The Plumbline

Wayne Dyer told us, "Conflict cannot survive without your participation." The conflict we feel at times is not always because someone else is causing it - there are clearly times when we are the ones choosing to engage in the conflict ourselves. There are also times when the conflict is not with another, but rather with one's own self! If we are to overcome conflict, some of us will need to deal with the internal conflict we bring upon ourselves, as well. Spouting off before listening to the facts is both shameful and foolish. The human spirit can endure a sick body, but who can bear a crushed spirit? (Proverbs 18:13-14) The human spirit can endure much, but when we are in conflict within ourselves for any reason, it is easy for us to feel rather 'crushed' under the burden of that conflict. Repeatedly ignoring the inner conflict one feels is kind of futile, isn't it? The more you try to sweep it under the rug, the more it rears its ugly head. Inner turmoil mus...

Let me introduce you to Peter - a brash, outspoken leader who sometimes didn't get it all right, made impetuous decisions, too afraid to admit his association with someone others didn't exactly like, and who acted rashly on more than one occasion. Even though he wasn't all that 'perfect' in many of those day-to-day decisions, he was one of the founding fathers of the New Testament Church. Nero was the ruler of his day, and his reign didn't exactly leave those who followed Christ in a comfortable position. In fact, he'd as soon persecute them than support them. He often used them as scapegoats, blaming them for some vile action he had taken himself. Toward the end of Peter's life, he pens the letters to the Church at Rome and the 'aliens scattered abroad'. Being scattered leaves one feeling a bit disconnected from others - from the 'roots' one had formed and the protections one had enjoyed. All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus ...

God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it . Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. (Romans 12:1-2) The way we think is the determining factor in how we perceive the circumstance in front of us right now. In changing the 'way' we think, we can be transformed. When we ask God, he tends to give us a different perspective than we've been seeing through our own eyes. There are some of us who go through life just feeling like 'come what may', we ar...

Forget about the wrong things people do to you, and do not try to get even. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. I am the Lord. (Leviticus 19:18) As you might well imagine, as long as there are people attempting to coexist on this earth, there will be conflict of some sort. Some of it is really kind of silly conflict, such as when a team pitted against another on the football field begins to push and shove others on the opposite team, erupting into a few chosen words and punches. Other conflict is quite real, such as when one nation rises up against another, taking life after life in the conflict. Some conflict might just be a little selfish, such as when we pout because we didn't get our own way about something. Regardless of the reason for conflict - it exists all around us. As you might imagine, God's answer to conflict is to expect it, but not to dwell within it - don't get caught up in it, engage in it, or harbor the type of conflict that lasts forever. This conce...

Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it. (James 4:1-2) Conflict comes from a bunch of differing sources - external or from within - our own minds and bodies presenting us with challenges beyond number. Most of us feel a little challenged by the continuation of some of these conflicts - either in relationships, in terms of what we desire, or just in what it is we are surrounded with every day. Let's consider the things which lead to conflict and their "antidote". We have some sort of conflict when we sense we are losing an element of control we'd rather not give up. Face it, control is a big deal to most of us. All the way to the grave we will struggle with wanting some...

The division in our country just amazes me sometimes, but then I need to come back to reality and remember we are humans and humans sometimes don't act so well when we get together in the same sandbox. There will always be those in life we just don't see eye-to-eye with. The very fact we are each individuals, given to our own special talents and unique method of reasoning makes us "individuals". It is much easier being around people who all believe the same way we do, isn't it? There is less friction, everything going a little smoother. I wonder what WE learn in those moments of time when we are with someone who just "grates" at us - who doesn't think exactly as we do, getting a little too close to being 'on the other side' of the issue from us. You know the one I mean - just never seeing things from any other perspective than their own. They "get our goat", don't they? Be truthful! You know they do! Welcome with open arm...

