forgiving myself*

I know I have written two blogs since the 23rd on forgiveness. But since I wrote the first blog on the 23rd I have heard 2 more preachers preaching on forgiveness and both used the same verse in Matthew 18:22 "Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven." I don't know why I would hear the same sermon by several preachers at the same time I am thinking on it and using the same verse. But it must be important so here I am again. I told in my testimony that I wrote recently how I became bitter at church people and stopped going to church completely. I grew up with a legalistic mindset. I learned to tithe as a child and it stuck with me. I was naive in my thinking in church and thought all Christians tithed. I had heard sermons on tithing but had never heard that probably 80 percent of Christians really don't tithe biblical. Biblical tithing is giving the first $1 of every $10 to God. But being as naive in my thinking and being a church treasurer, I saw what Christians really did and I allowed bitterness to take root in my heart. You know what I have found, as long as I have been a christian it is not the first $1 that always makes it to the church in my own life. I have found when it was a big amount, say 10,000 out of 100,000 it seems harder to me. I have learned as I have walked this Christian walk, I don't do everything perfect. I see things in my own life I'd like to forget. Just now some words came to mind that I said about an individual so many years ago. I can't take them back. I know I have written that to forgive is not optional, it is a necessity. God forgives and does not hold us accountable anymore for those things. We are to do likewise. Some have said we need to forget, and I wonder if I had said so in the past. But do you know I remember some things still that I would love to forget? Forgiving is a must. Forgetting is not always possible. Forgiving is an act on our part. Memory is something we don't control. One of these preachers threw out a statistic, I don't know where he got it, but I'll repeat is as best I can. Psychologist have stated that 92% of their patients would be cured if they learned to forgive. To not forgive is like drinking a glass of poison and stand there waiting for the other person to die. It doesn't hurt them, it hurts me. If I cannot forgive something, it will eat me up, and the person who the issue is with maybe sleeping just fine. If we cannot forgive, then neither will our heavenly Father forgive us. It doesn't matter how big an issue it is, or how little. To forgive is an absolute necessity in the life of a Christian. It doesn't hurt a pre-Christian either. If you are human and alive, it will not hurt you to learn to forgive, but it will hurt you if you don't. It is like drinking poison and dying slowly. You may be staring at the person you have the issue with and they are not dying, it is you that gets hurt if you cannot learn to forgive. I am not sure why I have blogged about this before and yet I have heard several more sermons on this same issue and using the same text. The 7 times seventy or 490 times is not a number you count to and now I no longer have to forgive. It is so big that you will forget before you count that far. There is no end to it.  I Corinthians 13 often called the love chapter, in the last part of verse 5 the New International Versions says love keeps no record of wrongs. It is an absolute necessity for a Christian to forgive. It is a core value. It is something we cannot live a healthy life without. If we do not forgive, we will let a root of bitterness grow up in us and that root of bitterness will destroy us. You may not forget as long as you live, but the choice to forgive and let them off the hook belongs to us. God bless, LVZ.

I have a never ending Love for you*

I believe those are God's words to me, to you.  God searches for us until he finds us. We don't find God, he finds us. This morning it's like this song is going thru my head. I have a never-ending Love for you. From now throughout eternity. I gave my Son on the cross for you. He died to set you free. It's like these are God's words to me. I think about my life and some of the things I write in my blog. How God has been with me thru thick and thin. I think, how could I not want to share something so great with everyone I know. Yet it is I that seems to be so busy in my life, I give back such a small portion. I enjoy sharing my faith, I had such a wonderful conversation with the salesman at the car dealership while the car was being worked on. I went on the paper route with a man the other night and got to talk. He too had been thru many of the same things I went thru. He had an abusive father just like me. He said his father killed his mother when he was 11. Sometimes I think of the things God brought me thru and yet I find others that went thru even worse than I and found God. How can we not want to tell the world about this Jesus? I think of the comedian Steve Harvey and the introduction he made of Jesus Christ. How Jesus changed his life. I think of people like Tyler Perry and how God brought him off the streets to be what he is today. God only wants what is best for us. Sometimes he allows us to go thru difficulties, perhaps to show us something in our life. He did that to me once, I went thru a period of my Boeing Career when things got so bad, I drove to the parking lot and would cry and pray, God I don't want to go in there. People hated me, I was put on a second shift for my own safety. One day it's like the light bulb went on, and God used that difficult situation to show me how self-righteous I was. I remember when that light bulb came on and I thought, I would never have realized or seen this in me if it hadn't been for this difficulty. I remember saying thank you, God, even for that difficulty. God does everything he can to change us if we will let him. With me, it's sometimes kicking and screaming. Yet God's Love is so great for us he will even do hard things to change us. We lost a neighbor, he was only 66 years old. The last time I saw him a few weeks ago he seemed in relatively good health. He had just put up another metal building on his property next door to Barbara's place. He had just finished mowing the grass in that field and was loading the lawnmower onto a trailer. I had no idea it would be the last time I would see this friend and neighbor on this side of eternity. Now he has reached his final destination. I wasn't expecting this. We do not know the number of our days. I do not think he knew it was coming so soon. He had a few months back bought a house in the neighborhood a few houses down to renovate and rent. He had not even started. He was still working on the last one. I think of that song "The Love Of God".
If we could fill the ocean with ink. If everyman on earth were a scribe by trade, If the skies were of parchment made. To write the love of God would drain the ocean dry. Nor could the scroll contain the whole Though stretched from sky to sky. I think about that and I write my stories of God's never-ending love for me. I think of the paper man the other night, and he too could write his stories. Everyone since the beginning of time could write their stories, like Daniel, like Abraham, like Paul the Apostle. Sure we read their stories in the Bible. But what about all the other stories that could be written by me and other lives that have been changed by God? Could the sky contain the whole? There are so many people I don't even know who's lives have been changed by this God and his never-ending love. I am just one of so many, he keeps his promises, he will never leave us nor forsake us. He has, as I have told many times been with me thru thick and thin, hardship and heartache, he was there. Good time and bad times, he was there. What an awesome God that would send his own Son to die on a cross to pay for our sins. God bless, LVZ.

