Tag: Corrie Ten Boom

If Paul and Silas could pray in a dungeon…

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If Paul and Silas could pray in a dungeon surrounded by misery and pain (Acts 16:25-34), what great circumstance restrains our hearts from reaching out to the healer of hearts?

If Jonah could cry out of the dark place of the deep, inside the belly of a great fish because of his own disobedience (Jonah 2:2), what great darkness is stopping your voice from searching for the one who can bring light?

If Daniel could knowingly endanger his own life and would face a den of lions, still felt the need in himself to pray and give thanks to God (Daniel 6:10), what stops us from doing so even amongst the pressures of life we may be facing?

If our Lord, with everything within Him, prayed until great drops of blood flowed from His brow before the suffering of the cross (Luke 22:44), what great trial hinders you from drawing closer to the one who can see you through the trial and meet you on the other side?

Corrie Ten Boom, remembering the days she and her sister spent in the concentration camp in Germany, recorded in The Hiding Place the words of her dear sister before her death: “There is no pit so deep He is not deeper still,”1 (Ten Boom, 1971, p.240) showing that God’s love, mercy, strength, and power can penetrate the harshest and most severe of circumstances.

May our hearts continue to reach for Him regardless of the trials we face.

In all the examples, God was there performing His perfect will. Some walked away, while the stories of others ended differently. But even through the worst, God’s name was magnified, and a greater end to their story was birthed.

Do not let what you see today discourage you from seeking the face of the Father. In the good times and the bad, He is still there through it all.

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:35-39

Blessings~

1 Ten Boom, Corrie & Sherrill, Elizabeth and John, 1971 and 1984, 2006. The Hiding Place. Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.

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“In Christ, you are forgiven!”

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“When God forgives He forgets.  He buries our sins in the sea and puts a sign on the bank saying, “No Fishing Allowed.” – Corrie ten Boom

Forgiveness is one of those things that we can give away to others, but also receive for ourselves.  Sometimes it’s hard to get over hurdles of wrongs and mistakes we have done.  Sometimes letting go of offenses is not the easiest thing to do.  But, in Christ Jesus, the Word of God consistently tells us that we are forgiven.  When we repent before the Lord, He throws our sins away and gives us a clean and clear slate to work with.  Micah 7:19 tells us, “He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea,” and David prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me,” (Psalm 51:10).

The stories in the Bible are plentiful of people, who when walking through this life, have stumbled and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).  And in that, there are plenteous stories of ones that have been redeemed, set aright, renewed, and forgiven.  God doesn’t hide from us, nor does He hide His forgiveness from the truly repentant.  It’s there; He’s there, if we will just seek Him for restoration, seek Him for forgiveness.

When He forgives, don’t go back digging it up.  Don’t keep coddling that thing that God has let go of.  Since He let it go, you let it go, and seek to move on with your life from here.  Seek to do better with the days that are up ahead instead of dwelling on what’s behind.  Know that His forgiveness is very much real for the one who turns to Him, repents before Him, and trusts and accept His forgiveness.

Listed below is inspiration and encouragement to help you build up your faith in receiving and accepting God’s forgiveness today.

“I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.” – Isaiah 43:25

“For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” – Hebrews 8:12

“He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.  For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.  As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” – Psalm 103:10-12

“If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?  But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.” Psalm 130:3-4

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” – 1 John 1:9

“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” – Isaiah 55:7

“Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.  Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.” – Romans 4:7-8

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.  And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.”  – 2 Corinthians 5:17-19

You can’t bypass confession and repentance before God.  But when taken care of properly, in Christ, your sins are forgiven!  Receive God’s forgiveness today.

“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows; it empties today of its strength.” – Corrie Ten Boom

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Encouragement in the Word:

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Jeremiah 29:11

” . . . I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10

“Relationship With The Word!”

