The Plumbline

So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective. (Colossians 3:1-2) Are you serious about following Jesus this year? The past three weeks should have cemented your determination to follow wholeheartedly, or maybe you have chosen to remain in control of your life and be a little too stubborn for your own good. Christ's call to us today is to 'get serious about living for him - stop waffling, buckle down, and 'get er done'.  Pursue the things over which Christ presides - stop shuffling along. A 'shuffler' walks that way because they are dragging their feet - they lack determination, are a little too resistant to the forward progress, or are so weighed down with life's cares ...

So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective. Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ. (Colossians 3:1-4) Whenever someone asks me if I am serious about a matter, they are really trying to figure out if I am trifling around with them or the matter at hand. When I am serious about a matter, you usually can tell it, though. My focus changes from that of making light about a matter to being quite concentrated on the matter at hand pro...

I stand silently before the Lord, waiting for him to rescue me. For salvation comes from him alone. Yes, he alone is my Rock, my rescuer, defense and fortress. Why then should I be tense with fear when troubles come? (Psalm 62:1-2) Joyce Meyer says, "The eagle has no fear of adversity. We need to be like the eagle and have a fearless spirit of a conqueror." As you might imagine, standing 'silently' in the midst of situations where you can be pretty apprehensive or that evoke the 'fight or flight' response is doggone hard. While fear has a 'paralyzing' effect in most of us, we experience and immediate 'ramping up' of all those stress hormones that make us ready to bolt. Adversity comes our way, and we just don't know what to do with it. Is that really true? Don't we know we are supposed to take it to the Lord and allow him to show us how it is to be dealt with? Yes, we 'know' that, but do we actually believe it and stand firm in...

Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction. (Psalm 29:18) Many of us think of 'vision' as the ability to see with our eyes. 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? We have to rely upon our other senses or else we will stumble. How well do you move in this state of total darkness? Are your movements as fluid as normal? Not likely - 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. Vision is more than what we see with our eyes - it is what we hope in our hearts, understand with our minds, and sense in our spirit. Perception and discernment - t...

Have you ever found yourself looking the wrong way when something great happens and you totally missed it? I have and it just bums me out when that happens because everyone who actually saw whatever it was proclaim over and over how awesome it was and how terrible it was that I missed it! It wasn't like I missed it on purpose, people! I just had my attention on something else. In today's world of 'rewind' and 'replay' features on almost everything, it is possible to 'go back' to catch what we miss in a video or even on live TV, but in real life those features are seldom at our disposal. You ever find yourself with your attention on 'something else' and wish you had a 'replay' button so you could 'catch up' with the rest of your friends? Ever wish you could just 'rewind' so you wouldn't miss out on all that stuff you wish now you never had missed? I think this is why God always asks us to keep our focus 'forward...

Okay, don't get me wrong, but whenever I hear someone talk about their 'chakra', I get a little creeped out. I am not at all into, nor have I explored, the Eastern religions. The 'spinning wheel' of energy points just doesn't cut it for me. The fact is - my first and only spiritual energy source is God. I have other energy sources such as the food I eat and the sleep I manage to sneak in each night. There are lots and lots of religions out there that proclaim truth - promoting some type of 'wisdom' of the ages. The fact remains - there is but ONE truth, ONE true God, and ONE way into his presence. If I want more light or illumination in my life - I turn to the one who made it! There's nothing better than being wise, knowing how to interpret the meaning of life. Wisdom puts light in the eyes, and gives gentleness to words and manners.  (Ecclesiastes 8:1) There are books upon books written about finding "meaning in life". Some are clearly j...

12  I don’t mean that I am exactly what God wants me to be. I have not yet reached that goal. But I continue trying to reach it and make it mine. That’s what Christ Jesus wants me to do. It is the reason he made me his.   13  Brothers and sisters, I know that I still have a long way to go. But there is one thing I do: I forget what is in the past and try as hard as I can to reach the goal before me.   14  I keep running hard toward the finish line to get the prize that is mine because God has called me through Christ Jesus to life up there in heaven. (Philippians 3:12-14 ERV) I have heard it said, " Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses ." (Alphonse Karr)  Tough question for your today: Are you a thorn or rose person? Is your focus on the toughness of life, or are you able to see the beauty in even the hard places? Believe me, the latter is harder, but when we get our focus away from the thorn th...

Did you ever stop to consider how big or how little a situation actually looks depending how close or far removed you are to it? Be up close and personal with the issue and you might see only parts and pieces of it, while missing the bigger picture. Be a little further away and you might miss the detail. At surface level, much may be appreciated, but rise a little further above the issue and you often see much, much more, but not as much as you see until you gain God's perspective on the situation! 17 We have small troubles for a while now, but these troubles are helping us gain an eternal glory. That eternal glory is much greater than our troubles. 18 So we think about what we cannot see, not what we see. What we see lasts only a short time, and what we cannot see will last forever. (2 Corinthians 4:17-18 ERV) This summer I took a few days in the high mountains of Arizona to just enjoy time with my grand boys and a second trip to enjoy some time with my BFF. On my trip up wit...

Many of us have probably ridden a bike at one time or another. Isn't there a vast difference between coasting and peddling? Think of the last time you road uphill - how much more energy did you have to exert to actually get up that hill? If you are out of shape, you'd probably say it was horrendously hard! You found yourself huffing and puffing, holding onto your side which was splitting from the intense cramp you developed, and you knew for sure you'd "feel that one in the morning". Arnold Bennett was an English novelist and his opinion was that hills were meant for climbing, not coasting. Why? The best view was from the top! It shall come to pass  in the latter days  that the mountain of the house of the  Lord  shall be established as the highest of the mountains,  and it shall be lifted up above the hills;  and peoples shall flow to it,   and many nations shall come, and say:  “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the  Lord ,   to ...