Foolish decisions / Testimony*

A short while back on August 8th blog I wrote, My Testimony. In there I wrote I had made some foolish decisions and God was with me thru them. About 2000 I met a young lady at a Church in Renton, WA. She had a 6-year-old son at that time. I married her in spite of the fact that a Christian Lady warned me not too. She knew this lady I was about to marry and said, she will hurt you.  I did marry her and she did hurt me. But what I really want to talk about is how God was with me thru this ordeal. We were only married about a month and the apartment where we were living evicted us. They told me I could come back but not with her. We separated and I already believed she was unfaithful to me. About a week after we were married she started asking me to adopt her son. I didn't. I filed for divorce sometime in about the 2nd month because I believed she was unfaithful to me. A neighbor at the apartment complex pulled me aside and let me know something was going on. Many nights when I was on my way home I'd notice a white ford van going the opposite direction.
I knew my wife had an old male friend that drove a white Ford van. After we were separated I moved to Tacoma after a short time staying with my sister. One night about 2 AM,  I received a phone call with the person on the other end of the line telling me if I wanted to know where my wife was, to go to Motel 6 in Seatac. That next morning on my way to work I drove by the Motel 6 in Seatac and saw the white Ford van there. I went on to work. About 7:30 in the morning I left work and went back to the Seatac Motel 6 and got there just as the white Ford van was leaving. I stood in front of it and clearly saw my wife in the passenger seat of the van. She did not want a divorce and months went by. One day after I had moved again to a different apartment in Tacoma I was driving down the street where I knew she was staying. I was praying about this situation as I was driving along. I said God, I know you hate divorce and my wife does not want a divorce. But I can't see into her heart, you alone know what she is doing. I believe she is unfaithful to me but maybe I am being hasty in trying to divorce so soon. You, God, are the only one that really knows what is going on. Help me to know the right action to take. As I was praying I felt impressed to turn one street over so as to not drive down the street in front of her house. I was still praying about this situation when I came to a stop sign. I was about the 4th car back from the stop sign. As I was sitting there still praying, I saw my wife cross the street in front of the 4 cars in front of me. I watched her go to the gas station on my right and get into the same white Ford van whose license plate I had memorized by this time. I felt God impress upon me, I showed you this so you would know what is going on, not to cause a scene. I didn't cause a scene, I drove on and continued with divorce proceedings. I tell this because even though I had made a foolish decision to marry this woman who hurt me deeply, God was still with me. Even though he hates divorce, he still helped me thru this difficult period in my life. When I think of the goodness of Jesus in spite of my foolishness, how could I not recommend this Jesus to anyone who will listen? Just like Jesus helped the Samaritan woman at the well, who had 5 husbands and was with another man who was not her husband, he still helps us today. John 4:18 "For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly." Anyone who will put their trust in Jesus will not be disappointed.  God bless, LVZ.

