The Plumbline

When looking for a leader for our country, one of the hallmarks of a great "find" in a leader is this idea of the pursuit of justice - the ability and willingness to adhere to strong ethical and moral principles.  As I look around, listen to TV ads, and get phone surveyed to death, it is quite possible we have veered from this a little in how it is we have come to judge those who will fulfill positions of leadership within our country, companies, or even our community.  The position of leadership in any venue - church, state, or even over a country - should not be pursued with haste, or without careful preparation and what some may call "soul-searching". Why?  Where the leader goes, so goes those they lead.  Whoever pursues justice and treats others with kindness discovers true life marked by integrity and respect.   One wise person can rise against a city of mighty men and cause the citadel they trust to collapse. (Proverbs 21:21-22 VOICE) It is often...

Samuel was a great prophet in the land of Israel, sent to Jerusalem one day to anoint the next King of Israel.  The only problem - he didn't know who he was to anoint until he got there and God told him who it was to be.  So, despite knowing "where" he was to go to find the one he was to anoint, and the fact he knew "how" to anoint someone, he didn't know the "who" yet.  This might just be the case with some of us - we have some of the facts, but just don't have all of them yet.  We know part of the plan, but just not the full plan.  We must still take steps in the right direction, just as Samuel did.  He headed to where he knew to go - Jerusalem.  He was prepared with what he planned to do - anointing the next King.  He even had a general idea of what he was looking for in the next King.  Therein is the rub...we sometimes "read into" God's plan a little more than what is really there!   But the Lord said to Samuel, “Eliab is...

When I was a young girl in grade school you would have probably called me a "follower" - I went along with the crowd, but was too shy to actually take the lead myself.  Anyone who knows me now would say just the opposite.  In looking back at the difference which Christ made in my life, I would have to say one of the clearest things is this transition from being a "follower" of others.  In fact, if you were to look back, "going along" with the crowd got me into more pickles than I really want to give an accounting of right now!  Trying to win the attention and approval of others, striving to have some degree of "popularity", etc. all ended up in some pretty bad decisions in my life.  You may have been one of the "crowd followers", as well, so you know what I am saying here.  It doesn't pay to follow the crowd - we need good role models to follow, not just popular ones!   Friend, don’t go along with evil. Model the good. The pers...

There is one character trait which is evidence of being born of God - love.  It is impossible for a man or woman to be a child of God and not love, for where God dwells, there is love.  There is something we can glean from examining God's love for us - his sacrificial, pursuing, and purposeful love.  If we are honest, if God had not pursued us, we'd probably still be doing our own thing! Love pursues what it sets its heart on - God set his heart upon us and therefore, he has pursued us since he made us!  His love is also sacrificial and purposeful - there is nothing quite like the sacrifice he paid for our sins - his dear Son.  There is an "aim" to his love - us.  Therefore, his love is purposeful, for purpose suggests intent and aim.  So, these three characteristics of God's love bespeak of some elements of heart response, choices of the mind, and actions of the spirit, don't they?  Maybe this is what love is really like when we come to underst...

I like the straight-forward way Paul teaches.  In his letter to the Roman church, he really gets down-and-dirty with the believers, dealing with their misunderstanding of God's grace.  As he opens the letter, he lays out the plain truth - you cannot somehow deny God exists just by giving another explanation for how things came to be.  In fact, he points out the silliness of trying to make God anything less than God.  In response to mankind refusing to acknowledge God, Paul tells us God sets man free to follow their own devices.  Oh, what a dangerous place to be!  Mankind usually messes things up pretty well when they are left to their own ways of doing things.  Then, he turns our attention to the idea of comparing ourselves with others.  When he opens the second chapter, he tells us we cannot have the warped thinking that we are "better" than another just because we don't do some of the things they do.  The telling words, "Every time you crit...

24-26 "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat; I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for? (Matthew 16:24-26) I remember driving with a friend of the family when I was about twelve.  The gentleman drove like none other that I have driven with since!  I was in the backseat, hanging on for dear life, and just hoping that we made it to his home sooner than later!  Not only did he drive a little faster than I'd been accustomed to, but he was kind of a "hopper" in his driving.  I don't really know how to describe it, but what he was doing was pushing down on the gas, lurching forward, then pulling back on the gas just as quickly.  It was like we were zooming, slow...

4  Show me how you work,  God ; school me in your ways.   5  Take me by the hand; lead me down the path of truth.  (Psalm 25:4-5) There is nothing that God delights in more than hearing his child ask to be schooled in HIS ways.  When I was in school, one of the things my teachers soon learned about me was that I was a visual learner - if I could see it, I grasped the truth much quicker than if it was something more ethereal.  I am a "show me" kind of person.  When I was a kid, I took things apart - just to see how they were made.  I would dissect a flower to see the various "pieces" - learning that stem, petal, and leaf all had their own function. God NEVER turns away a person who comes to him with a "show me" or "school me" desire.  In fact, he uses that for his glory.  There are two different things that David is asking God here.  One is to be shown how God works - the other is to understand God's ways (his plans...