Isaiah 46, A sovereign God.

10I make known the end from the beginning,

from ancient times, what is still to come.

I say, ‘My purpose will stand,

           and I will do all that I please.’ Isaiah 46:10
What does this verse say? What if we compare this to Psalm  139:1-4?
      1You have searched me, Lord,

and you know me.

2You know when I sit and when I rise;

you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3You discern my going out and my lying down;

you are familiar with all my ways.

4Before a word is on my tongue

you, Lord, know it completely.

We are talking about a sovereign God that knows the end from the beginning, from ancient times to what is still ahead of us. God's purposes will stand. I remember at about age 18-19 at a youth camp thinking I wanted to serve God. My thought at that time was to be in some kind of ministry like a preacher or a teacher. Somewhere I didn't have to be around sinful society. I look back and see how foolish that thought was.  How would I affect anyone that needed God if I had no contact with them? I worked a job that I actually loved at an airplane factory. It was a good job but it wasn't pain-free.  I think back to that thought at 18-19 years old, what I really wanted was a pain-free existence. I believe I did what God wanted. Many times I made waves, I stood for the principles I was taught in Sunday School. I was at odds with a secular culture that wanted to live any way they wanted. It didn't bother them to steal stuff including time. It bothered me and I made waves.  God knew what he had planned for me even then, even to the words I now write on this blog today. I don't understand every word I read in Isaiah but I read anyway. I trust I am serving a sovereign God even when I don't understand. I still want to live pain-free, but can I tell you much of my life has been a struggle. God didn't care as much about my 1,2,3, 4th marriages survived as he did about my character and the condition of my heart. A lot of my struggles where to fix my heart. I am sure I have written about some of my struggles. I saw a man stealing time from the company and I took over his job because he was so far behind. I reported what I found out to my supervisor and I was lower than a snake. I once disobeyed the orders of a lead man that wanted us to leave jobs open that we had completed so he could go to the boss and say we have fifty jobs open and we need to work overtime Saturday and Sunday to catch up. Then Saturday and Sunday, the people working would close out the jobs that could have been closed all week. To my conscience, it was stealing and I couldn't do it. I upset the apple cart and was soon removed and sent back to the main group.  It was painful, he lied about me. All my career seemed like it was painful, I was always butting heads with someone that didn't honor God's ways. So I saw in my senior years that I was salt in a Godless culture. God had a purpose for me that I didn't always understand. It was often painful.  I wonder if President Trump thought his time in office would be pain-free?  I believe God put President Trump in the office of President to confront a swamp full of swamp creatures. I believe he is doing God's will, and it is no surprise to God how painful it is. One accusation after another and yet he continues and has done more for our country than many Presidents that had a supportive congress. God says my purposes will stand.  I didn't get fired when people that lied about me and cheated the company. They didn't last thirty-plus years, but I did. None of this was a surprise to God, he knew a word that was on my tongue before it was uttered.  He is a sovereign God, his purposes will stand. I wanted pain-free but that is not what I received. Even in my short time in Mississippi, I have confronted wrong. I stand against a culture that will call evil good and good evil. It is not pain-free. I don't always understand God's purposes, but he is a sovereign God and his purposes will stand. He understands me and knows even my words before I speak them.  I believe I am still planting seeds and standing against a culture that does not believe in God. That is a ministry, it may not be pain-free. It may not be what I envisioned at age 19 but God knows me better than I know myself. God purposes will stand.  We may not understand but God has a view outside of time. He sees from ancient times to the future and his purposes will be accomplished.    God bless, LVZ.
        

Older Wiser

I believe I am wiser today than I was at 20.  I believe if I had known at 20 what I know today I would not have married the woman I married when I was twenty. I am thankful because I have a son and a daughter because of that marriage. I am thankful for them. I didn't know growing up how dysfunctional my home was, both my growing up home and the one I raised my children in. But I realize now a dysfunctional home is normal. From the beginning of time, families have been dysfunctional. The first family, Adam and Eve had two sons Cain and Abel, guess what; Cain killed Abel. Now how is that for dysfunction. None of my siblings killed another sibling, but our home was also dysfunctional. There were times when my children were growing up, I was so afraid my son would hurt my daughter who was younger and smaller than he, that I took him out of karate for her safety.  I had a duty to both children and as much I wanted to do for him,  to learn karate for his health and wellbeing, I was concerned for my daughter. I think it would have worked better if she had been born first and was two years older and bigger than he. Perhaps she could have still knocked him down and defended herself adequately as he learned karate, but I was really afraid my son would hurt my daughter, not intentionally but just in showing off his moves he was learning. None of my siblings killed me, though at times they might have wanted to.  Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery and told their father he had been killed by a wild animal and brought his coat of many colors stained with blood from an animal of their herd. None of my siblings sold me into slavery, but I wonder if they were tempted at times. We saw a bad marriage lived before us and it affected us. I failed in four marriages. I am sure I carried baggage from my growing up years into those relationships, but I have learned some good things as a result of those failures. I don't have many readers of my blog as I write today. but if I had started writing when I was twenty, I would have had nothing to write about. I have had a lot of life experiences since then. I pull examples of many things from my experiences. I am familiar with dysfunction. I grew up in it, raised my children in it and in fact we still live in a dysfunctional world. Just last week two people were killed about five miles from here, a man and a woman in a relationship.  I am not sure if they were married because of different last names, but the story seems to be the woman wanted to leave the man and their relationship.  The woman had gone into a store where she went to get breakfast on her way to work. He followed her and when she saw him, she ran back into the store for protection. A police officer was also in the store getting breakfast. The man came into the store reached over the police officer and shot her dead. The officer returned fire and killed the man. I am sure it happened so fast, the officer did not react in time to save her life. But stories like this seem to happen over and over again. I went through some difficult stuff and I wonder, why don't they just walk away and let it be. Of course, I have 4 failed marriages under my belt that I survived. We live in a dysfunctional world and if we live long enough we learn from our dysfunction. I believe if my current marriage failed, I'd just walk away. I'd be hurt for a time but I know with time I would get over it, I have before. I have experience under my belt, perhaps even wisdom from having gone through unfaithful partners in the past. I believe if my wife were unfaithful to me I would know it, I always did in the past. But I believe she is faithful to me even when she has been working until 2 in the morning. I go to sleep with ease because I trust her. I believe I am older and wiser, it is not worth getting killed over or going to prison for the rest of my life. I came close in the past, emotions run high in a breakup. But I worked through it and today am able to have a good relationship because I walked away and did not end up in jail because of killing an unfaithful spouse. Life goes on, and I am thankful for the support I received in my times of trouble to make it through dysfunction without killing someone or going to jail. Believe me, I thought about it once or twice. But here I am living a fairly good life because I learned to just walk away and let it be. This world is full of dysfunction and dysfunctional people, I try not to be one of them and a bad statistic. My relationship with God and friends I have had in the church have been a stabilizing factor in my life. I went through some things that men and women will kill over in this dysfunctional world. I am still here and still free by the grace and mercy of God. God bless, LVZ.

