A Praying Woman

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. James 5:16
I know I have talked about this scripture before but it is on my mind again as I was listening to the radio the other day as some one talked about Harriet Tubman. Harriet was a praying woman. I looked up on google what I could find but as is common, it seems they don't like to mention the spiritual much.  The radio speaker told about an incident as she was a conductor on the underground railroad. As she was leading her passengers from safe house to safe house, she came to one that had been raided the day before, and the people were afraid to help her. She spent the night in prayer for God to help her. Most of what I am saying right now is from my memory from the radio speaker. She heard a soft voice saying there is a wagon by the barn and a horse in the stable as some one slowly walked by where she and her passengers were hiding. She went to the barn and did find a wagon and did find a horse and harness in the barn. She hitched up the horse to the wagon and loaded up her hungry passengers and went on her journey to help more slaves to freedom. Her passengers were hungry and in the wagon they found baskets of food. It was told that Harriet carried a shot gun she called Old Betsy and at times some of her passengers would be so weary and ant to turn back. She would threaten them with Old Betsy and would not allow any of her passengers to turn back. She had a price on her head of thousands of dollars and still she went back twice a year to lead slaves to freedom. I read of any where from 13 to 17 trips were made back to the south to free slaves. One article said she assisted 3,000 slaves to freedom. She assisted 300 to Canada. Even though she couldn't read she organized schools for others. She was a spy in the civil war for the Union Army. She was a praying woman who ended up having a tremendous impact on our Nation. She also worked for woman's rights and created a home in Auburn, New York called ‘Harriet Tubman Home for Aged and Indigent Negro'. She spent the last years of her life in that home herself.  The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. this is just one example of a praying person accomplishing much through God's direction and help. There are many ways and avenues to serve God. I believe our President is God's servant. Although we don't know of his own Christian experience, at most Trump may be a Baby Christian if at all. He needs our prayers. The demons of hell are against him as he fulfills a God given mission. We are in a spiritual battle for this nation. Just listen to the hatred spilling out from every protest. Things that make common sense for the safety of our nation and our people are being fought against. We need to pray for this President like never before. We Christians need to have his back and be praying for him. He will succeed on the prayers of God's people. This election has God's signature all over it. One thing that convinces me it is God's doing is the amount of activity against this man. The stuff he is doing to protect our borders is common sense stuff and not that different from his predecessors. Yet he is fought tooth and nail. This is spiritual war fare and it will be won on our knees.  God bless, LVZ.

Listen to Advice

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice. Proverbs 12:15
Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future. Proverbs 19:20
There is a saying that Hindsight is 20/20. Now that I am in my senior years, I can look back and think, I wish I had listened. I remember the first time I went to Divorce Recovery Class. I was going through my first divorce, and I didn't listen. It takes time to heal from a broken relationship and I did not listen. After a twenty year marriage fails, they advise you in this Divorce Recovery Class to remain single for one year for every four or five you were married. For a twenty year marriage that would be 4 to 5 years. I was married again in six months. I had not allowed my self to heal. I thought for some reason it didn't apply to me. I was different. The way of a fool is right in his own eyes. It took me years to realize and take ownership of my own part in the failure of my marriage. That is why we need time. We will not see our own garbage right away. If we do not heal, we carry that baggage with us into the next relationship. Marriage requires work and do not mess up a new relationship with baggage from an old relationship. A wise man listens to advice. I use this example from my own life. This wisdom is good for more than just marriages. Listen to those with more years, more experience, they have some bought lessons. What I mean by bought lessons, they learned the hard way by not listening to advice. It would be wise to learn from other peoples mistakes, than to have to pay personally for every lesson. A wise man listens to advice, listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future. Everyone of us needs wise counsel, seek out someone older, more experienced, with their head on straight and listen. It is one thing to be a fool, it is another thing to continue to be a fool for thirty, forty, fifty years or more. If any lacks wisdom, let him ask of God. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.  James 1:5  I remember my first mentor at the Boeing company. They paired me, a new hire, with an old mechanic that had retired once and came back to work again. He gave me a piece of advice that I never forgot. Armond was his name, and he told me there is always feast and famine in the mockup world. Sometimes you will have more work than you can handle, other times it will be very slow. Keep a little block of wood on the top of your tool box with a piece of sand paper and in the slow times when you see the bosses coming , grab that piece of wood and be working on it.  A few weeks later, Armond walks by my tool box and grabs my little block of wood and teases, it is so smooth like a babies behind.  I did learn a lesson from that old timer and in all my years, I tried to look busy. Even in the computer age, I always tried to have something to work on. It was good advice and I followed it. I lasted a good 32 years and loved my job. God bless, LVZ.

Different Ways

Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. 1 John 3:18
It seems on any given day there is much discussion on political issues. We see various opinions posted on face book and twitter. I am not a twitter fan but I do look at face book. A recent discussion made me think what we base our opinions on. I know the word of God to be true and reliable. Many times we have learned we cannot trust the media. Many times I have posted something only to challenge its truthfulness. My thinking has changed especially when it comes to our rulers. We see so much corruption. I look at what is happening in our country, the riots the protest, just fighting any thing Trump. I believe the Bible is to be our guide in life, in politics, in relationships, etc. We can say so many things but do our deeds match our words?  Do we really guide our politics with the word of God? In talking with a Black man the other day, I questioned some things he said. He is a Christian man. I noted his thinking was purely liberal. His view was every time we have a Republican President, blacks do poorly. My thinking is how can this be, when I a White man think the opposite. How can it be that for me the economy improves and I do better. Yet for him he believes the opposite. How do we base our view point and on what. Is it group think? To me he thinks like any given Democrat, but can the same be said for me, I think like a Republican. There is much division in our land politically. We never use to be so divided. I know in being a Christian my views have changed. I remember not liking some previous liberal Presidents and thinking God gave us conservatives, when they were in office. So in comparing the last President and our current President, they are polar opposites, yet I believe God gives us our Presidents. I believe Obama got many conservatives to start praying. I started to say Christians as I have in the past. But this liberal Black man is a Christian also. He gave a very typical liberal response and even mentioned the infamous Trump comments about women. I gave a very typical conservative response, what about not only words but the actions of Hillary and Bill. how can you criticize Trump and ignore the actions of the Clintons? Trump is most liberals worst nightmare. Yet we conservatives are liking him. If God gave us Obama to drive us to our knees, perhaps he gave us Trump for the same reason to drive liberals to their knees? There are many liberal thinking Christians, has this driven them to seek God? If not why not? It is God that will save our nation. It is God that knows what is best for us, even if we think conservatively or liberally. It is God we need to look for guidance. I wonder is God is still trying to get us to call out to him. Let us love in deed and truth. God is the answer, in him truth is found. He is love. I love the Charlie brown picture posted on face book recently where Peppermint Patty asks "tell me what love is Chuck?" Charlie replies, "a man named Jesus".  We need God.  God bless, LVZ.

Honor

Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. Romans 13:7

It troubled me to read the report of a child throwing a piece of 2x4 at the Presidents limousine. How have we taught so much disrespect to our children? I remember when I was a child, my father voted for Nixon, but we would have all been awed to see President Kennedy drive by in a motorcade. That is as it should have been. What we are seeing today is wrong. Our country's health is bad. God ordains civil authority. I struggled with Presidents that I didn't vote for but I began to realize I needed to respect the office of President. I was talking with some one the other day that was a Democrat and a Christian. His thought was our Presidents are God's permissive will. I think we don't want to acknowledge that God would put someone in office of President that we don't like. But we see it in Bible History where God gave some Kings to bring his people back into dependence on him. I believe what we are seeing is more than just God's permissive will. God chose these Presidents for a reason and the biggest reason of all is to bring us back to a dependence on God almighty. A President is not going to fix our nation. It takes God in the hearts of men. We have corruption even on a local, state level. What are we teaching our children? Where is our country headed if we don't fix this? Let us give honor to whom honor is due. You may not like this President or even the last President but let us honor the office of the President of the United States. Let us be citizens first and Republican or Democrat second. Let us be citizens first and Liberal or Conservative second. If we are Christian, let us be Christian before any thing else and slander no man, honor to whom honor is due.  God bless, LVZ.

