The Christian faith is by no means a lazy one; it is a faith of action. This faith of action is embodied in the phrase He may bless you in all that you undertake (Deuteronomy 14:29), which has had a profound impact on me.

Some Christians do nothing but worship God. They say that in heaven, people are constantly worshiping Him, saying, Holy, holy, holy (Revelation 4:8). I think this sounds quite good, but upon reflection, it doesn't seem particularly appealing. Perhaps I don't fully understand it yet, but if I were to stand before God, constantly chanting Holy, holy, holy like the twenty-four elders, I would find that questionable. Why is it questionable? What is God's purpose in creating us? God created us so that we might be perfectly united with Him.

If we read through the Book of Revelation, we will find that it describes the future holy city of Jerusalem as a brand-new city. What is this city built from? It is built from us, the holy people. We, as individual entities, are also in perfect unity, forming this holy city of Jerusalem. Then, the Spirit of God dwells among us, and we enter into a state of perfect union with God. Does this perfect union with God mean endlessly chanting Holy, holy, holy? Certainly not. Why? Because our God is a creative God. Do we ever sing Holy, holy, holy before God? Of course, there are such times. But when we enter into perfect union with God, it actually manifests all of God's attributes, meaning the Spirit of God completely dwells within us. Therefore, there is no need for lamps or electricity in the city, because the Spirit of God, the glory of God, illuminates the entire holy city of Jerusalem.

So, what I want to share with everyone today is that God wants to see us act. If that is the case, then there is much to learn about how to act. How can we act in such a way that everything we undertake is blessed by God? I will divide this into several points in chapter 14.

Food and Drink as a Spiritual Matter

When reading the Bible, one must understand that the Bible uses spiritual words to explain spiritual matters. I believe you will not object to this view. 1 Corinthians 2:13-14 discusses explaining spiritual matters with spiritual words. God tells us these dietary restrictions not merely because of eating and drinking, but because of the spiritual meaning behind them. Today, let's look at it from this perspective: how can we ensure that everything we undertake is blessed by God? I earnestly hope that our brothers and sisters can break free from the constraints of religion. The constraints of religion are actually deadly. For example, the mindset of ascetic monks, who feel that suffering hardship throughout life is very spiritual.

Today, when we read Deuteronomy, you will find that it involves a very important aspect: eating. That is to say, the act of eating is very spiritual. So, I will talk about the first point: the spiritual meaning of eating. Have you noticed that people especially like to talk while eating? The Chinese are a very hospitable people, and I myself enjoy inviting people to dinner or being invited to dinner, where we eat and talk happily together.

I find eating very interesting. When my God created me, He did not make a hole in my stomach, like the opening of a car's fuel tank. If that were the case, we wouldn't need to eat; we could just pump fuel in, and we would have energy. How simple! Look how particular modern people are about eating. The food looks beautiful, and it smells delicious, but these things take time. For a while, I pondered, God, why didn't you create us that way in the beginning? It would be so convenient to eat by pumping fuel!

Later, I realized that if people didn't have mouths and couldn't taste delicious food, then life would be too miserable. So, every time I eat something delicious, I thank God: God! Your creation is truly beautiful! You remembered me when you created me, giving me a mouth to enjoy all kinds of delicacies. Therefore, if a person eats everything as if it's dirt, tasting only dirt, like a snake, that is a curse! Today, we know that eating is a very spiritual matter, because it embodies God's good intention for us, making it clear to us that enjoying delicious food while eating is a way to eat and drink in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice! Eating is related to joy. If a person eats like filling a gas tank, there is no connection to joy. If a person cooks, eats, and talks while eating, they are enjoying a wonderful relationship, which I believe is God's most beautiful creation. In fact, God said when He created:

You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16).

The act of eating demonstrates God's good will for us, allowing us to eat and drink with joy. At the same time, it also lets us know that there are some things that cannot be put into our mouths. If these things are put into our mouths, then we are sinning, and we will not live well. So, what is the theme of this chapter? God wants to bless you in everything you undertake, which is closely related to what you eat. That is to say, eating is very important.

The Spiritual Meaning of Eating Lies in Holiness and Unity

Chapter 14 is all about eating. It discusses the knowledge of eating, what can be eaten, and what cannot be eaten, which is indeed related to being blessed in what we undertake. Don't say that in the New Testament, it no longer matters what we eat. Yes! But the spiritual meaning within it, when God first wrote these words through Moses, we need to find out the key spiritual meaning within eating. You know, we Christians have a characteristic of often observing the Lord's Supper. The term Lord's Supper is very interesting. What is the Lord's Supper? Eating the flesh of Jesus Christ and drinking the blood of Jesus Christ. People who don't understand cannot hear these words. Eating the flesh of Jesus Christ and drinking the blood of Jesus Christ, how strange does that sound? It actually symbolizes our unity in Jesus Christ. Commemorating Jesus Christ offering Himself as a living sacrifice for us. Do you find it very interesting? In fact, in the Old Testament, after offering a lamb to God, it was also eaten with the priests or the people who offered the sacrifice. It turns out that eating is closely related to unity.

