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In a number of sermons, Corrie Ten Boom tells the story of how she, her father and sister courageously hid Jews in their home during the German occupation of the Netherlands.  Made famous through the movie “The Hiding Place,” her story is one of courage and conviction.  But it is also a story of forgiveness, made possible only through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.   

When a man came to her door claiming that his wife had been arrested for helping the Jews and seeking money to save her, Corrie Ten Boom gave him the money.  But he was a traitor, betraying her to the Gestapo who immediately arrested Corrie and her family.  Upon learning that he was the won who betrayed her, she says: 

There came hatred in my heart.  The man I had given my last penny.  But I know from the Bible that hatred means murder in God’s eyes.  But I also know from the Bible what to do with your murder, when we confess our sins, when we repent and ask forgiveness, then he is able to forgive us in the blood of Jesus that cleanses from all the sins that we tell him and ask forgiveness and repent.  And I repented for my hatred and the Lord took that sin away.  That’s a great joy.  The Bible tells very clearly what the Lord does when you repent.  He takes our sin and casts it into the depths of the sea – forgiven and forgotten. 

After the war that man was sentenced to death because he had caused the death of many Dutch people.  When I heard that, I wrote him: ‘Your betrayal has meant the death of my old father was 84 years old when they brought him into prison, after 10 days he died, my sister who died after 10 months of terrible suffering, my brother, he came out alive, was a sick man and died through that sickness, and his son never came back, and I myself have suffered terribly through many different prisons.  But I have forgiven you.’ 

And that’s because Jesus is in my heart.  And when Jesus tells you to love your enemies, he gives you the love that he demands from you.  I sent that man a New Testament and underlined the way of salvation.  And that man wrote me: ‘that you could forgive me is such a miracle, that I said that Jesus can give such a love in the heart of your followers, there is hope for me.’ 

Pray

Let us pray: 

Lord God, I repent for the hatred which lies in my heart, for the resentment I hold onto, for the harm I wish for others, for the murder in my heart.  Take these sins from me and throw them into the sea.  Pour your love into my heart, that I can truly offer forgiveness.  We pray in the name of the one who said “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,” Jesus Christ our Lord, 

Amen. 

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From “Essay on Forgiveness” by C. S. Lewis: 

To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.  This is hard.  It is perhaps not so hard to forgive a single person great injury.  But to forgive the incessant provocations of daily life—-to keep on forgiving the bossy mother-in-law, the bullying husband, the nagging wife, the selfish daughter, the deceitful son—-how can we do it? Only, I think, by remembering where we stand, by meaning our words when we say our prayers each night “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us.”  We are offered forgiveness on no other terms.  To refuse is to refuse God’s mercy for ourselves.”

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John 10:7-10 

Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.  All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them.  I am the gate.  Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. 

Reflect

How does resentment keep you from experiencing the abundant life that Jesus promised?  Could the “thief” be stealing and destroying part of you through the anger and bitterness that binds your heart?  Are you, in fact, refusing God’s mercy when you refuse to forgive those who wrong you? 

Pray

Let us pray: 

Lord God, we are all imperfect beings, sometimes bossing, bullying, nagging, being selfish or deceitful.  Yet you forgive us, unreservedly.  Fill us with your grace so that it may overflow to all people.  We pray in the name of the one who died for our sins, Jesus Christ our Lord.  

Amen. 

Please contact the church office if you’d like to receive the daily devotions through email.

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Each Sunday we offer confession, sometimes using the words: 

Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid, cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. 

Reflect

What secrets do you try to hide from God?  What thoughts lurk in your mind which need to be cleansed?  In what ways is your love for God imperfect?  Do you magnify God’s name in daily life? 

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We then pray together: 

Most merciful God, we confess that we are captive to sin and cannot free ourselves.  We have sinned against you in thought, word and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone.  We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.  For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us.  Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in your will and walk in your way, to the glory of your holy name. 

Amen.  

Reflect

What sin did you commit last week?  In what ways did you fail to live out your calling — “things we have left undone”? 

Hear now God’s word of forgiveness spoken directly to you. 

God, who is rich in mercy, loved us even when we were dead in sin, and made us alive together with Christ.  By grace you have been saved.  In the name of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven.  Almighty God strengthen you with power through the Holy Spirit that Christ may live in your hearts through faith.  Amen. 

Please contact the church office if you’d like to receive the daily devotions through email.