One Another

Therefore encourage one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:18
Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11  bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Colossians 3:13
Sometime look up one another scriptures in the Bible. I did through Bible Hub and there are a whole bunch of them. Above is just a few of them. Every once in a while you run into what I call lone ranger Christians. Christianity was not intended to be done alone. We need one another. We need a church body to be a part of. Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17 We need to encourage one another, God designed the foolishness of preaching to grow us. I hear some one every once in a while that feels they can be a Christian all by themselves. It is not true, unless it is some circumstance you cannot prevent, we need one another. I would go so far as to say we need accountability partners, people that are not afraid to tell us when we are wrong. People that know us well enough to say, I think you may be getting off track. We need small groups that we meet with to encourage, to pray with, to watch over us. We need one another.

Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Romans 12:10
When you read these one another scriptures it shows we were not intended to walk this Christian journey alone. If you do not belong to a Church body, pray for God's guidance and find one. The church body you attach to has a responsibility to you, to watch over you, teach you, encourage you, love you and do their best to see that you too make it to your eternal destination. We need one another. God bless, LVZ.

It Is A Sorry Dog That Doesn't Wag His Own Tail

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. Romans 12:3
It Is A Sorry Dog That Doesn't Wag His Own Tail, is a saying I have heard in the past. While I believe we need good self esteem, I also believe that comes from a right relationship with God. If we are successful, we owe it to God blessing us. Every good gift comes from God.
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Philippians 2:3
When ever I have heard that saying I also felt it was not quite scriptural. Our significance, should come from God. In fact God tells us he that would be the greatest should be a servant. I believe God works in our hearts to give us a servants heart. Just as Jesus gave his life a ransom for many.
And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Matthew 20:27
We are born selfish, it is probably a matter of self preservation. But it seems we have  to learn to serve others. I am sure there are many more scriptures I could use. God works in our heart to change us into the image of his Son.  I believe that is a lot of what is wrong in our world today, selfishness. Looking to our needs first, when we need to be concerned about others. When we become parents, we need to be devoted to raising our children. It is hard to be selfish and raise a child. They are born selfish and they need us. I believe there is nothing we can give our kids better than a good wholesome home life. As I look back over my own life, it is God that made it worthwhile. I failed in my own attempts, but God makes life worth the living. God is sovereign and he gives us life and breath. Give us a servants heart. God bless. LVZ.

Children

Remember the childish argument He hit me first, then the other child, no he hit  me first. and back and forth it goes.  Listening to face book is kinda like that. The Tea Party disrespected Obama first. Of course a conservative will remind liberals of their treatment of George W. Then the liberal will remind conservatives of their treatment of Bill Clinton. The other side will always go back a little farther and blame them first. It  is OK that we do it because they did it first. Just follow face book for a short while and who is the worst President. Trump, Obama, George W., Bill Clinton, George H.W., Reagan etc. etc. Perhaps it is time to stop acting and thinking like Children. What is a proper response? What is an adult response? It isn't justifying my actions because the other side did it first. That is not adult thinking. I have yet to clic on one of these, what President had the lowest or highest IQ.  Are we Children?  God bless, LVZ.

Pray

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. James 5:16
I want to tell this story of Dorothy Faye. She had been bedridden from birth from the story I was told. I googled Dorothy Faye Mendenhall to see what I could find and I did find her name on I think it was from a class of 1945 with her address in Groves Texas. Dorothy prayed for people and causes. She tried to make the most of her disability and prayed for people and causes. She had a calendar at her bedside divided up into half hour segments for 18 hours a day. And she prayed for people that were listed on her calendar It was told that her church baptized about 200 people a year. It was felt that much of that was because of her prayers. The Bible does tell us to pray and I listed just one short scripture that tells the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man  availeth much. Even though Dorothy Faye never received healing for herself she prayed for others. I remember when I was 19 I injured an eye and I went by an elderly member of the church I was attending in Kennewick Washington and asked her to pray for me, I wanted God to instantly heal my eye. I suppose if God had and he could have, I wonder if my attitude was right, or if I wanted to be healed for the right reason. That eye was painful. Anyway Sister Hooker did pray for me but God did not heal me instantly as I wanted. My eye did heal and I still use it today. I do know God answers prayer, he may not do it my way or he may even say no for some reason. Scripture does tell us to pray when we are sick or afflicted. I remember an Elder praying for someone in our small group. He said,  there is no magic in the oil, we anoint with oil and pray because the scripture tells us to. I know God has answered prayers for me. Sometimes I think about certain prayers I prayed that God answered in a marvelous way and I am encouraged. I also remember that desire to have my eye instantly healed when I was but 19. God didn't do it my way. I do not claim to understand it all. Why does God sometimes answer instantly and other times say no, and even others times he may work through a doctor or answer differently than we expect. He is God and he does what God wants. He is not a heavenly go for, to do our bidding. He is God. We ought always to pray. This scripture tells us the effectual fervent  prayer of a righteous man availeth much. We ought to pray for what ever the need is. God has answered enough prayers to make a believer out of me. Not always the way I think and sometimes even no, but he does want us to ask. He is still God and he does what is according to his will. I believe we really need to pray for this President. I lift him up almost every time I pray. Sometime I may just be driving along and I will talk to God about something specific and not my regular prayer time and I may not lift him up, but most days I do pray for My President. I have been praying for my children every day for as long as I can remember. I pray for one Asia McCullough for probably 16 years or more now. I have no idea how she is doing, but I pray anyway. We ought to pray. God bless, LVZ.

Do Unto Others

So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12  It seems like the left would like us to be tolerant to others. This is actually scriptural. I would like to say to the left to follow their own words. We see the attacks on anything Trump. We see the riots and protests shutting down even some of our freeways. We see the beatings of Trump supporters. We see the resistance of anything Christian, but some time back a school had Muslim day or different activities to show support for Muslims. It would be OK if it wasn't so one sided. Even our former President was trying to force the transgender bathroom policy on our schools. It was tolerance for less than 1% of our population, while the 50% of our woman are put at risk. Common sense would say use the bathroom related to the equipment God gave you. No man is going to feel threatened by another person with man parts using the men's restroom. But on the other hand a girl or even many women would feel threatened by a person with man parts in their bathroom. Why is this so hard to understand?  I wish the left would follow their former first lady's cliché, when they go low , we go high. I wish that is what the left would do. That is a nice sounding cliché, but that is not what they do. When you think differently, they attack.  How is that going high? How is that showing the tolerance they claim to have? They humiliate and tear down any opposition. We are not getting our way so we will fight and disrupt any way we can. We have a President elected that is following conservative and even Christian thought, how is the left being tolerant, or going high? Those words are meant for everyone but them. Do they shut down a gay business that refuses to accommodate  a belief other than their own. Do they shut down a Muslim owned business if they refuse to accommodate a customer that were to ask for something contrary to their religious beliefs? This same tolerance that the left likes to preach, they need to follow. They really do need to follow Michelle's cliché. They are good at talking not so good in the doing part. I don't see a whole lot of tolerance for opposing views if you oppose their views.  All talk, no walk. I believe the scripture above does call for tolerance and mutual respect. I believe we should respect this President as they respected the last President. But here too the right has had a problem with respect. We need to respect the office of President or even our police officers, because of the office they hold. Matthew 7:12 would be a good scripture to follow in our current political climate. God bless, LVZ.

