The Plumbline

Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity. (I John 2:15-17) I'd like us to consider something today which may be a little "revealing". Where do we feel most "at home"? Stop - really stop for just a moment to really consider this question. Where is it - or with whom or perhaps what - do you feel the most comfortable, able to be the freest, and where or with whom can you really let your hair down? Is it a place? If so, what are the characteristics of this place? Is it quiet, filled with comforting things like a warm rug, cup of coffee and a good book? Is it a person? If so, wha

Understanding and experiencing are related, but they can also come separately into one's life. We can experience something long before we understand it. The baby who touches something hot and then realizes it leaves a nasty sting may not understand how the heat came to be, or that it can be used for good, he just knows to stay away from it because it causes pain. The one who understands how 1,500 pieces of picture coated cardboard can all make a huge mural may not know how to fit those many pieces all together! When one actually understands AND experiences something, it is vastly different and there is a different appreciation for whatever it is they both understand and experience. This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold should

Did you ever stop to think about what God's love really looks like? If you have noticed even one person in your circle of friends, perhaps you may have seen a glimpse of his love just because you noticed that person! Did you ever stop to think God's love is really displayed in his creation - his children? When we look at each other, we are capturing glimpses of his love. Dear friends, if God loved us that much, then we should love each other. No person has ever seen God at any time. If we love each other, God lives in us. His love is made perfect in us.  1 John 4:11-12 NLV God's love lives in us and is made perfect in us. That means that even one glimpse into the eyes of a child of God is a glimpse into the heart of God! What does his love look like? Maybe it looks like my grandson tenderly guiding my 100 year old mother down the sidewalk in order to bring her safely to where we were working and to allow her to get a little sunshine with us on a Saturday afternoon wor

1-2  Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that. (Ephesians 5:1-2 MSG) Love like that...easier said than done, huh? The key to loving is watching how God loves and then imitating what he does. That doesn't make our love "imitation" - it makes it an invitation! We learn the "proper behavior" of being truly loving by observing all the aspects of how God expresses his love in and through our lives and the lives of others. We make love so complex, but God makes it appear pretty doggone easy - he just loves us - without condition, exactly as we are, without requiring anything of us. This is one reason we need to observe how he expresses love - because w

"Suffering passes, while love is eternal. That's a gift that you have received from God. Don't waste it." (Laura Ingalls Wilder)  I once heard it said it isn't the days in life which we really form memories around, it is more the moments in life which we latch onto and place carefully away in the recesses of our memories.  Days come and go, not really with much significance attached to any of them - they are kind of routine with no lasting memory.  Then there are those moments in time when we just will not forget the thrill, enjoyment, or perhaps the grief of that moment.  Speak with someone who has lost a loved one and they tend to remember the good things, not so much the suffering and tragedy which took the loved one from them.  Love is eternal - suffering passes - sometimes slower than we might like, but it does.  Yes, we shall endure hardship, but it is God's love which beckons us onward from the midst of hardship into the warmth of his tender arms.

What is your controlling force?  With all the hype of the "force awakening", I wondered about what "force" may have the most influence in our lives today.  If we really stop to think about it, there is some type of "force" which motivates us each and everyday.  Sometimes it is the desire to accomplish some huge task which has been kind of left undone in our lives for way too long - like cleaning out our closet or those kitchen cabinets.  At other times, it is something more personal and kind of close to our heart - like seeing the fulfillment of a life-long dream.  A force is merely the physical power or strength possessed by a person to accomplish something.  If we stop long enough to consider what "force" is "awake" in us today, we might just determine the "force" is one of our own making and not quite what God intends for our lives - because love for Jesus is to be the dominant "force" in our lives! You see,

If God is on our side...words which really say it all.  What does it mean to truly stand with God on our side?  In the most literal sense, it means that nothing is bigger, stronger, more powerful, or with any greater authority than the one who stands with us through any and all storms, troubles, diseases, or threats.  It also means that no warring faction within us can ever win the war!  This is indeed good news for those of us who haven't quite learned to walk away from temptation when it comes our way, huh?  Although we may not have "drawn the line" far enough away from compromise the last time to actually avoid "opening the door" to sin, we have the one resident within us who helps us redraw the line a little further away the next time!  Most of us think we chose God, but in truth, he chose us.  It is like he stood on the field and specifically picked us out of the line up to become part of his team.  We weren't the ones choosing that day we said "y

I think the majority of us want to live "strong lives" - not wanting to really reveal any of those weak points in our lives (or at least not too frequently and only with certain trusted friends).  I guess it goes without saying - our weaknesses don't always pick the most opportune times to reveal themselves, though!  Sometimes they are just "out there" for everyone to see and then we are left "holding the bag" so to speak.  They may come across when we are too outspoken about a matter, or we find fault with another over something we know very well is something we are trying to conceal in our own character.  The best way to live is "genuinely".  Yes, our weaknesses will show through when we choose this way of living, but so will the fact Christ lives deep within our hearts and is giving our lives a really solid foundation!   I pray that Christ will live in your hearts because of your faith. I pray that your life will be strong in love and