The Plumbline

Be delighted with the Lord. Then he will give you all your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him to help you do it, and he will. Your innocence will be clear to everyone. He will vindicate you with the blazing light of justice shining down as from the noonday sun. (Psalm 37:4-6) A heart's desires can be many - no doubt your desires differ from mine, but if we were to list them all, our lists would be long! I desire for my children to know and serve the Lord Jesus Christ. My delight will be to see my two grandsons to grow up to be morally strong, obedient to the commandments of Christ, and to trust him fully with the control of their lives. My desire to see both my children and grandchildren realize their dreams burns deeply with. I desire health, so I do what I can to preserve it wherever possible. I delight in time in the Word of God, good worship music, and the freedom to share my heart in open communion with my Lord. A heart's desires and delights...

But he knows where I am and what I’ve done. He can cross-examine me all he wants, and I’ll pass the test with honors. I’ve followed him closely, my feet in his footprints, not once swerving from his way. I’ve obeyed every word he’s spoken, and not just obeyed his advice— I’ve treasured it . (Job 23:10-12) Devotion is the character trait which really cannot be "seen" in the way we dress, what we drive, or the things we amass around us. It is "seen" more in the people we hang around with, the way we spend our time, and the attitude of heart which is exhibited in the actions we take toward others. Devotion is just a synonym for love, evident in where we find our foundation for life, who it is we emulate in our actions, and what it is we commit to without wavering. Devotion also determines our delight - there is very little in which we take delight that does not first begin with an appeal to our hearts. Throughout scripture, devotion is linked with determination - f...

Find your delight in the Lord. Then he will give you everything your heart really wants.  (Psalm 37:4) Do you know how this psalm begins? David begins by telling us to stop being upset because of sinful people and to stop being jealous of all those around us who are doing wrong. Do you ever find yourself caught up in the moments of comparison where you actually begin to bemoan the fact the ones doing wrong around you seem to prosper and you are just struggling to make it through? I think this can be more commonplace than we might first believe. It is hard to see people behaving poorly and seeming to just slide on by without anyone calling them on their behavior. It is hard to observe injustices overlooked. The instruction is quite simple - stop dwelling on their 'good fortune' in the midst of some pretty poorly made choices on their part. Why? The answer is found in the next verse - "Like grass, they will soon dry up. Like green plants, they will soon die." Our respon...

We have all probably heard the saying, "If you cannot laugh at yourself, then who can you laugh at." Well, some days I just do a lot more laughing than others! We should laugh - if not that good belly laugh that releases all those happy feelings - then at least a little chuckle now and again to remind us we are all human and all do some kinda dumb stuff! I don't laugh 'at' people, but because we ALL are people, suffering from similar inconsistencies in our lives, and we just do 'funny stuff' from time to time. You know what . . . life gets pretty doggone hard at times and if we could not laugh or celebrate from time to time, it would be pretty hard to get through! I inherited your book on living; it's mine forever—what a gift! And how happy it makes me! I concentrate on doing exactly what you say—I always have and always will. (Psalm 119:111-112) I always loved watching my children and now my grandchildren opening their gifts on Christmas morning. I ...

Back in the day I used to love to read the Reader's Digest little quips called "Laughter is the Best Medicine".  The short stories would make me chuckle and even evoke a smile from deep within.  In essence, the writers of the short one page segment in the magazine were trying to get across this idea of a cheerful heart going a long way toward changing our disposition toward things in life.  Laugh a little and the world might seem a little less challenging.  Learn to laugh at yourself and you won't be tempted to take yourself too seriously.  I don't know if the articles still run in the magazine, but I know how much joy they brought me each month as I'd read this one and "Humor in Uniform".  Those short jokes and funny stories might have been simple and kind of cheesy on occasion, but they accomplished their mission - they made us laugh!  E.E. Cummings once said, "The most wasted of all days is one without laughter."  Milton Berle said, ...

Devotion is one character trait which really cannot be "seen" in the way we dress, what we drive, or the things we amass.  In fact, it is "seen" more in the people we hang around with, the way we spend our time, and the attitude of heart which is exhibited in the actions we take toward others.  If you really stop to consider it, devotion is just a synonym of love.  Devotion is evident in where we find our foundation for life, who it is we emulate in our actions, and what it is we commit to without wavering.  Devotion also determines our delight - there is very little in which we take delight that does not first begin with an appeal to our hearts.  Devotion then is linked with determination - for what we come to value we develop a strong determination to obtain and make out own. But he knows where I am and what I’ve done.   He can cross-examine me all he wants, and I’ll pass the test  with honors.   I’ve followed him closely, my feet in his footp...