The Plumbline

Perhaps you will think to yourselves, ‘How can we ever conquer these nations that are so much more powerful than we are?’ But don’t be afraid of them! Just remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all the land of Egypt. Remember the great terrors the Lord your God sent against them. You saw it all with your own eyes! And remember the miraculous signs and wonders, and the strong hand and powerful arm with which he brought you out of Egypt. The Lord your God will use this same power against all the people you fear. (Deuteronomy 7:17-19) As the small nation of Israelites was about to inherit the land God had promised to them, he gives them the instruction to destroy all the inhabitants of the land, one by one, and even destroy their places of worship. Many of these nations had much more advanced military might, strong leaders of their armies, and ruthless kings. Yet, God's instruction is clear - destroy them all, one by one, until none remain - and remember - remember th...

Cynical people are continually worried - finding it very hard to find anything at all positive in any of life's circumstances. They are also very determined that everyone else in life is after their own interest and have ulterior motives behind everything they do. Their belief that only selfishness motivates human actions significantly limits how they interact with others. Their disbelief in or minimizing of any selfless acts or disinterested points of view usually sets them at odds with others in life. I thought a cynic was perhaps just a nay-sayer - one who just opposed things because they had a genuinely "sour" disposition! Maybe it could be they were just people who had been "burnt" so many times they no longer believed good things to be possible in life. Regardless of their frame of mind at the moment, the cynic cannot see much good in life. It truly would be miserable to face life as a cynic because they have a hard time ever seeing life from the perspec...

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he...  (Proverbs 23:7) Whatcha thinking? It is a common question, but maybe the better one is, "Where you even thinking?" There are all kinds of things that "vie" for attention in our mind. The "loudest" voice is often the one heard the best. Just as much as there are things that demand our attention in our thought life, our emotions are constantly being "played" by the events of our days. Depending on what it is that is running through our thoughts at the moment, our sometimes up-and-down emotions can be manageable, or completely out of control. Therefore, learning to "manage" our minds, or our thinking, goes a significantly long way in learning to live with an emotional "balance" in our lives. Our mind really has two "sides" to it: the totally present and evident conscious side, and the less recognizable, but ever present unconscious. The conscious side of our mind is pretty...

Hey, does anyone else out there ever feel like your life is just unraveling a bit? There are days where my ends seem a little frayed - how about yours? Those days don't always come that frequently, but when they do, man oh man...they can leave you exhausted! Some of mine come in the form of being there when the Department of Health walks in for an unannounced inspection or complaint investigation when I am the sole occupant of the office! Then maybe there is that moment when you see deadlines fast approaching, but you have put off that project you just didn't want to get to - now it looms like a spider coming closer and closer while you have no shoes on! You know the feeling - that moment of panic and dismay - wondering how you will ever get past it! What we must always recognize is that God is still in control - even when we have lost it! Going through a long line of prophets, God has been addressing our ancestors in different ways for centuries. Recently he spoke to us dire...

It was Douglas MacArthur who reminded us, "You are remembered for the rules you break." It isn't the list of ones we keep that come to mind when others think of us at times, but those we might have not done so good of a job with! We take that one monumental stumble down some wrong path and wouldn't you know, it becomes a thing of infamy we cannot live down! Maybe it is actually us doing the remembering, holding those "broken rules" against ourselves, not willing to let go of their memory or the hold those stumbles seem to have on us. Either way, we find ourselves dealing with continual embarrassment, coupled with the desire to just have it forgotten! Help me understand your instructions, and I will think about your wonderful teachings. I am sad and tired. Say the word, and make me strong again. Don’t let me live a lie. Guide me with your teachings. I have chosen to be loyal to you. I respect your laws. I follow your rules closely, Lord. Don’t let me be put t...

Remember the words that you heard from me. Retain them as the model for healthy and sound teaching in the faith and love that are available in Jesus the Anointed. As for the precious thing entrusted to you, protect it with the help of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. (2 Tim. 1:13-14 VOICE) The power to remember is one of our greatest gifts. As my mother approaches her 98th year on this earth, I see how much of her ability to remember even simple things impacts her daily life. She will call me at work, or I will call her, and somewhere in the expanse of a couple of minutes, she will have forgotten something "important" she needed to tell me. We all have things we desperately want to remember to tell someone, often stopped from sharing it right at that exact moment it comes to mind simply because the timing isn't right or the person isn't immediately available. We commit the thing to memory the best we can and hope we remember everything we needed to share onc...

