Spring 1985 came and activity at/from the Rajneesh increased.

The court house had and alarm system with security buzzers set up in each office.  They all terminated in the Sheriff’s Office.  They had been installed after some of the Rajneesh had been creating scenes in these various offices.

This was the Spring of 1985, I didn’t know of any other county courthouse, in the state, that had a similar alarm system in them.  Of course they are more prevalent now, almost all have something similar.

We received a buzz from the County Judges office one morning.  A Sergeant and I quickly went upstairs to find three (maybe four) Rajneesh in the secretary’s office.  The office was about 6 feet by 15, or so; long and narrow.

They were loudly proclaiming they had a records request and they wanted it right now.  The secretary was in distress as they were yelling at her and the County Judge.

They were loud and pushy.  Right after we came into the office we watched the County Judge go to a filing cabinet and say he thought the information was right here.

As he opened the drawer a Rajneesh tried to shove him aside so she could go through the drawer.

As I mentioned before, I knew the laws concerning most public administrative actions as well as criminal law. 

I told the Judge to close the drawer and go into his office.  He looked at me, and complied.  The person who had been trying to get into the file drawer tried to go into that office.

The Sergeant grabbed her arm and kept her from going in.  She started yelling police brutality.  The Judge closed the door.

I told her to knock it off and then turned to the secretary.

I asked her if she had the written request, she did.

Was it understandable?  Yes.

Can you have it ready by tomorrow morning?  Yes.

(While public records are available to the public, it doesn’t have to be ready ‘right now.’  The department has a right to do it when they have time, or when they can have someone come in to find and if necessary make copies of the requested documents.)

I then told her to tell the Rajneesh she has all she needs and will have it available tomorrow.  (All this was in front of them, of course.)

She told them.

I then told her to tell them their business was finished and they needed to leave.

They started throwing a fit.  This is a public office, they have a right to be there, they want the information RIGHT NOW.

I told them that either they leave, RIGHT NOW, or I was going to arrest them for Criminal Trespass.  After a few seconds, during which they realized I was serious, they decided to leave.

The secretary was grateful.  I went into the Judge’s office and talked with him.

The Judge is a well-respected and well-loved wheat farmer.  He treats everyone the same and tries to be helpful wherever he can.  I will talk about him, later.

I understood and appreciated his position.  However, I recommended that he use the hallway going from the lobby of the court house to his offices as a waiting room.

He didn’t want to do that, he understood though, that if he didn’t then he was going to have more incidents like this.  He also understood that he had to treat everyone in the county the same – even his good friends and neighbors would have to wait to be allowed into the offices.

This truly distressed him, he wanted to treat the Rajneesh like any other citizen, but they wouldn’t let him.

While I was talking to him one of the Rajneesh came back to the office and told me that their attorney wanted to talk with me.

In the lobby of the court house was a pay phone and she had called back to the ranch.

While under no obligation, I chose to talk with the person, I was interested in what she would say.

I went to the phone and the lawyer started threatening me; telling me I couldn’t kick her people out, what we were doing was illegal and they would file charges, etc.

After listing to her diatribe for a minute or so, I asked, “Are you a criminal attorney?”  She didn’t answer.

Knowing by her response, she wasn’t, I asked her again, “Are you a criminal attorney?”  Again she didn’t answer.

I said, “I would strongly suggest you contact a criminal attorney because if any of them go back into that office they will be arrested and you can come up and bail them out of the jail.”

There was a pause on the other end, and then she asked to speak to the leader of that group.

I stood back and watched.  After a couple minutes she hung up, gave me a dirty look and they all stomped off.

The judge did as I suggested.  The other offices either already had a set up where the public couldn’t pass without permission, or soon installed something.

We never again had an incident of that kind, in any of the offices in the court house.

1 John 1:2-4  My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

³ Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

⁴ But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

I have never been much for patience – it seems like I want what I think I want – right now.

But for some reason, going through my medical problems I have peace with all that is happening, and yes, even patience.

We went to the Urologist this morning.  His nurse told me that the file on me – because of not only their official actions but they get copies of other things going on – is quite large. 

Since it is all on computer and not printed out it is hard to appreciate the size of the file.  It is very extensive and probably would have had more than just one folder.

I was one of their ‘problem patients.’  We told her she wasn’t the first nurse to tell me that.

The Urologist came in and we talked a bit.  He said he didn’t believe in jinxes, etc. but the problems I have been having over this past year, for whatever reason, has been incredible.

He thanked and complemented me for handling everything with patience.  I told him it wasn’t me; it was my faith in Christ.

As we talked it gave me a great opportunity to witness.

