The Plumbline

You who love the Lord, hate evil! He protects the lives of his godly people and rescues them from the power of the wicked. Light shines on the godly, and joy on those whose hearts are right. May all who are godly rejoice in the Lord and praise his holy name! (Psalm 97:10-12 NLT) If you count yourself among those who love the Lord, you will have a 'love-hate' relationship with the evil around you. I say it is a 'love-hate' relationship because as long as our sin nature has any control in our lives, we will sometimes love doing what is wrong while also hating that we do it. The more we 'fall out of love' with our sinful desires, the more we will learn to hate all forms of evil - even the stuff that doesn't tempt us into sin right now. God's plan for us is to live 'protected lives'. He isn't taking us out of this evil world the moment we say yes to him, but he is providing a means by which we can live in such a way so as to not be enticed into t...

The Lord replies, “I have seen violence done to the helpless, and I have heard the groans of the poor. Now I will rise up to rescue them, as they have longed for me to do.” The Lord’s promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over. Therefore, Lord, we know you will protect the oppressed, preserving them forever... (Psalm 12:5-7) The oppressed cry out - the Lord hears and answers. This has been the plight of civilization from the beginning of time. Mankind gets off-kilter, God intervenes to restore balance once again. What does it mean to be 'oppressed' as it is used in this passage? It is important to see that God doesn't mind when we 'complain' to him about our plight - having encountered evil on every side, feeling a little bit persecuted, or maybe even a little like they need to be 'vindicated' in some manner. God is attentive to our circumstances, even when it seems like evil is prevailing. Deceit almost always begi...

We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us, but we sip only little by little at a truth we find bitter.  (Denis Diderot) They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. (Romans 1:25) Have you ever been guilty of 'trading truth for a lie'? I think we have all done that a time or two. We aren't all that 'flattered' by truth at times, are we? If I ask you how I look in a particular outfit and you tell me the truth that it does nothing to improve my appearance, will I be flattered by your comment? Not usually, but if the truth keeps me from looking frumpy, cheesy, or a little under/overdressed for the occasion, I will appreciate that you were honest with me. I might have to change a few times to get it right, but your honesty 'improved' me in some way. In much the same way, God's truth may not always 'flatter' our ego, but it certai...

Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. (I Timothy 4:7-9) Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales. How many 'myths' do we buy into in our lifetime that really have no foundation in truth? Mom used to say a baby with an uncovered head to bare feet would catch a death of a cold, but today you see very few parents actually using baby bonnets to cover their child's head and those wee ones have had little to no sickness! She also told me if I swallowed gum it would stay in my body for something like seven years, but science has debunked that myth. There are tons of myths we buy into, yet they have no real basis in reality. What is most important is that we don't buy into myths about how we should...

Wise sayings often fall on barren ground, but a kind word is never thrown away. (Arthur Helps) Fools’ words get them into constant quarrels; they are asking for a beating. The mouths of fools are their ruin; they trap themselves with their lips. Rumors are dainty morsels that sink deep into one’s heart. (Proverbs 18:6-8) A fool's words often create the ripe environment for gossip and untruths. The fool focuses on the volume of his words, not the wisdom of them. He rushes toward the 'juicy tidbits' he can glean from anyone that he may use to make himself look important. Unfortunately, the fool doesn't 'fact check' his words before repeating them. He launches into the retelling and the 'reinventing' of those words all too quickly. I am a strong proponent of 'fact checking' whatever is being put forward as truth. This culture is too quick to spread malicious gossip, things that aren't entirely true, but that put someone in a bad light as much a...

Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, for the light makes everything visible. (Ephesians 5:10-14) Carefully determine - while most of us have a general understanding of what God expects of us, how many of us have gone so far as to do a 'deep dive' into scripture to truly understand what pleases the Lord? We have heard the stories of how Israel erected a golden image, knowing that God abhors idols of any kind. We listened to sermons that reminded us to turn the other cheek, knowing God values grace and forgiveness. Yet do we truly understand what the 'worthless deeds of evil and darkness' really are? Perhaps understanding what 'pleases God' is made clear when we understand what light brings out of hiding in the lives of others and...

