The Plumbline

Carl Jung told us 'everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.' He was spot on with that one! In a sense, all of us have experienced the best and worst at times, attitudes, and what I shall call 'heart moments'. Moments when it just seems you will burst with excitement leave you feeling totally encouraged. Then almost without notice, another heart moment comes, bringing weight seemingly beyond your ability to carry it. I have no idea why life has to be so much like a "pendulum" swinging this way and then the other at times. With the highs and lows come opportunities - within relationship, ourselves, and our circumstances. We are given new insights into the tremendous blessings we have been afforded in life. We are also given insights into the "old habits" we "count on" to get us through - some of these "old habits" are more of a hindrance than a benefit. No wonder 'others' ...

I am learning to build stuff from wood, but trust me on this one, the design may be good, but the execution of the measurements may not always be. Hence the little saying in woodworking: "Measure twice, cut once." I have made some stuff that looked great, but when we went to use it as it was designed, it was too narrow, too wide, too long, or too wobbly. All the work that went into it was grand. I took great care to sand, stain, and finish the piece, only to find it didn't 'measure up'. I wonder how many times we think we are building "good stuff" into our lives, only to look back and see how little we actually "built" that was all that 'good'. We always seem to think the endeavors of our lives are totally worthwhile - but in retrospect, how many of them really produced what we originally believed possible? The most amazing thing happens though when we set out on an endeavor with God - usually MORE than we believed possible happens! I...

I am going to ask some hard questions this morning, so please bear with me. What kind of friend are you? What motivates you within friendship? How is it that you seek to have your needs met in that relationship? How is it that you seek to meet the needs of the other individual? Do  you build strong relationships, or are you content with nothing more than the superficial or 'artificial' kind of friendships? These are tough questions, but if we begin to answer them honestly, we may find they reveal something about either the 'success' or 'failure' of our relationships with each other! Forgive someone, and you will strengthen your friendship. Keep reminding them, and you will destroy it. (Proverbs 17:9) As a kid, I truly desired close friendships - the kind where you could tell your BFF anything and they wouldn't blab it to the world, or judge you because of something you thought or did. I truthfully didn't have any of these 'close' relation...

One thing is said, another is meant. One thing is done, but the intention behind it is completely contrary to the "appearance". At times, we are presented with individuals who seem to have an "ulterior motive" in their actions. In other words, what is presented is really a "mask" for something being done to deceive the individual on the receiving end of the action. This is very dangerous ground for us - simply because we really don't know what to expect, or when to trust. When expectations are not clear, or trust is not fully established, we can get ourselves into all kinds of pickles! Mixed motives twist life into tangles; pure motives take you straight down the road. (Proverbs 21:8) We would probably call an "ulterior" motive a "second motive" - one which is usually a little selfish or self-centered in nature. These motives result in a life that ends in a tangled mess! Not my idea of where I want to be living, but I have kn...

It seems like every road I take to work these days is riddled with construction! We cannot turn left at some intersections, whittle down to one lane in others, and are detoured in directions we have to rely upon GPS guidance to maneuver! The inconvenience is made all the more unbearable by the rudeness of those who think they can avoid the longer waits by moving to the head of the line and cutting in around all of us who have waited our turn to make it through! It brings me back to elementary school all over again when you'd frequently hear the cries of "No Cutting" called whenever someone tried that in the cafeteria line! The benefits of the construction projects are hard to imagine when you are enduring the agony of the months of torn up roadways, but when they finally reopen that intersection with wider and safer turn lanes, you suddenly understand it from a different perspective. It makes sense on the other side of that construction, even though it seemed unbearable w...

So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.   ( 1 Thessalonians 5:11   NLT ) What does it mean to be encouraged? I have experienced the type of encouragement to say or do something that later I would regret, such as when someone "encouraged" me to eat dirt clods because it would show that I was "cool" and "fearless". I was encouraged to stay away from any drugs when I was coming through school, both by role models and those who loved me very much. We can be "encouraged" in many ways, but not all types of encouragement is really intended for our good, so we need to become wise in discerning when it is truly encouragement and when it is just unwise taunting or prodding. Persuasion is rarely the type of encouragement God intends for each of us to engage in as brothers and sisters in Christ. Persuasion has a bit of manipulation behind it - either because we want something to go our way, or we want the other ...