The Plumbline

Sing to God! Sing praises to his name! Prepare the way for the one who rides on the clouds. His name is Yah. Worship before him with joy. God, who lives in his holy palace, is a father to orphans, and he takes care of widows. (Psalm 68:4-5) In most translations, YAH is seen as Yahweh or LORD. Whenever you see LORD in scripture, this is the name of God that describes him as the "I am". In observing God as the I AM, we are seeing the side of God that has always been, will always be. There is no beginning, nor any end to his existence. This is something our finite minds have a hard time with because everything around us has a beginning and will have an end at some point. Even when we think there might have been an 'emptiness' somewhere in times past, there never was because God was, is, and will always be! If we think of God as the I AM in our lives, we are really acknowledging that he created us, keeps us going throughout this lifetime, and has prepared an even greater ...

“When the Lord your God goes ahead of you and destroys the nations and you drive them out and live in their land, do not fall into the trap of following their customs and worshiping their gods. Do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations worship their gods? I want to follow their example.’ You must not worship the Lord your God the way the other nations worship their gods, for they perform for their gods every detestable act that the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters as sacrifices to their gods. (Deuteronomy 12:29-31) When God took Israel into the Promised Land, he gave these instructions, but what makes them so important for us to keep in mind today? The first instruction we see here is really one of understanding the 'extreme protection' that exists for a child of God. God - the Lord your God - goes ahead of us to drive out our enemy and his evil forces. The place for God in battle is ahead of us, not alongside or behind us. When God is g...