I have a variety of methods I employ to avoid forgetting something I need at the store, or a task which must be accomplished by a certain deadline.  The problem comes when I forget the "tool" I was employing in the pursuit of whatever it was I was going after (like when you leave the grocery list sitting on the counter on your way to the grocery store).  I carry a "smart phone" - something I should consistently employ to do all this gathering of information and reminders because I am seldom separated from the thing!  Good old fashioned pen and paper sometimes get the best of me and I find I have a note here, one there, and maybe even a "sticky note" or two pinned to the far edge of my computer screen (electronic, but effective).  What am I attempting to do with all these tools?  Remember!  Why is it we have the hardest time remembering some things and at other times we just cannot put a memory out of our minds to beat the band? Do not forget to rejoic...

Back in the day, classrooms had chalkboards and students were sent outside to "clap the erasers together" to rid them of the built up chalk dust.  On occasion, the boards would be washed clean with a moist rag in order to get them back to their darker, pristine-like condition.  Today's classrooms are adorned with whiteboards and colored markers - something more easily removed with a common dry rag.  There was something kind of revealing and rewarding in the clapping of the erasers - it showed how much things "build up" and how ineffective it is to try to remove what is "built up" when we are doing it with the same efforts and tools!  It actually took ridding the eraser of the chalk dust to get the boards to their optimal clean!   It is a great blessing when people are forgiven for the wrongs they have done, when their sins are erased. It is a great blessing when the Lord says they are not guilty, when they don’t try to hide their sins. (Psalm 32...

There is so very much for which we should be grateful - most of us have no idea of the many things God actually does "behind the scenes" to keep us safe, bring us into places of blessing, and to intervene in our lives.  We just know God is there and that he is in control.  We don't "know" all the details of what that control looks like, but we trust it!  There are always moments in time when God "re-centers" my life a little so I take time to slow down and realize the many ways he protects and cares for my family.  If you have children, you "worry over" their lives even after they are gone from your home.  If you raise animals as pets or as your livelihood, you "worry over" every change in their behavior which suggests they are just not "feeling their oats".  If you care for elderly parents, you "worry over" every changing faculty and ability because you know each and every "decline" is moving them clo...

Thoughts are something people may not know unless you are willing to share them, right?  Not necessarily - if you have ever had someone say something and you find yourself saying "I was just thinking that!" then you know what I mean.  It was as though that person was "inside your brain" at that moment in time and just figured out what you were saying.  Most of the time, you do keep your thoughts "inside your brain" without anyone figuring them out, though - they are only known if you desire to share them.  There are a variety of thoughts - as vast as the stars in the heavens.  Some are deeper thoughts, pertaining to tough decisions, life-critical moments, etc.  Others are kind of "fleeting" - here today and gone tomorrow.  Learning to discover your OWN thoughts can be enough of a challenge, right?  Learning the thoughts of another is astronomically harder, but given enough time and commitment toward each other, that discovery may yield tremendou...

What we choose to remember often makes the difference when our journey gets a little bumpy along the way.  Memory is a powerful tool in either our arsenal of defense, or our battery of offense.  Memory is the process of being able to "recall" or "rethink" again.  When our memory begins to go with the advancing of age or because of some trauma to the brain, it is indeed a troubling affair for us.  Last night, mom sat musing over why she still remains on this earth - since she cannot any longer enjoy the sense of sight, has impaired hearing, and often cannot even remember the simple things like calling to make a hair appointment.  Her question:  "What did I do to 'deserve' all this in my old age?"  I just sit and listen, because I really don't know why her course has been directed as such, and I know the answer that she is nearly 96 doesn't really make all she is dealing with seem "fair" by any means. One thing I do tell her freque...

