Truth in Real Life Moments

Betsie ten Boom

   

“We must tell people how good God is. We can tell them how wonderful God is, and how His love will fill our lives, if only we will give up our hatred and bitterness.”

When people hear the last name of “ten Boom” they often think of Corrie ten Boom. When the Nazis invaded Holland during World War II, Corrie ten Boom and her family helped their Jewish friends by hiding them in their home. A name less well-known, and much less honored, is that of Corrie’s sister, Betsie.

The ten Booms were known for honoring God by loving their neighbors as themselves. It was this love for people that ended up costing them their freedom, their health, and – in the case of Betsie and several other relatives – even their lives.

On February 28, 1944, after the betraying words of a fellow Dutchman, the Nazi secret police invaded the ten Boom home and took the entire household prisoner. The ten Booms and the people they were hiding at the time were split up and sent to terrible concentration camps where they were starved and treated with humiliating cruelty every day. Already old and somewhat fragile, Mr. ten Boom died after spending just over a week in prison. Corrie and Betsie spent the next ten months in three different prison camps.

Every single day they were together, Betsie encouraged Corrie in the Lord.

Corrie ten Boom – one of the few survivors from her family – often said that it was because of her older sister, Betsie, that she was able to have the strength to share God’s love. Betsie would talk often about the prison guards or the men who beat them. But instead of cursing them, Betsie would say things like, “I feel sorry for them,” or, “May God forgive them.” And she meant it. Betsie loved her enemies.

Betsie ten Boom died only a few days before she would have been released. Her sister Corrie’s name might not have been so familiar to us today if Betsie had not been her spiritual helper and best friend. What kind of brother or sister are you? What kind of spiritual help are you to your friends? Do you share God’s love?

Proverbs 27:17 – As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

Devos

God Hates Sin

   

“These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.” (Proverbs 6:16-19)

What are some things that you hate? Brussels sprouts? Folding laundry? Cleaning your bedroom? We all have things we don’t like to see or do, but did you know that the Bible says that there are certain things God hates?

God hates sin. Proverbs 6 says that God hates a proud look. Whenever you look at someone in a way that shows you think you are better than he is, you are giving a proud look. God also hates a lying tongue. Have you ever told a lie or misled someone? God hates that type of sin. God despises it when we plan wicked things in our minds. Have you ever done that? God hates it when His children are quick to run to mischief. God also hates it when we say or do things that cause our friends to fight. Have you ever started an argument between friends? God hates that.

God doesn’t hate people, but He hates the sins they commit. Unfortunately, sometimes we think the sins we commit “aren’t that bad.” You might think, “I’m not so bad. It’s not like I murdered anyone!” But did you notice that Proverbs 6:16-9 puts the sins of a lying tongue and a proud look in the same list with the sin of murder? In God’s eyes, all sin is serious.

Are you committing sins that God hates? Have you been thinking that it’s “no big deal?” Now that you understand how God thinks about those sins, confess them to the Lord and ask Him to keep you from committing sin.

All sin is a big deal to God.

My Response:
» Are there sins that I need to confess to the Lord and take more seriously in the future?

Devos

God Knows Our Needs

   

“Behold, the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?” (Matthew 6: 26)

Gwen’s bedroom window looks out on a little pond. A family of mallard ducks lives there all year long. So does a noisy flock of Canadian geese. Sometimes in the spring, there is a wood duck with feathers of so many colors that he looks like someone painted him as an art project. Gwen evens see a blue heron visiting the pond sometimes, wading into the water on its long legs and poking its beak into the tall grasses on the shore.

Gwen used to wonder if birds are able to think. What would they think about? She used her imagination…. “Hmm. I wonder if I’ll find my favorite kind of worm at this pond. I hope the other ducks haven’t eaten all the juiciest water bugs! Maybe I should have gone to some other pond. What if I waste so much energy looking for my meal that I’m too worn out to fly afterwards? What if I starve? Who’s going to take care of me?”

Then one day, Gwen read Matthew 6:26. It says that birds don’t have to plant seeds in fields or store up food in barns. God feeds them. They don’t have to worry about their own needs, because God is taking care of them.

God knows your needs, too. Are you worried about something? A move to a new city? A big test at school? A visit to the doctor or dentist? Something you need that costs a lot of money? God knows what you need in each situation. The same God who cares for the birds will take care of you. You matter to Him even more than they do. Trust Him.

God knows our needs and will take care of us.

My Response:
» Am I worrying about something? Or am I trusting God to take care of my needs?

Devos

God Gives Good Gifts

   

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” (James 1:17)

Have you ever heard someone say, “I’m so lucky?” Have you ever said it yourself? The truth is, there is no such thing as luck. Whenever something good comes your way, it’s not luck; it’s a gift from God.

God delights to give His children good gifts. What kind of good gifts has the Lord given you? A warm house? A spot on the basketball team? A family vacation or a trip to camp? I’m sure you can think of many good gifts that God has given you, but maybe you hadn’t thought about the fact that those things came from Him.

When you are playing outside on a sunny day, it may seem to you that the sun is changing its position throughout the day, because your shadow will fall in different directions at different times. But it hasn’t – the earth is what’s moving, not the sun.

God, the “Father of lights,” doesn’t move or change, either. He’s always the same. He’s constant, and we can depend on Him – not on good luck – to gives us many good gifts.

All good gifts come from God.

My Response:
» Do I give God the credit for the good things in my life?

Devos

God Hears

   

“I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.” (Psalm 116:1-2)

Have you ever tried to talk to someone who isn’t paying attention to you? You probably feel frustrated or discouraged if you think you aren’t being heard. It is encouraging, though, for God’s children to remember that God always hears them when they pray to Him. He is never too busy to listen to His children. And He is never uninterested in what they have to say. No matter what time of day it is or where you are, God always hears you.

Sometimes, though, God is the last person Christians go to when they’re having troubles. Instead of going to God, they sulk. Or they go to their unsaved friends. Their friends may be good listeners, but they have no power to give true answers. Maybe God’s children do go to a godly friend or parent with their problems. But the whole time, they may be resisting God, using Him as a “last resort” only.

Who is the person you go to when you are feeling sad, or when you have a need, or when you don’t know how to handle a problem? Do you go to God first? Once you truly understand that the sovereign God is always available, always ready to hear your supplications (your strong requests), you will agree with the psalmist who wrote, “I will call upon Him as long as I live”!

God always hears His children when they call to Him.

My Response:
» Do I go to God first with my problems, or do I use Him as a “last resort”?

Devos

God Never Makes Mistakes

   

“As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.” (Psalm 18:30)

Have you ever tried to make it through a whole day without making a mistake, a wrong decision? When I was little I used to try so hard not to do anything wrong – not to sin – all day long. Of course, it didn’t take long before I did something wrong and sinned. Don’t you wish you could just decide to be perfect – and then not mess up? Well, you and I can’t do that, but there’s Someone that never messes up.

God never makes a mistake; He never sins! The verse I quoted above tells us that God’s words can be trusted. What God says has been “tried.” That means His word has been tested and proved. Isn’t it nice to know that we can trust what God says because He never makes a mistake? He has never made a mistake in the past and will never make one in the future. Even though we make mistakes, we know that God never will and that He can help us make fewer mistakes in the future.

When you mess up, just ask God to help you not make the same mistake twice. Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” That includes doing the right thing. With God’s help you can make changes in your own life. Just trust the One who never makes a mistake!

God is perfect: He never sins, and He never makes mistakes.

My Response:
» Do I trust God to help me obey Him, or do I try to do right on my own?
» Do I trust that God will do what’s best, or do I sometimes think that He’s planned things badly?