Glass Half Full or Half Empty

Ever heard the saying or been asked is your glass half full or half empty. If we have a negative view about life and the things that happen to us we are living a half empty glass life style. Many are the people that have faced trials and temptations with the half full attitude. It is the difference between night and day, light and darkness. We seem to be living in a world of half empty glasses.  People attack Trump  because of his aggressive personality and fail to see the accomplishments for the good of America. They are living in a half empty world. I think of my son who chooses to look at life as a victim, because he wasn't raised by his biological Father, he feels like he was cheated in life. On the half full side of the glass he was raised by a man (an imperfect man at best) who went to work every day and put food in his belly, clothes on his back, bought bicycles and cars and toys through out his life.  A man that held the same job for 32 years. And loved him. But he chooses to look at the half empty side of life and look at what was unfair.  We live in a fallen world, imperfect parents every one. I can look at the rain coming down and be depressed and fail to see the green grass and the flowers the rain brings. A lot of this is choices, personal choices we make. For much of my life I too looked at the half empty side of the glass of life instead of the half full side. I saw a beautiful picture of Snoqualmie Falls in Washington state. I can look at the beauty of God's majestic power or I can look at the flooded streams above almost over flowing their banks and worry. I can look at the beauty of God's power in creations displayed in the lava flows in Hawaii or concentrate on the destruction in its flow. I can be thankful for the hundreds of people evacuated safely with lives and families intact or concentrate on the material possessions they lost. God is at work in the lives and hearts of men. Sometimes trials and temptations are allowed in our lives to strengthen us. O that we could be like Job and go through those trials and still see God at work and pray for his friends that were trying to figure out what Job did wrong. Job prayed for them when they needed to pray for Job. Job saw a half full glass of life. He was able to borrow from yesterdays sunshine and know that his redeemer still lived. Yes recently I felt like I was going through some trials as things went wrong in my life. BUT God is still on his throne and is still sovereign. Help me God to see the blessings and the half full side of life.  God bless. LVZ.

Jesus is Lord

1 Corinthians 12:3
Therefore I inform you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.
I remember this incident like it was yesterday.  I had reported a co-worker to the management and it became known. I was a fink, that is probably a kind word compared to what was said about me. A man who worked in our area, knew I claimed to be a Christian, came to me and asked me to say if I could Jesus is Lord.  He wasn't being mean and when I said Jesus is Lord, that was enough for him. He quoted the above scripture and left. I was under fire at that time and pretty beat down. Many times over the years I thought about that incident. This same man, I don't remember his name would never say anything bad about anyone. He was a Christian and lived it. Jesus is Lord, just such a simple phrase yet it means so much. I remember it being very hard for me to say it that day. I think back and I believe God sent him to me with that simple message that day. Jesus is Lord, he is still in control, he is sovereign. I was discouraged and beat down. I ended up having to be put on second shift for my own safety because co-workers were so mad at me. They weren't mad at the man that was stealing from the company, they were mad at me for reporting it. They didn't feel they could trust me, someone stole from the company and I reported it. Jesus had my back. I made it through that difficult time. I remained at the company many more years and towards the end of my career I realized I had a very good reputation among my peers. My supervisor put me in for a raise, I had been lead for a year and the company was pleased with my work. She asked me to write up one page piece of paper stating some things I had done so she could try to get me a raise. At the meeting of supervisors when my name came up, she said it was a slam dunk. She didn't have to say a word. She said my reputation preceded me. They all knew me. This was a meeting of all electrical engineering supervisors from Seattle, Renton, Everett. I didn't realize I was that known. I think back to the Jesus is Lord incident many years before, God had my back. God is sovereign and he is in control. Things may look dark from time to time, but in the end God works his will and his way in our lives. God is above all. I remember in my young days when someone said you have to know someone in this company to get any where. I remember thinking God is above all, even the CEO and I am his.  God bless, LVZ.

