Creation and our place in it

The blood of Jesus

/ Tracy Eldridge / Leave a comment

1 Peter 1:13-21
13 Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

17 And if you address as Father, the One who impartially judges according to each man’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay upon earth; 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. 20 For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you 21 who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

john_3_16_17_scripture_memory_card-raf7013e639264b87b918bea9971565b3_vgbaq_8byvr_540Sin deceives you because its roots are from the deceiver, Satan. Sinful actions can and will destroy your life in many ways and in the end of this life, it will bring eternal death which is eternal banishment from the presence of God.

The only way to save yourself from sin and the consequences of it is to believe in Jesus and the blood which He shed for us, each of us, on the cross. The Son of God gave His life for you and for me…He didn’t have to but He wanted to do it. Because He loved each of us far more and deeper than we can know or comprehend.

He redeemed us from sin through His blood shed on the cross for you! The only action needed on your part is belief in Him and the atonement bought by His blood.

Colossians 1:19-22 King James Version (KJV)

19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; 20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. 21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled, 22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

Do you understand what God has done for us? For you and for me? Each person who has ever lived in this world, before the Flood and up until now, is born with a natural bent toward sin! I mean you don’t have to teach anyone to lie and you know it as well as I do.

Tell a toddler not to do something or eat something and you can see their wheels turning trying to figure out how they can get away with doing exactly that! If you are able to catch them right after doing it, whatever it may be, ask them if they did what you told them not to do. Even with crumbs from those cookies on their clothes they will tell you no, they didn’t do that.

In life you see many people behaving exactly the same way, even if they are supposed to be grown-ups. Why is that? It is because until you have a changed heart through the Spirit of God living within you, you are a sinner from the day you are able to decide to do something which you were told not to do! God’s will for your life is to glorify Him in all that you do and the only way for us to do that is to believe in Jesus and the atonement that He bought for us and ask God’s forgiveness based upon that belief.

Now, many religions teach that you can work out your salvation by yourself but that is not true. If that were possible, Jesus died for nothing! No amount of gold or silver or any amount of good works that you or I do in this world can bring salvation to your soul, only belief in Jesus can do that and accepting His atonement for your sins. If you can’t or won’t do that, then you have condemned yourself to hell.

Please, don’t go there, because hell was not made for humanity at all. It was made to punish angels who rebelled against God’s rule and authority including Satan or Lucifer if you know him by that name. Because of deception and our own stubbornness, many people are going to hell and it won’t be a party or a friendly place to be for eternity at all.

Make sure of your salvation in Jesus soon before the church is taken from this Earth, because it is going to happen soon. Plan on being part of that company.

 

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Are you persevering for Him?

/ Tracy Eldridge / Leave a comment

Do you know the One Who saves unto eternity? Does He know you? Jesus is His name and He is our Savior and the only One Who can save you. Have you sought Him for your salvation? If you have not done this, then what is your life worth? Are you concerned for your eternity or do you believe that this life is all there is?

JesusLovesYouThe poor in spirit seek Him for their salvation and they do know Him because of the joy that He brings to them. Man-made gods and religions can’t do this. It doesn’t matter if your religion acknowledges God as Creator but that you recognize Jesus as His Son and your Savior! He loved each of us enough to come and give His human life away as a sacrifice which paid the debt for ALL of our sins, not just some people but all of the people on Earth.

Some religions say that God doesn’t care for us in that way, that He doesn’t love us at all. We are just His creation and after that He just sits and watches us kill each other to see who will be left. It is possible that a human god would do that. Satan would actually help us kill each other and does it quite regularly because he hates us. Because of Whose image we are created in.

God is not a figment of our mythology and our imagination and one day soon, He will prove it to the whole world. I don’t know when it will happen, but since God can’t lie and He said that He is coming back, and I believe Him. It is true that Christianity is only one of many religions and beliefs in our world today and many people talk badly about us because of our beliefs. It seems that nobody talks bad about any other religion, but if someone kneels in prayer or in any other way acknowledges that they believe in Jesus then it is offensive.

Jesus told His disciples that “the world hated Me so it will hate you” and we are seeing this more and more every day. It seems to be getting worse because you hear it more and more all the time, in one way or another. A lawsuit is filed because someone is expressing their faith by doing something or not doing something. A city is sued because of a monument which has the Ten Commandments or a Nativity scene at Christmas.

Our country came to be what it is because people were coming here to worship they way they wanted to in freedom. Yes we do have freedom OF religion because we don’t have a national religion. But it seems that today, Christian values and religious practice is being pushed and shoved aside because “it offends people”. If the Truth of God’s Word offends you, then go to a different church or don’t go to one at all! You don’t HAVE to read my blog here and if it offends you then go to another one that you like better!

God loves you anyway, whether you love Him or not. On the day that you leave this world and stand before Him, then you will know for sure which God is in control. It will be too late to believe at that point, but you will know.

Why do relationships go wrong?

/ Tracy Eldridge / Leave a comment

Truly the reason that this happens is because of the foundation. Many marriages begin on the wrong foot and certainly on sand or loose gravel for a foundation. Why do we pursue a relationship that ultimately will fail?

