Writing

I want to write, I just do. I would like for my words to be meaningful, but some days I just don't have inspiration. This morning in my Bible reading in Isaiah chapter 20, I read about Isaiah running around without clothes or sandals for three years.  It has to do with a Prophecy against Egypt and Cush. What am I going to do with that? I have been thinking a lot about happiness lately. I read a book, "Happiness Is A Serious Problem", and I agree. I have a happy life and I am thankful for that. I made a lot of mistakes, but to be happy, I need to let it go and not dwell on it. I was in a doctors office yesterday and a woman was holding a young boy, maybe not even a year old. He made me smile. he looked at me and I wondered what he was thinking.  Children make us happy. Not every waking moment of course. When they are young and they get sick and puck all over you, it is not a good moment. But I don't remember that happening. I do remember my son laying on my chest as I laid on the couch and we would both fall asleep. A happy memory. My daughter, when I first held her, her head in the palm of my hand and her feet just barely touching my arm. I used to have a picture of my son trying to help me wash a 66 VW, the picture is gone but I still have the memory. My daughter made up a song, it's raining, it's pouring, my daddy is boring. Happy feelings from these memories.  What else makes me happy? Taking pictures, a lot of junk pictures, but every once in a while I have a picture I treasure.  I have a deer hiding in the grass that I took on a roadside in Wyoming, I love that picture. I have a picture of my model 55 chevy and my military jeep being towed and it looks real. I fool people with that picture.  A man with a beautiful  58 ford convertible was drinking coffee with us and I showed my picture of my 55 chevy.  Do you still have this, he asks? I say yes it's about this big, I show with my hands. I think I was in Arizona when I took that picture.
I enjoy taking pictures and when I get something like the above I get satisfaction out of that. I am not a great photographer but I just enjoy taking pictures.  Being married makes me happy, now that I am in a good marriage. It took a lot of bad times to get here. But life when I was divorced or separated and single did not please me, I was so lonely.  I get a lot of satisfaction from belonging to a church. Don't put all your eggs on one basket, but don't leave church out. It will greatly improve your life.  I am constantly learning things. I enjoy writing. I was going through a lot of old posts and my spelling is bad. I can't tell you how many times I wrote behavior, behaviour. It looks right but this new program highlights it every time. I think it is worth the money because even with spell check I misspell so many words. Its called grammerly.com.  I enjoy mowing a lawn. It is simple but I enjoy it.  A lot of things that make you happy have pain associated with it at times. Life is not pain-free.  The last road trip I had 4 flat tires in 11 days and I was always worried about getting the tire fixed before the next flat. I now carry two spares.  Children were not pain-free, but I am thankful for them.  I had Eli over a few weeks ago and I had him driving my old lawn tractor and he had a blast. I enjoyed watching him have fun. Children and grandchildren are not pain-free, but they leave you with many pleasant memories. I remember the time I was pounding in horseshoe stakes and Eli wanted to help, I gave him the hammer and looked away for just a moment. At that moment he smashed his little fingers. "You could have told me no", he says. Blaming me for his pain. I still chuckle at that. You can be happy and not be pain-free.   God bless, LVZ.
In the 55 chevy picture above, what looks like trees are little shrubs that are hand high. I set my cars upon a rock on the edge of a dirt road with those small shrubs in the background and most people looking at it think its a real car and jeep.

Relationship With Jesus

Relationship with Jesus, that is why I take this time each day to read from God's word. I want to hear from God. Some things have happened in my life as I say I want to hear from Jesus. One visiting preacher spoke on Romans 16:1-16 and for days I thought about that word. I want to hear from Jesus.  I saw a video called "Coffee With Jesus", and I felt convicted of this time I try to spend with Jesus. A lot of it became rote, a habit, a good habit, but I still need to hear from Jesus. Months ago I read about young Samuel and when God spoke to him in the night, young Samuel said "speak Lord for thy servant is listening.  As I write I think about these things. I want them to change me into the likeness of Jesus. Jesus came down to earth to be among us, to be one of us. To redeem us from our sins. To change us to be like him. It really doesn't happen overnight. It does in that instant when we accept Jesus into our hearts as Lord and Savior. But it begins a relationship where we allow Jesus to change us into his likeness.  I heard a story of a Catholic Priest back in 1873, Joseph Damien De Veuster. He went to the Hawaiian Island of Molokai, a leper colony to minister to these lepers. For eleven to twelve years he labored with no results. He felt he had failed and was leaving to go back where he came from. As he stood on the ship rubbing his hands he felt a numbness in his fingertips. There were white spots on his fingertips. He realized he had the disease of leprosy.   He stayed. Word quickly spread through the Island that the priest had contracted leprosy. He was now one of them. His next Sunday there was standing room only as he ministered in his church, Father Damien was no longer an outcast, the lepers now understood, he was just like one of them. He came to the Island at age 33 and died of leprosy at age 49. In much the same way Jesus came to earth to be fully human to understand us. Our hurts and fears and our sin. Jesus understands even better than Father Damien. I go through trials, and Jesus understands. This has not been a good year, in little ways and big ways. God understands.  I went on a road trip and had 4 flats in 11 days. One car died, it had only 108,000 miles on it. I tried to do my taxes this year and every year I have to pay the IRS. This year my bill was over $10,000. I wasn't expecting it. It had to do with the wonderful Affordable Care Act. Until I got to the Affordable Care Act part of my return, my bill was only $1500.  That was do-able. I can handle that, I do every year.  I had another flat, I replaced one tire in March because of a blowout and here I am again having to replace another tire, because it has a hole in the side near the tread, they can't fix it.  I think this is eight tires in four years on this vehicle.  Jesus understands everything we go through.  He is changing me. Often he uses trials to help us change, I will not say I understand it all.  But God is teaching me to trust him. Barbara is dealing with her sister on top of all of this. Makes daily trips twice a day to make sure she takes her medication. Her sister cannot take care of herself anymore.  She left the stove on cooking chicken and went back to bed. She does not know what time of day it is and will call at 2 am thinking it is afternoon. My trailer lost a wheel bearing, with my lawnmower on it. One trouble after another. But Jesus walks through it with me. He doesn't walk away when the going gets tough. He is there every step of the way. I am glad I became a Christian so many years ago. Jesus walks through this with me, he is working on me. Fixing things in me. And I am thankful that I know Jesus. Do you realize it takes a thankful heart to be happy? As much as I hate these trials, I have the ability to get through them with God's help.   He is shaping me, changing some attitudes in me, helping me to be more like him. I am thankful for small things, The car died in the yard in Nettleton, not on the road to the doctor's office.  The tire blew near a place to pull over. I discovered the wheel bearing problem in the yard before I continued home on the road.  I have resources to borrow the money needed. One of my friends lost his wife. He is on disability because he cannot read. But he mows lawns to support himself with his learning disability. He had an $1800 bill for his wife's funeral. No family to help, but God came through for him, $100 here, $200 there, $20 here, $50 there.  Trials are common to man and God understands, he came and dwelt among us.  I am thankful to know Jesus and that Jesus knows me by name. I am thankful and grateful in spite of it all.  Jesus wants to be part of our life, in everything we go through. God bless, LVZ. 

Temptation

One of the best lines I have heard about temptation is from an elderly pastor.  When asked when does a Christian stop being tempted, he answered, "three days after your dead". I remember hearing this statement and I heard it again in a recent sermon. The Pastor that said this was actually my pastor for a few years at Sisco Heights in Arlington.  We are often tempted but we do not have to yield to temptation. As the sermon went on about the most common times we could be tempted it seemed anytime could have been the short answer. How about when you are tired? Or discouraged?  When a friend has failed you, or there is conflict. Or then how about when you are doing something significant? or you are confident?  And then how about when you are walking close to Jesus.
"Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." Matthew 26:41
I could identify with some of these and if I think long enough perhaps all of these.  An ineffective Christian probably does not have to worry, if you are not doing anything, I'm not sure Satan even cares about you. Watch and pray was repeated over and over again.  We are always vulnerable to temptation. I am short-winded on most subjects, but I just stopped to think about this as I am having my devotional this morning.  Even long term Christians sometimes fail. I remember a time when several prominent Christian leaders fell, we can be tempted at almost anytime. Watch and pray. God bless, LVZ.

