The Plumbline

If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home. For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone. You will trample upon lions and cobras; you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet! (Psalm 91:9-13 NLT) If you make...these three words indicate some form of commitment on our part, do they not? Yet, God's part is astronomical in comparison to ours. He will see that no evil can overcome us, sending angels to protect us even when we don't see their protection. He will keep us from stumbling, even though the path is riddled with all manner of stumbling blocks and even a few 'roadblocks' meant to stop us in our tracks entirely. We will have supernatural strength when our human strength seems inadequate for the challenges at hand. All this when we commit and follow through on that com...

It was Jean-Paul Sartre who reminded us, "Commitment is an act, not a word." God reminds us, "Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you. He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun." (Psalm 37:4-6) While we all want to say we are 'committed' to following Jesus with all our heart, we might just find ourselves with an occasional 'action' that reveals something totally different.  Commit everything you do to the Lord. Does that mean that today's laundry and yardwork should be committed to him? It does indeed. God's desire is to be part of your everyday life, not just your Sunday morning life. He wants to be there, whispering little tidbits of truth in your ear while you fold the clothes, weed the garden, or wash the car. When we 'limit' God to Sunday mornings, our actions ar...

For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds. (Titus 2:11-14) Grace revealed - in each of his children - so salvation can come to all people. How do we reveal the true magnitude of his grace to others? It is revealed primarily in the choices we make and the actions those choices lead us to do. Sinful pleasures seem to matter less and less to one who has been touched by the grace of God, leaving a transformed life for those around us to see.  God sent his Son - so he could give his life to free us from everything that kept us from God's...