The Plumbline

At times we all wonder why we are traveling a particular road. We cannot put our finger on why it is we are facing the challenging, and sometimes a little treacherous road we must cross. In those moments, we wonder if we made a wrong turn somewhere, or if this is the way life is supposed to be - potholes, narrow and sometimes hair-raising switchbacks, and climbs so hard you almost peter out on the way up. I guess I face those roads a little differently than some. Instead of wondering why I am on the road, I just ask! In fact, in time I come to discover something unique about every road I have traveled - I am not traveling it alone! I may have made a wrong turn - but I still don't travel alone. I have Jesus right alongside me no matter what road I am on and this one thing I know - I cannot "bail" - the road will be traveled! Keep and live out the entire commandment that I’m commanding you today so that you’ll live and prosper and enter and own the land that God prom

It was the poet Virgil that reminded us, "Time passes irrevocably", so we had best make the most out of the moments we are given. " For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. " (Ecclesiastes 3:1-3) What moments have you let pass you by? Maybe it is 'time' to invest in the moments - the hour could just be later than we think. Moments can pass us by, or we can appreciate the value in each one and make the most of them. The blind beggar sitting along the Jericho roadside likely went there every day with the express purpose of getting a few coins or a parcel of food that might help him to have his needs met. Do you think he imagined that he'd hear that it was Jesus traveling that route one day, and that by calling out to Jesus that he'd actually walk home that evening se

If you have ever felt like your life is 'dry ground', you are not alone. There are seasons we all go through that feel a little 'dryer' than we'd like. It seems as though there is nothing getting through to God and he is not getting through to us. Dryness could have a few causes, but in general it is just part of life. Yes, compromise and sin can create a dryness, but if you think of the variation in the seasons of nature, you observe there are times when it is just going to be 'dry' - a season where growth appears to be stunted and a little less likely to occur. If we are truthful in our observations of these dry seasons in our lives, we'd likely admit there is much happening just beneath the surface, getting us ready for the next 'growth spurt' we are likely to experience. The Lord is making roads through the sea. He is making a path for his people, even through rough waters. The Lord says, So don’t remember what happened in earlier times. Do

It was Dr. Seuss who said, "Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." We pretty much like how things begin, but we often feel let down when they end. I know that is the way I approach vacation times - happy that the day has arrived to embark on my adventure; then the final day comes and I must begin the journey back to "normal". Some projects begin the same way - with great gusto and good cheer; then end with a few bumps and bruises, tired muscles, and a sense of a little let down to be completing it. I wonder if we approach some of the moments in our lives with Christ in much this same manner - seeing a closed door behind us as something to mourn rather than to smile about 'because it happened". There will be bumps and bruises along the way sometimes, but remember...we grow by falling and getting up again! Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should. (Psalm 90:12 TLB) Our days ar

Cesare Pavese said, " We do not remember days, we remember moments. " There are lots and lots of moments in my lifetime that come flooding into my thought on occasion, some bringing warm feelings of pleasure and others causing just a little bit of pain as a little bit of the memory of an old wound is recounted. I had one such unpleasant memory on my recent trip with my BFF while we were just sharing a little of ourselves. What struck me the most is that she sensed my intensely deep pain as she reached out and just simply touched my arm, and in an instant, without one word from her, the pain dissipated. God has a way of helping us even when we don't recognize we need that help, my friends. In any moment, we never know when a moment remembered can become a time of healing - no words necessary, just the touch of grace. Praise the Lord! I thank the Lord with all my heart in the assembly of his good people. The Lord does wonderful things, more than anyone could ask for. The th

Lyndon B. Johnson said, " Yesterday is not ours to recover ..."  He is so right - once time has passed us by, it is but a fleeting memory.  We can try as we might to "reconstruct" it through recall and emotion, but it is gone now and nothing more than a memory.  The rest of what he said was also quite profound:  " Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose ."  If the yesterday moments are already lost, then we had best be paying attention to the present so we don't lose those opportunities, as well.  I think he may have overstepped the boundaries of man in his words here, because our tomorrow is never assured.  If we are granted the breath and strength to take on our "tomorrow", then we had best determine today if we will embrace it with all we've got, or settle on more lost moments. So be careful how you live; be mindful of your steps. Don’t run around like idiots as the rest of the world does. Instead, walk

There is an old saying:  Something crooked cannot be made straight, and something missing cannot be counted.  (Ecclesiastes 1:15 VOICE)   Corrie Ten Boom said, " Memories are the key not to the past, but to the future ."  There is a song entitled "Dear Younger Me" by MercyMe.  The song begins, "Dear younger me, where do I start; if I could tell you everything I have learned so far, then you'd be one step ahead..." Boy, isn't that the desire of every parent?  To somehow share with our children the things we have learned in the "school of hard knocks" and repeated "recesses of rebellion".  Those memories don't have to haunt us - for they can be, as Corrie said, the key to different steps in the future. Those "different" steps may bespeak of deeper faith, a more solid trust in someone other than yourself, or a greater understanding of how to avoid the pitfalls that come our way.  If I had to tell parents these da