The State of America

I saw an article on Facebook blaming Pastors for the state America is in.  Talking about the U.S. and not  the Americas in general. I am not sure what to think about it. Perhaps we always try to find someone to blame for our lack. But we had few Billy Grahams, and many more Jim Bakers, Jimmy Swaggart and others that have disgraced the profession of pastors. Christians are described as sheep because we follow. If a pastor don't hold the line as a leader is it not common to find his sheep following? If a Pastor as moral lapses, would you not expect those that follow to have moral lapses? I have chosen some good pastors to follow over the years. I made a choice who to follow. I have had some questionable Pastors also. During a time in my life when I had the most moral failures I attended the most liberal of all congregations in my lifetime. I made a choice and left that congregation and found another. I knew where the liberal Pastor stood, he was for abortion, he would say bad things about Bush from the pulpit. And he knew when he said it that it bothered me. I was not loss to the congregation when I left. I never knew in the next congregation if the Pastor was liberal or conservative. He didn't speak his political leanings from the pulpit. I suspect he was conservative in his politics but he did not speak it from the pulpit. He brought a word from God. Don't I have a responsibility for who I choose to follow? If I follow someone who errs in his teaching, does that give me an excuse for not following the Bible on my own? No, I think there is still individual accountability with God for each life. Do we follow what we know and live by it? While I somewhat agree with that article because we have seen so many ministers fail I also see a culture that ridiculed Vice President Mike Pence for his personal convictions. I saw an America that gave Bill Clinton a pass for moral failure while he was in the White House and abused his authority as President with an intern and pretty much ruined her life. Leave him (Bill Clinton) alone, it is his personal life, I heard from his supporters. I wonder how many Clinton supporters are on this Me Too band wagon we see now with Cosby, Weinstien ( I hope I spelled that right), Morgan Freeman is the latest victim.  What other names do I remember that had moral failures? Ted Kennedy, John Edwards, John Kennedy, and so many others that had affairs. we get to choose when we are outraged and when we condone and leave it alone.  We do get to choose when we want to be righteous and when we look the other way. God is the same today as he was yesterday. If we support a leader that leads us into the ditch in life, we still face the same God with the same commandments, the same precepts, the same ways when we arrive at judgment day. We will not be able to point a finger at our leaders and say it is their fault that I failed. I was just following their lead. No I think there is a personal responsibility that we all have to speak for our own life. It is the state of our own life that will matter on judgment day not the state of America that will matter. Jesus is the Good Shepard, the one we should follow. Yes I do believe these leaders will also answer to God for the way they lead. I will answer to God for what I write on these pages. Are the meditations and the words of my mouth acceptable to God? I don't think we should look for someone to blame but make sure we are following the Good Shepard. God bless, LVZ.

To Forgive

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Matthew 6:14-15
To forgive others is absolutely necessary. We use to talk about core values in the business world, in the Christian life, to forgive is an absolute necessity. I was thinking in my last blog about how difficult it is to be at peace with all men as it depends on us. I think of the many times when there has been trouble in the family. One person will not speak to another etc.  It happens all to often. If you look at it closely, somebody does not have a forgiving attitude. We are human, we will misspeak.
We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to control his whole body. James 3:2 I know I have not lived a perfect life, I do not know anyone who has. If we can control our whole body and especially our tongue, we are perfect.  I really do not know anyone who is perfect, especially in what we say. Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips. Psalm 141:3 Perhaps we can ask God as the Psalmist did to watch over the door of my lips, to set a guard over my mouth. But in the mean time, we still need to forgive those who have hurt us. Christians are tender hearted and they can be easily hurt. Those closest to us, those we love, can easily hurt us with a careless word. We must forgive. If we do not learn to forgive, if we do not develop a forgiving attitude; then on judgment day when God judges the good and the bad, we will come up short. It will stand out like a sore thumb. If we do not forgive others their trespasses than neither will our Heavenly Father forgive our trespasses. Can you look back in your own life and never see a word spoken that should have been left unsaid? I know I can. This Christian life is a long journey, and we do not have it all figured out the instant we become a Christian. We are learning as we live. In our learning, in our growth, we must learn to forgive. It is as necessary as air to breath, or food to eat. It is as necessary as water to drink. We must develop an attitude of forgiving others. I think back just a few years, I hired a Christian contractor or so I thought. The trouble was, he had people working for him that were not Christians. They did not have Christian ethics as I expected. I had to pray for help to forgive. I have a wonderful wife, but there has been a time or two when a word spoken has hurt me. They have been far and few between but still it happens. Especially in families, it is bound to happen. We must learn to forgive. We must not keep a record of wrongs. Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. Matthew 18:21-22      What does this mean?  Unlimited number of times we must forgive those who trespass against us. Those who hurt us with their words.  Unlimited, over and over again, we must learn to develop a forgiving attitude. God bless, LVZ. 

