The Plumbline

Of all possessions a friend is the most precious. (Herodotus) God-friendship is for God-worshipers; They are the ones he confides in. (Psalm 25:14) Friendship with God is desirable - in fact, it is the best 'friendship' we can find in life. We all know the value of a good friend - someone we can confide in, sharing both our doubts and hopes openly. It is a different type of relationship we have with God, though. We share our most intimate confidences with him - at least that is what we believe we are doing. Have you ever wanted to talk with him about something that was just eating at you, but you were 'afraid' he might react to whatever you want to tell him in a way you might not like? It isn't that you don't trust him, it is that you don't trust yourself to respond to his wisdom in the way that he expects. God isn't going to ask us to do something that will hurt us. If we are honest, we are afraid what he asks will cause us some degree of 'pain'

Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me; Cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I’m about; See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong— then guide me on the road to eternal life. (Psalm 119:23-24) It was a pretty bold thing for David to 'challenge' God this way, wasn't it? If you are anything like me, you'd rather not have God looking all that closely at times! You'd rather not give him the 'clear picture' into your soul because you know exactly what he will find. Yes, we are men and women with a heart after God, but to be entirely truthful here, we don't always have all that great of a track record of remaining 'sin-free'. David was not deterred from asking for God's 'examination' because he knew with each 'exam' came a greater influx of God's grace into his life - mercy given when and where it was the least deserved. David wasn't asking God to just 'seek out his sins' -

There are times in this life when it just will seem there is absolutely NO way of escape - times when it just seems like no matter how hard you try, the thing you are running from will catch up with you and you will be overtaken.  We all face those moments, no matter how sophisticated, "deep", or "spiritual" we might appear.  If we were more honest with each other, we might not feel so bad about the times when we just don't "do as we should", even when we "knew better". We do a disservice to each other to never show our failure to others - for it is by failure we have an opportunity to learn from not only the thing we failed at, but from what others have experienced in the same circumstances. Any temptation you face will be nothing new. But God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can handle. But He always provides a way of escape so that you will be able to endure and keep moving forward. (I Corinthians 10:13

If you have ever studied the life of Moses, you will find he was a man who was not afraid to speak his mind with God.  He was "real" with God - sharing both his frustrations and his exultation.  He never minced his words - he shot straight from the hip. I think God probably honored this kind of openness and transparency and blessed his leadership of Israel as a result.  There are times when we get so frustrated with the length of time it takes to get ourselves from step "A" to step "B" in this process we call "restoration" or "transformation", right?  I wonder what God would do if we were so totally humble and honest with him like Moses was?  Maybe we would come to see the delay is really a part of the process - it is a time when we purify our emotions, see our thought patterns change, and get rid of a whole lot of dead wood in our lives.  I kind of like the words below, because they express the frustration of Moses' heart.  The pe

As a kid, we'd play games like hide and seek.  The goal was to find such a good hiding place that absolutely no one could find you.  There was no prize or medal at the end, but there was some "unwritten" acknowledgement of your "awesomeness" as a great "hider".  I had this one friend you didn't hide so much to win the honor of being the best hider, but he wanted to be the best "scarer" in the group!  He'd hide just around the corner, cleverly hid by something, then when you were gawking around trying to find him, he jump out and shout loudly, "Boo!" - we'd all get caught up in celebrating the shrieks of his unknowing "victims".  In time, if anyone played this game with him long enough, they'd get to be know his plan!  But...no amount of knowing what laid ahead made us ready for the moment when he jumped out into our path!  We still were startled and sometimes could not help but "shriek" at the mom

Have you ever acquired a taste for something - perhaps something you could not stand as a kid, but now seem to enjoy quite a bit?  I still have not acquired a taste for brussel sprouts, but I like just about every other vegetable.  There is just something about their pungency which I cannot say I enjoy.  Acquired taste usually refers to food or beverage, but it can refer to anything.  Do you know what it means to "acquire a taste"?  It means we have such frequent exposure to something so as to "acquire" its taste.  Sometimes we actually learn to appreciate these "tastes" simply by repeated exposure! The good acquire a taste for helpful conversation;  bullies push and shove their way through life.  (Proverbs 13:2 MSG) If we can "acquire a taste" for some vegetable we might find offensive, or the ability to drink hot coffee once in a while instead of a steady intake of hot tea, isn't it possible we could "acquire a taste" for conv

There are a whole bunch of ways we can find which make us "stand out" in a crowd, huh?  We could dress in some stunning manner, or in tattered jeans laden with chains - each attracts attention - just for different reasons!  We could sing with lovely melody, never missing a note - or croon out a song which only "resembles" what the writer had in mind!  One gets our applause, the other causes us to cringe and at best, offer a "false" accolade.  Jesus was talking to his disciples one day, using the Pharisees and religious leaders of the time as an example of trying to "stand out" - just for the wrong reasons! Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant. If you puff yourself up, you'll get the wind knocked out of you. But if you're content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty. (Matthew 23:11-12 The Message) He spent a great deal of time in the first ten verses of this chapter outlining just how much "atte

