The Plumbline

So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever. Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. (Hebrews 9:11-14) With his own blood - we are bought with a price we could not pay; given a gift we could not earn; and brought into a position we could never possess apart from Christ. One sacrifice - one time - for all time. We are secure because of his gift - the gift w...

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 who is patient. The simpleton is crowned with folly; the wise man is crowned with knowledge. (Proverbs 14:10, 13, 15-18) Whether we know it or not, we often 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. 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 e...

It wasn't so long ago that we ourselves were stupid and stubborn, dupes of sin, ordered every which way by our glands, going around with a chip on our shoulder, hated and hating back. But when God, our kind and loving Savior God, stepped in, he saved us from all that. It was all his doing; we had nothing to do with it. He gave us a good bath, and we came out of it new people, washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit. Our Savior Jesus poured out new life so generously. God's gift has restored our relationship with him and given us back our lives. And there's more life to come—an eternity of life! You can count on this. (Titus 3:3-8) Hmmm...both stupid and stubborn...not exactly the way I would want to be described, but in truth that description isn't too far off!  In our sinful, self-absorbed life "before Christ", we are all both stupid and stubborn.  Stupid implies that we were lacking the ordinary quickness or 'soundness' of mind that we now possess...

I watched a nature show last week in which a bald eagle landed on some fresh black tar laid on the roadway.  It was still hot and very sticky.  He became trapped in the sticky substance, all while trying to catch a meal nearby in the same mired mess.  Sadly, neither accomplished their task - the bird of prey did not get his meal, nor did the rodent cross to a place of safety.  I believe it may have been Joel Olsteen who said something like: "No matter where you at this very moment, this isn't the place you are meant to get stuck or hang out forever.  Each of us was created to rise above that present level and begin to soar to new heights."  Those aren't his exact words, but you get the idea.  I think it goes without saying - we all get "stuck" at some level in life where we just don't really know how to break free of whatever it is we are mired in.  Those times can be the hardest, but they can also be the most rewarding because they will test our...

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...

Yesterday we discussed passion and purpose.  We have one more character trait to consider in our "P" List which is purity.  Now, this sometimes gets overlooked in our consideration of character traits to "put on" because we don't live in a very "pure" world, do we?  It is hard to make pure choices when all around you others are bombarding you with all kinds of wrong ones.  Purity is the freedom from anything which debases (reduces in quality or value), contaminates (adding/mixing in that which makes unclean), or pollutes (corrupts or defiles).  In the most literal sense, impurity is the "adding in" of something which does not belong.  That which does not belong actually changes the consistency or integrity of what does. You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.  (Matthew 5:8 MSG) But friends, that’s exactly who we are: children of God. And that’s only the beginn...

Clean hands and a pure heart - two conditions we often find eluding us.  Our hands get "dirtied" by the things we do - the actions we take.  Our hearts reveal their "soiled" condition by the words we speak, the thoughts we entertain, etc.  Today's passage points to the benefits of both clean hands and a pure heart: 3  Who may go up the mountain of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place?  4  He who has clean hands and a pure heart. He who has not lifted up his soul to what is not true, and has not made false promises.  5  He will receive what is good from the Lord, and what is right and good from the God Who saves him.  (Psalm 24:3-5 New Life Version) The question posed - who may go up to the mountain of the Lord?  Today we don't find ourselves making the journey to the city of Jerusalem in order to go to the Temple of the Lord.  In the times of the psalmist, this was a regular journey for the worshipers of the Lord. ...