Go And Sin No More

Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”  John 8:2-11
I like this passage of scripture. As Jesus is teaching in the temple the religious people of that day bring a woman to him that they say was caught in the very act of adultery.  Their purpose was to test Jesus that they could find fault with him. Jesus wrote on the ground and said, he who is without sin cast the first stone.  According to the law of Moses they were to stone her to death. When ever I hear this passage of scripture, I always ask, where is the man. If she was caught in the very act of adultery there was a man involved in this act also. Their purpose was not to follow the law of Moses but to find fault with Jesus. One thing Jesus is good at is getting to the heart of the matter. He tells them, he who is without sin cast the first stone. No one lifted a stone. Perhaps God revealed to each one their own sin that day. We all have sinned. We make big and little sins. Our sins are little, the person next to us has a bigger sin.  When all had left except the woman and Jesus, Jesus asks, where are your accusers, has no one condemned you?  The woman answers, No one Lord. Jesus says neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more. One version says to leave your life of sin. Jesus did not condemn her but neither did he let he off the hook. He addressed her sin, go and sin no more. Jesus sees through the hypocrisy of the day and gets to the heart of the matter, down to the very motive. All the accusers of the woman left, one by one from the oldest to the youngest. As Jesus revealed to them in their hearts, they saw their own sin. Perhaps it was not adultery, I don't know what it was, but all have sinned and there was no one left to accuse this woman. Many times we are like these men that approached Jesus, we seek to condemn others instead of looking into our own hearts. I think that is what this is about, to look inside and see where we have displeased God. Many a time my motives have been wrong. In the same way Jesus come to us in his gentle way and turns on his spotlight into our hearts and shows us where we too have sinned. Jesus came not to condemn but to redeem. To change hearts and lives to reflect his love. Just like with this woman, he gently sent her on her way, go and sin no more. O that I would be more like my heavenly father, and not caught up in the religiosity of today but to look inside. To see where I have displeased God in my own walk. For get about everyone else, just look inside my own heart. Jesus is here to heal and correct and send us on our way. To be like Jesus, that is my goal. To let his love show through in the things I say and do. God bless, LVZ. 

Innocent Until Proven Guilty

“You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a malicious witness. You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice, nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit.

“If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him.

“You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his lawsuit. Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked. And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.   Exodus 23:1-8

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

It is troubling to me the things we hear on the news today. I do not know if Roy Moore is guilty of the charges against him. I do not know if the charges against Bill Cosby are true or not. I do know that men are capable of evil. God's word tells us not to be a false witness. When we no longer honor the ten commandments bearing false witness is just another thing we do. It is OK to commit adultery, it seems, when we like a person like Bill Clinton. But when the politics do not agree with our own, it seems slander is the norm today. We used to be innocent until proven guilty, but it seems many know a life or a career can be destroyed with slander, and if we disagree or just don't like someone its OK. Not according to God's word. A few years ago in southern Mississippi, I think it was a state race for state government, a political action committee slandered a man and kept him from winning. He was a democrat and although I think more conservatively, this was wrong. My political thinking should not override my right and wrong judgements. This man sued and won and required the PAC to run a full page retraction. We should not give someone like Bill Clinton a pass for his misconduct and say its his personal life, then when a conservative has a good chance of winning, we destroy him with slander. As I started writing this, I admit, I have no way of knowing if Roy Moore of Alabama is guilty of the accusations against him. But after 40 years woman are now coming forward. This is a big red flag. I would be checking bank accounts for a payoff. Now we learn our government in Washington has had a fund for years to pay off people making similar accusations against our congressmen and senators for years. This is wrong, We need to have people of integrity in Washington.  Washington is truly a swamp and needs to be cleaned up. We as a people need to get back to moral behaviors, back to keeping the ten commandments.  A few years ago an acquaintance that clamed the name of Christ had a girlfriend and she was sick and in a conversation it was noted that his partner was sick and it wasn't until a few minutes into the conversation, we realized he was taking about his girlfriend and not his wife. We seem to no longer think it necessary to keep the ten commandments in so many areas of life and society is suffering for it. Some think we need freedom from religion when in fact we need to respect religion and God and doing the right thing even when it hurts. Our society will not last and there are many that do not want it to last. Some think socialism is better and will try at any cost to destroy the good nation we have with lies and deceit. Make no mistake, God's principles are to make life good and fair, not to put unnecessary constraints on society. God 's way works and we need to get back to honoring God and the Ten Commandments.  As I read the part of the passage above about: "You shall not fall in with the many to do evil". I thought about Black Lives Matter movement and many other groups that go about destroying to promote their causes. I believe God's word is telling us not to join in. I believe God's word tells us not to bear false witness. I believe God's word tells us not to commit adultery. But it seems society feels all these things are ok if it feels good or seems good in some way. We will reap for these actions. We need to turn back to following God. We use to believe in this country a man was innocent until proven guilty, but any more it seems slander is OK as the end justifies the means. God is not pleased. We will stand before God some day to give an account for our lives. God's rules work for the good of society, to allow us to live peaceful lives. We are headed for trouble if we keep going the way we are going. Slander is not OK.  God bless, LVZ. 

