Tag: God

Why all of the fuss?


It seems that every day I hear about more disgruntled people being disenfranchised in one way or another. Marginalized by society or insulted because of some post on social media or a news program. Worse yet, many of them seem to be intent on ruining the very culture and country that has allowed so many to enjoy freedom of speech in the first place! What has happened? What is happening in our country and in the world at large?

It seems that very little good news is heard in the media today, but I guess that is because good news doesn’t get the traction and the audience that the network needs. Nobody wants to hear about a miracle which occurs in a child’s illness that the doctor can’t explain except to say that he knows it wasn’t anything that medicine or treatment did! Don’t get all upset, that illustration is just hypothetical! I haven’t heard of a child in that situation lately.

My point in all of these words is that all the news agencies and media outlets concentrate on mostly bad news. How many murders or rapes there were today in some city. An earthquake has killed thousands in Nepal and the aftershocks aren’t making it any better. I pray for all of these tragic people and their stories, they aren’t just statistics or numbers. Why? Because, even though these tragedies are happening…God loves them and is there with them through it all.

Some are going to ask at some point, “Why didn’t God do something about this?”. He could, but would you give the glory to Him for stopping it or would you chalk it up to a natural phenomenon? Satan is enjoying all of the killing and rapes and the dying people in disasters. Not because he enjoys death, but because many of the people in these situations may not even know God or even know about Him. They are ones that he has snatched away from God, at least in his twisted way of looking at it.

God gives us the evidence that He exists and it is all around us, but most people just see the creation rather than looking for the Creator. Many even worship the parts of His creation like the stars (astrology), or man-made gods which are just made of steel or wood. Some think that we should worship our own abilities and think of ourselves as “gods”.

Man-made gods such as money or fame or even a statue of someone are just things. It would be like someone bowing down to a concrete block and worshipping it, how stupid is that! The same goes for the stars, what can they do except shine like God intended for them to do? God is the Creator, Jesus gave His life for us so that we could have eternity, the Spirit of God (even a tiny portion of Him) comes to live in your heart and life when you become a Christian. He gives you the ability to be a Christian and to do things that you can’t do on your own.

I don’t mean that you can fly or touch someone and heal them. God Himself does the healing, the most that we can do is pray and have faith that it is His will to do what will bring Him Glory so that people can see that He is God. Faith in Him comes from our belief in Him, if you don’t believe in Him then you won’t have the faith to truly believe. Yes, it seems to be a catch 22 but God calls those that He wishes to call. Those who will listen and do His will and purpose in their life for Him!

Christianity is not a social club and it isn’t an exclusive club either. Seek Him out in the Bible, pray that He will give you the faith to come to Him. Don’t close your heart and your mind to God because when you see a baby or a butterfly you are looking at His handiwork. Life is precious but fleeting. Our lives are not very long, especially compared to eternity. Consider this and seek Him while you can.

So much love


Yes, I know that there are many of you out there who may not know the One of which I speak. Yet, He does love you with such a deep and abiding love that it is indescribable, at least in human terms. I have felt it at times in worship and in reading and studying His Word, yet I can’t give you a description of it any more than you could tell someone about the color blue or red!

There are many ways that we feel love in life. Through our families, our friendships, even from people who somehow helped us when we didn’t know it. Love can be expressed in ways that defy description, even from human terms, but God’s love is a kind of love that goes as deep as your cellular structure, even into your atomic structure. That kind of love, agape’ love, is the kind that asks nothing in return and never expects anything more than love to be given away. In doing this, you glorify God and that gives Him pleasure too.

God created us, each of us, with certain talents and abilities and we are to use them for His Glory and purpose. But, many don’t do this because they don’t want to or they don’t want to believe in God or in His Son, Jesus. The reasons for this are many. Some say that Jesus was just a prophet and nothing more, some say that God doesn’t have a Son, that He is One and none others are involved. The tiny, relative to the universe, ball of dirt that we live on is the one place which God has focused His attention on at this time. He may create another place and other people in the future, but as far as we know right now we are it. This is not arrogance, it’s just that we don’t have any proof of anyone else so we can’t say for sure.

