51. The Principles of Seeking to Grasp God’s Will | Eastern Lightning

1. You must seek and understand God’s will according to God’s words and on the basis of God’s requirements of man, so as to reach an understanding of the truth and to practice the truth;

2. Seek the truth to counter people’s conceptions and misunderstandings of God, recognize people’s absurdity and preposterousness, so as to reach an understanding of the truth and to obey God;

3. During trials and refinement, seek to understand God’s will and requirements, so as to accurately practice the truth, truly obey God and stand witness;

4. Seek to understand the truth in matters that relate to principles of the truth and your duty, and use the truth to resolve problems.

Relevant Words of God:

One must be clear on specifically how to take the way of Peter and how to put it into practice. First, one must put aside his own intentions, improper pursuits, and even his family and all things of his own flesh. He must be wholeheartedly devoted, that is, completely devote himself to the word of God, focus on eating and drinking the word of God, focus on the search for the truth, the search for God’s intention in His words, and try to grasp the will of God in everything. This is the most fundamental and the most critical method of practice. This is what Peter did after seeing Jesus, and it is only by practicing in this way that one obtains the best results. Wholehearted devotion to the words of God mainly means seeking the truth, seeking God’s intention within His words, focusing on grasping the will of God, and understanding and obtaining more truth from the words of God. … Peter went through hundreds of trials but did not suffer in vain. He not only came to understand himself from the words and the work of God, but he also came to know God. He also particularly focused on God’s requirements of mankind within His words, and in what aspects man should satisfy God to be in line with God’s will. He put forth great effort in this aspect and achieved full clarity; this was very beneficial for his own entry. No matter what God spoke of, as long as those words could become his life and they belonged to the truth, he was able to carve them into his heart to ponder them often and comprehend them. After hearing the words of Jesus he was able to take them to heart, which shows that he was especially focused on God’s words, and he truly achieved results in the end. That is, he was able to freely put the words of God into practice, accurately practice the truth and be in line with God’s will, act entirely in accordance with God’s intention, and give up his own personal opinions and imaginations. In this way he entered into the reality of God’s words.

from “How to Take the Path of Peter” in Records of Christ’s Talks

Loving God requires seeking God’s will in all things, and that you probe deep within when anything happens to you, trying to grasp God’s will, and trying to see what God’s will is in this matter, what He wishes you to achieve, and how you should be mindful of His will. For example: Something happens that requires you to endure hardship, at which time you should understand what God’s will is, and how you should be mindful of His will. You must not satisfy yourself: First put yourself to one side. Nothing is more abject than the flesh. You must seek to satisfy God, and must fulfill your duty. With such thoughts, God will bring especial enlightenment to you in this matter, and your heart will also find comfort.

from “Only Loving God Is Truly Believing in God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

How God guides man is the work of God Himself. Man should submit, and should not hold such and such a view, for man is but dust. Since we try to seek God, we should not superimpose our conceptions on the work of God for God’s consideration, least of all should we employ our corrupt disposition to deliberately try to oppose the work of God. Would that not make us antichrists? How could such people say that they believe in God? Since we believe that there is a God, and since we wish to satisfy Him and to see Him, we should seek the way of truth, and should look for a way to be compatible with God. We should not stand in stiff-necked opposition to God; what good could come of such actions?

from Preface to The Word Appears in the Flesh

Put aside your view of “impossible”! The more that people believe something is impossible, the more likely it is to occur, for the wisdom of God soars higher than the heavens, God’s thoughts are higher than man’s thoughts, and the work of God transcends the limits of man’s thinking and conception. The more that something is impossible, the more there is the truth to be sought; the more that something is beyond the conception and imagination of man, the more it contains the will of God.

from “The Appearance of God Has Brought a New Age” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Nevertheless, I must tell you that often the work of God greatly exceeds man’s expectations and is difficult for the minds of men to accept. For men are merely maggots upon the earth, while God is the supreme One that fills the universe; the mind of man is akin to a pit of foul water that gives rise only to maggots, whereas each stage of the work directed by the thoughts of God is the distillation of God’s wisdom. Man constantly wishes to contend with God, to which I say it is self-evident who will suffer loss in the end.

from “Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

If you want to put the truth into practice and understand it, first you must understand the essence of the difficulties you yourself face and the things that happen around you, what the problem is, and what aspect of the truth it is related to. You must seek this out. After that, seek the truth based on the real difficulties of yours. That way you gradually experience this, and you will be able to see the hand of God, what He wants to do, and the results He wants in you in everything that happens around you. If you feel that none of things that happen around you have anything to do with your belief in God or the truth, and you think: “I can handle it; I don’t need the truth or God’s word. Once there’s a gathering or I’m reading God’s word, or when I’m performing my duty, I’ll hold it up to the truth and to God’s word”; if you feel that the things that usually occur in your life — things in your family, work, marriage, and future prospects, all the things that happen around you — are not related to the truth, and you use human means to resolve them; if you experience things this way, then you will never gain the truth, and you will never understand what God actually wants to achieve in you and gain in you.

from “The Importance and the Path of Pursuing the Truth” in Records of Christ’s Talks

No matter how God works or what kind of environment you are in, you will be able to pursue life, seek to have God’s work carried out within you, and pursue the truth. You will have an understanding of God’s actions and you will be able to act according to the truth. This is your genuine faith, and this shows that you have not lost hope in God. You will still pursue the truth in refinement, you will be able to truly love God and will not develop doubts of Him. No matter what He does, you will still practice the truth to satisfy Him, and you will be able to deeply seek out His will and be considerate of His will. Only this is true faith in God. Before, when God said that you would reign as a king, you loved Him, and when He openly showed Himself to you, you pursued Him. But now God is hidden, you cannot see Him, and troubles have come upon you. At this time, do you lose hope in God? So at all times you must pursue life and seek to satisfy God’s will. This is called genuine faith, and it is the truest and most beautiful kind of love.

