The full text of this tract is shown below in the KJV version. (Do you want to print this tract in a different version than the one listed? Contact us and let us know what you're looking for—we may be able to create the alternate version for you at no charge.)

I was a backslider for five years. I had walked away from the greatest love in my life, to find love in someone who was unable to give love. I had been saved for 15 years and enjoyed walking with the Lord, but one day the devil began to work on my loneliness. All my friends had gotten married and some were in relationships, but as for me I was alone and naturally so. (I had to learn that Jesus Christ is truly my first love and that with Him in my life I would never be alone.)

I was in a reckless relationship. I gave and never received. I was living in a house with a friend, my daughter, and a tenant, but yet I still felt as if I was all alone. My life had become one big mess. First my friend left, then my daughter moved into her own apartment. With all this happening, my doctor informed me that I had severe glaucoma and high blood pressure. I was placed on blood pressure medication but my blood pressure would not go down. I began passing out and although I told my doctor what was going on, he still could not fix the problem. (You see, God was trying to get my attention.)

On December 31, 2010, I was rushed to the hospital where I was informed that if I had not arrived there at that time, I would’ve died. I had one of the worst allergic reactions from my medication that they had ever seen and because of this, my body began to shut down. As I lay there on the hospital bed waiting to be admitted into the ICU, a sister in Christ came and prayed and told me she would be praying for me.

There was a minister on the TV set ministering the word of God. His message was about the prodigal son. As he preached, tears began to roll down my face and for the first time in years, I sincerely prayed to the Lord, asking Him to forgive me of my sins and to not let me die in this backslidden state. As the minister continued to preach I heard the voice of the Lord saying to me: “Catherine, if you pick up my promise, I will destroy the devil’s purpose.” I began to repent and call on the name of the Lord and immediately I felt the healing power of God all over my body. As I lay there, I just felt the strength returning to my body. Then, the Lord told me to get out of bed and go wash. I walked to the nurse’s station with my IV poles and asked her for a washcloth and soap. She informed me that I was not to get out of bed and at first she urged me to get back in the bed. I told her that I needed to wash before going into the ICU. So she allowed me to go into the restroom by the nurse’s station, then she called for the doctor.

As I began to wash up, I felt the Spirit of God restoring my body back to health. When I returned to my bed, the doctor asked me how I was feeling. I immediately said to him that I felt great. He then ran more tests to see what was going on with me. When he came back to my bedside, he informed me that all my tests came back normal. I knew God had healed me and forgiven me of my sins. The doctor asked me, “Who do you know?” I replied, “My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

On January, 1, 2011, I was discharged with a clean bill of health. There is no peace without Jesus, no joy without Jesus, and there is no happiness without Jesus. Even though today I have only 25% natural sight, God has given me 100% spiritual sight. So I say to all who find themselves in a backslidden state: come back to your first love—Jesus Christ. The Bible says “The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from himself” (Proverbs 14:14). I had to come to the realization that my ways were not the ways of God. I had to learn in my barren state to break forth in praise to God and to not be ashamed of going back into the church building because of my sins. I had to know that God had enlarged my tent so that I could tell a testimony that no man can take away from me. Isaiah 54:5 says this: “For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is His name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel: the God of the whole world He shall be called.”

The Lord has shown us in the book of Hosea that His love is so great towards us that even in our mess He still will go out and look for you. “What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home he calleth to gather his friends and neighbors saying unto them, rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was a lost”(Luke 15:4-6). Jesus told us about the Good Shepherd. “Then said Jesus unto them again Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me on the and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the Good Shepherd: the Good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep” (John 10:7-11).

No matter where you look in this life, you will never find a greater love than the love of Jesus Christ. “But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is a gift of God” (Ephesians 2:4-7).

So I say to you in my conclusion, pick up the promises of God in Jesus Christ and receive your gift from the Lord. God loves us so much that He will never give up on you. Be encouraged in the Lord! — Missionary Catherine M. Wright

Back to top of page