If Possible

Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12:17-21
In this world it seems impossible to live peaceably with all. I have at times spoken things that people didn't like. Without thinking I respond to a question or a statement and I have people that will no longer talk to me. I believe I tried to make amends but it has been so long I really don't remember any more. I have a son that won't speak to me, won't take my telephone calls. He will not acknowledge me on my birthdays, fathers day or any other time. I quit putting his sister in the middle by sending birthday cards etc. to him through her. I have an older brother some time a few years back, I said something that upset / offended him. He will not speak to me. Even at our mothers funeral, I tried and he would not speak to me.  I had another family member pull a gun on me a few years back when I said something that offended him. I mowed the lawn next door to him the other day and they were sitting on the porch and as soon as I drove in the yard where I was mowing, they went inside to avoid speaking to me. By the time I got out of my vehicle they were already in the house. I guess all I can do is leave it to God because I feel I tried. The scripture says if possible. I am sure God knows sometimes people will be unforgiving and that why he said if possible. I used to try to give to any one that's asks and the other day at the grocery store, a man sitting on the bench outside asked for two dollars for something to eat. I used to give but so many times I've seen that money go for a bottle of beer.  I would love to give for a sandwich but I don't think I am helping if I am buying a beer. How do I know? I really don't. I heard this story several times: I have a wife or mother or someone in the hospital in Corinth and I need gas to get there. I guess the story must have worked for them because I know I heard it personally at least three times. People will come to a church at service time asking for a hand out. How do you know if it is legitimate? Only God knows. The Bible tells us to over come evil with good, and don't let it get you down. We just keep doing the right thing as much as we are able to. I don't feel I am a stingy person, I feel I will give when I can. I helped a guy for a while with a ride to work. I am retired, I do not have to get up at the sound of an alarm clock. I set my alarm so I could be sure to get to his house at the agreed upon time. One morning I waited twenty minutes and left. He called right after I left, I refused to go back. I did try and help him some more. I got to his house at the agreed upon time again and I waited ten minutes. I told him I have no skin in this game, I am trying to help you, you could be on time. The next morning he needed a ride again and I told him I would be there 10 minutes later than the first morning. I still had to wait 5 minutes. We need to develop a forgiving attitude and I try to, but I do not need to be a door mat.  I am not sure I live by this scripture perfectly. Sometimes my judgement may be off. The bible does say,  if possible so far as it depends on you. I have prayed about this because I wonder if I am failing in this area.  Especially in families we need to develop a forgiving attitude.  If we do not forgive, neither will our Heavenly Father forgive us. God bless. LVZ.

None Like You

No one is like you, Lord;

you are great,

and your name is mighty in power.

7Who should not fear you,

King of the nations?

This is your due.

Among all the wise leaders of the nations

and in all their kingdoms,

there is no one like you. Jeremiah 10:6-7

Who should not fear God? There is not a person alive on this earth that breathes and takes in nourishment because God gives us life. He is the creator of all. Among all the wise leaders of the nations there is none like God.  Sometimes I feel I need to be careful that I don't worship a leader like Trump or many still think Obama was the best thing since sliced bread. They are mere men, they put their pants on lone leg at a time like all of us. But God our creator made even mankind.

But God made the earth by his power;

he founded the world by his wisdom

and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.

13When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar;

he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.

He sends lightning with the rain

and brings out the wind from his storehouses. Jeremiah 10:12-13   

  Sometimes we do heap praise on these rulers or others that we esteem highly, but they did not create the earth and all that is within it. God made the earth by his power, he founded the world by his wisdom. If you throw a rock into the air it will come down because of the law of gravity.  Think of the power of water or even in the news recently the volcanic eruptions in Hawaii.  Can we make a cloud rise from the earth. God can, at his will. Look at the children of Israel being led in the desert wilderness by a cloud that God made appear to lead them. At the Red Sea, he cause the cloud to move between them and the Egyptians.  we see the clouds form and sometimes they get heavy and produce rain. 40 days and 40 nights it rained and produced the great flood, at God's command.        God was angry at his creation and produced a rain like none of us have ever seen.  Where does the wind come from? I can be in my back yard and all the sudden I feel a cooling breeze, where did it come from? I can be looking at the windmill and it is still and in a few minutes, the wheel is spinning like crazy. God brings out the wind from his storehouses.  The earth rotates and brings us night and day and seasons of the year because God in his wisdom made it so.  God is worthy of our praise and worship. There is none like God, no created god can do what God in heaven does.  God bless, LVZ.

