Wilderness Wonderings

Wilderness Wonderings

grace

The Identity of the Kingdom

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Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’

Matthew 7:21-23

Much has been said and written about our current American political climate and the apparent divisiveness that has characterized our national discourse over the last 20 years. We have seen bitterness and anger manifest itself in unimaginable ways. From racial discord to gender inequities to identity politics, we have been witnessing and continue to witness the undermining of the rule of law in the name of emotional humanism that elevates individual preferences over the standards of reality.

God did not make a mistake when He created you. He created you with a design in mind that suits His purposes for His Kingdom to our good. He designed you with special care and knit you together in the womb to prepare you for what He has in store for you in terms of His goodness and grace. We argue this until Kingdom come but the fact remains that there are only two genders: male and female. And you were genetically designed to be one or the other. No amount of superficial surgical intervention can change the fact that your genetic makeup, the building blocks of who God designed you to be, is immutable. It cannot be changed. You will always have either XX chromosomes as a female or XY chromosomes as a male. Gender is defined biologically, not emotionally.

In the same manner, just because you identify yourself as a Christian does not necessarily mean that you really are. Just because you said a prayer and got your supposed “fire insurance” does not mean you have received a ticket to the gates of Heaven. And the spiritual “genetic” makeup of who you are is not defined by your emotional responses to the gospel message. The only identity transformation that is part of our human design is your spiritual identity, and it is defined by the absence or the presence of the Spirit of God living within you. And the evidence of the His presence and His transformation of your mind and heart is demonstrated to the extent of your obedience.

In our American system of government, we elect representatives through a representative democracy, where representatives that we pick and choose democratically create our laws, enforce our laws, and interpret our laws – all of which we are bound by social contract to obey by order of the Constitution. You can scream to the heavens that the elected official is “not my president” or “not my governor” or “not my representative” all you want. That doesn’t change the reality that the elected official in question still retains the title and the authority that is vested in them by our system of election.

And you can scream to the Heavens that Jesus is not Lord all you want, but eventually you will bend a knee to him and confess that He is indeed Lord:

So that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:10-11

It is an inescapable truth. And you can live your life in this world as you choose, but when that time comes, it won’t be what you know or even who you know that saves you. It will come down to Who know you. And Jesus makes it clear that His knowledge of you is predicated on His Spirit living in you to perform the work of righteousness in this world. Miracles can be counterfeited. We can even speak Biblical truth to our hearts’ content. But if we don’t live our lives in a way that is characterized by His grace, then it is all in vain.

This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

1 John 1:5-10

I beg you to examine your heart and mind and always be re-examining yourselves. Measure your life against the standard of God’s Word. Let His word be the plumb line that determines how straight the path is that you are walking. Your citizenship in Heaven is purchased by His blood, but it is evidenced by your submission to His law.

The Rule of the Kingdom

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In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Matthew 7:12

The Golden Rule. I’ve personally never liked the term because for it to be the Golden Rule is would have to be the greatest of the commandments. And Jesus and the Law itself have boldly explained that the greatest commandment is to “Love the Lord your God with all heart and all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37) However, Jesus elevated the second greatest commandment to be a natural outgrowth of the first “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:39) In effect, He was making this declaration: “Your love for God is demonstrated by your love for His greatest creation – people.”

Love, as defined by Matthew 22, is the Greek word agapao. Love is not a noun in that passage, but it is a verb. A word of action that demonstrates a deeper inner condition. The word “apagao” in the imperfect tense implies incompletion, or more appropriately a continuous act without end. The word in this tense is used 144 times in the New Testament over 110 verses. It is perhaps the most important word in all of Scripture because it defines the heart of God towards His creation and provides us with a lens through which to observe His actions towards us. He treats us with love, because He desires for us to love Him. He disciplines us in order to draw us back to Him. He seeks to withhold from us that which would make us distant from Him. And He loves us enough to give us a choice to love Him, yet not without making the consequences of such abandonment clear. This demonstration of His great love for us is His example of how we are to treat one another.

We speak the truth in love to one another, not to be a herald of judgement, but to be a beacon of grace, guidance, restoration, and love. We ought to expect the same from others around us. Yet all too often, we either speak judgement against one another, which is the antithesis of God’s desire for us. Judgement is born out of hatred, but accountability is born out of love. Judgement destroys hope; accountability provides restoration. And it’s very easy to blur the lines between the two – as both the one delivering discipline and the one receiving it. In both cases, it is because our vision is obscured by our own inner condition. That is why Jesus warns earlier to examine your own heart before seeking to provide discipline and extend accountability.