All of us need to be 'set straight' from time to time - some of us more frequently than others. I have a lampshade in the house that seems to always be askew, no matter how many times I make those adjustments, I will return to find it is somehow out of whack again. I could just toss the thing and start from scratch, but it is a perfectly good lampshade! Why would I get a new one? Well, some would think the straightening was not worth the hassle, while others would see the shade as defective. Too many times, I think we see the obstacle and give up on it rather than dealing with it. I guess some may flee when obstacles stand in their way, but I tend to see the obstacle as just another bump in the road! I've already run for dear life straight to the arms of God. So why would I run away now...  God's business is putting things right; he loves getting the lines straight, setting us straight. Once we're standing tall, we can look him straight in the eye. (Psalm 11:1, 7) ...

Back in the time of Christ, one of the specific purposes for his coming was to bring us into a place of living at peace with God.  Without his specific intervention on our behalf, we would still be wallowing around in and out of "right standing" with God because our actions would always require a new sacrifice to "cover over" the wrong-doing we engage in.  That intervention? The laying down of his life once and for all, for all mankind, to bring us once and for all into a place of peace (reconciliation) with God.  If we really live at peace with God, how is it we find it so hard to live at peace with one another?  For months now, the various reports of crimes against others just seem to invade our newspaper headlines and social media clips.  One race rises up against another, those who want to operate outside of the laws of the land rise up against those who are commissioned to enforce those laws, and kids tear down the reputations of other kids until they are ...

Monty Python once said, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will make me go in a corner and cry by myself for hours."  Sure, he wasn't a great theologian or deep-thinking philosopher of our time, but these words are profound nonetheless.  The old adage "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" really is not true, is it?  Sticks and stones may do physical harm - injuries which are apparent on the "outside" of a man. Words have a way of doing emotional and spiritual damage - injuries which are not as apparent because they occur "within" the man.  Maybe this is why there is repeated reminders about the importance of our words - for what gets spoken has a potential of leaving us broken.  You can quote me on that! Words satisfy the mind as much as fruit does the stomach;   good talk is as gratifying as a good harvest.   Words kill, words give life;   they’re either poison or fruit—you choose.  (Proverbs 18...

A peacemaker is one who works toward reconciliation between two parties who disagree, find themselves quarreling a lot, or just plain like to mix it up a little.  Some of us avoid conflict like it was the plague.  We do everything in our power to not be in the position where we will have to be involved in situations where conflict is inevitable.  To someone who actually likes to be in the thick of it, they might interpret this "avoidance" behavior as a little bit of cowardice or wimpiness.  There are actually tests out there you can take to tell you your "conflict style".  I took one once, and guess what....I was a conflict avoider!  It did not show I never took the bull by the horns, I just take a little time to "process" the conflict.  To the outsider, this appears as though I am avoiding the conflict, retreating, or just plain don't want to "mix it up". To me, it looks like a "safety mechanism" to keep me from putting my foot in ...

Conflict comes from a bunch of differing sources, right?  Some are external, while others are from within - our own minds and bodies presenting us with challenges beyond number.  Learning how to deal with conflict is not that easy, though.  In fact, most of us feel a little challenged by the continuation of some of these conflicts - either in relationships, in terms of what we desire, or just in what it is we are surrounded with every day.  Today, I'd like us consider the things which lead to conflict and their "antidote".  Maybe it will just give us enough food for thought to helps out in even one of these areas where we struggle a little. Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get y...

1  I've already run for dear life straight to the arms of  God . So why would I run away now...    7   God 's business is putting things right; he loves getting the lines straight,  setting us straight. Once we're standing tall, we can look him straight in the eye.   (Psalm 11:1, 7) In life, we face times when those around us are advising us to go one way, when we are pretty confident that God has something entirely different in mind for us. We are pulled between the advice of our friends and the nudge of the Spirit we are feeling.  King David asks a question that we all probably ask at one time or another - "Why would I run when I am already in the very best place I can be?"  There is no place more secure than directly in the hands of God. David is being challenged to flee to the hills - run away, escape, make himself scarce - so his enemies don't overtake him, so a challenge does not overwhelm him.  He has two choices ...