Q1: Teacher, how can I please God?

You please God when you believe His Word. Man's biggest downfall is trusting himself. He is ignorant of how to live well, yet persists in living according to his own limited understanding, and that is where the trouble lies. Even before ordinary accomplished individuals, you would be far inferior, much more so before God. We must recognize that we are like frogs at the bottom of a well, with a limited view of things. God reveals from the heavens to let us know: Oh, so that's how it is.

Solomon said: Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. You ask, then how should we live? The key is to eradicate the inherent assumptions and behaviours that corrupt us. How many people live for money? Many think money is important, and when money is involved, they become anxious, leading to illness and distress.

We must be humble, doing as God says. Knowing that our own thinking is flawed pleases God. Dismantle the erroneous notions within you. When do you control when you need to defecate? When can you urinate? When do you contract a small virus? When do you develop dementia? These are beyond your control, indicating the failure of your own systems.

Some who are unfilial to their parents are cursed, living a life of failure and misery. Originally, they thought that honoring parents was a disadvantage, but after hearing God's Word, they realized it's a benefit, and this changes their perspective. Dismantle your own erroneous notions and practice God's Word. You will discover: God's Word is truly good! To what extent? God will give you many things, it’s not exaggerated. Everything I have is given by God.

Q2: Teacher, how can I find joy before I receive good things? I feel down when my grades are poor, my work is not smooth, and I haven't earned money.

Why are your grades poor, your work not smooth, and you not earning money? Because you are living according to your own faulty ways. Recognize that you are wrong and quickly return to God. Did Abraham have issues with grades, work, or earning money? Abraham did not have these problems. Did Isaac have these issues? Were Isaac's grades good? Was his work smooth? Did he earn money? Isaac's grades were excellent, his work was smooth, and he earned money. What about Jacob? Jacob too. Joseph as well.

The Bible does not show us blessed individuals who have poor grades, problems at work or inability to earn money. Do you want to be blessed in this way? This is not a blessing but a curse. Why are people cursed? Because they do not know the path to blessings. We all want blessings, but we need a way. When people live under a curse, they must know they are not doing things right, and then seek. When you find it, you will say: Ah, this is good.

If you find a treasure and tell your husband: Darling, I found a treasure. Would you worry? You wouldn't. If you tell your husband: Darling, I want to believe in the Lord. Why do you still look at his face cautiously? If his face turns dark, you think: Oh no. Why is this? Because you feel you are doing something that's not quite right. If it's a good thing, would you worry about it? What you are talking about is very bad, it is impossible to have joy.

Once a person walks on the path of Abraham, many things become unimportant. Seeing through these vanities, they cannot disturb you, and you will have joy. Your grades will improve, your work will be smooth, and you will be able to earn money. In the past years, God has been gracious to me. My money is earned with God's help, and God gives it to me.

Q3: Teacher, I've always had this question: You say Abraham saw life as vanity of vanities. Which scriptures can support or reflect this?

If Abraham did not see through vanity, would he have moved his entire family from Haran to Canaan? This process was very tough. His wife was first taken by Pharaoh, and later by Abimelech, yet he did not act rashly. Everything he did in his life is beyond your understanding. Abraham offered his son Isaac to God. Can you understand that? And he picked up the knife to cut him on the altar. It is difficult to understand Abraham.

Why do you always have this question? Because you have your own set of principles. Do you feel that Abraham did things wrong? But look at Abraham's whole life. Abraham was a great prince.

Q4: Teacher, God delights in those who give him wisdom, knowledge, and joy, but God makes sinners labor. I don't quite understand the latter part. How is it that God-given wisdom and joy are also vanity? That is very substantial!

God giving you wisdom, knowledge, and joy is just a mere appearance. What God truly wants to give you is eternal life. What God really wants to give you is not in this world. Everything in this world is vanity of vanities, even what God gives you. Let me give you an example. Why does God want tithes? You can try taking the full tithe to God's temple and see if God will open the windows of heaven and pour out His blessings, overflowing into your lap? This is not God's intention. God's intention is to prevent you from perishing but to have eternal life.

We always think it's good for God to bless us, but this is just an appearance. The truly important thing is eternal life, to be one with God in eternity. All things in this world, including God's blessings to you, are to make you seek something more important, which is eternal life. Don't think that joy is amazing. Joy is useless. The key is whether you value eternal life.

Q5: Teacher, is it pleasing to God to listen to the pastor's words during new believer training?

