The Plumbline

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...

Your words can be as satisfying as fruit, as pleasing as the food that fills your stomach. The tongue can speak words that bring life or death. Those who love to talk must be ready to accept what it brings. (Proverbs 18:20-21) Fruit can have all the right coloring, smell wonderful, but somehow it is just too tart or bitter on the inside. It is like the development of the fruit arrested and it never came to the place it was fully ripe - like when it is picked too quickly and artificially ripened to put on the shelves at the supermarket. Take a bit of the fruit and you will soon realize the bitterness lasts, even when you spit out the nastiness of the bite you took. It is like "having your teeth set on edge". Some of us don't taste "bitter"? In fact, depending upon the level of dietary iodine we may ingest, we might all sense "bitterness" a little differently. I wonder if this difference with how we "taste" the bitter we ingest in life is ...

I caught a little quote from Positive Mind this morning on someone's social media feed and it gave me a moment to just consider the message: "If you focus on the hurt, you will continue to suffer. If you focus on the lesson, you will continue to grow." I don't always remember to focus on the lesson, do you? Sometimes it is just easier to focus on the hurt and let that ruminate a bit. Problem is that ruminating just increases the amount of 'acidic influence' of the hurt. Maybe what we need most is someone in our lives that won't let us ruminate our way into a bitter heart! Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many. (Hebrews 12:15) God actually commands us to 'watch out' for the root of bitterness - not just in ourselves, but in each other, as well. We are sometimes more sensitive to someone's 'ruminating' than they a...

Are any of you wise or sensible? Then show it by living right and by being humble and wise in everything you do. But if your heart is full of bitter jealousy and selfishness, don’t brag or lie to cover up the truth. That kind of wisdom doesn’t come from above. It is earthly and selfish and comes from the devil himself. Whenever people are jealous or selfish, they cause trouble and do all sorts of cruel things. But the wisdom that comes from above leads us to be pure, friendly, gentle, sensible, kind, helpful, genuine, and sincere. When peacemakers plant seeds of peace, they will harvest justice. (James 3:14-18) Perhaps one of the greatest struggles we will face in this life is to respond with wisdom and sensibility when others attack us. Get in a position of not seeing eye-to-eye with another in relationship and you will soon note that sensibility is something which flies out the window. Both parties somehow forget how to act toward the other - they are responding to the emotion o...

May my spoken words and unspoken thoughts be pleasing even to you, O Lord my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19:14) John Maxwell reminds us, "People may hear your words, but they feel your attitude." What does your attitude say today? Does it reveal your tiredness or frustration? Does it shine forth with encouragement and hope? We actually 'choose' our attitude, but we would like to blame our attitude on others or circumstances. If it is bad, we blame it on the bad stuff happening in our lives. If it is jubilant, we attribute it to the good stuff going on around us. Spoken words reveal much, but our unspoken thoughts often come across in our attitude. Don't believe me? When was the last time you looked at your posture when you are in the depths of thought about something that is giving you a bit of trouble? How is your posture when you are well-rested versus weary from a lack of the proper rest? Your posture might just reveal a bit of that 'inner thought' att...

 Have you ever found yourself getting kind of critical about the way another lives, the choices they make, or how they do this or that? I catch myself doing that on occasion - focusing on something I can 'zero in on' about another - because it takes YOUR eyes off of ME, if even for that moment in time. There was a time when one 'church-goer' was observed being critical of how they 'did church' down the road from their church. As time went on, there was a whole lot of criticism generated about the 'way they worship'. Believe it or not, the whole thing boiled down to where they bought their groceries! This story comes right out of scripture, my friends! During the time the Apostle Paul was teaching and mentoring new believers in Christ, one group of believers were super-critical of another just because they bought their food items from 'pagan' storekeepers. Another term you may be familiar with in 'church circles' is 'buying meat that h...

As a wee kiddo, my brother enjoyed pestering me from time to time. Nothing pleased me more! I loved his teasing, endured his tickle-fests, and absolutely adored his willingness to take time for his little sis.  One of my fondest memories of Chris is his teasing - he liked to absolutely pester me in the most loving ways! Oh, don't get me wrong - even MY pestering him seemed to be enjoyed on his end! Most of the time, those 'pestering moments' would end in me being swept into the air, swung around, or pinned like a squished bug under the weight of his body while I had the giggles tickled right out of me. When I could barely catch my breath any longer, he'd set me down or let me loose. Some things in this lifetime "pester" us in a good way - others not so much! When I was beleaguered and bitter, totally consumed by envy, I was totally ignorant, a dumb ox in your very presence. I'm still in your presence, but you've taken my hand. You wisely and tend...

We've all seen that little plaque somewhere that announces, "If life gives you lemons, make lemonade." I think this is probably somebody's way of trying to keep lemonade stands in business! Truth be told, you can only take so much lemonade! A steady diet of lemonade gets to taste pretty bitter after a while and it changes what the 'inside' of your body looks like! Your physical body can only handle so much "acidic" intake before it starts to rebel with changes internally that you may not fully recognize until they have created a state of imbalance that you cannot easily bounce back from. Even when lemon juice is applied externally, to the skin or the like, it has an effect of lightening the skin, or making the places it touches very raw from the acidic nature of the lemon juice. Guess what - your spiritual state of "balance" can be equally as disturbed by a steady diet of "bitterness" just as easily - bitterness acting like an ...

