The Plumbline

“I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.” (Jeremiah 31:33-34 NLT) When God does a work of transforming a life, he does it completely. There is no 'half-way' with God. He puts his word deep within our hearts, not so that he can control us, but so we can know him better and better with each passing day. Yes, his word acts as a 'control' over our own impulses, but God never takes away our self-will even when he puts his word within us and gives us his Spirit to live in us. His desire is that we will allow him to be our God and willingly participate as a member of his family in the ways he s...

Serve only the Lord your God and fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him. (Deuteronomy 13:4) Moses is sharing the commandments God had given him to give to the people - instructions that came to be known in religious circles as the Law of Moses. As he instructs them about those who would attempt to lure them away from a deep, meaningful relationship with God, he points out three basic groups: the false prophets, those within your circle of influence (better known as the family), and those who lived in neighboring communities. Do you know what he said to do when they were encountered by those 'influences' attempting to pull them away? The Israelites were told to kill them. In other words, they were to rid themselves of all those influences and sere only the Lord their God. How do we live in a world with so many 'influences' pulling us away from an intimate relationship with God and remain strong within that relationship? For one thing, we...

You know I have to ask, and I am not meddling, I just want to do a little 'check-in' this morning. How are all those New Year's Resolutions going so far? How many have we already given up on? How many are we just putting forth half an effort toward? How many have we seen become a very consistent and ingrained part of our lives? If you are like the majority of 'resolution making' individuals, you have probably broken at least one! According to what I could find in research, approximately 40% of us make resolutions, while nearly 25% of those who made them will quit them within the first week! Sadly, only about 10% keep them long-term. I think that speaks very clearly to our 'resolve', doesn't it?  So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sin...