Friday, August 15, 2014

PPF: Faith or Fear?

 "Should you not have pity on your servant 
as I had pity on you?" Matthew 18:33

My favorite saying about forgiveness is Lewis Smedes- 
"To forgive is to set a prisoner free and 
discover that the prisoner was yourself."

And my favorite story is about 
Corrie ten Boom's struggle to forgive 
the prison guard in Ravensbruck. 
She had just given a talk about God's forgiveness 
and she saw him walking forward. 
Suddenly she was brought back to the huge room 
 in the concentration camp. 
She could see his blue uniform with the 
leather crop dangling from his belt. 
She remembered the shame of walking naked past this man, 
her sister Betsie before her, frail, 
her ribs jutting against her parchment skin.

And here he was, holding out his hand. 
"I have become a Christian," he said. 
"I know that God has forgiven me 
for the cruel things I did there, 
but I would like to hear it from your lips as well. 
Fräulein, will you forgive me?"

Corrie Ten Boom wrote, 
“I had to do it—I knew that. 
The message that God forgives 
has a prior condition: 
that we forgive those who have injured us. 
‘If you do not forgive men their trespasses,’ Jesus says, 
‘neither will your Father in heaven 
forgive your trespasses.’

 
 “I knew it not only as a commandment of God, 
but as a daily experience. 
Since the end of the war I had had 
a home in Holland for victims of Nazi brutality. 
 Those who were able to forgive 
their former enemies were able also 
to return to the outside world and rebuild their lives, 
no matter what the physical scars. 
Those who nursed their bitterness remained invalids. 
It was as simple and as horrible as that."

 "Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you
by the Lord would be fulfilled."
Luke 1:45

It must have been frightening for Mary
to receive a message from an angel.
And even more frightening
to realize that her whole life was
about to take a radical turn.
Her response?
"Here I am, the Lord's bondslave,
His handmaiden.
Let it be with me as you say."

How many of us would have had the courage to say that?

 Instead of fear, Mary faced the future with faith.
Faith is believing God, rather than
giving credence to what we think, what we feel,
 or what others say.

We all have to face our own destiny and in
Romans 12:3 we learn that God gives each of us 
a measure of faith with which to face
whatever is handed out to us.
We have a choice whether to grow that faith
or to allow it to wither.
And the way to grow and make our faith blossom is,
"to HEAR the message of Christ."
Romans 10:17 
 
Home
 
Linking with
So many WONDERFUL blogfriends 
to discover here!
and
Thank you for dropping by!
You are appreciated!
Patsy
 


9 comments:

  1. Really really beautiful! Happy PPF! Lovely!

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  2. Just beautiful - as always!!
    Happy PPF :)
    no. 24

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  3. Love the new modern designs. Happy PPF, Annette x

    http://nettysartadventures.blogspot.co.uk/

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  4. Such beautiful work.

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  5. Very beautiful faces. Lots of emotion in them
    Nicole/Beadwright

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  6. Sweet and powerful words! I love your Mary, she looks confident :)
    xo Tam
    Happy Paint Party Friday!

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  7. very inspiring post and paintings!

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  8. Your artwork is wonderful. I love Corie Ten Boom. My husband actually met her years ago. (grin) My favorite quote: "There is no pit so deep, that God is not deeper still."

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  9. As always, thank you for sharing your inspiring art and stories with us each week, Patsy. Today's story particularly touched my heart!

    Congratulations - you are one of our Featured Guests at Inspire Me Monday - Week 138 at Create With Joy!

    Have a blessed week, dear friend!

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I am so glad you dropped by! You are a blessing!
:^) Patsy