Sharing Recording on January 11, 2019

The eleventh chapter of Ecclesiastes is good because it talks about living a happy life. Everyone wants to live happily, but often they don't live happily at all. You may live to twenty, thirty, forty... but if you don't understand this principle, it's hard to live well! So let's see what this eleventh chapter is talking about.

Results are Continuously Tested

I'll teach you a way to read the Bible, which is to get into the theme. I'm just throwing out a suggestion, and everyone can think about whether it's the case. For example, when writing a program, sometimes you really don't know whether it should be this or that, then it doesn't matter, let's just take it out and try it. You can say that this chapter is about everything being vanity, but what to do when everything is vanity? It doesn't seem to say what to do? Then study it carefully: Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth. Then you find the theme of living happily for many years. Comparing these two, it seems that the latter is better, more appropriate, and strings the entire chapter together.

The theme of this chapter is to live happily from childhood. What do you think of this topic? I think it's pretty good! Sometimes it's really hard to say why some people are unhappy and some people are happy!

People Have the Right to Choose Whether to be Happy

There are five siblings in my family. I have lived happily since I was a child. Since the day I was born, I rarely cried. I would laugh when I was told anything, and I didn't talk much. In contrast, my sister started crying after she was born. Since my sister came into this world, the most I heard in my family was crying. She was very bad since she was a child, cutting her fingernails into points to scratch people. She had a lot of bad ideas, and as a result, she got mental illness at eighteen, what a painful life! Whenever she was unhappy, my mother would give her money. She thought that if she was unhappy, she could get money, so she deliberately became unhappy. When I saw that my mother had no money, I had to give my mother money, and then my mother would continue to give money to my sister, which formed a vicious cycle. But can that thing be happy? That thing cannot be happy!

As for my living happily since I was a child, whether you say God created me like this, or I chose to be like this, I'm not sure, but one thing I know is that I live very happily. Take studying for example, what's the point of studying so hard? Taking exams for junior high school, high school, university, and graduate school. After finally finishing, you still have to work hard, get married and have children, and then the children have to go to school... entering an infinite cycle. In this life, people can choose to live happily or choose to live painfully, but the results are very different!

One of my nephews, what he said was very interesting. He said, I read, except my hair doesn't hurt, my whole body hurts. How uncomfortable it is to read books like this for more than ten years! After finally finishing and going to work, it's still the same: When I work, except my hair doesn't hurt, my whole body hurts! How uncomfortable is that! But as for me, I loved studying since I was a child because I would get beaten if I didn't love studying. I studied hard in order to get beaten less. Why did my dad beat me? Because he wanted to study when he was a child but didn't have books to read, so he squatted outside the school window and listened secretly. After I was born, my dad decided to give me a good education. He felt that education was very important, and people had to be well-educated to turn over. Regardless of whether it's vanity or not, my dad did a good thing; he beat me if I didn't study hard, and I didn't hate him. Why don't I hate him? I know my dad did it for my own good, because he stood at that height and that's how it was.

Man's Life is Vanity of Vanities

Vanity of vanities, man's life is vanity. In vanity, you can see through the world and become a monk, not eating meat or drinking alcohol. You can also see through life, and then start to know that there is no meaning in living, and then become decadent and do nothing. Get some heroin to suck up, be happy for a little while, and then there is endless sorrow. You can also know that there is no great meaning in living in this life, living is vanity of vanities, all shadows.

So what is real? The real thing is: the spiritual realm is real. Our life in this world is an exam. After the exam, some get rewards and some don't. The biggest reward is seeing through that life is vanity of vanities, and then don't take it so seriously. Not taking it so seriously doesn't mean that I don't live well. I study hard when I study, and I work hard when I work. I live happily and seriously. Although I am very serious, I am very happy, unlike some people who are so serious that they are uncomfortable.

