Final Posting of 2009

Now that the holiday season is upon us, I have decided to make this my last posting of 2009. We’ve finished our study of a portion of the life of Corrie ten Boom as relayed to us in her own words her from her book The Hiding Place. As I stated earlier in our study, this book tells of a few years in Corrie’s life, while a second book Tramp for the Lord, relates her experiences through the end of her life (another 20 years!) as she traveled all over the world in miraculously God-ordained ways for His Name’s sake. She who had such uncertain faith through these trials, had such strong faith in years to come, a testimony to the grace and mercy of God who brought her to that place, as His Word promises He will do for each of us! We might revisit her later years in a study sometime in the future, but as we close this year out, I think there is so much to remember and reflect upon from all that we have learned from Corrie and Betsie thus far.

We learned about obedience to God, no matter how difficult that road of obedience might be to walk. I am reminded of the words of the Lord from Matthew 7:13-14: “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” The strait gate with the narrow road leading to it is the one that leads to suffering as our Lord suffered for us. Paul appears to be confirming this with his words in his letter to the Romans, chapter 8:16-17: “the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

If the narrow road means following in the sufferings of Christ (denying our flesh, suffering persecution for His Name’s sake, and even death, as Betsie and Papa ten Boom did, rather than be disobedient to God), then the wide path must be the direct opposite of that: serving our flesh rather than God, doing whatever it takes to remain in our comfort zone even if it means being disobedient to God, leading lives not full of the Spirit of God, but full of self, rationalizing our way right into hell, but being deceived the entire time by the enemy, Satan, so that we will not correct our path, but continue on to destruction, taking many with us, rather than saving many from the fire.

What is important to remember is that unless we are surrendered completely to following Jesus Christ and surrendered also to being filled with the Holy Spirit (the One Who produces the courage and strength of Jesus Christ in us) we cannot walk that narrow road. In our own strength alone we will fail. Jesus told His disciples to go to Jerusalem and wait for The Comforter, The Helper. Once they received the Holy Spirit, THEN their real ministry and service to God began. They did not go in their own strength. And in one day 3,000 were saved, and in another day 5,000 were saved, and today (because their ministry was of the Holy Spirit, not of themselves) 33% of the world population claim to be Christian (reported in 2000). No other religion even comes close in number, although it saddens me to think that only a 1/3 call themselves Christians world-wide, showing how much work there is left to be done for the Lord. But the point is, how can anything we do in our own efforts possibly come close to comparing to the work of God Himself? If God is to get the glory then it must be HIS power working through us. It can be no other way.

The second thing we learned from the ten Boom family was about faith. What faith looks like in action, and in fact, that without corresponding action it is not faith at all, but only lifeless words.

And on the opposite side of that coin, that actions without faith are sin for “without faith it is impossible to please God” no matter how many good works we do. I think of all the social do-gooders of Hollywood fame or those who are famous for their positions of wealth, who adopt orphans and feed the hungry and create social and educational programs for the poor...all of which are excellent works, but all of which mean nothing as far as saving their own souls or even the souls of the ones they help. Their work leads no one to Jesus Christ, and therefore none are saved; only some immediate suffering is relieved, but eternal despair looms on the horizon for both giver and receiver of this kind of salvation. The do-gooders have not pleased God at all, as there is no reconciliation between them and God, for the only reconciliation between man and God is Jesus Christ. The social do-gooders who walk the wide road (speaking of those only who do not know Christ, for there are a few in that social arena who DO know Christ) often deny and even mock the name of Jesus Christ, and the end of their road is destruction as we just read in Matthew 7.

I thank God for the faith He has provided each of us who believes, to receive His Son Jesus as our Lord and Savior, cleansing us of our sins, and causing us to live in ever-increasing faith in GOD! That faith then produces corresponding works of God, and when Christians go forth to help those suffering in the world, not only is suffering relieved, but that relief is eternal versus temporary, for along with the physical aid, spiritual salvation is offered to all who will receive it! Many are saved from the fire, both present and to come, and they are given real hope…an everlasting hope in the resurrection power of God through Jesus Christ in their lives for eternity!

The third thing we learned was about love. Specifically what our perception of love is: is it love as we know it (love for mankind as evidenced by even the God-less people of the preceding paragraphs), or love as GOD INTENDS it to be displayed through us?

The love of God is by choice and does not involve merit in the one receiving the love (agape). Many of us have “brotherly” love (phileo), which is altogether different, although there are some who lack even that. And as disciples of Christ, we are definitely to have phileo or brotherly love. But if that love begins and ends in us (as in the do-gooders example), then it is not of God (agape), but of the world alone. Agape love involves a deliberate decision to love, rather than love resulting from a sentiment or feeling. It is un-warranted love, unmerited love, and most importantly it is unchanging love since it is not subject to the caprice of emotions. Once decided upon, that love is faithful and consistent, never changing. That is the agape love, with which, the Bible tells us, God first loved us and then we loved Him.

Before we love our brethren as God intended, we must first have experienced and been filled with the agape love of God and towards God. That can only happen if we are born-again by the power of God through Jesus Christ. We are to be dead to self, and alive only to Jesus Christ who lives and reigns in our mortal bodies. The love that Jesus displayed while He walked this earth was the agape love of the Holy Spirit (God Himself) dwelling within Jesus, enabling Him (as the Holy Spirit does with us also) to love God first and foremost and then to love His brethren also, esteeming them to be higher than Himself, even to the point of crucifixion for their sakes. That love must reign in our mortal bodies so that we can then love God and others. But it comes from Him to us, it does not originate within ourselves, for there is nothing good in us. All of our own works that are not directed or born of God’s will, will be burned in the fire, they will not stand as evidence of our love in the courtroom of God.

Jesus said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy self.” (Matthew 22:38-40) To attempt to do the second commandment, without first having a new heart towards God given to us by God Himself enabling us to do the first commandment, results in us being fruitless (displaying no fruit of the Spirit as seen in Galatians 5 and therefore unable to draw other souls to saving knowledge of Jesus Christ through our testimony) and any branch that bears no fruit is cut off and cast into the fire. In John 15:6 Jesus says “If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” That last is a description of hell, of course, reserved for those in whom Christ does not dwell.

But for those of us who are in Christ Jesus, who have been filled with God’s agape love shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who have been born again, washed and set free from our sin by the resurrection power of God by grace through faith in the blood of Jesus shed for us, who recognize that our very existence and usefulness comes only from the root of the vine (Jesus) which sustains us as a branch bearing fruit, who abide in the Word as He abides in us, who love God as evidenced by our very acts of faithful obedience to Him, who rejoice in suffering for His Name’s sake, who worship God with a heart full of thanksgiving in all situations whether hungry or full, rich or poor...FOR US the horizon looms with love and joy and peace and all the blessings of God, including eternal life, no matter what the world’s economic or political future holds. For we serve the One True God who promises never to leave us nor forsake us and Who loved us enough to die for us.