The spiritual meaning of eating lies in unity. Today, when we build a church, I really like to eat with the leaders of our church. Why do I invite them to eat? Because eating symbolizes unity. For example, the Passover lamb was eaten family by family, symbolizing unity. Today, I must tell everyone that to build a church, we must build a holy, united church, full of God's glory. If you are not holy, God cannot be with you; if you are not united, you cannot allow God to be with you.

That is to say, eating can be elevated to a level of spiritual unity. In fact, eating together can deepen our relationship to a deeper level. I have a regret: we are an online church, and we cannot eat with all the brothers and sisters. But it doesn't matter; we all eat and drink with joy in Jesus Christ, which represents unity, because eating symbolizes unity. I hope that when I visit you in various places in the future, we can eat together. You must not eat any detestable things. Why is that? It symbolizes that we cannot be united with those detestable things.

Eating has a spiritual meaning; health issues are spiritual issues. If you are united with the spirit of death, you will definitely get sick. When we understand these spiritual issues, we realize that these detestable things cannot be eaten, and what can be eaten is clean. So, if you eat those things, you will be unclean. In fact, whether you eat or not, at most, it is unclean. Its spiritual height is uncleanness, because you are united with those things. Then, why in the New Testament can you eat anything? Because in the New Testament, there is the covering of the blood of Jesus Christ, so there is no problem. In the Old Testament, the Savior had not yet come, and the Lamb of redemption had not yet come, so eating those things would bring spiritual disunity.

When I pray, I often see some things that are unclean, such as geckos, crocodiles, lizards, owls, etc. It turns out that these things have their images in the spiritual realm. So, we need to know, will eating these things bring uncleanness? If you are contaminated with the filth of the spiritual realm, you will have problems if you are united with things that have these images. Try not to keep unclean things at home, and try to live simply. If these things become detestable, don't keep what God detests in your home. If you insist on displaying them, I don't care. Some people like reptiles, and I find that these children are in spiritual constraints. Birds and eagles cannot be eaten, because in the spiritual realm, animals with such images are basically evil spirits. So, I encourage everyone that you can eat anything, but you can also not eat anything.

Animals that die on their own cannot be eaten either, because you are a people holy to the Lord. There are reasons why animals die on their own. For example, Jesus drove a group of demons into pigs, and the pigs died. It is best not to eat this pork. Why is it best not to eat it? Because the pigs committed suicide, that is, evil spirits jumped into the pigs. Will eating this pork contaminate you? Maybe yes, maybe not, but why do you have to eat these animals that died on their own? When I was a child, my family didn't have meat to eat. There was a military horse farm nearby, and when horses got sick with the plague, they would die. Then people would dig a pit and bury the horses with soil. In those days, my neighbors would watch, and if there were any buried, they would dig them up and eat them, but my family didn't eat them.

So, brothers and sisters, if you want to be a holy people, I encourage you to understand one thing, that is, don't contaminate yourselves with those impurities. If you want God to bless everything you undertake, it is closely related to whether you are a holy people. A person offers the firstborn of his herds and flocks, the tithe of his grain, new wine, and oil to God. Then eat in the presence of the Lord your God. This is not talking about offering but what to do after offering. After offering, our God didn't eat it; who ate it? We ate it, where did we eat it? In the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name. Didn't I say earlier that eating is related to unity? The Passover lamb was eaten together. God requires the Israelites to offer the firstborn and eat it in the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name. If you live far away, sell your things and come to the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name. What do you come to do? To buy cattle, sheep, wine, strong drink... You can buy whatever your heart desires, and you and your household eat and drink in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice.

I tell you, I am always thankful to our God. Do you think your offering is feeding Him? No, after you offer, He feeds you, allowing you to eat and drink in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice. After buying it, it is offered to God, but after offering, you eat it. Why? Eating in the presence of God represents unity in Jesus Christ. Brothers and sisters, we must return to a fundamental place, which is to eat in the place chosen for God's name, and in the presence of God, you can eat and drink with joy. God's purpose is for us to enjoy joy in unity! So eating is very important. This way, you can learn to always fear your God. Don't think that this is optional. You must know that this is necessary. You fear the Lord your God, and you will be blessed in everything you undertake.