Don't Be Too Fussy, Don't Take Things Too Seriously

I have seen through a lot of things and seen a lot of strange things. There was a father and son. The daughter said: Six fifty-nine, and the father said: No, it's seven o'clock, and the two of them started arguing... arguing until seven o'five, seven ten. Isn't this just looking for trouble? That's how people are, they are very serious about this! I also saw people in their eighties, and then still so fussy, and finally died uncomfortably! How did they die? They died of lung cancer, and they had bedsores on their backs. Why do people have to live so uncomfortably? Why be so fussy? It's because they don't know it's vanity! If it's meaningless for you to do this thing, don't be so fussy. If you're not so fussy, you won't be so uncomfortable. If you're not so uncomfortable, isn't it good to live happily?

A few days ago, I had dinner with a mother and daughter. We were talking while eating, and while talking, the mother and daughter started arguing. The daughter said: Look at what you said, you just want to buy a house with a garden. The mother said I didn't, and the two of them started arguing. Is there any point in arguing about that? There is no point at all. There is not much meaning in being alive, and then we seriously argue about this and that. Later, I explained it to the mother and daughter, and it was explained! Is this thing meaningful? It's not meaningful. Is it uncomfortable? It's uncomfortable! Then why be uncomfortable? Isn't it good to be happy? It's good to be happy! Then it's happy, isn't it? I tell you, if you want to be unhappy, there are many things, there will be many things that make people unhappy.

Get What You Give Away

When I was a child, I saw a play, which was that the Cultural Revolution brought out the Sichuan landlord Liu Wencai and made it into a program. That is, people rented his land, and at the end of the year they had to pay back the grain. If they couldn't pay the rent, the landlord Liu Wencai would put people in the water prison. The landlord Liu Wencai's manor was very large, and it is still a high-end scenic spot today. If you have the opportunity to go to Sichuan, take a look at the landlord Liu Wencai's manor. I said that this person can't think it through, collecting money and collecting money. One day, he suddenly got sick and died in his fifties! Later, it was fortunate that he died, otherwise it would be troublesome. His brother Liu Wenhui was a warlord in Sichuan. Do you think this person collects money so seriously, lives so seriously, is he really living well? Not good! Isn't it? So you have to be more generous, be more tolerant, don't take food so seriously, having food doesn't necessarily mean living well! If you see through it, you won't take this food so seriously.

Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. (Ecclesiastes 11:1)

In fact, whether you get it or not is not important. God will definitely let you get it. This is certain because giving away is God's law! So the one thing I hate the most is stinginess. There are many stingy people. Now I say don't pick on me. What I say may make many people lying down get shot. If you want to take the seat, I can't stop you. If you want to be angry, I can't stop you, but if you want to be a generous person, then you will get the benefits, right? Be more generous, it's so good! These stingy people actually think they are not stingy. If you think you are not stingy, you may be a little stingy. Like me, I think I am generous, but I may still be a little stingy, I can't say for sure. But I don't value money and food, what I eat, drink, live in, and use so much. In fact, people usually can't see themselves very accurately. It's best to let others tell you what kind of person you are.

For example, when I see a person, he often does some very strange things. I tell him, and he will say: No! I didn't, I definitely didn't! I said okay, then let it be! I don't want to look for anger. But today I want to tell you to be generous, don't hoard wealth, don't rely on food, don't make arrangements for the flesh, you can freely give it out to bless people. If blessing people may be wasting food on the water, feeding the fish. What happens? As a result, you may live happier. Because this is God's principle, freely receive and freely give, freely receive happiness! Isn't it? Do you want to freely receive happiness? It is more blessed to give than to receive, do you believe it?

When I was a child, we had a neighbor who got liver cancer, and the doctor said it couldn't be cured, there were only three months left. In that era, there was no medicine for liver cancer, so just wait to die! As a result, he suddenly made a decision. At the intersection of our house, it was more popular to repair bicycles in those days, so he set up a stall to repair bicycles for people. All bicycle repairs are free! Doesn't charge any money. Many people think this kid is pretty good, and everyone knows he has cancer. Three months passed, and the person didn't die. Six months passed, and he still didn't die. Twelve months passed, and he still didn't die. Then he said, I'm going to the hospital to check. A checkup showed that the doctor said your illness is cured! Seeing that he could live again, he couldn't repair bicycles for free this time, he had to charge money this time.

