Israel

15I will plant them on their land,
and they shall never again be uprooted
out of the land that I have given them,”
        says the Lord your God. Amos 9:15
Obadiah 1  2/1/2020
Here I have been reading in Amos and finished the book of Amos. It seems God has allowed disaster upon his people over and over again. His purpose was to cause them to return to him and give up their false gods.  Here in the last verse, God is saying he will plant them in their land, the land he gave them. And they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that God gave them.  I believe we have seen this happen in our day when Israel became a nation again in 1948. They are a tiny nation, in land area, they are 10,762 square miles while our state of Maryland is 9,775 square miles. Comparing to New Jersey, a long and narrow state, New Jersey is 7,419 square miles. Israel is also long a narrow. In spite of their small size in comparison to other nations, they are 31 or 32 by the size of their economy. God allowed Israel to be taken captive by other nations. Jews have been spread across the globe and started coming back to Israel in 1948. Israel survived a 6-day war in spite of being so tiny. As a Christian, I believe Israel is divinely protected, and believe that is why the US has supported Israel. They have been attacked almost continuously by their neighbors since their beginning. I believe once again God is not going to allow them to be uprooted out of their land according to this verse. For many years our Presidents have talked about moving our embassy to Jerusalem, President Trump is the one that finally followed through. "May those who bless you be blessed and those who curse you be cursed!" Numbers 24:9B.  This may be the very reason why President Trump has been blessed to be so successful in spite of fierce opposition. This is my opinion, and why I think this way.  Trump is not a messiah, but as Christians, we should support him as he has supported Christian values. We are commanded to pray for our leaders. 1First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 1 Timothy 2:1-3   We may not agree with every President but even if we don't or if we do we should still pray for our President. That is one of the main purposes that I have tried to start First Step Prayer in our town of Verona, MS. Tomorrow,  February 1 is our third meeting of the Christian Churches in Verona to gather together to pray for our town and our nation and our families. Every week we hear of another shooting. This week an 18-year-old girl was shot and killed in Haven Acres, not far from where I live and close to Verona. God help us and God bless, LVZ.

Robo Calls

I have received calls every so often to give to local police departments or fire departments. I have never given anything that I remember.  I read an article recently where a person, an actual fire firefighter set up a PAC that hired a robocall outfit to make these calls asking for gifts for the local firefighters.  It seems none of this money actually went to the fire department but actually paid the PAC members and the Robocall workers. They made a call to the actual person that did the fundraising for the local fire department and he reported this call to the local authorities. Opps. There was a lawsuit and all the donors in that county in Maryland got their money back. But the thing I noticed that this happens all over the country. I don't know if there is ever legitimate Police or Fire Fighter department that uses phone solicitation. After reading about this PAC that did this I am very suspect even more so than before. It is amazing to me how many people use a charity to raise money for themselves. If you have actually looked into the Clinton Foundation, it is another example. I think after the millions of dollars the Clinton Foundation raised for Haiti after their natural disaster, they actually built one house in typical Haiti style (it wasn't a million-dollar home). I would be very suspicious of any phone call asking for a donation. In fact, I personally will never give as a result of a phone call. An exception may be a relative or friend that I actually know and recognize their voice. These organizations prey on the elderly. They call saying they are from the IRS or the local courts or just about anything anymore. But what is amazing, millions are given to fraudulent organizations. God wants us to be generous but he also wants us to be wise.  This is not to discourage us from giving, God wants us to be generous. Bill Gates an atheist, is a good example of a giver.  God bless, LVZ.

Seek Prosperity Of The City

Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." Jeremiah 29:7

This verse came to mind this morning. This is not where I am reading in the Bible right now but still, it came to my mind. I have been pondering again if I will run for a local office in the next election, and this verse comes to mind. The Jews were in exile in Babylon, and Jeremiah wrote these words to them to seek peace and the prosperity of the city where they were carried. If that city prospers so will they prosper even in exile.  As I read this I am not in exile, I did not get carried away to here against my will, but wouldn't it make sense to seek the welfare and the prosperity of the city or town where I live? I am not going to run for office again at least in this next term. Although I feel Christians should run for office I feel what I am doing now with First Step Prayer is more important.  I don't want First Step Prayer to come off looking like a campaign strategy. It is helping me to become known and I guess that would have been a way to get name recognition. But it would feel like my motive would be wrong. It is the same in this nation, shouldn't we seek the welfare of our nation? Yet the hate Trump, anything Trump is so hated, the left would rather see the nation destroyed than for President Trump to be successful. This does not make sense to hate a President so much that you would sacrifice the nation to destroy him. I believe even though this scripture says to seek the peace and prosperity of the city, I do not think it a misinterpretation to extend this to our nation. I hope another person, a Christian will run. I had prayed about it, and at first, I thought I would run again this next term, but as this First Step Prayer started I just felt it will look like praying for our city would end up looking like a campaign strategy. I am still seeking the peace and prosperity of this town by praying for our city leaders. I am seeking the peace and prosperity of this nation by praying for it. God bless, LVZ. 

Stealing From The Next Generation

Many people don't view it this way but in our deficit living, we are stealing from the next generation.  Nothing is free, all this free stuff our politicians want to give us is not free, it is stealing from those that come after us. One of the candidates in talking about forgiving student loan debts was asked by a father that worked several jobs to put his kids through college and would he be reimbursed for putting his kids through college without student loans. No, he was told. He can expect to now pay for the other student loans through higher taxes. Anyone should be able to see how that is not fair. He pays for his own children by working two jobs or more to keep them out of debt and then when they are through college to have to pay for the student loans of other kids through higher taxes. It is just another form of hidden taxation, all the interest that accumulates on the student loans. When it is forgiven someone will pay, it may once again be piled on the next generation that comes behind us. The point here is to look at all the ways we as a society are stealing from our grandkids. To make our lives better with free stuff, the debt our grandchildren and beyond will have to pay just keeps growing. We are stealing from the next generations with our government's deficit spending. I believe if we tried to get a handle on it, it would take hundreds of years to put our nation back in the black. How many generations have we stolen from? It is a personal problem as well, I have debt I have no business having. I remember the years when I only bought a vehicle I could pay cash for.  Home mortgages make sense, some debt is OK. Often we pay less on a mortgage than rent would cost. Of course, some of that depends on the size of our house. Stealing is still stealing, whether it is a white color crime, or blue color crime or deficit spending. We just haven't looked at it that way. But deficit spending is stealing from the next generation. They will pay for our theft in higher taxes. Now that is something to think about and consider in this next election. Nothing is free, all the free stuff our politicians want to give us is paid for in taxes we and the next generation will pay.  We really are stealing from our offspring. God bless, LVZ. That is my opinion  and I am sticking to it. I think our best hope of fixing our nation is term limits. Both political sides are guilty.
Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. Ephesians 4:28

The Bible teaches us to be others-centered rather than self-centered.

