The Plumbline

 But don’t let sin control your life here on earth. You must not be ruled by the things your sinful self makes you want to do. Don’t offer the parts of your body to serve sin. Don’t use your bodies to do evil, but offer yourselves to God, as people who have died and now live. Offer the parts of your body to God to be used for doing good. Sin will not be your master, because you are not under law. You now live under God’s grace. (Romans 6:12-14) To be controlled is to be dominated by someone or something. We can be controlled by 'things' as easily as we can be controlled by another person. We can also be controlled by thoughts, emotions, and even desires. Perhaps this is why it is so important to be constantly aware of who or what is exerting control over our lives - giving direction to our lives. When we are allowing control to anyone or anything other than Christ, we are in danger of being controlled by what could bring us harm. That which has 'direction over' our live...

The unspiritual self, just as it is by nature, can’t receive the gifts of God’s Spirit. There’s no capacity for them. They seem like so much silliness. Spirit can be known only by spirit—God’s Spirit and our spirits in open communion. Spiritually alive, we have access to everything God’s Spirit is doing, and can’t be judged by unspiritual critics. Isaiah’s question, “Is there anyone around who knows God’s Spirit, anyone who knows what he is doing?” has been answered: Christ knows, and we have Christ’s Spirit.    (I Corinthians 2:14) I have had those moments when everything I want to understand just didn't make sense no matter how hard I try to make my brain focus on the matter. There are probably a whole lot of spiritual forces at work behind the matter - good ones, not just bad ones - making it a bit harder for me to fully get to the place of really understanding the matter at hand. Spirit can only be known by spirit - my spirit connecting with the Spirit of God brings clarit...

The eyes really tell a lot about what is going on with a person. Whenever someone gets sick, we often see reddened "rings" around their eye, making the eyes themselves look a little "hallow" and "sad". They may not open their eyes as wide, and the "crystal-clear" appearance of the eye may look a little "foggy" or "dry". A "yellow" appearance turning to brighter shades of orange over time can signal huge issues with the liver. The size of the pupil, especially with one larger than the other, can signal a huge issue going on with the brain. The eye really can "alert" us to much that is going on inside a man in the physical sense, but it also betrays what is going on inside of the man in terms of his emotions and spirit! "Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dan...

Mind in gear? What does that mean to you? When I consider a 'mind in gear', I think of the one who is deep in thought, creating, coming up with plans and ideas, or working to put those ideas into application. I think of the carver who looks at a plain piece of log and begins to fashion what he sees in his mind. I also think of the one who might calculate the risks and benefits of a particular set of actions and then formulate a plan they will act upon - such as a surgeon considering the best course to take with a patient to optimize their health. Having one's mind in gear is really a sign of being engaged in the process - you are more than a casual observer. God isn't after those who have all the answers as much as those who will engage with him and be more than casual observers in his kingdom. So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doin...

We find reminders within scripture of the promise that those whom God calls, he also equips or enables to do the work they are called to do. One of the various ways we are "equipped" is with the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The Spirit of Truth in our lives is resident within us as a result of our inviting Christ into our lives as our Savior - saying "yes" to Jesus. It isn't a complicated invitation - but sometimes we make the acceptance of that invitation way more complicated than it needs to really be! If you love me, show it by doing what I've told you. I will talk to the Father, and he'll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. This Friend is the Spirit of Truth. The godless world can't take him in because it doesn't have eyes to see him, doesn't know what to look for. But you know him already because he has been staying with you, and will even be in you! (John 14:15-17) What does it mean to h...

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day. ( Psalm 139:13-14 MSG ) Body and soul - marvelously made. Being a nurse, I understand much more about how the body's 'parts' interact - seeing the linked relationships between one system and the other. I studied hours upon hours to learn this stuff - because it helped me to understand the potential cause of my patient's symptoms. Yet, even with all my hours of study, I don't fully understand the human body. I went to Bible College an...

I once heard a coach tell his team they needed to find out what the other team was going to do - paying close attention to their formation, footing, eye contacts, etc. Then he said to them that this how they could take that next move into their own control - making it almost impossible for that team to 'make that next move'. Maybe this isn't bad advice for our daily lives either. If we were to pay a little closer attention to the enemy of our souls, observing his moment, noticing how he is 'setting things up' so we can take a fall, maybe we'd have a better understanding of how to counter those attacks! 8 Be careful—watch out for attacks from Satan, your great enemy. He prowls around like a hungry, roaring lion, looking for some victim to tear apart. 9 Stand firm when he attacks. Trust the Lord; and remember that other Christians all around the world are going through these sufferings too. (I Peter 5:8-9 TLB) I think many of us feel it is impossible for us t...

