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

We struggle daily, why?


I don’t feel like going to church! Why are all these bad things happening to me? I thought when I became a Christian that life would be easier! Why not just go with the flow and not push religion on me or anyone else? I want to practice Wicca or Buddhism so what is wrong with that? We are worshiping someone, isn’t that enough?

If you have ever felt this way, you are not alone. There are many who have questions about these and other religions and these feelings are legitimate. But, what if you are wrong? Worshiping “someone” or “something” or even religiously practicing whatever religion you were born into is not enough. Satan loves religious people because if they haven’t given their heart to Jesus in faith, then they don’t bother him at all. There will be many people in hell who were religious in their lives but being religious doesn’t save you!

If you prayed to or worshiped a tree or an idol, will it answer your prayer? Can it do anything that will make your life better today or for eternity? God is the Creator of everything and everyone, He is the only One who can answer prayers and give you eternal life. What can you do for yourself, as some religions suggest, that will have an effect on your life after your physical life has ended? Nothing!

God loves us all and wants all to come to Him because He has paid the price for your salvation. All you have to do is accept it on faith in Him and believe it!  That’s it!  No catch, no strings. Because once you do that your whole outlook changes and your old life is not as appealing as it once was.

We are living in the end of the church age right now. The time for your salvation is now, not tomorrow or next week or next year because you aren’t guaranteed to be alive at those times. Is your righteousness good enough to stand before God? If you haven’t accepted Jesus and taken on His righteousness it is not.  Think about it.

Do we need Christ today?


Absolutely! No one can save us from the destruction and anguish to come except Him. The catch is that you have to believe what He did and that He did it for you.

“That’s a stretch, dude?” you might say. Are you kidding me, no one would do that for me, would they?  I am not worthy of that. I have done too many bad things in my life, God doesn’t want me to come to Him. I haven’t got the time right now, there are too many things that I want to do first.

These are all comments from people, myself included, who were sure that God couldn’t possibly want them or need them. The truth is that God can use anyone for His purposes. Now, I don’t mean “use” in the way that the world does, with no hope of a reward. I mean that your life can be so much more when you use it for Jesus and for His Kingdom.

The time that we have is all that we do have right now. You and I are not guaranteed tomorrow or even the next hour so we have the time at this moment, what could be more important or more urgent?

The life which we live on a daily basis is the one that everyone sees. God can see your future and what you will do with it, especially what you can do with Him in your life and in your heart. Your life can be so much more than it is when you are following Him. I know that I am repeating my theme here but it is true.

The Creator is able to do all things and His name is Jesus. What you can do with Him is far above what you can do on your own. Give Jesus a chance in your life and you will never regret it and that truth can be be found in His Word, the Bible, so I know that it is true!

Did I do that?


We are all guilty of saying that or wondering about it. Did I cause Jesus to be nailed to that cross? Is it really my sin that caused Him to go through so much anguish and pain? Am I responsible for that, really? In a word, yes!

Truthfully, if you or I were the only person that God wanted to save, Jesus would have gone to the cross for us. That is hard to understand, but from God’s point of view it is the only way to do it. The sacrifice had to be a spotless, sinless one and Jesus was the only one capable of taking care of the debt that was owed. He took care of all of the sins for everyone, past, present and future! All that is required of us is to accept it and believe it!

Our Creator did this for everyone so that it only had to be done once and never again! It is hard for us with our limited understanding to grasp this but it is the most wonderful gift we could ever receive! Christ is our Savior, there is no other. The sooner that fact is realized by more people, the better off our world will be.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

When this scripture and your life come together as one in Christ, everything is changed! Your life, what you do and say, everything takes on a different meaning and one that can impact the world! Especially today, when your words can be in so many places at once. The Word of God is so powerful and it has a message for all. Each person gets something different from the same passage which is proof that it is the Living Word of God! He loves you and wants you to come to Him because there are many blessings that will be given to you if you do. These may not be material or worldly blessings but they are His blessings.

We are ambassadors for Christ!


That is the mandate that was given before Christ went to be with His Father. Why don’t we act like it? Mainly, because of pride and selfishness. Christians, who should know better, judge people by the way they dress or how much money they have and sometimes even by the car that they drive. Would Jesus do that? Even when He could have been the judge of those who persecuted Him, He didn’t.

The way that we live and work is a reflection of Christ and His message regardless of the type of work that we do. This should be our goal, to be the best possible reflection of Him that we can be.

If you don’t know Christ, there are ways to get to know Him without becoming a member of a church. Just ask Him to come into your life, and to cleanse you of your sins. That’s it, or rather that is the beginning of it. Your life from that point on will change. As He says in the Bible, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:” Matt. 7:7.

