The Plumbline

But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold. For I have stayed on God’s paths; I have followed his ways and not turned aside. (Job 23:10-11) There are times when we feel like our path is a bit more complicated than we'd like it to be. We find ourselves knee deep in some muddle or another, wishing things could be different very quickly, but they just don't seem to change all that fast. In the 'testing pathway', will we remain faithful to what we believe, while wrestling with everything we find 'contrary' to the way we hoped life would turn out? If we struggle just a bit with the test, we aren't alone. Most of us struggle to make sense of things at times, but when we still trust God in spite of the difficulties, we are going to make it through! God knows where we are going, even when we don't. That is good news for someone today who is on some 'path' to who knows where, wondering if God has abandoned them. ...

"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)  We can all admit to being a little more than 'tempted' when we see some delicious dessert we crave, gaze upon a shiny new automobile we have been desiring or wanting to jump into the latest gossip session going on in the breakroom. We ALL are tempted - it is what we do with that temptation that matters. We can give into it, skirt our way around it without being too awfully scathed by it, or resist it entirely. I can say I have done all three! Skirted in my own efforts and barely avoided the temptation. Given in whole hog to satisfy some inner urge or desire. The 'resisting it entirely' hasn't always been my 'mode of operation' in life. How about you? Give in and feel the guilt begin to mount. Ba...

Endurance is often defined by one's ability to hold out without giving into some impairment or difficulty. In "undergoing" some stress, you are able to come out the other side still standing. Not everything we "undergo" is designed to leave us "standing" - sometimes we need to be in a place that displays a different type of "strength" than being able to "stand". In other words, sometimes the "strongest" place we find ourselves is in admitting our weakest place within! There is something which comes in the times of "trouble" in our lives which has a way of revealing these "weak" spots - and I think God may have just designed the thing we "undergo" to reveal that "spot" so he might help us with that weakness. My friends, be glad, even if you have a lot of trouble. You know that you learn to endure by having your faith tested. But you must learn to endure everything, so that you wi...

From 1980 until 2001, the U.S. Army slogan was "Be All You Can Be" and the rest of it was "in the Army". It has morphed from "Army of One", "Army Strong", into the present "What's Your Warrior?", with each lasting a few or more years in various recruiting campaigns. I kind of like the present one, but the "Be All You Can Be" one really speaks of what God desires of his 'army' of believers - he wants us to be mature and complete, becoming all he intends for us to be - not as an Army of One, but as Warriors in his army of billions upon billions. My brothers and sisters, you will have many kinds of trouble. But this gives you a reason to be very happy. You know that when your faith is tested, you learn to be patient in suffering. If you let that patience work in you, the end result will be good. You will be mature and complete. You will be all that God wants you to be. (James 1:2-4 ERV) Warriors become strong ...

Those who stand firm during testing are blessed. They are tried and true. They will receive the life God has promised to those who love him as their reward. (James 1:12 CEB) There are certainly times of testing and trial - when you don't feel like you are ever going to be out from under the pressure of "issues" that just keep surfacing. You just get your head to the surface again, gulp a little fresh air, and another wave comes crashing down over you! Some time ago, I watched a movie about the first black Navy diver portrayed by Cuba Gooding, Jr. - born to a poor family, joining the military in hopes of finding that "better life". It is the story of our lives, isn't it? We want something "better", taking steps in that direction, only to find the "distance" between what we had and what we want is gigantically longer, harder, and more challenging than we ever expected. Gooding soon comes to realize he isn't going to be "accep...

Endurance is often defined by one's ability to hold out without giving into some impairment or difficulty.  In "undergoing" some stress, you are able to come out the other side still standing.  Over the course of my life, I have learned not everything we "undergo" is designed to leave us "standing" - sometimes we need to be in a place which displays a different type of "strength" than being able to "stand".  In other words, sometimes the "strongest" place we find ourselves is in admitting our weakest place within!  There is something which comes in the times of "trouble" in our lives which has a way of revealing these "weak" spots - and I think God may have just designed the thing we "undergo" to reveal that "spot" so he might help us with that weakness. My friends, be glad, even if you have a lot of trouble.  You know that you learn to endure by having your faith tested.  But y...

Have you ever really considered the lessons you have learned because of the experience of another?  You know, the stuff you just never really explore because you see how the exploration of another left them kind of unfulfilled, reasonably sane, but just so not excited about their experience?  Well, I think this is all part of God's plan for us in life - to learn from the experiences of those who go before us.  The first astronaut into space paved the way for all the others who came behind.  The first one to fly above the earth had a whole lot of failures before there was truly lift-off.  The experiences of the first made an example of both what not to do and what to do in the midst of the experiences of the many who followed.  I think the same is true in our spiritual lives - we learn a great deal about what not to do and what really is the best path for us simply by looking at those who've gone before us. When  God , your God, ushers you into the la...

