The Plumbline

Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. (Ephesians 4:2-4) A moment of confession here - I am not always humble - my pride gets in the way a lot of times. I am not always gentle - my desire to be first, be right, be whatever brings out some of the harshness of my human nature. Am I always patient? Nope, I don't have that one down either! Do I see your faults and just want to roll my eyes? Sometimes - until I look in the mirror and see my own! Then I just hush-up and hope you haven't noticed I have the same faults.  Living together in peace is the goal - but all this 'human' stuff gets in the way at times, doesn't it? We waste a whole lot of time arguing over things that won't matter a...

Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity. (I John 215-17) Don't love the world's ways. That is a pretty specific commandment, isn't it? What are the 'world's ways'? If you have been in church for any length of time, you have probably heard the phrase, "She doesn't drink or chew, or run with those that do." In essence, the belief is that there will be a difference between the life of one committed to this walk we call 'Christianity' and the life choices of one who has yet to make that commitment.  Have you ever heard Christianity referred to as 'The Way'?...

Name some of the things you love. Go ahead - say them out loud right now. Some of us immediately went to individuals we hold close, like our spouse, kids, or grandkids. Others of us went right to the newest toy we have in our arsenal of toys, like that new big screen TV, the latest tool in our shop, or that shiny new car in the driveway. Many of us went to the things like chocolate, coffee, or fresh baked bread slathered in melting butter. We all had different 'places' we went when we described the things we love, didn't we? Why is that? I think it is simply because we are each individuals and as such, we have different likes and dislikes, impacting the things we'd say we 'love'. I don't know about you, but on occasion I like to do a little inventory of what I am spending more time thinking about, engaging in, or just plain talking about the most. I am sometimes quite surprised to find I am spending the majority of my time and my attention is most consistent...

Demonstrate living a life of denial of one's self for me. What does that really look like? Someone may point out there is this attitude of putting others first. That is definitely a good one. Another may tell us there is this kind of self-abasement that occurs when you really are living a life of self-denial. While we all need a realistic view of ourselves and should not think of ourselves as better than anyone else, I think a life of self-denial may just be more than putting yourself down. Self-denial might begin with an attitude and lead to actions, especially if we do it the way Jesus recommends! If any of you want to walk My path, you’re going to have to deny yourself. You’ll have to take up your cross every day and follow Me. If you try to avoid danger and risk, then you’ll lose everything. If you let go of your life and risk all for My sake, then your life will be rescued, healed, made whole and full. ( Luke 9:23-24 ) The attitude we need to exhibit is one that reveals...

Do you ever feel like a yo-yo? Up one day, down the next? Or maybe a slinky? Stretched and falling all the time, regrouping only to fall again all over again? Yup...that can describe a good many of us from time to time - some of us more frequently than others! What gets you going in the morning? I have a Facebook friend who posts continual reminders of her 'need' for coffee - not just a little bit to help her get going, but a WHOLE LOT of coffee! Some of us need more 'motivation' in life than others toward certain things - not just with coffee, but with encouragement, compassion, and even a little correction from time to time. We are just not living as freely as we could be living - bound up by all manner of worries and anxiety-producing troubles. We need balance - to do more than 'bounce back' so we can spring into those same actions all over again! My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsions of ...

Rene Descartes said, "It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well." How many times do we use our minds as they are intended to be used? I daresay that we probably 'daydream' a little too much at times, veg out on some meaningless TV program, or lull ourselves into blissful repose by counting sheep - all use our minds, but when pursued for way too long, we might not be using our minds as well as we should. The mind is meant to be active - at least a good part of our day - but in activity that is honoring to God. It is meant to consider, concentrate, calculate, and create. It is made to prompt action and stimulate appreciation. A mind focused on self all of the time is indeed wasted - it is indeed not what God intended. Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God’s action in them find that God’s Spirit is in them—living...

It was C.S. Lewis that reminded us when we aim at heaven, we get earth thrown in, but when we aim at earth below, we end up with not much in return. If you haven't read much of what he has written, he is well worth the read. It was Lewis that also reminded us of the thing we call "self" - not being more than a "meeting place" of sorts for things that we refer to as "natural forces", "fears", and "desires" - some from within us, others from without. That "meeting place" is frequented by these things because of our upbringing, influences from around us, and even some of the "devils" we cannot really see but know must exist just because of all we experience. Probably one of the greatest things I remember from his writing is the statement: "The self you were really intended to be is something that lives not from nature, but from God." We might think we are a product of our environment, and we might just be ...