We speak of the Golden Rule more often in defensive terms, but the tone and tense of the commandment is active and on the offense, rather than defense. Most of the time when we hear anyone bring up the Golden Rule, it is to defend their own condition and plea for grace and mercy, or rather more appropriately ignorance. However, the Golden Rule is stated in such a way as to be proactive, rather than reactive. It’s imperative as opposed to submissive. The Rule doesn’t say “Do not treat others the same way you do not want them to treat you.” That’s passive and barely even reactive.

So how ought we to treat one another in love? What does that look like? We serve one another. We sacrifice for one another. We respect one another in spite of our differences. We recognize one another as one of God’s children, created in His image for His purposes. To treat one another as we want to be treated is to recognize our God-ordained design as His image bearers. Sometimes that means discipline, but more importantly that means grace.

When we abuse one another, are we treating each other the way that we want to be treated? How ridiculous a proposition! But every day we see it over and over again. Domestic violence continues to invade our homes. Human trafficking continues to rise in every corner of the globe. We treat one another as objects for our own gain, rather than as God’s children designed to be loved.

When we reduce humanity to nothing more than a batch of cells put together by mere random chance with no clear purpose, it is inevitable that we see not only ourselves as a god unto ourselves, but others as objects to be used to further our own agendas and animalistic desires. Evolution does not solve for the moral imperative to love. In fact, anyone who tells you that morality is ingrained in each of us without the need of God or creation, is borrowing capital from God Himself. Moral law directly implies that there is a law giver that defines that law. In order for a moral law to be universally applied, it must come from a law giver that stands outside of that universe. Whether we choose to accept that God is our moral law-giver or not, does not negate our responsibility to His law. Ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking the law in American society. The same basic principle applies in the spiritual realm as well.

The greatest virtue that extends from love is humility. Humility recognizes our place before the throne of grace, whereas pride seeks to elevate our place to sit upon the throne that is not ours. James, the younger brother of Jesus, states “Do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: ‘He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us’? But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says ‘God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:5-7)

Humbly stand your ground in love for one another. Resist the temptation to stand in pride against one another. Submit your desires to God’s heart and let His Spirit transform you. When we learn what it means to humbly submit to Him in trust and love, then, and only then, will we ever truly understand how to love one another.

The Judgement of the Kingdom

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Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces. (Matthew 7:1-6)

There is a fine line between judgement and accountability, and it is predicated by a carefully cultivated relationship and personal responsibility. More often than not, when we seek to correct the behavior of another, we can be met with resistance. However, this resistance is mostly due to one thing: you have not cultivated the relationship necessary to develop a safe environment for accountability. In which case, attempts at holding another accountable will be seen as an attitude of judgement. This is why is vitally important that we have a sense of discernment about ourselves and the relationship we have with others before we seek to be an agent of correction and discipline.

All too often, anyone who feels judged will quote the first verse and leave out the remainder of the verse in an effort to avoid the feelings of correction. The remainder of this passage does not say that we should not hold each other accountable for our sins. However, it does explain that we should exercise self-awareness and discernment before we seek to correct our brothers and sisters. Ensure that your own heart is in the right and that your relationship with that person is in a place that is going to be receptive to the corrective accountability first. If you act of self-righteous indignation, then you will very likely not witness the repentance that is intended. Otherwise, hypocrisy is creeping at the door of your own heart.

On the other hand, we are indeed called to hold one another accountable within the Kingdom for our behavior. James put it this way: “My brothers, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” (James 5:19) Notice here that James is leveraging the relationship of brotherhood in the course of accountability.

There are numerous times throughout Scripture that Jesus speaks to holding one another accountable within the Kingdom. But in every case, he encourages self-discernment and leveraging the interpersonal relationship you have with the other. If you do not have a relationship with someone that you are seeking to discipline, how can you expect them to heed your warnings? You wouldn’t go about disciplining an unruly child you didn’t know or have a relationship with, would you? Of course not! You’d seek out the parent of that child and describe the situation and allow them to exercise the responsibility of discipline because they have the relationship with the child that is more likely to produce repentance.