Yes, pastors explain God's Word in the Bible.

Q6: Teacher, I'm asking for a sister who is next to me. She is helping a patient with depression, and she asks how she should serve. This patient stops eating and drinking at every turn.

Does she know how to serve? Comforting and persuading are useless. Those methods cannot deal with the carnal nature. All depressed patients take the matters of this life too seriously, it's that simple. You have to change their internal logic for them to come out of depression. Serving those with depression requires first dealing with their indulgence of the flesh, laziness, discernment of good and evil, and love for the world.

Q7: Teacher, a child is eight years old and cannot speak. These past few days, his body and head have been sweating with a foul smell, which is not usually the case. Teacher, what's going on?

This should be a release. Start praying more with the child and drive out the demons. Poverty and bad luck are inextricably linked to the spiritual world.

Q8: Teacher, is filial piety not a superficial act but a core interest in the heart, not coveting the parents' belongings?

People have their own measure in their hearts. Filial people seek the benefit of their parents, not their own benefit, nor do they engage in superficial acts. Bringing some things to the parents' home is basic common sense. What is seeking the benefit of others? Some parents expect you to take care of them in their old age, but you don't want to.

Like some parents-in-law who come to stay for a long time, the daughter-in-law argues, because the presence created problems, and the parents-in-law shed tears downstairs. The elderly are already uneasy about living under someone else's roof. The elderly are not easy so you need to know what the elderly are thinking. Showing filial piety to the elderly requires wisdom.

Honoring parents is helping them deal with their carnal nature, but don't use too much force and hurt the elderly, creating problems instead. Seeking the benefit of parents means discovering that they have bad habits that will cause harm to them. You are not afraid of losing your own benefits, but fear that they will be corrupted by bad habits. You help them deal with bad habits, and they know it in their hearts, but many daughters-in-law only think about benefiting themselves.

Q9: Teacher, after listening to the sermon, I know that human life is vanity of vanities. I also want to see through everything, but when something happens in real life, I am caught by the situation. Sometimes I am very painful and regret that I have not overcome these things. Teacher, how can I deal with my bad habits? How can I overcome the recurring situations?

You are at a disadvantage when you act according to your own ideas. So why do you keep doing things that put you at a disadvantage? Because when you do it, you think it's a bargain, and that's called a value concept. Many people say they can't control themselves, but they control the money in their bank account very well. They definitely won't give it to their mother-in-law. They control it very well. When you think it's a bargain, you can't control it. But is it really a bargain? In reality, it's a curse.

Many people are foolish because they don't really see through things. They only see their own interests. They will definitely take the bargains they should take, and they will also take the bargains they shouldn't take, and they feel bad if they don't get them. Selfish people cannot avoid pain. God will also deal with you, and God will make you suffer losses. Observe carefully, why do you suffer losses when you do this and when you do that? God will definitely make you suffer losses. Why do you keep doing things that put you at a disadvantage? At the time, you thought it was a bargain, but later it turned into a loss, because you acted in a way that you thought was a bargain.

Acting according to God's Word, is it a bargain or a loss? You get all the benefits. How can God make you suffer losses? People are foolish. They feel painful when they suffer losses, they can't let go of things, and they are tormented all day long. Later, they get cancer, which is meaningless.

Q10: Teacher, my mother-in-law is an old Christian. She has been sick for many years and just came to our church. Whenever she gets sick, the pastor and I take her to pray, and she gets healed. Later, the local church said that our church is a cult, so she doesn't listen to me and sends all her money to doctors and hospitals. She gets angry with stomach bloating and has had eight gastroscopies, but still wants to go to the hospital for examinations. Her children are so tormented that they won't take her for examinations. Teacher, are we being unfilial?

No, gastroscopy is also uncomfortable. The elderly are muddled, don't assume that the elderly aren't. It's not beneficial to her. If she wants to go, let her go herself. Sometimes we think a bit skewed about filial piety and unfilial piety, ponder it slowly yourself.

Q11: Teacher, I really want to be filial to my mother-in-law. Her mother died when she was young. As soon as I am nice to her, she wants to control me. How should I handle this relationship?

She wants to dominate you, but don't let her dominate you. Just because she wants to dominate you, should you stop being nice to her? You need to learn to be a smart person.

Brothers and sisters, that's all for this Q&A session. There's still a long way to go. If you have any questions, we will continue to discuss them in the future. May God bless you all!