There is a lot to be thankful to God for this Thanksgiving. There is a lot to worship God for this Christmas.

May you be a “fruitful giver” of God’s love toward all mankind through the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ, during these holidays and for years to come.

Have a happy Thanksgiving, a blessed Christmas and a prosperous New Year, “prospering even as your soul prospers”, God keeping us all.

See you in January.

God's Agape

Agape describes God’s love. But we are to love with the love of God made possible through the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, right? Not with our own human effort at love, but with God’s love working through us as we surrender to Him to do that work through us.

But remember the points in bold from last posting that tells us what this love will look like as it is manifested in us, by the Holy Spirit:

- The primary object of this love working in us will be God Himself
- To love this way is a deliberate choice versus an impulsive emotion or according to our “feelings”
- Expression of this love is known only from the actions it prompts (words have no value whatsoever unless the action corresponds, therefore the action is of extreme importance, not necessarily the words…we are talking about OUR words here, not GOD’S!)
- One of the actions that this love prompts is implicit obedience to God’s commandments (exactly as Jesus was perfect in His obedience to God)
- Another action it prompts is the desire to help others seek God, the Giver of this love

If we use Betsie as an example, her “agape” for all the concentration camp guards seems to fit every item above, doesn’t it? Corrie, on the other hand, was letting her emotions lead her (which did not appear to be agape towards the guards, in fact, it wasn’t even unregenerated man’s love for the guards…she was doing her best just to not outright hate them!) Can you see how Corrie did not fit all the items listed above, although she did fit some of them. It’s because her flesh was still reacting, but God brought her to that place of absolute surrender later, never fear! Just as He promises to do for us!

What does this say to us then? I think the most important thing is this: because it is God’s love that we are to love others with (and God Himself with), we have to quit trying to do it on our own, because it will never happen that way! God’s love can only work through us to others when we first love God and we can only love God by the power of God Himself…the Spirit of Jesus Christ living within us! We must stop TRYING to be Christ-like in the FLESH! We must BE Christ-like in the SPIRIT by the power of the SPIRIT!

“The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 5:5 KJV)

Our responsibility is not to love others as God does. Our responsibility is to surrender to God so completely that HE loves others through us. Until we have completely surrendered all of our thoughts, feelings, desires, rights….until we have died to SELF…we are not completely surrendered to the Holy Spirit.

But, thanks be to God, the Holy Spirit is the “promise of God” to us; the Giver of faith to us. So that the work that He begins in us through the Spirit, He also finishes in us, through the Spirit.

“Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” (Gal. 3:3 KJV)

[This blog is an ongoing study of the lives and the faith of Christian women who have experienced and demonstrated victorious living through Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The current study is about Corrie ten Boom which began on September 21, 2009.]

Love: Fruit of the Spirit

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love…” Galatians 5:22 KJV

As you can see, it’s been a few days since I last wrote. I confess, I got hung up on LOVE. There’s a lot to think about, a lot to study, concerning love, specifically what is meant by the word “love” as it is intended when described as the fruit of the Holy Spirit. As this is something we grow in knowledge of, and in experience of, you might have a lot to add to my meager offering. But I’ll give you what I “know”, in other words, what I can tell you from my experience in the love of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps you (whoever you are that read this blog) can give your understanding of what love is in the comments, to help in my understanding of the word.

But before I get into my experience (or lack of at times) with Christian love, let us examine definitions as described by the Bible itself. To begin with, let’s keep in mind that the “love” that comes from the Holy Spirit, cannot be compared, really, to the “love” that unregenerated man knows. And I think we have to be careful to keep the distinction clear. It is as simple again as flesh versus Spirit….really no comparison. We are to put away the things of the flesh, and focus on the things of the Spirit. (Romans 8:5-6)

Let’s first check out what Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance has to say about the word used in Galatians, which is (in the Greek form): agape. [Note: This form of the word as used in Galatians is much different from the word used for brotherly love: phileo. Phileo implies an instinctive, affectionate attachment, and implies more passion, yet agape is deeper than phileo.]

Here are several descriptive examples of agape, the word used for the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22, from Strong’s Concordance; pay special attention to the words in bold print:

The attitude of God towards His Son (John 17:26), the human race (John 3:16, Rom 5:8), and to believers on the Lord Jesus Christ particularly (John 14:2);

It is His will to his children concerning their attitude a) one toward another (John 13:34), and b) toward all men (I Thes 3:12; I Cor 16:14; 2 Peter 1:7);

He desires for them to express his essential nature (I John 4:8);

Love can be known only from the actions it prompts as God’s love is seen in the gift of His Son (I John 4: 9,10);

This is not love drawn out by any excellency in its objects (Rom 5:8);

It is an exercise of the divine will in deliberate choice, made without assignable cause save that which lies in the nature of God Himself (Deut. 7:7-8);

It was perfectly expressed among men in the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Cor 5:14; Eph 2:4; 3:19; 5:2);

Christian love is the fruit of His Spirit in the Christian (Gal 5:22);

Christian love has God for its primary object, and expresses itself first of all in implicit obedience to His commandments (John 14:15, 21,23; 15:10; I John 2:5; 5:3, 2 John 6);

Self-will, that is, self-pleasing, is the negation of love to God;

Christian love, whether exercised toward the brethren, or toward men generally, is not an impulse from the feelings, it does not always run with the natural inclinations, nor does it spend itself only upon those for whom some affinity is discovered: a) it seeks the welfare of all (Rom 15:2), b) works no ill towards any (Rom 13:8-10), c) seeks opportunity to do good to all men, and especially toward them of the household of the faith (Gal 6:10); See also I Cor. 13 and Col. 3:11-14;

As used of God a) it expresses the deep and constant love and interest of a perfect Being towards entirely unworthy objects, b) producing and fostering a reverential love in them towards the Giver, c) a practical love towards those who are partakers of the same, and d) a desire to help others to seek the Giver.

Please take the time to read the scripture references, to add to your knowledge of the meaning of the word agape. We’ll look at additional scriptures on the next posting.

[This blog is an ongoing study of the lives and the faith of Christian women who have experienced and demonstrated victorious living through Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The current study is about Corrie ten Boom which began on September 21, 2009.]

The Promise of the Father

Having ended the last posting with a small mention of the Holy Spirit and one of the many things He does for us that strengthens our faith, I think it is important to spend some time in understanding the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives, for those, especially, who are not “sure” about the Holy Spirit. He is critical to our spiritual survival, and we must acknowledge that truth and walk in it.

