The Plumbline

Who can measure the wealth and wisdom and knowledge of God? Who can understand his decisions or explain what he does? “Has anyone known the thoughts of the Lord or given him advice? Has anyone loaned something to the Lord that must be repaid?” Everything comes from the Lord. All things were made because of him and will return to him. Praise the Lord forever! Amen.  (Romans 11:33-36)   If we are used to measuring things, such as the length of something, or the content within a particular container, after a while we all can pretty much eyeball something and tell just about how much is in that container or how long the object is.  Why?  We become so accustomed to the container or the object we are measuring we just know when we see it. It has to do with how frequently we observe that object. There are things I "know" because I have observed them over and over again until I developed an awareness.  I wonder if we can get to know God's ways of dealing in our lives in much the

Figs might not grow on the fig trees, and grapes might not grow on the vines. Olives might not grow on the olive trees, and food might not grow in the fields. There might not be any sheep in the pens or cattle in the barns. But I will still be glad in the Lord and rejoice in God my Savior. The Lord God gives me my strength. He helps me run fast like a deer. He leads me safely on the mountains. (Habakkuk 3:17-19) None of us wants to hear of bad things happening, much less that we won't have food to eat, the land growing barren before us, the storehouses emptied of all reserve. Kind of sounds a little 'apocalyptic' doesn't it? Do 'lean times' mean we will trust God any less? I certainly hope not! The harder things get for us, the greater our faith is put to the test. The more it is tested, the more we find ourselves either turning into God, or running from what he is doing. The direction we take determines the outcome we will realize. The Lord God gives me my stre

  So he got up and returned to his father. The father looked off in the distance and saw the young man returning. He felt compassion for his son and ran out to him, enfolded him in an embrace, and kissed him. (Luke 15:20) I was struck with a thought this morning about the father. The father never gave up on his son, though there was little sign that he had any intention of being 'made right' again. The father never gave up watching, though the road was long. The father never lost the intensity of love for his wayward son. I wondered for just a moment if God the Father was looking with such intensity of love for his Son's return to heaven's realm - if he stood, arms outstretched, heart filled with love, and took Jesus into his embrace. All that Jesus had endured, all he had experienced, not because of his own folly, but because there was absolutely no other way for US to know that same embrace unless he did! We all experience the folly of sin because we are all sinners.

Fools hate to be told they are wrong, so they refuse to ask wise people for advice. Intelligent people want more knowledge, but fools only want more nonsense. (Proverbs 15:12, 14) Before we begin, let me assure you that I was a fool for a long, long time. I hated to be told I was wrong, refusing correction, not believing I could learn anything from the situations at hand. I continued in my folly until one day God asked me if I liked looking and behaving like a fool. As you might imagine, I even argued with God about my 'rightness' and the other guy's 'wrongness'. What a silly thing it is to argue with God! I recall the day when I finally laid that 'folly' and 'false front' before him, only to find I didn't really like the 'real me'. Perhaps that is why I tried to cover the real me up with all that folly! It was even hard for me to believe God could love me as I was, but he never stopped showing me how much he loved the 'real me'.

Don’t stop the work of the Holy Spirit. Don’t treat prophecy like something that is not important. But test everything. Keep what is good, and stay away from everything that is evil. (I Thessalonians 5:20-22) Don't stop the work of the Holy Spirit - just how might we do that in our own lives or the lives of others around us? We might not listen when he is giving us guidance, choosing our own plans or path. We could discount something he has shown another, making them question if they are really hearing from God at all. We might find ourselves disagreeing with truth simply because it doesn't 'fit' our present lifestyle or choices. Whenever we 'stop the work of the Holy Spirit', we might find ourselves walking away from truth and toward deception quicker than we think! Test everything - does God really mean 'everything' when he says this? Yes, he does! Test what you hear before you put your full belief into it! I always tell someone if something doesn'

I have a serious concern to bring up with you, my friends, using the authority of Jesus, our Master. I'll put it as urgently as I can: You must get along with each other. You must learn to be considerate of one another, cultivating a life in common. {I Corinthians 1:10} We are all living life in parallel to each other. It can get a little messy to live life in parallel to anyone else, but it is not exactly easy to live life running in opposite directions of each other! When we seek to live life in parallel, we are commanded to do a couple of things - be considerate of one another and cultivate the "parallel life" as deeply as possible. We have to become familiar with the life circumstances the other person is presently experiencing, as well as those which have already shaped their lives. I have not experienced the hatred and contempt for one's race, color, or creed as others may have experienced firsthand. Does this mean I cannot walk in parallel with those who are d

"Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone's face? Did I say words of healing? Did I let go of my anger and resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love? These are the real questions. I must trust that the little bit of love that I sow now will bear many fruits, here in this world and the life to come." (Henri Nouwen) A gentle answer makes anger disappear, but a rough answer makes it grow. (Proverbs 15:1) My words make a difference - all our words do! We cannot 'make words' and then expect they will just 'hang out there' indefinitely. At some point, our words will either build up or tear down. Our words will help someone navigate life's challenges wisely, or they will turn them in a direction that causes them to veer off course. Words have an impact - good, bad, or simply confusing - they all matter. We might not think we have much to say, but when we speak, do our words come across in a loving manner? Do they encourage one who is holding back o

How eager are you for the warm weather of summer? How much do you look forward to a special event like vacation or seeing friends you haven't visited with in a long while? What level of excitement does a promotion at work create within your heart? Does the birth of a newborn thrill your heart and make your day special? I wonder if we have the same 'eagerness' and 'excitement' about Christ's return to this earth a second time? We all know there were mixed emotions over his first coming, ranging from curiosity to unbelief. Will his second return be met with mixed emotions on our part, or anticipation of better things to come? Christ also died only once as a sacrifice. In this way, he took God's punishment for the sins of many people. Christ will return to earth a second time, but that will not be as a sacrifice for sins. That time, he will come to save those people who are waiting patiently for him.  (Hebrews 9:28) The purpose of his first coming - to offer hi

God remembered us when we were down. His love never quits. Rescued us from the trampling boot. His love never quits. Takes care of everyone in time of need. His love never quits. Thank God, who did it all. His love never quits. (Psalm 136:23-26) We are reminded over and over again that God's love never quits - not less than twenty-six times in as many verses within this psalm. His - there is no other basis for our trust, nor our focus - it is him and him alone. Love - evident in nothing more revealing than his grace. NEVER - not just when the urge strikes him, but each and every time we need to see, feel, or experience it in some manner. Quits - as impossible as it is for God to lie, it is equally impossible for him to withhold his love from us. It is good to be reminded of things we have a tendency to forget, isn't it? Our mind wanders and finds distraction in the most unlikely places, all the while setting us up to forget who it is we have placed our trust in and to begin to

I had the opportunity this week to read through the account of God delivering the Israelites from their Egyptian overlords and what happened after their deliverance. One thing caught my attention quickly - how much they complained about what God was doing. They complained as they faced the Red Sea. They launched another complaint when they came across the bitter waters in the region of Marah. Even after God performed miracles to redeem them from their captors and take care of their basic need for potable water, they still found reason to complain when their bellies were empty! I don't know about you, but when God does something 'big' in my life, it makes me sit up and take notice. When he does something 'small' in my life, I might miss it until I see a bunch of 'small' things mount up to a 'big' thing, but I eventually find the opportunity to acknowledge what he has done. God isn't always going to work in the 'big' ways in our lives, but

Moses led the Israelites away from the Red Sea and into the desert of Shur. They traveled for three days in the desert. They could not find any water. Then they came to Marah. There was water at Marah, but it was too bitter to drink. (That is why the place was named Marah.) The people began complaining to Moses. They said, “Now what will we drink?” (Exodus 15:22-24) God has just delivered you from some HUGE thing that was weighing heavily upon your shoulders, such as the bondage the Egyptians kept the Israelites under, and your immediate response to your deliverance is to sing praises to him. That sounds about right, doesn't it? Now, a few days or weeks pass by, and we find ourselves facing something much less challenging, but a hindrance, nonetheless. Our 'immediate' response in that moment is to praise God, right? Not always! If we are anything like the Israelites, when we face the first 'bump in the road' following God's mighty deliverance, will our response

But the Lord has always loved his followers, and he will continue to love them forever and ever! He will be good to all their descendants, to those who are faithful to his agreement and who remember to obey his commands. (Psalm 103:17-18) God's part - love us. Our part - obey him. Seems pretty easy, but it has presented more challenges for God's people down through the ages that we can shake a stick at! Why is obedience so hard? If we really want to be obedient to ALL that God asks of us, not just the 'easy stuff', then we need to understand obedience is a struggle of the will. Pride gets all balled up in the mess, as well. We want things to go the easiest way possible, don't we? Whenever something doesn't quite go as we hoped, do we bail? Do we double-down and put extra effort into it? Most of us find ourselves facing the difficulties of obedience with a bit of prideful will - we want it our way, but our way isn't always God's way. I am so glad God'

