The Plumbline

“I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them , and they follow him because they know his voice. They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.” (John 10:1-5) Those words "he walks ahead of them" really caught my attention this morning. Jesus goes ahead of us in all aspects of life. He sets the pace, keeps us on track, watches for obstacles in our path, and shelters us from things we may not even notice that could do us harm. So many times, I think we get Jesus' position in our lives a bit out of order. It is as though we think we have this all figured out, things are ...

  If you wake me each morning with the sound of your loving voice,  I’ll go to sleep each night trusting in you.  Point out the road I must travel;   I’m all ears, all eyes before you.  Save me from my enemies,   God — you’re my only hope!  Teach me how to live to please you,   because you’re my God.  Lead me by your blessed Spirit   into cleared and level pastureland. (Psalm 143:8-10) The sound of God's voice - do you know what that is? Do you recognize his still small voice? When we learn to recognize God's voice, there is a certain sense of peace that settles into our hearts. We begin to 'operate' on a different level because we know his guidance will establish our path. All God asks of each of us is that we be 'all ears' when it comes to his voice, and 'closed ears' when it comes to listening to the voice of temptation or evil.  God's greatest delight is for us to desire to live in a manner that pleases him - allowing him to hel...

Wisdom dictates we listen more than we speak - but I have to honestly ask how well we are doing on that one?  Listening is an art - learned not because we really want to learn it, but because if we don't learn how to listen, we will eventually get life pretty much as we like it, but we might just be the only ones left in the picture once we do!  I suspect there is much to this listening "art" which many of us have yet to perfect.  In fact, learning this "art" of listening requires we not only learn how to "tune into" the voice we hear, but we learn to "recognize" the voice.  I think many of us hear those "voices" in our heads - hopefully not too many of them - but we don't always know which one is the one we should be listening to.  If you have ever seen the commercial where there is a little guy in white on one shoulder and a little guy in black on the other and the lady is trying to figure out if she can give her kid chocolat...

1   God , who gets invited to dinner at your place?  How do we get on your guest list?    2  "Walk straight, a ct right,  tell the truth.    3-4  Don't hurt your friend,  don't blame your neighbor;  despise the despicable.    5  Keep your word even when it costs you,  make an honest living,           never take a bribe.   You'll never get   blacklisted   if you live like this." (Psalm 15 The Message) David was a man after God's own heart.  I often consider what this really means.  It seems that my "heart" can often betray me - so I am reluctant to "follow it" sometimes!  In all the practicality of day-to-day life, David takes a little time to listen to what God tells him.  He asks God a question, then he actually stops long enough to listen for God's answer.  I think that is what it is like to have a heart after G...

Somehow, though he moves right in front of me, I don't see him;     quietly but surely he's active, and I miss it. (Job 9:11 The Message) Have you ever been looking so diligently for something only to find that what you sought with such great earnestness was right there in front of you all the time?  When you finally realize that the object of your search was just within your reach, didn't you feel a little silly having spent all that time and energy in the seeking?  It's kind of like you just have to say, "Duh!  Here it is!" and give yourself a little knock up beside the head!   There is a process in the business world called "building shared vision" that in its simplest form is usually facilitated by bringing a group of people together for a period of time to tap into what it is that they imagine for the success of the group.  Now, I have made this definition pretty broad, but you get the idea.  It is all about getting the people i...

20-22  Dear friend, listen well to my words; tune your ears to my voice.  Keep my message in plain view at all times. Concentrate! Learn it by heart!  Those who discover these words live, really live; body and soul, they're bursting with health.  (Proverbs 4:20-22 The Message) Many of us don't remember the process of "tuning in" a radio any longer.  Our electronic devices have "auto-tune" features, allowing us to scan through various stations until one comes in with the clarity of reception that is desired to be considered something we could "listen to".  We also have "pre-programmed" tuning buttons that we can set to our "favorite" stations.  Both of these features help us to keep our attention on other things, while allowing us to "tune in" to whatever we desire to listen to at that moment. "Back in the day", as my kids would say, we had to "tune in" to a radio station by adjusting the antennae ...

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 don't see too many sheep around my neck of the woods, but whenever I see them in the fields, grazing just prior to "lambing" season, I love to stop for a few minutes to watch them.  The ranchers have a few fields they bring them to just at that time, and those fields are usually rich with some type of crop that has been recently harvested.  The sheep appear to be eating the remainin...

1-2  Dear friend, pay close attention to this, my wisdom; listen very closely to the way I see it.  Then you'll acquire a taste for good sense;    what I tell you will keep you out of trouble.  (Proverbs 5:1-2) Picture yourself alone, taking a little time to get away so that you can really spend some time listening to what God speaks into your life.  As you begin to hear from him, this is what he says, "Dear friend, pay close attention to this, my wisdom; listen very closely to the way I see it..."  Now, most of us would sit right up and take notice that God was about to share something with us!  If "hearing" from God was as easy as sitting down and listening for an audible voice that was this clear, we'd do it in a heartbeat!   Yet, we have been given his Word, good preachers and teachers, great friends who speak volumes into our lives, and countless other opportunities to "pay close attention" and "listen very closely to the way God...