The Plumbline

 I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. 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 goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him. (Romans 12:3) The more we try to figure ourselves out, the harder it gets. We do something and we attempt to get down to the rationale behind the action we exhibited. We don't do anything and we try to look deeper into the meaning of the inaction. We are always evaluating ourselves by the outcomes of what it is our action or inaction produces. Is this always the most valid way of evaluating ourselves, though? If we take our text today as truth, then we are clearly not to evaluate self by self - we are to evaluate self by what God does...

Blessed...what does that term mean for you? There are definitely times when I look at others and can see just how much God is blessing their lives. I have made the mistake of proclaiming how wonderfully lucky someone was when I observed a good thing happening in their lives, forgetting all the while how 'trivial' that term 'lucky' is after all. It is easy to say someone is 'lucky' while the truth is really that they were "blessed by a tremendous God". Sometimes we need to be reminded of the intensity of God's blessing in our lives! We are being blessed daily - by seen and unseen blessings alike. It may not be with stuff we see or feel or immediately appreciate, but every moment of life comes with some form of  blessing for those God declares as righteous! As I look back over the most recent weeks of my life, I can recount many blessings.    Hallelujah! Blessed man, blessed woman, who fear God, who cherish and relish his commandments, their childr...

My dad could sell anything - but he also liked to 'brag' about the 'big' fish that got away. He might have been called a 'big talker' when it came to some of his fishing tales, but dad was an excellent fisherman, nonetheless.  Big talkers - do you know any? They kind of paint a picture that sometimes goes way beyond what we imagine possible, but the "picture" never really materializes. What do they do with their "big words" and "big ideas"? They build up hope, don't they? At least until you have been "burned" a few times by the "hollowness" of their words! While dad's 'big talk' was harmless because it was just another 'fish tale', there are 'hollow words' we might all hear from time to time that are not only harmful, they are downright misleading to all who listen. Like billowing clouds that bring no rain  is the person who talks big but never produces.  (Proverbs 25:14) I live in...

There are times when we feel like no one is "in charge" - not even us - when the moments just seem to tick on and all the chaos of the moment have us bumping into all kinds of obstacles. We all face these times - the times when life deals us a hand we just would rather not play, not even a little bit! When "dealt our hand", we can either throw it in, ante up and play, or bluff our way through. Which way are you facing what life deals you today? If you are bluffing your way through, you are likely frustrated, seeing things as very difficult to deal with, but imagining you will get through somehow. If today's plans don't work, you will try something different tomorrow. The problem with living 'out of control' is that we soon get weary trying to maintain balance with the skill and power we possess. Our attitude begins to falter and we all know the attitude soon begins to impact the altitude to which we will ever be able to climb! The day my enemies...

Hardly a week goes by without mom's gentle plea to just 'be young again' - so she'd have energy for the task at hand, or feel like she can regain some skill long since laid aside due to memory or fatigue. With each new day comes the renewal of energy stores, but what reserve we have left at the end of the day is not always the same, is it? Some of us go through life so quickly we rarely even notice that we have had two choices placed in front of us - Life and Death, Good and Evil. How have we handled these today? For those of us placing our head on the pillow at the end of the day, we'd say we embraced Life, but how about Good or Evil? What did our choices reflect today? This is a tough question - one that demands unlimited honesty if we are to truly understand our choices. Look at what I've done for you today: I've placed in front of you Life and Good - Death and Evil. And I command you today: Love God, your God. Walk in his ways. Keep his commandments, re...

Memory requires some effort on our part, does it not? Try learning your mathematical 'times tables' for the first time and you will likely have to 'memorize' the fact that 3 times 3 equals 9. Eventually, in the course of 'rehearsing' that which you have memorized, you will form long-term memory of that fact. It is a fact, not fiction, for three rows of three oranges a piece will yield you nine oranges. There are parts of our memories though that are a little more fiction than fact. We all 'add to' memories, not the stuff we memorize, but the memories made in the moments of life. Most of what we remember will be true, but there are parts of our memories we 'make up' to fill in some gap in those memories. It just could be because we didn't 'take notice' of those things 'in the moment', but now we are recounting something from those moments and realizing there was more we never even saw while we were living in that moment! O Lor...

