Church

So many times I think about how God answered my prayer for a Church when I moved here to Tupelo. I visited many Churches and was not satisfied. These were good churches, I don't want to say anything negative about them. I believed I was attending the best Church of my life in Tacoma and wanted something as good. I started to think my expectations were to high. Its been almost two years now and I am so happy I kept looking until I felt in my spirit, it was the right place. I have not been disappointed. Every so often I am reminded how blessed I am. I feel I should be doing more. I lack confidence in my abilities. Many times I feel like the weakest link. But God put me in a place where I am taught a good word. Sunday School is not reading a Sunday School book word for word. I am challenged and blessed. In the present class we are studying Romans and it is good. The Elder that is facilitating this class is gone a lot, (he is a businessman that does a lot of traveling). He always has someone there to carry on, just as prepared as he is. I was in another class for a while and it was just as good. I am not sure I still think the Church in Tacoma is the best any more, but if I returned to Tacoma I know I would at least start at CFAN. Hope Church in Tupelo is a good place. I recently heard another couple that started attending about a year ago. Their experience sounded so much like mine. Their church was disintegrating and they were looking for a new place to attend. They finally visited Hope Church and never left, she said.  After my first Sunday I may have visited other places but thats all it was, a visit for whatever reason. Not looking for a church anymore. I am happy where I am at. Occasionally we visit Springhill or Elijah's church (New Providence, I think is the name). I feel Hope Church is the best I ever attended. I sometimes wonder if that is because that is where I am at, would I feel like CFAN is the best if I ever returned to Tacoma? I have been at Hope Church now as long as I was at CFAN. I never joined CFAN because I knew I was moving. To feed myself I still listen to CFAN on the internet.  Elijah was partaking in a devotion the other night and prayed. At first he was asking his mom to go up with him but he went by himself and did good. Then he helped the Deacons take up the offering. I generally just pray a simple little God bless the food at meal time. One day Elijah told me, he can pray better than me.   He is only five. I hope this sticks with him as he grows older. He reminds me of me. Church on Sunday is not enough. Just as we need physical food daily, we need spiritual food daily. I try to feed myself by reading scripture daily. I listen through the week to others. My favorites are Charles Stanley at In Touch, Dr. Jeremiah, Joel Osteen. If I miss Hope on Sunday because of being gone, I listen on the computer sometime that week. I try to feed myself by reading God's word and listening to these speakers. They are the best as far as I am concerned. We have a responsibility for what we take in. Just as we need to be careful about what we eat and not eat just junk food. The same is true spiritually, we need more than junk food. I need to watch what I take in spiritually, no one can do that for me. The Bible does say to forsake not the assembling together. Go to church but you need personal time daily. God bless, LVZ. Today I will go to Sunday School and then go with Barbara to Springhill.  

Add these things

A few days ago I read II Peter 1:5-11.  " 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters,[a] make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  I guess the part that I really thought about is verse 10. If you do these things you will never stumble.  Every one of us starts out with a measure of faith. Add to that faith goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection, love. What is this really saying? Faith is only the starting point. Accepting Jesus as lord and Savior.  From that point we try to follow Jesus, by copying him. Goodness, the King James says virtue. Would this mean following Christ in our actions? We cannot ever get good enough to be God's child, we must come just as we are. Faith.  This process starts on the inside and works outwardly. We can never be good enough. All have sinned. We start from where we are right now. Imperfect, sinful creation, and we go from there. Adding Christ like attributes. self control and perseverance, godliness, the King James says brotherly kindness / mutual affection above, and then love. If you possess these qualities in increasing measure, says to me even though we become a christian, it is an ongoing process.  We learn (knowledge), we exercise self control. We give up and resist some temptations in our attempt to please God. Perseverance and self control require action by us. Choosing to believe God when things go wrong and press on any way. Just because you become a christian does not mean you will never face a hardship. But we press on. God sometimes uses trials to teach us or shape us in some area of our lives. Some how when I started this journey as a very young child, I got the idea, I needed to be perfect when I accepted Christ. I wasn't and it discouraged me.  I also saw many other professing Christians that were not perfect either. I cannot see into their heart, but God can just like he sees into my heart. When I read this scripture, I see it as a process that starts when we except Jesus as Lord and Savior. Sometimes I see myself as the weakest link, I know me. God knows me better then I know me. He accepted me and invited me to become his child. If I am pleasing to him, all is ok. I read this as saying, I trust him and try to do my best.  Add to my life as I learn and follow him.  To be like Jesus, that is my goal. If you do these things you will never stumble. We are secure in his hands, imperfections and all. I will be welcomed into the eternal kingdom of Jesus some day. I am secure in his hands. As Charles Stanley would say, Trust God and leave the consequences to him.  It starts with relationship. We cannot fix ourselves, we trust him and try to be like him.  Let him fix us and change us as he sees fit.  Make every effort to confirm your calling and election, Asking Jesus into our hearts and he will never leave us or forsake us.  Galatians 5: 22-23: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, longsuffering (sounds sorta like perseverance), gentleness, goodness (there is that word again) ,faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."  It starts with relationship.  Just as we are, where we are.  I need more of these things in my life.  God bless, LVZ. 