The Old Testament contains at least 87 passages referring directly to the Holy Spirit.
The New Testament contains at least 259 passages referring directly to the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is the “Promise of the Father” as so named in Acts 1:4: “And being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father…”

So much we have been given already: forgiveness of sins; reconciliation with the Father through our great High Priest, Jesus Christ; the wages of sin (which is death) taken from us and put on Jesus who suffered our punishment on the cross; the hope of eternal life as seen by the resurrection of our Lord and Savior. And now, one more gift…one more very vital gift: the promise of the fulfillment of our sanctification, accomplished by the Father for us for He knows our weakness, through the person of the Holy Ghost.

If the Father rejects us for our rejection of His gift of His Son, Jesus (who is our Justification), how does He feel towards us when we reject the gift of the Holy Spirit, (who is our Sanctification)? God can give the gift, but we still need to reach out and receive the gift He gives. Until we have reached for the gift (for HIM, in this case, as the Holy Spirit is a divine person of the Godhead) and received Him with thanksgiving, we cannot walk in Him….we cannot walk in the Spirit, if we are fearful or do not trust the Holy Spirit in any way.

And, sadly, many folks are fearful of the Holy Spirit. But we are in error, deadly error, if we do not see the Holy Spirit in the proper light….not in the light of man, but solely in the light of the Word of God.

The following passage is from a book published in 1896 (which I am blessed to have a copy of) entitled Through the Eternal Spirit:

“Page after page of Scripture is dark to men who cannot see. The Spirit who inspired must interpret the Word. Proof of this is furnished to us when the Holy Spirit, dwelling in us, makes us understand Scripture in a way we never did before He came to indwell us. In fact, it is by the combination of the two – the Word and the Spirit – that we learn. When they are separated, error and disaster are the result. And, unfortunately, they are often separated, to the grief of many, and the darkness of many more.

The Word without the Spirit, does not yield its meaning, is as an ordinary book, seems full of mistakes and half-truths. Attempting to interpret the Scriptures by learning, acumen, logic, study…all these alone, WITHOUT the Spirit to help us….results in barren sermons and teachings, full of the pride and error of man, always going further into darkness and closer to despair!

But the Spirit without the Word! That, too, is disastrous! It has been the secret of fanaticism, folly, error and sin. It begins with devotion, and ends in rebellion. It has placed men in the seat of God, and has made the whispers of human fancy to be the only oracles that carry authority. There is no more certain forerunner of spiritual shipwreck than the neglect of the written Word of God. The Holy Ghost is not honored, but dishonored, by the turning away from those teachings which He has Himself given to be the perpetual light and guide of men. We assert and prize the voice of the Holy Spirit in the heart, the “guidance” by which He still leads His own: but that voice never turns us away from the sacred Word of God. We are deceived and deluded by a Satanic mimicry of His voice whenever we are so led away.

Which error is the greater is difficult to say. The one which takes the bare book, and has no teaching of the Spirit to interpret it, leaves us in darkness; the other, which cares nothing for the book, is led by an ignis fatuus (an illusion, something that misleads or deludes), which ends in death.

The true and only safe course is thankfully to acknowledge the double source of Divine light, the Spirit in the Word!”

Much more to come…

[This blog is an ongoing study of the lives and the faith of Christian women who have experienced and demonstrated victorious living through Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The current study is about Corrie ten Boom which began on September 21, 2009.]

When Only God Can Provide

The miracle of the vitamin bottle experienced by Corrie and Betsie, was only one of several miracles that you will find as you read the book, The Hiding Place. When you find yourself dependent on God alone for sustenance, every moment of life IS a miracle…of HIS making.

The visions that Betsie “saw” were miracles in the working, promised by God, and later delivered by God in such a way that Corrie knew that it was strictly God alone who provided.

Just as the ten Boom story, and the Bible, are full of these miracles….so is the life of any born-again believer whose life is now lived in the Spirit, rather than in the flesh; who’s steps are ordered of God; who acknowledges that in ALL things Jesus Christ is LORD; who believes the Word of God in all things; who knows by faith that God is both willing and able.

His miracles are usually seen when we have come to the end of our own efforts, when there is nothing further that we can do, when now only a miracle can see us through, and when the clock has chimed the 11^th hour.

I had a cousin (second-cousin really) who saw God provide for him and his family in very desperate moments, several times in his life, and he said it was ALWAYS at the 11^th hour. He never told anyone how desperate the situation was, only God, and God always provided, but not til just before the end appeared to be coming. Sometimes the need was financial, sometimes it was healing that was needed. But at all times, he was able to witness God Himself make provision, and he knew without any doubt where the provision had come from, since the only ones who ever knew of the situations were himself and God.

I may already have mentioned George Muller, a man of great faith in God, who, along with his wife, trusted in God completely to provide “unsolicited” funds for the orphanage that began in their own home, but later expanded to many buildings housing over 23,000 orphans throughout the 1800’s alone. The George Muller Foundation still continues today, in 2009. George lived to be almost 90 years old, and at the age of 70, with the orphanages in capable hands back home, George, incredibly, began traveling around the world spreading the message of the gospel, at the very time in life when most of us hope to retire! But the point of his brief story here, is that he relied solely on God. He believed the scriptures to be the truth of God, and for all of his life trusted that he need only “ask and receive” from the Lord God. He asked God alone, believing that God alone was his provider, and would provide for him and all of his orphans. George never told anyone but God of the financial needs that were at time most desperate. He knew God was willing and able to provide, needing no special help from George. Just George’s faith was needed. And, of course, God always provided.

In the case of Corrie’s vitamin bottle, Corrie herself didn’t even have the faith, but it appeared that Betsie did. Yet, unless I am mistaken, we never hear that either of them even asked for this miracle, God just knew what was needed and provided. Corrie got to witness, first-hand, God’s provision, and it was a lesson that carried her through life after the concentration camp, into situations all over the world where, in unbelievable ways, she trusted on God’s provision and direction alone. She became an incredible testimony herself of the goodness and provision of God to His children.

The Holy Spirit is our comforter and our teacher. He reminds us of all of the miracles of God when desperate moments appear in our own lives. He is the One who grows our faith. And I trust Him to do so in each of us, as we surrender our lives to His direction.

[This blog is an ongoing study of the lives and the faith of Christian women who have experienced and demonstrated victorious living through Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The current study is about Corrie ten Boom which began on September 21, 2009.]

What the Law Can't Do, God Does!

Romans 8:3-11:

“For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

The law could not save us, and lest you think God made a mistake in creating the law, think again. He intended that the law [His law which He Himself is able to keep because He is holy] would show us our inability to secure the heavenly places and eternal life by our own holiness [we have none of our own no matter who we are], so that we would call upon Him Who is so willing to save us and give us life abundantly and everlasting [rather than relying strictly on ourselves and thereby turning our backs on God]. Therefore, He Himself came in the flesh, to live as we live, yet perfectly keeping the law by His own perfect righteousness, which He then imparted as a free gift to us…who believe.