Re-evaluate

I have over 1500 posts.  I am trying to go back through these and delete ones that are negative. I want to have a positive influence. My first blog was in 2012. For the last three years, I have been writing over 300 posts a year. I have tried to stay away from politics but for me, it is really hard to do. Trials are good. Many times when I have noticed and corrected some attitude in myself it has been because of a trial I went through. I have been dealing with some internal issues and I think that is what has caused me to want to re-evaluate the posts I have written. As I do this, I find a lot of misspelled words in my posts from 2012. English was never a favorite class in public school and it shows.  I think I am doing better. I like doing this but I want my posts to be meaningful not just to me but to anyone that reads them. My readership is very small, but if I have helped just one person it is worth it. It has certainly helped me to see what is in my heart. I often think of the time leading up to my recommitment to God in 1984. I felt like God was saying to me if you think it is so easy being a Christian, why don't you show others how it is done. I believe this exercise, writing this blog is like trying to do just that.  You pray to God, read his word, (relationship) and try to apply what you learn to your life. By writing this blog I am meditating/thinking about what I am reading.  If I can explain it, I understand it. If I cannot explain it if it is not open to me at this time I just move on.  But I think I am going to publish less. I will still go through the exercise but instead of trying to publish something every day, just publish when I feel I have written an "A" post. I am deleting a lot of posts as I reread them. This process is like looking in a mirror. Looking at my mind and my character. If I were to write a book someday I'd title it "Carved by The Master".  I often think of an oldtimer twiddling on a block of wood. God is taking an ordinary piece of wood or humanity and making something useful or beautiful to look at. If he can take the anger and the negativity out of this life, perhaps I should say sin, a lot has been accomplished. I am not trying to say everything I will publish will be an "A", but we aim high and hope at least for a "C". I feel I will be deleting a lot of posts. Of my 1500 plus posts, I have had only two that had over 100 readers.  Another 3 where between 50 and 100 readers. I guess looking at the numbers is part of the evaluation.  Numbers are not the most important thing, but we all have an influence on others. If I have done something that pleases God, I am successful. I think I read somewhere that the average person has an influence on about 15 people.  An alcoholic can have a negative influence on many more. I do want to have a positive influence. I want to be salt to this society, a light on a hill. God bless, LVZ.

Keeping Promises

Do we keep our promises? A few weeks ago Ia lawn Tractor belt broke. I went to the auto parts store to get a new belt. I put it on and finished mowing the lawn. The next day on a different lawn I broke the belt again. At first, I thought this is a defective belt and I took it back to the parts store and they gave me a new belt. I said thank you but if I figure out that it was not the belt I'll come back and pay you the $25 dollars. I took the mower deck off to check if there was a different problem other than the belt. I discovered that one blade had been loose and possibly had wobbled and hit the ground and possibly caused the belt to break.  I thought immediately, why did I say I would pay them. I put the new belt on, tightened the mower blade bolt and put the mower deck back on and mowed another lawn. After about a week, that belt broke again. Then I really thought, why did I say that I would pay them. Anyway a few days later I was in Nettleton and went by the auto parts store and reminded them what I had said and that I had now broken three belts and still don't know why. I handed them the $25 and the owner/manager said to keep it. He thanked me for being honest. I thanked him for letting me off the hook with my $25.  I felt better because it was really hard for me to do that. I postponed that trip to Nettleton for days because I really didn't want to part with the $25.  But it wouldn't leave my mind what I had said.  Here is another story, it happened in another country, Hungary, to be exact but for ease of me telling the story lets pretend it happened here.  A millionaire commissioned to have a portrait of himself painted and he contracted to pay $500.  When the painting was done he went to the artist to look at the finished work. For some reason, the millionaire didn't like the painting and said it didn't look anything like him.  The artist said OK if you will sign a paper saying it does not resemble you at all I'll forgive the $500 fee and the painting is mine.  The Millionaire signed a statement saying the painting did not resemble him at all. Sometime later there was an art gallery showing of different artists paintings and this artist was showing this mans portrait in his display. The millionaire went to the showing and saw his portrait hanging there. He demanded it be taken down or he would sue for libel. The artist brought out his signed paper where the millionaire had said the painting did not resemble him in any way. You can't sue me, I have it right here, signed by you that this portrait does not resemble you. The artist had added the words to the display, " portrait of a thief".  The millionaire bought the painting for $5000. How many times have I broken promises in my life? I am not sure I can count them. Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear--not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple "Yes" or "No." Otherwise you will be condemned. James 5:12
"Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.' Matthew 5:33
Whatever your lips utter you must be sure to do, because you made your vow freely to the LORD your God with your own mouth. Deuteronomy 23:23
I am sure it was verses like this that came to mind as I thought about that belt breaking for the second and third times. But in life are we careful about making promises we don't want to keep? 
God bless, LVZ 

Politics and Religion

Politics and religion are what I talk about the most. I suppose if I wrote about something else it would be better received. But that is me, those things are important to me. I feel God put this blogging on my heart before I retired and I try everyday to write something.  I make no secret that I claim to be a Christian, some would probably call me radical. Christians are to be salt in the society in which we live. We are called to be a light on a hill. God expects us to try and influence this world around us for Christ. No area of life is immune, including politics. Family, Children, Work, Play, marriage, business, dealing with finances. There is no area of life that the Bible doesn't speak about. There is no area of life that God does not want to be involved in. Some people are good at presenting the gospel. I am an amateur at this. I did not go to a theological seminary. Most of my training has been on my own and in Church and Sunday School, bible studies, etc. But it is still something God expects of Christians to be that salt, to try and influence the world around them. Every Christian has a story, how they got to where they are. They are all as different as we are different from the person next to us. My wife and I don't think exactly alike, but we have unity of purpose because God joins us together as one when we marry. Christians have stayed out of politics for too long. That is why this world is as messed up as it is. We were to impart the truths we learned to the world around us and influence society in the ways of God. Christians are not perfect. If you look at us we have different ideas about some things. But if we are truly Christian, we agree on one thing, Jesus died on a cross for our sins. God 's word is meant to be our guide. Our understanding is not perfect. There were disagreement in the days of Paul the Apostle that cause several men to separate and go their own way. They did come together later. We are fighting a spiritual battle in our current age for the hearts of our children and those in our nation.  We must speak up, we must vote we must try and influence this world for God. We will face opposition. It is a fact of living a Christian life, even Jesus Christ faced opposition during his years on this earth. It is not anything new. But we must continue to try and influence society to go in the right direction. There are only two destinations in eternity. We must try and point those we come in contact with towards an eternity with God. The other choice is terrible, and people don't like us to talk about it. But we make a choice here below. God's ways work for our good, the other path leads to destruction. This life is like a drop of water compared to eternity being like an ocean or more than all the oceans on the planet. Are we planning for our eternity?   God bless, LVZ.

