The Plumbline

But don’t let sin control your life here on earth. You must not be ruled by the things your sinful self makes you want to do. Don’t offer the parts of your body to serve sin. Don’t use your bodies to do evil, but offer yourselves to God, as people who have died and now live. Offer the parts of your body to God to be used for doing good. Sin will not be your master, because you are not under law. You now live under God’s grace. (Romans 6:12-14) I know sin doesn't seem to just leave us alone - there are opportunities to compromise at every turn in the road and more than we might seem to recognize. When we welcomed Christ into our lives, we actually 'died' to sin - meaning that sin has no control over us any longer. We all know that temptation is real. We all realize the appeal of certain 'habits' don't just disappear. We have to put forth some effort to resist - to 'repel' sin's pull. What we might not recognize is that by offering our bodies to God da

Nathaniel Hawthorne said, "A pure hand needs no glove to cover it." A pure heart needs no covering, either. It becomes evident no matter how hard the journey - purity is something we cannot (and should not) ever try to hide. Some might want to shun such purity, probably because it pricks at their conscience just a bit more than they'd like. Regardless of society's norms, we need to remain true to those God lays out in his Word. Only then will we realize purity of heart, mind, spirit, and soul. Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. They will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their Savior. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, God of Jacob. (Psalm 24:3-9) Be a generation that seeks him. If we want to see God move across our city, we might just be the first one to seek him. It takes one

Teach me your ways, O Lord, that I may live according to your truth! Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor you. (Psalm 85:11) Teaching involves the impartation of knowledge held by one to another. Whenever we ask God to teach us his ways, we are asking for the impartation of the mind of Christ. We want God to prepare us for the day's tasks - demonstrating to us how it is we are to respond to the challenges of the day. Critics of 'the religious life' will say we are asking to be 'brainwashed'. Those into spiritualism will say we are asking for 'enlightenment'. Neither is true - we are asking for God to show us his will, demonstrate how we live within that will, and to keep us safe from the attacks of all manner of untruth that comes our way. When God grants us wisdom (the ability to apply the knowledge we have received), he does so in order to purify our hearts. His goal is to rid us of all the things that stand in the way of our total communion with

  If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—simply come clean about them—he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we’ve never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God. (I John 1:8-10) There are a whole lot of ways I show off my 'ignorance', but I don't want one of them to be that I think I am without sin - I am a sinner, yet redeemed from my sin! Admitting our sin is the only way to be free from it. If we admit our sinfulness, does that make us no longer sinners? We all have a human nature - there is always going to be a 'pull toward' sin in our lives as long as we are walking on this earth. Do we have to 'give into' that pull? No, because we have been given a new life in Christ Jesus - the desire might be

The absence of alternatives clears the mind marvelously.  (Henry Kissinger) When it comes to our thought life, I daresay we could do with a few less 'alternatives' to ponder, rehash, and ruminate upon. We all probably struggle a little bit with the 'clutter' of thought we encounter all day long as we go about our regular tasks and chores. Any 'alternative' is simply means we have to make choices - one becoming more demanding or clearer than the others. We choose when to begin the laundry, whether we will leave the vacuuming another until another day, or even if we will listen to music while we go about those chores. We choose to hold onto or let go of the thought 'alternatives' when it comes to our misadventures that leave us feeling a little less than 'right' in the end. Guilt can lead to shame all because we don't let go of something we have spent way too much time ruminating on in our minds. Anger can lead to bitterness because we continue

I have to say Craig Groeschel hit the nail on the head this past weekend when he pointed out how differently each of us views a 'fault' depending on whether you have it or it is my own personal one! He said something like 'we view your life by your actions, while we view our own by our intentions'. Telling isn't it? We judge another by their actions - while all the while we justify our actions by evaluating out intentions, not our actions! At times, we are presented with individuals who seem to have an "ulterior motive" in their actions. In other words, what is presented is really a "mask" for something being done to deceive the individual on the receiving end of the action. One thing is said, another is meant. One thing is done, but the intention behind it is completely contrary to the "appearance". This is dangerous ground for us - simply because we really don't know what to expect, or when to trust. If it is out own actions g

