The Plumbline

I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 7:22-25 NLT) We've likely all been there - wanting to do good, promising to change, then we revert back into some old pattern of sin that we knew better than to pursue. It is as though there is a power within that seems to draw us back time and time again. There is - it is called our sin nature! Our mind has what is called 'muscle memory'. A very helpful tool when it comes to things like tying our shoes without really thinking about it or driving to work the same way each day without much thought as to how to drive that automobile. When it comes to the sins we indulge in repeatedly, that 'muscle memory' thing is a real challenge! I doubt Paul h...

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.  (William Arthur Ward) But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me. If you keep to my path, I will reveal to you the salvation of God. (Psalm 50:23) Keeping to God's path may seem a little fraught with potholes and tripping points at times. We set out well but soon encounter 'stuff' that gets in our way. We wonder where all that 'stuff' came from - why it is blocking our way on God's path. It is likely that we have gathered all that 'stuff' at some point in our lives, tucking it away ever so carefully, and now we must deal with it. The 'stuff' I am speaking of is not physical stuff tucked away in garage cabinets and storage sheds. It is the 'stuff' that we have tucked away in other 'cabinets' like our emotions, memories, and spirit.  When those things get in the way of us traveling the straight path with God, it is hard for us to give t...

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. (James 5:16) The power of confession is often untapped by Christians today. We have become a society that would rather 'cover-up' something than admit it, seek forgiveness for it, and learn to live above it in our lives. While I am definitely not a proponent of 'confessional type' practices where an individual goes to the man in the black suit to confess their sins, I am a strong proponent of sharing your struggles with a trusted believer. Why? It helps to create an undergirding of prayer and counsel in our lives. I believe this is what God wants for his church - followers who will take each other to the throne of grace and who will continue to undergird each other in prayer, wise counsel, and emotional support when our own is weak or lacking in some way. Confession is uncomfortable to most of us. We...

The folly of mistaking a paradox for a discovery, a metaphor for a proof, a torrent of verbiage for a spring of capital truths, and oneself for an oracle, is inborn in us. (Paul Valery) The woman named Folly is brash. She is ignorant and doesn’t know it. She sits in her doorway on the heights overlooking the city. She calls out to men going by who are minding their own business. “Come in with me,” she urges the simple. To those who lack good judgment, she says, “Stolen water is refreshing; food eaten in secret tastes the best!” But little do they know that the dead are there. Her guests are in the depths of the grave. (Proverbs 9:13-18) To those who lack good judgment - I daresay I have been there at times, how about you? Those moments when we act without thinking, speak without considering the impact of our words, or purchase without contemplating the impact on our lives happens to all of us on occasion. Folly is brash - there is much that calls out to us these days from the 'door...

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) If it were possible to have our sins washed away in our own power, we'd probably do everything we could to accomplish that task. In fact, a good many still believe they have to clean up their lives BEFORE they can come to Jesus. The opposite is quite true - Jesus came for the unclean, unholy, impure, unrighteous, and downright messed up lives. When God tells Isaiah that the Kingdom of Judah needed to wash themselves and be clean, getting their sins out of his sight, he was pointing out that they had embraced all manner of idolatry and cultural corruption. Their sins were an abomination -...

A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing. (George Bernard Shaw) Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way. (James 3:2) Have you ever made a mistake, attempted to cover it up the best you could, then stood your ground that you didn't make that mistake when someone discovered it? I certainly have! Remember that little person in your home named "Not Me"? I lived as the only child in the home after my brother and sister went out on their own and tried to blame things on 'Not Me' a lot. It never worked, though. Why? "Not Me" didn't exist and I did! Jesus isn't impressed by how well we mask our sins. He doesn't believe the "Not Me" excuse, either. We might be surprised by how quickly he heals those broken areas sins leaves if we'd admit our sins just a bit quicker! "...