“For they that are after the flesh, do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.”

We do not have the Spirit of Christ in us, until we are born again. John 3:3-5: “Jesus answered and said unto him, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God….except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit, is spirit.” AND…

Once we are born again, we do in fact have the Spirit of God dwelling within us, and God’s Word being True…which of course it cannot be anything but True…then we do not pay attention to the things of the flesh, we pay attention to the things of the Spirit. We might not always do what we want to do spiritually, but we no longer WANT to do those things of the flesh (as Paul said earlier on in Romans). We want ONLY to do the things of the Spirit. It therefore is our body that sins, while we are kept in righteousness, because the One Who dwells within us IS RIGHTEOUS. Once again, it is not us being righteous, EVER! It is only God Himself doing it in us, “lest any man boast.”

“And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.”

Do you see what He is telling us? Our bodies are dead because of sin; but we are alive in the Spirit of God, and just as God was able to raise the dead body of Jesus to immortal life, so has He already given us a new life in the Spirit, with our immortal bodies to follow at some later date. God does for us what the Law could not do! We cannot do it. The Law proved to us that we cannot do it. Then God came and proved to us that HE CAN! AND HE DID!

And we have much to be thankful for! We have everything to be thankful for! We have no reason to be anything but joyful! IF WE BELIEVE HIS WORD. If you cannot grasp the power of the things Paul states for us in Romans, please, please persevere in your study of Romans until you grasp it! It will change your life! It did mine!

[This blog is an ongoing study of the lives and the faith of Christian women who have experienced and demonstrated victorious living through Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The current study is about Corrie ten Boom which began on September 21, 2009.]

Evil Times to Come

How do we prepare for worse times to come? And specifically, what if those times bring Christian persecution here in this country as there has never been before? Will we stand up in defense of the Lord even at great cost to us, or will we deny Him, thereby bringing upon ourselves the Truth of His Word that says He will deny us before the Father (speaking in terms of the day we stand before God to be judged)? We will either have the Great Advocate on our side, One for Whom we were also an advocate here on earth, or we will not.

The Bible says we cannot serve two masters at the same time [Matthew 6:24], for we will either hate the one and love the other, or vice versa, but never can we love both at the same time. We were created to have only one master, and No – it wasn’t meant to be us “being the master of our ship”. It was always meant to be God, the One who created us for HIS purposes!

The struggle is simply stated as this: God or self; Spirit or flesh [Galatians 6:17] (with Satan on the side of flesh adding fuel to the fire, literally).

At times the Bible calls SELF, our FLESH. How far will we go to protect our SELF? What discomforts are we willing for our FLESH to go through for the honor of defending Christ?

Well, let’s consider the discomforts we are already going through for His sake, in preparation for the really evil times to come:

- We daily deny our flesh by spending time reading His Word rather than spending that period of time on the internet, or watching TV, or reading other more interesting books, right? [John 15:4-8]
- We daily spend time on our knees in prayer to Him (a great privilege we have been given at the cost of Christ's death for us by which we were given access to the very throne room of God, imagine, such a gift to us whose sin He died for.) So, we honor that great hard-won gift of God by utilizing it to the max, right? [Hebrews 4:14-16]
- And no matter how hectic our schedule, we put Him first, right? We serve Him in ways that add to His kingdom, more than we serve ourselves and others in ways NOT adding to the kingdom, right?[Matthew 13:22]
- We always manage to speak of the Lord to whomever we talk to, right? Because He is the most important thing in our lives, and we always talk about the most important thing in our lives…and He is more important to us than even our families, our children and grandchildren, our pets (that's a big one these days), our accomplishments, our politics, our hobbies, our jobs (or lack of), right? Sometimes it feels safer just to spend a lot of time talking about our church or even about our pastor and the loving members of our church...but do we talk to those who are perishing about Jesus and the Good News He has for them? Or are we afraid to be labeled a fanatic, and so we avoid using His Name, and we speak only of "church" instead. [Mark 8:38]
- We give of the firstfruits of our financial increase (and more!) in humble thanksgiving to Him for all His blessings, right? And we would rather spend HIS money (for without His mercy and grace, we would have none at all) on things that will increase His Kingdom, rather than buying more stuff for us, right? [Matthew 6:19-21]
- We always do exactly what Jesus tells us to do in the Bible, in obedience to Him, we never rationalize our way out of His commands, right? [John 15:14]

That's my list. You can grow your own list, but, believe me, the more honest we are, the more it will grow.

So, if we cannot deny our flesh enough to do the few things listed above for His Name’s sake, how exactly will we willingly sacrifice our livelihood, our freedom, or our very lives, for His Name’s sake? How is it we will be overcomers when told “Deny Christ, or have your head cut off”? [Revelation 20:4] If we give our flesh what it demands in easy times, how much more so in hard times?

Would we willingly stand up in a classroom when crazed gunmen ask who believes in Jesus, and say “I do”, only to be gunned down immediately because we spoke faithfully and did not deny Him? [Columbine]

If you are like me, you have to wonder how it is that you will be able to overcome. But, if we are willing, we will be able to say, as Paul did:

“O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” [Romans 7:24-25 and Romans 8:1-4]

[This blog is an ongoing study of the lives and the faith of Christian women who have experienced and demonstrated victorious living through Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The current study is about Corrie ten Boom which began on September 21, 2009.]

A Martyr's Death

Will that lot ever fall to any of us? We cannot tell, only the Lord knows.

If it does fall to us, will we have the courage of Papa ten Boom and the thousands upon thousands of martyrs who have followed the Lord in the example of His sufferings, even to the point of death?

“If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels.” (Luke 9:23-26 KJV)

“And I say unto you my friends. Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.” (Luke 12: 4-5 KJV)

These are important passages to remember and take to heart, for we never know if the day shall come when we are asked to surrender our lives, either to a prison or to death, for the sake of another and the Lord. The ten Boom family had a very comfortable life and business prior to the events we are reading about. Their world changed practically overnight. Yet they were able to trust the Lord for all that they had need of, even the courage to face unwarranted death.

Here in America, the current economic times are wreaking havoc in thousands of lives. We are told things are getting better, but we haven’t heard that from those who have lost jobs and homes and in those states where the unemployment is 10% or more. Yet, even with all that is happening here, we have a ways to go (or do we?) before we are asked to risk our lives for the sake of the kingdom of God. Even in these hard times we are facing, we still are not suffering the life of a martyr for Christ.

