The Plumbline

Wise words will win you a good meal, but treacherous people have an appetite for violence. Those who control their tongue will have a long life; opening your mouth can ruin everything. (Proverbs 13:2-3) Our words actually produce a harvest of goodness and grace, or they create one of bitter weeds and hurtful briars. A weed chokes out all the good growth around it. A briar pricks at whatever it contacts, causing unbearable irritation. What do our words produce?  Good people enjoy the positive results of their words because they don't create chaos, discord, or mistrust in those who hear their words. Words are meant to be heard - once spoken, they cannot be unheard. We might want to 'take back' what we have said, but a seed sown is not able to be retrieved. The control of the tongue is more than learning a 'cultured' manner of speech. It is being able to size up a situation, read the moment, hear the Holy Spirit urging, and then speak when the moment and conditions are...

Ten people who speak make more noise than ten thousand who are silent. (Napoleon Bonaparte) I must ask the question - just how much do you speak? How many times do you find it more important to get your 'two cents' in when others are raising a subject you might just know a little bit about? When you think you know more than they do, is that the time you interject your thoughts? When you believe you can add valuable information, do you find the urge to speak up? We have a whole lot of people offering opinions these days, but I reckon the silence of the wise may just confound those who are offering such opinions! The more talk, the less truth; the wise measure their words. (Proverbs 10:19 ) The wise measure their words. What exactly does that mean to you? To me, 'measuring one's words' is kind of like putting a muffler on your mouth. You 'suppress' some of the things you might like to say. It is also a little bit like using that tiny tube on the spray can of l...

Who do you find it the hardest to speak to? What are the words you have the hardest time saying? What are the thoughts you need to share, but you feel you just aren't up to it, or that it is just too difficult to say them? We all have those moments when it is one of the most difficult things to just say what it is we need to say - to get out into the open what has been veiled behind other words for so long. How many of us really get to the point of sharing our full heart with those who need to hear the words contained within it? Counsel and guidance are there, but do we know how to share it, or when it is the right time to share them? From the looks of things, I'd say we don't do a very good job with this one, my friends! It's true that moral guidance and counsel need to be given, but the way you say it and to whom you say it are as important as what you say. It's obvious, isn't it, that the law code isn't primarily for people who live responsibly, but for...

Do not answer (nor pretend to agree with the frivolous comments of) a (closed-minded) fool according to his folly, o therwise you, even you, will be like him.   Answer (and correct the erroneous concepts of) a fool according to his folly,  otherwise he will be wise in his own eyes (if he thinks you agree with him). (Proverbs 26:4-5 AMP) This passage seemed a little contradictory this morning. The first part of the passage tells us NOT to answer a fool, while the second part tells us we DO answer a fool. Confusing, huh? So, how is it we are to respond to foolish people, with their foolish plans and supposed "wisdom of the ages" as they put it? There are indeed times when we probably just need to keep silent, for our silence is enough to counteract their foolishness!  There are other times when it is both wise and necessary to answer their foolishness - so that others aren't manipulated by their foolish plans or pulled into senseless beliefs themselves. Learning how to ...

If you really stop to think about it, it is possible everyone is fighting some kind of battle you might know nothing at all about because they are fighting it on their own terms. Most of the time, we can "create" some reason why they are so very stand-offish, too concerned about some things while clearly neglecting others, or just plain obnoxious about an issue. The truth may simply be they are dealing with a battle quite unique to them, yet quite similar to one we may have been fighting ourselves - just on different terms! " Words may be false and full of art; sighs are the natural language of the heart ." (Thomas Shadwell) The truest of words may actually be those which are not really spoken, but remain buried deep in the heart of the one who is struggling! I turned and witnessed something else under the sun: the race does not always go to the swift, the battle is not always won by the strong, bread does not always fill the table of the wise, wealth does not...

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...

Have you ever read the story of the storming of Jericho?  It begins with the statement:  " Jericho was shut up tight as a drum because of the People of Israel: no one going in, no one coming out." (Joshua 6:1 MSG)  Now, let me paint a little picture for you of Jericho, for as I do, you will see just how amazing it was that Israel actually "halted" the activity of this great city just by their presence!   First, its location was in the western part of the Jordan valley just above the Dead Sea.  It was known as the city of palms because it was filled with the trees.  For anyone to pass through the valley of Jordan, they had to first pass through Jericho.  It was like a natural "toll station" for all travelers of the time.   Second, its fortifications were massive.  The outside "city wall" was six-feet thick, separated by a space of about twelve feet from the inner wall which was double the thickness of the outer wall.  For those who w...

When have you been more impressed by what someone did NOT say than the many times you have actually heard someone say MUCH about the subject?  In fact, when we see someone enduring much pressure and they choose to not say anything ill about another or to stand in strength against the attacks of others, we marvel.  It does happen, just not as often as would probably be appropriate.  It just does not come naturally for us to NOT defend ourselves.  When we feel threatened, or misunderstood, what is the first thing we do?  We "rise up" to defend our reputation, or to make ourselves known, don't we?  At dawn's first light, the high priests, with the religious leaders and scholars, arranged a conference with the entire Jewish Council. After tying Jesus securely, they took him out and presented him to Pilate.   Pilate asked him, "Are you the 'King of the Jews'?"   He answered, "If you say so." The high priests let loose a barrage of accusations....

1-2  Silence is praise to you, Zion-dwelling God, and also obedience.       You hear the prayer in it all.  (Psalm 65:1-2) The "prayer in it all" is the key to this verse - God hears both our silence and our spoken word - but don't forget the third thing he "hears" - our obedience.  Silence is the absence of sound or noise - when there is a "perfect stillness" we call that an absence of motion.  We often don't think we have made a connection with God unless we are able to experience the noise or movement of that connection (like when we cry out loud or lift our hearts in worship). Our psalmist reminds us that silence is praise!  Even in the quietness of waiting in his presence, we praise our God.  It is a difficult thing to do sometimes, but when we actually do stop long enough to simply admire him, we connect with him in new ways!   He also reminds us that our obedience is also praise to God.  We rarely equa...