The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.
Psalms 28:7 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.28.7.KJV
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
Be joyful in the Lord!
Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
Romans 12:12 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/rom.12.12.KJV
A thought for today and every day
Be mindful
In the movies, particularly in “Star Wars” movies, you hear this phrase in reference to some evil deed being done or something which might happen if you are not mindful. In the writing which I am placing here, being mindful is being careful as well. Not so much in watching what you are doing, although that has a part in it, but also taking care about what you think or say around people.
Your thoughts and your speech betray your true convictions and words cannot be unsaid once they are out. We are always careful with our speech in church settings or in mixed company, sometimes at least, but why don’t we pay attention to our thoughts and words in other places? I have heard many things in public which shouldn’t have been said, especially by someone claiming to be a Christian. Many times I would think that “I wouldn’t have said that”, but in their situation or as the saying goes “in their shoes” I might.
We cannot judge a person based on the words they use or even what they say, although many people do just that. We are judged by our actions and our words in many ways, sometimes rightly and other times not so much. The problem with being judged by what we say, whether it is posted on a social media site or on a blog or said in public, is our responsibility.
So…we should be very mindful of our thoughts and actions but especially our words because they never really go away on the Internet. In public places, the damage that spoken words can cause is much worse than a bullet or a knife and it runs deeper and lasts longer as well. Life is too short to dwell on what has already been said or the damage that was caused in the past by misspoken words. All that you can do about those is to ask forgiveness and give the problem to God and let Him take care of it.
Watch other people and what they do and say, keep your mouth shut and think carefully before proving to someone that you weren’t taught any differently. Seek God’s Wisdom in the Psalms and Proverbs on all sorts of subjects and learn from His teaching so that you can be better prepared for life because His Word is our guidebook and we should pay attention (be mindful) to it in everything that we do.
The soul which sins will die
Ezekiel 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. https://biblehub.com/ezekiel/18-20.htm
This law has not changed and will not change. God is sinless and perfect and so is Heaven and everything in it. Therefore, a sinner cannot enter into Heaven…period. You can’t set one foot into Heaven if you are a sinner. But, preacher, we are all sinners! Yes, we are BUT Jesus paid for our sins and His blood covers those sins IF you and I have accepted Him as our Savior.
If our sins are not covered by His blood because we have NOT asked Him to forgive us and we have not repented of those sins, then we will die. That doesn’t mean that we will die when we sin or maybe we will just a little at a time.
The point is this: sin separates us from God and keeps us separated until we realize that we need Jesus and confess that we are sinners and ask Jesus for His forgiveness and REPENT of those sins.
Recall that even when Adam and Eve disobeyed God (they sinned), He had to kill an animal and clothe them in skins, so a death had to occur to pay for their sins. God had told them that they would surely die if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He didn’t say that they would die immediately, just that they would surely die. Adam lived until he was 930 and I would think that Eve may have lived the same, but the Bible doesn’t record the age of the women in the Bible.
The point is this: God had never intended for them to die but since they disobeyed His command and sinned, they would die. Just as we do today. Death for those who don’t know God is a terrible thing. I don’t mean that they don’t know about Him, many people do know about God. Satan knows about Him and knew Him since he was created by Him, but in his pride, Satan determined not to obey God.
We do the same thing when we think we are smarter than God..when we think we know more than God or when we make plans without God in them. Sin gets into our lives in subtle ways. Sometimes it is through greed or pride or by us thinking that we are doing better than others. Problems arise when we are doing well in life because it is usually then that we think we don’t need God. But…that is when we need Him the most!
The rich man who thought he had everything he needed and built all those barns to hold his goods so he could take life easy…didn’t know that he was about to die. Just as we don’t know when we are going to take our last breath. God said that the rich man was a fool because his soul would be required that night. The rich man had allowed pride to become his god.
Any sin can separate you from God unless you have given your heart to Jesus and live your life following Him and not your own ideas and ways. It is the separation from God which is the “second death” because God is Life and eternity away from Him would be eternal death.
God doesn’t intend for us to be in eternity like this but if we choose not to give our lives to Jesus and follow Him and be changed by Him, then our eternity will be without God or the Life which only He can give. Will it be an eternity in fire and in the lake of fire? Yes, eventually it will be. That place was intended only for Satan and the fallen angels who followed him, but when we decide that we don’t need Jesus or we don’t want to live our lives in service to Him then we are no different from him. Which is why many will be cast into the lake of fire one day.
God has made a way for you to be saved from this and it is through the belief in Jesus and His atonement for your sins. Admit that you are a sinner in need of Jesus and His forgiveness. Ask Him to come into your life and your heart and make you clean and then live your life in service to Him and not indulging in your old life again. A changed life and heart cannot go back to living the sinful way they did before, but one who thinks they are changed and isn’t can go back with no regret at all.