Abortion Is A Great Evil

1In that day seven women

will take hold of one man

and say, “We will eat our own food

and provide our own clothes;

only let us be called by your name.

Take away our disgrace!”   Isaiah 4:1

Wow, it seems the judgement of God would be so severe that the men that are killed in war at the end of chapter 3 that there would only be one man left for seven-woman. Normally there are 50 per cent women and 50 per cent men born or pretty close to half and half. God allowed judgement on the house of Israel because of their turning away from him. Having other gods and disobeying his commands.  Some believe the civil war took so many lives because of the injustice of slavery, there had to be an atoning of loss of lives, by loss of lives. I wonder what America is in for when you look at the great sin of abortion.  This is more a national sin than individual sin. We have made laws that support abortion. There is grace for any individual that has followed man's law above God's law. I just want to make that clear. There is a forgiving of sin available to all that would seek it and having an abortion is forgivable. Please understand that. But our nation has legalized abortion to the tune of some 60 million babies aborted since Roe vs Wade in 1973. I am not sure of the exact number but I believe it to be in the 60 million range. It is a national sin, because of our laws. If God brings judgement upon this nation how severe would it be? Could it end up as severe as this judgement upon Israel was? Seven women for every man. I am not a prophet, I am not saying it will be this bad. I do not know the mind of God, other than abortion being legalized as we have done in this nation is displeasing to God. I cannot see any other way when God is the giver of life. I was not a planned child any more than these 60 million, why did I have a right to life that they did not? And then the level of evil that pervades our land when the laws of a couple of states are changed to support the killing of babies even after they are born alive and sitting on a counter crying and the decision can still be made to abort, to take their life.  How in God's name can we not see this as murder? If a baby is killed in the womb, a baby that is wanted; the killer even if it is a traffic accident can be charged with two murders if the mother and baby in the womb are both killed. We have desensitized our people by calling it a fetus, saying a woman has a right to do with her body what she wants. But in the womb there is a separation, they have separate blood that does not mix, that baby has its own space inside the womb. It is not hers, but God's, the giver of life to choose. This is something this nation needs to change to value once again the lives of our unborn.  I am not a prophet, I am just saying what I think when I read this passage. God bless, LVZ.

The Words Of My Mouth

I have been listening to a sermon about the words we speak. I see a problem with me. I have deleted many old posts and even some not so old posts. I grew up in a very negative environment. This apple did not fall far from the tree. I hated to be compared to my father, but I picked up some of his traits. Speaking negatively is one of them. I really don't think I have understood or seen how much this has been a part of me. I have been a Christian for 30 plus years. Actually, I attended church before I was born, I was raised in a church pew. I remember Bro Kruckenberg giving me a nickel to sit with him in church. I thought he liked me and that was why he gave me a nickel. I realize he was trying to help my parents with a handful of kids. If I was four at the time, I had an older brother and sister and one sister younger than I. If I was five there would have been a sister and a brother younger than me as well as the two older than me. My parents would have had their hands full. I have been on this journey a long, long time and I still see areas I need help with. I am sure if you could talk to my children they would probably have a lot of negative thoughts in their head from their growing up years It came naturally to me, and most of the time we travel through life on autopilot and don't even realize the impact our words have on our children and others. Our words have the power of life and death. But the things that come out of a person's mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. Matthew 15:18
I think I am just beginning to understand the problem. Our mouth is like our rudder, it points the direction we are going. I have changed many other areas of my life. But the tongue is probably our most unruly member and the hardest to change. This is not the first time I have been confronted with this issue, and it probably will not be the last.  Death and life are in the power of the tongue.
3When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. James 3:3-6. 
Our tongue is such a small member of our body, it steers our direction. How can blessing and cursing come from the same mouth? I write so many words and I wonder do they encourage or tear down? The words I write are a mirror to what is inside of me. The things that come out of my mouth come from the heart. This is what I believe God is speaking to me about in my quiet time of the last few days. What is stored up in my heart and coming out of my mouth?   
You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Matthew 12:34

It is a family dysfunction that gets passed on from one generation to the next. I want to be like my Heavenly Father and speak words that uplift and encourage.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. Philippians 4:8
I am so glad God sees me through Jesus Christ. Sometimes I don't like the me I see, I am thankful for mercy and grace. I am thankful for the washing of water by the word. I didn't wake up the morning after I became a Christian and have all this correct in my life.  I didn't have to figure all this out before becoming a Christian either. I came to God just as I was, and that was a mess. God sees me through Jesus Christ because I have believed in him. And he works on me and in me and will until the day I die. It really makes me see how important grace and mercy are. I haven't earned them and can't earn them. I will never be good enough to earn God's favor. It is freely given, Grace is free. It used to be a fear of mine to be called a hypocrite, but I realize it is true, I have standards I try to live up to and fail. If I was Hugh Hefner, with no standards, it wouldn't be a problem. I'd live what I believe. But I claim Christ and he was perfect and without sin. I am not, it used to bother me. I felt I had to live a perfect life because I was a Christian. I couldn't do it and I'd get discouraged. But somewhere along my path, I realized that when I accepted Jesus into my heart, God looks at me and sees Jesus. I am forgiven. Man, it is a wonderful place to be. All sins are gone, just because I believe in Jesus and accepted him as Savior and Lord. He washes me with the water of the word as I live daily. He tells me, Leon, the words of your mouth need some work. I don't feel condemned, I feel loved that God will work on me and bring me closer to the image of Jesus. It is called grace, freely given, if we accept it. But that too is a key, that grace has to be received. God extends it towards me, and I have to reach up and grab it. Believe in him, that Jesus died on a cross for my sins. If we say we have not sinned, we lie. But we have an advocate with God the Father if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Everyone's story is different, just as we are unique so is our story. I am so thankful for grace. I took a vow until death do part, and failed. I have been divorced 4 times, I lived an imperfect life. In my family, I have the record (a bad record) for the most divorces. I wouldn't be surprised to know that I have the record (a bad record ) at my church. Many others have been divorced also. Yet God loved me in spite of me. All four of those divorces were after I started living this Christian life. I have failed so many times, but God still looks at me and sees Jesus. Grace, just as if I had never done it. God is working on me to make me better, but not condemning me in the process, loving me through it.  For God so loved the world, he gave his son, Jesus, to die on a cross for my sins. Eternity is coming, I don't know when, I like my life, but when I go through that valley, Jesus will be with me. God is not concerned about my divorces, he is concerned about my heart. Where my treasure is, there will my heart be also. Lay up your treasures in Heaven. Don't follow me, follow Jesus, the perfect one. God bless, LVZ. 