Back in the days of the pioneers, there was a crazy flurry of activity to 'hit it big' in the gold mining 'rushes' of the day. Someone would come across the 'mother-load' and the rush would be on. Whether that sparkly stuff was panned from streams or chiseled from the walls of the caves that housed their rich vein, the result was the same - it had to be melted down before it could really be used. Along came the silver and copper mines, each yielding their own 'ores' of great promise - each requiring their own type of 'smelting' processes, but each producing various 'qualities' of 'finished product' as a result. The smelting process usually involved what came to be known as the 'crucible' - that smaller collection spot within the larger furnace where the refined metals would be collected. While the furnace produced the heat to accomplish the refining process, the crucible acted as a collection device to capture the purified

The earth belongs to God! Everything in all the world is his!  He is the one who pushed the oceans back to let dry land appear. Who may climb the mountain of the Lord and enter where he lives? Who may stand before the Lord? Only those with pure hands and hearts, who do not practice dishonesty and lying. They will receive God’s own goodness as their blessing from him, planted in their lives by God himself, their Savior. These are the ones who are allowed to stand before the Lord and worship the God of Jacob. (Psalm 24:1-6 TLB) It was Nathaniel Hawthorne who penned, "A pure hand needs no glove to cover it." There are lots of "gloves" we wear in life, sometimes for protection, at others to hide. I wear gloves in my profession for protection - to avoid the spread of illness. I wear gloves when I garden - to avoid injury. I wear a glove when I play ball - to assist with the capture of the ball. I wore dress white gloves in the military while on parade - to look sharp an

God, create a pure heart in me,   and make my spirit strong again.  Don’t push me away   or take your Holy Spirit from me.  Your help made me so happy.   Give me that joy again.  Make my spirit strong and ready to obey you.  I will teach the guilty how you want them to live,   and the sinners will come back to you. (Psalm 51:10-13 ERV) Purity of heart is not something we accomplish on our own - we definitely need God's help with this one! In fact, it is impossible for the "impure" to ever reproduce "pure". The strength of spirit it took to compromise, or downright follow a path of impurity in the first place is what should make us realize we don't "find purity" on our own. We need (and we want) God to make our spirit strong again - but in the right direction! It is one thing to be strong - it is another thing to exhibit the strength that is initiated and sustained by God himself. I can be a very strong-willed individual, but does that strength

“But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold. For I have stayed on God’s paths; I have followed his ways and not turned aside." ( Job 23:10-11   NLT ) When we are in the thick of things, we probably don't even think God knows what direction we are headed! The chaos of the issues bombarding us on all sides just leaving us with questions, uncertain outcomes, and decisions too numerous for us to even think about some days. We just cannot possibly imagine any other "disaster" that can come our ways, only to be broad-sided by something totally unexpected. Could it just be WE don't know where we are going at the moment, but that God has all things perfectly orchestrated and the outcomes already well under his control? The key isn't that we know the destination, it is that we stay on course. To be totally transparent here, there have been more than a few times that if God had showed me clearly where it was I was headed

Silver is  purified  in the crucible, gold in the  furnace , but  motives of  the heart are judged by the Eternal.  (Proverbs 17:3 VOICE) Richard Nixon once said, "The finest steel has to go through the hottest fire."  If you really stop to think on that one, he was pretty close to the truth.  The steel doesn't become steel because it dreams of being steel one day.  It doesn't even know what is about to happen to it when it approaches the fire of the furnace. It is kind of naive in a sense, because it just trusts the one handling it to make something beautiful from the carbon and iron when it is combined in the heat of the furnace.  In essence, we don't really know what will come of our lives, but when we trust the one who made all the elements of our lives to put those elements to use as he sees fit, we find the object "refined" as he imagined it to be from the beginning. The furnace isn't a place for wimps.  In fact, most of us don't even

