The Plumbline

Romans 12:1-2 remind us, "So I beg you, brothers and sisters, because of the great mercy God has shown us, offer your lives as a living sacrifice to him—an offering that is only for God and pleasing to him. Considering what he has done, it is only right that you should worship him in this way. Don’t change yourselves to be like the people of this world , but let God change you inside with a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to understand and accept what God wants for you. You will be able to know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect." Noah was righteous and blameless before God. Out of all the huge multitude of people on earth at the time, he found favor with God. Others were noted to be so evil, to the point God could not tolerate their evil and corrupt hearts any longer. We can only imagine how difficult it would have been to remain righteous and obedient to God when all those around you were so totally corrupt. Sin was rampant and everyone else was...

Truly God is good to Israel, to those whose hearts are pure. But as for me, I almost lost my footing. My feet were slipping, and I was almost gone. For I envied the proud when I saw them prosper despite their wickedness. (Psalm 73:1-3)  I imagine we all have those moments when we see stuff happening around us in this world, then stop to ponder how has the world 'gone so wrong' in its actions and beliefs? We might not understand how the wicked prosper, the misguided rise to positions of power, or the righteous lose out on what appears to be so much. That doesn't mean we lose our faith in the one who holds all mankind in his hands and will eventually bring all to judgment - the good, the bad, and the worst. Moments of doubt and confusion come to all of us - we just have to press into our faith a bit harder, so those doubts aren't given any ground to fester. Emotions will surface that indicate we are struggling a bit with what we see, hear, or imagine, but those emotions ...

So now we have a high priest who perfectly fits our needs: completely holy, uncompromised by sin, with authority extending as high as God’s presence in heaven itself. Unlike the other high priests, he doesn’t have to offer sacrifices for his own sins every day before he can get around to us and our sins. He’s done it, once and for all : offered up himself as the sacrifice. The law appoints as high priests men who are never able to get the job done right . But this intervening command of God, which came later, appoints the Son, who is absolutely, eternally perfect. (Hebrews 7:26-28) In the Old Testament (OT), there were religious leaders called "priests". The most important thing about the OT priest was that he was "set aside" from the rest of the community in which he dwelt for the specific purpose of all the duties associated with worship and sacrifice. They didn't hold down 'outside work', such as farming or carpentry. There was also this office of ...

You’re blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by God. You’re blessed when you follow his directions, doing your best to find him. That’s right—you don’t go off on your own; you walk straight along the road he set. You, God, prescribed the right way to live; now you expect us to live it. Oh, that my steps might be steady, keeping to the course you set; Then I’d never have any regrets in comparing my life with your counsel. I thank you for speaking straight from your heart; I learn the pattern of your righteous ways. I’m going to do what you tell me to do; don’t ever walk off and leave me. (Psalm 119:1-8) On occasion, someone will ask how they know they are making a 'right decision' or if they are 'living right'. Right-living is something the Bible refers to as "righteousness" - it is the idea of learning to order your steps according to the plans and purposes of God. The design of the designer is always the best plan for the cre...

If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both. (I John 4:20-21) This one may seem like a tough one for some of us because there are some individuals we really don't have any positive feelings toward, aren't there? Try as we might, we just don't understand what they are doing, how they are behaving, or where they seem to be headed, oftentimes taking others with them on their misguided journey. We 'want' to love them like Christ asks us to, but we struggle with actually finding much of any type of 'redeeming qualities' in those individuals. I am by no means an expert example in this area of loving ALL people, but just some thoughts on how I deal with the ones I find it hard to 'like', much less 'love...