The Plumbline

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...

In the past there were false prophets among God’s people. It is the same now. You will have some false teachers in your group. They will teach things that are wrong—ideas that will cause people to be lost. And they will teach in a way that will be hard for you to see that they are wrong. They will even refuse to follow the Master who bought their freedom. And so they will quickly destroy themselves. Many people will follow them in the morally wrong things they do. And because of them, others will say bad things about the way of truth we follow. These false teachers only want your money. So they will use you by telling you things that are not true. But the judgment against these false teachers has been ready for a long time. And they will not escape God who will destroy them. (2 Peter 2:1-3) We are living in a time when believers are bombarded on all sides by one teaching after another - in media of all forms, in personal contact, and even from our public 'pulpits'. We must kno...

What you heard me teach is an example of what you should teach. Follow that model of right teaching with the faith and love we have in Christ Jesus. This teaching is a treasure that you have been trusted with. Protect it with the help of the Holy Spirit, who lives inside us. (2 Timothy 1:13-14) Teaching or instruction abounds, but knowing which one should be impacting your life is best left to the best tutor one could ever have - the Holy Spirit. When we ask the Holy Spirit to 'control' what comes into our minds, hearts, and emotions, we are trusting him to 'weed out' any instruction that isn't 'spot on' and 'zero in on' that which is truth. Any 'almost truth' isn't worth our time or effort! What you hear me teach - God gives us so many positive examples, but is it wise to just 'accept without question' whatever it is they are teaching? No, absolutely not. We need to test every teaching against the Word of God and then rely upon t...

Do what God’s teaching says; don’t just listen and do nothing. When you only sit and listen, you are fooling yourselves. Hearing God’s teaching and doing nothing is like looking at your face in the mirror and doing nothing about what you saw. You go away and immediately forget how bad you looked. But when you look into God’s perfect law that sets people free, pay attention to it. If you do what it says, you will have God’s blessing. Never just listen to his teaching and forget what you heard. (James 1:22-25) I share often about 'hearing', but 'doing' nothing with what we 'hear'. Why? The importance of being a 'doer of the Word' cannot be outlived, outsourced, or outdone! We need to incorporate the Word of God into our daily lives - making the teachings therein the source of our instructions on how to live with one another. Ever look at yourself in the mirror and be so dissatisfied with what you are seeing that you just turned away and tried to forget wha...

Most people would say that God's commands are a set of rules we need to keep in mind as we go throughout our lives. They are a set of 'guidelines' we are to 'adhere to' the best we can in order to somehow 'make our way to God'. There is 'no making one's way to God' - he already made his way to us! We 'keep' the commands of God not because we 'have to', but because they are what actually gives us a new way of living. I will never forget your commands, because through them you gave me new life. (Proverbs 119:93) Let's look at it this way - BC (Before Christ) we likely 'colored outside the lines' a bit with our lives. Then AC (After Christ) was given control of our lives, we have likely observed some change in our priorities, actions, and even our attitude. Yes, his presence begins this work, but it is more than we just keep his commands. We actually delight in keeping them - we see them as a way of making better choices....

I need to know your commands. Don’t keep them hidden from me. I constantly feel a hunger to understand your laws. (Psalm 119:19-20) The psalmist has just said he feels a bit like a stranger on this earth - something we might have felt ourselves from time to time. When things get a little too wonky for our taste, or the tides of change are just more than we can endure, we might actually tell God things are a 'little foreign' to us. The very thing our psalmist does is what we likely should do, as well - he asks God to help him understand - to really 'know' his commands. Why? There is a hunger for truth that God 'plants' within each of us that drives this 'urge to know' truth. This hunger doesn't come naturally - it is God 'planted' within our spirits. Our mind might seek to understand truth, but the hunger for it comes from deep within our spirit. It is within our spirit that we commune with God - where his presence dwells. We might not real...

God is very powerful, but he does not hate people. He is very powerful, but he is also very wise. He will not let evil people live. He brings justice to the poor. He watches over those who live right. He lets them rule in high places. (Job 36:5-7) There are times when we stand back in wonder, pondering how it is that evil can get such an advantage in this world. We might not see God's forces at work because the evil just seems to 'outdo' what we see God doing, but we can rest assured what we don't see is the legions God has moving to overtake evil! God is wise and we need to trust his timing. Sometimes evil abounds, but he still protects those who serve him and love him with their whole hearts. God doesn't hate people, but people respond to evil's pull and influence sometimes more rapidly than they do God's beckoning call to abandon sin. It is easy to get caught up with the movement of the crowds and neglect to see there are some faithful servants of ...

Don’t stop the work of the Holy Spirit. Don’t treat prophecy like something that is not important. But test everything. Keep what is good, and stay away from everything that is evil. (I Thessalonians 5:20-22) Don't stop the work of the Holy Spirit - just how might we do that in our own lives or the lives of others around us? We might not listen when he is giving us guidance, choosing our own plans or path. We could discount something he has shown another, making them question if they are really hearing from God at all. We might find ourselves disagreeing with truth simply because it doesn't 'fit' our present lifestyle or choices. Whenever we 'stop the work of the Holy Spirit', we might find ourselves walking away from truth and toward deception quicker than we think! Test everything - does God really mean 'everything' when he says this? Yes, he does! Test what you hear before you put your full belief into it! I always tell someone if something doesn'...

"Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone's face? Did I say words of healing? Did I let go of my anger and resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love? These are the real questions. I must trust that the little bit of love that I sow now will bear many fruits, here in this world and the life to come." (Henri Nouwen) A gentle answer makes anger disappear, but a rough answer makes it grow. (Proverbs 15:1) My words make a difference - all our words do! We cannot 'make words' and then expect they will just 'hang out there' indefinitely. At some point, our words will either build up or tear down. Our words will help someone navigate life's challenges wisely, or they will turn them in a direction that causes them to veer off course. Words have an impact - good, bad, or simply confusing - they all matter. We might not think we have much to say, but when we speak, do our words come across in a loving manner? Do they encourage one who is holding back o...

Building upon a strong foundation is important. The materials we acquire for the building must be put to use. I have a home improvement store (one of those huge ones) about one mile from the house. I love to take time to go up and down the aisles exploring the various things they have there. If I could have my "run of the store" without worrying about paying for the stuff, it would be like "heaven on earth"! From the little fasteners which seemingly disappear as they are put into the wood, or the drill bit adapter which creates that perfect angle by which you get that screw in at a perfect 45-degree angle, I could create and create and create! As long as those tools and materials remain at the local home improvement store, they are just materials. Unless we actually take into our possession what God gives us for building up our lives and put them to use in our lives, they are simply dreams we hold. We have been given great resources, but if we don't put into pra...

Some people like to do things their own way, and they get upset when people give them advice. Fools don’t want to learn from others. They only want to tell their own ideas. (Proverbs 18:1-2) Some people just cannot see any other solution to their issue than what they can manage to come up with in their own minds or through their own power. To suggest something outside of that imagined solution somehow makes you the "crazy one" in the equation! There is much danger in being so determined to just do things our own way, though. In many circumstances, the way we determine to be the "best" or "right" may just be the easiest and present the least resistance. I know I have chosen this option more than a few times, only to find out that the easiest "up front" isn't always the easiest on the "back end". My pride kept me from finding out if there was an "easier" or "better" way other than what my mind could muster on it...

He saw that Jesus gave good answers to their questions. So he asked him, “Which of the commands is the most important?” Jesus answered, “The most important command is this: ‘People of Israel, listen! The Lord our God is the only Lord. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second most important command is this: ‘Love your neighbor the same as you love yourself.’ These two commands are the most important.” (Mark 12:28-31) Jesus taught anyone who would listen - even the Pharisees and Sadducees - the religious leaders and zealots of the day who were most likely the ones who would challenge everything he would say. They weren't really all that "open" to his teachings; it was more that they wanted to find some way to trip Jesus up in his teaching and discredit him publicly. They were quite jealous of the attention he was getting - after all, they had been the primary "religious" teachers of the day and ...

And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us. Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us. (I John 3:23-24) We must believe - there is no other way into a restored relationship with God the Father than through Jesus Christ, his Son. This truth sometimes gets a little tweaked in religious circles - wanting to add some manner of 'works' to the simple belief God requires of us. No amount of us 'doing' will ever measure up to what Christ has already done. Simply believe that Jesus is the Son of God, died on the cross to make us free from the guilt and shame of our sin, and stop adding to the simplicity of grace. Grace is given, never earned. It is based on a finished work - that of Jesus and not on what we will ever be able to do in 'addition' to what has already been done. L...

As pressure and stress bear down on me, I find joy in your commands. (Psalm 119:143)  The late Walt Disney said, "It is kind of fun to do the impossible." With God, much of what we see as impossible is really not, but that doesn't minimize the fact that the impossible comes with its own stress and pressure. There is a certain 'stress' within faith - trust requires stepping outside of our comfort zone from time to time. When we do, the pressure that can bear down on us can almost overwhelm us. This is why we must press into our relationship with Jesus even harder during these times.  Someone once told me to enjoy that stress and feel that pressure. Why? It meant I was going to see God work within my life in ways I had never experienced before. So, I took that advice and actually took a different attitude toward all that pressure as the 'impossible' closed in around me. Do you know what happened? Before long, the 'attitude' I had assumed actually beg...

I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do. Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. (John 17:15-18) Jesus did not do the 'easy thing' and ask his Father to just deliver us from this world, so we'd never have to face the challenges inherent in living on this earth. He asked his Father to keep us safe from the evil one. Notice that Jesus knows there has been a change of 'citizenship' - no longer belonging to this world, but to the Kingdom of God. It might be a bit like a dual citizenship, though. We are still living in this world, doing the things we must do in this world, such as working at a job, paying our bills, and being good neighbors. We are also enjoying the privilege of being part of the family of God - participating with him as part of this family, doing the th...