Trust God before the temptation

These were words from a sermon by Bill Wolfson. This is another time when a phrase stood out.  I wish many a time I had trusted God before the temptation instead of trusting God to fix things after I mess up. These are some true words. How much better off would we be if we had trusted God at the start of a temptation. But we want what we want and sometimes use God's word to justify our actions. Meeting a legitimate need in our lives in an illegitimate way.  After the mess is started we go to God and cry out help me out of this mess. Been there done that more than once. We should go to God, this is not saying don't go to God when we mess up. It is just better for us and we would suffer less pain if we would learn to trust God before we give in to the temptation. God knows our needs and he wants the best for us. It comes down to trusting him with our lives. We all will face temptations, from time to time.  God will make a way of escape, God's word says so. Do we go to God before or after the temptation? If we would go to God at the start, how much trouble would we avoid? Sometimes I wish I could start over. I can't, none of us can. The best we can do is start from where we are at right now. Trusting God before giving in to a temptation.  God bless LVZ.

Love

I look for ideas what I want to write about in just about every sermon or Sunday School class. Some times its just a phrase I hear someone say that gets me to thinking. I don't mean to steal others sermons or anything like that but I do want to apply the word to my life. Someone read I Corinthians 13:5 and the phrase "keeps no record of wrongs" caught my attention. I believe its the New International Version that reads that way. Love keeps no record of wrongs,  that is a difficult thing to do.  It almost seems unnatural to not keep a record of wrongs. Even in a marriage relationship, it seems foreign. I suppose that is because of our sin nature. Our sin nature would want us to keep a record of wrongs, so we don't get hurt again. This is not telling us to stay in an abusive relationship. I think that is important to understand. In a normal relationship, where there is give and take, I think is where this applies. Every one has a bad day and may say inappropriate things but not every day. Once again it ties back to a forgiving attitude. To truly love, I think one needs a forgiving attitude, because there are no perfect people. It is important to develop that forgiving attitude in relationships. Being forgiven by God is tied to our being able to forgive others. Christ also told one disciple to forgive 7 times 70. To not keep a record of wrongs and throw it up again every available instance would require a forgiving attitude. Love is how people are to be able to recognize us as Christians and I think not keeping a record of wrongs is a big part of love and keeping a forgiving attitude.  When we have been hurt and bring up that hurt again and again are we not keeping a record of wrongs? I think there are times when we need to talk about things and process information, but at the same time perhaps we need to pray for healing also. There have been times when I asked God to help me forgive. Taking things out of our memory may be God's job. God seems to have this perfected because he remembers our sins no more. I remember talking about the hurts from different relationships and as time passes, I talk less about it. I heal and perhaps it is time to get rid of the record of wrongs and not talk about them again. If I do bring up a particular hurt again,  perhaps I need to continue to pray for healing also. Love does not keep a record of wrongs and love is suppose to define us as Christians. If a hurt keeps resurfacing, perhaps it is time to ask for God's help. God bless, LVZ.

