The Plumbline

Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and say, “Life is not pleasant anymore.” (Ecclesiastes 12:1 NLT) Remember him - this whole chapter is riddled with those two words. Before our eyes fail, our legs become wobbly, or our hair fades to grey - remember him. While there is yet time, remember him. We might need that reminder this morning - to take time out of the busy day we have ahead and just remember his goodness, grace, and love. That should spark a note of gratitude from deep within our souls, bringing praise to our lips and worship from our spirit. The excitement of youth might just be the things that come into our days, filling them to capacity and sometimes beyond it. We make plans, set out to execute them, taken on more plans, and set things in motion to see those through. All the while, we forgot to take time to execute the most important plan of our day - remembering him. In this moment, if that is you, ...

All heaven will praise your great wonders, Lord; myriads of angels will praise you for your faithfulness. For who in all of heaven can compare with the Lord? What mightiest angel is anything like the Lord? The highest angelic powers stand in awe of God. He is far more awesome than all who surround his throne. O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies! Where is there anyone as mighty as you, O Lord? You are entirely faithful. (Psalm 89:5-8 NLT) Where is there anyone or anything as mighty as our God? Not only is he mighty - but he is also faithful beyond our wildest imaginings. We might dwell upon that a bit today, ruminating a bit on his faithfulness to each of us. If we recall his faithfulness time and time again, we begin to develop a 'habit' of praise and worship. We actually want to 'celebrate' his faithfulness - it comes forth in the natural discourse of our day. Myriads of angelic beings may surround his throne, but the most beautiful sound God ever hears is that of our voice ...

“Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.” (Psalm 46:10) We have likely heard the phrase, "Be still, and know that I am God!" - yet I wonder if we realized the rest of the verse actually declared the 'absoluteness' of our God's reign? There is no implication that there is ever room for any other gods in this reign - HE will be honored by EVERY nation - throughout the entire world. Try as some might, no other 'religion' or 'exalted being' will ever stand against his reign. Perhaps this is the basis of our 'being still'. We can know with an absolute assurance that he is in control, no matter what calamity befalls us. Nations will rise up against nations; men will war against men; ideals will be displayed as 'the best' - yet God remains supreme, fully in control, aware of every nuance and idea. He will never forsake his rule - he will never allow our 'stillness...

If someone were to give you guidance on how you are to live this Christian lifestyle, what do you imagine it might be? Wouldn't it be nice to be completely sure that we were living as we should, making the right decisions, staying on track and not getting waylaid by Satan's schemes? Paul prayed for those who were believers in the region of Colosse that they'd have this ability, and this prayer applies to all believers worldwide today: This is what we pray: that God will make you completely sure of what he wants by giving you all the wisdom and spiritual understanding you need; that this will help you live in a way that brings honor to the Lord and pleases him in every way; that your life will produce good works of every kind and that you will grow in your knowledge of God; that God will strengthen you with his own great power, so that you will be patient and not give up when troubles come. (Colossians 1:9-11) Completely sure of what God wants for our lives. That is our goa...

And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God. (Ephesians 3:17-19) The Apostle Paul had been instructed to take the gospel message to the Gentile nation (those who were not part of the Jewish faith). He was told to teach them about the work of Christ on their behalf – to tear down any dividing wall between Jew and Gentile and to welcome all into the family of God. To this end, he asks God to help those who have welcomed Christ into their lives to know the intensity and integrity of God’s love. Intensity because God’s love is deeper than any human form of love. Integrity b...

Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death. (Romans 8:1-2) Those who enter...that means we just don't sit around an expect Jesus to make everything good for us all around us. Sometimes we have to put 'feet to our faith' - we need to take steps in the right direction and then we see God's work happening. Why is that? I think it is because God never desired robots or puppets. He created us to be in active relationship with him - willingly submitting our will to his - taking one step after another in the right direction because of how much we want to honor him with our lives. When we put God in first place in our lives - we are honoring him - giving him the esteem he rightfully deserves. What is the opposite of...