But those Christians living today in India and China and so many other countries, and those many new Christian converts from Islam, all understand what it means to fear not the one who threatens to kill, and does kill, but rather to fear the one who can cast them (and us) into hell for denying His Name. They are risking their lives, literally, to believe in Jesus. [See “Voice of the Martyrs” Magazine began many years ago by a former religious prisoner tortured for Christ. The magazine reports on those countries all over the world where Christian persecution and killing is rampant even now.]

“For whosoever will be ashamed of me….” Powerful words to be remembered in this country where the name of “God” is being removed from every possible usage, and speaking the name of Jesus Christ brings out a raging anger in so many around us, even in our own families.

America is not guaranteed escape from evil times. Just as suddenly as these tragic times descended upon the ten Booms, they can descend upon us. But the Bible tells us that the evil to come will surpass that of the early Christian persecution (worse than being fed alive to the lions?) and it will surpass that of the evils of WWII (worse than execution squads, starvation, gas chambers, and burning furnaces that killed millions?)

Yes, worse than all of that. How then do we prepare for what is to come?

[This blog is an ongoing study of the lives and the faith of Christian women who have experienced and demonstrated victorious living through Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The current study is about Corrie ten Boom which began on September 21, 2009.]

Christian Liberty

Hopefully, you have now read Romans 14. And hopefully, in that passage, you have discovered why I believe that neither Nollie, Corrie or Betsie sinned in either lying or not lying, as they saw fit to do.

“Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eatheth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks, and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.” (Romans 14:1-6 KJV)

“Hast thou faith? Have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth. And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” (Romans 14: 22-23 KJV)

What I understand from Romans 14 is that Nollie believed that she was commanded by God not to lie, and so her faith was such that she had to stand firmly on that belief and act accordingly, even if it put another person’s (and her own) life in danger. God rewarded her because what she did, she did by faith. If Nollie, who had always believed this way, suddenly acted differently than what she had always believed, then she would have sinned. Perhaps, another person’s life had never been at stake before, so it took all the more courage to remain true to what she believed was true. Nevertheless, she acted properly according to her faith.

Corrie and Betsie, on the other hand, had faith that believed that God would allow them to lie in order to protect another person’s life. (An example of this is Rahab the prostitute in Jericho – Joshua 2:1-24 – who lied to protect two Israelites and yet she is listed in the book of Hebrews as having faith.) Corrie and Betsie acted according to their faith as well, and so God rewarded them by protecting all those for whom they lied, and delivering them safely.

The point is that we are to do nothing unless we do it by faith. “For without faith it is impossible to please God: for He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6 KJV)

And we are to be true and consistent (not hypocrites) in our faith so that, once again, our actions match our words.

It helps me to remember what Romans 14 says regarding each of us believers being a servant of God and therefore God being our master, so why do we need to judge or worry about the actions of another brother or sister in the Lord, at least in matters that really don’t amount to that much according to God, it seems. Since God is your master, and you are His servant, I don’t need to involve myself much in your affairs of faith now, do I?

For me, this is a lesson about having the courage of my convictions….and also about having grace toward my fellow brother or sister in the Lord.

[This blog is an ongoing study of the lives and the faith of Christian women who have experienced and demonstrated victorious living through Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The current study is about Corrie ten Boom which began on September 21, 2009.]

When Right Seems Wrong

[Just back today from Huatabampo, Mexico where we had a wonderful trip: helped build a church building for a very poor group of Mexican Christians (most of whom are new believers except for the very energetic pastor who led most of them to the Lord in the first place), helped the permanent missionaries down there in their work, gave our testimonies which were translated for us by some excellent Christian translators, and generally were blessed by God to have the opportunity to bless others! It was great! But I did miss being able to continue in our study. We left off in a situation regarding Nollie’s faith about complete and utter obedience to God…at all times and under all circumstances. So, back to our study…]

This is a difficult issue to grasp…Nollie’s kind of faith. Faith that says “I will be obedient to your Word, Lord, even when doing right seems to be the wrong thing to do.”

There is an example of this in the Bible, however, which one of my daughters reminded me of very recently. It has to do with David and can be found in a very brief passage of scripture in I Samuel 23:1-5:

“Then they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines fight against Keilah, and they rob the threshingfloors. Therefore David enquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go and smite these Philistines? And the Lord said unto David, Go, and smite the Philistines, and save Keilah. And David’s men said unto him, Behold, we be afraid here in Judah: how much more then if we come to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines? Then David enquired of the Lord yet again. And the Lord answered him and said, Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will deliver the Philistines into thine hand. So David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and smote them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.”

If you read a bit further back in I Samuel, before the above incident took place, you’ll understand what all has transpired to cause David to be unsure and to cause his men (a batch of 400 men newly assembled to be David’s small army with him as he hides from Saul who intends to kill him) to be very fearful, especially against the large army of the Philistines. None of which sounds like the prescription for victory, at least not without God. But David does the wise thing and doesn’t rely on his feelings, or the feelings of his men, and returns a second time to the Lord to make sure he has got it right from God…that God does indeed want them to attack the Philistines to save Keilah. And once he’s sure, he just goes on ahead, regardless of all the fear in all the men he calls his army, regardless of whether or not it makes sense, regardless of the fact that he is risking 400 lives besides his own! It is as though, once the decision has been made, he never looks back…he just goes ahead and leaves it all in God’s hands to take care of his men and himself. (That’s a lot of lives to be responsible for if he’s wrong!) But, of course, God takes care of David and his men, and He does so because He is Our God who is faithful to us and because God always takes care of His own who walk in obedience to Him.

So, then, Nollie’s faith isn’t all that different, is it? She is not moved by feelings at all. She simply hears the Word of God and takes her stand. And leaves the situation completely up to God to deal with the consequences of her decision. Actually, she leaves the situation completely up to God to deal with the consequences of HIS decision. Nollie was just following orders….God’s orders.

I don’t know whether or not Nollie was fearful when she opened her mouth to answer the question of whether or not the blonde woman standing next to her was a Jew, but being human as we are, I suspect that she was very fearful, both for the young Jewish girl’s life and for her own! But she was committed to obedience to God….and this commitment to be obedient to God began long before that particular test met her head-on in her own livingroom! And so she was able to pass the test. And when we see her later in her jail cell, whether she was fearful or not in the beginning, at some point soon thereafter she is actually singing praises to the Lord, she was so able to “rest” in HIS decision (although I suspect it took some prayerful “Are you sure about this God?”, much as David did.)

But then, where does that leave Corrie and Betsie and so many other underground workers at the time? Did they sin when they lied to protect someone else’s life?

No. Actually, they were both right. But how can that be?

The answer can be found in Romans chapter 14. We’ll discuss it in more detail tomorrow. Meanwhile, you might want to read Romans 14 for yourselves.

[This blog is an ongoing study of the lives and the faith of Christian women who have experienced and demonstrated victorious living through Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The current study is about Corrie ten Boom which began on September 21, 2009.]

