What Did I Teach My Children?

What did I teach my children? I was listening to Dennis Prager on one of his fireside chats. He asks some thought provoking questions. Ask children, what do you think your father taught you? If I look to my own life my father taught me above everything else to work hard. He was always busy. Did your father want you to be smart above everything else? Or did he want you to be successful? Or how about rich? Or perhaps happy? As Dennis Prager tells it in his fireside chat, we all needed to be taught to be good. Probably above everything else we needed to be taught to be good. How many times did a parent or someone tell us to say please and thankyou? We did not just learn this on our own. Or how many times were we told to share something we had? The Bible says all have sinned and there is none good but God.
And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” Matthew 19:17 (ESV)
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard. Romans 3:23 (NLT)
Is this not true, we all needed to be taught to be good? What more important thing did we need to be taught other than how to be good? The Bible tells about the rich man that filled his barns with his plenty. He thought to himself he would build bigger barns and store up more. God took him, that night his soul was required. Luke 12:16-21. 
For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? Mark 8:36
How many of us have seen the rich and what evil they did with their riches? Yet if they were taught to be good, would they not share it with others?  Or how about if we were very smart and perhaps even a genius, did we automatically know how to share our knowledge for the betterment of mankind?  I think Dennis Prager is right, perhaps there is nothing as important as teaching our children to be good. Think about it, what did you parents teach you above everything else?  God bless, LVZ. 

Consider Others

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Philippians 2:3 (ESV)
Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Philippians 2:3 (NLT)
But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Colossians 3:8
If we try to live this way to consider others, count others as more significant than our selves, how does that play out in out lives? We don't always get our way. I think of in an office setting, it is always hard to set a temperature for the office that pleases everyone. In a Church we can find it in the differences in the worship music we like. Older persons many times still prefer the old Hymns from the hymn books we used for years and years. Younger generation prefer some of the contemporary songs. We battle over even the style of worship. Let me caution the older generation here. If you lose the young people, your church dies. Just in the last year two Churches in walking distance from my house have died. Another congregation has bought the building and moved in.  If you don't have the older wiser generation, you can fail also. We need the wisdom of those that have already experienced life or we too can fail. If we don't have the young we die a slow death. We need each other. I was listening to a Christian man talk at Hardee's where all us old retired men solve the worlds problems over coffee. Not really,  there always seems to be new problems in our world. This man, older than me, wants Hymns not all this contemporary music on the overhead projector. We need each other and we have different tastes in music. I thought to myself, do you realize what you are wanting may drive the younger generation away from your church and it ends up dying like so many others. I want a say in my church, he says. It is for these reasons and many others that we need to count others more significant than ourselves. Think of others as better than you. The older wiser generation often has the financial resources that the church needs. Do we have the children's programs with out those resources that the younger generation needs. We need each other. As I was thinking on the hymns versus the contemporary music, I thought of one of my favorite hymns, The Love Of God. Powerful words in that hymn. then I thought of the contemporary song we sing, Grace That Won't Let Go.  Very powerful, both touch my soul when I sing them. We need each other, Young and Old, contemporary and old hymn style singers. We need each other. These are just some minor examples and each of us could probably add to the list as we think this through. I think of John Kennedy and his famous words, Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. It affects us in so many areas of our life. In our homes, in the office, in our churches. Consider others.  God bless, LVZ. 