There used to be a time when people had to perceive me as having life all together.  It was far from the truth, but the mask I cleverly wore was one of being "all together" in a tremendously broken life.  Emotions were haywire, desires often overruling any sense of conscience, and mouth engaged when it ought to be otherwise!  Sound like anyone you might know?  If I am to be honest about how Christ has changed my life, I have to be honest about what needed changing! I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back.  (Philippians 3:12-14 The Message) Just like Paul, I can now freely admit - I don't have it all together.  I don't have

I have seen lovely homes with a nicely landscaped front yard, beautifully framing the home with color and style.  Then, to my dismay, observed the backyard to be a mess of dirt, weeds, and nothing too impressive at all.  Why is it we "put our best foot forward" with what people see first, but neglect to ever do anything with the thing we see the most?  The front yard is for the public - the backyard is for our use, is it not?   The perceptive find wisdom in their own front yard;  fools look for it everywhere but right here.  (Proverbs 17:24 The Message) I know our passage only speaks to the "front yard" of the perceptive (the wise), but I think there is much to be said about what is the "back yard" of a person's life!  What we allow, or choose to ignore, in our "back yard" is often more important than what we have created for the public view in our "front yard".  For some of us, the things we allow into our lives create a mass

We humans have a variety of "learning" styles.  Some of us need visual input in order to grasp something, while others can simply read the instructions and get it perfectly.  Maybe this is why some of those "some assembly required" items we purchase come with both written and pictorial instruction sheets!  Whenever I get one which is just written, with no pictures at all, I sigh and dig into the "reading".  I "can" learn how to put the thing together from the "reading", but the "picture" would have made it a whole lot faster!   Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity.  (I Timothy 4:12 The Message) Paul is instructing Timothy, a relatively young believer, how to "teach" with his life.  In essence, he is telling him to make accommodations for the various "learning" styles of individuals!  Some will learn about Christ in what you say, others in how you live.  O

18  First pride, then the crash—the bigger the ego, the harder the fall. (Proverbs 16:18) 12  Pride first, then the crash, but humility is precursor to honor. (Proverbs 18:12) 16  Going through the motions doesn't please you, a flawless performance is nothing to you. I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered. Heart-shattered lives ready for love don't for a moment escape God's notice. (Psalm 51:16) Ever notice just how many times the Bible speaks about pride?  I put only three passages here, but you get the gist.  God takes our attitude about our self and others quite seriously.  He knows the danger of being too big for our own good! Pride is pretty much having an opinion of your importance, merit, or superiority that is not always in proportion to our true importance, merit, or superiority!  We think more of ourselves than we do others.  The fact is, we all struggle with pride in one way or another.  It may not be as evident in some circumstances, but it is pre

"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met." (Matthew 6:30) For years, I admired my neighbor's flowerbeds.  Each season brought a new batch of cheerful colors - the beds just filled to the brim with mums, pansies, one-eyed-susans, and the like.  I'd drive by, admiring the beauty they lent to the front yard, all the while secretly desiring that my garden looked that beautiful. Each season, I would head off to the local home store,

  15-20 "Be wary of false preachers who smile a lot, dripping with practiced sincerity. Chances are they are out to rip you off some way or other. Don't be impressed with charisma; look for character. Who preachers are is the main thing, not what they say. A genuine leader will never exploit your emotions or your pocketbook. These diseased trees with their bad apples are going to be chopped down and burned." (Matthew 7:15-20) We have all met or heard of individuals with such dynamic charisma that people just flock to them and seemingly "give all they have" to see that person's vision be furthered.  In some cases, the efforts of that individual have been very pure and the rewards have been genuine.  In others, the motivations were very much indeed personal gain and personal grandeur.  Jesus tells us to watch out for the "practiced sincerity" of some, but to look at character rather than charisma. There are lots of people in this world, in the chur

  17  The first speech in a court case is always convincing—    until the cross-examination starts!  (Proverbs 18:17) I like shows or movies that give you a riveting courtroom trial in which there is little to no hope of the defending attorney ever proving the person on trial really did not do the crime.  In these courtroom depictions, the prosecuting attorney must "make the case" against the "defendant".  The case begins with what they term "opening arguments" - the laying out of the case from each person's perspective in such a way that the jury is given a hint about what will be presented. The passage today is quite revealing - the opening speeches may all be nicely worded and organized into a nice synopsis of the beliefs of both the prosecutor and the defender, but they don't contain all the "evidence".  That is the purpose of the trial - it "opens up" the intricate pieces of evidence for the jury to examine and use in co

10  He continued, "Go home and prepare a feast, holiday food and drink; and share it with those who don't have anything: This day is holy to God. Don't feel bad. The joy of  God  is your strength!"    11  The Levites calmed the people, "Quiet now. This is a holy day. Don't be upset."   12  So the people went off to feast, eating and drinking and including the poor in a great celebration. Now they got it; they understood the reading that had been given to them. (Nehemiah 8:10-12) Revival brings a response of heart that cannot but help bring praise to God.  The people of Israel had been listening intently to the Word of God as Ezra, the priest, brought it forward.  They were moved by the Word - brought to a place of awareness about just how far they had drifted from what God had intended for their lives.  That is what a fresh look into the Word can do for us - it can bring us to a place of recognition and repentance. Ezra is a wise leader - he knows the