By Ella, the Philippines
My name is Ella, and I am 53, from the Philippines. I was born into a Catholic family. Even though I believed in the Lord since my childhood, I barely knew about the Lord and had little faith in Him, and I was even pursuing to be rich like the unbelievers. In April 1987, I met Villan, a Filipino Christian, when I was a domestic helper abroad. She worked not far away from my work place. At that time she was a leader of a Christian church. She preached to me the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and invited me to attend her church. She also shared with me Romans 10:9-10 of the Bible, “That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes to righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made to salvation,” telling me that I could go to heaven if I believed in the Lord Jesus. Hearing this I was shocked because I was afraid of going to hell. So I accepted the Lord Jesus and started regularly living the life of church in this Christian church. Afterward, I saw 2 Timothy 4:7-8, “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…” and 1 Corinthians 9:24, “Know you not that they which run in a race run all, but one receives the prize? So run, that you may obtain.” Influenced by these thoughts, I actively pursued superficial good deeds, often giving my family financial support, helping those who were in trouble, giving offerings to the church frequently, being nice to others, and never quarreling with others. Besides, I attended the meeting every Sunday and never missed it, often preached the gospel in public places, and handed out tracts in the park. I lived this way for 7 years, and then I became the leader of a church.
After my belief in the Lord Jesus for 30 years, I found I still often committed sins and couldn’t control myself. Usually at home when I asked my daughter to finish her homework, she often complained in a low voice, and I would lose my temper. I often quarreled with my husband too. Because I memorized much more verses of the Bible than the others, I looked down on them and belittled them, thinking I knew the work of the Lord Jesus better than them and I was much more loyal to Him than the other believers. Sometimes when I asked my brothers and sisters about some verses of the Bible and they couldn’t remember them, I thought I was smarter than them. When I realized all these thoughts displeased the Lord, I often came to Him and prayed, “O Lord, I repent of my errors. I am so confused. Why do I always involuntarily commit sins even though I clearly know it is wrong. You know me better than I do. I really want to change these bad thoughts and wrong behaviors. O Lord! Please forgive me and help me.” But every time after I prayed to the Lord, I still committed sins repeatedly. I felt there was no way to go on. Especially when I thought of the words in 1 Peter 1:16, “Be you holy; for I am holy,” I felt miserable in my heart, thinking, “I have still committed sins like this even after believing in the Lord Jesus for dozens of years; would the Lord let a person like me go to heaven?” I was always confused by these questions.
In March, 2016, because lots of problems kept arising in the church, my husband searched the internet for his Korean friend (who was also a priest) and his church, hoping to communicate with him and find a way to solve these problems. During the search, he saw the name of The Church of Almighty God on the internet. He felt curious about it, so he googled The Church of Almighty God and saw the words of Almighty God. The words “cleanse man” in Almighty God’s words struck his heart. Then my husband contacted two sisters of The Church of Almighty God in North America and started to have meetings with them online. At that time I also wanted to make friends with the two sisters, Jessie and Jane, but because they all spoke English and my English was not fluent enough, I didn’t attend the meetings. During that period of time, my husband often fellowshiped with them till midnight. A few weeks later, once when my husband was having a meeting with them, I stood behind the door and listened to their fellowship. I heard they fellowshiped how to believe in God so as to be saved and perfected, and also heard two passages of Almighty God’s words, “Since you believe in God, you must eat and drink of His word, experience His word, and live out His word. Only this is belief in God! If you say you believe in God yet cannot speak out any of His words or put them into practice, you are not considered to believe in God. This is ‘seeking bread to satisfy hunger’” (“The Age of Kingdom Is the Age of Word”). “Eating and drinking the word of God is in order to know God and in order to satisfy God. Eating and drinking the word of God gives you a greater knowledge of God, only after which can you obey God. Only if you know God can you love Him, and the attainment of this aim is the only aim man should have in his belief in God. If, in your belief in God, you always try to behold signs and wonders, then the viewpoint of this belief in God is wrong. Belief in God is principally the acceptance of the word of God as the reality of life” (“All Is Achieved by the Word of God”). Hearing these words, I had a slight awakening: Although I have believed in the Lord for many years, and even have kept many verses of the Bible in mind and often preach them to others, I still can’t practice the Lord’s words in my daily life. I am satisfied with merely knowing and understanding many verses of the Bible, and often commit sins and then confess. I have no knowledge of the Lord and have no love for and submission to Him through His words. This kind of belief can’t satisfy God. My faith in God is in words only and isn’t the real belief. When thinking about this, I felt I couldn’t believe in the Lord in this way anymore and should investigate and seek with my husband. I hoped that I could know more about how to believe in God so as to come out of the state of committing sins and then confessing, and could practice the Lord Jesus’ words.