He said he understands that God doesn’t give us anything more than we can handle, but he was very surprised I hadn’t reached the end of my frustration level.

He appreciated how I treated his staff and others.  I was handling it a lot better than most people would.

We were concerned about the urethra being damaged.  He put a scope inside and we could see where the wound was, but there didn’t appear to be any serious damage.

We will be back next Tuesday, and unless I have further difficulties he will activate the device at that time.

I may not fully appreciate the medical situation I am in, but, I know compared to many of you, it is just minor afflictions.

Still, there ARE times I am frustrated, but it doesn’t do any good to get upset.

If I have questions they are readily available to me and give direct answers. 

Some of the side effects of the medication for one of my issues impacts another one.

The other day I was in a lot of pain – so much so that my heart went into A-Fib and I was extremely dizzy, to the point I just rested on the counter for several minutes until I could move.

Still dizzy I made it to my chair.  I did a heart rate check and it was coming down from the mid-80’s (don’t know how high it got this was several minutes from the start) and a few minutes later it was 44.  Neither of which is good.  It did go back up to my normal range of the mid-50’s within a few minutes.

I took some medication for the pain – the first listed side effect is dizziness.

Within an hour I experienced the same dizziness as I had previously, although not quite as bad, but still those ranges in my heart rate.  When I talked with the Cardiologist he confirmed my suspicions that my heart was reacting to my pain in the Urethra – and probably more so considering the medication I was on to control that pain.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

What is surprising as I go through the tests, my heart rates stays in the 50’s and blood pressure remains the same.  To me it reaffirms I am not just thinking I have released control to God, but He is confirming it.

I have peace about all this, not sure what He has in mind, but we know that He can use it for HIS Glory.

1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

This was the verse the Urologist was thinking of and I have to say He has helped me through these issues.

We don’t know what God has in store for us.  Life is a fleeting thing; it can be ended by something instantaneously.  We look at automobile accidents and natural events and of course, criminal behavior and see someone alive one moment and dead the next.

If we live our life as though it could be taken from us at any time and dedicate our life to God, whatever happens to us will allow Him to be glorified.

Our life has a purpose when it is being used by God.  We may not know why we go through things we go through, but God is there with us.  We want to act like we have faith in Him, not just say it; and allow Him to work in us so others will see Him in us.

Later, Art :-)

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again

My first trip to the ranch, continued:

Still driving south we drove across the county line into Jefferson County.  There was another large field and a set of buildings about a half-mile down the road.  He explained that this field was used for recreation, soccer, softball and other field games. 

We drove around the field, still on the county road, to the buildings.  I noticed two ambulances and was informed this was their medical clinic.  He told me that it had examining rooms and an emergency room.  I thought that was strange.  Every other building was in Wasco County, why would they have their medical clinic in Jefferson County so far away from the rest of the buildings?  The answer was to come to me in July; during the festival.

As we turned around he pointed to a paved road coming from the north, crossing the county road and leading away from the county road towards the south part of the ranch.  He mentioned that the paving equipment was down that road to the south, but did not drive down it.

I knew that this was the road that Rajneesh is driving on when you see him going down the row of his followers as they lay flowers on the hood of his car. 

The road was built after he got a couple of citations for driving without a license – of course hitting a concrete truck head on didn’t help matters.  He was not a very good driver.

So, since he liked to drive, the commune built this road for him.  It was about 20 miles long and except for crossing the county road, it was all on their private property.  

He drove me back to the police building.  As I got out, he asked me if I would approve the festival permit, now.  I told him I still had some concerns and they had not met all the conditions I had put down for it to be approved. 

When he did that I would review them and then I would get back to him.  He drove off in disgust.

I headed back to the office.

Almost four hours after radioing my office that I would be going into the valley, I was back on top and radioing that I was back in service.  I did remember to thank God for his guidance and calming hand. 

I was pleased by my exchange at the commune, but I knew they would be analyzing their tapes and every minute I was on the property; who knew what they might think they found. 

On the way back, I stopped in at the ghost town of Shaniko, population 20, about 40 miles from the ranch.  I had lunch at the Shaniko Hotel and met the new owners. 

They were great people.  He was a retired plumber from Salem, Ore. and had already done a lot of work on the Hotel, which had been built in the late 19^th century and had been allowed to deteriorate to the point it had been uninhabitable; they were changing that fact. 

He took me for a tour.  The rooms were on the second floor.  Rather than numbers he used names of local families.

Before he came there was just one bathroom to be used by the tenants.  He had placed a bath in each room.  They had created a honeymoon suite with a Jacuzzi bath and upscale fixtures.

