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Faith & Life

This helps believers who hope to become the fragrance of Christ live a right life of faith.

Emperor Taizong and Zhangsun Shunde During the Chinese Tang Dynasty

In the age of the second emperor of the Tang Dynasty of China, a courtier named Zhangsun Shunde aroused criticism because he accepted bribes. Contrary to everyone’s expectation that he would be sentenced to a severe punishment, the emperor granted him ten rolls of silk. “Why do you give Zhangsun Shunde rolls of silk instead of punishing him?” “It is more painful to receive a prize without knowing the reason than to be punished. If he does not know such a shame, what is the use of punishing him?” However, Zhangsun Shunde did not know the great will of the emperor, and before long he made another mistake and was expelled from the public office. A year later, the emperor…

Spiritual Vitamin

This happened when I was on my gospel mision in Spain. A deaconess came from Korea to preach the gospel for a month. I was worried that she would not be accustomed to unfamiliar circumstances as she was not good at speaking Spanish. Unlike my expectation, however, she preached the word of God until late at night, always wearing a smile and showing no signs of fatigue. I wondered how the deaconess could be so eager to preach without rest, and I asked her how. Then she opened the Bible and showed me this verse. “. . . but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and…

Kim Jin-hui from Seongnam, Korea

Test Me and Know My Anxious Thoughts

While my faith was growing little by little, I got tested. I thought that “test” was only for a person with weak faith. So I earnestly prayed to God that the hard times would pass by quickly. However, the answer to my prayer was getting delayed. While I was bearing the time of loneliness and desperation, my hope for heaven grew even bigger. After much time, I realized that the test I had at that time was God’s plan to grow my faith. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Ps 139:23–24 If there was any…

Kim Su-yeong from Gunpo, Korea

The Power of Affirmative Faith

When a famous professor from the department of heart surgery listened to the heart beat of a cardiac patient with a stethoscope, he made a diagnosis, saying, “His heart completely has the third heart sound gallop [S3 gallop].” “Gallop” is a medical terminology that refers to the late stage of the heart disease. The doctor meant that the patient could hardly recover. However, the patient pulled through rapidly, contrary to the diagnosis of the doctor. At last, the patient was restored to health. The professor asked him how he could get well so quickly. The patient answered. “Professor, you said my heart has a complete ‘gallop,’ didn’t you? Isn’t gallop a fast gait of a horse? I guessed you said…

What Facial Expression Will You Make?

The face is the most visible part of the body. There are four of five sense organs on the face, which are responsible for sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Not only do these sense organs accept external stimuli, they also perform the basic functions necessary for a person to live, such as eating, drinking, breathing, and speaking. The eyes, nose, and mouth on the face take on their respective roles, and also work together to create a variety of expressions. Animals and insects, too, have faces, but only humans can make various facial expressions. It’s because humans have particularly developed facial muscles. There are about 43 to 80 muscles on the human face, and there are more than 10,000 facial…

Life Exchanged with Treasure

During the voyage, a luxurious ferry struck a rock and was sinking little by little. Since the rescue boats were not big enough to take all the passengers, the little children and women were given priority to board the boats first. A noblewoman who was able to get a seat in the boat suddenly stood up as if she remembered something and ran back to the ferry. A surprised crew member shouted, “Ma’am! You have to come back within five minutes!” She ran to a cabin, picked up her treasure box, and was about to turn around and go back to the rescue boat. Then she was wide-eyed, surprised; she saw all kinds of treasure scattered here and there in…

Mission Accomplished

On the last holiday of June when the news about the drought continued, we went to the Deokwu Reservoir for cleanup. It is famous for fishing, and a perfect place for a family picnic. However, when we went there, there was almost no water due to the severe drought, and the exposed bottom cracked all over. From the positive viewpoint, it was perfect for cleaning; all the trash was exposed, which would have continued to cause the water pollution if it had not dried up. We started the cleanup with the head of the Bongdam-eup office and many other officials who came out to help us. Although they were the hosts who asked us to do cleanup there, it was…

Lee Eun-yeong from Hwaseong, Korea

Things That Should Not Be Overlooked

“You will not have to fight in this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.” 2 Ch 20:17 Jehoshaphat heard that the Moabites and Ammonites were coming to make war on him. He proclaimed a fast for all Judah and sought help from God. Listening to his prayer, God let them gain a victory even without fighting in the battle and granted peace. While doing things in Zion, I focused only on how to do it and often forgot to pray to God. Reading these words,…

Jang Dong-geon from Seoul, Korea

Stains

A man stopped by a gas station for gas. A worker cleaned the car’s windshield while pumping gas. “Thank you for using our gas station. Have a nice day,” said the worker. However, the man said that the windshield still looked dirty and asked him to clean it again. The worker quickly cleaned it again. “It looks good. You’re good to go now.” However, the man said in a querulous voice, “It’s still dirty. Do you even know how to clean the windshield?” Then the worker looked at the man carefully, went inside the store, and came out with a soft cloth, and gave it to the man. “Sorry, sir, but would you clean your glasses please?” The man cleaned…

Present a Gift Without Spending Money!