"I never thanked Him..."

Betsie’s response to Corrie’s statement about Jesus dying naked on the cross, cuts me to the core. How quickly she responded with thoughts of thankfulness in such an intensely evil place! Would I have done so in her place?

How often do I remember to thank the Lord in the normal course of a normal day for the very fact that it IS normal? Not often enough, I’m afraid.

And yet, in EVERYTHING we are instructed to give thanks. In wealth or poverty, in health or sickness, in good times or in bad times (Does it sound a little like marriage vows? And who would be the bridegroom?) If I forget to give thanks while in the good times, how will I possibly remember to do so in the bad times, as Betsie did?

It reminds me of the Israelites in the desert and their lack of thankfulness…I’m afraid I might have been one of them had I been alive then. Remember how they had been delivered from the Pharaoh’s hand where they were slaves, making mud bricks and hauling them all day long to build the cities of the Pharaoh. God allowed them to become slaves because of their thanklessness to begin with, and after 400 years of it, they had finally had enough and were crying out to God for deliverance! And so He gave them Moses, and delivered them. He brought them across the miraculously dried up Red Sea, He guided them with a cloud by day and fire by night, He set up His tabernacle in their midst (the mighty and holy God of Heaven living in a tent even as they did...a foreshadow of Jesus living in human form for us?), He fed them with miraculous manna from heaven. Yet, with all this, and even having seen the mighty miracles of God in their deliverance from Egypt, they soon began to grumble and complain, and of all things, to even wish they were back in captivity:

“…Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic: but now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.” (Numbers 11:4-6 KJV)

…besides this manna? The miraculous manna? Did they not know they were complaining against GOD? Do WE not know that when we complain it is against GOD that we also are complaining as He allows everything that is in our lives to be there for His purposes? Sometimes we complain about the very miracle that He has placed in our lives to provide for us, but we’re so busy complaining we don’t see it as a miracle or a provision from God…we’re just bored with it and we want something new and fresh and different. Just like the Israelites. And God heard them, just as He always hears us.

And so they got quail. Boy, did they get quail!

A friend recently pointed out that the quail were two to three feet deep and a day’s walk in any direction…that’s how many quail suddenly surrounded their camp to provide them with meat. Each family gathered 10 homers (approximately 60 bushel baskets) worth! That’s a lot of quail!

But then they had done a lot of complaining! And in His wrath, God gave them all that they asked for…AND MORE! He said: “I will give you meat until it comes out your nostrils!” (Numbers 11:18-23 KJV) The image I get is of being so stuffed with quail that you would vomit it up and it would come out through your nose! Granted, not a pleasant image, but I’m pretty sure that if God said that’s how it would be, then that’s how it was!

But here’s the best part…even though they complained, non-stop it seems [see Numbers 20, and Numbers 21], God still loved them and longed for them to return His love, and gave them chance after chance to change. We would seldom give someone a second chance or even a third chance if they were so horribly ungrateful. Yet, that’s not showing the love of God, for His love is never-ending.

He always hoped they would turn back to Him in love and thanksgiving, but many of them never did. Not one of those who complained were allowed to enter into the promised land.

What does that tell us?

[This blog is an ongoing study of the lives and the faith of Christian women who have experienced and demonstrated victorious living through Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The current study is about Corrie ten Boom which began on September 21, 2009.]

"Truth upon truth, glory upon glory"

Isaiah 28:9-10 says: “Whom shall He teach knowledge? And whom shall He make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.”

Ephesians 2:18-22: “For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God. And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”

Thus does the Lord build His temple…and we are His temple. “Truth upon truth, glory upon glory” as Corrie wrote. “Precept upon precept, line upon line”, as Isaiah wrote. This is how God builds.

Corrie saw it so clearly.

But we should be seeing this in our lives as well. Perhaps we get impatient with the building process, but God knows when and where to place the next stone in this building. And what He builds no man can tear down.

Did I mention that Corrie was in her fifties and Betsie in her sixties when they were at Ravensbruck, going through all that they did? Two elderly spinster sisters. Yet, even at that age, look how much Corrie grew in faith and in the Lord. As long as we draw breath, the Lord works in us. He is not limited by any of our physical encumbrances of age or disability. I thank God for that!

But it is now, when we are not in desperate times as were Corrie and Betsie, that we must begin to have “confidence” in the Word of God. And one of the most precious promises that I have confidence in is:

Romans 8:28-31 – “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. For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified. What shall we say then to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?”

Betsie and Corrie hardly knew what to do in their situation. It was so unique to anything they had ever experienced! So they just turned to God. And He did all that He had promised to do: He made all things work together for good to them; He caused them to be conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ; He called them, justified them, and glorified them. He did it all. All they had to do was turn to Him!

Same goes for us. Even now, in these not-so-good times. In preparation for any very terrible times that might come our way, either individually or as a country. So that we can be as victorious as Corrie and Betsie. What a joy to have such rest in the promises of God…joy that increases with each truth upon truth and each glory upon glory!

[This blog is an ongoing study of the lives and the faith of Christian women who have experienced and demonstrated victorious living through Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The current study is about Corrie ten Boom which began on September 21, 2009.]

Grace to Stand

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” (Romans 5:1-5 KJV)

Can you “hear” the love of God and of the life of Jesus Christ being imparted to us in this passage of scripture? We can’t be in a hurry; we have to be still and quiet long enough to “hear”, or we’ll miss it! So, take your time, re-read this passage again, and again, and again. Perhaps, instead of gulping down this “bread of life”, you can take small bites and chew it thoroughly, drawing out of it all the spiritual nutrients your soul needs to live.

In the tribulations that Corrie and Betsie went through, can you “see” the refining work that was being done in them, through these tribulations? Can you see the potter molding the clay in these earthly vessels He was preparing for His use? Especially in Corrie. He used Betsie to teach, prepare, and encourage Corrie (some plant the seed, some water…see First Corinthians 3:6-9). When we get to the end of their story, we will see what tremendous and constant use He made of Corrie, well into her eighties. But in the process, He is chipping away at us, adding more to our knowledge of Him, and to our faith in Him, until He has the vessel that He can use. In all of this it is God who is doing the work, not us, as we merely surrender to His hand in our life.

Philippians 2:13 says: “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”

I Peter 1:3-9: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: whom having not seen ye love: in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.”

I believe Corrie and Betsie, having been tried in that fire, and receiving by faith the grace to stand in the midst of it, did also receive the end (result) of their faith, and are reunited with all of their family, even now, in the very presence of Jesus Christ.

May you and I meet them there some day. But until then, we have more to learn from them. ‘Til tomorrow!

[This blog is an ongoing study of the lives and the faith of Christian women who have experienced and demonstrated victorious living through Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The current study is about Corrie ten Boom which began on September 21, 2009.]