Godliness and contentment

In I Timothy 6:6 it says: "But godliness with contentment is great gain." Word from another speaker just a few days ago focused on this scripture. Isn't that what we need? Godliness and contentment? Godliness to me sounds like trying to imitate God in our lives. Applying the word to our lives or even to our heart. How does this apply to me as I read scripture. Loving others as God loves. Godliness in our lives. lining up with God's word and wishes for us. And then together with Godliness is contentment. God will supply our needs.  Am I content, with what God has given me? Do I want more or perhaps I see others that have more than me and I desire what they have. Contentment with where I am and what God has given me. Together they are great gain. We need both godliness and contentment in our lives, together. I think this was a good word for me. God bless, LVZ.

cooperation or manipulation?

A few days ago I listen to a sermon by one of my favorite Pastors, Bill Wolfson. In this sermon he talked about cooperation or manipulation. I have thought a lot about that. Sometimes I wonder if my prayers are trying to manipulate God to do what I want. Isn't it suppose to be cooperation? Should I not align myself with God wishes for me? I thought that was a very good word. I want to cooperate with God. He is the God that created all things including me. I have seen all types of praying in my lifetime. I've seen what many people call a powerful prayer and sometimes when I think about it, it sounds like trying to manipulate God. When I think of the scripture let your petitions be made known, that sounds different to me. That sounds like a child asking can I have a cookie. The parent or who ever has the cookies may say yes or perhaps no because you'll spoil your appetite for dinner. Its God's will we need to be in alignment with. He watches out for us just as a parent may say no because they know you need more of the good stuff at meal time. If it be thy will, are those not the words Jesus used in his prayer. Even at the cross, let this cup pass from me, but thy will be done.  He knew the terrible actions ahead of him that he would be going through, yet Jesus prayed thy will be done. That sounds like cooperation, knowing God is in control. He has our best interests at heart. A parent is not being mean when they withhold that cookie right before dinnertime. They are looking out for the best interests of the child. So it is with God, he has our best in mind. O that I could trust and cooperate with God. God bless, LVZ.

Live the gospel

"You are the salt of the world. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty again? It's good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled by people."  As I thought about this scripture found in Matthew chapter 5, I thought about my life. This blog is my attempt to do what I can to promote the gospel that has made such a difference in my life. I will never be a Paul, or John, or a Billy Graham. I will never have the impact of some of the Pastors that have influenced me through the years. But I must be salt. I must bear fruit.  Some times it may seem to be discouraging when we don't see any impact. I have lived this life a long time. I think the key is to just be salt, Flavor my world and those I come in contact with my christian salt.  I think that I just need to live the gospel as best I can. We are all called to be ministers, servants in some way. I remember a sermon years ago by a pastor at Sisco Heights. Nobody wants to live, it seems we Christians all want to leave here. I wish I could remember that sermon word for word because I will not do it justice. Especially in my growing up years, we heard so much about a rapture and Christ coming back to take us out of this world.  Really we just need to live out the gospel in our lives. We need to be salt. I cannot preach a sermon like so many of the Pastors that have blessed me over the years. But I have been on this journey a long time. I see the elders and the deacons at the church I now attend, they are a blessing to me and others in the congregation. Many of them have been on this journey a long time. They are now teaching and directing this local church. I too have been on this journey a long time and sometimes I feel I should be having the same impact as they are having on this congregation. I may not have the impact that even they are having on the people of this particular congregation and on me. I sometimes feel I am the weakest link, but God's strength is made perfect in weakness.  But I must be salt, and live the gospel. The vast majority of people will just be salt. I guess I am beginning to realize that is all I will ever be, just salt. That may be all I will ever be, but if they could truthfully put on my tomb stone that I was salt, I will have lived a good life.  May I live the gospel, may I have a forgiving spirit. As many times as I have blogged about forgiving, still I need to keep that attitude alive in my life, every day.  I prayed many a prayer as I went through divorce after divorce, God help me to keep a sweet spirit and not let this hurt harden me. I knew if I couldn't forgive I would become tasteless and good for nothing.  I realize that I caused hurt also and need to be forgiven. When a marriage fails, you cannot say it was 100% the other persons fault. We have ownership of our part. Each of those ex's as we call them has a soul. I worry as I tell of my experiences, especially when it involves one of them that I don't do it in such a way to hurt them. I recently saw a posting on facebook, I ran into my ex,  and put it in reverse and I hit him again. I know in times past I would have made remarks like that.  I don't want to feel that way about my ex's. I don't want to post negative disparaging remarks. It's done, over with, they have a soul and were created in the image of God just as I was. Probably the hardest one was my first, children involved and it was 20 years long.  I just need to be salt. I just need to live the gospel in all area's of my life. After this life is over, I expect to be walking heaven and I hope to see my ex's there as well.  God bless, LVZ.