They had cleaned up the foyer area and the outside of the building.  They wanted to make it a destination type hotel for those people that wanted to get away from the hub bub of life and relax a bit. 

They had a restaurant and had brought in a very good chef.  They managed to last a few years, but their age and health worked against them.  Also when you live in what is basically a ghost town, your choices for employees is limited.

While they had the hotel they went through several chefs and had to depend on employees from either Madras about 40 miles away or Maupin about 30 miles away.  Both of these communities were small and that also limited his abilities to get good help.

Even though people are quite used to driving several dozen miles in that country, it is expensive – and they could get jobs closer to home.  He had good clientele from around the area – but, again it was limited to people close by and it is not a very populated region.  It wasn’t enough to sustain the business and eventually he had to close the restaurant.

After a satisfying meal I headed back up to the office. 

This trip was to be the first of many trips to the ranch.  At that time I had no idea that it was to be one of the busiest times in Wasco County Sheriff’s Office history, and indeed there would be one of the largest interagency investigations that up to the time had ever been held in the State of Oregon. 

My first year was only two and a half months old, I had many things on my priority list; I had not expected the activities on the ranch would become priority one, but, in the fall of 1985, it did.

1 Kings 6:11-14 And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying,

¹² Concerning this house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father:

¹³ And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.

¹⁴ So Solomon built the house, and finished it.

These verses are God’s discussion with Solomon.  God in effect was anointing the efforts of Solomon to build a house of worship as He promised David.

God’s promise to Solomon was that as long as he, Solomon, obeys God then He will dwell among the children of Israel and will not forsake His people.

The next verse is telling; Solomon finished the house.  He accepted that covenant with God.

We know that Solomon’s position as King was ordained of God.  We read how brother’s, Abaslom and later Adonijah, tried to usurp the throne, but those attempts were stopped.

The successor to David was to be Solomon.  As long as Solomon obeyed God then the COUNTRY of Israel, combined with Judah, would be blessed by God.

In America we elect our leaders, we need to be sure that when we cast our vote it is for the best candidate to hold up God.  It is getting very hard to do that.

Satan has entered into our electoral system and has made it difficult for a Christian to be heard, let alone elected.  In order to accomplish anything the official has to be willing to compromise and all too frequently he has to compromise his integrity to get anything close to what he wants to accomplish.

We need a revival from the God, and renewing of the faith by His Holy Spirit so people understand how far this country has gone from God. 

As a country we need to ask God’s forgiveness and return to His commands – it starts with the people – we need to elect leaders that will understand that must be done.

And then we need to pray even harder for them, than we do (or should be doing) now.

That revival may very well start with some serious consequences for our current sins where God will discipline our country to make us understand He is unhappy with our disobedience.

In the case of Israel, His discipline was, many times, devastating in as much as hundreds of thousands of the Jews were killed either by an overt action by Him or allowing other countries to attack and kill or imprison the people.

May we not have to come to that level of discipline and open our eyes before it is too late.

As I read the above verses, some more, written by Paul, immediately came to my mind.

2 Timothy 4:7-8 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

⁸ Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

We sometimes forget that the early Christians faced incredible persecution, not only by the Jewish leaders, but by the governments – particularly Rome.  Yet, they preached the Gospel and the results of their faithfulness has allowed us to be Saved, through Christ, today, almost two thousand years later.

While our governments may try to interfere with our ability to profess our faith, it doesn’t let us off the hook of proclaiming Christ.

We, as Christians, have a responsibility to serve Him, even in the most serious of persecutions.  Millions of Christians in this world are suffering from their government’s attacks or their allowing attacks by others, on them.

It is on the upswing.  We are seeing radical Muslims, torturing and killing anyone – ANYONE, not just Christians although they are key targets - that disagrees with their interpretation of the Koran.  And their influence is spreading.

Muslims are gaining a strong holds in many nations, and the governments are condoning behaviors that they would never have allowed before, and in the process persecuting Christians that disagree with them.

Here in America we are seeing rioters destroying property, stealing from law abiding citizens and all but being portrayed as heroes by the media and certain leaders. 

The attacks on Christians because of their Biblical beliefs are becoming more violent.

The attitude against the Holiness of God and His commands is spreading – and America is suffering because of it.  We are becoming unglued.

But God’s Holy Spirit will not be so easy dissuaded.  In this time of great persecution across the globe, many countries are finding an upsurge in the number of people who accept Christ as their Savior.

The reason for that is the Christians, in those countries, although hampered in how they can preach, are managing to get God’s Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people.  Because of their courage and prayers the Holy Spirit is entering the hearts of the people and they are accepting Christ’s Salvation.

