The Plumbline

The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. (Psalm 23:1) Take note, it is all we NEED, not all we WANT. We might want things that aren't always all that beneficial for us to have, but God knows what we NEED and he always works things to meet those needs. John reminds us, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me." (10:27) Whose voice do you hear most - God's or your own? Who we listen to the most might just be the factor in what it is we pursue! Sheep know the voice of the Shepherd. It is how sheep know how to follow THEIR shepherd and not wander away with just 'any old shepherd' who calls for them to come their way. Sheep might 'intermingle' while grazing in the field, but when they hear the voice of their master, they know when it is time to separate and go where he leads. We might 'intermingle' a bit with this world and hear all the voices calling to us to 'come', but there is only one voice we are actually ...

But now that you’ve found you don’t have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God’s gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master. (Romans 6:23) Have you discovered that you no longer need to listen to sin tell you what to do anymore? If you are like the millions upon millions of others who have said 'yes' to Jesus, you likely still have a bit of a struggle in this area. Sin just doesn't 'go away' when you say 'yes' to Jesus - the ability for it to control you does, but the enticement to sin is still presenting itself. The issue is not whether sin still entices, it is really an issue of which voice we will listen to the most frequently! We can listen to our own inward lusts (desires), or we can listen to the sti...

Let me set this before you as plainly as I can. If a person climbs over or through the fence of a sheep pen instead of going through the gate, you know he’s up to no good—a sheep rustler! The shepherd walks right up to the gate. The gatekeeper opens the gate to him and the sheep recognize his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he gets them all out, he leads them and they follow because they are familiar with his voice. They won’t follow a stranger’s voice but will scatter because they aren’t used to the sound of it. (John 10:1-5) There are character traits we often don't focus on as much as the outward ones we can see - those which make up who we are on the "inside". The "image" we portray is made up of both the external and internal traits. Character traits are more than skin deep and those which matter the most are those that are often barely visible, but most often have to be "felt" in order to be appreciated fully. Many...

I know it is not Christmas yet, but it never hurts to consider some of the things that make you go, "Hmmm...now what happened to....", especially when you consider something like the shepherds seeing a big star one night and then just up and leaving to follow that star. What happened to the sheep? I have to ask that question, because sheep without a shepherd are at huge risk and to leave them would endanger the livelihood of the families who counted on the income from their sale, or to increase their own flocks. Angels singing, star glowing bright above, and your best buddies all say, "Let's go for it!" In a moment, their world changed and their lives were about to change forever. The "common" among men were visited by the heavenly realm - than in and of itself was pretty awesome! Their first response - they were overwhelmed with fear! A thing like this did not happen to "everyday men" just minding their business in the fields! Maybe it wa...

Imagine just minding your business one long night out on the pasture, listening for the telltale signs of a predator approaching in the brush, just looking for a moment to creep in unaware - then out of nowhere, the sky is lit up, the appearance of angels is everywhere among your herd of little sheep.  What would your reaction be?  If you were the shepherds of old on that night outside of Bethlehem, your reaction would have been one of absolute "terror". In a moment, their world changed.  The "common" among men were visited by the heavenly realm!  No wonder they were overwhelmed with fear!  A thing like this just did not happen to "everyday men" just minding their business in the fields, did it?  Maybe it was an illusion?  Perhaps the evening stew was tainted with some bacteria and was playing tricks on their minds?  As their imaginations ran wild with the possibilities of "how" this was happening, the angels spoke the "why" as clearly ...

1-5  "Let me set this before you as plainly as I can. If a person climbs over or through the fence of a sheep pen instead of going through the gate, you know he's up to no good—a sheep rustler! The shepherd walks right up to the gate. The gatekeeper opens the gate to him and the sheep recognize his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he gets them all out, he leads them and they follow because they are familiar with his voice. They won't follow a stranger's voice but will scatter because they aren't used to the sound of it." (John 10:1-5) We don't see too many sheep around my neck of the woods, but whenever I see them in the fields, grazing just prior to "lambing" season, I love to stop for a few minutes to watch them.  The ranchers have a few fields they bring them to just at that time, and those fields are usually rich with some type of crop that has been recently harvested.  The sheep appear to be eating the remainin...