James 4:7-*

I have been told the James that wrote this book of the Bible was the half brother of Jesus. I had one of those DA moments. James is the half brother of Jesus? What kind of a story is behind that? DA, Mary was both their Mothers, Jesus Dad was God, James Dad was Joseph. Actually, there is an awesome story behind that. Jesus was God and came down to earth as a man thru the virgin birth to redeem us from our sins. Like I say I had one of those DA moments, it was just for a moment. Maybe I was reading too many old testament chapters. This wife, that wife and Ishmael and Issac were half brothers, etc.  This is the scripture a preacher from Louisiana was talking about and tied it back to II Chronicles 7:14, that I talked about in a recent blog. James 4:7 "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."  Submitting to God, what does that look like? Much of what I write is not totally without influence from someone else. Submitting to God means obeying him, obeying his word the Bible. Like Pastor Charles Stanley says, obey God and leave the consequences to God. Obey God when he talks to my heart, not just when it pleases me. Whenever I think about a subject like this, I think of a story from my past that I think illustrates being open to God even when you may not like what he is saying. Actually, it illustrates not being open. My second wife and I were riding in my S10 back from an outing on Hurricane Ridge in the State of Washington. She had a radio preacher on and was listening to a sermon about how husbands ought to treat their wives. About every minute, she would say amen. About halfway thru the sermon, the preacher started to talk about wives and how they should treat their husbands. The radio got turned off before he completed his first sentence. I was amazed at how many Amens she gave while the preacher was talking to husbands, but the minute the sermon turned to what she should really listen to, she turned it off. Done, don't need to hear that. Was it that she didn't want me to know what I should expect from her? I really think to this day, her heart was not open and submitted to God. It was more of a visual Christianity than a heartfelt Christianity. We need to be open to God and willing to hear what God has to say to us. It could be thru a preacher of the gospel, it could be thru our own reading of the Bible. What does it say to me, what is God saying to me? That is submitting to God, willing to hear his voice even if it hurts sometimes. Willing to change our behaviors to please God. God bless, LVZ

Change*

I think this will be my most heartfelt blog to this date. I think sometime in the past I wrote about the scripture below. I think if you were to talk to just about any Republican / Conservative, they would agree, this country is in trouble. Conservatives and most Christians would probably think our last chance was to elect Mitt Romney. If you talk to a Democrat / Liberal, they would probably also agree, this country is in trouble, but would probably point to all the Republican / Conservative  Senators / Representatives in office and probably still blame George Bush. Maybe it is time for both sides to wake up. Washington is not the answer. I think many Christians had their hopes in the Republican party winning this last election and turning things around. I think many Black Christians and other minorities had their hopes in Obama being able to turn things around if he had a second term.  Maybe both sides realize this country is going downhill fast and it doesn't seem to matter which side is in control. II Chronicles 7:14 "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." A preacher preaching on some verses in James the 4th chapter put some perspective on this verse and made me think about me and this verse. Perhaps this scripture says Christians need to change. My people in the first part of this verse to me is talking to Christians (or even to me). Who are God's people if not Christians?  Which are called by my name, that again makes me think God is talking to Christians. Christians are God's people who have surrendered their lives to Christ. That is why they are called Christians. Is there any doubt that God is talking to Christians in this verse? I claim to be a Christian so he is talking to me. Humble themselves, So many times the Bible tells us to humble ourselves in the sight of God. Come under God's authority, come under his direction. Obey his orders, (the Bible). The story was told about the worlds most humble man being found and they gave him a button that said World's most Humble Man. He started to wear the button and they came back and took the button away. We need to obey God. Do we really obey God? When is the last time you had an issue with something the Bible said and decided that was not for you, it was meant for someone else? Someone said we tell more lies in the church on Sunday than what is told in a bar on Saturday. We sing Sweet Hour of Prayer and pray for ten minutes. We sing I Surrender All but say I won't go to church there - all they want is money, they talk about tithing and all that stuff. Someone said recently there are two types of sin, big sins, and little sins. Big sins are what others are doing. Little sins are what I am doing. Its time for Christians to look into their hearts and see their own sin for what it is. Haven't we actually started to look more like the world, go to most churches and find a couple living together as husband and wife and no marriage ceremony. And it is acceptable.  I don't want to come off legalistic, but we as Christians do need to look inside, in our own hearts and see where we are disobeying God. It is so easy to see what everyone else is doing and skip over our own sin. What about that look when you see that pretty girl walking down the street?  It is what is in our own hearts that God is concerned with.  The scripture above tells Christians ( I claim to be a Christian so it's talking to me) to turn from their wicked ways. Those ways where we have started to look the same as any pre-Christian around us. Man, I know what I have done in my own life, I lived together with a woman outside the bounds of marriage and it didn't bother me like it should have. Here again, I want to make a statement I have made many times, Christians are not perfect. But when we read this verse above, we need to be honest with ourselves and take a good look inside and see what sin we are allowing in our life. Yours may be different than mine. I have to deal with mine. Turn from your wicked ways, your sinful ways. Look into your heart and see if there are any doors that say do not enter. Do we really surrender all? I believe if we really want to turn this country around, it's going to start with Christians, turning from their sinful ways and repenting of their sins and returning whole heartily to God. This verse was written to God's people and not to pre Christians. We do not have to be in the majority to turn this country around. We do need to start in our own hearts and lives. But if and when this country turns around it will because Christians obeyed this scripture above. It can happen, but am I willing to do my part?  It starts with me. Is the world changing me or am I changing the world around me?  When I have looked at this scripture before it was kinda like Christians need to get off their butts and start seeking God on behalf of this country. Today I see it as more personal. I need to get off my butt and start seeking God with my whole heart. I need to search my heart and see if there are any doors in my heart that say "DO NOT DISTURB." I need more than a ten-minute prayer life on behalf of my family, my church and my nation and where my heart is at. I need to look at my motivations. When I get serious I can touch the heart of God on behalf of my family, my church and my country. When God moves it will not matter if it is a liberal or a conservative in office. When God moves, we will know it was God. When God moves, he will probably start in my heart first of all.  God Bless, LVZ.

