Is the Hope of Rapture to meet Jesus Christ Achievable?

Is the Hope of Rapture to meet Jesus Christ Achievable?

Li Huan

Like many brothers and sisters who truly believe in the Lord, I have been longing for the return of the Lord Jesus, holding to the words in the Bible, “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Thus, we have been obsessively looking at the sky, yearning that a day will come when the Lord Jesus will take us into the clouds to meet with Him in the air, and then we can enter the kingdom of heaven and gain eternal life.

Tonight, the Dormitory Light Comes On

Tonight, the Dormitory Light Comes On

Chenxi

It was freezing cold in winter. The whole city was like a big icehouse. In the evening, Chenxi was on the way to the self-study classroom. Pulling up her collar higher, she rapidly put her hands into her pockets. She thought, how cold it was!

Seven Prophecies of the Lord Jesus’ Return

Seven Prophecies of the Lord Jesus’ Return

Zheng Xun

Now it is the end of the last days. Many brothers and sisters, who truly believe in the Lord and wait for Him coming back, must have such questions: The Lord Jesus has said, “And, behold, I come quickly” (Revelation 22:12). He has promised us to return. Has He come back yet? How can we know whether He has returned or not?

Guarding a Pure Land – The Creator’s Predestination

Guarding a Pure Land – The Creator’s Predestination

When I look down casually, sometime the grass has turned green. After suffering the trial of wind, frost, blizzard and sleet, the grass speared out of the earth jostling for position. Under the gentler breathings, the delicate little life forms, nodding their heads, say hello to all things, exhibit their various postures to the world and serve their respective function to express God’s glory. A line of a poem “The grass cannot be burned out even by a prairie fire but grows again with the spring breeze.” is the true picture of their lives’ journey. They bud, blossom and bear fruit, over and over, which demonstrates their determination that they will forever show forth their life force bestowed upon them by the Creator. Moreover, they will strictly stand by their respective life courses, perform their duties among all things and play their roles well.

The Knot in My Heart Was Untied

The Knot in My Heart Was Untied

Zhang Xiaoguang

I was born in the countryside. My neighbor’s daughter, Damei, was born in the same year as me. We played together since childhood and studied in the same class until graduation of junior middle school. It could be said that we were childhood sweethearts. At that time, I thought: I’ll marry Damei when I grow up.

The Inspiration I Gained From Job’s Experience

The Inspiration I Gained From Job’s Experience

Luo Fan

Recently, I came across many difficulties in my job, which made me open the Book of Job and read it again. I saw the archetypal words spoken by Job: “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21). “Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10). Pondering these verses, I wondered: Why was Job able to utter these words when such a great disaster befell him? What power made him say them?

With this question, I searched everywhere, and finally found the answer in the following passage of words in a spiritual book: “In his heart, Job profoundly believed that all he possessed had been bestowed upon him by God, and had not come off the back of his own labor. Thus, he did not see these blessings as something to be capitalized upon, but took holding on to the way that he should by tooth and nail as his living principles. He cherished God’s blessings, and gave thanks for them, but he was not enamored of, nor did he seek more blessings. Such was his attitude toward property. He neither did anything for the sake of gaining blessings, nor worried about or was aggrieved by the lack or loss of God’s blessings; he neither became wildly, deliriously happy because of God’s blessings, nor ignored the way of God or forgot the grace of God because of the blessings he frequently enjoyed” (“God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself II”). Job had received so many blessings from God, but he did not regard them as something to be capitalized upon, nor did he forget God’s grace because of them. When he lost all his property, instead of being sorrowful and distressed or gathering his servants to go wrest them back, he obeyed God’s sovereignty and arrangement.

Then I thought about myself: When I was blessed by God in my job at ordinary times and everything went right for me, I would always admire myself secretly, thinking that I had the ability, and I often showed off my brilliance and achievements in front of my colleagues. But because I was arrogant, self-satisfied, and self-righteous, God hid His face from me. Without the leadership and guidance of God, I lived in the darkness, becoming like a fool. Not only did My work performance drop sharply, but I couldn’t see through the problems in my job at all. I even felt that I was incapable of doing this job and would be fired at any time. Living in a state of depression and disappointment, I either complained that the difficulty of the job was great or complained that the clients and the leaders were too demanding. … At that time, Job could act that way when he only realized from his experiences that all he possessed was bestowed upon him by God. Such a humanity is truly admired by our later generation. In contrast, I, who have believed in God for many years, knew clearly that the achievements I made in my work all came from God’s blessings, but when I lost these blessings, I was unhappy or even negative and retreating.

Reflecting on the journey I’ve gone through, I realized that, in order to save us, God has been setting up different environments for us at different times. Sometimes God arranges an environment of ease, in which we live in God’s blessings. At such times, we should thank God for His grace, and should not steal His glory. Sometimes God creates adversity for us to better perfect us. For example, in the case of Job, after he underwent the trial of losing everything and life threatening, he saw God and said, “I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear: but now my eye sees you” (Job 42:5); such a result is only achieved through adverse circumstances. Another point, which is especially important, is that we shouldn’t misunderstand God’s will while undergoing adversities, for God does not have the intention to abandon us nor does He want us to suffer when He allows hardships to befall us. Sometimes in order to temper us, through the adversities, God leads us to overcome the difficulties and improve our professional skills. Sometimes we run up against a wall because we have some false viewpoints within; and so we have to come before God to examine ourselves so as to know our false viewpoints and have them transformed. Sometimes because there’s something wrong with our work but we don’t realize it, God allows us encounter setbacks so as to force us to stop and reconsider the work, so that we will find the problems and get them resolved. … All in all, when we meet with difficulties in our work, it contains God’s intentions of various aspects, which requires us to ponder carefully in the actual difficulties.

My false viewpoints were altered through Job’s experience. In my future experiences, I’m willing to seek God’s will in all things and obey God’s arrangements. When I don’t understand or can’t see clearly God’s will, I will no longer blindly judge and misunderstand God’s will. I will pursue to have true faith and obedience in God like Job, achieving a deeper knowledge of God.

Jesus Christ is God Himself. The Holy Father, the Holy Son, and the Holy Spirit, They are One. We can know from the bible verses, the Lord Jesus said, “he that has seen me has seen the Father….” (John 14:9) “I am in the Father, and the Father in me….” (John 14:10) “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30).

Can Man Define Where God Appears?

 Can Man Define Where God Appears?

Yikao, Hunan Province

One day, in a Bible study meeting, I had a debate with several brothers and sisters because of our different opinions about the Lord’s appearance. I believed that the Lord would appear on the Mount of Olives in Israel when He returned, for the Bible says: “And his feet shall stand in that day on the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east” (Zechariah 14:4). Israel was the birthplace of God’s work, so the Lord would still descend in Israel when He returned in the last days. As long as we paid close attention to any signs in Israel, we would surely be able to welcome the Lord’s appearance. While a sister raised a query, “Now all sorts of disasters have frequently occurred, and the prophecies of the Lord’s return have already been fulfilled.