What Is the Norm? (this is not politically correct)

Recently I offended someone when I defended something I wrote. Originally I wrote we should be more concerned about eternal warming than global warming. It is a religious belief of mine that there is a hell to shun and a heaven to gain.  My thought was we should be more concerned about the spiritual, eternal warming or Hellfire than global warming which if we followed all the prescribed steps and spent billions of dollars they say it would only affect the temperature by 1 degree over a period of some 20 or was it 50 years.  I came under fire because the critic said it showed I did not care about the earth at all. Sort of heavenly minded but no earthly good, (those are my words).  I defended myself and told about some of the earth-friendly things I do on a regular basis. I try to average 4000 steps per day and often I do that by picking up aluminum cans alongside the roadways of Lee County. There are 26 acres of woods next to me that I discovered people have dumped tires and other items in these woods that I am cleaning up. A few tires every year. Even though I was commenting on a religious belief I wanted to defend myself. My defense of myself came off as a personal attack as I challenged the person because the person is physically unable to do what I do. This got me to thinking, I thought of how people watching a game or even playing dominoes would trash each other during the game, friendly trash talk, sort of part of the game. They might trash the other person but they still remained friends. I thought of another friend of mine during the Obama administration who was frustrated when his flight was delayed because of  Obama's flight coming into the same airport and him, not an Obama supporter, said in frustration just shoot the man.  He was called into a side room and interrogated for at least an hour by airport security or possibly secret service, I'm not sure. I thought about Comedian Kathy Griffin posted a photo of herself holding up a  Donald Trump mask made to look like a severed head. Others have said Trump needs to be taken out. And I think I heard Trump also say something similar about someone else.  Whether it was referring to be taken out of the office or killed we could probably argue that. I thought of how it is OK today to use cuss words in public and on Facebook and other public forums. One race of people at least street people will call each other n----- or other derogatory terms but yet others could face trouble for using the same terms. I thought as a young person how we had a game we called "smear the queer", until an Adult made us give it another name. I actually understand this, but we were kids playing our version of dodge ball. We meant no offense, it was just a name as kids sometimes don't think like adults. I thought of all the sports teams that need to change their team names because it might be offensive to some minority. The North Dakota Sioux (1930) changed to the Fighting Sioux (1960s)  and in more recent years the Fighting Hawks (2010?).  Although the Sioux nation did not have a problem with the name. I thought about playing Cowboys and Indians as a child, that too is probably politically incorrect.  I Thought about current music that will call women B---- or call one another M----- F-----. It is Ok to use foul language but if you do not agree with them politically you could be in big trouble especially if a public figure. Trump is criticized for words that he thought were in private, but it is OK to say worse in public and call it music. It is OK to say words like kill the police or call them pigs if you are on the left.   I thought about how comedians are finding it hard to make people laugh anymore, their jokes need to be politically correct. They may make fun of someone and come under fire for it. I thought about how I used to tell ethnic jokes and got called to my son's school when he was in about the third grade. My son was repeating my ethnic jokes at school. I thought about how a few presidents ago we defended an immoral man (in his term of office) and now they are going back 40 plus years and accusing men of stuff done many years ago, and even make it up if they don't like Trump, (the Kavanagh hearing). Perhaps I was wrong with the things I said but I wonder if we can really know any more what will set someone off especially if you don't agree politically.   If you ask me it is a confusing world with double standards. We can't use the name Sioux for a sports team but can call cops pigs, men, and women that put their lives on the line for us. Just on the news tonight in Mississippi a cop was shot in the head at a traffic stop.  Those were my thoughts today as I tried to think about how to write and speak my mind in our present political climate without offending someone. I think you can say almost anything if you agree with the left.  I look at this stuff and it doesn't make sense. If you are Christian or on the right you need to watch your tongue. God bless, LVZ.

No Perfect Christians or People

If we look in the Bible we will find God using imperfect people for his purposes. So when I hear criticism of Christians supporting Trump, it is like water off a duck's back. There is no other kind to choose from, just imperfect people. Many times when you look at what is being said, they blame on Trump what they themselves are doing or have done. When you look at some famous Bible characters it is easy to see the dysfunction they were raised in. Take Joseph, he was his father's favorite and he knew it. Joseph was the son of his old age, the firstborn of his favorite wife. Of course, then his older brothers sold him into slavery. In slavery, he is in prison because of being falsely accused.  As I thought about this I remember feeling my father didn't care about me. My father would be talking to the son of his old age the last born and even though I don't remember his exact words, I felt like nobody else mattered except the youngest. As a teenager those are the words I heard, everyone else could starve but not the youngest. I am sure as an adult that is not what was meant, but that is what I heard. He would have been the one with the coat of many colors in our family and you can begin to see how the older siblings felt. I remember a time when my grandmother would only pay attention to my two oldest siblings, I felt left out. I complained to mom about it. Her advice to me was to write grandma and correspond with her by letter. I did and it worked, the next time Grandma came, I was included in her attention.   I often think if that was in the background of my mind when my first child was born in an effort to not repeat the cycle of my earthly father if that is why I wanted to stick with just one kid. Then when the second was born, then I was happy with just two.  I knew going in that he was not my child when I married his mother she was visibly pregnant.  But our world has a way of destroying even our best intentions and even then while firstborn felt mistreated, the second born was told I didn't want her because of wanting to stop at the first child. It seems like our world or the evil in our world will make sure we are raised in dysfunction. Then we are raised to want to keep the ten commandments, and rule-based living does not change our hearts. Keeping the rules is not enough, we become like biblical Pharisees.  You can study the life of Moses, another imperfect man that God used. Moses was a murderer and fled from Egypt because of it. Still, God used him. David was another murderer and God used him to be King over his people Israel. I am reading in the book "Growing Up Holy and Wholly", and find many stories of Christians that were raised in imperfect homes. We sometimes view God to be like our earthly father and God is not like our earthly father at all. But we view God sometimes from the view of our dysfunctional upbringing. I have heard it said that there are no perfect parents, some are better than others, but we live in a fallen world full of imperfect people.  This rules-based upbringing and even evoking God to control our kids sometimes messes them up. The point here is God desires our hearts. If God is knocking on your heart's door let him in. God will work on you to bring you to look like his son, if you will allow him to work in your heart. That is what God wants, he wants our hearts and is not trying to create a race of rule-keeping children. He desires our hearts and extends grace to cover our sins. There is not a man or woman alive that has not sinned.  God bless, LVZ.