Bearing False Witness

The sum of your word is truth,and every one of your righteous rules endures forever. Psalm 119:160
God's rules work. We have only to look at how the universe that God put in place works. The earth rotates around the sun year after year after year. Seasons come and go, winter spring summer and fall. I think many Christians are praying for this government like never before. The hush fund, where Congressmen and Senators have paid off people they have misused for decades has been made known. Be sure your sin will find you out. You will reap what you sow. There are consequences for violating God's rules. Many times we think we got away with it because the harvest is always much later than the sowing. Now I do not know if Roy Moore did any of these things 40 years ago or not. But according to the laws of our country, he is to be innocent until proven guilty. I draw comfort in the fact that if these accusers are false, there is also a reaping down the road for bearing false witness. I am waiting for that to happen. It may keep Roy Moore from winning, but make no mistake a false witness will not escape the scrutiny of God. I really do not know if he is innocent or guilty and probably those witness, be they false or true may be the only ones that know other than God. God's rules endure and we don't like that or to be reminded of that if we are sowing bad seed. Many times the commandments are meant not to limit our freedoms but to give us the best life possible. These accusations to tear people down from 30 and 40 years ago are becoming common place but make no mistake people will reap what they sow.  Society will reap what we sow if we condone bearing false witness. We will not like the result. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. That is the ninth commandment. I do not know if these witnesses against Roy Moore or Bill Cosby and many others are true or false. I do believe some of the witnesses against Bill Clinton were true and they tried to destroy them for Bill's sake, but we see what happens when we don't follow God's rules, we make an even bigger mess of our lives, our society and even for the next generation. Integrity matters, if it is a politician or a policeman, school teacher, minister or just a citizen that votes. The rule of God that you violate will have an affect.  The ten commandments are not meant to make life difficult but to make it possible for us to live the best life possible. Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. Galatians 6:7 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9
 God bless, LVZ. 

Father OF Lies

You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44
I thought of this verse and how Satan does go around seeking to destroy. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. I Peter 5:8 Satan has spoken many lies and when he tells us a lie and we believe it, the lie will destroy us. It kills relationships. Sometimes with that lie he will grow a root of bitterness that will do nothing but destroy. There is no good in a lie. I raised a son from the day he was born. I loved him as my own. I remember the time we were playing in the dirt at our house in Marysville, building roads in the dirt and playing with cars. I remember the picture I had of washing the blue Volkswagen when he was just a little tyke and he was there with the water hose  trying to help. He would have a wrench in his hand trying to help me when I would work on a car.  I remember the time I was building a fence and he fell into a post hole and he fit into the post hole. You couldn't see any of him except the top of the hood on his coat. That same fence and the same coat and he tried to follow me around and got caught on the fence and was just hanging there with his hood caught on a picket. I remember when we built a house out in the country and we put camouflage material on one wall in his bedroom. I remember the 83 Mercury Lynx I bought and gave to his for his first car. He ended up with the 82 Chevette and traded that for a VW Rabbit. I remember the 87 Samurai I gave him when his truck got wrecked. I remember the phone call when his truck broke down with a load of someone's stuff he was helping to move and he needed it towed. He didn't have a credit card and it was like a $600 tow. Dad that I was, I used my credit card to help him. Who carries $600 cash to be able to pay a tow like that. I remember the time he needed three hundred to but a breath analyzer contraption on his truck after his first DUI and I sent him the $300. I was a Dad and acted like one. Instead he chooses to believe a lie the devil told him and many years of relationship have been lost. He doesn't look at the evidence of the many years of things a father that loves his child does. He chooses to believe the devils lies. I have prayed for years and still do. I loved him as my own but the devil told him that I didn't love him because I disciplined him when he pulled a 22 rifle on  a neighbor kid over a toy. What if that gun had accidently gone off and he had killed that neighbor boy. He would still have that on his conscience today. I disciplined him because I loved him and didn't want him to make a mistake like that again. It was over a toy, did it cost even $10? I don't remember what the toy was. I never told him he was the result of an illicit relationship between his mother and another man before his mother and I married. I raised him his whole life, as a father would. Fed him clothed him. Stayed at a job I hated once because the boss didn't see the whole story, I knew I had little mouths to feed at home.  Those are things a father does because he loves his child. Many people believe a lie of Satan over the evidence all around them. All those lies do is destroy. Take a good look, have we believed a lie and allowed Satan to destroy in our own lives. I did also at one time in my life. I didn't believe God loved me because of a lie of Satan. I asked God if you really love me show me and he did. Barbara's son was discouraged because they have messed up this paycheck for two pay periods on a new job. What have I the be thankful for he said as he looked at that situation. Then he hits a big deer on the highway and no one is hurt.  The Ford Ranger can be replaced but lives cannot. Yes it is time to look at the evidence and see the love that God shows us every day and stop believing a lie. God bless, LVZ.

Live In Harmony

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. Romans 5:5-7
I see in our world today the many things that try to divide us. Especially along race differences. We are to live in harmony. There should be peace among us, especially as Christians. I recently read about DNA and the one article says the things that pertain to the things we see that identify racial differences amount to .01 of our DNA. God created one race the human race. We need to respect law enforcement, but today we see disrespect creeping in and we call it good. It is wrong. Never has any profession been disrespected as much as our law enforcement in recent years. Our corrupt politicians do not face the disrespect that our law enforcement is facing. We are tying law enforcements hands in many ways and then telling them to protect us. That is wrong. We fought for years for equality for blacks and whites and made tremendous progress, but today we see division and even those that want separation once again. It is wrong. God made one race and wants us to live in harmony with other races, with police officers, and so many other factions in our society. We see division politically and yes we do not all think exactly alike but even with differences of opinion we can live in harmony if we will respect each other. My wife and I have different talents and different weak spots but God desires that we be one. That we may with one voice glorify the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus died for every last one of us. Jew and Gentile, rich and poor. Perhaps there was no division as great as that between Jew and Gentile in the days when Jesus walked this earth. But Jesus came for all of us. The divisions that we see today are not from God. We are to live in harmony, we are to welcome one another as Christ welcomed us, There is no partiality with God. For God shows no partiality. Romans 2:11 Let us live in harmony as is God's plan for us. God bless, LVZ.

