Tag Archives: corrie ten boom

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; P.G. – A Matter of Identity

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When the Jews of Holland were forced to wear the Star of David, Corrie Ten Boom’s father, Casper, lined up for one. He wore it because he wanted to identify himself with the people he and his family had been praying for and working with for many years. He chose to be completely identified with the Jews, to wear their “sign of shame” and suffer persecution for the people he loved.

And behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Matthew 3:17

At the incarnation, Jesus took on humanity, ready to be identified as completely one with mankind. Like Casper Ten Boom, Jesus was ready for the indignities and shame of His human nature. At His baptism, the Father revealed to all assembled on the banks of the Jordan the further identity of Jesus: “my beloved Son.” And in Him, all the fullness of God was made present.

Through Jesus’ redemptive work on Calvary, Christians around the world have a new identity in Him. That more should come to join His family was Jesus’ instruction to His followers – an instruction which remains. Pray for a closer identification with Christ for yourself. Then intercede for those in authority in America to recognize God’s beloved Son for themselves.

Recommended Reading: Colossians 1:15-23

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; G.C. – His Perfect Way

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For many baby boomers the phrase “Love Hurts” turns on the radio in their mind to that aching Nazareth hit: “Love hurts / love scars / love wounds and mars / any heart not tough or strong enough / to take a lot of pain.” For many today, loving America’s government has become painful. It’s difficult to watch those that reject God clamor for power and have success in passing laws that stifle His presence.

Love the Lord, all you his saints! The Lord preserves the faithful.

Psalm 31:23

Corrie ten Boom speaks to the pain in love, recalling a conversation with her father. One day he said, “Love is the strongest force in the world, and when it is blocked that means pain. There are two things we can do when this happens. We can kill that love so it stops hurting. But then, of course, part of us dies, too. Or we can ask God to open up another route for that love to travel…Whenever we cannot love in the old, human way, Corrie, God can give us His perfect way.”

Ask the Lord to help you pray for America with a renewed heart of compassion. Expand your worship of God to include petitions for the nation’s decision makers to know and follow Him.

Recommended Reading: I Corinthians 13:1-7

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Outlasting Bitterness

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Our Daily Bread

Colossians 3:12-17

If anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. —Colossians 3:13

During the Second World War, Corrie ten Boom’s family owned a watchmaking business in the Netherlands, and they actively worked to protect Jewish families. Eventually, the entire ten Boom family was sent to a concentration camp, where Corrie’s father died 10 days later. Her sister Betsie also died in the camp. While Betsie and Corrie were in the camp together, Betsie’s faith helped to strengthen Corrie’s.

That faith led Corrie to forgive even the ruthless men who served as guards during her concentration camp days. While hate and the desire for revenge continued to destroy many lives long after the concentration camps were gone, Corrie knew the truth: Hate hurts the hater more than the hated, no matter how justified it may seem.

Like Corrie, we each have the opportunity to love our enemy and choose forgiveness. Forgiveness doesn’t excuse the offense but when we forgive we show Christ to the world. “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph. 4:32).

God will help you let go of every angry grudge as you watch the Spirit build into you a place where others see the Savior. —Randy Kilgore

The love of God within our hearts

Enables us to show

Forgiveness that is undeserved

So others too might know. —Sper

When we forgive someone, we look more like Jesus than at any other moment in our life.

Bible in a year: Ezekiel 20-21; James 5

Insight

Paul’s letter to the Colossians was one of four letters Paul wrote while being held as a prisoner in Rome. These four letters, commonly called “The Prison Epistles,” consist of Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. The church letters went to three different destinations in two different regions of the ancient world. Philippians was directed to the church at Philippi, a city in Macedonia (ancient northern Greece), while Ephesians and Colossians were written to two cities (Ephesus, Colosse) in Asia Minor (modern Turkey). The personal letter to Philemon was also delivered to Colosse, where Philemon is believed to have lived, being actively involved in the church there. These letters were probably intended to be circular letters that were read and passed along to other churches.

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Giving It To God

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Our Daily Bread

Mark 10:17-22

[He] went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. —Mark 10:22

A hero to a generation of people who grew up after World War II, Corrie ten Boom left a legacy of godliness and wisdom. A victim of the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, she survived to tell her story of faith and dependence on God during horrendous suffering.

“I have held many things in my hands,” Corrie once said, “and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that, I still possess.”

Corrie was well acquainted with loss. She lost family, possessions, and years of her life to hateful people. Yet she learned to concentrate on what could be gained spiritually and emotionally by putting everything in the hands of her heavenly Father.

What does that mean to us? What should we place in God’s hands for safekeeping? According to the story of the rich young man in Mark 10, everything. He held abundance in his hands, but when Jesus asked him to give it up, he refused. He kept his possessions and he failed to follow Jesus—and as a result he “went away sorrowful” (v.22).

Like Corrie ten Boom, we can find hope by putting everything in God’s hands and then trusting Him for the outcome. —Dave Branon

All to Jesus I surrender,

All to Him I freely give;

I will ever love and trust Him,

In His presence daily live. —Van de Venter

No life is more secure than a life surrendered to God.

Bible in a year: Proverbs 27-29; 2 Corinthians 10

Insight

In Mark 10:1-16, Jesus taught about the demands of discipleship, including the necessity for childlike faith. Here in the encounter with a rich young man, Jesus spoke of the need to love God totally—fully and unreservedly. This young leader lacked unrivaled allegiance to God because he loved his earthly possessions more (v.22). In His teaching, Jesus had warned, “No servant can serve two masters. You cannot serve God and mammon” (Luke 16:13). The young man’s actions sadly illustrated this principle. His story is also told in Matthew 19:16-22 and Luke 18:18-23. Paul too warned of the subtle lure of material riches in 1 Timothy 6:17-19.

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; A.W. – Practicing Discernment

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Corrie ten Boom once said, “Discernment is God’s call to intercession, never to faultfinding.” A discerning person intercedes through prayer or action rather than laying blame.

Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. The woman was discerning and beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved.

1 Samuel 25:3

A perfect example is Abigail. Abigail was a wise woman married to a foolish man. In the scriptures surrounding today’s verse, David was running from Saul. In need of supplies, he sent men to Nabal asking for provisions. Nabal rudely dismissed David’s request and insulted him as well. David responded by sending his army to wipe out Nabal’s household. Then Abigail entered the story. Learning what happened, she interceded for her husband and her household. Gathering food and gifts, she set out to meet David. Finding him, she bowed to the ground, asked for forgiveness, took the blame for the situation, and praised David’s character while reminding him of God’s promises. This act diffused the situation and saved Nabal’s household.

When other’s make poor decisions, do you find fault or fall to your knees in prayer on their behalf? Start showing discernment today by interceding for the nation’s leaders as they make decisions that affect the country.

Recommended Reading: Proverbs 31:10-12, 25-31

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Thankful in Everything

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Powered by His Spirit

In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. — 1 Thessalonians 5:18

In her remarkable book The Hiding Place, Corrie ten Boom relates an amazing story about the importance of being thankful. Corrie and her sister Betsie were held in a concentration camp known as Ravensbück, where they lived in barracks that were plagued with fleas. Fleas were everywhere — in their hair and on their bodies. One day Betsie told Corrie they needed to give thanks for the fleas.

Corrie thought Betsie had gone too far. She couldn’t imagine thanking God for fleas. But Betsie insisted, reminding her sister that the Bible said, “In everything give thanks.” Still, Corrie didn’t want to thank God for the fleas. But as it turned out, Corrie and Betsie

were trying to reach the other women in their barracks with the message of the gospel, and they had been holding Bible studies. They found out later that because of the fleas, the guards would not go into those barracks, and therefore, the women were able to have their Bible studies. As a result, they had the freedom to minister to numerous women. So God can even use fleas.

If the Bible said, “In some things give thanks,” I would say, “No problem there!”

But it says, “In everything give thanks.” And that is not an easy thing to do.

This verse doesn’t say we should give thanks for everything as much it says in everything. There are some things that happen, and I am not glad they happened. But I am glad that, in spite of the tragedies, God is still on the throne, and He is still in control of all circumstances that surround my life.

 

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Just in Time

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The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. —1 Corinthians 10:13

In her book, The Hiding Place, Nazi concentration camp survivor Corrie ten Boom recalls the story of how, as a young girl, she struggled with the prospect of having loved ones die.