Consider that your life, no matter how long it might be, is but a drop in an ocean. The ocean represents eternity. Which eternity would you rather be a part of? One that is full of Life and purpose serving God or one which is apart from God and in torment because of your decision NOT to accept Jesus as your Savior? It is your choice.
The church should not be divided!
Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
1 Corinthians 1:10 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/1co.1.10.KJV
God thinks fondly of you!
Jeremiah 29: 10-13
10 For thus saith, the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13 And ye shall seek me, and find me when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
God loves you deeply and He proved this when He sent His Son to die and rise again in order to pay for your sins and mine! Some people think that God chooses a certain number of people or just certain people to be Christians and some to be sent to hell. That is wrong! The Book of Life which our names are written in when we come to faith in Jesus is not already written!
God writes our names into it when we come to know Jesus as our Savior. John wrote this: “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” John 3:17
Your story as a believer and your life in Jesus is NOT written in stone. You can come to know Him as your Savior and all you have to do is seek Him diligently and ask Him into your heart. God loves each of us, He just doesn’t love the sinful lives that we lead when we aren’t Christians and our heart is still a slave to sin! I pray that anyone and everyone who reads this will come to the knowledge of Jesus as their Savior and Lord.
Don’t put off the most important decision in your life! Our lives are extremely short compared to eternity. It’s like a drop of water in the Pacific ocean, your lifetime is the drop and eternity is the ocean. Make sure of your destination in eternity before your life ends because this is the rehearsal for that eternal home which is promised in God’s Word. So make sure of it before you get in your car or get on an airplane or walk down the street because you don’t know if you will arrive at your destination.
In Romans 1:16 Paul wrote this: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek”, and neither should anyone else who believes.
Run the race before you!
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Hebrews 12:1 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/heb.12.1.KJV
How much longer, Lord?
It has been nearly 2,000 years since the crucifixion of Jesus, yet God is still giving the world more time. Time to turn to Jesus and be saved, time to realize Who He was and Who He is and time for more to come to know Him as their Savior. When you look at all of the prophecies in the Bible you will notice that there are no more which are necessary to be fulfilled before the Trumpet calls those who have died in Christ and those who are living for Him now. We are living at the edge of history and its ending and yet more are still to come to know Him, so we wait for God’s timing.
We don’t know what else needs doing nor do we know how many more haven’t been written down in the Book of Life but are destined to. But God knows who and when and it is very likely that it will be soon. We won’t know it until it happens and when that happens the rest of the world will know it too. For many, it will be too late, if they cared about it at all. So what are we supposed to do in the meantime?
Why do I ask this question now? Because there are many on the Earth who are asking it as well. God is not short in His time and He knows when the Tribulation will take place. It is our job as Christians to live in obedience to His command and tell others about the gift that we have been given by grace through faith in Him. This cannot be worked for or bought and it cannot be bargained for because it is the gift of God to each of us who will accept it and believe.
Many wonder about this today if or when Jesus is coming back. You can be assured that He is because God doesn’t lie and it is told and foretold in the Bible that there will come a time of retribution and trials and that Jesus will come back to the Earth and reign for a thousand years from the throne of David. I pray that all who read this or who have heard a sermon about the return of Jesus the Christ will seek Him out and give your life and your heart to Him now before these things begin.
Some teachers are saying that the antichrist will come before we are taken up to be in Heaven. I don’t believe this. It seems that the book of Revelation is set up in order for us to discern His coming and the timing of His coming. The end of the age is near and we shouldn’t discount any prophecy in God’s Word. There is no exact date but with all of the upheaval going on in the world and all of the distress which is happening because of wars and drought and fires and natural disasters like hurricanes and volcanic eruptions…I don’t believe that the time is very far off at all.
Tell others about Jesus and His love for them. Seek Him out if you haven’t done so already because when the church leaves, the Holy Spirit will likely be gone from the Earth as well. Then the end will begin and that time is supposed to be so horrendous that all of life would end if this time is not cut short by the return of Jesus. Tell others and make sure that you are teaching from God’s Word during this time because that is the purpose of the church until God calls us home.
Be strong in your faith
There are so many things going on in our world today and every day. So much hatred and bitterness, some of it toward Christians and those who believe in Jesus even in America. In other countries, our faith is persecuted terribly in much worse ways than here. Life for Christians, even in the twenty-first century, is not easy because our faith and the One that we place our faith in is not very popular in the world today.
Many people cannot handle the Truth contained within our Scriptures or rather they don’t want to hear about its Truth, specifically because of its absoluteness. But…we must be strong in our faith and put your faith in Jesus. We cannot lose our faith, not now. Life is going to become harder and we cannot just give up. We must persevere and stay the course until our Savior comes.
God loves you and your life is in Him and in His Son, Jesus. Make sure your faith is in Jesus and is strong in Him. Follow Him, learn of Him, read His Word and pray for the strength to continue to follow Him until that day when the Trumpet sounds and the dead in Christ come out of their graves and head to the skies to meet Him!
Amen