Authority comes from God

The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will. (ESV) Proverbs 21:1
Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. (NLT) Romans 13:1 It has been difficult for me to explain why God would give us Obama and then Trump. I believe all Presidents are given by God. I don't always understand what God is doing or why. I believe Trump won because Christians prayed. It should be apparent by now that we need to continue to pray as never before. Our country is in a spiritual battle. We have been driven to our knees. If this country survives intact, it will be because we have touched the heart of God. There is evil running free on the streets. We were shocked when Tacoma Police officers were attacked at a coffee shop years ago and 4 of our public servants were killed. Today the attacks on police have increased. It is an evil time we live in. Our President has tried to enact border security to keep us safe from the very peoples that are out to destroy us and many in our nation fight him. When it doesn't make sense, it is probably spiritual in nature. Much of what we see happening today defies common sense. We have seen an escalation of attacks since 9/11 but the left is fighting any attempts to secure our borders. It doesn't make sense. We see attacks on our police increasing, the very ones that are fighting and disrespecting the police will call on them when they need them the most. And the police respond. It doesn't make sense. Statistics prove that a black man is many times less likely to be shot by police than a police man is shot by a black man but the rumor persists that the officers are against the black man. It doesn't make any sense. We are in a spiritual battle and we need to lift up our President and other leaders in prayer. Civil authority comes from God.  God gives us our rulers, and directs them as we see in the scriptures above. We Christians need to continue to pray daily for our leaders. The hatred we are fighting in this world comes from hell. I often think of Moses  and how the Israelites were winning in the battle as Moses kept his hands in the air, when he grew tired and lowered his hands , they started losing. Two men held his hands up while he prayed and the Israelites won. We must continue to pray for our President and our other leaders.  God is still on his throne in the heavens and directs our rulers. Let us go to God, our ultimate protection comes from God. Our President is a mere tool in his hands. But God can still move the hearts of rulers to do his will. Christians must call on God, must search our hearts to see if there are any wicked ways in us and repent. God is still on his throne. We can turn the heart of God through our obedience and our prayers.  I thank God for this President and pray for spiritually blind eyes to be opened. God has the Kings heart in his hands and turns him whatever direction he pleases.  God ordained civil authority and let us be civil and obey God and those he gives to lead us. When we fight civil authority, we fight God. God wins. God bless, LVZ.

Right or Left

A wise man’s heart inclines him to the right, but a fool’s heart to the left. Ecclesiates 10:2.  I just couldn't resist. I ran across this again this morning and I know it was written thousands of years before we had a political left and right. What really is wrong today is not our political beliefs, there is room in the world for different political beliefs. And I am sure you can find scripture to back it up, just as I ran across Ecclesiates 10:2. It is especially helpful to use scriptures that have nothing to do with one another and put them together.  And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself. Matthew 27:5.  He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” Luke 10:37. With carelessness we can make the Bible say about anything. It is men's hearts that need to change. We are just about as careless with the facts today and with false news as I was with using parts of two scriptures and putting them together like this: And he went out and hanged himself, You go and do likewise. We don't need to be right politically, but when the end of our days on earth arrives, we need to be in right relationship with God. God looks on the heart. If you really want to know how you are doing, look inside, in your heart. Check the spirit that is coming out of you. Are you words angry and meant to tear down or are they loving and meant to build up. The twisted reality of today boggles the mind. We try hard today to make sure our pets are spayed and neutered so we don't have so many unwanted dogs and cats running around. But humans not so much we would rather abort and kill a life. Of course we justify it by saying it is not a life until it is born.  But however we twist to justify our lifestyle here below, when we stand before God on our passing to eternity, we will be judged by God. It takes a redeemed heart to consider what does God want , what does God mean. If our heart is not redeemed we really don't care.  If you look at much of the trouble today, it is selfishness. I want what I want and it really doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. The Bible tells us to consider others.  Today we live where it is mostly my way or the highway.  The Bible has so much to say about living. Slander no man, love your enemies, do good to those that mistreat you. It tells us to be fair and just in our dealings. It tells us to be forgiving.  A right relationship with God starts with knowing his Son, Jesus.  That is what will fix our world. It is not being right politically, but being right spiritually that will fix our world. It starts with me, and my relationship with God. Be wise and incline your heart to do right. God is full of mercy, and I would rather receive mercy than what I deserve. God bless, LVZ.

Passionately Pursue

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.   Matthew 6:33
A recent speaker at our men's breakfast talked about passionately pursuing Christ. How it is needed in this day.  If we want to change the world, it needs to be done in our hearts first. This scripture talks about seeking God first in our lives. I thank God for the answer to my prayer for a church to attend in 2012. As I looked around at the men's breakfast, there were about 100 men that took the time to come out early for that men's breakfast. Men are to be the leaders of the home.  They say a woman makes a home, that without a woman it is just a house you live in, but a woman makes it a home. Men are so badly needed in this world, in our homes, in our churches, in any type of leadership. Men that are actively pursuing God. Men make a difference in their children's lives, and in their homes. We have a new term in our day today. Baby's mama's, and it is an ugly term. It represents a woman that is the mother of a baby of a man that is not in the home. He created the baby but he is not there in the home to raise it.  Our sons and our daughters need a daddy. That is one of the biggest problems in our nation today, absent fathers. We need men that are actively seeking God, and are in the homes raising their children. We see a nation of disrespect, of angry kids, especially young men. Their father was not in their home.  If we want to fix our nation it will start with fathers having a relationship with God. Teaching their children to also follow God. As I recently talked about Deuteronomy 6 where it tells us to teach our children as we live life. Teach them as incidents happen in everyday living. Two examples come to mind how this works. Recently as Elijah, one of my grandsons and I were talking about his grades at school, he mentioned he got all A's except for reading. I took the opportunity to encourage him to read a little in his bible every day. I know at his age it will be difficult reading. But it will establish a habit, if he does this, that will bless him his whole life. I also believe God will bless his reading ability as he honors God by reading his bible. Just a little thing. I was at the mall using the men's room and in there was a man and his little son probably about five years old.  The little boy dropped his pants all the way to the floor to go pee. His father gently tried to instruct him not to show his butt to the whole world. But the little boy says , I do it this way at home and at tt's house. Just as we live life teaching our children. As little incidents happen we teach our children. Fathers need to be involved in the everyday of their children's lives, and also to seek first the kingdom of heaven. I know I wasn't a perfect father but I think back to my first child and I remember playing in the dirt in the back yard making roads and playing cars with a little toddler. I remember washing the car or working on it and here was that little toddler with a tool in his hand or grabbing the hose and trying to help me. I remember my daughter singing on a rainy day stuck inside making up a little song, It's raining its pouring, my Daddy is boring.  I remember the day I saw my daughter in coveralls working on her car, and I thought back to the days I had my children watch me as I worked on the car changing oil or a headlamp. I know this I loved my children, and I believe if I had passionately pursued God earlier in my life, I believe I would have been a better father. Actively pursue God in all areas of life. God alone can heal our land.  God bless, LVZ.

How Husbands Should Live

Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.  1 Peter 3:7 Live with wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel. I don't know that this would agree with feminism but here it is from the word of God. I didn't have a father that patterned this for me. I have had to kneel at the cross and ask God to change me. I don't think there is another way to be healed from the dysfunction of the past other than through God's healing touch. One of the most important things here is this scripture says so that our prayers be not hindered. The Bible has much to say about how to live after you become a Christian. There is a life time of learning to do. Sometimes this is hard especially when you grew up in a home where it was not patterned for you. It would be a mistake to go through life blaming a parent for my life. I need to fix my own life with the help of God. This was not to blame a parent but to realize this is where I started from. It doesn't fix anything to hold on to something wrong and blame a parent while doing it. If that is what this sounded like I am sorry. I have to fix me. God can restore the years the canker worm and the locust have eaten, but in order for God to do a work he must be in our hearts. That is the starting point for any healing, we must make God sovereign in our lives. Then as we read these things in God's word, we must apply them to our lives. None of us had perfect parents, all have sinned and fall short of the mark. So here it is I read this word this morning knowing I had to deal with an issue between me and my wife. I was wrong and knew it when I read this word. I needed to make it right so that my prayers would not be hindered. God bless me with a wonderful woman who deserves the best. I pray many times God help me to be the husband that she needs. The woman as the weaker vessel, I think many would object to that but this is God's word. That is how we are to live, showing honor to them as the weaker vessel. Seeing to their welfare, what they need. As husbands, we are to be the leaders, the initiators in the home. Leading the way, not with words but with action. So our prayers may not be hindered, I believe this means God is watching what we do. Don't let the sun go down upon your wrath, but speedily make things right as quick as you can. We need God in everything we do.  God bless, LVZ.

