The Plumbline

“All authority in heaven and on earth is given to me. So go and make followers of all people in the world. Baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach them to obey everything that I have told you to do. You can be sure that I will be with you always. I will continue with you until the end of time.” (Matthew 28:18-20) What does it mean to live in the 'authority' of Christ? It is both the ability to use God's power and the 'permission' to use it. We might believe we are given permission to use his power, but we might feel very 'unable' to do so. This is nothing but a lie from the pits of hell, my friends! We are given both - the ability and the 'authority' or 'permission' to tap into, live within, and use his power. To live 'powerless' lives is never the will of the Father - his will is for us to have ALL authority. Did Jesus encounter times, places, and people who questioned his authority? Absolutely! ...

Be assured that from the first day we heard of you, we haven’t stopped praying for you, asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works. We pray that you’ll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work hard in his orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. We pray that you’ll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us. (Colossians 1:9) Be honest here - do you ever feel like the 'power' you are operating under is really not 'power', but more like a 'putt-putt' kind of existence? If you are there, don't fret because we all find ourselves there...

  Depend on  God  and keep at it because in the  Lord   God  you have a sure thing. (Isaiah 26:4) I depend on my vehicle to get me places I want to go. I depend upon my washing machine to clean my clothes. I depend on my light switch to bring illumination to the room when I switch it on. There are tons of things you and I depend upon each and every day - some of them without even knowing we are depending upon them. My power went out this week, not once, but twice. That meant no air conditioning, no light, and no water dispensed in the refrigerator door. I am aware I have disclosed my dependence upon a few luxuries here, but trust me on this one - in Arizona you want air conditioning, you need water, and when it is dark outside, it is going to be even darker inside! The latest power outage was for several hours and in the middle of the day. We probably all count on this 'sure thing' called electricity to be flowing through those underground lines to our home...

Have you ever wondered what power there is in a word? I know there are times I don't have to say much to find I have lifted someone's spirits, while there are opposite times when a couple of words spoken at the wrong time or with the wrong intent create a whole lot of misery. Words are quite powerful, but none so powerful as those contained within the pages of our Bible, as these were put there to set us on fire. They have a creative power - bringing to life what had once been dead. They have a convicting power - revealing what we might not even have known was there so it can be completely dealt with and removed. Words, when used as they were intended, have power - especially in the hands of a graceful and loving God! Now that you’ve cleaned up your lives by following the truth, love one another as if your lives depended on it. Your new life is not like your old life. Your old birth came from mortal sperm; your new birth comes from God’s living Word. Just think: a life concei...

There is something that happens when God's people gather together. By the very experience of being together in one accord - no emphasis on differences, no focus on the inadequacies of each other, but simply being content to gather in his name, united in their worship - there is a door opened to heaven unlike any other time. We have lost the 'art' of being 'one' - it has become so easy to be divided, or critical of others that we just don't realize the power we are losing out on by not being 'one'. When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force—no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them.  (Acts 2:1-4) Without warning, an event began to transpire that would result in the transformation of th...

When a new power comes into play, the game changes a little bit, doesn't it? The new power exerts some influence that is 'new' to the circumstances. In baseball, they change up the pitcher in hopes the 'new power' will deliver a no hitter run of pitches. In technology, the introduction of panoramic WiFi added a more advanced web-surfing power to the game. Well, there is a new power in operation in our lives. This new power gives us a whole group of new principles by which to pattern our lives. In fact, it gives us a new potency for life - efficient, forceful, influential progress AGAINST sin in our lives. The rules we have been trying to live by could never do this for us. Our human condition requires a radical change. This type of radical change could only be accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit within us - the 'force' to begin anew. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, fre...

David, as King of Israel, was in heated battle with the Edomites in the Valley of Salt - not exactly a lush place to be nor the top of someone's bucket list to visit.  The Edomites were descendants of Esau, one of the sons of Jacob.  Esau is probably best known in scripture as the son who sold his birthright for a pot of stew (Genesis 25) - his hunger outweighing his solid thinking on that one.  As the firstborn of Jacob, he had the full right to the inheritance of his father (a double portion as it is referred to in scripture).  In a time of weakness, hungry and weary by what life had dealt him, he "sold out" to his twin brother. I wonder how many times we 'sell out' in times of hunger, weariness, or worry? 16-17  And me? I'm singing your prowess, shouting at cockcrow your largesse,    For you've been a safe place for me, a good place to hide.  Strong God, I'm watching you do it, I can always count on you—God, my depe...