When the wicked man comes [to the depth of evil], contempt [of all that is pure and good] also comes, and with inner baseness (dishonor) comes outer shame (scorn). (Proverbs 18:3 Amplified Bible) Doing wrong always used to lead to some form of disgrace in society, did it not? What we might have labeled as 'wrong' fifty years ago may actually be labeled as 'okay' or 'right' today, though. Our societal norms change over time - one generation's indulgences or sins giving way to the next generation's. The fact remains - there is only ONE definition of right or wrong - the Bible! Try as we might to change the truths contained within those pages, they are unchangeable. When the wicked brings what scripture defines as 'evil' or 'vile' into practice, there is no 'mislabeling' of it as anything other than sin.  "Doing wrong leads to disgrace, and scandalous behavior brings contempt." (NLT) This same verse becomes quite easy to un...

Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority. (Colossians 2:8-10) Whether we know it or not, there is a bunch of 'empty babble' being thrown around each and every day - even in the church. Empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense are everywhere. We have to apply 'filters' in order to weed through what is being portrayed as truth and 'worthwhile' reports in order to really find God's truth in the matter, don't we? Without those 'filters' given to us in the Word of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, we'd get duped into believing everything we heard. The Bereans were a group of Jews who listened to the message Paul bro...

Hold on to the pattern of wholesome teaching you learned from me—a pattern shaped by the faith and love that you have in Christ Jesus. Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to you. (2 Timothy 1:13-14) Paul was writing to Timothy, encouraging him to continue in his faith, not deviating from the calling God had placed on his lives. While we don't have an Apostle Paul today who will encourage us with these same words, they were recorded so we could take instruction for our daily lives, as well. Hold on to the wholesome teaching you learned. Treasure it, don't let it be influenced by worldly norms or patterns. Hold on means that we not only keep it ever before us, but we follow that teaching with all the perseverance we can muster. When that perseverance falters a bit, then lean in even more so to the Holy Spirit's presence in your life and stand strong. Guard those precious truths - they will be wh...

But wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those who follow it. (Luke 7:35) So pay attention to how you hear. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what they think they understand will be taken away from them. (Luke 8:18) We must be willing to listen with a heart that is open. Closed hearts may hear, but they seldom receive what they are hearing. They reject it or ignore it. A wise person didn't become wise by accident. It didn't happen by osmosis. They paid attention, considered what they heard, tested it to see if it was true, and then they acted upon the truth. A listening heart is willing to pay the price to truly 'listen'. We aren't to embrace everything we hear, but when God speaks, he will make truth clear. The enemy of our souls won't make his lies clear, but that won't stop some from embracing them lock, stock, and barrel. Wisdom affects our lives. We begin to behave diff...

Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it—the Lord is His name, ‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and tell you [and even show you] great and mighty things, [things which have been confined and hidden], which you do not know and understand and cannot distinguish.’ (Jeremiah 33:2-3) Consider for a moment that the one who formed this earth with the purpose of establishing it would actually reveal to us things that have been hard to understand - things hidden from the naked eye. This is what he promises - to reveal what we don't know, find difficult to understand, and have a hard time distinguishing. That might explain how we can know when the enemy of our souls is trying to pull a fast one on us! We only need to call upon him in order to be able to see clearly what Satan would have us never see in the first place! Call - I will answer. Seems pretty straightforward, doesn't it? Yet, we find ourselves muddling around in all manner of murky situat...

Anyone who rebukes a mocker will get an insult in return. Anyone who corrects the wicked will get hurt. So don’t bother correcting mockers; they will only hate you. But correct the wise, and they will love you. Instruct the wise, and they will be even wiser. Teach the righteous, and they will learn even more. (Proverbs 9:7-9) If you have ever tried to argue your point with someone who is so 'dug in' on their own opinion on the subject, you know how hard it can be to make any headway with them. They are 'staunch' believers in their viewpoint and refuse to budge. In fact, they sometimes even point out, in a mocking sort of way, that our way is inferior to theirs. To continue in that 'argument' is senseless because the one that needs some sense in the matter is too bullheaded to get any! Correcting mockers (the bullheaded) is senseless. On the other hand, the wise receive instruction, even when it differs from what they might have come to form an opinion about. ...

 Psalm 12:6-8 reminds us, "The Lord’s promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over. Therefore, Lord, we know you will protect the oppressed, preserving them forever from this lying generation, even though the wicked strut about, and evil is praised throughout the land." The promises of God hold certain even when the wicked rise up and the lies of corruption abound. God's kids have nothing to fear. They have an ability to see the lies and to avoid their pull. It comes through the presence of God with them and the protection he brings. What do lies do? They bring oppression, don't they? Almost without noticing, there is a load of weight being put upon the shoulders of those who buy into those lies. They lay a weight of heaviness intended to drag down their 'devotees'. The wicked are indeed spouting those untruths in order to confuse, dupe, and lead astray. God's protection keeps us from living under the load of that weigh...

