The Plumbline

This is God’s Message, the God who made earth, made it livable and lasting, known everywhere as God: ‘Call to me and I will answer you. I’ll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.’ (Jeremiah 33:2-3) Why does God, the one who made all things and knows all things, require us to ask for whatever it is we need or want? To be required to ask when he knows already seems kind of foolish on the surface, but if you stop to consider what "asking" entails, you may come to a revelation of the true purpose of asking. Asking requires us to humble ourselves, not to mention allowing for time to bring a clarification of our wants and needs. Have you ever sought one thing, only to find when you received it the "thing" did not do for you whatever you hoped it would? I realized just how much I didn't really need what I asked for - it was just something to "fill space" in my life, but that "space" really should hav...

There are a lot of way to be 'beat down' by the things and people we have to deal with each and every day - just walking this earth today may make you feel that you are persistently beaten down - worn out by hard or unnecessary abuse.  There are those who have suffered repeated blows to their ego, emotions, or physical well-being. The repeated blows have left behind damage that seems to do nothing more than place on public display the defects of our lives. To each of us with 'damaged lives' let me just give you a word of encouragement - God isn't put-off by our damage! God 's a safe-house for the battered, a sanctuary during bad times. The moment you arrive, you relax; you're never sorry you knocked.   (Psalm 9:9-10) What?  The anointed of God, the one who has been hand-chosen by God, feels beaten down, abused, emotionally spent, like his or her life mattered for little in the scheme of things?  Yep - it happens to the best of us! We each experience ...

I have two grandsons, two children, one elderly mother, and a bunch of people at work who know the meaning of "continually" asking.  They know what it means to be tenacious - persistence likely "paying off" at some point.  At times, you kind of feel like people just keep asking for more and more, then at some point you almost want to say, "Hey! Don't you ever stop asking for more?" If you look at what scripture describes as a "tenacious spirit", you will find God actually doesn't discourage this type of persistence in asking, seeking, or even spending time with him.  In fact, there is a reward for persistence!   Continue to ask, and God will give to you. Continue to search, and you will find. Continue to knock, and the door will open for you. Yes, whoever continues to ask will receive. Whoever continues to look will find. And whoever continues to knock will have the door opened for them.  (Matthew 7:7-8 ERV) If we look carefully ...

I always like it when scripture makes things very, very plain - so I don't have to struggle with the meaning - don't you?  The parables are nice, but there is hidden meaning which must be ferreted out.  The truth is truth, but sometimes truth is a little harder to "get" than we might first think.  When God lays out things so plainly in scripture, we rejoice in laying hold of the meaning the first time we read it.  When he lays out things like "don't do this..." or "do this..." without giving us the "why" behind the restraint we are to exercise or the action we are to engage in, we just plain want more of an explanation - right?  It is only part of our nature to question "why" these actions make a difference, or the restraint from some particular action would keep us "inside" of God's plan for our lives.  Since the beginning of time we have "pushed against" any boundary set for us!  Why should today b...