Later, my husband printed some of Almighty God’s words for me and shared a passage with me, “When Jesus came into the world of man, He brought the Age of Grace and ended the Age of Law. During the last days, God once more became flesh, and when He became flesh this time, He ended the Age of Grace and brought the Age of Kingdom. All those who accept the second incarnation of God will be led into the Age of Kingdom, and be able to personally accept the guidance of God. Though Jesus did much work among man, He only completed the redemption of all mankind and became man’s sin offering, and did not rid man of all his corrupt disposition. Fully saving man from the influence of Satan not only required Jesus to take on the sins of man as the sin offering, but also required God to do greater work to completely rid man of his disposition, which has been corrupted by Satan. And so, after man was forgiven his sins, God has returned to flesh to lead man into the new age, and begun the work of chastisement and judgment, and this work has brought man into a higher realm. All those who submit under His dominion shall enjoy higher truth and receive greater blessings. They shall truly live in the light, and shall gain the truth, the way, and the life.” After reading this passage of God’s words, I understood I was wrong in thinking that as long as I worked hard, spent for God, and prepared good deeds, I could gain the Lord’s approval. Now I knew accurately that I only received the Lord’s redemption after believing in Him, but my sinful nature hadn’t been put off, and I often committed sins and then made confessions, so I wasn’t worthy to go to God’s kingdom and inherit God’s blessings. I also understood that the Lord Jesus only did the work of redemption and didn’t do the work of cleansing our sinful nature. The judgment work that is done by Almighty God during the last days is actually the work of cleansing man. So accepting Almighty God’s work of the last days was really important. These words of Almighty God made me more interested in studying Almighty God’s work of the last days. Afterward, I read many pieces of God’s words, such as “Knowing the Three Stages of God’s Work Is the Path to Knowing God,” “Only Loving God Is Truly Believing in God,” “The Appearance of God Has Brought a New Age,” “Beholding the Appearance of God in His Judgment and Chastisement.” These words greatly helped me in understanding God’s work of the last days.
In April, 2016, my husband and I had a meeting with Sister Jessie and Sister Jane from The Church of Almighty God in North America. They shared these words of God with us, “In the last days, Christ uses a variety of truths to teach man, reveal the essence of man, and dissect his words and deeds. These words comprise various truths, such as man’s duty, how man should obey God, how man should be loyal to God, how man ought to live out the normal humanity, as well as the wisdom and disposition of God, and so on. These words are all focused on the essence of man and his corrupt disposition. In particular, those words that reveal how man spurns God are spoken in regards to how man is an embodiment of Satan and an enemy force against God. When God does the work of judgment, He does not simply make clear the nature of man with just a few words, but carries out revelation, dealing, and pruning over the long term. Such manner of revelation, dealing, and pruning cannot be substituted with ordinary words but with the truth that man does not possess at all. Only such manner of work is deemed judgment; only through such judgment can man be persuaded, be thoroughly convinced into submission to God, and gain true knowledge of God. What the work of judgment brings about is man’s understanding of the true face of God and the truth about his rebelliousness. The work of judgment allows man to gain much understanding of the will of God, of the purpose of God’s work, and of the mysteries that could not be understood by man. It also allows man to recognize and know his corrupt substance and the roots of his corruption, as well as to discover the ugliness of man. These effects are all brought about by the work of judgment, for the substance of such work is actually the work of opening up the truth, way, and life of God to all those who have faith in Him. This work is the work of judgment done by God” (“Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth”). Sister Jane fellowshiped, “In the last days, we humans have been deeply corrupted by Satan, and are filled with satanic dispositions such as conceit, arrogance, crookedness, craftiness, selfishness, and deplorableness. We covet the pleasures of the flesh, pursue fame, fortune, status, and have no place for God in our hearts. In order to save us who are living in sin, God returns to flesh in the last days and expresses the truths to judge man. These truths are all expressions of God’s righteous disposition, and are words that can be our very life. These words reveal the mysteries of God’s six-thousand-year management plan, and meanwhile Almighty God thoroughly reveals the facts and truths of our corruption by Satan and the source of sins, and points out to us the way of being changed in disposition and being cleansed. Hence, we will no longer search and be upset because of being unable to break free from the bondage of sins. As long as we practice according to God’s words, our sins can be cleansed. Therefore, only if we accept the work of Christ of the last days will we have the chance to be cleansed and gain God’s approval. Christ of the last days is the only way for us to gain the truth and life.”
Through Sister Jane’s fellowship, I was sure that Almighty God is the returned Lord Jesus, Christ of the last days, who came to express His words to carry on the work of judging and cleansing man. So I formally accepted Almighty God as my Savior. As I read more and more of God’s words and attended more and more of the meetings with the brothers and sisters of The Church of Almighty God in North America, I firmly believe that God’s word is true and undeniable and that God has become flesh in the last days just to save mankind completely. Thank Almighty God for allowing me to find the way to the kingdom of heaven. My goal of life and direction of pursuit are changing, and I am also experiencing the judgment and chastisement of God’s word and I am gradually being cleansed. I am willing to spend my life to pursue the truth and walk in the way of God so that I can bear witness for God to satisfy Him. All the glory, honor, and praise be to Almighty God!
From Find the Shepherd