The Plumbline

When anyone is in Christ, it is a whole new world. The old things are gone; suddenly, everything is new! (2 Corinthians 5:17) Suddenly? Really? It may seem to some of us that the 'whole new thing' isn't all that 'new' - some of that 'old stuff' hangs around for a while, or crops up from time to time, making it kind of hard to say everything became 'new' when we said 'yes' to Jesus. It isn't uncommon that the hurts and hangups of yesterday can creep up from time to time, all because we have both muscle memory and cognizant memory. Muscle memory is when we do something without even giving it much conscious thought. Cognizant memory is when we actually think upon it, then act upon it, oftentimes making a very 'determined' decision to pursue something we might know to be entirely wrong for us. Either way, we struggle with those things that creep up on occasion, making us wonder if this 'new us' really 'took hold' when...

B.C. Forbes reminds us, "Real riches are the riches possessed inside." I am going to say some of us have riches galore, while others may only be beginning to see those riches building bit by bit in their lives. According to God's Word, true riches come as we give Christ his rightful place in our lives - when he is at the center of our lives, all the riches of heaven are poured into us. We become 'enriched' individuals at the foot of the cross. Choose a good reputation over great riches; being held in high esteem is better than silver or gold. The rich and poor have this in common: The Lord made them both. A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences. True humility and fear of the Lord lead to riches, honor, and long life. (Proverbs 22:1-4) We have been looking on what is on the 'inside' of a man - for that is what really matters. If the 'fool inside' is the thing we feed the mos...

Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful. They put their trust in God.... (I Peter 3:3-5) I might just burst your bubble today - that new hairstyle is nice, but your real beauty comes from within. The more 'beauty' your heart develops, the greater the true beauty within your life will begin to shine forth. This type of 'beauty' is only possible for those who have said a resounding 'yes' to Jesus' authority in their lives - not a casual acquaintance with him, but a deeply committed relationship with him. Some have used this passage to say we should not wear make-up, dye our hair, or adorn ourselves with jewelry, but this was not the meaning. The goal of these verses is summed up in ...

I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences. (Ephesians 4:2) Devotion to God doesn't happen by accident - we have to actually 'get up' and 'move forward'. Two very specific actions that require more than just mental investment. They require movement on our part. To 'get up' one has to actually stop sitting right where they are at - there must be a change in position. Too many times we think we will manifest change in our lives all while we are taking little to no action to see change occur. To 'move forward' means we have to put one foot in front of the other. There can be no good...

Every time I think of you—and I think of you often!—I thank God for your lives of free and open access to God, given by Jesus. There’s no end to what has happened in you—it’s beyond speech, beyond knowledge. The evidence of Christ has been clearly verified in your lives. (I Corinthians 1:4-5) Free and open access - wouldn't it be nice to have that type of access to everything we need in life? We could just walk into the bank and the manager would be right there to welcome us in, taking care of each of our needs. We could call the city buildings and there would be no phone trees to navigate through, or automated systems to push our buttons! I am so grateful for the free and open access I have to God - through the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus! No 'phone trees' or 'buttons to push' - no sense that anyone else matters more than me. How about you? Do you sense this free and open access you have with him? If you have said a grateful 'yes' to Jes...

Romans 12:1-2 - it is time to train our minds (Craig Groeschel) - the greatest power to overcome the lies within our minds is the truth. So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. The more we think a thought, the easier it is to think it again. The more we think a thought, the more we make it the dominate thought pattern, it will freely emerge without us having to think upon it with very much eff...

He said, "Then you see how every student well-trained in God's kingdom is like the owner of a general store who can put his hands on anything you need, old or new, exactly when you need it." (Matthew 13:52) I enjoy watching the older movies where life just seemed to be a little easier and less complicated. The simpler times have an intrigue all their own. The struggles to remain true to the convictions when times are quickly changing around us is a reminder to all of us of the speed of change that demands our attention today. What touches me the most is those older movies is what I would call simple trust - in their neighbors, in their family, and in their God. God has much in store for us, but we have to remember there is something very important about 'simple trust' when it comes to seeking his direction or intervention within our lives. The student well-trained in God's Word is the like the owner of a small general store - able to put their hands on an...

Did you ever stop to think just how practical the Bible really is? It lays out sound advice on how to make financial decisions such as the borrower becoming slave to the lender, so don't be frivolous in your spending (Proverbs 22:7). We find instruction on how to have a solid family life such as how much it takes to build a household and the depth of understanding required to set them all on a firm foundation (Proverbs 24:3). We also find warnings of things we should avoid because they will be our "undoing" - things like not interfering with a good person's lives as it may end up with us falling flat on our face (Proverbs 24:15-16). Yet, there are many questions we just don't seem to find the easy or "straight" answers for in those pages. Jesus spent about three years teaching his disciples as he made his way to the cross. In that period of time, he laid out all kinds of truth for them. Some of it stumped the crowds, but the disciples usually got w...