In the same way, Jesus admonishes us not to pass judgement upon those who are outside of the Kingdom when He says “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.” In this passage, “dogs” and “swine” are referring to wild packs of animals – wild dogs and wild boars that would roam the countryside seeking to devour everything in their path – scavengers. At first glance, and when taken out of context, it seems like Jesus is being rude here, but you have to consider His audience.

Wild dogs are known to be destructive and untamable, often traveling nocturnally in packs together wreaking havoc on weaker animals and consuming the trash and leftovers of the stronger predators. In fact, it was recently reported that jackals were stating to take over parks in Tel Aviv, Israel at night due to lockdowns form the coronoavirus pandemic. These packs of wild dogs are not only dangerous to human populations, but are highly territorial and aggressive with one another in their fight for survival. Wild pigs were considered ritually unclean in Jewish society, but also would travel in packs or hordes. In both cases, if you approach these packs alone and try to scare them off or get them to stop their destruction, the entire pack is likely to turn on you, ignore your commands, and attack you instead. Is it any surprise that the same thing happens when we followers of Christ try to correct or discipline those who live outside of the Kingdom?

As Paul once wrote, “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18-25) The commandments of God were written for His people. The Scriptures give us a guide to live by and a standard to hold one another to. However, non-believers who live outside of the Kingdom are not likely to bow to the dictates of Scripture. They live by a different standard – typically the standard of their own humanism that elevates their own self-interest above the interests of God’s Kingdom.

As a nation, the United States is not bound to enforce its internal laws on the citizens of other countries when they are not within our borders. However, when citizens of other nations enter our borders, they are expected to abide by our laws and customs as a matter of mutual respect. The same is true for American citizen traveling abroad. And when mutually incompatible legislation exists between two countries, more often than not it is the country of citizenship that takes precedence on account of ignorance.

And the same is true of the Kingdom of God. And that is not to say that we should not seek to influence the world around us. If we expect to exact social change in our society, we must first seek to bring change to the hearts of individuals. Human behavior is an outgrowth of the condition of individual hearts. Behavior will only change when hearts change. And we can only impact the hearts of others when our behavior reflects the Kingdom heart of our Father and King. And that takes a carefully cultivated relationship that facilitates an openness of communication that will allow the seed of truth to be planted that will bring forth the fruit of repentance.

The Petition of the Kingdom

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The Petition of the Kingdom

“And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

Pray, then, in this way:

‘Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”’

Matthew 6:9-13

Have you ever had someone repeatedly making the same demands of you to the point that suddenly feel like you are trapped in a scene of Groundhog Day? A common practice among the pagan Romans of the day was to repeat the same ritualistic phrases over and over again in a form of magical incantation, meant to manipulate the gods into doing the will of the pray-er. Subtly, the Jewish leadership began to model this same practice by repeating the Scriptural prayers of old so much so that they began to lose the heart of their prayers and turned prayer into another form of incantation in order to manipulate God into doing their will. In fact, there are some elements within the modern church today that still practice this concept, and have taken the Lord’s prayer and turned it into this same ritualistic practice, instead of recognizing the context of what Jesus was saying in order to inspire the people to approach prayer as a time of intimate conversation with their Creator.

When Jesus says “Pray, then, in this way”, He was not saying to only pray with these words. Rather, the phrase “in this way” is more appropriately translated “in this pattern.” There have been a number of different acronyms and illustrations of how to pattern your prayers after the model that Jesus presented here, so I will not go into those. But I will give you some highlights in the hopes of guiding you through how prayer touches the heart of God.

First, we begin with the intimate acknowledgement of our relationship to Him. He is our Abba. Our spiritual daddy. The head of our household. The Father who guides, teaches, and disciplines because of His great love for His children. And even though He may not be physically present with us, His spiritual presence is always with us.

Secondly, the acknowledgement of our relationship to Him inevitably inspires an acknowledgement of His holiness. When we humbly approach the throne of grace, recognizing He is the only Holy and righteous God, we are forced to recognize that we are wretched in comparison to His surpassing greatness. He is the King of Glory and we must be dependent upon His mercy.

Which brings us to His Kingdom. He is not only our Father, He is also our King. He is our lawgiver and we are citizens of His kingdom, adopted into His family and naturalized into His realm. As such we are now beholden to His word and submitted to His Lordship in our lives. As a result our priority is to shift to His will in our lives, not our own.

