The Plumbline

Serve only the Lord your God and fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him. (Deuteronomy 13:4) I have heard it said that only God's ever-present presence can truly change a person's life. All other change is fleeting. As much as we'd like to think we are capable of changing our course all on our own, the struggle against will and emotion can be daunting. When we choose rather to serve God and him alone, we might find there is still a little struggle with our own desires, but the 'will' to choose a correct course isn't all within our own strength. We tap into the supernatural strength of Jesus within. Over the years, I have used many of these clear plastic wraps for supposedly keeping things in the fridge from spilling or spoiling. Some are rather poor quality, saying they will 'hold tight', but falling short. Others are very good at holding the contents in, gripping firmly to the bowl and preserving the food inside. "...

When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself. Enter the silence. Bow in prayer. Don’t ask questions: Wait for hope to appear. Don’t run from trouble. Take it full-face. The “worst” is never the worst. Why? Because the Master won’t ever walk out and fail to return. If he works severely, he also works tenderly. His stockpiles of loyal love are immense. (Lamentations 3:28-32) Life isn't always going to go our way. In fact, we will likely face more than one hiccup in our day today. When hiccups come, how do you handle them? Do you complain like I do sometimes? Do you say life isn't fair like I do at times? Do you just want to escape it all like I do on occasion? If you didn't notice it as I asked those questions, I don't always embrace what I am going through - there are times I want to find the quickest and easiest way to be 'out of the mess'. Life is heavy and hard to take - sometimes more frequently than we might like. When we face ...

When Moses went up to the Mount to speak directly with God, he had to veil his face after speaking with God because the radiance of God's glory was simply too much for the people of Israel to deal with!  Imagine that!  The radiance of God's glory and grace so magnificent upon the face of his servant that people could not bear to look upon it!  Why do you suppose that might have been the case?  Perhaps it was the very thing which light does in darkness - it points out things we didn't see before - maybe things the Israelites didn't want to admit to or deal with because they had conveniently been hidden in the dark places of their lives for so very long.  It doesn't surprise me that when the evidence of God's grace is so "out there" for everyone to see that it brings a sense of "discomfort" to some.  Grace is hard for some to embrace because the uneasiness of having their sin "discovered" is just a little too close for their comfort!...