The Plumbline

As pressure and stress bear down on me, I find joy in your commands. (Psalm 119:143) We might not be able to escape pressures in this world, much less expect to never have any stress in our lives. Stress actually helps us grow stronger. A tree needs the wind to establish deeper roots. A human body has something referred to as the cellular stress response (CSR) in which the cells of our body respond in such a way as to counter intrusions and restore health to the cell once again. If God made each cell of our body with an ability to 'counteract' stress, don't you think he'd do the same with our 'spiritual cells'? Look at what our psalmist said: "As pressure and stress bear down on me - I FIND JOY IN YOUR COMMANDS." The stress or pressures of life drove him deeper into God's Word - into his commands and directives for living. There is no better 'counteraction' than to get into God's Word because it bolsters our 'spiritual cells' an...

Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, for the light makes everything visible. (Ephesians 5:10-14) Carefully determine - while most of us have a general understanding of what God expects of us, how many of us have gone so far as to do a 'deep dive' into scripture to truly understand what pleases the Lord? We have heard the stories of how Israel erected a golden image, knowing that God abhors idols of any kind. We listened to sermons that reminded us to turn the other cheek, knowing God values grace and forgiveness. Yet do we truly understand what the 'worthless deeds of evil and darkness' really are? Perhaps understanding what 'pleases God' is made clear when we understand what light brings out of hiding in the lives of others and...