Next we transition to our petition for our daily need. Our manna, the bread of heaven. That which gives us nourishment and strength for the challenges of the day. As Jeremiah lamented over the pending destruction of Israel, he uttered the familiar encouragement:

“The Lord’s lovingkindness [mercies] indeed never cease,
for His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)

From here, as we bask in the glory of His grace and mercy, we are then inspired to confession. As the apostle John wrote “If we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.” (1 John 1:8-10) John writes these words not to the unbelievers of his day, but to the church – the believers who claim the name of God. When we walk in the Light of His truth, we can quickly see that we are indeed sinners in need of mercy. And when we confess our sinful nature and our specific sinful acts, He is faithful to forgive and righteous in His cleansing. Only the righteousness of God can cleanse our own unrighteousness by the power of the Blood of His Son.

This transitions us into repentance. A heart that is forgiven is one that seeks to remain in the mercies of God. And this requires continual repentance and submission of our sinful will to the righteous will of God. It’s not enough to confess our sin and depend upon His mercy. If our confession does not result in repentance, it is a faithless confession and our words ring hollow when presented from a heart of stone.

Ultimately, our prayers must be reflective and submitted to the will of God. For the Kingdom is His. The power is His. The glory is His. None of it belongs to us. We have no right to make demands of our God, but He joyfully wishes to bless His children who are submitted to the will of His Kingdom.

The great mystery of grace is not that we can approach the throne of the King and bring our demands, but rather that we can “approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16) We can approach His throne confident in knowing that when we come before Him with humility and brokenness of heart, He is faithful to place His hand upon our head and heart and give us His full approval.

The Discretion of the Kingdom

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Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

Matthew 6:1-4

One of the current trends of social media that really sticks in my craw is the need to announce and dramatize acts of service and “good deeds”. While I am not against the performing of good deeds, because that is what God has called us to do, I find it disturbing because it takes these acts that are purposed for the glory of God and shines the light upon ourselves, thus negating the very power that such deeds are designed to bring forth.

Now I have heard the arguments that these videos are intended to inspire others to perform good deeds. While I understand that intent, the nature of social media is such that the message is often lost spotlight. Viewers start glorifying the one doing the act rather than God Himself. Any person in the world can actually perform good deeds and serve others. But it becomes a question of to what end and for whose glory do these acts exemplify?

Do you perform acts of service in order to ease your own conscience? Do you genuinely serve others in an effort to provide for their needs and point them to the Father as the provider of their need? Do we “sound the trumpet” of our entrance into the sphere of service, or do we quietly serve our fellow man not seeking recognition or praise for ourselves? Does your church make a big deal announcing to the world what service you have done in an effort to draw attention to potential donors and new visitors?

Jesus Himself strongly warned against making such proclamations because it was common practice among the religious leaders of the day to make shallow displays of charity in an effort to gain the approval of men when their hearts were not tuned to the glory of the Father. In fact, He highly discouraged this braggadocios practice due to the fact that it greatly diminishes the impact of these deeds. If you are reporting what you are doing for the Kingdom for the sake of the attention of others, then you will be rewarded with that attention. It’s quite another thing to report on what God is doing in His Kingdom for the sake of drawing attention to Him.

How can you tell the difference between such reporting? It’s really quite simple. Does the focus of your message tend to be more on you, your acts, what you did, or what it cost you? Or does the focus of your message highlight what it cost God to reconcile Himself to us, what He did to provide for others, and what His purposes for His kingdom are? Does the spotlight shine on you or on Him? Do you spend more time talking about yourself than talking about Jesus?

Dr. Henry Blackaby, in his masterful study entitled “Experiencing God”, once made this observation: “Do not ask God to bless your work. Rather, find out where He is working and join Him there, for it is already blessed.” God will never call you to do your thing, but rather He calls us to join Him in His Kingdom work. Our plans and our programs and initiatives are always going to be tainted by our own perspectives, weaknesses, and ambitions. God’s work is always designed for our growth and the advancement of His Kingdom.

More than once, the apostle Paul encouraged the church in their service, but in every case the focus was on what God was doing with His bride, not what the church was doing for Him:

“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. For I am confident in this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 1:3-6 (emphasis mine)

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

Ephesians 2:10 (emphasis mine)

Keep your eyes on the King and His work. Shine the spotlight on the only one deserving of all praise and glory. He is the only one worthy. Our acts of righteousness are filth when compared to the surpassing greatness of His grace. And His light shines so bright that it will eventually expose us for the filth that we are, in comparison. But it is His grace that makes us clean and whole and only His grace that is worth shining a light upon.

