The Plumbline

The Lord replies, “I have seen violence done to the helpless, and I have heard the groans of the poor. Now I will rise up to rescue them, as they have longed for me to do.” The Lord’s promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over. Therefore, Lord, we know you will protect the oppressed, preserving them forever... (Psalm 12:5-7) The oppressed cry out - the Lord hears and answers. This has been the plight of civilization from the beginning of time. Mankind gets off-kilter, God intervenes to restore balance once again. What does it mean to be 'oppressed' as it is used in this passage? It is important to see that God doesn't mind when we 'complain' to him about our plight - having encountered evil on every side, feeling a little bit persecuted, or maybe even a little like they need to be 'vindicated' in some manner. God is attentive to our circumstances, even when it seems like evil is prevailing. Deceit almost always begi...

When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power. (Ezra Taft Benson) We cannot expect to ignore God's instruction forever and not see some form of chaos in our world. God gives grace, time to turn to him, but he won't be mocked. We cannot live like we want, then expect all of God's blessings to be in our lives. Theodore Roosevelt reminded us, "Obedience of the law is demanded; not asked as a favor."  Take hold of my instructions; don’t let them go. Guard them, for they are the key to life. (Proverbs 4:13) We lack so much power in our lives all because we seek to do things our own way. We find our greatest strength and power when we apply God's instructions to our lives. If we ignore those instructions for way too long, the path we have committed ourselves to will be filled with chaos, angst, and quite unfulfilling endeavors.  Take hold of his instructions - this doesn't imply that someone else i...

Don’t stop the work of the Holy Spirit. Don’t treat prophecy like something that is not important. But test everything. Keep what is good, and stay away from everything that is evil. (I Thessalonians 5:20-22) Don't stop the work of the Holy Spirit - just how might we do that in our own lives or the lives of others around us? We might not listen when he is giving us guidance, choosing our own plans or path. We could discount something he has shown another, making them question if they are really hearing from God at all. We might find ourselves disagreeing with truth simply because it doesn't 'fit' our present lifestyle or choices. Whenever we 'stop the work of the Holy Spirit', we might find ourselves walking away from truth and toward deception quicker than we think! Test everything - does God really mean 'everything' when he says this? Yes, he does! Test what you hear before you put your full belief into it! I always tell someone if something doesn'...

7 Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. 8 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 NLT) One who deceives will always find those who allow themselves to be deceived. (Niccolo Machiavelli) Mr. Machiavelli has been referred to at the "father of modern political science" because of his commentaries on unscrupulous and oftentimes quite diabolical politicians. While I don't adhere to much of what he describes as "normal operations" within politics, his observations were nonetheless true. Politics at the time of his writings allowed the engagement of some rather immoral and often hurtful tactics. Writing during the Renaissance period, he often observed human life being taken in the name of 'political advancement', mattering not to those...

As kids, we had all these little rhymes we'd say on occasion, like the one we used when we caught someone fibbing:  "Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire".  Or maybe the one when the batter was up to the plate and we wanted to distract the pitcher from being able to concentrate on throwing the ball:  "We want a pitcher, not a belly itcher".  Or the one we used when we wanted the batter to have a less chance of hitting the ball:  "Hey, Batter, Batter, SWING".  Pointing out that we knew someone was trying to pull one over on us by the "Liar, Liar" one was just kind of our way of letting them know we found them out and we weren't falling for their mischief or prank.  Rattling the pitcher or hitter was just a way of trying to stack the cards in our favor when we had a batter up to bat who needed a few "balls" to come there way, or we wanted a hitter to miss the ball!  If they didn't get a few balls and an occasional walk, they almost didn...

I like to watch those "do it yourself" programs, or remodels of homes on the various cable channels which offer them.  They have so many inspiring ways to do the remodel, often with only a fraction of the cost of having someone else do it.  Yet, I don't tackle many of those projects myself because I don't possess the know-how, muscle, or time to do them.  I "want" the nice counter tops, back splash, and the like, but I won't be "doing" them anytime soon - at least not with my own effort!  Do you ever struggle with wanting what the "rich and famous" seem to have at their disposal?  Or maybe just seeing someone who seems to have a little better home, car, or wardrobe than you do?  You get all these ideas in your head about how "nice" all their "amenities" are and you forget how absolutely blessed you already are! When you go out to dinner with an influential person,   mind your manners: Don’t gobble your food,...

Ever been misled - you know, you believe something only to find out in the end it may not be exactly as you believed it to be?  We probably are more sensitive to this type of "deception" today because of all the avenues for reproducing the deception.  There is an overwhelming amount of social media where we can see all kinds of reports, only to find out some of them are phishing scams, viruses, or just plain false posts designed to lure us in.  There is the entire web to "research" this cure or that experience - and we all know everything on the web is true!  Our passage today deals with having a trustworthy interpretation or impression of ourselves and others - something we often don't do a very good job with, as well. Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself.  You  might be needing forgiveness before the day’s out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share t...