The Plumbline

My dear children, I write this letter to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone sins, we have Jesus Christ to help us. He always did what was right, so he is able to defend us before God the Father. Jesus is the way our sins are taken away. And he is the way all people can have their sins taken away too. If we obey what God has told us to do, then we are sure that we know him. If we say we know God but do not obey his commands, we are lying. The truth is not in us. But when we obey God’s teaching, his love is truly working in us. This is how we know that we are living in him. (I John 2:1-5) A long time ago, I had a pastor who told us it was okay to substitute our own names into scripture. For example, I could read this passage as, "My dear Lauretta, I write this letter to you...", making it come alive to me personally. When I began to realize scripture was written for ME, I began to find it both comforting and a little convicting. At times, it opened up doors for my hea...

"Things start out as hopes and end up as habits." (Lillian Hellman) There are a lot of 'habits' we accumulate over the years, some of them better than others. The ones we really want to develop may be a little harder to develop, though. We developed the habit of brushing our teeth regularly - a fairly simple habit, easily adopted, but as a kiddo, we resisted it. Some of us resist the habit of reading our Bible - a fairly simple habit which could easily be adopted, but we resist it because it takes time, some of the stuff in there doesn't make sense, and we have lots of questions about the content we read. It seems to me this is the kind of habit we may actually need most in our lives - the reward being worth the effort it takes. Stick with what you learned and believed, sure of the integrity of your teachers—why, you took in the sacred Scriptures with your mother’s milk! There’s nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through fait...

There’s nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us. (2 Timothy 3:16-17) Useful things are seldom discarded - we use them time and time again. If we begin to view scripture as something we can 'discard' or 'disengage from' in our daily lives, we are in danger of losing one of the most secure and trustworthy things that can 'sculpt' our lives. I have mentioned in other posts that scripture is to be taken in its entirety - not weeding out some truths and latching onto others. All scripture was 'hand-prepared' by God himself - taking special note of what we'd need to hear in order to understand his love, grace, and peace. We cannot leave parts out an...

“The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry.  It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it. You will live in joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands! Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow. Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up. These events will bring great honor to the Lord’s name; they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.” (Isaiah 55:10-13 NLT) Some of the promises in Isaiah are really rich in character, aren't they? The imagery presented for us here about God's Word is dynamic. As often he does, God uses a word picture to help us understand the impact of the Word of God ...

All of Scripture is God-breathed;  in its  inspired  voice, we hear  useful teaching, rebuke, correction,  instruction, and  training for a life that is right so that God’s people may be up to the task ahead and have all they need to accomplish every good work. ( 2 Timothy 3:16-17   VOICE ) Ever wonder why we were given scripture? It was because we needed to be "up to the task" of accomplishing every (not just some) good work. It so amazing to consider just how the words penned within the pages of our Bible actually came to be. Sixty six books, written by at least 40 authors, over 1600 years in the writing, all under the authority of the Holy Spirit and anointed by God for the task of recording these teachings we have before us today. It is the one book which has been translated into more than 1200 languages and is given away more often than any other book we could receive. As our text points out today, ALL of scripture is God-breathed, but we are ...

"Keep on" - two words with much meaning.  To "keep on" one must have begun the journey. There must have been a clear starting point - a launching pad of sorts from which one begins to take the steps in some particular venture.  For believers, this is the moment they say "yes" to Jesus.  For non-believers, this might be the moment they begin to feel the "niggling" of need in their life which causes they to be curious to find what is missing in their lives.  Either way, there is this starting point.  To "keep on" also implies there is a tendency in us to be slowed down, or even stopped completely along this journey.  The words are instruction, but they are also encouragement.  There are times when "keep on" will take on the meaning of a prod to get us into movement again, while at others they are simply words to encourage us to not give up.  As we consider this instruction today, let us not forget the tendency we have to become...

There are very few of us who set out in the morning with the express purpose of making wrong choices, acting poorly, or just plain being "out of sync" with Jesus.  In fact, most of us would probably recount how we attempt to make a "fresh start" everyday - regardless of how many times we have messed up before.  When we "belong to Christ", there is something of a desire we don't fully understand, but it lives deep within us, purposing within us to help us "do right".  This is simply because Christ indwells us and is empowering us to make better choices.  As I have often referenced before, we still have this thing called "free will" which often give us a little more "interference" in our lives when it comes to making choices, though.  This free will of ours presents one way of seeing things, while the Spirit of God within sets out a totally different view.  This war within is what gives us most of our angst in life, isn...

Can you really say you always play by the rules?  Or that you actually "enjoy" the rules established by which you are asked to live your life?  Truth be told, most of us resist the rules on occasion, or think they are not really pertinent to our lives, so we don't embrace them as we should.  I don't own a handgun, so all laws (rules) applying to firearms don't really apply to me, do they? Yet, I could go out today and acquire one - making those rules ever so important for me to understand.  I don't have to become acquainted with the rules until I need to use them within my life - convenient, huh?  Most of us deal with the rules in life in this manner - if there is not a clear-cut reason for them right now in the "here and now", then they are good to have, but we don't go out of our way to learn them.  Now, in the sense of handgun laws, this may not make much difference today, but if someone were to change the rules, making it possible for anyone...

All of scripture is written to some particular "audience".  Although our passage today was originally written for the people of Israel, the content of what is laid out quite clearly applies to all believers today.  We have an obligation to not discount the entirety of the Old Testament just because we have the New. We also have to be aware of the principles taught - for they are meant as "safety guides" for our lives as much as they are meant to point us toward the heart and mind of God.  Moses has just given the people the outline of the Ten Commandments - the basis of what it is we use to often evaluate if we are "keeping" God's intention for our lives in an honorable manner.  For example, when Moses taught there should be no other god before God, he was probably not aware of the tremendous struggle which was just ahead for the people - with all manner of worship ahead of them as they entered the Promised Land - but only one manner of worship would ...

There is a vast difference between learning "about" something or someone and learning "from" that object or person.  When we learn "about" someone, we are learning things that are closely associated with that individual, but we are not necessarily learning what makes that person "tick".  When we get to learn "from" them, we get to know the "original" and nothing is quite the same as getting to know the "original".  Anything less just doesn't quite reach the same level of experience.  The thing which makes "about" and "from" very distinct as it comes to our relationship with Christ is the danger of never drawing close enough to recognize the real thing when we see it.  As long as we are just learning "about" Christ, we get familiar with some of the nuances of his character, but we don't sense the action of that character within us. When we are learning "from" Christ, it...