I Made Ten Dollars

Yesterday I made $10. I got a call from a man that rents storage units. He gave me some keys probably a year ago to be able to unlock his lock on storage units.  What happens is people don't pay their rent on time on their storage unit and he puts a lock on it until they pay up. When they are late, they also pay an extra $10 for being late for that month.  He calls me from Jackson to see if I can unlock that particular storage unit. I immediately grabbed the keys I had and left to go to the storage unit and unlock the unit. This is not a profound blog or subject today, just talking about what went through my head. I believe in tithing, I have since a child. I was taught to tithe my income at an early age.
Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. Malachi 3:10
This is probably the best know scripture on tithing or at least the first one that comes to my mind. My first thought was I need to put a $1 in a tithing envelope and put it in the offering this Sunday. Then I regressed. What are the deacons going to think when they see a tithing envelope with my name on it with $1 when they count the money? When I get paid at the beginning of the month, I put a tithe check in the offering on the first Sunday after I get paid. Tithe, I was taught was the first 1/10 of what God has given you. So do I go ahead and write a one dollar check or do I wait until the first of the month which will be a week later?  If I write a check for one dollar, they will not even look at it, they will just put it in the pile of checks.  Then the treasurer will see it and they will be thinking, the chairman of the Deacon Board is paying $1 tithe.  I thought how silly of me to even be thinking these silly thoughts. When I tithe I am giving back a portion of what God has given to me. It is a form of worship. Who cares what anybody thinks or who sees my $1 tithe. Is this a matter of pride in my life that I have progressed that I never have to put just $1 in for tithe. Is this a test from God to see what I will do. Sunday I will put $1 in an envelope with my name on it. no sense writing a check. Who really cares who sees it or if they go, HUH. God bless, LVZ. 

Issues

Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken. Psalm 55:22
Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7
Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him, and He will do it. Psalm 37:5
As I was praying for different family members it seems there are different issues in various lives. But it seems the solution is the same. Taking it to God. I was just praying about a need in Barbara's life, we feel a boss she is working for is cheating her out of some of her pay. We take it to God and ask for guidance in how to handle this situation. Do we contact the State Of Mississippi, The Attorney General, who do you contact? I see one family member is suffering from depression, I take it to God. I believe he has the answer. Is it medical or is it a spiritual issue? My Son it seems has just gone through another breakup in his relationship. I believe God is trying to work in his life. I take it to God. I don't know the answers, but God does. I could go one and on name after name and God has the answers. He askes us to cast our cares on him. He sees all that is going on. In my son is it the family disfunction that has been passed on from generation to generation? Is it a spiritual issue that he needs to address in his life? It could be either or both. I know God worked with me and is still working with me. I don't have it all together, I still see needs from day to day.  God is still at work and God tells us through his word to cast all our anxieties on him, cast all our burdens on the Lord. Commit your way to the Lord and he will do it. I remember praying when I was going through a divorce. I didn't know what to do. The woman I was married to, didn't want a divorce and I thought she was cheating on me. I prayed, God I know you hate divorce, I know I got myself into this mess. I can't see what you see. She does not want a divorce , but it seems she does not stop cheating, at least I think so. Am I being to hasty in seeking divorce? God I really don't know what to do. As I was praying I came up to a stop sign where I was driving in Tacoma. I was four cars back at the stop sign. I saw my wife crossing the street in front of me. I watched as she walked to a van in the gas station to my right.  I saw her get into the van with the same license number of the van of the man I thought she was cheating on me with. It was like God said in my mind, now don't go over there a make a fool of yourself, I showed you so you would know.  Even when we mess up and make decisions we should not have made God cares and is there to help. I will never forget that as long as I live. Now don't go over there and make a fool of yourself, I showed you this so you would know. It wasn't an audible voice, it was like it was in my mind, that thought just appeared in my mind. I was praying for a church to attend when we first moved to Tupelo. Months went by and I just didn't feel like I had found the right one. I remember talking to a sister; I was discouraged about not finding a church.  She said keep praying and looking or something like that. Shortly after that we visited Hope Church in Tupelo and right from the first Sunday, I felt it was home. I feel God has confirmed that choice over and over again. Sunday after Sunday, I have received a good word from the pulpit. When I was in my twenties a Pastor had asked me about being a deacon and if you all know me I went through some trying times and it never happened. I went through 4 divorces in about 10 years in my forties and into my early fifties. I was at another church for eight years and once again a Pastor asked me about being a deacon. It never happened. I saw others becoming deacons but not me. I knew my history and felt it would never happen. Then I was in my third year at Hope, and an Elder mentioned that they were thinking about making me a Deacon.  Can something good happen in this life? I had resigned myself that because of all the issues in my life it would never happen. But it did and I am coming up close to the end of my three year term. In my second year I became Vice Chair and in my third year I am the Chairman. God has been at work in my life.  God is the answer for the issues in our lives. He tells us to cast all our anxieties, our cares on him.  God had to do some fixing in my life, and he is still working in me. I am not perfect but I believe in God and that he has the answers for all sorts of issues in our lives.  God bless, LVZ. 