My first week in the military was kind of interesting. Arriving at Fort Jackson on a chartered bus that had picked up a whole bunch of us in the wee hours of the morning on that October day in 1976, the 'unknown' caused all of us more than a little trepidation. As we unloaded our suitcases and gathered around it became clear this would be a life-changing venture! In rather short order, the orders were being barked out to divide each of us into groups and then serving to usher us off to our temporary housing. The dawn came way too early and those jeans, tennis shoes, and t-shirts were all exchanged for olive drab shirts, socks, caps, and pants, white undershirts, and black boots. All the same, no one standing out any longer as unique. Those clothes we brought along for the journey were all taken from us, locked away until our final day at boot camp, never to be worn again until we were officially finished 'becoming soldiers'. Why did they insist on clothing us with the ...

I can remember studying the discovery of the Americas by one very bold 'pioneer' of sorts - his name was Christopher Columbus. He was an Italian explorer of his day who made four trips across the Atlantic, with the most notable being the one where he sailed the oceans blue in 1492. His attempt to sail a direct route from Europe to Asia never really materialized as he expected, coming across the Americas instead. It was his 'discovery' of these Americas, already populated with various native inhabitants that gave him notoriety in his 'explorer' circles. He was credited for having found a 'new world' - complete with all the vast treasures it would hold for those willing to strike out to colonize these distant lands. Did you realize the purpose of exploration in those days was really to 'discover' and to 'colonize'? Did you ever stop to consider that the reason we 'discover' truths from the Word of God is so they can 'colonize...

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...

Have you ever thought of your heart as a vault of sorts? It is more like a vault than anything else, because we oftentimes hide things away there forever and ever - our special treasures and sometimes our 'special non-treasures' that we might not really want to let go of! Look at what God's Word does when it enters our hearts. I think we often don't give credit to God for the work he does in the "changing" of our hearts - through his Word and times with him. We sometimes just think he is "mending" our hearts, but as you soon come to realize, simple mending by anyone other than a skilled surgeon leaves us leaking! He replaces those hard hearts with pliable ones, diseased with healthy, and empties those that need a little 'cleaning out' in order to be whole. I've banked your promises in the vault of my heart so I won't sin myself bankrupt.  (Psalm 119:11) Today I might focus on the importance of allowing the Word to affect our heart (mi...

There are lots of places of dryness in our lives, aren't there? As I age, my skin just seems to go from moist to dry in no time flat. Before long, I look down and see those lines and grooves that suggest all the hand washing of my day has left behind a look similar to that of a lizard's skin! The day can get past me in pretty short order and I wonder why I need to drink a gallon of water when I get home, then realize it is because I forgot to stop to get anything else to drink after my coffee first thing that morning. My body is just demanding to catch up! Arizona is a kind of 'dry' climate, but when you need the heat on in winter AND you live in a dry climate, even breathing can be 'dry'! I have come across animals and even fallen cacti - all leaving behind tell-tale signs of life at a former time - now dry and scattered, making it hard to really tell for sure what that animal may have been, or how majestic that cactus may have stood. Imagine if God were to tak...

Times of transition can be both upsetting and thrilling at the exact same time. We get scared because of what we are seeing an end to something we have held dear or worked with for quite some time, but we are awesomely excited about what may be forthcoming as we take on the new venture. The moment we commit to take those steps forward, we are lambasted with all manner of doubt, anxiety, and maybe even a little bit too much adrenaline! The emotions evoked in transition can be undeniably hard to maneuver through, but when we move from one thing to another, there will always be a little bit of emotional 'build up' experienced in making that transition. Transition is a time of unrest for all of us. We like the familiarity of what we have come to know as "constant" and "secure" in our lives. When transition is called for, we often feel like our "legs are being pulled out from under us". This might be why we are as apprehensive in transition as we appear...

A few years after my dad passed, I was feeling a little nostalgic and I decided to go looking for our first home in Arizona. Mind you, the home was built probably somewhere in the 1940-1950 range, and we all know how things change over time. Trees get bigger, neighborhoods morph from one look and feel into another, and what may have been a 'majestic mansion' when we were little kiddos is not always the same when we return to it some 30-40 years later! I eventually found the street I was seeking, now almost unrecognizable because of the transformation of the surrounding neighborhoods. I recall knowing quite clearly the house was the second on the right, so down the lane I went and there it was, but...what a different scene than the one I remembered or imagined! The gnarled mulberry tree was there, but the branches were all cut off and it no longer spread out over the corner of the yard. The once whitewashed fence still stood, but the faded appearance told me keeping it whitewash...