The Plumbline

God has placed a premium on the responses we undertake. One of those 'premium' responses is listening. To those who listen, he speaks into their lives and helps them to grasp knowledge. Those who are too intent on just handling things without the instructions he brings, they hear, but they don't listen. Another 'premium' response God values is that of integrity - being truthful about what we don't know and then seeking to gain that knowledge is one way of revealing integrity in our lives. I often do crosswords, but there are times when the hints given just don't even make sense to me! It always amazes me when I see the answer key and see such a simple answer I never even considered. If I just plunged ahead, saying I understood the hints even though I clearly did not, it would not end up with the letters I need for completing the rest of the puzzle - the integrity of the puzzle is damaged. God doesn't place a premium on "faking it" or "just...

Truth be told, many of us are more concerned with a list of lessons we have amassed during the time we refer to a "living" life. What we need to be doing is asking God directly for lessons that would help us "live" life. Sometimes I think we approach things the first way - making mental note of what we learned FROM the moments we just finished living rather than making heart notes of what lessons God wants for us IN those moments. We get focused on it from a 'historical' perspective more than we are focused on it in the 'present' perspective. We might just be missing out on some of what God has for us in the 'living'. God, teach me lessons for living so I can stay the course. Give me insight so I can do what you tell me—my whole life one long, obedient response. (Psalm 119:33-34) Most people know that I am a planner, so I value the "notes" and "plans" - the agendas, outlines, and even the doodled notes all help me to ...

Scripture defines happiness as finding wisdom and gaining understanding - "happy is the man..." who embraces both.  In seeking wisdom so as to find and in gaining understanding so as to not let it go, we are actually placing ourselves in a position to enjoy well-being and contentment - because we are in an atmosphere of good fellowship!  Wisdom and understanding affect our lives by bringing contentment - even in situations when it would otherwise be difficult to find it.  They also give us a sense of well-being because we can stand assured our course is pre-designed or pre-defined by someone who sees the big picture.  There is also the sense of being brought into a place of fellowship and intimacy with the one who does the designing and defining! These surely describe happiness better than most of the ways the world determines to define happiness for me! Dear friend, guard Clear Thinking and Common Sense with your life;   don’t for a minute lose sight of them....

Trails - as we travel through life, there are sure a lot to choose from, right? Have you ever chosen a trail which was just too hard for you?  You know, the one that taxed your endurance, left you aching when you finally reached the end, and just generally was way too much for you?  I have!  In real life, the trails we can pursue abound - choosing the right ones is as important as choosing the right traveling companions to "hike" those trails with you! So now you can pick out what’s true and fair,   find all the good trails!   Lady Wisdom will be your close friend,  and Brother Knowledge your pleasant companion.   Good Sense will scout ahead for danger,  Insight will keep an eye out for you.   They’ll keep you from making wrong turns,  or following the bad directions o f those who are lost themselves  and can’t tell a trail from a tumbleweed... (Proverbs 2: 9-12 MSG) This morning, as I look out onto the Shenandoah Mountains, I s...

God , teach me lessons for living  so I can stay the course.   Give me insight so I can do what you tell me— my whole life one long, obedient response.  (Psalm 119:33-34 The Message) As I began to ponder this next section within Psalm 119, David's heart began to become quite apparent to me.  He was not concerned with a list of lessons he would have amassed in "living" life.  He was asking God directly for lessons that would help him "live" life.  Sometimes I think we approach things the first way - making mental note of what we learned FROM the moments we just finished living rather than making heart  note of what lessons God wants for us IN those moments. I am a planner - goes without saying for those of you that know me - so I value the "notes" and "plans".  I think David was kind of that way, too.  He was organized in his thoughts, skilled in the direction of his troops, and a great "commander" of his armies.  You don't g...

"I am Lady Wisdom, and I live next to Sanity; Knowledge and Discretion live just down the street.  The Fear-of-God means hating Evil, whose ways I hate with a passion—pride and arrogance and crooked talk.  Good counsel and common sense are my characteristics; I am both Insight and the Virtue to live it out." (Proverbs 8:11-14 The Message) When I went through Bible School, my professor taught us that "Wisdom" in the Proverbs is really a reference to a person - not just something to be gained.  I had never really considered that before, but I came to realize that he was right.  You see, Wisdom is really referring to Jesus.  The more of Jesus I have replicated in my life, the more wisdom I begin to possess.  From that perspective, I'd like to "unpack" these verses a little.  Wisdom (Christ) produces certain other "characteristic traits" within us - sanity, knowledge, discretion, insight, and virtue are but a few of these traits.  When...

21  A wise person gets known for insight;    gracious words add to one's reputation. (Proverbs 16:21) It is no secret to some that I frequent the social networking crowd better known as Facebook.  I like to play the games, find joy in reading about what is going on in the lives of my friends, and laugh occasionally at a well-posted joke.  I also find that there are nougats of truth that people sometimes share that make me pause for a moment to consider those words that have been posted.  They evoke thought, but sometimes they also evoke emotion.  We would call this "insight" - the ability to connect with a truth in such a way that in sharing it, that insight impacts the lives of others. Insight is really the ability to apprehend the TRUE nature of a matter and it is almost always because the individual has what we'd term an "intuitive understanding" of the subject.  They may not have even had to "study hard" to really "get" what it is ...