Road Trip*

My last road trip was in March of this year. I have a Transit Connect van that I use. The cargo area is just big enough for a futon mattress, mine is 8 inches thick so it is comfortable enough.  This last trip I tried to make a sun shower that I carry on top of the van made of 3 inch PVC pipe and painted black to absorb heat from the sun. It has been costing me 12 to 15 dollars for a shower at a truck stop so I thought this might save me a few dollars.  I sleep in the van at night so I don't have to rent a motel and the van gets about 29 miles to a gallon. One road trip I put on just under 10,000 miles. This last road trip I had four flats in 11 days.  I back up the van to a remote spot and open the back doors and I do have a shower curtain I can use to block the view but most times if I am in a remote spot I don't worry about it.  The sun shower sits on top of the van and holds about 8 gallons of water, I get gravity flow for my shower. It didn't get warm enough in march so I had cool showers. Anyway, I went along a big portion of the Texas  / Mexico border. We do need a wall. I wanted to get as close to the border as I could and in southern Texas that was Hiway 281. I saw a street sign and it looked like the sign was for the road going off Hiway 281 both ways. So I turned down this dirt street towards the dike along the Rio Grande.  I got up on the dike and traveled a short distance when I saw a restricted area sign. I saw another sign facing the other direction so I pulled forward and that sign also said restricted area, so I knew no matter which way I went, I shouldn't be there. Here comes the border patrol, I started to back up to turn around looking in one of my mirrors and I hear a horn honk. I already have a border patrol behind me. Two more border patrol vehicles were there in minutes. They questioned me and checked my ID.  I informed them that I was carrying. I had a 45 up overhead and a 9 mill in the back.  I had trespassed through a farmers field, that dirt road with a street sign was still the farmer's property.  I could not get any closer to the border than Hiway 281 without trespassing.  They let me go and I continued on my journey. I wondered how this looked driving a van and all along the border with Mexico, with human trafficking and drug trafficking going on. A day or so later I pulled off the Hiway down by a creek bed to take a leak.  As I was peeing, I see a black coax cable running along the fence in front of me. I follow the cable and find a camera pointed directly at me. What could I do?, I just waved.  And that is where I had one of my four flat tires.  I decided to start carrying two spares because I cannot always find a tire repair shop right away.  One place I saw some horses on the other side of a metal gate that opened electronically.  I pull up to the gate to take a picture. Both sides of the gate had a metal stand with a  keypad on it. As I am trying to get a picture of this horse he walks over to the keypad on his side of the gate and touches it with his nose. I thought what is he trying to let me in? Down through the years I have had some interesting encounters with Law enforcement and animals. Many memories and a lot of junk pictures.  God bless, LVZ.  The deer below was from a Wyoming road trip.

  

What Is In The Heart

Sometime ago I wrote a post and about something the Koran teaches. I don't remember where I got the thought and I didn't write where I heard that statement. But someone commented how could I say what I said if I had not read it for myself. So I searched and I still don't understand the Koran, I really don't want to. I do want to understand the Bible.  I don't know if what this person said is true or not. I deleted my post not because I agreed with what that person said but I wasn't confident in what I said. I believe I can be in error, as much as I try to be correct, I can be in error. What comes out of the mouth comes from the heart. As I search my heart, my writing reveals what is in my heart. Sometimes I don't like what I read. I want to be corrected by God. I really do. Guard your heart, from it come the issues of life. What comes out of our mouth is a good indicator of what is in our heart.  I believe it shows in my writing. This can be good and it can be bad. I am on a journey through life. As I go I want to influence others, and I want to grow. Writing and talking shows what is in our hearts. I go back and read these blogs at a later time and sometimes I don't like what I have written. I look for something to post and I will delete something I wrote a while back because it exposes something that I see in my heart I don't like.  I wrote out my prayer list a long time ago and I used that list day after day and one day I realized how rote it was. I think I was impressed the day I wrote it, but one day I saw a video called Coffee with Jesus and it convicted me.  I didn't like my prayer list. It was like Wolfson said, me me  me me me and in the video the man leans back in his chair and puts his foot up on the table as he continues me me me me. I didn't like what I saw in me.  A preacher preached a sermon on Romans 16:1-16 and I didn't like that lack I saw in my own life.  There is a purpose for this writing, sometimes it shows me what is in my heart. Create in me a clean heart, O God my redeemer. Guard the heart for out of it come the issues of life. What do the words I speak out of my mouth look like? We see a generation coming behind us that uses words in a public forum that we cringe at. I posted something on face book the other day that I thought was good and then I noticed a line at the bottom of the picture using a word I don't think we should speak, and I deleted the post right away. As I think about this I am so grateful for grace. Not getting what I deserve. I have been forgiven much. I had followed someone on face book and they claimed Christianity but I saw so many posts that used inappropriate language. If I post this stuff It reflects me and what I believe. That course language is not OK. What one generation allows in moderation the next generation practices in excess.  Do we think it cute when a child curses? What we are seeing today is some of the filthiest language used in public.  I messaged the guy, and told him even though I often times agreed with the message, I couldn't post it because of the language.  I criticized a pastor some time back for a post, I agreed with most of it except one line was a lie from the pit of hell.  I am not sure he thought it through before he posted it.  I wrote him a message because I am white and I don't believe every time I disagreed with Obama it was because I was racist.  Obama is a socialist, progressive and I think differently,  I am conservative in my political thinking and my disagreement with Obama had nothing to do with race. I am thankful for grace, I believe I am growing, and want to reflect the character of Jesus. I have a little song I made up that I sing to myself. I want to be like Jesus in my giving, in my living, in my talking, in my walking. All through life's journey help me to be like thee. Have I said I am thankful for grace, I really am. I do want to reflect the character of Jesus in my life. I am going back through my posts and reevaluating what I have written. I don't like everything I see reflecting on my heart.  I am thankful for God's grace. Once again I think of Ephesians chapter five and the washing of water by the word.  This is a process, I didn't learn everything in one act of repentance. I didn't wake up the morning after I became a Christian and know the whole Bible from cover to cover.  Doctors in President Washington's day, bled people because they didn't know any better then. I am thankful for grace, I really am. What is in the heart comes out of the mouth. God bless, LVZ.

My Frame Is Not Hidden

My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139: 15-16.    

"How do you know me?" Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you." John 1:48 In Sunday School we were discussing this verse where Jesus was calling his disciples and Phillip told Nathaniel about Jesus.  Nathaniel asked a question and Phillip just said come and see. Then Nathaniel meets Jesus and Jesus knows him. How do you know me, Nathaniel asks.  Jesus says I saw you under the fig tree when Phillip called to you and brought you to me. Do we understand that God sees everyone of our days as it says in Psalm 139? 

Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, "I don't know the man!" Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: "Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times." And he went outside and wept bitterly.  Matthew 26:74-75

Here we see Peter denying he knew Jesus. Jesus told him just a short time earlier, you will deny me three times before the cock crows. At the time Jesus said this to Peter, Peter was declaring his love for Jesus and how he would be faithful. But Jesus seeing through time as he did, knew Peter would be afraid and would deny even knowing Jesus.

"Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. Luke 19:30

As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?" Luke 19:33.    Here in Luke before Jesus makes his entry into Jerusalem he sends his disciples ahead to get this colt that Jesus is to ride. He saw where it was before he got to it. This was fulfilling a prophecy of Zechariah 9:9  Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Down through time God is able to see everyone of our days. 500 years before Jesus was born God saw this day unfold. It is this verse in Psalms 139 that convinces me abortion is wrong. If God can see that baby in the womb and has plans for it, who are we to take that life?  But I digress, the point here is God see us through time, all of our days. This is almost to much to comprehend. As I sit here writing this blog, God saw me eons ago.  And he knows my tomorrow. God bless, LVZ

GOD Cares*

GOD tells us to cast all our cares upon him. I did a quick search but couldn't find that particular scripture. When we are troubled about something, we can and should take it to GOD. I have seen him answer so many prayers. Sometimes serious prayers, sometimes just talking like your talking to a friend. It is good to reflect on those prayers and know that GOD hears and answers. Prayers that come to mind that GOD answered: the first prayer I remember when I was but 6 years old. then there was the time I was looking for a mobile home to replace my old dilapidated trailer on the 5 acres. Instead my neighbor built a 3 bedroom rambler for the same price. Or the time I was praying about an exwife as I was driving down Yakima street. Or the time I prayed about finding a Chiropractor. I can't remember them all. But I remember enough to know God hears and cares. GOD is more interested in our character than in our comfort. I believe GOD is constantly working in our lives. Discomfort sometimes is GOD trying to draw us closer to him, to get our attention. I pray for my children, but I also ask that GOD help me to not get in his way. Sometimes their discomfort could be GOD trying to draw them closer to himself. What can you lose by putting your trust in the creator? One who created us and knows us better than anyone. One who always has our best interest in mind. Even difficult times are sometimes for our good. God truly loves us. I have been blessed since the day I turned my life over to GOD and trusted him. Everyday has not been easy. But I cannot see a single thing I lost. I cannot see a single prayer that he has answered that would have been better if he had not answered and directed my life. THis world would be a better place if everyone would follow his precepts. there it is, 1 Peter 5:7 "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." It finally came to me, I searched for the word careth and there it was the scripture I had been looking for earlier. If we read daily, he can bring it to our mind. GOD is so good, GOD bless. LVZ

Water Returns

7All streams flow into the sea,

yet the sea is never full.

