The Plumbline

 "Salvation" is only gibberish to the wicked  because they've never looked it up in your dictionary.   Your mercies,  God , run into the billions;  following your guidelines, revive me.  My antagonists are too many to count,  but I don't swerve from the directions you gave.  (Psalm 119:155-157 The Message) In nursing, there are certain medications administered for the very purpose of acting as "antagonists" to some other medication in the body.  The purpose is to "bind" something of harm to your body, such as too much narcotic, an over-abundance of a particular electrolyte, or a blood-level of medication that is harmful at a particularly high level.  The antagonistic effect of the medication actually ends up saving your life!   Sometimes we view people and things in our lives who function as "antagonists" in a very negative sense.  I challenge you this morning to consider if perhaps the "challenging" thing ...

Take a good look at my trouble, and help me— I haven't forgotten your revelation.   Take my side and get me out of this;  give me back my life, just as you promised.  (Psalm 119:153-154 The Message) We probably have heard the say, "It is Trouble, with a capital T".  Trouble is different for everyone.  Some of us seem to "find it" without even looking.  Others seem to "make it" as though it were some natural outcome of everything we do.  Still others seem to do everything they can to "avoid it", regardless of the cost.   When I looked up the word "trouble", I came across the very first definition and stopped to ponder it a while.  Take a moment to think on this:  Trouble is to disturb the mental calm or contentment of; to worry ; bring distress ; or a gitate .  Hmmm....in the Hebrew language, we'd put a "Selah" after this so as to "stop and consider" what this says to us. First, when we...

As those out to get me come closer and closer,  they go farther and farther from the truth you reveal; b ut you're the closest of all to me,  God ,  and all your judgments true.   I've known all along from the evidence of your words  that you meant them to last forever. (Psalm 119:150-152 The Message) There are definitely times when we feel our "enemy" breathing down our neck and just want to run like a crazy person from the "threat" we feel.  In a literal sense, we have "enemies" who come against us - - someone who is determined to make life miserable for us.  In a spiritual sense, we have one really big enemy - - Satan.  In an emotional sense, we have lots of "enemies" - - fear, pride, lust, just to name a few.  Regardless of the "enemy", we need to hear the words above:  The closer they get to us, the farther they are from the truth God reveals when we draw closer to him! If we look at the emotional enemies a...