And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did. (I John 2:3-6) Yesterday we explored the story of the rich young ruler who thought he did well with keeping all the commandments and hoped for eternal life to be granted to him as a result. While he did a 'good job' at living by the rules, he missed the one biggest one that said he should worship no other god. You see, his money became his god - he had a hard time when Jesus told him to sell all he had and give it to the poor amongst them. Today, we look at the 'measure' of one who obeys God's commandments to the fullest - they follow the example of love that Christ modeled for them while he walked t...

As dead flies cause even a bottle of perfume to stink, so a little foolishness spoils great wisdom and honor. A wise person chooses the right road; a fool takes the wrong one. You can identify fools just by the way they walk down the street! (Ecclesiastes 10:1-3) If you ever wondered about some of your decisions in life, you are not alone. I have built stuff, then looked at it a few years later wondering why I put it there or how come the materials haven't held up to the elements. I have said I'd do something, not really thinking through the demand it would place on my body or the time it would take. We all make those 'snap decisions', wondering desperately why we made THAT choice instead of the other. The hope is that we make wise ones, but truth be told, we ALL make some pretty foolish ones on occasion. What we do with that 'not very wise' choice is important. We can flounder around, looking for ways to escape the foolishness of it all, or we can simply go alo...

We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.  (C.S. Lewis) God says, “Rebuild the road! Clear away the rocks and stones so my people can return from captivity.” The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts. (Isaiah 57:14-15) Rebuild the road. We 'rebuild' by clearing away the rocks and stones. Whatever clutters our way, left as hindrances in our path, rubble from wrong decisions - all must go. The need for repentance merely means we have chosen the wrong road, progress has been difficult, if not impossible, and now we see there is a need to turn around from the path we had taken. Sin always leaves debris in it...

The smallest deed is better than the greatest intention. (John Burroughs) Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace. (Romans 6:12-14) Do not let - those three words probably go unnoticed, but they carry such a significant meaning. So many times, we excuse sin in our lives because we say we 'could not help it' or that it 'just took me by surprise'. The moment of temptation is not unnoticed - it is undenied! We LET sin have its way - we give it access. The way we choose to live today will influence how we live tomorrow. The more we LET things into our thoughts...

Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness and guilt And cleanse me from my sin. (Psalm 51:1-2) You may not realize the act of mercy as much as you do the 'feeling' of mercy. God extends his mercy to us whenever we seek it, all the while 'feeling' the tremendous load of guilt lifting as he does. We are remorseful and kind of 'down' on ourselves because we gave into temptation. We 'feel' guilt because it is actually an emotion that begins to dominate our thoughts and other emotions whenever we find ourselves 'crossing some line' that our subconscious mind told us not to cross. The desire we entertained gave way to an unwarranted or unwanted action and now we are 'feeling' it. It only stands to reason that God's mercy would elicit the exact opposite reaction as our guilt did, doesn't it? Mercy is God's ...

As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him. (Psalm 18:30) Have you ever wondered why you don't resist temptation on occasion? You were sailing along just fine, and then out of nowhere came this thought. That thought began to consume your other thoughts until it finally began to stimulate the formation of an action. Before you knew it, along came the full-fledged response to the temptation and it wasn't resistance! Just like that, you 'indulged' yourself in the sin you tried to resist for so long. How does this happen? It is usually because we take ourselves out of the refuge we find in Jesus. As long as we are safe in that refuge, we resist just fine. Step outside of those boundaries just a bit and the temptation can overwhelm to the point of full compromise. His refuge? It begins with his Word. If you haven't figured it out by now, you can actually use his Word to combat many of those initial thoughts and kee...

“Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But I do not excuse the guilty. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations.” (Exodus 34:6-7) As God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, he also gave him this message. I have frequently been asked what it means when God says he will "lay the sins of the parents upon their children...", to the third and fourth generations. Does that mean God will make four generations 'pay for' the sins of their forefathers? Not exactly. It does mean that what one generation 'tolerates' or 'accepts as okay' that is clearly outside of what God commands would result in future generations accepting and engaging in actions even worse. Thus, it results in the '...

