The Plumbline

And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. (Deuteronomy 6:6-7) Benjamin Franklin said, "It is easier to prevent bad habits than it is to break them." Maybe this is why God encouraged his people to commit themselves to getting into God's Word every day. Recalling his Word on occasion is okay, but 'rehearsing' it until it gets inside of you and begins to affect what you are doing is much closer to what he commanded! Bad habits form a whole lot easier than good ones - at least, that is what I have observed in my own life. The good ones seem to be more difficult because of how I view them - as hard, requiring a 'whole lot of change'. If we didn't form them in the first place, the struggle wouldn't be there! The more we commit to making Go...

When we have thoughts that are constantly gravitating toward worry, it becomes an all-consuming process that works over and over again in our brains until it eats us up! Did you ever really think about what worry is - not worry over worry, but think about what might be at the root of it? When we are spending our time in worry, we are really focusing all our time on reviewing over-and-over again what we have absolutely no power over - the control is really in another's hands! That seed of doubt, fear, frustration, and indecisiveness soon become a full-grown tree of worry, bearing repeated fruits of anxiety that we feed on and continue to mull over in our minds. We have no control over it, but it soon begins to control us - it draws us in deeper and deeper. I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. (...

It was Benjamin Franklin who reminded us it is easier to prevent habits than to break them. A habit is an "acquired behavior pattern" that is followed so frequently that it becomes what scientists would call 'involuntary'. More than likely we each have one or two habits that have become so 'involuntary' we no longer think about them, we just do them. As a matter of fact, it probably throws us off a little whenever anything interferes with that 'pattern of behavior'. If you are used to rising in the morning, putting on a pot of coffee, and sitting with the paper in hand as your 'routine', you will likely be lost if the paper delivery doesn't occur that day. Your 'pattern' just got disrupted! Most would agree some habits are not bad to have, such as washing our hands and brushing our teeth. Good hygiene is an 'acquired behavior pattern' appreciated by all. Yet there are others which are a little more 'out there' that ...

Hold the high ground - it is the best and most successful position!  Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "If you would lift me up, you must be on higher ground."  He had something there, don't ya think?  For someone to lift another, they have to have a position which allows them to pull, not push another!  Think about it - you can only push or boost another up when you are at a point lower than they are.  If you are at a point higher, you can pull.  To push really means you are putting pressure against - so as to move what seems to be immovable.  To pull means you draw toward - so as to bring closer to where you are.  I think there is something to be said for being pulled, rather than always having to be pushed! All of you, slave and free both, were once held hostage in a sinful society. Then a huge sum was paid out for your ransom. So please don’t, out of old habit, slip back into being or doing what everyone else tells you. Friends, stay where you ...

Who do you "hang out" with?  You probably have a pretty "routine" group of acquaintances who you associate with more than others.  Sometimes, we have groups at work or school, others at home and at church.  They can overlap a little, but seldom are they all the same.  When we have all these groups in which we associate, it is easier to be one with one group and quite another with the other, isn't it?  There is not a great deal of consistency between the members of the groups, so being a little different with each group usually doesn't present a problem.  Until....one day, you find a member of one of your "groups" crossing-over into another!  Perhaps you find yourself a little conflicted because you "act" one way with the present group, but quite a different way with the other.  The truth about associations is the tendency we have to "blend" to their way of acting.  We become like those we hang out with, don't we?  Yeah, we h...