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

Remember…


Today is a day that America can’t forget. Some people do seem to forget about what happened on that morning 19 years ago but when they are reminded…it all comes rolling back into your memory like the clouds of dust and paper and concrete that filled the streets of New York. Many people died that morning. Most of them were at work or going to work. Some were on the planes which were hi-jacked to be used as bombs. No, we can’t forget that day and the horror of it and the fear of what is coming next.

Just like the attack on Pearl Harbor that Sunday morning in 1941, those who lived through it could never forget where they were. But the difference between the two attacks, separated by sixty years, is a very dark one. The one which happened at Pearl Harbor was done by a government and its soldiers and pilots. The attack which happened in New York was done by religious fanatics. They didn’t belong to one single government or country. They were united by an ideology of hatred. That is why the war on terror has been going on for so long. There is no specific place or people to look for or to blame other than their religion and the ideology which is taught by it.

I don’t blame the religion of Islam for this because just as they have told us for years, most of them are peaceful. But also God doesn’t want blame to be placed on this religion or that religion. God does love everyone in the world but He doesn’t love the sinful ways that many of them live in day in and day out. God provides a way for you to find peace and joy in life if you will repent from what you have been doing or worshiping and seek your salvation in Jesus Christ. Believe in Him like the thief on the cross, believe in Jesus like a little child because your salvation and your eternity depends on it.

Whether you believe in Jesus or God or not right at this time doesn’t matter. What does matter is that we are not guaranteed tomorrow so the time to seek your salvation in Jesus is now! Today is the day for your salvation. Read the book of Romans and 1 Corinthians because Paul told every person that he met that your salvation and your eternity depend on Who you place your faith and your belief in and that Person should be Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Jesus heals us in every way


He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. Psalms 147:3 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.147.3.KJV

In our stressful world today everyone needs to lay their troubles on Jesus. He can ease your burdens because He loves you.

Respectful fear is wisdom


The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. Proverbs 9:10 KJV https://bible.com/verse-of-the-day/pro.9.10/62587

You could have many degrees from the schools you have been to, but the education you get from the Lord through the study of His Word is better than all of them.

Search me


Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalms 139:23‭-‬24 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.139.23-24.KJV

Cling to Jesus!


I’ve heard this most of my life but until I read about how it should be done it truly never occurred to me. African-Americans have been wronged in so many ways, not just in America but even in their mother country as well. Many times it was one tribe who had conquered another tribe for their land or some other resource and then they would sell those to men who were willing to pay for them to be slaves in another country far away from their homes. Many of them didn’t even survive the trip in the ship because of such cramped conditions. Of those who did their life, if you can call it that, was miserable, hard and filled with pain and suffering.

My own ancestor came from either Ireland or Scotland, I’m not sure which, as an indentured slave to someone who could afford the trip to the New World as America was called at the time. I don’t know my ancestor’s name but since his skin was white he or she may not have had such a terrible time of it after arriving here. But I have read that some were just as cruelly treated as any other slave, regardless of skin color. Sometimes they might get a nominal education in order to do the job that their master needed them to do and sometimes they didn’t. Either way, regardless of their skin color, life was hard…much harder than it is today.

The one common thread that weaves through the Word of God is that faith and belief in God and the salvation that He offers grows tremendously when there is persecution involved. The Israelites held on to their faith when they were in bondage to Egypt. The early church was persecuted in horrible ways during the first few hundred years and in some countries today they still are, but the church itself grew in number even then. Faith seems to seek out the Savior when there is uncertainty and hardship regardless of nationality or skin color.

This is exactly what America NEEDS today…right NOW!! We need a solid anchor in the Truth of God’s Word. One that will not move and is always true in every instance that we need it for. Salvation, security, peace, hope, love, mercy and grace are all found in God’s Word and today the whole world needs these to be active and ALIVE in the church even if the church is located in someone’s home or basement.

Is slavery wrong? YES!! In every sense of the word. Child slavery, sex trafficking, and a host of other types of slavery that I didn’t mention…these are all wrong! Should we search out and destroy the places where this is practiced? That would be wonderful but I’m afraid that many in America would be surprised by how close to home this really is. We would be shocked and horrified by the realization that it involved someone we know or maybe even someone that we attend church with. I don’t know this for a fact, so don’t quote me here. But…it is possible.

The only person that could fix this is our Savior and our King, Jesus Christ. Many of these rings which conduct business in the middle of our cities and towns are only known as legitimate businesses. Even people that we do business with at least once or twice every month. It may not happen in small towns but it is possible

Every member of the church should dig deep into God’s Word and learn how He does things and then let your voice be heard. Make sure your voice is heard because if we don’t then the other side will and the country that will rise from their influence will be worse than the one we have now. If we aren’t going to make our voice, as the church, heard then we aren’t helping anyone. God sent His Son to pay the price for our sins and the least we can do is follow in His footsteps. Letting others know about our wonderful Savior and His love for them. If we don’t do that then we aren’t really His followers at all.

Just watch the Lord fight for you


The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. Exodus 14:14 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/exo.14.14.KJV

During all of your trials in life, have faith in the Lord and He will fight those battles with you and for you. Our God doesn’t sit in some far off corner of the universe, He is always by your side in whatever you are going through. Pray through your troubles and He will get you your victory over whatever the problem may be.

