I KNOW THERE are almost insurmountable problems when you are in prison. (continued)
24. So Long!
WHEN YOU BELIEVE the Lord Jesus Christ and you ask Him to come into your heart and into your life, He gives you His freedom and a new dimension of living that circumstances cannot destroy.
We can all get to heaven Without health— Without wealth— Without fame— Without learning— Without culture— Without beauty— Without friends— Without ten thousands of things.
But we can never get to heaven without Christ.
God promises us forgiveness for what we have done, but we need His deliverance from what we are. He conquered death at the cross and He went to heaven. He pleads for us there.
At the same time He is in heaven, He is also with us! I do not understand it at all, but I know it works. I have experienced His presence in the deepest hell that man can create. I have really tested the promises of the Bible, and believe me, you can count on them.
JESUS IS VICTOR
I know that Jesus Christ can live in us—in you and me—through His Holy Spirit. We can talk with Him. We can tell Him everything. You can talk with Him out loud or in your heart—when you are alone, as I was alone in solitary confinement, or in a place crowded with people. The joy is that He hears each word!
In Ravensbruck, after a terrible winter, it was decided that all prisoners my age and older should be killed. One week before this was to happen, I was set free. Later, I learned that it was done only because of a clerical error. In recording our numbers, my number had mistakenly been transferred from the death column to freedom!
A blunder of man, yes. But I knew it was God's way of telling me that I must share—for the rest of my life—what I had learned about Him.
That is why I wanted to write this book for you. I am eighty-five years old now, and I know that the moment is coming when I will have to die. But Iam not afraid of death. I belong to Jesus. All of my tomorrows are in His hands.
You know, eternal life does not start when you go to heaven. It starts the moment you reach out to Jesus. That is where it al] begins. He never turned His back on anyone, and He is waiting for you! God bless you.
Appendix of Helpful
Scriptures
THE BIBLE IS a source of strength and wisdom. Read the Word of God often. I have written down some texts which have helped me. I pray that the Lord will bless these texts and this book for you.
Feeling Alone
Be strong and of good courage, do not fear or be in dread of them: for it is the Lord your God who goes with you; he will not fail you or forsake you.
Deuteronomy 31:6 Rsv "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy !aden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
Matthew 11:28-30 rsv "_.. 1 give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand."
John 10:28, 29 rsv "If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him."
John 14:23 rsv
[Jesus said,] "...I will never fail you nor forsake you." Hence we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid; what can man do to me?"
Hebrews 13:5, 6 RSV
Temptation
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
1 Corinthians 10:13 Rsv
Do you want more and more of God's kindness and peace? Then learn to know him better and better. For as you know him better, he will give you, through his great power, everything you need for living a truly good life: he even shares his own glory and his own goodness with us! And by that same mighty power he has given us all the other rich and wonderful blessings he promised; for instance, the promise to save us from the lust and rottenness all around us, and to give us his own character. . . .
Then you must learn to know God better and discover what he wants you to do. Next, learn to put aside your own desires so that you will become patient and godly, gladly letting God have his way with you. This will make possible the next step, which is for you to enjoy other people and to like them, and finally you will grow to love them deeply. The more you go on in this way, the more you will grow strong spiritually and become fruitful and useful to our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:2-8 Lz
Stay always within the boundaries where God's love can reach and bless you. Wait patiently for the eternal life that our Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy is going to give you. Try to help those who argue against you. Be merciful to those who doubt. Save some by snatching them as from the very flames of hell itself. And as for others, help them to find the Lord by being kind to them, but be careful that you yourselves aren't pulled along into their sins. Hate every trace of their sin while being merciful to them as sinners.
Jude 21-23 LB
How can a young man stay pure? By reading your Word and following its rules... . I have thought much about your words, and stored them in my heart so that they would hold me back from sin.
Psalms 119:9, 11 LB
Worry
"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O men of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well."
Matthew 6:25-33 Rsv i : ope aeen atin TL fee) 4 i oF hay. a ' D me i@: i 8 ig "2 ne , a =» a erhh aie wat
PCA ips Ving vpus!
Part Three
ae DON'T WRESTLE,
JUST NESTLE
Foreword
"BABY, JUST CRY. Don't look at the people or mind what they are thinking about you. Just cry." I felt an arm around me, hid my face on her shoulder, and cried. Then I heard her singing softly: His eye is on the sparrow, And I know He watches me.
Yes, my comforter was Ethel Waters. I had heard her sing those words before, but they had never touched me so. For this time, she was singing that song for me, and I needed her song.
This happened the first time I saw the movie, The Hiding Place. In my mind I found myself reliving the suffering of my family. I saw Father and Betsie, both lost in prison. I had to put up with the horrible cruelties again. That was why I cried.
But then my eyes were turned in the right direction by Ethel Waters' song. There is One who watches me, and the secret of abundant life is literally "Don't wrestle, just nestle." What a security!