Corrie ten Boom

Look around and be distressed
Look within and be depressed
Look at Jesus and be at rest.

“…in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” (Rom. 8:37)

Thank You, Lord Jesus, that we can look at You through faith and that You are the author and finisher of our faith.  Hallelujah!

• We are One

When Holland surrendered to Germany, Father and I walked in the street.  We felt a great oneness with everybody around us.  We were all together in the great suffering, humiliation, and defeat of our nation.  Everybody talked with everybody else.  I have never before or since experienced such oneness in the nation.  It was a great blessing.

We will be that way in the millennium, but the oneness will not be in misery but in our communication with the Lord.

“Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.” (Rev. 21:3)

Lord Jesus, when we experience great closeness with our fellow men, that warmth and communication is only a foretaste of what we have waiting in store for us.  What a blessing to anticipate.  Hallelujah!

• God Has A Room For Me

I was at the end of my first week in America and practically at the end of my money.  The clerk at the YWCA had told me I could not stay there another week.  Where should she forward my mail?

“I don’t know yet.  God has a room for me but He has not told me where yet.”

I could see by the look on her face that she was concerned about me.  Then she handed me a piece of mail she had overlooked.  The letter was from a women who heard me speak in New York.  She was offering me the use of her son’s room.

I gave the amazed clerk my new address after thanking God for His care.

“But my God shall supply all your need…” (Phil. 4:19)

Thank you, Lord, that we may know that our need is never greater than the Helper.

• The Battlefield

Everyday life is our front line in the war against the devil.  God Himself must decide where each of us is to fight.  We cannot choose the battlefield we prefer.  If you conquered a problem today in the strength of Jesus Christ, that was a victory.  You are now stronger for the end battle.

And though this world, with devils filled,
Should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed,
His truth to triumph through us.
The Prince of Darkness grim,
We tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure,
For lo! his doom is sure;
One little word shall fell him.
‑‑‑Martin Luther

“But thanks be unto God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 15:57)

Give us the grace to fight wherever You choose to place us, Lord.  Only You can see the battlefield completely; we see only one small part of it.

• From Head to Foot

A prisoner told me, “I decided to follow Jesus, but politics, my car, power, and position came between God and me.  This is judgment from God, that I am here.”

The shelf behind the door,
Tear it down, throw it out,
Don’t use it anymore.
For Jesus wants your dwelling,
From the ceiling to the floor.
He even wants that little shelf
You keep behind the door.

“And he left all, rose up, and followed him.” (Luke 5:28)

Lord, in Your love You want me 100 percent.  I humble myself.  Take me, Lord, from head to foot.

• Our Mistakes

I once visited a weaver’s school, where the students were making beautiful patterns.  I asked, “When you make a mistake, must you cut it out and start from the beginning?”

A student said, “No. Our teacher is such a great artist that when we make a mistake, he uses it to improve the beauty of the pattern.”

That is what the Lord does with our mistakes.  He is the greatest artist but we must surrender.  Surrender your blunders to the Lord.  He can use them to make the pattern of your life more beautiful.

Faith came singing into my room,
And other guests took flight.
Grief, anxiety, fear and gloom,
Sped out into the night.
I wondered that such peace could be,
But Faith said gently, “Don’t you see,
That they can never live with me?”
‑‑‑Elizabeth Cheney

“…thy faith has made thee whole.” (Matt. 9:22)

Lord, we can be so depressed when we blunder.  It is wonderful to know that our mistakes can be useful to you, because You are our Master Artist.