Who do you think you are?


Many people think far more highly of themselves than they should. Some don’t consider the gifts that they have been given in this life and some are too prideful to even answer the question. As if answering it is demeaning.

Life in all of its wondrous glory and in such bounty on the Earth. From the smallest plankton in the ocean to the Blue whale and all of the land animals and birds and fish that God created with the Word from His mouth. Our scientists still haven’t found all of them yet. There are still some in deep caverns in the Earth or under the sea that mankind has never seen nor have they been cataloged. Many of them would begin a new branch on the “tree of Life” because they don’t fit any other life-form definition.

People tend to look at themselves as they are described by their job. A plumber or a doctor or a lawyer. God doesn’t see us as a vocation, defined by our job or vocation. He sees our heart, our soul and knows what we are able to do on our own. He also knows what our potential is as well. God created and wove our DNA together in the womb so He knows our abilities and our limitations as a human being. But, if you will indulge me for a moment, what about that point when we become more than what we were born with? “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Our hearts are different spiritually and our soul is brighter when God looks at us. When heaven sees us after we have accepted Jesus as our Savior we look a lot like Jesus. A little rough around the edges maybe and still a bit of dirt here and there but with time and prayer and washing in God’s Word, we will begin to look far more like Him than we did at first. The thing is that we don’t see ourselves as being clean, forgiven, set apart from the world, adopted into God’s family because we can still see our faults and our flaws.

Occasionally we will feel different. We may even have a dream that we are standing in God’s Presence but we will be on our face because we don’t feel that we are worthy of being there. At least, that’s how I feel when I come before Him with a prayer or a request. But, God doesn’t see your imperfections or your flaws. He sees your soul and your heart as being a part of Him and His Son. Yes there are a few things which need to be polished and buffed a bit, but after salvation your outward man is only an Earthly cover over the New Creation which came to life when the Holy Spirit came to dwell within you.

Once you have given your heart to Him and asked Him to come into your heart, you are a new Creation. Neither man nor angel but also not God. You are an adopted Son born because your Spirit changed you so that you have become His. Live as your destiny in Christ allows you to. Not serving your old master in sin but living every day as a Son of God!

Lay down your burdens


Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. Matthew 11:28‭-‬29 KJV https://bible.com/verse-of-the-day/mat.11.28-29/2611

How many lives can you save?


Jesus’ blood paid the price for ALL who will believe in Him for their Savior. The thief believed, I believed and many others have believed. Won’t you believe in Him for your salvation too?

Liars, killers, and adulterers too


Every person that God used in the Old and the New Testament were flawed people just as we are. They weren’t perfect. Moses killed and Egyptian before going into the desert to get away from being put to death for his crime. David, who was described by God as “a man after my own heart“, lied to one of his best friends after having an adulterous affair with his wife and then had him placed at the front where he would be killed in the fighting. Yet, David wrote many of the Psalms that we use today to carry us through tough times that we are having today.

Not one person on the Earth is perfect. All of us have done things which would keep us from God’s Presence but through the blood of Jesus and His atonement for our sins we are made clean. If we just believe like the thief did on the cross that Jesus is our Savior then we will be saved from an eternity of punishment away from the presence of God. Your life here may be or has been in the past one of the most unworthy of sinners, just as Saul said he was, but Jesus came to him on the road to Damascus and blinded him with His Presence. Then he sought the Lord until one of the Christians in Damascus came and prayed for him to have his sight restored and it was.

Jesus is the only One born of a woman Who had the Spirit of God as His guide for His whole life. He is the only One Who could’ve stoned the woman caught in adultery but He didn’t condemn her. He just told her to go and sin no more. Jesus knew that she wouldn’t be able to keep that promise completely, but what He told her to do was to repent of her adultery and never do that again. Be the wife and mother that she should be (this last is just my interpretation of His Words). God keeps up with even the sparrows and He knows when one of them falls from the branch dead. If He cares about them, doesn’t it make sense that He would care for us even more?

God has never said that He doesn’t care about us, even if we aren’t Jewish. The reason that Jesus came to give His life for our forgiveness was because of His Love for us. We are His creation and just as we love our children, God (Jesus) loves each of us. God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit are all God and they make up the Godhead. It is through their work, their influence in our universe and their power which keeps the stars and planets in their places. Nothing in our world is unnoticed because they see it all from their view outside of our time. They can see when you were born, what you did when you were twelve and what you will do tomorrow.

Don’t think or consider that because you have hidden some of your sins, if any of them, from God. He knows what you think, what you are doing, what you are thinking about doing and what you will do. God is so far above our ideas until that is the reason that people who were granted a glimpse into heaven as a prophet or as someone who had a “after death experience” and returned to tell about it, yet they can barely describe what they saw. The colors were so much more brilliant and more than we see here, more vibrant, more green or blue than what is in our world. That is why the view of Heaven or the Jerusalem when comes down from Heaven is so descriptive of clear gold streets, huge pearls for the gates and a foundation which looks like its made of every precious jewel imaginable.

The mind of God is above ours and everything works exactly the way He wants it to work, good, bad or otherwise. Nothing escapes His notice and nothing happens without His knowledge of it. I pray that those of you who read this will read God’s Word and give your life to Jesus because whether you are ready or not, He is coming back for the church, His Bride.