That White Man Look

I think most of my life, my face is a reflection of what I am thinking. If Barbara says something that upsets me she'll say you're giving me that white man look. I'll say I can't give you anything else, I am a white man. And I will tease her at times, you're giving me that black woman look.  We were both raised in very dysfunctional homes. People spoke death into our lives. I don't think they thought about it, I am going to destroy this kid and so I speak death into this life. The words that I write in this blog reflect what is in my heart. I have had to change my speaking, my thinking. I have had to put good words into my heart.  What we put into our hearts is what will come out of it. I want to hear words of encouragement from those around me. I want to speak words of encouragement to those I talk with. Especially with me and Barbara, in our home. There are laws of nature like the law of gravity. When I roll over in bed and the mattress has ended, and there is no mattress below me, I end up on the floor. It is the law of gravity. I don't have to believe it but it will happen. Both Barbara and I grew up with a lot of negativity spoken over us. But it is not true, we were created in God's image. But those words had an effect on us. I watched in a men's group many years ago when grown men,  fifty years old and more will still feel like they were stupid, they might be a successful businessman but those words were spoken over them as a child come out. A parent that said you are stupid, and many times we still believe it many years later.  A law of words. I gave Barbara a nickname many years ago, Mississippi Diamond because that is what I saw in her. A diamond, a beautiful soul. I am blessed because I am married to her. She will speak good words into my life. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I have had to and still do reprogram myself, by speaking good word into my life. I try to put good words into my heart. What is in the heart comes out of the mouth. Look at the mirror of your heart, by the words you speak. I spoke something negative many years ago about my second wife's son, what I said was true and I was concerned about where he was headed. She said don't prophecy evil over my son.  I didn't get it then, but I do understand what she was saying today. I had poor self-esteem growing up, and I had to reprogram myself.  I was copying what I was taught growing up. There is power in our words. We can bless people or we can curse them. When we are on autopilot going through life, what is in our hearts comes out of our mouth. We can reprogram our autopilot with what we put into our hearts. Jesus has changed my life, seeking to live a Christ-centered life has changed me. It didn't happen overnight. I'm still me, I am still very political in my thinking, I still speak my mind but I am trying to input the law of words into my life.  You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. Matthew 12:34-35.
Once again this thought is not original with me, it comes from a sermon I heard and I try to make it mine. I try to fill my heart with good things that I listen to, so when I am on auto-pilot through life, what comes out of my mouth will bless others and not curse them. I am not a perfect man, but I believe I am better than I was twenty or more years ago. I often think of these words from Ephesians chapter 5,  "by the washing with water through the word".  I am trying to reprogram my auto-pilot with the word of God. It speaks life into our hearts. It is a good treasure to store up good things in our hearts. I became a Christian over thirty years ago, but the transformation has been gradual. I didn't change overnight. I didn't wake up the morning after I became a Christian and know all this stuff. But that moment when I accepted Jesus into my heart has been transforming, and the washing of water through the word of God continues to this day.  God bless, LVZ

Racist America

We hear so much about racist America. I should say the United States of America. Often I incorrectly just state America when in fact I mean the USA.  Our forefathers were indeed old White Men that gathered together to form this great country of ours. Some of them were, in fact, slave owners at the time.  No one denies that fact that I know of. What I think is amazing is these imperfect men sought a perfect God for direction and this great country that they started abolished slavery less than 100 years later.  Minorities were given the right to vote in under 100 years, and it did seem to take a little longer but women also were given the right to vote. This started from imperfect White Men that sought a perfect God. Ben Franklin considered to be one of the least religious of this group of men suggested they seek help from God and they did. I think it was wisdom that although they believe in God and looking to God for direction was very important, they did not name an official religion. When you look at the churches we have today, they are somewhat different than the churches of their day.  These men as imperfect as they were, gave us the best and least racist government on the face of the earth to this date. We have gotten better and even though there were struggles into the 1960s and even today, we have evolved to where we had our first Black President in a predominately White nation. Although many of us did not agree with his politics, I think we can be proud of the freedoms we have that allowed this to happen. Any given Presidency there are almost 50% of the population don't agree with the sitting President. Someone once stated we are the worst form of government, except for all other forms of government. I believe we are the least racist country on earth. I believe the proof of that is the people that keep coming to our nation not only legally but even try to get here illegally. We still are the greatest nation on earth. We have the most freedoms of any nation on earth. I dare these citizens that pour water on our police to try and disrespect police anywhere else in the world to that degree and see what happens.  If we are so racist, why do Blacks still come to our shores in greater numbers than those that came against their will during slavery? America is actually the least racist white majority country on the face of the earth. We should celebrate our accomplishments. Are we perfect? As long as there are humans, there will be evil. Evil comes naturally, we have to be taught to be good.  We still have imperfect people leading us, we always will. It doesn't matter what your politics, we are an imperfect people and will be outside of Christ and eternity. We need to stop and look where we came from and celebrate the freedoms we do have.  We are not perfect.  This country was designed for a good moral believing people that believed in a God.  A God that oversees the affairs of men. It was started by imperfect men, is still lead by imperfect men and women, but because of God's oversight is the greatest government on the face of this earth.  God bless, LVZ.
Look up the 14, 15 and 19 Amendments.

Old Posts

We need God for our selves. I read through my old post and I delete some, I correct spelling and hope I am only leaving good posts. I am a political person and a Christ-follower. I write to help me retain what I read in my daily devotion. I put it out here in public space in the hope I encourage someone else.  I am surprised at how much I misspell words, I have gone through 100 old posts and have corrected spelling in each of them. Really I need Jesus all for myself. This writing  (these posts) are a mirror of what is inside of me. What is in our hearts comes out of our mouth. I pray that the meditations of my heart will be acceptable to God. Each of us needs God for ourselves. You can follow me as I follow Christ, but you need to know for yourself if I am telling the truth. Each of us needs our own personal relationship with Jesus. The next generation cannot depend on my relationship just as I cannot depend on my father's relationship. It is each generation for themselves, each person for themselves. There will be no grandchildren in heaven, meaning each generation needs to find God for themselves. Our nation was founded by imperfect men that sought God for direction. Some of them were slave owners yet they set up a government that abolished slavery less than 100 years later. They were men of their age, where women were almost nothing more than property but set up a government that gave women equal rights. They were white men that set up a government that believed in equality (for all races) and our country actually became better than it was in its beginning. Even though they were God-fearing men, those churches that they attended in their age are probably no longer in existence. I think it was wisdom that they did not set up a state religion even though they believed this government would only work for a God-fearing people. With their faith in God, they set up the best government that has ever been to this point. Someone once said that it was the worst form of government except for all others. They had a relationship with a sovereign God that has left us better than we were as a nation in the beginning.  It is the same thing today, we need God for our selves.  Only follow me as I follow Christ. Each of us needs God for ourselves. I hope these posts have been a blessing and point to a loving God. I hope and pray these posts have been acceptable to God. I hope they bless and encourage others as I follow Christ to the best of my ability.  Jesus has been the best thing that ever happened to me.  God bless, LVZ.

