Foresight as an Ability

The theme we are discussing today is foresight, contrasted with hindsight. Foresight can lead to your prosperity, while hindsight can lead to poverty. These are distinctly different levels of existence. Therefore, it is imperative for us, brothers and sisters, to understand that our faith in Christ Jesus is, in essence, a faith of foresight. If you possess the ability of foresight, it is unlikely that you will be poor.

I possess a sense of foresight. Do you remember Brother LM? In late 2008 and February 2009, the market was bleak. The darkness of that market was such that no one knew how long it would last. At that time, I had a sense of foresight, what was this sense? The time was right to buy property.

Driving around looking at various developments, there was hardly anyone there, only salespeople. When I arrived, I was treated like a VIP, akin to walking the red carpet. As a result, I made a decision: I would buy. The property I bought was near the presidential palace, in the heart of the city. At what price? At the price of suburban property. Six months later, how much had it increased? Two and a half million Renminbi. I ask you, how long would it take you to earn two and a half million Renminbi through wages?

It is essential for a person to have the ability of foresight. When I was buying property, I made several phone calls, and no one told me to buy, suggesting I wait. However, I felt it was the right time. Why did I make this judgment? Real estate would fall, perhaps 30%, and it would be good if it did not rise further. Why? Because money is constantly being printed, but real estate cannot be printed. The logic is straightforward. Therefore, the ability of foresight is crucial. Today, it is crucial for everyone to recognize that, like Joseph buying grain four thousand years ago, you must buy when he buys and sell when he sells to be successful.

The Ability of Foresight Comes from God

What we, brothers and sisters, lack today is the ability of foresight. Do not think I am indulging in superstition; I am acutely aware of the profound impact of foresight on one's life. Tilling the land with all your might is certainly not the way. Where does the way lie? The way lies in foresight.

I have my own views on the matter of living, which some may consider superstitious. In fact, Chinese people greatly believe in blessings. During the Lunar New Year, they paste the character 福 (fú, blessing) upside down, saying 福到了 (fú dào le, blessings have arrived), which they love to hear. Blessings are not in the character; blessings are in God, for God is in charge of blessings. Where does the ability of foresight come from? It comes from God.

For example, when I was young, people said that if someone leads away the cow and you pull out the peg, you will be caught. How unlucky. After someone takes the cow, you get snared, what is the point? Some of our brothers and sisters are responsible for building houses in the middle of nowhere, can that have a future? It is impossible; they are firmly trapped.

Having a Clear Judgment of the Future

What is foresight? Foresight is having a judgment of the future. You have a judgment of the future, the future situation is such and such, the accuracy of this judgment is called foresight. If your judgment of the future is not accurate at all, you will be firmly trapped. There are reasons for judging the future. Today, in my sermon during the Lord's Day service, I am teaching about observing the landscape, which is to learn to have a clear judgment of the future.

Why does everything I buy increase in value? The reason is that I have a logical system for judging the future. Judging the future still comes through your understanding of things. I do not think ignorance is an advantage; if you are ignorant, even with anointing, you are still ignorant. I am very certain of one thing: if you do not study mathematics, English, Chinese, or physics well, no matter how much you pray, you will not pass the university entrance examination, and there will be no blessings.

Today, judgment of the future must be based on clear groundwork. I have done a lot of rigorous groundwork. Therefore, our church is a church that promotes learning. What has a profound impact on a person is foresight, having a judgment of the future. How do you judge? So, we must train several abilities: the ability to learn, the ability to gather information, the ability to digest information, and the ability to make judgments. Do not be ignorant.

Many young people do not have a clear judgment of the future, so I let them do their homework. You must have a clear development goal, what you want to do in the future. Is what you want to do a sunset industry? Will it have a positive impact on your future?

