The Plumbline

There is more hope for a fool than for someone who speaks without thinking. (Proverbs 29:20) As a young person, I would respond without thinking, often getting myself into things that I didn't need to be involved in, all because I was a little bit too 'quick on the draw'. I'd get into arguments, opening up the proverbial 'cans of worms' that I never knew existed. I'd volunteer myself for stuff I had absolutely no time to do but now was committed to by my quick reply. I'd injure the feelings of others because my words were sarcastic and cutting, all in the hopes someone would find my reply funny. It took a while to realize my words mattered; speaking them too quickly or without thinking really wasn't the best way to operate. Indeed, there was more hope for a fool than for someone (me) who spoke all those words without thinking! As I have grown up a bit, I have come to realize my opinion doesn't always need to be spoken, nor do my thoughts alway...

Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done. Sing to him; yes, sing his praises. Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds. Exult in his holy name; rejoice, you who worship the Lord. Search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek him. (I Chronicles 16:8-11) Let the whole world know what he has done. Those words struck me today as I was doing my morning reading. When we 'proclaim' the greatness of our God, we do it with a 'filled heart'. In Hebrew, 'qara' holds the meaning to call out or summon; in Greek, 'kerusso' holds the meaning to announce or preach. Either way, we are instructed to both call out and announce the greatness of our God. There is a sense of urgency in either term - so when we call out or proclaim the greatness of our God, it is to be done with a heart eager to bring forth the message. Exult in his holy name. The term 'exult' means we will do so with a sense of extrem...

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end. (Seneca) “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland." (Isaiah 43:18-19) When we 'begin' we seldom think of the ending. We imagine it will go one way, but when all is said and done, we really had no idea what we'd encounter along the way. When a beginning must come to an end, it is because something new is about to begin. To some, the idea of 'beginning again' is kind of frightening. The imagination plays out all kinds of scenarios, some grand and others worse than what just ended. God's words to us: "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past." The past is gone - we cannot get it back, nor can we recover any of the moments that are already past. We can look forward, seeing that God is about to do a 'new thing' and trust that...

  "Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation." (D. Elton Trueblood)  Trust without reservation - those words really hit home with me today because I have moments when I kind of 'reserve the right' to be fearful of things. How about you? Do you ever have 'reservations' about what God will do, what he is doing, or that he is even concerned about whatever it is you need right now? I think we all have those little 'battles' with faith on occasion, not really doubting God's love or kindness toward us, but seeing the issue before us and being overwhelmed by it rather than the presence of God in the moment. Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation. By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen. (Hebrews 11:1-3) The reali...

If your enemies are hungry, give them food to eat. If they are thirsty, give them water to drink. You will heap burning coals of shame on their heads, and the Lord will reward you. (Proverbs 25:21-22) We know Jesus told us to turn the other cheek, but what does this 'heaping burning coals on their head' thing have to do with forgiveness? As we almost assuredly know, when wrong is done to someone, revenge is the usual response, not forgiveness. When we show compassion and kindness to those who have offended us, refusing to 'retaliate' for the wrongdoing, it might just confuse our enemies! If we are fortunate, it will cause them to examine their own heart in the matter and perhaps even come to the conclusion that a different behavior on their part would have been better. Back in the times this passage was penned, coals were shared with each other as a means of starting and maintaining a fire for warmth and cooking. To 'heap them upon their head' didn't mean...

At moments when all seems to be going well, we don't value our strength. When things don't go as well as they should, we suddenly feel very weak, unable to handle the pressure, and even unwilling to go on. The pressure moments frequently reveal 'whose' strength we are reliant upon, don't they? If it is our own, we 'feel' the pressure in ways that can actually bring harm to our bodies, and even more so, to our spirit. As scripture says, "If you fail under pressure, your strength is too small." (Proverbs 24:10) It isn't our strength that we should be reliant upon, although this seems to be a very hard lesson to learn! If you fail under pressure - it isn't if 'God fails you under pressure', but if YOU fail under it. I have come across people who got themselves so deep into stuff they are weighed down under, hearing them complain that God 'hasn't come through'. Could it be that God didn't want them to get into the mes...

Commit yourself to instruction; listen carefully to words of knowledge. My child, listen and be wise: Keep your heart on the right course. (Proverbs 23:12, 19) Commit yourself to instruction. The word 'commit' carries the meaning of 'binding yourself' to a specific course of action. The course of action God asks for us to 'bind ourselves' to is the study of his Word. Why? It will keep our heart on the right course! There we find wisdom in our daily choices, but we also see what it means to choose unwisely. As I began to get into God's Word as a teenager, I was surprised that God put the stories about 'wrong choices' people made right along with the ones about those who made better ones. It kind of took me by surprise to see some of the 'wrong choices' I was making already having been made by others! Truly, as God's Word reminds us, there is nothing new under the sun. Listen and be wise. Our heart is 'kept' when we listen an...