Northwest Tennessee Repost from 2013

I heard a story today from Northwest Tennessee. I will tell it as best as I remember it. A man from Northwest  Tennessee was telling about his church starting a bus ministry some 40 years ago. At the time the church had a membership of about 25 people. They drove around the area looking for houses that had bicycles/tricycles in the yard. At this one house, he described as a sharecropper house built on blocks. the roof was needing repair, the broken windows have been stuffed with rags to keep out the cold. They knocked on the door of this house and found an older lady with two young girls about 8 years old.  Inside there were only a few sticks of furniture and a potbelly stove in the middle of the room. Some of the paneling on the inside had been torn off the walls to use in the stove for heat. They asked if they could come back and pick up the girls for Sunday School the next Sunday. Their Mother said no because they didn't have any clothes to wear to church. The man telling the story said they told her not to worry about that. She gave her permission and the next Sunday they came to pick up the girls for Sunday School. He went into a lot of detail telling about the house because he wanted us to know how bad the conditions were for this woman and her two girls. Her husband and some of the older boys were working but after they got paid they would drink and gamble it away until there was nothing left for her. When they came to pick up the girls for Sunday School, the mother asked them if they would pray for the salvation of her boys. They did and every week she would ask for the same prayer saying she was standing in the gap for her family. They took the girls to Sunday School and the Pastors wife would give them a bath and feed them before Sunday School. Some of the members bought the girls new dresses. After Church, they would put them back in their old clothes and take them home. After a few weeks of this, they asked the mother if she would come to Sunday School with her daughters and she said she couldn't because she didn't have any clothes. One of the members had bought her a dress and they gave it to her. She came. When an altar call was given she would go over to a corner of the church building and pray for her children. This went on for some time. One Sunday, one of her sons came with her and got saved. Several weeks later another son came and was saved. I believe, if I heard right, the name of the family was Sullivan. At some point, her husband finally came also and he was a terrible individual that had cut her and the girls with kitchen knives at different times. He was also converted and has since passed on. Anyway, they now have some 40 plus members of the Sullivan family attending their church.  He told this same story at her funeral a few years ago. She had 16 children, 10 of them sons. Seven of those sons are now ministers. One of her family is a doctor, another a nurse,  one son is a Deacon. At her funeral, they listed the 16 children, 54 grandchildren, and 4 great-grandchildren. 30 members of her family are Sunday School teachers. A couple of her sons are Pastors of churches in the area. One son has a very large church in Michigan. The man telling this story says one of the sons spoke at his own Fathers funeral a few years back. That particular son had quit school in the third grade and could barely read at the time he got save. He can now read and speak better than he could (the man telling this story). This woman left a letter in her bedside drawer when she died, which he read to us.  She told her family that she loved each and every one of them and to keep praying for a couple children that were still struggling. She said she did the best she could for them. She stood in the gap for them as best she could and prayed for them every day. She said she wanted to see all of them on the other side someday. She asked that one of her sons preach at her funeral as she now had ministers in her family. She had stood on the promise of James 5:16 " Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man (or woman) availeth much."  The healing she had prayed for was the spiritual healing of her family. She never asked for a better house or living conditions. 40 years ago there was not a lot in the way of welfare for this woman. The speaker said we could go around the room and ask each of you to tell a story of a prayer God has answered in some dramatic way, and it would take all day. I have repeated this story as accurately as I can. I do not hear as well as I use to. God Bless, LVZ.

God Has Plans

26“Have you not heard?

Long ago I ordained it.

In days of old I planned it;

now I have brought it to pass,

that you have turned fortified cities

into piles of stone.

27Their people, drained of power,

are dismayed and put to shame.

They are like plants in the field,

like tender green shoots,

like grass sprouting on the roof,

scorched ^d before it grows up.

28“But I know where you are

and when you come and go

and how you rage against me.

29Because you rage against me

and because your insolence has reached my ears,

I will put my hook in your nose

and my bit in your mouth,

and I will make you return

     by the way you came.   Isaiah 37:26-29
Hezekiah laid out the threat of the King of Assyria sent to him before the Lord and prayed for God to deliver Jerusalem. Through Isaiah the prophet, God sent his reply. The cities that the King of Assyria had overthrown were in God's plan, Jerusalem was not. God tells King Hezekiah that the King of Assyria will not enter Jerusalem and will not even shoot one arrow in the city. God is sovereign and it was already in his plan. God did not like the King of Assyria's insolence and 185,00 of his troops were killed overnight. The next morning the King of Assyria returned to Nineveh and two of his sons killed him. What I read here is once again God is sovereign and people go no further than God allows. He protects his people Israel as in this case without them lifting a finger. They prayed and sought the Lord's direction and God delivered them. I think that will be our deliverance also, as we pray and humble ourselves turn from our wicked ways then God will heal our land us as he promises in 2 Chronicles 7:14. Over and over we see the sovereignty of God. What happens is in his plan of old.  I see in this that we do need to consult God in our plans. Plans made without God can fail. God knows the future.  To me, this could have been written of President Trump's election. It was doom and gloom on the other side. No way will Trump be president, it is not going to happen, but it did. It was in a sovereign God's plan. Hezekiah was a good king that sought God in his plans. What should I do God he askes when threatened. I believe that is what God expects of us Christians today, to consult God for direction. In this case, God just says I will do this myself. God strikes dead 185,000 of the Assyrian army. He puts a hook in his nose and takes him back to the way they came. That is what I need in my life, to seek God in my plans. That is what we need in this country, to seek God once again. This nation needs to return to our beginning and seek God's direction once again. We use to pray in our schools and ask for God to bless our teachers and our students. We have taken God out of our plans and wonder why so many shootings. Evil has always been present, but God can deliver if we will ask. Are we asking, are we seeking God. Do we trust in our own resources? We want to see the shootings stop, are we willing to ask God to direct us and to help us? Praying is not a copout, praying and asking God's direction is the foundation for the next step, whatever that is? Guide us in our next step, how to proceed forward.  Praying is like calling 911 when we are in trouble. God is like the first responder that comes to attend to the need. We don't earn any points for calling 911, we did not save the day, the first responder did. Here is another thought, yes we call the fire department when the house is on fire. But would it have been better to attend to a problem before the fire started? To fix a faulty piece of equipment before the fire started. Isn't that what we do when we invoke God's help in our plans. God help us in this nation as we move forward. Help us in this next election to vote people into office that will want to fix problems instead of trying to impeach a President that is solving problems. How much more could be accomplished if we had people in congress that were willing to work together instead of fight the opposite party. We need God's help in our plans. that is what I am reading in this verse. God, we need your help and your direction to move forward. Let us continue to seek God for our nation, our families, our city, our home.  Let us layout before God what is happening and ask for God's help. Hezekiah laid out the threatening letter before God and asked, what should we do? Let us layout out issues before God and ask, what should we do? Consulting God first is a good plan. God bless, LVZ.