Did you ever get hold of an idea that just kept spinning around in your head - no matter how much you tried to put it out of your mind, you just kept gravitating back to it?  Isn't that so annoying?  You just think on it over and over again - sometimes even waking in the wee hours of the night with the same thoughts going through your mind you tried so hard hours before to shut off!  Some call this preoccupation - others might call it obsession.  Either way, they both sound a little ominous!  One of the things I have come to realize is the power of holding ideas in our heads which may not be totally "sound" or "trustworthy".  In fact, when we do, we sort of "hang our hat" on these ideas and find our "hat rack" a little wobbly! Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail o...

Road-test:  Operating capability under actual conditions; a test of something in actual use.  In the most literal sense, a road test is performed anytime something or someone is placed in a real circumstance in order to measure or evaluate their performance.  I think much of life is like this - we are in real circumstances, requiring us to "perform" a certain way.  Yet, many might not actually be able to endure the "reality" of the road test.  In other words, sometimes our faith is "shelf-worthy", but take it out of the "box" and we don't perform that well! Bless our God, O peoples!    Give him a thunderous welcome!   Didn’t he set us on the road to life?    Didn’t he keep us out of the ditch?   He trained us first,   passed us like silver through refining fires, b rought us into hardscrabble country,  pushed us to our very limit, r oad-tested us inside and out,  took us to hell and back; f inally he brought us...

Have you ever tried to make jelly?  When we look at all those various flavors, colors, and pretty jars all stacked with care on our grocer's shelves, we often forget what goes into making the jelly.  It really is a science - I've tried it!  Some of it tasted pretty good, but I had a few "flops" in the process!  Today, I'd like to share a few lesson I learned in the process.  Pretty jars were all assembled, fresh lids, stock pot filled with water to boil those jars, and sugar all measured out.  Who knew the most important part of making the jelly was not in the "prettiness" of the jar I chose, nor the shininess of the caps which adorned them?  What I learned made the most difference in the jelly was not any of the things I assembled, but the fruit that went into making the jelly!  Who knew? If you grow a healthy tree, you’ll pick healthy fruit. If you grow a diseased tree, you’ll pick worm-eaten fruit. The fruit tells you about the tree.  (...

3  As silver in a crucible and gold in a pan,    so our lives are assayed by God.  (Proverbs 17:3 The Message) Yesterday, we took a look at the process of "stoking" the furnace of our hearts - getting us to a place that God can work with us, forming us into what it is he envisions for us.  Today, I'd like to continue to explore another instrument of the craftsman used in the process of purification - it is what is known as the crucible.  The crucible is similar to the furnace, but its purpose is not so much to heat to the point of being "pliable" in the hand of the craftsman as it is to bring to the surface that which is impure in the substance he is working with.  For some of us, we feel the "heat" of the crucible much more often than we'd like.  Take heart, that really means that God is just at work bringing to the surface the things in our lives that he needs to remove by his tender care. When I lived in Alaska, I got to know a gentle...

  8 "You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world." (Matthew 5:8) 2-4 Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. (James 1:2-4) We all have differing responses when we are "challenged" - some rise up, take the bulls by the horns and plunge right in - still others withdraw a safe distance, consider their options and seemingly take forever to respond to the challenge.  Regardless of how we face life when we are "challenged", it is important to keep in mind that each challenge carries a purpose.  As Jesus taught on the Mount that day, he turned to his disciples (those closest to him) and reminded them tha...

29  “Is not my word like fire,” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?" (Jeremiah 23:29) Today, we will explore the second purpose for the hammer.  According to Webster, a hammer strikes blows so as to pound.  It also shapes that which it hits.  It is that shaping process that we will explore today.  God's word is a tool used to "shape" us - it is designed to "adapt" us to the character traits that most closely resemble those of Christ's. The shaping process of the hammer often brings that which is being shaped into close contact with that object that is creating the shape.  As the object being shaped is placed on top of that which acts as a backdrop to all the shaping process, the hammer comes down on the on the object, conforming it to the image of that which it rests upon.  We might say that the process is one of modifying the object to take on the form of that which it is being molded against. If we are close eno...

  22-23 As soon as the meal was finished, he insisted that the disciples get in the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he dismissed the people. With the crowd dispersed, he climbed the mountain so he could be by himself and pray. He stayed there alone, late into the night.  24-26 Meanwhile, the boat was far out to sea when the wind came up against them and they were battered by the waves. At about four o'clock in the morning, Jesus came toward them walking on the water. They were scared out of their wits. "A ghost!" they said, crying out in terror.   27 B ut Jesus was quick to comfort them. "Courage, it's me. Don't be afraid." (Matthew 14:22-27) In our Christian walk, there are moments when we wonder what is happening - we are living in obedience, making right decisions, doing exactly what God has asked us to do - then out of the blue, testing and trial seems to come our way.  What is up with that?  These disciples were heading to the opposite...