The Plumbline

As I learn your righteous regulations, I will thank you by living as I should! (Psalm 119:7 NLT) You have probably heard that the true learning comes when you actually apply what has been taught to you. There is much truth in this, as most of what we 'learn' doesn't even get used in our everyday lives. It is merely facts placed somewhere in our memory, but not really 'of use'. Sure, we may need it somewhere down the line, but we might never even use that tidbit of 'hidden away' fact. All that we glean from God's Word may not apply today, but we can be assured that when we need it the most, we will have it at our disposal to help us right where and when it is needed. When I went through nursing school, I learned a lot about the human body, but did I put it to use right away? It wasn't until I went into my clinical setting at the hospital that I began to see how each 'fact' carefully studied and memorized actually helped me understand what was...

How joyful are those who fear the Lord— all who follow his ways! You will enjoy the fruit of your labor. How joyful and prosperous you will be! (Psalm 128:1-2 NLT) The fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom as scripture says, and to live a fruitful life, one must choose to serve the Lord with all their heart, mind, and soul. We cannot expect fruit where there has been no investment in the preparation for that harvest. If we just go out to the garden and expect to always see fruit on our tomato plant, but we haven't watered, turned the soil, sprayed for pesty bugs, and kept them shaded from the hot Arizona afternoon sun, our harvest will be piddly and not really all that enjoyable. Yet, if we do those things, we stand a much better chance of big red, juicy tomatoes. The 'prep' work is important if we want to see a harvest in our spiritual lives, as well. The choice to follow ALL of his ways is one that yields much fruit, but we cannot pick and choose which one of...

William Shakespeare reminded us, "No legacy is so rich as honesty." Where would we be today if this world we live in would adhere to this belief? If no one sought anything but honesty in relationships, what depth would those relationships be able to attain? If honesty was the standard by which we do business, where would the profits of a company soar? Honesty is UNDERRATED these days. The gimmick, quick cover-up, and the facade all play an active part in our society, don't they? Wouldn't it be nice if these things were no longer the way we live? The Lord detests the use of dishonest scales, but he delights in accurate weights. Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. Honesty guides good people; dishonesty destroys treacherous people. Riches won’t help on the day of judgment, but right living can save you from death. The godly are directed by honesty; the wicked fall beneath their load of sin. (Proverbs 11:1-5 NLT) Honesty requires vulnerability and tha...

So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. (Galatians 5:16-18 NLT) When we allow someone to guide us, aren't we actually placing trust in where they will lead us, what they will allow us to do, and who it is they will have us interacting with along the way? This is the work of the Holy Spirit in a believer's life - acting as both guide and teacher along our path. Our sinful nature can get us 'lost' if we follow it and ignore the leading of the Holy Spirit. It cannot be trusted to have what is truly in our best interest in store for us. The...

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. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. (Romans 1:25-26 NLT) They traded the truth about God for a lie. That really paints a bleak picture, doesn't it? Down through the generations, everywhere we go, we would have found those whose hearts remained steadfast in their worship of the one true God. They might even be referred to as a 'remnant' of faithful believers. Even in the face of those who follow more 'popular trends' or 'cultural norms', they remained true to the teachings of scripture and their worship of the King of Kings. They wouldn't be swept along into the cultural norms. If we didn't have their examples and their faithfulness, where would we be today? The 'remnant' has always been the ones to bring a nation back to God. Scripture records account after ...

Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at (scorned, disdained, or mocked by mere pretensions or professions, or by His precepts being set aside.) [He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God.] (Galatians 6:7 AMP) Deluded - I had to look that one up to make sure I knew the exact meaning. It is more than just being misled - it means the individual actually believes something that is wrong. It is like seeing the color green but believing with all your heart that it is orange. The more someone tries to convince you it is not orange, the more you dig into your misdirected and mistaken belief that it is orange. Deception has many forms. We can bring it on ourselves because we don't want to believe truth, choosing some other 'story' that we tell ourselves because it is more convenient or more 'tolerable' to our taste. It can be thrown out there by others, reported as truth over and over again, until one day we acce...

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...