Church*

When I first got moved to Tupelo, I knew I needed to find a church and I prayed about it. I started praying about it while I was still in Tacoma. I actually thought I had found a church on the Internet before I got down here. When I visited, it didn't feel right. There are a lot of good churches. I thought maybe I was expecting too much, I was comparing the churches I visited to CFAN in Tacoma. Each church is different, there are a lot of good churches. I was getting discouraged about finding a church.
I was a little hurt when I didn't become a Deacon at Eastside, and I moved on to CFAN. I realize now that if I had become a Deacon at Eastside, I probably would have just slid into a Deacon position at Springhill and I now believe that is not what God wanted. I can be Deacon material without the title. I realized that even before I left Tacoma but may not have totally worked thru my hurt before moving. I believe the Deacon Title would have caused me to accept less than what God wanted for us in a church. The first time I visited at Hope Church, I felt at home. I have not made any effort since to look further for a church.  I just want God to move and confirm what I feel in my heart. God knows what I mean.  The longer I attend and learn more about Hope Church, the more I am convinced this was an answer to my prayer. I believe someday if I ever move back, I will check to see how CFAN measures up to Hope Church. It's that good. Sometimes I am amazed at how God answers our prayers. I knew from the first Sunday that I felt comfortable in my spirit, but I didn't know much about Hope Church. The more I learn the more I am convinced, once again, God answered prayer above and beyond what I asked for. As Christians, we need a church family, and I urge anyone who does not have a church family to ask God to direct you to the right church for you. We have a responsibility to what we take in spiritually, just as we have a responsibility in the natural, to take in good food. Ask and it shall be given. Once again God came thru for me. I still love to hear Pastor Wolfson on the Internet but believe God has truly blessed me with church home in Tupelo. God bless, LVZ.

Forgiving / core value*

Matthew 18:21-22 "Then came Peter to him and said Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times but, Until seventy times seven."  I was thinking more on the subject of forgiving others their wrongs/trespasses against us: I thought of the three women in Cleveland Ohio, Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus who were held captive for ten years by Ariel Castro. It is a terrible crime that was committed against these three women. I can hardly imagine how hard it would be to try and forgive a man like Ariel Castro if I were one of his victims. The Bible does in many different scriptures on this subject point to the need to forgive. It doesn't do anything for Ariel. It doesn't let him off the hook. Not only will Ariel face civil justice, someday he will face Godly justice. Forgiving does free up the victims. As awful as this situation was, the Bible teaches that we must forgive. I personally would need God's help to accomplish this if it were me. As I have stated before, to forgive is not optional. As Christ forgave me by his death on a cross so many years ago. He paid the price for my sin and yours, but it does require that we forgive those that sin against us. I believe these women will also need God's help to overcome this awful, awful crime committed against them. But I believe if we just ask, God is more than willing to help us thru anything. It is so much easier to talk about things like this than it is to live it. Most of us do not face terrible things like this but we still need God in our lives to overcome our own obstacles. I believe those three women are long ways into their journey of recovery from what I read in the papers. May God bless and help Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus in their recovery. I also believe there could be Godly forgiveness for a man like Ariel if he were to ask. He would still need to face the consequences of his crime. Each of us still has to stand before God someday and answer for the life we have lived. I hope this blog does not offend anyone. I used a current event to illustrate the importance and need to forgive. To forgive is not optional, it is necessary. God bless, LVZ.

Blessed is he*

Psalms 32:1 "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered." People leaving this world everyday. Several acquaintances of Barbara have passed on this week. Tonight it is one of the first neighbors I met down here. Adolph Wren, "Bugs" as he was called, passed on. I saw him just a couple of weeks ago when  I was in Nettleton. Talked with him briefly, had no idea he would be gone from this world so soon. He was the neighbor across the street from Barbara's place in Nettleton. He also owned the field on the north side of Barbara's place. That is where I last saw him, loading up a lawnmower on a trailer next door. Working, mowing lawns, fixing on a house across the street. And just like that he is gone. I heard he'd been sick since the last time I saw him about two weeks ago, but did not expect him to be gone so suddenly. That's just it, we do not know the number of our days. Blessed is the man who's transgression is forgiven. When we are right with God, all is well. He will be missed. He was a good neighbor, a friend. He also attended Springhill MB Church where Barbara has attended most of her life. Every time I was at Springhill, I saw him there. It is comforting to believe he is in God's hands at this moment. I am sure he didn't live a perfect life, but when we have that relationship with God and working thru our issues, we can have that confidence, we are in God's hands. It's a sad time, but to know your in God's hands is a Blessing.  I believe he had a relationship with God. We just don't know the number of our days. It pays to be ready. Across the street is another neighbor, he is in his 90's and still living, Bugs was a young man in comparison but  now he is in God's presence. God bless, LVZ.

