The Plumbline

So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. (I Peter 1:13 NLT) Does anyone have any clue as to how we 'prepare our minds for action', much less 'exercise self-control' in our lives? Those are probably two of the toughest instructions in the Bible. Our minds get so much input in the course of our lifetime and controlling what comes in, what goes out, what gets remembered, and what gets forgotten is a big deal. Preparing our minds for action is actually having an 'engaged mind' - one that isn't just passively attentive but is actively attentive. There is a difference that can be observed when your mind is 'engaged' in the process of action. The entirety of your being is actually engaged when your mind is attentive and 'engaging' with the subject at hand. We are being told to prepare our minds for action. In other words,...

I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 7:22-25 NLT) We've likely all been there - wanting to do good, promising to change, then we revert back into some old pattern of sin that we knew better than to pursue. It is as though there is a power within that seems to draw us back time and time again. There is - it is called our sin nature! Our mind has what is called 'muscle memory'. A very helpful tool when it comes to things like tying our shoes without really thinking about it or driving to work the same way each day without much thought as to how to drive that automobile. When it comes to the sins we indulge in repeatedly, that 'muscle memory' thing is a real challenge! I doubt Paul h...

Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him. Don’t participate in the things these people do. For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true. Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. (Ephesians 5:6-10) The sins we excuse don't make them any less sins. They are still actions and attitudes God would have his children stay away from completely. When we engage with these sins, entertaining them and then eventually accepting them as 'okay' for us, we are only being deluded into believing the lies of our enemy, Satan. Sin is sin. That may be a hard pill to swallow, but it doesn't make it any less true. Live as people of light by carefully determining what pleases the Lord and then living according to that plan. If the light of Christ truly dwells within us, we will be less likely to c...

We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. (2 Corinthians 10:3-4) Have you ever noticed that there is a war going on in your mind almost all of the time? It is a battle between faith and fear, trust and doubt, unrest and peace. Most of life's battles are actually won or lost on this very battlefield. When we learn to use God's word as a weapon, we learn how to battle well and win! One important thing we must realize - Satan is trying to shape our lives one thought at a time - this is how we are given over to deception. What is your strongest thought today? You will actually move toward your strongest thoughts. Believe it or not, the life we have today is a reflection of the life we are thinking. It is more than 'positive vibes', though. Whatever we allow into our minds is what will eventually come out of our lives in words and deeds....

The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts: therefore, guard accordingly, and take care that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature.  (Marcus Aurelius) I recall all you have done, O Lord; I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago. They are constantly in my thoughts. I cannot stop thinking about your mighty works. (Psalm 77:11-12) Whatever it is we choose to think upon the most will eventually manifest itself in our words and actions down the road. We may not consider the influence of those thoughts until we find ourselves acting in some way contrary to the way we should have acted, but when we truthfully consider what led to the 'not so great actions', we cannot neglect to see how our thought life influenced them. The 'recollection' of memories is not always a bad thing, nor is the consideration of certain truths and wise counsel, but when we dwell too long upon stuff God tells us to avoid, we are going to see ne...

Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. (Philippians 4:8) Fix your thoughts - this certainly is a telling statement as our thoughts have a way of getting away from us in rather short order, don't they? What we think about matters. What we ruminate upon over and over again will eventually cause us to make the right choices, or it will lead us further down the road of wrong choices. We cannot afford to be 'unaware' or 'willy-nilly' in our thought life. We need our thought life to be disciplined and determined. While this is not an all-inclusive list of what we are to think upon, it is certainly a "telling" list that could help us see what we have been thinking upon and whether those thoughts are doing us more harm than good. Positive, true, and honorable words and actions actually stem from positive, true, and honorable thoughts. God is faith...

Good people leave memories that bless us, but the wicked are soon forgotten. (Proverbs 10:7) Someone once said that history is nothing more than a bunch of collected memories. I think this might just be true. Memories are the things left behind - good or bad - that will live on in the lives of others. We don't control the memories another makes, but we can influence them with the way we live our lives. We might think all the memories we have formed over a lifetime don't amount to much but take another look at the moments that made those memories and I bet you will find they mattered! Good people leave memories that bless others. Learn to be a blessing to others and you will be creating all kinds of good memories that will live on long after you are no longer with those individuals. We might find a mixture of good, not so good, and in between memories have formed over the course of our lifetime. The ones you probably enjoy the most are the good ones. I remember the first time I ...