A Hug From God

But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ, even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved!… Ephesians 2:4-5
This morning as I was praying, I felt like God came down and hugged me. I have tried to develop a consistent prayer life. Some times I feel like I pray for the same thing and the same people and I don't see anything happening. I heard about three different of our ancestors that prayed for our country to be instrumental in spreading the gospel across the world. When I say ancestors I am talking about our nation as a whole and not my personal family. When you think about a prayer that was prayed in the beginning of this nation or at least hundreds of years ago and you see how it was answered in many ways. This country has sent many missionaries across the globe and still do. I am a part of a church that has mission teams every year that go to some foreign land and sometimes even here in our own country. Some times I feel I pray and pray and don't see anything happening and yet over a period of time I do see changes where God has been at work. God loves us, there are many scriptures I could have chosen this morning to show how much God loves us. Because of his great love for us, God sent Jesus to die for our sins. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 This morning I felt like God hugged me as I was praying. Perhaps it was to remind me that even though I don't think I see much happening like those prayers of our ancestors that prayed for this nation to send a message of God Grace across this globe, God hears. I remember a time as a young man probably 19 years old, I injured one of my eyes, and I wanted God to heal it instantly. I went to an older saint from the church I attended and asked them to pray for my healing of my eye. God didn't heal it instantly, He did heal it and my eye is still fine today. I wonder what I would be like if God had answered every prayer instantly every time I prayed. I would probably be like a spoiled child going through the store demanding every thing I see that I want. God in his wisdom does not want us to be misbehaving spoiled children. He does want us to trust him. He does heal at his choosing. A parent that truly loves his child does not give in to every demand immediately. Sometimes never, but always in the best interest of the child. I believe that is how God is with me. He has my best interest at heart. I may not even see the result of some of my prayers in this life time, but know God is listening.  Even in my sins, God loved me just as I was and it is by his grace I have been saved. Yes, I feel like God came down and hugged me this morning. God bless, LVZ.

I Have Chosen

I have chosen the way of faithfulness;
I set your rules before me.
I cling to your testimonies, O Lord;
let me not be put to shame!
I will run in the way of your commandmentswhen you enlarge my heart! Psalm 119:30-32

Many years ago I chose to follow God. I answered his knock on my hearts door and began to seek and follow God to the best of my ability. My life has had ups and downs. It has not been a rose garden. I have look to Church for guidance in how I live. It has been an imperfect pathway. Many times I stayed and God would gently put me back on the right path, especially as I set God's rules before me. I seek to know his word, and look for things God may be speaking to me in my life. God has blessed and loved me just the way I am. As a earthly father gently teaches and loves his children so has my heavenly Father gently taught and loved me. Some times there has been the discipline that has not always been pleasant. But I know my Heavenly Father loves and guides me, searching my heart for imperfections and growing me along life's path. I am blessed to have known this Heavenly Father for so many years. I see his hand in my life all along the way. I am grateful for God's intervention in my life. It has been over thirty years, more than half of my life since I answered God's knock on my hearts door and I am so thankful. God bless, LVZ.

God Faithfulness

Forever, O Lord, your word
is firmly fixed in the heavens.
Your faithfulness endures to all generations;
you have established the earth, and it stands fast.
By your appointment they stand this day,
for all things are your servants.
Psalm 119:89-91
As I read this God's faithfulness endures to all generations. I thought how God was faithful to people like Joseph through his years of slavery to being second in Command in Egypt. I thought of King David and how God protected him when King Saul was seeking his life. From the beginning of time with Adam and Eve, they were protected and we live today as their offspring. God set this world in motion and the earth still rotates by God's appointment. We see awesome pictures of God's artwork that has taken according to our estimation, millions of years to create. Yet God endures. Yet here we are so many generations later. I saw a beautiful blue bird, it was  bigger than the Eastern Bluebird we see around here, but when you think of the relatively short lifespan of many bird species in comparison to man, yet they have endured from generation to generation. All things are God's servants and by that it means I am meant to be his servant also. Some times I don't feel like I do a very good job of being his servant but yet God is faithful and loves me just as I am. Look around you, you can see God's hand in so many things. I saw the beauty of Hoar Frost some weeks ago as I was driving in North Dakota. I was scanning through some pictures of my many travels and this world is an awesome place, full of God's creative design. My Uncles are all gone now and I wonder what marvels they are seeing as they have entered an eternity with this creative God. Forever God's word is firmly fixed even in the heavens. If you look all around at the creative genius of God, eternity will not be boring. From things as simple as frost and water, many species of creation, just look at the creative people around you made in the image of God. Yes sometimes we see twins as I did not too long ago, but still no two are alike. We have something to look forward to. God bless, LVZ.