Stereotyping*

I was out and about today and noticed a siding contractor working nearby. There were two men, and one looked like a biker type, a few teeth missing and a bandanna, etc. The other looked more business-like, clean-cut, better teeth, no bandanna, etc. I drove up to talk to them and realized based on appearance I mistakenly thought the wrong guy was the boss. After a second or two of talking, the more clean-cut individual backed off and I realized the biker looking dude was the boss. As I got home I thought about it and this scripture in James 2:1-4, "My brethren, have not the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, without respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and their come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?" I do not want to show partiality in my life. This is not the only time I have noticed this in my life. I do want to be like Christ, who spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well and changed her life. Jews would not speak to the Samaritans in that day and age. In fact, Jews would go out of their way to avoid contact with a Samaritan. But not Christ, he went to the people that needed him the most. The Bible really does have a lot of info about how to live our lives to be pleasing to the God that created us. It's interesting, I heard a preacher the other day saying how Peter could not belong to their church, how Paul the Apostle could not belong to their church. The man that was blind from birth that Jesus restored his sight; the Pharisees put him out of the synagogue. How are we today? Are we like the Pharisees with their legalistic outlook. Jesus must be a sinner because he healed on the Sabbath, the Pharisees said. The formerly blind man said, I do not know if he is a sinner or not, but I do know I was blind, but now I see. We need to be like Jesus, not legalistic but compassionate and help those in need. The worst type of blindness is spiritual blindness, help us to restore sight to those that are spiritually blind. God bless, LVZ.

Core value / Forgiveness*

A while back I wrote a little about Honesty as a core value as a Christian. Today I am thinking about another core value, forgiveness. A short time ago I wrote about forgiveness not being an option for a Christian.  When I think about the fact that it is not optional for a christian, it should be considered a core value for a christian. Once again, is it aspirational or actual in my life? Forgiving others regardless of the size of their wrong needs to be a way of life for a Christian. Automatic is another word I think of. Some wrongs are hard to forgive and we need God's help. In my life, I think of the guy that sold me this house I am in, I know now he set out to deceive me. It aggravates me, but as a christian I need to forgive. Perhaps that is why I am here. All things work for the good of those that love God and are called according to his purpose. Perhaps God saw that I needed help in the area of forgiving and is working on me. I can think of a couple of people that it has been hard for me to forgive. My first wife, when I look back and see what she has done to my children. I told someone the other day, I really did my children wrong when I chose this person to be the mother of my children. It took me years to realize the magnitude of the negative impact she had and still has on my children and grandchildren. Have I really been able to forgive? I need to unconditionally forgive like Christ forgives us. We need to copy God's style of forgiving, no strings attached, no if, and, or buts attached. Once again when I look at my life and how long I have claimed Christianity, I wonder if again this core value is more aspirational than actual. Some times when the hurts run deep we really do need God to help us to forgive. Once again I say forgiving is not optional for a Christian.
The other point I want to make is the only one who gets hurt by not forgiving is me. Many times the other person is not even aware of the offense. It is my heart God is trying to fix. It is I and only I that will suffer if I do not forgive. To forgive is a core value for a Christian. John 6:15 "But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."  God bless, LVZ.