When it comes to a gift, you think of a box wrapped in pretty paper and tied with a ribbon. However, a gift is not always put in a box. A gift is to bring joy and happiness to someone, expressing your thanks and love. So if you present joy and happiness to someone, it can be an excellent gift, like a cool wind, a blooming flower, and a rainbow in the sky that nature presents us freely. People say that what is essential is invisible to the eye and cannot be bought with money. This month, find out what is essential, and give it to your family! Tip Try out these gifts for your family: For your family, write…

Saving a Happy Tree

Our Zion has a tree named “happy tree.” Whenever we look at that tree with big green leaves and small bell-like flowers, though not many, we feel happy just like its name. But when summer was about to start, the happy tree, which was almost touching the ceiling, started showing strange symptoms. Its leaves started hardening as if they were withering, and they didn’t look fresh like before at all. At first, we thought it needed more water and gave it more. However, it still looked the same. Worrying that too much water would rot the root, we stopped watering it. Thankfully, there was a sister who knew much about plants, so we asked her for a piece of advice.…

Gahng Shin-hae from Seongnam, Korea

First Fruit

‘I just need to keep my faith only!’ My long-lasting belief was broken during the last autumn feasts, which were more meaningful than ever before, because it was the Father’s 100th birth anniversary year. As I was celebrating the feasts, my fervor for preaching replaced my wrong idea. The first person I preached to in my life was my team manager. He was my boss at work, but we were friends outside work. When I was on my way for a business trip, One day, when he was at home, I asked him to accompany me on my way for a business trip, and he said okay. During the five-hour round trip by car, I preached the truth to him…

Sohn Jeong-in from Seosan, Korea

Heaven’s Teacher of the Law

Jesus said, “If you love Me, feed My sheep.” There are a variety of spiritual foods, but I’ve always wondered what food is proper for each of sheep. He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.” Mt 13:52 The words settled my worries at once. The heaven’s teacher of the law should be able to give spiritual food from the Old and New Testaments to whoever he meets at the proper time. He should do it like the owner of a house is well aware of his house and can…

Yu Yeong-mi from Ansan, Korea

The Most Valuable Work in the World

There is a research which shows that simply knowing how meaningful and important our work is can help us increase our job satisfaction and efficiency. This is the result of an experiment which an American university professor conducted with employees at a call center that raises donations for a university over the phone and with rescue workers at a local sports center. The call center employees, who were greatly discouraged because they had to deal with customers who felt offended and complained about the sudden calls asking for donations every day, had time to meet the students who had received scholarships thanks to their efforts. It boosted their morale and doubled the amount of donation as well. The rescue workers…

We Are More than Conquerors through Love

In life, there are times when you may face unexpected difficulties. Sometimes I overcome them, thinking of God, but sometimes I get so discouraged that I just want to plop down on the ground. I was exhausted in body and mind, thinking, ‘Why doesn’t the situation get any better?’ At that moment, God gave me comfort and courage through the words in the Bible. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: ‘For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him…

Peter Antonio Azucena Valencia from Cordoba, Argentina

Alert

When we first put on a new pair of shoes, we take much care of our new shoes to keep them as clean as we can; if our shoes get dirty even a little bit, we wipe the dirt off them right away. However, after we repeat the same thing several times, we come to care less about our shoes than we did at first. It is the same with our life of faith. When we fully realize God, we make great efforts to keep our souls clean by engraving God’s word in our hearts and trying to conduct ourselves in a godly way in everything. If we commit a mistake or fault accidently, we feel so sorry towards God…

Where I Need to Return

I was always sick while raising my three children, probably because I became exhausted physically and mentally. Many nights, I couldn’t sleep. I went to see a doctor and was diagnosed with the initial stage of depression. I tried many things that the doctor suggested for treatment. I had time to learn new things, and met my friends and talked, eating delicious food together. However, it was still painful though I spent more time and money for taking lessons, eating, and traveling. The fun time was temporary and I soon got tired, and my mind was covered with darkness again. Whenever I lay down on the bed at night and thought about the day, tears came out of my eyes…

Oita Ai from Togyo, Japan

Finding the Lost Heavenly Children

One day, while I was on my way to work just as usual, a man came to me and handed me a piece of paper. It was a flyer for finding his daughter, who was thirty nine then. The flyer had her picture when she was eleven, along with the description of how she looked and what she was wearing. The father, who had been looking for his lost daughter for about 30 years, was handing out the flyers to passersby, with his back bent and his hands wrinkled. Suddenly, a verse crossed my mind. “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” Lk 19:10 Heavenly Father, too, could not take care of Himself…

Kim Min-seong from Suwon, Korea

The flower of smile or laughter

In Korea, when we see people smiling or laughing brightly and happily together, we usually say that “the flower of smile or laughter is in full bloom.” This expression likens people’s brilliant and pleasant smiles or laughter to a flower. A flower does not bloom suddenly in a day. No matter what kind of flower it is, there needs to be a certain process until it blooms; first, we need to plant the seed, and then the seed sprouts and puts forth buds. Only after this process can we see a beautiful flower. If we want to make the flower of smile or laughter blossom, we need to plant the seed first. The best place for the seed of smile…