Will People Believe a Lie?

If someone lies to you, are you so easy to believe them a second time?  How many times have we been lied to and still trust Snopes? They have been proven to lean left, they are not impartial. A couple of years ago we were told the Hunter Biden laptop story was false, we now know it was true, it was suppressed before the election. CNN lies, do you still trust them?  DO you believe left or right sources simply because you lean left or right politically? Ask yourself that question.  God bless, LVZ.

What Can You Leave Your Children?

 I knew a person that was working to save up $100,000.00 to leave each child. That was his goal. I have watched family after family that had good relations going with each other until a parent died and they had to spit up money and property between them. I do not know of one instance where it did not seem to cause some sort of problem at that time in any family. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for, I the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected--even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands. Exodus 20:5,6 (NLT). It takes just one generation to lose what has been built up for many generations. When it comes to the next generation, one preacher stated what one generation allows as far as sin in their life is just the starting point for the next generation. I don't think you can provide for anything better for the next generation than a good home life, a loving relationship between the parents and love and encouragement for the children. It sounds like the righteous man in the verses above generates a response from God to thousand generations of those that love God. What good are all these riches if they lose their soul to hell?  Eternity lasts forever, if you can lead your children into a relationship with God, it can bless them way through a thousand generations, but a sinful lifestyle can affect your family for 3 or 4 generations. It shows the generosity of God to bless a thousand generations on the good side, curse three to four generations for sin.  What can you leave better than a relationship with God, that has eternal consequences for your children? Wealth can be taken or squandered, but a relationship with God will last through eternity. God bless, LVZ. 

Talk With a Leftist

 I had a talk with a leftist a few days ago over coffee. It is the first conversation with a leftist that ended well. We are still friends. We had coffee again the next day. But usually, our morning coffee group avoids politics when our leftist friend is there.  It was just me and him. We disagreed about almost everything, imagine that. There have been several times when this leftist and a conservative were ready to take it to the parking lot. It used to be we could talk politics. Often, we learn new things if we can be civil. Our country is at a dangerous place when we cannot talk politics and disagree and still be friends. I read an article where a conservative when he was young and still in college had a date with a liberal, and the evening went fine until they talked about Presidential candidates, it ended the date quickly. It was the first time for this man for a friendship to end because of who he supported in the last election. But it seems to be the norm today. It starts in college which is a place to exchange a lot of ideas. Just not politics. The writer of the article stated some stats show the percentage of friendship breakers is higher on the democratic side than the conservative side but still in the double digits among republicans. It is really sad when you consider all the other subjects, we can disagree on from even food we like and dislike to being a person that loves Ford or Chevy cars over the other. My wife like the color orange on a car until she had one and everyone knew it was her. She no longer wants an orange car or other color that stands out. You can't do anything about the weather, but when it comes to politics and religion, those are things you can change. Our country is at a dangerous time when hate for a candidate like Trump is so strong, they raid his home to desperately find some reason to keep him from running again. In every election there is a side that wins and a side that loses and we use to realize it wasn't the end of civilization when the other side won. I wish we could go back 30 to fifty years and talk about anything. Exchange Ideas and move on, this is what I think and that is why you think such and such. Our politics today separates families and friends. God help us, LVZ.

Another Funeral

 I went to a funeral today. It wasn't someone I knew. He was a brother to a friend of mine. I went to support my friend. We humans are you-nique as was this man. God created us in his image, and we are all special because of that. What is man that you are mindful of him. what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor.  Psalm 8:4-5 (NLT).  The NIV says we are a little lower than the angels. I believe Angels are ministering spirits, but we have something unique being created in the image of God. We do not become Angels when we die, it may be a popular belief as we hear about people getting their wings and we probably all have seen "It's a Wonderful Life" with Jimmy Stewart. But it is not scriptural, we have the ability to make decisions and choose.  Angels as ministering spirits go and do as they are told. We can choose to believe in God and can choose to follow God in this life. It regulates where we go in eternity. We have something unique, we are able to be in a relationship with God himself. I think of Enoch, he was a friend of God and God took him. Genesis 5:24. There is no record of him dying and being buried, one day God just took him. One day Elijah just went up in a whirlwind.  2 Kings 2:11.  God took Moses and buried him himself. The LORD buried him in a valley near Beth-peor in Moab, but to this day no one knows the exact place.  Deuteronomy 34:6.    Don't know why it was different, but yet on the day of Jesus's Transfiguration, both Moses and Elijah were there. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Matthew 17:3(NLT).  We are all special in God's eyes. This man today was only 8 months older than me.  The time for me is getting closer with each passing day. We have a choice where we spend eternity. God desires for us to be there with him in eternity, the choice is ours. We get there through Jesus Christ, he is the only way to eternity with God. If there was another way, we could all choose that way. But Jesus himself said he is the way. Jesus is the only way to an eternity with God. We are special to have that choice. God bless, LVZ.

