The Plumbline

It’s news I’m most proud to proclaim, this extraordinary Message of God’s powerful plan to rescue everyone who trusts him, starting with Jews and then right on to everyone else! God’s way of putting people right shows up in the acts of faith, confirming what Scripture has said all along: “The person in right standing before God by trusting him really lives.” (Romans1:16) Right with God means we can stand before God without fear of judgment. How is this possible? We place our trust in the finished work of Christ at the cross. We learn to live a new life at the foot of the cross - beginning the moment we say 'yes' to Jesus and then continuing on as the Holy Spirit begins to take the Word of God and apply it various areas of our lives where we most need it. Trust is the basis of faith - faith is required in order to stand strong. As we discussed in an earlier post, faith isn't just 'given' - it is grown within us. The seed of faith is placed there by God himself, then ...

Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark. (Rabindranath Tagore) The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd. By faith, we see the world called into existence by God’s word, what we see created by what we don’t see. (Hebrews 11:1-3) For some, the days may seem like they are a little 'dark' - nothing good seems to be in visible sight at all. For others, they have just come out of their darkest place to date, glad to be 'done with it', but ever so grateful for all they learned as they leaned into Jesus throughout that darkness. Faith isn't born in the 'lightest' places of our lives - it is most frequently found growing leaps and bounds when the 'darkness' comes into our lives. Why do you think that might be? It coul...

Get wisdom—it’s worth more than money; choose insight over income every time. The road of right living bypasses evil; watch your step and save your life. First pride, then the crash—the bigger the ego, the harder the fall. It pays to take life seriously; things work out when you trust in God. A wise person gets known for insight; gracious words add to one’s reputation. (Proverbs 16:16-18, 20-21) Contrast is the tool by which life responses are often evaluated. Pride enters, destruction is close on its heels. Haughtiness results in a fall; humility results in an increase in one's life. Pride or haughtiness are set out as "wrong" paths for our life. Wisdom and insight are presented as better than all the wealth we could accumulate. Trusting in God and listening to wise instruction outweighs doing things our own way (creating a 'history' we may regret). God commends the wise, because they have come to the place of doing more than appreciating good teaching - the...

People are trapped in history and history is trapped in them. (James Baldwin) I'd have to say this is pretty accurate about most of us - our history actually 'traps us' and we are bound to it like super-glue to our fingers. All of us have a 'history'. All of us has had to deal with that 'history' or else we bury it deeper and deeper because it was too hard to deal with. Regardless of buried or 'dealt with', the history remains - it happened - it left a mark of sorts. On occasion I am haunted by some of the things I have done, said, or thought - in my distant past, but still coming up in my memory from time to time. It isn't that these things aren't under the grace of Jesus - sins confessed, dealt with, and moved on from. It is that our memory has a way of being used as a 'weapon' against us during some of our weakest moments. Maybe this is why God emphasizes us bringing EVERY thought captive - because the battle begins in the mind! If...

God, the one and only— I’ll wait as long as he says. Everything I need comes from him, so why not? He’s solid rock under my feet, breathing room for my soul, An impregnable castle: I’m set for life. (Psalm 62:1-2) I saw a quote by "Missional Women" that read: "It is better to wait on God than to have regrets." It hit me that we all deal with regrets and if this 'waiting on God' part of our lives were just a bit better, we might not have quite so many. As King David proposed, if we wait as long as God says, the outcome may just be a little more certain. Why? The ground we stand upon is solid - the place where we take refuge while we wait gives us the needed time to breathe in and breathe out. We are to go to God, waiting upon him as long as HE says, not trudging ahead because WE say it is time to move. I speak for myself here - waiting is tough business. My mind gets me in muddle and the muddle just gets worse as I imagine all "I" could be doing if...

