In the end time, God is incarnated and does the work of the word. Through his word, he conquers man, perfects man, and gains man. If we want to be saved and gained by God, the most fundamental thing is to read God’s word. However, now most brothers and sisters are still unable to achieve the desired results in reading God’s word, so they are slow in life entering. Although they have believed in God for several years, they have not understood much truth, even less gained the transformation of their life nature. Then, how can we achieve results in reading God’s word?

First, we have to know how to treat God’s word. God says: “…you should receive my word simply from the standpoint of the truth and with a single-hearted and sincere attitude. Do not neglect any word or any truth I speak. Do not treat any word of mine with disdain.” “…and even more hope that you all will believe every single word I speak…. Do not doubt my word….” And in the man’s fellowship attached to The Summary of Christ’s Preachings and Conversations, it says: “People should receive God’s word simply from the standpoint of the truth. Anyone who acknowledges and believes with absolute certainty that every word of God is the truth will be able to do so. Give up man’s imaginations and notions totally and have one belief only, that is, every word of God is the truth, and this is absolute and is beyond the shadow of a doubt. … Before the truth, people must have an honest and godly attitude.… When people come before God’s word, it is as if they come before God. They must have a single-hearted and sincere attitude toward God’s word.…” From the above words of God and the man’s fellowship, we can clearly see that when reading God’s word, we should at least have a godly and sober attitude, be single-hearted and sincere, and not be careless and disdainful. Moreover, we should not read any word out of context or take one part as the whole, but should read God’s word from the standpoint of the truth and be certain that whatever God says is the truth and is absolutely accurate. Such are the prerequisites for achieving results in reading God’s word and receiving the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. For when we come before God’s word, it is as if we come before God. If we read it with a disdainful attitude and a careless heart, we are disrespecting or dishonoring God, which is loathed by God. Then how could we possibly receive God’s mercy and inspiration? For example, we think that the words God has spoken in his humanity are very easy to understand since they are all words in modern Chinese, simple and understandable. We say that the words by which God exposes man’s innate nature overstate the case when we fail to understand and know them. And we say that God’s words are inaccurate, self-contradictory, and unbelievable when we do not know the backgrounds of some of them and do not understand their true meanings. For example, some say, “God says at one time that his day is close at hand, at another time that it will come in three to five years, and at still another time that it will come in seven years. You can never tell how soon it will actually come.” Others say, “God says at one time that he will let the remaining one third who love God be fruitful and become numerous on earth, and at another time that he will break the families of mankind, and that will be the final arrangement for them. You can never tell whether mankind will actually have families in the future.” From such states and expressions, it can be seen that we have not treated God’s word as the truth at all, having not received God’s word from the standpoint of the truth, but treated it with disdain and doubt and even passed judgments on it and condemned it. Such attitudes of ours toward God’s word have long been bitterly hated by God and been intolerable to God. Then, how can we receive the inspiration and enlightenment of the Holy Spirit? And how can we achieve results in reading God’s word? Some people have believed in God for many years and have read many of God’s words, yet they not only have not gained the knowledge of God, but on the contrary, they have had more notions and even more serious misunderstandings about God. Doesn’t all this result from their being arrogant and self-right and their not having a humble and seeking attitude? So, if we want to achieve results in reading God’s word, we should first be certain that God’s word is the truth no matter how contrary it is to our notions, and we should have a sober and godly attitude before it.

Second, we have to be clear about the actual purposes of reading God’s word. In the man’s fellowship, it says: “...one must be clear about the actual purposes of reading God’s word. He who has the will should read God’s word in order to gain the truth, in order to receive salvation, in order to know his corrupt essence and gain the transformation of his life nature, in order to perform his duty properly as a human being to repay God’s love, and in order to know God and live out a meaningful life. If one reads God’s word with such a will, he will have strength and will achieve results and make gains. …” These words in man’s fellowship have clearly stated that we should read God’s word in order to gain the truth and receive God’s salvation, in order to know ourselves, gain the transformation of our nature and break free from satan’s power and influence, in order to perform our duties properly and repay God’s love, and in order to pursue to know God and live out a valuable and meaningful life. These are the right purposes of reading God’s word. Only if we are clear about the purposes of reading God’s word will we regard reading God’s word as the need of our life, and will we truly read and ponder over it with our heart and not give up until we receive inspiration and light and understand the truth from it. However, for what purposes do many of us read God’s word? Some leaders read God’s word in order to fellowship with brothers and sisters and resolve their states; some members of the article-revising team read God’s word in order to resolve the problems in the articles and revise the articles well; some people who preach the gospel and some of those who care for the new believers read God’s word in order to resolve the notions of the gospel friends and the new believers; some read God’s word in order to equip themselves with the letters of God’s word and then show themselves off before others; some read God’s word in order to know some mysteries; some read God’s word in order to study the day of God; some read God’s word in order to find something fresh and satisfy their curiosity; some read God’s word in order to while away their time and fill their inner emptiness; some read God’s word in order to adjust their mental states so that they will not feel distressed and negative within; and so on. As we are in such states and read God’s word with such mentalities, how can we understand the truth and gain the truth? And how can we gain anything? God’s words are not for man to feast his eyes on them, but are directed at man’s innate nature and meet man’s needs; God’s words are not spoken for man to “enjoy” as a novel or a story but to judge his corruptions, chastise his unrighteousness, and transform his disobedient nature; and God’s words are much less something to be used to “help others” in emergencies, but to save man and enable man to overcome satan and transcend sin, and enable man to truly know God, obey God, and worship God. So, if we want to achieve results in reading God’s word, we must set our intents right, and this is very crucial.