Three Angels Broadcasting Network Devotional.
The Lord is Near
By Vera Malova
August 17th, 2026
I was raised in northern Kazakhstan, but when we moved to the town of Bor in 1993, I remember the TV ads for Pastor John Carter’s evangelistic meetings across the Volga River in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia.
Things weren’t going smoothly at home. My husband often took to the bottle, and my eldest son Sasha had started drinking, too. So I was happy when Sasha began attending those meetings every day. They gave him a Bible, and when Sasha brought it home, I began to read it. By the time I reached the New Testament, I’d realized we weren’t living the way God wanted us to, so I read it again.
In the meantime, Sasha was baptized and began inviting me to church. I wanted to support him, but I worked on Saturdays. However, my hands began to ache so badly that I had to go to the hospital and take a break from work. The following Saturday, my son stared at me intently, wondering if I would go to church with him, so I went.
I have a habit of looking people in the eye, and I was amazed to see such kind and affectionate eyes. Everyone was glad to see me, and they all smiled, so I continued going to church and soon decided to be baptized.
On the day before my baptism, my husband came home from work drunk, hit his head, and stopped breathing. My son gave him CPR, but his breathing stopped as soon as he let up.
“Lord, I give my whole family into Your hands!” I cried—and instantly, my husband began breathing again. God literally raised him from the dead!
Although two of my children were baptized, my husband would not surrender to the Lord, threatening and calling me ugly names. Once, in a fit of anger, he began choking me.
Another time, my children attended a youth group while I stayed home, reading my Bible. My husband came in drunk and said, “Aren’t you going to church, too?”
“Yes, I think I will,” I answered.
“Then perhaps you’ll also decide to be baptized!” he snorted.
When I replied that I’d already been baptized, he grabbed a large Kitchen knife and shouted, “Then your life is over!”
His eyes burned with a terrible fire! He lunged at me but suddenly froze in place. He stood there a while, holding the knife and shouting over and over, “You will not live!”
Shaking with fear, I closed my eyes tightly and prayed silently for deliverance. Suddenly, I saw a beautiful rainbow in my mind with fiery letters that read, He will not hurt you!
Throwing the knife down, my husband fell on the sofa, sobbing. My guardian angel had stood between us and protected me! “For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.” Psalm 91:11.
As a family, we began praying earnestly for him. My children tried talking to him about God, but he answered, “That’s just how it’s written in your American Bible.”
Lena bought him a Russian Orthodox Bible with a cross on it, blessed by Patriarch Alexy II, and as she read texts from her Bible, he read the same text in his; and whether from the Old or New Testament, every text matched word for word!
Despite being convinced, my husband continued to drink as our family implored for God’s help. Finally, Sasha asked, “Father, why are you resisting?” He replied, “Okay, I will ask God to help me stop drinking.”
He began carrying the Ten Commandments in his pocket and telling his co-workers and friends that they should follow them. He also promised to go to church but never did. Instead, he drank until he lost the feeling in his legs from his knees on down.
One morning I woke up joyful. My eyes were shining when I said to him, “You cannot imagine how good you’d feel if you’d quit drinking,” to which he replied, “Then I’ll quit today.”
Sadly, that was the day he died from his illness.
It’s impossible to live in this world without God because there are problems such as alcoholism that no one else can solve. My son, who led me to God, eventually stopped going to church and began drinking again. But although he got so bad that he started hearing voices, our whole church family prayed for him, and after many years, he came back to the Lord and sobered again.
Don’t think that the Lord is somewhere far away. He is right here with you! We all live in debt to the Lord, and a price has been paid for our life. Jesus paid the price for each of our days, each piece of bread we eat, and each breath we take. He paid it with His precious blood!
Jeremiah 29:11 and 13 say, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.… And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”
Seek the Lord, for He is near.
Three Angels Broadcasting Network Devotional.
The Lord is Near
By Vera Malova
August 17th, 2026
I was raised in northern Kazakhstan, but when we moved to the town of Bor in 1993, I remember the TV ads for Pastor John Carter’s evangelistic meetings across the Volga River in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia.
Things weren’t going smoothly at home. My husband often took to the bottle, and my eldest son Sasha had started drinking, too. So I was happy when Sasha began attending those meetings every day. They gave him a Bible, and when Sasha brought it home, I began to read it. By the time I reached the New Testament, I’d realized we weren’t living the way God wanted us to, so I read it again.
In the meantime, Sasha was baptized and began inviting me to church. I wanted to support him, but I worked on Saturdays. However, my hands began to ache so badly that I had to go to the hospital and take a break from work. The following Saturday, my son stared at me intently, wondering if I would go to church with him, so I went.
I have a habit of looking people in the eye, and I was amazed to see such kind and affectionate eyes. Everyone was glad to see me, and they all smiled, so I continued going to church and soon decided to be baptized.
On the day before my baptism, my husband came home from work drunk, hit his head, and stopped breathing. My son gave him CPR, but his breathing stopped as soon as he let up.
“Lord, I give my whole family into Your hands!” I cried—and instantly, my husband began breathing again. God literally raised him from the dead!
Although two of my children were baptized, my husband would not surrender to the Lord, threatening and calling me ugly names. Once, in a fit of anger, he began choking me.
Another time, my children attended a youth group while I stayed home, reading my Bible. My husband came in drunk and said, “Aren’t you going to church, too?”
“Yes, I think I will,” I answered.
“Then perhaps you’ll also decide to be baptized!” he snorted.
When I replied that I’d already been baptized, he grabbed a large Kitchen knife and shouted, “Then your life is over!”
His eyes burned with a terrible fire! He lunged at me but suddenly froze in place. He stood there a while, holding the knife and shouting over and over, “You will not live!”
Shaking with fear, I closed my eyes tightly and prayed silently for deliverance. Suddenly, I saw a beautiful rainbow in my mind with fiery letters that read, He will not hurt you!
Throwing the knife down, my husband fell on the sofa, sobbing. My guardian angel had stood between us and protected me! “For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.” Psalm 91:11.
As a family, we began praying earnestly for him. My children tried talking to him about God, but he answered, “That’s just how it’s written in your American Bible.”
Lena bought him a Russian Orthodox Bible with a cross on it, blessed by Patriarch Alexy II, and as she read texts from her Bible, he read the same text in his; and whether from the Old or New Testament, every text matched word for word!
Despite being convinced, my husband continued to drink as our family implored for God’s help. Finally, Sasha asked, “Father, why are you resisting?” He replied, “Okay, I will ask God to help me stop drinking.”
He began carrying the Ten Commandments in his pocket and telling his co-workers and friends that they should follow them. He also promised to go to church but never did. Instead, he drank until he lost the feeling in his legs from his knees on down.
One morning I woke up joyful. My eyes were shining when I said to him, “You cannot imagine how good you’d feel if you’d quit drinking,” to which he replied, “Then I’ll quit today.”
Sadly, that was the day he died from his illness.
It’s impossible to live in this world without God because there are problems such as alcoholism that no one else can solve. My son, who led me to God, eventually stopped going to church and began drinking again. But although he got so bad that he started hearing voices, our whole church family prayed for him, and after many years, he came back to the Lord and sobered again.
Don’t think that the Lord is somewhere far away. He is right here with you! We all live in debt to the Lord, and a price has been paid for our life. Jesus paid the price for each of our days, each piece of bread we eat, and each breath we take. He paid it with His precious blood!
Jeremiah 29:11 and 13 say, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.… And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”
Seek the Lord, for He is near.
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