If there are others, God loves them too wherever they may be. Love covers many things in life. Real love, not just lust or infatuation, doesn’t get jealous or angry because true, abiding love doesn’t stray from a relationship. In the past and right now too, people are moving away from a belief in God because He is not seen or they just don’t want the Bible to be true. That way, they don’t have to be responsible for their sins because of the Truth in the Bible.

God loves all of us and cares for us just as He did for Israel in the times of their slavery. He brought them out and into a land where they could have served Him in a fantastic way, but they didn’t obey Him and the commandments given to them. They mingled with the inhabitants of the land and began worshipping their gods who were not gods at all, but were likely demons.

We have our own version of this today. We worship money, fame, beauty, sex, drugs, alcohol. Though we may not bow down to them, we give our attention and our lives over to them in ways that are very similar to the pagan worship of trees and the earth and stars. Reading through the Bible brings forward some very interesting parallels to life today if you notice it.

Seek Him in His Word, find the love that He has for us as His creation. Then, ask Him to change your heart and your life so that you will know Him even better than you have known anyone before. I promise, you won’t be disappointed if you are repentant and desire to know Him as your Savior and Lord.

Success in failure


This speaks to all of us who need it. Today, at this time, we need Him.

Tracy Eldridge's avatarA blog about living well and successful today

You might want to ask me “How does that work?”. Success in this life, as many people see it today, means that you are successful…period. You have graduated from school, whether it is high school or college or even medical school, you have made it. That is the first step on the road to success. Then, there is the debt that you owe for that education which you are saddled with to pay off, what a bummer. Depending on the size of the debt, your payment could take years and most of your hard-earned money if you get a job.

We were usually told by parents and teachers and counselors that a college education was the ticket, the way up and out. Not anymore it seems. So how can you become successful in life when so few jobs exist for college educated people? I don’t have that answer, I…

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Life, when did it begin for you?


In the minds of hospitals and some doctors, life seems to begin when the child is able to live outside of the womb as evidenced by this quote “24 weeks marks the stage of viability—and the measure of life—for the unborn.” Excuse ME!

Two sets of DNA combine to create a new organism, a baby, at conception. True, it doesn’t look like a human baby yet, but in a few weeks it will. The fetus’ heart begins to beat 18 days from conception, and by 21 days the heart is pumping blood through a closed circulatory system. I would call that a living organism, a tiny human being at that point. God may look at it from the molecular standpoint of the DNA that was used in its creation, so to Him this life began before the heart started beating.

None of us remember being inside the womb, at least not consciously, and that may be a good thing. The point that I am making is that life, all life, begins in the womb before it will ever be able to live outside of the womb. Yes, I am speaking of mammalian life of course, but the point is that our world has grown so cold and callous to life itself until we don’t pay much attention to it when it is snuffed out, whether by a bullet or by a “doctor” that aborts that life.

Since there have been millions of abortions performed since it became legal, I suppose our society doesn’t care much about life. If that many had been killed by gas chambers or by bullets, the entire world would’ve taken notice a long time ago.

God doesn’t condone killing on this scale, especially of children, unborn or not. God is the Creator and the Author of Life, He sends children into the world for His purposes and He knows the outcome of their lives, if they are allowed to live. It is our responsibility as parents to consider this when children are about to come into our lives because they are precious in His sight.

God loves you and the future of humanity is our children, don’t throw them away like garbage because it is inconvenient! Someone wants to raise a child, black or white or brown doesn’t matter. There are many couples who would be overjoyed at the chance. Life begins with God, it is brought to fruition in the womb to be born into the world and to do the works which God has designated in its life. Consider this when you look at a child in the nursery window at a hospital.

Reflection on Mothers Day


For me, celebrating Mother’s Day is a time of reflection which brings some lonely feelings into my life, but it also brings back good memories as well. My own mother died about seven months after Mother’s Day in ’95, so this year marks the twentieth year that I can’t say or do anything for her. All that I have are my memories, and that’s OK.