Many people mistakenly think that this means that anything that we ask for, we can get. Jesus was talking about wisdom and the knowledge of God, not “stuff”. Serving God can be and will be the most rewarding experience that you will ever have, if you will follow Him daily.

Going back to your old habits or addictions that were before will only cause you to lose your witness to others. Your salvation is secure if you were sincere about your commitment to Christ, but your service to Him will make a difference in other lives by following Him. You will find yourself wanting to be around other believers and you will likely seek out a church to attend before long which will strengthen your walk with Him.

Give Jesus a try, ask Him into your heart, serve Him through your life. Others will benefit from your witness and they will be a blessing to you as well.

Our Savior and Lord


Do you ever think that you are not good enough to come to Him? Or that you have done too many bad things in your life for Christ to come into your life?

Many people have thought these things before but the truth is that He died for your sins and they are forgiven if you accept Him as Savior and Lord in your life. It doesn’t matter what you have done or how bad it may seem to you. He knew about it long before you did it so your acceptance of His grace toward you is all that is needed.

It sounds too simple doesn’t it? But it is true. God loves you! He loves you more than anyone on earth could possibly love you. God has had plans for all of us since before we were born. He tells us in the Bible that “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  Jeremiah 29:11

Give Him a chance, read His Word’s in the Bible, pray and ask Him to come into your life. You won’t regret it!

Hello God, this is your creation calling


Times are getting tough on earth and life is becoming harder to handle. Where do we go? How can we be what we were meant to be and still have a life that we can be proud of? What do we do when we get to the end of our life and can see nothing good that has come from it? Our lives are too short to be of any use to anyone, maybe I should just end it and be done! These are all questions which have been asked many times and the answer to all of them is found in one person, Jesus!

God‘s Living Word, Jesus the Christ, is the only answer that is needed in our lives, in your life. Will you explore this with Him? Take a few minutes to read the Bible. It doesn’t matter where you start, just start. The New Testament is a good beginning point and it is still relevant today no matter what other “religions” say or what some so-called experts say about it.

The inerrant Word of God


It seems that there are those who are questioning the truth of the Bible. The Jewish leaders and teachers have never doubted the veracity of the Torah or of the Prophets and Writings why should anyone question that which completes the Bible. The New Testament is the testimony of those who witnessed Jesus’ miracles and His proof of divinity by His resurrection. He fulfilled the prophecies about the Messiah foretold hundreds of years before His birth.

I realize that this is a bit of a stretch for people to believe who don’t have any faith in Him but it is true! There are many prophecies from the Old Testament which point to where He would be born and His birth to a virgin. That He would be of the line and family of David. That He would be beaten and crucified, although crucifixion had not been used or even seen at the time it was prophesied.

I know that there are many who don’t want to believe that this is true and I do understand. Because, if it is true it means that we all deserve to go to hell. It also means that we are all sinners, regardless of the magnitude of the sin itself. As in today’s culture a “little white lie” is not considered to be something to go to hell for, but someone who is a murderer or a molester of children does. Unfortunately, in God’s sight a sin is a sin and perceived size does not matter. In truth, the only sin that will send any of us to hell is the rejection of God’s grace through Jesus and the acceptance of Him as our Lord and Savior.

In my opinion, that is the reason many people don’t want Jesus or don’t accept Him…… because it is too simple and easy! It is hard for people who don’t have faith or have never been in a church to accept something simply on faith, like a child. A small child doesn’t question if what you said is true as long as you haven’t proven to them that you will lie to them. They accept what you tell them as the truth, no matter what. If your life needs someone or some strength that you cannot provide yourself, look to Jesus and ask Him! I promise, He will not let you down and once you give your life to Him, He will never leave you!

Division is great in math class but not in the Church


In the past one hundred years the Church has been divided so many times that it is nearly unrecognizable today. Christians, regardless of denomination, have become too permissive and meek. We allow people to run over us and around us in the guise of being “politically correct and inoffensive”.

Jesus said that He came to put friends and family against each other because of Him and His teachings. We are not to be so meek that we are run over by every religion that claims the title of religion. Just because Jesus said that the “meek shall inherit the earth” doesn’t mean that we take it to an extreme!

I am sure that there are some real Christians in our world today that could be called friends of God but they are so few in number that they would not fill the sanctuary of a small church!

Our life is to be in service to Him regardless of the occupation that we have and being divided in doctrine or belief in the authenticity of the Bible is not the way to do it. There is no middle ground of service you are either serving God or Satan, you cannot serve both.