Sometimes God Intervenes

Sometimes God just intervenes in our lives. I was thinking about a difficult marriage I was in. I had bought my house in Tacoma when I was taking care of Dad. This friend that I had known for probably a year or so asked if she could move in. She needed a place to stay. It ended up we were living together so I asked her to marry me because I didn't want to live in sin. We got married. It was difficult right from the start and she would disappear sometimes for weeks at a time.  One day she comes home and says Leon, I am moving out and into an apartment with a friend of mine. I see a woman out in the car that they drove up in. She is getting some of her stuff. She then asks can I still come home on the weekends? I say no, if you are moving out, you move out period. So she moved some of her stuff but not all. At that time I was using a Post Office Box for mail. I didn't want to get mail at the house because it wasn't secure. The mail box had been dad's and I was on it with him and just kept it up after he died.  A few days after my wife moved out I get a notice from the post office that she requested a change of address and they cannot honor it because she was never officially on the Post Office Box, it was just me and Dad. I called her and told her what the post office said. About a week goes by and I get another notice from  the Post Office saying the same thing. I have her address on the form so I figure I will just take it to her in person so she sees what the Post Office is saying.  I go up to the door of the apartment and knock on the door, a man answers and says what are you doing here? He knew who I was that I was married to the woman that moved in with him. I was angry because I had mistakenly assumed she had moved in with the woman friend I saw in the car when she got her stuff.  To make it hurt even worse she had asked to come home on the weekends.  I immediately went home and got everything that I thought still belonged to her that was in the house and carried it up there and threw it at the front door of the apartment. It took several trips. On one trip back to the car a policeman drove up and asked if I was Ok. I said yes I am OK, I am just moving some stuff.  The Police officer drove away. I am still steaming hot. Later that night after it got dark, I drove back up there and parked a couple of blocks away. I got the tire wrench out of the car, I had every intent of breaking out widows in their car or the apartment or both. I was still very hurt and very angry. My son never calls me. In the last thirty or so years I think he has called me about two times always when he needs something, like a tow or money to put the breath analyzer machine on his vehicle after his DUI. But he never calls just to talk. That night as I was walking the two blocks from where I parked to the apartment where I was going to break out windows, he calls. He says, Dad what are you doing?  I tell him what I am about to do, I am still very angry.  He says Dad you don't want to do that, and talked me out of it. He never calls, but that night he just happened to call me as I was walking those two blocks. I calmed down and went back to my car. I believed it was God that intervened that night and cause my son to call at just the time as I was walking those two blocks.  I believe God is concerned with all the issues in our lives. We don't live perfect lives, people hurt us and we want to react. In 1 Samuel 24 we can read where David spares King Saul's life. King Saul is pursuing David to kill David. David has an opportunity to kill Saul when Saul come into a cave to relieve himself where David and his men are hiding. David does not allow his men to harm King Saul. I am sure there were times when perhaps David felt as I did but he respected God and God's anointed king.  I think life happens to all of us and sooner or later we too are in situations where we are extremely angry and want to lash out at someone that hurt us. I am thankful that night so long ago that God intervened. I could have ended up in jail and probably lost a good job on top of it all. Life happens and it is good to be in God's hands.  God bless, LVZ.