A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences. (Proverbs 22:3) Prudent - one who takes the time and makes the effort toward future outcomes. Frances of Assisi reminded us: "We must not be wise and prudent according to the flesh. Rather, we must be simple, humble and pure." The future outcomes will be much different when we aren't making choices that merely please our fleshly desires. A humble heart, one that desires purity, will seek God's direction in daily choices - not just the big ones. The Greek historian Thucydides said, "Few things are brought to a successful issue by impetuous desire, but most by calm and prudent forethought." The 'issue' of our day is defined by the forethought we have put into it, isn't it? Plan well, with God's direction guiding us, and our day's 'issue' will be much more fruitful than it would if we just 'flew by the seat of our p...

Ears to hear and eyes to see— both are gifts from the Lord. The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way? (Proverbs 20:12, 24) The more we try to understand things sometimes, the more they can become kind of 'muddled' in our minds, especially when we don't know the motives behind the actions or events. They don't make sense on the surface, so we look deeper, hoping to find something that will give us an awareness that we didn't possess before. Ears to hear, eyes to see, direction from God - all are good gifts, but do we always hear, see with clarity, or know for certain we are headed in the right direction? God's promise is that he WILL direct our steps. The more time we spend walking with Jesus, the more confident we become in knowing we don't ever walk alone. Our steps are 'ordered' - they are arranged, there is a 'method to the madness' that surrounds us at times even when we don't understand what is...

Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes. (Proverbs 19:2) Have you ever jumped into some commitment and then had what some refer to as 'buyer's remorse'? I know I have done that on more than one occasion, regretting my impulsivity. Impulse is good to a certain extent, such as when we sense danger coming our way and dodge to get out of the way. We heard or saw something that made us take notice and we avoided injury as a result of our quick action. Those types of 'quick actions' are warranted. There are other 'quick actions' that actually bring us more trouble or harm than they do good! Haste makes mistakes. Those three words really tell us a great deal. Haste - excessive speed or urgency - isn't always warranted. There are times when we need to stop to consider. I don't buy automobiles impulsively. I take my time, researching my options, looking at the details of what is offered at each price, and then I don't even act on th...

Wise sayings often fall on barren ground, but a kind word is never thrown away. (Arthur Helps) Fools’ words get them into constant quarrels; they are asking for a beating. The mouths of fools are their ruin; they trap themselves with their lips. Rumors are dainty morsels that sink deep into one’s heart. (Proverbs 18:6-8) A fool's words often create the ripe environment for gossip and untruths. The fool focuses on the volume of his words, not the wisdom of them. He rushes toward the 'juicy tidbits' he can glean from anyone that he may use to make himself look important. Unfortunately, the fool doesn't 'fact check' his words before repeating them. He launches into the retelling and the 'reinventing' of those words all too quickly. I am a strong proponent of 'fact checking' whatever is being put forward as truth. This culture is too quick to spread malicious gossip, things that aren't entirely true, but that put someone in a bad light as much a...

Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions. (Proverbs 18:2) If you have ever been around some individuals who seem to only care about their own opinion, or how they see the situation at the exclusion of how anyone else sees it, you are likely listening to someone who has no real interest in understanding. As you can see from our passage, scripture calls them fools. It is indeed foolish to not listen to anyone else's opinion or advice, for a great many things can be learned when we stop to see things from another's perspective. God doesn't want us to be the fool, nor does he want us to submit to the foolish way of thinking that some may have adopted. He does want us to consult him in all matters and to consider his wisdom as found in the Word of God when we don't have a clear understanding of a situation. Lest we be 'played the fool', we need to see things as he sees them. Our own perspective may not always be from a place o...

Now I’m returning to you. I’m saying these things in the world’s hearing so my people can experience my joy completed in them. I gave them your word; the godless world hated them because of it, because they didn’t join the world’s ways, just as I didn’t join the world’s ways. I’m not asking that you take them out of the world but that you guard them from the Evil One. They are no more defined by the world than I am defined by the world. Make them holy—consecrated—with the truth; Your word is consecrating truth. In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world, I give them a mission in the world. I’m consecrating myself for their sakes, so they’ll be truth-consecrated in their mission. (John 17:13-19) Make them holy - consecrated - with the truth. If you want to know what Jesus asked his Father on our behalf, there it is. His greatest hope was that each of his followers would be guarded in this world from all the evils of this world. How are we guarded? By truth! The truth he gi...