A life Time

Some times as I look at some of the people that teach me, I am amazed at the word I hear from them. I think of this past Sunday, I was fed spiritual food by several different people. They seem to do much better than I at digging out truths from the word of God. They have been at it a long time. I remember as a young man my first father - in - law would ask me to preach for him when he was gone occasionally. I think back to those days and I realize I could not hold a candle to the ones that teach me now. First they have been at it a long time. The wisdom that comes from them in their teaching and preaching is not from just the past week of preparing for the next Sunday. It stems from a life time of walking with God and daily relationship with God. It is not just gotten from head knowledge but from having lived this Christian walk for a while. I have sat under teachers, and I too was one of them, that basically read the pre-printed Sunday School literature from headquarters Sunday after Sunday. I remember  reading the lessons and hearing it again word by word as it was read again. Sometimes it helps to have a study guide. I recently read the book "The Red Sea Rules" and it was a big help to me. Even the person that wrote that book was prepared. I listened to him teach and preach at a men's breakfast here a while back and as I listened to the words and I noticed he quoted most if not all the verses he used in his message that morning. That lesson was from years of study and walking with God. I don't think he hardly looked at the paper in front of him. He was prepared. Then I also remember a preacher from Headquarters from the church I was raised in from years ago, that would read his message he had prepared from his paper. He did not deviate from what he had prepared on that paper. I heard someone ask him about it and he said, he had prayed and studied over that word that he had written down. He had gone over it time and again to make sure he did not say something offensive. He wanted to say only the words God had given him as he had prepared.  Preparation again, perhaps different from the person above but once again there was a life time of preparation in the lives of these individuals as they taught others. It wasn't from just one setting, but from a life time of walking with God. I think of the story I heard of Ruth Graham as she would have a devotional time each morning, she was a note taker. As she read from God's word each morning she would write down her thought from the passage she was reading and studying. She was an incredible mentor to those she mentored. It was from a life time of relationship with God. I take notes. In Sunday service or even in Sunday School, I take notes. I may never read them again but I have found the note taking helps me remember what I have heard. Have you ever come from a particularly good sermon or Bible Study and someone asks what was it about. You may have just expressed how good it was and then cannot remember the subject. That was me, and I found by taking notes I retain more. Once again as in my last blog, it is not for the sake of head knowledge or to be able to quote many Bible verses, but for the sake of living it. If it doesn't change your life, if it doesn't affect the way you are living, what good is it? I desire to grow in my walk with God. Not for head knowledge, not to be able to impress others with the many verses I can quote, but to apply it to my life in my daily walk. I want to be clay in God's hands, allowing him to mold and shape me as he sees fit. Growth needs to happen. I don't want to be a Bonsai Christian. No growth, looking the same year after year. The same little tree even after 20 and 30 years.  I want growth, I want to look like my heavenly father more and more as each year passes. You can become a Christian in one instant by giving your heart and life to God, but living and looking like Jesus requires a life time of devotion.  God bless, LVZ.