Emmett Till

I have tried to give this a lot of thought. Emmett Till was the 14 year old black boy killed because he looked at a white woman, perhaps he whistled at her, spoke to her. What really happened that day so many years ago He did nothing wrong and did not deserve to die. Two men were charged with his murder and it seems they got off. Now they are reopening the investigation. The men that killed him are dead. You can't punish them any more. If it was my family I'd still want justice, I'd still want someone to pay for his murder. Another thought is who are they going to get to pay? The men that they know did this are dead, you can't make them pay anymore. The only thing I see and the reason they seem to be reopening this is a recent book says the woman that he supposedly whistled at, lied so many years ago. If she hadn't lied on the stand would they have paid, probably not it was still the old south. She should pay for lying under oath. Her punishment should be severe as the crime for which she gave false testimony. Did she lie to these white men and provoke them into killing this 14 year old boy? She should pay. The part that bothers me is with the men are dead that actually did the killing, how do you really get justice? I think if this woman did lie, she should pay but I am sure it will not be as severe as if she had murdered the boy, but sometimes I think it should be. So what purpose will be served by reopening the case. Can they charge these men and convict them after they are dead. Can they be tried a second time for the same crime. It was a miscarriage of justice. Perhaps the bigger problem that could be addressed is lying under oath. The ninth commandment is do not bear false witness. You can have a miscarriage of justice when people lie under oath. There needs to be consequences. Society depends on truth for justice. When people lie to promote their political cause or perhaps financial cause, they should be punished. Society depends on truth being told. It is hard to sort through the lies and the truth in our society today. So many feel the end justifies the means. So they don't feel guilty about lying if their cause wins. How do you sort through these 40 year old and 50 year old and 60 year old stories. He did that and harmed me 40 years ago, we have had a lot of me too victims in recent years. I feel this may be a political ploy to keep emotions stirred up in a election cycle. What remains to be seen if this search for justice continues after the votes are in this November.  Yes, I understand the family wanting justice, I would too. The only one I see able to still pay a price is the woman that lied. The murderers are long gone. Is that enough, will it help heal the pain this family still feels? There is a part of me that thinks it is to keep race relations stirred up. On the other hand if it was my family I would still want justice. I think it is something we all need to think about. The ninth commandment is very important for people in a civilized society to obtain justice. If we lie today will we still be carrying the load of current lies 60 years down the road. Justice depends on telling the truth.  You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. The ninth commandment. “‘And you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Deuteronomy 5:20.  God bless, LVZ.