It was Barack Obama who said, "We are and always will be a nation of immigrants. We were strangers once, too." Confucious said, "The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home." We must never forget that nation after nation has fallen, only to be replaced by another who comes after, making those who remain 'foreigners' in that nation. What makes a nation great? If we trust what God says to us, it is the pursuit of all manner of good and the trust in his ways.  Godliness makes a nation great, but sin is a disgrace to any people. (Proverbs 14:34) William Penn reminds us, "True godliness does not turn men out of the world, but enables them to live better in it and excites their endeavors to mend it." Mending fences has always been part of God's economy. He trusts us to seek out godly practices, replicating them in our homes, and then changing our communities through those godly actions. It is what truly will make any nation great...

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. (Ephesians 1:3-6) There are times when we 'judge' someone over and over again, all because they have a whole bunch of 'do-overs' in their lives. We point out how many times they slip and fall, but God sees only the returns! He is celebrating each and every 'do-over' because he knows that individual is not content to backslide, nor are they content to just 'abide' where they are - they want to change. It is hard to change, and he knows...

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (Romans 12:2) Ever made a really dumb decision? I know I can list a few, perhaps even more than a few. We all make mistakes sometimes, some 'dumber' than others, with some standing out as the 'dumbest' of the 'dumb'. These probably have led to some pretty deep hurts - hurts that seem to hang around long after the decision was made and done. What do we do with the deep hurts that are part of our past mistakes? We can repent, 'turn a new leaf', and move on, or we can harbor those hurts, rehashing the guilt of those decisions over and over again.  When the hurts of the past aren't in the past, we find the rehearsal of those hurts to sometimes be worse than the original 'misstep' was in the first place. God wants to do a work within us...

Do you 'toy with' temptation? If you act carelessly when it comes to the things that tempt you, kind of ignoring them, and then find yourself 'playing with' the thing that is tempting you, you are probably not resisting temptation very well. It is meant to be resisted, not ignored or toyed with at all.  The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. (I Corinthians 10:13) Temptation comes in all forms. It can be something from 'without' such as cookies in the cookie jar 'calling' for you to eat them when you are trying to watch your weight. It can be from 'another' such as when a coworker wants to share some juicy gossip over lunch about your boss. It could even be from 'within' such as when you are feeling down on yourself and overspend on the online stor...

If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day’s out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ’s law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived. (Galatians 6:1) I think this should probably read 'when', not 'if', because all of us will eventually find ourselves needing forgiveness and restoration, no matter how hard we try to live according to the principles of grace, goodness, and kindness. We all slip up in weak moments, saying or doing something we later regret. When that happens, do we judge one another, holding onto those judgments and allowing bitterness to form deep within our heart? Do we lovingly restore one another, without judging the actions of the other, not giving place to bitterness and anger? Easier said than done, huh? We might want to remember that what we criticize the most in ot...

H.G. Wells said, "If you fell down yesterday, stand up today." Those words may seem rather simple, as we all know the 'action' of 'standing up' once you have fallen down is a little more difficult than we might imagine. I have fallen more than a couple of times in my lifetime, banging up my knees or elbows, but when I was younger, I bounced back from those falls a whole lot quicker than I do in my sixth decade of life! Just because we are 'growing up in Christ' doesn't mean we won't fall, and it certainly doesn't mean a fall will result in us getting up 'easier' just because we 'know Jesus' a little better than we did in our earlier years of following him. Sometimes we just need to cry out for help to get up! It isn't a bad thing to admit we need help, although some may think it is a sign of weakness to admit it.  If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t b...

Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life. (Galatians 6:7-8) Tricked, deceived, deluded, fooled, misguided - regardless of the word we use, the meaning is all the same. When we are 'misled' down any path, we reveal quite foolish choices that lead to very foolish actions. We cannot plant one seed and expect a different harvest. Seeds bear the fruit they were created to bear - period! Ignore God's wisdom to avoid such paths that lead to sinful actions, and we will reap the consequences of those actions. Can a man really claim to be 'ignorant' of his choices? He may be 'uneducated' or 'uninformed', but even those 'excuses' a...