IAM-JesusWe do this because we haven’t found the Relationship which can’t fail. We are born searching for something or Someone but for years we search and look for things and people to fill that void, that empty place which always feels as if it needs…to be filled. It is a scientific principle which states quite accurately that “nature abhors a vacuum”. At some point, something will fill that space whether it is good or bad, God or Satan, it doesn’t matter which, but it will be filled.

If we try to fill it with a career or a family, that can work for a while but it isn’t permanent. If we try to fill it with drugs or alcohol, our life and our relationships are doomed to fail because those things are designed to destroy whatever they come in contact with! But…if we will seek out our Savior, Jesus the Christ, and repent of the attempts which we have tried before, and ask Him to come in and clean our heart up, then our life will be placed on the right path.

Following Him, learning about Him by reading and studying the Bible, praying about your family and your problems, all of these will begin to fix your pathway and your life in such a way that your foundation will become complete and solid. When this happens, your relationship with your spouse and your family will begin to level out and become less bumpy and more smooth. This is the foundation which should guide our lives today but we tend to follow along with the rest of the crowd at school or church, if we go at all.

If everyone at school or at church is just going along to get along for the sake of being thought of as a “pillar of the community”, that is the wrong reason. Trying to earn a place in the eyes of people and “fair weather friends”, no matter how you earn it, doesn’t help you in the long run. Why? Because it isn’t built on God’s foundation which is Jesus.

You can decide to ignore this advice if you wish or just don’t read this at all, it doesn’t hurt my feelings one way or the other. But…what if I am right. When your life is going to hell on a slippery slope, which of your friends could possibly pull you out of it? A rich kid that you went to school with? No, they are likely off enjoying life just as they think they should. What about your dear friend from work? Not likely, they come home feeling even more tired than they did last year.

The only One Who can get your life back on the right path and give you strength enough to make it through all of your trouble is Jesus. No other religion or “holy man” or prophet can do that because all of them are dead! He is alive at the Father’s right hand and He is able to help you in your time of need. Seek Him out and make sure that He is your foundation and your Solid Rock, your Savior. Because without Him, we can do nothing.

Life in our time

/ Tracy Eldridge / Leave a comment

I am sorry that I haven’t posted here much lately. I have been concentrating on my other site, thelivingmessage.com. Why do I bring this into the mix? I don’t know. Maybe I feel guilty for ignoring my oldest blog in favor of the one that draws the most traffic.

Life in our time is hard some days and not so bad on other days. How can we get or enjoy a consistent joy in our celebration of Life? The only way that I know how is by living each day with Jesus and His Word. Getting to know Him better and try to live by His teachings would be a great start toward that goal.

Sadly, many people seem to be ignoring most, if not all, of the signs of our time and the prophetic timeline that is coming to an end. Every news outlet seems to point us in the direction of little snippets of news, if you want to call it that, which don’t mean anything in the grand scheme of life itself.

We are told about a global rise in temperature of one degree Celsius which is going to devastate our world with an unbelievable amount of flood water…and its all our fault! Nonsense! A century and a half of pollution from coal-fired plants and automobiles is not undoing the equilibrium of an entire planet. But, the media finds “scientists” who believe that we are causing our own destruction with this.

The Bible, which much of the media ignores, tells us that at the end of the age there would be famines, earthquakes, and storms which were not seen prior to this time. It also tells us that most of these are more intense and could devastate the world. These changes in our world from the volcanoes and earthquakes and more intense storms are foretold by Jesus and by God’s prophets in the Old Testament. This is happening not because of our cars and trucks but because the birth pains of our planet and the age of grace that we have lived under is coming to an end.

Read God’s Word, seek out His Life and believe in Jesus for your salvation, for it is found in no one else. Eternity is rapidly approaching many of us so make sure you know which side of eternity you will be living in, Heaven or hell!

So much to be thankful for

/ Tracy Eldridge / Leave a comment

Our world has much to be thankful for, yet we don’t seem to be thankful for it. There are wars in many places, there are famines and terrorists in other places, so what could we be thankful for? It is true that, outside America, most countries don’t celebrate a Thanksgiving holiday but we still should give thanks to God for the grace and mercy that He has given to all of us.

You might ask me, “What has He done for me, I live in poverty and hunger all of the time?”. If you still live, He has given you life and breath and another day to live. He will provide for you if you will give your heart to Him, even more than He provides for you now. I know that many people consider us wealthy who live in America and for most of the world’s areas that live on the equivalent of one dollar or so a day that may be true.

We have more food available to us, we have cars and homes to live in comfortably and yet there are people here who live in poverty just as bad as those in India or Sub-Saharan Africa. They make boxes to live in or they use whatever lumber they can find and drape a plastic sheet over it as shelter in the mountain winter. Yes, there is poverty in the so-called “land of plenty”.

So, how can I write that we should be thankful for what we have? Did you wake this morning with the ability to walk and get up from your mat or bed? Can you walk and when you find something to eat, can you eat it and digest it? We take so much for granted in America and in the world at large until we don’t realize that there are people, children and adults, who are suffering from disease and treatments of disease which leave them unable to walk, unable to eat or even digest what they get as nutrition. If you can eat a piece of fish and drink a little water, that is a blessing.

