The Plumbline

" The greatest want of the world is the want of men - men who will not be bought or sold; men who in their inmost souls are true and honest; men who do not fear to call sin by its right name; men whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole; men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall ." (Ellen G. White) Men who will stand, not just in their own might and ferociousness, but who will stand in the power and strong might of the one true God of the Universe. We don't stand against sin without the full armor of God. We don't need armor unless there is an enemy and I want to assure you we face a very real enemy - out to devour our souls and take us down to hell. He doesn't need to make heaven fall to get us to fall into hell's gates - he just needs to distract us into complacency to do that! The one thing I want from God, the thing I seek most of all, is the privilege of meditating in his Temple, living in his presence every day of my l...

Henry Ward Beecher reminds us, "We should not judge people by their peak of excellence; but by the distance they have traveled from the point where they started." A thing we often forget is that every journey requires a starting point. We sometimes get all caught up in the journey and forget from whence we came. We see the 'finish line', but completely disregard we had to cross the 'starting line' to even be on our way to the 'finish'.  But He knows the course I have traveled. And I believe that were He to prove me, I would come out purer than gold from the fire. My foot has been securely set in His tracks; I have kept to His course of life without swerving; I have not departed from the commands of His lips; I have valued everything He says more than all else. (Job 23:10-12) I have not always traveled in a straight course - veering on occasion into places where complacency take me without even noticing. I have resumed my course on occasion with...

We all have had weeks we'd like to put behind us. Some days are just better than others! In the passage of time, there are moments we'd like to "erase" from our memory, while there are also those others we hope to hold onto forever and ever. When things are just not going well for us, how do we handle it? What is our response to the chaos, disappointment, frustration, or fear? When you have one of those "EVERYTHING's falling apart on me!" kind of days or weeks, how do you get up to do another? To be totally transparent here, we all have those days when we are just good and ready for this chapter of our life to be closed and a new one to be written! Everything's falling apart on me, God; put me together again with your Word. Festoon me with your finest sayings, God; teach me your holy rules. My life is as close as my own hands, but I don't forget what you have revealed. The wicked do their best to throw me off track, but I don't swerve an inc...