The Plumbline

But now that you’ve found you don’t have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God’s gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master. (Romans 6:23) Have you discovered that you no longer need to listen to sin tell you what to do anymore? If you are like the millions upon millions of others who have said 'yes' to Jesus, you likely still have a bit of a struggle in this area. Sin just doesn't 'go away' when you say 'yes' to Jesus - the ability for it to control you does, but the enticement to sin is still presenting itself. The issue is not whether sin still entices, it is really an issue of which voice we will listen to the most frequently! We can listen to our own inward lusts (desires), or we can listen to the sti

What are the ways you are influenced? Where is it you turn to when you need to be updated on the state of affairs in politics, the weather, or the results of the football game? It used to be we had newspapers, but more and more of those have gone by the wayside. We used to huddle around radios and listen with intent as the latest events were crackled from the airways. Now we are likely to read our social media posts, quick one liner tweets, and updates on our 'electronic' news feeds. As times change, so do the ways we receive our influences in life. We might not realize it, but the things that need to have the greatest influence in us are actually being suffocated out of their place of influence by all the things that vie for influence in our lives today. "Let me set this before you as plainly as I can. If a person climbs over or through the fence of a sheep pen instead of going through the gate, you know he's up to no good—a sheep rustler! The shepherd walks right

Long ago, at different times and in various ways, God’s voice came to our ancestors through the  Hebrew  prophets. But in these last days, it has come to us through His Son, the One who has been given dominion over all things and through whom all worlds were made. ( Hebrews 1:1-2   VOICE ) You listening? Do you hear him speaking? Is there a tug at your heart unlike any other? Can you see evidence of his words deeply affecting who you are and the choices you make? If the answer to these is yes, you are doing well, but if it is "not really" or "uh uh", then maybe it is time to just stop to consider which voices you are listening to! I find that the loudest voice I hear at times is not his, but mine! I am whining, just downright complaining about something not going my way, or I am disappointed because I didn't get something I thought I wanted or deserved. Have you ever noticed just how loud the voice of complaint can be? In fact, I'd have to say it is the

  1-5  "Let me set this before you as plainly as I can. If a person climbs over or through the fence of a sheep pen instead of going through the gate, you know he's up to no good—a sheep rustler! The shepherd walks right up to the gate. The gatekeeper opens the gate to him and the sheep recognize his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he gets them all out, he leads them and they follow because they are familiar with his voice. They won't follow a stranger's voice but will scatter because they aren't used to the sound of it." (John 10:1-5) We have many opportunities to listen and to respond to many voices each day.  There are individuals we admire that speak words of advice - easy to embrace as a voice we want to listen to.  There are individuals that are passing acquaintances in our lives - we listen to them, but are more selective in what we act upon when they speak.  Then there are individuals that are only influential because of