The Plumbline

Show me what you want me to do. You are my God. Let your good Spirit lead me over level ground. (Psalm 143:10) Sometimes we want level ground pathways in life, but they just don't seem to come. We find ourselves in all manner of 'uneven' paths, trying us from every angle spiritually, emotionally, financially, and even physically. They aren't meant to stop our forward progress with Jesus, but they certainly put a 'kink' in it at times! It is never a bad prayer to ask God to show us to that level ground in life. In fact, he'd relish the opportunity to take you from the 'unevenness' of life's challenges into the 'evenness' of his peace, presence, and purpose. You might find yourself there right now - facing challenges that you'd never thought you'd have to face. The more 'uneven' the path right now, the more you can count on God helping you navigate to 'even' ground once again. It might not seem like it, but that brut...

That secret truth, which is for all people, is that Christ lives in you, his people. He is our hope for glory.   So we continue to tell people about Christ. We use all wisdom to counsel every person and teach every person. We are trying to bring everyone before God as people who have grown to be spiritually mature in Christ. (Colossians 1:27-28) The secret truth - as a kid, a secret told to you meant someone trusted you to be able to handle that truth and not blab it to the entire world. The secret of Christ living within us is not one that needs to be kept - it is meant to be shared. It won't bring freedom for those who come to know it, so sharing it is the goal! Tell people about Christ - by the way you live. Tell them about Christ by the way you speak. Tell people about Christ by exhibiting wisdom beyond your own when the moment requires God's wisdom to be brought to light. The secret isn't hidden - it is revealed in us, through us. Use the wisdom God has given you - to ...

Jesus answered, “All who love me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them. My Father and I will come to them and live with them." (John 14:23) Love Jesus? Then we will obey ALL of his teachings. Love Jesus? Then we can be assured of his heavenly Father's love for us, as well. Love Jesus? He dwells within you and is ever-present with you through all of life's journeys. We probably live somewhere between totally believing these things and 'kinda' believing them (in a selective way). The more 'selective' we are in believing these truths, the more we will struggle with understanding and living within God's love. God isn't selective in who he loves. He loves the whole world - even those who don't know him yet. He provides for their salvation - even though they don't realize they need it. He pursues them with his intense love - even though they have no idea they are 'under pursuit'. If God isn't 'selective' in his love, ...

“All authority in heaven and on earth is given to me. So go and make followers of all people in the world. Baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach them to obey everything that I have told you to do. You can be sure that I will be with you always. I will continue with you until the end of time.” (Matthew 28:18-20) What does it mean to live in the 'authority' of Christ? It is both the ability to use God's power and the 'permission' to use it. We might believe we are given permission to use his power, but we might feel very 'unable' to do so. This is nothing but a lie from the pits of hell, my friends! We are given both - the ability and the 'authority' or 'permission' to tap into, live within, and use his power. To live 'powerless' lives is never the will of the Father - his will is for us to have ALL authority. Did Jesus encounter times, places, and people who questioned his authority? Absolutely! ...

What you heard me teach is an example of what you should teach. Follow that model of right teaching with the faith and love we have in Christ Jesus. This teaching is a treasure that you have been trusted with. Protect it with the help of the Holy Spirit, who lives inside us. (2 Timothy 1:13-14) Teaching or instruction abounds, but knowing which one should be impacting your life is best left to the best tutor one could ever have - the Holy Spirit. When we ask the Holy Spirit to 'control' what comes into our minds, hearts, and emotions, we are trusting him to 'weed out' any instruction that isn't 'spot on' and 'zero in on' that which is truth. Any 'almost truth' isn't worth our time or effort! What you hear me teach - God gives us so many positive examples, but is it wise to just 'accept without question' whatever it is they are teaching? No, absolutely not. We need to test every teaching against the Word of God and then rely upon t...

The Lord, the Savior, the Holy One of Israel, says, “I am the Lord your God. I teach you for your own good. I lead you in the way you should go. (Isaiah 48:17) I teach you for your own good - if we are honest here, we all need a little more of his 'instruction' than we have embraced! We might be 'hearing' his teachings, but are we allowing those words to have a deep and meaningful effect in our lives? It isn't just some random preacher teaching us - it is the "I AM". The self-sufficient, self-sustaining God - the one who was and who always is - he is the one doing the teaching. Are we listening? "I AM" is the Lord our God. He sustains us when we don't have the wherewithal to sustain ourselves. He is the one who is not dependent upon anyone else - he has been, will always be, and is right now. All manner of 'distraction' exists for us - things or individuals we might want to elevate to the place of a 'god' in our lives, but the...