The Love of the Kingdom

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You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5:43-45

Jesus has already mentioned that hatred towards your brother is the equivalent of murder borne in the heart. However, here He revisits hatred and moves from hatred towards someone with whom you are bound to in a covenant relationship to someone that is outside of that intimate relationship. In fact, He says that we ought to not only love our neighbor but to also love those who actively seek to destroy us.

For the fourth time, Jesus shifts the topic of His message to contrast the heart of the Mosaic law to the traditional practice found in non-Scriptural sources. “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” The Kingdom law of the Moses dictated that you shall “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Period. There is no additional commentary beyond this. In fact, Jesus said in another episode “The second [greatest commandment] is [like] this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” The first greatest commandment of course is “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart (kardias – affection) and with all your soul (psuche – life force) and with all your mind (dianoia – will) and with all your strength (ischus – physical strength).” (Mark 12:31, Greek commentary mine)

In fact, the transitional phrase “The second is [like] this…” is can literally be translated as “In the same manner, the second greatest commandment is…”. In other words, just as we are commanded to love God with every bit of the essence of our being – our emotional affections, our life, our will, and our physical capacity – we are commanded to love other people. Jesus makes no distinction here between friend or foe. He makes no distinction between brother, sister, or stranger. Put simply, the entirely of the law is summed up in four words “Love God. Love people.” Anything less than these two simple statements is sin.

Now in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus does address the nature of two different types of relationship. He addressed the nature of hatred towards a brother / sister – someone with whom you have an intimate relationship, but harbor resentment and unwarranted anger towards. Then He takes it a step further and commands that we love our enemies – those who actively seek to harm and abuse us. Those who seek to take advantage of us. Those who seek to spitefully use us for their own selfish gain.

Furthermore, He contrasts the difference between those who would follow His teaching with those who are not His followers: “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?” The tax collectors of Jesus’ day were despised as traitors because they were often Jewish citizens who submitted to the authority of Rome and were often known to take advantage of the taxpayers. It’s easy to greet those that are you friends, but far more difficult to greet those that are your enemies and make them feel at home. Even the cultural outsiders love those that love them. Emotional love is easy, but love that transcends emotion often requires a difficult act of the will.

A personal spiritual hero of mine is Corrie ten Boom. She and her family were arrested by the Nazis during World War II for hiding Jews in a secret room carved into the wall of her own bedroom. She and her sister Betsy were sent to Ravensbruck prison camp – or more literally, a death camp. Together, they would endure the hardship of the harsh treatment of their Nazi captors and even the jeering and mocking of their fellow prisoners. More importantly, in spite of their circumstances, and much to Corrie’s own consternation, Betsy would choose to love her fellow captors in spite of their mockery. The last thing that Betsy would tell Corrie before she would succumb to typhus were two simple words: “Don’t hate.”

Corrie would take these words and they would go on to transform her life. In the midst of her mourning, she would encourage her fellow prisoners until one night her named was called out. Shaking in fear, believing that she was on her way to die, she bravely declared the gospel of love to her fellow captors. She gave her smuggled Bible to one of her fellow prisoners and encouraged her to cling to it. Within a few hours, Corrie was on her way home – released due to an apparent “clerical error”, when all women prisoners her age were sent to the gas chambers just 2 weeks later.

Until her dying day, Corrie would travel the world teaching about the grace and love of God and teaching us all to love our enemies. She even had an opportunity to put this teaching into practice as one of her tormentors approached her after one of her teachings and declared their newfound faith and begged her forgiveness for her treatment in Ravensbruck. Corrie, pushing back the tears and anger and bitterness, extended her hand in grace and love towards this former prison guard, recognizing that they themselves had been a prisoner of their own guilt and released them to the freedom of grace.

Corrie’s mission in life was to deliver a very simple message, delivered to her by her dying sister Betsy: “There is no pit so deep that God’s love isn’t deeper still.”1 No matter how dark your world may be, or how strong your enemy comes against you, God is capable of giving you the strength to love them and set them free from the chains that bind their hearts. Grace transforms the heart in ways that set us apart from the world. Grace makes all the difference.

  1. Corrie ten Boom, Elizabeth Sherrill, John Sherrill (1971). The Hiding Place. Guideposts Associates. ISBN 0-912376-01-5.

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