When others are happy, you should be happy with them. And when others are sad, you should be sad too. Live together in peace with each other. Don’t be proud, but be willing to be friends with people who are not important to others. Don’t think of yourself as smarter than everyone else. (Romans 12:15-16) Live together in peace. Good idea, but tough to actually execute. We might set out to live at peace with others, finding our attempts at 'peaceful living' are met with resistance from all sides. Try as we might, living 'at peace' with each other is just not possible unless Christ is brought into the center of the 'living'. When Christ is central in the relationship, there will still be difficulties, but there is a power beyond our human reasoning or fickle emotions that helps us to bring resolution to the issues. We need to be willing to listen to one another, but dare I say we also need to be able to hear one another. This is where Christ does his work - he help

If we say that we share in life with God and keep on living in the dark, we are lying and are not living by the truth. But if we live in the light, as God does, we share in life with each other. And the blood of his Son Jesus washes all our sins away. If we say that we have not sinned, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth isn’t in our hearts. But if we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away. (I John 1:5-9) Sharing is a concept parents teach their kiddos from an early age. Sharing is really the action of each taking part in the use or enjoyment of what one of the parties in the group has. In some cultures, all things are put into common storage and then are distributed from the common resources to meet the needs of everyone in the community. We may consider "sharing" as what we do when we have a little of what someone else doesn't have, giving it to them so they can get use of it or enjoy it as much as we have. Either wa

Then the Egyptians—all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and charioteers—chased them into the middle of the sea. But just before dawn the Lord looked down on the Egyptian army from the pillar of fire and cloud, and he threw their forces into total confusion. He twisted their chariot wheels, making their chariots difficult to drive. “Let’s get out of here—away from these Israelites!” the Egyptians shouted. “The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt!” (Exodus 14:23-25) We may never see the power of God on display such as the Israelites witnessed that day when they crossed over the Red Sea with waters piled high on each side, ground made dry for their passage. We might never encounter actual enemy forces hot on our trail, making way toward us in order to bring us to our demise. We may never see the actual pillar of fire or cloud of God's glory on display, clearly delineating the break from our past. Yet, we see God at work in our lives in many ways we may not fully recognize as God. On

Then the angel of God, who had been leading the people of Israel, moved to the rear of the camp. The pillar of cloud also moved from the front and stood behind them. The cloud settled between the Egyptian and Israelite camps. As darkness fell, the cloud turned to fire, lighting up the night. But the Egyptians and Israelites did not approach each other all night. (Exodus 14:19-20) In reading through the account of Moses and Egyptians standing at the shore of the Red Sea with the Egyptian armies approaching from their rear, I was caught by this account of God's protection. Moses had been telling the people God would defend them, that he'd be their place of safety as they left Egypt, but some did not realize he would do what he was about to do on their behalf. They complained, wanting to turn back, even if it meant being in bondage to the Egyptian people. It isn't uncommon to want to turn back when we realize the struggle ahead may take us into the unknown. In fact, we probabl

When the Israelites saw Pharaoh and his army coming toward them, they were very frightened and cried to the Lord for help. They said to Moses, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Did you bring us out here in the desert to die? We could have died peacefully in Egypt; there were plenty of graves in Egypt. We told you this would happen! In Egypt we said, ‘Please don’t bother us. Let us stay and serve the Egyptians.’ It would have been better for us to stay and be slaves than to come out here and die in the desert.” But Moses answered, “Don’t be afraid! Don’t run away! Stand where you are and watch the Lord save you today. You will never see these Egyptians again. You will not have to do anything but stay calm. The Lord will do the fighting for you.” (Exodus 14:10-14) There are a lot of times God brings us to a certain point in our lives and all we do is 'stand there and watch', hoping for the Lord to do all the work. The very next verse is God's directive to MOVE. In other w

The Lord spoke to Jonah son of Amittai: "Nineveh is a big city. I have heard about the many evil things the people are doing there. So go there and tell them to stop doing such evil things.” But Jonah tried to run away from the Lord. He went to Joppa and found a boat that was going to the faraway city of Tarshish. Jonah paid money for the trip and went on the boat. He wanted to travel with the people on this boat to Tarshish and run away from the Lord. (Jonah 1:1-3) Have you ever tried to run away from God? If you are anything like Jonah, chances are there have been times when God has asked you to do something you didn't agree with, nor did you actually 'want' to do. It comes as no surprise to God that we would actually 'resist' when things aren't exactly as we thought they should be, or that he has a different plan than what we may have laid out for ourselves. It should also not surprise us that God knows when we will resist because our 'opinion' o