Nothing new under the sun*

In Ecclesiastes, there is a verse that states there is nothing new under the sun. In Judges, there is a verse that says every man did what was right in his own eyes. That is an old belief, and it seems to be recurring in recent years. Many people today believe there are many ways to get to God. Believe that just living a good life is enough. In the time before judges of Israel, people started having many gods, there was no ruler in Israel. While people may believe differently about worshiping on Sunday, or Saturday. They may have different styles of observing communion or observing Baptism. I've been to churches where when someone was praying, you did not move, the ushers would block the door. I've been to churches where during prayer was the most common time for people to get up to leave or to use the restroom or whatever. I've been to churches where they did not believe a woman should go into the pulpit area or believed a woman should not be in the pulpit preaching or teaching. Yet in many churches, women make up 75 percent of the congregation. I've been to churches where you would think they had a rock and roll band upfront during worship. I heard a story about one lady banging the keys on the piano so hard a vase with flowers bounced off the piano. I heard of churches that didn't allow music in their building. I heard of biker congregations, and about biker self-help groups where if there was a tear-jerker moment, they kick the box of Kleenex to the biker needing a tissue. I have been in church with barely five people and I have been to church with thousands beside me. A lot of stuff like this does not matter. I believe if we have a relationship with God, he will guide and direct us into all truth. I was talking with several different people thruout this week. Different backgrounds, different experiences but one thing seems to be the same. God tries to get to our heart to change our lives. That relationship with God is personal, mine may be totally different from yours. Some believe they need to be in a totally dark room with no distractions to talk to God. Some may take time to talk to God while driving down an LA Freeway. It seems no two people are exactly the same, but a relationship with God starts with accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. Talking to person after person, that personal relationship is key. I hear person after person, saying they have never regretting accepting Jesus into their heart and life. Life happens, bad things happen to good people, but once you accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour, he will never leave you. You may face difficulties in life, you may make mistakes, but Jesus will be with you thru it all. I went thru four divorces and God intended marriage to be for life, yet he helped me thru. He answered prayer even though life was troubling. A personal relationship with God needs to be as important as food and water for the natural body. We are spiritual beings as well and need that relationship with God our creator. In the midst of all the confusion, we find in this world, inside the church and out,  God is the stabilizing force that holds us and this world together. I may not think like you, I may not worship exactly the same but I need God as does everyone else. God takes us on our journey from where we are at that moment of accepting Jesus as Lord and Saviour. We could never get to a place that is good enough on our own. we just simply come to him and start our relationship with him from right where we are at that moment of realization that, yes, I too need God. Now how did I get from Nothing new under the sun to all this? God bless LVZ.

rewriting destiny*

We hear things about people rewriting history or attempting to rewrite history. History is gone it's done its finished. It is was it is, you cannot go back and relive it. One thing we can do is rewrite our destiny. Destiny:  One's inevitable fate. There again,  Inevitable: Impossible to avoid or prevent. We do have a destiny ahead of us at the end of this life.  Hebrews 9:26-28 "for then would He have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once, in the end of the world, hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.  And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the Judgment, so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto those who look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin, unto salvation."  We do have to stand before God someday if we accept Christ as our savior or do not, the choice is ours. All have sinned, since Adam, all creation was born in sin. But Jesus sacrificed himself to pay the penalty for our sins. When we accept Jesus as Lord and saviour we rewrite our destiny. Our inevitable fate is rewritten. We cannot change the past or where we came from but we can change our final destination.  II Timothy 1:12 "For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day." We can rewrite our destiny and rest knowing we are secure in God's hand's until our final destination is reached. Yesterday is gone, what it was it remains. But the future and our destiny is in our hands. The decision is ours, and that is what it is: a decision to accept Christ as Lord and Saviour and our future, our destiny is secure.  Someone once said, " He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose." God Bless, LVZ.

My Testimony*

I believe that I asked Jesus into my heart as a young child of about 5 or 6 years old. I was raised in church all my growing up years. Even in my teen years and into young adulthood I remember being in church. In my late 20's I developed a bad attitude towards church and Christians in general. For about 4 years I didn't step inside the door of a church. I felt at that time most Christians were hypocrites. In the fall of 1983, I went up into the woods on a logging road intending to end it all. God if you care, if you really care send someone to help me, I cried out. I never could pull the trigger and come down off that mountain about the same. I was out of work, got laid off from the best job I ever had. My first marriage was a nightmare. I felt unloved and unwanted. On the first Sunday of January 1984, my Father-in-law asked me to bring his daughter up to a revival to sing. I told him I would and I did. It was a small church and maybe there were 5 people in the congregation that night. I was sitting in the back behind everyone else. I had thought to myself before going, I can sit thru another church service, no big deal. The preliminaries were over and a minister by the name of Mike Mathis got up to preach. He was the current Pastor at the church where I use to attend and where my wife at that time was attending.  He got behind the pulpit and his words were something like this: "Leon, someday you will stand before God to give an account for your life. God is not going to ask who hurt you, who did this or that to you. God is simply going to ask what have you done with Jesus." I broke down in tears and repented of my sins at the altar in that little church in Burlington Washington. My life has not been perfect since that night. I have been thru 4 divorces since that time. But it seemed each time God had me at a place where I received support for whatever I was going thru. Leading up to that time I felt like God had been talking to me. I felt like God had been saying things like, Leon, if you think it is so easy being a Christian why don't you show them how it is done. I've been trying ever since that night in January of 1984. One time God showed me how self-righteous I was. Other times I struggle with sin in my life. During periods of being single, I did have sexual relationships outside of marriage. Many are the words I wish I could pull back.  But since that night in January of 1984, I have continued walking and seeking God for my life. I made many foolish decisions and suffered for them, but God never left me and helped me thru every divorce, every personal struggle I faced.  I have never regretting accepting Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. Its been a good 29.5 years since that night. I have faced many hurts and difficulties since that night, but never alone. I would recommend Jesus to anyone who will listen. I guarantee you'll never be sorry.  Every body's walk is different, everyone's relationship with God is personal and does not have to look like mine or anyone else. He can be your Daddy, your best friend, whatever you need. God is awesome. My life has not been perfect, but overall it has been good since I accepted Jesus into my heart and life. Find a church home to be fed from God's word and to fellowship with other Christians. You will not find a perfect church, they are all made up of imperfect people like me.  But ask God to direct you to a church and he will. God bless, LVZ.