Everyone Who Calls

And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls. Joel 2:32
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. In reading in Joel, it paints a bleak picture, it seems everything that could go wrong has gone wrong for the Children of Israel. The locust has come and destroyed everything. The field crops are gone, the grapevines are destroyed, the land is dry but when they call on the name of the Lord, they will be saved. Scripture tells us there is salvation in no other name. Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12. Jesus is the name that we can call on in our distress. Our world is a mess today. Donald Trump is not the answer. He is not the savior of the world. God is. God may have given us Trump for a reason but Trump is still just an imperfect man. Jesus is the perfect one that taketh away the sins of the world. He removes our sins as far as the East is from the west. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:12  It is interesting that the Psalmist uses this term if you could walk on the equator or similar lane and could at any point on that line start walking west, west would always be in front of you. You could never reach it. If you could start walking straight north from where you are, when you crossed the north pole you would start walking south. When you reach the south pole and cross over you would again be walking north.  But from east to west or west to east, you would never get there. West or East whichever you choose is always in front of you.  Your sins are removed as far as the east is from the west, never to be found again. Joel tells us everyone that calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. I remember the night of my salvation when Jesus came and touched me once again. I was hurting and so full of confusion, but Jesus came and touched me once again. It was from that point on that my life changed. I still faced troubles and things still went wrong, but Jesus was at my side and sometimes he even carried me. What a load was lifted off my shoulders that night. It was 36 years and a few days ago. I believe it was January 8th, 1984. I have never regretted that night. I still went through a divorce and so many other troubles in my life. I am not going to say it was a bed of roses but it was different. Jesus was with me from that point on. I am blessed today because of that one little prayer. Jesus forgive me and come into my heart. I called on the name of the Lord that night and many nights since. I didn't straighten out the mess I had made of my life overnight, but that was the starting point of my life turning around. I am so thankful. God bless, LVZ.

Fixing The World

It seems like the left wants to fix the world but they don't want to fix themselves. We see this over and over again they are so keen on global warming and saving the earth but watch when they have a demonstration, they trash the place.  I heard just on the news again the 2nd amendment protestors cleaned up after themselves, but watch what happens when it is a left protest. Remember the Pipeline protest on an Indian Reservation in North Dakota. You should have seen the place, it was almost a hazardous site. But they are worried about the mother earth. I can't fix the world but I will tell you what I do on my street. I pick up the trash that others throw out.  The plastic, the paper, the fast-food wrappers, the aluminum cans. I say this as a challenge to my leftist critic, what are you doing in your neighborhood? Do you pickup trash, do you care for mother earth in your neighborhood? It is fine to critique the whole world but what are you doing? Actions speak louder than words. On an almost daily basis, I try to put in 4,000 steps a day to pick up aluminum cans that others throw out. Last month I turned in $17 worth of aluminum cans, I expect this month will be more. $17 is not a lot of money, but I will tell you it represents a lot of aluminum cans. We see it with the global warming promotors, they want to tell us how to take care of planet earth, bringing on more controlling regulations and banning plastic straws while the majority of these elites flew private jets to their meeting.  Years ago in a small apartment in North Everett, I saw a lot of kids in the neighborhood in the park across the street. I offered them 50 cents or a dollar to pick up trash along the street in our neighborhood.  After that, they would ask me if they saw me sitting on the porch if there was anything they could do to earn some change. If I saw trash along the street, that is what I sent them to do and I paid them out of my own pocket. I know 50 cents is not much, but I was struggling to pay child support and live myself.  Every year I try to get rid of a few tires that people throw out in the woods over the previous years before I lived here. I ask any leftist, what are you doing on a personal level to fix the planet that you are so concerned about. What do you do to clean up your neighborhood? Or do you just vote in more regulations to control others? The only person you can fix is number one, yourself. I can't stop people from throwing out the garbage but I can pick it up in my neighborhood. Put your money where your mouth is. Actions speak louder than words. We can fix the world, one person, at a time. Starting with number one. God bless, LVZ.

Anger

Why does there seem to be so much anger? You look on Facebook and people post perhaps a right-leaning post and the responses are angry. You post something positive, at least what you think is a positive post and responses are angry. Why all the anger. We have a president whose actions have stimulated the economy and instead of being thankful, you still see a lot of anger. Sometimes you see people that can still joke and send jokes but so many times you see the anger in replies. Do we ever look inside to see why we are angry.  Anger is like a warning light on the dashboard in your car. If a red or yellow light comes on it means something is wrong or needs to be checked. Can we look inside, lift up the hood and check the engine and see why we are so angry? Check that engine, check that heart and see why is there so much anger? What is below the surface that is causing so many to feel angry?  Anger is a warning light of our emotions, our feelings. Is it something we can fix? If the check engine light comes on the first thing I do is check the oil level. Ask the question, what am I really angry about? This brings another thought, the only person we can fix is ourselves. We can't fix the world but we can fix ourselves. There is something beyond the anger, the anger is a warning light that something needs to be fixed.  When the tire pressure gets low I have yellow warning light that comes on, I add air to the tires and it goes away.  I have a yellow fuel warning light, that tells me the gas tank is low, I add gas and the light goes out.  That is what anger is, a warning light. If you are feeling angry, try to understand why and fix it. look inside, under the hood, or check the gas tank, is there enough air in the tires. Anger is just like a warning light.  God bless, LVZ.

