Cheon Seong Gyeong: Episode 342
Cheon Seong Gyeong Book 11: Ceremonies and Holy Days
Chapter 2: Church Services
Section 2: The Meaning of Tithing, 06
Section 3: The Practice of Hoondokhae, 06
(6) The number ten belongs to God. Human beings own the numbers up to nine. The number nine has been considered a bad number because all the numbers up through nine are under Satan's dominion. Thus, today, if we return the number nine to God and connect it to God on earth where Satan is the lord, then God can have dominion over us. In this way, God can restore all the numbers up through ten. Thus, if you believe in God and bring the number nine to Him, all possessions within the realm up through the number nine can be separated from Satan's realm. That is how the term "tithe" came to exist.
(7) God does not need money. Money is needed only as an object for making conditions so that fallen human beings can form a relationship with Him. Is it for God's sake that you are making donations? God does not need money. Any time, twenty-four hours a day, and seven days a week, God can make as much gold and as many diamonds as He wants, so why would He need money? God needs it only as a condition by which to save all of you. So instead of thinking that you are making a donation for God, think that you are donating for your nation or for the world. You are offering donations to fulfill the purpose of saving others. You are not offering them, for God's sake.
(8) It is by no means easy to nurture another human life. You cannot do it without devoting yourself. You cannot do it with things you have already used. Nor can you do it with leftovers from the food you have eaten. You must firmly reject that concept. This is even more the case if an offering is for God. You should offer the first portion of anything to God. You ought to offer to God what is pure. He will not be with you if you offer something impure. He will not be with you if what you offer is not brand-new. You must not use leftovers to make sacrificial offerings because leftovers are defiled. Anyone to whom God gives special grace would immediately recognize this. That is also why I discourage you from going to defiled places.
(9) If, after offering devotions, you receive a special blessing, you should always offer a donation of gratitude to God. Heaven does not want petty cash. It must be money for which you invested your heart and mind with devotion. You should not just casually donate the money you find in your pocket. Before you donate, you should keep it with you for at least three days as a way of sanctifying the money. You should invest your life and assets. I offered all my possessions to God. With the things I offered, I created a bridge for all the material things in the world to cross over to God's side. Anyone who does the same will prosper for eternity. That person's descendants will be blessed.
(10) When you handle donations and offerings that were given with heart, if you do not recognize their value, they will judge you. Even a king can perish if he errs in his conduct by mistreating someone who is dedicated to God. By mistreating that person, he will be considered a traitor to Heaven. For this reason, I do not treat lightly anyone who makes devotional offerings.
(11) Whenever a special event is celebrated, on that day, you need to bring a gift and offer it at a place that displays the Unification Church flag and True Parents' picture. You should dedicate the commemorative gift on behalf of your people, nation, and family. This is not something for me to take for myself but rather to give back later to your country and descendants. Whenever you celebrate a joyful occasion or throw a banquet for a special event, you must prepare something with sincere devotion and dedicate it to God as an expression of your heart to repay Him. That is a life of attending Heaven.
Section 3. The Practice of Hoondokhae
(1) From now on, you should do hoondokhae. You need to buy books for it and establish a regular schedule. Your family members should gather for hoondokhae. Even when I am alone on a mountain, when it is time to do hoondokhae, I do it by myself. When it is hoondokhae time, if you are sleeping, you should wake up and do it. In the future, God will not treat people who are ignorant of the Principle as His true people.
(2) My words will connect you with me. The more deeply you understand them, the higher the level you will reach in offering your devotions, and the more the heart of God's love can dwell within you. That is why I am asking you to do hoondokhae every day. The person who says the taste of hoondokhae is better than food, that hoondokhae is better than making love, will grow infinitely. These words are a collection of the serious and intense moments of my life that were proclaimed before heaven and earth.
(3) No one knows the value of God's words as much as I do. Up to this time, all these words were veiled, but you should know that I had to overcome life and death situations in order to deliver these words. They are imbued with God's heart, spoken during the most serious of times. Once I start speaking about the hidden stories behind them, the spirits who were moved in the early days to be involved in those events will be connected to us. Then you will feel overwhelmed by emotion and receive enormous grace. By reading these words, we again recollect those stories, and this can awaken those spirits who worked before and inspire them to continue working with us. Then the cooperation of the spirit world working behind the scenes in our time can result in works many tens and hundreds of times more powerful than before.
The origin and meaning of hoondokhae
(4) The mother and father of a family should do pledge service and set an example for their children so they too will be eager to attend. When children see their parents eagerly awaiting this time with joy, they should be able to say, "We want to learn what our mother and father are learning!" We parents should leave such an example for them. Children should also see their parents hold hoondokhae gatherings. The words shared there are not available anywhere else. Since I am the one who inaugurated hoondokhae, they exist only within the Unification Church. You should establish the tradition that you enjoy attending hoondokhae so much that you forget to eat and that you would pass up meeting a guest or anyone else if it interfered with hoondokhae. This is how to put your family on the right path. You have to establish such a tradition for your sons and daughters.
(5) The words are to flow. If you stop their flow, you will have a cross to bear. They will become a burden for you and cause you to collapse. Hence, you should enable them to flow to your mother, your father, your cousins, your neighborhood, and so on. The more they flow, the more they will expand, and by your results, they will become a huge river. Then wherever you are, with these words, you will be influential enough to make a great impact on your area.
(6) The Chinese character hoon (訓) of hoondokhae consists of two characters combined: "words" (言) and "stream" (川), which mean "the words that flow." Therefore, these words do not die. If water remains still for just one week, it will begin to stagnate. Therefore, water needs to flow. If a father hears these words, he should teach them to his sons and daughters. If a grandfather hears these words, he should teach them to his grandchildren. If a mayor hears these words, he should then teach them to all the citizens of his town. They should flow like water, from higher ground to lower. Hoondokhae is the eternal business of sharing God's words. The Chinese character dok (讀) consists of two characters combined: "words" (言) and "sell" (賣). It means to sell the words. Even if you give these words to a thousand people, you will not suffer any loss. This is an eternal business. The money you gather will eventually run out, but these words will never run out.
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