The Plumbline

God saw what the people did. He saw that they stopped doing evil. So God changed his mind and did not do what he planned. He did not punish the people. Jonah was not happy that God saved the city. Jonah became angry. He complained to the Lord and said, “Lord, I knew this would happen! I was in my own country, and you told me to come here. At that time I knew that you would forgive the people of this evil city, so I decided to run away to Tarshish. I knew that you are a kind God. I knew that you show mercy and don’t want to punish people. I knew that you are kind, and if these people stopped sinning, you would change your plans to destroy them. So now, Lord, just kill me. It is better for me to die than to live.” Then the Lord said, “Do you think it is right for you to be angry?” (Jonah 3:10-4:4) Don't be surprised when God acts 180-degrees from how you thought he'd act! God is always more concerned with our hearts than he is anything else. When the people moved to change their ...

“ You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.  You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for. " (Matthew 5:5,7) In the older translations the word for meek was used to indicate a person was humble and patient with others. Most of us really don't use the word "meek" or "meekness" in our vocabulary all that often today, opting for the more commonly used word "humble". Mercy seems to be something we pretty much understand - at least in theory, if not in perfect practice yet in our lives! Now, you may not have seen either word in these passages, but if you go to a more "traditional" translation, you will observe: 5 Blessed are the meek (the mild, patient, long-suffering), for they shall inherit the earth! and 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy!  Jesus sa...

Is there anybody here this morning that just needs grace? Wait - I just felt that gust of wind as all our hands went up in the air simultaneously! For some of us, we think grace (mercy) is probably the thing we need most, but have no idea how much those around us also need that same grace. We all have moments when mercy is the furthest thing from our minds when it comes to what the 'other person' deserves (but remember that grace is really undeserved favor). If we were totally honest today, there are times when we neither want to extend mercy to another, nor are we actively seeking it from another! We just want to get "even" and hope no one notices our silliness (or shall I say 'foolishness'). I am so glad we don't serve a God who looks for opportunities to "get even" with us! Consider this for a moment. Just how much grace do we really need? A whole lot and then some more (oh yeah....and some more)! God is all mercy and grace—not quick to...

Have you ever been looking so hard for something, only to find it was right there in front of you? I have struggled to find a particular tool when I most needed it, only to have my grandson walk in a couple weeks later and hold it up right from where it always was (the exact spot it was supposed to be in the first place). We even do this with God - knowing he was supposed to be right there, but unable to see that he is. I imagine all of us have stood at one time or another just wondering how some people could ignore that God is right there in their circumstances - but they are just too stubborn or blind to see it - us included. They know they should heed the warnings they have received, but they plunge full-force into whatever seems to be what will give them the "immediate" thrill of the moment, or with some 'scheme' that will 'make do' because they want an easier way of doing things. Then they (and we) complain when things don't work out! It is possible t...

" Wisdom is oftentimes nearer when we stoop than when we soar. " (William Woodsworth) There are moments in time where we find ourselves unable to soar, feeling like we are in our darkest days, when it is time for us to 'stoop' because we just find it impossible to rise up until we have spent a little time prostate before God. It may be one of those moments for you today, and that is okay if it is, because God isn't put off by our lowest moments. The darkest days are oftentimes the times he shows us the greatest light and our lowest moments are the ones that help launch us into times when we will once again soar. How can a young person live a clean life? By carefully reading the map of your Word. I’m single-minded in pursuit of you; don’t let me miss the road signs you’ve posted. I’ve banked your promises in the vault of my heart so I won’t sin myself bankrupt. Be blessed, God; train me in your ways of wise living. I’ll transfer to my lips all the counsel that co...

I t wasn't so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn't know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It's a wonder God didn't lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah. (Ephesians 2:1-6) The scripture sure knows how to "peg" us with the reality of our sinful nature - mired and stagnant, following the advice of someone who is just as unaware of the destructiveness of their path as we are! Look also at how simply he puts his amazemen...

Since you have been chosen by God who has given you this new kind of life, and because of his deep love and concern for you, you should practice tenderhearted mercy and kindness to others. Don’t worry about making a good impression on them, but be ready to suffer quietly and patiently. ( Colossians 3:12   TLB ) Do you worry about making that "good impression" when you are with other people? If you spend even six or seven minutes in front of the mirror everyday, you probably are concerned even slightly with the impression you make from a physical stand-point. Even if all that time is spent shaving a little stubble from your face, or putting on a minimal amount of make-up, it is still 'work' that goes into the 'impression' you give to others. I doubt you do it entirely for yourself! We can spend a great deal of time 'perfecting' the outward 'impression' we display, but I wonder if we spend equal amount of time on the inward 'impression...

Every now and again I manage to catch a good show on the tube. I like to watch those wilderness shows, and even the ones with the vets working with animals. I watched one recently in which a family went to one of the most devastated areas of the recent floods and brought back to the Denver area a massive truckload of dogs and cats who needed to be "re-homed" due to the flooding. You would think they would have brought back the healthiest of the dogs and cats, but let me tell you, they were a mess! One needed a leg amputation, a whole litter of puppies needed sulfur baths for weeks to deal with the nasty ringworm that had ravaged their skin, and one of the dogs was completely deaf. The end of the story is that each of these were placed into homes where they could flourish and grow old together - a great end to a pretty awful period in their lives. What society would have otherwise rejected and given up on, the rescuers extended mercy toward, and in the end the ones given mercy...