A Clean Heart

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10
Have you ever asked God to look in your heart? In the Bible is the parable of the woman that lost a coin in her house and she searches until she finds it. She diligently sweeps through her house lights a lamp and looks until she finds it. Are there things in our heart we do not want to bring into the light of day? 2 Chronicles 7:14 is a conditional promise where God asks us to turn from our wicked ways and he is actually talking to his people. "if my people who are called by my name", We are to humble ourselves, pray and turn from our wicked ways. Yes God's people are to do this. God's people, Christians are God's people. We Christians are to turn from our wicked ways. How can we do that if we are not willing to take a good look inside?  Create in me a clean heart should be our prayer. Renew a right spirit in me, should be our desire before God. Have you ever asked God to look into your heart? I have and I think the uneasiness I feel today is a result of that prayer as God looks and perhaps is showing me an area of lack in my heart. It was there and God knew about it. I remember in different times of great stress when God used those times to show me something in my heart I didn't like to see myself and much less for anyone else to see. God does see and is willing to help us clean up areas of our heart if we ask. I do need God's help in this area of discomfort in my life.
and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God. Psalm 78:8
Is my heart steadfast towards God, is my spirit faithful to God?  Or am I part of a rebellious and stubborn generation that thinks they do not need God? God looks to the issues of the heart as he prepares us for eternity. Dear God look into my heart, create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit in me. God bless, LVZ.

DNA

DNA is a relatively new concept. I read some about it recently and one figure that stuck in my head in the article that I read was race amounts to about .01of our DNA. there are more genetic markers from regions we live in than race.  I have never understood how we have become so divided as a nation other than race is used to generate votes. Race seems to divide us politically. Yet it seems that actual genetic markers that identify the factors of race in our DNA are so small, the article I read said their is just one race. When the differences are large enough to identify a different species they cannot reproduce, what I mean is if you get an offspring of a donkey and a horse, which would be called a mule, the mule is sterile, it cannot reproduce. It seems we celebrate race and identify with race much more than is there in our DNA. We are one race. It is more a political, superficial division than what is found in our DNA. I am not an expert on DNA, I read two different articles. What I read tells me what I have learned from reading the Bible already. The articles I read said there are those in that field that try to support differences based on race but they have a really hard time with support data. I reiterate what I have probably said many times, God created one race, the human race. If we could trace our ancestry back many generations, every person alive today would end up at Noah and his wife. From Noah we could go to Adam and Eve. I have often wondered how the differences  that we call race developed. I jokingly blamed it on God when he dispersed the peoples of earth at the Tower of Babel.  Even though I was sort of joking it is true, God wanted the peoples of earth to spread over the globe and they stayed in one spot and were building the tower. The Bible says God confused the languages and they separated in family groups. It did cause them to move away and spread across the earth.  Today we see what we call different races of people but the DNA says one race. Yes we can get our DNA tested and it can identify according to our definition of race, but those factors are .01 of our total DNA. If I was a good writer I would probably have provided a link to the articles I read. I just googled DNA. It as not an exhaustive study, just glanced at two different articles.  God bless, LVZ.

Another Tragedy

In California another shooting, perhaps 5 dead, as many as 14 wounded. A school was one of the targets, as well as people just driving down the road. & different shooting sites. Can we come together, can we unite as a nation and call out to God to stop this evil. God tells us in his word to love even our enemies. “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, Luke 6:27 There is so much evil in our world. I know I have said this before the lack of light is darkness, the lack of heat is cold. The lack of God is evil. We work to take God out of everything and wonder what is wrong. We abort millions of babies, and do not call it murder but a woman's choice. A World War II monument is offensive because it is in the shape of a cross. All across this country we have seen ten commandment displays taken down and some desire to take "In God We Trust" off our money. We don't want the ten commandments in our schools nor do we want a religion that teaches to love your enemies to be allowed in our schools or government offices. How many must die before we realize we are headed in a wrong direction. You can take away every gun as other countries have done and you still have evil. Cain didn't use a gun to kill Abel. On this blog I give my opinion and I think until we recognize and turn back to God the evil will continue. We hear negativity, a steady diet, every day on the news. We sow negativity and tear down our leaders with no remorse. We don't know what to believe. We celebrate a rapist that was our President years ago and many said leave him alone, it is his personal business. But today we see people coming our of the wood work and saying evil about what happened 40 and 50 years ago. If these allegations are false, and we use it to take down some one we disagree with, what does that say about us. I don't know one way or the other, but I see hypocrisy when  we still don't want to talk about Bill Clinton and his many court cases through the years, where people did bring charges and we did nothing because he was a liberal champion. Do I think the charges against Roy Moore are false. I don't know, but what I do know is some in our society did not think it wrong to use forged national guard paper to try and defeat George Bush. I do know in my own state, political action committees made false statements, slander to keep a representative from winning and they were successful. The man sued the PAC and won and they printed a full page ad of retraction. They still kept him from winning with their slander. Do I think it is possible that these are false accusations? Yes it is possible, especially after 40 years. Integrity matters and until we realize that truth is important, both sides lose. We lose as an Americans because we take down good people with falsehoods and God is not pleased. God sees. Judgement day is coming. If we continue to sow evil, do not expect to reap anything but evil. We  reap what we sow. We need integrity. We need to live like we believe and not condone wrong when it is an Anthony Weiner, or a Bill Clinton, or a Richard Nixon, someone who aligns with our political beliefs and destroy the good ones with slander. We will reap more than we sow, later than we sow and what we sow. It is time to sow honesty, integrity, and other good seeds. Love, encouragement. We are reaping evil in our country, yet daily on the news what do we hear, Slander, false accusations, fake news, to the point where does anyone really know what to believe. The Bible is truth and tells us how to live. God has our best interests at heart and tells us the truth. You can bank on his word. Jesus even died for our sins.  God has the answers for life. God bless, LVZ.

