The Plumbline

A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves. (Henry Ward Beecher) Pride leads to destruction; a proud attitude brings ruin. (Proverbs 16:18) I have had those moments when I thought I didn't get as much as I deserved - credit where credit was due; thanks for a job well-done; or some form of remuneration. As a young leader, I thought this stuff was important. As I matured a bit, I learned it wasn't all that important - there was a certain sense of joy in just doing a job well, no matter who got the credit, thanks, or 'payment' for it. I have come to realize it is quite a dangerous thing to drift into this pathway of believing we are 'owed' something. If we are to be truthful here, our attitude about why we are doing something is very important.  Proverbs 29:23 reminds us, "Pride will ruin people, but those who are humble will be honored." It is important to have the right attitude behind our actions. Look at w...

On your feet now—applaud God! Bring a gift of laughter, sing yourselves into his presence. Know this: God is God, and God, God. He made us; we didn’t make him. We’re his people, his well-tended sheep. Enter with the password: “Thank you!” Make yourselves at home, talking praise. Thank him. Worship him. For God is sheer beauty, all-generous in love, loyal always and ever. (Psalm 100) I have a 'password keeper vault' in order to keep track of all the passwords I use - how about you? There is on password that I will never need to enter into that vault, though - the one that gives me access to the presence of God! Saying 'yes' to Jesus opened the access - grateful heart expressing all manner of praise and worship gives me freedom to enter into his presence time and time again. Well-tended sheep - doesn't that conjure up a great picture? I walk through some small 'white fence farms' around me and there is this one place that uses sheep to 'tend' the yard....

My frequent and ongoing struggle to keep weight off my body has me investigating how to keep my metabolism moving right along so I can burn the calories I put in. I have discovered fasting from a meal or two a day on occasion actually helps me to keep weight off. It isn't that I am starving myself, as I have reserves! I am just asking my body to use what it already has and not to demand what it doesn't actually need! The term "fast" has a couple of meanings, but when we use it to describe a condition of heart, mind, and soul which abstains from something in order to focus on another, we call it "fasting". There are all kinds of fasts - some from food, others from input of various forms of media, or perhaps from a special treat we enjoy. The season just before Easter is called Lent and is considered by some churches to be a season of temporary "fasting" - giving up something in order to get a little closer to God during that season. I wonder if w...

Let me see clearly so that I may take in the amazing things coming from Your law. ( Psalm 119:18 VOICE ) What is it you are not seeing that clearly right now? Is there some question you have been wrestling with for some time unable to quite reach some form of resolution or solution? Is the time you spend pondering the stuff of everyday life kind of getting harder and harder when you expected it might just let up a little? If so, you are not alone in this inability to see clearly at times - we all suffer from the same "lack of clarity", but may not always admit to it because we don't actually realize we haven't reached a point of "clarity" yet. I think one of the greatest things which unlocks clarity in my own life is when I reach a place of gratitude in whatever are I am struggling or wrestling with at that moment. That may seem a little naive at first, but hear me out. When I transition from questioning into trusting, it usually happens when I begin to set...

Thank you.  Gracias.  Grazie.  Merci.  Dankeschon.  Spasibo.  Whether English, Spanish, Italian, French, German, Russian - all these words express gratefulness, thanksgiving, and appreciation.  There are lots of ways to say thank you, but even more ways to show a heart and attitude of thankfulness! I know when I have given a gift which touches the heart, or one of those gifts I "thought" someone would like, but which bombs pretty badly.  It is like the difference between a new video game or a package of underwear on Christmas morning to my grandson.  One will elicit genuine thankfulness - the other will get the prerequisite "thank you", but it will not be heartfelt!  You know which one is the latter!   It is more in what the heart and attitude display than the words we speak which convinces another of our true gratefulness anyway.   Thank you! Everything in me says “Thank you!” Angels listen as I sing my thanks. I kneel in...

I don't get into the Facebook fads like sharing ten things about yourself no one else knows, or the one which surfaces each year around Thanksgiving season when everyone tries to focus on what they are thankful for everyday. It isn't that there aren't things you don't know about me, or that I am not a thankful individual.  In fact, as today is Thanksgiving Day in the U.S., I just wanted to take a moment or two to just focus our attention on what it is we are truly grateful for.  The most profound post I saw this month about thanksgiving read:  "If material things are what you are talking about when you say 'I am blessed', you have no idea about blessings."  If we stop long enough to chew on this one, we might just have to agree with the person writing this post.  What we choose to focus on, make the object of our affection and attention, will often become the thing or individual we learn to count among our greatest treasures. Be cheerful no matter wh...

Thanksgiving - gratitude - is evidence of a changed heart.  As children, we learned to say "thank you" for just about everything from getting a cookie to mom handing you a pile of clean undies to put away in the drawer.  Every act of "kindness" or "provision" became an opportunity for us to thank someone. For most of us, saying "thank you" has become a little "rote", hasn't it? Thanksgiving is more than saying the right words - it is revealing the right heart. It happened that as he made his way toward Jerusalem, he crossed over the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten men, all lepers, met him. They kept their distance but raised their voices, calling out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”   Taking a good look at them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”  They went, and while still on their way, became clean. One of them, when he realized that he was healed, turned around and came back, s...

If you have ever tried to talk with someone who just isn't listening, you know the frustration this can create.  If you try to get their attention, you might succeed, but holding it is another thing.  When someone is definitely not interested, or totally distracted by something else, no amount of coaxing on your part seems to do the trick in holding their attention.  I wonder how God feels sometimes when we are so totally disinterested, or distracted, when he is attempting to get some message across to us.  Since he gave us all the emotions we experience, and we are created in his image, do you think it is possible he might get a little "frustrated" with us at times?  In the simplest sense, "frustrated" simply means to be disappointed.  I definitely think God experiences disappointment! I’ve made myself available  to those who haven’t bothered to ask.   I’m here, ready to be found  by those who haven’t bothered to look.  (Isaiah 65:1 M...

Hallelujah is a shout of joy, praise, or gratitude.  When I heard a little girl we'd been praying for was finally in remission with her battle against leukemia, my first word was indeed "Hallelujah!!"  Sometimes we shout because of something wonderful done in the life of another, like when we hear of this little one's "win", and at other times, it is almost a moment of relief because we saw God intervene before total destruction overtook someone.  The reason behind the word being spoken can vary, but the intent is always the same - to proclaim just how blessed we are! Hallelujah!   Blessed man, blessed woman, who fear  God , w ho cherish and relish his commandments, t heir children robust on the earth, a nd the homes of the upright—how blessed!   Their houses brim with wealth a nd a generosity that never runs dry.   Sunrise breaks through the darkness for good people— God’s grace and mercy and justice!   The good person is generous and lends lav...

Be generous: Invest in acts of charity. Charity yields high returns.   Don't hoard your goods; spread them around.    Be a blessing to others. (Ecclesiastes 11:1-2 The Message) In the United States, this is the week of Thanksgiving.  We will gather around tables across our nation with friends and family this Thursday to celebrate the season of harvest that our forefathers began so many years ago in Plymouth.  The celebration of harvest was something to relish, as the hard work of the year was drawing to a close, and the land would soon lay at rest for while prior to the planting of the next crops.  We've lost that sense of celebrating harvest over the years as our country has become far more of a manufacturing country and a lot less of an agricultural country.  Yet, we continue the celebration without any real connection to its original meaning. In many ways, Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the season we call our "holiday" season.  Between ...