To the place the streams come from,

      there they return again. Ecclesiastes 1:7
This speaks once again to the creative genius, sovereignty of God.  Think about this the water flows down a stream to the sea on a continuing basis and yet the sea is never full. The water does indeed return to where it first came from again and again. The sun rises and sets day after day, it is a reasonable expectation that the sun will rise tomorrow if I live. Actually if I live or not, the sun still rises. If it rains or not the cycle keeps going, waters flow to the sea again and again. Does all this happen without intelligent design?  Can we just throw pictures and paper and ink at a printer and expect a beautiful book or magazine to be created. How does this printer organize and put the pages in correct order? Yet our sun rises day after day and some want to believe it happened without intelligent design. The water vaporizes and forms clouds and rain falls to the ground, waters the plants and animals and even us humans and eventually returns to the sea and the process repeats itself. All this happens without intelligent design? The eagle majestically flies in the sky, sometimes going for great distances hardly moving its wings.  I see these elk and deer jump over some very high fences, I see the mountain goat on a rocky cliff, how do they get there? The camel and its ability to store water and go long distances in a desert climate. The polar bear able to survive in some of the harshest climate on earth.  Yet we don't want to believe in intelligent design.  I could go on and on with God's creative genius and then there is man made in his image that can create television and radio, x-ray and even the knowledge to replace a knee as they did mine. Yet every human is different. Each unique and yet in mans creation we make thousands of copies of identical items such as a coin. Sometimes we see twins and they look so much alike, yet God has created them unique in some way. No cookie cutter people.  I think the evidence of a creator God is overwhelming, yet some choose not to believe in God. God bless,  LVZ

Learn To Trust God

16Wash and cleanse yourselves.

Remove your evil deeds from My sight.

Stop doing evil!

17Learn to do right, seek justice,

correct the oppressor,

defend the fatherless,

       plead for the widow.”  Isaiah 1 :16,17 
I am a failure in many ways. But I don't want to wallow in my failures. God's design for marriage is one man / one woman for life. I failed in marriage four times. I didn't follow God's perfect plan. I made some bad financial decisions, I believe if I had made good decisions and had been able to follow God's perfect plan for my life and have married once for life, I'd be a millionaire today. Divorce costs and it cost me something every time.  In my reading I have now entered the book of Isaiah. The prophet Isaiah is talking about God's chosen people and is prophesying about them. When they fail to follow God's plans for their lives they suffered many things. I believe it is not because God sends all this evil their way, it is the consequence of the life they have chosen. God was tired of their sacrifices, he wanted them to learn his ways. He has a better way for us if we will learn it.  Wash and cleanse yourself, remove your evil deeds from God's sight. I think of Ephesians:  Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. Ephesians 5:25-27. God's purposes are to correct us just as he did with Israel in the time of the prophets. Israel failed in following God, again and again, they strayed from following God's perfect plan. Learn to do right, seek justice the prophet tells us. I look back on my life and I have failed in so many ways. I see some good things, places where I did learn to follow God's plans.  I was a failure as a parent. I did the best I knew at the time, but it wasn't good enough. I look back and I think how much trouble I could have avoided if I had sought God and his direction for my life. Had I sought and waited for God's perfect will for my life. If I had learned to seek God first and then plan. So many times I married for the wrong reasons, yes at times it may have looked good right then, but had I sought God 's direction for my life?  Sometimes we spend more time in looking at a vehicle to buy than we do to consider a life time spouse.  I know I didn't give it as much time as I have given to some purchases I have made and it is a design of God to be for life, until death do part. I made financial decisions in much the same manner. I really didn't think it through and look at the long term. I have suffered the consequences. I call it a failure.  But sometimes in life we can learn so much from our failures.  It was said, God never wastes a trial. I don't remember who said it but I believe it is true.  I see in looking back where God was with me through every trial, every failed marriage God still loved me and helped me through it. I remember my third marriage, I did not seek God at all, I was warned, don't do this by a sister in Christ. I thought, I have been through this before and if it don't work, I 'll just move on, like I did two times before. If I had listen to advice that I believe today came from God, I could have saved myself so much trouble. But even in the midst of my failures, I learned to cry out to God for help. As long as I live I will never forget that day in Tacoma when I was praying about my troubled marriage. It wasn't as easy to just walk away and move on as I thought when I didn't heed God's advice. This woman did not want a divorce and fought it. She wasn't faithful but still did not want a divorce. One day as I was driving, I was praying about it, I said God I know I did this to myself. I didn't listen and now here I am. I feel this woman is cheating on me and at the same time I know you hate divorce. I took those same vows again until death do part, and here I am in a troubled marriage of my own doing. God I can't see what you see. Am I being to hasty in seeking divorce again? I did this to myself. I have no one to blame but me. I can look back on life and so many times I failed because I didn't seek God and ask for his will and his guidance in so many things I did.   But even in this time of stress, I did call out to him after I was in trouble instead of before. He heard my cry for help.  I felt impressed to turn one block over and continue my journey that morning. I turned so as to not drive in front of the place my wife was living.  I came to a stop sign, I was about four cars back from the stop sign. There I saw my wife crossing the street in front of me and walking to the gas station and getting into the van of the man I thought she was cheating on me with. I heard God say in my mind, I showed you this so you would know, now don't go over there and make a fool of yourself. I didn't make a fool of myself that day and confront her. But I did move on and divorced again.  It was  my fault that I so foolishly chose to marry this woman when I had been warned.  I believe that sister in  Christ that warned me that day before I married was sent by God. But I didn't listen. So it was with Israel, so many times they did not listen to God and got into so much trouble, because they would not listen to God's voice.  The prophet would warn them and they would not listen. God didn't stop loving them and saved a remnant through their captivity.  In much the same way God still loved me in all my failures and still helped me in my time of great trouble. God has our best interest at heart at all times. We don't always understand why but if we learn to trust him, we can save ourselves so much trouble. Sometimes things can look so right and so good, and it is what we want, but is it what God desires for our life.
I look back and I could have avoided so much trouble if I had learned to trust God.  God bless, LVZ