Default Setting

Recently when I had trouble with my iPhone I reset it to the default settings.  I thought about this as a few of us were discussing community over coffee.  I know I have a tendency towards legalism because of the way I was taught as a child.  One of the men said it is sort of like a default setting on a computer. It sort of made sense to me since that is where I started from on my Christian journey in a legalistic community. You might say my default setting is a legalistic one. It really made sense to me. God requires a heart change, not keeping rules.  A heart change is at the core of being a Christian. Having a heart change is more important than keeping the rules. God wants our hearts. I updated my beliefs as I matured in my relationship, I did change from my default settings. Another thought came to me, as a young man I dreamed of someday being able to find something new in the Bible. I sort of wanted to be the author of a newfound belief. Now I realize that would probably amount to heresy.  One man gave a word picture of pushing the boulder back up to the top of the hill. That is what studying doctrine is like, we search to Bible to keep our doctrine pure and each generation must be pushing on the boulder to push it to the top of the hill. If we find new doctrines we have probably allowed the boulder to roll downhill. That is why we cling to some truths and change others, we are pushing that boulder of doctrine to the top of the hill. At least to me that pushing the boulder to the top of the hill made sense. Each generation must do that. In our current political climate, we hear often of our truth, my truth, your truth. There is one truth written in the Bible that we must search for. That truth is the real truth and supersedes individual truths. In a community, as we discuss these things, we are pushing the boulder back to the top of the hill. Some program updates are required as our understanding of God's word matures. I often say this I didn't know the whole Bible from cover to cover the morning after I became a Christian. I still don't, I am still learning. I have been on my Christian journey for some 36 years now, some just started yesterday. All of us Christians have a changed heart from the start of our journey and that is what gets us into the presence of God. That changed heart, the repentant heart that asks Jesus to come into our heart, forgive us of our sins and lead us into all truth. We begin to trust Jesus to remake us all over into the image of Jesus. It may require many updates from our default setting where we were when we started this journey. In Ephesians, it says with the washing of water by the word. Interpret the Bible by the Bible. There is enough faith given to each man to start this journey by accepting Jesus as Savior and Lord.  I guarantee you will not know it all, but Jesus will lead us into truth when we start a relationship with him. In this dysfunctional messed up world, we need Jesus. The Bible says God made man and woman in his image, male and female, nowhere are there a hundred genders found in the Bible. Man and woman, male and female. We must push that boulder uphill in our confused world that is telling us there are more than two genders.  1This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. 2Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man^a when they were created. Genesis 5:1-2.   God bless, LVZ.

Community

I think it is easy to be like the Pharisees in Jesus' days on earth.  They tried to keep the rules to look good to their fellow man. I think of different examples recently of rule-keeping. Even in religious circles, we want to keep a list of rules so we can feel good about our selves.  God wants to change our hearts. Our righteousness comes from God, our relationship with him, not our works. Our works should be the result of a redeemed heart, not a means to get a redeemed heart. But just like so many in our history book, the Bible, we want to keep rules to feel justified. We learn in community. We gather together in our churches to hear from God. We attend Bible studies to hear from God. In a recent Bible study, we talked about interpreting the Bible by the Bible. The statement about community, about learning in community stuck with me. I kept thinking about it. It is not because I disagree but looking back over my life, I see where the different communities affected me in different ways. We want a good community. That relationship with God and his gifts to us in that relationship are so important. We need God to guide us into a relationship with him. Sometimes the influence in my life led me astray. I guess that is why I feel cautious toward community.  I started off very legalistic and even to this day feel I can become legalistic and just want to keep some rules and thereby feel good. But God wants our hearts. We need to understand and discern what we are being taught. Several examples come to mind that I keep thinking about when it comes to community. A friend that loves to talk to people about God will often ask if he can pray with them about something. In one particular incident, the man my friend was talking to said it depends on in whos name you are going to pray in. My friend stated in the name of our Lord, the one who died for our sins. In that case, no the man said, if it is not in the name of Jehovah, then it does not mean anything. My friend said he looked up Jehovah and it appears 4 times in the Old Testament. I looked in my Strong's concordance and that is what I found. God has many names in the Bible. It seems this man's community that he studies with wrote their own Bible and changed every place God is listed in the Bible to Jehovah. Now, I cannot check that because I do not have an NWT version of the Bible. I use Bible Hub and NWT is not one of the 19 versions they give. I generally use NIV or ESV most of the time myself.  This is what they learn in their community. One other time in a Sunday School class in a Baptist Church that I attended for eight years, a deacon said as he was teaching a Sunday School lesson that Mohammed was mentioned in the Bible. Immediately, I thought this is not right, I went home and checked in in my concordance. A concordance will show you everywhere a word is used in the Bible.  Mohammed was not found.  So I challenged the Deacon and even brought him my concordance, he just blew me off. This is why I am cautious in community. Some differences are OK. We can find things in the Bible to support our thought, but we do not want to make stuff up like Mohammed or change the word of God to suit us like the community did with the word Jehovah. I do not believe like I did fifty years ago as I was taught in a community when I was a child. Actually some things I still believe exactly the same, other things I have changed my belief on as I have matured. We do learn in community type settings, but I believe we do need to be careful about the community we choose. I remember talking to a former Baptist that had become a Seventh Day Adventist. The Adventist community had convinced him they were right and the Baptists were wrong. He couldn't explain it but said they showed him in the scriptures. We need to understand why we believe what we believe and articulate it and still be tolerant of those that may have a different understanding. I remember after eight years in that Baptist Church my belief on Abortion had changed. I was challenged one time on the way I was believing and thought about did I have scripture to back what I was saying. I did not. We see many churches accepting politically correct teaching that is not Bible-based. I basically believe like a Baptist but I had drifted in that area because of the influence of that particular community that had a pastor that accepted abortion in some cases.  So I have learned to be cautious even in community learning. It is good to ask questions and even challenge teachers. Then again it is necessary to be tolerant as people are in different places on their journey with God. But be persuaded on what you believe with the Bible to back you. Ask God for discernment and find a good community to learn in. God bless, LVZ.