Cynthia Profit

I went to another funeral today. Cynthia Profit was only 56. I believe it was cancer of some sort that took her so young. I really didn't know Cynthia. Barbara says I did meet her at least twice at a local restaurant in recent years. It was a beautiful funeral and well attended.  Cynthia was a cousin to Barbara's son, part of her son's fathers family. I had several thoughts while I sat there. I was trying to keep from tearing up. I am easily moved to tears and I wondered why because I didn't really know this woman. One thought came to mind, shared sorrow is a half a sorrow.  Perhaps the empathy I felt for the family that I did know and the grief they are surely facing now.  Perhaps in a way, I was taking on some of their sorrow. I really don't know but I do know I am easily moved to tears.  The last two funerals I went to, they described the life of a Christian. Serving others and being an example of faithfulness. She was faithful in helping at the local school booster club as well as faithful at church. She knew she was going, her time was short. There was comfort in knowing she had a reservation already made in her eternal home. The preacher mentioned we make a lot of appointments in life, doctors, dentist, and perhaps with other professionals, like lawyers, ministers and so many more. Appointments to have work done on a house or car repairs and so many things. Many of those appointments can be delayed and changed or even canceled at times. But an appointment like Cynthia's cannot be changed. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, Hebrews 9:27. That is an appointment all of us have and we cannot postpone it or change it. We may not know when it is but it is coming for every last one of us.  When we move a lot of times we know beforehand where we are going, we have a reservation made.  Eternity is our last move. It is our choice. The preacher mentioned our heat we have been facing in recent weeks in Mississippi, he asked why would anyone choose to go to hell when you don't have to? It is a choice we make by accepting or rejecting Jesus Christ. It is a simple process, to just believe in Jesus the Son of God and that he died for our sins. A measure of faith is given to every man to be able to choose to believe in God.  The opportunity was given for anyone that wanted to make their reservation secure. Nature in so many ways points to our creator, man will be without excuse when they face God. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. Romans 1:20
There is no pain or sorrow where Cynthia is going. Her last days were filled with pain as cancer took her life, but it is no more. This life on earth is like one drop of water compared all the oceans and bodies of water on this earth being eternity. This life is short, eternity is a very long time. We have just a short time to prepare for eternity. Christians don't force our way on others, but we do continually warn of the impending disaster that is about to strike.  Don't go into eternity without Christ.  God bless, LVZ.

Global Warming

Dennis Prager showed a headline from 1989 that if we don't get a handle on this global warming issue, we will be past the point of no return by the year 2000. Note we are now 19 years past the point of no return. I saw a clip of young people addressing Diane Feinstein to sign on to the green new deal. The young people were from ages 10 to 15, and very disrespectful to an 80-year-old woman.  They come in with their proposals with an attitude of my way or the highway.  In her 80 years, Diane Feinstein has been through hysteria before and is not buying into it.  Yes, we need to take care of the planet. I can think back to when plastic bags were the new thing to save the planet by using plastic bags instead of paper bags. How many years ago was that now we have created a worse mess in our oceans with all the plastic. At least we can grow more trees. We have set some heat records here in Mississippi. I think the last record depending on what date was set in the 1930s or the 1950s. Climate does change up and down. Perhaps next year we will set a cooler record on some dates. I think the new date is 2050 when the earth will be destroyed if we don't buy into the new green deal.  They want us to go to electric cars, but there is no infrastructure to support electric cars to travel across the country. Speed-wise it would take us back to the horse and buggy days. When you travel the distance of the batteries capabilities you would need to stay overnight to recharge the batteries if you can find a charging station. Then what is the environmental impact of the chemicals in batteries?  Think back to the save the planet days when plastic bags were introduced, now plastic bags are their own environmental hazard.  Do you really think these global warming advocates will give up their air travel to promote their global warming initiatives?  How many global warming advocates travel in private jest instead of commercial airlines? It is about control and to control every aspect of our lives. If I live to 2050, I expect the ocean borders will pretty much be where they are today.  We may have a socialist government but the only things we will have lost is many of our freedoms. Look at Venezuela and some other socialist countries if you want to know what life will be like under socialism.  I hope this younger generation begin to study history and look at how many mass hysteria things we have already come through.  This mass hysteria about global warming is really about control, the second amendment fight is also about control of our people. Evil will not disappear when guns are confiscated. We have been sold a bill of goods before, the bottom line is control, get rid of our guns like Germany and Communism and look at how many people get killed. It is in history that is no longer being taught. We have the best government on earth, we live in the best country on earth, but our young are being taught that this is an evil racist country. It is in our DNA they say. It is not true we need to really think about where we are headed and the freedoms we will lose if we buy into the lies of socialism. I think many do believe they are trying to do a good thing, like the children that confronted Dianne Feinstein. A lie that is believed is no less a lie. I don't think we are thinking things through. What will be the consequences to our environment if we really do try to go to all-electric vehicles? Will we end up with a bigger environmental disaster like we have now with plastic bags vs paper bags? Once lost, our freedoms will be much harder to gain back. I don't think the masses will like socialism once we have it.  Look at Venezuela, not many years ago they were a rich and prosperous country. What happened, socialism.  We are being sold a bill of goods if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.  Somebody has to pay for all this free stuff. The open border is about votes. Those people crossing, if given the right to vote will most likely vote Democrat. Why else would people that live in gated communities not see the need for borders?  I can really feel pessimistic looking at our world and the condition of it. But when I look to God and what he has in store for his people, I can once again feel optimistic.  Look beyond this life, this life is but a drop of water in the ocean of eternity.   God bless, LVZ.

