The Plumbline

We can seek refuge in a great many things, such as our bank accounts, but I heard a report just the other day indicating that Americans once reported they felt 'secure' when they were making six figures - today they only feel secure when that 'six figures' is upwards of a quarter-million a year! The average worker goes into a new job interview expecting to make upwards of around $78,000 annually - up $5,000 from the previous year. If we haven't learned by now, our refuge is not in a bank accounts or retirement funds. It is found in God alone - all other 'placement of trust' is like taking refuge in a cardboard box in the midst of a hurricane! Keep me safe, O God, for I have come to you for refuge. I said to the Lord, “You are my Master! Every good thing I have comes from you.” (Psalm 16:1-2) Put your trust in money, and you soon find you are spending a whole lot of time and energy working to get money, thinking about money, and talking about how to make or ...

I have to admit - at times I keep score. Not so much in your life, but in mine. I keep score of the things I do that are right steps toward a healthier lifestyle. I keep score of the steps I take in a day by wearing a smart watch. These are pretty 'harmless' things to keep score of in our lives, but when we start to 'keep score' of times we fail to take the right steps, we are doing just the opposite of what Christ does on our behalf. God doesn't 'chalk one up' on our 'account of misdeeds' just because we make a bad choice. We don't earn merits and demerits in some 'heavenly accounting system'. Prayer, going to church, reading our Bible - good actions, but they don't 'even out' the score when we do dumb stuff! In fact, it isn't about evening out any score - it is about all the demerits going away because God only sees the side of us that reflects the 'merits' of Christ! Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his ...

Keep on working to complete your salvation with fear and trembling, because God is working in you to help you want to do and be able to do what pleases him. (Philippians 2:12-13) What work goes into 'completing' our salvation? Isn't everything complete in Christ? Isn't that what we are told in scripture - that his work on the Cross took care of all of our sin and made us right with God again? If this be the case, what 'work' do we have to engage in so that we will have a 'complete' salvation? I think we sometimes get 'salvation' mixed up in our minds as an 'action' done for us by another and nothing we have to do for ourselves. In a sense, this is correct. Salvation was accomplished by Christ and Christ alone. There is no other sacrifice that needs to be offered to make man right with God again. We do have to say "yes" to Jesus, though. We have to welcome him into our lives and begin to make choices directed and encouraged by hi...

What are you wearing today? Have you dressed by the time you read this, or are you luxuriating in your jammies for just a little longer? Regardless of how you have 'clothed' yourself at the moment, there is nothing like what comes from being clothed with the blessing of God! Have you ever snuggled deep into something of comfort because your day was just a little harder than you'd like it to be? You may even find you needed some form of help, but it just seemed to never be coming, so you hunkered down, sheltered in place and are just there waiting. At those moments, all you want to do is sit down and cry out for help - but there doesn't seem to be anybody within earshot! Yet, you might just cry out anyway - if not outwardly, at least on the inside! Never lose sight of this hope - "real help" and very "real comfort" comes from God. But you, God, shield me on all sides; You ground my feet, you lift my head high; With all my might I shout up to God, Hi...

Do you have a safe place? It could be the peace and quiet of your bedroom after a long and crazy day at work, curled up with a good book, or vegging with a game on your tablet. It could be you have built out a little sanctuary in your garden, allowing you to bask in the sun while listening to the soothing songs of the birds in the trees. Maybe it is a time each day you take just for yourself - a time set aside when no interruptions can come and when you can just be alone with yourself, God, and your thoughts. Your safe place doesn't have to be a 'place' as much as it should be a harbor where you can find firm and safe anchor! The first two 'safe places' exist in my life, but the third one is the safest place for me to find what it is I am really needing. My help and glory are in God —granite-strength and safe-harbor-God— So trust him absolutely, people; lay your lives on the line for him. God is a safe place to be. ( Psalm 62:7 MSG ) What does absolute trust ...

There are a lot of way to be 'beat down' by the things and people we have to deal with each and every day - just walking this earth today may make you feel that you are persistently beaten down - worn out by hard or unnecessary abuse.  There are those who have suffered repeated blows to their ego, emotions, or physical well-being. The repeated blows have left behind damage that seems to do nothing more than place on public display the defects of our lives. To each of us with 'damaged lives' let me just give you a word of encouragement - God isn't put-off by our damage! God 's a safe-house for the battered, a sanctuary during bad times. The moment you arrive, you relax; you're never sorry you knocked.   (Psalm 9:9-10) What?  The anointed of God, the one who has been hand-chosen by God, feels beaten down, abused, emotionally spent, like his or her life mattered for little in the scheme of things?  Yep - it happens to the best of us! We each experience ...