Why a Constant Bible Study

And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. Hebrews 10:25
But exhort one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. Hebrews 3:13
There is a couple of reasons why I am thinking about this subject. A Sunday School teacher asked why do we have continuous Bible Studies, week after week?  Pastor spoke about growing in a recent sermon. I see these things as related. I became a Christian over 30 years ago. Actually as a child I was raised in Church, Sunday School, Gleaners, VLB's. Gleaners was the program for pre-teen children. VLB stood for Victory Leaders Band for teenagers. I believe I became a Christian at possibly age 5. But in my twenties I walked away from God. Didn't feel I needed him, saw so many hypocrites in the church. As I thought about these things, when I became a Christian did I in that moment become mature and know the whole Bible from cover to cover? I understand today, I didn't know a lot back then. I remember a Pastor in my early twenties asking what I thought my Bible knowledge was on a scale from 1 to 10.  I said probably a five. He said,  just the fact that I was raised in the church I was probably an 8.  I know he meant to encourage me. But I also think it was still some of that we are the Church of God mentality.  Many years I went to Sunday School, Church etc. But did I grow? I really didn't set aside time for personal relationship with God. It was a hit and miss thing with me. I look back and I think was I suppose to know all there was to know about being a Christian just because I became one? So I decide to become an auto mechanic and I buy a set of tools and a car and I just automatically know what to do?  I knew almost nothing about auto mechanics when I was 19 years old.  But during my years at Scott Paper Company I took a correspondence course through the mail and they gave me tools. I knew I needed to repack wheel bearings in an old 1953 panel truck I had, but as simple as that was I did not know how to do it.  I took my wheel bearings to a service station and asked if the mechanic there could repack them for me. He looked at me funny and did repack them in front of me. He didn't use a tool. He took some axle grease in the palm of his hand and pressed the bearings one at a time  into the clump of new grease until the new grease pushed the old grease out. Around and around he rotated that bearing and pushed it into the grease in the palm of his hand. It was simple but I didn't know how to do it. After the correspondence course I did brake jobs, oil changes,  I even rebuilt an engine in a 1954 ford. I took it all apart and honed out the cylinders, put new rings and bearings in it and put it back together. It ran after I got done and I drove it for a few years until I traded for something else. I rebuilt a 3 speed manual transmission. I installed a short block in a falcon I had. Just becoming a Christian does not mean I knew how to be one. That is why we gather together in Sunday School and Church Sunday morning, even Wednesday Bible Study. To learn how to be a Christian.  But is it just head knowledge that I needed? It probably did about as much good as the auto mechanic correspondence course if I didn't put it into practice. The Bible knowledge needs to be more than just head knowledge. It needs to get into my heart and my life.  These principles need to be put into practice in my life. Psalm 119 talks about learning God's commands, his ways, his precepts, his laws etc. We need more than head knowledge, it needs to be something we practice, something we live. I am still learning. I can see back there where most Christians could rightfully be called a hypocrite as they learn about being a Christian. I didn't rebuild an engine after the first lesson. After a few lessons I may have done a tune up, a few more and I might have done a brake job. But it was a long time in that course until I rebuilt and engine.  It would have done absolutely nothing for me until I put it into practice. I read about forgiving others, guarding my tongue. What good does my learning do if I don't practice in my daily life? We Christians want to be like Jesus, but how do I know what Jesus is like if I don't pray and read his word. How do I grow if I don't put those things into practice that I learned. I became a Christian in an instant, I am learning how to live like one over a life time. In that sermon Pastor made the statement, healthy things grow. Am I growing as a Christian or do I look the same as I did 20 or 30 years ago? God bless, LVZ.




healthy things grow

Time for Reflection.

I think I will stop posting for a short while. I will continue to write but unless I feel it is worth publishing I will just keep it to myself.  I am unsure of my writing. I was raised very legalistically and sometimes feel my posts lean more towards legalism than grace. I know God is still working on me, in my heart and life.  I grew up in a church that believed they were the true church and I believed it and that it was Bible up until about my mid thirties.  We felt we needed to inform the world about God's church.  What the world needs is Jesus. Not the Jesus Only group that goes by that name, but sometimes I think our highest loyalty is to a church or a certain denomination instead of to God himself. I was raised in a Church of God, (not the complete name) but a group that believed they were the true church and some day all Christians the world over would become part of them.  I read recently that there are now about 300 different factions or groups with that name. I think that fact points to the fact we need to be loyal to God and God needs to be our highest loyalty. They have disagreements over doctrine and sometimes the things they disagree about are not salvation breakers. They have a flag that they feel God gave them with a scepter , crown and star and they divide and another group develops a variation of the flag with scepter, crown and star. I think I have seen three different variations of that flag.  I am sure they all use the scripture about God giving a banner to those that fear him. I wonder sometimes how much of that early influence still comes through. Do you know Satan quoted scripture to Jesus to tempt him. I need God more that I need a church body.  I need relationship with him more than I need to be a member of a body of believers some where. I am a member of a church and believe it is necessary. The Bible tells us to forsake not the assembling of believers. We need each other for strength, encouragement, for teaching. But Church is secondary to God. We become part of that church when our relationship with God is right. Being a part of a church body is not going to get me to heaven, relationship with God, following God is what is going to get me to heaven. I can be a member of a church all of my life and still end up in hell.  I see that same spirit in so many churches, not just the Church of God, but in almost any denomination out there. Jesus is the answer, not my legalistic leanings. I wonder if the compulsion I feel to warn others about these affiliations is worse than that affiliation. I don't know if that statement makes sense to any one but me. If my legalism is coming through in my writings am I doing any better. My utmost loyalty needs to be to God. He is the one that forgives sins. Not a body of believers. God is the one that guides us through his word. I see people that are loyal to a church because that is where their family has always gone. God is the one that saves from sin, not a church. I am thankful for the teaching I have received from every church body I have belonged to. They helped me to get to where I am today.   We have received improper teaching over the years, I remember a sermon Stick with the Ship (the reference scripture was Paul's shipwreck), which basically was telling us to stick with that particular Church body. It is Jesus we need to stick like glue to. What if that church becomes politically correct in their teaching, instead of Biblically correct. Are we so ingrained in Church Doctrine that we follow that particular church instead of The Word of God? In the last days Satan will attempt to deceive the very elect, I believe that is happening today. I need Jesus. I need grace, I need God's love. The political systems of this world will not save us. Jesus is the answer. I am very political and I am very free to give my political opinion to any and all. But Conservativism or Liberalism is not going to save our world. Global warming activists, if they are able to gain control, they will not save our planet. We can rid our country of guns and take away the Second amendment to our constitution and people will still die with out God.  Jesus is the answer, some day there will be a new heaven and a new earth. Yes we should be good stewards of all God had given us, it is not wrong to protect rivers and streams and oceans and forests and all God's creation.  But we need God and the pardon of our sins if we want an eternal existence with God. Our highest priority, our highest loyalty needs to be to God. Pastor recently said we can worship the Bible instead of the God of the Bible. We can worship our knowledge of the Bible and impress people with our many scriptures we can quote. But are we living by them? Is God molding and shaping us as we read his word, is God conforming us into the image of his son. Are we becoming good church members, knowledgeable in scripture and church doctrine or are we being molded  into the image of God's Son through grace? Our highest loyalty needs to be to God himself, not some religion or church or denomination.  Are we learning the word of God or are we learning to be like God? In his image. Are we learning his precepts, his rules, his way of living or just becoming smarter in our head knowledge of scripture? IS that Head knowledge finding it way into our hearts and the way we live. I need God and his grace.  Father, forgive me in those areas I do not look like you. God bless, LVZ.