Mother’s Day is a celebration of our mothers and their life and sacrifice for each of us to be here. Many of our mothers and fathers have sacrificed much so that we could go to school and have things that helped us to get through life. Why did they do these things? Because of love. Love makes a difference in every life, whether you realize it or not.

The love of our parents and grandparents helped us to become the people that we are today. Our love of our children today will help them to be the person that they are meant to be. The difference between us and those who would destroy our culture and our way of life is that they don’t have love in their life. Love makes a difference in all ways and in all situations and the best place to find real love is to look for it from the Author and Creator of it, God Himself.

He loves us, each of us, so much that He sent His Son to Bethlehem as a baby to be raised as a human, to live and die as a human, but since He had God’s nature in Him He was able to live a sinless life. A life of complete obedience to God’s laws and to His commands.

This love is what prods each of us to seek out something that we know is missing, yet we don’t know what it is. We try to fill that spot with drugs, or sex or money but none of that satisfies because none of them fit. The Holy Spirit of God is the only One that fits in that space, that empty part of you that all of us have. Even if you don’t want to believe in God, you feel that empty feeling. You know that there is something missing, but you don’t want to believe that it is God Who can fill that spot in your life, Who is the One that is supposed to fill that empty space.

Mothers are the best reflection of a loving God on Earth, at least the ones that actually love their children. Seek God out so that He can show you the love that He has for you through His forgiveness and the eternal life that you will have in Him. If that is something which you don’t want to do or can’t understand why to do it, I understand. I will be praying for all who visit here anyway.

Thanks for stopping by.

A tribute to Mom


Mother’s are the first person that we ever hear speaking to us, even before we are born.
Mother is the person, in many children’s lives, who personifies the qualities of God.
A mother is a person, and occasionally they aren’t even related to you but they treat you the same as your mother would, sometimes better.

What makes a woman into a Mother? It really isn’t a “what” as it is a Whom. God is the Creator and He alone knows who is going to be a real Mother. All of the qualities which every mother possesses are bound up in a few words but it is a job that takes a lifetime. Some days, you just can’t get it right and some days, everything falls into place just right.

Those are the days that you celebrate. You never get a day off or a sick day and there are no instruction books to let you know if you are doing it right or not. Just like becoming a parent, being a Mom is one of those learn-as-you-go jobs. Some are just born with the qualities for being a mother, but being a Mom takes time, hard work, days and nights without much sleep or rest.

What is the difference between being a mother and being a Mom? LOVE

If you have had a child, then you are a mother, but to be a Mom love comes into play from the moment that your child is born. Love can change you and mold you into a person who can work for hours, without much reward except for watching your child grow and become the person that God intended them to be.

Why can’t we see each other?


We seem to be blind to the problems around us. As long as things are going our way and each one of us gets the stuff that we want, whether we can afford it or deserve it, no one cares about others anymore. Particularly when the others around you have different skin color or have a culture that is different from yours.

I didn’t say “race” for a reason…we are all part of the human race! We have different cultures, some are radically different from ours. We have different religious backgrounds and some of us don’t have a real “religion” at all, which also causes problems between those who believe one way and those which believe another way.

Even Jesus said that there are two roads, the broad way which leads to destruction and the narrow way which few people find. Think of some songs that you have heard, “Highway to Hell” and “Stairway to Heaven”, they show the possible amount of traffic that we might encounter depending on which direction you go. If you truly take the Bible as the literal Word of God, then we are all descended from one couple, Adam and Eve. That being part of your belief then we can’t be different races at all, but truly brothers and sisters removed by generations of course but still related.

Why can’t or won’t we see this as the truth? What makes it so hard for us to learn about this and understand it? One word and one person specifically, Satan. God is in charge and it is true that Satan has to ask permission when he wants to torment a child of God. But if you don’t belong to God and you haven’t asked Jesus to come into your life then Satan doesn’t have to ask for permission about you at all!

