The Plumbline

As we come to Jesus, we might expect the immediate healing of all our anxieties, hang-ups, and long-held issues. We know there are things in our lives Jesus forgives but then he "deals" with them for a while until we realize they are finally gone. The sinful stuff in our lives that gets our focused attention through God's eyes will get dealt with in pretty short order compared to the stuff we just let 'hang on' even when he is telling us to let it go.   Jesus and his followers came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch the man. So Jesus held the blind man’s hand and led him out of the village. Then he spit on the man’s eyes. He laid his hands on him and asked, “Can you see now?” The man looked up and said, “Yes, I see people. They look like trees walking around.” Again Jesus laid his hands on the man’s eyes, and the man opened them wide. His eyes were healed, and he was able to see everything clearly. (Mark 8:22-25) We come t...

Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm. (Proverbs 13:20) Do you remember the story of Abraham and Lot - both with growing flocks, herds, and wealth? The time came when they needed to separate their flocks and herds because of what ranchers might have called 'overcrowding' of the animals. They were 'over-grazing' the lands, so they needed to find 'independent' grazing grounds. As you may recall from the story, Lot chose what looked best for himself, his family, herds, and flocks. He moved lock, stock, and barrel into a land way to close to the sinful people of Sodom, a mistake that would cost him dearly. The company of fools soon rubs off on those who spend enough time with them. Before long, Lot was so accustomed to the 'culture' of the day that he didn't even confront sin any longer. His choice of grazing ground may have been a little self-centered as it was 'choice ground', but that 'choic...

I am sometimes guilty of judging a book by its cover - like when I pass a quick judgment on someone or something because I see something on the "surface" which kind of gets my dander up, but really don't understand the reality of what they are going through just beneath the surface. We never really know what another will bring into our lives until we get beneath the surface - look beneath the "cover". Lest you think you are beyond concealing things beneath a "cover" in your lives, ask yourself this question: "When was the last time I was truthful about the toughest struggle in my life today?"  That question is telling because we often don't have anyone with whom we can share the struggle; or we don't really want to be honest about the struggle because it is kind of humbling to admit we struggle in that area of our lives. In reality, we have no struggles which are not "common" among all men and women - things like fear, anx...

Yesterday we began our study into the thirty principles Solomon laid out which he indicated as an indicator of our trust in God - if we live by these principles, then our foundation will be one of trust.  They also act as principles which will help to hold us accountable for our actions and attitudes.  Today, we explore the second in these principles - the company we keep.  As you may recall, we explored our attitude toward those who have "need" or "weakness" in their lives yesterday.  This attitude determines a great deal as it comes to how we interact within the "boundaries" of Christian love or not.  Today, it is the company we keep - those who we associate with the most - which we will explore.  Why is this important?  Wrong relationships are as dangerous as wind is to fire.  Pick the wrong ones to engage with and you will find your world set on fire, but not a fire you can control! Don’t hang out with angry people;   don’t keep compa...

God desires intimacy.  In fact, love demands this kind of relating.  It cannot grow without depth of commitment and the willingness to be truthfully "naked" before one another in a spiritual and emotional sense.  We don't need to remove our clothes to "get naked" with each other - we just need to remove our masks.  Intimacy implies a certain familiarity with each other.  It comes out of frequent exposure to each other - to the real you and the real me.  It is the revealing of who we are, how we act, and what we like/dislike. It involves how we move and what moves us.  In essence, until we reach this kind of depth in relationship with one another, we cannot truly be in a place of accountability with one another - and heaven knows, we need this type of accountability if we are to plant and harvest well! Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.     Those who live only to satisfy their own sinf...