“Lord  God , with your great power you made the earth and the sky. There is nothing too hard for you to do." ( Jeremiah 32:17   ERV ) What is your "too hard" point in life? At what "phase" in the development of events or alignment of the issues do you actually say this is just "too hard"? My grandsons have had to learn math, but not the "easy" way we might have learned growing up - for their "method" of teaching math these days is through something they refer to as the "common core". Honestly, this "newer math" is kinda hard! It almost borders on being "too hard" for this old gal to learn! Every now and again I get this pleading call from my daughter, asking me to help him over the phone with his math homework. It is one thing to see it, read through it a couple of times, and then figure out what they are trying to instruct him to do, but over the phone to just "hear it"...that just compo...

With God’s power working in us, he can do much, much more than anything we can ask or think of. To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus for all time, forever and ever. Amen.   ( Ephesians 3:20-21   ERV ) What "power" do you possess - or maybe the best question is what "power" do you exhibit in your life? Back some years ago, the concept of "super-heroes" hit the television and big screen audiences everywhere. The "super-men" and "super-women" of these shows were able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, stop supersonic aircraft with the breath from their mouth, and somehow rescue every damsel in distress. In real life, rarely do we see this type of "power", nor do we this consistent intervention "just in the nick of time" into the situations where harm is about to wreak havoc in the lives of people. In real life, the "power" we rely upon is usually either intrinsic (stemming from within ...

3  By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.   4  And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. (2 Peter 1:3-4 NLT) Sometimes I think we believe we somehow get to the point we are living exactly as we should - that our obedience is all our own doing and it is kind of "perfect". I'd like to think I had everything to do with my obedience and that it is completely perfect all of the time, but it is a constant struggle for me.  I am pretty sure more of my obedience is based upon a little "want to" on my part and a huge "power-infusion" on the part of Jesus! How about you? Is your obedience a struggle at times? Is it somet...

All that is great and powerful and glorious and victorious and majestic is Yours, O Eternal One. Indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth belongs to You. The kingdom belongs to You, O Eternal One, and You are the head of it all.  (1 Chronicles 29:11 VOICE) I saw this passage today and just had an "epiphany" of sorts. Usually we see a passage like this and think, "Man, that person who wrote this was really exalting God!"  We see it as praise song or a form of worship since the writer is declaring the greatness of God and how truly awesome he feels God is.  What we may not see as significant in this passage is the very first word - ALL.  If all that is great and powerful and glorious and victorious is God's, and we are God's children, then that means we fit in at least one of these categories!  More importantly, we may fit in all four! When God enters our lives with is presence, all his "greatness" is within us.  It is impossibl...

I have a power outlet in the garage right behind where I have placed a small freezer to assist in storing meats and extra items I buy up on sale.  It is in a very convenient place, at a very convenient height (don't even have to bend down to plug in), and it is clearly recognizable as a power source.  Shortly after moving into this house some years back, I placed the freezer there.  It wasn't until one day, late after work that I came to realize an issue with the power source.  I did not realize it was connected to the GFCI plug in my bathroom. As we made our way through getting ready in the morning, it was not uncommon to trip the GFCI with the plugging in of hairdryers, curling irons, etc.  We just hit the little red button and reset the thing, moving on with our morning grooming tasks.  Unrealized, we had inadvertently tripped it at the end of our morning process, not bothering to reset the thing because we were all done in the bathroom and it didn...

