The Plumbline

If I had not found joy in your teachings, my suffering would have destroyed me. I will never forget your commands, because through them you gave me new life. I am yours, so save me! I have done my best to know your instructions. The wicked tried to destroy me, but your rules made me wise. Everything has its limits, except your commands. (Psalm 119:92-96) The remedy for life's challenges is to lean hard into God's promises and commands - to find direction, solace, and strength within the instruction laid out there. Find joy in God's teachings and you will find the "remedy" which sustains you even when there seems to be no deliverance or end. It is more than memory of scripture (although there is merit to hiding God's Word within our minds). It is more than frequent time in the Word (although we cannot learn from God's Word without the sacrifice of time). It is more than a Bible-reading plan for the year (although it might focus us a little). It is the ...

The lifestyle of good people is like sunlight at dawn that keeps getting brighter until broad daylight. The lifestyle of the wicked is like total darkness, and they will never know what makes them stumble. (Proverbs 4:18-19) Ball players from major leagues, actors and actresses, and a myriad of other rather insanely rich people have opulent homes and properties that make eyes pop and people dream about what it would be like to live with such luxury. Nothing screams for attention more than the "gaudiness" of trying to "put on the Ritz" like so many do with their 'oversized' homes. Nothing shows the shallowness of life quite like the need to "show" what one has. What we have is one thing, who we are at the core of our being is quite another! What we have may be on "display" for others to admire and drool over; what we display from the recesses of our heart is what really speaks the loudest though! The closer we draw to Christ, the brighte...