I am very fortunate to have entered the IT industry more than 20 years ago. In the past 20 years, I have benefited greatly from the rapid and vigorous development of the IT industry. Many people have also entered this industry, but they may have chosen the wrong path. The problem is that their learning ability is not strong. If their learning ability is not strong, they will not gain much benefit in the end. Do not be lazy. Today, we are constantly dealing with laziness, inefficiency, indulging the flesh, and living in the past, which are all bad habits. You must learn to have a judgment of the future to solve problems.

Judgment of the Future Must Be Positive and Optimistic

You must have a clear development goal for yourself. For example, WP guarding two acres of land has no future. Can you do something serious? I think that having a judgment of the future is very interesting. My mother is over 80 years old, and I very much hope that she lives well. When my old classmate returned to his hometown, Mr. Shi said that my mother was energetic and lived very well, using the computer, WeChat, and even recording short videos.

My classmate's father is one year younger than my mother, and they live in adjacent courtyards; we are the best friends. His father lives in one state, while my mother lives in another. His father cannot even use a basic smartphone, let alone a computer. So, what is the judgment of the future? Some people just eat, drink, and wait for death when they get old. For my mother, even at this age, her judgment of the future is still an extremely positive and prosperous state. How wonderful it is to live full of hope at over 80 years old.

Judgment of the future must be positive and optimistic. I once told you a story: The reason why Carnegie became the steel magnate was because he had a judgment of the future. On his wall hung a painting of a stranded large ship. A ship of hundreds of tons was stranded and could not be moved at all. He said that one day the tide would rise, and it would sail to the sea. Will you make such a judgment, that one day the opportunity will come? Prepare yourself well and make a good judgment of the future.

Develop Abilities According to the Judgment of the Future

Develop your own abilities according to your judgment of the future. For example, in vocational planning, some people write that I will become a project manager who can handle complex problems and manage complex projects. Do not just write it and leave it at that. What skills do I need to do such a thing? Then develop your abilities. Once you have a judgment, you have a direction. Once you have a direction, put this direction into practice in your life. You have a strong belief in your personal judgment of the future. You firmly believe in your judgment. I believe the future will be like this.

In fact, whether there is spiritual bondage or not cannot determine your destiny. What determines your destiny is that you have a very good judgment of the future. Then start developing your abilities. Once you have such a judgment of the future, such as what skills the Chinese situation needs, you have a comprehensive understanding.

Adjust Skills to Avoid Falling into Structural Poverty

There is a book called Industry 4.0, which clearly describes what skills will be useless in the future and what skills will be retained. I am very fortunate that one of the skills mentioned is psychological counseling, which is very similar to what I do and will never be outdated. What is the result? After you understand and make a judgment about the future, if you are going to walk into a dead end, then get out today, because that will lead you into a dead end.

There is no future in being a farmer. With two arms and two legs, you will never be able to compete with tractors or automated production. One percent of American farmers can feed 100% of the population and still have surplus. Why? Because of mechanization. Farmers will move to the management level, managing these things, to achieve large-scale production, which is called automated agriculture.

You must have an accurate judgment of these things. One acre of land and two cows are useless. What is China doing now? China is reorganizing farmers' land and large-scale automated agriculture is beginning to rise. If you still cannot make an adjustment under this situation, you will fall into structural unemployment or structural poverty. That poverty is produced structurally. Why? Because today you will not make a judgment about the future and then adjust your skills.

It is not just me who is talking about this; the Chinese government, the Singaporean government, and governments around the world are doing this. They are actively promoting skills training for people. Why? If they do not promote skills training, they will become a burden on society. Why do I say that the government likes what I do? Because what I do is to transform people into talent, constantly shaping them into positive energy and assets for society, reducing the cost of society. Who would not like this? Everyone likes it. That is light and salt.

Pioneers Will Obtain the Dividends of Pioneers

In the process of developing your abilities, show confidence in the future. There is a Chinese story called The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains, which tells the story very well. The foolish old man used a shovel to dig soil every day, which looked very hopeless, but he had a judgment of the future in his heart. His judgment was that it was impossible, but he kept digging. Many people came to undermine his confidence, but he kept digging. This person was very remarkable. Later, according to his faith, two mountains were moved away. This is the effect of faith.