Only the person involved can know his own bitterness or joy—no one else can really share it. Laughter cannot mask a heavy heart. When the laughter ends, the grief remains. Only a simpleton believes everything he’s told! A prudent man understands the need for proof. A wise man is cautious and avoids danger; a fool plunges ahead with great confidence. A short-tempered man is a fool. He hates the man who is patient. The simpleton is crowned with folly; the wise man is crowned with knowledge. (Proverbs 14:10, 13, 15-18) Whether we know it or not, we often bear our bitterness alone - although others may step in to attempt to help us bear it, it is primarily something we bear alone. We can experience great joy, but no one can fully experience it the same as we do. Emotions are really something others attempt to share with us and we with them, but in essence, the joy or bitterness of another is something we can never truthfully fully comprehend and experience in the same manner as the one e...

Jesus answered by quoting Deuteronomy: “It takes more than bread to stay alive. It takes a steady stream of words from God’s mouth.” (Matthew 4:4) I love stream fishing because that running water helps me actually have a good time getting the fish on my line. They hide away under rocks, fallen tree limbs, and branches along the shoreline. I have to 'float' that bait just right to get the trout to see it, be enticed by it, and then take hold of it. I wonder if God's Word is a bit like 'stream fishing' where he "floats" the Word just right and we eventually see it, are enticed by what is offered, then finally take hold of it. The stream of God's Word flows constantly, but the one who gets hold of what God offers within that 'stream' will indeed find themselves 'captivated' by what he offers. More than bread alone - more than tidbits that are quickly taken, easily digested, and used up as quickly as they are taken. Is it possible God inte...

I prayed to God, ‘Dear God, my Master, you created earth and sky by your great power—by merely stretching out your arm! There is nothing you can’t do. You’re loyal in your steadfast love to thousands upon thousands—but you also make children live with the fallout from their parents’ sins. Great and powerful God, named God-of-the-Angel-Armies, determined in purpose and relentless in following through, you see everything that men and women do and respond appropriately to the way they live, to the things they do. (Jeremiah 32:17) NOTHING he cannot do. NO ONE he overlooks. NOTHING he will not respond to. Three very important things we must learn about the God we serve. He is ever-present, all-knowing, and all-powerful. This is the God who requires obedience of his children - of those who say 'yes' to his invitation to become part of his family.  God is also LOYAL. I don't believe we fully grasp the meaning of loyalty, for at best, we have seen 'images' of loyalty, but n...

God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it . Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. (Romans 12:1-2) The way we think is the determining factor in how we perceive the circumstance in front of us right now. In changing the 'way' we think, we can be transformed. When we ask God, he tends to give us a different perspective than we've been seeing through our own eyes. There are some of us who go through life just feeling like 'come what may', we ar...

The mouth of a good person is a deep, life-giving well, but the mouth of the wicked is a dark cave of abuse. (Proverbs 10:11) Words matter, don't they? When was the last time someone spoke encouraging words into your life and you just felt like they had inflated an emotional "flat tire" inside you? Words can build up, or they can tear down - the course of our conversation is important to consider each and every time we open our mouths. Yet, how many of us actually consider our words BEFORE we allow them to come forth? If you are like me, hindsight is really great, but foresight as it comes to my words is not always that 'clear'! God's intent is for our mouths to be deep, life-giving wells - that doesn't leave much room for the frivolous words, much less the hurtful, demeaning, critical, or angry ones, does it? Don't get me wrong - not every word we speak needs to begin with "God this..." or "God that..." - but our words should not c...

The thoughts of those who are right with God can be trusted, but the words of the sinful are false. (Proverbs 12:5) Have you ever thought to yourself, "Where did THAT thought come from?" There have been times when I found myself considering some thought that seemed to come 'out of left field' without any idea of its source. I had to stop myself, actually reflect on the 'wisdom' of the thought, and then reject it without further thought because there wasn't much 'wisdom' in it at all. I think this is why scripture does so much to warn us of the power of the mind - thoughts can be good or evil, but they can also be somewhere in-between. We have both the requirement and authority to examine our thoughts and consider the 'source'. If the 'source' isn't bearing up to the truth we know about God, how he works, what he says about us, or what he says about others, it is likely not the best thought to be dwelling upon. Let me assure you...