Lessons

I knew a 50 year old man one time that was building a fence. A six foot cedar board fence.  He had the posts and the cross 2 X 4's in place and was now nailing the cedar boards to the supports.  His style was a six inch wide board on either side,  the trouble was he was going down each side of the fence at random and nailing a board. Not measuring the distance between them. Some places there were boards directly across from each other and other places they were covering each other about half way, and then other places there would be no boards at all and you could see right through it. One space might have 6 inches to the next board and then 10 inch space, or perhaps a twelve inch space and then back to 4 inches. And the other side was completely random also. A pastor friend of mine was driving by and I was with him. Pastor said we got to stop and help him.  We tore off the boards and started over. We would start at the end and nail a board in place and use another board as a measure for the distance between the first board and the second board and so on. Then on the other side, we started with a spacer and so the second side of the fence would cover the gaps from the first side.  It looked much better. The 50 year old man had never been taught. In some things we may have natural talents and other times we have to be taught. I remember when I was 19 and had a truck I wanted to repack the wheel bearings on it. I didn't know how to do it. I took my wheel bearings down to a gas station repair shop and asked a mechanic if he would repack my bearings for me. He looked at me funny and he actually did have a machine that you could press the bearing down in the new grease and it would replace the old grease with new. But that is not what he did. He took a lump of axle grease into the palm of his hand and pushed the bearing into the grease one spot at a time until he worked his way all around the bearing.  I felt stupid but I had never been taught. It was so easy even a cave man could do it. Later I took an auto mechanic correspondence course and completed the course and learned much.  I rebuild one engine and one three speed transmission, replaced brakes, changed oil etc. But at the start of it I didn't know anything. I hadn't been taught. When my kids were young, I had them watch me when I changed oil or replaced a head lamp. I just wanted them to have a general idea of car repairs for when they had their own cars later.  My daughter simply amazed me, she did her own tuneups and oil changes on her 66 VW. She even put on overhauls and helped pull the engine one time. I had to buy her a long breaker bar and a socket so she would be able to change a flat tire. With the breaker bar she had enough strength to take the lug nuts off. My son from the time he could walk he wanted to be involved. If I was washing the car he had the hose and was helping.  Have we given time to teach values in much the same way, for instance  character values and integrity values?  Treating others with respect and so on. Respect seems to be missing in our world today. We see people dumping buckets of water on police men and I wonder, what have we taught the next generation or better yet, what have we fail to teach them?   God bless, LVZ.
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

People Love People That Love People.

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 
Billy Graham is probably the most well known disciple of Jesus Christ since the Apostle Paul. The preacher mentioned Billy Graham. Maury Scobee was Billy Graham's personal assistant for 40 years.  He saw first hand Billy Graham in all sort of situations. The preacher asked Maury was there something unique about Billy Graham. Maury told about how Billy was the most thankful person, if he was at a hotel, he thanked everybody for what they did. He would talk to anyone. Billy Graham was a friend of Presidents and many other world leaders from both sides, but he still had time to talk to a janitor or waiter. Billy Graham loved people. People love people that love people. That is who this great man was. Billy Graham  didn't live a wealthy lifestyle, he could have like many well known preachers of our day, T.D. Jakes, Joel Osteen, Jimmy Swaggart ( Jimmy is said to live in a 2 bedroom cabin at 6,000 square feet). Billy set the standard high for any who followed him.  Billy loved people and it showed.  But this morning I am thinking of being thankful.  Maury said Billy thanked everybody for anything they did. It didn't  matter what they did, from janitor to President, he was the same.  He loved people and was thankful. This is something that Maury said stood out after 40 years of serving as Billy Grahams personal assistant.  Billy Graham loved people.  Billy Graham had a thankful heart. When hearing about Maury and his words about probably the greatest disciple since the Apsotle Paul, I thought about the scripture above. I believe thankfulness is something that has to be taught. When our kids are small, we tell them a million times, say thank you. If you don't drill it into their heads they don't do it.  They receive a gift and if not taught, they do not say thank you. One thing I liked about the TV program Blue Bloods is the weekly family dinner, and someone would give thanks to God for the meal. I am not sure how well I learned that myself. I am good at home, me and Barbara give thanks for every meal. Actually once in a while I catch myself forgetting.  I go down to Hardee's to meet with some men. Some are Christians, some are not. I catch myself there more than anywhere, We don't all show up at the same time. I'll get there and I sit down with my breakfast and I catch myself forgetting to give thanks.  I am not embarrassed, and I don't try to make a big deal out of it. I just like to bow my head and say thanks God.  I think thankfulness and gratefulness need to be taught and loving people. Some are better at it than others and probably Billy Graham was one of the best, but not really knowing him that  well, I wonder if he taught himself to be thankful and grateful early on and it just became part of his life. Dennis Prager offers this thought: gratefulness is the mother of goodness and happiness. Gratefulness and ungratefulness are taught. Ingratefulness is the mother of cruelty and sadness.   We in America today are being taught to be ungrateful, everyone is a victim.  I believe we can make our corner of the world better by just being thankful and grateful. I am thankful to have been born an American, the U.S. of A specifically.  I could have been born in some third world country. I am thankful to have a reasonable amount of health, I have all my limbs and I think my mind is good. I eat well, probably too much, I am thankful. I am thankful for President Trump, I really am. I think of what the alternative almost was, and what we have learned in just the last two years. I am thankful. Look at what divides our country today, is it not unthankfulness and ungratefulness for what we already have. We are a blessed country. And still today people from all over the world are still trying to get in. I am thankful. Could we just be thankful and grateful for what we already have?  God bless, LVZ.

The Renegade Buffalo

I heard a couple of things about renegade buffaloes in the last few days. I hear two different Pastors talk about this subject. I tried to look this up on google and mostly what I found was  the jeep Renegade which is not what I wanted. It does seem to be when a male buffalo is about three to four years old, he leaves the herd he was born in. He sometimes will join a different herd or follow at a distance, not becoming part of a herd but keeping them in sight. The problem is Wolves will attack a single buffalo, a straggler. The herd will protect those that are part of the herd.  These young buffalo are vulnerable when they are alone.  Sometimes they will join a herd of male buffalo. One preacher told about a famous country singer that was able to fill stadiums with fans. He did not mention his name. But it seems someone that knew the country singer called a friend ask asked him to support this singer at a local hospital. The Singer's daughter was in the hospital dying. The friend thought how am I going to get through the crowds to see this man. When he got to the hospital, it wasn't a problem, the media wasn't there, the hospital was not crowded with fans. When he got to the hospital  room it was only the singer and his wife and their dying daughter.  They were a Christian couple but when the friend asked if there was someone he could call for them, a pastor, a family member, but were told there was no one. The singer and his family did not belong to a church.  The friend stayed with them throughout the ordeal. He compared this to his own experience when they had a family crisis at the hospital with their daughter.  When he got to the hospital the hall was filled with deacons from their church. The mothers prayer group were in the room. The brothers Sunday School class members were also there with the brother. There was all kinds of support.  The preacher suggested the ministry you receive is in proportion the the amount you are involved in your church.  Many times we become separated from family as we grow older. But when we are connected to a church family we often end up with a bigger family. I remember when we had to make several trips to Little Rock and Hot Springs during a family difficulty, the church family sent us several gas cards in the amount of $200 in the mail, and I remember Barbara being amazed at the support she received during that time. Growing up we have family but as life goes on, we become separated from brothers and sisters, they have their own families as they marry and sometimes even move away. Parents die and are no longer with us. We need a good friend base, some of that can be through church. But even if you do not belong to a church, you need a friend base to support you in the valleys of life. Sometimes when we marry, our spouse becomes our best friend, but if you are not married, you still need a friend base. One pastor said a good base of friends will take the place of a counselor. In fact that is what he said a counselor is, a paid friend.  A friend can advise you in difficult times and help you stay on course. A friend can challenge you, in fact one writer said a counselor that doesn't challenge you and is only affirming you may not be helping you to grow and to heal. They may just make you feel better after the session. A good friend will even tell you when you are wrong and try to help you see why when going through a difficulty. What do we look for in a friend? Values, we want to surround  ourselves with people of integrity and value. It is good if we have some things in common but what values does that person have. If you are male, it is good to have male friends that understand things from a male perspective. It is good for a woman to have female friends.  These friends can remain if a person chooses to marry and a spouse becomes your best friend. I remember feeling very jealous about an ex wife's male friend from another state, it seems there was a real emotional connection that made me uncomfortable. They were too far away for any sexual relationship but I still felt cheated on. We don't seem to mind when a woman has a close female friend and a man a close male friend. Even couples need couples friends that can relate to the male /  female issues that develop in a marriage relationship. We were not meant to be alone. Even if we are single, we still need someone to come along side at times and support us. A good Church is a good place to start but not the only avenue. We put our selves in danger when  we become renegade buffaloes. When I went through divorce and I have been there several times, I hated coming home to to an empty house or apartment. I remember one time when I sought out AA meetings to attend, just so I would not be alone.  I wasn't an alcoholic and didn't have a problem with alcohol, but I had other issues similar to those in the group. I often wondered if I spoke and said; I am Leon but I am not an alcoholic, if they wondered if I was still in denial.  But I learned things, and often could see myself in other peoples stories. You could find an AA meeting any night of the week. I would often go to church if there was something going on, but if not I felt people at AA meetings were trying to better themselves, more so than at a tavern. Look for friends that have good values and are good people. Understand their value system what they think is important. Engage in difficult conversations to see where they are at as far as character and values. Find friends of good character and good values. God bless. LVZ.

