lips to grow close to God while their hearts are still far away from Him. They are all people who do not love the truth. Therefore, God chose to become flesh and reveal all of humanity. In the end, some people accept God incarnate because of the truth He expresses. Those people will be saved and made perfect. Those who condemn and resist Christ because of the truth He expresses must be destroyed by God. Those who do not love the truth and want to trick God, trifle with God and resist God are on a path to their own destruction. Today, our fellowship ends here. Are there any more questions?

Question & Answer

Question 1: God says, “If you say that your spirit has been touched, but you always want to have fellowship with people who appeal to you, with whoever you think highly of, and if there is another seeker who does not appeal to you, who you hold a bias against and will not engage with, this is more proof that you are an emotional person and you do not have a normal relationship with God at all. You are attempting to deceive God and cover up your own ugliness. Even if you can share some understanding but you carry wrongness in your heart, everything you do is good only by human standards. God will not praise you—you are acting according to the flesh, not according to God’s burden.” I think these words are really applicable to me, but I don’t truly understand them that deeply. Brother, I want to ask you to fellowship about them for a bit.

Answer: Establishing a normal relationship with God, this isn’t just something you say. It means you must fulfill all of God’s requirements for humankind. For example, you want to establish a normal relationship with God, but you refuse to be an honest person as God’s words tell you to be. If you don’t do it at all and lie and cheat all day, then are you not lying and cheating when you commune with God? Can you build a normal relationship that way? No, you can’t. If you want to establish a normal relationship with God, you must practice all of the truth that you understand; you must enter this truth. You must consciously practice the truth that you understand to the fullest extent possible. If you do that, you will have a normal relationship with God. God sees that “This person acts on their words, accepts the truth, and can practice the truth; they put the truth into practice and sacrifice for God and do it to the best of their abilities. There are certain things that they are unable to do because of their small stature.” God is merciful in the case of these extenuating circumstances. If you practice the truth this way and live before God, then you will have a normal relationship with Him. Look, it says here, “If you say that your spirit has been touched.” It’s like if you say you have the work of the Holy Spirit, but you “always want to have fellowship with people who appeal to you” but do not want to communicate with people you look down upon. What is the problem here? Is that not acting on emotion? Is that not acting on your own preferences? Then do you have a normal relationship with people? If you don’t have a normal relationship with other people, and you can’t do as God requires, in that case, do you have a normal relationship with God? Can God be pleased with you? Therefore, when we first come before God, we must reflect on our own corruption most of the time. When you are faced with this matter, do not speak nonsense like, “My spirit has been moved; I have the work of the Holy Spirit. I live every day in God’s presence.” This is exaggerated and unrealistic. Why is this unrealistic? When you communicate the truth, you select those after your own heart, and you do not communicate with those who you look down upon. This proves that you do not have a normal relationship with other people; you do not have normal human relationships. In that case, do you also lack in humanity? Do you have any corruption? God demands that brothers and sisters all love one another. Have you honored that demand? You are not a correct person. You are not a person who is able to genuinely love people and love God; you do not obey the truth or practice the truth. If you really reveal such corruption, you should not say those words. You should say, “I have been examining myself recently, and I’ve discovered that my relationships with other people are not normal. I always want to communicate with people that I can look up to. I am always looking to communicate with those after my own heart. This reveals my corruption.” If you say that, God will listen and say, “Wow! You really can reflect on yourself. This person really is focusing on practicing the truth. He has not heard My words in vain. He really did identify the problem.” If someone like this prays to God again, will God listen? God will definitely be pleased and say, “This person has repented and awakened, at least a bit. See, he has listened to My truth and is able to practice it. He can reflect upon himself. He has a repentant heart. Good, My Spirit will work on him.” In this way, you will have a normal relationship with God. If, no matter how the truth is communicated, you don’t apply it to yourself; if you know that when it comes to many different things, you live in emotions and physical relationships but you don’t reflect upon yourself, then when you pray in front of God, does the Holy Spirit do His work? No, He doesn’t. Why not? Because you cannot live normally in God’s words or in front of God. What is it that makes you unable to receive the Holy Spirit’s work? Your corrupt disposition and your preferences, right? Many people, whenever faced with something, do not practice the truth at all, not to mention being mindful of God’s will. When they come before God, they just spout off nonsense. The result is that God does not work on them. They say, “Lately, no matter how I pray, the Holy Spirit doesn’t work on me. Why is that?” They ask another person what’s going on, and that person says, “You must reflect on your recent deeds. Has there been any obvious expression of your corruption that you haven’t brought before God in your prayers? You haven’t reflected on yourself in front of God. You haven’t even resolved your own obvious corruption. Yet you’re still praying to God about other stuff. Do you really think He will listen? God doesn’t listen to that!” Isn’t that the case? Then, can we solve this problem by communicating this way?

At this point we will conclude our meeting for today. Goodbye!

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.