You must constantly develop your abilities. When you do this, it is a judgment of the future, and you will enter the realm of a pioneer. If you are a pioneer in anything, you will gain the ability of a pioneer and gain the dividends of a pioneer. That is, whatever you do first will gain dividends. You cannot do Alibaba or Alipay now.

Therefore, today we must have a vision and a clear judgment of the future. You may judge incorrectly, but you must judge even if you judge incorrectly. The dividend of a pioneer is foresight. If you know the future in advance and prepare yourself well, you will be powerful. The logic of the dividend of a pioneer is very powerful.

Yesterday we saw a big sign on the road that said West Creek Blue Ocean. Do you know what is meant by blue ocean? A strategy called blue ocean strategy is to develop a place that has not yet been developed and be the first to do it.

There is a very remarkable American. To what extent is he remarkable? He wanted to develop land on the moon. After he divided the moon on the map, he sold land deeds there. It sounds like a joke, but in fact, he was the first person to issue moon land certificates. In those years, a large number of immigrants ran to this land in America. He used a horse to run a circle and enclose the land, which was the dividend of a pioneer.

The School System Should Be Shortened and Education Should Be Revolutionized

Even today, it is still full of opportunities. Opportunity is the judgment of the future. My judgment of the future is that the school system should be shortened and education should be revolutionized. Mao Zedong said this decades ago, which is to develop in all aspects of moral, intellectual, and physical education. You may feel that I am preaching sermons and teaching the Bible, so how can I bring out Mao Zedong's words? If people speak well, why not use them? Robbers also eat white rice, and I also eat it, so what does it matter? One kind of white rice feeds all kinds of people.

The school system should be shortened and education should be revolutionized. Why? Because it does not take so long to shape a person. Why is the school system so long? Because the social pressure is too great and there are not so many employment opportunities, so they are trapped and tossed around in the schoolyard. After graduating from university, do you really think you can do something? For example, LR studying for a master's degree, do you really think you can become an expert in early childhood education after you graduate? It may still take many years of practical experience.

The Future is a World of Skills

In fact, education really needs to be revolutionized. My judgment of the future is that the future world is a world of skills. It is not about how many years you have studied. The era of reading for many years, taking degrees, and relying on diplomas will basically never return. If you have high scores but low abilities, it is useless. If you have a diploma, it is useless. If you collapse as soon as you work, then it is over. Therefore, those of us who do not have high degrees will be full of opportunities today.

The future will be an era of abilities. Do you have the ability to do this job well? If you have a diploma but cannot do this job well, it will not solve the problem. Therefore, today we must make a judgment about the future. When I told my classmate, who is the CEO of an investment company, he said to me, From an industry perspective, what you are doing is on the crest of a wave. Even pigs can fly on the crest of a wave. This is the slang of this era. Secondly, you have this ability; thirdly, you have a team.

The impact of the educational structure we are talking about today on the future will be almost comparable to the economic impact of Alibaba e-commerce on physical entities. If the company hires a person who needs skills, and we train this person to have the skills, the company that hires you will like you very much. What will happen? One, two, one hundred, two hundred are all like this. We will form a brand in the market.

When we form a brand, the people I train will be people with character. Any future educator knows that character has a profound impact on a person's future. What will happen at our door? A large group of people will line up to squeeze in to participate in our educational system. If this is the case, will we be qualified to do education? We will definitely be able to get it. If a large group of people pour in, our brand will become a very well-known brand.

Once this happens, we will be pioneers of a new type of education. Where does this pioneer of new education come from? It comes from my judgment of the future in my mind, and then I prepare for it. That day I told XY and HF to investigate whether we could issue college diplomas. I think that by the time others wake up, we will have run far away. In this era, a turn will throw many people far behind. The original educational model will be out of date. The original educational model is a mass production educational model. Our educational model is personalized, fast, agile, and in the age of Internet knowledge.