A Living Object Lesson

In the book of Hosea is the story of Hosea and Gomer.  Hosea, a prophet of God,  married a prostitute.  This was an object lesson to God's people to show how God loved Israel. Even though Israel had turned their backs on God and had worshiped other gods, God still loved them. And this is the story that lived in the life of Hosea. God loved his people so much that he was married to them. God uses the institution of marriage to show the example of his love for his people. We read in Ephesians that husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the Church. Gomer was a prostitute, that was her profession. We as God's people have dishonored God so many times and yet he loved us anyway as Hosea loved and married Gomer. Gomer left Hosea and went back to prostitution. Hosea went and bought her back. He paid good money to get her back. I don't know how the story ends, did Hosea and Gomer live happily ever after? Don't know, but we can. When we join ourselves to God, we can have God's protection in our lives. God can transform us into the image of his son.  This got me to thinking about how God joins two people in marriage and they become one. As different as they may be God joins them together. I am not sure I fully understand this. Two become one. We become one with God when we become part of his bride the church here on earth. The Bible calls it a great mystery, but he is talking about God and his Church. We are to become one with God. We are to look like him. I often think of my own marriage. I am thankful for the woman that God gave me, yet we are so different. But God through the institution of marriage joins us together to become one. What is God trying to teach us in this great mystery as God calls it?  We can be different in our thinking and still have a united purpose? Men and women think differently, yet God chooses to join us into one. Is it to balance each other as we have different strengths and weaknesses? Hosea had every right under law to divorce Gomer, but God said No.  You, Hosea are to show how much I love Israel by marrying this prostitute. Then when she leaves, God tells Hosea to bring her back. God still loves his people and wants to bring them back into relationship with him. I have been through divorce and an unfaithful spouse myself, I understand how much this hurts. This hurts God when we turn away from him and return to our old sinful lifestyle. Yet he loves us anyway. In spite of our sins God still loves us and brings us back. No man comes to the Father except the Father draw him. Jesus goes and seeks the lost sheep. God initiates the action to find the lost sheep just as much as Hosea finds his errant wife and buys her back. This story is telling us how much God loves us in spite of our sins. God bless. LVZ

Time Of The End

1“At that time Michael, the great prince who stands watch over your people, will rise up. There will be a time of distress, the likes of which will not have occurred from the beginning of nations until that time. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered.

4But you, Daniel, shut up these words and seal the book until the time of the end. Many will roam to and fro, and knowledge will increase.”

8I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will be the outcome of these things?”

9“Go on your way, Daniel,” he replied, “for the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end. 10Many will be purified, made spotless, and refined, but the wicked will continue to act wickedly. None of the wicked will understand, but the wise will understand.  Daniel 12:1,4,8,9.10

Here I am reading in Daniel 12. I didn't understand the whole chapter but there are some things that stood out to me. Michael is standing before Daniel talking about the end of time on earth. A time of distress the likes of which will not have occurred from the beginning of nations. I believe we are close to the end of time on earth. Distress, we in our country and across the world are seeing mass killings that have increased since the 1950s. School shootings, Walmart shootings, even church shootings. Our churches are forming safety teams for the safety of our congregations. The most recent church shooting in Texas, one of the armed safety team, he was trained and had firearm experience. He took a shot at the killer from a distance and made an amazing headshot. I personally believe the bullet was directed by God to save lives. We trust in the name of the Lord our God and not in horses and chariots.  In other words, we trust in God to protect us and not just rely on our skills. The point here is distress, the likes of which have not occurred from the beginning of nations until that time.  Christians, those whose names are in the book will be delivered. In the end times, the righteous dead will be called up from the graves and those that remain alive will also be called up. Even though the word rapture is not found in the Bible, that is the name given to the event we hope to experience. We believe the time is near. Knowledge will be increased, We are living in a time when knowledge doubles in months. There was a time when knowledge took hundreds of years to double, then 50 years, then 25 years. I think what I heard and I am going from memory here, knowledge doubles about every 13 months. Distress, knowledge increasing are signs of the end of time on earth. Don't worry about global warming, be concerned about eternal warming in hell.  Everyone whose name is found written in the book will be delivered. Is your name written in the Lambs book of life? That is the most serious issue to consider. Many will be purified made spotless and refined (with the washing of water by the word).  None of the wicked will understand but the wise will understand. The bible is spiritually understood and often many things are understood by those whose names are written in the book, but those who have rejected Christ will not even understand. Their eyes are blinded, covered over with scales. That blindness will not be removed until they accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. At the great judgment, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.  I hope I am wrong, but I think we are near the end of time on earth. I remember as about a nine-year-old child (or less), when I was put into a Sunday School class with older kids because I was the only one my age in that church.  The Sunday School lesson was about the second coming of Christ. One of the teenage boys said he did not think the 1965 cars would come out on the market. I know it was pre-1965 but I don't remember how far. That Sunday School class was in Bismark ND, and we moved from there in 1963. We have been looking for this time since I have been alive. No man knows the day nor the hour, but we will know the season. I believe we are in that season.  I may still see the grave, I don't really know but our names need to be written in the book that Daniel is writing about. That is what happens when we accept Jesus as Savior and Lord. We are forgiven of all our sins, past present and future all at one time. For all have sinned and fallen short, but if we confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. There is no other way except through Jesus, the son of God that gave his life for us on a cross so many years ago. That is the only way to God through believing on Jesus. There is salvation in no other name. Our works are not enough to buy our way onto the pages of the book. Grace freely given, through the forgiving of our sins is the only way.  God bless. LVZ.

Why First Step Prayer?