Imperfect People*

I have been reading in Genesis about Abraham and Sarah. God made a promise to them that their offspring would be numbered like the sands on the seashore. The promise was made when Abraham was 75 and Sarah was 65. They were old and because of that, they showed their imperfections. God keeps his promises, but they must have had doubts over the 24 or 25 years they waited for the promise to be fulfilled. First, Sarah came up with a plan to help God. She gave Hagar to Abraham as another wife. This way they could help God keep his promise by Sarah having children thru Hagar. Bad plan, Sarah felt disrespected after Hagar had a son and it caused conflict. 10 years had gone by when Sarah came up with this plan. God reinstates his promise, he tells Abraham he will have a son by Sarah. Sarah overhears the conversation and laughs, can she bear a child in her old age? She denies laughing. Imperfect people lie. She blames Abraham when her plan doesn't go well. Imperfect people blame others. How long will this country blame George Bush for whats happening in this administration? God says - is anything too hard for God? More years happen and Abraham again tries to help God keep his promise. He tells God, its OK if Ishmael is the son of God's promise. Ishmael will also be a great nation, but he is not the promise. When Abraham is 100 and Sarah is 90 years old,  God fulfills his promise and Isaac is born. God keeps his promises in spite of our help, in spite of our impatience, age doesn't matter, imperfect people don't matter. God keeps his promises. We may tire of waiting, we may have doubts, we may come up with alternate plans, but know God keeps his promises in spite of it all. Nothing is too hard for God. He promised to come again. He promised he was building a place for us out there somewhere. I remember in Sunday school many years ago in the early '60s, One teenager said he didn't think the 1965 model year cars would come out before the second coming of Christ. I remember that statement for some reason, perhaps its because I have always had an interest in Cars. I have some 60 plus hot wheels cars hanging on my wall. I have owned  50 plus vehicles in my lifetime. A lot of time has passed since that statement was made so many years ago. God keeps his promises. Be ready, it will happen someday. Sometimes I look at the sorry state of our nation. the laws we pass that are contrary to God's laws. The financial disaster that looms on the horizon and wonder can it be far away. Don't really know, but do know God keeps his promises. Imperfect people need God. God bless, LVZ.

Not waiting for God*

As I read on in Genesis, is the familiar story of Abraham and Sarah. They had a son born to them when Abraham was 100 and I think Sarah was 90. God had promised them to make a great nation from their offspring some 25 years earlier. They were already old and as time went on Sarah suggested  to Abraham that he take her maidservant Hagar as his wife. Abraham did and Hagar got pregnant, and Sarah was upset when she felt Hagar disrespected her. God told Abraham, I will make a great nation from Ishmael but he is not the son I promised you. I think Ishmael was about 13 years old when Isaac was born. Isaac was the son of God's promise. There was a lot of conflict over the years with Hagar and Ishmael and Sarah. Eventually Abraham sent Hagar away. That conflict did not have to happen if Abraham and Sarah had not tried to help God keep his promise. There is another story about Lot and his two daughters. After Angels led Lot and his family away from Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot and his daughters out of fear went to some mountains to live in a cave. They had at first gone to a nearby city but it seems after they saw the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah they did flee to the mountains where they dwelt alone, Just Lot and his two daughters. I guess the daughters were afraid for the future. They had no husbands, so they too took matters into their own hands and got Lot drunk and lay with him and both of them got pregnant by their Father. It seems there were many other cities around besides the cities that God destroyed and I am sure with time their fears would have subsided. I believe we are pretty much the same today, we get impatient and do things our way instead of waiting on God. I know the world was not populated as it is today but their were many other peoples around. In reading in Genesis, once Abraham had Sarah claim they were brother and sister instead of husband and wife. A king took Sarah to be his wife and God caused bad things to happen and he asked Abraham, why did you lie and tell me Sarah was your sister, now I am in trouble with God. Abraham replied that they were indeed brother and sister. They had the same father but not the same mother. Anyway Abraham once again  did not trust God to protect him and he caused trouble for others. I guess the thing I take away from these stories is to wait on God. It has always been hard for me and just like these people the resulting conflict from doing things my way has not been fun. We do need to trust God when we place our lives in his hands. He has our best interests at heart. He keeps his promises. We may tire of waiting, but God does keep his promises.
God bless, LVZ.

