How to Seek God’s Will as Christians When Choosing a Spouse?

Hello, Brothers and Sisters of Find the Shepherd!

I’m old enough now to look for a partner in life. My parents are anxious about my marriage prospects, and my relatives and friends also often ask me about this, which makes me feel I’m under much pressure. When it comes to looking for a spouse, my unbelieving friends all want to choose those who are “tall, rich and handsome” or “fair-skinned, rich and beautiful,” yet I have no idea what kind of people we Christians should choose. Looking forward to your reply.

Sincerely yours,

Xiangzhi

How Not to Be Constrained in Gatherings

By Arong

In the past, I often actively fellowshiped about my experience and knowledge of God’s words at meetings. But my emotions often swung because of my brothers’ and sisters’ different reactions. Whenever I saw them attentively listening to my fellowshiping and frequently nodding their approval, I would feel elated, whereas when I saw they didn’t respond to my fellowshiping, my heart would sink. However, I didn’t notice these revelations until one meeting.

Behold, the Lord Jesus Has Returned Upon a Cloud

By Rayson, Kenya

Throughout our lives we will miss out on many things, such as a delicious meal, a date, a good job, an object of our affection, and so on. If we miss out on these things, we can get other things to replace them, but if we miss the last train to the kingdom of heaven, we will be left with eternal regrets. As a Christian, I was very lucky to have caught the last train for the kingdom of heaven.

The Song of Life in Tortures

Gao Jing    Henan Province

In 1999, I was fortunate to accept Almighty God’s end-time work. Through reading God’s word, I felt God’s holy, honorable, and righteous disposition, and knew that all these words are the expression of God’s life being. I had inexpressible moving in my heart. For the first time I felt the security and joy in the bottom of my heart brought by the working of the Holy Spirit. Since then, I desired more and more to gain these truths.

A Christian’s Testimony of How to Save a Marriage on the Brink of Divorce

By Jiamei

Her Husband’s Online Entanglement Raises a Red Flag

“Uncle, none of that online chatting stuff is real. There are lots of people now using that to cheat people, how could there be anyone there that really wants to meet you?”

A New Starting Point in Life: Saying Farewell to Exchanging Life for Money

By Zhao Zhen, United States

Recently, I saw online a couple of phrases that are very popular nowadays: “Live for money, die for money, run after money all your life; lose because of money, be duped because of money, live your life and die for money” and “Look to make money in all things and make your wad of banknotes thicker.” In today’s money-focused society, to have more banknotes is the goal pursued by people nowadays, and “Money is first,” “Money makes the world go round,” and “Money isn’t everything, but without it, you can do nothing,” have even more so become the guiding lights along our paths through life. We do not question these statements and we do not moneygive them up. And of course, I was no exception!

Almighty God Rescued Me from the Desperate Situations

Wang Cheng    Hebei Province

When I believed in Jesus, I was persecuted by the CCP government. It often obstructed and suppressed me on the “charge” of “believing in Jesus,” and asked the village cadres to go to my home at intervals to investigate me on believing in God.

Awakening in the Tribulation of Persecution

Chaotuo    Henan Province

Since I was very young, my parents had often been publicly criticized on the stage, paraded through the streets, and so on because of believing in Jesus. I passed my childhood in the cold eyes and mockeries of the people in the village. In my childhood memories, the brothers and sisters who came to my home were all very kindhearted and genial. I never understood why such good people should be publicly criticized and paraded. In 2001, when I was twenty years old, my whole family accepted the end-time work of Almighty God. Later, I also personally experienced a nightmarish arrest and cruel tortures because of believing in God. Then I finally found the answer and solved the puzzle I had in my mind for years….

Experiencing the Tribulations, I Was Accompanied by God’s Love

Wang Yu    Henan Province

My name is Wang Yu. I’m 76 years old. In 1978, I believed in the Lord Jesus because of illness. I received much grace during my believing. Because of that, I was very zealous in working for the Lord, giving messages and preaching the gospel everywhere and also hosting the brothers and sisters. Very soon, the believers in our church increased to over 2000. Then, the persecution of the CCP government also came. In order to stop me from believing in God and preaching the gospel, the policemen searched my house many times.