It's easy to make a buck. It's a lot tougher to make a difference. (Tom Brokaw) My brothers and sisters, God chose you to be free. But don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do what pleases your sinful selves. Instead, serve each other with love. (Galatians 5:13) We can make a difference in BIG ways when we let God guide our steps, choose our interactions, and prepare us in advance of each day. What we choose to do with our lives will determine the outcome. Living for Jesus is more than living for oneself. When we choose to live for Jesus, we choose to live for all those he presents in our path! We might find it hard to please everyone, but God isn't asking us to be 'people-pleasers'. He is asking us to learn the acts of service that will touch those around us. In essence, he is telling us to turn outward and stop always looking inward. It is easy to ask how something will affect us - it is quite different to ask how something has or is affecting someone else. What

I mean that you have been saved by grace because you believed. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God. You are not saved by the things you have done, so there is nothing to boast about. God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so that we would spend our lives doing the good things he had already planned for us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10) "Rough diamonds may sometimes be mistaken for worthless pebbles." (Thomas Browne) Worthless pebbles are sometimes kicked underfoot, tossed aside, or left unnoticed. Would it surprise you to know that is you took one of those 'worthless pebbles' to a jeweler and had him see what he sees within the stone, he might reveal something quite different than what you might have seen in it? In much the same manner, Jesus beholds each of us, rough, ragged, kind of beat up by life, nothing too much to look upon, but within each of us he sees a thing of extreme beauty and value.  God has made us who we are -

Evil people use their words to hurt others, but the words from good people can save others from danger. (Proverbs 12:6) Could we take a few moments today to consider the power of our words? We all know the Words of God recorded for us in scripture are all-powerful and give instruction each of us must embrace if we are to live godly lives. Do the words we speak reflect the wisdom of God? Do they indicate patience and grace when it is most needed? Do they create an atmosphere of safety and security for those who hear them? Words are more powerful than many might believe, but when we take time to consider them before we speak them, we can be assured they will be the ones that do more healing and helping than hindering and harming.  Words reflect the heart - the heart being the seat of our emotions. We can embrace with words as well as with arms. We can hold someone up with words as well as with our physical strength. We can undo the misgivings of one's wavering faith with words of fai

But the wisdom that comes from God is like this: First, it is pure. It is also peaceful, gentle, and easy to please. This wisdom is always ready to help people who have trouble and to do good for others. This wisdom is always fair and honest. People who work for peace in a peaceful way get the blessings that come from right living. (James 3:17-18) Right living is not always what we see modeled around us, is it? At times, we observe others and know their actions are going to create havoc. There are even times we can feel ourselves 'winding up' and know very well that the outcome of that 'wind up' will not fare well for us! Confucius once said, "By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest." We often revert to imitation because it is the easiest, but I also know from my own personal growth, experience has played a big part in how I view and r

So you must continue to live in a way that gives meaning to your salvation. Do this with fear and respect for God. Yes, it is God who is working in you. He helps you want to do what pleases him, and he gives you the power to do it. (Philippians 3:12-13) Sin has a way of wearing a path in our lives. We don't even realize it, but there is a 'groove' worn as we continue to follow the same old patterns. Much like the elephant pegged to the ground, sin wears away a groove we seem to just contentedly walk around within. We allow a worn path in our lives when we go through the process of the repetitive actions of a particular habit or sin. It may take a little effort to get out of the rut if we have been traveling in that rutted path for a long time. But...Jesus doesn't leave us in the rut, nor does he limit us in anyway. He totally removes all the reminders of the bondage - but we have to change our thought pattern about our bondage. We need to realize we are free!  The el

God is the one who enables you both to want and to actually live out his good purposes. (Philippians 2:13)  When God enables us, he makes us able, giving us the power or ability, as well as the means by which to live holy and upright lives. Consider who is doing the enabling and we might just begin to see our course of action as different than what we might have originally believed it ever could be. On one hand, we work hard to obtain or realize a goal, without anyone really helping us realize that goal. On the other hand, when someone comes alongside, bringing talents we don't possess and apply those talents toward the end goal, we might just realize the project comes to fruition quicker and easier than if we struggled to do it alone. There is something about being enabled to do something which gives us a certain freedom or liberty to pursue it with a greater passion and purpose, isn't there? Imagine your spiritual goals. You should have some, you know! If you don't, the