Love One Another

By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35
This was a command from Jesus that we have love for one another. Love is not a feeling, it is a choice. Sometimes it may not come easy. Sometimes Love is saying NO.  We are to love even our enemies. I believe that means we can love people we don't even like. Love can be disciplining a child when they do wrong and you want to teach them better.  Love is to be a core value of a Christians life.  Love can cause us to say things that are not pleasant to try and help someone or to correct a child in their thinking. Love is not a feeling it is a choice we make.
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.  1 Corinthians 13:4-8
I wish I came in Love in everything I write, Jesus did. We are to love even our enemies. We are to do good to those that wrong us. We are not to take revenge. To want revenge is human. I want to reply when I see something I disagree with. But it is not always love that motivates me. If our country practiced the precepts in God's word, this world would be a better place. If I could always respond in love my world, my surroundings would be better. I am afraid I don't always do so well. I want to do better. I want to live this scripture above. I look back on my life and like they say hind sight is 20/20, I see many times my motives were not pure. Sometimes I struggle, sometimes I would like to be like Trump and respond. But that is not what the Bible tells me to do. Is Trump a Christian? I can't see into his heart. I think some things he should do differently, the way he sounds off. We didn't look for a national Pastor when we voted for a President but we did want someone that would appreciate our values. I think Trump does that. If you say something or criticize him, he will respond. I wouldn't want him as my Pastor. Is he supporting Christian values, yes I think he is as far as the decisions he makes for us as a nation. The Bible does tell us to support our leaders, to pray for them. When we were in the primaries, I had a couple people in mind that I felt fit the Christian mold much better than Trump. But they didn't win, and Trump did. He said he would support Christian values and the constitution and so far he has. The hatred we see directed at him and most conservatives is not a Godly virtue. And sometimes it is easy to want to retaliate, in word and deed. We must strive to not give in and continue to strive to love. There is a lot of hatred displayed in our nation today towards conservatives, just because we think conservatively. We would be wrong to treat others as they treat us. I wish Trump would do better but we did not vote for a national pastor, in fact most of us saw it as the lesser of two evils. I think a liberal that uses the Bible to criticize Trump is way out of line and misusing scripture. The passage about overseers is for church leaders. Trump is not a national Pastor. To criticize his past is wrong. I had just as bad a past or possibly even worse. The life I lived in the past, I should not be a Deacon. But I have repented of many sins.  If you looked at my past and that is what you judged me by and most Christians, you would find fault. Love covers a multitude of sins. I don't think that means we are covered if we keep on sinning, I think it means we are forgiven and strive to live differently than we did in the past.  Sometimes Love is difficult, sometimes love tells the truth even when it hurts to help someone move higher. Love doesn't tear down and destroy. It is tempting at times to retaliate, but as Christians we are told not to. I have difficulty sometimes keeping my mouth shut. Sometimes it is Love to open our mouths and correct someone. It is in our motives that we Love or hate. If our motive is hate, we tear down and destroy and like the devil devour one another.  If our motive is love, we like Christ are trying to help and encourage, lift another up. There is a big difference between love and hate. Love is not always feel good stuff, sometimes like an erring child, a loving parent says NO. But it can still be motivated by love. Correcting someone can still be motivated by love. Just a simple little act can be different because of the motive behind it. I saw a man in the store with his V neck t-shirt on back wards. I wanted to say something, I felt it would save him some embarrassment if he knew and turned it around instead of going all day like that.  Or I could say something like ridiculing him for having his shirt on backwards. Love or hate can be displayed even in little gestures. The Bible tells us to Love one another. Help me God to display love as Jesus did. 
Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”  Mark 12:29-31

God bless, LVZ. 

Disobedience

Here a Prophet of God lied and another man of God disobeyed.

The man of God said, “I cannot turn back and go with you, nor can I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. I have been told by the word of the Lord: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water there or return by the way you came.’ ”

The old prophet answered, “I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the Lord: ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’ ” (But he was lying to him.) So the man of God returned with him and ate and drank in his house.

While they were sitting at the table, the word of the Lord came to the old prophet who had brought him back. He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You have defied the word of the Lord and have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. You came back and ate bread and drank water in the place where he told you not to eat or drink. Therefore your body will not be buried in the tomb of your ancestors.’ ”

When the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the prophet who had brought him back saddled his donkey for him. As he went on his way, a lion met him on the road and killed him, and his body was left lying on the road, with both the donkey and the lion standing beside it. Some people who passed by saw the body lying there, with the lion standing beside the body, and they went and reported it in the city where the old prophet lived. I kings 13:16-25

There are consequences to disobeying God. This is a sad story. The prophet God sent with a message is not even named. He is just called a man of God. God gave him a message to give to the King of Judah, and told the King what would happen. God also told the man of God do not eat or drink water in this place and do not return by the same route.  The king offered the prophet without a name a reward. The man of God refused as he should and explained, God told him not to eat or drink or to return to his home by the same route. He left and headed towards home after delivering the message to the King. An old prophet that heard what had been said to the king by his sons that had been there told his sons to saddle up a donkey and he went after the man of God. The old prophet told the man of God come home with me and I will feed you and give you something to drink. The man of God repeated God's command to him not to accept anything in this place. The old prophet said he was a prophet also and the Lord had spoken to him to fetch the man of God and feed him. The old prophet was lying, God had not told him to do so. The man of God  listened to the old prophet and went home with him and did eat and drink with him. I have no idea why God was so specific to the man of God, do not eat and drink in this place. But the man of God disobeyed and believed the lie of the old prophet and did eat and drink in this place at the home of the old prophet. God told me to tell you, has probably been repeated by many over the years. But we need to listen to God and what God says. I am sure much of the time the consequences will not be as drastic as they were for this man of God. A lion met the man of God on his way home. He did take a different route, but he listen to the old prophet and disobeyed God's word to him.  The lion attacked and killed the man of God.  I am not sure I make sense of all this. I do know the Bible tells us obedience is better than sacrifice. We all will face consequences at the judgement day for our sins. They need to be covered by the blood of Jesus. There are consequences for disobeying God.  If not in this life then when we stand before God some day. What a sad story, with a warning for us.  There are lying spirits in this world today and we want to be sure we are listening to God. Those words in parenthesis were there in the story, I did not add them. The old prophet when he heard about what happened to the man of God said , he disobeyed God. The old prophet must have felt some remorse because it was his lie that persuaded the man of God to disobey. He went and got the body of the man of God and buried him. Obedience is better than sacrifice, this is where I read in the Bible this morning.  Why is this story there? And Samuel said, “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. 1 Samuel 15:22  Some day everyone of us will stand before God to give an account of the life we have lived. Has it been a life of obedience?  God bless, LVZ.  

