On the Trail of Life
by
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It took Thomas five miles before he walked up onto the river. He turned right and walked another ten minutes and he came to the stones that would allow him to cross the river. Without hesitating he headed out onto the rocks and over the water. Half way across he stopped and stood up tall and opened his eyes and looked around at his surroundings. “Jesus” Thomas shouted at the very top of his lungs. As tears began to form and then flow down his face “Jesus...I am Yours...I am what You have made me Jesus...in my confidence, trust, hope, faith and belief I am here to be used proudly by You...Use me Jesus.” Without clearly being able to see what was in front of him he walked without even worrying about anything. The cold, freezing water from the river meant nothing. It wasn’t given a second of a thought or it wasn’t even a consideration as to what Thomas needed to worry about or even care about. As soon as Thomas made it to the other side he looked back at the river where he had just crossed and he sensed that whatever was over on the other side was unimportant. He was brought over to this side for some reason, he didn’t know what it was but he was about to seek and hopefully find out what he was being told. As he sat down in the shade he began to say a prayer “Jesus...help me father understand what it is that I am being shown...guide me Jesus as I read Your Word...turn the pages to what I need to see...speak to me the words You want me to hear...Jesus I put all of my trust, all of my faith and all of my hope in You Jesus...keep me tight in Your arms Jesus...comfort me and allow me to be strong...allow me to be strong while I remain in You...thank You for loving me Jesus...thank You for teaching me that love and then, thank You for allowing me to love You back...Jesus...You are my strength...I need You Jesus. Amen. As Thomas ended his prayer he stared over to the water as it flowed down stream. He wondered if the water knew where it came from or even if it knew where it was going. After the water flowed past something did it ‘ever’ make it back to that same spot ever again? He turned his focus away from the river and back to reading his Bible, he adjusted his position of how he was sitting and then he turned the Kindle on. Thomas looked at all of the different versions of Bibles he had installed on the Kindle, he selected the NLT1 version. Next Thomas had to decide what book to read. As he was debating on what to read, he looked over once again to the river. “What” Thomas spoke out loud? What do You want me to see? What are You showing me? Thomas’ thoughts went again to the water as it trickled down stream past the stones and grass. Flowing over the log in the water that had been there who knows for how long, Thomas thought. Jesus what are You showing me? This is nothing but water, water from a river the...And that fast Thomas’ entire focus was shifted to the ‘Abram’ river. Abram, Abram in the Bible had to have faith to receive what God was promising him. Abram trusted God and what He promised. Abram left everything that he knew behind him, he went where God told him to go, and He did what God told him to do. Thomas opened up the keyword search for this study Bible and he typed in ‘faith.’ As soon as the page opened up it showed Genesis 15:6 “...And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith...” Genesis 17:1 “...When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life...” Genesis 22:1 “...Sometime later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called. Yes, he replied. Here I am.” Thomas spoke out aloud “Jesus are You testing me...?”
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About the Book
Thomas Hardee’s life pivoted around his job and his wife, Debbie. Then one day, due to the poor economy; Thomas was laid off from a job that he held for nearly twenty years. Almost one year later to the day, on a Wednesday morning, Thomas found himself facing the reality that his wife had just been killed in a terrible automobile accident. The life that he once knew and that he had become so comfortable with was turned upside down, and it left him in a cloud of confusion. It was impossible for Thomas to feel any enjoyment in his life without Debbie there with him.
He finally sought seclusion on the hiking trails that he visited when he was younger— before he and Debbie had even met. It was on these trails where Thomas confronted Jesus head on and face to face. It was out here where he asked those questions which hurt him the most. Why Debbie, my Debbie? What did she do to you? Why? What did I ever do to you? Why? The more he asked, the more that Thomas learned. He was shown that it isn’t one particular denomination or one religion by name that is going to save us. It’s only Jesus that is going to get us into heaven, and it is only in His Words where we can find out what He wants for us to do.
About the Author
L. R. Abbe grew up in a small Michigan town. He was brought up in a Catholic home of five. After several years of unanswered questions, he packed God, Jesus Christ, the Catholic religion, and the Bible all up in a closet, and shut the door. Twenty years later, he was reintroduced to the Holy Bible.