Nothing can hide its evil as well as the human mind. It can be very sick, and no one really understands it. But I am the Lord, and I can look into a person’s heart. I can test a person’s mind... (Jeremiah 17:9-10) The human mind is a mystery to me. It can reason, helping me to figure out solutions to some things quite quickly. It can remember, bringing to memory things that brought me either pleasure or pain. It can imagine, giving me hope when I need it and dreams when I least expect them. If it is possible for my mind to 'hide its evil' from me, I definitely need God's help to uncover where that may actually occur! Our human mind is in need of some real 'overhaul' at times, isn't it? We have this uncanny ability to call things that aren't all that good for us 'okay' and resist the absolute need to expose those things in order to be rid of them once and for all. This is why we have such a significant problem with being 'tempted' at times. W...

I said to myself, “I will watch what I do and not sin in what I say. I will hold my tongue when the ungodly are around me.” But as I stood there in silence—not even speaking of good things—the turmoil within me grew worse. The more I thought about it, the hotter I got, igniting a fire of words... (Psalm 39:1-3) Have you ever tried to NOT say something, only to find the harder you try NOT to say it, the more you THINK about it? You mull those words over and over in your mind, trying to figure out if you can find another way to say it, but all the while you are aware those words just shouldn't be spoken no matter how you form them. It always amazes me how 'hard' we can try and how 'easy' it is to let loose! The more we 'mull', the more we will 'spew' - it might not be a verse from the bible, but you can take that one to the bank! These negative words we mull upon actually create a kind of turmoil within - much like that of a funnel cloud. We get all...

“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going.” “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!” (John 14:1-7) Trust is a learned thing - if it is violated enough, it can be harder and harder to trust the next time. Jesus gave his disciples absolutely no reason to mistrust him. He was always there, especially when they needed his help. He came in the middle of the storm, quieted the waters, settling their fears. He sto...

Careless words stab like a sword,  but wise words bring healing. (Proverbs 12:18)  Tennyson reminds us, "Words, like nature, half reveal and half conceal the soul within." There are words we speak that 'reveal' little bits and pieces of our inner thoughts and dreams. Equally important are those words we never 'reveal' - for they are the truest words that reveal the inner soul of a man, are they not? Most of us have learned to 'weigh' our words - considering if they should be spoken or not. There are times when we should have 'weighed' them a bit but didn't take the time. Those are words that might have revealed a bit more of ourselves than we wanted others to see. When those words have escaped our lips, it leaves us vulnerable - feeling a little 'naked' in the end.  We have all had those times when our words were just the right ones for the moment, but I daresay we have all had many moments when we 'emptied' a bit of our sou...

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9) Are you challenged in the area of your thoughts? Things you'd like to forget just keep resurfacing. Things you need desperately to remember keep slipping away. Things you never thought you'd ever be mulling over plaguing you time and time again. This is a very real battle - our thought life can be a bit of a muddle at times, especially in times of stress, fatigue, or boredom. If your thoughts were to be displayed on a big screen, what would people see? Anxiety, depression, hurt feelings, or fear of the unknown? Maybe a lability of faith - trusting God fully one day, then venturing into the areas of taking things on yourself the next? God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts. Rather than struggling repeated...

Eve Arnold was a photo-journalist. She asked one question that really prompted me to 'look around' a bit in my own life. The question? "What do you hang on the walls of your mind?" A pretty 'probing' question if you ask me. The mind is a bit like a photo gallery - with all kinds of 'scenes' on display - we call them memories. We 'hang' them up so we can revisit them from time to time. I have some hanging in my mind that I somehow revisit, but I don't like what I see. I have others hanging that really bring me peace, hope, and great joy. Could it be possible that we might have a few things 'hanging' in our mind's gallery that we might not even know we have 'put up' for display within those 'walls'? Proverbs 14:30 tells us, "A sound mind makes for a robust body, but runaway emotions corrode the bones." How many of us have 'runaway emotions'? It could be possible that the things we 'put on disp...

I’m determined to watch steps and tongue so they won’t land me in trouble. (Psalm 39:1) If you have ever tried to "watch your steps", you might just have tripped over your own two feet! Worse yet, you are actually paying so close attention to your steps, you miss the post in front of you and run smack-dab into it! You probably notice this the most whenever you are trying to watch what you say - for words can be the toughest things to keep a rein on. At the moment we determine to watch our words, we can almost count on something slipping past our lips, out into the open space between us and the ones who will hear them, never to be in our control again! Determining we are going to influence our steps or control our tongue is silly because of our total inability to do either! We definitely need some influence outside of our own effort to get this stuff right, don't we? "But as I stood there in silence—not even speaking of good things—the turmoil within me grew wor...

