The Plumbline

  So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law. (Galatians 5:1) We humans have come to count on many things that are temporary, haven't we? Our health, bank account balance, retirement funds, the weather, our job - the list goes on. We might think all will go 'as planned' but when something we are 'counting on' doesn't abide by the plan, we panic, don't we? We have become more dependent on those temporary things than we are on God. Christ has set us free, not to serve any other master in our lives, but to enter into deep and personal connection with him. When we place our trust in him, we aren't just getting 'fire insurance' that keeps us out of hell, we are receiving a fully pardoned life of freedom. That doesn't mean we become entangled again with all those things that held us captive before, or that we turn again to all those temporary things we trusted in at one time....

There are two freedoms - the false, where a man is free to do what he likes; the true, where he is free to do what he ought. (Charles Kingsley) When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful.  (Proverbs 29:18) Two freedoms - one false, the other living and thriving. Which would you choose? So many people choose the false sense of freedom, believing that being able to do as one pleases, unfettered by any form of rule to live by is some sort of 'heaven on earth'. I would suggest to us that 'heaven on earth' is not as good as life gets, though. Earthly gladness or glee is just that - earthly, fleeting, and eventually will pass away. The freedom to do as we ought, as laid out for us in the set of 'rules' we call the living word of God, now that is true freedom. Some see 'rules' as fettering, but God sees them as protection for a soul that may not know how to choose wisely all the time! One of the biggest struggl...

My dear children, I write this letter to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone sins, we have Jesus Christ to help us. He always did what was right, so he is able to defend us before God the Father. Jesus is the way our sins are taken away. And he is the way all people can have their sins taken away too. If we obey what God has told us to do, then we are sure that we know him. If we say we know God but do not obey his commands, we are lying. The truth is not in us. But when we obey God’s teaching, his love is truly working in us. This is how we know that we are living in him. (I John 2:1-5) A long time ago, I had a pastor who told us it was okay to substitute our own names into scripture. For example, I could read this passage as, "My dear Lauretta, I write this letter to you...", making it come alive to me personally. When I began to realize scripture was written for ME, I began to find it both comforting and a little convicting. At times, it opened up doors for my hea...

Jesus is the one who saves us. He is the God that we serve. I pray that God will help you and give you peace in your minds more and more. You will grow as believers because you know God and you know Jesus, our Lord. God is very powerful because he is God. He has used that power to help us. He has given us everything that we need to live in a good way. We can do things that make God happy. This is possible because now we know him. God has chosen us to be his people because he is very great and very good. Because of this, God has promised that he will do very great and valuable things for us. As a result, you can do what is right, like God does. The people who belong to this world want to do bad things. Those bad things make them become worse and worse. But God gives you the power to be free from all that. (2 Peter 1:2-4) The power to be free from all that - those words speak volumes, don't they? We lived as slaves to sin, but now we live as free men and women, in submissive ser...

I look up to the hills, but where will my help really come from? My help will come from the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth. He will not let you fall. (Psalm 121:1-3) I have spent many hours looking for some form of help simply because I got myself into predicaments that were of my own making - my own stubbornness, pride, fear, or anger getting me all muddled up in some situation I didn't really want to be involved in. It happens to the best of us, my friends. We say something without thinking it through and then wonder why we are 'reaping' such a backlash. We get involved in issues not our own, then wonder why things get out of control. The more we want to be in control of our lives, the more we can expect to encounter these kinds of troubles. The more we desire to allow God's control over our lives, the more likely we will be to avoid such conflicts and concerns. There is but one place to look to when we are in need of help (even when we are in the muddle becaus...

If we say that we share in life with God and keep on living in the dark, we are lying and are not living by the truth. But if we live in the light, as God does, we share in life with each other. And the blood of his Son Jesus washes all our sins away. If we say that we have not sinned, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth isn’t in our hearts. But if we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away. (I John 1:5-9) Sharing is a concept parents teach their kiddos from an early age. Sharing is really the action of each taking part in the use or enjoyment of what one of the parties in the group has. In some cultures, all things are put into common storage and then are distributed from the common resources to meet the needs of everyone in the community. We may consider "sharing" as what we do when we have a little of what someone else doesn't have, giving it to them so they can get use of it or enjoy it as much as we have. Either wa...

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. (Romans 8:1-3) If you have ever stopped to wonder why Jesus had to take on the form of a man, there's your answer. He came to this earth in a body 'like the body we sinners have', so that he could be the sacrifice for our sins. In all he did in that one action, he provided an END to sin's control in our lives - so we are no longer controlled by our sin nature - we have been given a new one - Christ's. Paul has just explained that he desires to do what is right - what the commandments...