Partiality and Favoritism

He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality. Romans 2:6-11 Then Peter began to speak: "I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism, Acts 10:34  We live in a fallen world. There are so  many things to divide us. Politics, even our faith, economic status and I am sure this list could go on and on. We reap what we sow, is what I believe the first part of the above verse says. If we sow division, we will reap division. I understand we had a bad history in the early part of our country. I understand there are still prejudices in our country. Do we seek only for ourselves or so we seek the good of our city, our neighborhood, our country. Are we so caught up in our politics that we will destroy our nation? That is self seeking. We are to be patient in well doing. I remember many, many years ago in Promise Keepers, one speaker in particular urged us to cross facial boundaries. I took it to heart and when I looked for a new church, I a white person went to a Black Church. When I needed a new physician, I found a black doctor. It was during this time, my father died and I was the executor of his estate. I looked for a black lawyer. When I needed auto repair, I looked for a Black mechanic. When I went to a store and I saw a person of another race, I would go through their line. I believe it changed me. I believe it changed the way I look at things. I believe in the same way we cans fix this country if we will cross boundaries. God is not the author of division, he is for equality. Now I am sure not every white person can  do what I did in a majority white population, but I believe we can all make efforts to cross lines. I tried when I was seeking an accountability partner, I thought it might be good if I partnered with a  black man because my wife is black. I tried and I found a minister of a black church that I did not know real well and I tried to be his friend, but not once did he return any of my phone calls. I ended up with a good white man as my accountability partner. I remember even on the job in Washington, I tried to befriend Black people that I worked and interacted with. Not only black but other races as well. But I feel blacks stick together, it is them against the world. This is wrong. We are one people, whatever race you encounter are God's creation and they are equal. Yes we do not always see eye to eye politically, or economically, but we are equal in God's eyes.  I remember a girl friend a had met at church where I attended a Divorce recovery class. She was a good Christian woman. I remember a co-worker telling me I could do better than Walmart woman. I bristled at his words. God is not the author of division along economic status either. I may have had a title of engineer, but I am equal to a Walmart worker in God's eyes. We find all sort of ways to divide ourselves. But God is not a God of partiality or favoritism.  God bless, LVZ.

In Whom Do We Put Our Trust?

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. Psalm 20:7
This morning I was thinking of this scripture? There are several areas that I think of when I read this Psalm. One of the members of our city counsel trusts in his IQ. He is a smart man, but all knowledge comes from God. Wouldn't it be better to trust in him who has all knowledge? When I think of this man and he is quick to tell you about his IQ. I think of another man that you can google. Michael Kearney graduated with a bachelors degree when he was just 10 years old. He was really smart as far as IQ.  His goal in life was to be a game show host. He is a Improv Comedian per google. Smarts is not enough. In recent times we have had tragedies in this country. Church shootings, the latest being in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Many churches, ours being one of them have safety teams organized to try and protect our church family from another tragedy like we just witnessed. I hope our trust is not in the safety team but in God who, knows all and sees all. I do believe we need to prepare ourselves but still we pray and put our trust for safety in a sovereign God. I hope if we ever face something in our church family, God will guide us and protect us.  But we prepare and I believe we should. As I have aged, I realize more and more how much I need God in every area of life. As a husband, a father, a grandfather, a brother. an accountability partner, a Deacon, a part of a safety team, a blogger. I pray for guidance in all areas of life. Even as I write, I ask for wisdom and for God's help in rightly dividing the word of truth. I don't need to start another religion, I just want to rightly divide the inspired word of God.  It is my hope to encourage others to put their trust in a sovereign God. Do we trust in our own abilities or do we trust in the one who created us. God has the answers for life. Life is in this hands, he gives us breath. I need God in every area of life. Right now I know of several people that are fighting cancer, life is in God's hands. A couple of these have put their trust in God and realize ultimately it is in God's hands. Others depend on their particular cancer treatment. God can heal instantly, or through the various treatments through doctors and hospitals. Either way it is in God's hands. I pray asking for God to heal. I trust in the name of the Lord our God.  I trust God to keep us safe. I thank him for the life he has given me. I am grateful. I recently completed a trip of 6400 miles, every day I asked and received traveling grace. I am thankful. God bless, LVZ.

Unequal

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 2 Corinthians 6:14-15
I have some thoughts on this that I would like to express. I think this is really important concept to be equally yoked with our partner for life. Many times we do not give enough thought to the long range  effects of being unequally yoke. When you have children and grandchildren, both parents have an influence on them. If unequally yoked that influence will be different and run in a different direction. MY first wife and I were from the same denomination, but we thought so differently. It has been difficult for our children. We were not united as a team. Our beliefs about discipline and so many other things were wide apart. I tried to discipline, she tried to be their friend. I remember at the beginning that it seemed we were OK, We came from the same church after all. We were as different in our belief system as night and day. I remember a lady I worked with and went to church with, she went through a divorce and then married a man of Bahai faith, and as far as I know, she no longer attends the church of her faith. Being unequal does not work in the long term. I have seen many couples where one partner will go to one church and the other partner to another church. When we marry, God joins us together to be one. We need to become one, and each thing that divides us works against this unity in the marriage. I know a pastor locally, I have never seen his wife go to church with him except one or twice at a special program like a Pastor anniversary. It appears to me, there is a problem in that marriage. Our society ridicules our Vice President and his policy to be very careful about being around the opposite sex, when we should be following his example. I wonder how much thought we give to this precept of God when we choose a mate.  I do know God's way works. I remember a minister a few years back had a new car on stage as he talked about this concept. Many times we give more thought and research into buying a car than we do for a life mate. We need to take care and look to God's guidance in choosing a mate. If we manage to stay together a life time, until death do part, there are so many stresses in life that will try to tear you apart. I remember a mother in law and father in law that had a piece of tape across their floor to divide their space, and separate refrigerators etc. His chair was on his side of the room and hers on hers. That my friends is not being equal. My marriage with this individual did not work either and I do not know any more about that couple. I only saw them one time and I will never forget that tape dividing the room. I have learned there are more things in life to divide us and the stresses of life are great. It is so important to carefully consider that mate and to look to be equal when we unite in marriage. It is God's plan and we need to give much thought to his words. God's ways, his precepts, his words, his plans work. Look to God for direction.  God bless, LVZ.