Today knowledge is exploding. You can never finish learning. You must become a documentary learning model. We train people's learning ability, train people's character, analytical ability, and problem-solving ability. Therefore, pioneers will have dividends. No matter what you do, do not be a follower. If people invest in stocks and you invest too, you will be trapped. People take away the profits, and you become the one pulling out the pegs. Why? Without foresight.

We must develop the habit of foresight. Some people say, Pastor, I graduated from junior high school, and I do not have a diploma. This society is changing. During the transition from 2G to 3G to 4G, Nokia was far behind and has not been able to recover to this day. A two-hundred-billion-dollar company was easily sold for thirty or forty billion dollars, a significant shrinkage. Why? Because it lacked foresight.

Eliminating Negative Impacts from the Past is a Key Ability

Judging the Future Determines Destiny

You must be prescient every day, because things are changing every day. That is the skill to seize opportunities. In this process, you must eliminate the negative impacts of your past on your future. Actually, when I saw ZY this time, I was shocked. It could be written into a story, a storybook.

She was abandoned by her parents at birth, placed in a cardboard box and left on the roadside in Shandong in the dead of winter, left to freeze to death. As a result, her adoptive father saw the box moving, picked her up, and raised her to this day. Speaking of it is all tears, very sad. But can it change a person's destiny? No. What determines your destiny is whether you have a judgment about the future.

So today we must eliminate the negative impact of the past on you. I know many children have a tragic past, but that doesn't matter. From today, we will abandon all the burdens of the past, no longer live in the past, and start living in the future.

Eliminating the negative impact of the past on you is a key ability. Constantly reflect, examine, and adjust. Is your judgment about the future accurate today? Not necessarily accurate. You examine a little today, examine a little tomorrow; adjust a little today, adjust a little tomorrow; examine and understand again, reflect again, and you will become more and more aligned with that goal.

Look at the shooting athletes, how do they practice? Holding the gun bang, shot off target, what does he do? He adjusts and aims again, and shoots off target again, and adjusts again. With the gun in his hand, he hits the bull's-eye every time, all ten rings. Why? It is the result of constant adjustment. So, we must constantly reflect, not be foolish, but be smart.

Speaking of whether there are many opportunities today? Taobao stores, WeChat merchants. Why do I train brothers and sisters in sales ability? To train you to have the ability to seize future opportunities. Actually, that fruit is called Suibianguo [casual fruit], I really don't care what kind of fruit it is, I only care that brothers and sisters can be trained by managing something.

Being Above, Not Below; Being the Head, Not the Tail is a Promise

Through this matter, I can clearly see the weaknesses of our brothers and sisters. Loving face, weak interpersonal relationships, all emerge. It's not over when they emerge, eliminate the old problems, establish new ones, and then constantly adjust repeatedly. In this process, you will definitely be frustrated. In the past Living Abundantly program, I talked about what to do when encountering setbacks? Overcome them! And then have a strong executive power.

We must constantly adjust, no matter how difficult the environment, how cruel the blows we face, we will not fall down, and we will continue to persevere. Having strong executive power, and constantly persisting, one will surely become the head and not the tail, above and not below. So past education, and degrees cannot be your future, today you can create a future, in your judgment, in your execution.

So being above, not below; being the head, not the tail is a promise given to us by God. If you can't trust yourself, then start trusting God. The reward of trusting God is very generous.

Some people don't know, even if they don't know whether God is true or false, until today we have not visited Him in God's presence, nor have we drunk wine with God, but on the path of my faith I often see God's actions. That is really not important, what is important is that you can live prosperously, what is important is that once your faith is established on the foundation of belief, you can be strong, like a ship with an anchor and a rudder, you can ride the wind and waves, and constantly sail towards your goal.

In one's life, as long as you don't drift, and keep sailing, you can always reach your goal, especially with God's promise. Being above, not below; being the head, not the tail is a promise. Why have such a promise? God created us to be glorious and noble people.