The Plumbline

Who or what are you living for? We are all "living for" someone - even if it is ourselves. We could be a little too self-centered for our own good and only see life how it affects us, totally excluding how the world all around us is impacted by the way we live OUR lives. Or perhaps we are a little too "other-centered", forgetting to take care of ourselves, running like mad-men here and there until we are fatigued to the place of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion. We may actually be living a "Christ-centered" life - the choices we make being governed by the principles taught in the Word and those we feel compelled to act upon because of the prompting of the Holy Spirit within, but lacking complete consistency in this walk. Somehow we think the question is not how well we are living, but that we are living - missing the point of living in a way which really leaves an impact on the lives we touch. It requires us looking intently at who it is we live ...

It is easy to get distracted when it comes to anything like a little quiet time with God. Taking time with my best friend is hard enough, but time alone with God is sometimes harder. Why is that? I think it might just be because the enemy of our souls knows exactly what happens when time is spent together with our mighty Savior! He knows the power that is given and the settling of uncertainty that comes. He doesn't want either to occur, so he puts up as many smoke screens and mirrors to distract us from this exchange as much as possible. Create the right environment and you can eliminate a few distracting forces. Allow the wrong ones and you will find time alone with God becomes harder and harder. "When you practice some appetite-denying discipline to better concentrate on God, don't make a production out of it. It might turn you into a small-time celebrity but it won't make you a saint. If you 'go into training' inwardly, act normal outwardly. Shampoo and co...

Have you ever been so afraid your heart is pounding right out of your chest, there is a little bit of sweat developing, and the escalation in your rapid breathing can be heard across the room? Yup, been there, done that! I have been hit from behind in my vehicle while stopped at a light, trapped by the cars around me, but seeing that vehicle approaching so rapidly in the rear view mirror and feeling totally helpless. I have felt myself falling rapidly to the ground, unable to right myself by any stretch of the imagination, and praying quickly that I survive without breaking anything! I have heard that 'unknown noise' in the dark of night, laying there awake, listening intently for the next noise to come and imagining all manner of intrusion! You've probably got a few tales of your own, but nothing makes us more fearful deep down inside our hearts than to fear some form of punishment for something we did wrong. As a kid, I know I'd tremble when mom would get close to dis...

9  What do people really get for all their hard work?   10  I have seen the burden God has placed on us all.   11  Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.   12  So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can.   13  And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.   (Ecclesiastes 3:9-13 NLT) There are always going to be days when we just look at whatever we are doing and wonder if it is all worth it. This is just a human reaction to stuff when it gets a little harried and difficult to go through. We want to know whatever it is we are "enduring" is going to somehow be worth it. I have taken on projects that physically tax my body - only to wonder half-way through why in blazes I ever started the ta...

 "To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person." (Luke 6:27 The Message) Okay, am I really alone here, or do others have a hard time really praying for their enemies?  That whole thing about loving your enemies is a kind of ethereal idea to most of us.  As a matter of fact, it is the furthest thing from our minds when we feel them breathing down our throats, giving us a hard time, or gossiping behind our backs!  But.... God's Word is explicitly clear - if we are ready to hear the truth, that is.  Love 'em!  In other words, be merciful just as our heavenly Father is merciful.  One of the reasons we find it so hard to "love 'em" is because they just aren't all that lovable!  Face it, the idea of loving our enemies, praying for them, and even giving them the shirt off our back is kind of re...

1-5  No doubt about it! God is good— good to good people, good to the good-hearted.  But I nearly missed it, missed seeing his goodness.  I was looking the other way, looking up to the people at the top, envying the wicked who have it made, who have nothing to worry about, not a care in the whole wide world.  (Psalm 73:1-5) Have you ever found yourself in the place of envying those at the top?  We have a tendency to "elevate" some to levels of prominence in our society.  If they are educated and well-spoken, we find ourselves wondering why we cannot say things so eloquently.  If they are financially successful, we wonder how they got all the breaks.  If they are in a tremendous relationship with another individual, we find ourselves bemoaning that we are not.  Guess what?  Envy is more common than we might think! David is being pretty honest with us here in this passage.  He reminds us that ...

5-9 So don't lose a minute in building on what you've been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can't see what's right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books. (2 Peter 1:5-9) Peter opens this second epistle to the church with a reminder that the salvation we have been given is all because of the "straight dealing" and intervention of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Everything we need to get to know God better has already been given to us in the gift of salvation - we just need to apply it to our lives.  The very ability to get to...