Do you think this person is funny? When people are about to die, they decide to give everything away! Anyway, I don't want it anymore, the day of death is coming soon, so I'll repair bicycles for you for free! Freely give and freely be happy. As a result! When he said he was going to live, that was not okay, then I can't give it away for free. People have to see clearly, can living for money be happy? No.

There is a book called Who Moved My Cheese?. There is a saying called rice bowl. In my era, government civil servants were called iron rice bowl, and there were also gold rice bowl and ceramic rice bowl. If the ceramic rice bowl falls to the ground, doesn't it break? If someone smashes your rice bowl, you will fight him desperately, you will be unhappy. The problem is what? If people really smash your rice bowl and move your cheese, will you be unhappy? If you are unhappy, people will specifically touch your cheese and touch your rice bowl. God will also come to touch it! Why? You didn't understand! You didn't see through it!

Man does not live on food alone, nor on money and work, but on the word of God. If you observe carefully, those generous people who give freely all live very richly, because God will surely give to them, and after many days they will find it.

People do not know when disaster will fall to the earth. Will hoarding wealth protect themselves from encountering disaster? It can't be protected. So don't rely on useless wealth. Disaster comes from God, don't violate God's principles. If you want to live happily, don't rely on wealth. If you get cancer, you can't exchange it for money.

As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. The result of a person's life is the accumulation of everything.

If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be. (Ecclesiastes 11:3)

If the clouds are full of rain, they will empty themselves on the earth. This is a theorem, it is an accumulation. If the tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it shall be. Once it ends, it is like that. I find that people who have cancer take some things very seriously, are very tangled and very serious. Today we are so serious about some things, and when you touch those things, he gets tangled, and as a result, the tree falls in one place, and it will always exist in that place.

Once a person dies, he will always be in hell, or after death, he will always be with God. You either live happily and return to God, or you live tangled and finally return to the tangle. I very much hope that we can all understand that from today we will accumulate happiness. I want to live happily, I don't need to be tangled, accumulate sorrow, let some people and things do whatever they want, nothing can affect my happy life, nothing can take away the good habit of happiness, it's so good for me to accumulate happiness every day. Once you are sad, if you are sad and get cancer, who are you looking for? Go back to chemotherapy, electrotherapy, and keep tossing until you die.

If your son didn't get into college, and his studies are not good, and there are a lot of things, it doesn't matter, this is his own choice, whatever he wants. Anyway, we close our eyes and stretch our legs, and when we count, they are all happy years. Then he is willing to be happy, and if he is not willing, although he is your son, although he is your relative, whatever he wants!

Having said that, we still have to do practical things, don't be decadent. We will live happily and do all things happily. Solve the problems that can be solved, and forget about the problems that cannot be solved. We choose to do it happily, and the result is different from choosing to do it unhappily.

Don't Look at the Environment, Faith Can Create the Future

He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. (Ecclesiastes 11:4)

Some people look at the environment. Some people say, look at my environment, how can I be happy! I owe 2 million, can I be happy? You can be happy even if you owe 20 million! Look at the celebrity Jia Yueting, the entire LeEco has become a Chinese celebrity, and people can also live happily and make a comeback. If people are worried, there are many things to worry about. If you look at the wind, you can't sow seeds, and if you look at the clouds, you can't harvest. If it rains, you can't work. If you look at the environment, there are many troubles. You also say that business is so difficult now, and money is so difficult to earn, and then you eat, drink, and wait for death. Don't you know that the environment is the best opportunity? Many companies grow up when the economy is bad.