2  Come before him with thankful hearts. Let us sing him psalms of praise.  3  For the Lord is a great God, the great King of all gods.  4  He controls the formation of the depths of the earth and the mightiest mountains; all are his.  5  He made the sea and formed the land; they too are his.  6  Come, kneel before the Lord our Maker,  7  for he is our God. We are his sheep, and he is our Shepherd. Oh, that you would hear him calling you today and come to him! (Psalm 95:2-7 TLB) After over half a century on this earth, I have learned a thing or two - but I haven't learned everything I need to learn! One thing I have come to realize - not everyone will celebrate Christmas with joy, nor will all welcome it as a season to be "merry and bright". There is a heaviness of heart that engulfs some and the "season" is just not all that enjoyable. Sure enough, on the outside they give a good appearance of "getting into the spirit" of Ch...

From all we can read in scripture, we see that man is made up of body, soul, and spirit. Our body is the easy one - we see and feel that all the time. The soul and spirit are a little harder to understand because they are things we know exist, but aren't as "tangible" as the body is. Spirit give us our drive; without it, we'd kind of be "dulled" to the world around us. Soul is made up of three separate parts: Mind, Will and Emotions. Mind is more than thought - it is where we kind of "commune with" thought - sometimes it is a Plato put it: "Thinking: the talking of the soul with itself." You combine all the "soul talk" with a will that wants to go one way and not the other, or a bundle of emotions constantly giving you fits and starts in this direction or the other, and you have a mess of issues!   11  Therefore, let’s make every effort to enter that rest so that no one will fall by following the same example of disobedience, ...

The word of God,  you see , is alive and moving; sharper than a double-edged sword; piercing the divide between soul and spirit, joints and marrow; able to judge the thoughts and will of the heart. ( Hebrews 4:12   VOICE ) Some might say the human spirit is kind of "intangible" - because they really cannot hold it in their hands or see it as plainly as they see a box of saltines on the shelf. I daresay we have "seen" and "held" it more than we might have imagined - in the tiny hand of a newborn reaching out for hold in a strange new world; in the tortured agony of having to go another 15-steps to the finish line; or in the excited gleam in the eye of the one who has just heard those tender words "I love you" uttered with profound adoration. The human spirit is perhaps not "tangible" in the same sense as the box of crackers - but it is evident in all of life. Without it, we are definitely "lifeless" and "unmoved". ...

Since the beginning of time man has tried all kinds of things to attempt to fulfill this deep-seated desire to "be happy".  Happiness is some kind of elusive "dream" for many individuals - just never really getting to the place where they are ever truly "happy".  Yes, they experience a little "delight" or "enthusiastic fulfillment" with this accomplishment, that purchase, or even those relationships, but in the end it isn't lasting.  All they are left with is a whole lot of "expense" or "baggage" and then they have to start all over again!  The pursuit of happiness in a particular thing, or even in another person, is going to cost us something we may regret having to "pay".  With happiness being elusive and carrying a bigger cost than we may want to pay, what keeps us going back time and time again to pursue it?  I think it may come in the deep-seated need for God himself - a need many fail to recogniz...

Most of the time we treat our bodies pretty well, but there are those times when we just don't consider the impact certain behaviors or actions will have on our bodies.  This may be especially true in the realm of what we respond to emotionally which does much more than just impact our heads or hearts - it impacts the very fibers of our being.  Nothing we think or "feel" is ever without influence in our bodies.  Therefore, learning to treat our bodies with dignity requires us learning to rein in our thoughts and to rule over our emotions. Learn to appreciate and give dignity to your body, not abusing it, as is so common among those who know nothing of God.  (I Thessalonians 4:4-5 MSG) Although our writer may have been referring to the dignity with which we are treat our bodies in a "sexual" sense, there is much to be said about maintaining this same vigilance over our bodies in EVERY sense.  When the term "dignity" is used, it generally refers...