Memory is a powerful tool - learning how to use it to our advantage is probably one of the most difficult tasks we can undertake, for we remember what we'd be best to let go of and we don't remember some of the most awesome moments God provides for our growth and restoration.  If you have ever caught yourself bemoaning where you ARE, you have probably forgotten where you came FROM.  We have selective memories, at best.  Focusing too intently on one thing keeps us from seeing the things we might just need to hold a little closer to our hearts. God  makes everything come out right; he puts victims back on their feet... God  is sheer mercy and grace; not easily angered, he’s rich in love. He doesn’t endlessly nag and scold, nor hold grudges forever. He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve, nor pay us back in full for our wrongs. As high as heaven is over the earth, so strong is his love to those who fear him. And as far as sunrise is from sunset, he has separated...

Remember:  To think of again and again; to remain aware of; bringing what exists in the unconscious mind back into the conscious mind.  All of us remember things - some a little differently than others.  I remember my first "solo" bike ride - but mostly because I have scars to show for it!  I remember the birth of my two children, but not every excruciating moment!  I remember the meal we had for dinner last night - but it carries no significance to me. There are times when we remember stuff in a manner which really is a little "off" in the perspective of aligning with the actual way things "went down". We have "fabricated" our own "truth" in the memory.  If you have ever been on a mountain-top experience for a while, you likely have some pretty fond memories of those moments in time.  On the other hand, if you have also endured the dryness of the desert times, you might just have some pretty significant memories of those experiences wh...

We begin a lot of things, don't we?  How many of these do we actually finish?  In terms of finishing, we don't do as well as we do with the beginning part!  To finish well, we need to have not only tenacity, but we need to have set out on an endeavor we find worthwhile and rewarding.  If the thing we set out to do is so overbearing and adds burden instead of delight, we get bogged down and often lay it aside because it is "too hard".  It is like when we say we will read the Bible in a year.  We find ourselves reading for the sake of reading - not really taking time to savor the truth contained within.  We plug on through the "boring" chapters, get excited about checking off the finished portions, and then look at how much still lays ahead.  The issue is not so much in the starting, it is in the finishing.  How we finish is as important as that we finish! My child ,  listen to me and do as I say,  and you will have a long, good lif...

Vision - most of us think of this as the ability to see.  When it is not there, such as when we have been plunged into darkness by someone covering our eyes with a blindfold, we grope our way through life, don't we?  It is as though we have to rely upon our other senses or else we will stumble.  How well do you move in this state?  Are your movements as fluid as normal?  Not likely.  In fact, you probably take shorter steps, feeling your way to make sure your footing is solid before you even take the next one.  I think we sometimes approach our spiritual life this same way - with a "blindfold" of sorts making us "stumble along" with uncertainty and a lack of vision. Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint;   but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction. (Psalm 29:18 NIV) Two words come to mind when I think of vision: Perception and Discernment.  It is the combined form of actually "seeing" and "knowing".  If ...

Remember - I saw this word a lot on vacation, as the parking garages in Tennessee had this word printed in nice bold, block letters below the level of the garage you were on.  The prompt was to "remember" where you parked.  This was printed on each sign about every 50 yards or so, just to help you focus on where it was you left the car.  Now, in a city garage this might be important, but we observed it in several parking structures, big and large.  So, "remembering" where one parked seemed to be quite important.  The word kept ringing in my ears - maybe because my best friend kept saying, "...'member?"  We made a little joke of it, but really "remembering" is not a joke - it is serious business - especially when God is doing the remembering! Remember what you said to me, your servant— I hang on to these words for dear life!   These words hold me up in bad times;  yes, your promises rejuvenate me.  (Psalm 119:49-50 MSG) David cries out to ...

Remember:  Keep in mind; remain aware of; recall.  For most of us, memory is a terrific thing - as long as what is remembered brings some kind of enjoyment.  When a memory is sad, or almost frightful, it terrorizes the soul and muddles the mind with its effect.  We all have different faculties for remembering things - for some, the mind is like a steal trap - nothing gets out.  For others, it is like a sieve, with many tiny holes which allow things to just plain leak out!  Is a memory ever totally erased?  I don't think so - it is there somewhere - we just may not recall it as easily or feel the same association with the memory as we once did.  It is possible to remember the details of some things and then totally forget those of another, isn't it?  If you don't believe me, try to tell me the definition of a an isosceles trapezoid! I knew that definition backward and forward while I was actually taking and practicing geometric equations, but ...