The Plumbline

But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all. (Isaiah 53:5-6 NLT) Our rebellion - our sins. Jesus didn't come to do 'good works' or present 'signs and wonders' just for show. He came because our rebellious, sinful nature required a completely pure and holy sacrifice in order to rightly restore all who would call upon Christ. Our rebellion - it made us less than perfect. Our sin - it created places of brokenness and hurts within us that nothing else can ever 'fix'. We left God's paths in order to follow our own. That is the heart of rebellion. It wasn't that the path was 'vague' or without wayfinding signs along it. We just chose a different path. It was that pathway into rebellion and sin that required a Savior and it was that...

“I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25-26) Do you believe this? That is a very telling question, for all else in our life hinges on the answer. Anyone who believes - is that you? Do you believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life? Do you believe he made a way for you to be reconciled to God? Do you accept this free gift? These are the questions we must answer - if not today, then when? First, we believe in his finished work on the Cross - then we live in him. What does that mean? We don't become puppets in his hand, but we do relinquish the right to live in control of our lives. We willingly lay down our control and allow him to take the reins. The free gift opens the way for us to live free of things we don't even know have us bound. So many claim they have no need of a Savior because they have lived 'good live...

"Christmas is the spirit of giving without a thought of getting. It is happiness because we see joy in people. It is forgetting self and finding time for others. It is discarding the meaningless and stressing the true values." (Thomas S. Monson) What stress are you under right now just because of 'holiday prep'? So many times, we spend far more time 'prepping' for the meals, gift-giving, and decorating that we forget to spend a little more time with each other just enjoying the time. The true value of Christmas is not in the 'prepping', but in the 'spending' - spending time with those we love. When the people cry to the Lord for help against those who oppress them, he will send them a savior who will rescue them. (Isaiah 19:20) Some may even feel as though Christmas is not a very big deal. It is a time for good food, some entertainment, and a load of gift-wrapping being undone in an instant. They miss the meaning of the moment. The gift given...

Wash yourselves and be clean! Get your sins out of my sight. Give up your evil ways. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.  “Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool. (Isaiah 1:16-18) When something is settled, there is no further discussion. It is fixed - established - no change is forthcoming. The condition of relationship is to come - to lay down one's own agenda and to submit oneself to obedience to the Lord's will. We can try to wash ourselves up and be clean all on our own, but we still gonna stink! Until we are willing to give up and learn at his feet, we are still gonna stink. We can do all manner of good works, but we still gonna stink. Until we come, lay down our sins, and sit at the foot of the cros...

I don't know about you, but my hardest subject in school was math. I did well, but I had to work very, very hard at learning math. It just didn't come easy to me. Natural sciences, reading, writing,  language work, and all the rest just seemed to come easier. Math took effort and lots of study. It is the one class I actually didn't look forward to - all the others were a delight. When I finally 'got' the method of solving the problem, whether it was a formula I needed to follow, or some principle I needed to consistently apply, it made sense and I held onto that method. Put in another variable and that same method didn't always work! Sometimes you had to adjust the method to get to solution. I am so glad God gives us a little help in the 'problem-solving' department when it comes to sin (another subject I mastered well without much trying!). There is no 'method', nor any particular 'series of steps' we need to take, just trust him to be t...

I often study the life of David - from boy in the field tending sheep to the ruler of a nation. David had an intimate relationship with God - something quite evident in how frankly he spoke with God and how "free" he was in the presence of God. There is much to be said about having a deep, beyond the mundane, relationship with God. Look at what David reminds us time and time again - God is the one who welcomes, we are the ones who come into that place invited. We aren't interlopers in God's presence - we are welcomed and embraced. You've always given me breathing room, a place to get away from it all, a lifetime pass to your safe-house, an open invitation as your guest. You've always taken me seriously, God, made me welcome among those who know and love you.   (Psalm 61:3-5) David acknowledges that God gives him something we call 'space' - that thing we like to refer to as breathing room - a place of complete sanctuary. Have you ever had a really good...

If you have never really read through the Bible before, there is one passage which captures my attention each time I study it because it puts into very simple form the gospel message.  Keeping in mind that the "gospel" really means "good news", then the "gospel message" must also be a message of good news meant to be shared with all people for all time!  There are various passages in the scripture which point to the good news about Christ - his coming, life, death, resurrection, victory over death, hell, and the grave, etc.  There are also select passages in which the entirety of the gospel message is captured in just a few short verses - making the message not only "compact", but easy to glean without a whole lot of study.  The good news:  God wants everyone to be saved and to know the whole truth!  God wants everyone to be saved and to know the whole truth, which is: There is only one God, and Christ Jesus is the only one who can bring us...

Do you know what a crisis is?  It is the stage in a sequence of events at which the trend of all future events, especially for better or for worse, is determined. Some of us call this a place of "transition" - movement within this point of crisis determines if the "transition" will be good or not as pleasant as we'd hoped for.  By definition, it is a place of danger and instability.  Anytime you have a transition point, there is an opportunity for instability.  For example, when you transition from carpet to tile flooring in your path of walking, you have to be sure your foot does not slip on the tile.  It is a smoother surface, can be a little "slicker" than the carpet, and the combination of your shoe and the "slickness" of the tile can make for a mixture of additional "hazards" which may not be fully recognized.  Misstep and you could find yourself landing quite hard on that tile!  A crisis demands our attentiveness - in those b...

We all pursue a Savior.  The purpose of a Savior is to bring hope, giving us a foretaste of a better future.  The Old Testament is full of promises of a coming Savior – the world looking forward to a coming Messiah.   A savior is one who has the specific mission of rescuing or delivering those who need rescue or deliverance.  He rescues from danger or harm.  There is no more dangerous place to be found in than to be in a place where you don’t realize you don’t recognize the danger you are in.  Many of us recognize the sins of others, but we fail to see those which are our own.  As long as we only see the “others” who need “rescue”, we fail to see how much we desperately need rescue ourselves. 10  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.   11  Today in the town of David a Savior  has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.  (Luke 2:...