Chocolate Or Bullets?

August 4, 2016 — Craig T. Owens

Corrie ten Boom tells a short story with a profound lesson in her book I Stand At The Door And Knock.

Corrie ten Boom“At the beginning of World War II there was a young man in one of my clubs who had to serve in the military. He and his father ran a bakery and confectionery. He was a cheerful lad. One night he and the other soldiers were called to march out immediately. ‘War has broken out,’ they said. He didn’t believe it at all and thought, ‘It will be another of those boring maneuvers.’ So he quickly put some bars of chocolate in his ammunition bag instead of ammunition. That’s how he wanted to cheer up his comrades, because they had been called out in the middle of the night. In the fields he realized that it really was war. Fortunately his superiors never heard what he had done. There is a heavy battle on its way and maybe it has already started: the battle between Jesus Christ and the Antichrist. And each child of God will be at the frontline. Do we want to fight with chocolate or with bullets?”

If you would like to read other quotes from this book, check them out here.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , . 1 Comment »

Thursdays With Oswald—God’s Plan For Building Spiritual Muscles

August 4, 2016 — Craig T. Owens

Oswald ChambersThis is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.

God’s Plan For Building Spiritual Muscles

     If a man has used his arm only for writing, and then becomes a blacksmith, he will groan for days with the tremendous pain in the deltoid muscle until by practice the time comes when there is no more pain because the muscle has become rightly adjusted to its new work. 

     The same thing happens spiritually, God begins to teach us how to walk and over and over again we begin to howl and complain. May God save us from the continual whine of spiritual babes—“Teach us the same things over and over again, don’t give us the revelations of God which are painful, give us the ‘simple gospel,’ what we have always believed, don’t tell us of things we have never thought about before, because that causes pain” (Hebrews 5:12). Of course it does. 

     Thank God there is a pain attached to being saved, the pain of growing until we come to maturity where we can do the work of a son or daughter of God. … 

     Look back over your life in grace, whether long or short, and ask yourself which are the days that have furthered you most in the knowledge of God—the days of sunshine and peace and prosperity? Never! The days of adversity, the days of strain, the days of sudden surprises, the days when the earthly house of this tabernacle was strained to its last limit, those are the days when you learned the meaning of this passion of “Go.” 

From The Philosophy Of Sin

The only way to build physical muscles is to push them beyond their comfort level.

The only way to build physical stamina is to run farther than you have run before.

The only way God can build our spiritual muscles—and our spiritual stamina—is to push us beyond our comfort zone, to challenge us to go deeper and farther than we’ve gone before. Don’t push Him away. God loves you too much to leave you where you are!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , , , . 2 Comments »
%d bloggers like this: