The Plumbline

Elizabeth the First once said, "The past cannot be cured", and Charles Kettering said, "One fails forward toward success." Paul said, "Not that I have already obtained it [this goal of being Christlike] or have already been made perfect, but I actively press on so that I may take hold of that [perfection] for which Christ Jesus took hold of me and made me His own. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have made it my own yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the [heavenly] prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:12-14) The goal set before us is to move closer and closer to Jesus, so that one day, hopefully not too far into the future, we will be Christlike in our behavior because our hearts are healed, emotions are tender but strong, and our thoughts are made new. Too many times, we seek to cure the past, as Queen Elizabeth insinuate...

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...

Then the angel of God, who had been leading the people of Israel, moved to the rear of the camp. The pillar of cloud also moved from the front and stood behind them. The cloud settled between the Egyptian and Israelite camps. As darkness fell, the cloud turned to fire, lighting up the night. But the Egyptians and Israelites did not approach each other all night. (Exodus 14:19-20) In reading through the account of Moses and Egyptians standing at the shore of the Red Sea with the Egyptian armies approaching from their rear, I was caught by this account of God's protection. Moses had been telling the people God would defend them, that he'd be their place of safety as they left Egypt, but some did not realize he would do what he was about to do on their behalf. They complained, wanting to turn back, even if it meant being in bondage to the Egyptian people. It isn't uncommon to want to turn back when we realize the struggle ahead may take us into the unknown. In fact, we probabl...

The past always looks better than it was. It's only pleasant because it isn't here. (Finley Peter Dunne) When does a person know they are finally done with their past? That might just be one of the toughest questions for us to answer because our past doesn't always have a way of staying in the past, does it? There will be times when the memory is flooded with something we have said, done, or experienced and there is just no stopping it coming forward. Truth be told, our past is a mish-mosh of both good and bad - it is fine if the memories that flood in are the good ones, but when they are the bad ones, we don't actually enjoy those memories.  God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from a...

 One cannot and must not try to erase the past merely because it does not fit the present. (Golda Meir) Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. (Ephesians 4:21-23) We have many choices in this life, but there is no greater one than choosing to leave our old way of doing things behind and choosing to live by the grace and love of God within our lives. We may attempt to erase the past, but we oftentimes find it hard to 'get past' what we have done, guilt and even shame haunting us about some of the decisions we have made. The one thing we can never forget is that God is all about new beginnings. We may have chosen unwisely in the past, but we don't need to make those same choices today. When we really ...

Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, “He told me everything I ever did!” When they came out to see him, they begged him to stay in their village. So he stayed for two days, long enough for many more to hear his message and believe. Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Savior of the world.” (John 4:39-42) Many believed because of what the woman shared - others believed because of what they heard him and believed. Just imagine what would have happened if the woman had not shared what happened at the well, harboring all that she had experienced just for herself. Others who were ready and waiting to receive their Messiah might have missed the opportunity. There is something quite powerful in sharing what Jesus has done in your life, but there is something even more powerful in coming to the conclusion that you need him in spit...

But you are a chosen people, royal priests, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession. You were chosen to tell about the wonderful acts of God, who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. At one time you were not a people, but now you are God’s people. In the past you had never received mercy, but now you have received God’s mercy. (I Peter 2:9-10) A chosen people - chosen for a purpose. The purpose? To tell the world about the wonderful acts of God - especially his 'action' of redemption. The 'righting' of the world through the grace we find in Christ Jesus. Whether we are willing to admit it or not, we all live in a 'dark place' without Christ. We make decisions that are self-directed, and we don't always make wise ones. With Christ at the center of our lives, we are called to live lives that reflect the light that comes when his grace enters our lives. That 'telling' is our role - but even the empowerment to 'tell' is g...

