The Plumbline

Do what God’s teaching says; don’t just listen and do nothing. When you only sit and listen, you are fooling yourselves. Hearing God’s teaching and doing nothing is like looking at your face in the mirror and doing nothing about what you saw. You go away and immediately forget how bad you looked. But when you look into God’s perfect law that sets people free, pay attention to it. If you do what it says, you will have God’s blessing. Never just listen to his teaching and forget what you heard. (James 1:22-25) I share often about 'hearing', but 'doing' nothing with what we 'hear'. Why? The importance of being a 'doer of the Word' cannot be outlived, outsourced, or outdone! We need to incorporate the Word of God into our daily lives - making the teachings therein the source of our instructions on how to live with one another. Ever look at yourself in the mirror and be so dissatisfied with what you are seeing that you just turned away and tried to forget wha...

When the sun is just right, even the smallest subject can cast a huge shadow. The object seems to be 'larger that life', even though it is actually quite small. I stop for periods of time and consider things - sometimes stuff others might just not stop long enough, or consider important enough, to think on.  I began to "ponder" shadows as I am currently in a climate where the sun hasn't been out in days, so no shadows have been cast by the sun. The lights in the condo where I am staying are what affords the shadows right now and it is amazing what you can create from simple objects such as your hands and fingers when the lamplight is reflected upon the wall. As you look at the various shadows, you can ponder what you may be seeing and tell yourself many a story that way! Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.  (Psalm 23:4 NKJV) Psalm 23 is one of the most ...

"We look into mirrors but we only see the effects of our times on us - not our effects on others." (Pearl Bailey)  Some of us do a whole lot of "mirror gazing" to see what effect we are having on this world, when in truth we need to be doing a lot more gazing into the eyes of someone other than ourselves to really determine this fact!  The eyes are the window to the soul - if we escape taking in what they may reveal because we are too focused on gazing upon ourselves, we might just miss out on some pretty important stuff God intended for us. Things in this life are not meant to be learned in a vacuum. God put us together with other people because they reflect back to us more of us than we can ever see by gazing upon what WE see reflected in the mirror! Be humble. Be gentle. Be patient. Tolerate one another in an atmosphere thick with love.  Make every effort to preserve the unity the Spirit has already created, with peace binding you together.  (Ephesians 4:2-3...

To truly see ourselves, we need more than a mirror, don't we?  In fact, I can only see "one side" of me when I am looking in a mirror.  Even if I have a mirror in front of me and one in back, I can only get the perspective of either the back or the front, but truthfully not the whole.  Mirrors have limits, don't they?  I can see what my eye can take in, but beyond that, I am powerless to identify what might just be a little bit out of my focus.  Mirrors also do something we don't actually think about too much until we try to do something very "tactile" such as cutting our own hair.  Try trimming a few wayward strands yourself and you will see what I mean - those scissors appear to be going in the exact opposite direction as you are trying to make them go!  Why?  You are seeing a "mirror image" - the complete opposite of what is reality.  To move the scissors to the left in the mirror, you must move them to the right for real!  The mirro...

Wise words come from people of understanding.  People of understanding are able to speak of a situation in a completely different manner because they grasp the meaning of the situation.  The fool just cannot get the same grasp on the circumstances of life - they might babble on a lot, but the things they speak really don't bring clarity, or shed much light on the matter.  A fool cannot size up the situation because a fool seldom learns from his past experiences.  As if to point out the difference between the fool and the wise, the writer of Proverbs pens these words:   The road to life is a disciplined life;   ignore correction and you’re lost for good. (10:17 MSG)  In order to walk in the pathway of life, we must accept discipline (correction).  The fool has a hard time with this - so they repeat the mistakes they've made over and over again.  If we want to live "rich" lives, we need to embrace discipline - for discipline is the road to tru...

Have you ever told yourself something only to find out in the end you were really just fooling yourself?  Until we actually look in the mirror, we don't see what is likely right in front of us all the time.  Even when we look into the mirror, we may not see exactly what we thought was there - because the mirror is clouded over with some film.  If you have ever taken a hot shower in a closed room, you find the mirror becomes all coated with the steam.  The coating on the mirror actually keeps you from seeing an accurate appearance of who you are.  Even if you try to wipe the steam away a little, the image you may see is still a little distorted by the remaining particles of water gathered on the mirror.  In actuality, the "image" never changes, just the reflection does! 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—make a clean breast of them—he won’t let us d...

There are some days I would not want you to read my mind!  The story being told inside there is just a little too weird for you to listen to - or maybe a little too critical of another, a little too warped from reality, or a little too self-aggrandizing to be of any benefit to another.  Regardless of the "story" told there, it just isn't a pleasant place for you to go, much less for me to dwell for very long!  The truth be told, we all struggle with "stories" in our mind which really reveal much about us an individuals.  "Stories" which don't exactly reveal the identity we want others to see.   As water reflects your face,   so your mind shows what kind of person you are. (Proverbs 27:19 NCV) Why do you think our writer equates the mirroring effect of still water with our minds?  If you remember from past blogs, the "heart" of a man is really somewhere in the brain - the seat of our emotions, rational thought, and even irrational thou...

I haven't had a dog in years now, but I remember the extreme joy and passion my pooch would exhibit whenever I brought home a bone for her.  She'd waggle every part of her hind quarters and tail, almost trembling in delight over the promised ecstasy of the treat.  For hours, she'd gnaw away at that treat, savoring each and every morsel.  In short order, the bone would be picked clean of any sign of grizzle, remaining meat, and even sometimes much of the bone itself would be chewed down.  I'd hear her working on that thing for hours - sometimes having to take it away from her at night just so we'd be able to get to sleep!  She'd always see where I'd put it up out of her reach, knowing full-well where to find it the next day.  There she'd be sitting as soon as I woke up - ready to take on the task of chewing on it again.  Such persistence and perseverance.  I wonder if we have this same kind of reaction to God's Word? Righteous chews on ...

    54  Your decrees have been the theme of my songs  wherever I have lived.   55  I reflect at night on who you are, O L ord ; therefore, I obey your instructions.   56  This is how I spend my life: obeying your commandments. (Psalm 119:54-56 The New Living Bible) 54  Your laws are the songs I sing  wherever I am living.  55  LORD, in the night I remembered your name,  and I obeyed your teachings.  56  This happened because I carefully obey your instructions. (Psalm 119:54-56 Easy-to-Read Version) I gave us a couple of versions of this passage to read this morning so that we can put together some thoughts.  In examining this passage, several "themes" became apparent: - David has made following God's decrees (his Word) his way of "doing business".  He has a lot of choices (as do we) in dealing with the stress of life. His choice was to turn to God.  Wherever he was "living" - there ...

 How can a young person stay pure?       By obeying your word. (Psalm 119:9) When we are seeking answers, God is the one who keeps watch over what we are searching for - he guides us to the answers.  Our passage today may be familiar to some, yet new to others.  The neat thing about God's word is that no matter how many times you read it, you can find new encouragement for today.  If we are honest with ourselves, we will admit that we really don't know how to keep our lives on track 100% of the time - we have a tendency to "drift" into stuff that is convenient, easiest, etc.  These things that are most convenient are seldom the best for us - what comes too easily is often something that will have the least benefit for our lives. That is exactly why some struggle with the study of God's word - it is not always easy to find the meaning in the message!  It seems "veiled" or kind of difficult to  fully grasp.  Yet, Dav...