Don't Pickup Strangers

 Years ago, we had more hitchhikers than we do today. It's not safe to pick up hitchhikers. Like one hitchhiker asks the driver, how do you know I am not a serial killer, and the driver says what are the odds of two serial killers being in the same car. I did pick up a hitchhiker years ago, I was about 19 years old, and as soon as he got in the car he had an epileptic seizure. At the time I didn't know what that was, and I drove immediately to the nearest hospital emergency room. It scared me. But Andy Stanley for the purposes of his message explained what a stranger is. Someone stranger than you. I like that definition. We are all flawed walking through this life. All of us have been born in sin. If we say we have no sin, we lie, and the truth is not in us. I think that is a good idea in going through life to associate with people less strange than we are. Find people we want to be like. When choosing a church look for good people, not perfect, there are no perfect people. When choosing a friend choose someone who has it together, someone farther along on the road of life, that you can learn good things from. We pick up things, actions, and attitudes from those we associate with. The Bible tells us to not form friends with angry people. Proverbs 22:24 (NLT), Don't befriend angry people or associate with hot-tempered people.   When I moved to Mississippi, I moved far away from everyone I knew, all family, friends, Church family, etc.  I felt I needed an accountability partner. I prayed about it, and I formed a friendship with an administrative pastor of a church. It's been maybe 8 or 9 years now, and I am so thankful for that friendship. I can learn from him, and I have. I looked at several people and did want someone that could help me. I hope the friendship is mutually beneficial, but I feel like I found someone better than me in many areas of life. It has helped me.  As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.  Proverbs 27:17(NLT). I have a group of men called Iron Sharpens Iron; we pray together every week.  We need to surround ourselves with good people that are trying to head in the same direction as we are. We need to be salt and light to the world around us but be choosy with those you allow close to you. When you pick a church be choosy, don't just pick the first one that accepts you. Through the road of life, don't pick up strangers. We can talk to people, even try to help them. If they drag you down open the car door and let them out.  Don't pick up strangers. God bless, LVZ. 

Closing Accounts

 This post is about forgiveness again. We all have debts owed to us; it is going to happen to us if we just live life. Someone somewhere is going to hurt you.  If you do not cancel the debt, you allow a root of bitterness to grow in your heart. Like Andy Stanley says, if we told our story, friends would understand why we are hurt. Our stories make sense, people really do owe us, whatever the wrong is. If we do not forgive, we allow a root of bitterness to grow in our heart. As I was thinking about this I thought of a vegetable or flower garden and if you don't take care of it, weeds will grow. And after a period of time the weeds overtake the whole garden. Weed seeds, who even knows how they get started, they just do and most of the time they grow better than the good stuff.  Our hearts are like that, they need to be weeded every now and then. I think that is what communion does, it gives us a chance to look over what is growing in our hearts and just like weeds, bad things in our hearts need to be pulled out. Our salvation actually hinges on us being able to forgive as Christ has forgiven us. We need to follow Christ's example in forgiving others.  Unforgiven issues become a root of bitterness, a weed of the heart. Unforgiveness will move into the basement of our heart and start lifting weights. If we hold accounts open hoping the person that owes the account will pay up, we allow a root of bitterness to start growing. We as Christians need to close those account no matter what the other person does. Pull the weeds before they get a good root system going. Don't allow the sun to set on your anger, take care of it as soon as possible. Close accounts. God bless, LVZ

Closing the Account

 Here I need to give credit to Andy Stanley for these thoughts on part of a sermon where he talked about closing the account. This is once again talking about forgiving others.  Andy said several things that stuck with me. When there has been a wrong done and that is why someone needs to forgive, they have been wronged. That is not even an issue, there is no question, you have been wronged, and forgiving someone does not change that. It is you that closes the account by forgiving.  Sometimes they can't even pay the debt, they can't go back and unspeak the words that were spoken. It is impossible. Often the damage cannot be undone even if they wanted to. That is why the injured must close the account. It made sense to me, because I have been the offender at times. I have been on both sides, the offended and the offender.  Andy gave three steps to close the account. 1. Identify WHO. Who injured you, who owes the debt? 2. Determine WHAT. What was done to injure you? What is the debt that needs to be paid? 3. Declare it CANCELED. Identify who and what, write it out if you have to. They (WHO) did this (WHAT) to me. Then you declare it canceled. You declare the debt has been paid. You forgive the offense, the deed that was done. It is true that often they couldn't even pay the debt if they wanted to. The debt is too big, or perhaps they don't even know the debt exists. You cannot eliminate the offense, but you do cancel the debt. Just like Jesus did for our sins, he canceled the debt, Jesus declared it paid in pull. Because he forgave us, we forgive others. We follow his example. Even when the offender realizes his wrong and says he is sorry, the debt is not paid until the offended cancels the debt. Sometimes Andy says stuff that really sticks with me. There was more to this sermon than cancelling the debt, closing the account but once again it speaks to forgiving others, a core value of being a Christian.  This part really stuck with me. I have been there and couldn't pay the debt. Both to Jesus and to others.  God bless, LVZ.