 

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From The Tree

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!  2 Corinthians 5:17
Recently we discussed the two belief systems, some believe that people backslide and some believe once saved always saved. We point to scriptures that say nothing can separate us from God.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39.
So we discuss this issue and perhaps there are scriptures supporting both views. I have often thought we are not as far away from each other as we think. Those that have been raised in a church where they believe people backslid, we say Christians have backslidden when they stop walking with God. On the other side of this issue, when they see someone with no change in their life, they say they were never saved in the first place. They are looking at the fruit, there seems to be no change. Perhaps that is it, there was no change. They mouthed the words of a prayer but their heart was not in it. 2 Corinthians says when we are in Christ, we are a new creation. The old has passed away. If there is no change, nothing has happened. Now I look at this in my own life. When we discussed this, I felt I could argue both sides in my own life. I believe I learned of Jesus at a very early age. I remember praying at age 5 that Dad's truck would start, and it started. There was something that happened in my life at a very young age. I grew up in a church that believed you could backslide if you were struggling with sin, they would say you backslid. I remember praying again at about age eleven, I felt I had backslid and I prayed God to take me home right now while I am saved. I had generational sin in my life. I felt as a Christian I had to be perfect. Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord. But I struggled with sin. Then there was a period in my life when I absolutely would no longer go to church. At age 31, I went to a revival and recommitted my life to God. There was something happened that night, I determined in my heart I would never quit again. I didn't care how big of a hypocrite someone could say I was, I would not quit. There has been sin in my life since that night in 1984, but I was convicted of my sins, and I would repent. Again and again, I had to repent.  Herein is an issue, we have Godly standards we try to live by and sometimes we fall short. All have sinned. If you are like Hugh Hefner and have no standards to live by, who is going to call you a hypocrite? If you have no standards and nothing is wrong, you can live like an alley cat and no one can call you a hypocrite. But if you have standards that you try to live up to and you fail sometimes, you hypocrite. If we sin we have an advocate:  My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.   1 John 2:1   If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

Our righteousness is found in God, when God looks at us he sees Jesus Christ. The one who forgave us of our sins. When the apples fall from the tree, do we see the fruit of our Heavenly Father or fruit of our earthly father? If we are Christian, there should have been a change that took place somewhere in the past. Is there repentance of sin or do we live a life of no standards at all?  Yes, if you look closely at any church you can find failures, people that missed the mark. What is the fruit falling from their tree? If they sin, do they confess it and turn from it? Do they have standards they try to live by? If you have no standards and nothing is wrong, and you live by what you believe. Look at Hugh Hefner or look at Jesus Christ, which is the life you want? No standards, do anything you want, nothing is wrong; or do you want standards of decency in your life, even if you fail once in a while? In who's image do you live life, your Heavenly Father or your earthly father? Somewhere there has to be a change if you are following your Heavenly Father, there was a line you crossed, a line of repentance and you just keep going in the direction towards the cross. You might stumble, but you pick yourself up, repent and keep going. Growing up, I thought I had to be perfect, looking back, I was anything but perfect. Forgiven yes, there were many a prayer of Father forgive me, I have sinned.  I look back on my life, I am thankful for grace. I am thankful for Jesus who came and rescued me. I have not lived a perfect life, but I have repented many many times.

  God bless, LVZ. 

To Forgive

This issue of forgiving seems to be a recurring issue in my life. Even if my part of an issue is only 1%, it is still my 1% and that is what I need to deal with. I look at the way Barbara and I were raised, we have some hurts from long ago. I think I recently touched on it in a couple of blogs. 1% and COGOP. Hurts were revealed. Writing is like looking in a mirror and seeing what is really in your heart. I don't always like what I see. Understand that when I write these blogs I am opening up what is inside of me, my heart. What is inside of me comes out of my mouth or in this blog, the things I write. They are a mirror for me. The issue of forgiving others is a repeating theme. I see it over and over again. If we do not forgive others, neither will our Heavenly Father forgive us our trespasses, our sins. It is a core value, it is necessary to be a Christian to develop a forgiving spirit. Some things are hard to forgive and we need God's help just to forgive. It does not come naturally. Naturally is to seek revenge or retaliation for perceived wrongs. You owe me and I want to be paid.  When someone wrongs us, they owe us something. There is a debt that needs to be forgiven. Probably every Christian alive has encountered something that is hard to forgive. Sometimes they may be hidden so deep inside our hearts over the years that have past. I see it in families all the time, those that are closest to us can hurt us deeply. Sometimes we may not even be aware of the hurt that we caused. There are times when I am thankful when God puts his spotlight on an issue.  But to forgive is an absolute necessity in Christian life. It is a core value. When an issue is raised, we need to deal with it. Help me Lord to forgive, where I have been hurt. The debt is paid in full. No one owes me anything, that is the attitude I want to develop. Another friend went to eternity, just overlook it, let it go, was a common word he gave to his family. He was a Christian. He didn't impact thousands, just his family. It showed in the life he lived. Life is so short and more and more my age is getting closer to the age of those leaving here for eternity. To forgive is a constant issue in life. My hope is in the next life, and I know being able to forgive is needed to make that a reality someday. God help me to forgive. God bless, LVZ.

Consult God In Our Plans

1“Woe to the obstinate children,”

declares the Lord,

“to those who carry out plans that are not mine,

forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit,

heaping sin upon sin;

2who go down to Egypt

without consulting me;

who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection,

to Egypt’s shade for refuge. Isaiah 30:1-2.

This verse stood out to me from the start as I read this chapter.  My thoughts went to how many bad decisions I have made because I didn't consult God to begin with. Those who carry out plans that are not mine. I remember times I did ask God for help right from the start and God worked things out. In 2005 I had promised Mom to take her to a family reunion. I was worried about the car I had at that time. it was 20 years old and I just didn't feel comfortable with taking it on that long of a trip. I couldn't afford car payments I was still on SR22 insurance.  I took it to God in prayer, asking God for help. One night as I went into work I had a few minutes before I started work so I look at some cars for sale. I saw a 96 Oldsmobile with 27,000 miles on it and I called. I was the first caller. The very next day I was able to buy that car for $4000.00.  It was a good car and I used that car for that trip and beyond.  I know that was an answer to my prayer and God is concerned with even the little things in our lives. I have not always consulted God in that way when buying a car but I really had a need at that time.  It made me realize that more and more I need to involve God in all my plans. I don't think God necessarily cares if we buy a chevy or a ford and most times I just go and make the best decision I can. But I noticed even since that day I made some bad decisions in some purchases. We make bad decisions in life choices sometimes too when we don't involve God in our plans.  We need God's guidance in our everyday lives, and I am trying to be more careful about talking to God when I make plans.
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 this.  Psalm 37:5:

Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. Proverbs 16:3


God does tell us to cast all our cares on him in 1 Peter. Trust in God, commit to the Lord whatever you do. I have often thought about how God came through for me at that time in 2005 when I took my need for a better vehicle to him in prayer.  It wasn't all that selfish when I look back on it because I was wanting to keep a promise I made to Mom. It was a need. But even beyond needs, sometimes I have called out to him for little things. Recently Barbara lost her wallet, and we were really worried. It seems we often misplace keys and glasses and so many things. Sometimes I feel so trivial for asking God for help for little things like that but I have. We had looked through both cars and in the house and had just exhausted any new place to look. I prayed, God I know you know where this wallet is and you can help me find it if you so choose. It is not the end of the world if we don't find it, we can cancel bank cards and gas cards and all sorts of things in that wallet. But if you will, help me to find that wallet. I decided to go out to the van one more time to look in it. It was already dark and the motion detector light came on as I walked around the far side of the van. I had looked in the house side of the van earlier but this time I thought going through the other door might help. As I walked around the van there it was on the ground a few feet from the van. I almost feel silly at times asking for help with something so trivial but God has helped me so many times in even trivial things. How much more should we call on him for the bigger plans in life and ask God to guide us every day?  We asked God for guidance as we seek help in dealing with Barbara's sister. I try to do this more and more just asking God's guidance every day in everyday things.  God bless, LVZ. 