Led by God’s Love in the Tribulation, I Became Stronger in My Heart

Chen Lu    Tonglu City, Zhejiang Province

    I was born in the countryside in the 1980s. My family has engaged in farming for a living for generations. To enter the college and break free from the poor and backward rural life, I kept studying hard. When I was in high school, I came into contact with The History of Western Arts and saw many superb paintings such as Genesis, The Garden of Eden, The Last Supper, and so on. Through them, I learned that in heaven there is a God who created all things.

Why Did God Take the Name Jesus in the Age of Grace?

When Jesus began to perform His ministry, the Holy Spirit began to testify to the name of Jesus, and the name of Jehovah was no longer spoken of, and instead the Holy Spirit began the new work principally under the name of Jesus. The testimony of those who believed in Him was borne for Jesus Christ, and the work they did was also for Jesus Christ.The conclusion of the Old Testament Age of Law meant that the work principally conducted under the name of Jehovah had come to an end. After this, the name of God was no longer Jehovah; instead He was called Jesus, and from here on the Holy Spirit began the work principally under the name of Jesus. … Why is it that Jehovah and Jesus are one, yet They are called by different names in different ages? Is it not because the ages of Their work are different? Could a single name represent God in His entirety? In this way, God must be called by a different name in a different age, must use the name to change the age and represent the age, for no one name can fully represent God Himself. And each name can only represent God’s disposition during a certain age and needs only to represent His work. Therefore, God can choose whatever name befits His disposition to represent the entire age. Regardless of whether it is the age of Jehovah, or the age of Jesus, each age is represented by a name.

from “The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

During the Age of Grace, the name of God was Jesus, which means that God was a God who saved man, and that He was a compassionate and loving God. God was with man. His love, His compassion, and His salvation accompanied each and every person. Man could only gain peace and joy, receive His blessing, receive His vast and numerous graces, and receive His salvation if man accepted the name of Jesus and accepted His presence. Through the crucifixion of Jesus, all those who followed Him received salvation and were forgiven their sins. During the Age of Grace, the name of God was Jesus. In other words, the work of the Age of Grace was done principally under the name of Jesus. During the Age of Grace, God was called Jesus. He did new work beyond the Old Testament, and His work ended with the crucifixion, and that was the entirety of His work.

from “The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

“Jesus” is Emmanuel, and it means the sin offering that is full of love, full of compassion, and redeems man. He did the work of the Age of Grace, and represents the Age of Grace, and can only represent one part of the management plan. … Only Jesus is the Redeemer of mankind. He is the sin offering that redeemed mankind from sin. Which is to say, the name of Jesus came from the Age of Grace, and existed because of the work of redemption in the Age of Grace. The name of Jesus existed to allow the people of the Age of Grace to be reborn and saved, and is a particular name for the redemption of the whole of mankind. And so the name Jesus represents the work of redemption, and denotes the Age of Grace. The name Jehovah is a particular name for the people of Israel who lived under the law. In each age and each stage of work, My name is not baseless, but holds representative significance: Each name represents one age. “Jehovah” represents the Age of Law, and is the honorific for the God worshiped by the people of Israel. “Jesus” represents the Age of Grace, and is the name of the God of all those who were redeemed during the Age of Grace.

from “The Savior Has Already Returned Upon a ‘White Cloud’” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

3 Steps for Learning to Rely on God at All Times

By Qiaohui, China

As Christians, if we rely on God and look to God in everything with a God-fearing heart, not only will our difficulties be resolved, but we will also yield twice the result with half the effort in doing things. Even more importantly, we’ll be able to see many wondrous deeds of God and have more faith in Him. But how should we practice relying on God and looking to God? Some time ago, I read some spiritual books and found the path to practice. Here, I’d like to share with you three principles of practice.