There have been times in my life, especially as Sheriff, that I have felt like I am in a great bowl, as large as any football stadium.  Surrounding me, shoulder to shoulder on the hills above are people who are shooting arrows down at me.

Sometimes that feeling would last for several days.

It was not a pleasant position.  I knew I had supporters, but they seemed far, far away.  The one thing that helped me live in and come out of that bowl was my faith in God and His Son.  The Holy Spirit lifted me up and gave me comfort as He did so. 

Our leaders have a responsibility to God, whether they understand or accept that or not. 

Their actions and decisions affect their people, just as the Kings of Israel affected their people.  While God is patient, there will come a time that His patience is worn out and He will have no choice to chastise them.

Like our leaders, we are responsible to God for our personal relationship with Him.  He expects obedience from us and when we don’t give it to Him He will have no choice but to chastise us.

We may think that we are not important, certainly not as important as the leaders of this country – but we are.  As a united group we can change this country, and even if we could not, we can help impact individuals and show them Christ.

Let’s strive to make Him pleased in all we do, giving Him the Honor and the Glory.  May we say with Paul, when it comes to the end of our life here on earth:  “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:”

Later, Art :-)

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again

First Trip to the ranch, continued:

This thread on my election and first year in Office, including dealing with the Rajneesh, begins with the posting on March 25, 2015. You can get the earlier posts by going into the archives on my web page.  Starting from the beginning will assist you in understanding my posts.

While I was rather enjoying the give and take it finally occurred to him that we were not going to get anywhere with the discussion.  In disgust, he asked me if I wanted a tour of the city.  I said I would love to have a tour. 

We then got into one of the passenger vehicles and we drove north, farther into the city.  During the entire tour, we did not get off the county road, nor did we get out of the car.

However, most of the city and buildings were adjacent to the road.  There were several apartment complexes and four-plexes up the side roads, and a complex of manufactured houses just past the ranch house these were neighborhoods, much as you would see in any city. 

The difference was they all belonged to the commune and were on private roads belonging to the commune.   Their meeting auditorium and a hotel was on another paved road off the county road but could be seen about half a mile away. 

I knew many of these buildings were in a contested battle over whether they should be allowed to stand.  The county had not issued permits for them, the Commune had taken it to court to make the county accept them and it was a bitter dispute. 

I didn’t say anything about it, it wasn’t in my jurisdictional duties AND I sure didn’t want to say something that might come back later to haunt the county.  I did think about it, though.

On the east side of the county road was their airport.  The runway was a mile long and over fifty yards wide.  They had a small terminal across the way.  Parked on the side of the runway on its own tarmac next to the terminal was a Convair 240 twin engine passenger plane, about the size of a B17, the commune owned.  

Getting onto the air strip was a complicated process; you had to have permission from the Rajneesh.  But it was also tricky landing, I am told because it was between high ridges the wind impacted the landing procedure.

They had several planes, most of which were smaller in size.  I noted there were a number of prefabricated buildings along a private paved road that ran parallel to the runway on the east side of the runway.  These buildings consisted of a hanger, plus a number of maintenance and storage areas. 

I had been told, by my campaign manager (who had visited there in the past) there was also a regular television studio in the upstairs of one of the buildings, I didn’t ask about it.  

Closer to the main part of the city at the end of the runway, and on the east side of the road, were several paved lanes about 20 feet wide and 60 or so feet long, with about two or three covered benches alongside each lane.  I learned these were bus pick up points to be used during the festival.

They had regular bus stops throughout the ranch and regular routes to pick up the followers and then take them back to that location.  They would then walk up to their rooms. 

There were two lakes that were on the property that were used for recreation and they, too, were on the route. 

There was also a bank of about 20 pay phones on the east side of the bus lanes.  Along the west side of the road, was a large lot full of yellow school busses.  While I didn’t count them, there appeared to be well over 50 of them.

One of my responsibilities as Sheriff was to approve the security details for their annual festival to be held the last week of June and first week of July.  I will go into more detail at a later time, but suffice it to say for now; I was not satisfied with past actions.  

The Mayor wanted to show me the city so he could show me how they set up the ranch for the 15,000 visitors coming into the ranch and city area during the festival. 

There were several small fields where they would be setting up the temporary shelters.  Those shelters consisted of canvas tents on wooden platforms.  They would house four people each.  This was to be the fourth year they had the festival.  They would have those shelters up and ready in just about 3 days from start to finish. 

They were well organized and had a lot of members to accomplish the work.  Many of the apartments and four-plexes had been built to house visitors during the summer months, including the time of the festival.  Most of these buildings were empty the rest of the year.