The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. (Hebrews 1:3) When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down. There is much said in those words, isn't there?  When he had - it is a finished work, nothing else is required, the job is done. Cleansed us from our sins - it was not his sins that took him to the cross, but ours. The mission was complete when he lifted his eyes to heaven and breathed his last breath on that cross. He sat down - in a place of honor, authority, and oversight. He continues to watch over all of mankind, having completed it all on our behalf, waiting for us to join him there through faith in his finished work. He sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. That 'sustaining power' is what we can count on when we say 'yes'...

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. (Galations 5:13) Do you indulge yourself once in a while? It may not take much indulgence to actually meet our needs, but when we do indulge we need to make sure it is for the right reasons. By definition, to indulge is to allow yourself to follow your own will. Herein is the problem - most of the time our "will" isn't very reliable! We give into our own will and find we are traveling down a path we'd just have soon avoided. When we "indulge", we yield to something which demands to be satisfied. In the end, we may be satisfying a much needed thing, but we must weigh our "urges" up front to ensure we are yielding to the RIGHT things. We are called to live "free" lives - not governed any longer by each and every urge of our old nature. You know the nature I mean - that one which caused us to a...

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:28-29) How many times do we carry burdens way too heavy and beyond our means of ever 'unloading' on our own? Examine what Jesus said - come, take, learn, and find rest. There is an 'unloading' that occurs when we come to Jesus with those things we are carrying, but first we have to come! To take we must lay down. If we are to put more 'in', we must let 'out' what is nothing more than a 'burden' we carry. A burden is anything that is borne with difficulty - there is a sense of obligation to hold onto it, nurse it along, and keep it 'well situated' in a position where it can be 'managed'. What are we 'bearing' with difficulty today? Is it really our 'burden' to carry? Should we con...

Now we see how God does make us acceptable to him. The Law and the Prophets tell how we become acceptable, and it isn’t by obeying the Law of Moses. God treats everyone alike. He accepts people only because they have faith in Jesus Christ. All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. But God treats us much better than we deserve, and because of Christ Jesus, he freely accepts us and sets us free from our sins. God sent Christ to be our sacrifice. Christ offered his life’s blood, so that by faith in him we could come to God. And God did this to show that in the past he was right to be patient and forgive sinners. This also shows that God is right when he accepts people who have faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:21-26) I live in a neighborhood with regular trash pick-ups. Each week we put out the black can for our regular household trash and the blue can for everything we will recycle. One day a month, we put out all our "bulk" trash, such as large limbs from the trees, bro...

We must keep our eyes on Jesus, who leads us and makes our faith complete. He endured the shame of being nailed to a cross, because he knew that later on he would be glad he did. Now he is seated at the right side of God’s throne! (Hebrews 12:2) The twelfth chapter of Hebrews begins with the words, "...we must rid ourselves of everything that slows us down..."  Do you have things which slow you down in life? We sometimes have very "regular" things in life which slow us down - sometimes external to us, like another person, sometimes kind of internal, like raw emotions or fear. There is nothing which quite slows us down as much as the weight of sin in our lives, though. No person or other weight quite exerts the same pressure sin does - pulling us down, loading us with guilt, and holding us in miry links to our past. Maybe this is why the rest of the verse we started with today goes on to say, "...especially the sin that just won't let go..." Sin has a w...

Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” (John 8:12) If you were in a dark room and someone offered to turn on a light for you, would you just continue to stumble along, feeling your way around obstacles, risking bumping into things as you did? It is likely that you'd accept the invitation to have light brought into the room because you don't like stumbling aimlessly! Obstacles abound in life - many of them of our own making. Why would we choose to just stumble around in the dark, running into those obstacles repeatedly, when we are offered light to help us avoid them completely? Jesus offers us light - light that dispels all manner of evil in our lives, pointing out obstacles and stumbling points so we don't run into them needlessly. Yet so many refuse to allow the light in. It seems to me that we get a little too used to this idea o...

Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” “But we are descendants of Abraham,” they said. “We have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean, ‘You will be set free’?” Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free. (John 8:31-36) Remain faithful to his teachings - then you will know the truth that truly sets you free. We might say freedom is just a bit conditional - it requires faithfulness to the teachings of Christ. Sometimes we trust in all kinds of 'other things' to help us 'live free', but religious pursuit without right relationship with God is just a pursuit without a proper aim. What things are you a slave to today? What beliefs hold you back from really purs...