Today, I hope that God blesses us in everything we do! I often boast: Everything I do prospers! Why? Because I fear the Lord my God, so I serve Him, loving Him and serving Him with all my heart, soul, and strength! What we do is closely united with the Lord. If you are not united in the Lord, it is difficult to be blessed.

Is this place talking about eating and drinking? No, this place is talking about unity! So brothers and sisters, you need to know how important our unity in the Lord is. Our unity in the Lord allows us to eat and drink with joy! God does not want us to be like ascetics. God wants us to be happy. God created us with mouths to eat and drink, in fact, to allow us to enjoy what we have worked for. If we lose what we have worked for, we actually don't understand what we are living for. If a person is happy every day, it is a happy life. If a person is always toiling and worrying, it is a toiling and worrying life. What kind of life do you want to live? You want to live a life of eating and drinking with joy, which can only be found in Jesus Christ. When I meet those Christians who don't drink alcohol, I tell them that Jesus also drank alcohol. Jesus not only drank but also produced three jars of it.

If there are a thousand people, each person would have to drink a bottle. Today, our brothers and sisters need to know that eating and drinking with joy is God's will for us. But eating and drinking with joy must be based on unity with Jesus Christ and building a glorious church. God does not want you to eat chaff and vegetables, tasting nothing, after building a glorious church. You need to know that if a person loses their sense of taste, sometimes what they eat is still bitter, which is because they are sick and lack God's blessing. A person who is blessed by God must be a person who eats and drinks with joy. Don't get things backwards.

Some religions like to deprive people of everything they can enjoy, and then they feel that this is a blessed state. I don't think the Bible is like that. The Bible wants to dig out all the good feelings inside you, so that you can enjoy what you were meant to enjoy in Jesus Christ, or in God, in the place God has chosen for His name. I think what I am saying is right, but don't indulge in the desires of your flesh, because we are a holy people. In fact, a holy people can definitely enjoy the goodness God has given us, and everything we undertake will be blessed by God. Think about it, we enjoy everything we undertake, we enjoy eating and drinking with joy. Would you say being a Christian is good or not? Christians are the group with the highest happiness index. If being a Christian does not bring the highest happiness index, I think that is a great regret and a very deep misunderstanding of God.

Willing and Joyful in Giving

There are those who do not know that God wants them to be joyful. Therefore, they are unwilling to give tithes, grain, new wine, oil, cattle, or sheep, wanting to keep it all for themselves. By keeping it, the work of their hands is cursed. Therefore, tithing is related to the blessing of the work of your hands, and not only to the work of your hands, but also to your eating and rejoicing. If you want to live unhappily, you can do whatever you want,随便做. But if you want the work of your hands to be blessed by God, and then be able to eat and rejoice, I tell you to give what belongs to God to God. Then, you will eat and rejoice, enjoying these blessings God has given you.

If there are orphans and widows in the city who cannot eat or drink, and you are eating and rejoicing there, you will not be happy either. Our God is so good! God is a God who cares for orphans and widows, so that the Levites, sojourners, orphans, and widows living in your city can come and eat and be satisfied, so that God will bless you (Deuteronomy 14:29). Do not eat and rejoice yourself while the orphans, widows, and Levites in the city are starving, then the work of your hands will not be blessed.

This is a very, very important thing. So how much should he take out? Every third year, the last year, that is, take out one-third to give to the Levites, orphans, widows, and sojourners in the city. Take out one-third, so what will I eat? What will I drink? Don't worry, if the work of your hands is blessed by God, you will lack nothing. The problem is that if we lack, it is because we are not living in God's blessing. If we live in God's blessing, we will not only not lack, but also have more than enough. If you tithe one-tenth and then give one-third, that is, give 43%, leaving only 57%. Even if 57% is left, it is more than the original 100%. Because a cursed person's 100% is not as good as a blessed person's 57%, do you believe it? If I have a 40,000-square-meter building at home, 57% is more than 20,000 square meters. If you live in a 2-square-meter 100% small house, what are you doing? Today, our brothers and sisters need to know for sure whether the things you are doing are blessed. You need to be very clear that this is related to eating and drinking.

Do Not Follow the Customs of This World

'You are the children of the Lord your God. Do not cut yourselves for the dead or shave the front of your heads, for you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. (Deuteronomy 14:1)

Today, I will tell everyone about this matter. There are many customs regarding death. At that time, in the land of Canaan, there were things like cutting oneself and shaving the front of the head for the dead, because the people of Canaan had their own customs regarding death. Today I want to tell you that if you want the work of your hands to be blessed, you must be especially careful in dealing with death and not follow the customs of this world.