For many people, that small blessing of being able to eat and digest their food is something that they would give all they have for. So, yes, we all have something to thank God for. The sun shining in the sky and the moon at night are the lights which He placed there to show His mercy and grace toward us. The stars and galaxies which we cannot see with our eyes, but He flung them out and He knows each one of them by name. They are there to show His majesty and His power. Can He take care of you? Yes, He can!

In six days He created all that you see and many things that you don’t, but all that is around us, including humanity, He created. Our problems are big problems to us, but to God they are small. He can take care of you, just as He takes care of the fish and the birds and the whales and all of the life on this planet. He knows when a sparrow dies and falls to the ground, so don’t you think He cares for you too? Seek Him out, find a way to learn of Him if possible. If you only read this site and can’t get to a church or find a Bible, then ask Him…ask God to make Himself known to you, He has done it before and He can do it for you if you will ask.

Don’t turn away from the opportunity to know Him…to know Jesus. You have this life, regardless of how your existence may be, and it is during the time that you have here that you must make the decision to follow Him, to give your life to Jesus. Because, once you are dead you will be in His Presence and the time to give your life to Him will be over. Make that decision while you can because He will answer you and come to you if you are seeking Him.

I pray for all of those who are reading this site and my others too. Please don’t let your chance to know Him slip away.

God gave us all of this

/ Tracy Eldridge / Leave a comment

To be stewards of, not to enslave or to abuse and maim. His creation is what we are supposed to be taking care of is not for our benefit or amusement. We can enjoy it, revel in its beauty and marvel at the wonder of all that is on this Earth as well as in the heavens above, but the animals that we are sharing this planet with should not be used as toys or targets for abuse or neglect. Consider this which was posted on Facebook:

“Woof!” I said as you started the car,
“Hooray!” I said, it’s my first time afar…..
The scents we were passing were all new to me,
For it was my first introduction to this mystery.
As we got out of the car I embraced you with joy,
After all you remembered to bring my favorite toy!
You threw it once or twice, of which I retrieved,
But on the third it seemed you were ready to leave.
You threw it long and hard and I chased it like lightning,
But when I turned to bring it back I saw a sight quite frightening.
I gripped my toy hard as I tried to comprehend
What it was I did wrong to make our relationship end.
You walked back to your car as I sat there still loyal.
Why am I subservient and you so royal?
Your engine started, and you peeled out into the night,
You didn’t even care about my overwhelming fright.
As I sat in my pose determined you would come back,
The sun faded behind me while the surroundings turned black.
Day after day I stayed in that park,
Lying… waiting… too feeble to bark.
As I lay there dying thinking of you master,
I asked myself how I got into this horrifying disaster.
With my last breath of life, I whispered your name
Then I collapsed in a heap overrun by pain.
Why didn’t you love me master? Why didn’t you care?
Had I no significance, was I just a clump of hair?
I stayed there master and I waited for you
I guess taking care of me was just too much to do.
I’m gone now master, no more You-and-I
But what I can’t figure out is why you didn’t even say goodbye…-Author: Andrew Siegele-

DON’T ABANDON YOUR PETS. You are their lives

— with Matt Beastall-Crossposter and Matt Beastall.

Photo: "Woof!" I said as you started the car,<br /> "Hooray!" I said, it's my first time afar.....<br /> The scents we were passing were all new to me,<br /> For it was my first introduction to this mystery.<br /> As we got out of the car I embraced you with joy,<br /> After all you remembered to bring my favourite toy!<br /> You threw it once or twice, of which I retrieved,<br /> But on the third it seemed you were ready to leave.<br /> You threw it long and hard and I chased it like lightning,<br /> But when I turned to bring it back I saw a sight quite frightening.<br /> I gripped my toy hard as I tried to comprehend<br /> What it was I did wrong to make our relationship end.<br /> You walked back to your car as I sat there still loyal.<br /> Why am I subservient and you so royal?<br /> Your engine started, and you peeled out into the night,<br /> You didn't even care about my overwhelming fright.<br /> As I sat in my pose determined you would come back,<br /> The sun faded behind me while the surroundings turned black.<br /> Day after day I stayed in that park,<br /> Lying... waiting... too feeble to bark.<br /> As I lay there dying thinking of you master,<br /> I asked myself how I got into this horrifying disaster.<br /> With my last breath of life, I whispered your name<br /> Then I collapsed in a heap overrun by pain.<br /> Why didn't you love me master? Why didn't you care?<br /> Had I no significance, was I just a clump of hair?<br /> I stayed there master and I waited for you<br /> I guess taking care of me was just too much to do.<br /> I'm gone now master, no more You-and-I<br /> But what I can't figure out is why you didn't even say goodbye...</p> <p>-Author: Andrew Siegele-</p> <p>DONT ABANDON YOUR PETS. You are their lives

Pets, especially dogs, think of us as pack members…family, and when we treat them like this it is unforgivable. Although, they won’t feel that way. It just confuses them as to why you did such a thing.