Truly, if you don’t belong to Jesus, then by default you are in Satan’s camp whether you worship him or not, because you are not on the side of God. I know that this is going to upset some people, but it is the truth. You can choose to ignore it if you wish, but whatever happens in your life, is truly by your choice alone. Nobody else is responsible for your fate if you choose to refuse a call from God.

Seeing each other as people, not as hyphenated people or a different race of people but seeing each other as God’s creation and how He sees us. This is something which is hard for us to do. Culturally we have real problems seeing other cultures as people. We want to put a label on each other, whether it is a degrading label or a “racist” label. It is just how we have become over the last few thousand years or so. All of this is learned behavior and we have learned and passed it on to our children and grandchildren.

Please, pray for a revival in  your life and your church. If you don’t believe in God or Jesus, seek them out in prayer and in the Bible. Our country needs Christians to be active in prayer for it and for a revival of faith in our country. See each other as God sees you, His creation and His children that He has given everything to, all you have to do is ask Him for the strength and the faith to claim that which is yours.

Percentages and prayer


Christians, according to Wikipedia, make up about 2.2 billion people in the world. To be fair, they quantify this by adding that these are “nominal Christians”, those who may or may not be Christians but they go to church occasionally.

So, according to this, “nominal Christians” make up about one-third of the whole world’s population. Where does that leave us as the body of Christ? Do we have that much influence? According to this same reference, America is made up of about 80 to 90 percent nominal Christians. If they were all in church on any given Sunday, our churches would be packed…but they are not. According to Webster’s Dictionary, nominal means ‘in name only’. A pretty dim statistic for a faith that makes up a third of the world’s population.

Just as you can’t be ninety-five percent pregnant, you can’t be 95 percent Christian either. You either are or you are not, there is no middle ground and no line that you can stand on. Being a nominal Christian seems to mean that you claim it only so far as the claim itself will take you. In today’s world, being a Christian is becoming very unpopular, even in America where we are supposed to have tolerance for religious beliefs.

Of course, today that tolerance has become very weak and frail and almost non-existent among those who don’t believe in God or the Bible and don’t even mention the name of Jesus. Yet, we are supposed to tolerate their lifestyle or anything that they are trying to get us to allow in society.

Christians need to pray about this situation, not because it seems that we really don’t have the numbers that are assigned to our faith but because those who claim it truly need to be Christian in more than just name only! Prayer can bring this about and those of us who are Bible-believing and churchgoing Christians NEED to humble ourselves before God and ask for His forgiveness and His Spirit to move in the churches…ALL of them, regardless of the denomination.

Satan and his fallen angels believe in God and they know Him and Jesus too, they choose not to serve them. The same is true for those “nominal” Christians, they know about Him, they just want to live their lives without Him in their life until they decide to let Him in. This is a very dangerous way to live, because you are not given tomorrow by guarantee. Your soul, like th farmer in the parable, may be required tonight, then where will you be? He thought that he had a life of leisure to look forward to, he had plenty and he had decided to enjoy it. But…when your time is up, according to God’s timetable, then there is no amount of negotiating that will extend your time, no amount of money will affect the outcome either.

Your decision to follow Jesus and serve Him has to be made during the time that you have, today preferably, because you don’t know what is coming tomorrow or even tonight. Give your heart and your daily life to Jesus, become more than a nominal Christian! God needs us to be Christians which read the Bible and pray daily. The kind that make the demons tremble because we are children of God, made in His image and destined to reign with Him! That is the type of Christian that we all should be!

Living through Jesus


In life and in death, Jesus is the Way to a life more abundant. I did not say a life of riches and wealth or fame, an abundant life is one that has hope, abundantly and steadfastly in Jesus! You might say to me, “Why can’t I be good enough to get to Heaven on my own initiative?” Because the Bible says that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. God had to kill animals in Eden to cover the sinful situation that Adam and Eve had gotten themselves into. Jesus died and shed His blood, as the Son of God, in order to cover the sins of the whole world. Everyone in the whole world is covered by His blood, all of your sins are covered by it, all of my sins are covered by His blood and it is offered to all to claim in belief and repentance with no other requirement than believing in Jesus’ sacrifice for them.