Those who only praise God because he DOES them good should rise to a higher note and give thanks to him because he IS good. (Charles Spurgeon) Thank God because he’s good, because his love never quits. (Psalm 118:1) God's love never quits. His lovingkindness toward us never fails. What is lovingkindness anyway? Most would say it is tenderness and consideration toward another. The Hebrew term is CHECED, and it means God's covenant loyalty. In most places in scripture, the term 'lovingkindness' describes God's character. It actually is used to describe God's heart toward those he calls his own. We are told to see and consider his kindness and the steadfastness of his love toward his children. Then we are to give him praise because that kindness and steadfast love never quit! The most important thing we can remember is that his lovingkindness toward us never quits. It never fails. It never gets outdone by anything we do. It will always reach out for us when we fail...

You may think everything you do is right, but the Lord judges your motives. Ask the Lord to bless your plans, and you will be successful in carrying them out. (Proverbs 16:2-3) I have made plans, only to have them fall flat at the last moment. You have likely planned something, then been a little disappointed with the outcome, as well. The more we 'plan', the more we need to run those plans through the Holy Ghost filter. The Lord doesn't always want us to go in the direction we are headed, even when those plans seem pretty 'legit' on the surface. Sometimes he has something better for us, or safer. We need to trust him to expose any impure motives that might be directing us toward something, especially when our spiritual, emotional, or physical safety may be concerned! It isn't enough to just ask God to bless our plans, though. This passage makes it sound a bit like we can just throw them out there, ask God to put his stamp of approval on them, and then trudge on...

As pressure and stress bear down on me, I find joy in your commands. (Psalm 119:143) We might not be able to escape pressures in this world, much less expect to never have any stress in our lives. Stress actually helps us grow stronger. A tree needs the wind to establish deeper roots. A human body has something referred to as the cellular stress response (CSR) in which the cells of our body respond in such a way as to counter intrusions and restore health to the cell once again. If God made each cell of our body with an ability to 'counteract' stress, don't you think he'd do the same with our 'spiritual cells'? Look at what our psalmist said: "As pressure and stress bear down on me - I FIND JOY IN YOUR COMMANDS." The stress or pressures of life drove him deeper into God's Word - into his commands and directives for living. There is no better 'counteraction' than to get into God's Word because it bolsters our 'spiritual cells' an...

Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, for the light makes everything visible. (Ephesians 5:10-14) Carefully determine - while most of us have a general understanding of what God expects of us, how many of us have gone so far as to do a 'deep dive' into scripture to truly understand what pleases the Lord? We have heard the stories of how Israel erected a golden image, knowing that God abhors idols of any kind. We listened to sermons that reminded us to turn the other cheek, knowing God values grace and forgiveness. Yet do we truly understand what the 'worthless deeds of evil and darkness' really are? Perhaps understanding what 'pleases God' is made clear when we understand what light brings out of hiding in the lives of others and...

Nothing reflects so much honor on a workman as a trial of his work and its endurance of it. So it is with God. It honors Him when His saints preserve their integrity. (Charles Spurgeon) Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others. (Proverbs 12:15) An honorable workman - can any of us hope to be more than this? We each have a set mission in mind with each new day. We formulate our plans, ask God to take them into his control, blessing them as he does, and we set out. Fools don't ask God's direction, nor do they give him control of their mission. They believe they know the way, even though they have never traveled it before! The wise preserve their integrity by asking for his wisdom BEFORE they launch out on their day's journey. It would be foolish to just get in the car, knowing the general direction of North Carolina from Arizona is more or less east, then just drive without any knowledge of the direction certain roadways or highways would take us. In...

I think that is a better thing than thanksgiving: thanks-living. How is this to be done? By a general cheerfulness of manner, by an obedience to the command of Him by whose mercy we live, by a perpetual, constant delighting of ourselves in the Lord, and by a submission of our desires to His will.  (Charles Spurgeon) And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. (Colossians 3:15-17) Thanks-living. That pretty much sums up how Jesus wants us to live each and every day. Spurgeon sums it up well when he says we are to perpetually and constantly delight ourselves in the Lor...

Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. (I John 2:15-16) If we are the type that needs to have a 'measurement' of how well we are doing, this verse might just be the one. Do not love this world nor the things it offers - that seems pretty plain, but does that mean we cannot drive a nice car, have a home that is paid off, or go on a cruise? No, it just means we don't put those things ahead of our relationship with Jesus. Physical pleasure was created by God, as were all our 'human' emotions, physical attributes, and minds. The intent of the passage is our heart attitude toward the things of this world and what we can accomplish in our own talent or strength. Pride is at the root of most ...