Psalm 139:1-16

O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.

Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.

For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,when as yet there was none of them. Psalm 139:1-16

What a beautiful Psalm. In this psalm we learn there is no place to hide from God. God is everywhere. There is nothing he does not see, for darkness is as light to God. If we go to heaven he is there. If we go down as far as we can go, he is there. In the depths of the sea he is there. When we were still in the womb, he saw us and saw every one of our days before even one of them happened. There is no place to hide from God. There are no secret sins. Our thoughts are known. God knows our ways, how we think. He knows when we are well and when we are down in a bed of affliction. God knows and sees where we are and how we are doing. There is nothing hid from God. Even into the depths of our heart, we are known to God. Our motives are known to God. Many has been the time when God showed me even into the motives of my heart. We are wonderfully made and still God allows us free will, to accept or reject him. What an awesome God. Worthy to be praised and worshipped. God bless, LVZ.

Children of Noah

These are the clans of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, in their nations, and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood. Genesis 10:32 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth. Genesis 11:9
Many times when I hear of people talking about different races and the problems we have I think back to these accounts in the book of Genesis. Everyone on earth today is a descendant  of Noah. I know there are many skin tones and facial features, body features. We can see the family similarities, I look at my wife Barbara and her niece and I see the same features. I look at some of my own family and in spite of the same family features, each one is unique. There are different skin tones and hair textures. I wonder if we would have such divisions in society today if God has not forced the descendants of Noah to spread across the earth. They seemed to stay in one place. Then they wanted to build a tower up to the heavens. There knowledge base was not advanced enough to build a skyscraper.  God came down to see what they were doing and it didn't please him and he confused the languages and caused them to separate and travel all over the earth. Today we see different nationalities, different races. Still we all came from one family, the family of Noah. Yes there are differences and family traits. One race is not better than another race. But it is ingrained in us after centuries of separation. We think differently, there is so much variety in the human race. Yet there is family traits. We see families that teach good values and pass it on to the next generation. We see evil  traits passed on and dysfunction passed on from one generation to the next. We should recognize that all are children of our heavenly father and made in his image. Yes, today there are still race issues. Today there are political differences. Even early in Genesis between Cain and Able there were differences. Cain killed his brother Abel over these differences. There was a price to pay for that disobedience.   There is a lot of history in the first few chapters of Genesis. We are not told every thing. Cain and Seth had wives and many children. Even the animals started from the pairs that God created, and o so many varieties we see today. We see today breeders of animals will pair animals to get certain traits and we even see new varieties. The main point of this blog, is we are one people in God's eye. There is no race better than another race. It is our actions that please and displease God. I wish we could quit the white man / black man divisions in our world today. We are all descendants  of Adam and Eve and even closer, descendants of Noah and his wife after the flood.  To please God we need to look to his words in the Bible and live by his precepts, his laws , his ways. For the best life possible follow God's direction. We are one people, all the creation of our Heavenly Father. God bless, LVZ.

Pray

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. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 1 Timothy 2:1-6
I think of the tragedy in Texas as I write this. Evil seems to keep raising it ugly head. We measure heat, Cold is the lack of heat. We measure light, darkness is the lack of light. Evil is the lack of God. It wasn't too long ago, we heard on the news that people are pushing to take down a World War II monument because it is in the shape of a cross. In past years we have taken down 10 commandment monuments out of public places. This list could go on and on of ways we are taking God out or asking him to leave us alone. We are commanded to pray, for all people, for Kings, and all who are in high places. The purpose being according to this scripture that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, Godly and dignified in every way. How are we doing? Are we praying for our President? For what we call the swamp in D.C.? It is the lack of God in our nation, in our cities. We had a tragedy in Tupelo, about a year and a half ago. There was a planned city wide prayer service to pray for healing for families and the community in the aftermath of the tragedy and it did not happen. The black pastors pulled out and canceled. It still to this day has not happened. I suppose their is some wisdom in the fact that gathering all into one place could invite an attack from some deranged individual. But could we not designate a time city / county wide for intercession to God on the behalf of our city? Nineveh did when Jonah came to warn them and they did repent and turned the heart of God. As someone pointed out to me, Nineveh did return to their old ways later on and God did destroy Nineveh, perhaps some 100 years later. But the fact remains in Jonah chapter three, they did repent and intercede and turn the heart of God. God help us. God bless, LVZ.