My 1%

I see the issue today like I have never seen it before. I have been praying about this issue for a long time.  My children do not understand that I love them and it is my fault. Like I said I have been praying about it for a long time, and I just didn't get it. I know I love them, how can they not see it. The problem was me and my personality.  Phil Waldrep preached a sermon on Romans 16:1-16 and it made sense to me. I feel like God answered my prayer. Even if my part of this problem is only 1 %, what is my 1% that I am doing wrong?  I didn't feel the problem was me, I really didn't.  I talk to my wife, how come they do not understand that I love them? I just didn't get it. I get it now. I shared a link in my blog on "An Important Principle". It is worth a listen to that link. I don't know how I am going to fix this. I do know I need to change me. I looked at many relationships that are not what they need to be. I am the common denominator in those relationships. I am a product of how I was raised, I understand how I got here. I remember in January of 1993 when my first day on the job after the Christmas and New Years break, I went to medical. I had several issues that morning with other people and I realized I was the common denominator in those issues. I talked to the doctor, she asked me to talk about what is going on in my life. I did talk for an hour or more.  She put me on medical leave, there was an issue and I needed the medical leave. She said something that morning, she could help me and give me the time off  I needed but I was the only one that could fix the problem at home. It would not go away unless I did what I needed to do. She couldn't tell me what that fix was, what I needed to do to fix it,   but only that I was the only one that could fix it.  Here I am once again and I am the common denominator. I need to fix myself. Fixing anyone else is still not going to fix whatever is wrong with me.  I am still praying and asking God to help me fix this. I really don't know how I am 60 plus years old and have been this way all my life. My personality is what it is. We are all like that, created in the image of God, some good parts, some bad parts that don't look a lot like God. Can we develop the good, and change the bad?  I believe we can with God's help. God help me with my 1% which is more than 1% if I were really honest. But the point being, we can only fix our percentage, whatever that percentage is, somewhere between 1 and 99.  Even if our part of the issue really is 1%,   that is what we need to fix. Our society is teaching us to be victims, it is always someone else at fault, never taking responsibility for our part. When there is an issue, let's stop looking at the other guy, and concentrate on ourselves.  In a failed marriage or other busted relationship, we always can blame the other person, and fail to see our part.  If I have an engine that is misfiring, and I build a new car around that engine and don't fix the misfire, the engine is still going to misfire. The car might steer just fine, the brakes work good, the air conditioning works, the heater works, the cooling system is fine.  A lot of newer engines now have individual coils for each cylinder.  It could be the coil on that cylinder, or the spark plug, or the plug wire,  or the injector,  or a valve. If I don't find the real issue however small it is, it will still misfire. I see it but I don't know how to fix it. God sees and God knows, he is the master mechanic of our lives. God fixes us from the inside out. God help me to fix me. God bless, LVZ.

An Important Principle From Romans 16

This passage that Phil Waldrep spoke on as our guest speaker has made me think a lot.  As Paul the Apostle was greeting others he appreciated them for some way they affected him. It might not have been a big thing but he called out some 27 names I think and said something about each of them. I have often talked about family dysfunction and I think my family has done some amazing things coming from where we came from. So in trying to learn this principle from Romans 16:1-16, have I really appreciated my family for who they are and the big obstacles each of them overcame to be where they are today. my oldest brother, Reo, for example, overcame some obstacles and is the best tenor saxophone player I have known or met in my lifetime. My oldest sister, Marlis,  has been one of the most hospitable people I know, I have always felt so welcome in her home. It seemed like we have had a bond since our childhood. My next sister, Diane,  is just amazing. I remember when my own children would rather stay at her house then come home with me. And the children she cared for would want her to be at their school programs. And talk about pictures she takes. My next brother, Dennis,  is the best fisherman I know, and I have never met anyone that can train a dog to behave as well as he can. Next, a sister,  Ranae, who overcame great obstacles in her life and though she has no children of her own has been one of the best surrogate moms I have ever known. A strong person and kind, and a favorite of mine.  Talk about camping, I never seen anyone that can cook on a campfire as her and my next sister, LuAnn,  can. They were able to put an A in camping. And that youngest sister, when she speaks, she speaks with passion. When a counselor was trying to help me because I would put myself down and talk in a monotone, I thought of that sister and how she described an incident with her son and the passion she put into her description of the incident. My youngest brother, Monte,  was able as a teenager to be put in charge of a store by the owner, with absolutely no worries. Talk about correcting you, he will. If you mistakenly talk about congress and the senate, he will point out the inaccuracy of that statement. The senate is part of congress, and the other part of congress is the house of representatives. Always likes accuracy.   This family has overcome great obstacles and each has become a productive member of society. We don't always agree on everything, but I think I have one of the most precious families because I know what they overcame to get to where they are today. There is a principle in that passage in Romans 16:1-16, that I just tried to copy. We would be blessed to understand this principle in our lives and copy it. To acknowledge people for who they are and how they have blessed us.  Just because they are. Below is a link, I cannot do justice to this principle as Phil Waldrep did. Take a look at it.  God bless, LVZ.
https://www.facebook.com/HopeChurchTupelo/videos/2621448954541372/

