The Plumbline

Some people are just troublemakers. They are always thinking up some crooked plan and telling lies. They use secret signals to cheat people; they wink their eyes, shuffle their feet, and point a finger. They are always planning to do something bad. But they will be punished. Disaster will strike, and they will be destroyed. There will be no one to help them. (Proverbs 5:12-14) If you have ever had a troublemaker in your life, you know just how hard it can be to around them for any length of time. You just want to turn and run when you see them because you know nothing good is about to come of the encounter. Wisdom would suggest we avoid them entirely, but we all know it is impossible to never encounter them at all. So, what do we do when we encounter a troublemaker in our lives? If we want to learn how to deal with them, we need only look as far as Christ's example. Jesus was surrounded by members of the religious leadership, thinking they knew more than he did, always trying to fi...

Life Hack #20: Don’t envy bad people; don’t even want to be around them. All they think about is causing a disturbance; all they talk about is making trouble. (Proverbs 24:1-2) Bad people seem to be everywhere in this world. It seems like evil just runs rampant and we cannot seem to regain the ground we have lost. As we begin to ponder how easily things seem to be going for those bent on doing wrong, we almost wonder why things can't be that easy for us. It is amazing what we can get worked up over - stuff we probably don't want to be involved in anyway, but because we see some advantage to the other guy, we get ourselves all in a twitter about the issue. Evil people cannot help us stay on the right path - in fact, they might get us off it without even trying very hard - simply because our tendency is to follow what moves our feelings rather than what keeps our spirit on the up and up. To get caught up in the talk and the ruckus of their madness is to end up in a truly dan...

Some days, I am on top of the world - sailing along without worry or hindrance. Others I am in the pit looking up - barely able to keep my head above water, really uncertain about the way things are going to turn out that day. The ups and downs, twists and turns of life just keep us in knots, wondering what is coming next, not sure we will be able to 'keep up' or 'make it through'. It is one thing to feel these various emotions because of another's action within our lives - quite another to feel them because of our own poorly prepared and 'dumbly executed' actions, isn't it? One brings a sense of anger, mistrust, fear, and perhaps even the desire to retaliate a little. The other brings a sense of frustration, guilt, remorse, and if we are being totally honest here, even a little bit of what we call shame. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace , it's important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goo...

Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. ( Ephesians 4:2   TLB ) If you have ever worked with the elderly in that latter stages of their lives, or little children in the early years of theirs, you know just how hard it can be to constantly be telling them the same things over and over again. Add to the elderly's constantly dwindling short-term memory the issues of not hearing well, problems with their sight, and the advances of pains galore and you have a recipe for some challenging moments that put to test the fibers of your character. Think about the boundless energy of a small child and constantly challenging curiosity and you have a recipe for exhaustive patience. I wish I could say I never get frustrated repeating stuff over and over again, but I do. I would like to report I never have an edge in my voice that betrays my lack of enthusiasm to be moving at a snail's pace when I'd like to be zoomi...

To give an appropriate answer is a joy; how good is a word at the right time! ( Proverbs 15:23   CEB ) Do you ever find yourself just standing there speechless at times because what you just heard, saw, or were asked just absolutely floored you? There are entire shows on TV these days in which individuals try to leave those around them "shocked" by some behavior they exhibit. The idea is to see if anyone will say something, or react in a way that reminds us these behaviors are really not all that acceptable. It amazes me to see how many times others will take offense, as evidenced by their body language, but will absolutely say nothing! Then comes along someone with the "moxie" to stand up to the guy trying to elicit some response and how the words fly! What others only thought, this individual is putting into quite a diatribe of words! God doesn't expect us to be speechless - but he also asks us to be very deliberate in the choice of words we speak. They ...

Put on my yoke, and learn from me. I’m  gentle  and humble. And you will find rest for yourselves. (Matthew 11:29) Back in the day, the recording artist Roberta Flack became known for several of her most popular songs. One such song had lyrics that somehow touched me, not because they were a "love song" really, but because of the undertone of the song as I viewed it in light of what Jesus did in my own life.  The song?  "Killing Me Softly With His Song". Why did this song speak to me of Jesus and his action in my life? Maybe an exploration of the words might tell you: Strumming my pain with his fingers - Singing my life with his words Killing me softly with his song - Killing me softly with his song Telling my whole life with his words - Killing me softly with his song Doesn't Jesus have just the right way to place his fingers exactly where the pain is in our lives, making what others might see as too much pain and making it into something special ...