The Plumbline

Now restore us again, O God of our salvation. Put aside your anger against us once more. Will you be angry with us always? Will you prolong your wrath to all generations? Won’t you revive us again, so your people can rejoice in you? Show us your unfailing love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation. (Psalm 85:4-7) Is revival more than an awakening? It begins with an awakening of our spirit and then it continues with a new sense of purpose and an 'inner fervor' that we have somehow lost along the way. Most of us need a bit of 'revival' at times, all because we allow that 'inner fervor' we once had to become 'dulled' by the details of life as they creep in. We soon lose sight of our purpose, finding ourselves a bit too inactive in our faith - what some may call being a little 'too stagnant' in our faith. In truth, what has happened is that we have lost our 'clear direction', leading us to a slower and slower 'faith progress', until...

T. S. Eliot asks, "Where is all the knowledge we lost with information?" God reminds us, "Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." (Proverbs 1:7) Knowing 'more' doesn't always make us any wiser in our choices, does it? In fact, a good many of our choices are simply made because others are making that choice. We are influenced by what we see, hear, and come to accept as truth. When knowledge turns us away from God's truth, we will make unwise choices. When knowledge is the result of embracing truth, we find our steps are more certain and our choices are actually narrowed quite a bit. Information abounds, but knowledge that comes from a deep, intimate relationship with Jesus seems to be lacking in many cases. Our nation struggles because of the 'information overload' we receive each day, but there is little truth contained within that 'load'. Most of us hunger for truth - simply bec...

10  He continued, "Go home and prepare a feast, holiday food and drink; and share it with those who don't have anything: This day is holy to God. Don't feel bad. The joy of  God  is your strength!"    11  The Levites calmed the people, "Quiet now. This is a holy day. Don't be upset."   12  So the people went off to feast, eating and drinking and including the poor in a great celebration. Now they got it; they understood the reading that had been given to them. (Nehemiah 8:10-12) Revival brings a response of heart that cannot but help bring praise to God.  The people of Israel had been listening intently to the Word of God as Ezra, the priest, brought it forward.  They were moved by the Word - brought to a place of awareness about just how far they had drifted from what God had intended for their lives.  That is what a fresh look into the Word can do for us - it can bring us to a place of recognition and repentance. Ezra is a wise ...

1  By the time the seventh month arrived, the People of Israel were settled in their towns. Then all the people gathered as one person in the town square in front of the Water Gate and asked the scholar Ezra to bring the Book of The Revelation of Moses that  God  had commanded for Israel.   2-3  So Ezra the priest brought The Revelation to the congregation, which was made up of both men and women—everyone capable of understanding. It was the first day of the seventh month. He read it facing the town square at the Water Gate from early dawn until noon in the hearing of the men and women, all who could understand it. And all the people listened—they were all ears—to the Book of The Revelation. (Nehemiah 8:1-3) We hear much talk about revival in America.  These concerns about revival have churches preaching that we need to bring back prayer in our schools - in the face of severe opposition to keep it out.  There are movements to reach out to the "un-chur...

1  “Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds.  2  After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence. 3  Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains,    like the spring rains that water the earth.” (Hosea 6:1-3) Two actions are presented for us to take and two are promised that God will take in response to our actions.  The first action for us to take is to "come" - to move toward God, approaching him with the specific purpose of returning to our first love.  It is easy to lose our focus - to get distracted by the stuff of the day and to not be as attentive as we had once been in our Christian walk.  The call is to return. The second action fo...

  50  Your promise revives me;       it comforts me in all my troubles. (Psalm 119:50) We have spent several days looking at the topic of revival - the process of being renewed in our inner man.  We will continue today along that line, looking at what it is that helps us to experience revival in our minds, souls, and emotions.  The most important thing we can see is that revival involves putting into practice what we have received.  We are constantly getting input into our minds - through what we see, hear, and sense around us.  This input is run through filters we have created over the years - sets of values we have formed, beliefs we adhere to, knowledge we have amassed.  In turn, we either reject or accept that input as good, bad, or indifferent. God often brings things into our lives that will lead us into times of revival (refreshing) that are not immediately interpreted as "good" or "enjoyable".  In fact, we ...

7  When the Philistines heard that Israel was meeting at Mizpah, the Philistine leaders went on the offensive. Israel got the report and became frightened—Philistines on the move again!   8  They pleaded with Samuel, "Pray with all your might! And don't let up! Pray to  God , our God, that he'll save us from the boot of the Philistines."   9  Samuel took a young lamb not yet weaned and offered it whole as a Whole-Burnt-Offering to  God . He prayed fervently to  God , interceding for Israel. And  God  answered.   10-12  While Samuel was offering the sacrifice, the Philistines came within range to fight Israel. Just then  God thundered, a huge thunderclap exploding among the Philistines. They panicked—mass confusion!—and ran helter-skelter from Israel. Israel poured out of Mizpah and gave chase, killing Philistines right and left, to a point just beyond Beth Car. Samuel took a single rock and set it upright between Mizpah an...