The Father has loved us so much! This shows how much he loved us: We are called children of God. And we really are his children. But the people in the world don’t understand that we are God’s children, because they have not known him. Dear friends, now we are children of God. We have not yet been shown what we will be in the future. But we know that when Christ comes again, we will be like him. We will see him just as he is. He is pure, and everyone who has this hope in him keeps themselves pure like Christ. (I John 3:1-3) I have the rare privilege of being a child of God, adopted into his family, chosen to be his follower. How about you? Relationship with Jesus is the beginning of a life lived under different leadership - self no longer leading the way, but God's Spirit giving us direction. Some children have a birthright because they are 'born into' a family. Others are adopted into a family and know the love of the Father because he has chosen to give them a place within...

"What we hope ever to do with ease, we must learn first to do with diligence." (Samuel Johnson) Being excited about something is not enough. You must also know what you are doing. Don’t rush into something, or you might do it wrong. (Proverbs 19:2) For lazy people, life is a path overgrown with thorns and thistles. For those who do what is right, it is a smooth highway. (Proverbs 14:9) Faith demands diligence - we cannot focus on obedient steps until we are diligent to consider and act upon all God has shown us. There is absolutely no place for laziness in our Christian walk. We may want to 'rest upon our laurels' a bit, but when we consider what happens when we do, we might just reconsider that desire! Resting upon one's laurels means we settle for remembrance of past success - we fail to move forward. We do absolutely nothing to ensure our present or future success. We might hear God asking us to get up, get busy with him, and move on, but we are most 'conte...

Come, let us bow down and worship him! Let us kneel before the Lord who made us. He is our God, and we are the people he cares for,  his sheep that walk by his side . (Psalm 95:6-7) We have been looking into the life of Noah, a man known for his obedience to God and one who stands out for us as a man of 'great faith'. "Noah was warned by God about things that he could not yet see. But he had faith and respect for God, so he built a large boat to save his family. With his faith, Noah showed that the world was wrong. And he became one of those who are made right with God through faith ." (Hebrews 11:7) We might not feel our faith is all that 'great' at times, but if God asked us to do something kind of 'way out there', would we believe it possible God would guide us throughout the task? If we did believe that way, we'd take the steps toward ultimate obedience into all that God asks of us because we'd be assured of his plans, even when we don...

But Noah pleased the Lord. This is the history of Noah’s family. He was a good man all his life , and he always followed God.  Noah did everything God commanded him.   (Genesis 6:8-9, 22) Down through the years, some have asked why they needed to invite God into their lives, touting that they were living 'good lives' - trying their best to make good decisions, not lie or cheat, and generally doing good. The truth is that 'good deeds' are great, but 'good deeds' aren't always the result of a good heart. The heart is deceitful - it is inclined toward sinful choices. What God desires is our obedience. If we never invite Jesus into our lives, never give him access to our heart, our heart will continue to be inclined toward sin. We need his grace to change our hearts so that ALL the works that stem from our hearts are truly 'good'. Yesterday, we discussed that Noah walked with God. One of the most 'telling' parts of his life's testimony is tha...

Romans 12:1-2 remind us, "So I beg you, brothers and sisters, because of the great mercy God has shown us, offer your lives as a living sacrifice to him—an offering that is only for God and pleasing to him. Considering what he has done, it is only right that you should worship him in this way. Don’t change yourselves to be like the people of this world , but let God change you inside with a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to understand and accept what God wants for you. You will be able to know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect." Noah was righteous and blameless before God. Out of all the huge multitude of people on earth at the time, he found favor with God. Others were noted to be so evil, to the point God could not tolerate their evil and corrupt hearts any longer. We can only imagine how difficult it would have been to remain righteous and obedient to God when all those around you were so totally corrupt. Sin was rampant and everyone else was...

“Why are you looking for me? Is it because you saw miraculous signs? The truth is, you are looking for me because you ate the bread and were satisfied. But earthly food spoils and ruins. So don’t work to get that kind of food. But work to get the food that stays good and gives you eternal life. The Son of Man will give you that food. He is the only one qualified by God the Father to give it to you.” The people asked Jesus, “What does God want us to do?” Jesus answered, “The work God wants you to do is this: to believe in the one he sent.” (John 6:26-29) Some might be impressed with the miracles of Jesus, but others are drawn because of a curiosity that might just stem a bit deeper within their spirit. The miracles are always great, but to expect miracles every single day is unrealistic. Jesus makes things quite practical for these followers - believe in the one who sent me. The concern over earthly things might consume their thoughts, but this is not God's plan for any of us. The ...