Snow looks pure, does it not?  You look out over the vast expanse of that beautiful white blanket covering the earth and what does it imply by that "white color"?  Purity, right? Yet, most scientists will tell us those crystalline water particles contain dust particles as well - for the dust particle is what the snow actually forms around as the water crystallizing process begins.  Mom used to tell me we all need to eat a "peck" of dirt in our lifetime, so I guess a little dust is no big deal!  Snow is very close to distilled water. You can pretty much count on being able to melt it, using it without much concern for the content of it as long as it was close to the surface, had no visible contamination, and appeared to be pretty fresh.  Very few things in this life are as pure as snow, though, including our own soul! How can a young person remain pure?   Only by living according to Your word.    I have pursued You with my whole heart;  do not let me stray from

Our cravings reveal much about the condition of our hearts.  The more we "crave" for the things we know won't do us much good, or perhaps even do us some harm, the more we can count on the fact we are a little further away from God's heart than we may want to be.  Our cravings are kind of like a "barometer" for our soul - we can often see how our mind, will and emotions are guiding us into some "stormy" weather!  Craving is a form of "begging" - we want something so badly our mind and emotions are playing on our will to get us to fulfill whatever it is we are craving so desperately for. God  won’t starve an honest soul,   but he frustrates the appetites of the wicked. Blessings accrue on a good and honest life,   but the mouth of the wicked is a dark cave of abuse.   A good and honest life is a blessed memorial;   a wicked life leaves a rotten stench.  (Proverbs 10:3, 6-7 MSG) Most of us with the privilege of actually being able

Salutations and Greetings, Farewells and Closing Remarks - all parts of a letter, binding the thoughts in the middle all together.  Salutations and Greetings make up the beginning of the letter - almost giving a little synopsis of who the letter is written to, an introduction into why the letter is being written, and the time frame it is written.  The Farewells and Closing Remarks act as both a summary of the letter and a chance to let the individual know who has been writing.  In the middle comes the "meat" of the letter - the elaboration of the purpose for writing - giving details one will need in order to accomplish something or learn about the "goings on" of another.  Most of us gravitate toward the main portion of the letter because it contains the heart of the information.  The greeting is nice, the closing remarks sweet, but the "meat" is in the middle, so are we all wrong in giving this our main attention? No, but we cannot overlook the salutation

Nothing is more elusive than the approval of man.  Try as we might, we often fall short of what another expects of us - leaving us feeling like we haven't measured up and them experiencing disappointment.  Since it is so elusive, why do we spend so much time trying to "measure up" to some other man or woman's approval?  The approval of another is kind of like a well disguised snare in the path - we get caught up in it without even noticing we were headed in that direction!   The pathway to man's approval is pretty demanding, though.  It demands our time - often time we don't have to give. It demands our attention - often attention which is diverted from something which also requires our attention, but which will go without while we pursue something completely opposite.  It demands our energies - sucking us dry of that which really would be best utilized on a task designed by God for us. To the faithful  you show yourself faithful,   to the blameless you show

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.  (Matthew 5:8 MSG

Yesterday I shared the truth about warnings - they are meant for our safety, but we need to have hearing ears and attentive eyes.  Today, we will look at the third characteristic related to heeding warnings - a responsive heart.  Remembering the heart is really the seat of our emotions, we can just imagine why God wraps the heart up into this picture of avoiding hazards by heeding warnings.  Our emotions can sometimes play tricks on us - making us see something totally different from what is really ahead of us.  Mom asked my sister last night why women choose losers.  I am not sure where this conversation came from, but I guess it was part of a story they were reading, so I just listened.  My sister's response was some women just do because they feel "needed" for the first time, or they feel "special" to someone and this is what they have wanted for so long.  I guess this kind of lends some credence to our discussion this morning - we cannot just listen to our

Yesterday we discussed passion and purpose.  We have one more character trait to consider in our "P" List which is purity.  Now, this sometimes gets overlooked in our consideration of character traits to "put on" because we don't live in a very "pure" world, do we?  It is hard to make pure choices when all around you others are bombarding you with all kinds of wrong ones.  Purity is the freedom from anything which debases (reduces in quality or value), contaminates (adding/mixing in that which makes unclean), or pollutes (corrupts or defiles).  In the most literal sense, impurity is the "adding in" of something which does not belong.  That which does not belong actually changes the consistency or integrity of what does. You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.  (Matthew 5:8 MSG) But friends, that’s exactly who we are: children of God. And that’s only the beginn