Not Good if Detached

Corrie ten Boom spent the first fifty years of her life living peacefully with her father and sister above their watch shop in Haarlem, Holland.  When World War II broke out, she and her family began providing "hiding places" for persecuted Jews.  She spent several months in concentration camps as a result of these "illegal" activities.  After her release, she traveled all over the world captivating audiences with her story.  Her tireless travels enabled her to share with people all over the globe the reality of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The following is from her book Not Good if Detached:

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of my sins within;
Upwards I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.

"I like the Canadians.  Is it because they combine, more or less, that young, free attitude of the Americans with the traditions of Britain?  In Victoria, I have a talk with a business-man.  In his beautiful car he takes me to a church where I am to speak that evening.

"'Can you drive and pray at the same time?' I ask.

"'Oh, yes. But we have time to park for five minutes.  It is a good thing to pray before going to church.'

"After we have prayed, he leans against his steering wheel and tells me about himself.

"'Years ago I accepted Jesus Christ as my Saviour.  I have read many books.  I have studied my Bible during my quiet time, and have listened to the best sermons it is possible to hear in Victoria. But there is absolutely no joy in me.  Sometimes I try to help people, but very soon pass them on to others.  In my heart there is bitterness instead of love.  There is . . .'

"'You remind me of a branch of the vine which says, "I cannot understand why I bear no fruit."  It doesn't see that the whole question is whether or not it is in contact with the vine.  Why not stop thinking of the fruit for a time, and think only of the vine?  Why have you no connection with the Lord Jesus?'

"'My sins.  I am bitter, selfish, and unkind.  What can you do with your sins?'

"'I always do what is written in 1 John 1:9:  confess my sins.'

"'But it doesn't help.  I remain bitter and dark.'

"'Do you believe that the blood of Jesus cleanses from sins?'

"'Sure I do.'

"'Where are the sins that you have confessed?  What does the Bible say?  Your bitterness is in the depths of the sea, forgiven and forgotten, and there is a little notice which says, "NO FISHING ALLOWED."  Your selfishness disappeared like that cloud we saw five minutes ago in the sky.  Your unkindness is as far away from you as the east is from the west.'

"'But in a few minutes I am committing the same sins.'

"'When it is three o'clock and you are conscious of bitterness, confess it at three o'clock.  You have an advocate with the Father--Jesus.  He takes that sin on His own shoulders, and cleanses you with His blood.  When the devil comes three minutes later to accuse you, there is no bitterness left [he is three minutes too late].  Be sure that you come to the Father with your sin three minutes sooner than the accuser.  You can then say, with your hand on the Bible, "God hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor. 5:21).  When Jesus died on the Cross He identified Himself with our death, and now you and I must identify ourselves with His life.  So if the connection between the branch and the vine remains, the fruit comes from the vine.  The branch does not help the vine.  The vine does not help the branch.  The vine does everything, and the branch must keep connected with it.  That electric lamp there does not help the generator.  The generator does not help the lamp.  The generator gives all the power.  The lamp must only be connected.  You do not help the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit does not help you.  The Holy Spirit does everything--the only condition is that you must keep in contact.

"'It is such a joy to live by faith, simply acting on what the Bible says.  Then Jesus' hands keep hold of ours.  Thank Him for that.  In 1 Corinthians 15:57 it says, "Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

"When the devil makes me depressed I always think of the immigrant and the peanuts.  An immigrant and his family were on a big steamer.  He had a bag full of peanuts, and at every meal-time they all ate peanuts.  Of course, this diet became very monotonous, and one day the immigrant asked the purser how much it would cost for his family and himself to have one of the meals which he could smell cooking so deliciously.  The purser answered smilingly that they were permitted to enjoy every meal served, without cost, as they had already been paid for when the immigrant tendered his passage money.  Don't you think that the man changed his diet from the peanuts to the good meals which were served on the big steamer?

"'Jesus paid for everything when He died on the cross.  The handwriting of our sins is nailed on that cross.  Turn away from your peanuts.  Stop trying yourself, and take the riches that are yours through Jesus Christ.  You are what you are in Him.  Live like a king's child, and not like a beggar.  Norman Grubb says:  "Break through the bands of HAVE-NOT-LIFE."  When all demons and men tell me "You have not", then I declare, "I have" because it is written.

"'But don't forget to make right the wrong you have done.  After you have asked forgiveness for unkindness, and you do not make it right with the person who has suffered through it, then you leave tools in the hands of the enemy.  This restitution is given also through a branch connected with the vine.  A child of God connected with Jesus Christ is right with God, and right with men.

"'After you have confessed your sins, claim the promise Jesus made about the Holy Spirit, "I will send Him unto you" (John 16:7).  The Holy Spirit is here:  Jesus sent Him at Pentecost.  Obey the joyful commandment, "Be filled with the Spirit" (Eph. 5:18), and then the fruit will come.

"'What fruit does the Holy Spirit have?  He has love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, and self-control.  Jesus was all these when He was on earth.  I once read somewhere:  "The fruit of the Spirit is a perfect portraiture of Christ."

"'Love is the love of Christ that passes knowledge.  Joy is the joy unspeakable and full of glory.  Peace is the peace that passes all understanding that Jesus promised when He said, "My peace I give unto you."  Longsuffering is forgiving--even your enemies, just as Jesus forgave His when He was on the cross.  Gentleness is the reproduction of the gentleness of Jesus.  Goodness is Christ-likeness:  a kindly disposition.  The next fruit is faithfulness.  The disciples were not always faithful.  At the betrayal of Jesus in the garden, they all forsook Him and fled.  But when the Holy Spirit came down at Pentecost they all became faithful unto death.  Meekness--that is not the same as weakness.  Nor is it a native fruit of the human heart.  It is an exotic from heaven.  Self-control means mastering the appetites and passions, particularly the sensual.

"All this fruit can be seen in you, but only when you are in contact with the vine.  You are "not good if detached."'

"Although I have a different sermon prepared, I speak that evening about the vine and the branch."