Author: Tracy Eldridge

This my witness for my Lord and Savior on the web. I pray that you find these posts useful in your search for Jesus. http://thelivingmessage.com

Do you serve God?


This bit of wisdom from a homeless man got my attention and I had to repeat it here. I read this in a Desiring God email and the man asked: “Is following Jesus hard or easy?”; then he turned around and answered his own question, “If you have given your heart fully to him then following Jesus is easy. If you are split in your devotion and torn between following Jesus and this world, then it is hard.”

When Jacob was working for Rachael in Genesis, he had agreed to work for seven years. But the love that he had for her made those seven years seem like days. Why can’t we serve God in the same way? Life here is not easy regardless of your work or your vocation and for many, many people it is a struggle to even maintain life on a daily basis.

We seem to have the idea that our devotion to God can be an on one day and off one day kind of devotion, but how would you feel if that was God’s view of us and our life on this world? What would happen to us and our world if God just turned the Sun off for a while? The first notable difference would be that global warming wouldn’t be an issue any more. The temperature would drop in the first thirty minutes and it would be so drastic until the oceans would begin to freeze before the news could report on the Sun being dark.

There will be no “freezing of the oceans”, that is just my illustration. It is our devotion to God which can make life much better for us and for those around us. Many of us have a lot of trouble loving Someone without being able to see them but when you consider that God has loved each of us individually long before we were born…shouldn’t we at least try to focus our devotion on Him during the rest of our lives however long or short they may be?

Jesus came to Bethlehem to be born as a human being with His nature as God intact. He came to pay the price for all of mankind’s sins and that is what He did. He did this because of love, especially the love of God, is far stronger than anything that we could do or be. We could not “help” Him to bring salvation to us because it could only come through His sacrifice. Living as His child and being devoted to Him for the rest of our lives should not be hard. Even though you and I can’t see Him, you can look at all of the life and the wondrous beauty of creation and see that the Creator’s hand is now and was involved when creation began.

We are coming to the end of the church age so I hope that everyone who has not made a decision about their salvation will do so and soon. We don’t know what day He will call the church, those who have given their hearts to Him, to come home to heaven but it could be any day now.

Seek the Lord and His goodness!


Laboring a Few Days for Christ: How Great Loves Make Burdens Light | Desiring God


https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/laboring-a-few-days-for-christ?utm_campaign=Daily%20Email&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=111663122&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8KJChIefmzdOFGTDr7ob_kI6XFWxPZBIgT7QjDIOOtRKY-V0PJCKaO51QFt9JlDWYhQ6q07tVhlcBMt3gdGSNii7GBXw&utm_content=111663122&utm_source=hs_email

The man in the beginning of this story solved his own riddle. Read it and see how wisdom is given to those who seek the Author of Wisdom.

We hear but do we act on it?


This is one of the complaints I hear from outside the church, “Why doesn’t the church help more people?”. You know, Jesus went all over Israel during His ministry helping and healing those who were seeking God’s help. He did His job so why does the church find it hard to do those things which need to be done? Too many hands out? Too much red tape or paperwork?

What if Jesus had looked at us and thought the same way toward us?

Wisdom is what we need…


The Cross…


The connection between our cells is in the shape of the cross.

God knew how to put us together because He had done it before. Every cell, whether it is a muscle cell or a nerve cell is there for a reason. Just like each of us who have a purpose and so do each one of our cells. This molecule is the “glue” which holds our cells and our body’s systems together. God’s Word points us in this direction because it says so.

He gives us strength to carry on


God placed the stars in their places


And He calls each one by name.

God is doing something new!


God can do amazing things in your life and mine if we will give Him our hearts. Follow Him totally in your life not just a little while on Sunday or on a holiday. When the disciples began following Jesus, did they follow Him one day every week or were they with Him every day until His ministry was ended on the day of His crucifixion? Even though His message has been taken around the world since His resurrection because His disciples never stopped. The rivers of life in a wasteland are the the gospel of Jesus has gone all over the world.

Freeze!


This past week has been cold all over the United States. Why would I celebrate this cold and dangerous time in our country? Everything in our country can’t always be good and equitable for everyone. Life always has ups and downs. Good days and bad.

God loves each of us and offers us eternity with Him so why do people refuse His offer? We go through trials and trouble and problems with our bodies and at our jobs and even with our relationships. Sometimes we depend on God for our help with these things and sometimes we tell Him that we can handle it even when we know that we can’t. Oh, we may not actually tell Him that we will handle things but when we don’t seek His help with whatever it is then we are telling Him to His face that we can do it. He will let us try and usually we will fail. Then, if we have any conscience at all, we will seek His help to fix the mess that we have now.

After all of this ice and snow melts we will have really mushy yards and mine is already on its way to being that way. It is pretty when it falls and stays for a while but it is a pain and so muddy when it is melting and going away. That is another way of looking at our life with or without Jesus in it. I’m not saying that becoming a Christian will solve all of your problems immediately because it won’t. Satan will still attack you on many fronts and try to take your witness away or at least mess it up so that people who don’t really know you will just dismiss your witness as fake.

That is why when the ice storms and the hail and sleet come into your life as problems and pains and broken hearts, make sure that you turn to and lean on Jesus. He can strengthen you and give you the faith and ability to get through all of these problems. Some people will scoff at this but God does care about each of us and He will be near you in all of your problems IF you give your heart to Him and repent of your sins. Don’t expect Him to comfort you if you don’t belong to Him. That would be like expecting a total stranger to comfort you and take care of your needs. Some people might but not all.

God has always been close to humanity because of Israel and the Jewish people. He always has His attention on us and if you are a believer He knows you more intimately than anyone.