Our heart fire must be tended. What gets our attention gets tended - plain and simple. If we turn away from tending that spiritual fire, it is easy for it to begin to go out. Diligence must be maintained in ensuring we are consistent in tending it. Whenever we tend something, we are directing our attention toward the object we are tending - it means we narrow our focus to see just what we need to be paying attention to and then we do something about it. It is not enough to just look like we are tending our spiritual growth. We need to be actively engaged in taking care of our spiritual lives - not just passively going about life hoping God will help us to grow. The fire must never go out, so put wood on it each morning. After this, you are to lay an animal on the altar next to the fat that you sacrifice to ask my blessing. Then send it all up in smoke to me. The altar fire must always be kept burning—it must never go out. (Leviticus 6:12-13)   Our heart fire must burn hot. The fi

The fire must never go out, so put wood on it each morning. After this, you are to lay an animal on the altar next to the fat that you sacrifice to ask my blessing. Then send it all up in smoke to me. The altar fire must always be kept burning—it must never go out. (Leviticus 6:12-13)   The Old Testament can be a bit hard to read through, especially since it seems like there are a lot of blood wars, blood sacrifices, bad things happening, and a whole lot of sinning going on! I see regular people, struggling to make a way in a regular world, and meeting with regular issues we all have to encounter. So, instead of slugging through, I look for the hidden truths and things we might otherwise overlook if we were just reading these chapters as "historical content". In the Book of Leviticus, much instruction was given to the priests on how they were to conduct their daily business in the offering of sacrifices.  In the instructions given to Moses for the priests, various sacrifices,

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end. (Seneca) So don’t remember what happened in earlier times. Don’t think about what happened a long time ago, because I am doing something new! (Isaiah 43:18-19) Does the past seem to disappoint you? Sometimes the pain from the past lingers well into the present, making it almost impossible for us to escape the disappointment we have experienced. Disappointment doesn't always come from an action of another - it frequently is linked to some action we have taken ourselves. If someone else has brought the disappointment, it is well past the time to forgive and move on. If you have caused that deep disappointment, it is time you confess it, relinquish it to God, and begin to move forward, don't you think? God's plan has always been to keep us focused forward, not on what lies behind. He isn't doing the 'new thing' in the past, he is doing it in the present. Forward-focused individuals find it difficult t

You don’t know where the wind blows. And you don’t know how a baby grows in its mother’s womb. In the same way, you don’t know what God will do—and he makes everything happen. (Ecclesiastes 11:5) We all have those seasons in life when we know stuff is happening, or about to happen, but we really aren't sure what all is about to come our way. We get a little frightened by the stuff we don't understand, try to make some assumptions about what we believe may be happening, and generally get ourselves all out of sorts when stuff gets harder than we'd like. Then along comes God's intervention and all of a sudden, almost without us noticing, things begin to sort themselves out and life gets a little easier. What we missed in all that in-between stage was the peace God wants us to walk in as we go THROUGH those seasons. Today, we can use 3-D ultrasound to get an almost perfect picture of the baby's features. In the time this passage was recorded for us, a baby was conceale

You formed the way I think and feel. You put me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because you made me in such a wonderful way. I know how amazing that was! (Psalm 139:13-14) If you ever want to discount your feelings, don't! God made those emotions, and he knows how you will respond with them when life gets tough, sends a surprise your way, or gets you excited for something new you are about to experience. He formed the way we think AND the way we feel. In other words, he knows how we will 'interpret' the things we are experiencing. To think God doesn't know the way our brains work is a really silly belief. To imagine God doesn't want us to acknowledge our emotional responses to life's moments is also very foolish. He made both and he isn't 'put off' by how we think or what we feel. He may want to help us think a little clearer and have less fluctuation in our emotions on occasion, but he isn't surprised by either! The way we think can b

  Your love must be real. Hate what is evil. Do only what is good.   Love each other in a way that makes you feel close like brothers and sisters. And give each other more honor than you give yourself.  (Romans 12:9-10) Sometimes it is way too easy to put on our 'public happy face' in the presence of what we know are unkind or evil actions, going about life as though all things within our life were wonderful all of the time, all the while struggling on the inside to just keep it together. The 'public happy face' fools no one, especially God. The more ingenuine we are with each other, the longer it will take for us to realize the healing we need so desperately require as a society. Real love for one another doesn't require the 'public happy face' to be worn. In fact, real love displayed means we are 'real' with each other - even when life is a bit messy, or our 'perfection' isn't quite measuring up that day, and evil seems to be gaining gr