The Plumbline

Don’t do wrong to anyone to pay them back for doing wrong to you. Or don’t insult anyone to pay them back for insulting you. But ask God to bless them.  (I Peter 3:9) Okay, gonna ask a revealing question today: "When someone does you 'wrong', what is your first response?" If you are anything like me, you might think it wasn't exactly 'fair' for them to treat you that way, and even think you'd like to 'get even' a bit. It is kind of like you want them to know exactly how they hurt you, but you know they most likely won't feel the same hurt as you do. Truth be told, we can all deal with the 'getting even' kind of response from time to time, but is it God's desire for us to respond that way? Absolutely not! Does he understand it hurts us? Yes, but he has prepared much more for us in 'blessing our enemy' than we will ever get out of 'hurting them'! Asking God to bless someone who has hurt us deeply is probably one of...

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he saves those whose spirits are crushed. (Psalm 34:18) We live in a world where there are many 'broken' people. To be broken means one's life has been reduced to fragments; ruptured, torn, fractured; is not functioning properly; is somehow incomplete; or that it has been infringed upon or violated. This is exactly how each and every one of us arrives at the feet of Jesus. Somehow, whether through our own choices, or the impressions others leave in our lives, we arrive reduced to fragments, not functioning as we should, and sometimes just plain violated by another. It isn't that our lives are perfect, and we finally come to the feet of Jesus - we bring him the messiness of our lives and he welcomes them with open arms.  One of the songs which really ministers to my spirit is the one by Casting Crowns that expresses this thought of being "Broken Together". If you haven't heard it, there is a part of the song which...

I observed a little photo on Facebook this morning (credit goes to the Warriors of Christ community on Facebook). It was simple, but the thought behind it was pretty significant! Two images - one of a Bandaid, the other of an open Bible. One caption read - "This is for outside wounds" while the other read "This is for inside wounds". Brilliant!  We find all kinds of ways to bind up our wounds on the outside from bandages for those larger cuts or sores, to a small wedge of toilet paper to cover that nick obtained while shaving. In time, they usually heal because they were covered over by something while they had time for a scab to form and the open surface area to close.  Sometimes this is all we need - a simple covering in order to allow time for the wounds to heal. Then there are times when the bandage on the outside means there has been some work done on the inside, as well.  All praise goes to God, Father of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One. He is the Fat...