Who is God?

You shall not commit adultery.  This is the seventh commandment. Do you know that God keeps his promises? Sometimes when we look at a commandment and understand it, it shows us who God is. He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Matthew 19:18-19  This passage in Matthew is when a young man comes to Jesus and asked, what must I do to inherit eternal life. The young man says all these he has kept from his youth. When we marry we take a vow to be faithful to our spouse. When we are not faithful we commit adultery. If you look at God's history, he is faithful to keep his word. Sometime back I heard about the story of the city Tyre. God prophesied against this city and some 400 years later it came to pass. God keeps his promises. God said the city would be destroyed. I believe it was Alexander the great that came along and tried to take the city. The towns people moved to an Island just off the coast. Alexander's army built a causeway to the Island using everything they could find in the city of Tyre. They dumped the walls, the furniture and anything that was left behind into the sea to build this causeway. They dumped rocks and bricks and even the dirt from the city was dumped into the sea to build this causeway until they were down to bare rock. God told this some 400 years before it happened. We remember the story of Abraham, God promised a son. Abraham and Sarah were into old age long past child bearing years. They tried to help God keep his promise and it turned out bad. But God keeps his promises and at age 90 Sarah and at age 99 Abraham had a son. Thou shalt not commit adultery is about keeping a promise. God keeps his promises and expects us to keep ours. There are many more examples in the Bible of God keeping his promises. Sometimes it is years before the promises are fulfilled as in the city of Tyre, some 400 years. God reinstated his promise to Abraham when Ishmael was 15 years old.  Abraham and Sarah tried to help God keep his promise by Abraham having a child through Sarah's servant  God values promises, and in one place he says do not make a vow. Some things may seem cruel as we look at the history in the Bible, but  know that God keeps his promises always. God expects the same of us. We could look at the other commandments and they will reveal other things about God. Do not murder, God values life. You shall not bear false witness, God hates a false witness. Honor your Father and Mother a commandment with the promise of long life. Love your neighbor as yourself, God loves peace. God is not the author of strife. He desires that we get along with one another.  I think we anger God when we do not value life as we have allowed abortion. Understand his commandments and we find out who God is. Recently I referred to Titus chapter 3, do not slander.  God does not want us to bear false witness. God delights in honest weights and measures. One big take away today is God keeps his promises and wants us to do the same. Fidelity in marriage is keeping a promise made to God. God keeps his promises, and wants us to do the same. God bless, LVZ.

Pray For Our President

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. James 5:16     I believe Trump is President because many Righteous persons prayed for this election.  I hear on face book so many fighting against this man. Many that wanted Hillary or are still fans of Obama do not like this President and are doing everything they can to fight him, stop him, disrupt his efforts, anything they can do against this man. But I believe God put him there because of our prayers. It is our prayers that will keep him there. It is not because Trump is such a good President, but because of prayer that he is accomplishing anything. If Trump last a full term or even two terms, it will be because righteous men and woman are praying for him. Our land needs to be healed, it will be healed only by God reacting to our prayers. I believe what we experienced in the past was simply God's will to get us on our knees before him and call on God on behalf of our country. We still have a majority of the same Congress men and women and senators that we had last year. This scripture tells us to confess our sins.  2 Chronicles 7:14 tells us to turn from our wicked ways. We do need to confess our sins and we do need to turn from our wicked ways.  God has gotten us on our knees to pray for our country more than I ever remember doing in my life time. We must continue on our knees to pray for President Trump. It is only through prayer that he wins and accomplishes anything. It defies logic the things we hear almost daily, against Trump.  I do not understand why God picked Trump to answer our prayers, but he did. In reality God could have used Hillary. Do you remember the story of Balaam's donkey in Numbers 22? God had his angel stand in the way so that the donkey could not pass. Balaam got angry and threatened to kill the Donkey. God allowed the donkey to speak, and the donkey told Balaam, haven't I always done what you asked of me. Then God opened the eyes of Balaam so that he could see the angel standing in the way. If God could cause this donkey to speak and to leave the pathway, make no mistake, the President will do God's bidding, if it be Hillary or Trump. God is still sovereign. He put us in the place we are to call out to him. And we must pray and continue to pray as much or more that what it took to get Trump elected. I believe when this is over, people will know God did this. Let us continue to pray for our land and our President that God's will be done. Remember the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. We need to confess our faults, turn from our wicked ways and pray, There are those that want to impeach this President, for who knows what, simply because they do not like him. But God  is still sovereign, and we can move the heart of God with our prayers.  God bless, LVZ.

Slander

Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. Titus 3:1-2 I have eliminated a lot of posts that come to my face book page. It seems every so often I have to purge stuff that comes to my page. I see even advertisements that seem to want to put down either Trump or Obama or their wives. I see no reason to use all this negativity to try and sell something. Do they thing they will get more people to buy over priced $2.00 bills with Melania's picture on it if they say Michelle hates it. I personally don't think Michelle cares. Almost daily post who do you think is a better President. Can we just be courteous? If you want to sell overpriced $2.00 bills can you do it with out being negative. What is all this fascination with IQ? Who cares. I have tried to be more selective with anything I post, it is not a competition between Obama and Trump. IF it tends to put one down to lift the other up, its not needed. Both were duly elected President and need to be respected for the office they now hold or held in the past. I hope I am doing better. I don't think we need to slander. Yes we disagree in politics but discussion is OK, slander is not. Another thing I would like to say to any liberal reader, why not try and follow Michelle's cliché, when they go low, we go high. Instead of just repeating the cliché, how about trying it for real. Instead of attacking the other side, just be considerate, avoid quarreling. I believe if we followed just this one scripture things would be better. I got called on it myself recently by an ex, and when I reviewed what I had posted it did indeed put down one by lifting the other up. It is not necessary. Either side comes off looking like an idiot. Both our current President and past President deserve respect for the office they occupied. Speak evil of no one, I almost have to stay off face book to avoid hearing someone being evil spoken of. Purging the posts that face book seems to think I want to see, helps. I don't defriend anyone anymore but if they become negative over and over again, I don't follow them.  The Bible has much to say about how to live after becoming a Christian. God bless, LVZ.

Judgements

I want to use the word judgements as in making a decision or deciding a case. A recent blog was referring to Deuteronomy 6  where Moses was using the words Commandments, Statues, Judgements and several other words depending on what version you are reading. Here I want to look at making a decision or deciding a case, (judgements). King David is a favorite Bible Character of mine. When Deuteronomy is talking about judgements, it would be things like King David and Goliath. King David made a decision to fight Goliath even though King Saul's greatest warriors were afraid of Goliath. King David had faith, he could defeat Goliath with God's help. And he did. It was a good decision and showed God's power. King David also made a poor decision with Bathsheba and suffered God's judgement. He also repented. That is why the Bible records both good and bad decisions by people such as King David. They are recorded for our learning not just good material for Childrens Church. You would not use David and Bathsheba in a Childrens story as you would David and Goliath. You also see Joseph, another favorite character, that went through much on his journey to where God would use him. He was an amazing man and went through much and in the end his judgements saved many people. The Bible shows the consequences of many judgements and we are to teach people to depend on God to make good judgements. I used King David's bad judgement to justify my own bad judgement and suffered bad consequences. God gives us these examples of bad judgement,  not for us to copy but to learn from and do differently.   Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: Deuteronomy 6:1 God bless, LVZ.