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“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path,” Psalm 119:105, NKJV

“And so Betsie and I arrived in Barracks 8 in the small hours of that morning,  brining not only the Bible, but a new knowledge of the power of Him whose story it was,” Corrie Ten Boom1

The Hiding Place has been one of my favorite non-fiction books for years.  I am always amazed by the lives of Corrie and her family and the circumstances that God used in and through them.

The above quote was written after Betsie and Corrie were able to smuggle a Bible into one of the concentration camps.  The Bible could obviously be seen through her clothing, yet she was inspected and patted down like the rest before and after her.  She risked everything to carry that precious treasure of the Word into one of the darkest places known to humanity.

Why?

Because there is an indescribable value in the Word of God to those who believe and hold dear its truths.

This really struck me this morning as I was reading Psalm 119, NKJV.  As a whole, this chapter speaks so much of the Word of God. It reminds us of the importance and power of His Word and how we should not take it lightly.  We should treasure it and hold on to it and let it lead and guide us every day.

In His Word, we find healing, promises, anointing, salvation, understanding, and more.  We should not take lightly the gift of the Word:

  • “Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart!” (vs. 2).
  • “You have commanded us to keep Your precepts diligently,” (vs. 4).
  • “Oh, that my ways were directed to keep Your statutes,” (vs. 5).
  • “Let me not wander from Your commandments!” (vs. 10)
  • “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You,” (vs. 11).
  • “I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, as much as in all riches,” (vs. 14).
  • “My soul breaks with longing for Your judgments at all times,” (vs. 20).
  • “Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes, and I shall keep it to the end,” (vs. 33).
  • “Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in it,” (vs. 35).
  • “Establish Your word to your servant, who is devoted to fearing You,” (vs. 38).
  • “Behold, I long for Your precepts; revive me in Your righteousness,” (vs. 40).
  • “Remember the word to Your servant, upon which You have caused me to hope,” (vs. 49).
  • “Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe Your commandments,” (vs. 66).
  • “I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are right,” (vs. 75).
  • “Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven,” (89).
  • “Unless Your law had been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction,” (vs. 92).
  • “You are my hiding place and shield; I hope in Your word,” (vs. 114).
  • “Direct my steps by Your word,” (vs. 133).
  • “Great peace have those who love Your law, and nothing causes them to stumble,” (vs. 165).

These are just a very few of the many written within that psalm, and just a few of the many that I have personally highlighted.  What we read goes beyond just reading the word.  In these verses, we see a relationship with the Word.

Why was Corrie Ten Boom ready to sacrifice it all just to have a Bible in the prison camp with her?  From a young age, her father taught her how to have a relationship and a dependency upon the Word.  It is as vital, if not more so, than anything else she could have smuggled in there.

In many dark times, the Word is what shines a light brighter than any sun.  In the Word, we find comfort, solace, and peace no matter the prisons that try to hold us.

I urge you to reevaluate your relationship with the Word today.  Don’t look at it as something I have to get through because that’s what I am supposed to do.  Read it, absorb it for the treasure that it is.    “Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law,” (vs. 18).  “Revive me according to Your word,” (vs. 25).

Let your relationship with the Word be renewed and revived today.

There was another point before this when Corrie Ten Boom fell sick and was unable to read the Word.  Then:

“As my health returned, I was able to use my eyes longer.  I had been sustaining myself from my Scriptures a verse at a time; now, like a starving man, I gulped entire Gospels at a reading, seeing whole the magnificent drama of salvation,” Corrie Ten Boom 2

When was the last time we starved to have a relationship With The Word?

Look at it as not a task that must be completed, but as a source to be revered and treasured.  As it did for Corrie, it will “sustain” you also.  His Word does not fail!

If you have never read The Hiding Place, I urge you to do so.  I believe the lives and experiences written therein will inspire you in your Christian journey, also.

Be blessed today!

Quote References:

1 The Hiding Place, p. 214, Hendrickson Publishers, Copyright 1971, 1984, 2006

2 The Hiding Place, p. 167, Hendrickson Publishers, Copyright 1971, 1984, 2006.

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