No Idols (2)

You shall not make idols. This is the second commandment or statement of God.
4“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.  Exodus 20:4-6.
What is an Idol? Having no other gods perhaps doesn't sound like a big deal today when we no longer worship a fertility god or the other countless Idols of ancient days.  Pomona the goddess of fruit trees is another one, the Roman Jupiter or the Greek Zeus. More common today is putting art or education or money ahead of God. It is not an idol made of stone, but it is first in our lives. The only true God is the God of the Bible, the creator of all. The giver of the Ten Commandments. God desires to be worshiped, and we make a false god when we worship something other than our creator God. Only one God that is worshiped makes us kin, children of the same father.  Any other idol causes trouble and division.  Some of the most educated people in the world followed Hitler or Stalin or Mao. Having a PH.D. does not guarantee we will be good or ethical any more than just having a high school education or less. Often I wonder if we worship a good speaker. People in bibles days followed Paul or Apollos. A good speaker is not a substitute for God.  Is it God we follow and worship? Or is it a Denomination? We can make idols of so many things in our lives, and we need to identify them and take them down and worship our creator, the one true God.  Do not make for yourself an image in the form of anything, in heaven above, or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. What occupies most of our time? Where do we go to seek guidance? God wants to be the center of our lives. God gave us these statements or commands to follow for the best life possible.  Any other god leads to trouble. Do not seek guidance from the dead or inanimate objects.  The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. 13The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread.  Isaiah 8: 13. Respect is what fear means, God alone is to be regarded as holy and worshiped. Let us find and destroy the Idols in our lives. As some of the good kings in the Old Testament did, they found and destroyed the high places of other gods. Only the one true God is to be worshiped and sought for guidance in our lives.  No other gods, no idol, make the creator God the center of our lives. God bless, LVZ. 

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Actions speak louder than words is a cliche we have heard.  It is true. What are our actions? I say I believe in God, do I actually live like I believe in God?  What do my actions say? Many talk bad about Trump, what about his actions? His actions for America have been good. If you don't think the economy has improved just go into a fast food place where they are struggling with new employees. I regularly go to a Hardee's or a Macdonalds in the morning to meet with others, and they are struggling to get orders right with new people. Old people have moved on to better jobs.  Actions, I got hit hard with Obama Care on my taxes this year. I made a mistake, and we had one year where we needed insurance for Barbara, it looked like the Affordable Care Act was the place to go, up until tax time.  The IRS hit me for $10,000 because of the Affordable Care Act. O yes, we were promised it would be cheaper for the government to handle our insurance. Words, just words, the reality, the actions were a lot different. I hope people will look at actions in this next election and not the lies from the left. The Bible warns us about trusting our heart or our feelings. Guard your heart, it tells us.  Don't go by feelings alone. Some times doing wrong can feel so good, but that doesn't make it right. Sometimes doing the right thing is really hard.  I remember recently I mouthed off when I had a belt brake on my riding mower, if there is something else that is causing this belt to brake, I will come back and pay you. I said this when the first belt I bought broke and they gave me a replacement for free. Then when that belt broke in just a couple of days, I knew I had a more serious problem, I just didn't know what it was. The words were easy, the actions were hard, but I did follow-through and went back to the auto parts store and try to pay for the belt. They let it go but my actions match what I said. Keeping Promises, that is a difficulty for each of us at times. We say things and then later regret them. Here is another area, I claim to be a Christian, do my actions match my words?  I remember one morning I played a video for my men's group at church. I had forgotten how many bad words were bleeped in the video. I was so embarrassed. It sort of had a good message, but the foul language just wasn't appropriate. Do we guard our words and do our actions speak the same as our words? Love others, do my actions show love? This new generation goes a lot with feelings, but are those feelings the same as truth? I think often of the violence we see at the hands of groups like Black Lives Matter that want to change injustice or at least perceived injustice. Their actions are not anywhere close to the actions of Martin Luther King Junior. Look at the actions of ANTIFA or just about any mob. I have seen so many videos of Blacks reacting badly in a traffic stop and how do they justify their actions and think they are doing something good for society when their actions teach disrespect to the children watching them. They attempt to make the police look bad and come off looking like fools themselves. That is why we pay the police to enforce the laws we as a society put on the books. They make a traffic stop for an infraction of some sort. It does not mean they are harassing you because you have a dark skin tone. If you are driving without a license, take care of the issue and get your license restored.  I had my license suspended once, I had to take action to get that license restored to be able to drive legally. I had four traffic citations and one accident in a year and my license was suspended. My driving has been much better in the last 15 years. Not ticket free but much better. And as I drive along I often will use speed control. I think my current driving record is ticket free.
Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:18
Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. 1 Timothy 4:12
God bless, LVZ. 