When I first went to church, I didn't understand what was going on. I didn't understand many things, but when I read the Bible, I knew that you cannot do these things blindly when it comes to death. So when I attend people's funerals, I never burn incense, burn paper money, or kowtow. When other people do it, I just watch and sit at the table and chat, which has nothing to do with the dead. What do I mean? It is that we must know for sure that customs related to death have a close relationship with whether the work of your hands is blessed or not. Why do we say that it has a close relationship with whether the work you do is blessed or not? Because it has a lot to do with whether you are holy and clean. If you want to be blessed, you must be a holy people. If you are a holy people, God is with you and protects you. If you are unclean and unholy, then wherever you are unclean, there will be the work of evil spirits.

So brothers and sisters, cutting yourselves with knives and shaving your foreheads is not a simple matter. It is actually a spiritual matter. For example, once when I was delivering a sister, the demon told me how it got in. It was because when she was very young, her grandmother passed away, and her parents thought that bowing in front of the coffin was respecting the elderly. In fact, it has nothing to do with it. Whether she bows or not, her grandmother doesn't know at all. If she really knows, then it is a matter of the spiritual realm. If it is a matter of the spiritual realm, and you don't understand the spiritual realm, and you still bow in front of the coffin, then the child developed depression, and the demon entered, and then there were many fears. Later, when I often prayed for people, I would ask the person being ministered to whether they had attended a funeral? Have you bowed in front of the coffin? If so, you need to reject it and ask for the cleansing of the blood of Jesus Christ.

Where do these customs come from? For example, the Chinese custom of burning paper money. When I was a child, I often saw my father writing large amounts of money, such as 100 million yuan, on the yellow paper that wrapped crackers, to be used as ghost money. I wondered where I would go to exchange 100 million yuan? If it really worked, how severe would the inflation in the underworld be? Just write whatever you want! Where did this thing come from? I just feel like after burning the paper, drawing a circle on the ground means it's received? And it's written that my grandfather's name, xx person, is receiving it? Burned and then received? From a young age, I had great confusion about this thing. In fact, no one knows whether it was received or not. This thing itself is a spiritual operation. Everyone must be very clear about how powerful the spiritual operation is. If you want the work of your hands to be blessed by God, don't follow this kind of custom.

Some people say that my family takes this matter very seriously. It doesn't matter, you say I am a Christian, and Christians have Christian customs, right? We Christians don't do these things. See how much it pollutes the environment. My customs are more high-end. In fact, you should all learn my customs. My custom is to offer a flower, so as to avoid those things. The work of our hands is not blessed, and as a result, we also attract many spirits of death, spirits of fear, etc. In fact, worldly customs bring very deep bondage, especially those customs related to death.

I have done surveys, and all the things they do are full of fear. They are afraid of doing something wrong, afraid of doing this and that, scared to death. After they are done, they are still afraid. I told them that if you haven't done this thing right, there will be many problems! In fact, the way they do it is not right. So what should I do? Then believe in Jesus with me! If you believe in Jesus, you won't do these things. If you do things wrong, there will be very serious consequences, and many people live in fear.

We, a people chosen by the Lord God to be a holy people among all nations, must learn to live a holy life, not follow the customs of this world, but create a new custom, a custom of worshiping our God, a custom of being united in Jesus Christ. Our God is the greatest God, very powerful. So if you want everything to go smoothly in what you do, and everything to be blessed by God, you need to solve these things: first, the issue of unity; second, the issue of customs. Brothers and sisters, after listening to my sharing, I think it will be of some help to brothers and sisters, which is directly related to our lives.

Unity with the Church

I have found that many Christians have a very weak concept of unity. A brother participated in a ministry that unites all churches, which sounds very high-end. I wondered if he could unite all the churches? I admire him, his dream is very good. My logic is this, can a disunited church unite with a united church? Originally, people were united, but mixing with the disunited ones made them disunited; a united church and another united church are definitely united in Jesus Christ; a church full of problems and another church full of problems, when added together, the problems become even bigger, and the original disunity becomes even more disunited when put together.

Brothers and sisters need to know for sure that each of us must constantly pursue and improve in our spiritual life, so that we have the character of unity in Jesus Christ. When we have the character of brotherly unity, you can be united with many people. A united church in this world will influence many people. If you don't build a united church and go for the unity of all churches, can that be done? May God have mercy, so I told this brother that this matter is a bit far-fetched. This is just my own opinion. As far as I can understand, it seems that there is no such thing in the Bible. Brothers and sisters need to understand for sure.

If you want the things you do to be blessed by God, then read Deuteronomy 14 carefully and understand the spiritual meaning behind it. May God bless everyone!