The Plumbline

People may hear your words, but the feel your attitude. (John C. Maxwell) People may cover their hatred with pleasant words, but they’re deceiving you. They pretend to be kind, but don’t believe them. Their hearts are full of many evils. While their hatred may be concealed by trickery, their wrongdoing will be exposed in public. (Proverbs 26:24-26) One of the greatest forms of 'trickery' is the use of one's words. Some will be kind, but the attitude behind those words expresses anything but kindness. Others will seem harsh, yet the intent of those words were to help you more than you may realize. I agree with Maxwell - the 'attitude' behind the words is most important! The Lord helps us see through words when we seek his understanding in all matters. We may not be able to discern the intent of the one speaking those words on our own, but with the power of the Holy Spirit resident within each of us, we almost 'feel' the attitude behind the spoken words. I...

Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn’t want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God’s righteousness. (Philippians 3:8-9) When someone embraces beliefs, they begin to 'embody' those beliefs. All their life seems to rotate around their beliefs. If we believe in the right stuff, what we 'embody' begins to affect others in a positive manner but embody the wrong stuff and the impact upon others can be quite negative. Beliefs matter, but we must take notice that there are a variety of beliefs laid out for us in scripture - some are worthy of our embrace, while we are clearly cautions to avoid others. Early on in Old Testament writings, we observe warnings to n...

Cultivate your own relationship with God, but don't impose it on others. You're fortunate if your behavior and your belief are coherent. But if you're not sure, if you notice that you are acting in ways inconsistent with what you believe—some days trying to impose your opinions on others, other days just trying to please them—then you know that you're out of line. If the way you live isn't consistent with what you believe, then it's wrong. (Romans 14:22-23 MSG) Most days I am just happy to end the day feeling like my behavior came reasonably close to my beliefs! I set out with lofty goals, but over the course of the day, I veer a little (and sometimes a lot) from how I hoped to act, wished to respond, or chose to think about a matter. In the end, I find myself evaluating my actions, seeing those which just did not match my beliefs, and then find myself in dialogue with God (once again) seeking his grace and forgiveness. Now, carry that a step further and you ...

Don't judge wine by its label,    or its bouquet, or its full-bodied flavor. Judge it rather by the hangover it leaves you with—    the splitting headache, the queasy stomach. (Proverbs 23:31-32) I am not a connoisseur of wine, so I know very little about what makes a good bottle of wine.  You could show me one bottle right after another, and I would probably do what anyone who knows wine would cringe at - I'd pick it by the pretty label or the nice bottle!  The one who consumes the product in the bottle is the one who knows it best!   This passage speaks a lot more to me, though.  I think we do a whole lot of "label" reading, even a little look inside, then come to the conclusion that whatever we are examining looks good.  It isn't until we have consumed it fully (or it has consumed us) that we understand just how lousy the thing was!  We are left with a really bad taste from the experience of "consuming" what it was we w...