People are trapped in history and history is trapped in them. (James Baldwin) I'd have to say this is pretty accurate about most of us - our history actually 'traps us' and we are bound to it like super-glue to our fingers. All of us have a 'history'. All of us has had to deal with that 'history' or else we bury it deeper and deeper because it was too hard to deal with. Regardless of buried or 'dealt with', the history remains - it happened - it left a mark of sorts. On occasion I am haunted by some of the things I have done, said, or thought - in my distant past, but still coming up in my memory from time to time. It isn't that these things aren't under the grace of Jesus - sins confessed, dealt with, and moved on from. It is that our memory has a way of being used as a 'weapon' against us during some of our weakest moments. Maybe this is why God emphasizes us bringing EVERY thought captive - because the battle begins in the mind! If...

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 us from our sins. As parents feel for their children, God feels for those who fear him. He knows us inside and out, keeps in mind that we’re made of mud. Men and women don’t live very long; like wildflowers they spring up and blossom, but a storm snuffs them out just as quickly, leaving nothing to show they were here. God’s love, though, is ever and always, eternally present to all who fear him, making everything right for them and their children as they follow his Covenant ways and remember to do whatever he said. (Psalm 103:6-18) Memory is a powerful tool - learnin...

You have probably heard it said that the enemy of the present is our past. In other words, we fight battles with our past more frequently than we fight battles with our present - but we are fighting them in the "space" our present is supposed to occupy! Our "present" has a purpose, but we occupy it with the things from our "past" which still gnaw at us. I wonder just how much of the present we miss because we are so focused on the past? The only thing changeable is the present - the past is forever just that - past. Why then do we spend so much time focusing on it?  One of the most common reasons we do this is the familiarity we have with our past – it is an easy place to drift into because it is a former “routine” for us. We hope by focusing on the past, we might just find something worthwhile there which can "benefit" our present. The issue with this is that most of what is in our past really brings us to the point of being overwhelmed in o...

Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life emerges! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you. (2 Corinthians 5:17) Are you in 'union' with Christ? If so, you got a fresh start - the past has been erased. Before you roll your eyes on that one, let me assure you I know being totally free of our past it is easier said than done. In the ey...

He left there and returned to his hometown. His disciples came along. On the Sabbath, he gave a lecture in the meeting place. He made a real hit, impressing everyone. “We had no idea he was this good!” they said. “How did he get so wise all of a sudden, get such ability?” But in the next breath they were cutting him down: “He’s just a carpenter—Mary’s boy. We’ve known him since he was a kid. We know his brothers, James, Justus, Jude, and Simon, and his sisters. Who does he think he is?” They tripped over what little they knew about him and fell, sprawling. And they never got any further. (Mark 6:1-6) To form a perception beforehand as a result of previously held or known information is not always the smartest thing we can do in life. Some of us have a tendency to gravitate toward what we "know" about a person, forming an opinion of that person based on the small number of facts we have already ascertained, but neglecting to dig any deeper or try any harder to get to know much...

Life is divided into three terms - that which was, which is, and which will be. Let us learn from the past to profit by the present, and from the present, to live better in the future. William Wordsworth Life is indeed past, present, and future - what have you been doing with each of these parts, my friends? Some of us hold on so very tightly to the past, not willing to let it go, thinking we may somehow be able to change what has been. Others live so fully in the present, all the while forgetting the future will have demands of us we need to prepare for somehow. Very rarely do we get this past, present, and future thing down well in our lives, but when we do, what an amazing thing it is! It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone. (Ephesians 1:11-12 MSG) Who are ...

"One faces the future with one's past." Pearl S. Buck The other day the hospice nurse was chatting with mom. They were talking about how mom feels like she is sometimes a burden - something I think most parents feel when they become a little more dependent upon their children for their daily needs. As they chatted, the nurse kindly reminded mom that I appeared to be very happy doing what it takes to keep her safe and well-cared for, then she said that maybe it was my turn to repay mom for the many times I may have been a handful for her in my younger days. While she didn't know me as a kid, she certainly had me 'pegged'! I did my share of things that put mom and dad through heartache and the simple acts I perform today to keep mom safe and well are nothing compared to those times! We all have those 'tales from the past' we'd rather like to keep hidden from view - things we are neither proud of, nor very appealing to onlookers. Yet, they are the...

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...

Never brag about what you will do in the future; you have no idea what tomorrow will bring. ( Proverbs 27:1   ERV ) "Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." (Melody Beattie)  None of us is ever guaranteed a "tomorrow" - we all have today and can do the best with today as is possible. We allow all kinds of things keep us from enjoying our "today" - including the issues of our past or the constant focus on what it is we might accomplish tomorrow. I am no different, here, for there are times when I get so "future focused" so as to miss what is right in front of me. The sad truth is that there is absolutely no guarantee there will even be that "tomorrow" I spent so much time planning for! What a shame to miss out on so much because we are not able to see what is right in front of us! For many, their lives were changed the day the towers came down in New York. Others would never ...

I have carried you since you left your mother’s womb. I carried you when you were born,   and I will still be carrying you when you are old. Your hair will turn gray, and I will still carry you. I made you, and I will carry you to safety. (Isaiah 46:3-4 ERV) There are times we just need to be reminded of God's faithfulness toward each of us - today may be one of those times for some of us. Regardless of what you are going through, if you look hard enough, you might just realize that God is the one who has been carrying you for quite some time! From moment to moment, we may forget who is at work in our lives, believing God has abandoned us on occasion simply because things get a little tougher than we would have wanted. Whenever we get to feeling like we are abandoned, we just need to look to our Creator - for the one who creates will never abandon his creation. It was Elizabeth the First who said the past could not be cured. Too many times we go about our day's efforts try...

It was Alfred Lord Tennyson who said, " Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers ." He also said, " Tis not too late to seek a newer world. " With all that is going on in our world today, wouldn't it be grand to seek a "newer world"? We may want to escape just a little of the present in hopes of finding a little bit better of a future - but what we have in the present cannot be ignored. We must deal with the present conflict and sorrow in order to really see change. This is a premise to change - sometimes sorrow leads us to make changes we might not ever see as necessary apart from that sorrow. As Tennyson alluded - wisdom is what lingers once the sorrow has produced the work of turning knowledge into life-change. 10 The kind of sorrow God wants makes people decide to change their lives. This leads them to salvation, and we cannot be sorry for that. But the kind of sorrow the world has will bring death. (2 Corinthians 7:10 ERV) The Corinthian churc...

Did you ever stop to consider just "how" it is you overcome sin in your lives?  I bet it wouldn't be by yourself!   If we are truthful, we are spurred to consider our actions as sinful in the first place because of something we hear from another, see from the eyes of another, or just simply by seeing a different "picture" modeled in the lives of someone else.  We often have blinders where it comes to our sin - we just see what we want to see and it often takes the perspective of another to point us in the right direction.  The scripture refers to sin as something which "traps" us.  Have you ever seen something struggling to get out of a trap? It is almost impossible to get "out of" whatever it is they "got into" on their own.  The hole is too deep, the ropes too tight, or the weight too heavy which is pressing down upon us.  We actually need the hands of another, and sometimes even their ability to see clearly what needs to be done...

We all have a "background", don't we?  In terms of police work, every case has a background made up of evidence found at the scene of a crime, coming together to form a puzzle of pieces which eventually "fit" into a particular scenario playing out.  Within that scenario there are different players, actions, and "props".  In terms of your health, doctors and nurses seek to discover you medical history, including the history of your immediate family members, because it gives them the background on what may be the issues you will deal with or are dealing with right now.  In terms of solving a particularly tough problem in math class, you have laid up a certain foundation of truth you have come to count on to be consistent with each "equation" you must calculate. This trust in these "formulas" or "principles" form a background by which you formulate your answer to the new math problem before you.  The background of a matter g...