I personally experienced the Internet bubble. In 1999, the Internet bubble burst, and as a result, Jack Ma founded Alibaba. Alibaba didn't do very well at the beginning, and it tossed a lot of things. The environment was extremely bad, but people had confidence. Faith can create the future. The environment looks extremely empty and chaotic, it doesn't matter, that's the opportunity, so there is today's Alibaba.

In 2002, no one could go out. The whole of China had SARS, a lot of people died, it was very terrible. Jack Ma and his group created Taobao. Opportunities are all in the emptiness and chaos. So don't be like some people, vanity of vanities, might as well not do it. I am full of confidence in China, and I am full of confidence in the Chinese government. Because faith creates the future.

I am also full of confidence in the whole world. In the next 20 years, I boldly say that the opportunities are in China, unprecedented opportunities. I am full of confidence in the Chinese government. I wish every brother and sister among us would become store managers, bosses, and professional managers. There are plenty of opportunities. I said that, but don't take it too seriously, be so fussy that you are uncomfortable, that would be troublesome. I hope you live happily, people should live happily for many years, and live happily from childhood! Looking at the environment is full of opportunities.

You do not know the way the wind blows, or how the bones form in the womb of a pregnant woman; so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well. (Ecclesiastes 11:5-6)

The Preacher says you cannot understand God's work; it is vanity of vanities, but we must understand one thing. A wise man does not act only after understanding. Did Jack Ma understand what Alibaba was doing at the start? I doubt it. He understood as he went along, because he was a man of faith.

Do not wait to understand before you act. By the time you understand and see clearly, the opportunity will have passed. If you want to write Dream of the Red Chamber, Cao Xueqin already wrote it. If you want to write Journey to the West or Romance of the Three Kingdoms, they are already written. Why would we need you to write them? So, walk in faith. Do not do nothing in vanity. Know that you act by faith, whether in the morning or evening, because you do not know which will prosper; you cannot predict it. But it does not matter. I act in the morning, and I am happy in the morning. I act in the evening, and I am happy in the evening. I will never be a lazy man.

Work Happily, Do Not Be Lazy

Today, I give you a warning. If you are 70 years old and do nothing all day, I give you a prediction: dementia is not far from you. I received a phone call; his brother-in-law's father in America spends his days playing with feces, smearing it all over the house. His whole family are Christians, but it is no use. They cannot handle this because they do not know the reality of the spiritual realm.

A pastor we know, his wife had a headache. Another person, while praying, saw an elder, and the arrows were all shot from him. In the end, the elder was dismissed. What if the headache returns the next day? These people live in fear. Can God not be in control? This is what we call a religious spirit.

We must all thoroughly deal with this religious spirit today. These people who do nothing practical are truly not as good as those entrepreneurs and government officials who do practical things. How fast is China developing now? It is because they have done so much. Government officials do much work, and it is tiring and difficult. It is better than these people who are full of religious flavor, catching ghosts everywhere.

Recently, at a McDonald's in Shandong, some people were praying. One of them had a headache, and they said it was caused by a demon on someone they did not recognize. In the end, they beat the person to death on the spot. As a result, they were arrested by the police. What kind of thing is this! I do not know how these people were trained to be like this.

Live in the Sunlight, Live Happily

We can train you to do practical things. Living is about eating happily and working joyfully. While alive, live brightly.

Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun. However many years anyone lives, let them enjoy them all. But let them remember the days of darkness, for there will be many. Everything to come is meaningless. (Ecclesiastes 11:7-8)

Living brightly is better than living darkly. After death, there will be many days in the realm of the dead. It is already hard enough to live under the sun, yet you still live without brightness. How difficult is that? Live well. Knowing the vanity of vanities prevents you from living in darkness. Enjoying life prevents you from living in darkness.