Soul Searching

I have been doing some soul searching lately.  I have been asking God to help me understand some things. To day I believe God spoke to the need in my heart that I have been praying about. The speaker was Phil Waldrep. His text was from Romans 16:1-16. Paul was greeting the Christians in Rome. It is amazing how I can read that and see nothing. All of the Bible is inspired. It showed a lack in my life as I am praying that I am asking God to help me with. There is a principle in those verses we need to learn. He set it up talking about his grandmother when she calls him one day and asks what is wrong with Obadiah? His grandmother was in her nineties and was reading in Obadiah and didn't see any markings in the edges of her Bible. Her whole life when she had heard a sermon she had written a reference in the column, perhaps a date and who was preaching. But there was nothing written in the column in the book of Obadiah. When Pastor Waldrep  visited his grandmother he asked to see her Bible and looked through it and found that areas that had not been marked up. Romans 16:1-16 was one of those areas. Here was the answer to the issue I was praying about. I found a lack in my life. How many times do I read the Bible and I see nothing. It happens more than not. The Bible is inspired. I am in the process of reading through the whole Bible line by line, and then I try to write something, someday's I draw a blank.  This may only mean something to me. I love my children, always have, always will. But Romans 16 showed me what I was lacking. I heard it before but didn't understand, I love my Children, why can't they see it.  During his sermon Pastor Waldrep talked about a 5 year old boy that was fascinated by the garbage man that came by weekly. On the day that the garbage man came this 5 year old would get up early and stand on the porch and wave at the garbage man.  Christmas was coming and as the family was talking about giving presents, the five year old said we need to give Bill, the garbage man, a present. His mother and the 5 year old made a batch of cookies and the next time the garbage man came by the five year old and his father walked down to the street and gave Bill, the garbage man, a plate of cookies.  The garbage man asked the 5 year old's dad what he did for a living. I am a Pastor at such and such church. The five year old invited the garbage man to come to church, the children were singing that Sunday and if the garbage man came the 5 year old promised to sit with him. The garbage man came and the 5 year old did sit with him and his wife during the service and afterwards introduced him as the best garbage man ever.  Their neighborhood don't stink because the garbage man comes and takes way their garbage.  A five year old probably doesn't have the filters adults have and just spoke freely. The garbage man and his wife continued to attend and some weeks later gave their hearts to the Lord. That five year old had learned the principle in  Romans 16. He valued the garbage man for who he was. He recognized him by name and appreciated who he was.  Pastor Waldrep said he studied the 27 people in Romans 16, the majority of them had no position of prominence, they were women and slaves.  They were probably no more than dogs and cats today. There was nothing they could do for the Apostle Paul on  his later trip to Rome. He wasn't greasing the skids for his upcoming trip, they could do nothing for him. He was recognizing them for who they were. It was genuine love. Greet the brethren with a holy kiss, was a custom in that time like our handshake or a hug is today.  So in my soul searching and seeking God about how to correct the issue, I see the issue, but I still don't know how to fix it. People want to feel loved. Just saying it is not enough. People want to feel appreciated, everyone does. That is the principle in Romans 16,  hidden in Paul's greetings to people that could not do anything for him. It is an area that I lack in my life. I have been praying about this for a long time and now I see the lack in my heart and in my life.  I feel that God has answered my prayer and shown me what is wrong in me. Help me to apply this principle to my heart and my life. Help me to appreciate others for who they are and nothing more. I pray,  God help me to fix this issue in my heart.  God bless, LVZ.

Ecclesiastes 10:2 and more *

The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left.

A wise person chooses the right road; a fool takes the wrong one.
I still chuckle every time I read this passage. This was written by King Solomon, considered the wisest man ever. But it was written long before we had a political left and political right.  The first line is the New International Version and the second line is New Living Translation. The second line helps explain the first line. It is about choosing the right path through life and not actually choosing left or right politically. Sometimes I like to quote the first line just to mess with a leftist. On the other hand I like to make sure the person knows I am joking. It is not good to misuse the word of God even though sometimes it is tempting. God keeps a record. I have progressed in my reading to Ecclesiastes and there are a few one liners like the one above that grab my attention.

9Two are better than one,

because they have a good return for their labor:

10If either of them falls down,

one can help the other up.

But pity anyone who falls

and has no one to help them up.

11Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.

But how can one keep warm alone?

12Though one may be overpowered,

two can defend themselves.

A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Here in the fourth chapter we find the words two are better than one. I recently blogged married men are better and this is why. We compromise and our outcome is better. We help each other out. We each have different strengths and weaknesses, and if we are wise we will utilize those strengths to our benefit. A marriage done right, we have someone to pick us up and cheer us on. We need companionship, how can one keep warm alone. God intended for men and women to be together but in every general rule there are always exceptions.  We have a law that forces us to use seat belts because they save lives, but there are always a few exceptions to the rule. I am sure we all hear of someone who's life was taken by a seat belt, but as a general rule, seat belt saves lives. As a general rule married men are better.  A three strand cord is not quickly broken, meaning we can help each other to stand, one can be defeated quicker that three.  Ecclesiastes has not been as easy a read as Proverbs and it seems the writer talks a lot about meaninglessness.  But then our greatest hope is not in this life but in eternity. As a general rule God desires that we marry, but there are those that just plane don't want to and that is OK. God designed marriage for his purposes and I think that was to make us better, to strengthen us. Loneliness is difficult and it is good to have that companion. I remember during times of divorce, so hating to come home to an empty house. There was no one there to help me. I prayed after my fourth divorce please God if you desire me to be single, then help me to be content with being single. I was willing to give up my desire if it would please God. But once again God blessed me with a helper and I am truly blessed. Marriage between one man and one woman is God's perfect design.  It was not man's invention but God's from the very beginning in Genesis. So once again two are better than one. Dennis Prager in his book "Happiness Is A Serious Problem". talks about counting the cost of the decisions we make in life.  If me marry or stay single, each has its costs.  It costs us freedom, we have someone to answer to if we marry. It costs us some loneliness if we choose to remain single, we don't have that companion. It is up to us to decide which cost we want to pay, and then be content with the decision we make. It is not fair to a spouse if we choose to marry and then want to keep the freedoms of being single. I face this, I liked the ability of going on road trips any time I wanted to when I was single, but I didn't like the loneliness of coming home to an empty house. Each decision in life costs us something. I do think we grow in being married because of being responsible for and to another human being.  But there is a cost. I have been married to someone that still wanted to have the freedoms of a single life, and it didn't feel very good to me. It wasn't fair to me. So many decisions in life, big and small, cost us something. Being a Christian costs, it is not a pain free life, but it is still a decision I am glad I made.  Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 2 Timothy 3:12  I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:20B.  It costs to be a Christian but God promises to be with us always.
God bless, LVZ.

Famine on the job *

I try to find something to write about every day. I read scripture, every day. It is my desire to hear from God. But some days nothing seems to get my attention. Other days I seem to have more than one idea. Today seems to be a famine day. I remember on my first day at the Boeing Company. I was paired with an older gentleman that had been recalled from retirement to work with us newbies and train us. He took me aside and said, Mockup is feast or famine. Some days you will be really busy and other days you will have nothing to do. He said take a small block of wood and a piece of sandpaper and keep it in the top of your tool box. When we are in a time of famine as far is work goes and you see the big bosses coming, take that block of wood and be sanding it. A few days later he walked by my tool box and picked up the block of wood and said, so smooth like a babies bottom. I had received instruction from him a seasoned veteran and had followed it. I was busy that day and probably had been every day, but I had followed his simple instruction. Every job I had through life was sort of like that. In the wood products company I worked for when I got laid off from Boeing, I was at a machine that broke down and while I was waiting for the machine to be repaired, I grabbed a broom and started sweeping the floor. At my year end review, my lead had noticed and told me he felt like I gave 110 percent.  I was a planner for two years, and at that time some big wig decided 20 percent of each department needed to be on second shift. I was the low man on the totem pole in an office of five planners, I was put on second shift all by myself. I overlapped with first shift for a short time and I would ask the other planners if there was anything I could help them with if I got finished with my stuff. Generally one of them had something I could help them with, and if I ran out of things to do in my project, I would help them. Much of the time their jobs had been planned out and they just needed someone to print out a bunch of work orders for the shop. I would do it. We had a clerk on day shift that did menial jobs, filing and such. One such job was she would have a bunch of PI drawings that would be sent out to the shop in conjunction with the work orders the planners were putting out. It was her job to put a "mockup use only" stamp on those drawings. There would be piles of them. She would leave work that day thinking she had a whole day of boring stamping drawings the next day. If I ran out of work, I would stamp those drawings for her. No one told me to do it, I just did it because it needed to be done. It was considered below my job skill. After my two years as a planner I was offered a job on the engineering side. I had taken a lot of CATIA classes and an engineering supervisor had heard about me from my boss. He came and talked to me and told me he needed CATIA operators in his office. He said if I was interested to go and talk to his lead man and see if I was interested.  I did. I found out that this supervisor was married to the clerk I had been stamping the drawings for. She would go home thinking she had all this work to do the next day and then she came in and it was all done. She told her husband about this planner on second shift that did a big portion of her job that day. I also took two hours of vacation time to check out this job in the engineering side. My boss told the engineering supervisor what I had done. We interact with engineering all the time and I could have easily just gone over there and talked to them about the job on company time and no one would have said anything.  I got the job. On my last day as a planner, we had a crew meeting and the planning supervisor praised me for the job I had done while I was there. He said something that I didn't believe until I checked it out after the meeting. Of the five planners in that office, 75 to 80 percent of the work orders in the various job panels in the shop had my name on it.  It wasn't because I did all that work myself, it was because I was always helping someone on their project. After the crew meeting, it was my last day on the job in the mockup planning office,  I went around to all the job panels in the mockup shop and counted the work orders and also the number that had my name on them. It was indeed 75 to 80 percent had been written by me as I helped these other planners. It was a small part of their planning to write the work orders,but it was a way I could help them and in the end it made me look very good. On the Engineering side, once again there was feast and famine on the job. During a slow time I would find a first of a customer that was a few days out of the factory and I would compare the continuations from one drawing to the next and I would find areas where the continuations on PI drawings didn't match. For example one PI drawing would show five wire bundles continuing to the next drawing in a particular run and the next drawing would show either four or six different wire bundles continuing from the previous drawing. I would investigate what happened and try to figure out which was correct and have the drawing in error corrected before the airplane hit the factory.  They called it "Leon's Lookahead".  My bosses asked me to write up my process to show the others what I was doing. It ended up saving the planners and the company some time and money by doing this process in my time of famine.  I receive a $500 check for this idea and others that followed my example had also received a $100 check. All of these examples were a continuation of the block with sandpaper that I had learned on the first day of my job. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest. Ecclesiastes 9:10  God bless, LVZ.