My Prayer

Dear God,
I love you and need you in every aspect of my life. I need you to help me as a husband, to be the best that I can be. I need you as a father to my children that I could love them every day as I need to. That I could be the example how to live this life. I lift up my children, Jeremy, Carla, Haji, Eric, Summer, Asia. Help them to be the parents they need to be. To love, provide and protect their children and my grandchildren. Bring them into relationship with you. I lift up my grandchildren, Gio, Callia, Rose, Elijah, Adelaide. Bless them and keep them each day in your tender mercy. Help them to know of you, the God that can shape them into the men and women you want them to be.  Protect and keep them everyday, providing for their needs, physical, spiritual, emotional and mental. Love them and keep them under your protective hand. Help them to find relationship with you. Help me to be a good granddaddy.  Watch over my wife and keep her in your care, help her on her job to fulfill your will for her life. Bless and keep her everyday.  I lift up my family, my Mom and Brothers and Sisters. Keep them in your care every day. I lift up my church family, Hope Church Tupelo. Bless and guide our Pastor Scooter, our Elders and Deacons. Guide them as they lead Hope Church. Provide for the needs of Hope Church. Father we lift up our nation and our President, our Congressmen and women, our Senators. Help us as a nation to return to you and to make laws and lead this country in a way that is pleasing to you. I need you to guide me and help me in every aspect of my life, my family needs you, my church needs you, my nation needs you.  I also ask that you would bless and keep Asia, a fatherless child. Your word says you are the father to the fatherless. This is a fatherless child you put on my heart many years ago. Bring her in relationship with you. Help her as a mother to be a mother to Titus and Timothy Bless and keep these in your name.  Father for all these many requests I thank you for the answer. I have seen you answer prayer after prayer over the years and I thank you. I thank you for dying for my sins. I love you and need you everyday.
                                                                  Your child, LVZ

The God of the Mountain

I heard Lynda Randle sing this song recently and thought how true it is.  "For the God of the mountain, is still God in the valley. When things go wrong, He'll make them right. God of the good times is still God in the bad times. God of the day, is still God of the night."  I am not sure I got every word of this chorus right, but it is true. Just as Daniel trusted God in the good times, he also trusted him in the lion's den. Many have gone through great difficulty and more than once I have heard people say it was God's grace or their faith in God that got them through. I once heard that fewer people can handle the cup of prosperity than can handle the cup of adversity. I found this true in my own life. During a time when it seemed I was prospering, I walked away from God. I was self sufficient. I then went through the lowest period of my life. and when I got through that valley, I tried to never let good times bring me down again. I need God and I never want to let anything come between me and God. I went through divorce 4 times and believed God would bring me through and he did. I was amazed at some of the prayers he answered for me in these hard times and I hope I never forget. There was many a hurt suffered in each situation but God's grace was sufficient. What I consider to be the worst and lowest point of my life was prior to the 4 divorces. I did hurt, but God was there. I will never forget the time I was praying about my marriage sometime in 2001 as I was driving down Yakima street in Tacoma. I was saying something like God I know you hate divorce and it is my fault I am in this mess, I think this woman is cheating on me  but she does not want a divorce. I cannot see what you see, perhaps I am being too hasty. As I was praying I felt impressed to go one block over and get off of Yakima Street, because my wife was living on Yakima Street a couple of blocks ahead.  I didn't want to appear like I was spying on her. I turned and went down Park Street. I was still praying about this situation when I came up to the stop sign at 56th street,  I was about the fourth car back from the cross street. There I saw my wife crossing the street and getting into a van with the man I believed she was cheating with.  I felt like the still small voice of God said to me, I showed you this so you would know, not to make a scene. I did not make a scene and drove on. I moved on in my life also.   God has been good to me, Mountain top or Valley. It makes no difference. God bless, LVZ.