COGOP

This is a blog I wanted to write for a long time, and I want to be careful with my words and not be offensive but speak to an issue I see. I was raised in the COGOP. I left in my late thirties to never return. There are some good people in the COGOP. I have family in that organization. Even as many years as I have been gone I still seem to retain some negative feelings towards that organization. I know there are good people in that organization. But I remember their teaching on divorce. If you divorced you were to remain by yourself or be reunited with your spouse. Some relationships were entered into toxic from the start. They should have never been. I know they have changed some beliefs over the years and I do not follow them closely. But it seemed they had an attitude that they knew the Bible better than any other denomination.  When it came to truth they had a corner on the market. They had a better connection with God than any other organization. I still hear that when listening to others talk. He is a COGOP minister, he is one of the good guys. It's like being a part of that organization puts you ahead of the class. In my last few years in the COGOP, they counseled several families that at least one partner of the marriage had been married previously, to separate and the one married before was to either remain unmarried or return to the first spouse. Sometimes that is plain impossible. Then the other spouse would actually be able to marry a second time and start over with a new family. It didn't matter if there were children, they would still advise the couple to separate. They could have a good marriage going and children, but they would still advise them to separate. I hope and pray they do not do this anymore. It was so wrong and so legalistic. There are so many other areas in life we fail in God's perfect plan besides marriage. I saw this happen several times, and I think they really misinterpreted the scriptures when they counseled these couples. I don't have a problem with teaching that God's perfect plan is one man and one woman for life until death do us part.  But to destroy a working family unit with children and separate those kids from one of the parents when this is an epidemic in our world today, children being raised with one parent, just seemed to go way out of line. I often wonder how they resolved this issue today?  I am no example, I myself am now in my fifth marriage. But at least for the first marriage, I stayed in a toxic relationship way too long and hurt my children.  I believe, there is nothing better you can give to your kids than a good home life. I had a really hard time leaving the COGOP. For about four years I felt I was going against God when I left. I think that almost amounts to brainwashing. I was going to a good Bible-believing and teaching church but still felt I was going against God because it was not a COGOP. Now on the other side of this issue for almost as long as I was in the COGOP, I see the same problem in other organizations. There is a loyalty to a denomination that should be to God. No affiliation to a denomination should be more important or supersede our affiliation/loyalty to God.  Yes,  we need to be loyal to God first and foremost and to a family of believers.  But I think at times we get it mixed up with a denomination preference. I think of the many years, formative years when we lived 80 miles from the nearest COGOP and we would go once a month when there were many good Christian churches in the surrounding towns. I wonder if there would be more Christians in my family if God had been the priority instead of a denomination. I think when we indoctrinate people into a denomination instead of into God, I think we commit spiritual abuse. People and institutions are not perfect, but God is. Our dependancy needs to be formed in God alone. I remember riding with a Pastor one time and he asked me on a scale of one to ten, what I thought my Bible knowledge was. I said probably about 5. I know he probably meant to encourage me, but he said that just because I was a member of the COGOP it was probably about 8. When I was looking for a church home about 5 years ago, I visited several good churches. At one church, I mentioned the fact that I was searching for a church home to an associate Pastor, he said I needed to find the church where Jesus was at, where Jesus was moving. I believe Jesus was at every church I had visited. Sometimes God puts us in a place for our growth or sometimes a place where we can serve or both.  I believe God lead me to a good place and I am thankful. I have been there for five years now and believe I am where God wants me to be. I prayed for three months before I found this place visiting many different places. From the very first Sunday that I visited this church, I felt in my spirit that God had answered my prayer. It is not a perfect place, if it had been I would have ruined it when I joined. I am thankful to be a Christian and to be able to take any of life's issues to God in prayer. I feel he hears and answers prayer. It is a good place to be, in the hands of God. I hope this blog is not offensive to anyone, especially to anyone from the COGOP that may stumble upon this blog.  This is something that has been on my heart for a long time. The issue is if our loyalty is actually in God himself or in a denomination and we have mistakenly taken that loyalty that should be to God himself and place it in a denomination or a particular person.  People and institutions/denominations fail us. God does not fail. Have we been anchored in God alone or is our hope and faith in a particular denomination or a particular person? We have seen examples where men like Jimmy Swaggart, even Jim Jones of Guyana failed in their relationship with God. When I look back and see how indoctrinated I was to believe in the COGOP like it was a super organization, and my faith was almost in that organization instead of in God himself. We can be shaken if our faith is in a manmade organization or person. The core of our faith needs to be in a sovereign God alone. Jesus is enough, God is enough. Is our anchor truly in the ROCK of AGES? I saw this issue in myself as I reflect on the past and the way I was raised. I see it in many Christians I speak within various denominations, not just the COGOP. The COGOP was my personal experience, and that is what I know and how my history evolved. I think this is worth examining in our hearts. If our anchor for our soul is in God it will hold in the storms of life which we will face. But will our anchor hold if it is in a  man-made institution or in a man of God that fails?  Is your anchor in God himself? Perhaps there are those in the COGOP that have anchored in God himself and not in that institution. I hope so, I know how their teachings affected me, and I had to learn to anchor in the Rock of Ages, and not in a man-made institution. There is a big difference between the two. I hope I was able to talk about this issue in a non-offensive way using my personal experience.   God bless, LVZ.

Hearts Far From God

13The Lord says:

“These people come near to me with their mouth

and honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me.

Their worship of me

is based on merely human rules they have been taught. ^b

14Therefore once more I will astound these people

with wonder upon wonder;

the wisdom of the wise will perish,

the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.”

15Woe to those who go to great depths

to hide their plans from the Lord,

who do their work in darkness and think,

“Who sees us? Who will know?”

16You turn things upside down,

as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!

Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,

“You did not make me”?

Can the pot say to the potter,

      “You know nothing”?  Isaiah 29:13-16
Where are our hearts?
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23
A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. Matthew 12:35

We are not born good, but Children are innocent.  Children are taught to be good, to be thankful, to be kind, to be generous. These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. It takes more than mere words to please God.  God sees into the heart, our motivation, our feelings,  if our hearts are not in it God sees. We cannot fool God, don't lie to God, he already knows what is in our hearts. Do we worship God by our rules, or do we worship God by following his rules?  Don't try to hide from God, even in the dark he sees. Our true motivation is not hidden from God. Can the one who is formed by God say you did not make me? Can we say, God, you don't know anything? God sees the heart, we cannot hide from God. We may think we are getting away with sin, but there is a judgment day coming when everything we have done, we have said will be exposed. We will give an account to God himself. God's record does not lie. Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the Lord. It will not work, God sees all. Where are our hearts in all we do and say? Everything we do and say flows from the heart.  A good man brings forth good things that he has stored up in him. an evil man brings forth evil things out of the evil stored in him. We are born in sin, if we are not taught to be good, we will not be good. Where does good come from?  Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17  Good comes from God.  God sees into our hearts even with Cain. 6Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” Genesis 4:6-7.    Both Cain and Abel brought an offering to God. They were different, Abel brought from the flocks he was raising, and Cain from the crops he was raising. Something was wrong with Cain's and God saw it. God spoke to Cain about it. You must do right, you must rule over it.  If you do not do what is right, sin is the cause of it.  It doesn't make any sense. Abel did not do anything wrong to Cain. He did not harm Cain. the issue was in Cain's heart, he did not deal with it, whatever it was. Even after God warned him, and what does Cain do from the evil in his heart? He kills his brother. The only thing we see in this story is Abel's offering was accepted by God, and Cain's was not. Heart issues are not hidden from God. In fact, God is the only one that can fix the heart. Actions speak louder than words, what do are actions represent? Good or evil?  We have a choice to follow, Good or evil, it is ours to choose. When we become adults, as Cain and Abel were at this time. We make choices that we follow. Where is our heart today, what path have we followed? The Bible tells us we cannot serve two masters. We either serve good or evil. Good comes from God. There really are two choices in life. In almost any situation in life issues, do we choose what is right (good), or wrong (evil).   The Bible story does not tell us a lot about whatever the issue was with Cain, but it was a heart issue because God says sin lies at the door. If we don't fix the heart issues, we will sin. In this case, Cain murdered his brother. Nothing is hidden from God, he sees into the heart, the motivations, our thoughts. All have sinned, apart from God, we sin. It is in our DNA. But God wants to help us to be good. He gave us his word to guide us, he will dwell in our hearts, if we will invite him in.  God bless, LVZ.