The Plumbline

 But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at how handsome or how tall Eliab is. I have not chosen him. The Lord does not look at people in the way that people do. People look at the face and body of a person. But the Lord sees what they are like inside.’ (I Samuel 16:7 EASY) If you have tried to be a people-pleaser at any point in your life, you know just how difficult it is to always be who they say you should be, do what they say you should do, and find direction is whatever it is they say they find direction in. People look at us and 'see' an image of what they believe us to be, but they also project upon us what they expect us to be based on some 'image' they have of what we should be. Their standard isn't always that easy to measure up to, is it? They project an image that won't make us comfortable if we conform to it. It isn't what God made us to be - the way he sees us matters and we must never lose sight of the 'image' he created when he cre...

Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. (Matthew 6:19-21 NLT) Wherever your treasure is... There are things we define as a 'treasure' in our lives doesn't always deserve as much attention as we are giving it. We focus way too much energy, give lots more time than needed, and even come to honor that thing more than we do our relationship with God and others. Most of the time, treasures are those things that we come to value more than we do God. To that end, we are reminded that the only thing that deserves that much of our attention is God himself. Wealth, riches, valuables - all are good and are not 'sinful' as long as we maintain a right perspective toward those things. These things can be the result of G...

Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, for the light makes everything visible. (Ephesians 5:10-14) Carefully determine - while most of us have a general understanding of what God expects of us, how many of us have gone so far as to do a 'deep dive' into scripture to truly understand what pleases the Lord? We have heard the stories of how Israel erected a golden image, knowing that God abhors idols of any kind. We listened to sermons that reminded us to turn the other cheek, knowing God values grace and forgiveness. Yet do we truly understand what the 'worthless deeds of evil and darkness' really are? Perhaps understanding what 'pleases God' is made clear when we understand what light brings out of hiding in the lives of others and...

Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him. Don’t participate in the things these people do. For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true. Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. (Ephesians 5:6-10) The sins we excuse don't make them any less sins. They are still actions and attitudes God would have his children stay away from completely. When we engage with these sins, entertaining them and then eventually accepting them as 'okay' for us, we are only being deluded into believing the lies of our enemy, Satan. Sin is sin. That may be a hard pill to swallow, but it doesn't make it any less true. Live as people of light by carefully determining what pleases the Lord and then living according to that plan. If the light of Christ truly dwells within us, we will be less likely to c...