Kind of feel like you are crying into a "black hole" at times?  When you are there, do you feel like you are getting much out of that "hole"?  Probably not - so why do you keep crying?  Isn't it because you know no matter how "black" the "hole" seems, you know there is light just around the corner?  Deafening silence can do a number on our head, can't it?  We just don't do well in silence - we like to hear noise of some kind!  If you have ever been around people who enjoy silence, you might just feel a little uncomfortable trying to "conform" to the silence.  It is in those moments you realize how much your stomach growls, your breath gets taken in with a subtle whistle in your nose, and your swallowing sounds like you are ingesting a dry ball of yarn!  All these "sounds" make us a little self-conscious, so we try to "mask" them with a little noise.  I wonder if we do the same thing when it comes to getti...

Today we will examine our "M" List - let's call it the "M&M's" of spiritual character: Mercy and Meekness.  Most of us really don't use the word "meek" or "meekness" in our vocabulary all that often, so we will do well to refresh ourselves on its meaning.  Mercy seems to be something we pretty much understand - at least in theory, if not in perfect practice yet in our lives!  The Sermon on the Mount is the location for our two passages today - the first describing the character trait of meekness, the second mercy.  Let's dig in... “You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought." (Matthew 5:5 MSG) “You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for." (Matthew 5:7 MSG) Now, you may not have seen either word in these passages, but if you go to a more "...

Much earlier in this ninth chapter to the Roman Church, Paul penned these words:  " Don’t suppose for a moment, though, that God’s Word has malfunctioned in some way or other." (vs. 6 MSG)  The truth be told, most of the time we are the ones who "malfunction" - not God, not his Word, not his promises.  When something is "functioning" as it was designed to function, it follows a particular order - all the pieces fit together as they should, producing the intended outcome.  Truthfully, only God can do this 100% of the time!  Try as we might, we are going to "malfunction" on occasion.  Trusting in our ability is always going to leave us with "less than" whatever it is we could attain, obtain, or maintain with God doing the work! How can we sum this up? All those people who didn’t seem interested in what God was doing actually  embraced  what God was doing as he straightened out their lives. And Israel, who seemed so interested in reading...

Be generous with me and I'll live a full life;  not for a minute will I take my eyes off your road.   Open my eyes so I can see  what you show me of your miracle-wonders.   I'm a stranger in these parts;  give me clear directions.  (Psalm 119:17-19 The Message) When we travel through unfamiliar areas, it is not uncommon to be a little uneasy on the roadways, uncertain about where we turn off, merge, etc.  In fact, we might even be a little unfamiliar with the "customs" of the area.  I first encountered "sweet tea" when I ordered my first glass of iced tea in the South.  I had no idea there were two kinds of tea!  In the South, sweet tea is the "norm".  In Arizona, tea with lemon is!  In the South, most things are fried.  In the Arizona desert, most things are baked, broiled, or served with salad!   God knew that traveling daily with him would bring us into some "unfamiliar" territory.  His precepts a...

4 "Look at that man, bloated by self-importance—    full of himself but soul-empty. But the person in right standing before God    through loyal and steady believing    is fully alive, really alive." (Habakkuk 2:4) Habakkuk was a prophet of the Old Testament.  The first two chapters are really a discussion between God and Habakkuk - the prophet pouring out his heart and then hearing from God as to what was transpiring around him.  The very basis of this book of the Bible is to present the concept that it is impossible to live without faith - the concept you might of heard of that the just shall live by faith.  It is a short book of only three chapters - but the idea comes across clearly that faith must be growing, continually developing.   The third chapter begins with a plea from the prophet for God to do among them what he had done amongst his ancestors of old - in other words, be awesome in every way, delivering th...

God  is always on the alert, constantly on the lookout for people who are totally committed to him. (2 Chronicles 16:9) Sometimes we slip back into our old way of operating in life even after revelation has come.  This is usually because we do not apply ourselves to what has been revealed to us.  We "void" the revelation by not trusting in it, not being obedient to it, or simply just not fully receiving it in the first place. God never really asks much of us when it comes to revealing himself to us.  He simply ask us to be willing to change.  This encompasses the idea of being willing to present ourselves to him, allowing him to point out where change is need, and then allowing him to ignite that change within.  Along the way, he gives us all we need to accomplish that change - we simply need to remain in the place of obedience. When we present ourselves to God - in total commitment - we are placing our "self" on the altar and then we back away from the ...