The last two blogs were credit to things I heard from Paige Patterson. I really enjoyed listening to him. I am currently reading Mysteries of the Bush by Paige. Sometimes my thoughts in my blog stem from sermons or books and I feel I should give credit. Sometimes I wonder if anything I think about and write about does not stem from someone else. I  do know I am influenced by these people and I do try to make sure I am influenced by good people.  Ten years down the road I may read this scripture again and not even realize anymore where my learning came from. I have learned all my life from others. I try to make it my own. If I can learn just one scripture each day and apply it to my life, I feel I am growing. I do try to read and contemplate something each day from God's word. Some days it becomes difficult,  other days as I review something I heard recently, it is easy. Credit these last two contemplations from Paige Patterson. Perhaps this is what the scripture means iron sharpens iron. Perhaps that is why the Bible tells us to forsake not the assembling of ourselves together. We can encourage and learn from each other.    

A Fathers Responsibility

Deuteronomy 6:5-9 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.  This is interesting to me. What do you expect to find in Deuteronomy except some boring reading? As the speaker relayed this message, I was listening intently. It hit home with me. The speaker was talking to Fathers and Grandfathers, which I am both. This was an old Moses giving advice to the Israelites going to go into the promised land. He was not going with them, but he wanted them to be successful. They were going to  get wells they did not dig, cities they did not build, fields and orchards they did not plant. They did not build what they were taking over. It like the saying easy come easy go. He did not want that to happen with them. Many time when we get things we did not build or plant by the sweat of our own brow, we do not appreciate it. Love God with all your heart, it started with the fathers. They were to first love God with all their heart, soul and might. After giving them the commandments, they were to teach them to their children. You cannot teach what you do not know. It needed to be learned and so much a part of them, it was on their hearts. After they had it learned, then they were to teach it diligently to their children. Parents are not too successful at educating their children in the ways of God if they send them Sunday School while they stay home. It needs to be part of the parents life first. It is also the parents responsibility to teach their children, not schools or society, or even the church. Parents are to teach their children to love God first by learning to love God themselves, then to teach it to their children in the happenings of life. When you sit down in your house, when going for a walk, when you lie down at night, when your rise in the morning. In other words as life happens, and as opportunities present themselves throughout the day. It is not by having a home devotional with your children, but in everything you do throughout your day. You live it first, and teach it as you live it in front of your children. It starts with loving God with your whole heart. This was the advice Moses gave to those going in to the promised land. God was giving them the land, the crops, the homes, the wells they had not sweated for. He did not want them to develop a sense of entitlement. We have failed the next generation in this country, by not following God's word given through Moses. They feel entitled and don't love God, after all God has done. We live in the greatest country on earth, but we are quickly losing it. We will be OK, but what about our children and grandchildren that have not learned of the true sovereign God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Fear of the Lord is like the respect a child has for their good parent. They may know the parent means business, but also know the parent loves them. I have heard people talk about the fear of the Lord that do not know God. they do not know the God that sent his son to die on a cross for their sins. They do not understand unconditional love. I was talking with Elijah recently. He is doing good in school except for a B in reading. I asked, do you have a Bible? He said he did? I said, read a little in your Bible everyday. By this you will be honoring God and I believe God will bless your efforts to read better. Also  I asked if he knew what a tithe was? I said this is if you make 10 dollars you give one dollar back to God. This is another way to honor God and God promises to bless you. THis is what I mean by talking about the commandments as we go through life. I took the opportunity of talking about his grades to encourage him in reading his Bible. It is a Fathers and Grandfathers responsibility to teach their offspring, not the church, not the village, not the school, but mainly Fathers. I am learning late in life, I wish I could do over.  God bless, LVZ.

Praying

I find I have been praying more than I used too. I believe we are going through a spiritual battle in our country.  I have never seen people fight a president so hard as this one. The actions that are being fought the hardest are actions this President has taken that even the favorite liberal Presidents have taken in the past. I have seen the videos, and I have posted them on face book. Why is there such a battle against anything Trump. I believe it is because he has stood up for Christians. He saw the discrimination being waged in this country for anything Christian. Everyone else can march, protest, even riot for their beliefs but Christians are expected to keep our beliefs behind closed doors. I have heard that repeated to me several times. Keep you religion inside the doors of your church. Yet if we were to do that would we not be hypocrites? If we only read the Bible and did not live it would we not be considered hypocrites?  Everyone else can push their beliefs on society except Christians.  Gays can have gay pride parades and everyone is expected to support them. Those that believe in Abortion can be out on the street and proclaim their beliefs. but  Christian is suppose to be silent. This is why I think this battle is spiritual and the demons from hell rage against us. We prayed like never before and Trump was elected. Just a day or so ago when driving I saw another church sign, pray for our country. We have  from the Franklin Graham crusade across all fifty states last year to every church that has promoted praying for our nation. And we need to continue. We have stirred up the forces of evil and we must continue to pray. My prayer life used to be haphazard at best, but today when I wake up in the middle of the night, I get up and pray for my wife, my children and grandchildren. I lift up prayer needs that I think of. I pray for my church, my President. I pray that God would help me to be the Husband my wife needs.  It is my responsibility to lead my family as best I can, I start by praying for God's help.

I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved;he who keeps you will not slumber. Psalm 121-1-3

Yes that is where our help comes from, from God. That is why we pray.  God is ever present, He does not slumber but watches over us. I pray for the city Alderboard position I am seeking. I pray for God's direction. That is what we need in this country is people praying for every need. We need to recognize that God is sovereign, he gave us Obama and now he gave us Trump. No matter which one you fight against, you fight against God. I do not understand everything God does. Hind sight is 20/20 and looking back, I see even in trouble God was there and blessed me. God is still on his throne and hears our prayers. God is sovereign, God gives us our leaders. let us not fight them but pray for them.  God bless, LVZ.

Cross Racial Boundaries

This has been on my mind lately. In June 2016,  a Black man was killed by a White Police officer after a traffic stop here in Tupelo. The Black community is upset as they are in countless cities across the country. We see video after video on face book of uncooperative citizens being stopped by the police.  They always seem to blame the police. It doesn't seem to matter that the citizen ran, resisted, fought and was uncooperative. It seems to be getting worse. I thought Tupelo was doing good until they canceled a all city prayer meeting when the Grand Jury announced no charges against the officer. Keep in mind according to statistics the bad incidents like the one causing the turmoil in Tupelo are .0009% of all traffic stops. Keep in mind that it is 2.5 times more likely that a cop gets shot and killed by a Black man than a Black man gets shot and killed by a cop. I do not want to make light of any tragedy, the pain is real to all those families. This is a spiritual battle, and the church needs to be at the front of the battle. We are becoming more divided as the days pass.  We need to cross these racial boundaries on purpose. The most segregated time in America is 11:00 Sunday morning. A lot of it is cultural.  I had German Grandparents on both sides and I remember as a kid when going to my Grandparents church, they sang hymns in German. The minister preached in German. This was in Ashley N.D. I am not suggesting that we need to integrate fully. I think it is OK to have cultural differences in our worship. I am suggesting that churches need to cross those boundaries on purpose. I would like to see a Black Church and a White church, one on one, come together for fellowship and prayer once a quarter. I would like to see a Church of Christ and a a Church of God be able to meet together once a quarter for prayer and fellowship .Lets just get to know one another so we can learn that we are not bad people on either side of the racial or denominational lines. All of us we created in God's image. If we make it to heaven there will not be a black neighborhood and a white neighborhood. There will not be a section in heaven for Baptists and another section for Pentecostals. I believe the Bible teaches we will be one. If we can't work this stuff out below, how do we expect to make it in heaven? I believe we need to leave the past in the past. I don't think there are very many alive today that were responsible for the troubles of the past. We have made progress and until recently were headed the right direction. Now we are becoming more divided and the hate seems to grow daily. Let us find ways to cross those boundaries that are separating us and let God's love show through the Christian community as we work together to fight this spiritual battle. God bless, LVZ.