Return To God

O lord, we need you.

Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say,

“‘Return, faithless Israel,
declares the Lord.
I will not look on you in anger,
for I am merciful,declares the Lord;
I will not be angry forever.
Only acknowledge your guilt,
that you rebelled against the Lord your God
and scattered your favors among foreigners under every green tree,
and that you have not obeyed my voice,declares the Lord. Jeremiah 3:12-13
O lord, we need you. I am reading in the Book of Jeremiah and I think of the things that are wrong in this country. Jeremiah prophesied during a time when Israel had strayed from following God. We are living in an age when our nation has strayed from following God. As I write these blogs I sometimes feel perhaps like Jeremiah did in his day. He wanted Israel to return to following after God. I would like to see our nation healed also. It happens when we return to God. I have quoted 2 Chronicles 7:14 many times and in that verse God is asking us to repent. In the verse above God asks his people Israel to return and acknowledge their guilt. So must we. Admit we have sinned against God and return to following him. We see trouble in our land, and the way to healing is to return to God. 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.  I thought this morning, I wonder how Jeremiah felt as he saw his nation in trouble. He prophesied gloom and doom, because that was the word from the Lord. I would love to be able to say everything is good. But I listen to the news and it seems every day there is an attack on police officers. there is a negative report on our President and disasters across our land. Currently it is Hawaii that is in the news. I believe we can turn the heart of God, he is a merciful God if we repent of our sins and turn once again to following God. We need to follow God, his commands, his precepts, his rules, his way as Psalm 119 says over and over again. Help us as a nation to seek your face once again, just as we did when this great nation was formed. God bless. LVZ.

A good Sheperd

Why we need a good Pastor.
You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign LORD.'" Ezekiel 34:31
A third time he asked him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, "Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you." Jesus said, "Then feed my sheep. John 21:17
I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD. Jeremiah 23:4

All through the Bible God describes his people as sheep. Sheep follow the shepherd or their leader. The shepherd in days of old would lead his sheep to good pasture and to water and into a pen at night to keep them safe from the predators. I believe that is why it is so important to find a good church. We act like sheep. We follow leaders. If we have good leaders, we do good, many times if we have bad leaders we do bad. We see it in this country, we follow leaders. We see it in churches, we follow leaders. Choose wisely and seek the good shepherds for direction. We watched years ago as people followed Jim Jones to their death. We really do need to follow Christ but we are influenced by those around us, our friends, our church, our family. There were times I allowed bad influence into my life, and at times I chose wisely and did much better. I believe God, the sovereign God who created us and has the very hairs on our head numbered, described us as sheep for a reason. Our human nature can get us into trouble. So we chose leaders wisely. We want leaders that are accountable. If the blind lead us we both fall into a ditch. I believe I chose wisely, I prayed about where to attend and waited until I heard from God. I believe I have done well. I have a leader that cares for his people. He is a good shepherd, in the same manner as his heavenly father. We are like sheep and we follow. Find a good leader to follow. I believe we did well and I believe God answered prayer in this last election. We have a strong leader and he has been leading in a good direction. I know not everyone agrees with that statement, but some of us have not chosen a good shepherd and we follow people that are there to line their own pockets. We follow, we are sheep by nature and we need to chose wisely those we follow.  Even though we are like sheep as God's creation, we do make choices. Those choices can have far reaching effects in our hearts and lives. Some times people will follow into drugs, just wanting a good time. They do not see the devastating effects down the road. Destroying lives and families. We see it in politics, those we choose, sometimes our leaders will have devastating effects on our country. Sheep follow their leaders. God describes us as sheep through out the Bible for a reason. It is our nature. Choose wisely those you listen to and follow. God bless, LVZ. 