Nineveh

When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.  Jonah 3:10 Most of us have heard of the story of Jonah and the whale even from childhood. Here in chapter three is after Jonah's whale experience. Jonah does as God has asked him to do, and warns Nineveh of God's pending judgement on their city. Sodom and Gomorrah did not listen and God destroyed them. Nineveh, the great city had God's attention for being evil much as other cities had and God sent a warning. In the verse above, Nineveh heeded God's warning. They repented, they called out to God, they acknowledged their sin. That is what God wanted. They changed God's mind, and God did not destroy them. Is not God allowed to change his mind if we repent. If you know the story of Jonah, Jonah was disappointed that God did not destroy the city as he had warned. He pouted and God worked with Jonah but God is sovereign, and we too can change the heart of God for us as individuals, as a city and even as a nation if we will heed God's warnings to us and call on him. If we recognize God is sovereign, he holds life in his hands. He could have destroyed Nineveh just like Sodom or Gomorrah, but he heard their cries of repentance and simply changed his mind. We so much so in this country need to humble ourselves and acknowledge God and repent. We have received warnings from God through our spiritual leaders in this country as some like Franklin Graham and even Billy Graham years ago. We also have seen God turn our country in a different direction this last election. Christians across this country were praying. I was on a road trip during the last election cycle and I saw in town after town a prayer time set up or on church signs, pray for our country, and we moved the heart of God. there is still much division, but God will work even through a small amount of people that have humbled themselves. Perhaps the followers of God are not in the majority anymore, but if they move the heart of God, God can change things. God is still on his throne in the heavens. I believe we saw God move in this last election. Some question why and fell it is an attack on Obama. No it is not a personal attack, but a change of direction. The movement away from God in recent years has set policies in place that are not pleasing to God and they must be changed. It is that new direction we are seeing. We must continue to pray especially for this President, that God would guide and even temper his words. This President is a strong one and a somewhat abrasive personality. We need God to guide him and perhaps even smooth his words. The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will. Proverbs 21:1 I have often thought even if Hillary had won, God could still direct as he wishes, if we Christian people are on our knees before God.  And we do continue to need to be on our knees before God for this nation. We abort millions of babies, and I do not see where God has changed his word. We are violating God design and his plans. Every life is precious to God and no where has God given us the right over life and death. It has never been our choice to tell God who should die and who should live. But yet in this country we do, we end a life because it may inconvenience our life style. God gave us sexual desire to procreate. Show me any place in his word where he told us we could decide life and death of the unborn. Where did God give that right to us? We are wrong, and we need to change that. That is a selfish person that will choose to end the life of a baby to avoid the inconvenience of having to raise it. We are going against God's laws and his precepts. We are a country where there is an epidemic of fatherless households as well as the epidemic of abortions. This is not God's plan, and we will face God's judgement some day. I have seen it on the today show several times, where a couple is celebrating the birth of their child and then is the plan to get married in a year or so. This new morality is not God's design and there are consequences for sin. If not in the present age then when at the end of this life when we face God, there will be an accounting for sin. We can be forgiven, if we seek God. Sins can be covered and forgiven by the blood of Jesus. It is the only way. We need to turn to God individually and collectively as a city and a nation as Nineveh did so many years ago. God bless. LVZ.

God knows us.

O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. Psalm 139:1-6
God knows us. God knows better than we know ourselves. God has searched our hearts. He knows when we are up and when we are down. God knows our thoughts and how we think. He is acquainted with all our ways. God knows our words. If we are his child, his hand of protection is upon us. God loved us so much that he sent Jesus to die for our sins. would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the heart. Psalm 44:21  Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. Psalm 139:16 There is no secret of the heart that God does not know. Every one of our days is known to God before they happened.  But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Matthew 10:30  This week the thought that God knows how I think stood out to me. We limit God, he is much more powerful and knows us better than we know ourselves. I look at his creation. One thing God is not is boring. There is beauty every where we go. Knowledge comes from God. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17 God is sovereign, He gives us breath and nourishment. He is fair and consistent. I am amazed at the people that will think God gave us Obama but not Trump or those that believe he gave us Trump but not Obama. God is sovereign, he is over all. I remember when I first started at the Boeing Company and I heard someone say that you had to know someone to get any where in the company. I remember thinking, I know God and he is over the CEO. I saw this prove true in my life during my years at Boeing. He advanced me above and beyond what I thought I was capable of. I graduated from High School, had no engineering degree yet I signed drawings as engineer and checker and drafter depending on what I was doing. At a time I was over a set of drawings and had people creating drawings for me. I never dreamed I was capable of being a lead, yet my last four years I was lead of design engineers in an Electrical Corrective Action Team. God knows us better than we know ourselves. God is sovereign. I don't mean to be bragging on myself but to point out how well God knows us and what we can do if we allow him into our hearts and lives. He created each of us for a purpose. This was possible because I believe God directed me to take CATIA classes and even got paid to go to class. God is sovereign and he will direct our paths if we will let him. God bless, LVZ. 

Perfect Love

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. 1 John 4:18-21.
Speaking of love, I read recently about a father holding his newborn child in his arms for the first time. I thought back to my own experience with my children. Nobody had to teach you to love that child. I remember little Tykie Turkey as he was affectionately called. Blond hair and just a bundle of joy. Would follow me where ever I went. Was digging post holes for a fence and look around and there he had stepped into a post hole and was in the hole up to the top of his head. On that same fence, he crawled over it and his hood on the jacket got caught on a picket and he was just hanging there. I remember the first time I held my daughter in my arms. Her head in the palm of my hand and her little feet up against my arm. Precious they were from the moment they were born. God first loved us before we even knew him. Before we were born he knew the number of our days. He knows the number of the hairs on our head. That is how much God loves us. We have been that precious to God from the day we were born. God even knows how we think. He knows everything about us. He loved us even at our worst. Much like, even more so than a parent and their newborn child. He loved us so much, Jesus died on a cross for our sins. God bless, LVZ.