Faith Made Perfect

Just found another definition of faith in my Nelson Open Bible: faith is confidence in the testimony of another. Faith in God, then, would be defined as having confidence in the testimony of God (better known as His Word or the Bible). And going a bit further with the definition we would say: and acting in accordance with that confidence.

So now we know that faith without works is dead, and that works without faith is sin ("Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Matthew 7:22-23 KJV). What then is perfect faith?

The Book of James says: “Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?” (James 2:21-22 KJV)

We see by this scripture that faith and works are intertwined in such a way, that without one (works), the other (faith) is not made perfect, and yet the works came out of Abraham’s faith in God (or Abraham’s confidence in the testimony of God) and, combined with the works, formed “perfect” faith.

We’re all familiar with chapter 11 of Hebrews that speaks so abundantly of faith, listing so many of the men and women of the bible whose faith was made perfect by their works. And then it finishes with these “works” of faith made perfect:

“…who through faith:

- subdued kingdoms,
- wrought righteousness,
- obtained promises,
- stopped the mouths of lions,
- quenched the violence of fire,
- escaped the edge of the sword,
- out of weakness were made strong,
- waxed valiant in fight,
- turned to flight the armies of the aliens,
- women received their dead raised to life again,
- and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection,
- and others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment,
- they were stoned,
- they were sawn asunder,
- they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins,
- being destitute, afflicted, tormented, (of whom the world was not worthy),
- they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.” (Hebrews 11:33-40 KJV)

The ten Boom family is in that list somewhere, even though you do not see their names written. Betsie, herself is one that did not receive the promises, although God showed her in visions what was to come. She died without seeing them, yet she believed. And Corrie believed and lived to witness them all, as even some of us are doing through the reading of this book.

May ALL of us BELIEVERS, having confidence in the knowledge that Jesus Christ resides within us, walk in perfect faith by the power of HIM WHO WAS PERFECT.

[This blog is an ongoing study of the lives and the faith of Christian women who have experienced and demonstrated victorious living through Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The current study is about Corrie ten Boom which began on September 21, 2009.]

Faith: Belief in Action

I have begun this posting about three different times, trying to approach faith from several different angles, I believe. But in the end, all I can say is this: the strength of our faith is not dependent upon the size of our faith (Jesus said that if we had faith the size of a mustard seed we could move mountains – see Matthew 17:20). Rather, the strength of our faith is dependent on the size of the “object” of our faith: GOD. So how big is God to you? And which of us doubts HIS strength? It’s impossible to doubt Who He is, for we only need to look around us and say to ourselves: “God was able to create all that I see by just ‘speaking’ it into being. Then He created man. What is there that He is not able to do? Nothing!” So, you must know WHO it is you are putting your faith (or trust) in. And there you have faith. Or do you?

For many believe that God is able to do all things, and yet many of those same folks live lives that show that while they ‘say’ they trust God, their actions indicate that they really believe that they have to rely upon themselves or others for the things they need, sometimes even for their salvation, rather than relying completely and totally on God. I think this is an important part of faith that many of us miss: that our actions must match our words. When they don’t match, then our lack of faith is showing.

The book of James says: “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” (James 2:19-20 KJV) In other words, while ‘believing’ is a good and necessary thing, it amounts to nothing (“is dead”) if it isn’t shown to be ‘alive’ with corresponding actions that give proof to the fact that we do, in fact, believe that what God says is true.

Many of us try to put the cart before the horse, in this case, works before faith; and in doing so, we sin. We try to please God by our actions, and hope that because of our actions we will please Him and He will love us; rather than knowing (by faith) how much He already loves us, and then allowing our actions to flow out of our love and gratitude for Him. We must know that our actions gain us nothing, for we already have all that we need from God in Christ Jesus. Hebrew 11:6 says: “But without faith it is impossible to please Him [God]: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”

Our actions are simply a demonstration of the faith we have in God. Our God is:

…..the same God who “so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16 KJV);

…the same God who “commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8 KJV);

…the same God who “loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10 KJV);

…the same God who “hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” (1 John 5:11-12 KJV).

Perhaps the most important aspect of faith (or what we believe to be true about God) is that He loved us enough to die for us, even though we were such sinners, and that He loves us still. When we believe that to be true, that He loved even the despicable sinners that we were, then it becomes very easy to love all others, even those who have sinned against us, knowing that God loves them equally as He does us, and that He died for them as well. Then our actions, as those of the ten Boom family, will speak clearly of our faith in God.

[This blog is an ongoing study of the lives and the faith of Christian women who have experienced and demonstrated victorious living through Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The current study is about Corrie ten Boom which began on September 21, 2009.]

Obedience to the Word

The first thing that strikes me about the ten Boom family and their willingness to risk all for the Jews, is that their decision was based on something the Word of God (the Bible) said, and it was very simply agreed to, almost as though there were no other option, as though the choice were really out of their control anyway, so might as well do it! Yet, that certainly was not the case. They absolutely had control to say “No way! It’s much too dangerous!” But they didn’t….and they didn’t so easily, so simply.

Sitting where I am, in my soft desk chair here in my comfortable home, it takes great effort to place myself mentally in their shoes for that moment when they determined to risk what might possibly be their very lives for something or someone else, at a time of so much craziness…terrifying craziness! But for the ten Boom family it was as easy as (and I’m imagining here their possible thinking): “Jesus was a Jew, the Jews were God’s chosen people and He loved them, and because we love God, we also love those whom He loves, and that’s the Jews! Therefore, we cannot allow these terrible things to happen to people that God loves! We must do whatever we can, and we must do it now!” That was it! No looking back! Incredible!

Fast-forward to today where because of famous trials shown on television or read about in newspapers and magazines, we all know what it means to “wiggle one’s way through a legal or technical loophole.” But, it doesn’t appear that the ten Booms even gave any thought to “wiggling” out of the call of God to act in obedience to His Word. It appears that the Word of God said it, and they just simply believed it, no questions asked. And then they acted accordingly.

So, let’s consider what some of the scriptures might have been that they believed.

Here’s a scripture or two about Israel (the Jews) being God’s chosen people….

Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob and I will give it to you for an heritage: I am the Lord. (Exodus 6:6-8 KJV)

At the same time, saith the Lord, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. (Jeremiah 31:1 KJV)

And another couple about how much He loved them….

The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying ‘Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. Again I will build thee, and thou shall be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.’ (Jeremiah 31:3 KJV)

And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.(Genesis 12:3 KJV)

And only two more (out of so many!) telling us Christians about obedience in love…

In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Here in is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. (I John 4:9-11)

Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. (I John 5:1-3)

These are only a tiny sampling of the numerous scriptures that tell of God’s unending love for the Jews, and of how we are to love others as God loves us. If all the pertinent scriptures were read, and believed, it would be impossible for anyone calling themselves a Christian to hate the Jews (someone who hates the Jews is called anti-semitic). The fact that there are people calling themselves Christians who do, in fact, hate the Jews, leads us into the first topic of discussion: Faith. Or put another way: Believing God (Or His Word) without question because after all it is GOD speaking, and then acting upon it accordingly.