These are my thoughts on why I have tried to organize this Community Prayer Meeting called First Step Prayer.   In 2016 when Ronnie Schumpert was killed by police, the greater Tupelo area was very divided by race, black and white.  I felt impressed to try to get our churches in Verona to come together for prayer for our Community.  I was not successful, did not find much enthusiasm from different Pastors. In 2019 my Pastor or maybe it was another Pastor that I listen to on the internet spoke and asked the question; what is the last thing God asked you to do that you haven't done? Immediately I thought of my effort to get the Verona community to gather together for prayer. I said OK, God I will try again but I am not like a friend of mine that tried 15 times to get a Bible Study going at his workplace. I will think it is just my idea and not from you. So I tried again. At the start, at a city hall meeting, the community was upset with the shootings happening here in Verona and asking the city leaders what are you going to do about this? My thought was once again seeking God. I was reading at the time in Isaiah chapters 30 and 31. The first couple of verses of each chapter stood out to me. Why do you make plans without consulting me,(my paraphrase)?  Another verse came to mind in Jeremiah 29:7 about seeking peace and prosperity for the city where you dwell (my paraphrase).  And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.”(NLT)
 I live in Verona. There are about 12 Bible Believing churches in Verona. I felt the First Step was just to seek God for the peace and safety of our community, that's where I came up with the name. Our country has been troubled and very divided since the election in 2016.  So here are 1 Timothy2:1-3 1First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,
Once again First of all, we are commanded to pray for those in authority. Some versions use the words all who are in authority, others all who are in high positions.
We have had school shootings, church shootings, and even Walmart shootings. We are not safe in our communities. Our Nation is very divided. Churches are organizing Safety Teams. Our doors on our churches and schools are being locked after school or services start. 2 Chronicles verse 7:14 also comes to mind.  if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.  This verse bothers me, what are our wicked ways?
So this is my journey to where I felt led to start First Step Prayer. As I have seen trouble in the news I have actually felt I was slow in getting this organized. Impeaching of our President, border wall disagreements, fear of World War III starting. I do feel we need to pray for our community our children at school and even for safety in our churches, and our nation / our President.
One thing that really encouraged me was the positive response I got from so many pastors.
God bless, LVZ.

Man Greatly Loved

11And he said to me, “O Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you.” And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. 12Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. 13The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia, 14and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision is for days yet to come.” Daniel 10:11-14.  
The words that stood out to me today as I read in the book of  Daniel is that Daniel is greatly loved. Daniel has been in some sort of fast it appears for three weeks and praying to find the will of God. Remember Daniel is one who prayed three times daily to his God. He was thrown into the lion's den because of his devotion to God. An angel was sent on the first day to give him an answer to his prayer.  But there was a battle in the heavens between good and evil and the angel was delayed. Daniel was greatly loved because of his devotion, his heart was devoted to God.  He didn't eat of the King's meat or drink at peril to his own life at the very beginning of his exile. He prayed and interpreted dreams for the rulers.  Daniel was devoted to his God.  When Daniel prayed the heavenly host took notice. Daniel humbled himself before God in fasting and prayer.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:12
It is the same today even in our nation, we are in a spiritual battle against the spiritual forces of evil. That is the war that is being fought in our nation today. We win by praying to a sovereign God. In these words, we see at the time appointed kings will be overthrown. It is on God's time table. We are fighting a spiritual battle and many have been blinded spiritually.  Even Christians are supporting things that are contrary to God's word. But we can seek truth through humbling ourselves and praying to a sovereign God to find his will as Daniel was doing. Daniel is a good example for us, he was devoted to his God. He sought to know God's will. He prayed faithfully, consistently, it was a habit in his life. Daniel on many occasions heard from God as a result of his prayers. The thing that really stood out was Daniel was greatly loved and when he prayed, it was noticed. What we see in these pages is why we need to be praying for those in authority today as we are told in 1 Timothy 2. God sent more help as the angel was delayed and he persevered and brought the answer to Daniels prayer.
I was so unsure of myself as I started this First Step Prayer, but I feel God has confirmed to me this is indeed what he asked me to do. Just this week in public places I ran into two different pastors from Verona and they both mentioned First Step Prayer. There is a great need in our communities and our nation today to be praying for God's will and God's direction. I need to be like Daniel and keep praying and know that heaven is listening when God's people pray. Daniel is greatly loved. There is a spiritual battle being fought that we don't always see.  Keep praying, God is sovereign and his will shall be done on his time. God bless, LVZ.
I was thinking just this week how I feel loved by God. When I see areas that I need to do better in I don't feel that God is condemning me but helping me to see and understand. I am his child and he has my best interest at heart. God is there to help me and to guide me. I love my relationship with God. It is a great thing and even as Daniel, I feel greatly loved by a God who forgave me of my sins. It is a good place to be in the hands of a loving God.

Want To Find Your Heart?

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:34

I was reading in "Beyond Blessed" and this scripture was quoted.  As I was thinking about it I tried to look it up and I had it backward. I typed in "where your heart is".  That is what the author actually stated most Christians quote it backward and I did in trying to find the scripture and think on it. What do we find important in life, what do we treasure? If we follow where our treasure is we will find our heart. Like they say "follow the money". We may treasure something other than money. Hopefully, we do, we treasure a relationship with God.  What we find important in life is where our effort will be.  If we look at our checkbook we will find what we put first. What is the first check you write each month after payday? God is interested in our hearts. God wants to be first in our hearts and lives. What to know what your priority is, look at what you treasure. Want to find where your heart is at, look for your treasure. It really doesn't work the other way around. Our treasure doesn't follow our heart, our heart follows our treasure. I think this is worth pondering. Another saying comes to mind, God is more interested in our character than our comfort (Rick Warren). God bless, LVZ.

A Heart Change Is Required

As I have been contemplating some changes I want to make in recent blogs, one, in particular, one felt very legalistic.  I am talking about the first fruits.  Making sure my tithe is the first tenth. Coming from a legalistic background I think it is very easy for me to want to keep a list of rules. I know from the first commandment God wants to be first in our lives.

