The Plumbline

The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time. For the Lord protects the bones of the righteous; not one of them is broken! (Psalm 34:18-20) Truth, spoken in love, mends the broken heart by setting the person who bears those wounds free from their emotional bonds tying them to those wounds. I believe in trusting that modeling love in our lives will go further than any words we can speak to bind up the wounds of another. I think this is why Jesus didn't just open heaven's expanse one day, speak down the words "Come to me all you who are heavy laden and I will give you rest". He didn't just expect us to understand this - he needed to come down to this earth and model the release of those burdens for us. He had to model how much his lo...

Have you ever heard the quote, "It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men." (Frederick Douglass) His words are truer than we might realize, for God reminds us to train up our children in the way they should go, spare the rod and spoil the child (Proverbs 13:24), and that discipline proves a father's love for his child (Proverbs 3:12). If there is so much emphasis on training up our children in "the right way" so they will make decisions which end up being "good choices", then how much more do you suppose God will do the same with us?  As Douglass said, it is much easier to build us up than to repair us! Teach a  child  how to follow the right way; even when he is old, he will stay on course.  (Proverbs 22:6 VOICE) I think the first thing we all need to remember is that we are told to approach God as the small child does - with innocence, curiosity, interest, and awe.  As we do, we are drawn into his presence and begin to sense...

" The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places ."  (Ernest Hemingway)    Hemingway had a way with words which made him one of the most famous authors of all times, but he also had a connection with the despair and agony of the human soul which frequently came across in the words he penned.  He was able to connect with the perils of loss, maybe as a result of being part of the ambulance corps during World War I or because he personally experienced the severe wounds of war himself.  Either way, he made this connection of brokenness, despair, agony, and even sometimes defeat - all plaguing the human soul to some degree in almost all of his writings.  Yet, nothing he said ever rings truer than the words above - through all the breaking processes in life we might just be left a little stronger at the broken place!  What sacrifice I can offer You is my  broken   spirit   because a  broken   spirit ...

Audrey Hepburn once said:  "For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge you are never alone."  Think on that one a little and just ponder those three thoughts.  When we look for the good in others, we are bound to find it - because when we stop looking at others through critical eyes, we see the beauty in each of them.  When we speak words which build up and honor, we create a culture in which others may flourish and grow.  When we begin to live as examples of Christ's love, we can rest assured we are never walking alone - for not only are we walking with Christ, but others are drawn into this walk with us!  Wisdom brings strength - when we begin to apply the knowledge we obtain along our path in this life, we find not only inner strength, but an outward evidence of the strength which dwells within.  Wisdom brings strength, and knowledge gives power. Bat...

Broken:  Reduced to fragments; ruptured, torn, fractured; not functioning properly; incomplete; infringed upon or violated.   I honestly believe this is exactly how each and every one of us arrives at the feet of Jesus.  Somehow, whether through our own choices, or the impressions others leave in our lives, we arrive reduced to fragments, not functioning as we should, and sometimes just plain violated by another.  It isn't that our lives are perfect and we finally come to the feet of Jesus - we bring him the messiness of our lives and he welcomes them with open arms.  One of the songs which really ministers to my spirit is the one by Casting Crowns which kind of expresses this thought of being "Broken Together".  If you haven't heard it, there is a part of the song which simply states, "Maybe you and I were never meant to be complete...could we just be broken together".  If we stop for just a moment to understand the wisdom in those simple words, we m...

As I was driving home yesterday, I went by a local church I often pass - one with a sign out front which they change periodically to have some new message to give you some fodder for thought.  They didn't let me down!  The sign read:  "God wants to restore your heart, but he needs all the pieces."  I got to thinking about all the "pieces" of our heart we somehow manage to give away, deny, and the like.  It made me think how difficult this job of restoring a "clean" heart within us really is for God - not beyond him, by any means - but if we hold back the pieces, or don't even realize we haven't given him all of them, it is easy to see how we might "deal" with issues for quite a while in our lives.  As I began to dwell on this a little further, the easiest thing to do is to take the attention off oneself and place it squarely on another - so I began to think about my kids and some of the things they have dealt with through the years, ...

I like salty treats - even to the point of craving them sometimes.  Whenever I consume them though, I usually end up drinking a lot of water - because they make me thirsty.  In the end, they leave me thirsty for a long time, not just while I am taking them in.  My body simply cannot process all the sodium in the salty treats without a whole lot of water.  In fact, whenever we find ourselves in the midst of the "excesses" of life, we often crave what we most need to help us deal with the excess. God—you're my God! I can't get enough of you!  I've worked up such hunger and thirst for God,  traveling across dry and weary deserts. (Psalm 63:1 The Message) So, we crave what we most need to deal with what we find ourselves enduring!  Sometimes we are "enduring" stuff by our own doing - like when I eat a huge bowl of Cheezits or eat a whole candy bar.  The sodium from one and the sugar from the other just cause me to "crave" the very thing which...