A sensible person wins admiration, but a warped mind is despised. Better to be an ordinary person with a servant than to be self-important but have no food. The godly care for their animals, but the wicked are always cruel. A hard worker has plenty of food, but a person who chases fantasies has no sense. Thieves are jealous of each other’s loot, but the godly are well rooted and bear their own fruit . (Proverbs 12:8-12) Good sense or sound judgment seem to fly out the window on some occasions. There you are, sailing right along and then all of a sudden, wham! You come smack dab up against a moment of decision, letting all your good sense fly right out the window, and you are smack-dab in the middle of a muddle you have created. When this happens, we may not think too much about it because we all fall prey to getting a little distracted, or just not thinking before we act. If this becomes the way we always live life - we begin to think our "sensibility" is a little warp...

If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people . You’ve got to love both. (I John 4:20-21) It can be hard work to really get into any relationship - from our relationship with Christ to the one with our cubicle mate at work. If you haven't figured it out yet, Christianity is not something you "live out" alone - you actually do much better in your growth when it is shared in relationship with another. We "sharpen" each other by the various things we each lend to the relationship. It is the "differences" we each possess that actually make each relationship so important - for it is in the "differences" where we learn to "walk out" our Christian faith. Immaturity demands everybody be just like who we are - matur...

We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. (Charles R. Swindoll) Who is like the wise man? And who understands the meaning of anything? A man’s wisdom makes his face shine. The hard look on his face is changed. (Ecclesiastes 8:1) What are we truly able to change? Many times, we think we can change others, but that probably hasn't worked so well for any of us. We have a hard enough time trying to change ourselves, much less another! We might think we can change the circumstances upon us, but most of the time we can just 'adjust our attitude' toward them. We sometimes believe we could have changed the world, but the world likely didn't want to be changed as we wanted it changed! Change is inevitable, but our attitude toward it is not. We choose the attitude by which we will face change as it comes. We don't ...

The desires of good people lead straight to the best, but wicked ambition ends in angry frustration. (Proverbs 11:23) Desires go a long way in determining the end results. Integrity - lives lived out according to God's plan and purpose, with honesty and humility. Anytime we have "twisted desires", it leads to "twisted hearts" and the outcome will be less than good. I think twisted ambition is what gets us so frustrated most of the time. We get our undies in a wad - either at another individual, over something we cannot control, or totally because we are mad at ourselves - all because of some "twisted" desire or ambition. When we learn to "untangle" our lives a little bit, it is amazing how much differently things actually appear! Life is filled with all kinds of choices. There are "good" or "best" choices, aren't there? Sometimes the difference between the two is a very fine line. I have been guilty of making a ...

    He will receive what is good from the Lord, and what is right and good from the God Who saves him.  Such is the family of those who look for Him, who look for Your face, O God of Jacob. (Psalm 24:5-6) Family - the complex intertwining of individual personalities, traits, and talents into one big conglomerate. Did I mention 'complex'? In the business industry, a conglomerate is often used to describe multiple 'divisions' of a corporation or multiple corporations who do 'business' together. Don't miss that part - the 'divisions' that come together to do 'business' with each other. Families are a bit like that at times - 'divisions' of the 'same blooded' members coming together to 'do business', but when they part again - they are still divided! In the family of God there is no room for 'divisions'. In our earthly families there is also no room for 'divisions'. We don't 'come together' to j...

An empty-head thinks mischief is fun, but a mindful person relishes wisdom. The aspirations of good people end in celebration; the ambitions of bad people crash. The speech of a good person clears the air; the words of the wicked pollute it. (Proverbs 10:23, 28, 32) Ever said to yourself, "Now why'd I do THAT"? I think we probably all have at some point. We plunge right in and then in 20/20 retrospect, we wonder how we ever got as "messed up" as we did. It was probably because we had one of those times when we just didn't stop long enough to consider the consequences of what we were doing - the scripture calls this being "empty-headed". These empty-headed decisions are really not built on a solid foundation therefore they will not turn out well. Our conduct may be fun for a while, but eventually empty-headed decisions catch up with us. Mindful decisions are marked by attentiveness, awareness, and great care. These types of decisions make for a...