1. You shall have no other gods before Me.

 When we look at Genesis and the account of Cain and Abel, Abel gave of his first-fruits and Cain did not and God spoke to Cain that there was a problem.
In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. Genesis 4:3-5
Notice it says Abel brought of the firstborn, but Cain's was just an offering from the fruit of the ground.  After the grain was harvested and stored, how would you know which was first?  An animal you would still know. We know that the rules, following the rules in the Old Testament was our schoolmaster, showing we are flawed and no matter how hard we try, we sometimes still fail.
So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. Galatians 3:24 King James says, schoolmaster. 
 Moses failed, King David failed, Abraham failed, Jacob failed and the list can go on and on. It is not rule-keeping that God wants. He desires a heart change. I can keep the rules at least for a time, but God desires a heart change. A heart that wants to put God first. If it is just a rule-keeping thing, and not a heart change, I am probably in the same boat as Cain.
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Matthew 23:25
The Pharisees were good at keeping rules. Well maybe not. I think of the story of bringing the adulterous woman to Jesus, caught in the very act. They brought the woman but not the man. Where was the man? The law said to punish both.   The Pharisees liked to keep up appearances but it did not fix their hearts. Legalism is keeping the rules and we can look so good on the outside, but it is a heart change that God desires. If we keep the rules without a heart change we really have accomplished nothing. God does want to be first in or hearts and lives. He doesn't want us to be good keepers of his rules and his ways. All of God's ways are desired to affect a heart change in us. Are we putting God first? Is it coming from the inside? Only God can fix the heart. God doesn't want rule-keeping he wants a heart change. I think the first tenth for our tithe is scriptural but it needs to come from a redeemed heart. A heart that desires to obey the first commandment. God talks to us perhaps much like he did to Cain. We are not given a lot of information about that exchange, but something was wrong. Abel's offering was from the firstborn, the first fruits of his increase. Abel's offering pleased God. I believe we can give of the first and still not have a heart change, it amounts to rule-keeping and not a heart change. God desires our hearts. A heart that is truly changed will desire to put God first. God bless, LVZ.

A Soft Answer

Not all my answers are soft. I wish they were. Every so often I say something I wish I hadn't said or used a better word.
A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Proverbs 15:1 (ESV)

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Proverbs 15:1 (NIV)
What can I say, various times in my life I have said things that maybe they were taken wrong, I could have used a better word, I just plain pissed someone off? Once I used the word indifferent, I said good, bad or indifferent and the meaning I was intending to use was somewhere in-between good and bad, which I think is obvious because I also used good and bad. The person took a different meaning which was I don't care. Both are meanings of the word indifferent.  I said I don't want to be a climate change idiot, when I said that one person that does believe people are a major cause of climate change took it that I said they were an idiot. I didn't think of it that way when I wrote it but that is what I essentially said.   Another time without thinking I popped off, "I think you just talked yourself out of a dog fence", a person got his gun to shoot me. They seem so small a matter to me but they were not a small matter to the different individuals. Anger was stirred up in all three cases. Without knowing the whole story or the other person's side of it, they all sound quite innocent.  But as I write or try to write a blog each day, it is my desire to not stir up anger. Yet I could be doing that again if any one of the three were to read this. Nobody else may know who they are but they will. It happens over and over again, something is said and it is taken wrong or hits a nerve. Our President does that almost daily with his tweets, he hits a nerve. I would like to do a much better job this year with my choice of words.  Practice makes perfect or so they say. Once I was memorizing a scripture wrong, I added the word "and" in the middle of the scripture. I wrote it over and over again to memorize it with that word "and" in the middle of the sentence, I got it wrong and it was for a test.  On Facebook a person was asking "is the pink panther a lion"? Another person wrote and emphasized the word PANTHER. Read slowly the pink PANTHER. the person again asked, is that a lion?  A third person enters the conversation and says, "maroon". Then a fourth person asks did you purposely misspell Moron?   Anyway,  we seem to be so easily offended these days. Sometimes if we think about something a little longer perhaps it will not sound as bad. I hope I can write this year with fewer being offended by my words.  God bless, LVZ. 

Trying to be Positive

Our country is the greatest country on earth. We have so much to be thankful for. We have so much to be positive about. Yet as one person stated as they watched people in a Starbucks with their $400 Ipad, $600 iPhone, drinking a $4 cup of coffee complaining about how bad America is. Our poor are head and heels above the majority of people in the world. I am not saying America does not have issues. How come we have so many homeless crapping on the streets? Tent cities in some of our bigger population centers. South of us in a country that right now the name escapes me they have poor people that make their living or I should say survive off what they find in a city dump. We built   

 a replica of what these people live in shown above in the foyer of our church. Our Women are better off. Our Blacks are better off. Our Gays are better off. Our children are better off. One of the things we put in the little shack we built was a small portable TV. We put plastic down to put dirt on so we could have an authentic dirt floor. I know a homeless guy here in my home town that panhandles and he told someone that he made $80 before the police chased him away.  But here in America, people are telling us we are the worst country on earth. Dennis Prager got laughed at by about 400 people on a leftist show when he said we are the least racist and best country on earth. The gal in the Starbucks coffee shop probably hit the nail on the head when she said most of these young people do not know what it is like to struggle. They didn't face the great depression, they didn't live through the years of slavery in our nation. Every once in a while you hear an immigrant tell how thankful they are to actually be in America. Most of our young have no idea what it is like to struggle. My kids probably are of a minority that had to use an actual outhouse and took a bath in rainwater heated on a wood stove. They actually lived without running water or electricity for a few years. We have so much to be thankful for, why are so many people so negative about our country?   God bless, LVZ. 