The Cure

A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves.  Luke 22:24-26
As we look to the discord in our nation, there is a cure. You will not like it, but it works. It would be like taking awful tasting medicine. I have a friend who just had a knee surgery like I had a few years ago. He was unable to take pain medicine like I was. The cure for his knee to heal properly was therapy and keep that knee moving so the scare tissue does not build up and keep it from working properly. It was and is painful. You want to loose weight, you have to exercise more and eat less. It is difficult but it works. Many times a marriage will be in trouble because of selfishness of one or both partners. The cure once again is looking to the needs of the other person. The Bible tells us more about how to live after becoming a Christian, then it tells how to become one. Here is this passage, Jesus's disciples were arguing among themselves, who would be the greatest. They were looking for position of honor. In the verse above benefactor is used and blue letter bible gives this definition:  a title of honour, conferred on such as had done their country service, and upon princes.  I really believe living to Bible standards is the cure for our country. If we were to take this to heart and serve others instead of looking to please ourselves we could turn this country around. It will turn a marriage around. What hurts a lot of marriages is selfishness. What helps it is looking to the needs of the partner. I believe we have that in a leader this time. I believe he is truly looking to the needs of the people of this country instead of himself.  Trump is in his seventies and is wealthy. He could have set back and had a good life. I believe God wanted him to serve this country and he is. taking a lot of abuse on the way. If he continues and remains steadfast in his service to do what is best for our country, he will come down in history as one of our greatest Presidents ever. It will be because he is trying to serve.  The scripture passage I printed above ends with; and the leader as one who serves.
It is something  that would help any of us in anything we do to learn to serve. Look at a business, the ones I prefer to go to are those that have people wanting to help you. We are so focused on our agendas politically in our country, that we are missing the boat. It is about service. It is about serving others and looking to the needs of others. It works in a marriage, it works in a business and it will work in our country. Get off your high horse and wanting me, me ,me first and think about others. Think about what is truly best for our nation. We have a President that is truly leading in that direction. The Bible has the cure for what ails us, if we will only listen. I do not say it will be easy, we are born selfish. The cure is serving others. Why do Mom's mostly have a place of preeminence above fathers, because they were most likely the ones that served us when we were children.  But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, Mark 10:43. It may not taste good going down but it is the cure.  God bless, LVZ.

Group Think

This blog is strictly my opinion. If you look up opinion in the dictionary, it doesn't have to be based on facts. It is the way I am thinking right now. I am finding it hard to blog about anything. I must have 2 dozens posts setting unpublished. This Blog is just to verbalize some things I am thinking. I either need to quit face book or blogging. Our nation is beyond comprehension. Most of us if we were liberal, think conservatives are the problem, If we are conservative thinking, we think it is liberals are the problem. We are split along party lines more than ever before. I am so thankful God put Trump in office. It has helped me to realize Washington is the problem. It is not a Democrat or Republican problem, it is the culture that develops when these politicians become career politicians. It is sort of like these high paid sports figures, after a while with all their money and fame they think that they are better than the average Joe. they think they are above the law. We are seeing it with our politicians also. I think many of them started out good, but they get sucked into the political scene in Washington when they spend a lifetime there and they are all corrupt. It isn't just the liberals that Trump is fighting, it is some staunch conservatives too.  They are all part of that culture when they have been their too long. I think it happens in our state and local politics too. Our world is a corrupting place. We are starting to hear reports of Soros having influence over probably as many Republicans as Democrats.  They feel it is their job to manipulate us to vote and do what they think is right. It is not about the average Joe anymore. Here is an example and I think it will apply to climate change or anything else the politicians use to manipulate us. An economist that has studied economic issues his whole life will tell you a minimum wage actually hurts the very people it is suppose to help. Politicians will tell us what we want to hear, it is taking from the rich and giving to the poor. (Oversimplified).  And we will listen to the politician rather than an economist when they talk about the effects of minimum wage or raising it again. If I had a broken arm and a medical doctor told me to put it in a sling until the bone heals, I would probably listen even if a politician told me if I don't use it I'll lose strength in those unused muscles. It is true, but I could do more damage that would require more surgery and treatment by not listening to the doctor and leaving it immobile until the bone heals. But when it comes to an economist we tend to listen to the politician, because it is what we want to hear. There is some truth to the science of climate change, but once again it is used as a vehicle to control us rather than to really accomplish any good. We get mob thinking going and we hurt our neighbors that think differently than we do. Once again the violence is used to control us. We have been suckered into much over the years. We see it continuing. Why would we accept almost the same words from someone like Bill Clinton and reject the same from Donald Trump?  Political motivation. I think many of us really need to stop and think. Think about who we listen to and why.  I learned a good lesson from my oldest Granddaughter when she was little. Ask why enough times and you might learn something. Liberals are not our enemy, it is when they get group think going and don't listen to themselves. Black people are not the problem, but when they group think through groups like Black Lives Matter, then they seem to stop thinking for themselves, and form a mob group think. I think it happened in the church I grew up in, we bought into group think, we are special, we are the true church etc. and lose sight of God and Godly principles. We do need each other, and I would be the last one to ask you to stop going to church, but we still need to learn and study for ourselves. We need to listen to our leaders but also think things through. If you are a Christian don't be mad at me for bringing church into this but look at the Jim Jones's and Creffo Dollar, Jimmy Swaggart and others. Still many follow and group think, instead of individually thinking. I individually think, but I do attend church regularly, and I feel I learn a lot. It is true to the Bible to attend a church and to God. But we still need to individually think and have relationship with God. Perhaps I should only have mentioned Jim Jones and not current preachers like Jimmy Swaggart and Creflo Dollar.  But you can pick your choice, you may like Jimmy and think Creflo is off the wall or vice versa. The Bible does say Iron sharpens Iron and we do need the fellowship of other Christians. I am just warning of group think, because I think it happens in the church community also. We do need to listen to God, and God does use church leaders to talk to us. Liberals group think, Conservatives group think. Black people group think and boy do they ever go after someone black that don't agree with the main group. Names like Uncle Tom and House Niggar are used. Used to bring these people back in line with group think. I am a Christian and believe everyone needs to be a Christian, but listen to a group of Church of God or Church of Christ members talk when they get together. There are some things that are absolute when it comes to Bible teaching. Like forgiving, loving others. But there is also room for disagreements on some subjects, and room for different opinions. We recently talked about how even some of us that have been following Christ for decades  do not understand it all. God is actually somewhat illogical, and if you think you understand it all, your probably wrong. We will probably still be learning when we get to heaven.  I know I am guilty of the same, when I was in the Church of God, I thought like a Church of God member. When I would be studying I would search for Church publications and read as many articles of Church publications on a subject as I could, to prepare my self. It is not hard to see how group think could happen. This blog was to point more at the political group think than anything else. I believe we are all capable of it.  I do not want to discourage anyone from attending Church but I do want to encourage individual relationship with God, above all else. I hope and pray my words are not out of line. My apologies to anyone associated with any group mentioned. I really just want us to think about group think. But above all else individual relationship with God. We need to be Christian first, Liberal or Conservative second. We need to be Christian first and black or white or other color second. We need to be Christian first and then Baptist or Methodist or Church of God.  Think out what my core values should be and then allow for differences elsewhere. To have a forgiving attitude is an absolute and must be a core value for any Christian.  Think it through, using God's word as your guide. I pray these words are acceptable to God.  God bless, LVZ.