God, you give true peace to people who depend on you, to those who trust in you. (Isaiah 26:3) We might not realize it, but God's desire is for us to walk in true peace, not the temporary peace of the world that we sometimes refer to as 'happiness'. Happiness is situational - God's true peace is there all the time - even in the roughest of times. The world offers us 'sanctuary peace' - get away, relax, take your mind off the issues at hand, and restore. God offers 'true peace' - in the midst of the chaos, with pressures mounting, his peace permeates the crevices of our heart, mind, and emotions. There is a condition to true peace, though. It is that we move from a place of 'self-dependence' (doing things our way, in our timing, with whatever effort we can exert) into a place of dependence upon him. What does this dependence look like? If we are looking only at what we can see on the surface, there might be evidence of 'emotional balance'...

Each one of us has one body, and that body has many parts. These parts don’t all do the same thing. In the same way, we are many people, but in Christ we are all one body. We are the parts of that body, and each part belongs to all the others. (Romans 12:4-5) "A deep sense of love and belonging is an irreducible need of all people. We are biologically, cognitively, physically, and spiritually wired to love, to be loved, and to belong. When those needs are not met, we don't function as we were meant to. We break. We fall apart. We numb. We ache. We hurt others. We get sick." (Brene Brown) What is your 'part' in the Body of Christ? If you cannot answer that right now, then it is time to ask God to show you where you 'fit' and what your 'role' is. We 'belong' to the Body of Christ, and as such, we belong to each other. To neglect relationship with anyone in the Body of Christ is like neglecting a particular part of your physical body. Whenever...

Those who love your teachings will find true peace. Nothing can make them fall. (Psalm 119:165) True peace is different from what the world offers through its various self-help, or self-care. We might 'retreat' to the mountains, take a beach trip, or just veg on the back patio for the weekend, but all the 'self-care' won't restore our soul as much as Christ will when we lean into him. Some will proport that if you find something within yourself that brings you joy, that joy will burn out the pain in life. I suggest that if your joy is found in Christ and him alone, your pain will be 'burned out' by his healing touch and nothing else! Fall in love with the teachings contained in God's Word and you are well underway toward finding true and lasting peace. It is the peace that isn't found in circumstances, but in his presence. Nothing can make a man or woman of God fall - although the temptation still remains to compromise. That temptation doesn't ...

I love the Lord for hearing me, for listening to my prayers. Yes, he paid attention to me, so I will always call to him whenever I need help. (Psalm 116:1-2) We all experience times when we don't think our words are getting through to God - times when answers are delayed, times going from rough to horrible, and even times when we want to hear from him, but there doesn't seem to be anything coming our way. I haven't found any evidence in scripture that says God doesn't hear some of our prayers, or that he only hears certain ones. Even when the people of old were praying to him with impure hearts, he heard! It is important to understand there may be a reason for God not immediately answering. As soon as we can discover that 'reason', the better! God will not listen to our prayers when we have unconfessed sin in our lives. "I cried out to him for help, and I praised him. If I had been hiding sin in my heart , the Lord would not have listened to me." (Psal...

 I know I was ready to fall, but, Lord, your faithful love supported me. I was very worried and upset, but you comforted me and made me happy! (Psalm 94:18-19) I don't know about you, but there have been plenty of warnings for me when I am about to 'fall' into temptation of some kind. It could just be the knowledge that what I am about to do is a bit 'out on the edge' of what God really wants for his kids. It could be that I hear a clear warning in my subconscious mind, the voice of the Holy Spirit, warning me to just stop. Either way, I had the chance, but did I always listen? Nope! Does that still happen? From time to time, but less and less frequently. Why? I have learned to lean into God's 'faithful support' when I am just about to take that final step into compromise. There is much to be said about 'knowing you are ready to fall' and and having his unfailing love and support to keep you from doing so. Knowing when we are about to compromise ...

 But don’t let sin control your life here on earth. You must not be ruled by the things your sinful self makes you want to do. Don’t offer the parts of your body to serve sin. Don’t use your bodies to do evil, but offer yourselves to God, as people who have died and now live. Offer the parts of your body to God to be used for doing good. Sin will not be your master, because you are not under law. You now live under God’s grace. (Romans 6:12-14) To be controlled is to be dominated by someone or something. We can be controlled by 'things' as easily as we can be controlled by another person. We can also be controlled by thoughts, emotions, and even desires. Perhaps this is why it is so important to be constantly aware of who or what is exerting control over our lives - giving direction to our lives. When we are allowing control to anyone or anything other than Christ, we are in danger of being controlled by what could bring us harm. That which has 'direction over' our live...

