The Plumbline

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable. (Hebrews 4:12-13) I think some don't like to explore the Word of God for themselves, rarely opening their Bible, merely going through life on the 'second-hand exposure' to God's Word because they are a little intimidated by it. Why do you suppose that is? If we were honest here, some might admit to not really knowing where to start - thinking there must be a 'plan' on how to read it, but not sure of the plan. Others will admit they have 'started' reading it, more like little spurts here and there, but it was not very 'clear' to them, so they just stopped. Trust me on this - Satan is most pleased whenever we find any

You don’t want penance; if you did, how gladly I would do it! You aren’t interested in offerings burned before you on the altar. It is a broken spirit you want—remorse and penitence. A broken and a contrite heart, O God, you will not ignore. And Lord, don’t punish Israel for my sins—help your people and protect Jerusalem. And when my heart is right, then you will rejoice in the good that I do and in the bullocks I bring to sacrifice upon your altar. (Psalm 51:16-19) Old Testament worship involved the bringing of 'sacrifices' to the Temple of God - bullocks, doves, sheaves of wheat. They were part of a 'liturgical system' of worship declared under the Law of Moses. The Law given to him by God as he communed with God on Mt. Sanai. That Law was merely a 'tutor' of sorts - something meant to point us to Christ - to the one 'perfect sacrifice' for all of mankind's sins. Within these verses we find a humbled and penitent servant - having confessed the 

I want to explore a miracle from the Bible today, but from a little bit of a different perspective - that of the crowd. We could look at the miracle of Jesus raising Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, seeing the wonder of a man dead and buried for four days coming forth from the tomb completely bound in graveclothes, face muffled in a swath cloth. Unwrapped, free, alive and fully restored - now that is a miracle of astronomical proportions, is it not? I imagine Lazarus 'stood out' a little bit, as he had been to heaven and was now alive to talk about it. Yet, there were some in the crowd that day that stand out just a little bit themselves. The Jewish leaders - men of learning and intense study of the Law of Moses. Their response to this miracle? Some believed and some ran to the Pharisee religious leaders to 'tattle on Jesus'. And so, at last many of the Jewish leaders who were with Mary and saw it happen, finally believed on him. But some went away to the Phari