For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” (Romans 1:16-17) Sometimes we encounter those who really don't believe the truth of the gospel. It could be that we sometimes struggle with it ourselves, questioning the validity of what God has said or promised to us. Those who doubt the truth today might even say it is just kind of 'old-fashioned' and outdated - like it belonged to our parent's generation, not ours. What is worse is that some actually believe they are able to do life on their own, that they don't need this 'God thing' we talk about. Faith isn't 'old-fashioned', outdated, or 'invalid'. It never grows old. I think some may balk a littl...

When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power. (Ezra Taft Benson) We cannot expect to ignore God's instruction forever and not see some form of chaos in our world. God gives grace, time to turn to him, but he won't be mocked. We cannot live like we want, then expect all of God's blessings to be in our lives. Theodore Roosevelt reminded us, "Obedience of the law is demanded; not asked as a favor."  Take hold of my instructions; don’t let them go. Guard them, for they are the key to life. (Proverbs 4:13) We lack so much power in our lives all because we seek to do things our own way. We find our greatest strength and power when we apply God's instructions to our lives. If we ignore those instructions for way too long, the path we have committed ourselves to will be filled with chaos, angst, and quite unfulfilling endeavors.  Take hold of his instructions - this doesn't imply that someone else i...

As we have been studying 'seeds' throughout scripture, we cannot neglect the parable of the sower and the seeds. The seed in this parable is clearly defined by Jesus as the Word of God. The importance of receiving and nurturing the seed is emphasized, but also the condition of the 'soil' or heart of the one who receives the 'seed'.  This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is God’s word. The seeds that fell on the footpath represent those who hear the message, only to have the devil come and take it away from their hearts and prevent them from believing and being saved. The seeds on the rocky soil represent those who hear the message and receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they believe for a while, then they fall away when they face temptation. The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never gr...

Have you ever been told something, only to find out it wasn't true at all? I think we have all bought one of those 'miracle', 'wonder', 'amazing', or 'as seen on...' products at some time in our lives. I remember mom getting all this stuff from one of the 'clearing houses' that really wasn't all that good, but if she bought it, she felt it increased her chances of becoming a millionaire. We all 'buy into' an outright untruth at one time or another, don't we? The bigger the lie, the harder it is to 'sell', but so many seem to 'buy into' various lies of the enemy of their souls without giving it a second thought. The biggest lie we can buy into is that God has turned his back on a lost and hurting world. God never turns his back, always has a way of escape for those who will look toward him and will always be the ultimate authority no matter what other authority attempts to set themselves up above him. For the w...

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...

“If you stick with this, living out what I tell you, you are my disciples for sure. Then you will experience for yourselves the truth, and the truth will free you.” (John 8:31-32) A disciple is a follower, for sure, but with the intent of learning from the master. I read lots of woodworking articles, observe how things are made, and yet I am not a disciple of any particular 'woodworking master'. I just do it for a hobby. Christianity is more than a hobby - it is us committing to serve the master (Jesus), sit under his tutelage, and take what we have learned to others so they can learn it, as well. Too many may view it as a mere 'hobby' - calling themselves 'Christian', but lacking any real life change, spiritual power, or deep knowledge of how God responds.  Peter Marshall reminds us, "God will not permit any troubles to come upon us, unless He has a specific plan by which great blessing can come out of the difficulty." Discipleship doesn't assure...

My dear children, I write this letter to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone sins, we have Jesus Christ to help us. He always did what was right, so he is able to defend us before God the Father. Jesus is the way our sins are taken away. And he is the way all people can have their sins taken away too. If we obey what God has told us to do, then we are sure that we know him. If we say we know God but do not obey his commands, we are lying. The truth is not in us. But when we obey God’s teaching, his love is truly working in us. This is how we know that we are living in him. (I John 2:1-5) A long time ago, I had a pastor who told us it was okay to substitute our own names into scripture. For example, I could read this passage as, "My dear Lauretta, I write this letter to you...", making it come alive to me personally. When I began to realize scripture was written for ME, I began to find it both comforting and a little convicting. At times, it opened up doors for my hea...