Our Country Is Sick

I look at so much of what is happening in our country and I realize our country is sick. I see video's of people disrespecting the police. Disrespecting our President and all authority and we are sick as a nation. I pray for God's healing touch. O what a blessed nation we are in spite of being sick. We have issues but we are still the greatest nation on earth. One of the biggest problems as I see it is a lack of respect for authority. Parents are the very first authority in our lives and we are living in a time when parents do not teach their children to respect authority starting with themselves. They want to be a friend to their children, they are not their children's friends. They should be the first authority children learn to respect.  We see it daily, young people disrespecting police and other authority including teachers in school.  We as parents have a responsibility to God to do the best job we can in raising the children God has given us but many times we expect the school or the church to teach our children when it is up to the parent. I and many others like me would have what would be considered abusive parents in this day and age and we were not harmed, we learned to respect authority and are the better for it as we have aged to adulthood and beyond. The bible tells us to discipline our children, it is a parents responsibility. We have neglected our children when we do not teach them right and wrong. It is just as important as teaching them to brush their teeth and wash behind their ears. It is just as important for them to learn to respect authority. We have failed and our country is sick because of it. I am actually glad to be a senior adult because I don't want to be here to see what happens to the next generation after we are gone. I believe it will get worse. What is the answer? I believe Jesus is the answer for a sin sick world. I believe he is the only answer. We no longer live by his word, when we call evil good and good evil as we do in this day and age. We want to change what the Bible has said for generations before us. God created us and this world in a delicate balance and when that balance is disturbed things go wrong. We need to get back to God, restore the balance in our lives. We cannot ignore the spiritual side of life and think there are no consequences. God is the answer for our world and as he restores hearts and lives we will see things improve. Jesus came to heal, restore and bind up the broken hearted. Jesus is the answer for our sins sick world today. Jesus is the only answer. We will not fix our nation through political means or through education but through a spiritual restoration to Biblical values in our land. Jesus is the answer for our world today. Above him their is no other. Jesus is the only way to peace with God and with man. Psalm 119 talks about learning God's ways, his precepts, his commands, his laws. Turning back to the creator of all is the answer for our world today. God bless, LVZ.