No Safe Spaces*

It seems Dennis Prager and Adam Carolla did a movie that I believe came out last year called No Safe Spaces. It is about what is happening on college campuses across our country. Free speech is protected on college campuses only if you agree with the left. Many of these speakers that would go to colleges and give lectures can not go any more if they have a conservative view. Safe spaces should be to keep us safe from physical harm not to protect us from emotional discomfort when someone disagrees with us politically. Adam made a joke, he is a comedian, about how this younger generation is being raised.  Adams joke was this about a parent in this generation constantly complementing their kids. O that was a really nice poop you did there, that was great. Then adds the child is 26 years old. Perhaps there is some growing up that is needed. Dennis talked about how he received a compliment about once a decade growing up. I really thought I was neglected  growing up but realize it was the norm. But we grew up. I don't interact with some known liberals, actually they are leftist more than liberal, because it futile. If they cannot win an argument they will vilify you. They will attack you and call you a racist or some other phobia when they knowing going in they will not win. Dennis and Adam discussed how they can have a person on the right call into their shows and disagree with them and they have opportunity to present their side. Not with the left, they will yell and scream and not give you a chance to answer but go to the next question. They can talk to the right and even disagree, knowing they might even learn something to better themselves in the argument. But the joke about the 26 year old pooping had Dennis laughing because it is so true. I think of the twenty plus year old writer that could not handle her editor correcting her spelling on HAMPSTER, which according to the dictionary is HAMSTER. She couldn't handle it and even went and called her momma to talk to her boss.  I was at Hardee's ordering a breakfast and a young man on the line fixing the breakfasts, possibly even mine was reprimanded when the manager walked by and saw him using his cell phone. She calmly told him he cannot use his phone on the line while he is working. He got angry and stormed out the back door and sped away in his truck.   I know with the economy improving, some of these places are scraping the bottom of the barrel for employees. I heard the exchange, the manager did nothing mean or loud words just pointed out the rules. I thought about it as cell phones are probably very dirty anymore, because we are constantly on them where ever we go. Do I want this man touching his cell phone and then my food?  No, those rules are there for a good reason. I don't know what will happen to this next generation that doesn't want to work for the man. Socialism spends what capitalism makes and when the money is gone socialism collapses. It is impossible to support 99 percent of the population with the earnings of the 1 percent that is very rich.  But it always gets votes, Tax the rich and the corporations, and give free stuff to the poor.  Common sense should tell you this will not work. But then I have been told by a leftist there is no such thing as common sense. I am sure that is true on the left (no common sense). We do need to be generous and take care of those less fortunate, but not through the government. What is the percentage of representatives that go into office poor and come out a millionaire, and where did they get the millions?  The right does not go around destroying other peoples property when they protest. Some one pointed out the contrast between the Tea Party cleaning up after themselves after one of their protest and the trashed reservation after the leftist protesters left the pipeline protests.  The right don't shut down freeways and stop even ambulances, or beat on innocent old men like Antifa.  Only the left does that. But they need safe spaces, when they are the ones that attack and destroy, simply because you may view things differently them them. Is any one worried about our liberty and freedom if the left actually wins? I sure am.  God bless, LVZ.

Listening*

Eli told Samuel, "Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, 'Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 1 Samuel 3:9
Do we actively listen for God's voice as young Samuel did?  Often when I lay down after reading from God's word I repeat young Samuel's word. Speak Lord for thy servant is listening. I desire to hear from God. I want to hear his voice. As the rich man in the parable went to his place of torment and Lazarus went to Abraham's bosom, the rich man cried out; send someone from the dead, from this place in eternity to warn his brothers. Luke 16, Abraham replies “But Abraham said, ‘Moses and the prophets have warned them. Your brothers can read what they wrote.’ verse 29.   And he continues: “But Abraham said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’” Luke 16:31

Are we listening to the words of Moses and the Prophets? The words of Moses and the Prophets are the Word of God, the Bible. Are we listening?  As a Christian I sit here every morning reading God's word. It can become rote when we do it religiously. I think think of that video, Coffee with Jesus, I saw recently. It hit me, isn't that sort of like me? I go through my motions. I read and I pray and just about the time God starts to speak, I get up to leave, I gotta go, things to do, places to go. In that video Jesus is patiently listening to the prayer of the man. There is a break in the conversation and Jesus is opening his mouth to speak, and the man leaves the table where they were drinking coffee. I had a good prayer list, I prayed for my children, grandchildren, extended family.  My church, the pastors, the elders, the deacons, and then for the president and the government. Then I include some of the sick and grieving. And last but not least I had a list of over 50 names of fatherless children. Lest I forget at the start was me and Barbara.  All good things to pray for. I saw that video and I thought is this for show? Wow that is an impressive list. But am I listening to God / Jesus sitting at the other side of the table?  We pray, God attends to the matter, if it be his will, but do we take time to listen? What is God saying to me?  God can cut to the separating of joints and marrow, with his word, are we listening, or have we already left the table when God begins to speak.  Motives, God sees even our motives. Sometimes I have been made painfully aware of that. Speak Lord for your servant is listening. There is much in this Bible that will speak to us if we will listen. God is not willing for any to perish but that all would come to repentance. Sometimes I strain to hear God voice and other times I don't like what I hear,  it is almost like I don't want to hear that. Have I inquired of the Lord for direction? Here I am a man that is now in my fifth marriage. Man I have blown it. Every one of these marriages I took a vow until death do part. Did I inquire of God before I entered into this vow? Not every time is an understatement. I am blessed, in my marriage and I thank God for my wife. But I see a lack of commitment in me. God forgave me, this is not about condemnation, but about how careless I have been in the past. I need to inquire of God for life, perhaps even little things and not just the big things like marriage for life. Have you ever read the story about the day the sun stood still in the Bible? In the book of Joshua chapters 9 and 10. As a Pastor was breaking this down, do you realize Joshua was defending people that he made a covenant with that lied to him? But God honored that covenant, even though Joshua didn't inquire of God before making it. God honored and supported Joshua in the battle even though those people he was defending had lied and deceived Israel to enter that covenant. God keeps his word, my question is do we keep ours to the same degree as God? Many times I have made bad decisions because I didn't inquire of God ahead of the decision. God keeps his word, even when a mistake has been made. I am thankful for grace and mercy. Help me to listen to your voice, O God. Help me to sit at the table of coffee with Jesus long enough to hear what you have to say to me. He that hath an ear, let him hear what God is saying. Are you listening?    God bless. LVZ.