Guard rails exist beside the side of the road for a reason, don't they? They are not decorative. They aren't put kn totally flat,non-winding roads. They are there for our safety...to keep us from gong over the edge into a ravine or a ditch. They come in places of the road where it would be easy to miss just how close to the edge we were without them. We don't always know the "proximity" we are maintaining to the edge in our lives until we begin to bump up against some of the "guards" God places there to keep us safe! Lord , you alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing. You guard all that is mine. The land you have given me is a pleasant land. What a wonderful inheritance! I will bless the Lord who guides me; even at night my heart instructs me. I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me . (Psalms 16:5‭-‬8 NLT) As a kid, I would crawl into the upper bunk in our camper while mom and dad were in the cab of...

Ever been in a place some might call a real "brouhaha"?  You know what I mean - the place in your life where everywhere you turn, it is like total conflict.  It could be conflict all created by your own mind and soulish desires, or it could be external to you, but affecting your life nonetheless.  It is that place where someone or something is lying in wait for that moment when the attack will be just right to take you down.  It is as though things are on a slow boil up to a point, then all of a sudden the boil begins to roll and steams begins to build.  At that point, what do you do?  For most of us, it is too late to do much because when it finally builds to that point, it is harder and harder for us to find peace, get a clear picture of what is happening, or even call a retreat from it.  We are there for the duration - simply because we didn't know how to avoid the conflict in the first place! I am pleading with the Eternal for this one thing,...

Those of you following my blog on a regular basis know I was raised in the Catholic faith and then after being out on my own, I chose to leave the Catholic church, choosing instead to associate myself with more of the non-denominational Christian church community.  I have been asked many times why I would leave the Catholic church and I always respond the same way - it wasn't the place for me to learn what I needed to learn, grow as I needed to grow, and become what I needed to become.  I will admit it almost broke my father's heart when I did leave the Catholic church, as he had been raised "staunch" Catholic and I can still recall every Saturday confession, Sunday communion, my first Communion, my Confirmation, and catechism classes.  All though high school, I struggled immensely with lots and lots of actions which really didn't reflect a very good "Catholic" at all.  I really needed more than a weekly visit to the confessional, if you get my drift!  ...

Safe Harbor:  Any place that offers protection in a storm or wartime.  I read that sailors are to be prepared for the storm - knowing in advance what the weather will bring.  They are to read the signs - being ever vigilant to the changes in the winds, skies, and the like.  In so doing, they are instructed to head immediately to safe harbor when they see the rapidly rising storm.  It is one thing to sail into a safe harbor - knowing you will shelter or refuge there. It is quite another to sail away or out of it.  One thing I see when sailing away from safe harbor is the "risk" associated in that movement.  We set sail into uncharted territory - uncertain about that which lies ahead.  The only thing we know is that we are leaving the place of safety. My help and glory are in God —granite-strength and safe-harbor-God—s o trust him absolutely, people;  lay your lives on the line for him.   God is a safe place to be.  (Psalm 62:7-8 MS...

7-8   God  guards you from every evil, he guards your very life.    He guards you when you leave and when you return,       he guards you now, he guards you always. (Psalm 121:7-8) When I was in the military, I had the unfortunate lot of pulling "guard duty" on a few select occasions.  The thing that struck me most was that I was guarding "stuff" that I had no clue that anybody would want!  Sometimes I'd be assigned to the motor pool - now, I ask you, who wants an olive drab sedan?  At others, I'd walk the perimeter of the base, looking for intruders.  Ummm....now, ask me if I EVER saw any?  Nope!  So, what was the purpose?  Simply because you never know when the enemy will attack, or at what location.  So you "prepare" for the worst! Our passage today is taken from a psalm that celebrates God's watchfulness over his children.  The writer begins with the question, "Where does my ...

  9-10   God 's a safe-house for the battered,       a sanctuary during bad times.    The moment you arrive, you relax;       you're never sorry you knocked.  (Psalm 9:9-10) There are many walking this earth today that feel that they are persistently beaten down - worn out by hard or unnecessary abuse.  They have suffered repeated blows to their ego, emotions, or physical well-being.  The repeated blows have made damage that seems to do nothing more than place on display the defects of our lives.  David probably was feeling a little of this with all the things he was dealing with as King of Israel, the anointed of God.   What?  The anointed of God, the one hand-chosen by God, felt beaten down, abused, emotionally spent, like his life mattered for little in the scheme of things?  Yep!  Nowhere in scripture is it recorded that David was any less of a "human bei...