Contentment

This book I am reading "Beyond Blessed" is giving me a lot to think about. I think a lot of this stems from me praying God to show me my wicked ways. So here I am realizing I am not as content as I should be. I have been upset that our newest car, a 2013 model died.  I wasn't expecting it. The other vehicles are older and really haul two people. They were giving away a new Toyota Carolla and I bought a raffle ticket. Man, I was really hoping I would get called that I won on New Years Day.  It is not up to God to rescue out of the bad decisions we make. He is with us but I don't think I would learn anything good if God always rescued me for being a bad steward.  Sometimes we just have to pay the consequences for our decisions. Contentment with what God has given us is an important Bible Truth. I made some bad decisions to get me where I am today. I would like to put a good spin on it but in reality, I know I made some bad decisions. But I have two good vehicles, some minor issues as there is with all older vehicles. I went for years only buying what I could pay cash for or borrow from myself. I wasn't content with what I had and wanted something different. So here I am making payments. Then I had an unexpected IRS bill that I just simply had to pay. If I hadn't put myself in the position of making payments when the car died and I got a big IRS bill I would have been OK with the cars I had. We can always find someone that has more or better than we have. If we look we can also find people with less. But we compare and want what others have that are better than what we have. That is not being contented with what God has already given me. It seems like God is showing me so much stuff where my ways are not his ways when I asked what are my wicked ways. God promises to be with us and supply our needs, but I wanted more and really didn't pray about some decisions. I believe God is teaching me something about being a good steward with his resources. It is all God's. We have a nation that is in debt more than the generations in front of us. The previous generations were more content with what they had and did not carry the load of debt most Americans carry today. It is so easy to buy anything we want. But it puts a strain on us to meet those payments. That stress would not be there without those payments.
But godliness with contentment is great gain. 1 Timothy 6:6 
Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions." Luke 12:15
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." Hebrews 13:5
Contentment with what I had would have been less stressful when the unexpected in life happens. It is important to remember that God is still with us when we make mistakes and helps us to get back on track. This covetousness and lack of contentment are contrary to God's way. I believe that is another way God is showing me a wicked way I need to turn from. God bless LVZ.
Remember the tenth commandment - you shall not covet. Covet and contentment are opposites.

Genders?

It is amazing what you see on Facebook. (Charlie Kirk Video June 16, 2019) A female college student arguing there are 100 or more genders. Really?  I thought about this and in recent days when a decaying body was found locally, they determined it was Female. If we go back to Bible days, it has always been male and female.  I know it is hard to tell with some animals what gender they are, but experts usually can tell, they are usually male or female. If there are so many genders in the human race wouldn't it follow the same in the animal kingdom?  I don't think DNA lies. The female college student claims it is per science that there are so many different genders. What we learned in kindergarten is just the starting point, once you get educated like her there are hundreds of genders. I was waiting for her to name one. I am wondering if these DNA experts are behind on their science also because every time they make a determination, it is either female or male. So where do all these other genders come in at? and what are they? If they are so scientific are they written down in a study somewhere? How can a High School graduate that is not as well educated as this woman was, find out what these 100 or maybe even more genders are?  If it is indeed scientific they must be written down somewhere. Does this not sound crazy to anyone but me? God bless, LVZ.

He created them male and female and blessed them. And he named them "Mankind" when they were created. Genesis 5:2


Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah. Genesis 7:8-9

I should have known better, someone came up with a list of they call it gender and sexual orientation - Bisexual, lesbian, homosexual and on and on. These are perversions of God designed sex and not genders. I still don't believe this will show in your DNA any more than being an adulterer will show in your DNA. After you are dead and gone and decayed and only remnants of your original body are left,  Is DNA going to show who you had sex with? I suppose there could actually be that. I think that is how they caught the green river killer his DNA was left at the scene of some of the bodies but if one of those ladies the green river killer killed, was bisexual, I really doubt it showed in her DNA.  

I am pretty sure top picture is male and the picture below is female. I cannot envision 100's of genders. 

A Sovereign God

34At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever.

His dominion is an eternal dominion;

his kingdom endures from generation to generation.

35All the peoples of the earth

are regarded as nothing.

He does as he pleases

with the powers of heaven

and the peoples of the earth.

No one can hold back his hand

or say to him: “What have you done?” Daniel 4:34-35

Here I am reading in the book of Daniel and already I have gone over the stories from my childhood that I remember. First King Nebuchadnezzar has his dream that no one can interpret and Daniel prays and interprets the dream and Daniel is promoted. Then Nebuchadnezzar builds a golden image and commands all the peoples to bow down and worship it. The three Hebrew children refuse and are thrown into the fire bound with ropes. They tell the king, God one way or the other will deliver us from your hand but we will not bow down to your golden image and worship it.  They could have perished in the fire, they did not know God would deliver them but they would be true to their God. If they perished they would be delivered from King Nebuchadnezzar's hand.  The king calls them out of the fire and promotes the three Hebrew children. The ropes they were bound with are gone but they do not even smell of smoke. Then Nebuchadnezzar has another dream of a great tree and calls for Daniel to interpret.  Daniel tells the King, the great tree is you. It seems Daniel is afraid at first to tell the meaning and Nebuchadnezzar tells him to go ahead and tell the interpretation. The King will go mad and be driven from his throne and eat grass like a beast of the field until he recognizes that God is sovereign. Until seven times, I don't know how long seven times is, does it mean days weeks or years?  But one day Nebuchadnezzar is viewing Babylon from the rooftop of his palace and says isn't this great what I have done and built for my glory. It has been one year since the dream and interpretation of it. And even as the words were on his lips it happened, he was driven from the palace to live as a beast of the field. When the seven times had passed his sanity was restored and he looked up and praised the God of heaven. King Nebuchadnezzar recognized that God was sovereign even over him. I found it humorous that someone on facebook said we Christians consider Trump the messiah because we support him. We are thankful he was elected president but we do not worship Trump. We recognize that God is sovereign and put him there. We follow the instructions of Romans 13. 1Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.    Romans 13:1-5.   We recognize civil authority is given by God for our good. If Trump were to think he was God or the messiah. God would probably take him out.  Civil authority is for our own good. The ones who rebel against this authority are the fools that think they are above a sovereign God. When God is done with Trump he will be done and not before. We do not worship Trump or think he is the messiah. We are thankful God has given us such a man for the time we are in. Someone said Trump could walk on water and the left would say he doesn't know how to swim. They hate him for no cause. He has done well for our country again and again. No, Trump is no messiah and we Christians do not view him as such. We are thankful a sovereign God put him in place, no more no less. God bless Trump and the USA. But recognize that God alone is sovereign over the whole earth. God was sovereign in Nebuchadnezzar's day and still is today. God bless, LVZ.