The Plumbline

People are trapped in history and history is trapped in them. (James Baldwin) I'd have to say this is pretty accurate about most of us - our history actually 'traps us' and we are bound to it like super-glue to our fingers. All of us have a 'history'. All of us has had to deal with that 'history' or else we bury it deeper and deeper because it was too hard to deal with. Regardless of buried or 'dealt with', the history remains - it happened - it left a mark of sorts. On occasion I am haunted by some of the things I have done, said, or thought - in my distant past, but still coming up in my memory from time to time. It isn't that these things aren't under the grace of Jesus - sins confessed, dealt with, and moved on from. It is that our memory has a way of being used as a 'weapon' against us during some of our weakest moments. Maybe this is why God emphasizes us bringing EVERY thought captive - because the battle begins in the mind! If...

I don't think there is anything more damaging to our overall sense of well-being than for us to continually rehearse the 'bad stuff' in life. The 'stuff' may have happened TO us, or we may have been the ones to have DONE it. Regardless, to continually go over and over all that "old history" is really not all that productive and it might actually be the cause of why we aren't moving forward right now! There is something much more powerful in 'being present' in the moment - to be focused on what it is we can take control of within ourselves, then turning the rest over to God to let him have the reins in our lives.  “Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands." (Isaiah 43:18 MSG) To forget about what's happened one must be willing to let go o...

It was Alfred Lord Tennyson who said, " Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers ." He also said, " Tis not too late to seek a newer world. " With all that is going on in our world today, wouldn't it be grand to seek a "newer world"? We may want to escape just a little of the present in hopes of finding a little bit better of a future - but what we have in the present cannot be ignored. We must deal with the present conflict and sorrow in order to really see change. This is a premise to change - sometimes sorrow leads us to make changes we might not ever see as necessary apart from that sorrow. As Tennyson alluded - wisdom is what lingers once the sorrow has produced the work of turning knowledge into life-change. 10 The kind of sorrow God wants makes people decide to change their lives. This leads them to salvation, and we cannot be sorry for that. But the kind of sorrow the world has will bring death. (2 Corinthians 7:10 ERV) The Corinthian churc...

History:  the aggregate of past events; all that is preserved or remembered about the past.  We ALL have a history, do we not?  For some of us, the "story" is quite involved, colorful, and a little seedy at times.  For others, the "story" may be a little less complicated, kind of mundane, without too many shades of grey.  Regardless of the "shades" painted by our past, there are still things from our past which act upon us today, influencing how we interact with the present. Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don’t see things the way you do. And don’t jump all over them every time they do or say something you don’t agree with—even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently. (Romans 14:1 MSG) It is sometimes quite difficult to welcome into our fellowship those with "histories" which vary completely from our own - especially when...