The Ninth Commandment

Your statutes are my delight;

they are my counselors. Psalm 119:24

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. I was listening to Dennis Prager on the ninth commandment and how important truth is to society's well being.  These commandments can be our counselors in life. In fact they should be, society depends on it. Justice in our court of law requires truth in order to fairly administer justice. 
Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Psalm 51:6

O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent?
Who shall dwell on your holy hill?

He who walks blamelessly and does what is right
and speaks truth in his heart;
who does not slander with his tongue
and does no evil to his neighbor,nor takes up a reproach against his friend; Psalm 15:1-3

God desires us to be truthful. Perhaps it should be a core value in our lives. We often tell what we call little white lies. We don't want to hurt someone so we think we are doing good by saying what they want to hear. God desires truth. When in a court of law how can we have justice if we do not hear truth. If you went before a judge on any issue would you not want the judge to be fair? How can it be if based on lies?  I think of our political climate in which we live, the news reports things slanted to their purposes. Do we want real truth or truth subject to our political beliefs? If the party against you can persuade to their way of thinking politically would it be real truth just because they like it. I had a spouse that would tell me what she thought I wanted to hear. It was not truth and in the end, I could not believe the words that came out of her mouth, I knew from experience it wasn't always truth. We can deal with truth. We can fix problems if we know truth. We can fix society if we know the truth. We may not like where we are at, but we can fix it if we know truth. Bearing false witness has become so common place in our society. Truth is not subject to what we want to hear, to our preformed beliefs. Truth stands on its own, it can be trusted. I had an uncle one time that wanted to trade cars with me. I was only 19 years old. I didn't want his car. I was happy with mine. A few weeks later when he had traded his car to someone else, he was bragging about how he had traded his car that had a transmission that was going out.  How would I have felt if that had been me. If I had traded and then had a bad transmission? I learned I could not trust this man. Truth even when it hurts us to tell it is better for relationships. If you encounter someone who will tell you truth even when it hurts them, you learn you can trust them. Truth is a bedrock of a healthy society. We depend on it for justice.  God put this commandment in his instructions to mankind because we need truth for a healthy society. It was not to make things difficult for us but so we can live the best life possible.  We need truth. A Judge will sometimes ask questions that may not have anything to do with the issue at hand. The judge may be looking for truth, can I believe what this person is saying or not. Looking for truth. How can a judge administer true justice if they do not know the truth? How can you trust someone if you do not know if they tell the truth or not? Truth should be a core value of a Christian life. It is so needed in our society today. It needs to start with me. I remember a time I was selling a car. I had a lot of trouble with it. I liked the car but I was selling it because I was tired of fixing things.  A brother in law wanted that car. I told him of the many times I had fixed the car and why I was selling it. I didn't want to sell it to my brother in law. It had been trouble for me.  He convinced  me to trade. He did not get that car home before it broke down on him. I think often, I was truthful and I had no bad feelings when it broke down. My relationship with family was more important than making a deal. My brother in law told my Dad that I didn't know how to sell cars. my Dad said you don't understand. He did not want to sell you a lemon, you are his family. We can deal with truth. That car was a good car and I would love to have it today if I could deal with the issues. It was fun to drive. But truth was more important. To be trusted was more important than making a good deal.  I wanted that reputation of being truthful.  God bless, LVZ. 