God created confusion*

In Genesis 11 verses 5 and 6 "But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The Lord said, If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them." Then in verse 7 he confused their languages, so they will not understand each other.  I think this shows that we can do more than we think if we are aligned with God. He can stop us as he did here. I think it shows how important communication is to getting any thing done. I think of the limitations I had on my life, I could have done much more if I'd believed in myself. I also feel it is important to be in God's will. Outside of his will we can face many hindrances. Inside God's will nothing is impossible. Its so important to look for God's direction in our lives. We could eliminate a lot of difficulties just by being in his will. I look back on my life and wish I'd listened better to God. He has always had our best interest at heart. Some times when he does say no, its because he sees much farther down the road of life than we do. He has our best in mind. God keeps his promises. After all the centuries that have past from the flood of Noah, we still see the rainbow in the sky. The rainbow is a reminder to God of a promise he made to mankind after the flood as recorded in Genesis chapter 9. God keeps his promises. He sees the future, he knew us before we were born. He has our best interests at heart, why not trust him?
Jokingly during a conversation recently where there was a misunderstanding about when work would be completed, I blamed God, he caused confusion way back at the tower of Babel. One of the guys said, I wouldn't go there or say that. I said I think God is OK with us having a sense of humor. After all he created humans, he must have a sense of humor. How many times have I seen or heard misunderstanding, communication gone bad. I said something, that I knew what I meant, but it sure didn't come out of my mouth the same as I was thinking in my head. When we don't communicate clearly, we slow things down. We stop progress. Many times on the job I would rewrite an email or a tipsheet because it could be misunderstood. God caused confusion at the tower of Babel, to stop their progress.   He did not want this building of the tower to continue. It was not in his divine will. But notice in verse 6 ... " then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them." With God's help we can do great things, in his will we can accomplish much. I have received much in my lifetime from God's hands. I encourage anyone to trust God with your life. You will not be disappointed. If you have tried everything else, why not try God. What do you have to lose? Like Dr Phil says, Hows that working for you?  If life is not working very well, try God. God bless, LVZ.

Man is the same*

I was reading in Genesis and in the third chapter is when Eve and Adam disobeyed God and ate the fruit from the only tree God told them not too. Then in chapter 4, you read about Cain and Abel. I really don't understand Cain's killing Abel. It was nothing Abel did, God didn't like Cain's offering but accepted Abel's. Abel brought of the first fruits of his flocks, I am not sure why God was unhappy with Cain's offering. Romans 3:23 says "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." As the accounts in Genesis shows, this is indeed true. All have sinned and fall short. This sin is in us from the time we are born. Until we realize it, we may think living a good life is enough. But God has called all men to repentance. The seed of sin is in all of us. We may be a goody-two-shoes, go to church every week of the year, every year of our life and we still fall short. We need God to guide us and mold us. Just as a good parent tries to mold their children into productive members of society so God wishes to mold us into productive members of the human race. Not everyone will be a Billy Graham or a Mother Theresa. But God is the giver of life and he wants us to freely accept him as Lord of our life. No one knows our potential like God does. Many of us count our selves inadequate and yet God has a purpose for each of us if we will submit to his plan. I remember my early years on my job, I was content with what I was doing. I never dreamed I could be an Engineer. I don't know why except perhaps in the family we grew up in we were put down so much of our lives. But God still created me and had better expectations for me than I realized. One day after I finished a computer class off hours, I realized that the computer was going to take the job I really liked and do it better and faster. I considered my place in the mockup organization and thought I didn't have enough seniority to stay even if they kept a small skeleton crew in mockup. I realized I needed to prepare for a different job. I kept taking computer classes, and the company even encouraged me by allowing me to adjust my time so I would get paid for going to class. One day I was talking to a planner, a salaried worker, and he mentioned they had an opening in their office. I asked, Do you think I could do it? Sure you could. I applied and got the job. In the salary position, I continued my computer classes and a couple years later an Engineering Supervisor came to me and said, your boss tells me you've been taking computer classes. We need CATIA jockeys, do you think you'd be interested? If so come over to my area and talk to my lead. I did, I took an hour of vacation time to cover my absence from the job and went to the Engineering office and looked it over. I didn't realize at the time I did it but I had been working with this supervisors wife for some time. She was a clerk in our office on day shift and I was working second shift alone. When I finished all my work, if I saw something on her desk I could do, I would do it to keep busy. She would come in many days expecting to have a busy day ahead and find a lot of her work had been done by me. Most professional employees would consider themselves above clerical work, so I had made a good impression on her and her husband. Anyway, I got the job on the engineering side. I remember the first time I signed a drawing as Engineer, I was so proud of myself.  I was content and did not dream of going any farther. One day they needed a lead for our crew. I did not expect to become Lead Engineer. I was asked if I would take the lead position on a temporary basis until they found a lead. I agreed, and two months later they asked me if I would just stay as Lead. I didn't have to go thru a selection process or anything, the job was mine. Most of my life I never realized my potential, but God did and I believe God promoted me. I want to be in his will. He has truly blessed me. It is the same for all of us, God knows our potential better than we do.  He created us and has a purpose for us. Trust him with your life and you will not be disappointed. God bless, LVZ.