A Troubled World

Many years ago when I went through my first divorce I started to notice the many fatherless kids in our society.  They may be fatherless through divorce or just not living with the biological father. I saw my own daughter who was a very good student  go from a 3.4 or 3.2 GPA fall to a 1.17 on the first report card after I left the house. As I was thinking on this, here are a few of the names and a little bit about them. Micah lived next door to me in Everett. His mother and father were no longer together, the man his mother was living with would not let Micah (10 years old)  and this littler brother and sister ride in his truck. That man would wash that truck every evening and it was spotless, but the kids of the woman he was living with could not ride in it. Katelynn lived in the apartment above me in Tacoma WA.  One evening I heard Katelynn's mother and her live-in boyfriend fighting in the apartment above me. I went out side for a walk, it was freezing cold and snowing. Here was Katelynn (6 years old)  walking barefoot on the sidewalk in the snow with no jacket on. I picked her up and carried her, put my jacket around her.  I took her back to my apartment until her mother came looking for her hours later.  Danni (6 years old) was playing near the edge of the street in that same area of Tacoma. Her Grandmother just happened to drive by and saw Danni playing near the street with no adult nearby. Danni's grandmother took her home with her cleaned her up and fed her, it was about noon. It wasn't until six hours later that people started looking for Danni and of course she was found at her Grandmothers house. Grandmother got custody. Asia was a 12 year old when I met her. Asia never knew who her father was, she was the product of a Prostitute and a john. Her mother spent much time in prison and I did take Asia to visit her mother in prison. One day in the prison visiting room, I heard Asia's grandmother, who Asia was living with, say in front of Asia that she did not want her. I wanted to come out of my chair and slap that grandmother. Danni had another brother and sister that were being raised by other relatives. Asia had three younger sisters being raised by an Aunt, and a little brother being raised by a different Aunt and a forth sister that ended up being adopted when she was born. Monique was about six, she was being raised by a single mom, I received a little circle about one inch in diameter from Monique that said I love you, Monique. I found it in my tool box just the other day. Audrey and Chiquita were being raised by a single mom in Everett, Mom was a druggie. Candice and Cookie were from the Church I attended in Everett, I never saw their father. I only saw them with their mother so once again  I believe they were fatherless.  This list could go on and on because our country, our society is broken. Drugs and crime are a big reason there are so many of these fatherless children. Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. Psalm 68:5
The LORD protects the strangers; He supports the fatherless and the widow, But He thwarts the way of the wicked. Psalm 146:9 Rest assured that if I noticed these, God in Heaven took note also. God cares for the broken.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Psalm 51:17 God cares for these and all of us. I too was broken at a time and without God.  But Jesus came and saw me and talked to my heart and forgave me of my sins. I believe God takes notice of the hurting and broken in our society. Jesus came to give life, to heal, and to protect those that would turn their brokenness to him.  I did not face what these children did, I had a mother and father that raised me but our world is broken none the less. We need God, he saw the result of sin in our world and he made a way through Jesus Christ. Where broken can be made whole. We can have a Father in Heaven who is nothing like earthly mothers and fathers who are also broken. Our Heavenly Father loved us enough to send Jesus his son to the cross to pay for the sins of the world. There is redemption for all who will believe. Our world, our society is broken and we desperately need Jesus to fix us. He can heal the drug addict and alcoholic that desert their little ones. He can redeem us so that we do not have to live the same type of life as those that hurt us. God in heaven sees what is happening in our world and he cares for you. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6-7.  God is the answer for our broken and troubled world today. When he knocks on your hearts door, let him in.  God bless, LVZ.

God's Love

In reading Jeremiah the second chapter, I see where Israel strayed from following God, but God's love was still there for them. Many of the troubles they faced were of their own doing. Because they walked away from following God. They created their own gods that could do nothing for them.
And I brought you into a plentiful land
to enjoy its fruits and its good things.
But when you came in, you defiled my land
and made my heritage an abomination.
The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’
Those who handle the law did not know me;
the shepherds transgressed against me;
the prophets prophesied by Baal 
and went after things that do not profit. Jeremiah 2:7-8.
It is so sad. After God brought them through the wilderness into a land flowing with goodness, they forgot him. As I thought about what I was reading, it reminds me of our country. We have been blessed above any other country in time as we know it from history. No country as fared as well as ours. But we too have not learned from history and turned away from God. We have a chance now with our current President. I truly believe God gave us Trump to restore our land. What do we see but people fighting him on every hand. We bring the troubles on our own head when we walk away from God. God is still there, wants to hear our prayers, wants to help us.  When many prayed in this last election, God answered. Trump never, we heard over and over again. God is sovereign, he can work his will and his way in our lives and our hearts if we let him. I think in my own life, which I know better than anyone. I was brought up in church, yet I let prosperity turn me away from God in my youth. I allowed the culture around me influence me and I lived like those around me. I suffered the consequences of my sins in many ways. But God still loved me and brought me through many dark days. I was raised in Church, and knew better, but still allowed sin, stuff that I knew to be wrong enter my life. I often think how much trouble I could have avoided if I had remained true to God. There is hope for us as there was for me. As I saw things in my life, I repented and turned from my sin. Yes it was a struggle. Sin does not go willingly. When Satan gets a foot hold in our lives, he wants to stay. I think of the drug addicts, and how hard it is to get free. Sin looks and feels good and many times it is as hard as it is for a drug addict to get free from drugs. But God loves us and works in our hearts to bring us back into relationship with him. He sent Jeremiah to the house of Israel to bring them back into fellowship with him. If he knocks on your hearts door, he is trying to bring us back into relationship with him. God sent Jesus to die for our sins. I am thankful for God's love. I am thankful for his transforming power. We see his power displayed in our land today. Thank God for his love for his people. Though a mother may forget her child, God will not forget his children.
“Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me. Jeremiah 49:15-16.  God loves me and works to correct me. No trial is wasted as God works in our hearts and lives. God sees me as I am and still loves me.  God bless. LVZ.