Honor Everyone

Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. 1 Peter 2:13-17
Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. Titus 3:1-2
This is a scripture that convicted me when I had Presidents in office that I disagreed with. I have a conscience that tells me when I am doing wrong. It has gotten me in to trouble over the years as I obeyed that conscience. Conscience can be wrong. We need to make sure that what our conscience tells us agrees with scripture. One of my most difficult times I went through during the 32 years I worked for the company I retired from, came at a time I followed my conscience. Even my own brother criticized me for following my conscience. You think you need to be the conscience for the whole world, were his words. No, but I do need to follow my conscience when it tells me something is wrong and scripture backs me up. I feel human institutions would cover my job. I still remember my line of thinking that day. If I saw someone stealing from my neighbor I would speak up. I wouldn't just look the other way. My employer had been really good to me better than my neighbors. They had paid me a good wage at that time for many years. I loved my job. Years earlier I had worked at a wood products company. There were three of us on second shift. One of my co-workers took it upon himself to steal an oak plank. It must have been 16 feet long, at least 12 inches wide, and at least 6 inches thick. He could barely handle it himself as he loaded it on the top of his car and took it home. Me and the other guy couldn't figure out what he would even do with it when he got it home. How would he make anything useful out of that big chunk of wood with out the equipment built to handle wood that size. We wondered if he would just end up cutting it up for fire wood. What expensive fire wood that would be.  I said nothing, did nothing and it bothered me. Our conscience can be wrong. We can override our conscience and like I did that day do nothing.  Scripture tells us much about living after we become Christians. This scripture above be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution. To our rulers, our President and our governors, and even police officers. Honor everyone, love the brotherhood. Fear God. Many misunderstand the word fear, it is a healthy respect for a sovereign God. A God that loved us enough to send his son to die on a cross for our sins. The scripture in Titus goes on to say to be submissive to rulers and authorities. We are to be obedient, and to be ready for every good work. Here is were I felt convicted of my words that I spoke about some Presidents that I disagreed with. To speak evil of no one. Wouldn't that include a President I didn't like? To avoid quarreling, as I thought about these words, I went through face book and stopped following stuff that would irritate me and cause me to feel quarrelsome. These are hard words, to be gentle. I don't always feel like being gentle and to show perfect courtesy to all people. I think of much of what I see in our world today and the protesting and rioting we see today. When I look at these scriptures, my conscience tells me it is wrong. I want to think these people that are fighting against our current government must know their actions are wrong, when they break windows, destroy vehicles and buildings. Looting and even speaking evil of those in authority. I know there is room for liberal thought, and I am sure if I thought that way there would be scripture to back it up. But how do you justify the words and the actions we see played out in our world today? God is sovereign and sees all and hears all. We do give an account for our lives some day. I look back at the difficult years when I followed my conscience and aggravated many of my co-workers. I can face God with my actions. Yesterday I took action because I misread a situation and felt foolish afterwards. We had new deacons and I felt responsible to see everything went good. We had some confusion as recently we changed the taking of offering from front to back when last year we went to the back and worked forward. The chairman was gone this weekend and I being the vice chair was trying to do a good job in his absence. As I came to the front of my row and stood there, I saw the new guys on the far side were almost to the back of their section, I didn't realize they started at the front and worked back where as the rest of us had started in the back and worked forward. I also knew that as we were given out the elements for communion, we each had two trays except for the last two deacons they had only one tray each and their section was just as big. Taking all this into account and not knowing the had started in the front, I thought they were behind and perhaps running out of elements. We had plenty and I was not needed to help out. I felt foolish as I walked across in front of 500 people and found out my thinking was faulty. I'll get over it, my intentions were good. I have a tendency to be my own worst critic. I was embarrassed to say the least.  Do we follow our conscience and does it match God's word? We can make mistakes, but God knows the intent of the heart. God bless, LVZ.

What next?

Now all the sudden it seems congress and Senate are concerned with hacking. There was no problem with Hillary's unsecured server doing State Department business on said unsecured server. Now it is a big deal. Even John McCain is concerned. Where was all this concern during Hillary's years as Secretary of State? I hear concern about Trump's ability to lead with no experience in government. Where was Obama's experience,  a partial term as a Freshman Senator. No experience as a business man either. Because Trump doesn't owe favors in Washington, they can't figure out how things are going to run. They have nothing to pressure him to compromise. He doesn't owe John McCain or other senators any favors. He didn't pick people for his cabinet that he owed a favor to, he picked from successful businessmen like himself that know how to get results and run large organizations. Men that probably know how to get rid of waste. I read editorials about how can Trump lead considering his words of 11 years ago. Those same people have nothing to say about Hillary covering up for her Husbands actions over the past 30-40 years.  I can read face book posts about business failures of Trumps, but never a word about the Clinton Foundation corruption. The man on the inside of the foundation that they believed might have been leaking info has disappeared.  Justice is fair. When people want true justice they want it for everyone not just for their opposition.  People are reprimanded for a lot less than Hillary or Bill have done, but their actions are ignored and poo poo'd because so far they haven't been charged with any crime. Where is justice? We want justice but we are unwilling to accept the decisions of a Grand Jury, and praise a mob? How sick is this? Does this  sense to anyone? We want law and order but want to condemn the people we hire to uphold the law. We want Trump to voice support for the results of the Electoral College, but when he wins the other side want to fight to infinity?  We have studies done that say there is no imbedded racism in our police departments but still we make a saint out of a robber and call the police unjust.  I do not know what to make of all this. I do know God is sovereign. The ones that fight are fighting against God.  God knew this crap would happen long before it happened. I believe that is why he gave us Trump. The left needs to be concerned with how long God will tolerate their tantrum.  In Numbers 16 is this story:  Then Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. And he spoke to the congregation, saying, “Depart, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be swept away with all their sins.” So they got away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. And Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents, together with their wives, their sons, and their little ones. And Moses said, “Hereby you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, and that it has not been of my own accord. If these men die as all men die, or if they are visited by the fate of all mankind, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the Lord.”

And as soon as he had finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split apart. And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods. So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. And all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up!” And fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men offering the incense.  Numbers 16:25-35  This story shows us what a sovereign God is capable of.  God did something new here. Those that fought against God were swallowed up alive, they and their whole families. Now I do not expect God to do something like this, but God is sovereign and he will work his way. I have a fear of God. When I speak of a fear of God, it is a healthy respect. I have heard these and other stories from my youth, and I believe them. I remember a time I planted some bushes at a church I attended. I pulled weeds and mowed the lawn etc. I noticed some shrubs that had died in the landscaping. I found out what they were and bought some at a nursery and replaced them. It was probably a Monday or Tuesday afternoon when I planted them. The next Wednesday when I went to church they were gone, just the new ones I had planted. Someone had come in and taken the new plants. I thought , these people are stealing from God. I thought how evil. Nothing happened that I know of, I have no awesome story to tell. I just replaced the plants a second time and they stayed. I have a healthy respect for God, I would not have done that. I do know God saw whoever took those plants. If not in this life time then in eternity they will come before a Holy Sovereign God. These extreme liberals that are causing discord in our nation, will face God on Judgement day. I would be afraid to test God in this way because I believe the story in Numbers 16 is true. Perhaps God will not do anything new, but he can. He is sovereign. He has protected Israel against extreme odds since 1948. God keeps his word. I would be afraid to do what people have no fear in doing today. I believe God is sovereign. I believe this election has God's signature on it. I wasn't a Trump fan from the beginning, but I believe God put Trump in office and will Protect him. Even if you don't see anything extra ordinary in this life time, you do stand before God on Judgement day. Christians will be OK no matter what happens, but I fear to be in the hands of a just God on Judgement day.  I would rather experience his love. God bless, LVZ.