 God is our protection and source of strength. He is always ready to help us in times of trouble. So we are not afraid when the earth quakes and the mountains fall into the sea. We are not afraid when the seas become rough and dark and the mountains tremble. Selah (Psalm 46:1-3) Protection requires strength, doesn't it? Do you feel protected inside a tent in the midst of a dime-sized hailstorm? Not likely. You might feel a whole lot better inside a quanset hut because you know the walls can endure the winds and the hail. The strength of the hut gives you a peace that you will come out of the storm all right. When God is our source of protection, he is also our strength - but in order to enjoy his strength in the midst of the storm, we need to 'come into' the place of his protection! God does more than just preserve us from injury or harm, though. There is an overwhelming peace that passes all understanding that is involved with his protection. Did you know the word protecti...

The Lord made a gourd plant grow quickly over Jonah. This made a cool place for Jonah to sit and helped him to be more comfortable. He was very happy because of this plant. The next morning, God sent a worm to eat part of the plant. The worm began eating the plant, and the plant died. After the sun was high in the sky, God caused a hot east wind to blow. The sun became very hot on Jonah’s head, and he became very weak. He asked God to let him die. He said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” But God said to Jonah, “Do you think it is right for you to be angry just because this plant died?” Jonah answered, “Yes, it is right for me to be angry! I am angry enough to die!” And the Lord said, “You did nothing for that plant. You did not make it grow. It grew up in the night, and the next day it died. And now you are sad about it. If you can get upset over a plant, surely I can feel sorry for a big city like Nineveh. There are many people and animals in that city. There are more than ...

God saw what the people did. He saw that they stopped doing evil. So God changed his mind and did not do what he planned. He did not punish the people. Jonah was not happy that God saved the city. Jonah became angry. He complained to the Lord and said, “Lord, I knew this would happen! I was in my own country, and you told me to come here. At that time I knew that you would forgive the people of this evil city, so I decided to run away to Tarshish. I knew that you are a kind God. I knew that you show mercy and don’t want to punish people. I knew that you are kind, and if these people stopped sinning, you would change your plans to destroy them. So now, Lord, just kill me. It is better for me to die than to live.” Then the Lord said, “Do you think it is right for you to be angry?” (Jonah 3:10-4:4) Don't be surprised when God acts 180-degrees from how you thought he'd act! God is always more concerned with our hearts than he is anything else. When the people moved to change their ...

There is much to be said about the leadership of a nation. It can lead us in one of two directions - toward God or further away from God. It can follow an agenda that brings further compromise into a nation, or bring that nation to a place of insight, wise choices, and true freedom. When the king of Nineveh heard about this, he left his throne, removed his robe, put on special clothes to show that he was sorry, and sat in ashes. The king wrote a special message and sent it throughout the city: A command from the king and his great rulers: For a short time no person or animal should eat anything. No herd or flock will be allowed in the fields. Nothing living in Nineveh will eat or drink water. But every person and every animal must be covered with a special cloth to show they are sad. People must cry loudly to God. Everyone must change their life and stop doing bad things. Who knows? Maybe God will stop being angry and change his mind, and we will not be punished. God saw what the peopl...

If you found yourself in the belly of a whale, do you suspect you'd be kind of glad to be free from that 'chamber of horror'? The account of Jonah continues with the fish 'vomiting' him up onto dry land. Do you know how close to dry land a whale can actually get? It usually isn't right up to the shoreline, is it? When God does miracles to redeem us from the folly of our rebellion and sin, don't be surprised when he does things completely outside of the realm of 'normal'! Then the Lord spoke to Jonah again and said,  “Go to that big city Nineveh, and say what I tell you.” So Jonah obeyed the Lord and went to Nineveh. It was a very large city. A person had to walk for three days to travel through it. Jonah went to the center of the city and began speaking to the people. He said, “After 40 days, Nineveh will be destroyed!” (Jonah 3:1-4) The call was difficult enough, but the 'journey' to actually act upon that call was likely more difficult than...

My soul gave up all hope, but then I remembered the Lord. I prayed to you, and you heard my prayers in your holy Temple. “Some people worship useless idols, but those statues never help them. I will give sacrifices to you, and I will praise and thank you. I will make special promises to you, and I will do what I promise.” Salvation only comes from the Lord! (Jonah 2:7-9) We might think there is no hope in our current situation, but God isn't afraid of the darkness, nor is he one to abandon his children. He gives us all the 'space' we require in order to come to the end of our 'selfishness' and 'rebellion', but he doesn't leave us there forever. When we call upon him, he hears - because he has never left us! Jonah realized the God he served wasn't just some useless idol, but the One True God. His covenant with those whom he loves is forever. Most importantly, he realizes salvation comes no other way. Salvation is more than the deliverance from the pen...