discipline

On the book of Daniel is about a disciplined young man. We see him as a teenager captured during a war. Even in these circumstances Daniel tries to honor his God. He convinces his captores to allow him and his fellow Jewish prisoners to continue eating per their Jewish customs. God honors these faithful young men with their health.  They were disciplined. Daniel continued this lifestyle his whole life. He prays to his God daily and that get him into trouble. Daniel was a faithful servant and prospered because of it. Daniels co-workers were envious of him and tried to find a way to bring him down. They new he was faithful in his prayer life. In this 6th chapter of Daniel he is now in his 80's and still practices his faith the same as when he was a teenager. His enemies got the King to make a law that no one could worship or pray to any God other than the King for 30 days. As soon as this law went into effect they went to Daniel's home and witnessed his praying as he had done for as long as they had known him. Per the law, Daniel was thrown into a den of lions. Daniel survived the night in the den of lions because the God he served shut the mouth of the lions. Daniel didn't know how this would turn out, but he served God anyway. He would win, no matter how it ended. If God had not chosen to deliver him, he would have been ushered into an eternity with God. this story of Daniel shows how disciplined he was his whole life. God blessed him. I thought about my own life. I certainly have not been disciplined as Daniel was. But I have been blessed. I received promotion I didn't seek several times. Once after things were going badly for my company and layoffs were looming, I received an upgrade to the next level. I was a level 2 employee retention 1.  Retention 1 employees are rated to be kept longer than a retention level 2 or 3. I knew I was very close to being laid off. My supervisor came to me and said he was going to make me a level 3 employee. A grade higher than I was. I also knew I would then start as a level 3 employee as a retention 3. those first to go when layoffs came. I thought I was doomed. I didn't realize at the time that all level 2 would be gone before they started laying off the level 3's.
I thought they would keep the level 2 retention 1 longer than retention 3 in level 3. I was mistaken, he saved my job. By the end of that month every level 2 regardless of retention rating was gone. Even though I was starting at the bottom of the level 3's I still had my job. I wasn't a perfect employee but I did try to keep myself busy.  Another time I agreed to take a temporary assignment as lead for our group until they could find a lead. I didn't seek it, in fact I had not even planned to apply. I was content with what I was doing. After a couple of months our supervisor asked if I would just take the job. I didn't have to go through a selection process, interview etc. They just gave me the job.  I had a new supervisor and most leads were level 4's. my supervisor wanted to try and get me an upgrade to level 4 as the other leads and had me do a write up about some of the more recent things I had done. She was new and thought she'd have a battle getting the upgrade.  When she came back from the meeting where promotions were decided on, she told me, it was so easy. She said your reputation precedes you and many of the supervisors she was competing with for raises knew me. They knew me and how I had worked for them years earlier and it was a slam dunk. I did  not have an over abundance of self confidence but God protected and promoted me anyway.  I did try to keep busy on all my jobs and there was a time in my first salary job when I worked alone in this office on second shift, I would do the office clerks job when I was done with my work. I didn't do it to get noticed but simply to keep busy. It was noticed by management and got me my next job. God has certainly been good to me. I do not claim to be the most disciplined individual, but my efforts  were always rewarded. God bless, LVZ.