The Plumbline

Have you ever blamed someone else for something you really should have taken responsibility for? It is like you know you initiated the matter, but then it escalated out of control, and you don't want to step up to take responsibility. Have you ever done this with God? We forget that he knows the intention of our hearts and sees the foolishness of our actions, but it as though we want to shift the blame to him. It is that person you brought into my life, God. It was because you didn't intervene sooner, God. It was that circumstance, God. Anything or anyone other than us - even God - is to blame. People ruin their OWN lives by their OWN foolishness, but that doesn't give them the privilege to blame God or others for THEIR foolishness. Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes. People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the Lord. (Proverbs 19:2-3) Do you know what 'enthusiasm without knowledge' really is? It is doing, TH...

“You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands. (Exodus 20:4-6) I was asked how God could lay the sins of the parents upon their children. Isn't God a loving God and children innocent of their parents' sin? God wasn't saying he would 'count' the parents' sin against the children over generations to come, but rather than the effects of their sin would be evident to the children. Taken in context, God is reminding Israel (and us) that he is a 'jealous God' - he will not allow us to bow down...

I have read through scripture a number of times but have always struggled a bit with how God could 'get angry' and still be a merciful and kind God. My guess is that I am not alone in this quandary. What I have deduced is that God gets 'angry' when people sin - sin gets his anger stirred up. He is slow to anger, but that doesn't mean his patience can be taken for granted. God is the judge of human character - not us. We would like to sit in judgment on occasion, but we are not qualified to judge simply because we have this sin nature at work within each of us.  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 sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. (Galatians 6:7-8) Whenever we think we are above the judgment of God, we are in a very troubling place. We may want to take...

Gonna meddle a little here this morning. Do you ever get into trouble? I mean the kind where you just aren't really sure there is any way out of it - the trouble you make or that is made by those you associate with that is just about to bury you alive. The truth is that most of the time we make our own trouble - we don't need the help of others to really do a good job at finding and meddling around with trouble. Trouble isn't a thing - it is a set of actions that lead to a result we probably will find a little undesirable. I joke from time to time that I am 'making trouble' when someone asks me what I am up to, but if I were honest here, the times when I am really 'making trouble' in my life are not a joking matter! I was in trouble, so I called to the Lord for help. The Lord answered and made me free. The Lord is with me, so I will not be afraid. No one on earth can do anything to harm me. ( Psalm 118:5-6 ERV ) As kids, we'd ask our friends if t...