By Mary Carothers Lot had lived for many years in close relationship with Abraham. Doubtless he had known about Abraham’s relationship with God. Free from the stress of today’s hurried pace, they probably spent many hours talking about God. The New Testament speaks of Lot as a righteous man (see II Peter 2:7,8). We can therefore assume that he instructed …
From the cradle to the grave we hear, “Eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow you may die.” Young people feel oppressed by advancing age. They believe they must enjoy life quickly or they will soon be too old. Middle-aged people often feel their life is “nearly over” and they need to hurry to enjoy themselves. Senior citizens often …
God has attempted to teach us His spiritual principles. We, on the other hand, keep asking for easy rules to follow. For example, Peter’s question, Lord, how many times should I forgive my brother? Seven times? Jesus’ answer was, No, seventy times seven. Now, did Jesus really mean for Peter to forgive his brother 490 times? No, of course not. …
There is nothing more exciting or inspiring to me than to see a person who has recently been transformed by our Lord Jesus. We receive letters every day from people who say they have just read Prison to Praise and have experienced new life from Christ. We enjoy their words, but we do not have the joy of seeing them …
By Mary Carothers In recent weeks I have been continually impressed in my spirit with how very holy God is and His command for us to also be holy. In Isaiah 6:3 and Revelation 4:8 God is surrounded by angels crying, holy, holy, holy is the Lord. But how is this relevant to us? We’re here on Earth, not in …
A man who had lost his wife said to me, “Merlin, I’m trying, but I don’t believe I can thank God that my wife has died.” Should he? If not, why? If so, why? Since Ephesians 5:20 directs us to thank God for everything, does that mean He will punish us if we don’t? Does it mean He is displeased …
By Mary Carothers The book of Galatians in the Living Translation is one of my very favorite books of the Bible. Nowhere else does God so clearly show us His Grace versus our desire to “earn” His blessings. Some years ago, I sat in a prayer group and listened as a man expounded on the merit of keeping one of …
Unbelievable! How could anyone believe that God would lie? It is impossible for God to tell a lie (Hebrews 6:18 TLB). Why would we even think that it could happen? Perhaps because we are human. God promises us that He will take everything that happens to us and make it work for our good (see Romans 8:28). That infuriates Satan …
Being a Christian is like receiving a priceless jewel as a Christmas present. Even as a diamond has many facets, each enhancing the other, belonging to Jesus is also many- faceted. Centermost, of course, is our salvation: a free gift. We can never earn it since Jesus has already paid for it with His precious blood. One of the facets …
What will Christmas mean to us this year? Probably many different things. But what does Jesus’ Father want Christmas to mean? In our lifetime there have been many changes in what business and public schools want Christmas to mean. Notice what you see this time of year. Most stores will celebrate “Xmas”. Many schools will sing “Jingle Bells” but nothing …