Do you know the purpose of the word "but" in your sentence? Whenever you insert "but" into the sentence, you are saying the prior stuff is "negated" by the next stuff you are about to say.  For example, when you say, "The caramel truffle was delightful, but I think it went right to my hips," you are saying although it tasted delightful and there was that moment of pure ecstasy when you indulged, you will regret having to workout a little longer on the treadmill tomorrow! "But" makes null and void what has just been said, or puts some type of condition on it.  Another example, "You were supposed to do that yesterday, but I understand you had an emergency..."  In this example, the person is willing to overlook the failure to do whatever it was that should have been complete by now, all because there was the "condition" of an emergency arising in your life.  So, the "but" is significant to set up what is goin...

There are times when I feel pretty "cowardly" in this life.  I don't like big, hairy spiders and would rather not encounter them.  Yep, I will deal with them when I do because it is just me, so if I don't, they will soon overrun my house if given a place to dwell unharmed.  Now, the means I use to get rid of them may be a little odd on occasion, but it works!  I grab whatever is in my path - like the Windex, Spray-N-Wash, or even an occasional can of Raid.  They get a good dousing with whatever I can wrap my hands around the quickest.  I have been known to empty an entire can of room deodorizer on those creepy crawlers!  They might not die instantly, but they go to their grave smelling rather good!  You might ask why I don't take a shoe and just smash them.  I would have to say this is where the cowardly part comes in. Using the shoe requires accurate aim, and I have to get rather close to them to actually make the connection.  I'd rath...

I am always amused by the "posturing" of some when they think they are pretty "hot stuff" and there is no one who can challenge them or give them a run for their money.  It is like they just stand there self-assured, thinking their good looks, money, or massive "status" will somehow make everyone around them just cower and run.  In ancient times, when kingdoms were all the "rage", men rose to places of great prominence and were crowned "king" over regions of lands.  Most of the time, these lands were taken lock, stock, and barrel from those who inhabited them previously.  If anyone survived (or was allowed to survive) in the "taking" of the land, they were usually forced into indentured service to the king.  They provided for his coffers as they lived out their lives under his reign.  Until a stronger "challenger" arose, with bigger or more skilled armies, that king would hold the rule of the land, and his offspring...

A few week's ago, I did a short study about considering the words we listen to and how many words we both speak and hear in a day.  Learning to choose wisely those we embrace (take to heart) is important just based on the constant barrage of words we each hear.  Even words we may find a little difficult to embrace are often the very words we need to hear at the moment - this is especially true as it applies to the words of God's commands.  There are times when we'd rather not consider those words - seeing them as onerous and a little too "restricting".  Yet, we give what I would call "lip service" to them.  For example, when God tells us to love unconditionally, we think this is a good idea and we even proclaim to do so - putting this into "operation" in our lives is quite another thing.  When we begin to see God's commands as something other than "restrictions", but more like "miracle words", we might just consider the...

Power:  the capability of doing or accomplishing something; strength, might or force; the possession of control or command over something or someone; authority.  If you have ever been in the midst of a terrible wind or lightning storm and had your power go off for a while, you know the helplessness of being caught in the total darkness in an unsettling time.  Imagine what it would be like to live this way all the time.  Nobody wants to live powerless. We all want to be able to exercise some element of power in our lives - even in the times of terrible storm and feelings of helplessness.  Why do you think we light the candle in the darkness?  It doesn't illuminate much and it won't dispel the storm, but it gives us enough sense of "power" over the darkness to help us navigate the storm! But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you... (Acts 1:8 NLT) In life, we find many things "drive" us, but few energize, refresh, and restore like havi...

38-39 "So I am telling you: Hands off these men! Let them alone. If this program or this work is merely human, it will fall apart, but if it is of God, there is nothing you can do about it—and you better not be found fighting against God!"   40-42 That convinced them. They called the apostles back in. After giving them a thorough whipping, they warned them not to speak in Jesus' name and sent them off. The apostles went out of the High Council overjoyed because they had been given the honor of being dishonored on account of the Name. Every day they were in the Temple and homes, teaching and preaching Christ Jesus, not letting up for a minute. (Acts 5:38-42) The disciples have been making all kinds of new friends through the many converts to the Christian faith all over Jerusalem after the infilling of the Holy Spirit in the upper room on the day of Pentecost.  Scripture tells us that people had mixed emotions as it came to accepting this move of God those many years ago....