You who are young, be happy while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. (Ecclesiastes 11:9)

Everything the eyes see seems good; do what your heart desires. Live brightly. It is already hard enough to live in this vanity. Many young people jump off buildings because they cannot get into university. Some were first in middle school but then got third place, then fell to tenth place, and they are distraught. Can you live happily? Can you live a little brighter? Whether you go to university, go to middle school, get first place, or get tenth place, these are all vanity of vanities! You must enjoy life. If the young do not enjoy, the adolescents do not enjoy, the middle-aged do not enjoy, and the elderly do not enjoy, and they always live in darkness, then after death, those dark days will be many. Living under the sun yet living in darkness, how agonizing is that!

The people I meet are very interesting. A few years ago, there was a PhD student. What is there to be distraught about when doing a PhD? She got scholarships in university and scholarships for her PhD. After university, she did a PhD, and after finishing her PhD, she was distraught and broke down, so she came to me. I made her a little brighter. Actually, there is no need for people to be upset. After she got better, her mother found out. Her mother should have thanked me because I made her daughter bright, but her mother forgot about this and looked sad and gloomy, agonizing over why her daughter did not come to her back then. I wondered, what could her daughter have done if she had gone to her? She kept agonizing over this and was very dissatisfied with me. I do not understand this matter. There are many things I do not understand, but I still live happily and joyfully!

I hope that everyone in this world can live happily, according to your heart's desires, to make your heart joyful. There are many things in the world that can make you feel bad. I can feel bad immediately. What is the meaning of feeling bad? What is the value of it? Thinking about this pressure and that pressure, there are many unsatisfactory things, but I can still choose to be happy. I have worked so hard to live this life, why should I live it miserably? What is wrong with my brain? Why live so miserably? Just do as my heart desires. But some people also do as their heart desires, but the result is toil and sorrow. Some people also do as their heart desires, and the result is happiness. Because I do as God's heart desires, do you understand? Because I read God's word, read the Bible. As Ecclesiastes says, so I do.

Know one thing: God will judge. After you die and leave this world, being alive is vanity, but after death, it becomes reality. Why? Because at that time, you are like a tree falling to the south or falling to the north, going to the underworld or going to heaven. All are decisions you made in the world. All is vanity, but after death, the light is blown out. How do you know? I have experienced many things in the spiritual realm, so know that God will judge.

The key to people's worries lies in their carnal nature in their youth. You must begin to learn to deal with the carnal nature. There is an old saying: I would rather cry in a BMW than be happy on a bicycle. What kind of brain is that? How foolish. The most important thing in life is feeling. As long as you feel good in life, it does not matter if it is a bicycle, a two-wheeler, a three-wheeler, a four-wheeler, or an old-age scooter. The problem is that the car is not important; a person being happy is what is important.

Today, there are some businesspeople among us who are miserable doing business. Originally, doing business was for happiness, but in the end, they forgot about happiness. Living is for living happily, but the result is misery and agony. Can you not be miserable? Because you are a carnal person, this is your cheese, your rice bowl. If you lose this rice bowl, you feel that you cannot survive. If you want to survive, you must fix this, because this is your rice bowl, your core interest. What is this called? This is called a carnal logical system, a carnal nature. If a person lives for a thousand years but is not happy, it is as good as living in vain. No matter what you have, if you live happily and joyfully throughout your life, that is a happy person.

Today, you must begin to make a decision: I want to be a happy person. How do you be a happy person? You must deal with the carnal nature and be a spiritual person! If you want to be a spiritual person, do not be controlled by the flesh. If you are not controlled by the flesh, you will not be lazy, you will be diligent, you will deal with the flesh, you will enjoy the work you do, you will live for God's will, you will live in light, you will live brightly, and you will not live in darkness. If darkness comes upon you, you will reject the darkness. If you are made to discern good and evil, to be miserable and depressed, reject it! Why agonize? Are you out of your mind? I choose not to agonize! Who knows what tomorrow will bring? If I die tomorrow, and I am still agonizing today, is there any point? I will live in light, live brightly, and then reject those evil habits of discerning good and evil, reject that habit of agonizing.