God has told us his secret reason for sending Christ, a plan he decided on in mercy long ago; and this was his purpose: that when the time is ripe he will gather us all together from wherever we are—in heaven or on earth—to be with him in Christ forever. ( Ephesians 1:9-10   TLB ) If you could be "in the know" about why something happened a certain way, wouldn't you want to be? To be the "inside track" isn't all that hard when it comes to understanding God's intense love for his people. His love is at the basis of all he does - especially as it comes to our redemption from sin and his provision of mercy.  The plan of mercy didn't just get "worked in" to already made plans. God knew by creating man with a free-will there would come a time he'd choose to "stretch the limits" of that will. He knew there would come the opportunity for compromise, but he also knew there would be absolutely no way anything else would fill that...

Choose:  To make a choice, to select, or to be inclined toward some course of action.  We all make choices each and every day - some much easier than others.  If you have ever had one of those truly "bad hair days", when no matter what you do to make it look "good", it has a mind of its own - you know you may choose to just "go with it" or you douse your head with water under the tap and begin again!  Both actions are within your control - what is not within your control is your hair! We often think we are the ones in control, but where it comes to God's mercy, only he is! Because he said to Moses, “I will show mercy to whomever I choose to show mercy, and I will demonstrate compassion on whomever I choose to have compassion.” The point is that God’s mercy has nothing to do with our will or the things we pursue. It is completely up to God. (Romans 9:15-16 VOICE) God will show mercy to whomever he chooses to show mercy. It is a really awesome t...

There are times when we just get our priorities mixed up - when we want something so badly and then forget about all the rest which really matters more than that one thing we are focusing on so intently.  If you have ever been a caregiver of an elderly parent or the parent of small children, you know what I am about to say next is true.  There are times when you just want the simplicity of your "old life" back - when you could come and go as you want, eat cereal for dinner, and not worry if the house was too cold for their thin blood or the objects in their world could topple over and hurt them.  The times were "simpler", but were they really any "better"?  The other day I saw a comedian describe what it is like trying to get out of the house with two small children.  I went through that phase - finding jackets, struggling to get shoes on feet (if we could even find that one which had somehow disappeared since the last time it was worn a few hours ago), a...

New starts - what exactly are they?  In everyone's life, there come opportunities to "begin again", "make a fresh start", or have a "do-over".  The thing about each of these is the "carry-over" from the old into the new.  Let me explain what I mean.  Take a tablet or pad of paper and a pencil or pen.  Now write these words: "I just failed".  Go ahead - do it.  Now, tear off that sheet of paper and throw it away.  What you are left with is a "clean" tablet of paper - right? Not really! Gently run your fingers over the surface of that table of paper and then hold it up to the light at an angle.  See or feel it?  Yep, there is a tell-tale sign of the old message you wrote there, isn't there?  As much as we thought we go rid of the old, we still had some indication of it being there.  It isn't much different from that every time we go to make a fresh start, begin again, or attempt a do-over in life!  We have those tel...

Do you ever engage in "self-talk"?  You know what I mean - those moments when you just have to look yourself in the mirror and give yourself a stern talking to in order to bring correction to your attitude, behavior, or direction you are taking in life.  I think we all must do this from time to time, but we may be shy about admitting we actually talk to ourselves!  Especially if we could be labeled as a little "touched in the head" for that type of activity! Nonetheless, the things we tell ourselves in those moments of self-talk can be very "corrective" to our behavior.  I think God often lets us talk things out so we can become aware of the answer he wants to bring forth from us.  In a matter of minutes, we find ourselves coming to conclusions which bring clarity, give us hope, and move us in a new direction.  Why?  God helped us remember we might be "finished" with something which frustrates us or gives us too much worry, but he isn't! ...

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...

About a week or two ago, my daughter took down all her Christmas decorations, storing them away for another year.  All, that is, except one - a chalkboard on the mantle.  You see, it is erasable - so it can be sketched on every now and again to just change it to the appropriate "theme" of the season.  So, the chalkboard remains.  It was interesting to me because she posted a photo on Instagram showing this cleaned slate - with the thoughts of her hardly being able to wait to see what would come next.  I think we might just take a lesson from my daughter - for our lives have the ability of being made "clean slates", made ready for the next season in our lives.  I think we sometimes don't remember this part of how God sees our sin - erased, totally gone, no sign of it having been there.  This is the basis of grace - the removal of all which hinted of the first, and the readiness to be "written upon" anew with the freshness of the next "season"...

Astonishment is a state of amazement, surprise, and overpowering wonder. If you have ever been astonished at the ways another acts when they don't seem to be concerned that anyone is watching them, or perhaps the totally selfless giving of another, you probably have experienced this sense of amazement or wonder on occasion.  Some ways we might experience such astonishment are when a newborn is brought into the world, the unexpected bonus is placed in our paycheck, or the small child takes his first steps.  What it does to us inside is often expressed on the outside.  We begin to emanate a kind of cheerfulness and glee.  There might be a moment of stilled awe, but eventually the emotions begin to bubble forth and the ability to contain our "awe" is no longer possible - it spills forth.  God has a way of bringing about such awe within us - delighting our soul, raising out spirit, and filling our thoughts with all types of wonder and awe. God can pour on the b...

Yesterday we began to explore the importance of mercy being an action on our part which connects others with Christ - it connects the "value" of an individual's changed life to the actions of Christ on their behalf.  It is the action of another on the part of one incapable of the same action which puts on display the grace and beauty of Christ.  Today, I'd like to expand upon this idea of how it is we display the mercy of Christ in our lives.  It is a "practice" of real love which displays Christ to others, isn't it?  All the words in the world don't display mercy - they might direct someone to consider mercy - but the action is what makes the connection between the words and the heart.  One of the toughest things for us sometimes is the first step.  The first step toward mercy when it is undeserved is sometimes the hardest one we will ever take.  The first step toward the unloving requires the commitment to love even when love is not returned.  T...