The Plumbline

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 NLT) Far too many times, we carry burdens beyond our capacity to carry, wearing out under their load. I am now well into my sixth decade on this earth and sometimes think I can still 'carry' what I did when I was in my second decade. The results are quite different now than they were then! I get winded, my back aches, and it takes me about a week to fully recover from such 'load bearing'. The things we carry in our emotions may not give us a backache, leave us winded, but they can definitely put a 'load' upon our bodies and minds that we weren't really created to carry. Those emotional burdens are like a weight that gets us into a place where we see an...

The Spirit [comes to us and] helps us in our weakness. We do not know what prayer to offer or how to offer it as we should, but the Spirit Himself [knows our need and at the right time] intercedes on our behalf with sighs and groanings too deep for words. And He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because the Spirit intercedes [before God] on behalf of God’s people in accordance with God’s will. (Romans 8:26-27) We most frequently call out to God when we are at our weakest, don't we? You can actually tell that you are maturing in your walk with Jesus when you begin to seek him more and more, even when you are not experiencing some catastrophe or weakened spiritual, emotional, or physical state! God sent his Spirit into our lives so that we would have his help - in weakness and when we believe ourselves strong (even when we might not realize just how weak we are). This is especially important in times of seeking God - in times of prayer, when we don't k...

The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are weighed down. The Lord loves the godly. (Psalm 146:8) Burdens are meant to be carried by those designed to carry them. I have a wagon for yardwork, wheelbarrow for other types of yardwork, and a handcart for some other stuff. I cannot shovel soil onto the handcart, but it could carry a bag of it. I cannot mix mortar in the wagon because it has mesh sides and bottom, but it can carry pots of plants very well. Each of these items in my yard have a purpose - each was designed for a particular 'burden' or 'load'. The design matters as does the function. In life, we weren't designed to carry burdens - God planned to do that for us. God lifts the burdens of those bent beneath their loads. This suggests there are loads that are greater than we were designed to bear, as well as their tremendous ability to bend us down under their weight. When we are bent down, can we look upward? Not all that well - we...

Some of us think holding on makes us strong; but sometimes it is letting go. (Herman Hesse) I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. (Philippians 3:12-14) Too many times we hold onto our mistakes, focusing all our thought and attention on them instead of what Christ wants to do with them. He actually wants to use them as a catapult to move us forward, not anchor us to the past. God is always doing something new - reminding us to forget what lies in the past and focus on the new (Isaiah 43:18-19). God is making a way forward, but we have to step out into it if we are to ever ...

When I felt my feet slipping, you came with your love and kept me steady. And when I was burdened with worries, you comforted me and made me feel secure. (Psalm 94:18-19) On ice, the small steps you have to take to avoid having your feet go out from under you, or the slower speeds you must drive in order to avoid a spin-out are "precautionary measures" you PERSONALLY take to keep yourself from loss or injury. There are clearly times when all you can do personally is just not enough to keep you upright and on course, though. Your reliance upon another to be there to catch you when you begin to slip, or the street sanding being ever vigilant is something outside of yourself you are hoping will keep you in a position of safety. We use both internal and external sources to aid in keeping us safe. What we may fail to recognize is the two most important "internal and external" sources of safety at our disposal - the presence and power of God. God expects us to have a...

“But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!" (Job 19:25-27) One of my favorite worship songs is "My Redeemer Lives" by Hillsong Worship. Some of my favorite words in those lyrics are, "My shame, He's taken away, My pain is healed in His name", as they speak volumes about how God works in our lives. Job was plagued by the loss of family, livestock, worldly possessions, and even his own health. Yet, in the moments of his greatest external and internal conflict, he stands assured his Redeemer lives and all will one day be well again in his life. He has been buffeted by everything that should have 'taken him down', but he stands!  We might find ourselves buffeted by what life throws our way, but we can stand strong in the knowledge that nothing we ...

Are you being an irritant or surrounded by irritants? A telling question indeed, for many of the things that actually irritate us about others are things that irritate us about ourselves! Mom always used to say, "It takes one to know one" and she was pretty 'spot-on' with that observation. If you are able to see such things as kindness, goodness, and graciousness in others FIRST, above all their other traits, you are likely doing pretty well allowing God to develop those traits deep within your heart, as well. Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart. Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation. (Proverbs 3:3-4) Irritants are burdens none of us want to carry - much less emulate in our lives. I found it amazing that one tiny 'burr' under the saddle blanket could cause a horse to act up so much. They become downright 'agitated' by that t...

Shoulder each other’s burdens, and then you will live as the law of the Anointed teaches us .  ( Galatians 6:2   VOICE ) What burden do you have that I might shoulder on your behalf today? If someone were to ask you that question, could you really answer it honestly? Or would you be like most of the majority of believers and simply resign yourself to having to carry that burden yourself? For some strange reason, we have the hardest time allowing another to step into our "mess" of a life and take any of our burden from us. It may be that we carry the burden simply because we think if we admit it to anyone else they will judge us or think it is ridiculous for us to be shouldering it at all. It is as though we "judge" our burden by the burdens we see others carrying and see ours as just not as "big" or "serious" as those they carry, so we just shoulder it alone. You know what? No burden is ever as heavy as the one we are carrying right now, regar...

Weary?  Burdened?  Then you are likely in a place where you have stepped outside of Jesus' care over your lives and are trying to do things in your own strength.  Weary and burdened existence is usually because we find it so doggone hard to let anyone else be in control of our lives - demanding to hold on for dear life despite the obstacles in our path. Most work animals, such as the oxen or horses, will not look upon a yoke as a great piece of "jewelry" or even an "adornment". In fact, when they see the yoke there are some animals who might just say, "Nope, not gonna happen!"  Honesty is the best medicine here, so I must admit, there are times when I have said those words!  Yet, when I finally submit to the yoke, I find I am taken in a totally different direction than I had planned.  What the yoke does is bind me together with others traveling in the same direction I am now bound, and it allows someone who knows the directions to my destination to dr...

There are millions of ways I get tired - some are from honestly rewarding things like cleaning the house, mowing the lawn, or doing a little spring cleaning of the closets.  Others are kind of silly and really don't seem all that rewarding, like a day spent lounging around the house watching videos and laughing with family.  Both can be equally tiring, but one thing is for sure - we all get tired. As varied as the reasons for our "tiredness" are, there is one thing we all have in common which tires us more than other things - when we carry burdens we were never intended to carry in the first place! Admit it - you do this on occasion - carrying stuff around in your mind and heart which really wasn't your burden to carry - especially alone!  When we do this, we are fatigued beyond our ability to recover alone - so it is best we learn how to lay down what we really don't have any business carrying in the first place! If you are tired from carrying heavy burdens,...