It used to be that people would all make their resolutions in front of God and say: “No matter who doesn’t love God, I must love Him.” But now, you are faced with refinement. It is not in line with your notions, so you lose faith in God. Is this genuine love? You have read many times about the deeds of Job — have you forgotten about them? True love can only take shape from within faith. You develop real love for God through your refinements, in your actual experiences you are considerate of God’s will through your faith, and through faith you forsake your own flesh and pursue life — this is what people should do.

from “Those Who Are to Be Made Perfect Must Undergo Refinement” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

As soon as people become hasty while fulfilling their duties, they don’t know how to experience; as soon as they are busy with matters, their spiritual states become troubled; they are unable to maintain a normal situation. How can this be so? If you are asked to do a little work, you become unconventional, unrestricted, do not draw close to God and become distanced from God. This proves that people do not know how to experience. No matter what you do, you should first understand why you are actually doing it and what the nature of the matter is. If it is categorized as fulfilling your duty, then you should ponder: How should I do this? How should I fulfill my duty well so that I am not doing it perfunctorily? This is a matter in which you should draw close to God. Drawing close to God is seeking the truth in this matter, it is seeking the way to practice, it is seeking the will of God, and it is seeking how to satisfy God. These are the methods for drawing close to God while doing things; it is not performing a religious ceremony or an outward action; it is done for the purpose of practicing in accordance with the truth after seeking God’s will. If you always say “Thank God” when you are not doing anything, but when you are doing something, you still do it according to your own will, this type of thanks is an outward action. When fulfilling your duty or working on something, you should always think: How should I fulfill this duty? What is God’s intention? Through matters, you draw close to God, and through drawing close to God, you seek the principles and truths to do things, you seek God’s will from within and do not leave God in all that you do. This is a person who truly believes in God. Now when some matter comes upon people, regardless of what the actual situation is, they think that they can do this and that, so God is not in their hearts, and they do it according to their own intentions. Regardless of whether the course of action is suitable or not, or whether it is in accordance with truth or not, they only stiffen their necks and act according to their personal intentions. It usually seems that God is in their hearts, but when they do things, God is not in their hearts. Some people say: “I can’t grow close to God in the things I do; in the past I was accustomed to performing religious ceremonies, and I tried drawing close to God, but it was to no effect; I couldn’t draw near to Him.” This kind of person does not have God in their heart, they only have themselves in their heart and they simply cannot put truth into practice in the things they do. Not doing things in accordance with truth is doing things according to their own will, and doing things based on their own will is leaving God; that is, God is not in their heart. Human ideas usually look good and right to people and they look like they do not violate truth that much. People feel that doing it this way is putting truth into practice, they feel that doing it this way is submitting to God. Actually, people are not really seeking God and praying to God about this. They are not striving to do it well to satisfy God’s will, nor striving to do it well according to His requirements. They do not have this true situation, and they don’t have such desire. This is the greatest error people make in their practice, because you believe in God, but God is not in your heart. How is this not a sin? How is this not deceiving yourself? What effect will believing this way have? Where is the practical significance in believing in God?

God was very dissatisfied with something in particular you did. Have you pondered within while doing this thing: “How would this matter be viewed by God if it is brought before Him? Would God be happy or irritated if He knows about this matter? Would God detest it?” You didn’t seek it out, did you? Even if others reminded you, you would still think that this matter was no big deal and that it didn’t violate principles and that it wasn’t a sin. As a result, you ruined it and have provoked God to great anger even to the point of despising you. Think things through so you won’t regret them; this is what you must comply with. If you sought and examined the matter thoroughly before acting, then would you not have a handle over the matter? Even though sometimes people’s states are not good, if they solemnly inspect and seek everything that needs to be done in God’s presence, then there wouldn’t be any big mistakes. … If you cannot accurately grasp the will of God and don’t know how to practice, then you should communicate with others. If no one feels like they can see the matter clearly, then you should carry out the most reasonable solution; but if you ultimately discover that there is an error in carrying it out this way, then you should quickly correct it, and God will not count the error as a sin. Because your intent was right at the time of putting this matter into practice, and you were practicing in accordance with truth, only you didn’t see it clearly, and there were some errors in your actions; this is an extenuating circumstance. However, now many people merely rely on their own two hands to work and rely on their own minds to do this and that, and they seldom ponder: Does practicing this way conform to God’s will? Would God be happy if I do it this way? Would God trust me if I do it this way? Would I be putting truth into practice if I do it this way? If God hears this, would He be able to say, “This matter is done correctly and suitably. Keep it up”? Are you able to seriously examine everything like this? Are you able to be meticulous in everything? Or are you able to ponder if God despises the way you are doing it, how everyone else feels about the way you are doing it, whether you are doing it based on your own will, or to satisfy your own desires…? You have to put much thought into it, ask many questions, and seek more, and the errors will become smaller and smaller. Doing things this way proves that you are a person who genuinely seeks truth and that you are a person who reveres God, because you are doing things in accordance with the direction required by truth.

from “Seeking God’s Will and Putting Truth Into Practice to the Greatest Extent Possible” in Records of Christ’s Talks

Recommendation; The Church of Almighty God