The thoughts of those who are right with God can be trusted, but the words of the sinful are false. (Proverbs 12:5) Have you ever thought to yourself, "Where did THAT thought come from?" There have been times when I found myself considering some thought that seemed to come 'out of left field' without any idea of its source. I had to stop myself, actually reflect on the 'wisdom' of the thought, and then reject it without further thought because there wasn't much 'wisdom' in it at all. I think this is why scripture does so much to warn us of the power of the mind - thoughts can be good or evil, but they can also be somewhere in-between. We have both the requirement and authority to examine our thoughts and consider the 'source'. If the 'source' isn't bearing up to the truth we know about God, how he works, what he says about us, or what he says about others, it is likely not the best thought to be dwelling upon. Let me assure you...

The absence of alternatives clears the mind marvelously.  (Henry Kissinger) When it comes to our thought life, I daresay we could do with a few less 'alternatives' to ponder, rehash, and ruminate upon. We all probably struggle a little bit with the 'clutter' of thought we encounter all day long as we go about our regular tasks and chores. Any 'alternative' is simply means we have to make choices - one becoming more demanding or clearer than the others. We choose when to begin the laundry, whether we will leave the vacuuming another until another day, or even if we will listen to music while we go about those chores. We choose to hold onto or let go of the thought 'alternatives' when it comes to our misadventures that leave us feeling a little less than 'right' in the end. Guilt can lead to shame all because we don't let go of something we have spent way too much time ruminating on in our minds. Anger can lead to bitterness because we continue...

The actions of men are the best interpreters of their thoughts. (James Joyce) How do people around you appear to be acting these days? If you have a circle of friends like mine, their actions are pretty consistent, loving, and kind. If you look around you today, you may observe there are a whole lot of unkind actions being taken against individuals. There seems to be a lot of anger amongst people these days - leading to actions that are just not all that good around us. Actions are the direct result of what we think about the most. If fear is your main mode of operation, chances are you are allowing your thoughts to continually dwell on things well outside of your sphere of control. If you want to know what a man is thinking - just observe his actions! Do not act like the sinful people of the world. Let God change your life. First of all, let Him give you a new mind. Then you will know what God wants you to do. And the things you do will be good and pleasing and perfect. (Romans 12:2) ...

In watching one of those shows set back in the 'old country' of Scottish history, I observed as these homeowners kept their sheep 'penned in' within stone walls they'd erect from stones found right there in their own fields. It didn't have to be high - just about the same height at the sheep. They'd graze along until they came to this stone enclosure, then they'd almost turn around and graze in another direction. These small, but quite effective boundaries actually kept the sheep from wandering willy-nilly off into pastures not theirs to graze upon, or into areas where harm would await them. The Word of God presents a wide variety of "boundaries" that actually act quite similarly. Those boundaries actually serve to give us a sense of safety - we stay within them and we are safe - we step outside of them and no telling what will happen. One of those 'boundary areas' should be in our thought life. Our thoughts are not really all that ...

Have you ever found yourself at a total loss for words? Something or someone just left you speechless - finding nothing you could say that would lend to the moment? It isn't often that I find myself in that spot, but when I do, it kind of makes me take 'double-notice' of whatever it is that influenced me. Why? If something or someone is capable of getting me to the point where no words can possibly share what I am experiencing, then I either need to celebrate the joy of that moment, or run for the hills because the thing is so evil I shouldn't be around it any longer! Blessed are you who give yourselves over to God, turn your backs on the world’s “sure thing,” ignore what the world worships; the world’s a huge stockpile of God-wonders and God-thoughts.  Nothing and no one comes close to you! I start talking about you, telling what I know, and quickly run out of words. Neither numbers nor words account for you. (Psalm 40:4-5 MSG) Look around...

11  No one can really know what anyone else is thinking or what he is really like except that person himself. And no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit.  12  And God has actually given us his Spirit (not the world’s spirit) to tell us about the wonderful free gifts of grace and blessing that God has given us. (I Corinthians 2:11-12 TLB) Have you ever had one of those moments when someone else finishes your thoughts even before you get them out? It is like they are so perfectly connected to you that they just 'complete' you. I have always thought if they could complete those 'harmless' thoughts so quickly and perfectly, how much could they possibly know what I am thinking that is not as 'harmless'? Kind of scary to think about, huh? Someone else knowing you so well that they actually 'get' both the good and bad about you so well they just know what you are going to say next. If that 'someone' is the Holy Spirit, there is a conne...