Her father wisely took her aside and asked, “Corrie, when you and I go to Amsterdam—when do I give you your ticket?”

“Why, just before we get on the train.”

“Exactly,” her father said. “And our wise Father knows when we’re going to need things, too. Don’t run ahead of Him, Corrie. When the time comes that some of us will have to die, you will look into your heart and find the strength you need—just in time.”

Sometimes we wonder, What if I am tested above my ability to endure? What if I am tempted above my capacity to resist? You never will be because God knows your breaking point. As far as temptation goes, 1 Corinthians 10:13 tells us, “God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.” There is always a way out. Sometimes it is as simple as the door.

But what if God sends me a trial that I can’t get through? Often I talk to people who are going through very difficult suffering, and I ask myself, Would I have the attitude they have if I were going through that? Here is my response: If God would ask me to do it, then He would give me the strength to do it.

God will give you the strength to face what you have to face. You will have what you need when you need it. So don’t worry about it. Just trust God. He is in control.

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – The Weight of a Life

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Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. —1 Corinthians 3:12–13

If Billy Graham ever had anything close to a personal intercessor, it would have been Pearl Goode. She lived in Pasadena, California, and for many years, she prayed in secret for Billy Graham and his crusades. When the Graham team was finally made aware of this, they started bringing her with them to the crusades so that she could pray on site. She lived to the age of 90, and at her funeral, Ruth Graham said, “Here lie the mortal remains of much of the secret of Bill’s ministry.” While Billy Graham was doing his part, Pearl Goode was doing hers. While he was preaching, she was praying.

When awards are given out in heaven for faithfulness, we might expect them to go to the spiritual heavyweights. Names like Corrie ten Boom, Jim Elliot, and Billy Graham might come to mind. Maybe we would be surprised at the prospect of a woman named Pearl Goode sweeping the awards. After all, she wasn’t a bestselling author. She didn’t have a hit song on Christian radio.

This is what we need to remember: it isn’t about how famous we are; it is about being faithful with what God has called us to do.

Daniel said to the wicked King Belshazzar, “You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting” (Daniel 5:27). A loose paraphrase would be: “Belshazzar, you’re a lightweight. You’re a spiritual bantam weight.”

On God’s scales, you don’t want to be a lightweight. On God’s scales, you want to be a heavyweight. You want to have substance and meaning in your life.

It isn’t about what God has called another Christian to do; it is all about what God has set before you to do. Have you been faithful? If you have, then you will be rewarded on that final day.

 

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; H.L.M. – A Sweet Message

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Corrie ten Boom was a Dutch Christian who risked her life to save Jews from the Nazi Holocaust during World War II. After the war, she visited a prison camp which housed some of the former Nazi female guards from Ravensbruck, where she and her family had been imprisoned. Corrie asked God to shine through her to these women hardened by war.

As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it.  Matthew 13:23

After speaking twice without any visible response, Corrie prayed. Then God spoke to her heart, with one simple word: chocolate. Corrie realized she had a box of chocolates, something unavailable anywhere in post-war Germany and an extravagance for these prisoners. Corrie returned to speak to them and offered the chocolate treats. Suddenly the prisoners were receptive and their hardened hearts softened. Many of the women gave their lives to Jesus Christ that day!

Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:19 “that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel.” As you spend time reading God’s Word and praying for the nation and its leaders, ask Him for creative opportunities to share His love. When you do, you will reap a sweet harvest of changed lives!

Recommended Reading: I Corinthians 3:6-15

 

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Don’t Give Up

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Max Lucado

The famous circus promoter, P.T. Barnum said: “There’s a sucker born every minute”—and he spent his life proving it.  Maybe you feel like you’ve been suckered in life.  You don’t want to take another risk.  You don’t want to be hurt again.

Corrie ten Boom used to say, “When the train goes through a tunnel and the world gets dark, do you jump out?  Of course not.  You sit still and trust the engineer to get you through.”  Maybe that’s what you need to do, my friend.   Your wounds are deep.  Your disappointments are heavy.  Remember the story of the Emmaus-bound disciples? The Savior they thought was dead now walked beside them. And something happened in their hearts (Luke 24:12-14).  Maybe you are disappointed like they were.  But, can you sense the presence of Christ beside you?  Don’t give up. Don’t jump out. Be patient and let God remind you… He’s in control!