The Plumbline

Man has two great spiritual needs. One is for forgiveness. The other is for goodness. (Billie Graham) If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:9-13) Sometimes we complicate this "Jesus walk" so much by what we attempt to 'do' in order to 'work our way to God'. Paul wrote to the early church (and the message remains true to this day) that we can have 'misdirected zeal', well-intentioned steps to 'make our life measure up'. The problem is that we never get to the point of ...

 What exactly do hard times teach us? Many would say it helps us develop a deeper trust in God - at least, that is what they believe to be the most 'biblical' answer and the one we want to hear. Truth be told, there are more times in the wilderness of hardship that we are struggling with why we are there, what God expects us to learn, and how we are going to deal with the issues we are facing. We might not even think about God's purpose in allowing the hardship until we are waist deep in the muck and mire of it all!  I lie awake thinking of you, meditating on you through the night. Because you are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your strong right hand holds me securely. (Psalm 63:6-8) If we consider the words of our psalmist here, you will observe a couple of pretty 'emotion filled' comments: "I lie awake" and "I cling to you". Something is keeping David awake - he is likely wrestling with some of the things...

The Lord says, “Cursed is the man who trusts in man, who trusts in the flesh for his strength, and whose heart turns away from the Lord. For he will be like a bush in the desert and will not see when good comes. He will live in dry wastes in the desert, in a land of salt where no other people live. Good will come to the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is in the Lord. He will be like a tree planted by the water, that sends out its roots by the river. It will not be afraid when the heat comes but its leaves will be green. It will not be troubled in a dry year, or stop giving fruit. (Jeremiah 17:5-8) If you have had a 'dry year' thus far, maybe you are not feeling like 'celebrating' what this year has brought into your life thus far. You may not exactly feel overjoyed by the 'dryness' of the season you are experiencing but let me assure you of this - you are planted in the right place to endure the dryness if you have roots deeply planted in Jesus. WHER...