On our Knees

Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.                     2 Chronicles 7:12-14
I don't remember how many times I have referred to this passage over the years I have written on this page. It is because of these action of Christians, humbling themselves and praying, seeking Gods face. As we have prayed, I believe many of us have looked inward to see if we were displeasing to God. I believe there has been repentance asked for as we looked inward and tended to our hearts. The battle we are facing is not over. Trump is not the answer for this nation. I believe he was put in place by God because of those prayers. The battle for our country is still raging. Perhaps it has even heated up. It is time for us to be on our knees before a Holy God. Some of the changes that may happen as a result of this Presidents bold actions will require Christian to stand up and get to work. Some one mention abortion, if this bold President is able to do what he desires and were abortion outlawed. Christians would have to step up and take care of unwanted babies. And raise them, or there would have to be funding to care for them. If the government cuts back on social services which we claim we want, Christians will need to step up and support the hurting and needy. This is what we are suppose to be doing anyway. Some believe if every professing Christian would tithe per scripture, churches would have the money to provide the social services that are needed. But we need to be about our Fathers business. That business always starts on our knees. We need God's direction and guidance. We get his guidance on our knees in prayer. We cannot exist on a once a week feeding from church and the Pastor. We need to feed our selves. We cannot exist on prayers said in church once a week, we need daily prayers, daily feeding from God's word. In short if we really want to save this country, do not look to Donald J. Trump, we must get on our knees before a Holy God.  The passage of scripture above says if God hears our prayers and takes action, then will our land be healed. It is still God that will heal our land. No where does scripture say our President will heal our land. If we expect this, a President to heal our land, we will be disappointed. God is still sovereign, and it is he (God) who heals the hearts of men and will heal our land. We need to stay on our knees even more than we did in the election. We need God's direction more than ever before. I think of the story of the prophet Moses on the hill praying for the Israelites fighting in the battle below him. As his hands were raised in prayer toward God, Israel was winning. As Moses grew tired and lowered his hands the battle turned against the Israelites. Then it was a couple of men stood and held Moses's arms in the air until the battle was over and Israel won. So it is today if we want to save our country, we must not quit praying. We must continue. This battle is not just for our country, but it is in reality for the souls of men and women in this country that have been deceived into thinking God's laws do not matter any more. We must win the hearts. God's love language is obedience. This is a God that does what is best for his people. The ten commandments were not meant to be a burden, but in following them, we are blessed. It is for our health both physical and spiritual that they were given.  The ten commandments were given to show the way to live the best life possible. God designed us, and knows us better than we know our selves. He proved his love for us when he sent Jesus to die on a cross for us. We will win on our knees in prayer to a Holy God.  God bless, LVZ.

Your President

It bothers me when someone says your President. I have done the same. I didn't like Bill Clinton, I might have called him your President at that time. I liked George W. Bush, he was my President. I didn't agree with Obama but I began to realize we are wrong when we don't claim the President we disagree with as ours. We are seeing each term of our next President drawing more and more division. Perhaps it is because we do not accept the one we don't like as ours. First my side and then the other side. The sides being conservative or liberal, Republican or Democrat. We used to take pride in our President, even if it was the other side. The first President I really remember was Nixon. Actually it was Kennedy and Nixon. In Grade School we  had an exercise where as students voting in our class and I voted for Kennedy. When I got home and my parents knew about it my Dad said I should have voted for Nixon. I was a kid, I didn't know about all the issues nor did I care. I may have voted for Kennedy because he seemed to be the most popular. When I reached voting age I voted for Nixon during his reelection. I voted for Ford and he lost to Carter. I voted for Reagan twice. I voted for George H. W. Bush. I voted for Bob Dole, he lost to Clinton.  And some details are fuzzy without checking google, I hope I got them in the right order.  I didn't like the ones I didn't vote for. I know at sometimes I am sure I made that same statement your President. They were all my Presidents, even the ones I voted against.  I realized as I  matured, God gives us our Presidents. It was hard for me to understand at first. If I liked them like George W. Bush, I believed God put them in office. If I didn't like them as I didn't like bill Clinton, it didn't make sense that God would put a person I saw as very corrupt into the office of President. I have also learned that God's ways are way above my understanding. But you learn these things even in Sunday School. God allowed many generations of evil kings to punish his people. I don't think I will ever understand why. We do ourselves a big favor if we accept God's choices and live with them. I have also learned that praying turns the heart of God. We as Christians have prayed more than I ever remember for this election and we were blessed with Trump. Some, even some who claim Christianity are not happy with Trump. God is sovereign, he is in control. We are hurting our country as we divide and do not support each other and our President when he was not the one we voted for. It gets worse each election. If you candidate wins the next election and we do not turn this around, expect it will even be worse than this time. This time was worse than 2012 or 2008. 2012 and 2008 were worse than 2004 and 2000.  IS this what we want? Wasn't it better when we came together as a nation after an election and waited till the next election to make a change. Think about it. Is this what we want?  God help us and God bless, LVZ.

Pray For Our President

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 1 Timothy 2:1-2
It seems I blogged about this scripture recently. So I am sure I will probably be repeating myself. This is what is on my heart this morning. I know my prayer life has increased in recent years. I remember shortly after starting to attend Hope Church some 4 years ago our pastor once asked us to pray for our church leaders. They need our prayers. They gave us a refrigerator magnet that asked the question" Have you prayed for your church today/"  I have made an effort to pray daily for our Pastors and  Elders. I took on an accountability partner some years ago, I don't remember exactly when. I pray daily for him and he prays for me. During Obama's term as President, I started to realize that we need to really pray for our President. With each passing year as we the discord in our nation, it becomes more urgent to pray for our leaders. It became clear to me we are in a spiritual battle and we will win on our knees. God gives us our rulers, Sometimes they are sent to punish us. If you do not like Trump or Obama perhaps God is trying to fix something in our spiritual lives as the reason he gave this man to be our leader. It won't do you any good to fight the man. Pray for him, it may change something in you if nothing else. I saw a video on face book where a barber told a Christian man that was sitting in his chair that he didn't believe in God because if there was a God he wouldn't allow all the sickness and hurt and pain we see in this world. The Christian man walked out of the barber shop and immediately sees a young man with long straggly hair. He brings the man with the long hair into the barber shop and tells his barber that he don't believe there are barbers. The barber looks at him and says he has long straggly hair because he does not come to a barber. Perhaps that is why we see the things in this world that we don't like. Are we going to God with them? We need to pray for our leaders. We really need to pray for our leaders. We need to pray daily for our leaders. We need to pray for our Church leaders and our national leaders like Presidents and Congress men and women, and Senators and the Presidents Cabinet. Why? so we can lead peaceful and quiet lives Godly and dignified in every way. Pray for our leaders. God bless, LVZ.

hard time

I really have a hard time keeping a good attitude on face book. Why? I hear all this criticism of Donald Trump and liberals fighting him at every step. He is doing or at least trying to do what he said when campaigning. And he won!  If you look at a county by county map of the electoral college, there is very little blue. There seems to have been a lot of voter fraud and if only real live American or I should say U.S. citizens had voted, the popular vote would have been a lot closer. The majority of the fraud was in Hillary's favor.  People talk about Trump's history, but do not use the same scale of justice when looking at Hillary. George Bush was quiet as a mouse when he left office and did not interfere with Obama although they disagreed. George respected the office and the election results. The left shows a lot of hatred, that comes from the pit of hell. It does not come from God. I hope it is not Liberal Christians taking part in this mess. We of the house hold of faith should know better. I understand that we do not all think alike. That is OK. But this hatred is not of God. This hatred will destroy if not the country the very people that are caught up in it. Non -Christians are controlled by someone other than God, check the spirit.  Christians are to be controlled by the spirit of God and it is not a spirit of hatred. Black people have supported Democratic candidates by 90 + percent in many recent elections. But I really believe that is changing, as it should.  Almost any election is pretty much half one way and half the other way. Any block of voters in the 90 percent range is not thinking for themselves. We are a very diverse country with diverse issues and we are not going to think alike. Group think is dangerous, and you end up with mobs and destruction. We will not all think alike, that is a given. Or we shouldn't. If we did everyone would dress the same, or drive the same car. We would need only one television channel. Grow up, not everyone has to think the same. Not everyone is going to like the same thing. Let us respect the office, even if we do not like the man. With social media, grown adults can now throw a temper tantrum for the whole world to see. Use the same scale to judge. We have seen over and over how a liberal like Clinton can say almost word for word what Trump says about securing our borders and Clinton gets a standing ovation, and Trump is criticized to the max. Use the same scale to measure. Trump gets criticized for words he spoke 11 years ago, we have 30 to 40 years of history with the Clintons. Use the same scale to measure. Clintons selling influence through the Clinton Foundation, (IF it wasn't influence peddling why did the funds dry up after she lost?) but we worry about business interest of Trump. Use the same scale to measure by. If you don't, you are a hypocrite. We are concerned that Russia influenced the election, but have no problem with Hillary using an unsecured server in her basement to conduct State business to allow hacking. Use the same scale to measure by.  A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, but a just weight is his delight. Proverbs 11:1 I have a new Cliché for the left, instead of when they go low we go high,  how about Actions speak louder than words. God help us, our nation is in Trouble. LVZ