The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust. Our days on earth are like grass; like wildflowers, we bloom and die. The wind blows, and we are gone—as though we had never been here.  But the love of the Lord remains forever with those who fear him. (Psalm 103:13-17 NLT) My earthly father always believed in me and he showed it by his actions toward me. When I wanted to learn how to ride a bike, he encouraged me to go for it by getting out the training wheels and putting them on my sister's huge Schwinn two-wheeler. I say huge because anything bigger than 5 inch wheels on a tricycle was "HUGE" to me in those days! When I wanted to earn a little money like my older siblings were doing, he helped me pick the fruit from the citrus trees in our yard, pile it high into the wheelbarrow, and then make believe he wasn't watching me like a hawk from tw...

He who has a why to live can bear almost any how. (Friedrich Nietzsche) If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. ( Romans 10:9-10   NLT ) What is you "why" for living? If you have been declaring that you just cannot make it any longer in your present circumstances, maybe you haven't tapped into the right "why"! If we are connected to the right "why", we can endure almost anything. Nietzsche wrote in response to a prevalent revelation of a lack of moral compass in the society in which he lived. He is probably most famous for one of his works entitled "God is Dead". In it, he discusses the evidence that society had taken leave of their desire to follow any form of morality at all - seeking all manner of pleasures and openly r...

For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.  Romans 1:20   NLT I was up this morning in time to gaze into the pre-dawn sky with my oldest grandson in search of the Lyriad meteor shower. We captured two brief moments of shooting stars, but not much more. Needless to say, the time with him was what mattered, not so much that we were dazzled by shooting stars or meteors in the sky. As we repositioned from time to time to catch a different glimpse of the sky, I was amazed at how much this thirteen year old boy has not only grown in height, but in intelligence! He has this awesome app on his phone, points it toward the sky, takes note of the key stars in the constellation and speaks of the stars and their path across the night sky as they moved from horizon at sunset to their present position ...

Alan Watts once penned, "Religion is not a department of life; it is something that enters into the whole of it." I think it is quite possible we relegate God to some "portion" of our lives, while we hold back other parts of us as "off-limits" to him. This is perhaps the one consistent theme in the lives of those who really don't go beyond "Sunday church" in their relationship with Jesus. Sure, he is good for the one hour on Sunday when we celebrate him in the company of others who come to do the same, but we don't take him much further than the doorway of the church sometimes. We hear the good sermon, even nod in agreement to the points the preacher makes, and laugh at the jokes he tells. When we leave the doors of the church, the matters discussed become as though they were carried on the winds - gone from our memories, and not at all affecting our hearts.  God isn't a "department" or "thing" in our lives just fo...

Who is the True God except the Eternal?  Who stands like a rock except our God?  The True God who encircled me with strength and made my pathway straight.  He made me sure-footed as a deer and placed me high up where I am safe.  He teaches me to fight so that my arms can bend a bronze bow.  You have shielded me with Your salvation, supporting me with Your strong right hand, and it makes me strong.  You taught me how to walk with care so my feet will not slip.  (Psalm 18:31-46 VOICE) On occasion I run across an article or perhaps a television documentary in which someone is attempting to postulate as to the "existence" of God.  The age-old question of who he is, if he is real, or how he could have created the universe always come up, doesn't it?  People try hard to answer these questions, but somehow fall short unless they receive the "evidence" of God in faith.  The massive quantity of stars in the many g...

As I was exploring Downtown Disney in Orlando, I came across a food truck whose business name was "Namaste", a term used way to casually these days and perhaps not as well understood as it needs to be. Now if you are unfamiliar with that term, let me just elaborate a little for you. Namaste is a term used by those who are regular yoga enthusiasts as a form of greeting and salutation at the beginning and end of the yoga session. In the truest use of the term, there is a combined gesture of hands brought together, fingers pointing upward, and a slight bow at the waist with the accompanied greeting. If you did not know what this "respectful greeting" really means, it would seem kind of harmless - like you were just saying "peace be with you". When you look at the origin of the term in Hinduism, you might be surprised to find it means "I bow to the divine in you". In modern culture, and among the yoga enthusiasts out there everywhere, it has come to...