The Word

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. James 1:22
I am struggling with  what I want to write today. So I'll just start. Years ago I went to a Pastor for marriage counseling and I remember this one session in particular. I was talking about the legalism I was raised in. I was sitting in front of his desk and there was a Bible setting on the edge of the desk in front of me. Pastor Darcy was watching my body language. I reached over and pushed that Bible away from me. I was repulsed by the legalism of the past. I would like to say and hope,  I have left that all behind me. What  do we do with the word of God as we read it? What is our purpose for reading or even quoting the Word of God? Is it to win an argument? Or to tell someone else how to live. I 'm not sure how I do on this blog, even to day as I write this and if I actually push the publish button, others will read this. I know that. What is my motive, what is the driving force behind what I write. I hate discussions on Face Book. I don't want to fight in public. Do I read the Bible to use as ammunition toward someone else? Or do I read it with the hope it will change my life?  The Bible is not meant to be used as a club, to club someone over the head with. I think that is why I reacted so many years ago the way I did when I pushed that Bible away from me. It was an unconscious act at first until my Pastor pointed it out to me. It was motivated by what was under the surface. What is the motive for quoting scripture? Someone recently quoted some verses but the intent, the motive behind it was hatred. The Bible was meant to change us. When I read the word it is meant to change me. I am sure a Pastor when he gets up to preach his sermon is hoping to motivate us towards God, towards fixing things in our lives. The motive is love. Does it work when the motive is hate? If we are using the word to win an argument does it work? The word of God is powerful and scripture says it will not return void but will accomplish the purpose for which it was sent. Pastor preached about planting seeds. The seeds being the word of God. If that word is read or heard and it falls on hard ground, it will die. It is meant to be planted in good soil, so it can develop roots and grow and produce fruit. Am I good soil, Do I listen and read the word of God to fix my heart and life? Or is there some other motive. I think those other motives would end up being rocky ground or hard ground or choked out by weeds.

He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.” Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”  Mark 4:2-9

As I think about this parable what kind of soil am I? Do I hear the word for myself and act on it, or is it for someone else? I remember years ago a Pastor friend that I went to for advice told me I needed a good heart or a wise heart and not just a kind heart. I was headed for trouble in my life with a decision I was thinking about making. His advice to me lined up with the word of God. I listened and realize today I saved my self a lot of trouble. The Bible is meant to change us. Let me even put it more personal, the Word of God is meant to change me as I read and hear it. It is not meant to be a club to hit someone over the head with, or to win an argument. It is meant to be heard and lived. All of us had a past. I have things in my past I would not rather discuss. I don't have to stay there. I can change my attitude, with God's help I can change my heart and I can become good soil that allows the Word of God to transform my life. The words that I read that someone quoted from the Bible were meant to tear down and destroy. That is not from God. God came not to condemn the world but to change us, to heal us, to fix us. The word is meant to build up the Body of Christ, not to tear it down by beating them over the head with their past. All of us have a past. All have sinned. If we say we have not sinned we lie.  The  Word of God is meant to transform us to look like Jesus. It changes our heart. Removes the hatred and puts love in its place. When we try to not only read and hear the Word of God, but put it into action, it is meant to change our own heart. We are to be doers of the word and not just hearers. It is not meant to use as a club to hit someone as with a weapon but to change hearts and lives. A lot of it depends on us what kind of soil we are. I want to be good soil, I want to be a doer of the word as well as a hearer or speaker of the word. It need to become personal, and change my heart and life. God bless, LVZ. 