“You threw me into the sea. Your powerful waves splashed over me. I went down, down into the deep sea. The water was all around me. Then I thought, ‘Now I must go where you cannot see me,’ but I continued looking to your holy Temple for help." (Jonah 2:3-4) We all are subject to those 'weak moments' when darkness is about to consume us, having made unwise choices. In the darkest places, it never ceases to amaze me that we 'call out'. We may not even know what we are calling out for, or who it is we are calling out to, but we 'call out'. Why? We need help! We feel shame over our actions. We aren't doing 'well' emotionally, spiritually, or physically and we need help. Does it come as any surprise that in the darkest of places Jonah is still looking to God for help? It shouldn't because we serve a God of redemption! I was at the bottom of the sea, the place where the mountains begin. I thought I was locked in this prison forever, but the...

Dear friends, we have these promises from God. So we should make ourselves pure—free from anything that makes our body or our soul unclean. Our respect for God should make us try to be completely holy in the way we live. (2 Corinthians 7:1) We have been studying the life of Jonah, a prophet called to go to a sinful nation to warn them to turn to God. As we have discovered, it is really impossible to outrun God, keep others away from the consequences of our sin, or live forever in our rebellion. As he finds himself thrown overboard (the very thing he suggested to the sailors), he is swallowed by a big fish. In our sin, there is always 'darkness' of some form. The sea was dark, the belly of the fish was dark, and the emotional state of Jonah was pretty dark, as well. Sin takes us down - it never lifts us up. While Jonah was in the stomach of the fish, he prayed to the Lord his God. He said, “I was in very bad trouble. I called to the Lord for help, and he answered me....

Jonah said to the men, “I know I did wrong—that is why the storm came on the sea. So throw me into the sea, and the sea will become calm.” Instead, the men tried to row the ship back to the shore, but they couldn’t do it. The wind and the waves of the sea were too strong—and they were becoming stronger and stronger. (Jonah 1:12-13) If you are anything like me, you have probably tried any number of ways to figure out a solution that seemed quite a bit harder than you'd like it to be, all the while having been given the 'right answer', but choosing to ignore it in pursuit of 'any other solution'. The issue with 'any other solution' is that it rarely proves to be 'easier' or 'the best'. When we are told clearly what we need to do and ignore it in pursuit of anything else, we can be sure the work we are putting into the 'solution' will fall short of fixing the issue. The seas were rocking the boat, it was taking on water from the rough se...

 Have you ever wondered if your rebellion has an effect on others? Wonder no longer! We cannot live outside of God's will for very long without it having an effect on those around us. Either they will suffer direct consequences of our rebellion, such as when a drug addict brings drugs into the home and an innocent child gets hurt by them, or they will be indirect, such as when a spouse engages in an extramarital affair and there is a division of family through divorce. The effects of your rebellion are felt by many more than just you. Jonah said to the men, “I know I did wrong—that is why the storm came on the sea. So throw me into the sea, and the sea will become calm.” Instead, the men tried to row the ship back to the shore, but they couldn’t do it. The wind and the waves of the sea were too strong—and they were becoming stronger and stronger. So the men cried to the Lord, “Lord, please don’t say we are guilty of killing an innocent man. Please don’t make us die for killin...

But the Lord brought a great storm on the sea. The wind made the sea very rough. The storm was very strong, and the boat was ready to break apart. The men wanted to make the boat lighter to stop it from sinking, so they began throwing the cargo into the sea. The sailors were very afraid. Each man began praying to his god. (Jonah 1:4-5) We asked the important question yesterday: "Can we outrun God?" Though we attempt everything to outrun his call, we need to pause for a moment to consider God doing whatever it takes to get us back on course in our lives. Is it possible that some of the 'storms' we have in life are caused because we have been trying to outrun something God has asked us to do? We find one distraction after another, or just plain go the opposite direction, hoping to put some distance between us and whatever it is God asks of us. The moment we decide to 'run' is the moment God begins to prepare the storm! We might find that the general condition of...

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) Is it possible to run from God's calling in your life? Yes! Can you do it with a clear conscience? Nope! The truth of the matter is that we cannot outrun God, nor can we deny his calling in our lives. Those whom he calls are also equipped. The calling may not 'measure up' to what we 'desire' in our lives, such as when Jonah was called to go to an evil city, filled with all manner of sin, to bring them the message of salvation. His desire was likely to see them burn for their sins rather than go right in...