We've all probably heard a saying about it taking a special person to make a house a home, or lots of love to make a house into a  home, right?  This is quite true, as houses are nothing without those who live within them.  Those who dwell within actually create the "culture" of the home - they give a unique atmosphere to the home environment.  The one who dwells within the walls of the house has a special way of making that house their own - by decorating it as they like, opening it to visitors, and often creating a family within those walls.  Now, think about that a little differently - your body as a house of sorts. Your body houses the Spirit of God and as such, the atmosphere of your life changes, does it not?  The one who "dwells within" the house makes a difference in the "culture" or atmosphere of the "house".   A house is built by wisdom  and becomes strong through good sense. Through knowledge its rooms are filled  with all sor...

A compulsion is a strong, oftentimes irresistible impulse to perform some particular action often contrary to what you know to be right or justified.  If you don't struggle with any compulsive behaviors EVER in your life, you probably are not normal.  Compulsive behaviors are part of all of humanity - some to higher degrees than others.  There are those who go to the excess - known as obsessive compulsive.  Then there are just those of us who know things are not right for us to be doing, but we just go ahead and do them anyway, despite the inward struggle occurring which is attempting to warn us not to pursue that particular course of action.  Compulsions are "fed" or "denied" - by our response to their "pulling" effect.  When we deny them, we are starving them and hoping they will fade away, giving us no more problems later on.  When we feed them, we often don't know how hard it will be to resist the urge the next time.  Learning how t...

Ruined lives surround us no matter where we live.  People start out well, but somehow through a series of misadventures and wrong turns, their lives end up in a state of shambles, almost like falling down shacks.  Along the way, they may have heard advice to not take a certain path, or to turn away from what they were pursuing with such earnest.  In ignoring the warnings, they compounded their misfortune and increased their speed of decline.  Now, at the bottom of the pit, they live with nothing more than regrets and the constant wondering of the "what if".  The worrisome part of their decline into the pit is the possibility of them having blamed God for the decline - for putting them in the pit.  In reality, it was their failure to heed warnings, to turn away from their self-directed pursuits.  Why is it we blame God when things end in ruins?  He isn't a God of "ruin", but of "hope", "possibilities", and even "impossibilities".   ...

After watching various individuals go through turmoil and trial in their lives, I have observed the tendency for some to rise high, soaring above that turmoil, while others sink lower into the pit of despair.  It made me wonder why some flourish so well, while others just barely eek by and often have a hard time even holding up under the pressures of life.  Most of us would think it is because some are anchored well in their faith, while others have little to no faith at all, so if faith plays a part in "holding up" and "conquering", then what part does it play?  I have observed Christians and non-Christians alike in both circumstances.  Why do some flourish and others not - maybe it is because of the condition of their spirits.  Scripture points us in that direction, does it not? A man or woman with a "healthy spirit" conquers adversity - a crushed spirit will get us down quicker than anything else! A healthy spirit conquers adversity,   but what can...

It amazes me sometimes how much human beings strive to be "gods" in their own right when they are already created in the image of God.  Fame, fortune, privilege, honor - all seem to attract human beings like moths to the open flame.  Why?  There is a void in us which clamors to be filled - a void created to house the very presence of God himself, but which we clamor to fill with all manner of things other than him.  Scripture doesn't tell us we were created to "be gods", but created "godlike" - in other words, we are created in the image of God - with a spirit.  The spirit is what gives us the ability to stand apart from all other manner of creation - and what gives us the ability to commune with God himself.  It is the spirit which allows the connection between humankind and God - a void created to afford his infilling and constant presence.  So, why is it we try to fill our "emptiness" with anything other than that which it was actually cr...

Honor is sought by many, but only some of those who seek will ever find it. Why?  " Pride first, then the crash,   but humility is precursor to honor ." (Proverbs 18:12 MSG)   Simply put, honor is an outcome of humility - most who seek honor are not doing so with a humble heart.  They seek it for the "importance" or "stature" it produces.  Honor is indeed the reward of the humble - for those who bring others blessing first will find honor in their endeavors. You cannot truly find honor in climbing over others on your way to the top!  Humility is also a precursor to a healthy spirit - for a right view of yourself and others comes from a right view of God.  The right view of God will produce the right vantage point for us to view everything and everyone else in our lives. A healthy spirit conquers adversity,   but what can you do when the spirit is crushed?   Wise men and women are always learning,   always listening for fresh insights. ...