1. Have Absolute Confidence in God’s Omnipotence and Sovereignty Over All Things

It is recorded in the Bible, “Jehovah appeared to Abram, and said to him, I am the Almighty God” (Genesis 17:1). “My God has sent his angel, and has shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: for as much as before him innocence was found in me; and also before you, O king, have I done no hurt. Then was the king exceedingly glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found on him, because he believed in his God” (Daniel 6:22-23). From these verses, we could see that God is almighty and that all things are in His hands. Only if we absolutely believe in God’s omnipotence and dominion are we able to truly depend on Him. Take Daniel for example. In danger, he believed that God is almighty, that He holds sovereignty over all things, including his own destiny and animals’ mind, and that without His permission disasters wouldn’t befall him. Because he truly relied on and looked to God, he received God’s protection and didn’t get hurt in the lions’ den. This tells us that if we want to truly depend on God in everything, we should first believe that God is almighty and omniscient. He is the One who created the universe and all things, dominates and controls all things; all things, be they the stars in the universe or the microorganisms, living or dead, are in God’s hands and shift and change according to His thoughts. With Him there is nothing that cannot be accomplished. Hence, when encountering some difficulties, as long as we truly depend on God and look to Him, He will resolve our problems and settle our concerns, and we will see that His power is everywhere, and that His deed is everywhere.

2. Honor God as Great in Heart and Only Rely on and Look to Him Without Worshiping Any Person

“Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, said Jehovah of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6). “Cursed be the man that trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from Jehovah” (Jeremiah 17:5). In these two verses, God admonished us to have God’s place in our hearts and honor Him as great and never have a place for men or look to them. As we know, Saul, the first king of Israel, got scared and dared not fight when facing the Philistine giant, Goliath; he announced he would give his daughter to the man who killed Goliath, and enrich him with great riches. All this suggests that Saul did not have a place for God in heart, and that he didn’t believe God is almighty while man is powerless; in his eyes, Goliath was more powerful than God, so he thought it impossible that the small Israelites could defeat Goliath even if having the help of God. As a result, he chose to rely on man’s force and abilities rather than Jehovah’s power and failed to see His deeds or obtain His approval. By contrast, David had a place for God in heart and believed that God is almighty and that every person, no matter how giant he is, is in God’s hands. Having such faith, David could truly look to Jehovah of hosts. Finally, young and short as David was, he defeated Goliath with the help of God and saw God’s might. From this story, we can see that God is our support.

3. Have a Genuine Fellowship With God in Everything, and Rely on His Words to Stand Firm in Testimony

We should have a genuine fellowship with God in everything; especially, when trials befall us, we ought to constantly pray to Him and look to Him without planning for our own flesh or future, and never deny Him or leave Him; besides, we should put our heart in front of God to satisfy Him, and stand witness for Him. These are what a created being is supposed to do and also an aspect of practice in relying on God and looking to God. When Job was deprived of his children and property, he spoke cautiously lest he offend God, and prayed to Him to seek His will. Afterward, he understood God’s will and then prostrated himself before Him to pray submissively, saying, “Jehovah gave, and Jehovah has taken away; blessed be the name of Jehovah” (Job 1:21). From Job’s experience, we can see that it is important for us to come before God and pray as soon as the trial comes. In this way, we will receive His guidance and know His will, and thus could stand witness for Him. Otherwise, if we merely live in agony, considering our own interests, or rely on our abilities to analyze and examine rather than pray to God and rely on Him, or look to Him just to ask Him to satisfy us, then God will not work and we will fail in trials and become Satan’s laughingstock.

As long as we act according to these three principles above, we will know how to truly rely on God and look to God, and He will lead us to experience His omnipotence and sovereignty in real life. In this way, we will have knowledge of His deeds and produce genuine faith in Him. Thank God! All glory be to God.

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