The Plumbline

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

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. (James 1:5-8) We are reminded in Proverbs 3:5-7 to "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take." As we all have varying backgrounds, we likely approach life's challenges in various ways. We might just find ourselves turning to this world's wisdom first, then when it doesn't do what we hoped it would do, we turn to God. As long as we rely upon the wisdom the world offers, we will be limited in our perception of th

Blaise Pascal told us, "You always admire what you really don't understand." To admire something, one is merely regarding something with a sense of awe or wonder - there is an element of surprise or beauty in what one comprehends in that moment, evoking some sort of 'feeling'. It creates a sense of 'desire' or 'wanting' within us that makes us look for more of what it is we are beholding. If we are 'admiring' a work of art, we might just be able to view it in the local museum - returning time after time to 'refresh' that sense of pleasure it evokes. We don't own it, though. It has not become fully acquired as our own. If we approach God this way, we might 'return' from time to time to get that 'feeling', but we aren't able to sustain it for very long. God isn't to be simply 'admired' as someone we don't fully understand - he wants close, personal, and continual relationship with us. “And so,

Has it been one of those seasons where no matter how hard you try to move one step forward, you feel like you are taking two steps backward? No matter what you do, you just cannot seem to break free of whatever it is that is keeping you in the muddle and trials you are in. Sometimes I think this 'muddle' is just my own doing - because I have bitten off way more than I can chew. My plate is overloaded and the only way to be clear of the pressure is to get some of the stuff off my plate which really doesn't belong there in the first place. There are other times when I just cannot tell you why I am feeling a little oppressed and pushed down, but it happens more than I'd like to admit. I think those times might just be when the enemy of my soul wants me to get distracted from what is important in life - adding muddle and mess wherever he can. How about you? Sometimes you just need to push some of the stuff back off your plate, other times you might just need to push

God blesses everyone who has wisdom and common sense. Wisdom is worth more than silver; it makes you much richer than gold. Wisdom is more valuable than precious jewels; nothing you want compares with her. (Proverbs 3:13-15) Wisdom, worship, and worth - could wisdom lead to worship, worship to worth? Wisdom is really application of the knowledge we have already received. It is when we finally make the connection between the "how-to" and the "let's get 'er done". Worship is simply a matter of heartfelt dedication and directed thought, action, and emotion toward another. Our attention is to be directed toward none other than God - perhaps because he has shown us how to make the connection and we are finally 'getting 'er done'. Worth is sometimes the hardest thing for us to get hold of because we have all kinds of things running around in our minds about "worth" that aren't actually 'truth-based'. The term "worth&quo

Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction. (Psalm 29:18) Many of us think of 'vision' as the ability to see with our eyes. When it is not there, such as when we have been plunged into darkness by someone covering our eyes with a blindfold, we grope our way through life, don't we? We have to rely upon our other senses or else we will stumble. How well do you move in this state of total darkness? Are your movements as fluid as normal? Not likely - you probably take shorter steps, feeling your way to make sure your footing is solid before you even take the next one. I think we sometimes approach our spiritual life this same way - with a "blindfold" of sorts making us "stumble along" with uncertainty and a lack of vision. Vision is more than what we see with our eyes - it is what we hope in our hearts, understand with our minds, and sense in our spirit. Perception and discernment - t

A gentle response defuses anger, but a sharp tongue kindles a temper-fire. (Proverbs 15:1) It is fire season here in Arizona - summer storms bringing lightning strikes that catch very dry timber on fire very easily. With the approaching monsoon season, the winds begin to pick up and the afternoon winds seem to carry those embers to new areas very easily, allowing the fire to spread sometimes with wild abandon. Add to this the complexity of rocky crags that make doing any kind of fire-line breaks almost impossible and you have the makings of very resistive fires. What the firefighters seem to dread more than anything is that weather report indicating the winds will pick up, or never die down for long periods of time. Why? They realize every wind gust means longer days and nights of fighting that fire! Gentle breezes are one thing, but the gusts of our rainy season are another. Gentle breezes mean you might just get ahead of the fire's spread. The billowing gusts of up to 60 mph sign

I have run into people in this world who are quite smart, but not very 'smart', if you know what I mean. They have all the IQ they could ever put to use, but sometimes they lack the common sense to go along with that very well-developed IQ. Our 'intelligence quotient' doesn't always make us wise. Wisdom comes more by making the right connections rather than adding more 'smarts' to our list of already too long 'smarts'. The right connections begin with our relationship with Christ - to know him is to gain understanding (wisdom). There is more to knowing God than just calling ourselves a Christian, going to church, and under-scoring a few favorite passages in a leather-bound Bible. There is more to wisdom than just getting 'smarter'. If you want to become wise, you must begin by respecting the Lord. To know the Holy One is to gain understanding. (Proverbs 9:10) It should come as no surprise to us that we need to 'become' wise - implyin

Maybe we haven't really stopped to consider it, but God's decisions or actions don't always have to be popular or accepted by the masses to be 'right'. They just have to be 'on target' - consistent with his character, true to his Word, and always based on a bigger picture than we can appreciate with our finite view of life. Some of the time, God is blamed for things he didn't do - the results of our own actions and the consequences that we reap, for example. We somehow want to blame God because we are reaping something not very desirable at the moment, but if we are to be truthful here - he didn't determine the consequences - we did! This is all the more reason we need to consistently (and frequently) ask God to show us how to live and then to understand how those 'right actions' all add up to helping us live to the fullest. You are right and you do right, God; your decisions are right on target. You rightly instruct us in how to live ever f

How wonderful to be wise, to understand things, to be able to analyze them and interpret them. Wisdom lights up a man’s face, softening its hardness. (Ecclesiastes 8:1 TLB) If you have ever watched the expressions of discovery and intrigue on the face of a small child, you probably have close to what it must have been like for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden as they explored each new creature, plant, and living thing. They must have had those moments of discovery that awed them, while almost overwhelming their soul with delight and wonder. To discover one has to be open to discovery. To uncover one must look. To gain understanding one must be open to seeing through different eyes at times. To unmask one must reveal a genuineness of character that encourages the removal of that which covers. A good poker player is known for his ability to maintain what is referred to as a "poker face" - the ability to have the most amazing hand while never once 'declaring' that

In any really good subject, one has only to probe deep enough to come to tears.  (Edith Wharton) It takes probing to discover - for all "looking" is only as good as the ability to "see". You've heard the old adage that seeing is believing. Believing begins with catching sight of something - if even just a tiny fleck of truth is caught, it has the potential to influence all our actions. I don't think we realize the potential in one tiny thought, or the simplest budding of truth in our lives. Yet, if we really stop to consider that tiny thought, it can be the very thing that consumes or launches us into new heights. The Scriptures say, “Our lives are like the grass of spring, and any glory we enjoy is like the beauty of a wildflower. The grass dries up and dies, and the flower falls to the ground. But the word of the Lord lasts forever.” And that word is the Good News that was told to you. ( 1 Peter 1:24-25   ERV ) Everyday is a chance to learn new truth,

All Scripture is given by God. And all Scripture is useful for teaching and for showing people what is wrong in their lives. It is useful for correcting faults and teaching the right way to live. Using the Scriptures, those who serve God will be prepared and will have everything they need to do every good work. ( 2 Timothy 3:16-17   ERV ) While it is very important to remember all scripture is given to help us correct what is wrong in our lives, it is not to be used to beat people up with. The desire to use scripture to point out the faults of another is not what is intended here. The "pointing out" is really the job of the Holy Spirit - the helping another to learn part is where we come alongside and walk out that learning together. Most of the time, we forget that learning is all about us walking out what we are given instruction to do. Having a hymnal doesn't equate to singing the songs correctly - especially if you don't actually read notes or understand rhy

This is my prayer for you: that your love will grow more and more; that you will have knowledge and understanding with your love; that you will see the difference between what is important and what is not and choose what is important; that you will be pure and blameless for the coming of Christ... ( Philippians 1:9-10   ERV ) What is important and what is not - - - isn't this the question of the ages? The answer to that question can actually differ from person to person, based upon the situation, people involved, and even the phases of the moon! "Important" to my 9 year old grandson is much different than what is "important" to my 13 year old grandson. One may want to sequester himself away deep inside a book while the other wants to be making the stinkiest bait he can concoct in order to catch those elusive catfish in the pond! To me both of these are "important" for the tasks at hand are as unique as the children who are pursuing them. When God l

People who do not have God’s Spirit do not accept the things that come from his Spirit. They think these things are foolish. They cannot understand them, because they can only be understood with the Spirit’s help.  (1 Corinthians 2:14 ERV) Have you ever stopped to consider why someone who hasn't asked Jesus into their life yet really doesn't understand even some of the simplest truths found in the scriptures? It is most likely because the Spirit of God is responsible for helping us to no longer look at these truths as foolish or nonsense. Until the Holy Spirit takes up "residence" in our lives, we might just find ourselves discounting God's values, truths, and expressions of loving care more than we realize. Think of a good old-fashioned radio for just a moment. As we turned the dial, some stations would come in kind of garbled, barely heard, and with a whole lot of static - we hear, but we don't always catch every word. As we fine tuned that dial a littl

Zeal without knowledge may just lead to you acting a little too quickly.  Act too quickly and you may just charge ahead when it would have been wiser to stay behind.  Zeal is the energy we put into the pursuit of anything or anyone. Too much can sometimes get in the way because it messes with timing.  Too little can get be just as difficult to manage because it makes it difficult to be in the right place at the right time with the right resources in hand.  Whenever we move into areas where we do not have personal experience (first-hand knowledge), we might do so with great enthusiasm, but what usually happens?  We don't do very well the first time we try something, do we? Knowledge is designed to be shared, but until it becomes personal, it is of very little value to the one exposed to it.  Those folks who build Legos for a living and make all those instruction books included in the box of building blocks have first-hand experience.  Until I follow the specific diagrams and exampl

Scripture defines happiness as finding wisdom and gaining understanding - "happy is the man..." who embraces both.  In seeking wisdom so as to find and in gaining understanding so as to not let it go, we are actually placing ourselves in a position to enjoy well-being and contentment - because we are in an atmosphere of good fellowship!  Wisdom and understanding affect our lives by bringing contentment - even in situations when it would otherwise be difficult to find it.  They also give us a sense of well-being because we can stand assured our course is pre-designed or pre-defined by someone who sees the big picture.  There is also the sense of being brought into a place of fellowship and intimacy with the one who does the designing and defining! These surely describe happiness better than most of the ways the world determines to define happiness for me! Dear friend, guard Clear Thinking and Common Sense with your life;   don’t for a minute lose sight of them.   They’ll kee

If you have ever taken to leaning on your own understanding, you might have just limited yourself to whatever is in your "toolbox"!  I like to do little odd jobs around the house, tackling some of the projects myself - some call it being a "do-it-yourself" kind of thing.  Yet, there are some tasks which are just outside of my "scope" because I neither possess the knowledge to perform the task, nor the tools to make the job turn out well.  If you have ever tried to hammer in a nail with the heel of your shoe, you know exactly what I mean!  You might get it into drywall, but if you hit a stud behind that drywall, it isn't going anywhere!  I have come to recognize my "toolbox" and my "skill level" are not always aligned either.  I possess a few more power tools than I really am proficient at using!  I dabble with them, but that circular saw still frightens me!  I imagine severed finger tips and it just gives me the willies!  In a spiri

Do I want to truthfully walk a straight path?  This is a tough question for each of us to answer.  We often give lip-service to our intention to walk a straight path, making upright decisions, and connecting within wholesome relationships, but then we find ourselves gravitating toward the next thing which pulls us away.  Lip service is not really going to get us closer to our goal, is it?  Two things which are key to moving beyond lip service in our walk are wisdom and understanding.  The more we embrace the wisdom God provides and the understanding which unfolds when we draw close to him, the chances are we will do more than just declare our intent to walk uprightly - we will begin to actually take steps toward living righteously. So now you can pick out what’s true and fair,   find all the good trails!   Lady Wisdom will be your close friend,   and Brother Knowledge your pleasant companion.   Good Sense will scout ahead for danger,   Insight will keep an eye out for you... So—join