We had hopes of getting rain this past week, with lots of lightening, blowing wind, and very grey skies.  It was almost black in places - with evidence rain was falling in some parts of town in pretty significant quantities.  As I left for work that morning, I saw a beautiful double rainbow - not just pieces of it, but the entire two "bows" of the double beauty.  It was awesome to look upon, and I remember thinking how awesome God was.  It was not a fleeting thought because I continued to see that rainbow off to the west as I made my drive north to the freeway.  The sun was rising in the east, resulting in the most vibrant of colors against that black sky of the west.  It is times like those when we can look at the beauty of what God has created and begin to ponder his greatness.  It also makes me ponder why man is so important to God - why it is he chose to work with such a "feeble" and "fickle" lot as us.  If you stop long enough to appreciate ...

I don't fully understand the "watchful" ability of God - because at best I can only keep my eye on a couple things at one time - and even then I am just barely keeping up with things.  Don't believe me, then recount the last time you were cutting up something on the counter, while a pot was coming to a boil on the stove, and the sudden alertness it created when you heard that sound of the hot water hitting the stove top with a loud sizzle.  You were right there, and it stilled boiled over!  You were "watchful" over the entire dinner, but it stilled managed to escape your attention that the pot's contents were at the point of coming right over the edges of the pot!  Yes, we are watchful, but our watchfulness is nothing like the omnipresence of God - his ever-present, all-seeing watchful presence.  I don't just believe it is his vantage point in the heavenlies which gives him the great ability to be watchful over all mankind at one time.  I think it m...

There are times you just read over stuff in the scriptures and totally miss what is being said.  You can do this year after year, without even "getting" something. I kind of think this may be on purpose because God has a season and a specific time for certain things to catch our attention.  In those moments, he pours something into our lives by sometimes even the shortest of passages. What we do with what God gives us is ours to determine - he can provide the feeding, but he cannot force feed us.  He can spoon feed us, but he doesn't cram it down our throats!  One thing is for sure - remain open to what he provides and you will have your "fill" of good things and "stuff" you can actually use in your own life!  Did you ever stop to consider for just a moment how much "scripture" is declared in the things around you, not just in the written words between those leather bindings you call a Bible?  It is true, for even the heavens tell of his glo...

I had the pleasure of enjoying my two daughters and grandsons on Mother's Day, along with my Mom.  The boys had to work, but they sent their greetings and were missed terribly.  As we were enjoying a leisurely BBQ lunch, Corbyn asked if I had seen the hummingbird video on Facebook.  We had been observing the hummingbirds come and go from the feeder just behind us on the patio, so the subject seemed to center around birds.  I had observed many beautiful birds on vacation, but the boys wanted me to see this particular video because it had caught their attention.  Becca was quick to find it in the news feed and shared it with me.  It spoke volumes to me.  As I watched, a mother hummingbird fed two small chick birds in the nest.  First one, then the other. What was amazing was the way she almost had to "force feed" them.  At first, they started out "ravenous" - wanting what she had to offer, beaks open and beckoning to her to give them her store...

Have you ever been asked to describe God?  It is hard!  We take a deep breath, then launch out into some kind of lengthy explanation of what God does, how he moves among us, etc.  All the while, we are really struggling with getting anything "concrete" in our answer.  Try it!  It is hard!  David had a really good way of describing God - simple and to the point! 1  Light, space, zest— that's  God !  So, with him on my side I'm fearless, afraid of no one and nothing. (Psalm 27:1 The Message) Wow!  Three simple words, but pretty all-inclusive if you ask me!  Light, space, and zest - what could he possibly have meant by using these words? Light -  This is the message we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in him there is no darkness at all (I John 1:5 NIV).   In him we find all glory and majesty.  No wonder scripture repeatedly refers to God as "light" - it is not something...