The Plumbline

But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit. (Jerremiah 17:7-8 NLT) Long months of drought. Heat that scorches and dries. Those are things that most of us want to avoid, not just 'survive', aren't they? The longer we live on this earth, the chances are good that we will endure some 'scorching heat' and 'drought'. If not in our natural world, then in our spiritual lives. The droughts in a spiritual sense are kind of like very dry seasons that are marked by us not really feeling all that 'connected' to God. It is like we just don't 'feel' his presence, much less feel like what we are doing to maintain that relationship is really 'working'. We might read our ...

Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing. (Psalm 143:10)  I am one who needs a lot of 'teaching' when it comes to doing God's will. Make no bones about it - we choose our own way over God's way and then find ourselves working our way back to the way he asked us to go anyway, so why do we do it? When we stop to consider how 'hard' it seems to find and walk in God's will at times, we might just have to admit how insanely hard it is to walk our way back into his will once we have decided to go our own way! That 'hardness' in choosing righteousness isn't by accident - it might just show how 'willing' we are to put God first in our lives, even when it isn't the easiest thing to do! It may not seem like it at first, but those who choose to rebel against the will of God will endure a hard ending. We might think they are enjoying life now, but I don't suspect they will enjoy ...