Perhaps when we finish this little study on faith, we will better comprehend how Corrie ten Boom, our first example of a Woman Walking in Victory, came to be that woman.

To be continued….

[This blog is an ongoing study of the lives and the faith of Christian women who have experienced and demonstrated victorious living through Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The current study is about Corrie ten Boom which began on September 21, 2009.]

Corrie ten Boom

One of my favorite Christian women, famous for hiding Jews from the Germans during WWII, was Corrie ten Boom. There is much to be found about Corrie on the internet. And there is a book and a movie telling her complete story, both titled “The Hiding Place”,

For our purposes here, I will give a brief synopsis of Corrie’s story, and then in the days to come I’ll look at specifics of her story in light of the scriptures that guided and helped Corrie and her family through all that they endured in obedience to the Lord.

At the time that Corrie and her family began working as part of the Christian underground to save the Jews from the atrocities of the Germans, Corrie lived in a house in Haarlem, Holland, with her father, who was a watchmaker, and with one older and much-beloved sister, Betsie. They were all members of the Dutch Reformed Church, loved Jesus Christ, and because the Bible called the Jews “God’s chosen people” (and because Jesus was Himself a Jew) they loved the Jews as well. It didn’t take much family discussion to make the right decision to risk whatever might come their way in order to help the Jews during that terrible period in history. They were all in absolute agreement. In fact, it was the discovery that Corrie’s brother Wilhelm, a Christian minister, was already part of the secret underground movement that helped them decide just how to help the Jews. They ended up having a secret room built into their home, which was above their father’s watch shop. The room was large enough to hide several people for a short period of time. They soon were able to smuggle Jewish people into their home, along with occasional members of the underground, where they all lived together tightly, but fairly comfortably, with the “guests” having to resort to hiding in the secret room only when someone came to the door.

But eventually they were found out. The German police came one day and arrested every member of the ten Boom family in the house: Corrie, her very elderly father, her sister Betsie, and her brother Wilhelm who happened to be visiting. The well-hidden Jews, however, were never discovered, and eventually, with the help of the underground, were able to safely escape. Meanwhile, the ten Boom family, after being beaten and interrogated, but revealing nothing about the hidden Jews to the German police, were all sent to a nearby prison, where the girls were separated from their father and brother. Their father died early on from illness. Wilhelm also died later at a concentration camp. Corrie and Betsie, after spending months in the local prison, eventually were taken to the dreaded Ravensbruck concentration camp.

They were housed in a barrack built for 400, but containing 1400 women. The building was so flea-infested, that even the guards avoided entering it, something that the ten Boom sisters later came to acknowledge was God’s provision for them, even as horrible as it was living with fleas! A small Dutch Bible had been smuggled to Corrie before she was transported to Ravensbruck, and she was miraculously able to smuggle it past the guards when she entered the concentration camp. That little Bible became not only a source of comfort and hope for Corrie and Betsie, but also for many of the women in their barrack. It spoke to them of God’s love and life everlasting, and gave them hope in the midst of that terrible death camp. It was only because the guards so greatly avoided their building, that they were able every evening to read the words of the Bible amongst themselves without being found out and being punished for it….all because of the fleas!

Life in Ravensbruck was as brutal as at other camps, in some ways more so: long hard work days, barely any food, the fleas, very early morning roll calls in the bitter cold, daily shootings, women being sent daily to gas chambers. Corrie and Betsie felt they were experiencing “hell on earth”. And yet, in the midst of all of their suffering, they read of the horrible suffering Jesus also endured for their sakes, and in this they were comforted. Corrie, being by personality very stubborn, had greater difficulty dealing with the fleas and the terrible living conditions. But Betsie seemed to have some sort of peace with it all and seemed closer than ever to the Lord, even though she suffered more than Corrie because of her physical weakness and ill-health throughout the entire ordeal. Her deteriorated state caused her to be slower than others at her work, for which the guards beat her severely, and over which Corrie was incensed! But Betsie refused to allow hatred for those guards to enter into her heart. She prayed for them as much as she did for her fellow-prisoners.

Betsie later died in Ravensbruck from malnutrition and illness, but not before the Lord gave her very specific visions about future events that Corrie would see come to pass. Nevertheless, Corrie was heartbroken at the loss of her sister. Then, only a few days after Betsie’s death, Corrie, miraculously, was released by what she later learned was an administrative error, just a week before all the women of her age were executed at the camp. She returned to Holland, and later moved to the United States, traveling extensively to tell hers and Betsie’s story and how good God had been to them through it all.

What Corrie endured, or more importantly how she endured it, will be the topic of study (and hopefully discussion) for awhile here, as the Lord leads. Meanwhile, I leave you with a scripture that Corrie’s father recited from memory to his family on the day of their arrest: “You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word.” (Psalm 119:115 NKJV)

Women walking together....

That’s a good beginning.....I’d like to find women who have been victorious in their walk with Jesus, and in a sense, walk with them, searching for the keys that enabled them to walk so victoriously. The internet has a wealth of information about famous (and maybe not so famous) women who meet the proper criteria for my research…that criteria being that their victory was (by their own admission) because of Jesus Christ.

But, being the believer in Jesus Christ that I am, I will want to tie it in with a biblical discussion or study of the Word of God. And perhaps, in the process, I will be courageous enough to share a bit of my own growth towards victorious living, sometimes sharing small successes, sometimes (sadly) only the lack of; but always pressing onward towards the goal!

At the moment there is only me sharing anything on this blogspot. But, I pray that when you discover this blog (whoever “you” are), you might also be courageous and share with me your successes (or lack of ) in your walk with Jesus Christ. Then there will be two of us walking this biblical internet road together, and then eventually, maybe three of us, and so on, and so on.

I especially pray that all the stories, discussions or studies that follow in the days and months to come, will be of great encouragement to those of you who call Jesus Christ your Lord and Saviour. For you, like me, know that it is only in Him that we can have that victoriously abundant life filled with love, peace and joy...no matter what our circumstances might be. That’s Victory in Jesus! And together we will be: Women Walking in Victory!

So, the first step is to find the first Woman of Victory. Check back tomorrow to find out who she is (even I don't know yet!)

P.S. (Can you P.S. on your own blogspot? This is all new to me!) If you aren’t sure who Jesus really is, but you’d still like to hear about these victorious women to come, and get in on our discussions or bible study, to you I say: Welcome and may God bless you richly through Christ Jesus!