The Plumbline

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 be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open. (James 1:5) I used to pray a whole lot of 'open-ended' prayers. I would just ask God to move - not really all that specific in my requests. I found it didn't lead to a very deep relationship between us. Think about it - if you had a close friend and never talked about anything but the weather or the stock market trends, would your relationship grow any deeper? Not likely. You might be 'up to speed' on current issues, but never really learn what the other needs. There is something about being transparent with each other that helps us develop that depth.  This kind of depth requires an ability to put th...

“Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This isn’t a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we’re in. If your child asks for bread, do you trick him with sawdust? If he asks for fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? As bad as you are, you wouldn’t think of such a thing. You’re at least decent to your own children. So don’t you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better?" (Matthew 7:7-8) I know it is sometimes pretty hard to admit our true need, but try as we might to 'skirt the truth', the first step to seeing that need met could just be our admittance of that need. There are times we go all around the issue when we talk with our Lord, trying to get it out without really having to say what it is we are looking for in our meeting with him. We seem to want our need met, but we aren't being direct about what that specific need really is. This is one reason I cringe when someone says they have an unspoken prayer request. God ...

Cultivate your own relationship with God, but don't impose it on others. You're fortunate if your behavior and your belief are coherent. But if you're not sure, if you notice that you are acting in ways inconsistent with what you believe—some days trying to impose your opinions on others, other days just trying to please them—then you know that you're out of line. If the way you live isn't consistent with what you believe, then it's wrong. (Romans 14:22-23 MSG) Most days I am just happy to end the day feeling like my behavior came reasonably close to my beliefs! I set out with lofty goals, but over the course of the day, I veer a little (and sometimes a lot) from how I hoped to act, wished to respond, or chose to think about a matter. In the end, I find myself evaluating my actions, seeing those which just did not match my beliefs, and then find myself in dialogue with God (once again) seeking his grace and forgiveness. Now, carry that a step further and you ...

Kindness in words creates confidence.  Kindness in thinking creates profoundness.  Kindness in giving creates love.  (Lao Tzu) I will be a little bit transparent here because I think being honest helps us all grow. There are times when the words I want to speak are not the right or best ones to speak. The words that are about to come out of my mouth are just not all that uplifting and they likely will do nothing 'good' if spoken. Been there? There are times the actions I want to take are less than kind. In fact, they border on being rude, ridiculous, or obnoxious. Been at that point? There are moments when I just don't want to give anything else because I feel like I have given enough or have nothing more to give. I bet if you haven't experienced either one of the form ones, you may have experienced that one. We all get to a place at times when 'kindness' is just the foremost thought, action, or attitude that we display. No matter how 'good' we are - we ...

Ashamed: Distressed or embarrassed by feelings of guilt, foolishness, or disgrace. That about sums up how many of us 'feel' about our behavior sometimes, doesn't it? We get the overwhelming sense of guilt that comes over us like clouds of a building storm. The disgust we feel toward ourselves because of some foolishness we chose to engage in just about makes us sick to our stomach. Then you add to it the sense of humiliation we endure because we know we just added one more 'failure' to the ever-growing list of 'failures' we have already created and we get pretty down on ourselves, don't we? The good news is that there is one thing that we should never be ashamed of and it is the very thing that actually removes all our guilt, wiping away every foolish action we have ever taken - it cements the hope we have in Jesus - the power of God received through his Word richly speaking into our lives. I am not ashamed of the Good News. It is the power of God. It is...

I have moments in time when I just manage to say the right thing, in the right way, at the right time.  Notice - I said I have moments when I do this - nothing is less consistent in my life than the words I speak!  I don't think I am in this boat alone, though - I have some pretty good "rowing companions" alongside! The right words at the right time are often words of healing, or wisdom into a matter which has been difficult to figure out.  They are like the first drops of rain on a parched desert floor.  So how come we don't speak them more often?  I think it may have to do with our "consciousness" of what we actually say and how we say it.  Most of us speak, then hear what it was we said, and sometimes find ourselves mortified by what we just said!  If we could just get the pattern reversed so we hear our words before we speak them, we might just find our words are a little closer to what we really desired to say when we say it. The right word a...