Human Institutions

Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. 1 Peter 2:13-17
be good In Sunday School we have been looking at 1 Peter.  I know I have blogged about Romans 13 and 1 Timothy 2:1-2 in recent past. But here again is another scripture that tells us to be subject to civil authority. It is the will of God. These are human institutions designed for our good and not just when we agree with the rulers. I think that is the hard part, when we disagree. Like now the Trump haters, they are wrong. As were the Obama haters and the Bush haters, the Clinton haters and I did not like Bill my self.  Fearing God is a healthy respect, it is not cowering in a corner thinking God is gonna get me now. But respecting God and doing to the best of our ability to live out the word of God in our lives. In this passage it is to be subject to the human institution of Government. Honor the emperor would be to honor the President. If we do not like the electoral college, it is still the way our country was set up to give us our Presidents. I saw the hand of God in this election. When everyone was saying not Trump. And even the west coast and east cast most populated areas of our country voted for Hillary, Trump got the electoral vote in fly over country. I think it showed the hand of God in this election. I believe if we did get rid of the electoral college, God still being sovereign would still get his way. By doing good we should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Those that think they can outsmart God. I see God used past administrations to change the rules and it has benefited President Trump. God has a long term view and you can outsmart God. The fool has said in his heart there is no God. Those that don't believe in God are just that fools.  God can use unsaved as well as saved for his purposes. God used a donkey as I blogged about recently. So it does not bother me when people talk about the Trump of 14 or so years ago. God can still and  does work through imperfect people. Always has. We just need to do our best as we know it. Live the best we know, we will make mistakes. The bible says if we say we have not sinned we make God a liar, for all have sinned. Christians are not perfect, just forgiven. It may seem like an excuse for doing wrong but it really is true. God still uses imperfect people, Christian and non-Christian for his purposes. God bless, LVZ. 

God Is Looking

God does not look at people the same as men do.
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
My thought this morning is about all the criticism we hear about President Donald Trump. I saw a post recently on facebook  listing some of the unknown good things about President Trump.
He sheltered Jennifer Hudson rent -free after her family was murdered.
He sued the city of Palm Beach when he bought a segregated club Mar A Lago, to open it to Jews and blacks.
He paid to ensure a Mexican American boy would graduate from college when he saw a news story about his terminally ill mom. 
He dispatched his plane to fly a sick Jewish boy for special care when no airline would accommodate his medical equipment.
He sent $10,000 to a hero bus driver Darnell Barton after seeing a news story about how he saved a woman from jumping off a bridge.
He gave the job of constructing Trump Tower to Barbara Res, making her the first woman in history to build a skyscraper.
The post went on to say sometimes beneath a rough exterior is a heart of gold.
I can tell you of Christians that do not believe God had anything to do with Trump becoming our President but will accept that god gave us Obama. And the reverse is true, some believe God gave us Trump but cannot see how God gave us Obama. When the Israelites desired a King God first gave them Saul and then King David. Jessie, David's father brought all his sons before the prophet Samuel except for the youngest who was left at home herding sheep. But God rejected all of David's brothers as the scripture above says. God was not looking at their stature but at their hearts and he saw something in David's heart that he did not see in the other brothers. And so God does today. We look at Donald Trump's rough exterior and do not see the heart that God sees. Perhaps the brief listing of some things Donald has done helps us. But we still cannot see into his heart. But God does. I believe God gave us Donald Trump as our President just as surely as he gave King David to the Israelites.  And so in many other instances, God uses imperfect people for his purposes. God sees their hearts, forgives their past if they have asked him to. We are to pray for our leaders and I do lift up President Trump and I pray that God's guiding hand would direct him as he chooses a Supreme Court Justice.
God's view is more long range then ours and I am amazed at how the past administrations have actually set things up for Trump. What they meant for their purposes God is now using for his purposes. God is still sovereign, and I feel like many still fight against Trump and actually are fighting against God, and don't know it. God doesn't look at my past, he looks at my heart also.  For that I am thankful. God bless, LVZ.