We drove over a small bridge that crossed over the Big Muddy Creek.  On the left as we turned the corner to the right, still on the county road, was the old ranch house and some buildings that had been used by the ranchers to operate the ranch.  Now they were offices and a bakery for the commune.  We drove south through the business district.

The business district was about a normal city block long.  It was, for the most part, on the west side of the road.  The main structure was a very long building that had been built in such a manner that the businesses occupied storefronts, much like a mall.   It was built in two stories. 

There was a covered wooden sidewalk all along the front of the stores.  The stores consisted of a travel agency, beauty shop, gift shop, restaurant and a couple of other convenient stores.  Most of the upper level was a large open office complex.  The corporate offices were located in this area. 

The rest of the upstairs was another restaurant.   As we passed the stores we went around the bookstore, which was in a separate building and on the east side of the street. 

We then drove by a number of four-plexes.  Like those up the numerous draws, these were permanent buildings.  Built on a foundation and complying with all building codes, but without planning commission approval.

Beyond those buildings were other buildings I was told were class rooms for the Rajneesh’s college and for seminars that are held throughout the summer.  We passed this area and I could see a large vacant field and then an opened covered area of about 40,000 square feet. 

The vacant field of a couple acres would house more temporary shelters.  We stopped at the covered shelter for a moment.   There were no walls, just pillars holding up the roof.  He explained that this was a field, mobile kitchen and the main dining area. 

There were a number of prefabricated buildings on the north side of the shelter; these were used for storage of food during the festival.  The floor was of concrete and there were a few picnic tables on the floor.  He told me that there would be hundreds of tables set up for the festival.

Past this area was a very large field they use for recreational activity such as soccer.

Still driving south we drove across the county line into Jefferson County. 

To be Continued:

1 Kings 3:9-13 Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?

¹⁰ And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.

¹¹ And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment;

¹² Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.

¹³ And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.

During the Civil War, here in America, it is said both sides believed that God was on their side.  That God would intervene on their behalf because their cause was right.

We have to ask, how these men could feel that God would be on their side against the other who was equally convinced God would help their side win?

We hear people, particularly athletes, say that God gave them the victory over another person or team.

Does God really take sides in an athletic event?  What if both sides ask God to help them win – who does He choose?

You observed athletes point upwards when they make a good play, they are found praying after they are successful, giving God and Jesus the glory for their victory – are those valid profession of faith?

Most are just acknowledging their God given ability and thankful that they could use it for their sport.  It is one thing to pray for the ability to do the best they can and everyone should be free from injury and a something else entirely to ask for victory over another team – who may also have Christians on it.

What does the parent of children who are in competition against each other pray for?  Which one should win?

What they pray for is their children play well, are protected from injury and will come home safely.

When we ask God to guide our lives, how do we pray?

We do want victory, we do want to be successful, but for what?

Are we bad Christians because what we pray for doesn’t come about?

There was a song by Chiemene Badi a few years ago that started out with:

Oh, Lord won’t you please buy me a Mercedes Benz?  Then a color TV and then a night on the town.  I’m counting on you, Lord, please don’t let me down.

It was a catchy tune.  It was a farcical song about asking God for material things (at least I think it was absurd and not meant to be taken seriously.)

But how different is that from asking God to help us win in a game or thinking that God is on our side in a war where Christians are on both sides, as in the Civil War?

Solomon could have asked for many things when God spoke to him in his dream.  But Solomon knew that he needed help from God to be the King God wanted Him to be – so he asked for wisdom.

There is just something wrong about praying that I defeat another person.  When I was running for Office, I prayed that He would guide me and assist me in my campaign.  I ran against others, some were good people and some even Christians – how could I ask God to help me defeat the other person?

As we grow closer to God we realize that He truly wants what is best for us, but He rarely will He intervene in a contest.

Yes, He sent the Hebrews into the land and protected them as they won victory after victory – but can we really say that our competition is about glorifying God, or is it about us wanting recognition?

We need to think about our conversations with God.  We need to use wisdom to understand what is appropriate and what quite possibly offends Him – at the least makes Him question our hearts.

We can go through the bible and see many examples of prayer; examples that show that God does want to hear our needs and He will assist us.

We need to pray for our well-being, it is okay to pray for deliverance, but let us not get so focused on ourselves that we forget that God knows what we need – and instead focus on the needs of others.

Colossians 1:9-10   For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;

¹⁰ That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;

God is not our ‘personal’ lucky charm.  He has many facets and will allow us to ask of Him whatever is in our heart.

Let us ask that others come to Him; that those serving Him will be covered and led by His Holy Spirit and not worry about asking for a Mercedes Benz.

Later, Art :-)

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again