Have you ever seen a little sign posted somewhere and it just spoke to you?  One such sign read: " If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change ." (Wayne Dyer)  I don't usually get into many of these "self-help" messages, but I kind of like this one because it speaks about perspective and perception.  We can have one perspective in life and see things completely different from the person sitting across from us at the dinner table tonight.  We are in the same room, breathing the same air, but seeing things in life quite uniquely.   I honestly believe this is how arguments ensue - one person seeing things from a totally different perspective than the other, never the two to meet, so to speak.  One takes their perception of the issue simply because of the perspective they have maintained.  To change one's perception of the issue at hand, one must first change his perspective! Turn to me and receive my gentle correction; w a...

I have been asked if I was really "serious" about something on occasion - usually because I am a little bit of a joker and like to have a little bit of fun with life.  So when someone asks me if I am serious about a matter, they are really trying to figure out if I am trifling around with them.  When I am serious about a matter, you usually can tell it, though.  My focus changes from that of making light about a matter to being quite concentrated on the matter at hand producing whatever outcome we desire to see.  It is this change in focus that clues another into the "seriousness" of the matter and the desire to have my actions (and theirs) align with the desired outcome.  The same is true in our walk with Jesus - we can "trifle" around a little with it, or we can be "serious" about our focus.  Either way, our focus will be determined by the way we are treating this pursuit - if seriously, then the outcome will surely differ than if we are only ...

If you have ever stopped to consider things long enough to actually get a clear perspective on things, you will probably realize there is that moment in time when you finally realize the reality of something - it comes as one of those "AHA!" experiences.  For the first time, you see things as they are - you really understand them.  In our spiritual lives, this happens, too.  We get to the place where we finally have that "AHA!" moment and then we sit and revel in what it is we finally see so clearly.  What happened to get us to this point? Simply put, we got enough of God into the places in our heart and mind where we had all the muddle previously!  As he got into those places, he sorted out the muddle and let us see him and our circumstances in clarity! Blessed are the pure in heart,  for they will see God.  (Matthew 5:8 NIV) You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world. ...

All together - a term used to indicate someone has a "complete package" as it comes to talents, treasures, looks, ability, etc.  For most of us, we give a good impression of having it "all together", but in reality, it takes a whole lot of duct tape and bailing wire to keep it that way!  I think it takes a whole lot of work and emotional effort to live that way.  In fact, I had decided a long time ago the "all together" / "complete package" just didn't "fit" who I wanted to be in this life.  It took a while to get to the point of not being afraid to let others know where my edges were a little frayed and my hems not all even! Yet, in the willingness to "get real" with others, there has been a liberty like no other.  Truth be told, the ability to be real with others only came when I realized others aren't "spurred on" in this race toward Christ by the "perfect package" they see.  In fact, the perfect...

Someone once told me 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 do it in the "space" our present is suppose to occupy!  Chew on this one a little.  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?   Now  God , don’t hold out on me,   don’t hold back your passion.   Your love and truth   are all that keeps me together.   When troubles ganged up on me,   a mob of sins past counting,  I was so swamped by guilt   I couldn’t see my way clear. More guilt in my heart than hair on my head,   so heavy the guilt that my heart gave out.  (P...

If you have ever struggled with a little negativity in your own life - such as just not being able to see the forest for the trees - you probably will get what I am going to talk about today.  Life choices are based on what we evaluate to be either "negative" or "positive" for our lives.  We try to avoid the negative and move toward what we consider to be positive.  The time it takes to avoid one and move toward another is really what gives us the most problems, isn't it?  One of the things we have to keep in mind is the "ease" at which the negative stuff comes into our lives.  It is like this ever-present gift that just keeps on giving!  On the other hand, the positive stuff takes a little longer, might seem a little hard to get our hands around, and sometimes even seems to evade us! Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not ...

Have you ever lost something?  You know, you put it away so carefully, but when you need it, it is nowhere to be found?  You go all out to uncover every hiding place, don't you?  You even look places you could not imagine yourself putting something, but just in case, you look anyway!  It is a good thing wisdom is not something we have to squirrel away - keeping it tucked away from intruders or interlopers who would like nothing more than to strip us of it.  Wisdom is something we amass because we take the knowledge we have been given and then apply it to our lives.  That which is applied cannot be quickly taken away - for in its application, it becomes part of who we are, not just part of what we possess. Joyful is the person who finds wisdom,  the one who gains understanding. For wisdom is more profitable than silver,  and her wages are better than gold.  (Proverbs 3:13-14 NLT) I'd like to think wisdom comes more because of the condition...

Do you know any chronic complainers?  You know the type - there is nothing right with the world, the soup is too runny, the room too hot, the driver in front doesn't know how to drive.  You could say the glass is half full - they'd see it as half empty and with no hope of ever being filled again!  Complainers live in a world all their own and feed off the misery of others to keep their complaints alive and thriving.  I kind of think Moses may have encountered just a few of these chronic complainers as Israel was wandering around the desert for 40 years.  There were those who wanted meat, not manna.  Others wanted fresh water without having to exert much effort, while others had no idea what they wanted!  Some could not be content no matter what you did for them.  Notice I said "could not be content", not "would not be content". For the chronic complainer, it is a matter of will, not of provision!   Remember our history, friends, and be warn...