Simple faith and belief, like a child, is all that is necessary. When you feel the Spirit telling you that you need Him, that you need Jesus, don’t turn away. Don’t walk out on Him and the salvation that is being offered. God does love you, more deeply than you can know and He wants to call you, if you are willing to answer. The gods that are in temples all over the world will not help you. Belief in yourself and your ability to be a good, moral person is nice but it won’t take you into the gates of Heaven.

Doing all of these things, other than believing in Jesus, is like building a bridge over a huge river out of cardboard and paving it with paper. As long as the river is dried up and there isn’t any water (troubles) to cross, it may hold up pretty well for foot traffic. But, if there is a flash flood or lightning strikes it, your bridge is gone. Another analogy would be like standing on sand, it is fine and it feels good until the waves start raking it from under your feet. Then, you either go with it or you back away from it but it is no longer stable.

The only solid foundation for faith which can save your soul from hell, is Jesus Christ. Believe in Him and repent of your old ways, following Him by seeking Him in God’s Word every day. Pray about the things which are wrong in the world, ask Him to help you to understand the Bible and its wisdom. Look to Him for your strength in sickness and in health, on good days and bad because He is always near if you have asked Him into your life and into your heart. God and Jesus both know what you have done, when it was done and where. There is nothing hidden from them.

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33

So much to do, so little time


Yes, I know, I am trying to scare you. I’ve heard it before…Boo!

Life goes on, it always has, even in the midst of riots and wars and natural disasters like the earthquake in Nepal or the volcano in Chile. I get it, nothing new has ever happened because it has all happened before at some point in our past. These are the same musings which the Preacher, Solomon, wrote when he wrote the book of Ecclesiastes, and yet it is true.

The only new stuff that is happening now is that technology is exploding! So is the population of the world. Can we stop or take a breath in this rush to oblivion? Not really. It was bound to happen sooner or later, but it has been prophesied for many thousands of years that all of this would happen when the “end of the age” drew closer.

Well, like it or not we are getting closer. How much closer? I don’t know. Nobody on Earth can answer that question. Although, each one of us has a date that is immovable and irrevocable and that is the day that we die. It is different for us all of course. My death may come tomorrow or twenty years from now, just the same as yours. Thankfully we don’t know our “expiration date”, although there are times that I wish that I did.

I am not going to be arrogant enough to take that date into my own hands and force the end to come sooner rather than later. Some seem to be destined to do this and I suppose that is fine, but it isn’t for me. I don’t know that I could take another human being’s life, let alone taking my own. I am just not made that way and never have been.

God gives each of us a job to do. Whether we choose to accept that job and follow through with it or not is our choice, individually. He doesn’t force the issue on us nor does He punish us for taking a bit longer to get around to it. Why? Because, if He has something specific for you to do that only you can do then He will make sure that eventually you will come around to being the “right person for the job”.

God loves us, regardless of how small our planet may be in the grand design because He is God. He can love and care for whoever He wishes to and since He lives above time, He knows exactly when or if you will choose to come to Him and give your life to Him. From that point on, your life will never be the same…it will be awesome!

I don’t mean that you will have fame and fortune like the people in some places do. I do mean that just thinking about being a servant to the King of Kings and the Creator is…well, enough. If you aren’t a believer and don’t have spiritual faith in God and Jesus, then this concept is a little beyond your pay grade. I am not saying that Christians are better than you, but we are forgiven.

The best part about this is that God loves you and has made His grace available to you without cost. All that you need to do is to acknowledge that you are a sinner and come to Him like a child and ask Him to come into your life and fix it. Help you straighten things out…get your heart right with Him by allowing Him to do the work. If you try to get things right first, you are just in the way. Let Him do it because He is the only One that can!