Counselors

Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.
Proverbs 11:14
Without consultation, plans are frustrated, But with many counselors they succeed. Proverbs 15:22
This is not a promise but words of wisdom. The book of Proverbs is the writings of a wise man who looked into matters of life. With many counselors generally people / organizations succeed.  If you look to the world around us, you will find many places this wisdom from the Bible has been used. Many large corporations have a board of directors. Churches have a board, or a board of Elders or a board of Deacons. We find school boards across our nation. This wisdom works and it is used many times over in organizations across the world.  There are many principles like this in the word of God. God's ways work and if we would turn from our wicked ways back to seeking God we would actually see the healing of our nation. 2 Chronicles 7:14. Having hatred in our hearts destroys, but love covers a multitude of sins. Look at the many unforgiving people in our world and what spews from their mouths. Look at the forgiving actions of others and the love that pours forth. God's ways work. Who do we look to for counsel? God bless, LVZ.

Respect Is Not Earned

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 Yesterday as I looked at some posts on face book, someone said respect is earned. It is a saying we often hear and probably quote. It is not Biblical. We are commanded to respect unconditionally, not because it is earned. We do not respect Bill Clinton because of his affair with Monica, but because of the office of President that he held. We are to Honor our parents not because they earned it as good parents, but as even bad or mediocre parents we are commanded to honor them. Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. Deuteronomy 5:16  However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. Ephesians 5:33  In Ephesians the command is given for wives to respect their husbands not because it is earned but because they are the husband and held accountable by God for their families. Over and over again in the word we find the command to respect and honor and I do not find it depending upon the leader, the parent, the husband earning that respect. Sometimes I feel we give more weight to these saying that are passed on then to the word of God. It is a sorry dog that doesn't wag his own tail, another saying I first heard in church, it is not Biblical. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 1 Peter 5:6  We are to humble ourselves. We are to esteem others better than ourselves. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Philippians 2: 3,4. So many times we hear a saying and it sounds good, but does it agree with the word of God?  I think of the controversy we face in our country right now with Football players bending the knee during the national anthem and flag salute, it is a sign of disrespect, and in the case of our military, they have earned our respect and we should honor and respect them. If we really believed that saying, respect is earned, would we not respect and honor our military for the protection and the lives that were given and the wounds that were received for us as they protected us. Once again we owe respect for the office / position.  We see players with six figure salaries disrespecting our flag, and the nation it represents. I am sure not every policeman is perfect, but I still say we respect because of the office they hold. The military and police,  put their lives on the line for us. It is not always earned, but it is owed and according to God's word, we should pay what we owe. We owe a debt of gratitude and respect to these men. I believe we should stand in respect for what they have already done. Not all have given their lives, not all are good, but the majority are and if anyone has earned our respect, it would be the military.  We are being destroyed from within. Let us not partake in these protests that disrespect our military.  God bless, LVZ.

Thankful

do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6
This is a scripture that was used in our Wednesday Bible Study. I thought about it and how on my recent trip when Barbara and I would pray together by telephone one of the things I would say is: Thank you for traveling grace. I would pray for traveling grace and I wanted traveling grace. I didn't think about it being scriptural what I was doing until the Pastor used this scripture and was telling us to be thankful.  But it seemed every day I would thank God for Traveling Grace and protection. Isn't that about one of the first things we teach our children to be thankful? And we should be thankful for everything. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17 God is our provider, are we thankful? I was walking in a fast food as a lady with two young special needs kids was walking out the door and I held the door for them. The lady reminded the little girl to say thank you. Don't we remind our children to tell a grandparent or other person thank you when they send a gift?  It is so important as we go through life to be thankful. One of the things I liked about the show Blue Bloods on TV was the grace they said at the table at their weekly family meal. God is good, God is great, let us thank him for our food, Amen. I try but sometimes I catch myself taking a bite and realize I haven't given thanks. It is a good habit to develop, to be thankful for every thing. Let it be our way of living, being thankful. God bless, LVZ.

Ask Forgiveness Later

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39
I was thinking recently about how not long ago on the campaign trail, I received some advice that perhaps may not have been the best. We put up signs with our name and the position we are seeking all over our city. One man suggested that put it up and ask forgiveness later. Sometimes we see an empty lot and how it seems to be an ideal place to place a sign. Don't know who owns it. Place a sign and if someone objects later ask forgiveness. One man was wanting railroad ties, the old ones they take out when they replace them with new ones. He was told it takes probably years to get permission to get a few ties. Take them and if it becomes a problem ask forgiveness. Sometimes I wonder if this is the way we treat God. This scripture tells us we are secure in his hands and we are. I wonder when temptation arises, do we commit sin and ask God for forgiveness later. Almost like a license to sin because we have prayed the sinners prayer. Scripture says with temptation, God will make a way of escape. Do we take the escape or ask forgiveness later? Scripture says God will not tempt us above what we are able to bear. Do we sin and ask God for forgiveness later? Romans 6:1,2 says: What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?  By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38 Yes we are secure in God's grace, but do we sin and ask for forgiveness later. I wonder how God feels about that if that is the way we live our life? God bless, LVZ.