Follow My teachings and learn from Me. I am gentle and do not have pride. You will have rest for your souls. For My way of carrying a load is easy and My load is not heavy.” (Matthew 11:29-30) We all have moments when we see needs, but we have no clue how to meet them. Things upset us, these things are right there in our face, many times making us mad, sad, and desiring to see something different as a result of some action we may take. When we are disturbed on behalf of God, we are oftentimes moved in the most significant ways. We may even embrace a calling in life as a result of the burden we bear over the matters that upset us. When we are bothered by something - the need is right there before us - we are likely going to see God impact the lives of people IF we put ourselves out there. We don't have to have a formal position to meet a need if we possess a God-given passion over the need around us. We will make a difference if we follow the burden God places in our hearts. Seek Go...

The Lord says, “Cursed is the man who trusts in man, who trusts in the flesh for his strength, and whose heart turns away from the Lord. For he will be like a bush in the desert and will not see when good comes. He will live in dry wastes in the desert, in a land of salt where no other people live. Good will come to the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is in the Lord. He will be like a tree planted by the water, that sends out its roots by the river. It will not be afraid when the heat comes but its leaves will be green. It will not be troubled in a dry year, or stop giving fruit. (Jeremiah 17:5-8) If you have had a 'dry year' thus far, maybe you are not feeling like 'celebrating' what this year has brought into your life thus far. You may not exactly feel overjoyed by the 'dryness' of the season you are experiencing but let me assure you of this - you are planted in the right place to endure the dryness if you have roots deeply planted in Jesus. WHER...

So, my dear friends, listen carefully; those who embrace these my ways are most blessed. Mark a life of discipline and live wisely; don’t squander your precious life . Blessed the man, blessed the woman, who listens to me, awake and ready for me each morning, alert and responsive as I start my day’s work. When you find me, you find life, real life, to say nothing of God’s good pleasure. But if you wrong me, you damage your very soul; when you reject me, you’re flirting with death. (Proverbs 8:32-36) We began to look at this passage yesterday and I would like to focus on the idea of becoming 'nurturing' individuals today. Nurturing carries the idea of protection. We protect what we value most, don't we? I have insurance on my car, not so much because it is the law, but because it gets me too and from everywhere I need to be. To be without it for any length of time, or to lose it completely, would place me in a position of having to walk long distances in the Arizona heat - ...

So, my dear friends, listen carefully; those who embrace these my ways are most blessed. Mark a life of discipline and live wisely; don’t squander your precious life. Blessed the man, blessed the woman, who listens to me, awake and ready for me each morning, alert and responsive as I start my day’s work. When you find me, you find life, real life, to say nothing of God’s good pleasure. But if you wrong me, you damage your very soul; when you reject me, you’re flirting with death. (Proverbs 8:32-36) Having a "storehouse" gives us the ability to "save up" for the days of leanness that are sure to come. God's storehouse has resources always available for us: Direction; Strength; Success; and Insight. We can access his storehouse at any time - making the necessary withdrawals. It is also important to lay up for times of leanness in our own lives - things like Trust, Patience, Endurance, and even Faith. The blessings God distributes to his children are also thi...

Ever been caught "off-guard" by something or someone? You were not prepared, got caught in the moment, and then fell for it hook, line, and sinker. Sin has a way of "taking us in" - catching us off-guard, just like that. To protect us from being "taken in" when sin's promises and our own lust entice us to do something or act a certain way, we need the correction of discipline. The "correction" of discipline - for no discipline is without correction. Even if you are trying to live a healthier lifestyle, rising early, taking walks, getting enough rest, and making wise food choices - there will be times when you need to "correct" your actions to still "match" the discipline you are trying to achieve. More than anything, you and I need the "action" of the Word over our soul - correcting and guiding us toward discipline. Dear friend, do what I tell you; treasure my careful instructions. Do what I say and you’ll l...

Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful. (John Wooden) Have you ever heard the quote from scripture that God takes care of the humble, but opposes the proud man? I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to be on the 'opposing' side to God! I am not thinking that would end very well at all.  Though the Lord is great, he cares for the humble, but he keeps his distance from the proud. (Psalm 138:6) God cares for the humble - the one who realizes how much they owe to the one who has redeemed their lives. I used to think a humble person was one who always went around kind of timid, shyly carrying on tasks behind the scenes. I have since discovered God actually has quite a few humble servants who aren't afraid to put themselves out there each and every day. They value relationships and work hard to keep not only their relationships 'solid', but they are constantly seeking to see all relationships be on ...

In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing. (Theodore Roosevelt) But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere. So I decided to compare wisdom with foolishness and madness (for who can do this better than I, the king?). I thought, “Wisdom is better than foolishness, just as light is better than darkness. (Ecclesiastes 2:11-13) The best thing we can do is the right thing, but how many times do we choose the wrong thing? We might be pursuing the right thing, but find we complicate it what we really think might make the 'right thing' even better. Ever do that? I have, and I have to admit, things don't turn out as well when I bring my foolish ideas into the 'right thing' God wants me to pursue. Compare wisdom with foolishness and you might find two...

We aim above the mark to hit the mark. (Ralph Waldo Emerson) Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. Then people who are not believers will respect the way you live... (I Thessalonians 4:11-12) Knowing where we are aiming is important, because our aim determines our course. We don't walk with an aim in front of us and then walk backwards. We set one foot in front of the other, hopefully in the direction of our target. Living a 'quiet life' is not having our head in the sand all of the time. We must engage in life, but in a respectful, peaceful, and kind manner. Christ didn't stick his head in the sand, avoiding all the tough issues, but rather he confronted them with a positive example, loving attitude, and kindness of heart that drew people to him. A 'quiet life' isn't a 'sheltered' life - one in which we withdraw from what is happening around us. In fact, accor...

Forget about the wrong things people do to you, and do not try to get even. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. I am the Lord. (Leviticus 19:18) As you might well imagine, as long as there are people attempting to coexist on this earth, there will be conflict of some sort. Some of it is really kind of silly conflict, such as when a team pitted against another on the football field begins to push and shove others on the opposite team, erupting into a few chosen words and punches. Other conflict is quite real, such as when one nation rises up against another, taking life after life in the conflict. Some conflict might just be a little selfish, such as when we pout because we didn't get our own way about something. Regardless of the reason for conflict - it exists all around us. As you might imagine, God's answer to conflict is to expect it, but not to dwell within it - don't get caught up in it, engage in it, or harbor the type of conflict that lasts forever. This conce...

No one can hide where I cannot see him,” says the Lord. “I fill all of heaven and earth,” says the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:24) As a young child, I used to play 'hide & seek' with neighborhood friends. It was a grand game because we lived in a neighborhood comprised of huge trees, fenced yards, grandiose rose gardens, and a shed or chicken coop in every back yard! In case you didn't catch my drift there, what made it a spectacular game is that there were innumerable ways to hide. To deal with the tendency of one to go the extra mile to hide out so they wouldn't be found, we'd set some limits like not climbing trees or venturing further away from the starting spot more than one house's distance. That meant there may be four yards to be searched, but there were times we'd say no one could leave the yard of the home where the game was being played. What we did by 'limiting' it to one home's yard was limit the hiding places and save whoever was 'i...

Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. (Thomas A. Edison) Do you give up easily? Or are you one of those tenacious individuals that will never say die? I used to be in the 'never say die' camp, but as I have grown a little older (and hopefully a little wiser), I am probably somewhere in the middle now. I don't give up too easily, but I don't beat a dead horse, either! My friends, do not be surprised at the terrible trouble which now comes to test you. Do not think that something strange is happening to you. So those who suffer as God wants should trust their souls to the faithful Creator as they continue to do what is right. (I Peter 4:12, 19) Testing comes - count on it. You can give up easily, walking away totally defeated; finish a bit of the test, then walk away; or hold on for dear life until you convince yourself you know the reason for the test, all the while missing the real reason. It amaze...