The Plumbline

People with integrity walk safely, but those who follow crooked paths will be exposed. (Proverbs 10:9) Most of us really desire to have a walk of integrity - consistent, upright, and firmly grounded. What happens between desire and action is a mystery to many of us. We start so well, with all the right intentions in mind, but then somewhere in the middle, we just make wrong turns and get off-course. How do we become 'people with integrity'? When we ask this question, we are really asking how do we become 'whole'. We become 'whole' in the presence of Jesus - we remain 'whole' because we keep Jesus central in all our decisions. As I did a bit of a deep dive into how we become people of integrity, I was amazed at how many self-help gurus have outlined the 'steps toward integrity'. All of these gurus completely leave Jesus out of the 'steps'. For example, in one article it tells us to 'try to keep our promises even if we need to make sac

Seek God while he’s here to be found, pray to him while he’s close at hand. Let the wicked abandon their way of life and the evil their way of thinking. Let them come back to God, who is merciful, come back to our God, who is lavish with forgiveness. (Isaiah 55:6) " When you have to make a choice and don't make it, that is in itself a choice ." (William James) We are all broken people - all of us have our weaknesses and we all make mistakes. We all need to make the one supreme choice - will we serve self or Jesus? Seek God while he's here to be found - while he is close at hand, cry out. If we want healing in this world, we all need to abandon our desire to live by our own set of rules.  Seek - go in search of; question so as to obtain; go to that place where you can meet a holy God. Where is that place? At the feet of Jesus. There is no other way to God except through trust in the one and only Son of God - Jesus. Lavish with forgiveness - think about the immense lov

Build upon what you have been given. This past weekend had a slight break in the absolutely hot weather, so I took advantage of putting together a stand for a friend's bike. The project had been lingering on my 'to do' list for way too long. As I thought about how to go about building this piece, I had many options, but I chose to 're-purpose' reclaimed wood to make the project's base. It was two inch thick pieces about five inches wide wood from some pallets I disassembled some time ago. Dried, solid, and beyond the degree of strength of the stuff I could get at the local builder's store, I chose to 'build upon what I had been given', so to speak. It turned out to make a very solid base to support the cruiser bike. We might not think that we can build upon much in our spiritual life, but one of the ways we can is to choose to build upon what we have been given and then to develop 'alert discipline' in its use. To a strong moral foundation (c

We all have appointments we have to keep, right?  This last week, I took a day off to run my mom to several appointments - dentist and eye doctor.  The dental appointment at least allowed me to shop a little for a few things we needed as there was a store nearby.  The eye doctor - what a wait!  To me, the 4 hour wait almost made it appear as though there was no appointment at all!  I have been "squeezed in" to see the doctor in times past, so this was cruel and unusual punishment just sitting in the huge waiting room with other disgruntled patients "in waiting".  Appointments are "planned events", right? There is a specific time and place - the parties agree to the meeting.  So, why the wait?  The appointment allows both parties to be ready for the purpose of the meeting.  So, why is it we are sometimes "ill-prepared" for some of the most significant appointments of a "divine" nature which have been arranged for our lives? Jesus answe

Incapable:  Not having the necessary ability, qualifications, or strength to perform.  Some of us might even equate being "incapable" to being incompetent - lacking not only the strength, but also the knowledge behind the needed action.  If you asked me to fix the engine on my car, I'd admit I am incompetent - I don't have the strength to do some of the work anymore, and I sure don't have the knowledge to know how all those pieces fit together so they work exactly as they are designed.  I could go to school to learn the "how to", but it is not until I have practiced it a while that I develop some of the skill to actually say I am "good" at the task.  Yet something is still lacking  in the picture - I may know how it is supposed to all work, but I still am not as familiar with the engine as is the creator of the engine!  The creator has the most intimate knowledge because he envisioned it before it took form, designing each "moving part&quo