If people can't see what God is doing,  they stumble all over themselves;  But when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed.  (Proverbs 29:18) "If life gives you lemons, make lemonade." This was Dale Carnegie's way of telling us to keep a positive focus on a whole lot of negative stuff that is happening to us in life - from business difficulties to personal ones. Have you ever noticed that after a while a steady diet of lemonade gets to taste pretty bitter! If your physical body can only handle so much "acidic" intake before it starts to rebel with changes internally that you may not fully recognize until they have created a state of imbalance that you cannot easily bounce back from, what about the 'rest of you'. Guess what - your spiritual state of "balance" can be equally as disturbed by a steady diet of "bitterness". The bitterness of life can present us with much difficulty in our physical, emotional, spir...

I am the vine, and you are the branches. If you abide in Me and I in you, you will bear great fruit. Without Me, you will accomplish nothing. Your abundant growth and your faithfulness as My followers will bring glory to the Father. ( John 15:5,8 VOICE ) I had the opportunity to spend some time home with mom this week and on one particular afternoon which found her dozing peacefully, I turned on a movie thinking I'd drift off into a peaceful nap time, as well. It was the remake of Jungle Book and I had not yet seen it. Within minutes, although my eyes were drowsy and my mind was exhausted from having to deal with medical issues for mom, I found myself unable to doze. The story just captured my attention and there I was, desperately in need of some rest, but enthralled in the imagery and story before me. As you may know the story, the "man cub" was adopted by a pack of wolves. I am not sure how he developed all his ability to talk with the wolves, tigers, leopards, and ...

A  single  correction makes a more lasting impression on one who is wise  than a hundred lashes do on a fool.  (Proverbs 17:10 VOICE) Just before this verse comes the instruction about forgiveness - it fosters love whenever forgiveness is extended in sincerity. I think people who are open to correction are also very forgiving people - first because they have learned to admit to their own wrongs and forgive themselves, as well as being able to not hold another in a position of "owing" them for any misdeeds. Bitter people are seldom delighted to embrace correction - especially the first time they hear it. They want to justify their position of being angry with another, so they just hold onto their position (right or wrong) and let the juices eat at them a while. As the rest of the passage goes, it reminds us of the need to release others because holding onto a thousand wrongs done by the other person only makes us very bitter people.  It is almost like it chai...

Have you ever bitten into a piece of fruit which had all the right coloring, smelled wonderful, but somehow was just too tart or bitter on the inside?  It is like the development arrested and the fruit never came to the place it was fully ripe.  Remember what that did to your teeth, tongue, and taste buds?  It was like an assault to them, right?  The bitterness lasted, even when you spit out the nastiness of the bite you took.  I have heard people describe the sensation as "having their teeth set on edge" by the bitterness of the fruit.  Some of us think the bitter taste will go away, but did you know that some people actually don't taste "bitter" as you or I do?  In fact, depending upon the level of dietary iodine we may ingest, we might all sense "bitterness" a little differently.  I wonder if this difference with how we "taste" the bitter we ingest in life is similar to how some may be deeply affected by the hurtful and bitter things anot...

As time has passed, I have discovered brokenhearted people get a little bitter.  It is kind of hard to separate the two of these things from each other.  One actually feeds the other and it is kind of like no matter how hard you try to break free of one, you cannot until you really break free of both.  Bitterness just doesn't arrive on your doorstep one morning beckoning you to invite it in.  It usually comes because we have been disappointed with results of something, dreams have been shattered, or we have had our feelings tremendously put into a tailspin by someone.  Brokenhearted people invite bitterness in, not the other way around. I know this to be a fact, not because I see it in others, but because I lived it in my own life. It is so easy to drift into bitterness when our hearts have been shattered by the actions of another.  In time, we justify our bitterness because we feel we deserved better.  We sacrificed for the other person, made little ...

The opportunities to be beaten down by this world and the stuff we have to face in it are innumerable.  We find ourselves constantly on the alert for the next "attack" - hoping it will not catch us unaware or gawking at something meaningless.  When the attacks come from someone we are in relationship with, and they will come, our attitude toward those who are attacking us makes a huge difference in the outcome!  All we see is the attack - what we need to see is the one behind the attack.  All we deal with is the attack - we forget about the force behind it - whether it be jealousy, bitterness, or fear (to name only a few). All attacks within relationship stem from some form of emotion - the one attacking is experiencing something which they respond to in a way which is less than honoring or holy.  In turn, your response is a little bit outside of the perspective you should be maintaining in the moment.  This is natural - we respond in a defensive manner be...

We can miss what is right in front of our face - almost without even noticing. Why?  We have explored this very thought many times - it is because we see what we focus upon - a lack of focus on something makes it easy to miss the subtleties of it.  You have probably heard something like, "More is read than said", meaning more is observed in our non-verbal communication than with just our words.  When there is a disconnect between the two - such as saying one thing, but our actions showing another - we can be "read" by others as not really meaning what we say.  My pastor has a saying, "More is caught than taught", meaning almost the same thing - actions have a greater impact than our words.  When we get our eyes on the stuff which really doesn't matter, we have the capability of missing the stuff which really does. No doubt about it! God is good— good to good people, good to the good-hearted.   But I nearly missed it,   missed seeing his goodness. ...

Each heart knows its own bitterness.  We pretty much 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.  Each of these 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 originally experiencing it.   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 wh...

I have been considering the life of Moses and his leadership over Israel in my recent studies.  One thing I want us to see about Moses is just how God made him a gifted leader.  He didn't just "get" magically awesome answers from God in the spur of the moment - he spent time in God's presence and this connection is what allowed him to receive the "magically awesome answers" to his prayers!  Maybe this seems like it should go without saying, but keep company with God and he will keep company with you.  Most of the world doesn't get this, though.  They choose to keep company with anything BUT God and wonder why they don't have the answers they need when the times seem to challenge them.  All success in life is a matter of this connection - apart from it, there can only be fleeting success.  Today we will consider the things God uses to change our world. Moses led Israel from the Red Sea on to the Wilderness of Shur. They traveled for three days th...