Seize Opportunities by Faith to Create the Future

Those of us who are agonizing must pay attention. From now on, be a spiritual person. A spiritual person's eyes are spiritual. Their eyes can see opportunities and see the future through the emptiness and chaos. Then we can seize opportunities.

Today, I saw a person who had started a business before and experienced many unlucky things. After I saw him, he still would not admit it and argued with me, talking a lot of religious things. Is it useful? It is not useful! What is the point of saying this? When I am in a difficult environment, I can create opportunities. That is why we Chinese are amazing. If the conditions are there, we will do it. If the conditions are not there, we will create opportunities and do it.

How difficult was it for Deng Xiaoping to carry out reform and opening up in China? What was China's GDP ranking in the world? The per capita GDP was very low in the world. Without looking at the environment, he seized the pulse of the times and seized opportunities. Now, looking back at those who held onto their iron rice bowls in the 1990s, they are still in their iron rice bowls, trapped by them. Those who seized opportunities in that era are now wealthy. Recently, I saw in a classmate group that he won the second prize for national science and technology progress, and our Premier presented the award to him. We are all proud of him. He went into business in 1992 and smashed his iron rice bowl, and now it has become a golden rice bowl! Anyway, what I mean is that in that era, you could make money doing anything, but what people saw in that era was a kind of emptiness and chaos. I thought it was an opportunity.

Without looking at the environment, start seizing opportunities by faith to create a future. Why? Because in such an environment, you must start to eat your meals happily and do your work joyfully. No matter what you do, you can see a bright future. Do not wait until the game is over. When you kick your legs out and close your eyes, the game is over, and there will be no opportunity. So, God has placed us in this world, and we will live out God's image, like God, freely receiving and freely giving. Like God, we will create a beautiful world in the emptiness and chaos, and like God, we will do things in an orderly manner, each according to its kind. Like God, we will have God's vision, seeing only good things, only opportunities.

Summary

We must have faith and get everything done. Do not wait to understand before you act, but act by faith to understand. This is called being a spiritual person. A spiritual person is definitely not a religious person. If our brothers and sisters are willing to live a little happier, remove the religious flavor from their bodies one by one, and become real people, then they will joyfully do their work and happily eat their meals, manifesting God's glory in this world and becoming a blessing to this era.

May God bless everyone!

Scriptures

Ecc 11:1 Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again.
Ecc 11:2 Distribute portions to seven, or even to eight, since you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.
Ecc 11:3 If clouds are full of water, they pour rain on the earth. Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there it will lie.
Ecc 11:4 Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.
Ecc 11:5 You do not know the way the wind blows, or how the bones form in the womb of a pregnant woman; so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.
Ecc 11:6 Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.
Ecc 11:7 Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.
Ecc 11:8 However many years anyone lives, let them enjoy them all. But let them remember the days of darkness, for there will be many. Everything to come is meaningless.
Ecc 11:9 You who are young, be happy while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.
Ecc 11:10 Banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless.
Ecc 12:1 Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”—
Ecc 12:2 before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain;
Ecc 12:3 when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men stoop, when the grinders cease because they are few, and those looking through the windows grow dim;
Ecc 12:4 when the doors to the street are closed and the sound of the grinding fades; when people rise up at the sound of the birds, but all their songs grow faint;
Ecc 12:5 when people are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets; when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags itself along and desire no longer is stirred. Then people go to their eternal home and mourners go about the streets.
Ecc 12:6 Remember him—before the silver cord is severed, and the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, and the wheel broken at the well,
Ecc 12:7 and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
Ecc 12:8 “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Everything is meaningless!”
Ecc 12:9 Not only was the Teacher wise, but also he imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs.
Ecc 12:10 The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.
Ecc 12:11 The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one Shepherd.
Ecc 12:12 Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them. Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.
Ecc 12:13 Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.
Ecc 12:14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.

Ecclesiastes List