The Bible is the true and inspired word of our Creator! Those who disagree with this are challenged herewith to find at least 66 authors from all different walks of life. Without telling them what to write about other than to say that they must all be in agreement and have their stories point to one truth alone, have them to write a coherent book which will rival the Bible. Even if our lives were un-naturally long, there would be no possibility of this book ever being published in a coherent form within the next one thousand years!

The Bible spans about fourteen hundred years and tells of history back to the beginning of the earth and yet the story points to one Savior, Christ, who will fulfill all of the prophecies in Himself and through His ministry and His death and resurrection will be the salvation for all of mankind who have been called by God.

Can you know the Father and the Son?


Is it possible to know both the Creator and His Son? Yes it is, in fact it is part of being a Christian to know them both. They know us more deeply than we can ever imagine, down to the DNA which makes us who we are. Doesn’t it make sense that the creation would want to know the Creator intimately too? This is a relationship which the ruler of this world does not want to happen and will do anything to keep it from becoming the relationship we were meant to have with God and His Son, Jesus.

Satan loves to entice people into doing things which he knows that they want to do. He knows your weaknesses and how to tempt anyone into doing that which they know to be wrong. He even can entice us into doubting God’s love for us. He has been doing this for a very long time so he is very good at it. Jesus called him the “Father of lies”, and he knows how to make them sound so convincing, even using scripture in a twisted way to make it sound good.

The only way that we can withstand his assault on us on a daily basis is to submit to the Lord daily. Ask for Jesus to come into your heart and to give you the strength and faith to be able to say to Satan, “Get behind me,Satan, I have the Lord on my side”. Although I wouldn’t want him behind me and by quoting scripture he will leave you alone, for a time. But, you have to have Jesus in your heart otherwise he will come back stronger and possibly meaner than before.

When you are making a difference for God you are fighting him and he doesn’t like it, especially when, by the power of Jesus’ name and our faith in Him, we are winning the fight. I fully expect him to come after me in the days to come, but I know that in the end he has already lost regardless of what may happen to me.

Give Jesus a chance in your life and then go out and let others know what He has done for you. He will work through you and bring others to Him and the result will be even greater than you can imagine. Think about it this way, you comfort someone and pray for them in their time of need. When they come to Jesus, then they speak to someone else about Him and what He did for them. Then that person tells a couple of their friends about Jesus. Later, they tell someone else what Christ has done for them. In a few months or years, one act of kindness from you has spread out to hundreds or maybe thousands. I pray for all who read these pages in His Holy name so that He will call you to Him.

Is Your life in need of something?


Today is a very somber day in our history because of what happened eight years ago today.  Our perception of the world and our safety in it changed dramatically on this day eight years ago and I pray that we will not forget what we have learned from it. When we don’t pay attention to the little things, bigger problems will arise.  Sometimes our everyday lives are like that. Little things like taking an aspirin or eating certain fruits or vegetables can have an enormous impact on your health years after your mother tells you that you need to do these things. Your spiritual life is the same way, and the Bible tells us exactly what we should do and how to do it to keep our relationship with God alive and fresh. If you don’t follow those instructions though, that relationship won’t be what it could be.

He wants that relationship with you because He created all of us. Not only us but the entire universe all the way from the largest galaxies and stars to the smallest atomic particles. He knows exactly how many hairs are on your head and on your body. God knows how you will answer a question before you answer it and what consequences will arise from that answer. Your life and what you do with it cannot be hidden from God regardless of what you do or where you go. It doesn’t matter who you are because God doesn’t respect your standing here on earth, He only respects the decision that you make regarding His position in your life and your heart. Some would say that what I just said is wrong and that Jesus is the answer. He is, but He is also part of God too. What you decide to do with God is the same as what you do with Jesus. Jesus came to pay the penalty for all of our sins and He did so all you have to do is accept His gift of grace and forgiveness into your heart and you will be changed. The old, sinful life that you were drawn to will pass away and everything will be new.

Believe me, if He can create the universe in six days, changing your life isn’t hard to do. He will change your heart and your perspective toward life and serving Him and your life will be totally different from that moment on. The life that we live before He comes into our heart is in total opposition to Him. Afterward, you may still have problems and sinful thoughts which come back from time to time, but He will give you the spiritual strength to withstand those temptations if you will let Him. Your life is not without purpose because He gives you a purpose, to serve Him. When He calls you and you answer, your purpose in life is to serve Him wherever you may be. Regardless of title, position or rank to the world. You are a child of the Living God and the Creator of the Universe and have been called to be His servant no matter what. That position is above all others and supersedes all others . Of course, you can serve Him by doing your daily job as well and representing Him in everything that you do.