Recently I heard the testimony of a man, a new convert, who was striving to live a godly life, but was wrestling with his ungodly past. He had spent much of his fifty-five years in drinking, swearing and in immorality. Although God had forgiven him, he wrestled with his past. Old profane words kept shoving their way into his mind, …
A man traveled thousands of miles to see me and said, “Merlin, I want to tell you how thankful I am that God used you to help me know Jesus as my Savior.” As he shared his heart with me, he broke down in tears of joy. I was greatly blessed by his visit. His visit caused me to meditate …
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 …