Have you ever been in a spot where someone is trying to find a way to accuse you of something - doing nothing wrong, you are under attack and your reputation is taking one hit after another? Jesus healed the sick - that's not wrong. He fed the hungry - not wrong again. He reached out to the rejected, poor, and those society rejected - still not wrong. Yet, no matter how much 'good' he did, the religious leaders sought to find something - anything - they could 'use against him'. Why? He threatened them by his goodness, gentleness, gracefulness, and his claims to be God's Son. Threatened by truth - isn't that just like us to find something wrong with truth? No matter what, Jesus isn't going to compromise who he is or what he does. We can fight against truth all we want, but the more we fight against it, the harder it will be to resist it!  As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of ...

Always be glad because of the Lord! I will say it again: Be glad. Always be gentle with others. The Lord will soon be here. Don’t worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and requests to God. Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel. (Philippians 4:5-7 CEV) Gladness comes when we take pleasure in something. I like to find the perfect photo - the bee on the flower, leaf floating on water or maybe even the look of having caught a first fish on the face of a young child. It brings me pleasure to catch "just the right" moment. Gladness is a sense of heart where one experiences joy or pleasure. Gladness and happiness are very similar emotions - both based on finding pleasure in something or someone. Pleasure is really the capacity to enjoy what it is you have found. Our passage suggests a reason for gla...

You have changed my sorrow into dancing. You have taken away my sackcloth and clothed me with joy. You wanted me to praise you and not be silent. Lord my God, I will praise you forever! (Psalm 30:11-12 ERV) Some days I just don't feel like dancing, how about you? There are just times when the weight of all that I am feeling 'plants my feet' in one spot and I just muddle through. The more I muddle in the muddle, the more weight I feel. If you have ever walked through a particularly muddy section of land, you would likely have noted how quickly the mud attaches itself to your shoes. Before long, those lightweight shoes begin to feel like lead boots! Sin is kind of like that - we muddle through it and wallow around in it long enough and we will find we get 'weighed down' by the 'attached dirt'. The more we try to move, the harder it becomes to actually take big steps in the right direction.  God's greatest joy is when one of his children actually look down...

The Lord sees everything, and he watches us closely. Sinners are trapped and caught by their own evil deeds. They get lost and die because of their foolishness and lack of self-control. (Proverbs 5:21-23) As a child, I'd try to blame someone else for the "wrongs" I had done. If it was me who snatched a cookie out of the cookie jar before dinner and left a trail of crumbs right up to where I was sitting playing, I would try to deny it was me! I also remember the time mom came home to find my mouth black and my breath smelling heavily of anise only to hear me deny repeatedly that I had been into my grandmother's licorice candy! I denied because I knew the admittance of guilt would bring punishment - but denial doesn't EVER guarantee escape! It only shifts the blame or focus for a moment, but not for the "savvy" parent. The parent who loves and knows their child will not be caught off-guard by the child's adamant denials! In fact, they will pursue the ...

Seek God while he’s here to be found, pray to him while he’s close at hand. Let the wicked abandon their way of life and the evil their way of thinking. Let them come back to God, who is merciful, come back to our God, who is lavish with forgiveness. (Isaiah 55:6) " When you have to make a choice and don't make it, that is in itself a choice ." (William James) We are all broken people - all of us have our weaknesses and we all make mistakes. We all need to make the one supreme choice - will we serve self or Jesus? Seek God while he's here to be found - while he is close at hand, cry out. If we want healing in this world, we all need to abandon our desire to live by our own set of rules.  Seek - go in search of; question so as to obtain; go to that place where you can meet a holy God. Where is that place? At the feet of Jesus. There is no other way to God except through trust in the one and only Son of God - Jesus. Lavish with forgiveness - think about the immense lov...

I know I distressed you greatly with my letter. Although I felt awful at the time, I don’t feel at all bad now that I see how it turned out. The letter upset you, but only for a while. Now I’m glad—not that you were upset, but that you were jarred into turning things around. You let the distress bring you to God, not drive you from him. The result was all gain, no loss. Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. It gets us back in the way of salvation. We never regret that kind of pain. But those who let distress drive them away from God are full of regrets, end up on a deathbed of regrets. (2 Corinthians 7:8-10) Any great pain or sorrow that weighs us down and almost keeps us from moving is not meant to keep us down, it is meant to drive us to God. Elements of physical suffering, or some mental anguish might have us under its control right now. Some call this "trouble", while others use a more sophisticated term like "affliction" or "trib...